My So-Called Life
the random and not-so-random musings of a twenty-something history geek
My So-Called Lifethe random and not-so-random musings of a twenty-something history geek |
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| Nov. 15th, 2009 @ 02:16 pm Shanghai Town Hall with President Obama tonight. | |||
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Shanghai Town Hall / 欧巴马总统在上海与青年面对面Posted by Katie Stanton on November 15, 2009 at 06:29 AM ESTTomorrow, November 16, President Obama will have a town hall meeting with Chinese youth in Shanghai, China. Holding the event in Shanghai is symbolic as the Shanghai Communique was announced here and helped pave the way for normalization and the first 30 years of formal diplomatic relations. At the meeting, the President will interact with young Chinese and discuss the relationship between our two countries in the years ahead. Attendees of the event will come from several Universities in the Shanghai area. During this event, the President will take questions from the live audience, as well as from the online Chinese community. The online community in China has been submitting questions on a variety of websites including Xinhuanet, Sohu and the U.S. Embassy in Beijing’s website. The Town Hall will be livestreamed on Whitehouse.gov/live. You can also join us on the official White House page on Facebook or the Embassy's website to view and participate in a live discussion during the event. The event is planned to start Monday at 12:45pm local time in Shanghai which means late Sunday night in Washington, DC at 11:45pm EST. |
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| Nov. 15th, 2009 @ 11:23 am Karma: Racist Swim Club That Doesnt Need Money From Black People Needs Money. | |||
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| Swim Club Accused Of Racism To File For Bankruptcy A suburban swim club accused of discrimination last summer after revoking the memberships of mostly black and Hispanic children plans to declare bankruptcy, a newspaper reported Saturday. Valley Swim Club president John Duesler sent an e-mail to club "friends and families" Friday saying the board of directors had voted to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy this week, The Philadelphia Daily News reported. Duesler wrote in the e-mail that many would blame the bankruptcy on legal proceedings and negative media exposure, the newspaper said. But, he said, "the truth is that the club has struggled to stay out of the red for at least the last decade" and owes more than $100,000 in operational expenses and legal fees, the newspaper reported. Duesler declined to comment to The Associated Press on Saturday. ( Read more ) |
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| Nov. 15th, 2009 @ 11:13 am Old Man Goes Senile and Insane. Declares War on AARP. | |||
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| McCain urges town hall attendees to cut up thier AARP membership cards. Last week, the AARP, a nonpartisan organization that advocates on behalf of those aged 50 and over, endorsed the House health care bill. “We can say with confidence that it meets our priorities for protecting Medicare, providing more affordable health insurance for 50- to 64-year-olds and reforming our health care system,” AARP vice president Nancy Leamond said. At a town hall meeting in Arizona on Friday, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) vowed to “fight with every fiber of my body” to oppose a similar health care reform bill in the Senate. He then claimed that Medicare will actually be “cut” and reportedly urged the town hall attendees to tear up their AARP membership cards: The 2,000-page bill would mean more regulation and mandates, he said. People wouldn’t be able to keep the coverage they had. It would also increase taxes and the cost of Medicare, he said. The bill claims to save $500 billion in waste from Medicare, he said. “I don’t think so,” McCain said. “I think it’s going to cut it.” He encouraged audience members to cut up their AARP cards and send them back. |
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| Nov. 15th, 2009 @ 11:11 am Quiverfull Wives Confess -- Putting Birth Control in 'God's Hands' | |||
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Mostly feeling:
 peaceful These days it's practically trendy to have lots of kids. Look at Brangelina. Or the Duggars. But a recent episode of WEtv's "Secret Lives of Women" focuses on the Quiverfull movement and shows the darker side of big, Quiverfull families. As Kathryn Joyce, author of Quiverfull: Inside the Christian Patriarchy Movement, reveals in the episode, the movement began in the 1980s as a reaction to feminism. "Good" Christian women, many of them in the home-schooling community, embraced homemaking as their highest calling and left family planning in God's hands. Says Rachel Scott, a mother of eight and grandmother of one who was featured in the episode, "I believe conceiving children and giving birth is an act of worship. You're submitting to God's goal for the planet and God's goal for you as a woman." She adds that women should submit to men, in her opinion. But not all Quiverfull mothers are happy being submissive to God and their husbands. Although Vyckie Garrison was involved in the movement for 14 years, she divorced her husband and left the Quiverfull movement after her daughter attempted suicide. "That was not part of what we had signed up for when we got into the whole Quiverfull belief," she explains in the episode. "We were a godly family. We were doing things God's way." |
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| Nov. 15th, 2009 @ 11:37 am Just to make sure I understand... | |||
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Mostly feeling:
Since I have curly hair, should I never ever ever (ever?) use a brush? Ever? Just a wide toothed comb? Really? confusedoh boy... |
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| Nov. 15th, 2009 @ 03:11 pm Successful Down's man in search of love | |||
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 Surrounded by a group of eager listeners, Pablo Pineda, a charismatic teaching expert and up-and-coming actor, argues that the educational system around the world needs to change. The 35-year-old Spaniard is unique because his insights into child psychology and pedagogy are different, imaginative and thought-provoking. Mr Pineda is the first person with Down's Syndrome to obtain a major degree from a university in Spain. He is now pushing the envelope even further by reading educational psychology, his second degree. He was recently in Malta for a seminar on inclusive education for Down's children, organised by Inspire, through which he hopes to inspire parents and teachers to open doors for such children rather than give up on them. Mr Pineda made international headlines last September when he bagged the Silver Shell award at the 2009 San Sebastián International Film Festival for his performance in Yo Tambien (Me Too) - a film inspired by his life. ( Read more... ) Source thought this was a pretty remarkable story. |
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| Nov. 15th, 2009 @ 01:00 pm It's not looking good for Copenhagen. :/ | |||
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Apec leaders drop climate target World leaders meeting in Singapore have said it will not be possible to reach a climate change deal ahead of next month's UN conference in Denmark. After a two-day Asia-Pacific summit, they vowed to work towards an "ambitious outcome" in Copenhagen. But the group dropped a target to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, which was outlined in an earlier draft. Leaders also vowed to pursue a new strategy for growth after the world's worst economic crisis in decades. They resolved to conclude the Doha round of global trade talks in 2010. In a joint declaration issued at the end of their two-day annual summit, they said: "We firmly reject all forms of protectionism and reaffirm our commitment to keep markets open and refrain from raising new barriers to investment or to trade in goods and services." They also agreed to keep stimulus spending in place until a recovery was seen. |
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| Nov. 15th, 2009 @ 11:08 pm Steely arrows in the air | |||
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Mostly feeling:
Today's boot camp was pretty damn good!  pensiveFirst of all, I cut down on the gear I carried in so the bag wasn't so annoying this time. Second of all, on the train I saw another girl who was obviously a derby girl (tattoos, stripey socks, carrying a helmet and what looked like a lot of skate gear in a bag), and when we got off at the same station I approached her (!!!) and we walked to the rink together (!!!). Sure, I was awkward but I did it! Third of all, when we were getting our names ticked off at the door I got some wristguards! I'd been talking to one of the derby girls (I don't really want to call them "girls" when it's an over 18 league but derby women just doesn't sound the same) about picking up her secondhand guards but we never seemed to be able to meet* so I never got them and expected her to give them to someone else. But she'd given it to one of the other girls** to give to me! I have wristguards! And hopefully tomorrow the knee and elbow pads will arrive! Yaaaay! Anyway. Back to bootcamp. So that was pretty good, and despite having to rummage around in the fresh meat kit for stuff that'd fit me (and trying to figure out what was what***) the training seemed to go well. There were more falls/slides that looked kind of like this:  There were jumps, and I jumped some very (very) short cones! And the instructor asked if I'd been practicing because I was doing better in general this week! (I said yes, but it's like when I was playing the violin when I'd impress my teacher more with less practice than with more... I think I must relax a lot when I think I'm going to do badly anyway.) Added to that I wasn't nervous about boot camp itself, I knew my route and knew I wouldn't turn up late and I'd had some practice on a rink. So, overall I did a bit better this time. Doesn't mean I didn't fall on my butt a couple of times, but still. What else? There was more weaving (which I need to practice more), stops (ditto), gliding on one foot at a time (ditto), two-minute drills (too worried about crashing and crossovers to be really pushing myself as yet, so yeah, you get the idea...) My right knee is a tiny bit sore, and I only discovered it when I got home. Probably from throwing myself into slides, but that's the general idea anyway. When I was walking to the rink with the other derby fresh meat she asked me why I got (am?) into derby. I've been thinking about it since. At the time I just said it was to get fitter, but that's not the whole of it. It's been an incredible stroke of luck that the year I had the time and the inclination to work on my fitness is also the year that I found out about derby -
And that's probably the main reason why I'd love to become a roller derby girl.  ---------------- Listening to: Voltaire - Ravens Land via FoxyTunes * Except at the first match I attended but I chickened out and didn't get round to seeing her. ** The same one who'd sold her skates to me! She's lovely, but was amazingly aggressive on the track last night. *** Pretty sure I was wearing elbow pads as knee pads, but oh well. |
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| Nov. 15th, 2009 @ 12:00 am agog: Dictionary.com Word of the Day | |||
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agog: in eager desire.
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| Nov. 15th, 2009 @ 12:00 am Samuel Johnson | |||
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| "Read over your compositions, and wherever you meet with a passage which you think is particularly fine, strike it out."
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| Nov. 15th, 2009 @ 12:00 am Napoleon Bonaparte | |||
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| "Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake."
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| Nov. 15th, 2009 @ 12:00 am John Andrew Holmes | |||
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| "Speech is conveniently located midway between thought and action, where it often substitutes for both."
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| Nov. 15th, 2009 @ 12:00 am Unknown | |||
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| "A gentleman is a man who can play the accordion but doesn't."
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| Nov. 15th, 2009 @ 12:00 am gaydar detector | |||
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A kind of "sixth sense" that allows a flamboyantly homosexual man, or masculine homosexual woman, to play up their macho/feminine side upon entering a "gay-unfriendly" area. Les's gaydar detector was going crazy when she drove to Laramie. |
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| Nov. 15th, 2009 @ 02:56 am Vinegar? | |||
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| I've heard people talk up vinegar as both a clarifying shampoo OR a conditioner. Is it one or the other? Is it both? How safe are ACV rinses for curly hair? And because I love pictures, and because y'all might not be quite sick of it yet: my hair, which is a total diva and just wants attention. I did a nice olive oil + lavender deep condition last night (rinsed with Giovanni shampoo then conditioned with DevaCurl) and it feels GOOD.  |
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| Nov. 14th, 2009 @ 11:33 pm Old China Wonders Why White People Elected a Black Man. New China To Wonder if They Are Racists | |||
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| Racial rethinking as Obama visits Increasing diversity, born out of boom, forces Chinese to confront old prejudices As a mixed-race girl growing up in this most cosmopolitan of mainland Chinese cities, 20-year-old Lou Jing said she never experienced much discrimination -- curiosity and questions, but never hostility. So nothing prepared Lou, whose father is a black American, for the furor that erupted in late August when she beat out thousands of other young women on "Go! Oriental Angel," a televised talent show. Angry Internet posters called her a "black chimpanzee" and worse. One called for all blacks in China to be deported. As the country gets ready to welcome the first African American U.S. president, whose first official visit here starts Sunday, the Chinese are confronting their attitudes toward race, including some deeply held prejudices about black people. Many appeared stunned that Americans had elected a black man, and President Obama's visit has underscored Chinese ambivalence about the growing numbers of blacks living here. "It's sad," Lou said, her eyes welling up as she recalled her experience. "If I had a face that was half-Chinese and half-white, I wouldn't have gotten that criticism. . . . Before the contest, I didn't realize these kinds of attitudes existed." ( Read more ) |
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| Nov. 15th, 2009 @ 12:06 am Sunday Secrets | |||
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 PostSecret is an ongoing community art project where people mail in their secrets anonymously on one side of a postcard.   -----Email Message----- I worked for Reuters my entire life and was one of their most senior, valued employees. I was laid off last year when Thomson bought them over. Thank you so much for sending this in. If you can't join 'em, beat 'em. -----Email Message (pic)----- A designer friend told me that the secret inspiration for the new Pepsi logo was the Simpson's Comic Book Guy.             -----Email Message----- More things to make you happy: http://1000awesomethings.com   -----Email Message----- I wish it was okay for women to talk about poop the way men do. . . Because sometimes I'm proud when I have a particularly big or interesting one and I really want to tell someone about it!   See More Secrets. Follow PostSecret on Twitter. -----Email Message (pic)----- She was texting when she hit us from behind and pushed us into the pickup 3 feet in front of us. Thank God for Airbags.    PostSecret on Facebook     Order Your Copy Today
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| Nov. 15th, 2009 @ 12:22 am You fail at up—SQUIRREL!—selling | |||
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| Dear Walt Disney Home Entertainment, I realize you wanted to upsell the retail DVD of Up to people who rented the DVD through Netflix, Redbox and Blockbuster, and felt that the best way of doing this was to remove bonus features from the DVDs you distributed to those chains. But what possessed you to think that closed captioning is a bonus feature? (Seriously, that's why Disney says they removed it.) And particularly on a movie whose protagonist is a hearing-aid-wearing curmudgeon in his 70s? Dogs with voice-chip collars are quite hard to lipread, y'know. And it's funny how the audio track isn't considered a bonus feature... — a very disappointed Netflixer who might have bought the DVD if he could have watched the rental |
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| Nov. 14th, 2009 @ 11:54 pm GOD DAMN IT INTERNATIONAL BREAKS I WILL CUT YOU | |||
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Mostly feeling:
OH NO ROBIN now everything will FALL APART. D: OH NO |
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| Nov. 14th, 2009 @ 11:12 pm Will Progressive Groups Help Feminists Stop Stupak? | |||
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Will Progressive Groups Help Feminists Stop Stupak?By Peggy SimpsonAfter the shocking setback in the House for abortion rights, women’s rights groups turned their attention to the Senate, which could begin debate on health care reform next week. November 13, 2009 Whether the Senate blocks a House-passed amendment that would vastly expand federal bans on abortion depends partly on whether the women’s groups can persuade their progressive allies to stand up with them in opposition. The jury’s out on that right now. But much organizing is underway against the amendment by Representatives Bart Stupak (D-MI) and Joe Pitts (R-Pa), which was added to the House health care reform bill in a shocking move last Saturday. ( Read more... ) |
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| Nov. 15th, 2009 @ 02:34 pm Big hits, big leaps, big derby | |||
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Mostly feeling:
 enthralled Last night's match was a LOT more violent than the previous one. They slowed down in laps and picked up in hits and blocks - last time the falls seemed more incidental to the game. This time some players spent more time in the sin bin than on the track. I'll post in more detail when I'm back from bootcamp. |
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| Nov. 14th, 2009 @ 09:58 pm two people two questions... | |||
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| first, this is my daughters hair...( Read more... ) any ideas? oh, and hi, im Marie lol. |
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| Nov. 15th, 2009 @ 10:51 am Glenn Beck gets to ask dumb white-guy questions to a room full of black conservatives | |||
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| Glenn Beck gets to ask dumb white-guy questions to a room full of black conservatives It is hard to explain to white people like Glenn Beck why their "innocent" questions about race actually just reveal their ignorance and their false assumptions about people of other races and the nature of race relations. But Beck is so blitheringly un-self-aware that he decided to give it a go anyway yesterday on his Fox News show. As you might expect, it was a serial embarrassment. Beck, you see, was careful to hand-select his audience, people "the media claim don't think exist" -- black conservatives! Not that he ever actually explains this to the viewing audience -- you have to figure that out for yourselves as the show goes along, like the moment when he asks the audience if they think we're headed toward socialism (they all raise their hands) or are accused of being not "black enough" if they are conservative (again, a unanimous show of hands). ( 'But I don't identify myself as white, or a white American.' ) -- Go to the source to see the clip. You know you want to. |
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| Nov. 14th, 2009 @ 09:13 pm "It's FICTION!" McCain camp says of Palin's book | |||
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| ( Long article is long. Cut to save your flist ) |
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| Nov. 14th, 2009 @ 09:25 pm Black & Republican Like Me | |||
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| Glenn Beck devoted an entire show to allow a panel of prominent Black Republicans to speak out. It's really interesting, so don't ignore it just because of the source: VIDEO WON'T EMBED. CLICK HERE TO WATCH! Now's your chance to ask every question you wanted to ask a Black Republican but never knew who to ask. I'll be more than happy to answer them. |
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| Nov. 14th, 2009 @ 04:45 pm Hollywood considers Christian landmarks fair game, but Islamic off limits | |||
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 In his new film "2012", director Roland Emmerich reinforces a double standard by depicting the destruction of numerous Christian landmarks while sparing Islamic ones. The Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican and The Sistine Chapel in the Vatican all meet untimely fates in Emmerich's latest end-of-the-world extravangza. However, The Kaaba, the cube-shaped structure that is the focus of prayers and the site of the most important pilgrimage in Islam, was spared. And this double standard was not, it turns out, an oversight or mistake. ( Read more... ) |
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| Nov. 14th, 2009 @ 06:14 pm Intentionally Blank | |||
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| Nov. 14th, 2009 @ 03:24 pm Vladmir Putin: Gangsta? | |||
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 MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin rubbed shoulders with rappers and was hailed with "respect" in a television show Friday that could help boost his flagging ratings. Putin, wearing a turtleneck sweater and jacket, went on stage to present awards to participants in "Battle for Respect," a hip-hop music contest run by Muz TV, a Russian rival to MTV. "It would have been cool to record a joint track with Vladimir Putin because he is a legendary man and our idol," sang rapper Zhigan who won the contest. "Let's make so much noise in his honor that the whole world can hear." A presenter told the audience of about 100 young rappers in a makeshift television studio in an abandoned Moscow factory building that he wanted "smiles to stay on your faces throughout the evening." Despite hip-hop's violent image, Putin had a stern message for the rappers about healthy living. "I do not think that 'top-rock' or 'down-rock' breakdance technique is compatible with alcohol or drugs," Putin told cheering hip-hoppers who responded with chants of "Respect, Vladimir Vladimirovich." Putin's approval ratings last month had the sharpest fall since he stepped down as Kremlin chief in May 2008. His rating fell 6 percentage points to 66 percent on October 24-25, according to leading pollster FOM. [ID:nL2370140] Putin's aides responded with plans for a flurry of prime ministerial appearances, including a televised question-and-answer session with the Russian people this month. Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied there was a link between the hip-hop appearance and the ratings fall. "Putin has a high and stable rating which does not require any support," said Peskov. "The main goal of this event was to contribute to the promotion of a healthy lifestyle." Putin, who stepped down as president last year, remains Russia's most popular and powerful politician. Most Russians believe he will run for President again in 2012. Putin's carefully orchestrated image also include bare-chested photos on fishing trips in Siberia, appearances with rare animals such as Siberian tigers, leopards and beluga whales and encounters with fringe social groups like bikers. "He communicates to all social groups. Hip-hop culture is very popular and youths from all corners of our country are fans of this culture," Peskov said. news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20091113/od_nm/us_pu |
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| Nov. 14th, 2009 @ 04:13 pm Life and Death of Sitara Achakzai | |||
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| Prominent women's right activist in Afghnistan killed -- A personal account Sources 1 2 Her enormous smile and quick laugh was the first thing I noticed about Sitara Achakzai when I met her. It was March 8th, 2009, when the world celebrates International Women’s Day. I was in Kandahar, Afghanistan, to document the unprecedented event of hundreds of typically homebound Kandahari women coming out in public to pray for peace. For many women in Kandahar, unlike some other places in Afghanistan, little has changed since the fall of the Taliban. Kandahar was and is the Taliban’s home city, and when the regime fell in 2001, the local culture simply continued on as it had before. As they did in pre-Taliban times, many women in Kandahar still spend their lives within the confines of their compound walls, leaving home infrequently, if at all. ( Read more... ) She was killed back in April, but threats against Afghani women's activists continue. Important to remember the risks brave women are taking around the world for the sake of human rights and to support them by sharing their voices. |
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| Nov. 14th, 2009 @ 10:29 pm No public probe into Iraq 'abuse' | |||
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| Fresh allegations of abuse by the UK military in Iraq do not warrant a new public inquiry, the Armed Forces Minister Bill Rammell has said. ( Read more ) Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8360431.s |
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| Nov. 14th, 2009 @ 09:55 pm Intentionally Blank | |||
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Mostly feeling:
Made my way through the torrential rain to Cams Alders this morning to join the supporters' coach to Fareham's FA Vase 2nd Round tie at Whitehawk. When I arrived everyone was sheltering from the downpour in the stadium office corridor. The first face I saw on cramming in with them was a familiar one - Sue #6 from the telephone unit. After remarking "fancy meeting you here" she added "You're really a Havant & Waterlooville fan, aren't you?" She introduced me to her husband Rob who gave me a bit of stick about the Hawks as he used to work in Leigh Park and couldn't stand the place. The team picked their way through us to get on their own bus and we all shouted good luck to them. On the coach Rob said that he was a regular attender at Fareham games but this was only the third or fourth football match of Sue's life, and that the last game she went to was when she accompanied him to the 1987 FA Cup Final. blahNow Playing: Living Next Door To Alice by New World on Myspace All through the journey there, in a relentless downpour almost the whole time, people wondered whether the game was going to be called off, but we'd heard no announcement by the time we reached the ground. I sat drinking with Sue, Rob and their son Simon, who shared some of their nibbles with me. Just after 2 pm came the news that the match was definitely on. Fareham weren't at the races for most of the first half and conceded an early goal. A superb performance from Matt Willsher in goal kept it down to one. Just before the break Gary Austin had a brilliant chance to equalise but screwed his shot wide. After half-time (no Sky Sports News in the bar, alas, they had bloody horse racing on) Fareham came out transformed. A few minutes in we got an equaliser from a rebound after a free kick; from the covered terrace no-one was quite sure who scored. Fareham bossed the second half and, after several attempts, took the lead with a quarter of an hour to go when sub Tommy Woodward hammered home a beautiful goal. It looked like we were cruising through until the very end when Whitehawk were awarded a raggy penalty and scored it to send the match into extra time. Alas, the blow knocked the stuffing out of Fareham, who were anonymous all through the first extra time period. Just after Torr Spicer had a shot saved, from the goal kick Whitehawk got the ball straight down the other end and fired home the goal that sank us. At the end several of us away fans gathered by the tunnel to clap the lads off the pitch. Matt Willsher, looking dejected, got shouts of "Well played, Matt" and "Man of the match." The ref didn't escape the attention of some of us. Phil and I talked to a very attractive girl who turned out to be Matt's wife. We hit the clubhouse for a subdued pint and some of the England v Brazil match till about ten past six when we made our way back to the coach. On the drive back Splodge read out a text message from manager Matt Parr to thank us for our support and say how gutted he and the players were. One super-optimist constantly talked about the need to pick ourselves up and focus on winning the league (we're currently nine points behind the team in third and twelve behind the leaders, albeit with a game in hand on each). Thank frack the rain had stopped by the time we got back and I had to make the long walk to the bus stop. |
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| Nov. 14th, 2009 @ 06:46 pm More (rare) good news... | |||
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Brazil deforestation drops to lowest level since 1980s On the eve of vital climate change talks in Copenhagen, Brazil has announced a reduction in Amazon deforestation to its lowest level since the 1980s. Some 7,008 square kilometres of trees were cut down in the year to July, 45.7 per cent down on the previous year's figure and a quarter of the 2004 level, according to government figures. The number was the lowest annual figure since 1988 when Brazil started measuring annual deforestation. It is a hugely significant figure because tropical deforestation accounts for more carbon dioxide emissions than all the emissions from cars, planes, boats and planes combined. ( Read more... ) SOURCE Complementary news: Brazil and France in climate deal  Brazil and France have agreed a common position on fighting global warming before next month's UN climate change conference in Copenhagen. They will pursue the goal of reducing industrialised nations' emissions to 50% below 1990 levels by 2050. ( Read more... ) SOURCE I don't really know how reliable these numbers are, many Brazilian states don't have a proper way of monitoring deforestation/carbon emissions, not to mention Lula's government does tend to be slightly too |
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| Nov. 14th, 2009 @ 08:07 pm The Sun apologises for misspelling name | |||
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Mostly feeling:
amusedSun apologises for misspelling name of soldier's mother on websiteTabloid had attacked Gordon Brown for spelling mistakes in letter to Jacqui Janes, whose son Jamie died in Afghanistan The Sun has apologised for misspelling the surname of Jacqui Janes on its website, days after the News International title attacked Gordon Brown for making a similar error in a letter of condolence over her son's death in Afghanistan. The Sun's online article was a follow-up stating that Brown had "blundered again" by rowing with Janes over the phone as he attempted to apologise over the mistake-strewn letter of condolence. "Earlier this week on a My Sun discussion block, the surname of Jacqui Janes, the mother of guardsman Jamie Janes, was spelled incorrectly," said the Sun in an online apology. "As soon as we became aware of the error it was corrected. We are happy to apologise for the mistake." The government has argued that the Sun, which has a daily weekday circulation of more than 3m, no longer has the power to influence the outcome of a general election – as the newspaper famously claimed after John Major won in 1992. |
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| Nov. 14th, 2009 @ 11:29 am South Park Creators Have a Sustainably Built Retreat | |||
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 South Park is best known for its dark, politically incorrect humor, but Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of South Park seem to environmentally correct, at least for some part of it. The duo recently gave the world a peek at their Colorado Gateway retreat. The retreat is built in an environmentally friendly, sustainable way. Source: Ecorazzi Pictures: Steamboat Today |
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| Nov. 14th, 2009 @ 01:30 pm CREDO To Send Coat Hangers To Pro-Choice Dems Who Voted For Abortion Restriction Amendment | |||
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"We know what happens when women are denied access to reproductive health care including abortion," the petition reads. "And we can't go back to an era of coat hangers and back alley abortions. Reconsider your vote on the Stupak Amendment. Tell House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid that the final health care bill that emerges from the conference committee can't turn the clock back on women's rights." The email hasn't been sent yet, but you can read the language below the fold. ( Read more... ) source |
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| Nov. 14th, 2009 @ 12:25 pm Intentionally Blank | |||
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| Nov. 14th, 2009 @ 12:46 pm Mi Buenos Aires querido... | |||
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Buenos Aires okays gay marriage in Latin America first BUENOS AIRES (AFP) - – An Argentine judge paved the way for gay marriage when she granted a homosexual couple permission to marry in a first for Latin America, the world's biggest Catholic region. Buenos Aires, known for its active if low-key gay movement, became the region's first city to approve civil unions for gay couples in 2002. It was followed by Villa Carlos Paz in the north and the southern province of Rio Negro. Those civil unions grant gay couples some, but not all, the rights enjoyed by heterosexual married couples. Friday's ruling by Judge Gabriela Seijas ordered the civil registry to make official the marriage of Alejandro Freyre, 39, and Jose Maria Di Bello, 41, who had been denied their request because they were both men. It could increase pressure for lawmakers to take up a stalled gay marriage bill in Congress. SOURCE Epic win, hermanitos, now I hope it works for other couples too and that the rest of the continent is watching. |
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| Nov. 13th, 2009 @ 11:33 pm Comcast to Buy NBC-Universal. What Could Go Wrong? | |||
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| Too Big to Block? Why Obama Must Stop the Comcast-NBC Merger By next week, cable giant Comcast is expected to announce a deal to buy NBC-Universal, the biggest proposed media merger in recent memory. Comcast, the largest cable company and the No. 1 Internet service provider in the nation, would take over the NBC empire: a television network, Universal Studios, MSNBC, CNBC, USA Network, Telemundo, the Weather Channel, Hulu.com, 27 television stations and a host of other properties. The merger could be announced as early as Sunday. This train wreck of a deal will hurt all over. It will mean increased costs for cable television service; currently free online NBC content locked behind a pay wall; less opportunity for the distribution of independent media; even fewer choices and less programming diversity. On average, nearly one quarter of all channels offered to cable subscribers will be owned by the bloated Comcast. ( Read more ) |
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| Nov. 13th, 2009 @ 10:48 pm Utah's GOP Targeted for Not Being a "True Conservative". Moderate Menace to be Purged Soon. | |||
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| Utah becomes a battleground in the GOP's civil war Sen. Robert Bennett is under fire from those in the party who find him insufficiently conservative. His battle may be a reflection of an anti-establishment anger that could affect both parties. Reporting from Salt Lake City - Utah has emerged as an improbable battleground in the fight for the future of the GOP, as the party's veteran U.S. senator -- with nary a whiff of personal or political scandal -- has become one of the most threatened lawmakers up for reelection next year. Robert F. Bennett is no Northeast liberal. Raised in Salt Lake City, he built a business, manufacturing day-planners, that made him wealthy. His grandfather was a president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. His father served four Senate terms -- meaning that, combined with Bennett's own three terms, father and son have held the seat for the better part of 60 years. Yet those very attributes -- longevity, seniority -- only compound the challenge facing Bennett, who, like other Republicans across the country, faces attack within the party from those who find him insufficiently conservative. As last week's elections showed, the 2010 campaign is shaping up as another driven by a deep, throbbing anger against the political establishment. President Obama has been a prime target at rowdy town hall meetings and "tea party" protests, and Democrats certainly have much to fear, as they hold the majority in Congress. But the free-floating hostility may pose a danger to members of both parties. "This is not a Democrat problem. It's not a Republican problem. It's an incumbent problem," said Cherilyn Eagar, one of three Republicans, so far, taking on Bennett. "It's on both sides of the aisle." A national poll issued this week reflected that sentiment. Only about half of the registered voters interviewed, 52%, said they would like to see their representative reelected next year, among the most negative findings in two decades of Pew Research surveys. ( Read more ) |
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| Nov. 13th, 2009 @ 10:10 pm JP Morgan Demands Right To Get Bigger So It Can Epic Fail | |||
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| No more 'too big to fail' Our company, J.P. Morgan Chase, employs more than 220,000 people, serves well over 100 million customers, lends hundreds of millions of dollars each day and has operations in nearly 100 countries. And if some unforeseen circumstance should put this firm at risk of collapse, I believe we should be allowed to fail. As Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner recently put it, "No financial system can operate efficiently if financial institutions and investors assume that government will protect them from the consequences of failure." The term "too big to fail" must be excised from our vocabulary. But ending the era of "too big to fail" does not mean that we must somehow cap the size of financial-services firms. Scale can create value for shareholders; for consumers, who are beneficiaries of better products, delivered more quickly and at less cost; for the businesses that are our customers; and for the economy as a whole. Artificially limiting the size of an institution, regardless of the business implications, does not make sense. The goal should be a regulatory system that allows financial institutions to meet the needs of individual and institutional customers while ensuring that even the biggest bank can be allowed to fail in a way that does not put taxpayers or the broader economy at risk. ( Read more ) |
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| Nov. 13th, 2009 @ 10:04 pm Tea Party's Political Candidate Scandal of The Year: Drugs and Hypocrisy (New Party, Same Shame) | |||
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| Ezell Harris, Tea Party Candidate, Arrested On Drug Charges Ezell Harris, a Florida conservative who launched his campaign for Orlando City Council at a Tea Party rally, has been arrested on drug trafficking charges. Jail records show he is being held on four counts: trafficking in hydrocodone, dispensing illegal drugs without a license, unlawful use of a two-way radio, and possession of drug paraphernalia. Details of the case were not immediately available from the Orlando Police Department, though investigators believe he was selling Lorcet and Vicodin - brand names of hydrocodone -- that had been prescribed to him. According to his website, he served as a military policeman in the U.S. Army for three years in the late 1970s, and was classified as disabled in 1980. In his campaign platform, Harris said: "Prescription drugs have replaced cocaine and other illicit substances as the leading cause of drug abuse deaths in Florida, a new study says. Despite this, the state has no prescription drug monitoring program, and the authors of the study say Florida must do more to curb the abuse of legal medication ... The report makes it clear that lax oversight is allowing Florida's legal drug abuse problem to grow out of control." |
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| Nov. 14th, 2009 @ 12:00 am Ronald Reagan | |||
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| "The government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it."
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| Nov. 14th, 2009 @ 12:00 am Charlotte Whitton | |||
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| "Whatever women do they must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good. Luckily this is not difficult."
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| Nov. 14th, 2009 @ 12:00 am Noel Coward | |||
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| "I like long walks, especially when they are taken by people who annoy me."
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| Nov. 14th, 2009 @ 12:00 am Niels Bohr | |||
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| "An expert is a person who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a very narrow field."
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| Nov. 14th, 2009 @ 12:00 am quiescent: Dictionary.com Word of the Day | |||
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| quiescent: at rest; still; inactive.
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| Nov. 14th, 2009 @ 12:00 am Presented By: | |||
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| Nov. 14th, 2009 @ 03:19 am Intentionally Blank | |||
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| http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xdf4uYnMm No embed, it's Penn from Penn and Teller talking about the I pledge video. "pledge to be a servant" ... The video he's talking about: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwG5MhVGQ |
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| Nov. 14th, 2009 @ 12:00 am Weiner Cousins | |||
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When two men have had sex with the same woman/women, they become weiner cousins. This is a bond that can never be broken. We're weiner cousins now, that means we're closer than brothers. |
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| Nov. 14th, 2009 @ 02:56 am Intentionally Blank | |||
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