Alabama's unemployment rate for May was 6.8 percent, falling slightly from April's 6.9 percent.
The state's labor force grew last month by about 3,600 people, while the number of employed people also grew, by more than 6,200. May's rate represents 147,888 unemployed people, down from 150,401 the previous month, according to numbers issued this morning by Gov. Robert Bentley's office and the Alabama Department of Labor.
"We are continuing to move in the right direction, and we are working every day to recruit more jobs to Alabama," said a statement from Bentley, who recently returned from the Paris Air Show where he and other economic developers met with aerospace companies in hopes of luring more supplier business to the state.
Alabama employers added 7,000 jobs in May. The largest increase was seen in the hospitality industry, at 4,200. That trend is expected to continue throughout the summer as seasonal employers ramp up hiring.
Other gains included professional and business services jobs, up by 1,900.
All metro areas, however, saw unemployment rates inch up from April. Birmingham's unemployment rate was 5.5 percent, as was Huntsville's. Both were 5.2 percent in April.
The jobless rate in Mobile was the highest among state metros in May, at 7.3 percent, while the lowest was in Auburn-Opelika, at 5 percent.
Alabama Food received a first place award at the Alabama Press Association's statewide competition on Saturday. The colorful 128-page book was produced in cooperation with the Alabama Tourism Department and covers the food scene in the state by geographic region, starting in North Alabama and ending with the Gulf Coast.
The book is based on the popular "100 Dishes to Eat in Alabama Before You Die" brochure and emphasizes unique and original Alabama restaurants, the growth of the farm-to- table movement, and native Alabama foods. More than 225 restaurants across the state are featured in the book.
A section profiles food products manufactured in the state. More than two dozen Alabama photographers contributed images for the book. Karim Shamsi-Basha's photo of Hot and Hot Fish Club's iconic Tomato Salad is on the book's cover.
The hardcover book also has sections devoted to farmers markets, u-pick it farms, food festivals, and Alabama wines and craft beers. The book profiles 11 of the state's award-winning chefs including Chris Hastings, Frank Stitt, James Boyce, Chris Lilly, Wesley True, Bob Baumhower, Lucy Buffett, Chris Dupont, James Lewis, Nick Pihakis, and Patricia "Sister" Schubert.
Alabama Food is the official book for the state tourism department's The Year of Alabama Food promotion. It was created by the Birmingham News for Alabama Media Group and is available at Books-A-Million stores across the state and online at www.bhamstore.com and Amazon.com. Alabama Food can also be purchased at the Governor's Mansion Gift Shop and at The Goathill Museum Store inside the Alabama State Capital in Montgomery. The retail price of the book is $20.
With fewer than 60 days to the beginning of Alabama Restaurant Week, August 16-24, the list of participating restaurants has increased. Eighty-five restaurants have signed up by going to the www.alabamarestaurantweek.com website. In addition to those eighty-five restaurants, twenty-three restaurants participating in Birmingham Restaurant Week will also participate in the statewide promotion bringing the total to 108 in 31 different cities as of June 24.
The promotion by the Alabama Tourism Department is free to both qualifying restaurants and their customers. Birmingham Restaurant Week charges a small marketing fee.
Cities with one restaurant signed up so far are; Auburn, Bessemer, Centre, Elkmont, Enterprise, Fairhope, Florence, Hammondville, Luverne, Monroeville, Moulton, Pine Hill, Prattville, Rogersville, Spanish Fort, Tanner, Trussville, Tuscumbia and York.
Cities with multiple restaurants participating as of June 24, and the number of restaurants are: Eufaula-2, Point Clear-2, New Market-2, Dothan-3, Decatur-4, Montgomery-4, Troy-6, Mobile-7, Tuscaloosa-7, Gulf Shores/Orange Beach-10 and Huntsville-15.
Chamber and CVB organizations are encouraged to join with the Alabama Tourism Department in reaching out to locally owned restaurants and asking them to sign up before thedeadline, July 15.
Towns who have already signed-up include: Albertville, Arab, Ashland, Athens, Atmore, Bessemer, Birmingham, Columbia, Columbiana, Cullman, Decatur, Dothan, Eufaula, Fairhope, Florence, Grant, Heflin, Huntsville, Madison, Mobile, Montgomery, Mooresville, Phenix City, Prattville, Selma, Sheffield, Sylacauga, Troy, Tuscumbia and Wetumpka.
The hour-long tours will start at 10:00 a.m. each Saturday morning in April. Dates for the 2014 April Walking Tours are April 5, 12, 19 and 26.
"These tours are an excellent way for towns and communities of any size to be involved in a state-wide tourism campaign," said Brian Jones with the Alabama Tourism Department. "There is no cost to participate and state tourism provides all the posters, brochures and collateral materials. More than 20,000 people have participated in the tours since the beginning of the program ten years ago" he said.
Town interested in participating in the 2014 April Walking Tours should respond with an email giving their town's name, starting location, and shipping address to brian.jones@tourism.alabama.gov.
Towns who have already signed-up include: Albertville, Arab, Ashland, Athens, Atmore, Bessemer, Birmingham, Columbia, Columbiana, Cullman, Decatur, Dothan, Eufaula, Fairhope, Florence, Grant, Heflin, Huntsville, Madison, Mobile, Montgomery, Phenix City, Prattville, Selma, Sheffield, Sylacauga, Troy, Tuscumbia and Wetumpka.
The hour long tours will start at 10:00 a.m. each Saturday morning in April. Dates for the 2014 April Walking Tours are April 5, 12, 19 and 26.
It's that time of year again…time to make sure your accommodation or attraction is up-to-date and listed correctly in Alabama's official travel and tourism guide—Sweet Home Alabama.
The 2014 Sweet Home Alabama Vacation Guide and Calendar of Events has grown over the years into an impressive, coffee table-style reference book that is both informative and beautiful to flip through.
The well-crafted articles, striking photography and detailed listings make it not only a resource but a pleasure to review. We are proud of how far it has come, and we are excited about this year's guide being our best yet.
This year, another exciting development has been the creation of an online, electronic database listings update process. Never again will you have to sort through numerous mailings and mail back your listings update or confirmation.
• Simply log on to the new website, http://partners.alabama.travel, and either confirm, change or add your listing right then and there.
• Our new online listings process will save you and the state a great deal of time and money. It is much more efficient, and we hope you will appreciate this step we have taken to make this advancement.
• You can review or download the "quick start"guide which walks you through a few easy steps for updating or confirming your existing listing at this site: http://partners.alabama.travel/files/Alabama_Partner_Portal_Quick-Start-Guide.pdf.
• Please take a look at the quick start guide and visit the website to update your listing by August 1.
Updating your listing will take only a few minutes. We hope you appreciate this easy and efficient process!
We look forward to featuring your organization, accommodation, attraction or resource center in the 2014 Sweet Home Alabama Vacation Guide and Calendar of Events.
For any questions, e-mail pam.smith@tourism.alabama.gov or call Pam Smith at 334-353-4541.
Two additional members of the team working on the US Gulf Coast States National Geographic GeoTourism project arrived in Alabama this week for a meeting with various segments of the Alabama tourism industry.
Jim Dion, Sustainable Tourism Program Manager for National Geographic Society, Maps Division and Darienne Mobley of Tourism Builders met with representatives from state, federal and local tourism organizations and held a half-day workshop on the GeoTourism initiative project which is currently underway.
Dion told the group the goal should not be just the number of visitors, but the quality of the tourist's visit measured in a longer stay and more money spent in the local economy. The aim, Dion said, is to identify, develop, market and sustain authenticity of an area.
As a result of the June 19 meeting, a call was made to establish the Alabama Geotourism Stewardship Council to help guide the overall marketing strategy and sustainability of the U.S. Gulf Coast States Geotourism in the future.
Attending the meeting in Montgomery were Grey Brennan, Brian Jones and Peggy Collins of the Alabama Tourism Department; Chandra Wright, Gulf Shores & Orange Beach Tourism; Kelli Harris and Linda Watson, University of Alabama Campus Museums; Jim Felder, Alabama Scenic River Trail; Maureen Neighbors, Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs; Meg Lewis, Montgomery Chamber Tourism; Shirley Baxter, National Parks Service; Ike Lyon, US Army Corps of Engineers Alabama River Lakes; and Phillip Henderson, Alabama Geographic Information Program Office.
Alabama Tourism Department Director Lee Sentell also met with both Dion and Mobley.
Earlier this month, Jill Kidder of Tourism Builders and Simon Jones from Solimar visited 8 sites in south Alabama. Both are active members working on the four-state project.
Nominations are being accepted through July 15th for the US Gulf Coast States GeoTourism mapguide and website.
Arlene McJury, contract manager for Virgin Holiday, visited Birmingham and Montgomery on a research trip this past week. McJury arrived in Birmingham on Friday June 21st and met Cynthia McIntosh of the Greater Birmingham Convention and Visitors Bureau. McJury visited Birmingham's UpTown and 5 Points Entertainment Districts as well as the city's Civil Rights District.
In Montgomery, McJury met with Grey Brennan of the Alabama Tourism Department and Meg Lewis of the Montgomery Chamber of Commerce Convention and Visitors Bureau for a walking tour of downtown Montgomery. The following day, McJury visited many of the Montgomery's top attractions. McJury told Brennan that her trip could result in new southern suggested fly drives that would include Alabama.
Virgin Holidays is part of Richard Branson's Virgin Group. The company has become one of the largest and most successful long-haul scheduled tour operator in the U.K. Virgin Holidays was voted in 2010 as Best Long Haul Operators at the TTG Awards and Best Package Holiday Company Long Haul by the British Travel Awards.
McJury's visit to Alabama was the result of sales calls by Alabama's in-market representative Della Tully and visits by McJury to Alabama booths at trade shows.
Thank you to those that came last year. You know how great the show was. If you didn't sign up last year, join us this year.
Travel South is expecting that booth space will sell out,so the Alabama Tourism Department suggests destinations, attractions and accommodations register as soon as possible to make sure you can attend.
An iconic recording studio that hosted the likes of Cher, The Rolling Stones, Bob Seger and The Black Keys is now in the hands of a group that wants it to become part of a new Muscle Shoals music experience.
Noel Webster, the former owner of 3614 Jackson Highway, the original location of Muscle Shoals Sound Studios, said Thursday that the studio has been sold to the Muscle Shoals Music Foundation.
Hall declined to disclose the selling price.
Hall said the Muscle Shoals Music Foundation wants to renovate the studio to the condition it was in during its heyday, but also upgrade it with modern technology.
It also would be a part of a new Muscle Shoals music exhibit that is in the development stages.
Webster said the foundation purchased the building and some surrounding property that includes a cluster of empty buildings behind the studio.
He purchased the building in 1999 and eventually restored the studio to as close to its original condition as possible, including much of the recording equipment.
The equipment, he said, came with him.
Many artists recorded in the studio, with the biggest being the blues/rock band The Black Keys, who recorded their Grammy Award-winning 2010 album "Brothers" at the venerable studio.
Muscle Shoals Sound Studios was founded in 1969 by "The Swampers," Jimmy Johnson, David Hood, Roger Hawkins and the late Barry Beckett, who had worked as session musicians at Rick Hall's FAME Recording Studios.
Through the years, some of the biggest stars in music, including Rod Stewart, Bob Dylan, Boz Skaggs, The Rolling Stones, Jimmy Cliff, Bob Seger and Lynyrd Skynyrd recorded there and at the second location on Alabama Avenue.
The plan being developed by the Muscle Shoals Music Foundation involves creating a partnership with FAME Recording Studios and Cypress Moon Studios, whose Alabama Avenue location in Sheffield was the second site of Muscle Shoals Sound.
The studios would complement the construction of a facility dedicated to showcasing the history of Muscle Shoals music in a Smithsonian-quality series of comprehensive exhibits.
He wants to utilize the buildings behind the studio, possibly for a museum or gift shop.
Webster cautioned that making too many renovations to the building could affect its status as part of the National Register of Historic Places.
Hall said he approached Webster about purchasing the building about a year ago. Fundraising efforts began in January about the time the "Muscle Shoals" documentary debuted at the Sundance Film Festival.
Hall estimates it could take $75,000-$100,000 to properly equip the studio.
"Eventually, it's going to need a new roof," Hall said.
Hall said Huntsville real estate agent Ann Adams Borque was instrumental in helping close the deal.
He also thanked Sheffield resident and attorney Gene Hamby for assisting in finding donors to help the foundation purchase the property.
Hall said a portion of a donation Hamby made to the city of Sheffield several years ago for the creation of a music museum was used for the purchase of the old studio.
Inbound visitor totals to the U.S. are forecast to rise 4% in 2013, surpassing last year's record-breaking numbers, according to the U.S Dept. of Commerce. Some 69.6 million international visitors are expected to stay one or more nights in the U.S. this year. That growth rate, predicted in the Office of Travel & Tourism Industries' 2013 Spring Forecast, will be fairly consistent through 2018, when visitors are expected to number 84.6 million – an increase of 26% over 2012.
Visitors from four countries are expected to account for 68% of the projected growth from 2012 through 2018: Canada (30%), China (19%), Mexico (12%) and Brazil (7%). Growth will come from all world regions, ranging from a low for the Caribbean (+1%), to a high for the Middle East (+67%), Asia (+60%), and South America (+52%).
International tourism receipts set a new record in 2012, reaching an estimated $1,075 billion worldwide, up 4% from $1,042 billion in 2011, according to the latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer. This growth mirrors a 4% increase in international tourist arrivals globally, which reached 1.035 billion in 2012.
By regions, the Americas recorded the largest increase in receipts (up 7%), followed by Asia and the Pacific (+6%), Africa (+5%) and Europe (+2%). Receipts in the Middle East were still down (-2%) yet showed a steady improvement compared to the decline recorded in 2011.
DeSoto Caverns Family Fun Park announced that it received a TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence award. The accolade, which honors hospitality excellence, is given only to establishments that consistently achieve outstanding traveler reviews on TripAdvisor, and is extended to qualifying businesses worldwide. Only the top-performing 10 percent of businesses listed on TripAdvisor receive this prestigious award.
To qualify for a Certificate of Excellence, businesses must maintain an overall rating of four or higher, out of a possible five, as reviewed by travelers on TripAdvisor, and must have been on TripAdvisor for at least 12 months. Additional criteria include the volume of reviews received within the last 12 months.
In honor of Family Golf Month, Craft Farms Golf Resort, located in Gulf Shores, is hosting Family Fun Days.
July 15 through July 19, Craft Farms is putting a twist on a traditional round of golf by offering families a fun and innovative approach to playing golf. The Cypress Bend Golf Course at Craft Farms will feature two different size holes on each green. One hole on the green will offer the standard cup size of 4.25 inches in diameter. The second hole, for beginner golfers and children, will feature an 8 inch cup. Craft Farms anticipates that this unique approach to golf will encourage fewer putts, lower scores, and a quicker round of golf, in addition to making the golf experience more enjoyable.
In addition to Family Fun Days, Craft Farms is offering, throughout the month of July, the special "cart-fee" rate for junior golfers (ages 17 and under) who play with an accompany adult before 1pm or a free round of golf including cart for juniors who play after 1:00 p. m. with an adult.
For more information, visit www.CraftFarms.com or call (251) 968-3002.
Anniston Museum of Natural History Exhibit: Anniston the First 10 Years -Creating the Model City through Aug. 30. Exhibit is free with regular museum admission.
This special exhibit explores Anniston's historical roots from the chance meeting of Samuel Noble and General Daniel Tyler in 1872. Ten years later a beautifully crafted town was incorporated in 1883. The museum's exhibit traces the details of this historical period with displays featuring artifacts from the period.
Contact: Gina Morey Program Director of the Aniston Museum of Natural History, gmorey@annistonmuseum.org, or 256-237-6766.
Washington County Public Fishing Lake (also known as Millry Lake or J. Emmett Wood Lake)will be open Thursday through Sunday until July 8, 2013. At that time, the lake will close until a new lake manager can be appointed.
An information packet about becoming the lake manager at Washington County Public Fishing Lake is available by calling the Fisheries Section of the Alabama Division of Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries (WFF) at 334-242-3471.
Lake managers are appointed by the WFF to run the daily operations of the 23 lakes in the state lakes program. Lake managers are not employees of the State of Alabama; they receive compensation through the sale of fishing permits and concessions at the lake. Housing is provided for them, but lake managers must use their own equipment to maintain the grounds of the lake and provide concessions for sale.
Tuscaloosa is the only Alabama city in Benjamin Moore's "Paint what matters" contest. If they win, Benjamin Moore Paints will help with a revitalization project on their "main street". You may vote once a day until June 30.
Mark your calendars for the Alabama Governor's Conference on Tourism, Aug. 17-20, at the Westin Hotel in Huntsville next to Bridge Street with its' seventy upscale shops, restaurants, movie theater and spa just footsteps away.
Nominations for the Tourism Awards are now open. Please use this link to nominate a tourism professional: http://tourism.alabama.gov/forms/tourism-award-nominations/.
The last day for nominations is June 21.
An Alabama Governor's Conference on Tourism Facebook Page has been created. The link to it is http://www.facebook.com/AlabamaGovernorsConferenceOnTourism. If you have a FB account please "like" the page and "share" it on your page and/or invite your friends to like it.
The Silent Auction held during the Alabama Governor's Conference on Tourism benefits the Alabama Tourism & Hospitality Industry Scholarship Fund. The AGCT Silent Auction has risen over $202,000 over the past 20 years. Scholarships are awarded annually to students currently working toward degrees in the field of hospitality, tourism, hotel, culinary or food service management. Students enrolled in four-year colleges/universities must be at least a second semester freshman, but no further along than a second semester junior at time of application. Students from two-year colleges must be at least in their second semester of their first year, but no further along than their first semester of their second year at time of application.
To make a Silent Auction Donation please visit: http://www.algovernorsconference.com/silent-auction/. Scholarships will be awarded during the Alabama Governor's Conference on Tourism, August 17-20 at the Westin Huntsville.
Conference registration, full agenda and hotel reservations are available online at: http://algovernorsconference.com/.
Milky Moos Homemade Ice Cream in Enterprise and Troy appears in Food Network Magazine's July/Aug. issue. They were mentioned for their Boll Weevil Special, a treat that features peanut butter, peanut chips and peanuts. It's available at both the Enterprise and Troy Milky Moos.
The Marshall County Convention and Visitors Bureau has named Katy Norton president of its organization. Norton, a Guntersville native, has served as the president of the Arab Chamber of Commerce since January 2010. Norton will take over the president's position at the CVB on July 15.
Under Norton's leadership, the Arab Chamber has developed a strategic plan and maintained a membership of 320 businesses. She has continued to be a driving force for redevelopment in Arab's historic downtown and positioned the chamber to serve as an advocate for business growth and development within the city of Arab.
Tim McRae, Chairman of the Marshall County Convention and Visitors Bureau Board of Directors, says Norton will bring a vast array of experience and skills to the CVB. "Our search for the right person has been extensive. We know that Marshall County is poised to gain exciting new opportunities from the publicity surrounding the upcoming Bassmaster Classic. Combined with the projected growth in our area due to BRAC, the amazing beauty of our natural resources, and the hospitality and progressive leadership in our communities, we believe there is a tremendous untapped potential for tourism growth here. Katy's broad experience and professionalism, in concert with her passion to move Marshall County forward will be an enormous asset," McRae said.
Norton's first position after moving home to Marshall County was with the AIDS Action Coalition in Huntsville where she served as the Development Director for three years. Her event planning and grant writing experience led to increased funding support for the nonprofit.
Norton serves on the board for Arab Musical Theater and Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association as well as the Arab Electric Cooperative.
The Arab Chamber of Commerce is seeking a president for the organization. Chamber experience and/or knowledge of marketing and economic development a plus. Send cover letter, resume and salary requirements to: susan4design@yahoo.com or mail: The Glenn Group, Attn: Chamber Position, 449 North Main Street, Arab AL 35016. No phone calls please.
Are you a photographer with an eye for natural beauty? If so, then Outdoor Alabama magazine would love to see your photos. The magazine's 2014 Photo Contest is underway, with photos being accepted through October. Entries must be submitted on a CD-ROM or a DVD and accompanied by an official entry form, which can be downloaded at www.outdooralabama.com/outdoor-alabama/photo_con.cfm.
The contest is open to any amateur photographer except employees of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and members of their immediate families. An amateur is defined as someone who does not earn a living from photography. Photographers may enter up to 10 photos, which may be in the same category or spread among different categories.
The categories include: Alabama State Parks, Birds, Mammals, Reptiles/Amphibians/Fish, Other Native Wildlife, Scenic/Pictorial, Nature-Based Activities, Wild Flora, Youth Ages 6-12 and Youth Ages 13-18. The winning entries will be published in the February 2014 issue of Outdoor Alabama and exhibited across the state in several different venues.
According to Outdoor Alabama Editor Kim G. Nix, the key to getting a good photo is a mixture of good technique and selecting subject matter that draws the eye. "People always ask what we're looking for in a good photo. The first thing I tell them is to make sure the picture is in focus. That's really the first criteria in our selection—a sharp photo. Next, try to isolate your subject so that bird, plant or person is the main focal point. Compose the photo so there's not a lot of competing background," she said.
"This photo contest encourages people to explore the outdoors with their cameras. We'd really like to see more youth involved in the contest. We have special categories for them so they are competing against others the same ages," she added.
Entries must be postmarked by Oct. 31. For more information, call 800-262-3151, write to Outdoor Alabama Photo Contest, 64 N. Union St., Ste. 106, Montgomery, AL 36130, or email Kim Nix at kim.nix@dcnr.alabama.gov.
To view winners of the 2013 photo contest visit www.outdooralabama.com/photos/oaphotos/13winners/.


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With apparently fabricated nuclear documents, Netanyahu pushed the US towards war with Iran | The Grayzone
Source: Gareth Porter, the gray zone
President Donald Trump scrapped the nuclear deal with Iran and continued to risk war with Iran based on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's claim to have proven definitively that Iran was determined to manufacture nuclear weapons. Netanyahu not only spun Trump but much of the corporate media as well, duping them with the public unveiling of what he claimed was the entire secret Iranian "nuclear archive."
In early April 2018, Netanyahu briefed Trump privately on the supposed Iranian nuclear archive and secured his promise to leave the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). That April 30, Netanyahu took the briefing to the public in a characteristically dramatic live performance in which he claimed Israel's Mossad intelligence services had stolen Iran's entire nuclear archive from Tehran. "You may well know that Iran's leaders repeatedly deny ever pursuing nuclear weapons…" Netanyahu declared. "Well, tonight, I'm here to tell you one thing: Iran lied. Big time."
However, an investigation of the supposed Iranian nuclear documents by The Grayzone reveals them to be the product of an Israeli disinformation operation that helped trigger the most serious threat of war since the conflict with Iran began nearly four decades ago. This investigation found multiple indications that the story of Mossad's heist of 50,000 pages of secret nuclear files from Tehran was very likely an elaborate fiction and that the documents were fabricated by the Mossad itself.
According to the official Israeli version of events, the Iranians had gathered the nuclear documents from various locations and moved them to what Netanyahu himself described as "a dilapidated warehouse" in southern Tehran. Even assuming that Iran had secret documents demonstrating the development of nuclear weapons, the claim that top secret documents would be held in a nondescript and unguarded warehouse in Central Tehran is so unlikely that it should have raised immediate alarm bells about the story's legitimacy.
Even more problematic was the claim by a Mossad official to Israeli journalist Ronen Bergman that Mossad knew not only in what warehouse its commandos would find the documents but precisely which safes to break into with a blowtorch. The official told Bergman the Mossad team had been guided by an intelligence asset to the few safes in the warehouse contained the binders with the most important documents. Netanyahu bragged publicly that "very few" Iranians knew the location of the archive; the Mossad official told Bergman "only a handful of people" knew.
But two former senior CIA official, both of whom had served as the agency's top Middle East analyst, dismissed Netanyahu's claims as lacking credibility in responses to a query from The Grayzone.
According to Paul Pillar, who was National Intelligence Officer for the region from 2001 to 2005, "Any source on the inside of the Iranian national security apparatus would be extremely valuable in Israeli eyes, and Israeli deliberations about the handling of that source's information presumably would be biased in favor long-term protection of the source." The Israeli story of how its spies located the documents "does seem fishy," Pillar said, especially considering Israel's obvious effort to derive maximum "political-diplomatic mileage" out of the "supposed revelation" of such a well-placed source.
Graham Fuller, a 27-year veteran of the CIA who served as National Intelligence Officer for the Near East and South Asia as well as Vice-Chairman of the National Intelligence Council, offered a similar assessment of the Israeli claim. "If the Israelis had such a sensitive source in Tehran," Fuller commented, "they would not want to risk him." Fuller concluded that the Israelis' claim that they had accurate knowledge of which safes to crack is "dubious, and the whole thing may be somewhat fabricated."
No proof of authenticity
Netanyahu's April 30 slide show presented a series of purported Iranian documents containing sensational revelations that he pointed to as proof of his insistence that Iran had lied about its interest in manufacturing nuclear weapons. The visual aides included a file supposedly dating back to early 2000 or before that detailed various ways to achieve a plan to build five nuclear weapons by mid-2003.
Another document that generated widespread media interest was an alleged report on a discussion among leading Iranian scientists of a purported mid-2003 decision by Iran's Defense Minister to separate an existing secret nuclear weapons program into overt and covert parts.
Left out of the media coverage of these "nuclear archive" documents was a simple fact that was highly inconvenient to Netanyahu: nothing about them offered a scintilla of evidence that they were genuine. For example, not one contained the official markings of the relevant Iranian agency.
Tariq Rauf, who was head of the Verification and Security Policy Coordination Office at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) from 2001 to 2011, told The Grayzone that these markings were practically ubiquitous on official Iranian files.
"Iran is a highly bureaucratized system," Rauf explained. "Hence, one would expect a proper book-keeping system that would record incoming correspondence, with date received, action officer, department, circulation to additional relevant officials, proper letterhead, etc."
But as Rauf noted, the "nuclear archive" documents that were published by the Washington Post bore no such evidence of Iranian government origin. Nor did they contain other markings to indicate their creation under the auspices of an Iranian government agency.
What those documents do have in common is the mark of a rubber stamp for a filing system showing numbers for a "record", a "file" and a "ledger binder" — like the black binders that Netanyahu flashed to the cameras during his slideshow. But these could have easily been created by the Mossad and stamped on to the documents along with the appropriate Persian numbers.
Forensic confirmation of the documents' authenticity would have required access to the original documents. But as Netanyahu noted in his April 30, 2018 slide show, the "original Iranian materials" were kept "in a very safe place" – implying that no one would be allowed to have any such access.
Withholding access to outside experts
In fact, even the most pro-Israeli visitors to Tel Aviv have been denied access to the original documents. David Albright of the Institute for Science and International Security and Olli Heinonen of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies – both stalwart defenders of the official Israeli line on Iranian nuclear policy – reported in October 2018 that they had been given only a "slide deck" showing reproductions or excerpts of the documents.
When a team of six specialists from Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs visited Israel in January 2019 for briefings on the archive, they too were offered only a cursory browse of the supposedly original documents. Harvard Professor Matthew Bunn recalled in an interview with this writer that the team had been shown one of the binders containing what were said to be original documents relating to Iran's relations with the IAEA and had "paged through a bit of it."
But they were shown no documents on Iran nuclear weapons work. As Bunn admitted, "We weren't attempting to do any forensic analysis of these documents."
Typically, it would be the job of the U.S. government and the IAEA to authenticate the documents. Oddly, the Belfer Center delegation reported that the U.S. government and the IAEA had each received only copies of the entire archive, not the original files. And the Israelis were in no hurry to provide the genuine articles: the IAEA did not receive a complete set of documents until November 2019, according to Bunn.
By then, Netanyahu had not only already accomplished the demolition of the Iran nuclear deal; he and Trump's ferociously hawkish CIA-director Mike Pompeo had maneuvered the president into a policy of imminent confrontation with Tehran.
The second coming of fake missile drawings
Among the documents Netanyahu flashed on the screen in his April 30, 2018 slide show was a schematic drawing of the missile reentry vehicle of an Iranian Shahab-3 missile, showing what was obviously supposed to represent a nuclear weapon inside.
Technical drawing from page 11 of David Albright, Olli Heinonen, and Andrea Stricker's "Breaking Up and Reorienting Iran's Nuclear Weapons Program," published by the Institute for Science and International Security on October 28, 2018.
This drawing was part of a set of eighteen technical drawings of the Shahab-3 reentry vehicle. These were found in a collection of documents secured over the course of several years between the Bush II and Obama administrations by an Iranian spy working for Germany's BND intelligence service. Or so the Israeli official story went.
In 2013, however, a former senior German Foreign Office official named Karsten Voigt revealed to this writer that the documents had been initially provided to German intelligence by a member of the Mujaheddin E-Khalq (MEK).
The MEK is an exiled Iranian armed opposition organization that had operated under Saddam Hussein's regime as a proxy against Iran during the Iran-Iraq War. It went on to cooperate with the Israeli Mossad beginning in the 1990s, and enjoys a close relationship with Saudi Arabia as well. Today, numerous former US officials are on the MEK's payroll, acting as de facto lobbyists for regime change in Iran.
Voigt recalled how senior BND officials warned him they did not consider the MEK source or the materials he provided to be credible. They were worried that the Bush administration intended to use the dodgy documents to justify an attack on Iran, just as it exploited the tall tales collected from Iraqi defector codenamed "Curveball" to justify the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
As this writer first reported in 2010, the appearance of the "dunce-cap" shape of the Shahab-3 reentry vehicle in the drawings was a tell-tale sign that the documents were fabricated. Whoever drew those schematic images in 2003 was clearly under the false impression that Iran was relying on the Shahab-3 as its main deterrent force. After all, Iran had announced publicly in 2001 that the Shahab-3 was going into "serial production" and in 2003 that it was "operational."
But those official claims by Iran were a ruse aimed primarily at deceiving Israel, which had threatened air attacks on Iran's nuclear and missile programs. In fact, Iran's Defense Ministry was aware that the Shahab-3 did not have sufficient range to reach Israel.
According to Michael Elleman, the author of the most definitive account of the Iranian missile program, as early as 2000, Iran's Defense Ministry had begun developing an improved version of the Shahab-3 with a reentry vehicle boasting a far more aerodynamic "triconic baby bottle" shape – not the "dunce-cap" of the original.
As Elleman told this writer, however, foreign intelligence agencies remained unaware of the new and improved Shahab missile with a very different shape until it took its first flight test in August 2004. Among the agencies kept in the dark about the new design was Israel's Mossad. That explains why the false documents on redesigning the Shahab-3 – the earliest dates of which were in 2002, according to an unpublished internal IAEA document – showed a reentry vehicle design that Iran had already discarded.
The role of the MEK in passing the massive tranche of supposed secret Iranian nuclear documents to the BND and its hand-in-glove relationship with the Mossad leaves little room for doubt that the documents introduced to Western intelligence 2004 were, in fact, created by the Mossad.
For the Mossad, the MEK was a convenient unit for outsourcing negative press about Iran which it did not want attributed directly to Israeli intelligence. To enhance the MEK'S credibility in the eyes foreign media and intelligence agencies, Mossad passed the coordinates of Iran's Natanz nuclear facility to the MEK in 2002. Later, it provided to the MEK personal information such as the passport number and home telephone number of Iranian physics professor Mohsen Fakhrizadh, whose name appeared in the nuclear documents, according to the co-authors of a best-selling Israeli book on the Mossad's covert operations.
By trotting out the same discredited technical drawing depicting the wrong Iranian missile reentry vehicle – a trick he had previously deployed to create the original case for accusing Iran of covert nuclear weapons development – the Israeli prime minister showed how confident he was in his ability to hoodwink Washington and the Western corporate media.
Netanyahu's multiple levels of deception have been remarkably successful, despite having relied on crude stunts that any diligent news organization should have seen through. Through his manipulation of foreign governments and media, he has been able to maneuver Donald Trump and the United States into a dangerous process of confrontation that has brought the US to the precipice of military conflict with Iran.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Home » Ministries » Outreach
Outreach Team Mission Statement
Our mission is to advance the work of Christ outside our parish walls by creating a more humane and just world. We strive to inform, inspire, and involve parishioners in service opportunities and advocacy locally, regionally, and globally and steward our shared time, talent, and treasure.
The Outreach Team provides us with opportunities to do much more good in the world collectively than we could do individually. The Outreach Team coordinates activities, discusses future initiatives, allocates the Outreach budget, and leads us towards achieving our strategic plan objectives. We meet quarterly and all parishioners are invited to attend our meetings.
We take inspiration from Jesus' words:
"Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me." (Matthew 25:40)
Emmanuel parishioners use their time and talents to help our neighbors in Alexandria. The Outreach Team coordinates the following volunteer efforts:
ALIVE! Furniture Delivery. Emmanuel volunteers participate twice a year to pick up furniture from donors and deliver to families and individuals in need in Alexandria.
ALIVE! Food Collection. Emmanuel collects non-perishable food items and distributes them monthly to hundreds of Alexandria families in need. Emmanuel volunteers support the "Last Saturday Food Distribution" each month, where up to 600 households receive groceries.
Bag Lunch Program. Emmanuel volunteers prepare over 2,000 bag lunches each year to distribute through the Meade Memorial Church Bag Lunch Program.
Carpenter's Shelter Meals. Emmanuel volunteers prepare and serve two hot meals to residents of the Carpenter's Shelter each month.
Local Refugee Support. Emmanuel has partnered with Christ Church and other Alexandria area congregations to help meet the needs of local refugees and asylum seekers. A group of Emmanuel parishioners has formed a Care Team to work directly with a refugee family. The Care Team helps with acculturation and identifying issues and needs that can be addressed by outside support. Collectively, Emmanuel has assisted in providing the family with rent assistance, groceries, and material donations.
Meals on Wheels. Meals on Wheels (MoW) is a program that delivers meals to individuals at home who are unable to purchase or prepare their own meals. Emmanuel participates in the Alexandria MoW program and delivers on four routes (for 40 meals) on the first Monday of each month. A driver and runner are assigned to each route; we are always in need of more volunteers. Time commitment is about two hours once a month from 10:00 a.m. to noon.
Rebuilding Together. Emmanuel partnered with Rebuilding Together to conduct an adult service project in Alexandria to repair and improve a house. Rebuilding Together DC Alexandria achieves greater well-being by bringing volunteers and resources together to revitalize communities and improve the homes and lives of low-income residents, including veterans, seniors, individuals living with disabilities, and families with children, all at no cost to them.
Organizations and causes that we support financially:
ALIVE! Programs. Emmanuel provides operational funds to support ALIVE!'s Child Development Center and ALIVE! House. Emmanuel also helps sponsor the annual Alive! Walkathon and Empty Bowls fundraiser.
Christmas Giving Tree. Emmanuel raises money for a specific cause each year. In 2016 and 2017, the Giving Tree raised funds to support our partner parish in Haiti.
Community Lodgings. Emmanuel supports their back-to-school backpack program for at-risk children. In 2015, Emmanuel provided backpacks and school supplies to 120 low-income Arlandria students.
West End Lazarus Ministry. Emmanuel supports the West End Lazarus Ministry, which serves the working poor, homeless, disabled and those who are experiencing severe financial stress due to job loss, illness or personal loss. Emergency financial assistance, food bags and counseling are provided by volunteers, giving the clients hope and helping them through hardship.
United Thank Offering. United Thank Offering (UTO) is a ministry of The Episcopal Church for the mission of the whole church. Through UTO, men, women, and children nurture the habit of giving daily thanks to God. These prayers of thanksgiving start when we recognize and name our many daily blessings. Those who participate in UTO discover that thankfulness leads to generosity. Through the UTO, millions of dollars are distributed every year to support mission projects and ministries throughout the Episcopal Church. Emmanuel participates in UTO during the Season of Lent.
Emmanuel also serves as a meeting place for three Alcoholics Anonymous weekly meetings.
Haiti Partner Parish. Emmanuel has partnered with Ste. Croix Parish in Léogâne, Haiti. Emmanuel supports a school lunch program for students in the kindergarten and primary school. In February 2016, the parish sponsored the Rev. Joseph Sonley (Rector of Ste. Croix Parish) to visit Emmanuel to meet old and new friends, educate the parish, and to co-celebrate the Eucharist. In 2016, Emmanuel sent two parishioners to Ste. Croix Parish to establish personal connections within the parish and school, to discern how Emmanuel could best provide additional resources, and to lay a foundation for possible future mission trips to Ste. Croix. In addition, Emmanuel supports the Singing Rooster coffee NGO through coffee sales within the parish.
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Rob comes to UTTO from his role as head of connectivity for global product development organization Cambridge Consultants Ltd. Here Rob has lead work on the forefront of cloud connected systems and smart devices for over a decade, from the world's lowest cost internet radio to the first Bluetooth enabled medical implant devices. Rob has pioneered projects with leading global brands and helped them get to grips with groundbreaking technologies through roadmap generation, new product initiatives and deployments. Rob will bring his vast knowledge and leadership of the IoT and digital services landscape and drive UTTO on to the next wave of market leading products and services for the buried asset industry.


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World Report| Volume 377, ISSUE 9770, P982-983, March 19, 2011
FiguresFigures
Libyan exodus creates refugee and health worker crisis
Samuel Loewenberg
Published:March 19, 2011DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(11)60371-1
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Aid agencies are scrambling to respond to the physical and mental health needs of tens of thousands of refugees who have fled the fighting in Libya. Samuel Loewenberg reports.
Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi's brutal crackdown on the uprising, which began Feb 22, has left thousands dead and made more than a quarter of a million people refugees. Aid agencies are scrambling to respond. The first difficulty has been to even assess the needs on the ground—no international medical teams have officially been allowed to enter Gaddafi-controlled conflict zones in the western part of the country. So far, international agencies are focusing their attention on the humanitarian needs of refugees streaming across the Egyptian and Tunisian borders.
By March 14, Gaddafi's forces had started to bomb the port city of Ajdabiya, an important medical centre and the strategic gateway to the rebel stronghold of Benghazi, which has one of the country's only fully functioning medical centres. Aid agencies do not have direct access to the conflict zones in the west, but there is concern that food and stocks of drugs there will last for only a few more weeks.
It is virtually impossible to enter or find out information about conditions in western Libya, said Duccio Staderini, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) deputy programme manager for emergencies. "It reminds me of the second war in Chechnyna, in which we had no access." Duccio said the Libyan doctors in the west with whom they have been communicating are no longer reachable. Medical teams on the western border report that almost no wounded have crossed over from the conflict zone. This has fuelled rumours that Gaddafi's forces are executing patients in hospitals and getting rid of the bodies. The reason for this could be to make room for their own wounded, or, some speculate, to hide evidence of human-rights abuses. As The Lancet went to press, there was no independent confirmation of these charges.
A sandstorm hits the al Choucha refugee camp just across Libya's border with Tunisia
Copyright © 2011 AFP/Getty Images
Reports from refugees from the Gaddaffi-controlled areas in the west are that medical staff and patients are being forcibly held and threatened by the government forces. Two doctors who had recently escaped across the border, told Andrew Gleadle of the International Medical Corps (IMC) that people in the health facilities are frightened: "They are running out of supplies, there is a climate of real fear and intimidation", Gleadle told The Lancet from across the border in Tunisia, where he is leading an assessment and logistics team. Gleadle said that the team is preparing for two eventualities: first, if they gain access to western Libya and can start coordinating medical assistance, and second, if the war continues and they are suddenly faced with a massive outpouring of refugees.
Aid agencies estimate that 1 million people—400 000 refugees, and 600 000 inside Libya, will need humanitarian assistance. The fighting is so harsh in some areas in western parts of the country that people are afraid to venture out of their homes for food, according to reports.
Refugees continue to pour out of the country into Egypt and Tunisia, at a combined rate of about 6000 per day—but that could increase rapidly as fighting continues. Since fighting erupted on Feb 22, more than 267 000 people have fled over the borders into Egypt and Tunisia, according to the UN. Many of the refugees are guest workers, on which the Libyan economy heavily depended. While Egyptians fleeing the country have received substantial assistance from the Egyptian Government, others, particularly workers from Bangladesh and sub-Saharan Africa, are continuing to mount up in the camps without any means to return home.
The lack of latrines, clean water, and long food lines are a critical problem in the refugee camps in Tunisia, according to UN assessments. More than 16 000 people are at the al Choucha refugee camp just across the Tunisian border, many of them Bangladeshi, the rest from sub-Saharan Africa. Officials from the Tunisian ministry of health reported an increase in influenza-like illnesses, respiratory infections, and diarrhoea among the refugees. As of March 15, there have been no signs of an epidemic.
One big problem in the camps is that hundreds of single women and families are mixed in with the general population. Aid officials are pressing the Tunisian military, which runs the camps, to set up a separate space for these vulnerable groups, and to provide facilities for neonatal care.
Meanwhile, on the Egyptian border, an estimated 4500 people are stranded. They are living in "very harsh conditions", sleeping without shelter and facing hard rain and cold, according to the UN High Commission for Refugees. Also worrying is an expected influx of migrants into northern Niger, which could be as many as 60 000, according to UN estimates. Niger, one of the world's poorest countries, is not equipped to handle so many refugees, the International Organization for Migration's Vijaya Souri told reporters. "The infrastructure is weak", he said. "There is no running water, only wells." One local official expressed concern that the large amounts of refugees could trigger a disease outbreak. "There is no hygiene infrastructure", he said.
Meanwhile, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) mounted a US$39·2 million emergency operation to feed more than 1 million people in Libya, Egypt, and Tunisia over the next 3 months. Last week, the WFP brought a convoy of trucks with 70 metric tonnes of high-energy, fortified date bars to the eastern port city of Benghazi. Another shipment of the date bars, which are locally produced, is being sent, as well as 150 metric tonnes of wheat flour.
So far, no western aid organisations have been allowed to enter western Libya, where the fighting is taking place. "We are deeply concerned with the denial of access to medical care and the plight of patients in public health facilities within government-controlled areas", said Bruno Jochum, director of operations at MSF, in a press statement. MSF teams on the Tunisian border and in Benghazi have been providing medical supplies where possible, but they have been cut off from entering the conflict zones. MSF has medical teams poised at the Tunisian border, but so far they have been prevented from entering the country.
The MSF team in eastern Libya has distributed 22 tonnes of medical supplies, including drugs, burn kits, dressings, sutures, and external fixators. An operating-theatre nurse is working in the surgery ward of the hospital in Ajdabiya, which is about 160 km from Benghazi. The nurse is assisting the hospital's medical staff, which requested MSF's support after new clashes west of Ras La Nuf, according to a spokesperson.
In the first 5 days of violence in February, 1800 wounded were treated at the hospital in Benghazi, according to an MSF team. In Benghazi, the IMC assessment team found a shortage of hospital staff, particularly nurses, as many were foreign and have fled the country. This exodus has created serious gaps in critical care, especially in specialties such as paediatrics, gynaecology, and orthopaedic, and reconstructive surgery.
Medical supplies in demand included drugs and other items for surgeries, acute illnesses and lab testing, as well as antibiotics and anaesthetics. Although both food and medical supplies are sufficient in eastern Libya at the moment, as the fighting moves closer, a disruption in the supply chain could deplete existing stockpiles within weeks. Fuel shortages are already occurring.
WHO, with funding from the Norwegian Government, was able to provide eastern Libya with ten surgical kits, which are sufficient to cover 10 000 people for 10 days. Yet, as bad as the current situation is, efforts are bolstered by a strong medical infrastructure. In fact, the Libyan medical system has been well funded in the past, with first-class equipment, said Ted Tuthill, who is leading the IMC Emergency Response Team in Benghazi. Further, the region received a 3-month shipment of medical supplies in early February, before the fighting broke out.
Although most of the focus from the outside world is on dealing with victims of the war—both MSF and the Red Cross have sent surgeons to the area—Tuthill said that one of the biggest health threats in the rebel-controlled eastern section of the country will be the lack of care for people with chronic diseases, especially with the large exodus of nurses. That, at least, is the medium-term forecast, but with the increased penetration of Gaddafi's forces into the west, war casualties could substantially increase.
There are serious gaps in critical care in eastern Libya due to a large exodus of nurses
Copyright © 2011 Corbis
Meanwhile, treating mental trauma in refugees streaming across the borders is one of the most pressing problems. Five psychologists have been deployed at the al Choucha camp, providing services mainly for women and children. Volunteers are also being given psychological first-aid training, to help people deal with the mental trauma.
With no end in sight for the conflict, and the prospect of a protracted civil war, Gleadle said he is concerned that media attention, and therefore public attention, will wane—yet the need will still be there more than ever. Gleadle, who has worked in crisis zones for two decades, said, "my experience is that as soon as it drops out of the media, the focus moves on, and there is another emergency in the world, yet when that political and media interest moves on, you always have people who are left behind to struggle by themselves."
"Years later people could still be living on this border in tents and plastic sheeting."
© 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.


How did Gaga lose to "This Is America"?
Is Gaga still too controversial to win in the General Field? She lost AoTY three times and against all odds lost again yesterday. She clearly has a strong following in the Pop Voters, since she won two there yesterday. But do the other pop voters who didn't vote for her, switch to Gambino instead in Record Of The Year and Song Of The Year?
I think yesterday's performance will continue to make her polarizing, since old white dudes won't like that "Gaga" again. I think she should've done I'll Never Love Again, and have AoTY on lock for next year.
I wish she had a better manager who helps her make these decisions. She doesn't always make the right decisions, but there's probably no one around her to give her counsel.
Grammy voting closed Jan 9th, so all the recent hype with Critics Choice win, Oscars nom, Vegas performance didn't contribute. Also most voters probably also submitted their votes before the Golden Globes win. It lost out on a lot of key moments.
But Gambino isn't as an artist. He appeals to white voters. He's an emmy winner, producer, comedian etc..
Because This Is America was a bop.
Shallow got more hype after voting ended. Like with the Critics Choice Win and Oscar Nomination. Yes, it won a Golden Globe, but people had already sent their votes in.
We have to remember that This Is America is a controversial song that's message was more powerful than Shallow's. I think that it deserved the award just as much as Shallow did, if not more. I'm not upset by it, and we shouldn't be either. She still won 3 fcking Grammys!
I think yesterday's performance will continue to make her polarizing, since old white dudes won't like that "Gaga" again.
Dude, that's the song that deserved it the most in my opinion, both Song and Record of the Year. Of course it'd have been amazing to see Shallow get one of those but it is what it is and it still managed to get 2 wins + Joanne.


Congratulations to Sue A. who won the Craftsy Class, "Creative Quilting With Your Walking Foot" by Jacquie Gering. Thanks to all of you who participated! My friends at Craftsy told me that 407 of you entered so that's quite impressive. Sue – they will be in touch with you shortly with the free link to claim your class.
Christa's Soap Box – Is Modern Quilting Just a Fad?
Congratulations, Sue!!! This looks like a fun class…I would have entered, but having a longarm, I'd rather use that!
ha ha, glad I figured I wouldn't win it, so bought class anyway!


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Trade associations sound fire alarm over pre-insulated pipework
Two leading trade associations have called for more rigorous checks on the fire safety of pre-insulated pipework installed in buildings.
The Building Engineering Services Association (BESA) and the Thermal Insulation Contractors Association (TICA) have issued a joint statement.
It raises questions about the suitability of pipework normally used for underground and buried applications. These include primary heating networks now being in operation inside buildings.
Fundamental change in product application
They describe it as a "fundamental change in product application". As such, it takes the products outside the scope of the quality standards normally applied to their performance. Considering the current focus on fire safety in buildings, the two bodies are anxious to draw attention to the issue.
Building services pipe insulation specifications typically reflect BS 5422 requirements to ensure full compliance with Building Regulations.
However, pre-insulated pipework systems typically use either PUR or PE insulants. These do not meet the fire performance criteria typically specified in building services applications.
"In addition, the one-size-fits-all approach to insulation thickness typically undertaken by manufacturers of pre-insulated pipework simply does not allow for the required flexibility to meet individual specification requirements," the joint statement said.
Concerns and increasing evidence
Both bodies are particularly concerned about the use of coiled flexible polyethylene insulated piping systems. "We have increasing evidence that these systems are being installed in high-risk buildings, such as large multi-residential buildings."
Manufacturers, distributors, and installers of pre-insulated polyethylene pipework systems have a responsibility to provide evidence of the suitability of products for the specified application.
Specifiers must also check the thermal performance of the polyethylene system. Particularly, they must ask how suppliers will meet heat loss/heat gain requirements of BS 5422 and Part L of the Building Regulations.
Plus, it's vital that the product in question has the appropriate Euroclass fire rating, according to the statement.
Pre-insulated pipework a "critical fire safety issue"
Graeme Fox, BESA's Head of Technical, said: "This is a critical fire safety issue and both bodies were determined to present a united front to help protect best practice in building services installations."
"One of the important lessons learned from the Grenfell tragedy was that products may have been tested and certified, but not necessarily for the particular application in question.
"We would, therefore, expect all responsible supply chain firms to be able to provide details of how the Euroclass fire rating of the PUR/PE system was achieved and the arrangement of the insulants in the test to determine their exposure to heat and flame," he added. "We would also expect them to be able to evidence compliance with BS 5422 heat loss/heat gain tables clearly."
Chris Ridge, TICA's Technical Policy Manager, said all responsible companies should be able to provide current Euroclass fire test certification for "the complete range of polyethylene pre-insulated pipework products."
He added: "Looking ahead, we seek to challenge the wider industry to ensure that all pre-insulated systems meet the required standards. This should not stop at pre-insulated pipework but should also include pre-insulated ductwork products."
HSE Training Courses from a HSE inspector's point of view


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Real-life Robocop patrols the mall
FOX 29 Philadelphia
LOS ANGELES - Paul Blartt, Mall Cop should consider himself on notice because his job is on the chopping block!
Thirty years after the release of RoboCop, a real-life robotic police officer is now patrolling a mall in Dubai.
The Android will allow shoppers to report crimes, pay traffic violations and ask for directions. In addition, the robot can scan faces. But no word on how it would stop shoplifters!
Dubai has invested big in the technology and has plans for a larger rollout of the automated police officers over the next decade.
"We are looking to make everything smart in Dubai Police. By 2030, we will have the first smart police station which won't require human employees," a spokesman for the Dubai police told Gulf News.
Now, what could possibly go wrong?
COVID-19 vaccinations in Pennsylvania: What you need to know


Farson Mercantile is an oasis for ice cream lovers! We are renowned state-wide for being "Home of the Big Cone". Besides delicious ice cream, the Merc offers fresh made Pizzas, Deli Subs, & Gourmet Coffees. We also welcome you to browse our gift store of unique gifts and Wyoming apparel.
Be the first to add a review to the Farson Mercantile.


After House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) sent a letter to President Donald Trump suggesting he postpone his January 29 State of the Union until after the government reopened, few expected the President not to retaliate with his trademark vindictiveness.
The letter was seen as an attempt to pressure Trump into lessening his bulwark against functional democracy by foregoing his demand of $5 billion dollars for a wall at the southern border and put an end to the longest shutdown in government history.
Sure enough, days after, the President struck back with a letter of his own. He cancelled a planned Congressional Delegation (CoDel) to Brussels, Egypt, and Afghanistan that Speaker Pelosi was set to embark on that day. For national security and personal safety reasons, CoDels to areas of conflict are usually classified until the delegation lands at its destination.
This was seen by many as a petty rebuke of Pelosi unbefitting of a United States President. But according to the White House, it was just a coincidence. CNN's White House Correspondent Jim Acosta isn't buying it.
Neither are many of the American people.
Total Narc move. Lash out in retaliation childishly, when called on it, say that it didn't happen.
The lies are more transparent than my grandchild's. And he's four.
Another whopper but not the Burger King kind.
However, some are taking the White House at its word, especially considering the messenger.


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HomeACTION NEWSNovember 12, 1985 : The military Coup that failed and the day God saved my life
November 12, 1985 : The military Coup that failed and the day God saved my life
November 13, 2019 Publisher and Chief Executive Officer KABS KANU ACTION NEWS, COMMENTARY, INSIGHT, Uncategorized 0
By Kabs Kanu
In the early morning of Tuesday November 12 1985 , we were on a week-long fast and having a prayer retreat at the BWI Picnic Grounds in Kakata, when we saw an old man passing with his radio glued to his ears. . The national anthem of Liberia would be played and then somebody would speak and the radio would be playing martial music.
Because of the chaotic state of Liberia, with a disputed election just held with Gen. Samuel Doe declared winner , though veteran politician Jackson Doe had actually won it, we knew that something had happened . Why was the national anthem being played repeatedly ? The old man passed us but after a while he came back and we asked him what was going on, and solemnly and sarcastically he replied : "Why , you people do not know ? You're here praying in this bush and do not know what has happened in the country today ? Quiwonkpa just invaded Liberia .He has overthrown the government and Doe is in hiding ". Wow, so there had been a coup and President Samuel Doe had been overthrown ?
We scrambled for our bibles and belongings and headed back to town, whereupon we met the whole town upside down with jubilation. Hundreds of people were on the streets dancing, some with bodies painted like warriors and waving palm fronds. We got home and turned on our TV and the whole of Monrovia was in joyful ecstasy , with thousands of people out in the street dancing and celebrating what everybody thought was the overthrow of C-I–C Dr. Samuel Doe at last. Former Army Chief Brig. Gen. Thomas Quiwonkpa, one of Doe's pards with whom he had staged the bloody April 12, 1980 coup that overthrew the government of President William Tolbert, who was assassinated, but had been fired by Doe two years previously, and fled into exile, had returned to exact vengeance and redeem the Liberian people from Doe's human rights abuses and dictatorial rule.
As we would learn later, Quiwonkpa had invaded Liberia from Sierra Leone with Liberian army deserters and rebels as well as Sierra Leonean police officers ( ISUs ) provided by President Joseph Momoh. They had seized the radio station and the military barracks ( BTC ) and Quiwonkpa was announcing at regular intervals that his patriotic forces had invaded Liberia and taken over and that Doe was in hiding but there was no escape for him. He was a friendly and patriotic military officer who was a favourite of the masses. Therefore, thousands poured into the streets to welcome his coup and celebrate the downfall of the hated Doe.
As we watched with breathcatching anxiety on TV, we saw ministers and government officials who had been arrested being brought to the ELBC radio and TV station naked. Some, like the Justice Minister, J. Jenkins Scott, had been badly beaten . Quiwonkpa himself appeared at the radio station walking around , holding a walkie-talkie and saying that he had no grudge for Doe but had been forced by the dictator's abuse of power to overthrow him. Quiwonkpa said Doe will be put on trial. He said he will formally address the nation later in the evening.
Liberians had reconciled themselves to the reality that President Samuel Doe had been overthrown by the lovable Gen. Quiwonkpa, who was the good guy and the people's conscience in Doe's military junta before both men fell out in 1984 and Doe demoted Quiwonkpa from Army Commanding General ( Force Commander ) to Secretary General of the military government, the People's Redemption Council ( PRC ) , which Quiwonkpa turned down, forcing Doe to fire him. Home cocktail parties were being planned. The celebrations had already kicked off in living rooms, porches and backyards. Another day of redemption had been wrought in Liberia.
But the coup and jubilation lasted only for about 8 hours. Shortly after 2 pm, things went terribly wrong. Col. Moses Wright, one of Doe's trusted military officers came on the air and shocked everybody by announcing that the coup had failed and Doe was back in power. People were still on the streets dancing, oblivious of the new development .Only we at home watching on TV knew that the coup had been reversed. Doe himself even came briefly on the air to announce that it was not true that he was in hiding and that he was still President and Commander-In-Chief of the army.
WAHALA FODOM
Doe's soldiers from Camp Schefflein , who had with the help of Israeli military instructors , reversed the coup , went out into the street . When the jubilant crowds saw the soldiers in their army trucks , they thought it was the soldiers who had redeemed them that day, not knowing these were soldiers loyal to Gen. Doe. They were stunned when the soldiers opened fire on them. Then started the running battle between the soldiers and the crowds that led to many deaths. Things had changed dramatically and the soldiers were going around arresting and in some cases putting to death the coup leaders , soldiers and members of the public who had been earlier seen on TV rejoicing. Quiwonkpa fled into hiding . He was caught two days later and publicly executed near his hiding place and dismembered and his mangled body displayed at the Executive Mansion. In a macabre show of revenge, he was castrated and his private part hung and displayed on the bonnet of a military jeep that was driven around the city by jubilant pro-Doe soldiers. It was alleged that Quiwonkpa's body was eaten by soldiers and some members of the public who thought that because he was considered a very powerful man, his powers will be transferred to them. Somebody came to Kakata sucking on his hacked off thumb.
The failed coup led to monumental reprisals attacks on anti-Doe people and members of the Gio and Mano tribes in Monrovia, other cities and especially in Nimba County where thousands of them were allegedly slaughtered by Doe's soldiers fueling the resentment and tribal anger that led to the Liberian civil war four years later.
As I look back on another very traumatic and dangerous day in Liberia, I thank God for saving my life and the lives of my family. On the day of the failed coup, I had to violate the curfew that President Doe had declared with orders for his soldiers to shoot any violator as his troops searched for the coup-makers. Not knowing how long the chaos would last , and because we were fasting and had not done any serious food shopping, I had gone out that evening to buy some foodstuffs from market women living around the KRTTI campus where I taught and lived in the teachers' quarters. I thought since it was a campus in the upcountry, enforcement of the curfew would not have been rigid.
My luck ran out . A military truck with some heavily-armed soldiers came rumbling round the bend and they asked me why I was out and if I did not know a curfew was in force. I said I knew but was just coming to buy some foodstuffs from market women living around the campus. Because of my Sierra Leonean British accent and the fact that Sierra Leonean mercenary police were involved in the attack on the country earlier in the day, the soldiers accused me of being a one of them . Nothing I said convinced them. I showed them my identity cards but they described them as fake. They started asking me lots of questions which if they were not satisfactory would have led to me being shot. But God was on my side. I continued pleading that I was a Liberian. They rejected my claims until one soldier, tired of the whole back-and -forth, decided to cut matters short . He said : "OK, en you say you Liberian mehn and you live here ? Then, do one thing. If you do, you will convince us, If not, we will take you down. Sing the Liberian national anthem. If you are really a Liberian, you will know how to sing it . "
My heart leaped for joy at last. I thought I was a goner. I thought my charmed life had come to an end at last. But the Liberian national anthem I could sing because after teaching in the country for 10 years then, I had learned it listening to students singing it during our regular Friday assembly programs at Monrovia Central High and during events here at KRTTI. I cleared my throat and sang the Liberian national anthem so euphoniously that the soldiers were impressed and were convinced that even if I was not a Liberian as I had claimed, one thing was certain : I lived in the country and was not one of the invading mercenaries that overthrew the government briefly earlier in the day. They warned me sternly to respect curfews in future because other soldiers would have just shot me down . They offered to take me back to my quarters . When my fellow teachers saw the army truck entering the campus, many ran for their lives. It turned "It was just Leeroy being given a ride back" Probably bothered my their conscience for what they had put me through, the thoughtful soldiers shared their food supplies in their truck with me . They had been looting whole day, since the coup was announced. One of the soldiers said he will be returning to school soon, and who knew ? As a teacher, I might help him to get a place in school. With that, they drove away, leaving me thanking God for my life. Thousands of people were not luck as I was . Their encounters with the vengeful soldiers that day ended in their deaths.
Sierra Leone to Establish Teaching Hospitals
March 2, 2016 Publisher and Chief Executive Officer KABS KANU 0
The Parliament of Sierra Leone has concluded the "First" and "Second" readings of "The Teaching Hospitals Complex Administration Act 2016". The Act aims to provide for the establishment of the […]
Residual Special Court Remembers Former Prosecutor Sir Desmond de Silva, QC
June 6, 2018 Publisher and Chief Executive Officer KABS KANU 0
PRESS RELEASE The Hague, the Netherlands, 5 June 2018— Residual Special Court Remembers Former Prosecutor Sir Desmond de Silva, QC The Residual Special Court has learned with sadness of the […]
Analysts: Africa Visits by Merkel and May Present Opportunities
September 5, 2018 Publisher and Chief Executive Officer KABS KANU 0
September 03, 2018 12:15 PM Chika Oduah British Prime Minister Theresa May, left, is welcomed by Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari, at the Presidential palace in Abuja, Nigeria, Aug. 29, 2018. […]
SLAJ visits detained colleague at the CID
Guinea: Appalling human rights "red flags" ahead of presidential election
Press Release From The Hinga Norman Defence Committee
Hinga Norman BE IT KNOWN TO ALL THAT we have received with disbelief news of the arrest of people peacefully demonstrating today 10th March 2004 in Freetown in support of […]
Accountability and transparency in Sierra Leone, as IHP -PLUS assesses Health Ministry's financial management system
Freetown, May, 23, 016 (MOHS) – The International Partnership-plus (IHP-Plus) is on a joint mission in Sierra Leone to assess the Financial Management and Procurements of the health sector […]
Mamba TV distorts another story : Presidents Koroma and Jingping did not discuss any $ 315 million debt for Mammamah International Airport
As a member of Sierra Leone's delegation to the 70th Session of the UN General Assembly, I attended the landmark bilateral meeting on the margins of the Session at […]
Potential Chinese Investors end fact finding mission in Sierra Leone
A team of potential investors from China had completed a weeklong fact finding mission with the Sierra Leone Embassy in the People's Republic of China, through its Head of […]
Meet Sierra Leone's new Attorney General and Minister of Justice
Dr Priscilla Schwartz was yesterday appointed Attorney General and Minister of Justice by President Maada Bio, following the sensational and stunning dismissal of Lawyer Charles Margai . HERE IS THE […]


Japan's parliament passed a set of bills on Monday aimed at strengthening nuclear safety measures following criticisms of the government for a slow response to the country's worst-ever nuclear accident in September.
The Upper House of parliament unanimously passed the legislation aimed at giving the central government a more responsible role during nuclear accidents. The more powerful Lower House passed the bills last month.
The government has come under fire for lax supervision and a slow response to the accident at a uranium processing plant in Tokaimura which exposed about 70 people to radiation.
Under the new law, the prime minister would declare a state of ``nuclear emergency" and immediately set up a crisis management centre to order evacuations and other safety measures during a major nuclear disaster.
Previously, local governments had the primary responsibility of instructing residents on safety measures. They have long demanded the central government play a more active role.
The new legislation requires nuclear facility operators to immediately report any accidents and the prime minister could order the dispatch of Japan's Self-Defence Forces if necessary.
The laws also require periodic inspections of nuclear fuel facilities, previously required only for nuclear power plants.
The Tokaimura accident, which occured when workers ignored proper safety procedures and triggered a nuclear chain reaction, or criticality, was ranked four out of seven on an international scale of nuclear accidents.
Tokaimura mayor Tatsuya Murakami had said he welcomed the new bills but what was more important was whether the new legislation would be effective in practice.
``A concern of mine is...can it (the legislation) really lay the foundation for better and swifter initial responses by the government during emergencies," Murakami said in November.


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Vișinari este un sat în comuna Bogdănești din județul Vaslui, Moldova, România. Atestat prima dată în 1828, cătun al satului Orgoiești, sub numele de Limboiești.

Vișinari, Bogdănești

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I see the blame game has started and one of those playing it appears to be Russ Mitchell, Managing Editor of The Dickinson County News with his recent statement regarding the infestation of zebra mussels in the Iowa Great Lakes.
He states, "the mussels aren't native to the Iowa Great Lakes and he states northwest Iowa waters became contaminated when boaters failed to property drain, clean and dry boats as they moved from one lake to another."
While this could certainly be true, he quickly and, I feel unjustly, blames one particular facet for the problem.
There are many, many ways these pest items can be transported. Young zebra mussels in their larval form are called "veligers" and are microscopic in size, undetectable by the human eye.
It would seem to me that these larval could easily become embedded in the plumage of the enormous population of Canada geese and other waterfowl of our area. This source appears almost impossible to control. I understand it has been documented that several species of fish and diving ducks have been known to eat the small mussels. I don't know if we have those species, but hope they get busy or they will get behind.


Laurent Elie Badessi is a Franco American fine art photographer born in France. He belongs to a family with three generations of photographers. From an early age, this enabled him to explore and appreciate the art of photography.
After studying language and communication sciences at Université des Lettres d'Avignon, Badessi enrolled in a photography course at Université de Paris VIII. Curious about the psychological aspect in the interaction that occurs between a photographer and his sitter during a photo session, he decided to base his M.A. thesis on that subject. To explore this phenomenon further, he used the technique of "La photographie négociée" (The Negotiated Photography) and spent several months in Niger, Africa taking photographs of isolated tribes that had never (or very rarely) been exposed to the medium. For this project titled "Ethnological Fashion Photography", he received the prominent "Bourse de l'aventure" (The Adventure Grant) among several other grants and awards.
Badessi started his career in Paris and continued working abroad before moving to the United States in the early 1990s.
Print size: 40 x 60 in.
Print size 40 x 50 in.
Image size 16 x 20 in.
Image size 32 x 40 in.


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You are here: Home / Events / Review: 'Commercial' album by Los Amigos Invisibles
Review: 'Commercial' album by Los Amigos Invisibles
June 22, 2009 By AJ Miranda
Summer is upon us, which can only mean one thing: road trip time. And what's one of the most important elements of any good road trip? The soundtrack. For the summer of '09, Los Amigos Invisibles swoop down like funky synth-rocking disco-dancing superheroes to save the day with their new album Commercial. This is the group's sixth studio release since 1995, and their first for Nacional Records, a label that's been doing a solid job lately of releasing the best in Latin alternative electronic and dance (Mexican Institute of Sound, Nortec Collective).
The album opens with "Fuerza," a 30-second mission statement of sorts (a commercial, you might say) that features a radio DJ voice listing a bunch of Spanish synonyms for the word "force." This track launches immediately into the funkiest and most forceful track on Commercial ("Mentiras"). I can see a group of friends in a cramped Honda heading for the beach, singing in unison "Esas son puras mentiras." After this upbeat and happy-go-lucky track, the album takes it slower, using its synths and funk guitars for sexier, more mellow (but no less danceable) purposes. "Sueno Erotico" sounds like what you'd expect a song with that title to sound like, as it drips with sexy-smooth disco sensibility. Much of Commerical has a disco sensibility, but the Amigos borrow from the few redeeming aspects of the genre and meld them with modern influences to create a sound that is very familiar to anyone who grew up with parents who came of age in the '70s and still played their vinyl records every now and again.
After spending most of the first ten tracks flirting with disco, the album takes a sudden turn for the weird. "Como Sabes Tu" has hints of those disco synths, but laid over a hyper beat that feels like it doubles the beats per minute rate of previous songs on the album. The song doesn't come to an end, rather it just gets cut off abruptly and is replaced with the fuzzy chugga-chugga guitars of "Merengue Killa." Just when it sounds like the Amigos will try to go death metal on us, the loud track also ends abruptly, after 60 seconds, and we end up with another minute-long clip, this one a dub-reggae interlude. Curveballs like that make this album an odd listening experience. If you want just a straightforward album, this one might turn you off a little. But don't be dissuaded; Los Amigos Invisibles have crafted a fun album that goes well with summer weather, tropical cocktails, and dancing under the night sky.
AJ Miranda
Managing Editor - AJ Miranda grew up in California's San Joaquin Valley, though he's an adopted Texan since 2002. He has a journalism degree from the University of Texas at Austin and has written about business and city life for The Wall Street Journal, The Denver Post and Laredo Morning Times. He is also an avid photographer and videographer.
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Filed Under: Events Tagged With: review


Videos of the old Dean Martin show, when TV was good.
Here are a couple more. The way they tried to crack eachother up while they were recording the live show was classic. Here are two of my favorites, although I couldn't find the full version of the second skit below. We saw both Tim and Harvey do a show in Toledo about 5 years ago before Harvey died, they were very good together.
The cost for the DVD's advertised on the late night infomercial for the Carol Burnett Show would be well worth it!
Wow... is this the we are too stubborn to like anything new thread? There are plenty of good shows on currently. You mostly just have to give them a chance. I mean really?, Carol Burnett and Dean Martin? Nothing has been good since then?
Hill St. Blues, The Cosby show, NYPD Blue, Seinfeld, The Sopranos...just to name a very few!
Yeah Hill Street Blues was a good show, so was Miami Vice. I can't think of any recent shows that are as good.
Two and a Half Men is good.
When was the last time those shows gave you a good belly laugh?
Maybe Cosby...is he still on?
Actually I just caught about 10 minutes of an old Cosby show rerun last week, and laughed...so pretty recently! I think 2 and a half men is great, has a dry spell once in a while but over all is current to the times and funny.
I loved Northern Exposure . . . . . Alaska is a terrific place and while the show was not filmed there the spirit of the people are reflected and I fell in love with the place and people while I lived there.
Current favorites: Big bang theory, How I met your mother, Deadliest Catch, Hell's Kitchen.


Yahoo! expects to see immediate and positive results from its new ad program.
Motley Fool Stock Advisor selection Yahoo! (NASDAQ:YHOO) has been struggling recently. Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) is cleaning Yahoo!'s clock right now because it has been more innovative in its design of useful technologies and more aggressive in bringing these technologies to the customer. In the latest round of sparring between the two search-engine heavyweights, Yahoo! once again looked sluggish and outgunned, as my Foolish colleague Rick Aristotle Munarriz pointed out.
However, Rick also left room for optimism, highlighting a few areas where Yahoo! appears to be doing things right. Utilizing the company's fourth-quarter earnings conference call, we will explore in much greater detail what is perhaps Yahoo!'s most important development -- Project Panama.
As we look ahead toward the next several quarters, perhaps none of Yahoo!'s newest projects is as important to fiscal 2007 and beyond than its new advertising program called Project Panama.
In our last look at Project Panama, I compared Google's Internet ad growth to the lethal offensive attack of the Indianapolis Colts led by Peyton Manning. I wondered how one might counter such an attack. Only one answer came to mind, a Brian Urlacher-led Chicago Bears defense. Oddly enough, the two will be facing off in the Super Bowl in just over a week from now.
Yahoo! may have finally found an answer for Google's dominance of the advertising-search market. If so, fiscal 2007 may be the early beginnings of the comeback.
At the heart of its plan to recapture lost ground against Google, Yahoo! is turning to Project Panama in hopes of significantly improving its search monetization. Over the past several months, Yahoo! has sent out invitations to U.S. advertisers, encouraging them to get onboard with the new search-marketing system.
It appears advertisers are listening. During the call, CEO Terry Semel affirmed, "I'm happy to report that we have successfully transitioned the large majority of our [advertising] revenue" to the new system. He adds, "We will continue to send invitations to U.S. advertisers to upgrade to the new system throughout the remainder of the first quarter, and anticipate that all U.S. advertisers will have transitioned by the end of this quarter."
The migration process happened much faster than anticipated, and Semel was happy to report that the new ranking model employed by Project Panama will officially kick off ahead of schedule; the launch date is set for Feb. 5.
Semel went on to explain what the new ranking model means. Beginning on Feb. 5, all U.S.-based Yahoo! search marketing ads will be ranked by quality and key-word bid price. For instance, advertisements that have a higher quality ranking will be rewarded with "better placement on the results page."
The net effect of the new program is that it should "deliver more relevant text ads" to web surfers, and subsequently, "create greater volume of high quality leads" for advertisers.
While the U.S. market is the first to get the new program, plans are already under way to introduce the system to key international markets. In the second quarter, Japan will be the first international market to be included into the new framework, and from there it will be introduced to others on a "market-by-market basis."
As previously forecasted, management is expecting the new system to have a positive influence on revenues in the second quarter. In the question-and-answer portion of the call, more clarity was given; management indicated that it expects improvements to its revenue-per-search in the latter part of the second quarter. Further, Yahoo! anticipates the revenue impact to "gain momentum throughout 2007 and beyond."
The revenue impact will be significant. During the Q&A, it was pointed out that revenue growth will start out at about 8% at the beginning of the year, but by year-end average out at about 14%. That means Project Panama should result in very meaningful double-digit revenue growth particularly in the back half of the year.
The whole of Project Panama is worthless, however, without quality partners participating. A key partner is eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY). Semel indicated that Yahoo! has already "begun selling both graphical advertising and sponsored search within eBay."
Yahoo! also made strong inroads in the local advertising market by expanding its partnership of local newspapers to 225, up from 150. One of the key relationships that Yahoo! has with local newspapers is in job search. The combination of Yahoo!'s Hot Jobs with local job listings significantly expands the opportunities for searchers and presents unique marketing possibilities.
Other key partners added over the past quarter include News Corp.'s (NYSE:NWS) Fox News and Disney's (NYSE:DIS) ABC News, which will enhance its video-based advertising initiatives. But perhaps the advertising opportunity that stood out most for me during Semel's remarks was with Pepsi (NYSE:PEP).
Pepsi's Doritos is sponsoring a program that allows Web surfers to submit their own commercial for the brand. The winning commercial, to be selected by Doritos, will then run in the upcoming Super Bowl. This new advertising initiative is particularly exciting, because it encourages strong user participation and creates meaningful branding opportunities for advertisers, and, finally, Yahoo! becomes the platform by which it is all made possible.
2007 should prove to be an exciting year for Yahoo!. If Project Panama produces as it is expected to, it may also be an exciting time for shareholders.
As the company was getting blasted by Google's search-marketing program, Yahoo!'s stock hit lows this past October not seen since 2004. But the unveiling of Project Panama at the same time appears to have marked the beginning of a small rebound in the stock. When Project Panama becomes fully deployed throughout the United States in the first quarter and then in international markets in subsequent quarters, this small rebound may prove to be the early stages of a prolonged turnaround.
Are the days of Yahoo! being out-Googled over? I'm not willing to go that far, yet. But Project Panama may mark the end of the company being dubbed a bunch of Yahoo!s.
Yahoo!, eBay, and Disney are all active recommendations in the Motley Fool Stock Advisor newsletter service. To find out all the reasons why, take a free 30-day trial service today. Just click here to sign up today.
Fool contributor Jeremy MacNealy has no financial interest in any company mentioned. The Motley Fool has a user-friendly disclosure policy of its own.
What Investors Need to Know About Altaba, a.k.a. What's Left of Yahoo!


I've never read a story before about competitive music, but this was very interesting. It was intriguing to see the level that people will go to in order to win a prestigious competition. The two main characters are both virtuoso performers in violin... incidentally one of my favorite instruments to listen to. What create such great conflict in this story, for me, was the fact that they are both fabulous musicians, fall in love, but are competing against the other.
Motives are questioned, of course. Is Jeremy really interested in Carmen, or is he just trying to make her vulnerable so that he can increase his chances to win? Carmen's use of medication to get a good performance from herself was heartbreaking, and the fact that she does so with her mother's encouragement was even more sad.
Although her mother's motives for her actions in the story are for Carmen's benefit, and all she has ever wanted is to help and love her daughter, it was so difficult to see some of the decisions she made on her daughter's behalf. I wanted to dislike her, but deep down, I just couldn't because she didn't do it for herself. She thought she was doing these things for her daughter. This made the situation even sadder to me.
This wasn't one of those "feel good" stories, at least not to me. I felt somewhat depressed after reading it, but at the same time, it truly was a very good book. I'll stop there, as I don't want to ruin it for anyone, but suffice it to say, I did like the book, and I think the choices Carmen eventually makes were so very right for her and her story.


Take a 13-night trip and travel to the fabled lost city of the Incas, Machu Picchu. Start your trip in Lima, visiting the 16th-century San Francisco Convent and the Parque del Amor. From there, fly to Cuzco and see the Church of La Compania and the Sacsayhuaman Fortress. Afterward, travel down the Sacred Valley of the Incas, starting in Chinchero and continuing to the monumental architectural complex of Ollantaytambo. Next, take the train to Machu Picchu to enjoy a guided tour of this ancient citadel. Later, travel by train back to Cuzco. The following day, board the bus for Puno, where you take an excursion on Lake Titicaca and visit Taquile Island. Transit through Lima on your way to Quito. Connect with a flight to Baltra Airport in the Galapagos. Once in the Galapagos, board your three-night cruise and visit the various islands that inspired Darwin's theory of evolution. Finally, transit through Quito on your way back to the US. Starting from $6395, including air, with departures every Saturday.
Cruise itinerary is subject to change due to departure date, weather, or other circumstances beyond our control and is made at the discretion of the crew to assure the well-being of passengers.
Land & Air prices are per person double occupancy via Avianca Airlines from Miami.
Land Only prices include internal airfares.
Rates are not valid for Easter, Christmas, New Year, or some other holidays.
If above hotels or Avianca Airlines are not available at the time of reservation, alternative hotels at the same category or airlines could be used. Prices may differ.