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To ALL ALPA Members  -2-  August 31, 1948
The National pilots, on July 13, 1948, accepted the Presidential Emergency Board's decision.
The company, with the backing of the Air Transport Association and its affiliate the Airlines Negotiating Committee, after their usual insincere dilly-dallying around, rejected the Presidential Emergency Board's decision, giving a series of excuses that reach a new high in floundering retrogradation completely void of common sense. To illustrate I quote a paragraph from Baker's refusal:
"The recommendations of the Emergency
Board that the company reinstate all
striking employees at the expense of
their duly hired replacements should it
become a precedent, would constitute the
strike a weapon of force against which
management, prohibited from attempting to
continue its business, would have no
defense. The threat of such action
consequently would render employers
impotent at the collective bargaining
table."
Everyone knows what a scab is. Webster defines the word. Look it up. Its exact meaning is revealing. They have no rights to their jobs, are usually non-principled floaters, and the only reason they take a job it to get what they can out of it for the time being, since no one can establish any legal claim to any job that is taken from another while he is striking legally to better his conditions of employment. In any event, the above-quoted paragraph will give you a clear idea of the thinking of the opposition in this controversy.
Behind the scenes they spread the insidious propaganda that the Association turned down an Emergency Board recommendation in the TWA case. This is not a correct statement because the recommendations of the TWA Emergency Board were not on the issues of the TWA case, but it was on the issue of whether the TWA case was to be settled separately or whether it was to be thrown in with nearly all other pilots' employment agreements not even in these negotiations. Had the Association acceded to these recommendations, it would have meant the destruction of all ALPA agreements and everything for which we have fought since 1938 in rates of pay, rules, and working conditions. All this has been explained in a previous membership letter of January 26, 1948. Therefore, this is another fallacious story that can be relegated to the ATA propaganda scrap heap.
Section  401-L of the Civil Aeronautics
Act reads as follows:
"(4) It shall be a condition upon the
holding of a certificate by any air
carrier that such carrier shall comply
with Title II of the Railway Labor Act,
as amended."
On March 25, 1948, the Association filed a petition with the Civil Aeronautics Board for the revocation of the Certificate of Convenience and Necessity of National Airlines, charging them with violation of the Civil Aeronautics Act and their contract. The Presidential Emergency Board stated:
"Section 2, First, of the Railway Labor
Act imposes on the Carrier the duty 'to
exert every reasonable effort *** to
settle all disputes *** in order to avoid
any interruption to commerce or to the
operation of any carrier growing out of
any dispute between the carrier and the
employees thereof.' The evidence
establishes that this statutory duty has
not been performed by the Carrier."
In the White House press release dated July 9,1948, the following paragraph on this point appeared and I quote:
"The Board found that the Airline had been
guilty of violation of the Railway Labor
Act, as amended, under which labor law air
carriers operate, and recommended that all
employes discharged by the company by
reason of their going out on
Please note that the language and terminology used in this collection reflects the context and culture of the time of its creation, and may include culturally sensitive information. As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology. The information within this collection does not reflect the views of the Smithsonian Institution, but is available in its original form to facilitate research. For questions or comments regarding sensitive content, access, and use related to this collection, please contact transcribe@si.edu.
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Festivals/Gatherings
Single Instructor Events
Strumelia
Location: Germantown, NY
My Latest Followers:
youtube videos: 31
Three Ravens on Langspil
Strumelia » Videos » Three Ravens on Langspil
musician/member name: Music
This is a custom instrument made for me by Michael King of the UK. It's an Icelandic folk instrument called the langspil (which translates as long play, long bow, or long game). The oldest written descriptions of the langspil are from the 1700s. Langspils can be either bowed, strummed, or fingerpicked.
My langspil is a traditional shape with a single bentsided bout, and three strings. The bass and middle string are open drones, while the single melody string runs over frets. I requested it be made with a distressed white paint finish and kolrosing designs of a viking ship, a whale, a reindeer, and other Icelandic symbols. It has a VSL of 29" and I've tuned it here (bass to melody) to: C G Bb, played in aeolian mode in C.
I just love its ancient melancholy voice, and it was fitting that it arrived to me in January... the majestic somber dead of Winter.
Please excuse my very crude bowing skills- I've never held a bow like this to bow a table instrument- it's quite hard to get an even tone. I hope to get better results with time and practice, but I wanted to let my friends have a taste of this wonderful instrument I'm excited about. Better examples later!
The Three Ravens is an English folk ballad, printed in the song book Melismata compiled by Thomas Ravenscroft and published in 1611, but the ballad is perhaps older than that.
10/27/19 11:25:08AM @strumelia:
Betty thanks so much for your nice post. :)
10/27/19 10:56:06AM @betty-bj-jordan:
Oh my, I've been away from the site far too long. I've missed this. How wonderful. My favorite mournful music is still out there. I am wanting to bow something. You are such an inspiration. Thanks for sharing this wonderful instrument and tune. Well done.
03/22/19 12:54:51PM @dusty-turtle:
We haven't heard much about this langspil since you first got it. You certainly have that haunting ancient tone down already in this video. Have you continued playing it? How do you choose what tunes would work well?
02/13/19 11:00:13AM @ken-longfield:
Lisa, thanks for sharing Three Ravens. I thought you did well. I appreciate you comment on playing with expression. Right on! And your comment on being happy to be an amateur home musician is spot on as well. It certainly echoes my approach to music. Thanks for that as well.
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
@sam - thank you but I must correct your statement about my playing many instruments well. I play several instruments crudely, but with expression . Playing with expression is vastly underrated- it can hide poor technique - listeners can still connect with the music's feeling . Playing with expression covers a multitude of sins! (though you still can't fool a true professional musician that way)
I'm happy to be an amateur home musician because I play to please myself and for the simple joys it gives me in my daily life. :)
@brian-g , yes that is indeed sad. From reading, I found that the Icelandic langspil had just about become 'extinct' by the 1900s. Several travelers had described it and how it was played, collected a specimen, and drawn it in the early to mid 1800s, it was a traditional rural instrument. In the 1960s a singer named Anna staged a revival to bring it back, but it still did not become much more than a curiosity -i suspect because of its rustic drone nature and its association with old hymn repertoire... the sound is an acquired taste in modern times. ;)
The luthier Michael King in the UK is very talented and makes many types of instruments, such as lyres and crewths. This is the 3rd instrument he has made for me over the past 10 years- also a jouhikko and an epinette des Vosges last year. He is very creative and talented, but my favorite thing is that he will accommodate all the special requests I have for a particular custom instrument. He'll build to whatever scale size, string spacings, engraved or carved decorations, special finish... whatever I've asked him to do he has done and done it well.
I think he finds it interesting the things I come up with. So when I work with him we go over every detail and exchange detailed drawings and lists of specs. The careful planning has always come out great in the end. For example, he had never done a finish like this one- distressed white paint made to look old, with 'kolrosing' cut designs on top of the paint. We also flipped the script by putting the softwood on the sides and bottom, and a hardwood on the instrument top, to accommodate the kolrosing better- he assured me it would not effect the sound badly. Cool! The pegs are Wittner geared viola pegs- so fine tuning is a breeze... delightful! :) It's the bowing that is the real challenge, but the compelling bowed sound is I think worth the work to get better at it. It's the whole reason I wanted this.
02/13/19 06:57:16AM @brian-g:
Wow...that was wonderful! I absolutely love the sound of that langspil being bowed. You know, it's kind of sad - I visited Iceland not too long ago, and it was very difficult for me to even find a shop that sold langspils. When I finally found one, it had two very poorly made instruments sitting in a windowsill and nobody in the store (all younger people) had any idea how to play it or even what it really was. Keep the music alive, Strumelia! :)
02/13/19 05:45:49AM @sam:
I find the instrument and the musician fascinating. You play many instruments well. You have a much envied gift. thanks for sharing.
(Oh, I'm going to build a Tennessee music box one day).
Thank you Sam. The bowed sound of the langspil gives me the chills, too. I'm so thrilled to have this instrument!
The only other instrument I can compare this haunting sound to is in a few existing videos of people bowing their Tennessee music boxes- another large 'table zither' that is wider than the langspil. The langspil is like a slender music box with a curved bout.
I can certainly tune ionian to play cheerful tunes as well, and will be doing so. But right now, in the dead of winter, I have a whole slew of melancholy minor tunes I've been wanting to play for ages. They all sound better on this bowed langspil than on my other strummed instruments, so I'm going to be playing 'on the dark side' for a while. Hope folks can put up with it!
Jeepers ... gave me chills! (Good ones) Knowing a little of the history of this particular instrument I'm so happy to see that the two of you have taken up so well. I had not heard a langspil bowed before. Love the deep, throaty voice.
02/10/19 08:37:05PM @strumelia:
You all are very kind- thank you!
BTW, I was using a noter made for me as a gift years ago
by FOTMD's own @john-henry
02/10/19 07:08:03PM @gordon-hardy:
Wow!! There's nothing like the sound of a bowed Langspil, to stir a music lover's heart. Thank you!
02/10/19 05:58:27PM @randy-adams:
That thing sounds extra good Lisa. And you can f'sure play it too.
02/10/19 05:15:01PM @geckostar97:
Mournful, haunting, beautiful tune.
02/10/19 05:13:22PM @steven-berger:
Strumelia, thanks for the link to the lyrics. I knew I should've bet on it!
I can picture a passerby mesmerized by the silhouette in a window of a beautiful woman playing a haunting tune on an unknown instrument. I bet he is still there now, hoping she'll return and play some more . . .
02/10/19 03:04:47PM @elvensong:
Strumelia:
Thanks! @elvensong, no this is not what's called 'bagpipe tuning'. I tuned here from low to high: C G Bb ...which is simply the one-step-lower 'key of C equivalent' of the more familiar DAC (often used for playing in aeolian mode in the key of D). I think in general drones do tend to remind one of bagpipes. :D
True drones do remind one of bagpipes however it is stronger with the bagpipe tuning. Perhaps it's that I haven't heard the langspil before.
Very cool Strumelia! The drones are reminiscent of the bagpipes. Is that bagpipe tuning?
02/10/19 12:20:19PM @terry-wilson:
Bravo.....enjoyed your Langspil debut.
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Tag: julie andrews
Shrek 2 (2004)
Princess Fiona's parents invite her and Shrek to dinner to celebrate her marriage. If only they knew the newlyweds were both ogres. (IMDb)
The fart jokes and pop song performances feel a little stale this time around, but there's still plenty of chuckles to be had in the sly one-liners ("You still look like an ass to me"), the dramatic Donkey ("I'm melting!"; "I am trotting!"), and cutesy medieval-modern culture mash-ups (see the Medieval drive-thru). The story is a little simplistic but presents with frankness the mature themes of identity and insecurity as they relate to the central couple. Stay tuned for Waits' musical cameo.
March 3, 2016 April 6, 2020 joel watches moviesantonio banderas, cameron diaz, eddie murphy, film reviews, john cleese, john lithgow, julie andrews, mike meyers, mini movie reviews, movie reviews, shrek, shrek 2, shrek 2 reviewLeave a comment
The Princess Diaries (2001)
Mia Thermopolis has just found out that she is the heir apparent to the throne of Genovia. With her friends Lilly and Michael Moscovitz in tow, she tries to navigate through the rest of her 16th year. (IMDb)
The "nerdy girl becomes a princess" premise is a solid foundation for your typical but perfectly decent comedic family film with touches of drama and a heart warming conclusion (especially solid given Hathaway's splendid turn as the lovably odd Mia), but the zany inconsequential characters (the melancholic neighbour, the bumbling police officers) and offbeat one-liners here give this film a sharp wit that raises it above others of its kind. A sweet and funny film that earns repeated viewings.
June 24, 2015 January 17, 2018 joel watches moviesanne hathaway, film reviews, films, hector elizondo, julie andrews, mandy moore, movie reviews, movies, the princess diariesLeave a comment


Are you like Ralph and believe in serendipity? Or is it easier for you to get your head around it if you simply call it a 'random coincidence'? And why does it even happen, do you think?
Another way to look at it is finding commonality with each other. When we find commonality, we bond. That bond, mixed with trust, creates the foundation for building a relationship whether it be personal, school, uni or professionally. And the world pivots on relationships (so best we do our bit taking care of relationships, then).
I have to say I've never met someone with such strange commonailities as what Phoebe and I have. Seriously super-freaky. But hey, you be the judge.
First up, we share the same family surname: WALSH. Walsh was my Dad's name.
It was my Dad's mum, my beloved Grandmother Kay, who saw potential beyond my attitude and bought me a modeling course instead of clothes (see my post THE POWER OF A PARADIGM SHIFT.Trust me, there is a connection) for my 17th birthday. Changed my life (and inadvertantly that of many others, too). Anyway, sure, Walsh. A bit of a coincidence.
More coincidence. Except PHOEBE's 18 and I'm 46. They say things come in three's.
"That was my mother's name. She became 'Caroline Walsh' when she got married, like your mum. That's a lot of coincidence..." We're yet to find out the 'Why...?', though it's cool to have so much in common as we embark on this new journey together.
Anyway, PHOEBE lives on a farm and has goats, sheep and chickens. Oh, and a single turkey.
I wanted to see and shoot her in her creative space and place (more coming on her talents soon). And I really wanted to meet her animals . There's her goats LEAF (named after the goat on the beautiful Kiwi movie 'BOY') and NUTMEG, her chickens and then there's BRIAN, her turkey. Transpires BRIAN was meant to be Christmas dinner, but they discovered she was laying eggs (her name BRIAN stuck). Lucky for her or she would've had a LIFE OF BRIAN like MONTY PYTHON'S ALWAYS LOOK ON THE BRIGHT SIDE OF LIFE But get this: one of my mother's brother's name is...you guessed it: BRIAN!
So enjoy my random approach with introducing PHOEBE to the world (I'll explain the mad last photo of PERCY, the photo-bombing pink flamingo later).
In the meantime, I'm going for serendipity, myself. I'll keep you posted on what develops. What are your most coincidental, serendipitous or commonality experiences? Lemme know!
Thanks for joining me. If you discover something that could be useful to someone here, share it.


Click here to view the PI Annual Report for 2017!
Mission Statement - To empower and assist individuals in achieving their vocational and personal goals.
Vision Statement - To provide quality services designed for the needs and desires of the individual while promoting inclusion, choice and full participation in the community.
Person Industries is a community rehabilitation program that trains people with disabilities for jobs in the community. Employees receive on-the-job work experiences through Person Industries' onsite and community employment work groups. PI operates the Person County Recycling Center as well as employs people in work groups in several local industries through production, housekeeping and confidential shredding contracts.
Located in Roxboro, North Carolina, Person Industries is operated by Person County Government. The program operates as one of the many community rehabilitation programs in North Carolina and indeed across the country. Although Person Industries is one of many, the program offers its own unique brand of service delivery from highly trained and qualified staff. Individualized service is the approach that staff takes from the moment a person is referred for services through the assessment and training process, right through job selection and placement. The appropriate mix of consideration is given to the employee's skills and job preference. Such a mix serves to enhance job retention.


Erection of a single storey extension, extending 5m beyond the rear wall of the original dwellinghouse with an eaves height of 2.25m and a maximum height of 4m.
Erection of 2no. detached 2no. bedroom dwellings with detached garages following demoltion of existing gym (outline approval 15/01123/OUT dated 24.02.2016 refers).
Display of 1no. internally-illuminated free standing pylon sign.
Variation of Condition 05 of approval 15/01042/FUL dated 23.12.2015 to replace drawing nos. North-West Elevations rev C and Floor Plans rev D with drawing nos. A500015/02 and A500015/01.
Variation of Condition 05 of approval 15/01235/LBC dated 23.12.2015 to replace drawing nos. North_West Elevations rev C and Floor Plans rev D with drawing nos. A500015/02 and A500015/01.
Erection of detached single garage with carport and lean-to storage area.
Variation of Condition 10 of approval 14/00651/73A dated 24.07.2014 to allow clear-glazed of windows to west elevation.
Rebuilding and reroofing of partially collapsed outbuilding to include installation of barn doors to east elevation (retrospective).
Erection of a 2no. bedroom dwelling with formation of 2no. associated parking spaces following demolition of existing outbuilding.
External alterations to include installation of 6no. replacement timber framed windows and replacement timber door to north and east elevations (revised details to refusal 15/01468/LBC dated 17.02.2016).
Installation of 1no. rooflight to east facing roofslope.
Erection of 3no. additional residential units and revision to house types of plots 54 and 58 together with alterations to site layout and associated parking and landscaping (revised details to approval 14/00976/MREM dated 09.12.2014).
Erection of single storey extension to replace existing conservatory to rear elevation.
External and internal alterations to include erection of single storey extension to replace existing conservatory to rear elevation, installation of replacement timber door with glazed panel and replacement double glazed timber sliding sash windows to front elevation and replacement timber casement windows to rear elevation and alterations to internal layout.
Erection of a single storey extension to link main dwelling with detached garage.
Erection of single storey extension to northern part of workshop following demolition of former office.
External and internal alterations to include change of use of former mill to form a 4no. bedroom holiday cottage, installation of 3no. replacement windows and 1no. door to rear elevation, installation of wood pellet boiler with associated flue protruding from rear-facing garage roofslope, repairs and alterations to internal layout to include installation of 3no. staircases to connect all floors, replacement concrete floor with associated under-floor heating to ground floor, simplifying of timber joists and beams to second floor, removal of existing raised platforms on first and second floors, blocking-up of doorways to existing Mill House and installation of partition walls.
Erection of a replacement agricultural building to be used for lambing and storage following removal of existing building.
Installation of 2no. velux rooflights to south facing roof slope and removal of 2no. windows to east elevation (revised details to approval 15/00636/HOUSE dated 22.07.2015).
Certificate of Lawfulness in respect of the use of the land outlined in red on Site Location Plan CM-00470729 at 1:1250 scale as domestic curtilage land used for purposes incidental to the occupation of Eastgate House for a period in excess of 10 years before the date of this application.
Erection of a single storey extension, extending 4.0m beyond the rear wall of the original dwellinghouse with an eaves height of 2.65m and a maximum height of 3m.
Change of use of agricultural land to form additional domestic curtilage.
External alterations to include replacement of existing tiled roof with a thatched roof including raising of height of chimneys together with re-roofing of attached outbuilding including installation of 38no. solar PV panels to south facing roof slope.
External and internal alterations to include display of 3no. illuminated signs to north and west elevations, replacement window to west elevation with alterations to internal layout to form a coffee shop.
External and internal alterations to include loft conversion to form a bedroom, installation of a balcony to rear facing roofslope and 3no. rooflights to front and rear facing roofslopes.
Infilling of fishing lake together with change of use of land to form a 158no. space car park with siting of 7no. glamping units and erection of reception building to accommodate cafe, shop, exhibition and meeting space, service kitchen, public toilets and shower rooms, storage and a 3 bedroom managers apartment to include demolition of existing service building that includes owners private accommodation, and formation of on site road, pathways and landscaping.
Display of 1no. externally illuminated fascia name sign and 1no. externally illuminated hanging sign to north elevation and 1no. externally illuminated fascia name sign to west elevation.
Variation of Condition 33 of approval 14/00980/MFUL dated 18.03.2015 to list the plans as following: Drawing Nos. 1531/5K, 1531/6C, 1531/7, 1531/9B, 1531/10, 1531/11B, 1531/12D, 1531/13, 1531/14C,1531/15B, 1531/16B, 1531/17B, 1531/18C, 1531/19D, 1531/20E and 1531/27 - substitution of nine of the originally listed approved plans and retention of six of the originally listed approved plans and for tenure of the 4 no. affordable units to be intermediate housing.
Erection of a one-and-a-half storey 4no. bedroom dwelling and detached garage together with formation of new vehicular access and detached garage to serve Beacon Cottage following demolition of existing outbuilding.
Erection of a 20m high lattice shared communications mast to include 6no. antennas and 2no. transmission dishes together with ground based ancillary equipment all within a compound formed from 2.2m high timber close boarded fence.
Erection of an agricultural building to house livestock following the demolition of the existing cattleshed.
Erection of 2no. three bedroom semi-detached dwellings with detached garages together with formation of vehicular access.
Erection of 2 no. detached dwellings and detached garage (site area 0.27ha).
Change of use, alteration and extension of storage building (Use Class B8) to a fitness studio (Use Class D2) to include erection of two storey extension, glazing of existing front opening, alterations and additions to doors and windows, formation of a first floor gym and studios and erection of bicycle shed.
Display of 1no. non-illuminated fascia name sign to front elevation and 1no. non-illuminated free standing A board on application site near site entrance.
Erection of single storey glazed rear extension to include extension of rear patio with retaining wall and steps.
EIA Screening request for proposed solar PV project.
Change of use of section of existing camping field to a caravan storage area, enclosed by a 2.4m high security fence together with grass seeded 2.4m high soil bund to south and west boundaries and formation of access road connected to existing internal site roads.
Change of use of agricultural land and buildings to equestrian, to include installation of internal partitions within existing buildings to form stabling for up to 19 horses, tack and feed rooms to form livery and riding centre.
To crown lift T1 (sycamore) and T2- T22 (beech) within TPO No. 72/1985 to provide 5.1m of clearance from ground level.
Certificate of Lawfulness for a proposed use or development in respect of the erection of an attached flat roofed garage on side elevation.
Erection of circa 26no. dwellings and 7no. business units, associated infrastructure, open space provision, formation of vehicular access and demolition of existing dwelling and buildings.
Erection of attached flat roof, double garage and utility room following demolition of existing attached flat roof single garage and garden room.
Display of 1 no. non- illuminated fascia sign, 1 no. non-illuminated projecting sign, 1 no. non-illuminated opening hours/services wall mounted sign, 1 no. non-illuminated applied vinyl ATM sign, 1 no. painted ATM bezel and 1 no. non-illuminated applied vinyl web/telephone number sign following removal of existing signage.
Erection of 2no. 3 bedroom semi-detached dwellings together with formation of vehicular access.
Display of 1 no. non- illuminated fascia sign, 1 no. non- illuminated projecting sign, 1 no. non-illuminated opening hours/services wall mounted sign, 1 no. non-illuminated applied vinyl ATM sign, 1 no. painted ATM bezel and 1 no. non-illuminated applied vinyl web/telephone sign following removal of existing signage.
Erection of an agricultural building framework to cover existing open silage clamp.
Erection of a 2 bedroom detached dwelling together with formation of an additional 2no. parking spaces.
Replacement of front entrance door, rear french door and all windows to match existing with slimline double glazed units, stained timber frames and lead glazing bars.
Erection of single storey garden room extension to the rear.
Groundworks (retrospective) and erection of 1no.1600 pig finishing unit together with associated hardstanding and water tank.
Erection of a detached 3 bedroom dwelling (revised details to plot 3 of approval 11/01063/FUL dated 22.02.2012 and 11/01064/LBC dated 28.02.2012).
Display of 1no. 10m (L) x 2.4m (H) hoarding, 1 no 15m (L) x 2.4m (H) hoarding, 1no. poster on side of marketing suite (5.5m (L) x 1.8m (H)), 3 no. flags (4.5m (H), 2.1m2 flag area) 1 no. parking sign (1m (L) x 800mm (H)) and 1no. Welcome sign (1m (L) x 800mm (H)) - all signs/flags to be non-illuminated.
Erection of sales and marketing suite for a temporary period of two years.
Erection of a detached garage following the demolition of the existing garage.
Installation of 2no. centre pivot rooflights to east elevation roofslope.
Installation of refrigeration unit to the rear and replacement of existing a/c unit.
Detailed management plan to show how you will prevent customers who are leaving the building from causing nuisance for people in the area, including people who live in nearby buildings pursuant to Condition 13 of planning permission dated 21 June 2011 (RN: 11/04052).


All surprise sword bags are made to order and can be for any size or type of sword, or even other martial art equipment or weapon.
Do you visit Kendo Girl and think ...whoa, there are too many choices! Well, this is the perfect bag for you. Choose this bag and I will look behind me in the workshop and grab a random pattern off the shelf, craft an amazing bag, and send it your way. For a huge discount and free shipping!
All custom bags have the same features as pre-determined patterned bags. Guaranteed not to be ugly. Feel free to suggest a color you would prefer (or not prefer) and I will do my best to make you happy!
Please allow 5 business days for me to create the bag for you. Photos show examples of mystery bags of the past. Kindly keep in mind that items in this shop are made by a human (me!) and not a machine, so forgive any slight imperfections and as always, let me know if any issues arise that I can tend to. Rush production may be available, please inquire regarding feasibility. Your brand new custom bag will be sent quickly, in our signature eco-packaging, ready to give away as a gift or treasure for yourself.
Kate was so kind in her communications and accommodating my fabric requests. Pretty, durable, unique, fun- love it!
I had two custom shinai bags made, came out nicely. Looking forward to future puchases.
Amazing bag! Cool fabric choices and wonderfully made. I recommended to others in my dojo!


Look through the profiles of Member singles here at Cowboy Dating Service that are tagged with Smoker. Talking to others that have like minded interests is an ideal way to come up with ideas to do on a first date. Signup for a Totally Free Profile to Meet Someone Tonight!


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Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe sits after a swearing-in ceremony at State House in Harare on Dec. 12, 2014.
A Chicago man was sentenced Tuesday to 15 months in prison for his role in a bizarre scheme to get U.S. sanctions on Zimbabwe lifted.
Prosecutors said C. Gregory Turner met multiple times in Africa with Zimbabwean government officials, including President Robert Mugabe and Gideon Gono, governor of Zimbabwe's reserve bank, both of whom are under U.S. sanctions. He was one of two men charged in 2013 with violating sanctions by providing services to Zimbabwean officials.
U.S. District Judge Elaine Bucklo said, when imposing the sentence, that Mr. Turner acted out of greed, according to a U.S. Department of Justice press release. The judge said she didn't believe Mr. Turner's claim that his conduct was aimed at helping the Zimbabwean people, the release said.
Mr. Turner and his co-defendant, Prince Asiel Ben Israel, allegedly boasted of their ties with officials who had connections with then President-Elect Barack Obama when they struck a $3.4 million consulting agreement in November 2008 to lobby state and federal officials to oppose the sanctions, prosecutors said.
U.S. sanctions on Zimbabwe, in place since 2003, do not prohibit travel to the country, or for public officials to meet with those under sanctions to discuss removing them, but individuals are barred from lobbying on the behalf of those named to the blacklist, prosecutors said in 2013 when announcing the charges.
Mr. Turner was convicted in October of violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Mr. Ben Israel pleaded guilty and was sentenced in August to seven months behind bars.
Despite the efforts of Messrs. Ben Israel and Turner, Mr. Obama renewed the sanctions in March 2009, as he has done annually ever since.WSJ
9 More Crash Victims Identified As Gvt Declares State of Disaster
Cameroon, Ivory Coast escape shock defeats


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Q: Doing a simple join on two tables I have the following two tables:
team:
id    name
1     A
2     B

game:
id   away_team_id   home_team_id    court
1    1              2               1A

I am trying to attain this output:
game_id   away_team_name  home_team_name    court
1         A               B                 1A

I can do a simple join to receive one of the team names, but how do I get both names in one query?

A: Try this:
SELECT
    game.id AS game_id,
    away_team.name AS away_team_name,
    home_team.name AS home_team_name,
    game.court
FROM
    game
LEFT JOIN team AS away_team
ON
    away_team.id = game.away_team_id
LEFT JOIN team AS home_team
ON
    home_team.id = game.home_team_id

You just need to join with the table "team" twice.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
What Is Stoicism? A Definition & 9 Stoic Exercises To Get You Started
For those of us who live our lives in the real world, there is one branch of philosophy created just for us: Stoicism. A brief synopsis and definition on this particular school of Hellenistic philosophy: Stoicism was founded in Athens by Zeno of Citium in the early 3rd century BC,...
6 Stoic Rituals That Will Make You Happy
This post originally appeared on bakadesuyo.com People have enormous respect for ancient wisdom. They just don't read it. Funny thing is, we're more likely to live happier lives when we visit the classics section than the self-help aisle. So how do we get the skinny on what one group of...
The Stoic Reading List: 3 Must-Read Books To Get You Started
The starting point of any new pursuit is critical. Stoicism is no difference. Picking up the wrong book can derail even the most interested student. So where should someone start with Stoicism? We decided to put together a short list with three books that will help you both understand Stoicism...
An Interview with the Master: Robert Greene on Stoicism
Except for the Stoics themselves, no one has influenced me as a reader and writer more than Robert Greene. Which is why I was nervous but excited to interview Robert about Stoicism and this ancient philosophy has influenced his work over the years. It's not everyday that one gets the...
Stoicism In Professional Sports: An Interview with NFL Exec Michael Lombardi
Michael Lombardi might be one of the most quiet but influential executives in the NFL. He won two Super Bowls, 30 years apart—one under Bill Walsh and one under Bill Belichick. More than just coaching strategies, he's notorious in the league for the ideas he's spread. He was one of...
Happiness for People Who Can't Stand Positive Thinking: An Interview with Oliver Burkeman
Oliver Burkeman is a writer for The Guardian based in New York. He's also helped bring stoicism to a mass audience with his popular book, The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can't Stand Positive Thinking. The book, which has a chapter based on Seneca, explores the upsides of negativity, uncertainty,...
What Are The Main Differences Between Epicureanism And Stoicism?
This post originally appeared on Quora: What are the main differences between epicureanism and stoicism? The garden and the veranda. The Epicureans Epicurus, founder of the school of philosophy called Epicureanism The Epicureans were materialists in the modern, scientific sense. They accepted the physics of Democritus...
The Life and Legacy of Cato: An Interview With Author Jimmy Soni
Jimmy Soni is the author of Rome's Last Citizen: The Life and Legacy of Cato, Mortal Enemy of Caesar, a biography of Cato the Younger. Soni's forthcoming biography of mathematician, Claude Shannon, will be published in 2017. What came first, your interest in stoicism or your interest in Cato the Younger? What...
How to Let Go of Your Emotions and Find Happiness
"This post originally appeared on Quora: What are some Stoic teachings on letting go?" The most important step in letting go is realizing that nothing has intrinsic value -- nothing is good or bad. In our daily lives, how we motivate ourselves is to think "some steak would be good right...
Why Stoicism Is Having a Cultural Moment
Stoicism is apparently popular again — at least, that's how it appears, given the spate of recent popular books, articles and events on the topic. There's Julie Beck's essay from The Atlantic on the benefits of thinking about death like a Stoic, Oliver Burkeman's book on the "negative path" to happiness that...
A Guide To The Good Life: An Interview With William B. Irvine
William B. Irvine is professor of philosophy at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. He is the author of A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy. For more on his life and writings, visit his author website at WilliamBIrvine.com There is the perception that practitioners...


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Humble Beginnings: Wilde & Hanes began performing their comedy juggling act on California's Venice Beach Boardwalk in 1984. Three years and nineteen citations for disturbing the peace later, comic/actor Rodney Dangerfield caught the act and set up a showcase at Bud Friedman's Improve Club in Los Angeles.
Since that time the team has performed in comedy clubs, casino reviews, and colleges around the country, at conventions and on cruise ships around the world, and has been a featured act on the television shows: Comic Strip Live and Comedy Express on Fox, A&E's Evening at the Improv, The Today Show on NBC, as well as had several appearances on MTV's Half Hour Comedy Hour.
On both sides of the camera: Wilde & Hanes have choreographed and performed physical comedy for IBM, Footlocker, Miller Beer, 7-11, and Coca-Cola commercial campaigns, as well as for the film, L.A. Story.


What struck me is the concept of "living correctly" or "being correctly," however you want to put it. How does one know they are living correctly or living incorrectly? Does happiness determine? Lack of regret? I am cautious to distinguish the correctness of a person's life, though that is specifically in regards to others' lives. I don't know if this is something that will come over the course of my lifetime, but I'm shy to assume that the way I prefer living my life is the correct way.. I can only feel confident that it is the correct life for me.


text:
Q: Как установить только для последней изменённой записи значение одного столбца? Необходимо обеспечить существование в таблице единственной строки с определенным значением. То есть, чтобы при обновлении и добавлении записей занчение колонкаи текущей запии приобретало значение 1, а все оставшиеся - 0.
Попробовал сделать это триггером. С before insert все нормально. А вот что для update придумать? Или может есть какие-то еще варианты решения помимо триггеров?
Пример:
-- Создаем таблицу
create table tx (
  id integer,
  val varchar2(100)
);

-- Данные
-- truncate table tx

insert into tx
select level, 0 from dual connect by level < 11;

update tx set val = 1 where id = 5;
commit;

Добавляться может только 1 запись, обновляться тоже.
При добавлении и изменении надо:

*

*Проставлять прежней записи с val = 1 значение 0

*Для последней изменённой записи желательно принудительно установить val = 1.

A: В качестве обходного пути решения предложу изменить таблицу:
create table t0 (id int, memo varchar2 (96), val char (1) not null)
/
alter table t0 drop column val
/
alter table t0 add (lastrow char (1) invisible, val char (1) as (nvl (lastrow, '0')) virtual)
/
create index idxt0lastrow on t0 (lastrow)
/

Сушествующие запросы не заметят это изменение таблицы. Теперь, флаг последнего изменения будет хранится только для одной последней записи. Индекс для быстрого поиска с одной единсвенной записью, т.к. NULL значения не индексируются.
В составном триггере для update следует указать все столбцы, которые могут быть изменены, а lastrow во избежании рекурсивного вызова триггера, там должен быть опущен:
create or replace trigger t0lastrowtrig
for insert or update of id,memo on t0 compound trigger
    lastchanged rowid;
    after each row is
    begin
        lastchanged := :new.rowid;
    end after each row;
    after statement is
    begin
        update t0 set
            lastrow = case when lastrow is null then 1 end
        where rowid = lastchanged or lastrow=1;
    end after statement;
end;
/

Тест и результаты:
insert into t0 (id, memo)
    select rownum, 'memo '||rownum from dual connect by level<10;
/
select * from t0
/
        ID MEMO     VAL
---------- -------- ---
         1 memo 1   0
[...]
         8 memo 8   0
         9 memo 9   1

update t0 set memo = memo||'*'
where id = 5
/
select * from t0
/
        ID MEMO     VAL
---------- -------- ---
         1 memo 1   0
[...]
         5 memo 5*  1
[...]
         9 memo 9   0


Gabriele Zini (Modena, Italy) is chief technology officer for Amplio Energy, an international developer and operator of large-scale power plants from renewable energy sources, particularly solar. He has worked for multinational companies, universities, and public organizations in the industrial and energy sectors. Dr. Zini is a frequent speaker at international conferences and has published more than 20 papers and chapters in international journals and books.


I am officially 1/8th of my way through college! I finished my first semester of college last Tuesday. It's so weird to think that I already finished a whole semester at college. It's a phase in your life you dream about for so long and it's weird to think that I am finally living it. I know it's so cliché, but it truly feels like just yesterday I was deciding where to go to college.
This semester has been a whirlwind of emotions. Happy, sad, elated, confused, scared, nervous, stressed, excited, and enthusiastic. A huge range I would say.
You see everyone (adults) always talk about how college is the best 4 years of your life. I guess it's easy to say that when you're looking back on those 4 years, but when you're stressed and overwhelmed about a huge research paper, 2 tests the next day, a lab you need to finish, 10 e-mails that need replying, and a boy who is leaving you with mixed emotions, in that moment it's hard to say that this is the best years of your life.
Not to say that there aren't fun times, cause there definitely are plenty of highlights. But sometimes when you're spending the majority of time studying, it's easy to dwell on the hard times, and forget the fun times.
Once everyone left for college, even if everyone was scared to say it, I knew deep down most everything (and everyone) would change. Not necessarily for the worst, just different. College has that effect on people. Everyone would be making new friends and discovering who they really are and who they want to be. It's weird being back and running into people and realizing the relationship you had with them in high school, probably won't ever been the same.
I find that I stay updated with most thanks to Facebook. You end up judging their college experience through their photos. And let me tell you, Facebook College albums make everyone's college experience look like they are having a blast 24/7. Total illusion. It only highlights the fun times. It doesn't include pictures of the 7+ hours a day you spend in the library and the Saturdays you spend in a classroom studying.
When I find myself catching up with friends on the phone it always seems like a competition. Everyone's hesitant to talk about the hard times transitioning for fear that they're the only one struggling. It almost seems like a competition; whose college is the best and who's having the most fun.
College life is a transition. Although it may not seem like a big deal, it is. You have to discover a new schedule that works for you, while adjusting to your new class load, all while trying to figure out the whole friend situation. Although I think I was able to slip into a schedule pretty well, reflecting back on the semester has made me understand how I could have avoided a few of those bumps I encountered along the way.
I put a lot of pressure on myself to do well in school, and sometimes I forget that downtime is just as important as school time. The one major challenge I faced in college is living at your school. In high school, after a long day of classes you could go home and watch TV and relax on the couch. After classes in college, you don't get to go home. You stay at school. You're literally at school 24/7. And while this didn't serve as a problem to some of my friends, I found it hard to separate my social life and school life. I felt pressure that I always needed to be doing schoolwork since I was always at school. When I had down time I felt guilty if I wasn't in the library studying.
This problem is one that I'm still working on. I was talking to a friend about how I how was struggling with this and we decided that (minus a few exceptions) we would keep our room study and homework free.
Overall, college is a transition, a good one, but definitely a transition. My first semester may have had some bumps, but overall I have met some people I know I will be friends with for the rest of my life and I have learned some priceless lessons. I am super excited to head back to Furman in January and see where my second semester of college takes me.
Love love going to the same college as you, I can't wait for our seminar together next semester!
i love that quote and congrats on being 1/8th through college! i love your blog. would you check mine out?
Thank you!! Of course, checking it out now!
Your blog is so adorable, so happy I found it!
Aww thank you! Yours too!!


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Egypt proposes ceasefire for Israel, Hamas
15 July 2014 • International, News	• No Comments
Egypt presented a cease-fire plan Monday to end a week of heavy fighting between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip that has left at least 185 people dead, and both sides said they were seriously considering the proposal.
The late-night offer by Egypt marked the first sign of a breakthrough in international efforts to end the conflict.
Hamas' top leader in Gaza confirmed there was "diplomatic movement," while Israel's policy-making Security Cabinet was set to discuss the proposal early Tuesday. Arab foreign ministers discussed the plan Monday night at an emergency meeting in Cairo, and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was expected in the region Tuesday.
Egypt's Foreign Ministry announced the three-step plan starting at 9 a.m. (0600 GMT, 2 a.m. EDT) with a cease-fire to go into effect within 12 hours of "unconditional acceptance" by the two sides. That would be followed by the opening of Gaza's border crossings and talks in Cairo between the sides within two days, according to the statement.
Gaza's crossings should be opened for people and goods "once the security situation becomes stable," according to a copy of the proposal obtained by The Associated Press.
Israel launched the offensive July 8, saying it was a response to weeks of heavy rocket fire out of Hamas-ruled Gaza. The Health Ministry in Gaza said 185 people, including dozens of civilians, have been killed, and more than 1,000 people wounded.
There have been no Israelis killed, although several have been wounded by rocket shrapnel, including two sisters, ages 11 and 13, who were seriously hurt Monday. Ahead of the Egyptian announcement, there appeared to be no slowdown in the fighting, with Hamas for the first time launching an unmanned drone into Israeli airspace that was shot down.
The violence followed the kidnappings and killings of three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank last month, as well as the subsequent kidnapping and killing of a Palestinian teenager in an apparent revenge attack, along with Israeli raids against Hamas and infrastructure in the West Bank.
Israeli officials have said the goal of the military campaign is to restore quiet to Israel's south, which has absorbed hundreds of rocket strikes, and that any cease-fire would have to include guarantees of an extended period of calm.
Hamas officials say they will not accept "calm for calm." The group is demanding an easing of an Israeli-Egyptian blockade that has ground Gaza's economy to a standstill and that Israel release dozens of prisoners who were arrested in a recent West Bank crackdown following the abductions of the Israeli youths.
With the death toll mounting, both sides have come under increasing international pressure to halt the fighting. Egypt Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri said there is "no alternative but return to the truce" of November 2012, and added that Egypt contacted all the parties, including the Palestinian leadership, different Palestinian factions, and Israeli authorities in addition to Arab and international parties. Such contacts led to shaping up the proposal which called for cease-fire.
"Egypt stresses the international responsibility toward what is happening in Palestine," he said.
In a speech broadcast on Al-Jazeera, Ismail Haniyeh, a Hamas leader in Gaza, confirmed there was "diplomatic movement."
"The problem is not going back to the agreement on calm because we want this aggression to stop," he said. "The siege must stop and Gaza people need to live in dignity."
An Israeli official said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would convene his Security Cabinet on Tuesday morning to discuss the proposal. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.
Naftali Bennett, a member of the Security Cabinet, said he would oppose the proposal, calling it "good for Hamas and bad for Israel."
"A cease-fire at the present time shows the government's weakness," he said in a statement. "A cease-fire now will create a bigger campaign against the south of the country and more rocket attacks in another year."
Egypt, the first Arab state to reach peace with Israel, often serves as a mediator between Israel and Hamas. In the 2012 fighting, Egypt's then-President Mohammed Morsi brokered a cease-fire, leveraging the influence his Muslim Brotherhood held with Hamas, its ally.
That deal included pledges to ease the blockade – promises that Hamas says were never kept. The blockade has greatly restricted movement through Gaza's Rafah crossing with Egypt – the territory's main gateway to the outside world – while Israel has restricted the flow of many goods, particularly much-needed construction materials, into Gaza. Israel says Hamas can use things like metal and concrete for military purposes.
Hamas has seen its position further weakened by last year's military coup in Egypt that ousted Morsi. Egypt's new leaders have cracked down on Hamas by nearly shuttering a network of smuggling tunnels along the border that were Hamas' key economic lifeline – and supply route for its weapons.
Hamas seized control of Gaza in 2007 from the rival forces of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
With the economy stagnant and Hamas unable to pay the salaries of its thousands of civil servants, the group recently agreed to back a unity government under Abbas' leadership. But Hamas remains in firm control of Gaza. Israel and Hamas, which is considered a terrorist group by the West, have battled many times. In the latest round, Israel carried out more than 1,300 airstrikes, along with attacks by naval gunships and artillery forces. Hamas fired hundreds of rockets into Israel.
Israeli military officials say the airstrikes knocked out roughly a third of Hamas' rocket supply and delivered a blow to the group. It says that roughly 90 of the dead were wanted militants, and it has accused Hamas of using civilians as human shields.
A Hamas drone launched Monday into Israel marked the group's latest effort to catch the Israeli military off-guard. But like the others, it had little impact on the battlefield.
Israel shot down the drone – named Ababil for a protective flock of birds mentioned in the Quran. Still, the drone represented a new level of sophistication for Hamas, and Israel said it was taking the threat seriously.
It was the first time Hamas has launched a drone into Israel, though military officials say they knew the group has had the technology for some time. Israeli airstrikes in the past have targeted what were believed to be drone facilities in Gaza.
"Hamas is trying everything it can to produce some kind of achievement, and it is crucial that we maintain our high state of readiness," Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon said.
"The shooting down of a drone this morning by our air defense system is an example of their efforts to strike at us in any way possible."
But a new Israeli rocket-defense system has intercepted dozens of projectiles headed toward major cities.
Looking to gain an edge, Hamas has employed tactics not seen before. It has fired rockets deeper than ever into Israel, including weapons it has developed and manufactured in Gaza. Last week, Hamas sent a team of scuba divers on an infiltration mission, but Israel quickly detected the frogmen and killed them outside an army base.
Isaac Ben-Israel, a retired Israeli air force general and a former head of the Israeli space agency, said the Hamas drone was similar to aircraft sent by Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon during a 2006 war. He said the drone's capabilities were limited. But "looking to the future, these technologies are becoming more and more available," he told Channel 10 TV. SAPA


text:
Welsh crime writer and biographer of David Kelly.
There are 4 posts tagged Terrorism.
Full Circle: MANPADS, Mi-8s and Muslim fundamentalists
During the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan the CIA helped fund and train Islamist guerillas. Despite the fact they were totalitarian religious fanatics and terrorists to boot, the US gave them money and material, including personal, portable, surface-to-air rockets known as Stingers, enabling them to take down Russian helicopters like the Mi-8.
Islamists down Russian Mi-8 in Afghanistan with US rockets, 1988.
It didn't turn out too well.
During the Syrian Civil War, the CIA are helping to fund and train Islamist guerillas. Despite the fact they are totalitarian religious fanatics and terrorists to boot, the US are giving them money and material, including personal, portable, surface-to-air rockets known as MANPADS, enabling them to take down Russian helicopters like the Mi-8.
Islamists down Russian Mi-8 in Syria with US rockets, 2016
There is no reason at all to think this will work out any better than it did last time.
Sadly the policy is supported by not just the current US President, but by his likely Democrat successor Hillary Clinton, the UK government and – at the time of blogging – most of the Parliamentary Labour Party.
They have learned nothing and forgotten nothing, as Talleyrand said.
in Blog |	208 Words | Comment
On The Bombing Of Markets
Forget about the brokers in Shanghai.
On Sunday the 16th of August the market in Douma, an outer suburb of Damascus, was bombed. The news was first reported by the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights, in a series of escalating bulletins until it finally arrived at the headline "more than 330 civilians killed and wounded in the genocide committed by the regime warplanes in Duma".
Doumas market hours later. Credited to Firas Abdullah, who is reported by Al Jazeera and others to be a local photographer, but who is known to the Austrian police as a Tunisian Al Qaeda supporter.
The "international community", as the West and its satellites are fond of calling themselves, was quick to voice its outrage, as it has been throughout its five year campaign for Syrian regime change.
The UN Undersecretary General for Humanitarian Affairs, Stephen O'Brien (ex-Cambridge, ex-Conservative MP), said he was "particularly appalled" at this "unlawful, unacceptable" targeting of non-combatants. The US State Department formally "condemns, in the strongest terms, the recent deadly airstrikes… on a market in the Damascus suburb of Douma that killed more than 100 people and injured hundreds, including innocent women and children."
National Security Council Spokesperson Ned Price said: "This latest tragedy is just another reminder of the inhumane acts perpetrated daily by the Assad regime against the Syrian people. The regime is responsible for killing thousands of innocent Syrian civilians and destroying entire towns and cities, historical sites, schools, mosques, markets, and hospitals. These abhorrent actions underscore that the Assad regime has lost legitimacy and that the international community must do more to enable a genuine political transition."
State Department Spokesman John Kirby said, the "airstrikes, following its other recent market bombings and attacks on medical facilities, demonstrate the regime's disregard for human life. As we have said, Assad has no legitimacy to lead the Syrian people. The United States is working with our partners toward a genuine, negotiated political transition away from Assad that brings an end to such attacks and leads to a future that fulfils Syrians' aspirations for freedom and dignity."
The US Ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, inevitably chipped in. Rupert Colville, spokesman for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (ex-Harrow, ex-Cambridge, son of Jock Colville, undisclosed relationship with the Foreign Office, wink wink), whose office has maintained since 2012 that they have "enough evidence of war crimes to refer Syria to the International Criminal Court", was equally keen to voice his concern over "the outrageous bombing of a busy local marketplace."
And so on, and so on.
Then the Douma Co-ordinating Committee, one of a network of committees set up on or before 2011, and funded by the US State Department and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, released a list of the dead (although it requires translation). It has 102 names on it. Ninety nine of them are men. Does that sound like a normal gender spread for an Arabic market? The Syrian government maintain they actually targeted a rebel HQ near the market. Given the fatalities, and Douma's long-standing status as a rebel bastion, doesn't that sound more plausible than the idea Assad's air force are targeting Sunday markets?
For those keen to pore over pictures of this and other bombed markets, and ponder the damage and corpses therein, or lack therof, Eric Draitser has a compendium of links in this very relevant article. Draitser is of the opinion that the extant footage from Douma is far less gruesome than might be expected. What makes things murkier still is that soon afterwards all the bodies were buried in mass graves, so no identification or inquest is possible.What footage we do have reveals no sign at all of how the men were killed. They're wrapped in blankets, and most do seem to be of fighting age. Draitser even speculates they might just as easily have been brought in from fighting elsewhere. Unsurprisingly it turns out that at least one of the Douma market victims miraculously survived.
Mohammad has just emerged from three days trapped in rubble.
In 2013 Douma was also the scene of another alleged war crime: a chemical weapons attack, one of several such attacks across Syria, attacks which were extensively recorded and reported. However, as with the market bombing, I'm not quite sure the evidence for these stacks up either (the UN feels the same way, so does Stratfor, and so does Gareth Porter, to name but a very few, while Mossad, the JIC and The Sun thought otherwise).
The story reminded me that despite the fact markets have no military value, they're bombed all the time. Sometimes we presume it is simply an accident, like when the RAF bombed the market at Fallujah, killing between 50 people (the MoD's figure, when they eventually admitted responsibility) and 200. But in almost every case, with the exception of four or five relatively minor incidents in Israel, whenever markets have been bombed over the last twenty years or so, the victims have been Muslim (I have started to compile a spreadsheet). These bombings occur with incredible frequency, and an astonishing number of them are never claimed by any terrorist group. Isn't that bizarre? It suggests a strategy of tension, or perhaps several of them. Certainly it warrants further study.
Most of all, the reports from Douma reminded me of the market bombings in Sarajevo, or the Markale massacres, as they are sometimes known. The market in Sarajevo was bombed three times: once in 1992, once in 1994, and again in 1995. Or perhaps more accurately, it was hit by 120mm mortar shells. On each occasion there was ambiguity about whether the Serbs were actually responsible. General Michael Rose believed the shells actually came from the Bosnian side. Multiple sources (such as Michael Rose, David Owen, Boutros Boutros Ghali, President Mitterand, and Yasushi Akashi, the UN Special Envoy for Bosnia) refer to a secret UN investigation which found exactly that. A second, non-secret UN report (the one intended for publication) confined itself to saying the attack could not be confidently attributed to any particular faction.
I have visited the market in Sarajevo. An arc of attack was not apparent. Sightlines were few and very narrow. It would take exceptional skill, I think, to accurately and reliably hit it with the groupings and timings we are asked to believe in. I do not seek to exonerate the Bosnian Serbs, who seem to have sniped and shelled Sarajevo at will, but the mortar attacks in question reveal what you might call a tradition of unattributed, misreported, propagandistic attacks on Muslim markets. And the CIA and the Saudi-funded Islamists were present then just as they are today.
The bombing of Sarajevo market. What started here? (Patrick Chauvel, 5 February 1994).
In memoriam.
in Blog |	1,147 Words | 3 Comments
Amerithrax, Deep State policing, and conspiracy theory
For four years former FBI Agent Richard L Lambert was nominally in charge of the Amerithrax investigation. Lambert now claims he has been dissmissed from his current job (senior counterintelligence officer at the Energy Department) because of his continued insistence that the Bureau deliberately mishandled the case. He is now suing the FBI, and for those who haven't been paying attention, his court filings comprise a series of explosive revelations.
Richard Lambert, in his FBI days.
Those with long memories will recall that one week after 9/11, somebody started using the US postal service to send anthrax to unsuspecting and seemingly random journalists and politicians. As well as anthrax, the envelopes contained letters which identified the acts as Islamist terrorism ("Allah is great", "death to America", "death to Israel", etc). Thus a bridge was established between this Islamist terrorism and WMD. This link became the keystone of the entire war on terror, and ultimately provided the rationale for invading Iraq. As I make clear in my biography of David Kelly, Dark Actors, the claims that Iraq possessed WMD always tended to centre around biological WMD (and specifically anthrax), because bioweapons are the easiest WMD to make, and can be produced with the least infrastructure, thus making them the hardest WMD to detect. Amerithrax, as this news story was called, helped point 9/11 very quickly to Iraq. By October corporate media was blaming Baghdad.
The anthrax accompanying this came from US military labs.
9/11 brought conspiracy theory to the fore. Hundreds of millions of people believed it was an inside job, a false flag operation to enable the next chapter of American foreign policy. Their numbers have doubtlessly dwindled, but the Truth movement, as it tends to call itself, is still going strong. It has been met with something that has not yet been named, but might be described as the New Orthodoxy. Essentially this was an elite and anti-populist tendency to a) brand all those who doubt the corporate media as conspiracy theorists whilst b) classifying conspiracy theory as a dangerous, destablizing, anti-Semitic force. Notable proponents of this New Orthodoxy in the UK are David Aaronovitch (see Voodoo Histories) and Nick Cohen ("Conspiracy theories led to the calamitous movements of communism and nazism.") In the US, the legal scholar Cass Sunstein, who happens to be the husband of Samantha Power, argued that conspiracy theory is a catalyst for anti-state violence, and that the government should infiltrate conspiracy theory groups (Sunstein classes the 9/11 'Truthers' as domestic extremists). Closer to home, Cambridge University's Leverholme-funded Conspiracy and Democracy project may provide an institutional example of the New Orthodoxy ("Are conspiracy theories destroying democracy?"), although I hope not.
I don't think the Truth movement has proven that 9/11 was an inside job. But Amerithrax was. It is possible to be incredibly specific about strains of anthrax – because they are bacterial, they have DNA. Additionally, there are the processing treatments the anthrax in these letters recevied, which reduces the number of sources even further. This anthrax was a very finely ground, dry powder, with every granule given an anti-static polyglass coating, and electrocharged to aid aerial dispersal. It was a designer bioweapon. The Bureau found it could only have been produced by the US Army's Dugway Proving Ground in Utah, or the private sector Batelle Memorial Institute at Ohio.
Faced with this incontrovertible evidence, the guy the FBI evenutally went after was a harmless, community-minded, Roman Catholic juggler and Celtic music afficianado with thirty six years' service as a biodefence researcher at USAMRIID in Maryland. Military scientists can be a very prickly bunch (I've met dozens of them) but Bruce Ivins seems to have been well regarded by almost everyone he worked with. The FBI let him know he was their chief suspect and the Bureau followed him, overtly and covertly, with great scrutiny.
The pressure must have been immense. From released transcripts, which make for tragic reading, its clear that his questioners leant on him hard. His children were bribed to testify against him, even if they could only provide the most circumstantial evidence. They refused. Ivins, who suffered from depression, was also seeing a counsellor, who did not refuse these inducements. Her co-operation with the FBI was not only a fundamental breach of patient confidentiality, it amounted to asking leading and incriminating questions during their therapy sessions, something I suspect Ivins came to realise. Ivins was also, according to some of the agents involved, a closet crossdresser (much like J. Edgar Hoover). Distressed and disturbed, he killed himself with a Tylenol overdose as a consqeuence of FBI harassment on the 29th of July, 2008. More than 200 of his co-workers attended his memorial.
I often thought of Ivins when I was writing the biography of David Kelly. The Oxfordshire scientist may have been mistreated by the state, but it was nothing compared to what the FBI did to Ivins.
Bruce Ivins RIP.
"They took an innocent man, a distinguished scientist, and smeared his reputation, dishonored him, questioned his children and drove him to take his life," one anonymous colleague told ABC News. "He just didn't have the swagger, the ego to pull off that kind of thing, and he didn't have the lab skills to make the fine powder anthrax that was used in the letters."
(One might also wonder about the wisdom of letting a dangerous bioterrorist know full well they're your chief suspect, but then that's exactly what Agent Lambert did with the previous suspect, Steven Hatfill. Either Lambert's team never wanted to build a viable case, and/or they believed themselves, from the outset, to be working against a highly organized conspiracy that involved elements of the intelligence community.)
As soon as Ivins committed suicide the FBI and the Department of Justice promptly announced that he was the Amerithrax terrorist and closed the case. Scrabbling for a likely motive, the Feds said Ivins held a patent on an anthrax vaccine he had developed, and hoped to make money from the resulting scare. This was nonsense: Ivins had helped develop it, but the money went to the US Military. In fact the entire case against Ivins was ridiculous and dishonest. The catalogue of lies, distortions, and errors is extensive, and far too long to go into here, but many decent people have made comprehensive rebuttals here, here and here.
Lambert says he is still sitting on a wealth of classified information, but the gist of his filings thus far make clear that he was ordered to make Ivins the chief suspect, and that head office repeatedly denied him staff and support to pursue any other avenues. He says the FBI hid vast amounts of evidence that showed Ivins was innocent, while leaking tangential pointers that Ivins could be guilty as definitive fact.
So, these are explosive revelations, but they will suprise few who have followed the case. After all, the argument for flase flag operations is not hard for certain quarters to morally support. For example: you want to start a war, you have accepted there will be a "blood price", and you understand there is a risk of failure. Based on those terms, why should you shrink from paying that blood price before the war formally begins? Otherwise you might not get to have your war at all. When we understand what false flags are, when our media can acknowledge their existence, these operations will become far less effective. Perhaps one day we will mature.
In the meantime it is surely self-evident that the rise of conspiracy theory is not destroying democracy, but a symptom of its decline. The lessons of Bruce Ivins and Amerithrax are obvious, but I am not aware of a single MSM personality prepared to acknowledge them.
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Deciphering the ISC's Woolwich Report Part Two: MI6's Dirty War in Kenya
After a few news cycles it seems the media have finally caught up with the report's most significant aspect: the harassment and torture of Adebolajo by MI5 and SIS respectively. I was amazed the Committee bothered to ask any questions about this at all, but they did. I'd be surprised if it was Rifkind's idea. Understanding the significance of these questions necessitates context.
What transformed and magnified the murder of Lee Rigby into an act of terrorism, and a major politico-cultural event, was the British establishment and the milking of public sentiment. In fact it was this sensationalism which made the ISC report compulsory – the idea a man should be stabbed on a British street does not normally call for a pretend overhaul of the county's intelligence apparatus. A British soldier was stabbed to death in Cyprus six months previously, and again the following summer in Barbados, without triggering government inquiries. The neighbourhood where Rigby was murdered sees stabbings on a weekly basis without arousing the slightest concern in Parliament or the media. Similarly, none of the murders committed by soldiers themselves (and there have been several in between the death of Drummer Rigby and today) have raised governmental eyebrows or editorial alarm. Ironically, it is the earnestness of the Woolwich report which reveals the mechanics of this absurd amplification.
To any neutral observer, Rigby's murder was homicide as a precursor to suicide-by-cop. Any terroristic ambitions on the part of his killers had been reduced to nil by the 22nd of May 2013. The sudden, futile murder of Lee Rigby was the final act of two hopeless men. Given that the harassment and infiltration of Britain's Muslim communities is intense, I had privately assumed, on hearing the news, that the pair had killed their handler. But the British military was simply following its standard procedure of informing the serviceman's family before the press. Nevertheless my assumption was not a wholly misplaced. The report confirms what has already become widely known: Adebolajo spent his final years of freedom surrounded by aspiring handlers, against whom he ultimately rebelled.
The circumstantial and indirect evidence for this is abundant. The answers of the intelligence and security services on this point, and SIS in particular, when pressed by the Committee itself, are described in the report as "dismissive", "pre-judging", "completely inappropriate", "uncertain", "unclear", "difficult", "deeply unsatisfactory". Suffice to say the Committee "does not agree with SIS's assessment" and is "deeply concerned". The root of all this is Adebolajo's arrest and torture in Kenya.
Adebolajo flew to Kenya in late 2010, reportedly under a false passport which gave his name as Michael Olemindis Ndemolajo. Obtaining a false UK passport is tricky, but procuring one of specific age and ethnicity (a Nigerian Yoruba) under a very similar name is impressive – unless you're an intelligence agency. The Kenyans arrested "Ndemolajo" in late November, at a guesthouse on the Kenyan island of Lamu, on the understanding he was trying to cross into neighbouring Somalia, and some days after this arrest Adebolajo appeared in court, and thus in Kenyan media, under that assumed identity. The Foreign Office apparently provided consular assistance to him under that name also.
SIS told the ISC they had no idea Adebolajo was in Kenya until two days after his arrest. In truth Adebolajo had been picked up by a Kenyan counter-terrorist unit that was part-staffed by SAS soldiers and part-run by SIS. Furthermore, one of the people instrumental in facilitating Adebolajo's pseudonymous trip was a Kenyan-based British "Subject of Interest" already known to MI5. Five asked Six if he was their guy. Answer came there none, at least as far as the ISC knows.
So let's recap: Adebolajo gets, from somewhere, a superb fake passport. He flies to Kenya. He has arranged to meet a guy out there who is probably already an MI6 agent. He is arrested and detained almost immediately, with the participation of British Special Forces. No legal grounds are given for his arrest. Despite this, he appears in court anyway, and his photo thus appears in the press.
Adebolajo as 'Ndemolajo' in a Mombasa courtroom. British officials told Kenyan police he was a "clean man."
Interestingly, the photo was taken by one Michael Richards, an unknown photographer who has only ever distributed two photos through AFP – this, and one depicting the January 2012 appearance in a Mombasa courtroom of Lamu cleric Aboud Rogo Mohammed, charged on six counts related to the illegal possession of firearms. He was bailed, and reappeared on the same charges in August, when the Kenya police explained they hadn't actually taken any photos, or even an inventory, of the weapons in question. That's because Rogo had been fitted up by the same SIS-led anti-terror unit that entrapped Adebolajo. When the trial duly collapsed, that same unit killed Rogo in an extrajudicial execution, shooting him more than seventeen times while he was driving his car, narrowly missing his five year-old daughter, but catching his wife in the leg. Still, that's pretty good aim for a drive-by. That was in late August, 2012, and it triggered riots. It is impossible to understand the Woolwich killing without taking into account MI6's dirty war in Kenya.
"The only reason we have killed this man today is because Muslims are dying daily by British soldiers," Adebolajo told a passerby that May morning on Wellington Street. "So what if we want to live by the Sharia in Muslim lands? Why does that mean you must follow us and chase us and call us extremists and kill us?"
Adebolajo had been detained by those British soldiers. He had been tortured, or at least threatened with torture, by either those soldiers or their Kenyan accomplices, and he had a better idea of what the Secret Intelligence Service were doing in Kenya than any mainstream media outlet. By October this SAS-SIS Kenyan anti-terror outfit (ARCTIC in the ISC report) had performed five assassinations – that we know of- in as many months. The total as of today is 21.
On his return to the UK, Adebolajo is freely readmitted (Kenya maintains he was deported, the ISC were told he flew back under his own ticket). No interest is shows in his passport, his treatment while detained, the legal grounds for his arrest, or the identity of the individual/s he met during his stay. The Kenyan sojourn is as clear a set-up as you'll ever see. Either SIS were trying to turn Adebolajo, or they were trying to turn his younger brother, a teacher in Saudi who they were in contact with around this time.
Back in the UK, separate from SIS's efforts, MI5 step-up their attempts to claim him for their own. As far as we know, they confine these attempts to police harassment, or "disruption". "Disruption," the report explains, "is the term MI5 uses describe 'actions taken to manage risks posed by Subjects of Interest or networks,' for instance arresting and imprisoning an individual." So at MI5's insistence they pick Adebolajo up again and again, for alleged drugs offences (the ISC report refers to him openly as a drug dealer), for involvement in the London riots, anything they can possibly think of. He is never charged.
"Disruption based on criminal activities offers a potential opportunity to reduce the threat posed by extremists," the report notes, approvingly, while failing to reflect that every known criminal allegation against Adebolajo was a fabrication by MI5. Bear in mind that during this time there is also a photo of Adebloajo, as Ndemolajo, in that Mombasa courtoom, registered with the photo library at AFP. Only SIS know that it's him. This is probably just one of the things that Vauxhall Bridge had over the Adebolajo brothers. Anything recorded or videod during Michael's Kenyan detention would also constitute effective leverage.
That's the full backdrop to Michael Adebolajo's last act while a free, albeit compromised, man. His younger and more impressionable co-criminal remains a cipher. Adebolajo's decision to a murder a British soldier was his own, but it was shaped and formed by two things. The spirit of Islamist jihad was one. The second was his treatment by British intelligence. Each must share equal blame. It isn't appropriate, or right, for SIS to treat UK citizens like they were Soviet officers. I wonder if those who aspired to control him have the self-awareness to feel guilty. Knowing the institutional mindset, I doubt it.
In between my last two posts the media have come somewhat closer to all this. Cameron has announced the new Intelligence Services Commissioner will look into possible SIS miscounduct. This will occur under greater secrecy, and with even more bias, than the ISC routinely operates, so I would expect it to be completely pointless. Very few people care anyway.
Christopher Steele, David Kelly, and the Hutton Inquiry January 29, 2017
The Constitutional Threat Posed By The Intelligence World December 11, 2016
Parliament's failure to investigate Tony Blair November 30, 2016
2016 Hamlyn Lectures: Dame Sian Elias and the origins of our criminal justice system November 9, 2016
Full Circle: MANPADS, Mi-8s and Muslim fundamentalists August 9, 2016
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