text:
Home › Freedom-Expressed › Is NATO Falling Apart?
Is NATO Falling Apart?
"More than 60 world leaders have gathered in Wales for a NATO summit taking place in the city of Newport. All of NATO's 28 member countries are represented…"
"Ukraine and Isis threat set to dominate talks as NATO summit starts…"
According to major media sources
Dr. Jim Willie present some important recent developments that bode ill for the dollar as Germany, France and other former allies and partners of the U.S. are now aligning themselves with Russia, China and the BRICS bloc.
NATO Dead, King Dollar Wrecked – A Jim Willie Exclusive
By Jim Willie, The Golden Jackass, Editor of The Hat Trick Letter
Jim's Summary:
the USDollar is under siege despite its rising exchange rate
a Global Paradigm Shift is underway
the Ukraine War has brought about a heightened urgency
Europe must make a decision to preserve its economy, or to support the USD
the European nations will work to install the Gold Standard, and thus will preserve their economies and industry and jobs
Special Forces professional troops from Germany, France, Netherlands, and England are fighting against NATO forces in Ukraine
easy conclusion: NATO IS DEAD
the Fascist Axis is being exposed, coming into full view
defense of the USD via war is becoming very well understood
the Petro-Dollar is dying, as both the Saudis and Russia will work without the USD core in payments
Germans are fed up with American strongarm tactics, as confrontations are occurring
the anti-USDollar movement has gone global, as all nations pursue BRICS Associate status
Gold, Bonds, and Banks are the extreme weak links
the US will succeed in imposing sanctions against the majority of nations, and thus win extreme isolation
the new axis of Russia, China, Germany is emerging which will promote the return to Gold Standard
Full Article Below:
The Paradigm Shift has reached a higher gear. The danger and risk levels have gone to critical levels. The risk of economic destruction has gone into recognizable critical levels. The source of the problem has become more easily identified. The typical tactics not only do not work, but expose the bully, the warmonger, the hegemony advocate, the wizard of violence, the imposer of self-serving rules, the crime syndicate bosses, the masters of espionage, the man with killer drone toys. The USDollar is defended by war, market interference (see LIBOR, FOREX, debt ratings), accounting rules gimmicks, rigged detonation of banking systems, pointed assassinations for heads of state, even fabricated natural events (see HAARP in Philippines). The entire system is supported by Zero Interest Rate Policy (ZIRP) which distorts asset values and discourages savings. The misallocation of resources matches the wet blanket effect (see Money Velocity shutdown). The entire system is supported by Quantitative Easing (QE) which has monetized the USGovt bond market, the US property market, the US stock market, and soon possibly the US municipal bond market. The capital destruction is rampant, severe, and entering vicious feedback loops. The entire financial and economic system was held together in 2013 by cables and ropes in grand lashing style. The entire financial and economic system is now held together in 2014 by strings and howitzers, not to mention the endless sanctions and destructive rules, even punitive bank fines. The United States seeks to remain Lord of the Flies, its domain extended over a wrecked European continent. The main question is whether Europe will sign on to make a perverse corporatist trade union with a sinking millstone.
The United States seeks to pursue the Western totalitarian state by means of pulling down the European Economy, from the broken system to emerge the reconstruction of oppressive fascism. A wrecked Western Economy is pre-requisite. The small ray of light slips through, as the Fascist Business Model has a crack in it. Usually the big powerful corporations support the government fascist dictums. However, Exxon Mobil, Dutch Shell, British Petroleum, and Boeing stand in opposition to sanctions against Russia. The game is fast changing. The Emperor's court is showing critical internal defections. The bigger ray of light comes from Germany, which shows important signs of refusal to permit its economic destruction in order to suit the elite plans of a grander fascist state. The Germans have suffered hyper inflation before, and will not again. The Germans have suffered a national calamity from an integrated fascist state, and will not again. It is becoming excruciatingly clear that the Global Axis of Fascism is the US, UK, and its leash holder in the SouthEast Mediterranean. The entire global system has reached the critical phase. The breakdown phase is accelerating.
Recent events point to two important phenomena having occurred. NATO is undermined. The USDollar military plank is being opposed by its own US allies. This is unprecedented. The Jackass pays almost no attention to the COMEX gold price, the FOREX currency exchange rates, or the USTreasury Bond yields, all controlled corrupted and incontrovertibly wrong-footed. The entire Ukraine War has subjected Europe to severe economic damage. It will not stand. The Russian sanctions have an obvious whiplash of severe impact to the US and Europe. The whiplash impact to the US is to expose the USDollar as a corrupted cancerous currency, for which coerced war and economic suicide are the high cost of continued support. The effect is to force structural change. The whiplash impact to Europe is to cause sudden crippling economic effects, industrial output decline, job cuts, and severed business ties with a longstanding neighbor and partner. The effect is to force structural change. Witness Paradigm Shift on a global scale, the isolated party being the United States. Their NWO armbands fit side by side with the nazi symbols so easily recognized. The big victim is the King Dollar, which has been knocked off its throne. It might have been decapitated, but it surely has been wrecked. Its dying breath is venomous. Its last will is a testament to fascism and destruction, not equitable trade and fair commerce. Its last words are ugly lies.
IRONY THICK
The irony is unusually thick, but hardly noticed by the masses, as the US marches to marxist fascism. The Europeans resist fascism and isolation. The Russians seek commerce, partnerships, and constructive engagement. The Chinese seek trade and commerce, while opening gates for a sort of colonization. The British seeks a new fence on which to sit, and possibly continue to capture the finance trade (while Frankfurt cleans up in the new great RMB Hub game). The entire British Commonwealth of nations kowtows to the American self-proclaimed global lords and rule makers. Witness the friction to prevent Eurasia from forming, as the insolvent Oceania fades in power, importance, and integrity. Orwell just winked.
UKRAINE JUMP SHIFT
The motives for the Ukraine War are murky. Clearly to the cynic with a watchful eye on fascism spread, the motive seems to be designed to cut off Russian Gazprom influence, even to halt its conversion of Europe to an energy vassal client. The US-EU intentions seem to be scorched earth with a genocide twist, stirred by asset thefts (see Kiev Central Bank raid). The Ukraine situation has changed the entire game, put Europe on alert, and set traps left and right. The Europeans can no longer sit quietly and follow American Fascist orders. The Europeans are forced to take action, to choose sides. The US should never force its allies to choose sides, since the US camp is so detrimental and deeply damaging. Joining the US camp means injecting cancer in finance, undermining capital in industry, and enlisting war for its destruction.
SPECIAL FORCES IN EQUATION
The big new twist which took the Jackass out of his chair was the professional hardened soldiers who have joined the Ukraine Liberation Movement (or whatever it is called), taking up positions against the NATO troops, against the Langley-Soros mercenaries. They are fighting against the Ukraine Regime in Kiev, against the fascists. These professional volunteer soldiers have captured some American Blackwater mercenaries, and are conducting interrogations. Later come the perp walks and criminal parades with photo ops. For these special forces from Germany, France, Netherlands, and Britain to show such extreme defiance is testimony to the broken nature of NATO. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization in my opinion is dead, as in dead kaput dead. The United States violated the treaty long ago in two key ways. The US placed ballistic missiles on the Russian borders, calling them defensive. The US has used NATO bases to distribute heroin for over 20 years, with the last ten years being accelerated from the Afghan source. Since the USMilitary invasion of Afghanistan, at the time under the stated purpose of building a Chevron oil pipeline in a land without oil resources, the heroin production has risen 14-fold. But the Jackass digresses.
NATO is dead, and the big new questions are whether Germany will tolerate USMilitary soldiers in occupation of its land at Ramstein AFBase, and whether Germany will permit further usage of the NATO base to distribute heroin to its population. Broken treaties are not new for the USGovt, which for two centuries has broken them at will, whenever it serves a greater purpose, like to manifest destiny. Atrocities and genocide are part of the American fabric at its highest offices.
FASCIST AXIS EXPOSED MORE FULLY
The basis of fascism, that seedy vile merger of state with corporation, is being more clearly seen as having its firm footing in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Israel. One should never leave out the Holy See of Rome in such identifications. The control rooms are more visible. The perpetrators of violence, terrorism, and false flag attacks (a fascist specialty for decades) have been enduring the spotlight in recent years, especially recent months. The string of executive decrees in the USGovt house with white paint testify to fascism emerging like a Washington Wailing Wall pasted with documents in pinups, not prayers. The USGovt reserves the right to kill any citizen, to arrest any citizen, to seize any citizen assets, to force any citizen into labor without pay, to obstruct citizen meetings, and to confiscate citizen firearms. Such is fascism in full glory. The Patriot Act (hardly patriotic) was a Fascist Manifesto which was imposed next to the formation of the American Gestapo. The British share the same fascist tendencies, the list long in unison. Tel Aviv struggles in the open with such fascist confronations. By the way, the huge off-shore oil discovery preceded the Gaza violence, and Hamas has been benefiting from Langley supply routes since they were exposed in Egypt, the brotherhood being the link.
911 DATA COMING TO TABLE
The major wild card coming into view is detailed evidence on the inside job of 911 at both the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The Jackass chooses to cite this factor in passing. Let the Snowden Files and Veterans Today state the case, after the battle was waged by AE1000 and Architects & Engineers For Truth. Imagine inside the United States that people pursuing truth are labeled as subversive, another plank in the fascist platform. The full story will come out on the US, UK, and Med Sea leash holder involvement. The biggest decisions are where to post the information. The other question is whether the US citizens will be able to comprehend the sometimes complex data, given their ignorance and refusal to open eyes. The Jackass view is that when wearing red white & blue boxer shorts, the brain does not function well. Lastly, a question: Why was no information ever disclosed on the World Trade Center acting as the site of the largest private bank in the world? The event on that fateful day was a bank heist, the largest in humankind history. The loot was $100 billion in gold bullion, $100 billion in bearer bonds, and $100 billion in diamonds. Air travel restrictions against water bottles are to prevent the movement of diamonds, as the shoe restriction is a laughable accompaniment in distraction.
USDOLLAR WAR DEFENSE LAID BARE
During the 1990 decade, a few instances can be identified where the USDollar defense was felt with USMilitary activity. In the 1980 decade, the brief Panama War was to defend the USDollar, where their economy and banks still use the USD currency. In the early 2000 decade, examples were seen like after South Korea announced USTreasurys diversification plans. The US treated them to military exercises off their coastline. Recall SKorea is effectively an occupied nation (see USMilitary presence with 28,500 troops). In the 2000 decade, the most stark example of USDollar war defense was seen in the Iraq War. The tyrant Saddam Hussein openly boasted oil trade in Euros, and cited its advantages over a few year period. He did not expect the disadvantage of war attack, annexation, and his capture with hanging by the neck after his statue was toppled and the image of his head smacked with sandals. The Iran sanctions were founded in non-USD usage in their energy trade, the same Hussein crime. Thus Iran was painted by the dutiful Israelis as a nuclear threat. That card has been played way too often. Tehran still lacks both adequate nuclear material and missile delivery systems. No need to be factual, when propaganda is the name of the CFR game. The attack on Cyprus was not really about insolvent banks and Bank Bail-in models being arranged. The Cyprus operation was to cut off Russian usage of their banks as a window to the West for their banking system. The Cyprus operation was to cut off Russian usage of their banks in conversion of USTBonds to Gold bullion. The Cyprus operation was to cut off Gazprom at the pass, and to provide a prelude of the upcoming Ukraine War.
No mask can cover the fact that the Ukraine War is to protect the USDollar, to ensure Europe is kept within the USD Corral, to prevent Europe from sitting at the Gold Standard table. The only trouble is that the Kiev Fascist Regime is going to fall very soon, and the Kiev leaders will be exposed for their Langley roots, their Soros roots, and the Mashwodd roots (which fills most ministry posts). The Europeans will not let their nations be wrecked in order to defend the violent corrupted cancerous USDollar. They will choose the Gold Standard, promoted by Russia & China. They will choose to preserve their economies and their national livelihoods.
DEAD PETRO-DOLLAR
The two leading oil producer nations Saudi Arabia and Russia will no longer exclusively trade crude oil in USDollar terms. The Saudis are slower at the draw, but obvious in their monthly lovefest conferences with Chinese officials, ministers, and heads of state, even corporate leaders. When the Saudis announce acceptance of other non-USD currency for oil payments, the game will reach a higher pitch. Last week the Russian Gazprom Neft (oil division within Gazprom Corp) announced acceptance of Chinese Yuan and Russian Rubles for crude oil sold to Europe and to China. The news was another correct Jackass forecast, made back in March & April timeframe. The game is on, as the King Dollar is being kicked to the curb, its throne broken and toppled. Too much war, too many sanctions, too many hidden violent games, too much market rigging. The Petro-Dollar is effectively dead, the funeral yet to occur. The next standard will be the Energy for Gold and Energy for Yuan (aka RMB). The name Gaso-Yuan defacto standard has been heard, an awkward moniker indeed. This important step will be the practical step toward reinstallation of the Gold Standard. The Jackass is on record stating that the global trade settlement in Chinese RMB will be soon made equivalent in Gold Trade Notes as Letters of Credit. Time will tell.
GERMANS ARE FED UP WITH AMERICAN STRONGARMS
So word is coming out slowly that German caught wind in 2011 of the USGovt plan to create a scorched earth firewall in Ukraine, and to disrupt European energy supply. The German reaction was to demand its gold account repatriation, in direct response to the ugly Ukraine plan. Motive and action, in clear terms. So word is coming out that the USGovt and UKGovt pressured the German Govt to suppress the data that demonstrated how the Kiev Regime shot down the Malaysian airliner, the orders coming from the Kiev ministry offices. The outraged Germans responded with a special FU, followed by more direct indications of working with Russia & China on non-USD alternatives. The German corporate interests are at odds with the banker & political fortress. The corporate interests will prevail. The Jackass scoffs at the shallow fallacious fecal flow from Skousen who argues as if Germany is a homogeneous entity. The shallow basis of such thought is laughable. Germany is divided between the banker & politician offices they control, versus the corportate chieftains who will defy the fascists on the other side of the wall. Corporate interests will work against policies that are would render great harm to the German Economy. The Germans have already decided to endure heavy bank system damage (even derivative events), as they turn their backs on the King Dollar Throne. They will trigger a banking collapse, probably after the USGovt makes a dreadful error in prosecuting Deutsche Bank in purely hypocritical fashion.
The Germans will instead defend their economy, defend their industry, and defend their laborers, as they work constructively with the BRICS nations in the non-USD alternative. That term (non-USD alternative) is the catch phrase that means Gold Standard Return, which will happen on the trade side. The banking system side will follow like from a vicious trade tug on the choker leash around the dog's financial neck.
As footnote, the Chinese Yuan full convertibility delay is just another signal that other events might be more important, like Yuan conversion to Gold bullion. When it comes to priority, the converstion to Thai Bhat, Kiwi Dollar, Colombia Peso, and Indian Rupee for the Chinese Yuan (aka RMB) takes a back seat to conversion to Gold bullion. The Shanghai Free Trade Zone will fortify its several hundred corporate and industrial connections, and deal with the convertible Yuan over time. Another higher priority is the marriage (more like living together out of wedlock) between the Russian Ruble and Chinese Yuan. They will fortify their bond with vows during the construction of energy pipelines, laying of hands over the Holy Grail, despite marital arguments along the way kept private and out of view.
ANTI-USD MOVEMENT GLOBAL
The entire world is moving in the direction of firm position against the corrupted cancerous USDollar. The emerging market nations no longer wish to have their FOREX reserves undermined by QE activity that serves Wall Street with backdoor bond bailouts. The panorama of global economy players no longer wish to have their economies subjected to rising costs as a result of QE activity. The capital destruction is both predictable and palpable. In a sense the entire world is becoming BRICS Associate nations. Their cause is in common with preservation of savings and of capital structures. With each new assassination (see the Brazilian free commerce candidate murder probably done by Langley agents), the BRICS gain momentum and support. The entire world has a common set of motives to remove the King Dollar from its throne, and to install the Gold Standard for fairness, equitability, and stability. The refusal by US bankers, UK bankers, and EU bankers to liquidate the big insolvent banks after the 2008 shock wave has resulted in a grotesque wreckage of the global economy and massive destruction of capital structures. Either the pinhead economists cannot notice the capital destruction and lack of stimulus, or else they are brainwashed at the Keynes Car Wash. The reality will strike hard and fast, as the Petro-Dollar is dead and NATO is dead. Isolation comes to the United States, worse than the Jackass imagined back in 2012 when first described.
GOLD & BONDS & BANKS AS WEAK LINKS
Many strong competent analysts are openly engaged in speculation as to where the ultimate systemic breakdown will occur. It is very difficult to say. The three areas of extreme vulnerability are gold market, bond market, and banking system. Take your pick for initial open bust evidence. In the Jackass opinion, as soon as any one of the three sectors experiences a mild calamity, all three will suffer a quick contagion event. To be sure, the COMEX gold arena is hardly a market. To qualify as a market, they must deliver on gold & silver futures contracts. To qualify as a market, they must contain gold in inventory, rather than in spurious data and sudden GLD/SLV raids. Notice the regrettable depletion of the Scotia Mocatta gold hoard in Satan's service with genuflection and kissing of the blood ring. The USTreasury Bond market is held together by QE brute force (almost no valid buyers) and the Interest Rate Swap derivative (to create phony bond demand).
The evidence of broken market is the Failures to Deliver in USTBonds. The financial press prefers to mention it like part of a rabid demand for the USGovt debt securities (of Third World type), a certain contradiction. The reality is that Interest Rate Swap devices create artificial demand for USTBonds, which the big US banks scurry to meet in forced purchases, thus the observed Failures to Deliver. The only problem is that not bond supply enough exist, floating about in the traded open market. So a shortage is exposed, an embarrassment to the informed who observe the IRSwap machinery. Fortunately for the USDept Treasury crime bosses, the majority of financial professionals, fund managers, and bank analysts are morons to the derivative world. The big banks are nothing but tall hollow reeds which stand as banners to a past robustness that has long ago faded away. The natural consequence to outsourcing industry is for banks to lose equity. Nowadays, the big banks are derivative casinos. They are bond carry trade arenas. They are narco money laundering houses. They are hollow pillars of corruption. They are political control centers, along with some energy firms.
ISOLATE THE WORLD
A sick almost comedy is in progress. The USGovt plans to impose sanctions on any nation which intends to diversify away from USTreasury Bonds, or which intends to work toward a non-USD alternative, or which actively strives to install the Gold Standard, or which stands in the way of putting a ring fence around Russia (despite its 12 time zones, and dominant commodity supply chain). Any and every USGovt sanction initiative has backfired, blowing a hole in the chest of Uncle Sam, even blowing off his testicalia. The new Reformed Rubin Doctrine should read: if it does not work, double the volume. The original Rubin Doctrine still reads: wreck the future to win another year of status quo. No sanctions have succeeded as intended by design. All have resulted in the United States being painted as a nasty partner, identified as a warmonger, exposed for deep criminality, and seen as a fascist operator. The USGovt will succeed with a series of new sanctions in isolating the majority of world nations. In doing so, it will isolate itself. The Fascists attack their enemies, defraud their allies, protect their players, enslave their subjects, and wreck their economies, while waving the flag and intensifying controls. They wage war as a business plan, while raiding banks and stealing gold. They are the global criminal elite class. They must be ring fenced and expunged.
CLIMAX NEAR WITH NEW AXIS EMERGENCE
A climax is fast approaching. The USDollar is stuck in the implosion stage. Its many supporting structures are in simultaneous collapse. The paradox worth repeating is that the USDollar will rise and rise and rise, then vanish, as the United States must take its rightful place in the Third World. The USDollar will be rejected, the climax of its dismissal to come from the pain it causes. No nation can compete with the USDollar, as it is printed off the Weimar press by the US Federal Reserve, the oil burning, the screech audible from afar. The USGovt is left with no more options than war, since the financial front has been lost to insolvency, market interference, bond fraud, and leveraged corruption. The King Dollar has been wrecked, knocked off its throne, never to return to prestige.
Emerging is the new Eastern Alliance based upon the three centers of Russia, China, and Germany. The Eurasian Trade Zone is coming into view. The SCO challenge is also becoming more visible, extending invitations to additional nations. Its original purpose of shared security and culture exchange have been made more broad. The difficult decisions must be made by Germany. It seems clear that a certain lip service is given by Berlin leaders to pacify and mollify the American Fascists, even the Brussels Fascists. They will continue to say the right words to WashingtonDC, Brussels, and London, while the corporate chieftains of Germany continue to spread commerce and the win/win formula to the Kremlin and Beijing. The arbiter of change must be the Bundesbank, the traditionally reliable, capable, respected manager of money. They are at odds with the despicable Draghi Euro Central Bank. The winner will be Gold & Silver, which will form the monetary basis of the BRICS alternative currency slowly taking shape. The winners will be Gold & Silver investors in bars & coins.
The United States faces a liquidation in the near future, not the distant future. The US isolation will be incredibly painful, much like a viral quarantine. Its leaders seem busily importing viruses from Soros and Gates Labs in Africa. These are not investment labs or software labs. The Atlanta Center for Disease Control owns an Ebola patent, strangely, as though it might have a new improved fabricated version. Ugly times indeed. The United States will not host any RMB Hub site, and will not embrace any legitimate gold currency. What comes is the American Tragedy, a great leap from what Dreiser wrote about.
THE HAT TRICK LETTER PROFITS IN THE CURRENT CRISIS.
https://ronmamita.wordpress.com/2014/04/21/geopolitics-governments-prepare-for-war/
https://ronmamita.wordpress.com/2014/06/09/we-discuss-governments-acts/
https://ronmamita.wordpress.com/2014/06/25/in-fighting-eventually-goes-public/
https://ronmamita.wordpress.com/2014/07/25/nato-the-dark-allied-forces-for-the-evil-empire/
https://ronmamita.wordpress.com/2014/08/05/legislators-judges-regulators-and-bankers-all-need-to-be-criminally-investigated/
https://ronmamita.wordpress.com/2014/08/14/mh17-the-false-flag-that-failed/
https://ronmamita.wordpress.com/2014/08/15/apparently-some-nations-are-abandoning-the-u-s-led-economic-sanctions/
http://www.theeventchronicle.com/finanace/u-s-ally-turkey-cuts-communications-us-seeks-new-trade-outside-dollar-national-finance-examiner-examiner-com/
About RonMamita
Want Worldwide PEACE and Prosperity. We are the solution we have been searching for... Free People on Earth will solve our crisis and create an era of Creativity. Be Aware; Be Creative; Be Active; Be Free; and then Share it. LOVE & Wholeness AMOR y Paz
‹ Institutional Deception Experts: Professional Liars, AKA Politicians
Cynthia McKinney Official ›
Tagged with: 9-11, 911, afghanistan, all wars are banker's wars, allies, alternative currency, banker's war, banking crisis, BNP Paribas, BRICS, central bankers, Chinese Yuan, corporate controlled, corporate governance, Crimea, crisis, currency devaluation, currency wars, Debt Crisis, dollar alternative, economic, economic crisis, Economic sanctions, Eurasian Trade Zone, Europe, false flags, gasprom, germany, global financial crisis, global shift, gold confiscation, golden jackass, government abuse, instituciones de control, institutional control, institutional crime, international monetary system, Jim Willie, Kiev, mass murder, Mercenaries, MH17, military, Military activities, monetary policy, money masters, NATO, paradigm shift, Remember September, russia, sanctions, SCO, shift, special forces, state secrets, state sponsored terrorism, summit, system of control, trade, trade agreement, troops, U.S. Dollar, Ukraine, united states government, USD, USDollar, Wales, war
3 comments on "Is NATO Falling Apart?"
RonMamita says:
NATO summit hits Wales at 'critical time', Ukraine, Afghanistan, Islamic State top agenda
Published time: September 04, 2014
The eyes of the world are on Wales as the NATO summit begins. More than 60 heads of state and government will be present, with acute global security issues from the Islamic State to the crisis in Ukraine set to top the agenda.
All 28 NATO member countries will be represented at the two-day summit, with 4,000 delegates attending amid a security operation unprecedented in Britain.
Ukraine, Afghanistan, the Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) militants fighting in Syria and Iraq and the future of the 65-year-old NATO alliance will be at the forefront.
Afghanistan is NATO's biggest overseas commitment of combat troops. As most Western troops will withdraw at the end of the year, adjustments are required.
Cameron, Obama and other NATO leaders meeting at the Celtic Manor resort in south Wales will also discuss a range of military options to tackle the IS threat.
As more than a decade of NATO-led combat operations in Afghanistan draws to a close at the year's end, the 28-nation, US-led military alliance is refocusing its military commitment to more immediate interests.
NATO leaders will set up a "spearhead" rapid reaction force, potentially including several thousand troops, that could be sent to a hotspot in as little as two days, according to Reuters.
"NATO's summit meeting in Wales comes at a critical time in the alliance's history when the global security environment is becoming increasingly unpredictable and unstable — as Russia's actions in Ukraine have shown," the organization's press release on the summit read.
US President Barack Obama .(AFP Photo / Saul Loeb)
Downing Street said it would bring together US President Barack Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi for a crisis meeting with Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko before the summit officially starts on Thursday.
Russian diplomats say they have been excluded from the upcoming summit of NATO member countries in Wales, even though many of the themes to be discussed directly affect Russia, the Russian newspaper Kommersant reported on Monday.
David Cameron has warned Russia that it faces tightening economic sanctions unless it ends its alleged destabilization of Ukraine.
"The Ukrainians know that they have our support and this sanctions pressure is the right way to tell the Russians that what they are doing is unacceptable," he said.
Final preparations are made to the main conference room in the Celtic Manor Hotel, ahead of the NATO summit, in Newport, Wales, September 3, 2014.(Reuters / Leon Neal)
Meanwhile, a NATO general said that the implementation of NATO's Readiness Action Plan to the 'overt' Russian threat will involve "several hundred million euros" a year. "Keeping people on alert carries a certain cost," General Jean-Paul Palomeros, the head of the Allied Command Transformation, which leads military transformation of the bloc's forces and its capabilities, told AFP.
"We already have more planes in the air, more ships at sea and more exercises on the ground … We are also considering the longer-term implications of Russia's actions for what we do in NATO," he said.
Russia, however, has viewed aggressive NATO expansion on its borders as being the primary force of destabilization in the region. Moscow has repeatedly expressed concern over the increasing NATO military presence in neighboring states. Several NATO warships have been dispatched to the Black Sea and the alliance has bolstered air patrolling missions over the Baltics.
Earlier this week, NATO Secretary General Andrers Fogh Rasmussen said that the alliance plans to hold military drills and establish a military training center in Georgia, RIA Novosti reports.
"There will be a sizeable package for Georgia. There will be more NATO personnel in Georgia, and more Georgian personnel in NATO… It is very important that it will help Georgian defense to strengthen its defense potential," RIA cites a NATO representative as saying.
The NATO Summit was last hosted in the UK in 1990 by Margaret Thatcher, as the Cold War drew to an end.
Security at the venue has been tightened and a "ring of steel" fence covering 13.5km circles the area around Celtic Manor. Nearly 10,000 police officers from 43 forces across England and Wales are on duty as part of a major security operation. Warships from the 28 NATO member states arrived at Cardiff docks in advance of the summit.
Around 100 campaigners have set up a peace camp in Newport. Meanwhile, protesters planned two demonstrations during Thursday, with marches in Cardiff and Newport.
ariannelot says:
Reblogged this on Promising Peace and Democracy……..
Spartan of Truth says:
Reblogged this on Spartan of Truth.
Please Contribute a Reply Cancel reply


Veer right: From the intersection, the walk heads to the timber platform then down the timber steps onto Wallagoot Gap Beach. At the end of this side trip, retrace your steps back to the main walk then Turn sharp left.
Turn right: From the intersection, this walk heads down the hill, keeping the ocean and the wooden platform to the left. The track tends right, down the hill to reveal a great view over Wallagoot Beach. The walk then heads down the hill and a set of stairs onto the beach.
Around 280m of this walk has short steep hills, whilst the remaining 220m has gentle hills with occasional steps.
Around 280m of this walk follows a formed track, with some branches and other obstacles, whilst the remaining 220m follows a clear and well formed track or trail.
Around 280m of this walk has directional signs at most intersection, whilst the remaining 220m is clearly signposted.
Around 280m of this walk has limited facilities (such as not all cliffs fenced), whilst the remaining 220m is close to useful facilities (such as fenced cliffs and seats).
A list of walks that share part of the track with the Wallagoot Beach walk.
A list of walks that start near the Wallagoot Beach walk.
http://new.wildwalks.com/wildwalks_custom/includes/walk_fire_danger.php?walkid=nsw-bourndnp-wb Each park may have its own fire ban, this rating is only valid for today and is based on information from the RFS Please check the RFS Website for more information.


MONTEREY PARK — The East Los Angeles College men's basketball team — ranked No. 4 in the state — survived a threat to overcome determined El Camino College Compton Center, 93-86 in a South Coast Conference game Jan. 29 in Compton.
ELAC raised its record to 20-2 overall and remained unbeaten in the SCC, improving to 3-0 in the North Division.
The Huskies were scheduled to play L.A. Trade Tech College Feb. 3 to conclude the first half of North Division play. They will open the second half of North Division play Feb. 10 at Mt. San Antonio College.
There were three lead changes and the score was tied twice before Compton built a double-digit lead, 30-20 with 5:41 remaining in the first half of last week's game at Compton.
The Huskies tried to rally, but the Tartars maintained a 10-point lead, leaving the court ahead, 44-34 at the half. ELAC found itself in a deeper hole three minutes into the second half, as Compton stretched its lead to 51-38.
Down by 13, the Huskies chipped away at the lead and staged a rally before an average-sized crowd in which fans on both sides turned up the volume to add to the drama and the intensity of the hotly contested game.
ELAC went ahead of Compton, 66-65 with 7:48 left thanks to a pair of free throws by forward Richard Bivens. The Huskies managed to sustain their momentum and a three-point basket by Iziahiah Sweeny off a pass from Miles Ford gave them their biggest lead, 77-70, with 5:44 remaining.
"We found a flow on offense in the second half followed by the defense putting together a stretch of limiting Compton to just one shot," ELAC Coach John Mosley said.
Compton quickly countered and followed with a 7-2 run to tie it, 79-79 with 3:45 left. After three lead changes, ELAC had an 86-84 lead with 2:14 left before closing with a 7-2 run to win the game as the Huskies made seven of eight free throws down the stretch.
"This was really a big win for us because we kept coming back and it came against a good Compton team," Mosley said.
With the loss, Compton fell to 12-10 overall and 2-2 in conference.
While ELAC outshot Compton 50.8 percent to 39.2 and had more blocked shots, 10-4, Compton scored more points off turnovers (27-18) and had more fast break points (22-16).
ELAC had six players score in double figures led by Sweeny's 24 points. Guard Chandler Redix scored 14, Ford scored 10 and Bivens had the game's only double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Jarrell Tate and forward Zeno Lake came off the bench and scored 17 and 10 points, respectively.
The Huskies' Arinze Anakwenze had a game-high three blocked shots.
Marquise Harris and Kyvonte Davis scored 19 points each to lead Compton. Michael Chavers scored 18 points for the Tartars.
Compton plays at Mt. San Antonio Feb. 5 and returns home to face Pasadena Feb. 10. Both games tip off at 7.


Posted January 24, 2014 & filed under News.
Valentine's Day and Half Term are not far off now and we have the perfect property for a delightful family break. Eaton Cottage is a luxurious and idyllic country cottage and is available from Friday 14th February for 2, 3 or 7 nights or for a midweek break from Monday 17th February for 3 or 4 nights.
To make your stay at Eaton Cottage extra special during this February half term we have teamed up with The Hamper Room, a local company specialising in luxury hampers, to offer you a complimentary hamper on arrival (*conditions apply).


text:
Vermont Counterpoint est une œuvre du compositeur américain Steve Reich écrite en 1982 pour un ensemble à vent composé de onze flûtes pouvant être jouées individuellement ou par une flûte et bande magnétique.

Historique
Cette œuvre est une commande du compositeur du flûtiste Ransom Wilson qui, dans un premier temps, demanda à Steve Reich de lui écrire un concerto pour flûte et orchestre. Reich refuse, invoquant son principe de ne pas écrire d'œuvre pour instrument et orchestre, mais lui propose une pièce pour flûte et bandes magnétiques dans l'esprit de Violin Phase. La pièce est dédiée à la philanthropiste américaine Betty Freeman.

La création de Vermont Counterpoint a eu lieu le  à la Brooklyn Academy of Music de New York par Ransom Wilson.

Vermont Counterpoint est la première des quatre pièces de la série « Counterpoint » du compositeur.

Structure
Vermont Counterpoint est une pièce écrite initialement pour dix instruments à vent pré-enregistrés sur bande magnétique comprenant trois flûtes alto, trois flûtes, trois piccolos, et une flûte solo jouant avec un flûtiste solo en direct. Bien que composée pour un soliste et un enregistrement, l'œuvre peut être interprétée par onze flûtistes. Le soliste joue l'œuvre alternativement avec une flûte, une flûte alto, un piccolo en créant des contrepoints en relation avec la musique enregistrée sur bande.

L'exécution de l'œuvre dure environ 9 à 10 minutes.

Tokyo/Vermont Counterpoint
Tokyo/Vermont Counterpoint est l'adaptation de Vermont Counterpoint pour marimbas MIDI, réalisée en 2000 par la percussionniste japonaise Mika Yoshida.

Différents arrangements pour percussions de cette œuvre avaient été tentés sans succès probants jusqu'à ce que la percussionniste japonaise Mika Yoshida utilise des marimbas électroniques pour l'exécution permettant ainsi de raccourcir la durée des notes et d'éliminer les harmoniques comme pour la version originale écrite pour différents types de flûtes.

Enregistrement
 Tokyo/Vermont Counterpoint, par Mika Yoshida sur le disque Triple Quartet, Nonesuch Records, 2001.
 Vermont Counterpoint, par Claire Chase sur le disque Density, New Focus Recordings, 2013.

Notes et références

Liens externes
  Vermont Counterpoint, sur le site de l'éditeur Boosey & Hawkes.
 Vermont Counterpoint sur le site du Whitney Museum

Œuvre de Steve Reich
Œuvre pour flûte

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Turning tragedy into great art: Elizabeth Searle talks about WE GOT HIM, a novel about the Boston Marathon Bombings
You know it's always fun to get to interview an author you admire--and have befriended--and I am so honored and delighted to have Elizabeth Searle here talking about her magnificent new novel, WE GOT HIM, about the Boston Marathon bombings. In it, Searle takes a very public tragedy and turns it into personal and profound art. And could it be more timely?
Elizabeth is the author of Girl Held in Home, and the librettist of Tonya & Nancy: The Rock Opera (!!! How cool is that?). Celebrities in Disguise was a Finalist for the Patterson Fiction Prize; A Four Sided Bed was nominated for an American Library Association Book Award; and My Body to You won the Iowa Fiction Prize. A Four sided Bed is now in development as a feature film.
Thank you so much for being here, Elizabeth.
I always think an author feels haunted to write a particular book at a particular time. What was it with this book?
The 2013 Boston Marathon bombing manhunt took place in our 'backyard' — our town of Arlington was locked down. Seeing on TV tanks rolling through nearby Watertown, where the house of friends was searched by police with assault rifles brought home how in today's world, terrorism can show up at your own doorstep. What haunted me most was the face of the surviving bomber suspect once he was captured (the title of my book comes from a 'Tweet' message from the later Mayor Tom Menino: "We got him.") As the mother of a son, I could not believe how this bomber was still a teenager. The horror of that fact gripped me.
I already had two characters in my mind: a couple I'd written about in multiple short stories. I had wanted to write a novel of their birth night. But the story lacked the motor of a novel— until it hit me that I could set the birth on the manhunt night and that I could develop the character of the young wife Sarah's troubled teenage stepson. Since I was obsessed with the manhunt, setting the birth on that night of danger and death gave the whole story a charge and immediacy. I found I needed to write on.
I loved that you took a massive tragedy and honed it down to the personal--making it the story of one particular family. Can you talk about how you intertwined the story of the bombing with Sarah's story?
Sarah is obsessed with birth, with her longtime longing for a baby. Like many mothers to be, she is determined to keep her baby safe and to plan a perfect birth. But the fears and tensions of the Marathon bombing— which she witnesses from afar— and then the wild-card reappearance of her unpredictable stepson combine to send Sarah into premature labor. We all were struggling to keep our families safe the night of the manhunt. With my characters Sarah and her husband Paul, I wanted to show this struggle intensified and magnified as they are forced to journey out into the manhunt chaos, terrified in different ways for both their sons.
The wonderful author Sue Miller says you create characters and then decide 'what awful thing' will happen to them. With Sarah, her biggest fear is for the safety of her baby and of her family- so I was drawn to 'test' her strength in multiple ways. I always need a character who is a 'loose canon' rolling around the deck of a story— Sarah's stepson, PJ, who resembles the dark-haired younger bomber, gets pulled into the police manhunt. So I found ways via PJ to directly connect my two main characters, Paul and Sarah, with the larger drama and tragedy playing out on their birth night.
How difficult was this to write? You live in Boston--were there moments when you felt so unsettled you had to get up and walk away from the computer?
Definitely yes it was difficult; I was very aware of treading on sacred ground in dealing with the bombing tragedy. I made sure to research any detail connected to that. I was lucky to get to talk firsthand to a police chief who'd taken part in the manhunt. And yes, dealing with this material, I did need to back off from my computer regularly and pace around- or as my husband says, to lie on the bed and twitch. As a reader, I look for writing that is intense. So I am drawn to charged and 'difficult' material- but this material has extra personal meaning since Boston is my home.
How has your writing changed since you first became a writer?
I'd say the biggest change is that about ten years ago I started writing theater scripts as well as fiction— it felt very freeing to me, like weights had been cut off my arms and legs, to tell stories via dialogue and action. My earlier fiction is quite dense and descriptive. After I started script-writing, my fiction got leaner and more action-packed, at least relative to those earliest stories! My 2011 novel Girl Held In Home was meant to be cinematic in its style. In We Got Him, I try to combine active script-style plotting with a bit more of my original interior descriptive bent. A quote that inspired me early on in my fiction writings and still inspires me is something a critic said about Virginia Woolf: that she captures 'the texture of a mind.' I always try to do that and I also try to keep the outer story moving. So it's a balancing act— but I do feel in the last ten years I've developed a new bag of tricks I can draw from as a (still fledgling) script-writer.
What's obsessing you now? (I bet I know the answer because it's obsessing me, too.)
Alas, I've been obsessed with this dreadful election— As I write this, my son and I have just participated in the big March in Boston on the day after Inauguration. On a positive obsessive note, my 18 year-old son is my hope for the future. He is obsessed with politics in our family tradition and he is heading to college in the fall to save the world.
Writing-wise, I'm obsessed an ongoing film project: an indie film company Creatrix Films and an LA-based producer are working to develop my first novel A Four-Sided Bed— a menage a trois love story— into a feature film. We had a staged reading of my script at a theater in LA last year, starring the amazing Evan Ross of Hunger Games and Gia Mantegna of Under the Dome. As you've done with your novels, I've been lucky to write the screenplay myself— a whole new adventure/obsession, which is what we all need right about now!
Very kind of you to ask that question in itself! Hmm: 'What's my next book' is always a fun one to discuss. This spring, an anthology I co-edited is coming out from McFarland Books— Soap Opera Confidential: Writers and Soap Insiders on Why We'll Tune In Tomorrow as the World Turns Restlessly by the Guiding Light of Our Lives. (!) My co-editor is my literary soul sister and fellow soap fan Suzanne Strempek Shea. Stay tuned…
And thanks so much, Caroline, for inviting me into fabulous carolineleavittville!
Scoundrel Time, a fantastic new journal created by Paula Whyman and Mikhail Iossel for resistance, illumination and education in dark times
Paula Whyman
Mikhail Iossel
What do artists, actors, photographs, writers--and all of us-- do in a time of oppression? We paint, we write, we photograph, we bear witness. We never ever give up. Scoundrel Time is a brand new journal to bring light to dark times. Please support it in any and all ways you can. I am.
Paula Whyman is the author of You May See a Stranger, a linked story collection that won praise from The New Yorker and a starred review in Publishers Weekly. Paula's writing has appeared in McSweeney's Quarterly, Ploughshares, VQR, and The Washington Post, and on NPR's All Things Considered. Paula teaches in writers-in-schools programs through the Pen/Faulkner Foundation in Washington, DC and The Hudson Review in Harlem and the Bronx, New York. She is a fellow of The MacDowell Colony, Yaddo, and The Studios of Key West, and a member of The MacDowell Colony Fellows Executive Committee. Paula has been awarded a 2017 Hawthornden Fellowship. A music theater piece based on a story from her book is in development with composer Scott Wheeler. Before earning her MFA, Paula edited books for the American Psychological Association on topics ranging from the study of personality to PTSD among refugees.
Mikhail Iossel, the Leningrad-born author of the story collection Every Hunter Wants to Know (W.W. Norton) and co-editor of the anthologies Amerika: Russian Writers View the United States (Dalkey Archive, 2004) and Rasskazy: New Fiction from a New Russia (TinConcordia University in Montreal House, 2010), is a professor of English/Creative Writing at Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and the founding director of the Summer Literary Seminars international program. Back in the Soviet Union, he worked as an electromagnetic engineer/submarine demagnetizer and as roller-coaster security guard and belonged to the organization of samizdat writers, Club-81. He came to the US in 1986 and started writing in English in 1988. Among his awards are the Guggenheim, NEA and Stegner Fellowships. His stories, in English and in translation to a number of other languages, have appeared in NewYorker.com, Guernica, The Literarian, Agni Review, The North American Review, Threepenny Review, Interia, Boulevard, Best American Short Stories, and elsewhere.
I am so honored to host both Paula and Mikhail here, and to have written an essay for them. You all should, too.
What was your "why now" moment when you decided to launch this journal?
Mikhail: Because now is the ultimate "if not now, when" moment. We are all trying to make sense of the changed and still rapidly changing circumstances of our shared life as Americans, and as American writers. Writing, generally, is a solitary process, but there are times when joint free-writing feels like a necessity. It is an exercise in not being silent together, because silence is not the absence of sound, but the absence of us.
Paula: In the days after the election, like so many people, I was in shock. I couldn't write fiction. I couldn't sleep. Fiction requires imagining what happens next, and I was not yet prepared to do that. When Mikhail proposed a journal in which artists could address what was going on, I offered to help right away. I felt the need to do something in response to the situation. The only other thing that seemed viable was drinking heavily, and that is notably less sustainable.
What do you hope this journal will do? And how can it reach--and teach--the people it really needs to? How can it not just be "preaching to the choir?"
Mikhail: Preaching is antithetical to literature, and the choir's essential purpose is to sing, rather than hearken to sermons in silence. Voices spread through the air, words permeate the cyberspace. Writers write, readers read, and frequently those two capacities are interchangeable, since by the act of reading reader gets transformed into a co-author.
Paula: I'm not out to teach anyone anything. At least, we're trying to get people thinking about the different ways our lives may be affected by what's happening here and around the world. I want to help people to remember who they are and how interdependent we are. I want to build empathy. I want people to hold onto their humanity.
One way to get there is for more people to know about us, of course. I'm pleased to say that we are already beginning to hear from some well-known artists who want to help us reach a wider audience. Writers like you, Caroline, who have a platform, help draw attention to the talented but perhaps lesser-known artists who are telling compelling stories that we would like everyone to hear.
How do we discover and keep meaning in these dark times? Are you talking about the concrete things that people can do every week, or the things to keep us all from being so terrified we cannot move?
Mikhail: I like this quote from John Ashbery: "In the increasingly convincing darkness/ The words become palpable, like a fruit/ That is too beautiful to eat." The condition of gathering non-freedom accelerates the mind, enhances one's search for meaning, and elevates the role of writer as an alternative source of truth-telling in gaslighting-addled society.
Paula: My hope is that people will find something to connect with in the creative work we publish. I think meaning can be discovered through art. Many of my colleagues have expressed that it has been difficult or impossible to create since the election. I think that's beginning to change. It's like working through stages of grief. I have a feeling that once more artists begin working again, we are going to see a flood of exciting and innovative projects.
Also, in the days following the election, Mikhail noticed that a lot of Facebook pages had sprung up focused on organizing for marches or readings, signing petitions, responding to proposed legislation or nominees, and so on. I was at a talk where a representative from the ACLU explained that hope requires action; he quoted Cornel West: "Action leads to hope." This is so true. We need to work together for the same primary purpose: to keep our democracy, to keep what rights we have and push for equal rights. Maybe that sounds trite and obvious, but sometimes people get lost in the weeds, or focus on searching for perfection in our allies, and forget that we're all really talking about the same ultimate goal.
We will have an editor who runs a page we're calling "Actions," where current actions like those I just listed will be posted. That page will be updated frequently.
But our primary focus will be on presenting creative works from a range of voices, with, we hope, a global perspective. Our plan is to post new pieces a couple of times each week.
Will you also be giving voice to say, Trump voters, who are beginning to feel they were lied to?
Mikhail: Unlike in Trump-world, there will be no off-limits topics and non-grata categories of people in "Scoundrel Time."
Paula: No. They had their voice. Look what they did! They should all go stand in the corner.
Just kidding. Sort of. We would be glad to see work from people who are questioning, who have changed their minds, from former "true believers."
Mikhail: Of course, the hateful people, the racists, those willfully wallowing in vileness, unrepentant in their ironclad ignorance, the determined scoundrels, will gain no access to our pages -- not that they would likely be interested.
What can everyone do to support this? And how can we really help one another?
Mikhail: One can support us by supporting us, in every sense of the term!
Paula: We are a 501(c)(3)—that is, a tax-exempt nonprofit. We accept donations, and your donations are tax deductible. Anyone who would like to donate, please contact us. Please consider donating! We are all volunteers. We hope donations will enable us to start paying our contributors. As a fiction writer, I feel strongly about that.
We launch on January 30th. We will accept work through the Submittable platform, and we won't charge for submissions. Before you submit, I urge you to read the journal, of course. It will be free, and it's online (as of Jan. 30). Couldn't be easier. We won't open to general essay submissions right away, but if you have an idea for an essay, please pitch me through the mailbox on our website.
Can you give us an example of the kinds of things you are looking for or that you have accepted?
Mikhail: I, for one, would be especially interested in the sheer geographic dispersal of literary voices, throughout North America and beyond.
Paula: I'm especially interested in seeing more humor writing. We have a humor piece in our launch issue that I love, along with an essay about how much demagogues hate humor. Keep it coming! I'm also interested in cartoons, comics, and graphic work in different genres.
We seek fiction, poetry, and visual art. It doesn't have to be overtly political, but perhaps, to paraphrase our poetry editor, Mark Svenvold, work that engages with the contemporary political and cultural situation in direct and indirect ways we hadn't anticipated, without necessarily arriving at an answer or solution. Maybe a carefully observed moment of beauty, of humor, of attention. As our fiction editor, Karen Bender explains, we look for work that humanizes, that surprises, that uses humor, that is both traditional and plays with form. We're not opening to CNF submissions yet, but if anyone has an intriguing idea, please pitch me through the general mailbox on the site.
Who is contributing?
We have so much great work! Tremendous work! (Sorry, I can't stand the way language is being debased these days…)
Some of the work we plan to include in the, uh, inaugural issue:
Poems by Daisy Fried, Terese Svoboda, Jim Daniels, Regie Cabico, and Bob Holman;
Fiction by Ben Greenman, Tracy O'Neill, David Ulin, Paul Lisicky, and Carolyn Ferrell.
Look for an essay about humor by South African novelist Tony Eprile; an essay about asylum by Peter Trachtenberg; a premonition by Timothy Denevi, who has followed the election for Lit Hub; a commentary on Caligula by novelist Valerie Block; an essay by none other than Caroline Leavitt about stories we tell ourselves; and a dispatch from Kenya about our election by Tony Mochama; and a dispatch from the UK by fiction writer Carole Burns. Plus photographs! And video performance art!
Mikhail: Can't think of one. There already are too many unanswered and, at this point, unanswerable questions floating all around us.
Shanthi Sekaran talks about her astonishing novel LUCKY BOY, undocumented mothers who lose their kids, difficult emotions and why we love them, and more
"A deeply compassionate exploration of the emotional toll of infertility, the insidious ways in which class divides us, the weight of social judgment, and the explosive touch-point of todays headlines regarding illegal immigration." Booklist, starred review.
Shanthi Sekaran teaches creative writing at California College of the Arts. Her first novel, The Prayer Room, was published by the innovative MacAdam Cage. I'm so honored to have her here. Thank you so much, Shanthi!
I always say every book starts with a yearning. What was yours?
My earliest emotional impulses around this book centered around curiosity. I'd heard about undocumented mothers having their children adopted away from them and I was intensely curious about what the actors in these situations were thinking. I suppose I yearned to get into the heads of people like Rishi and Kavya and Soli (my characters.) I wanted to get past intention—past the benevolent intentions of the adoptive parents, and understand how they came to believe that they could justifiably adopt the children of living and able mothers. I knew that their actions were driven by love, not hostility or hate, but I didn't understand that love. I didn't understand how their love could justify their actions.
What kind of writer are you? And did your usual process differ at all with this book?
I'd call myself an impulsive writer. I don't wake up at 5 every morning to slog away at my desk. I admire people who can do that. I started off writing only when things came to me. That's how I wrote my first book, in my mid twenties, before kids. It was written in small doses, based off flights of inspiration.
But eventually, when I had kids, I didn't have that freedom with my time. So I became a writer who did have to sit down at certain times on certain days and churn out material. That was good for me. It increased my stamina as a writer. And there's never enough time to write—not for me, anyway. I almost always have to leave my work half-finished, so I've gotten used to a certain level of hunger, of desperation to get back to my work. That desperation actually helps. It's energy that I feed off of to keep plugging through a novel or an essay.
So much of this gorgeous novel is about whom we belong to and why that matters so much—and the longing for connection, to both place and to people. Can you talk about this please?
I do agree that place plays a major role in this novel, a different role for each mother. Soli finds, upon arriving in Berkeley, that her journey took her much further, psychologically speaking, from her little town in Mexico than she'd expected it to. It was an emotional as well as a physical journey. So when she starts her life in Berkeley, she wants nothing more than to feel at home. I've been an immigrant—I had to find my way into a new life when I moved to England for six years—and even in my relatively comfortable circumstances, I experienced this intense discomfort, this disorientation that comes with planting yourself in new soil. I wanted nothing more than to just feel at home. Kavya, on the other hand—her immigration happened a generation before her. In many ways, she's so very Berkeley. She's in the right place, geographically. Her migration was migration into motherhood. That's where she had to find her comfort zone: as a mother to Ignacio. And when she did find it, she dove in head first.
The novel also is asking what constitutes a better life? I found that incredibly profound and provocative. What do you think the answer is?
This a question that immigrants have to grapple with—the question of whether what they find in their new home merits what they've given up in their old home. Whether material opportunity justifies the isolation, the danger, the uncertainty of the immigrant experience. Some immigrants, of course, don't have the option of staying back home. For some, it's a matter of escaping with their lives.
I think this question of the "better life"—this drive for self-improvement—is quintessentially American. It's why the American Dream, whatever you might think of that construct, speaks so strongly to people from other countries. We take this quest for self-improvement for granted, living in America. And to answer your question, I can't really say what makes a better life. That answer is subjective. For a child, for Ignacio, a better life is one in which he's loved. And he's loved in both his possible lives.
What's obsessing you now and why?
The direction our country is taking, the swell of activism that is growing, the importance of staying optimistic and driven in the face of nonsensical political maneuvering. What else…. My kids. Swing Time by Zadie Smith. Leonard Cohen. Doing a pull-up.
What question didn't I ask that I should have.
Why do we read novels that yank our emotions around? I've always wondered that.
Anxious about the future? No matter your political bent, Gene Stone's THE TRUMP SURVIVAL GUIDE has a wealth of information on creating the America you want
Book, newspaper and magazine editor Gene Stone has written a concise, calm, and very helpful guide about what we can and should do during a Trump presidency. What's great about the guide is he not only explains how things are, he also discusses how they were with Obama, as well as suggesting ways to take action. I'm thrilled to have him here. Thank you, Gene.
Why this book now? And why were you the person to write it?
Like many people, I was horribly dejected by the election outcome. I didn't open the newspaper for the next two weeks. I avoided television news. I only went online to sites that might make me laugh. But after a week, I thought, someone has to sit down and write a quick book to help other people not only get through this pain, but help them rise out of it by offering advice on how to fight back. Wallowing in misery seldom solves the world's problems.
As to why I thought I was the right person – well, I don't have many skills… but I do think fast and write fast. In 2004, afraid that George W. Bush was going to win reelection, I wrote a book called The Bush Survival Bible in less than a week and it became a number one bestselling book. So I knew I had the experience to be able to call up a publisher and say, basically, trust me, I can write a book in less than two weeks.
I deeply admired your calm tone. How did that come about?
The tone was something I thought about for a long time (well, actually, a full day, which was all I had to be thinking about things like that when there are only a dozen days in a deadline). I wanted it to be measured and calm because I believe that frenzy and hysteria do not produce good results. But yes, I had to do a great deal of rewriting to rework those passages where I lost my equanimity and sounded shrill or frightened.
I don't know many Trump supporters but I have run into a few online and their reaction is basically, I am an idiot, I am a traitor, I am a fool. Obama was the devil, Obama was the anti-Christ, Obama was a Muslim terrorist. Trump will save America, Trump will make America great again, Trump is a hero. There's not much I can do with that. The fact is, however, that if these people read the book, they would see that this is not an anti-Trump book per se. It is an anti-Trump book if he chooses to follow a certain, dark path. I make it quite clear that we don't know yet what kind of a president he will be. (However, his cabinet picks so far are not promising.)
When did you start writing the book and what was the process like?
I started writing this on November 19th and finished on the 29th. Luckily, I am something of a political junkie so I knew where to go to find more information. But I also hired seven friends to help write, research, fact-check, and copy-edit. I could not have written this book without them, particularly Nicholas Bromley, who has worked on other books with me and was invaluable to getting this one done.
I was trolled on twitter. I really do want to talk to people with different views than I have and to find something in common, but how is the best way to have a reasonable discussion?
I am terribly sorry you were trolled like that. But the moment we voice our opinions on line, we are immediately vulnerable: something about the Internet allows people to engage in their worst behavior. So it's difficult to have reasonable discussions online, especially with people like the one you mention. Frankly, there's probably nothing you could have said or done that would have made him or her adopt a more reasonable attitude. The only time people really seem able to do that is when they are forced by person-to-person contact to understand that we are all basically the same, humans struggling to make sense of our lives, the world, and whatever else comes up every day to confuse and baffle us. I have read some wonderful stories of people spouting bigotry and intolerance who for various reasons were put into situations where they had to interact with the objects of their hate, and after hours of honest and open discussion, did come away with a new, softer sense of what it means to be human. But that takes time, and effort, and most people simply don't care enough. The best you can do is what you are already doing. Try to be kind and understanding, even in the face of hate. The last lines of my book are:
… more than working on an issue that concerns you, more than joining a demonstration, more than signing a petition, perhaps the very best way to fight to keep this country a land of dignity and freedom is to show civility and support to all Americans, whatever their gender, race, creed, or color. When you buy your morning coffee from the Afghan man at the counter, or when you consult with your Estonian lawyer, or when you work with your South African accountant, tell them how much you appreciate what they do and how glad you are that they live here. Appoint yourself the ambassador for the America that you believe in.
Can microdosing with LSD help depression? Ayelet Waldman talks about A REALLY GOOD DAY, her writing life, her marriage, her moods, more
Ayelet Waldman is an Israeli-American novelist and essayist. She has written seven mystery novels, four other novels, and some controversial essays about motherhood.In A Really Good Day, she talks about turning to microdosing with LSD to help her sanity and her marriage--and the book is spectacularly fascinating.
Thank you so much for being here, Ayelet.
I always want to know why this book, why now? What did you intend to figure out while writing it, and what happened instead?
I didn't intend to write a book at all. I found myself in a very scary, very desperate place. My mood disorder, once well controlled by medication, was proving harder and harder to control. I was slipping into despair, fighting with my husband. I was in terrible pain from frozen shoulder. I was desperate and decided to try microdosing. I began keeping a faithful diary of my experience, and soon realized that I was writing a book!
How we feel, how we react, are all chemical processes, so it makes sense that the right drugs could help us to feel and act and BE better. yet so many of them have terrible side effects or are addicting. But you found micro doses of LSD incredibly helpful--and now you cannot legally get more. How can we change the mindset of the country about this in terms of legalizing helpful drugs like weed and micro doses of LSD?
What's interesting is that compared to other drugs, cannabis and psychedelics actually have far fewer side effects and negative outcomes. No one has every overdosed on either. I know that's hard to believe. I myself believed a whole lot of stuff that turned out not to be true. I spend a lot of time talking about safety in the book because I was very worried about it. I include lots of research and references. I'm a big believer in a reality and science based approach to life!
You're known for your absolute bravery and honesty in putting your feelings and your life on the page. There's a lot about your marriage in this book, and a lot about your feelings about who you are and how you behave and why. Did that every make you nervous to expose yourself so much?
I think whenever you write memoir you have to be very thoughtful about what you say and what you don't say. Every one draws their own line in the sand. For example, while I'm happy to reveal my own foibles and mistakes, to an unusual extent perhaps, I would never write anything negative about my husband.
What I loved about your book was the honest assessment of what drugs can and cannot do for us. How are you feeling now that you are no longer micro dosing? Are there residual effects? And how are you managing your anxiety/depression now?
I wish I could still microdose. I'm definitely not doing as well as I was. I have to work much harder to maintain equilibrium. I go to therapy. I try (unsuccessfully) to mediate. I use all sorts of apps and things to remind me to breath and calm down. I even got a tattoo with the word "wait" on my arm, to try to remind myself to think before I act.
What did you learn from the whole experience that you didn't expect?
That LSD is wildly misunderstood. That there are a myriad of uses for this and similar drugs that scientists are only now being allowed to explore. And that when you say "I took LSD" a surprising number of people say, "Me too!"
Alice Hoffman talks about FAITHFUL, forgiveness, fame, the state of the world, and her dog named Shelby--and more
The gorgeous book cover
Alice's dog Shelby
Okay, here is a truth for you. When I was in my 20s and starting out as a writer, I became obsessed with Alice Hoffman. I saw her first novel Property Of in a bookstore, and when I read that she was just 21, I felt a spark in me and I instantly bought the novel. Plus, it had all these raves on the back cover. Plus, it was dark. Plus, the first sentence just pulled me in. That novel inspired me. It pushed me to get more serious, to write harder and better, no matter what else was going on in my life.
I'm happy to say that now, I have a bumping-into-you connection with Alice. A few years ago, I met her in person at an Algonquin party and I just felt an instant connection. A few weeks ago, while in a NPR studio waiting to be interviewed, Alice came out from her interview and we got to hug and talk. And I am so jazzed to host her on my blog.
She's one of our most respected and prolific authors. As I mentioned, her first novel Property Of was published when she was just 21, but 22 other novels have followed, as well as 3 books of shorter fiction, and 8 books for young adults and kids. Here on Earth was an Oprah Book Club choice. Practical Magic was made into a Warner film starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman. Hoffman's advance from Local Girls, a collection of inter-related fictions about love and loss on Long Island, was donated to help create the Hoffman Breast Center at Mt. Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, MA. Her other glorious titles include Blackbird House, Aquamarine, Indigo, The River King, Blue Diary, The Probable Future, The Ice Queen. Green Angel, The Foretelling, Incantation, The Third Angel, The Story Sisters, Green Witch, The Red Garden, The Dove Keepers, and The Marriage of Opposites.
Faithful, her latest, is about hope and belief and forgiveness--and it's remarkable.
Thank you so much for being here, Alice, and wait, wait, when are we having coffee?
I always am fascinated by how and why a writer writes a particular book at a particular time. What was the why now moment for your extraordinary Faithful?
I wrote about forgiveness as a way of learning about it -- it's such a difficult thing to practice. I think forgiveness is something that flows two ways -- what you give, you receive.
You've written so many, many different kinds of books. You write YA, you write historical novels, you write magical novels--but what is so interesting to me is that they are all Alice Hoffman novels in some way. You recognize that spark. Is there any type of novel you have no interest in doing?
I think that all writers have a voice that is unique, like a fingerprint. No one can write the way that you can, it's something that's yours alone. And it's true, I write the way I read, and always want to try something new. I can't think of any type of novel I wouldn't want to try. At least once!
How do you handle your huge success? (You seem to do it with the utmost grace.)
Thank you! I feel very lucky. I never though I could be a writer, and certainly not a published one. I was a reader and I still think of myself that way. Although sometimes the book I want to read isn't there, so I have to write it myself.
I have a silly question, but I have to ask. I know you have or had a dog named Shelby, and there is a Shelby, of course, in this novel. How important are names to you and how do you know when you have the right one?
I think names are so important. I loved Shelby, and I guess I didn't want to give her up, and since she's such a "dog person" it seemed a fitting name for my sheepdog. Occasionally, I've changed a name of a character and it never "feels" right.
What's obsessing you now and why?
Oh, the state of the world.
You asked them all! Thank you! Lovely to talk writing with you!
Posted by Caroline at 9:55 AM No comments:
The acclaimed Pulitzer Prize-winning Sceenwriter/Playwright/Producer Robert Schenkkan talks about his latest film, HACKSAW RIDGE, Mel Gibson, a soldier who won the Medal of Honor without firing a single shot, and so much more
I love talking to creative people, but being able to talk with the great Robert Schenkkan, (Thank you for the introduction, writer/director and friend Michael Medeiros) was truly like a gift from the gods for me. Pulitzer-prize winning, Tony@ Award winning, Writer's Guild Award winning, two-time Emmy nominated writer of Stage, Television, and Film, Schenkkan is the author of fourteen original full-length plays, two musicals, and a collection of one-act plays. He co-wrote the feature film, THE QUIET AMERICAN and HACKSAW RIDGE, and his television credits include: ALL THE WAY, THE PACIFIC, THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN and SPARTACUS.
What can I say? Thank you, thank you, thank you, Robert.
You've written critically acclaimed plays for both adults and children, written award-winning films, and worked in films like All The Way and Hacksaw Ridge. Was each new creative endeavor an outgrowth of the other? Do you find yourself bringing a different mindset to what you do? And do you have a preference? How different is the world of theater and movies?
I started Hacksaw in 2006 and worked with a number of different directors over the next ten years. I began the research on All The Way in 2010 and the world premiere at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival was 2012. I imagine that the lessons (good and bad) of each project influence the next but these two had very little to do with each other.
It's a slightly different tool kit for each, movies and theater, and I very much enjoy moving back and forth between the two. I feel it keeps me sharper, less likely to repeat myself. The primary difference is a legal one but it makes an enormous difference. As a playwright, I retain my copyright and complete creative control. As a screenwriter I don't own my own copyrights and am thus at the mercy of others. This is why the playwright is more respected in his field than the screenwriter in Hollywood.
I always think that creative people are somewhat haunted and they release some of that anxiety by creating. Maybe that's just me, but if it isn't, I'd love to know what drives you? What's haunting you?
I don't think of myself as haunted at all – that seems like knee-jerk nod to the old trope that artists are all neurotics and it is their neurosis that makes their art. Van Gogh did not paint because of his depression but despite it. I love words. I love stories. I always have. There is something about writing that is deeply satisfying to me. I like this quote by Lisa Carver, "I write like putting doors on a car or solving a geometry problem – like there's only one answer, and I keep fiddling till I find it. It's not talent that I feel when I get it right; it's goodness. Like I've buttoned down one small pocket of the world and what I put inside is safe now."
Let's talk about Hacksaw Ridge, your newest film, which you wrote. What's so fascinating about the film is that it's about a conscientious objector who found himself in wartime, and actually saved 75 people without firing a single shot. And it's a true story. Where did you learn of this story? And what your initial intention to do with it. What questions did you want to explore?
I was approached in 2006 by producer Bill Mechanic who had just acquired the rights. I didn't know anything about Doss until Bill sent me a documentary. I was knocked out and said yes immediately. I think the danger here lies in making Desmond a secular saint. This would be less interesting to watch and actually not true to Desmond's struggle to reconcile his Faith and his Patriotism. My solution was to focus not just on his external battles with the Army and with his company (although I dramatized that considerably) but also on his internal struggles – his doubts and his despair. The key to the latter was to make central to his character the mystery of why he won't touch a gun. This is not part of his Seventh Day Adventism or necessarily being a CO. The revelation, deliberately delayed until the second act, is that Desmond doesn't feel superior to his fellow soldiers, far from it. No, his reluctance to touch a weapon stems from his awareness of his own all-too-human urge to violence. That's an interesting idea for a conscientious objector.
I know you cannot speak for others, but I'm interested in the way the media is calling this movie Mel Gibson's atonement as well as his comeback. You wrote this film, but he directed it. Were there choices he made that you wish he hadn't? Or were there choices he made that surprised you? I'm always curious about how much of a writer's vision makes it to the screen?
A writer never gets everything he wants in a move unless he directs it himself but having said that, I think Mel did a terrific job, especially considering how modest the budget was (1/2 of what he shot Braveheart on 20 years earlier!) and how tight the shooting schedule. His action sequences are brilliant and what you would expect from Mel but it was the tenderness of his handling the love story that exceeded my expectations.
What are you working on now--and why?
I have two movies that I am trying to get into production in 2017: THE PROJECT to be directed by Robert Redford about the Manhattan Project and FALL OF SAIGON about America's last days in Vietnam. We are out to directors on that. I am currently writing a movie for Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Amazon about Reconstruction and I have another film project which is still being negotiated. I have a new play, HANUSSEN, which will be workshopped at the Denver Summit Theater Festival in February and another new play, BUILDING THE WALL, which I hope to have in production in 2017. I have play commissions from A.R.T. and the Geffen Theater and the Public Theater.
What questions didn't I ask that I should have?
What's your favorite quote: From the French novelist, Flaubert. "Be regular and orderly in your life like a bourgeois, so that you may be violent and original in your work."
Turning tragedy into great art: Elizabeth Searle t...
Scoundrel Time, a fantastic new journal created by...
Shanthi Sekaran talks about her astonishing novel ...
Anxious about the future? No matter your political...
Can microdosing with LSD help depression? Ayelet W...
Alice Hoffman talks about FAITHFUL, forgiveness, f...
The acclaimed Pulitzer Prize-winning Sceenwriter/P...

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Munich/ Paris , September 29th 2016. The BMW Group has chosen the Paris Motor Show 2016 to present the BMW Concept X2. This new addition to the compact segment has a distinctive design that stands apart from that of the other X models and also draws on the BMW Group's history of coupe-making. The result is a compact concept exuding urban sporting appeal.


from Davis, CA and less than one hour from the San Francisco Bay Area.
Please allow me the opportunity to become your personal guitar tech and luthier.
"I am a musician. I've been playing guitar for 50+ years and have a consuming passion to play, repair, restore and build guitars. I accommodate stringed instrument musicians and don't mind a customer who considers himself "picky." I tend to be a perfectionist and like my instruments set up a particular way - and so do you!
With more than 20 years of guitar and stringed instrument repair and building experience, I am skilled in every phase of guitar and stringed instrument care. My passion and specialty is vintage instrument restoration and re-finishing. I'm able to take your instrument from an un-playable, cracked relic and restore it to perfect playing condition.
I work hard to keep repair costs down and to earn your repeat business. My rates are less than the "bigger" shops in the Sacramento and San Francisco Bay areas, but I won't sacrifice quality or cut corners to get your business.
You'll get the personal touch and customer care that you deserve.
100% customer satisfaction is my number one priority!
References and additional pictures of my work are available upon request.
I have a very high ethical standard and live by the Golden Rule: "Treat others as you would like them to treat you." I practice honesty, integrity, excellence and purity in all that I do.
three boys. My best friend is my beautiful wife of 27 years, Kim.
i endeavor to serve with excellence through all of the gifts God has given me. I love building and restoring guitars, but my first love is Jesus Christ.
My goal is that all my work reflects my love for Him."


Central park in the Fall is just beautiful. It seems every time I have visited NYC it was either blazing hot or freezing. It was the perfect weather on this day, so I had to walk all over central park to see everything.
I was so thankful to have this versatile backpack with me the whole time I was up in city. This Chandra Keyser bag can be a cross body and backpack as seen in the pictures above. I couldn't believe how easy it was to transition from the backpack style to the cross body and then back again. When I saw the bag online for the first time I had my questions on how easy it would be to switch between the two styles but my mind was blown when I was able to do it in just 5 seconds. I love the clean crisp look of the bag and it makes sense, because it is all made in Italy with Italian leather. The craftsmanship is just hands down wonderful.
You can shop this entire outfit below and the bag here. I hope everyone is having a fantastic week!
such a good bag, super cute shoes as well!
Definitely a great and versatile bag! I love that top with the tie detail too.
Very cute outfit. I especially love your top! So cute!
Super cute an casual look!
Looks like such a handy bag! Love this outfit too girl, great pairing of the ruffles with a more relaxed blue denim!
Love visiting Central Park! Also that backpack is super cute!


If you require immediate assistance, please call 913.498.3000 or 1.800.862.6633.
Please feel free to contact Clune & Co with any questions or concerns you may have. Your business is very important to us and we want to make sure your experience is as smooth as possible.
©2015 Clune & Company LC. All rights reserved. Another website by Motley Creations and 3 Nerds.


text:
Q: How can I send data through an Android BluetoothSocket with pyjnius? I'm trying to send data through a BluetoothSocket between two Android tablets. I've created one using 'createRfcommSocketToServiceRecord', and on both devices 'isConnected()' returns True and 'getRemoteDevice().getName()' returns with the other device, as desired. However, when I try to send and receive data between them, nothing is received on either end. In the Android documentation for BluetoothAdapter(link), it states:

Use BluetoothDevice#createRfcommSocketToServiceRecord to connect to this socket from another device using the same UUID.

I've tried running the code at the bottom on both devices. I've also tried running:
server = BluetoothAdapter.getDefaultAdapter().listenUsingRfcommWithServiceRecord('TestServer', UUID.fromString("00001105-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb"))

client, address = server.accept()

... On one device and the code at the bottom on the other device, which leads to the ServerSocket just hanging on accept() indefinitely even after attempting to connect to it on the other device. I think I'm doing something fundamentally wrong but I've been scouring the Android developer docs for a while and I can't figure out what my misunderstanding is. Any enlightenment would be thoroughly appreciated.
I'm using Kivy to create a text field for sending some test data, but I've simplified it here.
import threading
import time
from jnius import autoclass

BluetoothAdapter = autoclass('android.bluetooth.BluetoothAdapter')
BluetoothDevice = autoclass('android.bluetooth.BluetoothDevice')
BluetoothSocket = autoclass('android.bluetooth.BluetoothSocket')
BluetoothServerSocket = autoclass('android.bluetooth.BluetoothServerSocket')
UUID = autoclass('java.util.UUID')

socket = None

for device in BluetoothAdapter.getDefaultAdapter().getBondedDevices().toArray():
    if 'Galaxy Tab' in device.getName():
        socket = device.createRfcommSocketToServiceRecord(UUID.fromString("00001105-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb"))
        in_stream = socket.getInputStream()
        out_stream = socket.getOutputStream()
        socket.connect()
        break

def receive(self, instance=None):
    while True:
        time.sleep(0.5)
        out_stream.write('test'.encode())
        out_stream.flush()
        print(in_stream.read())

threading.Thread(target=receive).start()

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


We all have some sort of hobby I'm sure. I do as well. But usually my hobby IS carving along with it being my job. But when you have a shop full of tools, and I love to play with them, well, something is bound to "turn" up. I collect vintage razors both straight razors as well as DE's. And naturally as collections expand there are other accessories you end up collecting. Antique shaving mugs, brushes, bowls , hones, stones, blades,,well the list goes on. If it's razor related I'm game.
Now I have restored several brushes as both Boar and Badger knots ( the brush part) are available. But since I get a kick out of making things I had to make my own brushes ( the handles) as well as a variety of brush stands, bowls , razor stands etc. Now some are in wood but I've found other sources of stock that mimic Ivory, Horn, Bone and others. But in this niche market is a demand for what is called Butterscotch. It's a particular color that develops in early plastics or celluloids that were once nearly white, or another creamy shade but due to light and other factors it develops , well, a butterscotch color to it which is highly prized by collectors.
So not to be outdone or try to find these particular pieces I decided to make my own Butterscotch as well. Now I not only make the handles, but I can make any shade or color , including a wide variety of butterscotch hues ( there is not one particular shade, it varies) to then turn my own handles.
Some as I have said I made out of wood. Others are bits and pieces left over that I combined into one brush.
This is only a start as I have more ideas for a variety of products to make. Now my hobby has turned into another job. Great,, now I have to find another hobby.
My first razor stand/bowl. The wood is Cherry . The bowl holds a puck of shaving soap. I didn't make this brush as this was my first week or so with this type of shaving. Also shown is a Marble as well as a Porcelain lathering bowl. Whip up some lather and it stays nice and warm in these.
My second bowl/stand and razor. This too is cherry. I turned it then carved the design then built the rest of the stand. The brush is suspended by hidden magnets buried in the handle as well as the support.
See,comes off easily to use.
A vintage to be restored including the knot.
Restoration complete. Didn't photograph well but the paint is Pearlescent, both the white and the blue. The knot is Pure Badger hair.
Another Cherry brush and stand. Here too I used the magnet trick. Turned then hand carved.
From here on I'll just show the photo's with a brief note of the material.The list is extensive of what I've made so this is only a sample of the brushes.
Ivory stand with Ivory /horn handle.
A sample of the butterscotch stock I made.
My stock with natural Padauk wood tops.
Faux Horn and a Black and orange swirl.
More of the butterscotch I made.
and after I restored both the blade and the handles.
,,,and after I restored it.
Another resto with handles as well as pins I made for it. The handles are Rosewood.
You get it I'm sure,, I love doing these pieces because, well, they're just fun and it's a challenge to figure it out. It's an interesting hobby with many facets. I like the history of many of the pieces I collect, researching them, finding ones that were made the year I was born and what was "new" at the time. How the economy affected the razors , steel etc. during that time.
Besides the fact that I have my Grandfathers 1908 razor,,that he gave to my father,, and my father then gave to me and I use it to this day. You can't beat 102 yr. history and all the stories that razor could tell. And my face is as smooth as the proverbial Baby's behind!
Thanks for bearing with me and taking the time to look .
Mark, these are absolutely works of art. Do you ever sell the stands you make? I only ask because it is remarkably difficult to find a wood brush & straight-razor stand that incorporates the bowl as part of the whole, rather than as a separate piece.
I won't sell these, but I'm open for commissions. I have recently built a matching straight razor for the carved stand and it has a set of carved scales in the same style.
There are other designs I have in mind but just haven't had the time to actually work on them. Email me at mycarver@rcn.com if you're interested and we can go from there.
I get them at The Golden Nib.