A Chinese manufacturer reconstructed for four fans and four pumps of two sets of 300MW generator in 2003. The company purchased Gozuk frequency inverter for motor of 5# condensing pump in May 2003. After successful application of 5# system, the company purchased another manufacnter's frequency inverter for two PA fans. After one year operation, the company found frequency inverter could save much energy and bring enormous benefits. Because two kinds of frequency inverter drive different loads, it is not so easy to compare exactly. In order to promote frequency inverter application in power plant, we think it is necessary to make comparison, hope this paper can make reference for other power plants.
In normal operation, K40 and K410 close, QF1 opens. 1# pump runs in variable frequency. K420 and QF2 open. Pump linkage plunges. 2# pump is standby in direct on line. When variable frequency pump is broken, the standby pump linkage starts to work. In order to avoid damage on frequency inverter, DCS has logic lock. That is, only when K410 or K420 closes, can K40 close. Two pumps share one frequency inverter, which can utilize frequency inverter farthest, and also save reconstruction cost. But in this way, periodical switch is complex. When variable pump trips off and standby pump starts, impact on pipeline is big.
When PA fan runs in variable frequency, QF closes, K421 and K422 close, K423 opens. When frequency inverter is broken, motor is switched to direct on line manually. In order to avoid mistake, K422 and K423 are interlocked mechanically. That is, K422 and K423 can not close simultaneously. "One drive one" is the most basical mode. Cost of this mode is higher than "one drive two".
Gozuk frequency inverter and the other manufacturer's frequency inverter are medium-medium voltage source frequency inverter. Frequency inverter input adopts multi-pulse rectifier without filter. Output waveform is near to sine waveform and little affection on power grid. Two kinds of frequency inverter adopt speed sensorless vector control, can meet load requirement of high dynamic response. Power cell is designed in module. Power cell can be replaced easily and replacement time is short. In rated load, efficiencies of frequency inverters are more than 96%.
After reconstruction, cost of power generating lowered a lot. Especially for the condenser pump, no matter in rated load or in part load, energy saving is obvious. Following table is comparison data.
From above statistic data, we see energy saving is obvious with load down. In load 150MW, pump system saves energy 77.6%, two PA fans save energy 63.6%. In rated load, pump system saves energy 33.5%, two PA fans save energy 20.4%.
Power price: 0.3yuan/kWh, cost saved of pump is 937000yuan(USD137794) every year. Cost saved of two PA fans is 779000yuan(USD114558) every year.
After successful application of frequency inverter on 5# system in May 2003, the company made same reconstruction for 4# system.
From above statistic, we see six frequency inverters occur unplanned outage 8 times. frequency inverter of 5# pump stops 3 times. frequency inverter of No 41 PA fan stops 3 times. frequency inverter of PA fan of No 42 stops once and No 52 once. Available factor of all frequency inverters are more than 90%. Available factor of 4# pump frequency inverter and No 51 frequency inverter can reach to 100%. Minimum available factor of No 41 frequency inverter is 90.3%. Max continuous operation time of No 41 frequency inverter is 6381.5h. Max continuous operation time of No 51 frequency inverter is 9150.3h. Because 4# system had maintenance of 11 days in early October, its operation indexes are less than 5# system.
From the application, no matter Gozuk frequency inverter or others, the applications are very successful. Comparatively speaking. Low price and all-round service are important factors which absorb power plant.


So when I saw H5P, I thought it was worth trying out, although it also seems to be tied into WordPress or Drupal.
Adding content types is a bit quirky, but it does seem to work.
I wonder if adding much H5P content will stress the server.


text:
© Moe Rocksmoore
Artist Karen Strang with oil painting Look Aboot Ye at Lillie Gallery in Milngavie
Just as artists have borne witness to the realities of war from the frontline, so they have been busy drawing out the universals of the collective experience of the Covid pandemic.
Last week, I saw a phenomenal exhibition of 90 portraits of key workers at the Lillie Art Gallery in Milngavie. From NHS staff to firefighters, security staff, carers, paramedics, shop workers and prison officers, Karen Strang's portraits are full of light, colour, humanity and joy.
Strang's exhibition, Look Aboot Ye, Caring Through The Covid Pandemic, is both a tribute to and a celebration of key workers. It also features people around the artist's home in Clackmannanshire.
Her creative response to the pandemic started early in 2020 when, unable to travel or to work at her studio, Strang, who trained at the Glasgow School of Art in the 1980s, signed up to the NHS Heroes Portraits project set up by Oxford-based portrait artist Tom Croft. "After an amazing response across the country, I realised many local people also deserved recognition," said Strang.
"A responsibility of an artist is to bear witness and to document. In this way, I could also thank many individuals by gifting them their portrait."
Jan Patience: Artist Gilly McLaren is on a mission to honour NHS heroes
Normally Strang paints in oils, but apart from some pastel and pencil sketches, the vast majority of these portraits are in acrylics. "As I set myself the task of painting a portrait a day – reflecting the shift of a key worker – they had to be created using this method."
The centrepiece of this remarkable exhibition, which runs until February 23, is Strang's large oil painting, Look Aboot Ye. This ambitious work presents a line-up of Clackmannanshire key workers reimagined across time.
A book of Strang's portraits has also been produced. It's a remarkable testament to the triumph of hope, hard work and creativity over adversity.
A painting which features in a new exhibition at Irvine's Harbour Arts Centre depicts a man in a bunnet munching a Gregg's sausage roll. The work by popular Ayrshire artist Graham McKean has given the exhibition its title, Sex And Drugs And Sausage Rolls.
The show touches on several themes which McKean has toyed with in a 27-year-long career as an artist. There's real brio and energy in all McKean's work, which feature ordinary folk – and the occasional Bard – immersed in the moment.
Jan Patience: Super art… it's what Katie Morag (and creator Mairi Hedderwick) did
Jan Patience: Turner exhibition in Edinburgh brings a warm glow to chilly January

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Creston Celebrates an Organizing Job Well Done!
The Islands are Ready to Save the Planet!
Plainfield Ave looks great and we're doing our part to filter our storm water before it enters our river and our Great Lakes. For every inch of rainfall, our islands clean 90,000 gallons of storm water.
A special thanks to CNA's Executive Director Deborah Eid for her exemplary organizing work helping to bring the business community together around this "first of its kind" project here in Michigan!
Dean Rosendall's passion for composting and recycling is contagious. When we meet for this article's interview, I'm struck by his genuine interest in and commitment to his profession, which meshes nicely with his ease in building relationships, spotting trends and putting together a strategic vision.
Rosendall is a partner in the newly launched recycling business, New Soil, which is doing some pretty exciting things. Yes, recycling can be exciting, believe it or not.
Hey, I was surprised, too.
Join Creston's LGC for the Fall Foraging Walk at Huff Park!
Visit http://www.crestongr.com/ for additional information.
Dumpster Day Sept. 8, 2012 – Bring your Trash!
The Green Gala is a one of a kind fundraiser event for Friends of Grand Rapids Parks to advance our mission to protect, enhance and expand parks and public spaces in the city.
That large tree in your yard is worth some money. Next time you're raking leaves, try to remember that.
More than 1.5 million trees exist within the Grand Rapids city limits. Each of these trees provides value to our community and thanks to the new Urban Forest Project, that value can now be measured in dollars.
DROP OFF LOCATION: 1574 COIT NE, BEREAN BAPTIST CHURCH, ENTER PARKING LOT OFF SWEET STREET, EXIT PARKING LOT OFF SAUNDERS CT.


text:
Texas Seeks to Move Gold Deposits Back Inside State Borders
In a move aimed to make the state appear more financially stable, the Governor and some lawmakers are working on a bill that would move the state's gold deposits from a Federal Reserve Bank in New York City to a secure location in Texas.
by The Texas Tribune | March 25, 2013
By Emily Ramshaw and Aman Batheja
Call it the Rick Perry gold rush: The governor wants to bring the state's gold reserves back from a New York vault to Texas.
And he may have legislative support to do it. Freshman Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, R-Southlake, is carrying a bill that would establish the Texas Bullion Depository, a secure state-based bank to house $1 billion worth of gold bars owned by the University of Texas Investment Management Company, or UTIMCO, and currently stored by the Federal Reserve.
Minnesota May be 1st State to Regulate Retail Coin Dealers
Transportation Funding Added to Texas' Special Session Agenda
Ariz. May be 2nd State to OK Gold, Silver Currency
What Recession? Texas, Oklahoma Rebound Fastest
The Case for a State-Owned Bank
The idea isn't entirely new. Some Republican members worked on a gold bill last session that was never filed. And gold-standard-backing Ron Paul, the former Texas congressman, has raised repeated concerns about the safety of states' gold supplies.
"If you think gold is a hedge, or a protection, you always want it as close to the individual and the entity as possible," Paul told the Tribune on Thursday. "Texas is better served if it knows exactly where the gold is rather than depending on the security of the Federal Reserve."
Bringing Texas' gold home has gained more traction this legislative session because of Perry's vocal support for it. On conservative radio host Glenn Beck's show on Tuesday, the governor said Texas was "in the process" — the legislative process, he later clarified — of "bringing gold that belongs to the state of Texas back into the state." He argued that the state was at least as capable as the Federal Reserve of safeguarding Texas' "physical gold."
"If we own it," Perry said, "I will suggest to you that that's not someone else's determination whether we can take possession of it back or not."
State Rep. Lon Burnam, D-Fort Worth, said he was familiar with Capriglione's bill but was skeptical that it addresses a legitimate problem facing the state.
"We've got plenty of real problems that we're not going to deal with this session," Burnam said. "Let's deal with them."
Capriglione said he was at a Tea Party event in Tarrant County earlier this year where Perry spoke about the state's gold investments as an economic development tool. Since then, he has been working with Perry's office on the bill.
"Something on the scorecards of a lot of these businesses in deciding whether they want to come to Texas is stability and gold as being one of those items," Capriglione said. "I think it's been in his consciousness for a while in trying to get some sort of depository in the state of Texas."
He has also spoken with UTIMCO, which owns the 6,643 gold bars currently housed underground in New York City.
"We're trying to figure out the right amount of gold to have here in Texas," Capriglione said. "'We don't want just the certificates. We want our gold. And if you're the state of Texas, you should be able to get your gold."
The United States and many other countries stopped pegging their currencies to the gold standard decades ago. Capriglione said the bill is not about putting Texas on its own gold standard. Rather, a depository would give the state a reputation as being more financially secure in the event of a national or international financial crisis.
"For us to have our own gold, a lot of the runs on the bank and those types of things, they happen because people are worried that there's nothing there to back it up," Capriglione said. "So I think this cures a problem before it can happen."
Physically transporting gold that various state entities own from New York City or other banks to Texas would be impractical from a security and logistics standpoint, Capriglione said. He believes it makes more sense to sell the gold Texas has elsewhere and repurchase it within state lines.
He said he doesn't think the measure would be a significant expense, because the gold bars could be safeguarded in a small area, no bigger than 20 square feet.
Capriglione said he is working on revisions to the bill to address some concerns he has heard. He plans to make sure the bill would not cause the state to change its overall asset portfolio to be more heavily invested in gold. Also, to lower the bill's costs, he expects to change the language to allow some of the administrative costs of building and running the depository to be handled by the private sector.
Such a bill might not divide lawmakers along strictly party lines. State Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, called the bill "an interesting concept" but said he would want to learn more about it and talk to "colleagues in the financial industry" before weighing in on its merits.
The Texas Tribune | The Texas Tribune
More from Finance
A state law takes effect Thursday that will provide consumer protections for precious metals buyers and, effective next July, give the Minnesota Department of Commerce oversight over dealers and their employees. READ MORE


Looking for a garage door cable repair professional? There are some parts in a garage door which when broken, can have a negative impact on the overall functioning of the door, and can be the cause of constant hassles. You will need to check the garage door keenly as it is the most expensive moving part in the home. A garage door is only reliable when it is taken care of. The best garage door comes with the best Installation services in Kansas City, alongside Garage Door Repair, Maintenance and Inspection. It is wise to often take a good look at the garage door before anything else. There are things that easily escape your eye such as garage door cables and unless you hire the services of a good technician. An inspection ensures that you spend less to keeping the garage door running. A neglected garage door cable costs more to repair. The garage door parts often have a domino effect of damages on each other. A strain on one part may cause a serious strain on another part.
How do garage door cables work?
Garage door cables are some of the most important parts of the garage door. Just like any other part, these need proper care which in turns guarantees smooth functioning. Neglected cables rust, get worn out and even get stuck. They cater for the most weight when it comes to the garage door. This means that they hold a lot of tension due to all the garage door weight that they carry. They run from the drum at the top of the garage and connect to the bottom of the garage door. They are connected through the drum to the drive chains from the garage door opener, pulling the garage door upwards or rolling it down when released gradually. This also means that your garage door would not work without proper cables. It is for this reason that you would need to go to Garage Door Cable Repair in Kansas City. The best services will come with the best technicians.
How do I know that I have a faulty garage door cable?
Faulty garage door cables cause the door to get stuck and malfunction when pulling up or letting down. They also cause a noisy door. Neglected garage door cables often snap and cause the garage to free -fall. This is harmful to anyone under the door. It is for this reason that they should be inspected quite often. The technician makes sure that all cables are in good working condition and are fastened perfectly. Loose cables may slip easily damaging the garage. Before replacing garage door cable our expert confirms whether the can be repaired or just Kansas City Home Garage Doors have to replace the cable.
It is important to understand that this is not a DIY project. Garage door cables are a problem if the technician does not know how to install or check them well. The fact that they hold the weight of the door means that they carry a lot of tensile strength. Technicians of Kansas City Home Garage Doors are trained on how to inspect and repair damaged ones. They are also trained on how to install new garage door cable in case the old part is beyond repair. The technicians make sure that they are replaced using the best options in the market. You are assured of great advice if you go for the right services in Kansas city.


text:
Tag Archives: FBI
The Monkees, Redacted
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has been in the news a lot lately. Many on the right think the FBI has recently become politicized–but the reality is that the agency has been involved in investigations of political matters for decades, ever since it was asked to look into loosely defined "subversives" back in the 1930s. Back in the J. Edgar Hoover days the FBI collected information on Martin Luther King, the civil rights movement, anti-war protests, and . . . the Monkees.
What a second–the Monkees? The zany, made-for-TV rock band that had a brief but memorable TV show, produced a series of number 1 albums, were a sensation among teenagers, and incidentally recorded some great rock music that still stands up? The FBI investigated those guys?
It did. According to the FBI's "Vault" webpage–which, if you're interested, allows you to search for FBI records on line–the agency has two records about the rock band: "a 1967 Los Angeles Field Office memorandum on anti-Vietnam war activities and a second document redacted entirely." The 1967 field office memorandum was released to the public about ten years ago, and is very heavily redacted. (You can see the original report, in its redacted form, here.) The unredacted portion reports on a concert the Monkees gave in which photographs were broadcast on a screen behind the band that a redacted informant considered to be "left-wing intervention of a political nature"–which in reality reflected what was actually going on at the time, like racial rioting and protests against the war in Vietnam.
Now Mickey Dolenz, the last surviving member of the Monkees, is suing to try to get the FBI to release the full records about the band. The lawsuit seeks "any records the FBI created and/or possesses on the Monkees as well as its individual members."
In the grand scheme of what is going on in the world, trying to determine what information the FBI collected about the Monkees is a small thing, but it also raises a big point about transparency and getting a fuller accounting of the FBI's activities over the years. It's hard to believe that the document from the Monkees' FBI file that was released in 2011 merited the heavy redaction it received; what kinds of information could it possibly contain that would reasonably need to be kept secret, decades later? Now that another ten years have passed, there is even less cause for continuing secrecy. I'm hoping the lawsuit is successful and we get to see what the FBI considered so important and secretive. Perhaps the lawsuit, and the reaction to any documents that are released as a result of it, will cause a reassessment of the agency's actions and, particularly, its continuing, overly aggressive redaction of documents that the public actually has a right to see.
Posted in America, Music, Politics, TV | Tagged America, FBI, FBI files, Martin Luther King, Music, Politics, redaction, the '60s, The Monkees, TV | 1 Reply
Still Digging For Jimmy
Posted on August 11, 2022 by webnerbob
This summer marks the 47th anniversary of the abrupt disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa, the former head of the Teamsters Union. On July 30, 1975, Hoffa was last seen in a restaurant in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit; he was legally declared dead in 1982. Hoffa is one of the most famous missing persons in American history, right up there with Amelia Earhart. TIME magazine, at least, places Hoffa with Earhart on the list of "top 10 famous disappearances."
In the 47 years since Hoffa vanished, the FBI has spent a lot of time, and done a lot of digging, looking for him. An interesting article this summer by a current Harvard Law School professor recounts the high points of the extensive, long-running, and so far totally fruitless search for Hoffa's presumed remains. As the article explains, over the last 47 years a rogue's gallery of criminals, with the kind of nicknames you would expect if you've watched The Sopranos, have claimed knowledge of what happened to Hoffa and where he can be found. Their stories have differed, placing Hoffa's remains in Florida swamps, in the concrete under Giants Stadium, in a Georgia golf course, and at various locations around Michigan. The FBI has investigated the claims, often to the point of digging, and nothing is found. The most recent, nine-month-long investigation focused on a former landfill under the Pulaski Skyway in Jersey City, New Jersey, and the FBI reported just last month that the effort came up empty.
Based on the record, it's probably only a matter of time before another colorful character claims to have been involved in Hoffa's disappearance, identifies a new spot, and the FBI gets out the shovels and does more digging for Jimmy. But after 47 years, it seems like the trail must be awfully cold. Whoever actually knew what happened to Jimmy Hoffa hasn't talked about it, and unless we get a verifiable deathbed confession, we'll probably never know. But at the FBI, the shovels are still at the ready, just in case.
Posted in America, crime, TV | Tagged America, crime, famous disappearances, FBI, Jimmy Hoffa Jr., The Sopranos, TV | 1 Reply
Of Constitutional Concern
Posted on December 19, 2019 by webnerbob
Through a vote yesterday, President Trump has been formally impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives. The matter now moves to the U.S. Senate.
I'll leave the impeachment proceedings to the talking heads — for now at least. Today I'd like to focus, instead, on another area of constitutional concern that has been lost in the constant drumbeat of news on impeachment. I'm speaking of an extraordinary order issued by the FISA Court earlier this week, in the wake of the recent Inspector General's report on the conduct of the FBI and the Department of Justice in receiving authorization to conduct surveillance. I've linked to the text of the Order above.
The FISA court gets its name from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, the statute which created the Court. FISA requires the government to apply for, and receive authorization from, the FISA Court before it can engage in electronic surveillance. The applications are to be made in writing, upon oath or affirmation, by a federal officer from the agency, such as the FBI, that seeks to conduct the surveillance. The FISA Court — consisting of judges appointed by both Democratic and Republican administrations — is then supposed to review the applications to decide whether they establish probable cause that the proposed surveillance target is a "foreign power" or an "agent of a foreign power" within the meaning of FISA.
This process is critical because — as the FISA Court's Order issued this week notes — it was designed to allow the FISA Court to provide a check on executive branch power to conduct surveillance and thereby protect the Fourth Amendment rights of American citizens against unlawful search and seizure. To allow the Court to do that job, FISA imposes a heightened duty of candor upon the federal agents and agencies in their applications to the Court. The FISA Court considers candor to be "fundamental" to its effective operations.
The Order issued this week makes it clear that the FBI, in seeking the FISA Court's approval of the surveillance order that was discussed in the Inspector General's report, did not meet its duty of candor — not by a long shot. To the contrary, the Court notes that the Inspector General's report "documents troubling instances" in which FBI personnel provided information that was "unsupported or contradicted by information in their possession" and "withheld . . . information in their possession which was detrimental to their case for believing that [Carter] Page was acting as an agent of a foreign power."
In addition, the Order notes that an attorney for the FBI engaged in conduct that "apparently was intended to deceive the FBI agent who ultimately swore to the facts in that application about whether Mr. Page had been a source of another government agency." The Court believes that the conduct of the attorney gives rise to "serious concerns about the accuracy and completeness of the information provided to the [FISA Court] in any matter (emphasis added)" in which the attorney was involved.
The Order adds: "The FBI's handling of the Carter Page applications, as portrayed in the OIG report, was antithetical to the heightened duty of candor described above. The frequency with which representations made by FBI personnel turned out to be unsupported or contradicted by information in their possession, and with which they withheld information detrimental to their case, calls into question whether information contained in other FBI applications is reliable. The FISC expects the government to provide complete and accurate information in every filing with the Court. Without it, the FISC cannot properly ensure that the government conducts electronic surveillance for foreign intelligence purposes only when there is a sufficient factual basis."
The FISA Court's Order concludes by ordering the FBI to provide a sworn written submission identifying what it has done, and what it will do, to ensure that the statements of facts in each FBI application accurately and completely set forth the material information in the possession of the FBI. It will be interesting to see how the FBI responds.
In today's world, there's often argument about whether the news that is reported, and the characterization of events that is conveyed, is slanted or biased or accurate. The FISA Court's Order — which is only four pages long, and can be read and understood by any educated American — allows us to go to the source and see how a Court that is composed of judges with lifetime tenure who were appointed by both Republicans and Democrats is reacting to a detailed report on serious misconduct by the FBI.
The Fourth Amendment is there to protect all of us — Democrat, Republican, or Independent, liberal or conservative. If the FBI is willing to distort, deceive, and misrepresent to pursue an agenda, that's a concern for everyone. We should all be grateful to the FISA Court for putting aside politics, recognizing that the ends don't justify the means, and holding the FBI to account.
Posted in America, Politics | Tagged America, FBI, FISA, FISA Court, Fourth Amendment, Impeachment, Politics, President Trump | 3 Replies
Federal Bureau Of Incompetence
Posted on February 19, 2018 by webnerbob
In the wake of the latest awful school shooting, in which 17 students and teachers were killed in Florida and another 15 people were injured, there has been a lot of talk about guns and gun control. That debate is entirely warranted, but I hope that there is also room for broad discussion about the performance of law enforcement agencies — from the FBI on down.
Last month, the FBI received a specific, credible warning about the accused shooter, Nikolas Cruz. A person close to Cruz contacted the FBI's Public Access Line on January 5 and described Cruz's gun ownership, desire to kill others, erratic behavior and disturbing social media posts. The FBI acknowledged that it received the tip — but did nothing, in violation of its own internal rules. In a statement, the Bureau said: "Under established protocols, the information provided by the caller should have been assessed as a potential threat to life. The information then should have been forwarded to the FBI Miami Field Office, where appropriate investigative steps would have been taken."
And it certainly appears that, if somebody from the FBI had actually looked into the tip, they would have found a lot of very disturbing information about Cruz, from troubles in school and a recommendation that a "threat assessment" be performed on Cruz, to a self-mutilation post and other troubling activities on social media and a comment on a blog about being a "professional school shooter," to multiple calls about Cruz and his erratic behavior to the local sheriff's office. It's hard not to draw the conclusion that, if somebody had just followed up on the tip, the massacre might have been avoided.
A statement from Christopher Wray, the Director of the FBI, about the FBI's failure to act said: "We are still investigating the facts. I am committed to getting to the bottom of what happened in this particular matter, as well as reviewing our processes for responding to information that we receive from the public." He also said: "It's up to all Americans to be vigilant, and when members of the public contact us with concerns, we must act properly and quickly." But in this instance, Americans were vigilant and did report on concerns arising from disturbing behavior — and the FBI totally dropped the ball.
According to its website, about 35,000 people work for the FBI. The Agency's annual budget is more than $8 billion. In short, the FBI has a lot of resources. Given the number of mass shootings we've seen in this country, in schools and otherwise, it's unfathomable that a credible tip to the FBI about a potential mass killer would be ignored. If the FBI doesn't follow up on such tips, what in the world is it doing? And while it's nice to know that FBI Director Wray is going to investigate the Bureau's failure to investigate the tip about Nikolas Cruz, we might want to make sure that the FBI's conduct is investigated by people who won't drop the ball this time.
Posted in America, crime | Tagged America, Christopher Wray, crime, FBI, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Florida, Nikolas Cruz, School Shootings | Leave a reply
The Comey Canning
As Forrest Gump might have said, any day with the Trump Administration is like a box of chocolates: you never know what you're going to get. Yesterday, we got the decision from President Trump to fire the Director of the FBI, James Comey. And, to accentuate the bizarre, bolt from the blue aspect of the decision, Comey apparently learned of the decision when the news flashed across the TV screen behind him while he was giving a speech, and he initially chuckled and thought it was a joke.
The White House says that Trump acted on the recommendation of senior officials in the Justice Department, who concluded that Comey botched the investigation into Hillary Clinton's questionable email practices and, in the process, caused "substantial damage" to the credibility and reputation of the FBI that has "affected the entire Department of Justice."
The Deputy Attorney General, Rod J. Rosenstein, prepared a memorandum citing reasons for Comey's discharge that stated: "I cannot defend the director's handling of the conclusion of the investigation of Secretary Clinton's emails, and I do not understand his refusal to accept the nearly universal judgment that he was mistaken. Almost everyone agrees that the director made serious mistakes; it is one of the few issues that unites people of diverse perspectives." Among other mistakes, Rosenstein cited Comey's curious July 5 press conference, where Comey announced that charges would not be pursued against Clinton but then castigated her creation of the servers and her handling of confidential materials. Rosenstein stated that Comey acted "without the authorization of duly appointed Justice Department leaders" and added: "Compounding the error, the director ignored another longstanding principle: we do not hold press conferences to release derogatory information about the subject of a declined criminal investigation . . . we never release it gratuitously . . . It is a textbook example of what federal prosecutors and agents are taught not to do."
There is truth the Rosenstein's statement about a bipartisan consensus that Comey's handling of the email investigation involved a lot of mistakes; Comey's actions and his decision to make an abrupt, pre-election announcement of a renewed investigation into Clinton's email servers were criticized by former attorney generals in both Republican and Democratic administrations. And only this week, the FBI had to correct misstatements Comey made in recent testimony to Congress about the email investigation.
But there is something very unsettling about the Trump Administration's abrupt decision to discharge Comey for actions he took months ago, because the decision comes in the midst of an ongoing investigation into Russian influence into the last presidential election and the actions of the Trump campaign in relation to the potential Russian involvement. Trump's letter to Comey giving him the boot oddly acknowledged the ongoing investigation, stating: "While I greatly appreciate you informing me, on three separate occasions, that I am not under investigation, I nevertheless concur with the judgment of the Department of Justice that you are not able to effectively lead the Bureau.'' And Rosenstein has only been at his Department of Justice post for two weeks, which suggests that his first job assignment in his new position was to consider whether Comey should be fired.
Not surprisingly, Democrats are up in arms about the decision, which they compare to Richard Nixon's infamous "Saturday night massacre" of Justice Department officials, and members of Congress are calling for an investigation. I think an investigation makes sense, but until then I'm going to reserve judgment and see what develops. There's no doubt that Comey had his issues, and it may well be that — unfortunate timing aside — the White House and the Department of Justice had legitimate concerns that he simply was incapable of handling the kind of highly sensitive investigations the FBI must undertake in a non-partisan way. On the other hand, the timing is unfortunate, and naturally gives rise to suspicions about what really happened here. A through investigation will help to establish the facts and clear the air.
Posted in America, crime, Politics | Tagged America, crime, email investigation, FBI, Hillary Clinton, James Comey, Politics, President Trump, Russian involvement in presidential election | Leave a reply
Anthony Weiner Turns Up, Again
Posted on October 29, 2016 by webnerbob
Just when you think — and fervently hope — that we've finally heard the last of Anthony Weiner, he turns up in the news again. He's the proverbial bad penny on the national political scene.
When the world learned recently that Weiner was "sexting" with a 15-year-old girl, I didn't write about it because, frankly, I think enough attention has been paid to a guy who is obviously a disturbed and narcissistic loser. He clearly wants attention of some kind or another, so why feed the creep's ego? But now the investigation into Weiner's texting with an underage girl has shaken up the presidential campaign, just when we thought it was about over. In their investigation of Weiner, the FBI seized his laptop, as well as his iPad and cell phone — and yesterday FBI director James Comey sent a letter to Congress stating that, in that unrelated investigation, the agency found emails that relate in some way to their investigation of Hillary Clinton's email practices. The New York Times is reporting that the FBI found tens of thousands of emails involving Huma Abedin, a long-time Hillary Clinton aide who is married to (and now estranged from) Weiner.
There's not a lot of information about the emails on Weiner's server. Comey's letter to Congress says only that he felt he needed to supplement his prior congressional testimony that the investigation into Clinton's email server was completed, that the FBI has now learned of emails "that appear to be pertinent to the investigation," that Comey had been briefed on the findings, and that he agreed it was appropriate for agents to determine whether they contain classified information. The letter concluded that the FBI can't yet assess whether the emails on Weiner's laptop are significant, or when the FBI will finish reviewing them.
So we don't know much about the emails right now and, given the pace of the FBI's prior investigation, we probably won't know much more until after the election is over — which is why some people are criticizing the FBI director for calling attention to the issue at all. The disclosure obviously roiled the presidential campaign at a crucial time, with less than two weeks to go. I would note only that I appreciate the fact that the FBI director obviously takes his obligation to truthful in his testimony to Congress so seriously.
I'm not going to speculate about what might, or might not, be found in the emails. I'm just going to groan at the fact that we have to hear about Anthony Weiner, again — and hope that we don't learn that this creepy, apparently sex-obsessed jerk had any kind of significant national security information on his laptop. Anthony Weiner is about the last person I'd want to have access to sensitive information.
Posted in America, Politics | Tagged America, Anthony Weiner, Email, FBI, Hillary Clinton, Huma Abedin, Politics | 1 Reply
The FBI Director And His Webcam
Posted on April 11, 2016 by webnerbob
The FBI has taken a strong stance on the ability of law enforcement and anti-terrorism concerns to trump individual privacy interests. Its position on requiring Apple to develop a back door through its iPhone encryption protection is just part of a larger concern about privacy advocates hampering the FBI's ability to catch crooks and killers.
The FBI Director, James Comey, gave a speech this week at Kenyon College where he sounded many of those same themes. But then he admitted that, on his personal laptop, he's put a piece of black tape over the camera so no one can hack into his computer and watch him. After all, it's not beyond the realm of possibility that somebody, somewhere, might want to watch you through your laptop camera — the FBI itself has developed surveillance software that apparently allows the agency to do just that.
The notion that the director of the FBI is worried about surveillance on his laptop and put some black tape over his webcam has provoked a lot of reaction on social media, from privacy advocates gleefully saying "I told you so" to paranoid anti-government types seeing Comey's admission as evidence that the FBI, the NSA, the CIA and the other members of the alphabet soup of American security agencies routinely spy on each other. And it by pretty ironic, when you think about it — and pretty funny that the anti-surveillance tool Comey decided to use is a simple strip of duct tape.
But Comey's reaction also is instructive, and illustrates some apparent hypocrisy. People who worry about their privacy and governmental overreach are chided for not helping to catch the bad guys and told that if they've done nothing wrong they've got nothing to worry about — but then even the FBI director takes a basic step to protect his own privacy against unwanted intrusion. He thinks he hasn't done anything wrong, and he doesn't like the idea of somebody spying on him. He might rationalize it as protection against hacking by a terrorist cell, or a rogue foreign government, rather than concern about surveillance by his own government, but the principle is the same. If an unhackable iPhone might "hinder law enforcement" in certain circumstances, couldn't a strip of black tape over a laptop webcam prove to be a hindrance at some point, too?
I'm with the privacy advocates on this one — and Comey's own actions help to say why.
Posted in America, Technology | Tagged America, Black tape, Duct tape, FBI, James Comey, Laptop, Privacy, Spying, Surveillance, Technology, Webcam | Leave a reply
Land Of The Free, Home Of The Monitored
Posted on June 7, 2013 by webnerbob
Yesterday the New York Times published an excellent editorial on the federal government's routine collection of data about everyday Americans. As the Times aptly framed the issue, the question is whether the government should be allowed to continue to use anti-terrorism efforts as a catch-all excuse for increasing encroachments into our private activities. In short, have we gone too far in trading liberty for (alleged) security?
The latest disclosures indicate that the federal government, through the National Security Agency and the FBI, obtains massive amounts of data from the servers of internet companies. The NSA also apparently has obtained an order from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court that requires Verizon to give the NSA on "an ongoing, daily basis" information on all telephone calls in the Verizon system, including calls that are entirely domestic. That court order runs from April 25 to July 19, and will provide information on millions of calls — including mine, because Verizon is our cell phone provider. (Nice to know that, somewhere deep in the bowels of an NSA supercomputer, data about my calls to Kish telling her I'm on my way home from work will be preserved forever, available for use by whatever government functionary cares to access it!) And, of course, we know that in most metropolitan areas video surveillance cameras surreptitiously record our movements.
For decades, the argument in favor of enhanced government police powers has been that law-abiding citizens have no cause for concern, because only criminals would be targeted. That argument doesn't wash when information about the personal activities of millions of Americans is gathered indiscriminately. Whatever you might think of your fellow citizens, we aren't all terrorists. By what right does our government collect information about our telephone calls, our internet searches, and our daily movements? Shouldn't anti-terrorist activities be focused on terrorists?
As the Times editorial linked above notes, the Obama Administration's response to such disclosures has been to offer bland reassurances that systems are in place to prevent abuses. Those reassurances ring hollow in the wake of incidents like the IRS scandal or the Department of Justice targeting of journalists, where the President and other high-ranking officials disclaim any prior knowledge of classic examples of overreaching by faceless government employees. So, where are the systems that we are supposed to trust? With respect to many of these governmental intrusions, it appears that there is no control from the top and — if the statements of press secretaries are to be credited — no meaningful decision-making by anyone who can be held accountable to voters.
Under President Obama, the government's ever-growing appetite for collection of data about average, taxpaying Americans seems to be on auto pilot. That is a very scary proposition.
Posted in America, crime, Politics | Tagged America, Anti-Terrorism, crime, FBI, Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, freedom, Government Surveillance, Liberty, National Security Agency, Politics, President Obama, terrorism, Verizon | 2 Replies
Let Him Be Buried
Posted on May 4, 2013 by webnerbob
According to the BBC, there's a controversy brewing in Boston about the burial of Tamerlan Tsarnaev. People are protesting outside the funeral home that holds his body, and his family is struggling to find a cemetery that will allow his burial.
Like every American, I'm angered and sickened by the terrorist actions of the Tsarnaev brothers, and I can understand the impulse to deny a final resting place on American soil to someone who cruelly and intentionally killed and injured innocents . . . but I say let Tsarnaev be buried. A controversy about his remains is just a distraction from the real issues raised by the Tsarnaev brothers and the Boston Marathon bombing — issues like whether they should have been permitted to come to America in the first place, how they came to be radicalized and whether there are steps that can prevent others from becoming similarly radicalized, why Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's friends allegedly would try to cover up for someone who committed a terrorist act, and whether the FBI and other authorities missed warning signs that should have alerted them to the dangers posed by the Tsarnaev brothers. Picketing some unfortunate funeral home that holds Tamerlan Tsarnaev's remains isn't going to help answer any of those questions.
I say, plant Tamerlan Tsarnaev's corpse in the corner of some remote cemetery and be done with it. Ignore this wretched excuse for a human being and let his headstone crumble into dust. Forget about his body, focus on his actions, and figure out what we can do to keep them from ever happening again.
Posted in America, crime | Tagged America, Boston bombing, Boston Marathon Bombing, Burial, crime, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, FBI, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, terrorism | 1 Reply
Privacy In A Warrantless World
Recently Google provided information about how frequently it has received warrantless requests for information from the FBI. Those of us who think personal privacy still has value in our increasingly monitored world should hope that Google's approach to disclosure is followed by other companies.
The FBI requests are called National Security Letters. For some time, FBI headquarters had been permitted to use NSLs in connection with espionage investigations. In 2001, the Patriot Act broadened the circumstances in which NSLs may be used, and also authorized FBI offices around the country to issue NSLs. Under current procedures, the FBI may issue NSLs to obtain name, address, length of service, and other information about computer users. No court approval or warrant is necessary. Companies receiving the FBI requests aren't permitted to disclose the existence of the requests, although the recipient can challenge the NSLs in court.
Because of the prohibition on disclosure, Google could provide only summary numerical information about NSLs. The company said that, in 2012, it had received between 0 and 999 requests for information targeting between 1,000 and 1,999 accounts. That doesn't sound too bad — but, of course, Google is only one of many companies that store, move, and organize data on the internet. Until we know more about the prevalence of NSLs, we can't assess whether the FBI is appropriately using its authority to issue them.
We should all applaud Google's effort to provide some information about NSLs and encourage other companies to do likewise. Whether you think NSLs are a necessary tool in the fight against terrorism or an ill-conceived exception to the warrant requirement, the American public should at least be advised about how frequently NSLs are used, and under what circumstances. Otherwise, how are informed citizens supposed to voice their views on the law to their elected representatives — and isn't that how democracies are supposed to work?
Posted in America, Technology | Tagged America, FBI, Google, National Security Letters, Privacy, Technology, Warrantless | 3 Replies
Guys And Their Flies
Posted on November 13, 2012 by webnerbob
It's a story as old as the human race: a powerful older married man has an affair with a younger woman, his indiscretions are discovered, and his career comes crashing down.
The latest example, of course, is former CIA director and four-star general David Petraeus, who resigned after his affair with his biographer, Paula Broadwell, was discovered. Petraeus, 60, apparently began his affair with Broadwell, 40, shortly after he resigned from the Army, and the affair continued during his service as CIA director until it ended four months ago. The affair became public when the FBI began investigating whether Broadwell had violated federal cyber-harassment laws by sending threatening anonymous e-mails to another woman. During the investigation, the FBI traced the e-mails to Broadwell's computer, where they found explicit and salacious e-mails between Petraeus and Broadwell that evidenced their affair.
Petraeus, who has been married to his wife Holly for 38 years, regrets his indiscretions and says he showed "extremely poor judgment" in having the affair. No kidding! He not only betrayed his vows to his long-time wife, he also could have jeopardized classified information given his critical role at the CIA and his access to top-secret information. Fortunately for Petraeus and everyone else, there is no sign that his tryst with Broadwell compromised national security.
Why do some powerful older men act so stupidly and recklessly? Is it vanity, or a belief that they are beyond reproach, or is it just that they aren't thinking at all — at least, not with the right body parts? After the public disclosure, and the ritual actions of apology and contrition by the disgraced individual are played out, it's tough to ferret out what really motivates such actions.
It's a lesson for the rest of us, too. Behind the carefully controlled and cultivated public image of powerful people, a silly, embarrassing inner adolescent may be lurking and ready to burst forth at any time. We should all keep that possibility in mind the next time we think a public figure may be perfect and we are told to implicitly trust their judgment on important matters.
Posted in America, Politics | Tagged Affairs, America, CIA, FBI, General David Petraeus, Men, National Security, Paula Broadwell, Politics, Sex | 1 Reply
Many Questions To Be Answered, Publicly and Quickly (III)
We continue to get news about the murderous attack on the U.S. consulate in Libya and its aftermath — and none of the news is good.
The Obama Administration now concedes what seemed obvious from the outset: that the attack in Benghazi was not a mob action but instead was a terrorist attack. That leaves the question of why the Administration and its spokespeople, like the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, insisted for days that the attack was purely a response to The Innocence of Muslims YouTube video.
It's also become clear that the burnt-out shell of the consulate was left unprotected for days, making the place ripe for loss of intelligence information. Three days after the attack, for example, CNN found a journal kept by murdered U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens on the floor of the consulate. The U.S. State Department has criticized CNN's use of the journal, but the fact that it was found days after the attack by people wandering through the consulate raises serious issues about the competence of the State Department and its security arrangements. Weren't procedures in place to destroy sensitive information? Why wasn't the area secured more quickly? If CNN was able to find the journal by rummaging around the site, what classified information might have been acquired by the terrorists who plotted the attack?
Finally, the New York Times has an article about the catastrophic effect of the Libyan attack on U.S. intelligence gathering activities in the Middle East. As a result of the attacks a number of CIA operators and contractors had to bug out, leaving the U.S. as if it had its "eyes poked out." The large CIA presence in Benghazi puts the inadequate security arrangements in sharper focus, and heightens concerns that the names of confidential informants and sources, tentative conclusions reached by our agents, and other significant intelligence information may have been acquired by al Qaeda or other terrorist organizations. If Benghazi was a major intelligence-gathering center, shouldn't the security arrangements for the U.S. operations have been far more robust?
The State Department has created a "review board" to examine the attacks, and the FBI is apparently investigating. That's all fine, but Congress needs to get involved and begin prompt hearings into the incidents in Libya and Egypt — and, particularly, the many apparent failures in U.S. operations there. We need to determine whether advance warnings were ignored, why our security arrangements were so woefully inadequate, why we were unable to secure the area for days after the attack, and what we need to do to ensure that such planned attacks on U.S. installations cannot happen again.
Many Questions To Be Answered, Publicly And Quickly
Many Questions To Be Answered, Publicly And Quickly (II)
Posted in America, World | Tagged Ambassador Chris Stevens, America, Benghazi, CIA, CNN, FBI, Libya, Obama Administration, President Obama, The Innocence of Muslims, U.S. State Department, World | 4 Replies
New Frontiers In Crime
The FBI recently announced that it has cracked a major international cybercrime ring that sought to hack into computer networks, infect them with a virus, steal bank account information, and then use that information to loot bank accounts. The criminals were based in eastern Europe — which seems to be the venue of choice for computer crimes these days.
It is good to see that the FBI is having some success in the fight against cybercrime, although I imagine this particular criminal enterprise is just the tip of a very large iceberg. In our modern, world-wide financial system, where so much commerce is done electronically, computer networks are going to increasingly be the targets of criminal activities. Why try to break into a bank vault and figure out how to get away with cash, gold, or other physical objects when you can sit in the safety of your apartment in Ukraine, tap a few keys on your laptop to unload a virus to a faraway computer, and then later download files with crucial information about bank accounts worth millions of dollars while you sip your morning coffee?
Cybercrime is going to be one of those areas of criminal activity where there will be constant back and forth between criminals who develop new hacking tools and schemes and law enforcement agencies that work diligently to catch up with the latest techniques.
Posted in America, crime, World | Tagged America, computer hacking, Computer scams, crime, Cybercrime, FBI, World | Leave a reply
Ending The Anthrax Investigation
Many people have forgotten the deadly letters containing anthrax that came hard on the heels of the 9/11 attacks. At the time, the anthrax attacks made it seem that the United States was going to be the subject of unending terrorist activity, from every quarter. Eventually, though, the letters stopped and the public's focus shifted to al Qaeda, Afghanistan, and later Iraq.
The FBI, however, pursued the identity of the perpetrator of the anthrax attacks in the eight years since the anthrax attacks occurred. After fits and starts, the FBI's investigation zeroed in on an Army scientist. The scientist committed suicide in 2008, shortly after learning that the investigators were preparing to charge him. The FBI has now released its final report on the investigation, laying out the case against the scientist. The Washington Post article on the report appears here.
The government's case is based purely on circumstantial evidence; there is no physical evidence linking the scientist to the crime, no confession, and no eyewitness accounts. Accordingly, some have claimed that the government would not have been able to secure a conviction in court. Nevertheless, the circumstantial evidence seems powerful. The report describes how the scientist was one of the few people who had access to the strain of anthrax found in the letters and the capability to create the spores that were placed in the fatal envelopes, and recounts his erratic personal behavior.
Some crimes are never fully solved; Scotland Yard never determined who was Jack the Ripper. We should all hope that the FBI is correct in their conclusions in this instance, because the alternative is that the actual anthrax terrorist is still out there somewhere, at large and potentially capable of striking again.
Posted in America, crime | Tagged America, Anthrax, crime, FBI, terrorism | Leave a reply


An unreal display of semi-precious colored gemstones! The stunning blue topaz and turquoise semi-precious stones beautifully emphasize the fire in the ocean-colored opals on these rose gold diamond earrings. Sprinkled in white diamonds, these ear climbers make a bold statement. Summer Wedding? These gemstone earrings will turn heads and dress up any outfit. Stevie Wren's newly fabricated supportive backs make these semi-precious stones earrings easy to put on and enhance comfortability for all-day wear. Handcrafted and one of a kind, get these beauties before they are gone! The perfect statement piece to add your jewelry collection.


Universal: That all may promote authentic economic development that respects the dignity of all peoples.
For Evangelization: That Christians of diverse denominations may walk toward the unity desired by Christ.
Universal: That all cultures may respect the rights and dignity of women.
For Evangelization: That many young people may accept the Lord's invitation to consecrate their lives to proclaiming the Gospel.
Universal: That governments may foster the protection of creation and the just distribution of natural resources.
For Evangelization: That the Risen Lord may fill with hope the hearts of those who are being tested by pain and sickness.
Universal: That the media may be instruments in the service of truth and peace.
For Evangelization: That Mary, Star of Evangelization, may guide the Church in proclaiming Christ to all nations.
For Evangelization: That Europe may rediscover its Christian roots through the witness of believers.
Universal: That sports may always be occasions of human fraternity and growth.
For Evangelization: That the Holy Spirit may support the work of the laity who proclaim the Gospel in the poorest countries.
Universal: That refugees, forced by violence to abandon their homes, may find a generous welcome and the protection of their rights.
For Evangelization: That Christians in Oceania may joyfully announce the faith to all the people of that region.
Universal: That the mentally disabled may receive the love and help they need for a dignified life.
For Evangelization: That Christians, inspired by the Word of God, may serve the poor and suffering.
Universal: That the Lord may grant peace to those parts of the world most battered by war and violence.
For Evangelization: That World Mission Day may rekindle in every believer zeal for carrying the Gospel into all the world.
Universal: That all who suffer loneliness may experience the closeness of God and the support of others.
For Evangelization: That young seminarians and religious may have wise and well-formed mentors.
Universal: That the birth of the Redeemer may bring peace and hope to all people of good will.
For Evangelization: That parents may be true evangelizers, passing on to their children the precious gift of faith.


text:
Jair Soares (Porto Alegre, 1933) es un político brasileño, afiliado al Partido Progresista. Fue gobernador de Rio Grande do Sul por el PDS, antigua denominación de los progresistas.

Ha sido ministro de la Seguridad Social en el gobierno de João Figueiredo, alcalde de Porto Alegre, diputado estatal y federal. En 1982 se celebraron las primeras elecciones directas para gobernador en Brasil desde 1962. Durante el régimen militar los gobernadores eran designados por el gobierno federal. Los candidatos en Rio Grande do Sul eran Pedro Simon por el PMDB, Alceu Collares por el PDT, Olívio Dutra por el PT y el propio Soares por el PDS, partido sucesor de la ARENA, apoyo civil del régimen militar. Los otros candidatos habían formado parte del Movimiento Democrático Brasileño, pero se dividieron a la hora de las elecciones. Soares y Simon eran los grandes favoritos. Finalmente Soares venció con poco más del 1% de los votos, convirtiéndose en el primer gobernador elegido democráticamente tras el gobierno militar.

En 2002 fue elegido diputado estatal. Dos años después, perdió las elecciones a la alcaldía de Porto Alegre ante José Fogaça, del PPS.

Nacidos en Porto Alegre
Gobernadores de Río Grande del Sur
Diputados federales de Río Grande del Sur
Diputados estatales de Río Grande del Sur

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


foreword by the indomitable former UKIP Parliamentary candidate, Jack Sen, segues seamlessly into feature by Afrikaner hero, Steve Hofmeyr and John de Nugent. We aren't sure who wrote what anymore, so we'll just credit all three great men. Enjoy!
You're not free, Virginia. Your white baas/boss gave you a job. You use his language and you write what he tells you to write. Without him, there's nothing, as there was nothing before his descendants-my ancestors arrived.
Steve Hofmeyr's cutting, but absolutely truthful words ring as truthfully and resonate as loudly as his powerful music.
Anyone arguing otherwise either needs their head examined or is doing so intentionally.
Without migrants, Muslim rabble rousers, members of the gay and translesbian community, and in particular blacks, the Left have "nothing", as Steve rightly put it, either.
In fact the black man is a tool-mechanism if you wish, the ideological Left utilise to destroy western countries. He is nothing but a weaponised pawn to be used and discarded like a Soweto prostitute. He is Yossel Slovo's 'Mandela', but on a societal level.
Blacks mean less to these people than we do. They are a bullet to be tossed into the trash alongside the corpses of their victims. A whore to be exploited, abused and discarded once the infection's been transmitted.
That's not hatred; just fact.
And like it or not, the truth and my right to disseminate it, no matter how much it offends anyone's precious sensibilities, must always be protected.
In the following article Steve contends that the people that occupied the African continent for millennia did nothing, absolutely nothing except kill each other and plant a few mealies. No wheel, no written word, no towns, gardens, hospitals, railway lines, factories, shops or any other accoutrements of a civilization worth its salt. Just check out what the early English missionaries found when they ventured into the country's interior in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. They had no political agenda and they wrote as they saw – they sketched primitive people with spears and loin cloths standing outside straw and mud houses. They wrote about their wars and their early deaths because of disease and internecine struggles. There were no title deeds then, so claiming land is now a bit hit-and-miss, given that there were no records of anything. The white man codified their languages (who else did it?) so being "oppressed" by whites is hardly the way it was.
There is no proof whatsoever that these Africans would have advanced one inch without European influence. Otherwise why didn't they create a civilization of their own? They w the territory, they had the sun, the rain, the rivers, the green pastures. Oppressed? Give me a break! I would think they should go on their knees every day that the whites came to South Africa first.
But still, they're "oppressed", constantly rambling on about the original "black owners" of this land, the brutality of the white man etc.
How can they prove they owned anything? They didn't have the written word so no title deeds, no records, no nuttin'. Where's the proof, Virginia? Aren't you supposed to back up your journalistic integrity with facts? Or did your white baas tell you you can say what you like because you're "previously disadvantaged"?
So let's get down to the basics.
Every single thing you own and consume was provided to you by the whites and their civilization.
You bleat about apartheid! Did you ever think what would have happened to this country without apartheid at the time? As the post-war hordes streamed into the cities looking for work (they can never create work, someone else must give them a job!), where would it have stopped? Our cities then would have become like our cities today, only fifty years earlier! We would have been sitting with a Kwame Nkrumah or a Jacob Zuma fifty years earlier, with all that this implies! Where did Eskom, Sasol, Iscor, our nuclear achievements and one of the world's most vibrant economies have come from except under apartheid? Unshackled by the huge drain of a welfare state (as we have now), white creativity and entrepreneurship flourished. Did you know that the rand was worth more than the US dollar at that time, that investors streamed into our country because the non-Zumas were in charge? That millions of blacks to the north of us tried to get into the apartheid pariah country?
Like so many of your ilk, you call the truth racial hatred. Well, the whole world must be practising racial hatred because they do all in their power to keep blacks from Africa out of their countries. Why do you think the Australians won't let aliens even touch their shores? Why are the Italians and the French and the Greeks complaining about too many blacks in their countries? Check out Israel's policy towards blacks: they are deported en masse and attacked in the streets of Tel Aviv. Why is this?
There are reasons, Virginia and they can be found in the streets of our once pristine South African cities. The fact is that when the blacks move in, the whites move out and this happens all over the world. (Detroit is now filing for bankruptcy for this very reason).
I just loved your "we are twenty years into democracy, into freedom" platitude. Democracy? You've got to be kidding! When the country is run from Luthuli House, where not one parliamentarian is responsible to any constituent, and where the so-called government is the worst the country has ever had, there's not much to be said for democracy. And freedom? Freedom to do what? Pee against someone's wall? Throw rubbish into our once clean spruits? Murder someone for a cell phone? Live in crowded shacks in a squatter camp because you were "free" to come to a city with no job for you? So that's freedom is it?
You're not free, Virginia. Your white baas gave you a job. You use his language and you write what he tells you to write. The "verkrampte regses" [JdN: "the rigid right-wingers"] are right. Democracy and freedom screwed up big time!
You ask Steve to "pak op en trek" [JdN: "pack up and leave"]. Why don't you do this if you're not happy with the white man's legacy to this country? How about looking for a job in Zambia? Or Rwanda? Hey, what about Liberia, home of Ebola! This is the country comprising slaves repatriated from the United States. The country has been financed and supported by America ever since – the US couldn't get them back to Africa fast enough! Liberia has freedom and democracy too, but they don't even know how to wash their hands. There are no whites in Liberia, and that's the difference. Why don't you go there and you won't have to put up with people like Steve?
You talk about being "onderdruk" [JdN: "oppressed"]. Yes, there was law and order and you couldn't just go into a park and defecate and throw your papers all over the show and leave your takeaway mess under a seat. Which park do you take your children to now, Virginia? Remember Joubert Park in Johannesburg? Christmas was a wonderful time – the lights, the theatre shows, the decorations. Now it is home to Somali squatters who live there, and hang their washing over the trees and use the gutter as a toilet. Was it better under apartheid, or worse, Virginia? Now that the park is for everyone, who wants to go there?
All pictures taken from the Twist Street side.
What was wrong with control under apartheid? Sweden for example didn't have apartheid because it didn't have third world hordes. Now our cities are ringed with squatter camps. (I bet you live in a gated community, or if not, your windows are barred and there's plenty of "security". Security against whom, Virginia? Whites? No my dear, security is against the "freedom of movement" you so like to punt.
Steve doesn't "staan alleen in die land" [JdN: "stand alone in this country"]. Not at all. Millions agree with him, millions. They just don't say anything. But they curse as they drive through Sunnyside in Pretoria, once a pleasant flatland with parks and nice shops. Now the rubbish is on the streets, not in bins. The prostitutes roam from corner to corner, waste is tipped out from flat windows and no one in their right mind would be seen dead living there. The Sudanese and the Somalis have it all to themselves. So was apartheid so bad, or is this better? Better for whom?
And Hillbrow? It's not called Little Lagos for nothing. If you feel free, just go and rent a flat there and then you'll realize why there was apartheid. You say footpaths were only for whites? I never saw that. People could walk where they wanted in public places. There was no "one side for you, one side for me". Where did you see that, Virginia?
You can't have it all in South Africa, Virginia. You ask how it feels to experience this and that. Does it not worry you that we experience things that are a hundred times worse than not being able to go into someone's restaurant? What about the vicious crime? What about the wanton killing and torturing of farmers? What about the unemployment and the terrible poverty, much worse than under apartheid?
What about the corruption in government? Who is stealing us blind? The whites or the ANC? Who has destroyed productive farms in their hundreds in order to prove a failed policy? Who is putting food security at risk? The whites? Who has turned our once world class health system into a third world disgrace where babies die and patients have to buy their own anaesthetics and medicines because the hospitals have run out? The whites? Who doesn't answer the phone, doesn't reply to letters and generally doesn't give a rat's backside for the people who pay their fancy salaries? The ANC's comrades occupying jobs for which they are not qualified, or the Whites? Who are "deployed" somewhere else when they're found with their hands in the cookie jar? White employees or the others?
Your freedom-and-democracy people can't even run a post office, Virginia. They can't keep the country in electricity, and they can't run the Johannesburg Zoo, let alone protect our wildlife. They let their animals starve on farms they were given on a plate by their pals in the government.
They are unable to produce books for school children. They steal from their own children's school feeding schemes. They steal from the social grants (read welfare payments) destined for poor old people in the homelands who stand all day to get their money.
Warning that South Africa is sitting on a "powder keg," Archbishop Desmond Tutu argued that Black Economic Empowerment only serves a few black elite, leaving millions in "dehumanising poverty".
They need BEE because they can't even start a spaza shop in the township. They rob and assault the Somalis and the Pakistanis who do start them. They are a disgrace and you would do well, Virginia, to concentrate on this cancer eating away at a once beautiful and prosperous country. Don't worry about apartheid, Virginia, or Steve either. There's much worse on the way to focus your mind. Concentrate on crime, and our window bars and our alarms and our palisade fences with the spikes on top. It's amazing how many commentators say that crime affects the blacks "as well". But when there were whites-only areas, there was hardly any crime. This is why there were no bars on windows, no townhouse complexes (for security!), no boom gates to keep who out? Whites? No, blacks dear Virginia. When they were not there, there was virtually no crime.
So put up or shut up. Concentrate on bringing to book the criminals (both government and freelance), and leave Steve alone. He's telling it like it is, and so should you. Ask those venal creatures in the ANC to move to black residential areas, to send their kids to black schools, to use state hospitals, to go to black doctors and to buy their clothes in Soweto. The sins of apartheid are pisswilly compared to the wholesale pillaging of our country by the charlatans calling themselves the government of South Africa.


One of Whistler's most familiar faces is stepping away from the circulation desk.
Joan Richoz has announced her resignation as director of Whistler Public Library due to health reasons.
"My decision to leave the library was a difficult one," Richoz said in a news release, "and I will miss the customers, staff and trustees I have worked with for so many years."
Richoz has been involved with the library since it began in 1985, progressing from board member, to sole employee, then director. Richoz has seen the library evolve from a 1400-square foot basement location to drawing up the plans for the 12,000 square foot facility due to open in February, 2007.
Library board chair Anne Townley said she was "saddened by (Richoz's) decision to leave the library."
At its February board meeting, library trustees named the new library's fireplace lounge after the director. Richoz's last day of work will be Feb. 17.


Today, I set up my mobile office in one of my favorite spots in Epcot. This seating area is located up next to Katsura Grill in Japan. It is a quiet area that is off the beaten path, and there are some great views from this location. There is also a tranquil waterfall nearby.


Description: Water Pouring Out Of Pitcher Into Glass.
Description: Tea Cup On Counter.
Description: Pouring Liquid Out Of A Jug.
Description: Plate Down With Rattle.
Description: Long Bottled Drink Pour, Much Fizz At End.
Description: Ice Tinkle, Small Shake.
Description: Ice Tinkle, Lightest Of Movement.
Description: Ice Tinkle Stir And Shake, Car Interior.


text:
Q: Boolean if statement being ignored? I don't understand why the if statements in the final method are being ignored. Is it because I used too many if statements?
I've commented out all the if statements and tried using this code in printShowChosen(....) to see if the boolean values are actually carried over
System.out.println(showchosen[0]);
System.out.println(showchosen[1]);
System.out.println(showchosen[2]);
System.out.println(showchosen[3]);

And it printed out
true
false
false
true

Can someone explain where I went wrong?
Here is the complete code:
import javax.swing.*;
public class short8 {

public static void main(String[] args) {

    String[] ShowName = {"Les Miserables","Mamma Mia","Cats", "Chicago", "Phantom of the Opera"};
    String[] TheatreName = {"Queens Theatre", "Garrick Theatre", "Palmer Theatre", "Spoa Theatre", "Dend Theatre"};
    boolean[] showchosen = new boolean [5];

    askTouristChoices(TheatreName, showchosen);
    printShowsChosen(ShowName, TheatreName, showchosen);
    }//ends main

    public static String askTouristChoices(String[] ShowName, boolean[] showchosen)
    {
        System.out.println("Please type yes if you are interested in any of the following shows:");
        String interestedMiserables = JOptionPane.showInputDialog("Les Miserables");
        String interestedMammaMia = JOptionPane.showInputDialog("Mamma Mia");
        String interestedCats = JOptionPane.showInputDialog("Cats");
        String interestedChicago = JOptionPane.showInputDialog("Chicago");
        String interestedPhantom = JOptionPane.showInputDialog("Phantom of the Opera");

    if ((interestedMiserables.equals("Yes")) || (interestedMiserables.equals("yes")))
    {
        showchosen[0] = true;

    }
    else if ((interestedMiserables.equals("No")) || (interestedMiserables.equals("no")))
    {
        showchosen[0] = false;
    }
    else
    {
        JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, "Enter either Yes or No!!");
    }

        if ((interestedMammaMia.equals("Yes")) || (interestedMammaMia.equals("yes")))
        {
            showchosen[1] = true;

        }
        else if ((interestedMammaMia.equals("No")) || (interestedMammaMia.equals("no")))
        {
            showchosen[1] = false;
        }
        else
        {
            JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, "Enter either Yes or No!!");
        }

            if ((interestedCats.equals("Yes")) || (interestedCats.equals("yes")))
            {
                showchosen[2] = true;
            }
            else if ((interestedCats.equals("No")) || (interestedCats.equals("no")))
            {
                showchosen[2] = false;
            }
            else
            {
                JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, "Enter either Yes or No!!");
            }

                if ((interestedChicago.equals("Yes")) || (interestedChicago.equals("yes")))
                {
                    showchosen[3] = true;
                }
                else if ((interestedChicago.equals("No")) || (interestedChicago.equals("no")))
                {
                    showchosen[3] = false;
                }
                else
                {
                    JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, "Enter either Yes or No!!");
                }

            if ((interestedPhantom.equals("Yes")) || (interestedPhantom.equals("yes")))
            {
                showchosen[4] = true;
            }
            else if ((interestedPhantom.equals("No")) || (interestedPhantom.equals("no")))
            {
                showchosen[4] = false;
            }
            else
            {
                JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, "Enter either Yes or No!!");
            }

        return null;
    } //ends askTouristChoices

        public static void printShowsChosen(String[] ShowName,String[] TheatreName, boolean[] showchosen)
        {
            if(showchosen[0] = true)
            {
                System.out.println(ShowName[0] + ": " + TheatreName[0]);
            }

            if(showchosen[1] = true)
            {
                System.out.println(ShowName[1] + ": " + TheatreName[1]);
            }

            if(showchosen[2] = true)
            {
                System.out.println(ShowName[2] + ": " + TheatreName[2]);
            }

            if(showchosen[3] = true)
            {
                System.out.println(ShowName[3] + ": " + TheatreName[3]);
            }

            if(showchosen[4] = true)
            {
                System.out.println(ShowName[4] + ": " + TheatreName[4]);
            }
        }//ends printShowsChosen

}//ends short8

A: The
if(showchosen[0] = true)

should read
if(showchosen[0] == true)

or
if(showchosen[0])

A single = is assignment, not comparison.

A: The statement
if(showchosen[0] = true)

should be:
if(showchosen[0] == true)

or even better:
if(showchosen[0])

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Michiko e Hatchin
(22 episodes, 2008-2009)
My previous exposure :
None, besides some low-key pimping by salinea.
A fictional version of Latin America (it looks a lot like Mexico to me), in the 60s or thereabout. One of the most disorientating aspects of the settings is that most of the major characters have Japanese first names, for some reason. It's really jarring, and doesn't help immersion one bit.
It's basically a road-trip buddy movie with Michiko, a woman in her late 20s who's just escaped from high-security jail ; and Hana (nicknamed "Hatchin"), a 10-year-old girl martyrised by her foster family. They're both looking for Hiroshi, Michiko's former boyfriend and Hana's presumed father. He's supposed to have died a long time ago, but the math about Hana's existence doesn't add up, which Michiko sees as a evidence he's still alive somewhere.
Other recurring characters include Atsuko, Michiko's former BFF who joined the police and is now tracking her down in a personal vendetta ; and Satoshi, Hiroshi's former best pal who's risen to the top of the underworld.
I really wanted to love this series. It's got a cool soundtrack, it's very good at setting up a sense of place and atmosphere, and the action pieces are impressive. It's got tons of gonzo energy, and I can get behind just revelling in the B-movie stylings of it all.
I even grew to love watching Michiko in action. Sure, she's a moron, but an entertaining moron, with enough street smarts, fighting skills and guts to keep surviving despite blundering from one dodgy mishap into another. In contrast, Hana was a bit more boring, as she spent a lot of time whining about Michiko's stupidity. With good cause, of course, but being the voice of reason doesn't make her very entertaining by itself, and as a result I didn't like as much the more Hana-focused episodes where Michiko is incapacitated in one way or another.
But the bigger problem is the overarching plot. We've given no reason at all to care about the search for Hiroshi. He doesn't show up in flashback until the 9th episode or so, and what little we see of him doesn't impress (and my opinion of him certainly wasn't improved by the tomato-growing episode). It doesn't help that Hana seems to lose interest in him very quickly and mostly keeps going to indulge Michiko. Who's a lovestruck moron and is obviously seeing her past through rosy glasses, so her opinion had no sway with me.
The conclusion of the quest is a huge anticlimax, as our heroines randomly stumble upon him halfway through the last episode. You'd think the big reunion would be given more than five minutes of screen time and that he'd get more than a few token lines of dialogue, but no. And of course Michiko does the dumb thing and leaves Hana in his care while surrendering to the cops chasing them ; the only thing redeeming the ending is that it's made clear ina distant epilogue that Hiroshi dumped Hana within three months, and that she's better off without that flake anyway.
The other overarching subplots didn't win me over either. Satoshi gets a lot of build-up as a big threat, with the charisma and the connections to pull it off ; he goes down like a chump to a few random thugs in the second-to-last episode because we're nearing the end and the writers want to get rid of him. WTF ? Atsuko fares a little better, although her inconsistent behavior ("I'm dead on your trail !"/"But I'm letting you go just this time because of my massive issues") gets a bit repetitive after a while and it's a bit hard to sympathize with her because of it.
So, it doesn't really work. Which is a shame, because the series is at its best when it embraces the lunacy of the setting and lets Michiko do what she does best : barely escape from stuff by sheer dog-mindedness. Too bad about the wider plot, then.
via [LTTP/WIW] Various anime from the 00s and beyond.
Posted on 2011/07/29 Author JhidayCategories Anime Retro ReviewsTags from RPG.net, girls with guns
Previous Previous post: Tokyo Magnitude 8.0
Next Next post: Crying Freeman


text:
Schools consider making coding a language
By: Anne McNamara, The Now
DENVER, Colo. -- There is a push in schools across the country to add computer coding to the curriculum.
Florida lawmakers recently debated becoming the first state to try it. The state Senate passed the bill, but it died in the House. Legislators in four other states are currently discussing similar bills.
The inputs, outputs, characters and numbers make up our every conversation from text messages to Internet history. Even though we use it every day, to many of us, the coding language is foreign.
"Everything, everyone, is always computing," said Dr. Steven J. Beaty, a computer science professor at Metropolitan State University. "Let's put a language around that. Let's have a way of expressing that, both to ourselves and to everyone else."
At Arrupe Jesuit High School in Denver, students use technology in the classroom and their personal lives.
"I'm always snapchatting and on Twitter," said Marissa Chavez, a high school senior. "I text a lot."
Her Spanish teacher believes all of the added phone communication takes away from the generation's traditional conversations.
"These days, the social media is kind of taking advantage of those social relationships," said Maria Elena Navarro Lopez, who teaches Spanish at the school. "It's very important to keep reminding ourselves to talk to each other with a language, and face each other."
There is one advantage coding has over traditional languages -- it's not limited to certain parts of the world. The very nature of speaking in numbers opens up a global conversation.
"It is a different language, and it does allow us to express things we haven't been able to express before," said Beaty. "So from that point of view, I think learning how to code, learning how to program, is a very applicable life skill for essentially everybody."
But, even those who would benefit most still hesitate to classify it as a "language."
"I think a language requires personal interaction, and caring about other people, and eye contact, and the physical stuff is what really makes a conversation," said Chavez. "If you're at a computer, you can't really do that."


Friday: MBA Widowhood, Toddler Beds and Five Question Friday.
Ahhh the weekend. I wish I could say I am looking forward to this weekend with great anticipation, but alas, besides a few things we have planned with friends or Brayden's swim lessons, the rest of it I could pass on. You know, like being at the house with a husband who has secluded himself to the room to study (welcome back MBA widowhood-- I have not missed you one bit and will be grateful when you leave my presence in a year!), or the 60% chance of rain and thunderstorms we are expected to receive... which only means one thing in my book... a cranky toddler that I can't kick outside. Nevertheless, I'll try to be grateful for the few days I have, regardless of how stinky they may be.
Remember how we switched Brayden to a toddler bed in fear that he'd jump out again. Well, ever since that time, he does splendidly going DOWN to sleep, but waking up is a different story. He loses his paci (which I know we need to wean from, but seriously, I can only handle one change at a time right now) and so he cries, or he thinks he's "all done" and it's only 6am. Which I know is a normal wake time for a lot of 2 year olds, but considering he was sleeping until atleast 7am when the crib was there, this is not good for us. We have the room babygated, which means that he stands at the door, yelling "I'm ALL DONE!" to us, or opening and shutting the door loudly. This causes Connor to wake up, so I end up having two kids up at 6:30am. Any suggestions on keeping him IN the bed until 7am (and strapping him to the mattress is not an option-- unfortunately). Leave the suggestions in the comment section. Or if you're embarrassed to do that you can just email me.
1. Have you ever forgotten your child in a store or at school?
Considering both of my children go from car, to cart, to car again, it's hard to forget about them. Well, that, and the incesstant whining about wanting 'dat' or wanting 'out', I'm not sure there's much room for forgetting them right now. I'm sure it will come.
My first date was with a guy named Josh. I was a freshman in college. We went to Chili's. We sat in the bar, and i couldn't help but be distracted by the college football stuff that was playing on ESPN (the tv was right behind him). That's probably one of the many reasons that he never asked me out again. I wouldn't go on a date until the next semester, and thankfully it was with the man I am married to now. Not much heartbreak in my life over boys, which I am more than grateful for!
That I'll get caught picking my nose while I'm driving. Not that I ever do anything like that.
seriously though, I have no idea. I am not a fearful person. Calculated, yes. But not generally fearful.
4. Confrontation: do you cause it, deal with is as it comes, or run far far away?
I cause a lot of confrontation, sometimes not even on purpose. I generally deal with it as it comes... I don't like stuff hanging over my head too long. I have never run far from confrontation, but as I have gotten older I have tried to stay away from it as much as possible. Life's too short to get too bent out of shape about things.
5. Wood floors or carpet?
Ahh, the great debate. I am mixed. I would love, love, love my living room to have hard wood floors. All of the traffic goes through our living room, so the carpet is nasty, and would be nasty 2 days after we installed new carpet. But I think I'd love to keep carpet in the bedrooms. Nothing like waking up early in the morning to pee and having to walk across cold floors. haha!


Immediate payment of £48.95 is required.
We will only accept Paypal as method of payment. Please ensure before purchasing that your console is able to play PAL format UK / European games as we will not be able to accept any returns of games that cannot be played due to compatibility issues. This is of particular importance for Wii, 3DS and Xbox 360 consoles.


text:
Guerrilla Leader
T. E. Lawrence and the Arab Revolt
By James Schneider
Category: Middle Eastern World History | Military History
Nov 08, 2011 | ISBN 9780345530202
About Guerrilla Leader
Reclaiming T. E. Lawrence from hype and legend, James J. Schneider offers a startling reexamination of this leader's critical role in shaping the modern Middle East. Just how did this obscure British junior intelligence officer, unschooled in the art of war, become "Lawrence of Arabia" and inspire a loosely affiliated cluster of desert tribes to band together in an all-or-nothing insurgency against their Turkish overlords? The answers have profound implications for our time as well, as a new generation of revolutionaries pulls pages from Lawrence's playbook of irregular warfare.
Blowing up trains and harassing supply lines with dynamite and audacity, Lawrence drove the mighty armies of the Ottoman Turks to distraction and brought the Arabs to the brink of self-determination. But his success hinged on more than just innovative tactics: As he immersed himself in Arab culture, Lawrence learned that a traditional Western-style hierarchical command structure could not work in a tribal system where warriors lead not only an army but an entire community. Weaving quotations from Lawrence's own writings with the histories of his greatest campaigns, Schneider shows how this stranger in a strange land evolved over time into the model of the self-reflective, enabling leader who eschews glory for himself but instead seeks to empower his followers. Guerrilla Leader also offers a valuable analysis of Lawrence's innovative theories of insurgency and their relevance to the ongoing turmoil in the Middle East.
This exhaustively researched book also provides a detailed account of the Arab revolt, from the stunning assault on the port city of Aqaba to the bloody, Pyrrhic victory at Tafileh, the only set-piece battle Lawrence fought during the Great Arab Revolt. Lawrence emerged from the latter experience physically and mentally drained, incapable of continuing as a military commander, and, Schneider asserts, in the early stages of the post-traumatic stress disorder that would bedevil him for the rest of his life. The author then carries the narrative forward to the final slaughter of the Turks at Tafas and the Arabs' ultimate victory at Damascus.
With insights into Lawrence's views on discipline, his fear of failure, and his enduring influence on military leadership in the twenty-first century, Guerrilla Leader is a bracingly fresh take on one of the great subjects of the modern era.
Foreward by Pulitzer Prize winner Thomas E. Ricks
About James Schneider
James J. Schneider is Professor Emeritus of Military Theory at the School of Advanced Military Studies, USACGSC, Ft. Leavenworth. A recognized international expert in his field, Schneider has taught and written extensively on military theory, having helped develop some of… More about James Schneider
Published by Bantam
Nov 08, 2011 | 368 Pages | ISBN 9780345530202
Buy other books like Guerrilla Leader
The Iranians
Sandra Mackey and Scott Harrop
Gita Mehta
Wave of Destruction
Sorry, I Don't Speak French
Graham Fraser
John Ibbitson
Japhy Wilson
Panther Soup
John Gimlette
Olga's Story
America's Kingdom
Robert Vitalis
Falling Palace
Dan Hofstadter
Matters of Discretion
I.K. Gujral
First Raj of the Sikhs
Harish Dhillon
Bruce Rich
The Two Faces of Islam
Memoirs of a Breton Peasant
Jean-Marie Deguignet
House of Windows
Adina Hoffman
Amit Chaudhuri
The Burmese Labyrinth
Carlos Sardina Galache
An Impatient Life
Daniel Bensaid
The Mosaic of Islam
Suleiman Mourad
Howard M. Sachar
Chinese Democracy
Andrew J. Nathan
Captain Amarinder Singh: The People's Maharaja
Seeking the Fabled City
Allan Levine
The Full Catastrophe
James Angelos
Dalai Lama, My Son
Diki Tsering
Liberty Against the Law
A Twist of Faith
Diplomatic Passport
Charles Ritchie
Praise for Guerrilla Leader
Guerrilla Leader provides an authoritative analysis of Lawrence's military and political achievements. Schneider gets the reader inside Lawrence's head so that you feel acutely his anxieties, musings, and doubts. Pairing a sweeping, compelling narrative of the Arab revolt with a piercing and intimate psychological portrait, Guerrilla Leader brings Lawrence to life for contemporary readers."
—Craig M. Mullaney, New York Times bestselling author of The Unforgiving Minute: A Soldier's Education
"Guerilla Leader provides an important new window onto the achievements of T.E. Lawrence. Schneider's fresh and surprising portrait of Lawrence makes this remarkable figure startlingly relevant to today's world."
—Steven Pressfield, Bestselling author of Gates of Fire
"Guerrilla Leader is much more than an insightful history of a fascinating campaign. James Schneider has written a rich study of leadership and command – read it to better understand our adversaries and ourselves."
—Nathaniel C. Fick, New York Times bestselling author of One Bullet Away
More from James Schneider and book picks sent right to your inbox