Use Valentines2013 to get each of these FREE!
Each is worth $30-$50, but you can have ALL FOUR for less than $50 shipping. This would be GREAT gift-- they get nearly $200 worth of products (not incl shipping), you pay less than $50.
*I have ordered before, but I am not affiliated with these companies. I do not know when the coupon expires so get 'em while you can!
$10 Link Loop Bag sale!
While safety trumps all, let me just say that a little common sense can go a long way. When you follow directions and use things as they are intended (on the floor with supervision, in this case), that pretty much nullifies the chance of your baby wiggling out and falling on his head.
the tag*a*long is 50% off!
Question from a friend-- is there such thing as replacement straps/strap covers for a high chair?
She is having her second boy, but would like to refresh/re-secure the high chair. Any idea?
Good news for people who don't like to poison their kids!
Some of these are just crazy! The first one belongs in the creepy baby post from earlier this week!
Help another friend: What are your best crib recommendations? Brand, style, model, etc.


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Covering happenings in Newtown, Wrightstown & Upper Makefield.
Bill Introduced By Congressman Would Create $25 Billion Opioid Epidemic Response Fund
by Tom Sofield
Brian Fitzpatrick. File photo Credit: Tom Sofield/NewtownPANow.com
New legislation introduced by local Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick would create a $25 billion Opioid Epidemic Response Fund.
The massive $25 billion Opioid Epidemic Response Fund would provide $5 billion in federal funding each year over five years to focus on "key activities" at agencies like the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, and Health Resources and Services Administration.
The legislation – called the Respond NOW Act – was introduced last week by Republican Fitzpatrick and Democratic New Hampshire Congresswoman Annie Kuster.
"There is no issue more pressing in our neighborhoods than the devastation caused by the growing epidemic of opioid and drug abuse," said Fitzpatrick.
While Fitzpatrick commended efforts made on the local and state level, he said that Congress has a clear role to support and expand the fight against opioid addiction.
This legislation is the next step in our fight to end the opioid epidemic and I want to thank Congresswoman Kuster for standing with me as we fight to secure additional resources for those on the front lines of this battle," the congressman said.
A previous version of the bill introduced in the last congress proposed amending the Controlled Substances Act to allow practitioners to dispense narcotic drugs for maintenance treatment or detoxification treatment to an increased number of patients under specified conditions and amend the Social Security Act to include methadone treatment in Medicare coverage.
The bill came out of the Bipartisan Opioid Task Force.
Trooper To Be Laid To Rest Wednesday
Conwell-Egan Students Recognized At Annual Academic Honors Convocation
Tom Sofield
Tom Sofield has covered news in Bucks County for five years for both newspaper and online publications. In 2012, Tom was honored at the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association Foundation's Keystone Press Awards for his coverage of President Obama's visit to Falls Township in 2011. When he's not covering news in the area, Tom enjoys checking out the newest restaurants and bars, exploring forgotten places of industry in the area, going to local parks and spending time with his friends and family. If there's one thing you should know about Tom, he is a local news junkie through and through. Email: tom@newtownpanow.com Phone: 215-431-1001
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The Making of the Cowboy Myth
It is rare to find cowboys on the silver screen who spend much time performing the humdrum labor — herding cattle — that gave their profession its name. Westerns suggest that cowboys are gun-toting men on horseback, riding tall in the saddle, unencumbered by civilization, and, in Teddy Roosevelt's words, embodying the "hardy and self-reliant" type who possessed the "manly qualities that are invaluable to a nation."
But real cowboys — who worked long cattle drives in lonely places like Texas — mostly led lives of numbing tedium, usually on the fringes of society. They were the formerly enslaved, poor farm boys, and downtrodden Native Americans. They enjoyed little autonomy on the trail. It was Hollywood, and men like Roosevelt, who whitewashed the cowboy, elevating him to the epitome of personal freedom, manly courage, and rugged independence.
For centuries, whether in the British Isles, the Iberian Peninsula, or the Americas, herding livestock to market put meat on the tables of city dwellers and money in the pockets of rural livestock owners. "Drove roads," the term for routes through which livestock were driven, laced the countryside of rural England and Colonial America, connecting local communities to urban centers and generating millions of dollars in trade.
Herding cattle was considered beneath the dignity of respectable people.
While turning cattle into capital could be lucrative for livestock owners, herding this "cash on the hoof" remained the job of low-status workers. In southern Appalachia during the 18th and 19th centuries, "cow keepers" used whips and dogs to control their herds, and if the term "cowboy" was used it was almost certainly pejorative. During the same era, in Mexico, the task of herding cattle fell to vaqueros, a multiracial, low-status group who transformed what had been a pedestrian chore into an equestrian art. Their lazo (rope with a slip knot) became a lasso, chaparajos became chaps, and sombrero became the ten-gallon hat. Because vaqueros were largely of indigenous descent, one could say that all of these early cowboys were in fact "Indians."
In mid-19th-century Texas, millions of cattle grazed the open range — and many Texans preferred to gather wealth in cattle, which multiplied every year, to amassing wealth in land. But the rough task of gathering and herding cattle was considered an occupation beneath the dignity of respectable people. Herders roamed the mesquite thickets, coastal savannahs, and brush lands of eastern Texas capturing and branding any cattle they could find, seldom bothering to determine an animal's ownership before taking it to market. Texas newspapers warned against "this roving class of worthless characters" who "may forget that there is a distinction between 'mine' and 'thine.'"
Things changed after the Civil War when Texans began driving longhorn cattle hundreds of miles to the railroads in Kansas, in what became the longest, largest forced migration of animals in history. In Texas a steer might sell for only a few dollars; in Kansas, where livestock could be transported by rail directly to stockyards in Chicago, it might bring $30 or $40.
Texans who could marry their backcountry herding skills to the entrepreneurial demands of the Gilded Age stood to make fantastic profits. Some of these successful Texas cowboys became leading symbols in the new Western myth. Charles Goodnight found instant fame when he teamed with renowned cattleman Oliver Loving, hired a crew of impoverished ex-Confederates and a formerly enslaved person named Bose Ikard, and pushed a herd through the west Texas desert into New Mexico and then north to Denver. Selling the animals at $60 per head, he returned to Texas with $12,000 in gold.
Still, what actually occurred on these long drives wasn't glamorous. Cattle herding was no place for free thinkers or independent minds. Like any other industrial-age enterprise, the cattle drive was built around guiding principles of centralized control, monotonous routines, and a disciplined labor force. It was "systematically ordered," as Goodnight said.
Driving two or three thousand cattle over 1,000 miles required a dozen or so cowboys, each with four or more horses, working for three to six months. The trail boss, who might be the ranch owner but was more likely an experienced ranch hand, rode ahead of the herd to control the pace and direction of travel and tolerated neither unruly cattle nor rebellious laborers. Cowboys took orders and worked for wages typically lower than skilled factory pay.
Despite the prevalence of lethal firearms and "Indian" fights in Western movies, there wasn't much evidence of either in the actual cattle drives.
Each herder had a regular position in the herd, from lead to flank to swing to drag, with status and sometimes pay according to position. According to Montana cowboy Edward Charles "Teddy Blue" Abbott, drag riders had it the worst. Responsible for bringing along the poor, weak, or wounded animals, drag riders would end the day "with dust half an inch deep on their hats and thick as fur on their eyebrows," Abbott said. Even worse was the dust in their lungs, which had them coughing up brown phlegm for months after the drive.
Most riders on the drives were out-of-work farmers' sons, some as young as 12 years old, who saw the opportunity to trail cattle as both a rare paying job and a rite of passage. African-American cowboys earned less and were often required to take on more dangerous tasks. Vaqueros also worked the herds. Bosses recognized their superior roping and riding skills but paid them less than Anglo riders. A few women went up the trail, mostly as wives in wagons accompanying the herds. In 1888 a young girl named Willie Matthews disguised herself as a boy and worked, rode, and roped along with the rest of the crew.
These diverse workers, a proletariat on horseback, shared in the grinding monotony of the trail — and often said as much. According to 19th-century Kansas journalist Henry King, who interviewed many trail riders as they arrived in Dodge City, repetitious chores caused cowboys to feel "adrift on these great, vague, and melancholy prairies." One cowboy complained, "The trip that was once so exciting and thick with adventure has come to be an unspeakably cheerless and tiresome thing."
Even the food was monotonous: Beans and biscuits constituted the standard fare. While the cowboys were surrounded by beeves — as they called cattle destined to become meat — eating into the boss's profit margin was not an option. According to 19th-century Kansas cattle buyer Joe McCoy, the unhealthy diet, along with a lack of tents, blankets, or even clean water, sapped the youthful vigor of cowboys and caused them to become "sallow and unhealthy" and "half-civilized only." For some, "gloom" and "depression" descended on the crew until "conversation dwindled into monosyllables." The legendary strong, silent type — so well known from so many classic movies — may have emerged from the unspeakable boredom of trail life.
Wearisome dullness was occasionally interrupted by the sheer terror of the stampede. Longhorns had a strong flight instinct, and a thunderstorm, an unexpected noise, or even the shake of a blanket could send them scattering. This sudden, unexpected, and seemingly aimless mass flight would shake the ground like an earthquake and crush any luckless herder caught in its path. At best, a stampede meant several days and nights of chasing after stray bunches of cattle. Combined with regular shifts of riding night duty, this meant that cowboys stayed in the saddle for three days or more. In such times coffee was not enough, Teddy Blue Abbott said. The only way to stay awake was to rub tobacco juice in one's eyes.
For some cowboys, the hardest moments along the trail were the almost daily killings of newborn calves. Some herds were entirely steers (neutered males) headed for market, but others consisted of cattle of mixed sex, including pregnant cows. Newborn calves could not be tolerated because they slowed the herd. According to his biographer, Charles Goodnight said, "We killed hundreds of newborn calves on the bed grounds. I always hated to kill the innocent things, but since they were never counted in the sale of cattle the loss of them was nothing financially." The duty to "murder the innocents" each morning typically was assigned to a lower-status worker, either one of the younger members of the crew or an African-American, who shot the calves dead. One such worker, Branch Isbell, became so disgusted with "being the executioner" that he swore off using or owning guns for the rest of his life.
Learning the ropes: Five cowboys on horseback capture a gray wolf during a round-up in Wyoming, ca. 1887. (John C.H. Grabrill / Library of Congress)
Despite the prevalence of lethal firearms and "Indian" fights in Western movies, there wasn't much evidence of either in the actual cattle drives. Many trail bosses required their workers to keep their pistols in the chuck wagon, for fear that gunshots would cause a stampede. A cumbersome six-shooter was heavy to wear and had no real use in most trail situations. And besides, carrying pistols in public was illegal in Texas settlements and in the Kansas cattle towns at the end of the trail.
The famous Chisholm Trail passed through Indian Territory in what is now Oklahoma, and some Native nations along the path, notably the Creeks, Cherokees, and Chickasaws, charged a fee for cattle crossing their land. Some Texas drovers claimed they fought back, and told manly stories of staring down the menace while brandishing their Winchesters. More commonly, however, they hired Native American cowboys to help herds across rivers or to find strays after a stampede. While the "Indian" threat loomed large in the Texas imagination, trail drives were marked more by cooperation than conflict.
There was one way in which actual cowboys helped forge the cowboy myth — in the downtime herders enjoyed as soon as they arrived in Kansas cattle towns. After bathing and shaving, but before heading to the saloon, they traded in their homemade trail clothes — straw or felt hats, flannel shirts, durable pants — for what some called the "working costume" of the cowboy: ten-gallon Stetsons, fancy shirts, leather chaps, star-topped boots, and sometimes a fancy pistol. Thus styled, they went to the photographer, posing for photos that wound up in newspapers, galleries, and archives across the country.
This visual legacy is about as accurate as using high school prom pictures to portray the typical attire of today's teenager. But it made an indelible impression. Through popular culture, fictional cowboys became the antidote to worrisome urbanization and soul-killing industrialization that Gilded Age Americans needed.
Buffalo Bill Cody borrowed the image of the heroic cowboy for his Wild West shows, choosing a trail rider from Texas, Buck Taylor, to perform riding and roping tricks for his Eastern audiences. Tall, lean, and handsome, Taylor quickly became known as "King of the Cowboys," a moniker he kept when he became the model for dime novels in the 1880s, written in as little as 24 hours and sold to millions of Eastern readers seeking escape from the regimented world of cities and factories. The books, like later Hollywood Westerns, thrived on the notion of the cowboy as individualist and gun-toting adventure hero. They had no use for the monotony and hardship of a cattle drive — the real life of the cowboys.
This article originally appeared at Zócalo Public Square and is featured in the January/February 2020 issue of The Saturday Evening Post. Subscribe to the magazine for more art, inspiring stories, fiction, humor, and features from our archives.
Featured image: Mild West? A decidedly unglamorous meal of beans after a long, dreary, dusty day on the trail. For the most part, cowboys consisted of poor farm boys, downtrodden Native Americans, and former slaves. (Detroit Photographic Co. / Library of Congress)
How Dodge City Became The Ultimate Wild West
Everywhere American popular culture has penetrated, people use the phrase "Get out of Dodge" or "Gettin' outta Dodge" when referring to some dangerous or threatening or generally unpleasant situation. The metaphor is thought to have originated among U.S. troops during the Vietnam War, but it anchors the idea that early Dodge City, Kansas, was an epic, world-class theater of interpersonal violence and civic disorder.
Consider this passage from the 2013 British crime novel Missing in Malmö by Torquil MacLeod: "The drive to Carlisle took about 25 minutes. The ancient city had seen its fair share of violent history over the centuries as warring Scots and English families had clashed. The whole Border area between the two fractious countries had been like the American Wild West, and Carlisle was the Dodge City of the Middle Ages."
So, just how bad was Dodge, really, and why do we remember it that way?
"A gentleman wishing to go from Wichita to Dodge City, applied to a friend for a letter of introduction. He was handed a double-barreled shotgun and a Colt's revolver."
The story begins in 1872, when a miscellaneous collection of a dozen male pioneers — six of them immigrants — founded Dodge astride the newly laid tracks of the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad. The town's early years as a major shipping center for buffalo hides, its longer period as a "cowboy town" serving the cattle trails from Texas, and its easy accessibility by rail to tourists and newspaper reporters made Dodge famous. For 14 years, the media embellished the town's belligerence and bedlam — both genuine and created — to produce the iconic Dodge City that was, and remains, a cultural metaphor for violence and anarchy in a celebrated Old West.
Newspapers in the 1870s crafted Dodge City's reputation as a major theater of frontier disorder by centering attention on the town's single year of living dangerously, which lasted from July 1872 to July 1873. As an unorganized village, Dodge then lacked judicial and law-enforcement structures. A documented 18 men died from gunshot wounds, and newspapers identified nearly half again that number as wounded.
But the newspapers didn't merely report that news: They interwove it with myths and metaphors of the West that had emerged in the mid-century writings of Western travelers such as Frederick Law Olmsted, Albert D. Richardson, Horace Greeley, and Mark Twain, and in the "genteel" Western fiction of Bret Harte and its working-class counterpart, the popular yellow-back novels featuring cowboys, Indians, and outlaws.
Consequently, headlines about seriously lethal doings in Dodge echoed the make-believe West: "BORDER PASTIMES. THREE MEN BORED WITH BULLETS AND THROWN INTO THE STREET"; "FROLICS ON THE FRONTIER. VIGILANTES AMUSING THEMSELVES IN THE SOUTHWEST … SIXTEEN BODIES TO START A GRAVEYARD AT DODGE CITY"; "TERRIBLE TIMES ON THE BORDER. HOW THINGS ARE DONE OUT WEST."
One visiting reporter remarked that "The Kansas papers are inclined to make mouths at Dodge, because she has existed only one month or thereabouts and already has a cemetery started without the importation of corpses." Another quipped, "Only two men killed at Dodge City last week." A joke circulated among Kansas weeklies: "A gentleman wishing to go from Wichita to Dodge City, applied to a friend for a letter of introduction. He was handed a double-barreled shot-gun and a Colt's revolver."
The bad news out of Dodge made its major East Coast debut in 10 column inches in the nation's then most prestigious newspaper, the late Horace Greeley's New York Tribune. Titled "THE DIVERSIONS OF DODGE CITY," it condemned the village for the lynching of a black entrepreneur. "The fact is that in charming Dodge City there is no law," it concluded. "There are no sheriffs and no constables. … Consequently there are a dozen well-developed murderers walking unmolested about Dodge City doing as they please."
Conditions of well-publicized anarchy, though they sold out-of-town papers, were not what Dodge City's business and professional men wanted. From the town's founding they had feared more for their pocketbooks than for their lives. Their investments in buildings and goods, to say nothing of the settlement's future as a collective real-estate venture, stood at risk. For their common business enterprise to pay off, they had to attract aspiring middle-class newcomers like themselves.
Gunslingers: The famous "Dodge City Peace Commission," June 1883. Wyatt Earp is seated, second from left; Bat Masterson is standing, third from left. (1883)
And so, in the summer of 1873, Dodge's economic elite wrested control of the situation. The General Land Office in Washington at last approved its group title to the town's land, and the electorate chose a slate of county officers, of whom the most important was a sheriff. Two years later, Kansas granted Dodge municipal status, authorizing it to hire a city marshal and as many assistant lawmen as needed.
From August 1873 through 1875, apparently no violent deaths occurred, and from early 1876 through 1886 (Dodge's cattle-trading period and during its ban on the open carry of sidearms), the known body count averaged less than two violent deaths per year, hardly shocking. Still, the cultural influence of that infamous first year has colored perceptions of the settlement's frontier days ever since. Part of the reason was a Swedish immigrant, Harry Gryden, who arrived in Dodge City in 1876, established a law practice, inserted himself into the local sporting crowd, and within two years began penning sensationalist articles about the town for the nation's leading men's magazine, New York's National Police Gazette, known as the "barbershop bible."
In 1883, a Dodge City reform faction briefly assumed control at City Hall and threatened to start a shooting war with professional gamblers. Alarmist dispatches, including some by Gryden, circulated as Associated Press stories in at least 44 newspapers from Sacramento to New York City. The Kansas governor was preparing to send in the state militia when Wyatt Earp, arriving from Colorado, brokered a peace before anyone got shot. Gryden, having already introduced both Earp and his friend Bat Masterson to a national readership, penned a colorful wrap-up for the Police Gazette.
With the end of the cattle trade at Dodge in 1886, its middle-class citizenry hoped that its bad reputation would at last subside. But interest in the town's colorful history never disappeared. This enduring attention eventually led to Dodge's inauguration in 1902 as a staple item in the upscale mass-circulation magazines of the new century, including the very widely read Saturday Evening Post.
With that, the dangers of Dodge became a permanent commodity — a cultural production that was retailed to a primary market of tourists, and wholesaled to readers and viewers. Thereafter, writers catering to the public's fascination with the town's violent reputation seemingly tried to outdo one another in lurid generalizations: "In Dodge … the revolver was the only sign of law and order that could command respect." And: "The court of last resort there was presided over by Judge Lynch." And: "When one was 'bumped off,' the authorities just hustled the body out to Boot Hill and speculated upon what else the day would bring forth in bloodshed."
Dodge's local handful of yarn-spinners endorsed such nonsense, and bogus estimates of those interred on Boot Hill ranged from 81 to more than 200. By the 1930s, the town's consensus had settled on 33, a number that included victims of illness as well as violence — but a best-selling biography of Wyatt Earp, published in 1931 by the California writer Stuart Lake and still in print, boosted the body count back up to 70 or 80. Lake's book's success, a burgeoning auto-borne tourism, and the Great Depression's severe economic effect on southwest Kansas collaborated in wiping out any remaining local resistance to memorializing Dodge City's bygone days.
Writers catering to the public's fascination with the town's violent reputation seemingly tried to outdo one another in lurid generalizations.
Movies and then television also got into the act. As early as 1914, Hollywood had discovered the old frontier town. In 1939 Dodge got major film treatment. But it was a TV series set in Dodge that ensured its continuing cultural importance. Gunsmoke entertained literally millions of Americans for a phenomenal 20 years (1955-1975), becoming one of the longest-running prime-time serials ever aired. Ironically, because the hour-long weekly program appears to have prompted the "Get outta Dodge" trope, the population of Hollywood's Dodge was an interesting soap-opera collaborative of reasonable citizens beset with weekly onslaughts of assorted trouble-making outsiders. It was a dangerous place only because of the people who did not live there.
Imaginary Dodge is still hard at work helping Americans chart their moral landscape as the archetypal bad civic example. Inserted into the national narrative, it promotes belief that things can never be as dreadful as they were in the Old West, thereby confirming that we Americans have evolved into a civilized society. As it reassures the American psyche, the Dodge City of myth and metaphor also incites it to celebrate a frontier past brimming with aggression and murderous self-defense.
Originally published at Zócalo Public Square. This essay is part of What It Means to Be American, a project of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History and Arizona State University, produced by Zócalo Public Square.
This article is featured in the May/June 2019 issue of The Saturday Evening Post. Subscribe to the magazine for more art, inspiring stories, fiction, humor, and features from our archives.
Beyond The Canvas: The Myth of The American West
Herding Horses
John Clymer
There are few Post cover artists who so appreciated the American west as much as illustrator John Clymer. Born in the Pacific Northwest in Ellensburg, Washington, the artist grew up with vast landscapes of mountains and untouched plains reaching to the horizons.
America's natural terrain charmed Clymer from a young age. He was taken by the mythos of the American west, of cowboys and Indians, and the thrill of adventure.
Clymer's September 13, 1952 cover, "Herding Horses," embodies the spirit of the American west. In this depiction, a rancher herds his livestock, fording them across a river on the plains. With his own young daughter saddled behind him, the cowboy smiles down on a colt struggling to navigate the waters.
The composition of the painting gives equal focus to the bounty of the surrounding natural elements, as well as the human involvement in living off the land. The top half of the work shows the snow-capped mountains in the distance complete with rolling hills and forest beneath. Sprinkled throughout are the farmsteads of ranchers and farmers who live off the land.
The artist's decision to use the American Mustang for the river-crossing livestock instead of cattle or oxen adds to the overall wild and untamable nature of the American west. A feral horse that interbred with the European thoroughbred, it became a wild animal on the American plains. Their spots are a noticeable feature of their uncontrolled breeding in the wild. Note that Clymer's rancher chooses to ride the most spotted mustang of the group rather than a monochrome horse of his herd. This symbolizes the cowboy's ability to tame the Wild West.
Clymer used a vibrant color pattern to expose the beauty of nature and the change of seasons. A master of illustration who studied under N.C. Wyeth, Clymer shows off his artistic finesse in the clarity of the stream. His ability to successfully illustrate clear water, the rocks beneath, and the horses' shadows upon the ripples is a testament to his artistic daring.
In fact, Clymer's well-rounded training is evident throughout the entirety of the work. He is capable of drawing humans, as is evidence by the man and child on horseback. He flawlessly composes the equine trot, one of the most difficult animal forms in motion.
John Clymer was a master of his genre, and his passion for the land translates well onto canvas. Today, his work is well respected and highly lauded by western art museums and societies across the country. His artwork not only maintained but enhanced the myth of the American west. Many of his original paintings and illustrations are on display at the Clymer Museum of Art in Ellensburg, Washington.
To learn more about John Clymer and to see other inside illustrations and covers from this artist, click here!


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Justice Department Memo Evidences Confusion
The preliminary narrative surrounding the Justice Department's white paper on targeted killing obtained by NBC News is marked by breathless consternation over the leeway it provides to administration officials.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has described the memo as "a chilling document" and decried "the irresponsible extravagance" of the government's claim to lawfully engage in the extrajudicial killing of American citizens. Legal scholars have panned the analysis as giving the White House cover to act as "judge, jury, and executioner."
The document, however, is less chilling than confused. It is the work not of sanguinary enablers, but of constitutional lawyers who appear to lack familiarity with the laws of war.
The white paper is a bundle of contradictions. It asserts that the United States is in an armed conflict with al Qaeda and its associates, and that this armed conflict follows the enemy wherever it sets up a base of operations. In so doing, the memo explicitly rejects the argument advanced by some critics that the wartime norms enabling premeditated lethality only apply to "hot" conflict zones like Afghanistan.
If targeted killings are conducted in the context of armed conflict, then their pursuance is regulated by the laws of war. This body of law sanctions the acts of destruction inherent to war, but seeks to mitigate their worst excesses and consequences. As such, force must be directed at military objectives, exclude civilian targets, avoid excessive collateral damage, and prevent unnecessary suffering.
Under the laws of war, legitimate targets can be subjected to deadly force at any time and place. George Washington did not have to awaken the Hessians from their Christmas slumber and give them fair warning before his ambush at Trenton.
Moreover, while civilians must be spared from direct attack, they can render themselves lawful objects of lethal operations "for such time as they take a direct part in hostilities." Through this mechanism, a nominal civilian may negate his protected status by virtue of his own hostile actions. The nationality of such an individual is irrelevant. An American citizen setting booby traps for the Viet Cong would surely have found himself in the crosshairs of an American sniper.
The laws of war thus provide the legal architecture for wartime conduct, but the white paper manufactures uncertainty by introducing concepts foreign to this area of jurisprudence.
For example, the memo requires that the proposed target pose "an imminent threat of violent attack against the United States," even though imminence plays no role in the legal framework governing the conduct of hostilities. On the contrary, imminence is a concept drawn from the separate body of law regulating when a state may resort to force in the first place, particularly with respect to invoking the right of national self-defense. Since the memo presumes a pre-existing state of armed conflict with al Qaeda and its associated groups, the discussion of imminence is misplaced.
In addition, the memo mandates that capture be deemed infeasible before resorting to fatal attack. This requirement does not comport with wartime standards, wherein enemies wield lethal force against one another as a matter of course. Rather, it is reminiscent of the rules for law enforcement, which direct police officers to arrest suspects and only resort to deadly weaponry as a last resort.
The problem with the white paper's reasoning is that it invites the very outcry that the release of the document has in fact provoked. By trying to fit important doctrines such as imminence and feasibility of capture into inappropriate contexts, the memo ends up contorting them beyond recognition.
For instance, the memo's drafters endorse "a broader concept of imminence" which does not require "clear evidence that a specific attack on U.S. persons and interests will take place in the immediate future." The ACLU cannot be blamed for countering that such verbal gymnastics threaten to "redefine the word imminence in a way that deprives the word of its ordinary meaning." It is, as an ACLU attorney said, "the language of limits—but without any real restrictions."
Most significantly, such confused logic and conflicting rhetoric run the risk of merely whetting the appetite of the nation's critics, who deny the existence of a transnational armed conflict with al Qaeda-linked groups and contest the legality of most, if not all, targeted killings on that basis. U.S. inconsistency regarding the legal justifications for its counterterrorism programs undermines its ability to oppose such claims.
If U.S. officials have decided that drone strikes are good policy, and if their lawyers have determined they are being carried out in the context of an armed conflict, then the operations in question are governed by the laws of war. Sometimes the simplest answer is also the best one.
Categories: law of armed conflict - law of war - targeted killing - drones
Ned McDonnell III
MoveForward,
You make a valid observation on the fact that U.S. authorities would cooperate with their British counterparts. To clarify my perspective, let's take this discussion one step further. There are four Irish men, suspected by the U.K. of being I.R.A. terror-killers but with no police records, who come to Boston and stay with relatives or friends of their families in four different homes.
Scotland Yard notifies the U.S. authorities that these people are suspected of terrorism and may be in Boston to raise funds to buy arms from Libya with which to kill troops of her Majesty's Army and innocents nearby the blast site. The U.K. police officials further state that they believe that such fund-raising will be a likely prelude to subsequent violence, though they really do not know exactly when that mass murder would occur.
What goes unstated is that the British government sees that subsequent probability as an "imminent attack". This assertion may or may not be shared by the U.S. counterparts. Additionally, there may open a perception gap between a British perception of these four men as "high level operatives of a terrorist organization at war with the U.K." while their counterparts in Boston see them as suspected criminals or gang-members.
Of course and appropriately, the U.S. government immediately pledges to cooperate and does so by monitoring movements of the four people designated by the U.K. So, over the course of the next week, local police and federal agents monitor the movements of these suspects. The U.S. authorities report back that there has been no evidence of a crime or one imminently to be committed.
They have been at group activities but these have involved outings like going to Fenway to catch the Redsox against the Yankees. One activity that had been interesting had been a meeting of an Irish solidarity group, one of many, in a local Church but that turned out to be hosted by the parish priest for raising funds for Irish children to go to parochial schools.
With no evidence, the U.S. authorities state that, regrettably, they can not detain these people and extradite them to Britain. The British authorities press their U.S. counterparts, saying that the fund-raising was a front for getting money to buy arms. The U.S. law enforcement authorities state that they are unprepared to suspend habeas corpus but pledge to continue monitoring these people for the next two weeks, at which point, the four men head back to Belfast.
Scotland Yard realizes that, under current extradition treaties, it can not send in the Royal Marines or detectives to abduct these suspicious people in Boston with no legal charges pending in either country. So now we have, from the British view, a sense of imminent attack (and consistent under the white paper); an unwillingness displayed by the U.S. government; and, infeasibility of capture.
The British believe that if these men with these funds return to Ireland, that mass murder will likely, but not certainly, ensue sometime over succeeding months when they have purchased weapons from Libya. So, the U.K. government launches surveillance drones and they buzz around South Boston for two weeks, engendering (incidentally) fear among local residents.
The only time that these four suspects are in one place long enough to launch a strike and when they are not at venues – like baseball games, Sunday masses, Pops concerts, etc. – with high concentrations of innocents is when they are asleep in those four townhouses. To prevent an attack on the homeland, these authorities authorize a night-time strike, to minimize civilian casualties, and the rest of the example ensues.
Now all of this discussion on my part in no way implies that the United Kingdom would ever do something like this action nor does it indicate any sympathy with these men if, in fact, they are opportunistic gangsters. The point is to create a scenario in terms more familiar to us that would envision these circumstances to place us in the position in which the Pakistanis find themselves.
In this scenario, the United States would likely have means to disable these drones, as you observe. So, that part of the hypothetical does not correspond well with the likely reality. Nevertheless, citing that fact does not really address the underlying question put to the reader: ¿how would Americans react were such an act to occurr on their shores at the mortal expense of many innocents who were fellow citizens?
Additionally, the Bay State and the Pakistani tribal regions are two very different places. It might be conceivable (if I had the technical knowledge to argue it) that the topography and remoteness of the tribal regions, the number of fighter aircraft available and the ability to sustain them could preclude such a defensive option by Pakistan, even if it wanted to capture or kill these militants.
Again, MoveForward, many thanks for your thoughts.
Ned McDonnell.
Peace Corps-México.
In reply to by Ned McDonnell III
Ned, there is no comparison.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provisional_Irish_Republican_Army
The above link shows about 1800 deaths from IRA attacks of which 1100 were security forces. In contrast, ISAF coalition troops have had over 3,000 deaths and spent hundreds of billions in a real war. The US lost over 3,000 on 9/11, the ANSF has lost over 4,000 forces, and afghan civilians about 3,100...overwhelmingly due to the Taliban, al Qaeda, and other foreign fighers on the civilian death side.
In addition, the Brits never would need to resort to drone attacks because our respective law enforcement agencies and governments would fully cooperate. That's also why IMHO it was completely implausible (not the word initially used) for Rand Paul to speculate that Jane Fonda's life was in danger from a drone attack. I did scratch my head when the Attorney General did not immediately close the door on drone attacks inside the U.S. Why would they be necessary when perfectly competent law enforcement can arrest said perpetrators...something seldom practical outside the U.S. in areas where terrorists/insurgents hide.
Finally, I chuckle when folks theorize that another country will fly lethal drones over the U.S. How close do you think they would get before they were destroyed? Again, I ask you to think about why Pakistan F-16s and Yemen MiGs do not shoot down our drones. I have no knowledge of CIA drone strikes other than what I read in the media or at longwarjournal.org. However, common sense must prevail when you state in your earlier comment that the Pakistan government rejects our use of drones over their territory.
I was trying to figure out an analogous situation where we might be on the receiving end of the type of behavior exhibited toward Pakistan with our drone strikes. I would like to discuss another situation where one nation was facing an insurgency aided by citizens of one of its closest allies.
In this case, I refer to the aid coming to the I.R.A. from American citizens, albeit many did not know their contributions were headed to terrorists in Belfast or that a very few of the guests in their neighbourhoods were active insurgents. Nevertheless, some of these fugitives found temporary havens in the United States.
Had the Brits buzzed over South Boston, day and night for weeks, and then blown up a few row houses killing thirty of forty people without the permission of the United States government, how would many or most of the rest of us have felt? I doubt we would have seen that action as legal in any way.
Even if the United States government had colluded with the British to permit or facilitate these extra-judicial killings, I doubt the reactions would have been much different except for anger toward our own ELECTED leadership. Subsequently, the airwaves might fill with pronouncements of "consistency with traditional values" by the British government and a "regrettable necessity" by our own; that these actions had been implemented with strict adherence to (the letter of) international law, etc.
Nevertheless, I really doubt people would buy into any legal rationale because the additional deaths incurred would be manifest to all, hard to forget and likely to excite passions of hatred or revenge. The point is: even if these drone strikes are technically legal, and although we have the capability to stage these attacks, makes them neither right nor wise.
Thank you again for an interesting essay and for your patience with my responses. Very truly yours,
MAJ Kels,
Thank you for a clear and concise view of a complex question. Truthfully, I must disagree with your thesis.
Stating that a targeted killing away from the area of operations is an action legally permissible in pursuit of a fluid enemy does not extricate us from the dilemma imposed by these extra-judicial killings. Pakistan has repeatedly told us that she considers our incursions by drones or by SOF teams (in the case of the elimination of Osama bin Laden) to be a violation of her sovereignty.
While early on, there might have been duplicity by the Pakistani government, indirectly to consent to these USG-ordered missions, that same government is now unequivocal in its viewing these strikes as violations of national sovereignty and the killing of Pakistani citizens. From the Pakistani view, our acts may not be merely aggressive but also qualify as acts of war.
What does international law say about carrying out these missions against the stated wishes of an unwilling host country? Are we now in a state of war with Pakistan? While I respect the elegance of your argument, I must wonder whether civilians ordering assassinations, largely to be carried out by other civilians, fits the conception or the intent of international laws of war. That sounds like legal scope creep-to-leap to me.
Sir, if you have an interest, I put my thoughts together in a letter home to "friends and familiares" that takes a different, perhaps less informed, view of the same question that you have obviously considered deeply. Thank you for a stimulating essay.
http://nedmcdletters.blogspot.mx/2013/02/letter-75-doj-white-paper-for-…


This easy to follow guide will get you up and running with your new SSD in no time. See the link below to download the tutorial.
Any new drive you purchase unless clearly stated should come completely clean, meaning not formatted, not partitioned, and not even initialized. For instance, lets say you purchase a brand new BP4 mSATA 120GB SSD and a BP4 mSATA enclosure because you wanted a fast, reliable, low cost USB/SSD solution. You carefully assemble it, and when you plug it in, it makes the successful USB noise and even shows that a device is being installed, but it's not in 'My Computer' as a drive, and you cannot transfer information to or from it. This is a common issue, and hopefully this tutorial will explain what needs to be done.
*This tutorial is specific to Windows operating systems, it is similar with Mac and Linux, but for exact instructions, please email technical support at tech@mydigitaldiscount.com.
Thank you very much for clearing my problem with your step by step guide.
Sorry to hear that your are still facing issues with your MyDigitalSSD SSD.
Please email your issue to our tech department.
Include the issue, model MyDigitalSSD, capacity, firmware (if known) as well as laptop model, OS, and motherboard (if known).
I have a Dell Latitude XT3 and have installed your MyDigitalSSD128GB card into the empty slot marked SSD, right next to the Wireless LAN card.
I have attempted to partition and format it. It does not show up under Windows 7 disk Management. Is also does not show up in my BIOS.
I have updated the BIOS to the latest version available from the Dell website. Still not showing up.
If by following the guide from the article you are still unable to partition the Super Boot Drive for use, please contact tech support.
When contacting tech please provide as much information as possible including the issue, motherboard, as well as the Super Boot Drive model number.
I want to install Windows 8.1 on my m.2 8g super boot drive, but it keeps saying the partition is not large enough... Please help me! I have a msi Z97S Krait motherboard and bios.
You can use the MyDigitalSSD Super Cache as boot drive. For caching you will need additional software like HybriDisk. A HybriDisk access key is provided with the purchase of a MyDigitalSSD Super Cache SSD, though any caching software should work with the SSD. Caching is preferred by users who want extra speed for apps while using a HDD for main storage.
If you already had an mSATA SSD and it worked in that slot then "yes" it is your FASTDISK SSD. If the slot was used for something else like a WWAN card then it is possible that the mSATA slot is hard wired for a WWAN card and nothing else.


The eigth edition of the Vienna Valentine will take place February 15-17, 2019. Get your sport dress ready and join us in overcoming barriers, creating tolerance and breaking records. Win crystal medals in swimming or volleyball at Austria's biggest LGBTQI sport event. 3 days with sport & heaps of fun for Queers & Friends.
A total of 10 individual events and two relays are available in two swimming competition blocks in distances up to 200 meters. All national and international participants older than 19 as of December 31, 2019, and who belong to a swim club that is a member of FINA are allowed to particate.
In volleyball, medals will be fought for at three levels: B+, B- und C. Women are welcome in all teams.
Besides swimming and volleyball take the opportunities on this weekend to meet and chat with other participants at dinner & brunch or explore Vienna with our city tour. If you rather celebrate, don't miss the closing party – good vibes guaranteed.


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Widow of hockey player who died at 25 opens up about his last moments
Emily Cave writes candidly about the agonizing four days her husband, Colby, spent in the hospital prior to his death.
July 10, 2020, 12:45 PM UTC / Source: TODAY
By Drew Weisholtz
Emily Cave, the widow of Edmonton Oilers forward Colby Cave, is sharing her story following the death of her husband, who was only 25, in April after he suffered a brain bleed.
The couple had returned to Canada to quarantine while the NHL suspended its season. On April 6, he got a bad headache and downplayed his wife's concern that it was a tumor.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B_ceMMNHySC
"But through the night, he got significantly worse," Cave wrote in an essay for ESPN. "He got up and vomited about four times, but then would fall back to sleep. I took his temperature at 6:30 a.m. and knew he really wasn't well.
"By the time the ambulance got there, he was hypothermic and completely unresponsive," she added.
Emily Cave, who had been married to Colby for nine months before he died, wrote that he had surgery to remove a cyst from his brain after he had been airlifted to a Toronto hospital.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B-vLlNcHK7V
"Within 14 hours of Colb first saying he had a headache, I was told my 25-year-old husband was on life support," she wrote. "It wasn't until Thursday, when the doctor told me that Colby probably wasn't going to make it, that I was finally allowed into his hospital room, to physically be with him one last time, to tell him goodbye."
Cave says the whole ordeal was surreal.
"I remember begging the doctors to tell me he was going to wake up. 'He's going to wake up, right?' There would be a dead silence after every time I kept saying it on repeat. It was all I could manage to get out of my mouth," she wrote.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B-2JNe1H_oc
Cave, who said doctors had told her Colby had a 50% chance of waking up, also wrote about the complications the coronavirus caused, noting that she couldn't be by his side in the ambulance, helicopter or his room.
"It was so hard not being with Colby through his four days in the hospital. After his surgery, we were told we weren't allowed to come back because of COVID restrictions. I begged them again to lock me in his room, that I would wear a diaper, that I wouldn't leave or eat or anything, but I wasn't allowed to go in and touch him," she explained.
Cave says she is heartened by how the hockey world has rallied to her side and helped her start the Colby Cave Memorial Fund.
https://www.instagram.com/p/ByfESOcll9X
"Shortly after Colby passed, the Oilers told me they wanted to start a fund in Colby's honor and asked what I would like proceeds to go to. As a hockey wife, you put everything on hold, and I can't thank them enough for giving me a purpose to continue Colby's legacy alongside the hockey community," she wrote.
"The Colby Cave Memorial Fund supports community programs involving mental health and will help underprivileged children with access to sports. Since we were married only a year, we didn't have a chance to have kids yet, but I know Colby would have been an incredible dad. That's one thing I'll miss the most, but I know he'll help so many kids through the foundation."


It seems like yesterday I was so on fire that they couldn't put me out with the ocean…… But that was last week… I don't know which wagering god I have angered, but I am truly sorry….
Some call it snake-bit, others call it a cold streak, and for me it is like living in the land of soup armed with a fork.
I bet a Pick Four, and I will get three. It doesn't matter, I can get three 99-1's to roll home by many, and I can't get a 1-9 shot in a three horse field. I am on, and that is the worst of the punishment. If I was dead out, I could call it a day and watch with a cautious eye. I don't know what is worse. To be picking ice cold runners, and the data looks like alien script, or be so close that you could guess your defeat by the length of an ink pen.
I find myself watching and waiting at this point. I feel for me it is the only way to pick my spot. I could go tapped on an undercard race, and have nothing for that 4-1 in the feature that rolls down the lane easy. If you find yourself lost in the fog, or can't find the light, just be patient. This too shall pass….
I have been here a million times before, and it does let up. Just like the rain, just when you think it is safe to go out…here comes the clouds.
So, as the big Chicago weekend approaches, and the other tracks that offer big marquee races open their doors, just wait. It may be tough to give up a winner or two, but there is no magic potion in the world that will cure your ills. Be patient…..


Located on the North East Coast area, quiet and beatifu beaches. The hotel offers a personal and intimate space. A small hotel with the amenities of a large resort offering intimacy and charm. 16 rooms and a villla , all separated from each other, either with private terrace or garden. You'll find the luxury of privacy and calm away from the crowds. Perfectly integrated in its environment, the hotel will give you the opportunity to enjoy an exclusive Zanzibar. Spacious restaurant where you can enjoy a varied cuisine, international cuisine and African specialties. In our restaurant you can enjoy hearty breakfasts, delicious meals and quiet dinners in a relaxed atmosphere. In our bar, terrace and Beach Club you can take a snack, a delicious espresso or a cocktail by the sea.


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Home EuroLeague Spanoulis and Olympiacos did it again!
Spanoulis and Olympiacos did it again!
Photo: Euroleague
Vassilis Spanoulis' impressive fourth-quarter performance and Erick Green's big three-pointer led Olympiacos to another Euroleague Final (the fourth one in the last six years), as the "Reds" prevail over CSKA Moscow (78-82) in Euroleague's first semi-final.
The 35-year-old player scored 14 points and took over in the fourth quarter, when everything was on the line. Alongside their captain, co-captain Giorgos Printezis (14 points) and Kostas Papanikolaou (14 as well) were equally tremendous for the Greek team.
On the other hand, Milos Teodosic again was impressive for the "Bear, despite his injury, (22 points, four three-pointers), with Nando De Colo adding 16 for the Russians, who saw Olympiacos eliminate them for a fourth straight time in the Final-Four.
In the beginning of the game, CSKA made a better start (7-2), but the "Reds" responded immediately and took a two-point lead (7-9).
However, the defending champions exploited the Greek team's mediocre offensive performance and closed the first quarter in front by six (18-12), thanks to an 11-3 run.
Later, Olympiacos played better defensively and cut the Russians' deficit to two (22-20), with Vaggelis Mantzaris hitting a three-pointer, but Teodosic took over and scored 11 points to let his team earn a 13-point advantage (40-27), after an 18-7 run.
Again, though, the three-time Euroleague champions fought back and were down by seven (40-33) at the end of the first half, thanks to a 6-0 run of their own.
Ιn the second half, the "Reds" started executing better offensively and came closer to their opponents (46-43, 48-44), behind two crucial three-point shots by Papanikolaou and their effective post-up game.
CSKA Moscow, though, retained control of the situation, thanks to some decent offensive plays, and was in front by 11 (60-49), with three minutes to go in the third quarter. The "Reds" responded again, though, and were down by four (64-60), after 3 minutes in the game.
In the fourth quarter, it was a close derby between the two clubs, with Spanoulis tying the game twice (69-69, 71-71), with three and a half minutes to go in the game.
The latter gave his team the lead with another three-pointer (73-74), for the first time since the beginning of the game (7-9), but Teodosic again tied the game with his fourth three-pointer (76-76).
It was Erick Green's shot from beyond the arc, though, that made the difference for the "Reds" (76-79), as Teodosic missed a crucial three-pointer, with six seconds to go, and Spanoulis hit one free throw to seal the deal.
2017 Final Four
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Q: How to trigger 2 functions depending on build result? I want to setup build system so:

*

*If build is successful, run my program

*If not, it automatically jump to the first error (i.e. as if I pressed F4 once)

Simplest way I see it is to setup a callback with
"command": "next_result"

Which would navigate to first error in case build fails.
How could I do it?
I feel it should be something very evident, but cannot find anything in build reference.

A: It depends on your programming language but cf this post to get the configuration for a C build (with gcc).
Then add a regex in file_regex:
"file_regex": "^(..[^:]*):([0-9]+):?([0-9]+)?:? (.*)$"

This should catch and highlight all the warnings/errors produced by gcc : Sublime Text will automatically jump to the next one when you press F4.
Have a look at the documentation for more details.
[EDIT] For custom commands, you can edit the User's Key Binding file.
For syntax example, in the Default one you have:
{ "keys": ["f4"], "command": "next_result" }

where next_result is the callback called when you press F4

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Counter Dimensions has just added a new page to our website that incorporates the latest in technology! To best demonstrate how various storage pull-outs work in a modern kitchen design, we used a "hover over" mouse technique. We hope that you'll like it!
You will notice in our recent and future advertising that we have created a new division of our company, called "Kitchen and Bath Dimensions". When we started the company in 1988, our primary focus was on countertops and we have continued to provide them to this day. But, over the years, times have changed and so has our business.
Most our our work today is centered around residential kitchen and bath remodeling projects and our new division is focused toward clients needing these services. We will be using the same designers and craftsmen that have made us what we are, but they will be working for our new division.
Our Counter Dimensions division will continue to design, build and install countertops, casework and commercial applications, using the same expert staff.
This reorganization of our staff and our workload will enhance our ability to serve you better!
Counter Dimensions Recognized for Excellence!
April 11, 2015 - Montgomery, AL Counter Dimensions Inc. won an unprecedented seven (7) Alabama Remodeling Excellence Awards at the annual Excellence Awards Banquet of the Alabama Homebuilders Association. Included in this number were 2 first place awards. All of these award winning projects were completed during 2014 and won in competition with remodeling projects from all over Alabama!
We are so proud of our designers and craftsmen who, once again, preformed most professionally to produce such outstanding results! We especially thank our clients for the confidence that they placed in our company to take on their remodeling projects!
We hope that you are finding our website and our blog of value and that you will return to view the ever changing photo galleries and new events! Our staff of expert kitchen designers and skilled craftsmen stand ready to make your remodeling experience as wonderful as we can!
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COQUITLAM – The Coquitlam Foundation is pleased to announce that Linda Reimer, a longtime community volunteer and former politician, has joined its board of directors.
Reimer was MLA for Port Moody-Coquitlam from 2013 to 2017 and a Coquitlam City Councillor for two terms prior to that. She also served on the BC College of Teachers, and was chair of the School District #43 Parent Advisory Council.
Among her other community work, she has been a member of the Rotary Club of Coquitlam for 12 years, and is currently its president-elect. In addition, she serves as a board member with Tri-City Transitions and several local riding associations.
The Coquitlam Foundation manages $3.2 million in 30 foundation-directed and donor-advised funds. The foundation always welcomes donations to any of these funds, which can be made by clicking on the "Donate Now" button at the bottom of this page.


Most politicians who sign on for a job at the White House go gray after a few years. But not Ivanka Trump. Instead, she's gone blonder.
After combing through images of Ivanka campaigning alongside her father ahead of last week's midterm elections, it became evident that her honey-colored highlights have slowly but surely taken on a more icy tone since she first entered the political fray back in 2016. Think less Taylor Swift, and more Megyn Kelly.
He notes that Ivanka's slow and subtle transition to a cooler blonde shade is a common one he's witnessed in clients as they ascend to power. "Carolyn Besset going platinum when she married John Kennedy Jr. comes to mind," he said.
One reason it indicates power? The upkeep.
"The maintenance level is so much higher with these types of blondes, which is a status symbol in and of itself, that you can afford the time and expense uber blonde shades require," he says. "Strong color like a solid cool blonde tells the world you're a strong woman with strong opinions."
Before she began the slow fade into platinum territory, Ivanka was already fitting right in among the other blonde Trumpian talking heads like Ann Coulter, Laura Ingraham and Kellyanne Conway. But the cooler tones in Ivanka's new hair definitely help her stand out from the pack of Fox News contributors, whose tones tend to be more of "a matronly blonde, a suburban soccer mom who makes sure everyone buckles up in the backseat of the minivan," according to Amy Larocca at The Cut, who wrote a piece in 2017 on "The Politics of Blondness." She adds that the warmer, safer color "is a reminder, perhaps, of what many Americans feel is truly at stake in a newly global world."
So we wonder, why would Ivanka up the ante with a brighter hue? Is her image overhaul part of long game political aspirations?
Her father did briefly test the waters by name dropping Ivanka as a possible replacement for outgoing U.S. ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley; however, he quickly walked back the suggestion because "I'd be accused of nepotism." Ivanka also tweeted that she would not replace Haley, but perhaps she has 2020 in her sights. She is, after all, one of the few staffers who's remained employed since the beginning of her father's campaign.
One thing's for sure: As Melania has dipped out of the spotlight, choosing not to campaign alongside her husband ahead of the midterm elections (she "dislikes" politics, according to a new report from the New York Times), Ivanka has stepped forward without hesitation to fill FLOTUS's void.
As any woman who's ever gotten bangs can tell you, a major hair change can often reflects an internal personal change. However, whether Ivanka is angling for more power in the Trump White House by putting forth an attention-grabbing, powerful image, or she's simply feeling a bit icier these days, remains to be seen.


As one of the only medical centers in Montana with an outpatient unit dedicated exclusively to administering intravenous medication to children, we recognize our responsibility to understand each condition that requires infusion and to deliver the highest quality care.
Our pediatric infusion team consists of pediatric hospitalists, infusion nurses who are certified by both the Association of Pediatric Hematology & Oncology Nurses and the Pediatric Nurse Certification Board, pharmacists, case managers, social workers, nutritionists and outpatient therapists. Our pediatric inpatient or pediatric infusion unit (PIU) team works with kids of all ages and abilities, including those with developmental delays, anxiety disorders or other challenging situations. If a young patient needs specialized, multidisciplinary care, we collaborate with rheumatologists, hematologists, oncologists and gastroenterologists in Missoula and in other parts of the Northwest.
Community Children's PIU treats children with many different health conditions, including immune disorders, genetic disorders, cancer, gastrointestinal problems, blood diseases, rheumatologic disorders and other health conditions. We provide pediatric outpatient infusions, which require less than 12 hours to complete, in a carefully monitored — yet family friendly — pediatric setting. Medications we administer include monoclonal antibody therapy (i.e., Remicade & Rituxan), intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG), enzyme replacement therapy, maintenance chemotherapy (i.e., vincristine, vinblastine, Cytoxan), corticosteroid therapy, bisphosphonates (i.e., Aredia) and intravenous antibiotics.


As you've probably gathered from reading some of my previous blog posts; I love nothing more than a product that can be used for multiple purposes. Take this Cold Cream Cleanser for example; 6 uses – amazing! Such great value for money.
So I've been using this gorgeous blush now for a couple of months and thought it was worth sharing with you all. I recently posted about the Heartbreaker Cream Blush from elf which is a really pretty lighter pink, matte shade and Diva*, which is in the HD Blush range, is a stunning darker pink shade perfect for winter. What's even better is that it can easily be doubled up on the lips as well; which is fantastic!
I like the packaging of this blush in it's pump tube. This design makes it so easy to apply; with a small pump you can easily control how much you use. So much easier when you have long nails too, as trying to get blush out of pot when you've got long nails can be a total nightmare. In the past I've often ended up with more product down my nails than on my face!
There are five shades in the HD Blush range; Headliner, Superstar, Encore, Showstopper and Diva, with Diva being the strongest of the pinks.
Because the colour is really rich and pigmented, I take a small amount onto my fingers, apply to my cheeks and go back for more if needed. However I do find that a small amount goes a long way, so this 10ml tube will last you quite a while. At just £4.50 too, it seems a complete bargain.
With a product that you can use on both your cheeks and lips, you can easily create a symmetry across your make up look and Diva is perfect for this.
I like the shade of this blush and the ability to create depth of colour with varying degrees of application. With it's versatility too, it's perfect for day or evening use.
I must say that when I use a face primer under my concealer and foundation that this blush is even easier to apply and the depth of colour is even stronger, so that's also worth noting too.
Overall Diva is a lovely shade, has a great double use, is in a great size tube and seems amazing value for money, so it gets the thumbs up from me!
Have you tried any of the elf HD Blush range?


text:
Some of Dublin's Covid cycling and walking projects to be prettified
January 7, 2022 by Cian Ginty
IMAGE: Some parts of original projects did have greenery such as the planters at the O'Connell Street access point to the Parnell Square contra-flow route.
Dublin City Council has indicated that some of its Covid-19 mobility cycling and walking measures are to be prettified this year, the projects were installed quickly using mainly using plastic bollards.
IMAGE: Griffith Ave is one of the projects the council is looking to make more permanent looking — the use of plastic bollards on the project was a large point of criticism.
One of the first signs of this is the installation of mini-planters replacing stubby bollards on the contra-flow cycle track on Nassau Street (see images in tweet below).
Some of the cycle lanes are likely to be harder than others to prettify given space constraints at many locations and the question of if there's space available would it be better as planter space or cycling space.
Cllr Michael Pidgeon (Green Party) said: "2019 and 2021 saw Dublin city road space taken for walking and cycling, mostly using bollards. Much, much more of that needs to be done. But this council answer I got recently suggests we might start in 2022 to make those projects a bit prettier, permanent, and hopefully better!"
The response from Dublin City Council officials said: "The plastic bollards are not a long-term intervention but provide safe space for cycling in the short-term while either a semi-permanent or permanent scheme is being designed."
They added: "In 2022 we will be reviewing the interventions with a view to reducing the number of bollards and replacing them where possible with planters, extruded kerbs etc."
Cllr Pidgeon added: "'Taking the space' was definitely the right priority at the start of the pandemic. We should ramp that up again – bollards are a cheap, easily changed way to do a trial. But the plastic wands get a bit worse for wear. Time to move it on to something a bit more crafted!"
Looks like the some of the short bollards protecting the cycle lane on Nassau Street are being replaced with planters. More greenery here is very welcome. I imagine the plants will look something like the ones outside @GrainTiller around the corner. @dublincycling pic.twitter.com/2AXfUOJ7J7
— Niels Warburton (@Niels_JW) January 7, 2022
If you're going to build for cycling, maintenance is required… including salting in cold weather
Don't look up. Punch down… 'Blah, blah, blah' applies to journalists too


We would like to offer stock of Runners.
Description : Chic modern designs created in natural earthy colours and styled in a two-tone polypropylene yarn that is extremely hardwearing, stain resistant and colourfast. Entice is a rug that offers stunning designs befitting the moods of natural flooring such as wood, sisal or Berber style carpets. The rug is a woven Wilton with an extra high-density incorporated double weft styled colourfast, stain resistant 100% two-tone polypropylene that gives the pile surface an added dimension. Made in EEC.


The central location of Hertz Arena creates the perfect location for Southwest Florida residents and vacationers to meet up for a Thanksgiving morning 5k run and walk.
Located between Fort Myers and Naples, this destination is the perfect race for you to converge with all of your friends and family in Southwest Florida. This family friendly professionally chip timed 5k features dry fit tech shirts, finisher medals, and an atmosphere that will warm up your Thanksgiving appetite!
A portion of the proceeds benefit San Carlos Park Roller Hockey.


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First-person stories from people impacted by Ford Fund
Alabama Youth Embraces Road Safety as Global Priority Issue
Zack Love
Junior at George Washington University; Ford Driving Skills for Life advocate
Talladega, Alabama
"On the side of the road next to an intersection in my town there's a small patch of memorials—with stuffed animals and crosses and names of people," said Zack Love. "If you want to make a left-hand turn there, you stop in the left lane at the bottom of a hill. The vehicle approaching from behind doesn't see you until they're almost hitting you. So, yes, there are accidents in that intersection."
Love, 20, would like to work on improving dangerous road conditions like this one in Talladega, Ala. He is a road safety advocate and public health major at George Washington University in D.C. He sees a natural link between both areas of interest.
"Road safety is in the public health space," he said. "And it must be included along with other issues if we are to have a safer, healthier world."
Early in 2020, Love attended the 2nd World Assembly for Road Safety in Stockholm, Sweden, as a representative of Ford Driving Skills for Life and the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA). He and Jane Kratz, a fellow FCCLA member, were among about 160 students from 75 countries who attended the conference.
The conference was entitled "Achieving Global Goals by 2030" and was co-sponsored by the World Health Organization. Among the speakers: Zoleka Mandela, Nelson Mandela's granddaughter, whose own daughter was killed in a road crash by a drunk driver.
Jane Kratz and Zach Love network with other conference attendees. Photo courtesy of Family, Career and Community Leaders of America
Love came away from the conference inspired by the commitment of youth around the world to educate their communities about road safety and implement ideas to prevent fatalities in their countries. This month, he and Kratz will present virtually their learnings from Stockholm to the annual FCCLA conference.
"I went to the ministerial conference thinking as young people, we would not be taken seriously, especially when it comes to driving," he said. "All too often, youth are painted as dangerous on the roadways and passive in terms of safe decision making. But in Stockholm, I saw a huge body of youth saying these fatalities are not all our fault and we want to work to help solve the problems.
"I saw young people advocating for safer roads in their countries—from environmentally friendly transportation to safer and user-centric built environments, young people were at the forefront of the conversation." Love said. "Road safety is such a multi-dimensional area of study. From the moment the car starts a journey to the end, so many players have touched that experience: manufacturing, policy makers, urban planners, traffic maintenance and your own personal driving behavior."
As a youth leadership organization, FCCLA has a strong interest in safe driving for youth. Through its FACTS program (Families Acting for Community Traffic Safety), FCCLA encourages young leaders to learn and promote safe driving habits. FCCLA and Ford Driving Skills for Life have partnered for seven years to bring this training to the forefront.
Kyle Green, Ford Driving Skills for Life International manager, was on the selection committee to identify the two students to receive scholarships to attend the Stockholm conference.
"Zack shows a strong passion for advocacy and leading through service," Green said. "This was evident during the interview process and even more so upon his return from the World Youth Assembly. He will take the knowledge he has gained from this experience and apply it to his future career plans."
Road fatalities among teens have declined over the past 15 years due, in part, to successful awareness campaigns to increase seat-belt use and decrease distracted and drunk driving.
"The trend is good," Green said. "But if you're a parent who has a lost a child, you don't care about the trend. We want to prevent all parents from having to go through that.".
Ford Driving Skills for Life teaches newly licensed and teen drivers the necessary skills for safe driving beyond what they learn in standard driver education programs. Since it began in 2003, Ford Driving Skills for Life has trained more than 1 million drivers in all 50 U.S. states and in 43 countries around the world – at no cost to participants. Through its hands-on, web-based and classroom training, curriculum addresses both the areas of inexperience as well as the issues surrounding distracted and impaired driving. Ford Driving Skills for Life has partnered with Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) for the past seven years.
Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) is a dynamic and effective national student organization that helps young men and women become leaders and address important personal, family, work, and societal issues through Family and Consumer Sciences education. FCCLA has over 182,000 members and more than 5,253 chapters from 48 state associations, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.


Course Information One of the best golf courses in Japan.
The name of this club come from the Katsura tree grows naturally in the course. Katsura tree is a Japanese endemic species.
It features undulated fairways, strategically placed dry creeks and water hazards, and mass trees.
A forest course which is generally flat and little hilly.
Robert Trent Jones Jr. said Katsura is one of his best golf coueses ever he designed.
This courase was rated No.5 in Japan's top 100 golf courses in 2006 by E-Golf.


Established in 1890, Seeberger has an enriched history of 125 years of hat making. Each hat is individually shaped using skill and expertise to create a perfect finish. Using handmade wooden or metal moulds, the Seeberger hat is perfected into its ideal shape whether it be a boiled wool cap in the vibrant lobster shade, or a rounded cable knit pompom hat which come in neutral shades. Each hat is finished with a signature Seeberger logo that makes the hat both iconic and personal. Keep your head warm this winter with Sister Online's collection of warm accessories with wooly hats and matching cable knit scarfs.


Arun Jaitley (Finance Minister) said that India has a great strength to be among-st leading nations in a technology driven forth industrial revolution that is expected to come about. He spock after inaugurating a two day seminar titled Adjudication, Regulation and Telecommunication (ART) of convergence in New Delhi, Finance Minister said that regulatory and adjudicating mechanisms have to keep pace with rapidly evolving technologies in the fields of information technology, telecommunications and broadcasting. Jaitley said that he would convey it to the telecommunications minister Ravi Shankar Prasad to consider strengthening of jurisdiction of the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT).
Jaitley also said all parties involved in adjudication, regulation policy framers should keep themselves informed of the latest developments in the field. Attorney General of India, Mukul Rohtagi and member B.B.Srivastava (TDSAT) also spoke on the occasion.


Not-for-profit organizations continually face a unique set of economic, legislative and fundraising challenges. They operate in a complex environment of limited resources, government oversight, public scrutiny and the desire to make a difference. Our experienced professionals help clients overcome these challenges and fulfill their missions.
We serve organizations that operate in a variety of areas, including social and religious services, parochial schools, charitable support, and the arts. Seim Johnson offers a full range of services for not-for-profit entities including OMB Circular A-133 testing and reports, as well as Form 990 preparation and other IRS compliance. We work with your governing board to meet your needs.


8 features and a terrain maintained not only by shapers, but snowcats as well. Every day after closing hours is the park maintained by our shapers and the park is designed so that the majority could be maintained by snowcat. Visit the Snow Park on board and have some fun. It is situated on the slope with LV P2 drag lift.


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Q: change css onload with javascript It's a simple javascript command to get the classname to change when the page loads. What am I doing wrong that it isn't working? http://jsfiddle.net/wtH2Y/4/

this should slide up when the page loads

A: A few things:

*

*Function names cannot have dashes in them. Rename your function.

*If you're using a named function, I wouldn't assign it to a property this way. Either make it anonymous or assign it like so:
function foo() {
    ...
}

window.onload = foo;

Otherwise, you won't be able to call foo().

*getElementByClassName should be getElementsByClassName (notice the s). Also, since it'll return a collection of elements, you will need to iterate over it with a for loop.

A: Because the function is document.getElementsByClassName and not document.getElementByClassName. It returns an Array. So you need to get the first element and apply the class. Like this...
document.getElementsByClassName('away')[0].className = 'in';

To make it simple, why don't you assign an id to the div

and then use document.getElementById. Like this...
document.getElementById('mydiv').className = 'in';

It is much simpler and easy to use.


The water main construction crew is an in-house crew that replaces approximately two miles of residential water line each year. This program provides high-quality water line replacement service, in conjunction with sensitivity to customer service issues.
Zenobia Street: Replacing approximately 1315' of old deteriorating 6" and 8" water main line with new 8" PVC plastic main from 80th Avenue to Zenobia Court or 78th Avenue.
Projects maybe postponed due to weather and emergency water line replacements.
Weather permitting, the city's Utilities Distribution Construction Team is planning to install 60' of new of 8" PVC waterline in 92nd Avenue (6050 - 6080 W. 92nd Avenue – Plaza Northwest Shopping Center). This is planned to take place on Sunday evening April 14 beginning at 7 p.m. through Monday morning April 15 at 7 a.m. This installation will require all eastbound lanes on 92nd Avenue between Pierce Street and Harlan Street / Westminster Boulevard to be shutdown. Eastbound traffic will be detoured south on Pierce Street to 91st Avenue, east on 91st Avenue to Harlan Street and north on Harlan Street to 92nd Avenue.
1. Existing utilities in the street (such as gas and electric mains) will need to be identified. This is done through a utility locate service. The service identifies different utilities with different colored marks on the street and right of way. See a photo example.
2. A contractor will rotomill a 36-inch trench in the street where the water main is to be installed and PVC pipe will be laid out in the gutter line until it is installed. See a photo example.
3. A bacteria test and pressure test will be conducted on the new main. This is done to ensure the water is safe and there are no leaks. During this process you will notice water being flushed from a fire hydrant or 2-inch blow-off pipe.
5. The old main, valves and fire hydrants will be removed or left in place and the trench will be compacted to assure no settling.
6. NOTE: During this entire project, your water may be turned off at different times throughout the day. Crews will attempt to notify residents prior to any water shut-offs. In the event of an emergency, the water could be turned off immediately without notification.


In the world of cinematography, a camera dolly, or slider, is an indispensable tool. Designed to create smooth camera movements along a horizontal axis, dolly shots lend fluidity and polish to even the most standard scenes, whether you are a Hollywood big-shot or just trying to put together some good family memories. While the majority of sliders are motorized, and some are expensive and heavy to carry around, Dan from the new series DIY Dudes has released a free guide to making your very own camera slider from aluminum and 3D printed parts, all for under $20.
In terms of parts, all that's needed to get started are two pieces of ¾" aluminum tube, and various screws, nuts, and bolts, which can be purchased altogether for about $15. Next up, the STL files for the 3D printed parts, which include the feet, locking knobs, bushings, carriage, legs and end pieces can be downloaded for free on DIY Dudes, and printed for around $5 total. "Once you have all of the parts, assembly is a breeze," wrote Dan. "No drilling or cutting, just bold it all together." Couldn't be easier, right?
The fully-assembled tool is extremely lightweight, and best suited for smaller DSLRs, mirrorless cameras, and small camcorders, however with some adjustments, a heavier version could be made for larger cameras, and Dan even intends to make a motorized version in the near future. Even as-is, however, the camera slider provides fluid and extremely professional results, as you can see in the video below.
The 3D printed camera slider is just one of many projects featured on DIY Dudes, a new online series that will give readers ideas and instructions for everyday uses for their 3D printers, such as bathtub plugs or a bow stringer. "Many of these projects will seem small and insignificant, but that's the point!" said Dan. "There are lots of little things that having a 3D printer can help you do; you'll never run out of small projects to complete with your 3D printer." We couldn't agree more, and hope to see more of this everyday-enthusiasm and encouragement in the maker community.


Enjoy award-winning food, bespoke sweet treats and artisan coffee as you shop.
Opened in 2013, the Conran Kitchen is an urban eatery located on the ground floor of our Marylebone store.
The menu is refreshed seasonally and showcases the very best food and beverages London has to offer, as well as refreshments brought to you by our partners from across the world.
Highlights include exclusive Monmouth Coffee, breads and sandwiches from St. John's Bakery and award-winning, gluten-free quiches by Oast to Host.
With bespoke cakes baked and decorated by London-based Peggy Porschen and a selection of fine wines now available, a visit to the Conran Kitchen would be the perfect way to relax and refuel as part of the Ultimate Shopping Experience.
For updates, photos and inspiration from the #ConranKitchen, follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.


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Tea youth makes it back to the wrestling mat after accident
Last July after he got off work, Tea sophomore Hunter Wilson headed to the local hardware store to pick up a few things. On his way home while driving his moped Wilson was struck by an SUV.
He had no time to react to avoid the accident. Wilson attempted to get up after being struck but soon realized something wasn't right. Shortly after the accident, Wilson was informed by his doctors that he had broken his femur in half and dislocated his hip. Not the news anyone wants to receive, especially, a high school wrestler.
Wilson was rushed to emergency surgery and now has a rod the length of his femur in his leg. Three days after the surgery Wilson was sent home to start the long recovery process. At first, Wilson needed help with everything. To get back to his normal daily routine, Wilson had to start physical therapy.
The first month consisted of going to therapy three times a week. Then the next four and half months Wilson went to therapy two times a week. Wilson continues to go to therapy every other week.
"The recovery was very hard. I had to work for every step I took," said Wilson.
With the help of his therapy team and Wilson's determination, he has been able to return to wrestling for the Tea Titans.
On February 1 Wilson was able to get back onto the mat for the first time at the Tea junior varsity tournament. During the tournament, Wilson went 3-0, with two pins.
"It was so fun to see all my hard work show," said Wilson.
Since the accident, Wilson says he does wrestle differently. Somethings are harder than they used to be, and he tries to protect his leg more than he used to. Besides that, he hasn't had to change anything. Wilson is just glad to be able to get back to the mat this season.
Wilson also wanted to say thank you to the community.
"Everyone has been so supportive of me and my recovery," stated Wilson.
He appreciates the support and the enthusiasm others show for him to be back on the mat.


We are the twenty-first century version of pen-pals. Sometimes there is depth in our 'friendships. Sometimes we are just voyeurs in each other's lives. In that way we are the same as face to face friends; not close with everyone but at times closer than we even realize.
I thank you for the times you save my sanity by sharing things with me even my face-to-face friends do not share. I thank you for the words of encouragement and thought provoking sharing. Even though we may never meet, I can call you my friend because I care enough to see how you are doing and want the best for you, as you take a precious moment out of your day to see if I am okay, too - and we do it without speaking contemptuously to other or hoping to beat the other in this game of life.
Sometimes that is all you need to start a beautiful friendship. I know I would not be keeping the pounds off if my life did not include sharing your journey, even if just a tiny bit.
I agree. It is helpful just not to feel alone. We find that others have obstacles much bigger than our own and we end up helping them which in turn helps us. I love to read the writing of others. Some are better than others but it is all from the heart and belongs to them. As we read and comment, a bond is created and whether we ever meet in person or not is really not important because the well wishes and encouragement are still there. We care about each other because know how each other feels. The burden is lifted and therefore lighter because it is shared.
very much resonated here this morning!
I made my first online friends way back in 1998...it was a group of women who called themselves the second wives club and we bonded very tightly...and we're still very close today!
Then there are the friends I made through eDiets. And now blogging!
And it's interesting how the various online sites and methods for connecting have changed and gotten more sophisticated too.
I read your comment over at Al's. He hasn't put mine up yet as I referred to his "piling on" technique as others joined him in victimizing a fellow blogger. This isn't the first time he has done this to her. It was complete with name calling and profanity. I thought he was over the line and then he hides behind wanting the best for everybody. His self-appointed diet sheriff attitude is becoming tiresome.
Downsizers - He crosses a line I hope to God I will never cross. I think sending people to another site to laugh at such things is like the school yard bully who instigates others to join his taunts.
People should remember that the person directing them to laugh at others was himself into the food (again) just a short time ago. When they were passing out the compassion gene I think he was off eating in he corner.


to provide a proof of concept by fabricating selected thermodynamically stable multi-component nc metal alloys resistant to coarsening of interest for specific aerospace applications.
Thermodynamic modeling will make use of a statistical mechanical approach. Thermodynamic state functions and auxiliary quantities will be described mathematically in terms of chemical composition and atomic species distribution in both crystalline grains and intergranular disordered interfaces.
The validation of the thermodynamic model will require identifying suitable processing methods and optimizing experimental conditions. Depending on the number of components, developing innovative processing methods is necessary. For this reason, validation will be first performed on suitably selected test systems.
The fabrication of thermodynamically stable multi-component nc metal alloys resistant to coarsening and specifically addressed to meet the materials demand of aerospace, aeronautical and turbine industry will require a careful selection of materials.
Enhanced radiation resistance by self-healing mechanisms, aimed at withstanding the extreme conditions undergone by materials exposed to cosmic radiation, at lengthening the life cycle of aerospace materials and microelectronics, and at protecting the health status of human beings in manned spacecraft missions.
Enhanced thermal resistance, aimed at enabling stable performances under high-temperature conditions, high heat conduction and low thermal expansion, and at enhancing materials performances in dynamic thermal environments with temperature varying approximately in the range from -80 and 100 ºC.
High mechanical strength to reduce the total weight associated with structural materials, keeping mechanical performances unchanged, which results in lighter construction elements and directly lower fuel consumption in aerospace industry.


Both he and his 6-year-old brother have developed a deep love, bordering on obsession, with the show — which they haven't even seen. They have only heard the soundtrack, now going on hundreds of times. We have (legally purchased!) tickets for well into 2017, but I don't worry that they will tire of the score, or Hamilton himself, before then. No other cultural phenomenon, not even "Star Wars," has stuck with them so indelibly, or for so long, as "Hamilton." Talking to my friends, they are far from the only obsessed Hamilkids out there.
We first heard the soundtrack on a long car ride to Vermont late last fall, me pulling over to the side of the road to download it after hearing about it on a podcast. I figured the kids wouldn't be listening anyway — that they would be on their iPads, deep into some "Minecraft"-induced trance. And now, a year later, the question isn't whether any of us have a song from "Hamilton" in our heads, but which one.
I have tired of their other previous obsessions, like, ahem, "Star Wars," and abstain entirely from others (ugh, "Minecraft"). I am happy, however, to share and encourage their infatuation with "Hamilton." Lin-Manuel Miranda's music has completely captured their imaginations. It has ignited a love in them for hip-hop, Broadway and American history.
"Hamilton" pops up in our days in many ways. My 6-year-old has a special "Alexander Hamilton voice" that he puts on when he wants his words to achieve maximum impact. It sounds a little like Pee-Wee Herman, and he uses it in school too. Sometimes he just yells out "Eliza!" apropos of nothing. Sometimes I point a wooden spoon at a child while I am cooking dinner, and accuse them: "What did they say to you to get you to sell New York City down the rivaaaaah?" Other times, it's "Cabinet Battle #1" at the bus stop, debating the villainous qualities of the man on the nickel, which the 6-year-old is learning about at school that day.
As they potter around the house, they often spout out lyrics from "My Shot," in which Hamilton's band of merry men introduce themselves. "I'm John Laurens in the place to be," the 6-year-old shouts. "Two pints of bakalaka, but I'm working on three." "Bakalaka," here, stands in for Sam Adams, as in the beer. That's what they do with the few instances in the play where the lyrics wander into R-rated territory. They skim right past it; having no reference point in life for Sam Adams, "bakalaka" will do instead. We don't dwell much on "Say No to This," in which Hamilton outlines his affair; they just know he has done some unkind bakalaka that he shouldn't have. That's enough explanation for now. Yet they can pinpoint each of the two f-words in the play. I had to explain to my 9-year-old that the actual name of Jefferson's political party was not, officially, "Southern Mother-F'ing Democratic-Republicans." He was disappointed.
Why is it, I wondered, that a musical about America's first Treasury Secretary has surpassed, and outlasted, every other boyhood fascination that they have yet had? I think they love the music, first of all. Beyond that, "Hamilton" has that particular element that appeals to them in books, movies, television, or even video games: the timeless, endless, epic battle between good and evil. For them, as for most kids, everyone in the world, be they superheroes, teachers, or even parents, fall cleanly to one side or the other: hero or villain. In "Hamilton," they've found both: the daring, brilliant Alexander Hamilton, and not one, but two dastardly dandies who dare step to our man: the nefarious Jefferson, who openly tries to take Hamilton down through the medium of rap battles, along with his toady James Madison, and oh, yeah: Aaron Burr. Hamilton's evil twin, and his murderer. That guy.
Last spring, we took a family trip to Washington, D.C., with that song, as ever, in our heads, and on the car stereo. We duly noted the Alexander Hamilton rest stop on the New Jersey Turnpike. Speeding past it, we looked out into the bleak distance, the Hudson River somewhere below the industrial fields near Weehawken. Beyond, there is a patch of green, and a stone, where Burr fired his fatal shot. We paused the soundtrack to reflect. "Is there still blood on the stone?" my 6-year-old asked, hopeful and wide-eyed.
That's just it. Because of "Hamilton," these people — Hamilton, Burr, Jefferson, the Marquis de Lafayette, Angelica Schuyler, "Hercales Muggle-an," and George Washington himself — are now, to these boys, just that: flesh and blood. Through the music, they have come to know them all as people who, in their time, got angry, forged friendships, joked around, and loved their children. That has proved a powerful tool to teach them not just history, but that history matters. That it is more than a cold stone in a park somewhere. It affects, and reflects, their lives.