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Food Shoot: Cooking with pumpkins!
Pumpkin pie is not the only thing you can make with a pumpkin... Expand your cooking skills and think about Calzones, pumpkin pie tarts and lasagna! That's what we are videoing today !
Photographer/Videographer: Steve Giralt
Food Stylist: Liz Jezrow
Assistant Food Stylist: "Lauren"
Assistants: John Duarte and Susan Lee
Labels: PHOTOS - Behind the Scenes, PHOTOS - Photo of the Day
Photo of the Day: Random Note in the Subway
This was found on the floor of a "L" subway car in NYC.
Admittedly, not the best photo I've taken on a moving subway car, but you can make out the words in the love note. :D
Labels: LIFE: Random Musings, PHOTOS - Photo of the Day
San Gennaro Festival in Little Italy New York
Unfortunately, I was away and didn't have access to the Internet... if you did not know... the San Gennaro festival is happening now until Sept. 26, 2010 in Little Italy, New York...
Sept. 16 – The Feast of San Gennaro (aka San Gennaro Festival) be here again starting Sept. 16 through Sept. 26th. The festival has been in Little Italy for more than 80 years and every year, particularly on the weekends, the streets are jammed pack with tourists and residents alike who walk on Mulberry Street to participate in the festivities - cannoli eating competition, dining at the cafe/restaurants, eating at the sausage booths and more. So, bring your cash and enjoy the Italian festival in Little Italy.
Excerpts from the San Gennaro Website are below:
"... more than one-million people from the four corners of the globe to the streets of Little Italy to participate in the annual Salute to the Patron Saint of Naples.
Although this is an annual celebration of faith, the Feast of San Gennaro is known the world over for its festive atmosphere, an 11-day event featuring religious processions and colorful parades, free musical entertainment every day, a wide variety of ethnic food delicacies, charming restaurants and cafes and even a world-famous cannoli-eating competition! The central focus of the celebration takes place every September 19th, the official Saint Day when a celebratory Mass is held in Most Precious Blood Church, followed immediately by a religious procession in which the Statue of San Gennaro is carried from its permanent home in the church through the streets that comprise Little Italy."
"This Feast of San Gennaro holds a special place in the place of Italian people everywhere," says Joseph Mattone, President of Figli di San Gennaro, Inc. "It is a festive period of faith and redemption, a time for remembrance and reconciliation, and a time for celebration. The delicious food, the free musical entertainment that reflects Italian-American culture and heritage are all there. The Feast brings the world to Little Italy and Little Italy to the world."
Labels: AREA - Chinatown, FOOD - FOOD TOUR, NEW YORK - Upcoming Activities/Events
Free 2 Year "Time Out" Subscription anyone?
Ok, first, since its not something that I am offering, but rather informing the public about this offer -- i must CMA -- and say -- "apply at your own risk" - is free a good thing?!?!
http://www3.timeoutny.com/newyork/surveys/146/your-free-subscription-courtesy-living-liberally
Labels: LIFE - Right Place Right Time
The Chicken Craze in New York City - Hill Country Chicken (Fried)
Photo taken late night at Mad for Chicken (K-town) with ambient light
by Susan Lee
Bok! Bok! Bok! The chicken are coming! The chicken are coming! Ok, I admit, that was a bit corny - but really, there are so many fast-food chicken establishments opening up in New York City that its just a bit -- well, overwhelming... First it was Mad For Chicken (or formerly known as Bon Chon), then there was KyoChon, then the opening of the real Bon Chon -- all of these chicken establishments are part of the Korean Fried Chicken craze (or as my friends call it -- the KFC, not to be confused with American Classic Sanders KFC) ... Prior to these establishments, there were other fried chicken restaurants that didn't get as much fame as the KFC craze -- such as Atomic Wings, Hooters, Baden Baden (Korean fried chicken in K-town), or "Something "King" in Harlem . Fried Chicken isn't a new food type, rather, people are beginning to popularize it. And just in time, Hill Country decided to extend outside of their BBQ realm and enter into the Fried Chicken business --- Hill Country Chicken!
Hill Country Chicken held their private grand opening party last night, celebrating the opening of their store on 25th and Broadway and held its public grand opening today. My sources say (I like how I can say that since it was only one friend that just told me about the situation) -- the lines were extremely long today -- which can be expected since its opening day!
So what will make this place special? Since I haven't actually tasted it -- here is a quick review of the interesting finds I see on the menu!
You can choose your own part of the chicken -- FRIED -- breast, thigh, drum, wing ($1.75 to $5.50)
Fire N Ice Pickles? $0.50 - wonder what that is?
Slice of pie? Pie Cup? medium or large pie? ) ($3 to $40)
Free refills on fountain soda (boylans!), ice tea and lemonade ($2-$3.50)
Milkshakes, ice cream floats -- yikes, gluttony! ($5)
BEER -- woah, what is this 21st Amendment Watermelon Wheat beer I see or a Moo thunder Stout? ($6)
Aside from the chicken, you can also order sandwiches (fried chicken, chickwich, hill country club etc.... Its a very interesting menu... Will have to visit it to see what I think and to provide my review..
Hill Country Chicken is located at: 1123 Broadway (corner of 25th). Its open daily from 12 pm to 11 pm - call 212. 257.6446 or check out their website - http://www.hillcountrychicken.com/
Happy Eating!
Labels: FOOD - FOOD TOUR, LIFE - Trying New Things
Behind the Scenes of a Food Shoot
Things I realized as I assisted on this shoot ... A food shoot can run more smoothly if you have the right people doing the prop styling, food styling and allowing the photographer to be ... the photographer ...
I have had shoots when I am all three and it is too stressful to manage three jobs when all you should be doing is photographing the food. This usually occurs when budgets are small ! So this food shoot was certainly a refreshing change of pace and hope my future food shoots will be like this one!
Mental notes:
Ideal shooting day - 4-5 plates; 8 is a bit excessive; and well 10 - expect a long day.
Larger budget - allows for more props, more skilled people working on set.
Smaller budget - what do you have in your cupboards to make this work;?
For the love of food photography! yippee!
Labels: About Me, LIFE - Life Lessons, LIFE - Living and Working in New York City, PHOTOS - Behind the Scenes, PHOTOS - iPhone
Sept. 14 - Malaysian Street Fair from 6:30 - 10:00 pm in the Meat Packing District
Below is the press-release for the Malaysian Night Market in the Meat Packing District
August 30, 2010, New York - Malaysia Kitchen for the World, a campaign launched by the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE) to promote Malaysian cuisine and restaurants in the New York City metropolitan area, in partnership with LUCKYRICE, an integrated lifestyle brand and consumer guide to the Asian culinary world, is hosting the ultimate street food celebration: a festive Malaysian Night Market featuring classic Malaysian hawker foods by local restaurants. The event occurs Tuesday, September 14 from 6:30pm to 10:00pm in the Chelsea Triangle of the Meatpacking District on 14th St. and 9th Ave.
With colorful tents, umbrellas and lanterns inspired by the open-air markets of Kuala Lumpur and Penang, the Malaysian Night Market in the Meatpacking District will offer an array of traditional Malaysian street grub. From roti canai to curry laksa and nasi lemak (a tasty rice dish served with spicy curry chicken or beef rendang), offerings draw upon Malaysian cuisine's Malay, Chinese and Indian influences. Participants include Betel, Café Asean, Fatty Crab, Laut, New Malaysia, Nyonya, Spice Market, and the upcoming Asian restaurant with consultants Todd English and Ian Chalermkittichai.
Besides delicious street food, the event will feature engaging Malaysian cultural dances on a dedicated stage. All food will be on sale for $4 to $8.
The location, the Chelsea Triangle, is an outdoor plaza situated on 14th St. between 9th Ave. and Hudson St., at the tip of the trendy Meatpacking District. The plaza faces high-end fashion retail stores and restaurants, and will be bustling with trendsetters and fashionistas in town for Fashion Week.
About Malaysia Kitchen for the World
Malaysia Kitchen for the World is a global initiative of the Malaysian government that aims to educate and inform consumers about Malaysian cuisine and Malaysian restaurants throughout the world. The New York campaign seeks to boost interest among American food lovers to try Malaysian cuisine and visit Malaysian restaurants in the New York metropolitan area as well as in other locations in the United States. The program also seeks to facilitate local chefs and restaurateurs to introduce Malaysian cuisine at their establishments. Visit malaysiakitchennyc.com for more information.
About MATRADE
The Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE) is Malaysia's national trade promotion agency. Established in March 1993 as a statutory agency under the Ministry of International Trade Industry (MITI), MATRADE is responsible for assisting Malaysian companies to succeed in the international market by developing and promoting Malaysia's exports to the world.
About LUCKYRICE Festival
From rich online content to live events, LUCKYRICE aims to be a consumer guide to the Asian culinary world. The inaugural LUCKYRICE Festival, an 11-day celebration of Asian food and culinary culture around New York City, launched successfully in April 2010.
Labels: FOOD - Asian, NEW YORK - Upcoming Activities/Events
Photo of the Day: Yarn Covered Bike
How much time do you think it took to cover this bike with yarn? Probably a little too much time!
Found on Elizabeth street between Grand and Broome.
-- Mobile upload
Labels: Interesting Finds, PHOTOS - iPhone, PHOTOS - Photo of the Day
Photo of the Day: Remembering September 11 and a Surprising Night for Me!
Everyone probably remembers where they were on September 11, 2001...
The image above is a photo of the lights representing the Twin Towers in SoHo
Unfortunately, as I was taking this photo -- I was nearly arrested.
Some say its part of the territory of being a photojournalist
(cause we all want stories to write about -- just not about ourselves!),
but, let's just say -- my record is still clean. Phew!
Below is proof of the cop car that nearly made the arrest.
Labels: About Me, LIFE - Right Place Right Time, PHOTOS - Photo of the Day
New York Fashion Night Out 2010 -- Part of a Global Fashion Night Across the World: Tonight - 09/10/10 - in New York -- Starting at 6 PM tonight!
Want to find out who the biggest fashion names are today?... find out who is participating in it tonight ! You don't have to be a model to participate -- everyone can share in the fashion party tonight!
Thanks to Vogue -- Fashion Night Out is happening across the world -- United States -- Spain -- Russia -- China -- Greece -- Japan -- Portugal -- Germany -- India -- Italy -- Taiwan -- Turkey -- Australia -- United Kingdom -- France -- South Korea ...
GOAL: Get everyone out and SHOP! Reinvigorate the retail market , revitalize the fashion industry, and ring the cash registers! -- and lets not forget, BRING ON THE FUN!
There are a lot of stores throwing a big bash! Food, Drinks, Music -- all for the fun of having a Fashion NIGHT out... So check out this website and tailor your own Fashion Night Out with your friends! It's just not the retail stores, the party is everywhere -- restaurants, hair salons, ice cream shops, photography places... everywhere... so check out this site... and tailor your night to your fashion sensibilities!
http://www.fashionsnightout.com/night-out/
UPDATE: Check out this article from Reuters for more information.
Labels: Did you know?, LIFE - Living and Working in New York City, LIFE - Trying New Things, NEW YORK - Arts/Culture/Entertainment, NEW YORK - Upcoming Activities/Events
Primehouse Steakhouse Burger
Primehouse: Steakhouse Burger
I recently dined at Primehouse with an ex-colleague of mine and he mentioned that their burgers were really good. So, guess what I order? The burger of course. He mentioned he ordered the Bacon & Blue Cheese Burger previously and it was incredible (because of the bacon!). I am not a fan of Blue Cheese and can not imagine it on a burger, so I decide to order the Steakhouse burger. The steakhouse burger is your classic burger with cheese, however, Primehouse likes to dress it up with their seasoned house made steak sauce topped with caramelized onions and mushrooms.
For $15, the Primehouse Steakhouse Burger comes with fries or a side salad and with a variety of cheese selections (gruyere, american, swiss, etc). The burger you see in front of you -- is the Primehouse Steakshouse Burger with Gruyere cheese and a side salad.
Once it arrives to the table, I'm amazed at the "hunk-i-ness" of the burger. Yes, the back-yard thick bbq burgers! I almost immediately reach for a mushroom to taste -- initial reaction -- ooh, salty. That initial taste did not bode well for the rest of the meal. After placing the tomato, the lettuce and the bun on top of the burger -- I had another bite - still salty. The burger and the bun was tasty, but the combination of the mushrooms made the burger just a bit too salty for my liking. I thought about sending it back to the kitchen -- but didn't. If that's how they serve it, that's how they serve it.
So for my round-up review for the burger, a big thumbs down. For $15, I can get a better burger for a third of the price at Shake Shack and the Burger Joint... Or, for a slightly less expensive burger, but same quality, I will go back to one of my favorite burger places in the city -- 5 Napkin Burger!
There is still one burger place I have yet to try -- Minetta Tavern... one of these days, I will meet you there Minetta burger! In the meantime, happy eating!
Labels: FOOD - Burgers, FOOD - FOOD TOUR, PHOTOS - iPhone
Caught my Eye: Ansel Adams Trust Suing Man for Selling Prints from his Garage Sale Purchase
Recall my prior posting of Rick Norsigian who unknowingly bought a box of Ansel Adams negatives for $45 at a garage sale over 10 years ago? and recently realized it may be worth more than $200 million? According to PDN, Rick is currently selling prints and posters from the 65 glass negatives through his web site www.ricknorsigian.com. As a result, Rick is being sued by The Ansel Adams Publishing Trust, which owns the copyright to Ansel Adams' work and trademark. The filed suit is to stop Rick from selling prints made from the negatives and the suit asserts that the following has been violated: trademark infringement, false advertising, false endorsement and violation of Adams' right of publicity.
For more information or to read PDN's article, click here.
Dragon Beard Candy in New York City, Chinatown - 2000 year old Chinese candy for your tasting!
Dragon Beard Candy - oh, how I love thee... :D If you can't tell what "it" is by the picture -- well you would think it looks like a cocoon -- but its not -- its a Chinese candy called Dragon Beard Candy. Dragon beard candy is the Chinese version of cotton candy -- spun sugar made to long beard-like strands that is wrapped around a mixture of crushed peanuts and sesame flavoring, though at times I recall tasting coconut... but I could be wrong. Dragon Beard Candy was said to have been first made for the Chinese emperors more than 2,000 years ago!
It has been a long time since I've seen someone make Dragon Beard Candy and I was fortunate to have come upon this candy maker in Chinatown. Growing up in Los Angeles, I remember seeing Dragon Beard Candy being made at the entrances/exits of Chinese supermarkets and I would always be entranced by it -- not able to remove my eyes from the hands of the dragon beard candy maker. I also remember persuading my family members, though not successful at times, to buy them for me on occasion. But the taste of it made it all the more worthwhile when I had them. Yes, I remember the taste and the consistency of the candy -- with the first touch of it feeling soft; then as it was placed in my mouth -- the sugar strands quickly melted ...and as I begin to chew on the candy it sort of sticks to your back molars -- however, its not as sticky as chewing on salt-water taffy, but the texture of that chewiness is the same... except, with the dragon beard candy, the spun sugar strands, the peanuts, the sesame flavoring -- all of it begins to melt in your mouth at once. Oh, the delicious memory!
So, without saying, I had to buy some to relive my childhood memory and to share it with my non-Chinese friends. For a box of six, it was $3.00 -- and I don't know if this is reasonable or not -- since its the only cart I've seen in New York making and selling it! It was a neat experience witnessing my friends eating it -- for them, the didn't know what to expect -- but they all enjoyed it . . .
Where can you find the Dragon Beard Candy Cart? I found the cart as I was walking east on Canal towards Bowery. The cart was stationed outside of the Citibank, between Elizabeth and Mott Street.
Note: After the candy is made, you have to eat it almost immediately, otherwise, it gets hard. You an try microwaving it when you get home, but I can't guarantee if that works or not!
For more info on Dragon Beard Candy, you can read wikipedia's description of it.
The candy is made by boiling partially solidified sugar or a plain saturated and maltose solution until it just reaches the stage and then leaving it to chill. The resulting solid, which is elastic, is formed into a torus and then repeatedly pulled and folded over, doubling the number of strands after each repetition. While the candy is being folded it is kept covered in toasted glutinous flour, in order to keep the strands from sticking together.
The finished beard is cut up into small pieces and then usually wrapped around crushed peanuts. The candy is to be eaten immediately after manufacture, although it will keep for up to six minutes in heat.
Traditionally the candy is made from sugar and maltose syrup, although recipes based on corn syrup are now used in the United States.
It is common for street vendors of dragon's beard candy to carry out the folding process at their stall, which attracts customers fascinated by the process as much as by a desire to purchase the candy.
If you're curious about how its made, below are two youtube videos created by Peter Pang, each 6 minutes long showing you how Dragon Beard Candy is made. Personally, I would just buy the candy from the candy maker -- but its still neat to watch them make it. For a faster clip, watch the third video posting below - 3 minutes. JUST TURN YOUR MUTE BUTTON ON.
Labels: About Me, AREA - Chinatown, Desserts/Drinks, FOOD - Asian, FOOD - FAVORITES, FOOD - FOOD TOUR
Excellent Pork Chop House in New York Chinatown
Excellent Pork Chop House:
Pork Chop Over Rice
When you're in Chinatown and have to eat fast -- you can be sure to get your food quick at Excellent Pork Chop House -- this restaurant is among my top food places in Chinatown and it has been for many many many many years -- Excellent Pork Chop house serves my comfort food -- and I need comforting! :D
I personally love the pork chop over rice ($5.50). You can add a boiled soy-sauce egg for $0.60, which I do every now and then. What I love about this simple dish is the preserved vegetables and minced pork sauce that is draped over the rice (yes you can ask for more sauce if you'd like)... and the not-so-greasy pan-fried pork chops. The pork chops are usually plentiful for a meal; however, if I'm hungry, I tend to order a side appetizer of dried bean curd ($3.50). If you're adventurous, you can mix the dried bean curd with other small appetizers all for the same price. On this recent trip I mixed the dried bean curd with jelly fish, but you can also mix it with garlic cucumber or seaweed. It all depends on your flavor and desires.
I also recently tried their shaved ice -- yum. They don't have any extravagant toppings -- just the traditional - condensed milk, red bean, taro, tapioca balls, pineapple chunks, black jelly among other things ... I ordered my shaved ice with condensed milk (a definite must), red beans and black jelly ($3.50) and it was good... Simple, but tasty. For additional toppings, its another $0.50. Not bad compared to $5.50 at Just Sweet in LES.
The restaurant has been in New York for a long time and originated from Taiwan (its part of a chain there). So you can expect Taiwanese style pork chops here (not the deep fried that some of my Taiwanese friends enjoy, but the pan-fried ones). However, if you are looking for the deep-fried pork chops, you can try Wah Mei Pork Chop Fast Food on Hester Street between Baxter and Mulberry. I personally am still a fan and an advocate of Excellent Pork Chop House!
Excellent Pork Chop House is located at 3 Doyer Street and is directly across from the post office. Definitely make a stop by this place for its "Excellent Pork Chops" over rice ...
For a look at their menu, click here
Note: Closed on Tuesdays.
Labels: AREA - Chinatown, FOOD - Asian, FOOD - CHEAP EATS, FOOD - FAVORITES, PHOTOS - iPhone
Interesting Article on Homeless People and Debit Cards from the Toronto Star
A friend shared this article with me and it reminded me of a recent incident I had with a homeless person in New York...
As I was waiting at a bus stop, I overhear a man, who appears to be homeless, "grunt" something about wanting food. I had just gone to the fruit market and thought I would share it with this man. It took me a little while to offer it to him because he continued to mumble and grunt on about certain things that were slightly alarming/frightening... However, I finally decided to speak to him. As I offered him my bag of grapes, I asked if he'd like any fruit and the man's response was -- " why would I want your food - I don't know where you got it... you could have picked it out from a trash can and who knows what else your food has touched ... it may kill me! I would rather you give me money so I can buy things that I choose." Needless to say, I was in shock and had no response or comment to offer this man, so I continued to stand there waiting for the bus.
So the article below reminds me of this most recent incident -- and how, perhaps, if you are considering helping a homeless person with their requests -- in lieu of food and "hard" cash, you can offer someone a prepaid card to buy what they need (at least you know they will be using it for a pre-determined purpose). Anyhow, enjoy the article!
Joanne Mitchell, 60, and an acquaintance panhandle at a subway entrance at Union Station.
PHOTO AND STORY BY Jim Rankin/Toronto Star, Jim Rankin Staff Reporter
What would happen if, instead of spare change, you handed a person in need the means to shop for whatever they needed? What would they buy? Can you spare your credit card, sir?
In New York City, an advertising executive recently handed over her American Express Platinum Card to a homeless Manhattan man after he had asked her for change. The man, who had been without home after losing a job, used the card to buy $25 worth of deodorant, water and cigarettes. And then he returned the card.
Concerns over the wisdom of sharing of credits cards and credit card fraud aside, the unlikely encounter became a talking point — a feel-good story about, as the New York Post put it in a headline: "A bum you can trust — honest!"
Is that such a surprise?
Over the past two weeks, I wandered Toronto's downtown core with five prepaid Visa and MasterCard gift cards, in $50 and $75 denominations, waiting for people to ask for money.
When they did, I asked them what they needed. A meal at a restaurant, groceries, a new pair of pants, they said. I handed out the cards and asked that they give them back when they'd finished shopping. I either waited at a coffee shop while they shopped or — in the case of those who could not buy what they needed nearby or were reticent about leaving their panhandling post — I said I'd return on another day to pick up the card. That's when I would reveal that I was a journalist.
Some were unbelieving at first. All were grateful. Some declined the offer. Some who accepted didn't come back, but those that did had stories to tell.
Early afternoon on Queen Street West. A young man with a short orange Mohawk haircut and a Superman tattoo on his left shoulder sat alone on the sidewalk, a skateboard at his side. A song by Michelle Shocked comes to mind, in which she asks: "What's it like to be a skateboard punk rocker?"
Tight.
His panhandling sign read: "Too ugly to prostitute. Spare some change."
I asked him what he needed.
"Food would be nice."
"Can I trust you with this?" I said, handing him a $50 card and telling him to buy what he needs, but that I need it back when he was done. He nodded and scrambled to his feet. He said he would be back in a half-hour.
He came back right on time, slurping from a large McDonald's soft drink cup — root beer — and with sweat on his brow. He wanted to have pork and rice from a Vietnamese noodle joint on Spadina but they wouldn't take the card. So, he scrambled to McDonald's. Lunch was a double quarter-pounder with cheese.
He handed over the gift card, having spent $8.69.
His name is Jason. He's 28, has brown eyes, a wide smile and good teeth. He has been on and off the streets of Toronto since he was 14. He grew up in Northern Ontario. His mother, he said, is a drinker and his dad died last year.
Now, he is homeless, living with friends or at a "secret spot" on the streets, but is waiting on an apartment. "I just got a POA for welfare," he said. That's a promise of address. He wants to get his driver's licence and a job as a courier.
On a good day, he takes in $40 to $50 through panhandling, most of which he spends on communal food for friends. Of his most effective panning signs: "Like Obama, I like change," and "Smile if you masturbate. Spare change if you like it." He carries his belongings in a knapsack — just a bit of clothing and toiletries.
I handed the $50 card back to Jason to spend the rest as he likes. We shook hands and he went back to his spot on Queen.
A man sitting on a suitcase at Bay and King Streets was suspicious of the offer. "Can I buy groceries with it?" he asked. It was peak panhandling time and he did not want to leave his post. "Take care," he said, turning down a $50 card. "But thanks a lot."
This happened a number of times.
Another young man, James, was selling newspapers for the homeless in Yorkville. He said he was living with his sick and jobless father. "Truthfully, I'm okay. I have a roof over my head." He turned down a $75 card.
Mark , who appeared to be in his early 30s and wore his hair in dreads, worked people outside the St. Lawrence Market. He walked up and asked if I could spare change.
"No," I said, as I reached into a pocket, "but I have . . . "
"A million dollars?" he grinned.
Mark said he was hungry for a meal at a restaurant. I gave him a $50 card and he asked if I would come with him. No, I said, go get what you need. I said I was meeting a friend and would be at a nearby coffee shop. He could bring the card back there.
Ninety minutes later, there was no Mark.
A record of the card transactions shows that Mark spent $21.64 on a meal at The Corner Place restaurant at Jarvis and Front Streets. The next day, Mark spent $15.50 at the LCBO.
There was a hot sauce promotion underway outside Union Station. Commuters grabbed two free bottles at a time. The vast majority walked past the panhandlers without a word.
"I need pants," said Joanne, who squatted at the entrance to the subway, her right arm in a sling. But, no, she wouldn't have time to leave her post to buy them and get back to hand over the $75 card I offered. I left it with her and said I would come back another day. She thanked me and smiled.
Same deal with Al, who stood around the corner, holding a sign that read "Hungry and Homeless." He said he needed jeans and shoes. "Thank you kindly," he said, taking a $50 card. "I'll be here."
Despite a few visits, I didn't see Al again.
At time of writing, it had not been used.
A few days later, Joanne was back at her spot, looking rougher. She had a cough. She was panhandling with an acquaintance, a man who had appeared with a can of beer and poured half into her paper cup.
Joanne appeared sober. She remembered me. She had doubts the card was legit. An ex-boyfriend, she said, stole it. She hadn't seen a penny of it, which her friend confirmed. "I couldn't fight him," said Joanne, lifting her broken arm.
A history of transactions on that card shows it was used nine times over two consecutive days for purchases at McDonald's and the LCBO.
Joanne Mitchell is her full name. She's 60, has one daughter and seven grandchildren, who she seldom sees. She worked for Bell Canada as a service rep but got "fed up." She's been panhandling on and off for 10 years and lives in subsidized housing. She broke her arm June 25 while trying to hang a picture and has been losing weight ever since. She was down to about 115 pounds, she said.
Joanne owned two pairs of pants. The pair she was wearing, green capris, were dirty and damp. "We could have done a lot with the money," said her acquaintance. "Could have also bought some groceries with that."
I promised I would be back another day with another card, to spend as she wished.
"I've been looking for you," said Laurie, smiling. I'd left her with a $75 card a few days earlier at her spot outside the south entrance to the Eaton Centre. She's there most afternoons, in her motorized wheelchair.
"Here's your card," she said, pulling it from her wallet.
She bought groceries that would keep her diabetes under control. She put $15 on a pay-as-you-go cellphone. She confessed to buying cigarettes. She usually rolls her own but treated herself. She did all of her shopping at a gas station convenience store, spending all but 39 cents
I explained myself.
"I've been wondering when a reporter might find me," she said, bright green eyes sparkling behind bifocal glasses.
Laurie, 44, is living on the streets in the west-end and couch surfing with friends, including her ex-husband. In addition to diabetes, she takes medication for manic depression and has been diagnosed as having fibromyalgia. She must use the chair to get around and takes about 30 pills a day. She's on a list to get into a co-op.
She has two daughters in university. One hopes to be a doctor, the other something to do with math. On a good panhandling day, Laurie will spend money in an Internet café and Skype with her girls. On a "super-duper" good day, she'll book herself into a cheap motel and watch TV.
Each morning, she works on her resume and sends it out to prospective employers. She has computer programming skills and can type "95 words a minute, at 98 per cent accuracy," she said.
Her last job was about 10 years ago. Before she had to start using a chair to get around. She was a waitress at a greasy spoon in King Street. Since then, she has lived off benefits.
In March, she said, she slipped into a diabetic coma, and had it not been for her ex-husband who found her and called 911, she probably would be dead.
"I'm a very positive person and things can always be worse," she said. And then she quoted a line from Joni Mitchell's song, Big Yellow Taxi: "Don't it always seem to go," said Laurie, "you don't know what you got 'til it's gone."
How the cards were used
Card 1: $50, handed to Jason. Spends $8.69 at McDonald's. Returns card.
Card 2: $50, to Mark. Spends $21.64 at The Corner Place restaurant. Doesn't return. Later spends $15.50 at the LCBO.
Card 3: $75, to Joanne. Card is stolen. Over two days, $24.95 spent at McDonald's, $38.35 at the LCBO.
Card 4: $50, to Al. Card unreturned. Balance remains at $50
Card 5: $75. Laurie buys $74.61 worth of food, phone minutes and cigarettes at a gas station convenience store. Returns card.
Labels: Interesting Finds, LIFE: Random Musings
Positive Feedback from my Mapo Tofu Blog Posting
Photos: Courtesy of Frank
One of my college friends decided to try my recipe for Mapo Tofu... and attached in this post are his pictures and his comments. Good to see that people are improvising with the recipe and making it their own dishes -- guess what? that's what cooking is all about! making the recipe your own and tailoring it to your taste! and guess what? it totally works! Thanks Frank for sharing -- it brought a BIG smile to my face!
For the recipe, check out my past posting -- Mapo Tofu and Chinese Long String Beans
I wish I could attach a flavor to this email but we are not quite there yet. I have to say it was quite delicious.
I was surprised to find the Chinese string beans at a local Ralphs market!
I had to substitute Sriracha for the hot pepper paste and Sake rice wine for the Michiu cooking wine, but it worked out well.
I was cooking in only one pan and the green beans with the sake rice wine deglazed the pan from the good pork bits which worked out pretty great.
Labels: FOOD - What Should I Cook?
Happenings in NYC: John Legend performing at Grand Central Today!
Just read on the NYTimes that John Legend will be performing in Grand Central today at noon.
Don't know who he is? Here is a sampling of his songs... I just discovered this song that he did in late 2009....
However, one of my all-time favorite song from him is -- Save Room ...
and another good one is "Ordinary People"
Labels: LIFE - Living and Working in New York City, NEW YORK - Upcoming Activities/Events, Video
Who Let the Dog Out! Woof woof!
Dog waiting for his owner at bread and butter!
update: now looking at the dog photo - kind of looks a bit weird... head is so elongated!
Labels: PHOTOS - iPhone, PHOTOS - Photo of the Day
Article from the Onion: 8.4 Million New Yorkers Suddenly Realize New York City A Horrible Place To Live
September 2, 2010 | ISSUE 46•35
Photo from the Onion
NEW YORK—At 4:32 p.m. Tuesday, every single resident of New York City decided to evacuate the famed metropolis, having realized it was nothing more than a massive, trash-ridden hellhole that slowly sucks the life out of every one of its inhabitants.
With audible murmurs of "This is no way to live," "What the hell am I doing here—I hate it here," and "Fuck this place. Fuck this horrible place," all 8.4 million citizens in each of the five boroughs packed up their belongings and told reporters they would rather blow their brains out with a shotgun than spend another waking moment in this festering cesspool of filth and scum and sadness.
By 5:15 p.m. there was gridlock traffic on the outbound sides of the Holland and Lincoln tunnels, and the area's three major airports were flooded with New Yorkers, all of whom said they wanted to go anyplace where the pressure of 20 million tons of concrete wasn't constantly suffocating them.
"I always had this perverted sense of pride because I was managing to scrape by here," said Brooklyn resident Andrew McQuade, who, after watching two subway rats gnawing on a third bloody rat carcass, finally determined that New York City was a giant sprawling cancer. "Well, fuck that. I don't need to pay $2,000 a month to share a doghouse-sized apartment with some random Craigslist dipshit to prove my worth. I want to live like a goddamn human being."
"You see this?" added McQuade, pointing at a real estate listing for a duplex in Hagerstown, MD. "Two bedrooms, two baths, a den—a fucking den—and a patio. Twelve hundred a month. That's total, not per person."
According to residents, the mass exodus was triggered by a number of normal, everyday New York City events. For Erin Caldwell of Manhattan, an endlessly honking car horn sent her over the edge, causing her to go into a blind rage and scream "shut up!" at the vehicle as loud as she could until her voice went hoarse; for Danny Tremba of Queens it was being cursed at for walking too slow; and for Paul Ogden, also of Queens, it was his overreaction to somebody walking too slow.
Other incidents that prompted citizens to pick up and leave included the sight of garbage bags stacked 5 feet high on the sidewalk; the realization that being alone among millions of anonymous people is actually quite horrifying; a blaring siren that droned on and fucking on; muddy, refuse-filled puddles that have inexplicably not dried in three years; the thought of growing into a person whose meanness and cynicism is cloaked in a kind of holier-than-thou brand of sarcasm that the rest of the world finds nauseating; and all the goddamn people.
In addition, 3 million New Yorkers reportedly left the city because they realized the phrase "Only in New York" is actually just a defense mechanism used to convince themselves that seeing a naked man take a shit on a park bench is somehow endearing, or part of some shared cultural experience.
"I was sitting on my stoop, drinking coffee, and out of nowhere this crazy-looking woman just starts screaming, 'I am inside all of you,' over and over," Bronx resident Sarah Perez, 37, said. "Then, we both had this moment where we looked at each other and realized, okay, we have to get out of here."
"This place sucks," Manhattan resident Woody Allen, 74, told reporters. "It just fucking sucks."
When fleeing New Yorkers were asked if they would miss the city's iconic landmarks, most responded that Central Park is just a pathetic excuse for experiencing actual nature, that the Brooklyn Bridge is great but it's just a fucking bridge, that nobody goes to the Met anyway, and that living in a dingy, grime-caked apartment while exhaust fumes from an idling truck seep through your bedroom window isn't worth slightly bigger bagels.
"This is no place to raise a kid, that's for sure," said 32-year-old Brandon Rushing, a lifelong New Yorker. "I grew up here and I turned into a giant asshole. Why would I want that for my son?"
"Plus, we're the place most likely to get nuked by a dirty bomb in a terrorist attack," he added. "So that's great. Also, it smells like shit here, and I'm not exaggerating. You'll just be walking around and it starts smelling like human shit, and it just fills your nostrils and you breathe in shit for like 20 seconds."
Before departing by private helicopter, Mayor Michael Bloomberg spoke with members of the media to address the situation.
"You know what the greatest city in the world is?" Bloomberg asked reporters. "Scottsdale, Arizona. It's clean, it's not too big, it's got a couple streets with shops and restaurants, and the people there aren't fucking insane. This place is fucking insane. And by the way, that's not a reason to like it. Anyone who says that is a delusional dirtbag."
By Tuesday night, New York was completely abandoned. At press time, however, some 10 million Los Angeles–area residents, tired of their self-centered, laid-back culture and lack of four distinct seasons, and yearning for the hustle and bustle of East Coast life, had already begun repopulating the city
Labels: LIFE - Living and Working in New York City
After a day of football, just need some relaxation in the sun!
Labels: LIFE - Living and Working in New York City, PHOTOS - iPhone, PHOTOS - Photo of the Day
The Chicken Craze in New York City - Hill Country ...
Sept. 14 - Malaysian Street Fair from 6:30 - 10:00...
Photo of the Day: Remembering September 11 and a S...
New York Fashion Night Out 2010 -- Part of a Globa...
Caught my Eye: Ansel Adams Trust Suing Man for Se...
Dragon Beard Candy in New York City, Chinatown - 2...
Interesting Article on Homeless People and Debit C...
Happenings in NYC: John Legend performing at Gran...
Article from the Onion: 8.4 Million New Yorkers S...
After a day of football, just need some relaxation...


Call Garage Door Repair Buffalo today to consult our professional technicians about any related issue you might have. Whether it's an emergency, a general inquiry or you want to schedule a service appointment, we're here to provide you with the best information and results.
You can also use our online scheduling system.


Our goal at Cayce Exterminating is to please every one of our customers with superior pest control and customer service. Below are a few testimonials from our customers.
I also want to give a shout-out to the guys who did the work yesterday. I received a call from one of them, whose name I am embarrassed to say I did not catch, to tell me that he had found a (MY) wedding band under some leaves in the crawlspace as they were working. In all my excursions under the house in November and December, at some point the ring had come off my hand and I had absolutely no idea where I had lost it. I tore up the house, my office, and our cars looking for it. Looked all around our yard several times, as well as where I park at work. Searched the crawlspace a couple times. I had pretty much given up on it. So, I want to send a huge thank you to them for calling me and returning the ring!
Dear Mr. Day - I have been very satisfied with the services I have received from your company for more than three decades. All of the members of your service staff have been exceptional and I commend them all, past and present. This note to you is intended to identify one in particular, Scott Stalions. His commitment to excellence is special. As your representative, he excels. Please commend him personally.
Cayce Exterminating Company came out to my home to spray for the first time. They were on time and very polite in explaining where they were going to spray in my house. I am an expecting mother and they worked with me, to not spray in any of the rooms just the surrounding areas. I am very thankful that I used Cayce Exterminating and would recommend them to anyone that needs a caring exterminating company.
Cayce Exterminating made my whole experience fantastic. Brett Van Horn is professional and his staff quickly got my mosquito service scheduled and done. Caroline took care of all the scheduling and I easily got set up on the website to view all my account information. Lastly, but very important was Mitch, who serviced my yard. Quick and efficient. I feel very protected and well taken care of and recommend Cayce Exterminating to anyone who loves the outdoors without the pests. I am enjoying every minute I can in the backyard. Thanks Brett.
For a number of years, Cayce has performed our annual termite inspection and recently recommended the installation of a french drain and sump pump to alleviate ongoing moisture problems. Marvin Johnson and his co-worker Jimmy arrived promptly on the date agreed and worked diligently to get the job done. I particularly appreciated Marvin's years of experience and his willingness to answer my questions. The french drain is working well. I am happy with Cayce's work and consistently impressed with their employees.
A huge Thank You to Ashley for going out of her way to schedule me as soon as possible. She was a huge help.
The mosquito treatments are the best service that you have ever added.
Just wanted to say a big Thanks to Rick Williams for making the special effort to find out where the ants were coming from that were getting into my home -- into my cats food! That type of service is what makes Cayce Exterminating Company the one to have.
Today, Marvin Johnson and his co-worker Jimmy completed the work at our house in Irmo and I just wanted to say that I am happy with the results and very appreciative of their efforts. They worked steadily to complete the job in a timely way and were gracious to answer any questions I had about the installation. I recognize the value of Marvin's expertise and am impressed with the quality of your employees.
Rick Williams is a fine young man. He really went out of his way to treat the house properly. He did an excellent job.
I just want you to know your guys are a wonderful team! My parents are the ones that are there for me because we work and she always has such nice things to say about them being so accommodating and friendly. My Mom just texted me and Perry Cate was our service man today. She said he is so courteous and works well with people. She said it's a joy to have such nice people out there with such little customer service everywhere else. They should all take a cue from all you guys! Thank you, and Happy Thanksgiving!
I wanted to take a minute to let you know how pleased we are with the service of the men who came to our house to install a sump pump and French drains under our house. They were always prompt and courteous. Everything was done as expected and agreed upon. Thank you!
Long story short, we called you guys and the guy you sent was great. He was polite, personable, answered my stupid questions, and explained what and why he was doing what he was doing. We should have called you a long time ago. I forgot his name, but if that guy is any representation of your company, then you are doing something right. Thank him again for me.
Serviceman Will just left my home after completing a quarterly treatment. This was his first time here and I am very pleased to have had him. He was prompt and extremely polite. I appreciated his putting on shoe covers before coming inside and was impressed with some extras that I don't think were done before. He actually cleaned cobwebs from around the outside windows! Thank you for sending such a nice and competent young man. I hope he will be the person to come each time.
I have used Cayce Exterminating for both pest control and termites for several years now. The only bugs I see have their feet in the air. I like it. Everyone I have interacted with at Cayce Exterminating are friendly, helpful and professional. I would highly recommend them for their great service.
I was very pleased with the service and the results. Also, I want to thank Mr. Day for contacting me quickly when I went on the BBB to inquire about the service. I contacted about 4 other exterminating companies, and Mr. Day was the first to reply. Two didn't reply at all. Customer service is VERY important to me and your company has excellent customer service.
I just wanted to say thanks to Mike for doing such a great job on the inspections. On the last inspection he was able to catch problems missed by the inspector, which could have cost my client a lot of money. This is about the 4th time I have used him for the cl100 and just wanted to let you all know we appreciate his hard work!
Cayce Exterminating has over 50 years of experience providing the Best Pest Control in Columbia SC, Cayce SC, West Columbia SC, Lexington SC, Gaston SC, Gilbert SC, Batesburg-Leesville SC, Irmo SC, Chapin SC, Blythewood SC, Elgin SC, Lugoff SC, Camden SC, Fort Jackson SC, Springfield SC, North SC, St Matthews SC, Wagener SC, Prosperity SC, Little Mountain SC, Swansea SC, Richland County, Lexington County, Kershaw County, Orangeburg County and surrounding areas.


text:
This New Report Explains Exactly How the Afghan Economy Will Fall Apart
Alex Park
A staff sergeant from the Alaskan National Guard stands guard as workers build a bazaar in KandaharUS Air Force
When then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld toured a reconstruction center in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, in 2004, he was gushing with optimism. "It is so clear that the Afghan people are winning the struggle to rebuild this nation," he said. That hope is now basically dead. Last week, the Special Investigator General for the Afghan Reconstruction (SIGAR) issued a report that explains exactly how Afghanistan's economy will fall apart in the next few years. The reasons are easy to understand: Western powers came to the country and built a lot of infrastructure. Now coalition forces are leaving, and Afghanistan has to figure out how to maintain everything the westerners built. With foreign funds drying up, that'll be a tall order.
In 2013, the Afghan government collected $2 billion internally, but it spent $5.4 billion. "In other words," SIGAR notes, "domestic revenue covered only 37% of the total budget." The 2014 budget of $7.6 billion plans for even more spending than last year. But Afghanistan's government expects to pay for just $2.8 billion of that with its own money.
Afghanistan, like any other debt-burdened nation in the world, can make the imbalance work as long as it has another, external source of funds. But donors are starting to temper their support, and the security, social services, and infrastructure maintenance costs are increasing rapidly. (You can read Mother Jones' list of Afghan infrastructure disasters from last year here.)
More money will be hard for Afghanistan to come by on its own. There's some mineral development in the works, but it'll be decades before it reaches its true potential, SIGAR says. Licit exports only amounted to a $376 million, or about $8.20 per person, in 2012, according to the CIA World Factbook. (The CIA names "small-scale production of bricks" and "handwoven carpets" among the country's top industries.)
Afghanistan's one lucrative export is illegal everywhere. Last year, Afghanistan's opium industry was worth an estimated $3 billion, despite the billions the US has spent trying to stamp it out.
"Without donor contributions," SIGAR argues, "the Afghan government will not be able to meet most of its operating or development expenditures." Citing an IMF report, SIGAR says the gap between domestic revenue and expenses will average $7.7 billion every year through 2018.
So who's fault is this mess? SIGAR lays much of the blame at the feet of the United States and other countries that built Afghanistan's infrastructure in the first place. "Each new development project that the United States and other international donors fund increases the country's O&M [operation and maintenance] costs, adding pressure to Afghanistan's operating budget," the report states, adding that the US and other other governments should have had a plan for how to pay for their projects' maintenance, knowing they'd eventually have to leave.
"Much of the more than $104 billion the United States has committed to reconstruction projects and programs risks being wasted," the report adds, "because the Afghans cannot sustain the investment without massive continued donor support."
7 Ways Afghanistan Is a Total Mess
We Spent Millions so Afghans Could Film Live Sports With Headless Goat Carcasses—And Screwed It Up
We Spent $7.6 Billion to Crush the Afghan Opium Trade—and It's Doing Better Than Ever
The US Has Given Over 465,000 Small Arms to Afghanistan. Where the Hell Are They?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Q: Cannot use memoryReservation in Terraform ECS provider I am running tests where it is not desirable for my containers to have hard memory limits as I programatically swapping the vms for bigger sized ones and need the containers to be able to leverage the increment in CPU and memory automatically.
I want to explore memoryReservation as it is softlimit and will allows the containers scale up, if the memory of the VM is not low.
Unfortunately, this parameter does not seem to work in the task definition. Any ideas?
Task definition:
resource "aws_ecs_task_definition" "quorum" {
  family                   = "quorum-${var.consensus_mechanism}-${var.tx_privacy_engine}-${var.network_name}"
  container_definitions    = "${replace(element(compact(local.container_definitions), 0), "/\"(true|false|[0-9]+)\"/", "$1")}"
  requires_compatibilities = ["${var.ecs_mode}"]
  # cpu                      = "4096"
  # memory                   = "81920"
  memoryReservation        = "8192"
  network_mode             = "${var.ecs_network_mode}"
  task_role_arn            = "${aws_iam_role.ecs_task.arn}"
  execution_role_arn       = "${aws_iam_role.ecs_task.arn}"

  volume {
    name = "${local.shared_volume_name}"
  }

  volume {
    name      = "docker_socket"
    host_path = "/var/run/docker.sock"
  }

}

Error:
[FINAL] Summary execution:
Wrote summarry output to:  .mjolnir//output.log
2 errors occurred:
        * aws_ecs_service.quorum: 5 errors occurred:
        * aws_ecs_service.quorum[3]: Resource 'aws_ecs_task_definition.quorum' not found for variable 'aws_ecs_task_definition.quorum.revision'
        * aws_ecs_service.quorum[0]: Resource 'aws_ecs_task_definition.quorum' not found for variable 'aws_ecs_task_definition.quorum.revision'
        * aws_ecs_service.quorum[4]: Resource 'aws_ecs_task_definition.quorum' not found for variable 'aws_ecs_task_definition.quorum.revision'
        * aws_ecs_service.quorum[2]: Resource 'aws_ecs_task_definition.quorum' not found for variable 'aws_ecs_task_definition.quorum.revision'
        * aws_ecs_service.quorum[1]: Resource 'aws_ecs_task_definition.quorum' not found for variable 'aws_ecs_task_definition.quorum.revision'

        * output._status: Resource 'aws_ecs_task_definition.quorum' not found for variable 'aws_ecs_task_definition.quorum.revision'

Restoring env variables.

Error occured: 4

I will be deeply appreciative of pointers

A: ECS task definitions are made up of a multiple of container definitions with some extra parameters that can set hard limits for the whole task and also set things like placement constraints and networking configuration.
To set the memory soft limit that a task is allowed to use in ECS rather than the hard limit you need to use memoryReservation from the container definition rather than the task definition.
The code in your question doesn't show how you are defining the container definitions in your local but a basic example of setting soft memory limits in an ECS task would look something like this:
resource "aws_ecs_task_definition" "service" {
  family                = "service"
  container_definitions = <<EOF
[
  {
    "name": "first",
    "image": "service-first",
    "cpu": 10,
    "memoryReservation": 512,
    "essential": true,
    "portMappings": [
      {
        "containerPort": 80,
        "hostPort": 80
      }
    ]
  },
  {
    "name": "second",
    "image": "service-second",
    "cpu": 10,
    "memoryReservation": 256,
    "essential": true,
    "portMappings": [
      {
        "containerPort": 443,
        "hostPort": 443
      }
    ]
  }
]
EOF
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Since no one started a season thread until about March last year, and the season is now upon us, I have taken it upon myself.
SCSU has typically not played their best hockey in the opening weeks of the season, but it looks like they should be a heavy favorite in this one. Bemidji lost half their scoring from last season and they didn't have much to lose. Walsh is a solid goalie and they bring back some solid defensemen, but BSU is picked to finish in the bottom half of the remodeled WCHA. Anything less than a sweep would be a disappointment.
It should be an interesting lid-lifter. Conference championship banner unfurled and Craig Dahl's induction into the SCSU Athletic Hall of Fame on Friday. Alumni night on Saturday. Would like to go to one of the games, but will probably end up watching the internet stream.
Craig Dahl's induction into the SCSU Athletic Hall of Fame on Friday.
Yes, he will be there. I still don't understand the hate from some of our fanbase towards Craig Dahl. The guy put together the best teams in the history of the program in 2000-01 and 2001-02 and did a pretty good job of building this program into one that could contend for a conference title every other year. Even though his teams never got to the Frozen Four, they had more success than the entire history of 15-20 other programs in Division I. I think because it got so bad at the end people remember that more than how fun those late 90's-early 00's teams were to watch.
We really don't need to go down the road agan for the 5,000th time why people did or didn't like Craig Dahl. My guess is he is pretty happy how his life turned out post coaching SCSU.
As for this season it would help a ton if they can get two wins this weekend. It would be quite the buzz kill losing a game to BSU tonight after the hoopla around the re-opening of the Brooks Center. I will be watching online. Hopefully the Huskies Lick the Beavers good tonight.
The game will be on charter 426 (SD) and on 823 (HD) and apparently also available on Comcast channel 999 for anyone that may be interested.
The curse of the Llama!
Time to move on from hatred of Craig Dahl. He took us to one level, Bob got us to the next. Hopefully Bob's work isn't done. Arena looks stellar!
I thought St. Cloud played an alright game last night. It seemed like they let up a little bit after going up 2-0. Walsh did an excellent job in net for Bemidji. St. Cloud could have easily had 5 or 6 goals based on the chances they got, but Walsh made some great stops and we missed the net a couple times. Benik looked excellent out there.
Did anybody else have a problem with the internet feed? Mine was buffering a lot, and I don't think it was on my end.
There were all sorts of problems last night. The first of which was the fact that they didn't bother doing a sound check before the big ceremony started. I heard about half of what Miss Brooks said as well as the NCHC commissioner's speech. If Coach Dahl or Chuck said anything, I couldn't hear it. VERY bush league.
The Huskies were a ball of fire in the 1st period, then let up a little in the 2nd...but showed they're a step ahead of the Beavers in the 3rd. BSU was visibly gassed halfway through the 3rd and it was just a matter of time before St. Cloud put them away for good. I wish Joey had been a little more selfish and taken the wide-open hat trick instead of making it interesting down the stretch.
It was great sitting in my Minneapolis home able to watch the SCSU Sports Network in HD. Thanks SCSU. Comcast Event Channel 999. Still not quite as good as being there in person!
Dam you Comcast! I couldn't get a visual of the game. Was able to hear the stories, then Mr. threw a fit and I had to turn on baseball.
Mine was too and my speed was between 130-150 the whole time. I hope they fix that because the picture was way better this year. I am assuming that is the HD.
St. Cloud kinda got out of their game early and BSU took advantage of a couple screens to put us in a hole early. They showed a lot of balls coming back to take it to OT and then lose in our very first shootout (which was just for fun anyway).
I've never been a huge Gravel fan...but that guy was just plain solid this weekend. He looked great. Dowd and Benik are studs. Jonny Bravo was kinda invisible...he had a couple assists, but he didn't stand out like the other big names.
Thought the Huskies looked pretty good for a team playing their first weekend of hockey. Some obvious early season rust in a few spots but overall pretty strong performance. BSU goalie (Walsh) was great Saturday night.
The guys have to work on hitting the net with their shots. We had a huge shot total at the end of Saturday's game but we also had a huge number of attempted shots go well wide. I think coach made a comment about that in one of the post game interviews so I'm sure it will be something they will be stressing to the team during the way too soon week off.
No one cares. Go cheer on the October champions in their thread, loser.
No one cares. Go cheer on the October champions in their thread, loser..
Wow, resorting to personal attacks after one post. I think that's a new record for you, Tipsy. Despite your cruel, cutting words, I wanted you to know that it was a joke. In fact I'll be cheering for SCSU with the Minnesota Cup weekend being. The exception of course.The more success that Minnesota college hockey teams have, the better. But then again I know you don't care.
And by the way, Tipsy, I think you are a winner!


text:
Q: How should this equation be read, $|z+1+3i|=|z-5-7i|$ $$|z+1+3i|=|z-5-7i|$$
$z$ represents a complex number right? Then if
$$|z+1+3i|=0$$
$${\implies}|z|=|-1-3i|$$
In which sense does this
$$|z+1+3i|=|z-5-7i|$$
imply,
$$\implies|-4-4i|$$
But $z$ has vanished, which begs the question what is the point of including $z$ at all?
I know I'm getting something wrong, but what? Regards Tom

A: It has nothing to see with $\lvert z+1+3\mathrm i\rvert=0$. Geometrically, the equation means the image of $z$ is at the same distance from the image $A$ of $-1-3\mathrm i$ as from the image $B$ of $5+7\mathrm i$.
The locus of such points is the midperpendicular of $[AB]$; the midpoint of  $[AB]$ is the point with affix $\frac12(4+4\mathrm i)$.
Now the line $(AB)$ is directed by the vector $(3,5)$, hence perpendicular is directed by the vector $(-5,3)$, with affix $-5+3\mathrm i$. A point of the midperpendicular is $(2,2)+t(-5,3)(2-5t,2+3t),\enspace t\in\mathbf R$.
Thus the solutions are:
$$z=2-5t+(2+3t)\mathrm i.$$

A: The notation should be interpreted as magnitude, not absolute value signs.
If we let $z$, the complex number, be represented as $z = a + bi$, we can then say that:
$$\left|a+1 + i(b+ 3)\right| = \sqrt{(a+1)^2 + (b+3)^2}$$
and that:
$$\left|a-5 + i(b-7)\right| = \sqrt{(a-5)^2 + (b-7)^2}$$
Setting them equal to one another, we get that:
$$\sqrt{(a+1)^2 + (b+3)^2} = \sqrt{(a-5)^2 + (b-7)^2}$$
$$(a+1)^2 + (b+3)^2 = (a-5)^2 + (b-7)^2 $$
$$a^2 + 2a + 1 + b^2 + 6b + 9 = a^2 - 10a + 25 + b^2 -14b + 49$$
$$12a + 20b = 64,\ 3a + 5b = 16$$
One  possible solution is $a = -3$, $b = 5$. You can derive a set of solutions that satisfy this condition using the Euclidean Algorithm.
Therefore, $z$ can be: $z = -3 + 5i$


A Way Out Bail Bonds offers cash rewards for info leading to the arrest of any fugitive. Fugitives pose a serious threat to the public. Fugitives have to keep breaking the law because of their fugitive status. They aren't able to get an honest job. A fugitive usually gets money by committing more crimes. A fugitive also undermines the justice system. They may have been released on bail and then fled to avoid prosecution. They may have escaped from jail or prison. When a fugitive flees, the bail bondsman loses money. This eventually costs the friend or family member who signed the bond. Cases are not adjudicated. Convicted criminals fail to meet their obligations. Crime victims are denied justice. A Way Out Bail Bonds takes becoming a fugitive very serious. Call us if you have any info on any of the fugitives we've posted. We can arrange a confidential reward for you. If you don't want to call us, email us. All tips are anonymous. Any fugitive should be considered armed and dangerous. Do not attempt to apprehend.
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The 65mm x 44mm Treated Pine Handrail is a staircase component ideal for creating external staircases and balustrading. Made from LOSP treated pine, it is hard wearing in harsh Australian conditions, can be painted in your chosen finish. The elegant, rounded and moulded design ensures comfort and a secure fit for balusters.


The relationships between culture and power that I come across during my filed trip are that the real estate development in Coffs harbor is largely restricted by the local council and aboriginal community.
Recently, the economic situation in Coffs is terrible. Employment rate in this harbor is not the best in NSW. More over, some improvements have been made over the years but still a lot of young people from Coffs prefer to move to other city hunting for jobs. The research was based on three Harbors. During the filed trip, we went to one of the famous tourism attraction that is Coffs harbor jetty, Mutton bird island jetty bridge and Jetty Street. These are among the most attractive sites. They are the three main locations that attract people. During the field trip, I found that there is not any motel located in the jetty area. The only place that accept travelers are the Yha hostel. Despite attracting people, they open for backpacker. Most of the motel and resort are set up in the city center and park beach. This makes Jetty beach more attractive to the local resident and the national and the international travelers who are either staying in the city or the resort far away from the city center. There also exist strong power struggles between the local indigenous community, and the housing development investors, as a lot of recent development proposal around jetty are rejected by the local aboriginal community.
The indigenous culture has a significant influence in Coffs harbor. Most of them prefer to keep Coffs harbor as the way it is, they do not want to say some substantial development to make it became another international travel hotspot. The majority of the redevelopment proposals within jetty and Coffs area is rejected. For example, there has been a debate that we should cut down the bush land in between jetty for shore and the beach. This was to make the area more attractive and get a clear view of the ocean .On the other hand; other people think that clearing these bushes will cause floods to run over the jetty damaging local business.
A big airport at the harbors was another main project that had been proposed. This port was to serve the purpose of transporting people from the overseas without having to change flights .This project was also rejected by the local aboriginal with the reason being that they did not want to cut down trees for the creation of place to build the port. These acts have raised many questions amongst many people (Danaher, 2000). Many wonder whether tourism benefits are for all or for the minority groups in cities where the well doing business is tourism. The official version of things is that they are' working in our interests, and taking care of us.
The investors feel powerless; a lot of the local businesses are struggling to survive since the last Coffs rally that was held in the last year. This rally aimed at boosting the local economy, but it lastly got to disappoint many due to the lack of proper management that existed between its leaders. According to the research done by Dr Arianne Rei, ``There was a degree of disappointment directed towards the organizers of the Rally as many of the businesses did not think the amount of people expected to come eventuated." also with the recent successful of port Macquarie and Byron bay on tourism are slowly putting Coffs harbor out of business, believe if the council wants to keep Coffs harbor as tourism city then some change of policy is required.


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text:
Dirt Roadbarry Mac
Dirt Road Barry Mac Miller
Dirt Road Barry Maclean
We have said it before, and we say it now: DiRT Rally 2.0 Mac OS is the best rally game for Mac ever made. Our team worked very hard to open a macOS port for this game as soon as possible. Now, only one month after its official release we are proud to present the DiRT Rally 2.0 for Mac version, 100% FREE. From now it's very easy to enjoy this game on your Macbook/iMac. You don't need to use windows emulators or virtual machines! Just download the .dmg file and install the game. Because this is the DELUXE EDITION you will get extra content (cars and tracks) and also the two major patches released.
This title follows the success of its predecessor, DiRT Rally Mac OS. This game has been constantly the most downloaded game for almost one month. We can say that DiRT Rally 2.0 for Mac is even better because there are a few new features introduced, besides the better graphics and the improved handling mechanics. Download now this great racing game for Mac and enjoy a real rally experience!
Try also: DiRT Rally for Mac
In DiRT Rally 2.0, the realism is at the highest level. If you download and play this rally game you will be convinced that this is closer to reality than any other ever released. The damage system has been improved and now you must take more care of your car because every single crash will have an impact on something. Also, the weather system has been changed. The grip and the visibility are the most affected by this change and you must adapt your vehicle for the extreme conditions. Also, the tracks will start to break up, so you must be careful about how you drive. DiRT Rally 2.0 Mac OS requires a high level of concentration, it's not like the other racing games. This is one of the best and original features of this game.
Sells women's clothing, accessories, and jewelry. Choosing a selection results in a full page refresh; press the space key then arrow keys to make a selection.
Mar 28, 2019 Important information regarding DiRT 4: The game is supported on the following Macs. To check your Mac model and when it was released, select About This Mac from the Apple Menu on your desktop:. All 13' MacBook Pros released since 2016. All 15' MacBook Pros released since Mid 2012 with a 1GB graphics card or better.
Learn about these low-tech solutions for road maintenance on your dirt road. Most of the time, living on a country road feels almost like heaven, as John Denver sang. But when your darling dirt road turns to mud soup after a rain or your ditches overflow into your fields, living on a country road can feel more like being stuck in purgatory.
An Amazon Best Book of September 2018:: By most measures, Barry Cohen has achieved the American Dream.He manages a hedge fund with $2.4 billion in assets. He lives in Tribeca and has a beautiful wife. Teenagers, 18 and 19, are arrested after a man was stabbed to death outside Cardiff University. Police have launched a murder probe following the alleged knife attack.
You have fifty cars to choose from, each with its configuration. Make sure you find the right one for every event. Some of the tracks are fictional but the majority are real or reality inspired locations. This is another great feature for the rally fans. DiRT Rally 2.0 for Mac is waiting for you to become the champion, right from your Macbook/iMac. Download it now and enjoy it!
DiRT Rally 2.0 Mac OS – Minimum System Requirements
AMD FX4300 / Intel Core i3 2130
CPU Speed:
Video Card:
AMD HD7750 / NVIDIA GTX650Ti
HDD Space:
NOTE: This game is FREE TO DOWNLOAD, but to get access to this game you need to create a FREE account (more details on the download page). In this way, you can download all the DLC packs for this game and a lot more games and software for your Macbook/iMac.
DiRT 4 (2019)
Motorsport by its very nature is dangerous. DiRT 4 is all about embracing that danger. It's about the thrill, exhilaration and adrenaline that is absolutely vital to off-road racing. And more than that, it's about loving that feeling. It's about pushing flat out next to a sheer cliff drop. Going for the gap that's slightly too small. Seeing how much air you can get in a truck. They call it 'being fearless'.
DiRT 4 also features a game-changing system called Your Stage; an innovative rally route creation tool that allows you to produce an almost-infinite number of unique stages at the press of a button. You choose your location and set the route parameters, then Your Stage does the hard work to create a unique rally stage that you can race, share with your friends and then challenge them to beat your time. Your Stage allows experienced rally players to create longer, more technical routes, whilst newcomers can create simpler shorter routes as they hone their skills.
With DiRT 4, Codemasters have sought to combine the levels of thrill and realism from last year's DiRT Rally with the fearless excitement, accessibility and adrenaline-fuelled races previously seen in its critically acclaimed prequels DiRT 2 and DiRT 3.
Featuring classic rally racing that continues to build on the foundations set by the Colin McRae Rally games, the bruising contests from the official FIA World Rallycross Championship, the crazy battles of racing trucks and buggies, and the outrageous fun of open events in Joyride, players will face challenges from locations that span three continents.
OVER 50 OF THE MOST BREATH-TAKING OFF-ROAD CARS EVER BUILT – Including Ford Fiesta R5, Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI, Subaru WRX STI NR4 and Audi Sport quattro S1 E2
5 INCREDIBLE RALLY LOCATIONS WITH MILLIONS OF ROUTES – Australia, Spain, Michigan, Sweden & Wales
THE OFFICIAL GAME OF THE FIA WORLD RALLYCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP – Race at Montalegre, Lohéac Bretagne, Hell, Holjes & Lydden Hill in a multitude of different series
LANDRUSH – Short-course dirt track racing in Pro Buggies, Pro-2 Trucks, Pro-4 Trucks and Crosskart vehicles in California, Nevada and Mexico
JOYRIDE - Laptime challenges, smash challenges, free-play area and send challenges to friends
DiRT ACADEMY – Taking place at the DirtFish Rally School in Washington, USA, learn the skills, techniques and practice to become the best!
CAREER MODE – create your driver, compete across the disciplines, gain sponsors and build your team with clear goals and rewards
COMPETITIVE GAMING – Daily, weekly and month-long challenges against fellow players from around the world
NEXT GENERATION OF RACENET – Live ladder, leagues and tournaments, cross-platform leaderboards, enhanced CREST telemetry system
TUNING – Tweak your set-up based on vehicle, track and weather conditions to best suit your racing style
DAMAGE & REPAIRS – Wear and tear is faithfully recreated with an improved and realistic damage model. Damage can be repaired by hiring Engineers to work in the team's Service Area between stages but with a finite amount of time available.
DLC:
Team Booster Pack
Hyundai R5 rally car
Title: DiRT 4 v1.0.1 (steam)
Genre: Racing, Simulation, Sports
Developer: Codemasters, Feral Interactive
Compatibility: macOS 10.14.2
Language: Multilangual
Size: 34.53 GB
NitroFlare:
Contactunblocked Games Crew!New Support Area
Announcing Weebly Ecommerce Features!
Super Mario Flashloads Of Cool Games
Mac Cosmetic Storesmac Makeup Wholesale
Start Right Nowbarry Mac


text:
pub mod document;
pub mod library;
pub mod ops;
pub mod reducer;
pub mod route;
pub mod block;
pub mod component;
pub mod query;
pub use self::document::*;
pub use self::library::*;
pub use self::ops::*;
pub use self::reducer::*;
pub use self::route::*;
pub use self::block::*;
pub use self::component::*;
pub use self::query::*;

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


While 6.2 million people remain unemployed in South Africa this causes a great deal of worry for the future of South Africa. Last night President Cyril Ramaphosa's main focus was based on job creation and investment in South Africa.
Increasing investors confidence in South Africa is helping the South African economy with a projected R70bn to be invested in the country within the first three quarters of 2019. These investments are expected to create 100 000 direct jobs and 250 000 indirect jobs, while the export industry is expected to create over 2 million direct jobs in agriculture, retail, construction, and transport by the year 2030.
Agriculture remains South Africa's largest source of export paving the way for more development via land reform. This means that more land will be awarded to agricultural development and human settlement. There are currently 250 000 emerging farmers who are working the land and require government assistance. The potential of the agricultural sector in South Africa's job creation and economic growth still remains largely underdeveloped.
The president also touched on the introduction behind the "Buy South African products" which will see the reduction of imports coming into South Africa, forcing good quality products to be manufactured locally and sold globally by utilising the free trade agreement that is in place between South Africa and certain countries. This will not only boost our economy but it will help toward job creation.
An investment of R1.3 million will be utilised to build much-needed schools, two universities and hundreds of new homes, helping to create jobs within the building sector whilst growing the economy and improving infrastructure.
Mr Ramaphosa highlighted the need to close the educational gap in South Africa and has requested private enterprises to assist in the up-skilling of youth in a bid to help reduce the educational and economic gap faced in society.
With the election date announced for the 8th of May 2019, many South Africans wonder if these promises will be delivered by the president or will it be another pipe dream.


Submitted by mark on Sunday, February 3rd, 2019 at 9:47 pm.
Properties in Northland cared for by Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga will once again open their doors to the public free of charge on Waitangi Day.
The historic places include Pompallier Mission (Russell), Kemp House and the Stone Store (Kerikeri), Te Waimate Mission (Waimate North), Mangungu Mission (Horeke) and Clendon House (Rawene).


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Q: VBA throws error 1004 when adding a Hyperlink I have a Macro that creates a  Mailto Link with email addresses input in one cell, and the body of the email made up of 3 different cells, the mailto Strin in the code snippet. This link should then be placed into a certain cell.
With Sheets("Menu")
    .Hyperlinks.Add _
        anchor:=.Cells(row, 8), _
        Address:=mailTo, _
        TextToDisplay:="mailTo", _
        ScreenTip:="MailTo link"
End With

However I sometimes get an

error 1004

in the above code. Removing parts of the email body resolves the issue so I originally thought that it might be related to the length of the mailTo String. However this does not seem to be the case since I've gotten it to work with different length strings.
What other possible reasons are there that could result in the Hyperlinks.Add function failing?

A: There could be any of several reasons.  For example, Row may be 0:

A: There is a maximum worksheet hyperlink limit of 65536. You could be running up against this*.
If so, an alternative is to use Excel's HYPERLINK formala.

*(see https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Excel-specifications-and-limits-1672b34d-7043-467e-8e27-269d656771c3?CorrelationId=6fdacf7e-c207-4932-a46d-b82e7fa0679b&ui=en-US&rs=en-US&ad=US&ocmsassetID=HP010342495)

A: It seems that there is a limit to how long the hyperlink can be, 2012 characters as returned by the len function.
The reason I didn't originally discover this was because I was only looking at the mail text before converting to a mailto.
The conversion replaces new lines and spaces with %0A and %20 respectively. So "Hello World" is 11 characters long but in the Mailto it would look like this "Hello%20World" and have a length of 13. Since I was looking at the Text before the conversion and adding/removing spaces it seemed to me like mailtos of different length where working.
Thank you for everyone that offered suggestions even though they weren't what I was looking for. I hope that this can be of help some one else in the future.


Maybe this place was called Amsterdam Bar earlier.
The walk with a view of Dom Uphagena, Uphagen's Haus is what you can expect after dining at this bar. Ignore other places, discover the Polish menu at Underbeer Craft Beer Food. You can have mouthwatering salads, broth and pierogi at this place. Trying good bagels is what many visitors advise. Delicious craft beer, ale or wine will make your meal tastier and you'll certainly come back. Some guests like great coffee at this spot.
The great location of this bar makes it easy to reach even in rush hours. The knowledgeable staff welcomes people all year round. The enjoyable service is something these restaurateurs care about. Based on the guests' opinions, prices are reasonable. You will definitely appreciate the cool atmosphere and cute decor. Clients rated Underbeer Craft Beer Food 4 on the TripAdvisor site.


Performance Time: Approximately 30 mins, 34 pgs.
HOLIDAY. Looking for a warm, fuzzy holiday play? This collection of three short plays definitely fits the bill! In "A Tree in the House," an older dog explains to a puppy why his owners have brought a tree into the house and decorated it with chew toys. In "The Christmas Pickle Tradition," zoo animals vote on whether the Prairie Chicken's unusual Christmas ornament should be displayed on the Christmas tree. And in "Muletide Season," a merry mule who calls himself the "Muletide King" tries to spread some muletide cheer by singing muletide carols and delivering a muletide log. These plays are easy to stage and are sure to charm audiences of all ages with their holiday cheer!
An award-winning playwright, Kari Catton, serves as the Executive Director for Theatre in the Park at Lincoln's New Salem State Historic Site, Petersburg, IL. Ms. Catton graduated from Illinois State University with a degree in Theatre. She resides in Springfield, IL, and has two daughters, Jenny and Amy.


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Obama Plots to Thwart Justice for U.S. Victims of Palestinian Terrorism
The administration considers intervening in landmark case against Palestinian terrorists.
Arnold Ahlert · Aug. 5, 2015
On February 23, 2015, a federal jury in New York sided with 10 American families, finding the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) liable for six terrorist attacks occurring in Israel over a decade ago. The families were awarded $218.5 million for a series of terrorist acts attributed to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and Hamas, perpetrated between 2002 and 2004 during the Second Intifada. On Monday, the Obama administration indicated it might intervene in the case — possibly on behalf of the Palestinian terrorists.
That's because the stakes are huge for these two cash-strapped entities. The Antiterrorism Act of 1992 authorizes "any U.S. national injured in his or her person, property, or business by reason of an act of international terrorism to bring a civil action in U.S. district court and recover treble damages and the cost of the suit, including attorney's fees," the act states. Thus, the award of $218.5 million could triple to $655.5 million. When interest is included, calculated to be $165 million, which would also be tripled, the total potential liability runs to $1.15 billion. That sum is equal to nearly a third of the Palestinian Authority's annual budget of operations.
Both groups intend to appeal the verdict, insisting they are not responsible "for the actions of individuals" involved in the carnage. "The Palestinian Liberation Organization [sic] and the Palestinian National Authority are deeply disappointed by the adverse decision issued today in a New York court," said Mahmoud Khalifa, PA deputy minister of information, after the verdict was announced. "The charges that were made against us are baseless … we will appeal this decision."
In the meantime, Kent Yalowitz, the families' attorney, requested that the two organizations place $30 million per month in escrow while the process proceeds. U.S. District Judge George Daniels indicated he was inclined to require Palestinians to post some sort of bond, as a means of showing "some meaningful demonstration that the defendant is ready and willing to pay the judgment."
PA attorney Mitchell Berge spelled out the implications. "This could be the end of the Palestinian Authority," he said. "And that's why we're here to argue over the judgment."
Enter the Obama administration's Department of Justice. Despite having no prior involvement in the 11 year old case, the DOJ notified the court last month that it was considering filing a "statement of interest" in the case by Aug. 10. A source told FoxNews.com both the DOJ and the State Department were working together on the issue. There was no elaboration as to what that implied. "As the filing states, the United States is considering whether to submit a Statement of Interest in the [Sokolow v. Palestine Liberation Organization] matter," a DOJ spokeswoman stated. "Any filing would be made on behalf of the United States, not on behalf of any other party."
Yalowitz wasn't buying it. He suspects the Obama administration's potential intervention is about preventing the Palestinian leadership from paying the bond, due to their precarious financial position. "An administration which claims to be fighting terror is planning to weigh in favor of the terrorists," he insisted. "If our government actually came in favor of convicted terrorists, it would be a really sorry statement about the way our government treats terror."
Palestinian assertions of non-responsibility for attacks that killed 33 people and wounded over 450, ring exceedingly hollow. The six attacks were carried out in the area of Jerusalem. Two of them were perpetrated by PA police officers. One suicide bomber was closely linked to a PA military intelligence officer, and following the 2004 suicide bombing of a bus, PA police and security officials confessed to both planning that attack and constructing the bomb used in it. Every one of the jailed terrorists, along their families, were paid by the PA government for their murderous spree. And as the Jewish Press reminds us, "(t)he bigger the attack and the higher the damage, the bigger the stipend, to this very day."
That would be the same Palestinian Authority that currently receives a whopping $400 million per year in aid from the United States.
Former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and Fox News contributor, John Bolton, seemingly shares Yalowitz's suspicions. He insists the U.S. would be in error asserting a diplomatic role in this case. "Palestine is not a state, and is therefore, not entitled to be treated like a state," he declared. "It does not enjoy sovereign immunity and it would be wrong for the United States government to argue otherwise in federal court."
Bolton is apparently referring to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976 preventing lawsuits against foreign countries in U.S. courts. And he is correct in asserting the United States does not recognize Palestine as a state.
At least not yet.
Not that Obama isn't trying to move the needle. Last month in an interview with an Israeli television network, Obama insisted the current impasse in the so-called peace process — one that has invariably consisted of demands for concessions from Israel absent anything remotely resembling quid pro quo on the part of the Palestinians — was "very dangerous for Israel." Our imperious leader also took another condescending shot at his long-time nemesis, Benjamin Netanyahu, characterizing the Israeli Prime Minister as "somebody who's predisposed to think of security first; to think perhaps that peace is naive; to see the worst possibilities as opposed to the best possibilities in Arab partners or Palestinian partners," Obama insisted.
Perhaps that predisposition towards security has something to do with the reality that since Israel unilaterally ceded Gaza to the Palestinians in 2005, Hamas has launched more than 14,000 rockets and mortar bombs at the Jewish State. Another 4,000 rockets were fired into Israel by Hezbollah during the war with that terror group in 2006. It might also have something to do with the Obama administration's horrendous deal with Iran, a country that has underwritten the efforts of both Hamas and Hezbollah to realize Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's ambition to annihilate Israel and America. An ambition he reasserted four days after the nuclear agreement was finalized.
Furthermore, nothing could me more absurd than Obama taking anyone to task for their naiveté. The Iranian deal will ultimately free up as much as $150 billion in revenue for the world's foremost state sponsor of terrorism, and Obama admitted while they might use some of that money to pursue terrorist activities, he doesn't believe the additional revenue will be a "game changer." He further insisted Iranian President Hassan Rouhani will have to spend money on domestic programs because he was elected "specifically on the premise of improving the economic situation inside of Iran."
For those Americans who misunderstand the power structure in that nation, think of Rouhani as the president of the high school student council. Think of Khamenei, who has eagerly participated in his nation's chants of "Death to Israel, Death to the U.S.," as the high school principal. In other words, it's Khamenei who ultimately calls the shots.
Nonetheless, the administration insists the deal with Iran is an historic breakthrough, despite all the dangerous implications that surround it — and all the administration lies that made it possible. It is this administration's instinctive ability to lie unashamedly that makes its insistence it will only intervene on behalf of the United States in this lawsuit highly suspect. And it is highly suspect for the simplest of reasons: what kind of intervention would be necessary to provide on behalf of American families who won their case against against the PA and the PLO? The answer will be forthcoming by August 10. Stay tuned.
Originally published at FrontPage Magazine.
'I'm Afraid Too... but Aren't We Supposed to Fix This?'


Emily Heffernan is a paralegal in Pierce Atwood's Real Estate Practice Group, handling all aspects of commercial closings.
Emily graduated with High Honors from Middlesex Community College where she received a degree in Paralegal Studies. She is currently enrolled at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, studying to receive a bachelor's degree in General Legal Studies.
Prior to joining Pierce Atwood, Emily was a paralegal at Dalton & Finegold LLP, where she focused on commercial post closings. She also has experience drafting and editing complaints, legal memos, interrogatories, demands, and other legal documents.


text:
Versatile Special Operations Forces for new threats
20 May. 2014 - 22 May. 2014
Last updated: 14 Aug. 2014 15:01
Kicking down a door, a Romanian special operator recovers a hostage from an enemy fighter that just collapsed under the fire of incoming boats. He races back to his Danish and Norwegian companions and out across the water to Blackhawk helicopters waiting to fly them to safety.
This show of force was a demonstration of multinational Special Operations Forces (SOF) capabilities at an international conference in Tampa, Florida, in May. This could have been the beginning of an action movie, or media coverage of an incident that fits the perceptions the public often has of special forces. However, experts at the event wanted to emphasise that Special Operations Forces are more than door-kickers.
A mix of brute force and patient teaching
"I would say less than ten per cent of our operations are kinetic and that's a good thing, but you don't hear about that. What you hear about always is the ones that do go high-end and high-order," says Stu Bradin, the CEO of non-profit organisation Global Special Operations Forces Foundation, which aims to promote greater understanding of the work of Special Operations Forces.
While the world's media focuses on operations like the mission to capture Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan, a large proportion of Special Operations Forces prioritise training missions in Allied and partner countries. Living and working alongside local forces, small teams of highly-trained soldiers, who often speak local languages fluently, are deployed by several countries to help improve host nations' militaries and police. They teach medical skills, intelligence analysis and humanitarian response alongside the combat skills they are most famous for.
Over a decade of counter-insurgency operations in Afghanistan and Iraq have given Special Operations Forces from Allied countries extensive experience in working with partners, according to the Commander of NATO Special Operations Headquarters Vice Admiral Sean Pybus.
"The ability to inter-operate with partners has been a key lesson that we will carry forward into the future and that's common language, common tactics, techniques and procedures and an understanding of common effort and strategy," he explains.
Adapted to new threats
Interoperability is a buzzword, but its significance is greater than mere jargon. Today's global security threats, including a dispersed al-Qaida network over multiple continents, require a different model to the large, long-term deployment of troops. Special Operations Forces provide an answer to fighting these threats, even in the face of budget cuts, according to Stu Bradin.
"Every nation can afford to have 500 to whatever well-trained, well-equipped, mature forces that have the capabilities they need to move quickly, and I mean we're talking hours, not days or weeks or months, that they can operate in an uncertain and often hostile environment," he says.
Whether that is in Africa, Asia or even Europe, a small force is not just cheaper, but can have a lighter footprint and be perceived as less intrusive to host nations.
"These efforts are really in modern day about the human domain and I think we continue to learn that in Afghanistan and we're watching that in Ukraine as one example. I think this is a role for NATO special operations as a collective that we can provide and be successful in," Vice Admiral Pybus adds.
The decision-makers at this conference, entitled "Strengthening the Global SOF Network", say that returning Special Operations Forces to a pre-9/11 role, under-manned and reactive to crisis, instead of being pro-active, is unthinkable. But it will take long-term and resolute global partnership to maintain the high-level skills of these operators.
From the event
Interoperability: Connecting NATO Forces
Special Forces - A smaller footprint 17 Jun. 2014
High resolution photos
Special Operations Forces - a smaller footprint 20 May. 2014 A Blackhawk UH-60 helicopter flies past Tampa General Hospital in Florida at a demonstration of Special Operations Forces capabilities.
Special Operations Forces - a smaller footprint 20 May. 2014 Multinational Special Operations Forces (SOF) fast-rope from a Blackhawk UH-60 helicopter onto a floating platform at a demonstration in Tampa, Florida as part of an international conference on Special Operations Forces in May 2014.
Special Operations Forces - a smaller footprint 21 May. 2014 A High Altitude High Opening (HAHO) parachutist guides into a landing site at a demonstration in Tampa, Florida as part of an international conference on Special Operations Forces.
Special Operations Forces - a smaller footprint 21 May. 2014 Two High Altitude High Opening (HAHO) parachutists land at a demonstration in Tampa, Florida as part of an international conference on Special Operations Forces.
Special Operations Forces - a smaller footprint 21 May. 2014 Three High Altitude High Opening (HAHO) parachutists spiraling into land at a demonstration in Tampa, Florida as part of an international conference on Special Operations Forces.
Special Operations Forces - a smaller footprint 20 May. 2014 A Blackhawk UH-60 hovers over water, as Navy SEALs jump out and swim to reach a Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat (RHIB) at a demonstration of Special Operations Forces capabilities.
Special Operations Forces - a smaller footprint 21 May. 2014 A Blackhawk UH-60 helicopter lifts multinational Special Operations Forces out of the exercise zone in a demonstration of a Special Patrol Insertion/Extraction System (SPIES) exercise in Tampa, Florida as part of an international conference on Special Operations Forces.


Grown out of their small-town suburban roots to speak to the trudging nation, The Drop have established themselves touring the UK festival circuit and self releasing a string of singles and EPs, gaining a loyal grassroots following along the way. Marrying jump-up grooves, down & dirty bass, epic walls of sound and clever lyricism they create a mesmeric stage show, captivating the audience from the first track to the reluctant last.
Taking some time out after a frantic first few years of gigging to perfect their long awaited debut album, they are primed for a return to the stage. The album remains true to the live experience they've developed; it won't disappoint their expectant fan base, whilst set to impress any untrained ears.
Described as 'UK Reggae at its best' (BBC 1Xtra), The Drop's contemporary take on Jamaican Roots music has been accepted and acclaimed across the board. They have had national radio play so far from Gilles Peterson on BBC Radio 1, Huw Stevens on BBC 6 Music & David Rodigan on BBC Radio 1Xtra & Kiss FM.
"A dubby lullaby with a dancehall flex to engage your feet as well as you brain."
Hailing from Bristol, Hotsteppas are an energetic 9-piece Reggae band who always deliver an exciting live show. Originally formed by three Reggae Soundsystem crews - Hotsteppas offer a traditional Reggae sound infused with a modern Dub edge and a sprinkling of Funk and Latin influence.