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What is the European Union For?
11451 Views December 10, 2021 18 Comments Guest Analyses amarynth
After all the initial euphoria and hopes placed upon the original concept of a non-aligned, social-democratic Euro-bloc, the reality has turned out somewhat differently.
By Francis Lee for the Saker Blog
In 2011 I drafted an article in an obscure publication called 'Chartist'. It was entitled: ''Europe: The Unfinished Project''. It ran as follows.
''At the present time the EU project seems to be stuck in no-man's land, unable to press ahead with full political integration, or retreat back into a northern European protectionist Deutschmark zone and leaving the peripheral member states to the tender mercies of unfettered, globalized capitalism. However there seems to be a sufficient residue of the original EU idealism in the present stage of development to persevere further with the political struggle taking place.'' (Ibid, page 19)
But alas one lives and learns.
I now believe that this view, justifiable and plausible enough at the time of writing, has now become difficult, if not actually impossible, to sustain. And the reason for this came in the next sentence, viz.
''One only has to consider the Anglo-American alternatives (to the Euro model) and globalization more generally to make this choice.''
This was, however, based on the tacit assumption that the Euro model of capitalism was somehow fundamentally different from the Atlanticist model, a paradigm exemplified by the US/UK/EU axis. It was not. In the fullness of time this turned out to be a fundamental misconception. The UK of course has always been bound hand and foot to the US in terms of both foreign and economic policy with the ending of the system of imperial preference demanded by the US as the quid pro quo for the American loan negotiated by Keynes, shortly before his death in 1946; next came the American intervention in the Suez crisis in 1956 which effectively ended any independent UK foreign policy. This dog-like British devotion to American imperatives – the so-called 'special-relationship' – then extended with the neo-liberal turn and the Reagan-Thatcher counter-revolution of the 198Os. True, the UK was always more Atlanticist in its outlook than its European neighbours. However, continental Europe was to become as enamoured of Atlanticism as is the UK – and those more recent EU ex-communist states, probably even more so.
''It is not only the UK, which is Atlanticist, the continental European states are no less so … proof of this is given by the central position of NATO in this political construction. That a military alliance with a country outside the union (the US) has been integrated de facto into the European constitution – in terms of a common foreign and security policy – constitutes an unparalleled anomaly. For some European countries (Poland, and the Baltic States) NATO's protection – that is, that of the United States against their 'Russian enemy' is more important than their adhesion to the European Union.'' (Samir Amin – The Implosion of Capitalism – 2014)
Jens Stoltenberg – Head of NATO – Warmonger in Chief
This Americanization of Europe – this invisible annexation – was achieved by a combination of soft and hard power – a cultural, political, economic and militaristic assimilation of the old world by the new. It should be understood that the US does not do 'partnerships;' any geo-political relationships the US enters into with other states is always on the basis of 'Me Tarzan, You Jane.'
'' It follows from this that the European Union nor any of its component states any longer have an independent foreign policy. The facts show that there is one single reality: alignment behind whatever Washington (perhaps in agreement with London) decides on its own.'' (Amin – Ibid)
European Economic policy is similarly aligned to US interests and US practises. This is hardly surprising since the US has been the dominant economic force (although now in a declining trajectory) for the last 100 years. It has control of the world's reserve currency which allows it to run persistent deficits on its current account since it can simply pay for its imports by printing its own currency. The US also tends to dominate the multilateral institutions such as the IMF, World Bank and WTO and having the largest bloc of votes in the IMF. American policymakers have used their influence in the IMF to pursue American financial and foreign policy objectives. The IMF offers larger loans to countries heavily indebted to American commercial banks than to other countries. In addition, the IMF offers larger loans to governments closely allied to the United States. (International Politics (2004) 41, 415–429). New York is the second largest financial centre (after London) with the most deeply liquid capital markets, and in absolute terms the US is – in nominal terms at least – the largest economy in the world. (Although in terms of purchasing power parity, the Chinese economy is now larger.)
Canary Wharf on the Thames. The world finance centre. (This is where my father who was a fireman in 1940 was trying to put out fires whilst the Luftwaffe were dropping incendiary bombs all around him. Somehow he survived and so did I!)
Additionally, the 'soft power' of the US (and UK) which includes, university economics departments, economic think-tanks, publications – The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, The Economist – Business and Financial circles, and the universal language of business and diplomacy – English – have effectively dominated and structured the global ideological discourse. The 'Washington Consensus' along with the deadly weapons of financial mass destruction – the lethal weapons of financialization – have come to dictate policy and policy making in the western world.
However, the neo-liberal, neo-conservative project was to run into difficulties as instanced in the twin crises besetting the Euro-Atlanticist bloc: namely, Greece and Ukraine.
Greece.
At the outset it was wholly predictable that the accession of Greece into the eurozone was going to lead to trouble. In order to qualify for admission Greece needed to demonstrate that it conformed to the Maastricht Criteria. The Maastricht rules threaten to slap hefty fines on euro member countries that exceed the budget deficit limit of three percent of gross domestic product. Additionally, total government debt mustn't exceed 60 percent. It is interesting to note that both France and Germany both exceeded the Maastricht criteria, but there was a mute silence on this.
The Greeks had never managed to stick to the 60 percent debt limit, and they only adhered to the three percent deficit ceiling with the help of blatant balance sheet cosmetics.
Not to worry, in 2010 some creative accounting was supplied by the premier (infamous?) US Investment Bank, Goldman Sachs. GS's selling point for financial legerdemain is well known; in this instance cross-currency swaps where government debt issued in dollars and yen was swapped for euro debt for a certain period – and then exchanged back into the original currencies at a later date. Hey, presto! The figures added up (for a while at least). Goldman Sachs collected a $15 billion kickback for their labours.
As members of the eurozone the Greeks then had access to cheap credit from eurozone banks, particularly French and German. But any deal between borrower and lender means that both should act responsibly. The creditworthiness of the borrower has to be assessed before the loan is made. But such rigorous investigations of this sort were not conducted; with the deregulation of finance such tiresome procedures had been done away with and banks lent to almost anyone who had a pulse
The rest as we say is history.
But if these lenders knew that borrowers would not be able to repay the loans, this would have amounted to 'odious debt.' That occurs when the national debt incurred by a regime for purposes that do not serve the best interests of the nation, should not be enforceable. Vulture capitalism is another equally unprepossessing term for the policy toward Greece. Vulture funds target distressed firms and/or countries and buy their bonds and stocks at knock-down prices, then when the company fails, they sue the owner not only for the interest but also the principal. The Troika policy toward Greece has been one of Loan and Foreclosure.
If Greece remains in the eurozone it will continue to be bled white, privatised and ultimately dismembered. An example must be made to stop others in the southern periphery from getting ideas. And just as Mrs. Thatcher was the junior partner of Reagan in shaping the EU, Merkel was Obama's enforcer in the Euro's restive provinces.
It is interesting to note that one, Victoria Nuland, rabid neo-con – more of which below – Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs at the United States Department of State, visited Athens on 17 March 2015 and had talks with the Greek PM Tsipras regarding the present turmoil. Suffice it to say it was geopolitics and the retention of Greece in the EU and NATO she was concerned with, rather than debt. She no doubt reminded Tsipras that there might be consequences if Greece did not toe the EU line. As Assistant Secretary for regime change in the State Department the redoubtable Ms Nuland's brief has been to threaten or bring about regime change in countries of which the US and its vassals disapprove.
Earlier the peripatetic Ms Nuland was also busy in Ukraine – which was not and is not an EU member – promoting regime change, a process which had been going on since 2004, with the so-called Orange Revolution, and later was responsible for the events on the Maidan which resulted in the installation of the oligarch-fascist regime paid for ($5 billion according to Ms N) in 2014, and whose leaders were hand-picked by herself and the US Ambassador in Kiev Geoffrey Pyatt. Since this the IMF largesse has kept on flowing and kept the Ukraine on a drip feed of IMF subventions with no end in sight.
It was interesting to note how the IMF's treatment of the Kiev regime differs significantly to that meted out to Greece. Firstly a $40 billion aid package was granted to Ukraine over the next 4 years. Secondly Madame Lagarde has stated that "In the event that a negotiated settlement with private creditors is not reached and the country determines that it cannot service its debt, the Fund can lend to Ukraine consistent with its Lending-into-Arrears Policy" (12 June 2015) In other words when the Ukraine defaults, the IMF will – in violation of its constitution – come up with the cash. Moreover, the IMF is also not mandated to lend to states which are at war. Of course this is hardly an even-handed way of operating, but of course the IMF is a highly politicised and partisan institution and a key part of the neo-liberal, neo-conservative global establishment. Ukraine missed a bond coupon payment 17 July 2015, setting off a default on about $19 billion of debt, as a standoff with creditors shows no sign of abating – it was interesting to see what happened in light of Madame Lagarde's statement. (1) See below
Well in the Spring of 2016 the Poroshenko regime was gifted yet another 600-million-euro loan to Ukraine. But of course it didn't stop there. Considering this loan the overall amount of EU assistance to Ukraine added up to 2.8 billion euros since the Maidan events of 2014. This 'assistance' had been forthcoming in the same year, and this was the largest macro-economic assistance ever sent to a non-EU country. But it didn't seem to make any difference.
Things are so bad in Ukraine that in spite of all the IMF largesse it now vies with Moldova as being the poorest country in Europe. The United Nations predicts that the country will lose a fifth of its population by 2050.
Moreover, Ukraine has also one of the highest crude death rates in the world. Poor health conditions and the widespread abuse of alcohol and drugs have led to a rise in Ukraine's death rate. The country also has the highest global mortality rate from infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, meaning that inadequate medical care has contributed to the rise in Ukraine's mortality rate. The coronavirus pandemic has only exacerbated these health care Issues.
Ukraine's fertility rate has also declined. According to the World Bank, Ukrainian families were having two children per household during the 1990s. Recent economic hardships, however, have forced families to have only one child per household. The effects of Ukraine's struggling economy and the Donbass conflict have also discouraged many young couples from having children, and this has contributed to the decline in Ukraine's fertility rate. I could go on, but it would be indecent to do so. Let's just say that the EU-NATO meddling in the internal affairs of this beleaguered nation has resulted in an economic-political catastrophe.
The decision to expand the EU, and along with NATO, right up to Russia's borders, initially under the guidance and policies of the Clinton administration, was a clear indication that the governments of the EU had come under American domination. With this decisive shift the EU project was over. It has been replaced by a North Atlantic military project under American command.
The hegemonistic strategy of the US – made abundantly clear in both the Wolfowitz doctrine and the more recent enunciations and actions of the dominant US war party, a coalition of neo-cons, liberal hawks and liberal interventionists – is clearly visible behind the disappearance of what was once the European project.
However it is quite possible that even against US wishes and geopolitical imperatives the EU might well fracture internally due to inter-state tensions and economic contradictions. One thing is certain: in its present structure the EU cannot endure, nor does it deserve to.
This 20/21st century 'Great Game' is being played out with one party getting stronger – the Eurasian bloc – and the other party – the Atlanticist bloc – becoming weaker.
It reminds me of a scene in the film 'Apocalypse Now' where Captain Willard (played by Martin Sheen) sums up the deteriorating US geopolitical situation (I can't remember the exact words) but it went as something like this:. ''Charlie (the Vietcong) sits in the Jungle getting stronger, and I sit in the hotel room getting weaker.''
True, very true.
(1) When it comes down to enforcing nations to pay inter-governmental debts, the IMF and Paris Club hold the main leverage. As co-ordinator of central bank 'stabilization' loans (the neo-liberal euphemism for imposing austerity and destabilising debtor economies, Greece style) the IMF is able to withhold not only its own credit but also that of governments and global banks participating when debtor countries need refinancing. Those states who do not agree to privatise their infrastructure and sell it to western buyers are threatened with sanctions, backed by US sponsored ''regime change'' and ''democracy promotion'' Maidan-style. (Michael Hudson)
Francis Lee
B.F. on December 10, 2021 · at 11:40 am EST/EDT
What is the EU ? It is a private empire of Anglo-American bankers, whose task was and still is to curtail the sovereign status of European states. It is also the civilian component of NATO, as both are moving towards the East, and both participated in the 2014 Ukrainian coup d'etat, when Yanukovich was overthrown, contrary to international law.
In 1946 the Council on Foreign Relations decides to create a "United Europe", ie. the European Union. A step by step approach was applied, as after Hitlers New World Order, Europe was in no mood for another "association". The bankers therefore use war hero General George Marshall to introduce "The European Recovery Program", which quickly became known as "The Marshall Plan". A total of 17 billion dollars of bribery money was offered to Europe as a loan on condition Europe creates an 18 member "Organization for European Economic Cooperation", which ostensibly was a supervising body whose aim was to ensure that the money was not misappropriated, but which in reality was an administrative body for the future European Union. Only 15 % of the 17 billion dollars was payed back to the US, which generously "forgets" the rest.
In 1957 the Organization creates the Common Market, which leads – officially – to the creation of the European Union in 1993 and the mess in which Europe has found its self today. The "open borders" policy has lead to mass immigration of false refugees and migrants from third world countries, which is already creating social and ethnic friction, and which will certainly cause financial problems. The intent, of course, was to destabilize the governments of sovereign European countries and give Brussels dictatorial power. As I have written before, a day will come when historians will have a tough time explaining how the EU was created. It's days are certainly numbered.
Paul Greenwood on December 10, 2021 · at 2:34 pm EST/EDT
Marshall Aid was named after Gen George Marshall simply to get bi-partisan backing for a Truman Plan. It was lobbied for by Ford and GM which needs Dollars in Europe to re-tool factories with US equipment since Europe had no way to earn Dollars with its industries destroyed.
European Economic Community was created to keep France on side when Germany was re-armed 1955-56 at US insistence and it was brought into NATO for which Turkey had to be bribed with allowing surplus manpower to enter Germany as Guest Workers.
The EEC applied to 6 West European countries and should have stayed that way instead of becoming the Hapsburg Empire all over again
GILLES MACABIES on December 10, 2021 · at 2:37 pm EST/EDT
I hope you are right
EU is the Economic Sub-Committee of NATO
War for Blair Mountain on December 10, 2021 · at 2:42 pm EST/EDT
The European Union exists for no other reason than to make the homosexual pederast cabal of the American Empire very very happy….And this means imposing homosexual pederasts on the children of Europe and Scandanavia……Europe will be nuked and blacktopped if they attempt to do this to Slavic Christian Russia…
In other words, the European Union exists to serve the interests of the two filthy cockroaches Bill and Hilary Clinton….
Frasco on December 10, 2021 · at 4:59 pm EST/EDT
Pues sirve para que determinados lobbys puedan gobernar a los europeos más eficientemente, por ejemplo. Lo que no es poca cosa.
Yandex translation. Mod:
Well, it serves so that certain lobbies can govern Europeans more efficiently, for example. Which is no small thing.
Chrétien on December 10, 2021 · at 6:06 pm EST/EDT
The European project was torpedoed by the CIA and the Deep State during a long process that started with the Orange Revolution of May 1968 and the kicking out of de Gaulle in 1970 as explained by W. Engdahl in "The Gods of Money". The last three French presidents were puppets empowered by Washington and that's true for the Italians and Spanish leaders. Merckel was also on leach and Germany since 1945 has been a political dwarf in spite of her apparent economic prosperity. The gnomes of the Forum of Davos took advantage of COVID 19 to try to impose a political tyranny on the world. As we saw that didn't work in China neither in Russia and it's now out of fuel in many countries of Europe as well as in the USA. We are at a turning point and next step could be the major financial crisis meaning the collapse of Wall Street, the end of the dollar hegemony and of the banking system as we knew it. The situation is dire in most of the European countries and according to some reliable sources à come back of the Gillets Jaune before the French elections is expected but for good this time with the exit of Macron.
In any case 2022 should be a Grand Cru.
c1ue on December 11, 2021 · at 8:39 am EST/EDT
I disagree with both the analysis and the conclusion.
First of all, NATO is an extra-EU, extra-national organization like the EU Parliament – except there is no election. NATO does serve as a bureaucratic sinecure for out-of-power and/or out-of-favor bureaucrats and politicians from the EU, but that does not indicate dominance so much as presence.
Secondly, there are many fundamental misunderstandings about the IMF etc – in which the US and UK are literally entrenched by design – vs. the EU's economic outreach: the ECB, the euro, trade policy, etc.
In particular: the EU has minimal influence in the World Bank, IMF, WTO etc because those are designed to the US' favor to start with – other than the traditional figurehead European director of the IMF.
However, the euro was created both to unify monetary policy in the EU but also to remove the dollar from EU trade transactions. Unlike Japan (which is a US lapdog) and its JP Yen (which is literally invisible in world trade terms), the euro's presence in world trade is comparable to the EU's actual position in world trade.
The bargain is pretty transparent: the EU can export its cars, wines and cheeses and what not; it can protect its French farmers; it can spend very little on defense – in return, it significantly (but not always) cedes leadership in international affairs to the US. Or in other words: leave us our economic interests and we'll leave you our international interests (outside of trade).
Where these 2 spheres intersect is where difficulty arises – which Nord Stream illustrates. The US clearly doesn't want Nord Stream 2 just as it didn't want Nord Stream 1 – yet NS1 is pumping and NS2 will be pumping soon.
A. Dane on December 11, 2021 · at 10:36 am EST/EDT
Francis Lee Wrote
The decision to expand the EU along with NATO, right up to Russia's borders, initially under the guidance and policies of the Clinton administration, was a clear indication that the governments of the EU had come under American domination. With this decisive shift the EU project was over. It has been replaced by a North Atlantic military project under American command.
My comment:
The decision to expand the Holy Roman Empire into Russia was not invented by Bill Clinton, He was only the public figure to show off the Agenda lying dormant since Charlemagne. The reality is that America had been infiltrated and run by European Fascist Agents since before 1913.
The hegemonic strategy made abundantly clear in both the Wolfowitz doctrine and the actions of the US coalition of Neo-cons, Neo-liberals – is clearly visible behind the disappearance of what was once the European project.
NO, it is an Global imperial strategy relaunched by a German Jewish Wise Wolf (Wolfowitz) a doctrine of having Fascist agents disguised as Neo Conservatives and Neo Liberals, launch what was always the real European project, the resurrection of the Holy Roman Empire, on a global scale.
Yes a resurrected Holy Roman Empire is against the wishes of both the European and the American people, because that is why our common ancestors fled Europe and migrated to America.
Every war in Europe has been fought over forcing European nations into being vassal states of the Fascist Empire.
The EU is the 4th attempt to erect the Holy Roman Empire, and it will fail – just as the 3 previous have.
Each European nation has its own National Identity, and will separate whatever chance they get.
And the fracture of the EU has already begun.
bluedogg on December 12, 2021 · at 6:57 am EST/EDT
Think your confused there the U.S. was supposed to be the new Roman Empire, in fact our government is set up the same way and the senators are just as useless as they might as well set out their time in a bathhouse.
No. The US is the current beast of the Empire, as NAZI Germany was during WWII.
The final Global Roman Empire is intended to be formed in 3 steps.
The Globalist Elite have even erected an organisation overseeing this formation: called the Trilateral commission.
Former members includes the usual US, UK, EU suspects including to my surprise:
Mikhail Sergejevitj Gorbatjov.
Today most Russians hate their latest USSR President. I wonder why.
The last step will be when china takes over the roll as the Beast for the Roman Empire.
By then the trilateral steps toward A Global Roman Empire will have be fulfilled.
robjira on December 11, 2021 · at 6:32 pm EST/EDT
"Every minute I stay in this room, I get weaker. And every minute Charlie squats in the bush, he gets stronger."
My personal favorite line is, "He (Charlie) had only two ways home; death, or victory."
Excellent analysis; thanks for posting.
Gary Oraniuk on December 12, 2021 · at 6:38 am EST/EDT
The EU is just a vampire. Totally useless: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4C5SgeVK-Q
I don't know why you had to bother writing so much text!!!
And I am Australian!!!
Santiago on December 12, 2021 · at 7:45 am EST/EDT
This history of last century shows a cunning plan of the EU forces reattempting their assault on Russia (aka Napoleon 1812) in 1939-41 and had this backup plan called the US/UK Forces in case it failed to come in and save them. All orchestrated by the EU elites and moneychangers.
The game plan never changes and this century the same will happen.
Ukraine and Russia's link to China Iran etc are now being used as the excuse.
But the whole thing will fail again as the EU people arent very bright and always make mistakes.
Their running dog the US is a co-ally in the current assault rather than a neutral power as in 1940.
But the US is nowhere near as strong as it was in 1942-45 nor can it ever be given the current domestic situation, same with EU. So all of this is doomed for failure.
And what can the US and EU expect (re Eurasia getting stronger) when they gutted their own production capacities and shifted a lot of it there ? But Eurasia is somewhat dependent on sales to US & EU so its future is interlinked.
Its time to stop all this wasteful conflict and co-operate and the EU cuts some sensible deals with Putin and others.
The EU is somewhat akin to the 12th Century formation of the Knights Templar that was to stop a perceived and somewhat real Islamic expansion. A EU army.
It lasted for 200 years and was dismantled by the King of France after it go too powerful via its commercial and banking activities.
If history repeats the current EU will suffer the same fate.
The EU has too many tribes with different views of the world and cultural differences for it to survive.
If anything there probably need to be 3 separate EU blocks – North, South and East – instead of 1 and the 3 blocks interact with each other. Because EU countries thinking is regionalized.
But what is the EU for as the author asks ?
Obviously to to deal with something else thats large – aka Russia or US or UK Empire.
Gerry on December 12, 2021 · at 9:35 am EST/EDT
"That a military alliance with a country outside the union (the US) has been integrated de facto into the European constitution – in terms of a common foreign and security policy – constitutes an unparalleled anomaly."
There was a man named Summer Wells who in the Atomic Bomb and World Government, wrote:
"No world government of the character envisaged by Professor Einstein would function unless it possessed the power to exercise complete control over the armaments of each constituent state."
and now for the quote from Paul Henri Spaak who led the Socialist party of Belgium and was the first president of the council of Europe, one of the planners of the European Common Market and also served as president of the UN General Assembly said:
"Let that man be a military man or a layman it matters not."
and this quote for a strong one man rule was echoed by another a Roswell Gilpatrick who was the former Secretary of Defense, said:
"Strong, one-man civilian control of Americas giant military establishment is vital to the nations well-being. the concentration of authority is inevitable."
and lastly we have this from of all people H. G. Wells:
"It is necessary to discover a head capable of directing it, endowed with an intelligence surpassing the most elevated human level."
And now in my own words all I can say to this quagmire is we humans think we will find the solution to all of our problems in science. Science however, for all of the good it has bestowed upon us is actually quite dangerous. Bikini Atoll surely proves that out with those words from the Bagvad-gita.
If the radiance of a thousand suns were to burst into the sky, that would be like the splendour of the might One and I am become Death the shatterer of worlds.
Science or Religion {Christology} which is it ultimately going to be? Like I said in my book on Climate Change the Work of God:
The Bible doesn't go into providing any kind of scientific knowledge or explanations about the mysteries of life or the makeup of the universe. In fact, not even Christ Jesus, if He had arrived today, which would have resulted in scientists the world over scrambling to have an audience with Him, could be convinced to give them any knowledge regarding the genetics of life, the makeup of blood, the secrets of the universe, the Higgs boson, etc. If asked about these things, Jesus would probably have just looked at the person and said something to the effect of, "What's That To You? You Must Follow Me" (John 21:22, paraphrase).
Consider what would happen if a high moral being like Almighty God were to knowingly give a lawless, sinful race of people knowledge of how things work in relation to scientific matters. They would have long ago destroyed themselves and all of planet earth. That is principally why we have in the Bible the story of the Tower of Babel:
If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other. (Genesis 11:6–7)
Given their long-life spans and unity of mind and purpose, they could have discovered and unravelled the mysteries of science unlike any other generation. That tower of bricks would have evolved into a platform for the blasting off rockets and space shuttles long before our own day and age. Nothing would have prevented them from penetrating the knowledge of everything from chemistry to physics, astronomy, and biology—even the very heavens, especially if they were motivated by military reasons as we have been.
Do you see or understand the horror of it? This knowledge of good and evil which our first parents bestowed on us connected with scientific knowledge to create a very dangerous mix, a mix that as things continue to progress will quite literally place mankind in the position of playing god (Genesis 3:22). Who can be able to deal with the moral and ethical implications of that? To be sure, no one will be able to, although of course many will try. That is the nature of mankind.
It's too bad the Pope didn't provide this knowledge to Galileo!!!
And so the ultimate question which is it going to be now faith in Christ or faith in another Stalin who I assume is about to arrive?
and by the way you may want to read whats here https://www.theoccidentalobserver.net/2021/12/05/the-karen-epidemic/ especially paying attention to this paragraph::
Skynet is also a family of military communications satellites operated by Airbus Defence and Space on behalf of the UK's Ministry of Defence to provide strategic communication services to the three branches of the British Armed Forces and to NATO (this may become relevant in the great chessboard of geopolitics along the fracture lines of East and West on the Poland-Belarus border and in the Ukraine). The latest upgrade, Skynet 6, is now in the works; plans for 6G internet are also already in the works. That this 6G, or Genesis Six, has Biblical significance may well be exceedingly relevant at the rate we're going. Plan accordingly.
Gerry on December 12, 2021 · at 4:52 pm EST/EDT
Here is something incredible to chew on 2nd paragraph especially!?!?!?!?! And the unbelievable change the science of nuclear fission gave the world's aristocracy? Rest of astonishing essay found here… https://www.theoccidentalobserver.net/2021/12/12/houston-stewart-chamberlains-england-translated-and-with-an-introduction-by-alexander-jacob/
The Marxist doctrine, being a product of the Jewish mind, which is characterised by 'resentment,' is based on envy of those who have wealth and privileges without work, and so it advocates revolt against those who possess these advantages. It is thus essentially a negative variant of the English ethos. It is not surprising, therefore, that the worker in the Marxist doctrine is encouraged to amass his own profits through private business, so that, as Spengler puts it, "Marxism is" indeed "the capitalism of the working class." The Marxian solution to boundless private property is also a negative one: "expropriation of the expropriators, robbery of the robbers."[8] This is based on the "English" view of capital, wherein
the billionaire demands absolute freedom to arrange world affairs by his private decisions, with no other ethical standard in mind than success. He beats down his opponents with credit and speculation as his weapons.
The Marxist system is thus the "final chapter of a philosophy with roots in the English Revolution, whose biblical moods have remained dominant in English thought."[9] In fact, as he goes on to say, "a biblical interpretation of questionable business dealings can ease the conscience and greatly increase ambition and initiative."[10] While the industrialists engage in commerce with "money" as a commodity, the workers do the same with "work."
In the Prussian state, on the other hand, work is not a commodity, but a "duty towards the common interest, and there is no gradation—this is Prussian style democratisation—of ethical values among the various kinds of work." The Prussian sees property not as private booty, but as part of a common weal, "not as a means of expression of personal power but as goods placed in trust, for the administration of which he, as a property owner, is responsible to the state."
Armin on December 15, 2021 · at 10:05 am EST/EDT
The EU is a foreign instrument of occupation and destruction of Europe an its natural people.


Our January Prompt is....Baby, It's Cold Outside! Your TWIST is to use 5+ Enamel Dots.
Sorry, I couldn't resist using that for the Prompt this month!! It's perfect for our Winters in Ohio. You don't have to use it for your title, but you could use it as a theme, possibly something Wintery. Hope that it inspires you in some way. If you don't have anything cold or snowy, you could use the 'baby' or 'outside' in some way.
Here's my example which uses the Prompt "Baby, It's Cold Outside" just under the photo PLUS I used 9 Enamel Dots.
This can be a paper or digital layout ONLY! All work must be new. You may do this multiple times. You may combine with one other challenge that allows. Please link your work here. Deadline is January 31st. A random winner will be selected for a $5 ACOT gift card from me! If there are more than 20 participants I will draw a second name for a RAK too.
Thanks so much to everyone who could participate this month!!
Congrats Kathy! I'll be buying it shortly!!
Last edited by Deanna13 on Fri Feb 01, 2019 5:34 pm, edited 10 times in total.
Great theme, and love that layout! I am so jealous......we haven't had snow here in PA since Nov. 15th! And yesterday it got up to 50. Crazy weather....hope we get some white stuff soon!
As a fellow Pennsylvanian, I completely agree. I guess I'll need to dig through some older photos to participate.
Last edited by emmapaige on Sun Jan 06, 2019 4:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
As a fellow Pennsylvanian, I completely agree. I guess I'll need to did through some older photos to participate.
It doesn't have to be 'snowy'. I know your granddaughter's outdoors events look SUPER COLD!
We have only a dusting of snow so far this winter but Michigan certainly fits the COLD theme! Awesome challenge!
This is what I came up with. One of my favorite episodes with our Christmas elves. The boys accidently got locked out when they went outside to look at our Christmas lights...LOL!
LOL.....this is so FUN, Berta and perfect for the January Prompt! I love the scene with the snowmen and your border! Thanks so much for being my first taker this month!
I applied nuvo drops for the enamel dots and combined with cherry lift.
I love your choice of papers, Melissa! I've been using those too. I love your accent cluster and other embellishing! Perfect for the January Prompt and thanks so much for participating!
Photo of my son outside in the dusting of snow that we got in 2005.
I love this design with all the layered papers and stitching, Donna! Fantastic work with that sketch and perfect layout for the January Prompt!! Thanks so much for participating this month!
aawww...this is so precious, Karen! I love the row of snowmen along with all the snowflakes! Thanks so much for taking my January Prompt Challenge!
Not much snow here in Florida but I dug up a photo of my mom and I making a snowman in New Jersey a LONG time ago.1953? I combined with the January Pattern Paper Challenge.
How perfect that snowman paper is with your photos and I love your take on that sketch! Awesome job scrapping those older photos!! Thanks so much for participating in my January Prompt Challenge, Karen!
Your journaling is so fun along with that photo, Carrie! I love your split page design along with the snowflakes and enamel dots! Thanks so much for participating in my January Prompt Challenge!
Here is mine! I used 6 enamel dots! And I have the sticker with the prompt " Baby it's cold outside" Ha and a baby in the cold weather!!
aawww...how precious this is and so perfect for the January Prompt Challenge! I love all the splatters and snowflakes! Thanks so much for participating in my challenge, Susan!


Charles BARK is successful Serial Entrepreneur. Charles has been awarded from 2004 to 2006 by 6 French Ministers including 2 Prime Ministers and Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao as being an innovative Entrepreneur in France and China.
After a combined 12 Y R&D in 4 countries, Charles founded HiNounou Intelligent Robot. HiNounou is AI Predictive Healthcare&InsurTech Data Platform company that helps Seniors to live Longer, Healthier and Happier at home and give Peace of Mind to their children who live far away from them.
In 2017, HiNounou won Best Innovative Digital Healthcare Startup contest organized by BAYER in China.
100 companies such as AXA, Pingan, BAYER, ZTE and BNPPARIBAS signed partnership with HiNounou.
Charles BARK is always happy to share his dream and invite Humanistic driven Leaders to collaborate with HiNounou to create a better world for seniors and their caregivers.


We hand build great rooms in the Wilmington, NC area. 2 major characteristics set us apart.
1. We prefer to perform the work ourselves. We subcontract as little work as possible. This reduces hassle for us and you.
2. The same carpenter that hand builds your project also works with you to generate 3-D drawings. This eliminates unnecessary confusion, and allow details to be hammered out before the first board is cut.


text:
using System.Collections;
using UnityEngine;
using UnityEngine.UI;

namespace droid.Runtime.GameObjects.StatusDisplayer {
  /// <inheritdoc />
  /// <summary>
  /// </summary>
  public class RenderTextureList : MonoBehaviour {
    /// <summary>
    ///
    /// </summary>
    public Sprite[] AnimalImages;

    /// <summary>
    ///
    /// </summary>
    public GameObject ContentPanel;

    /// <summary>
    ///
    /// </summary>
    public GameObject ListItemPrefab;

    ArrayList _camera_observations;

    void Start() {
      // 1. Get the data to be displayed
      this._camera_observations = new ArrayList {
                                                    new CameraObservation(this.AnimalImages[0], "A"),
                                                    new CameraObservation(this.AnimalImages[1], "B"),
                                                    new CameraObservation(this.AnimalImages[2], "C"),
                                                    new CameraObservation(this.AnimalImages[3], "D")
                                                };

      if (this.ListItemPrefab) {
        foreach (CameraObservation animal in this._camera_observations) {
          var r = Instantiate(this.ListItemPrefab, this.ContentPanel.transform, true);
          var controller = r.GetComponent<RenderTextureListItem>();
          controller.Icon.sprite = animal._Icon;
          controller.Name.text = animal._Name;
          r.transform.localScale = Vector3.one;
        }
      }
    }
  }

  /// <inheritdoc />
  /// <summary>
  /// </summary>
  public class RenderTextureListItem : MonoBehaviour {
    /// <summary>
    ///
    /// </summary>
    public Image Icon;

    /// <summary>
    ///
    /// </summary>
    public Text Name;
  }

  /// <summary>
  ///
  /// </summary>
  public class CameraObservation {
    public Sprite _Icon;
    public string _Name;

    public CameraObservation(Sprite icon, string name) {
      this._Icon = icon;
      this._Name = name;
    }
  }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Health officials fear in-state virus surge after holiday weekend
Kim Chandler
MONTGOMERY — After a surge in coronavirus cases following Memorial Day, doctors and public health experts fear Alabama will see another spike after this weekend's July Fourth holiday celebrations.
"Fourth of July is very worrisome," State Health Officer Scott Harris said. "It is really important for people to do all the things that we've been trying to get them to do."
"It's hard to prove Memorial Day gatherings were the cause of what we just went through in June, but I believe they were. It certainly makes sense as far as the timetable," Harris said.
Barbecues, parades and any large gathering have the potential to spread the virus. In the hopes of avoiding another surge, health officials pleaded with people to use caution by avoiding large crowds and wearing masks over their mouths and noses while in public spaces.
Alabama this week reached new records for the highest number of infections reported in a day with more than 1,700 cases.
Alabama has reported more than 42,000 cases of the new coronavirus since the pandemic began with more than 25 percent of infections being reported in the last two weeks, according to the Alabama Department of Public Health. So far, at least 983 Alabamians have died after contracting the virus.
Alabama this week hit a new high for the number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 and a new low for the number of available intensive care unit beds.
Dr. Don Williamson, a former state health officer who now heads the Alabama Hospital Association, said that as of Thursday, the state had 840 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 and that 84 percent of the state's ICU beds were full, the highest number since the pandemic began.
"I'm really, really worried about the Fourth of July. I think that will likely determine the trend for Alabama for the rest of the summer," Williamson said.
Williamson said hospitals are managing but that the trends are concerning.
Dr. Michael Saag, an infectious diseases physician at the University of Alabama at Birmingham who also had COVID-19, said large gatherings are "havens" for the virus to spread.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Police: Nothing special in preparation for Juggalos
Police: Nothing special in preparation for Juggalos Police: Nothing special in preparation for Juggalos Check out this story on zanesvilletimesrecorder.com: http://ohne.ws/1mGdDw9
Bethany Bruner Published 8:01 p.m. ET July 23, 2014
Crowds gather at a mud pit in front of the main stage at the seventh annual Gathering of the Juggalos in 2006 at Frontier Ranch.(Photo: CentralOhio.com file photo)Buy Photo
THORNVILLE – Local law enforcement agencies say they are not anticipating any unusual problems during the 15th annual Gathering of the Juggalos, despite the fact the group has been labeled a gang by the FBI.
The event is taking place this weekend at Legend Valley Concert Venue and Campground.
Licking County Sheriff Randy Thorp said his department is not doing anything "over and above" the preparations officers make for other large concerts at the outdoor music center.
"We are not really anticipating any (problems), but we've adequately staffed the security to handle any reasonable situation that would arise," he said.
Juggalos are fans of the Insane Clown Posse and have been conducting annual gatherings for 15 years, according to the gathering's website. Juggalos typically wear makeup on their faces in the same manner the band does.
The three-day music event will feature dozens of acts on multiple stages. According to the website for the gathering, an additional 20 acres of campgrounds were opened up at Legend Valley because of "overwhelming demand."
The gathering is expected to draw thousands of people to Legend Valley. Juggalos are considered to be a "loosely organized hybrid gang" by the FBI, according to a 2011 report published by the agency.
Within the last month, a federal lawsuit filed on behalf of the Juggalos by the American Civil Liberties Union was dismissed because the report did not recommend specific action be taken against Juggalos and was not a violation of the group's free speech.
A documentary film crew is expected to be at this year's gathering to record elements of it for a film looking at the effect of the FBI's classification of the group as a gang.
Thorp said a 2006 gathering, which was held at Frontier Ranch near York Road, came and went without any major incidents.
Deputies began performing extra patrols Tuesday evening in the area of Legend Valley and will have a 24-hour presence at the site until the gathering wraps up Sunday. The sheriff's office mobile command center will be at Legend Valley for the duration of the concert.
Thorp said deputies will have a more visible presence in the Jacksontown area throughout the weekend to reassure residents who might be wary of the Juggalos.
"We are trying to have more of a presence to let the people know that we're close by should a situation arise," he said.
Sgt. Jeffrey Dallas, of the Ohio Highway Patrol, said troopers will be watching traffic on Interstate 70 near the Ohio 13 exit for any potential gridlock.
"Our main concern is to make sure traffic doesn't back up onto the interstate," he said. "We're just monitoring it and will react as needed."
Dallas said troopers are not anticipating some of the traffic issues that have come with other large concerts, which have required a changed traffic pattern in advance of the concert.
The Gathering of the Juggalos begins Thursday and runs through Sunday.
Read or Share this story: http://ohne.ws/1mGdDw9
Woman gets two years in prison for Elberon Ave. drug raid
Farm Table, other shops dot Dresden's downtown
County rejects bids for new dog warden facility
Dresden officer suspended after off-duty complaint
Caution needed to withstand extreme weekend heat
Man decides to buy golf course while playing one day


text:
var common = require("ui/segmented-bar/segmented-bar-common");
var types = require("utils/types");
global.moduleMerge(common, exports);
function onSelectedIndexPropertyChanged(data) {
    var view = data.object;
    if (!view.android || !view.items) {
        return;
    }
    var index = data.newValue;
    if (types.isNumber(index)) {
        if (index >= 0 && index <= view.items.length - 1) {
            view.android.setCurrentTab(index);
        }
        else {
            view.selectedIndex = undefined;
            throw new Error("selectedIndex should be between [0, items.length - 1]");
        }
    }
}
common.SegmentedBar.selectedIndexProperty.metadata.onSetNativeValue = onSelectedIndexPropertyChanged;
function onItemsPropertyChanged(data) {
    var view = data.object;
    if (!view.android) {
        return;
    }
    view.android.clearAllTabs();
    var newItems = data.newValue;
    view._adjustSelectedIndex(newItems);
    if (newItems && newItems.length) {
        for (var i = 0; i < newItems.length; i++) {
            var title = newItems[i].title;
            var tab = view.android.newTabSpec(i + "");
            tab.setIndicator(title);
            tab.setContent(new android.widget.TabHost.TabContentFactory({
                createTabContent: function (tag) {
                    var tv = new android.widget.TextView(view._context);
                    tv.setVisibility(android.view.View.GONE);
                    return tv;
                }
            }));
            view.android.addTab(tab);
        }
        if (types.isNumber(view.selectedIndex) && view.android.getCurrentTab() !== view.selectedIndex) {
            view.android.setCurrentTab(view.selectedIndex);
        }
        view.android.setOnTabChangedListener(null);
        view.android.setOnTabChangedListener(view._listener);
        var tabHost = view.android;
        var tabIndex;
        if (view.selectedBackgroundColor) {
            for (tabIndex = 0; tabIndex < tabHost.getTabWidget().getTabCount(); tabIndex++) {
                var vg = tabHost.getTabWidget().getChildTabViewAt(tabIndex);
                var stateDrawable = new android.graphics.drawable.StateListDrawable();
                var arr = java.lang.reflect.Array.newInstance(java.lang.Integer.class.getField("TYPE").get(null), 1);
                arr[0] = android.R.attr.state_selected;
                var colorDrawable = new SegmentedBarColorDrawable(view.selectedBackgroundColor.android);
                stateDrawable.addState(arr, colorDrawable);
                stateDrawable.setBounds(0, 15, vg.getRight(), vg.getBottom());
                vg.setBackgroundDrawable(stateDrawable);
            }
        }
        for (tabIndex = 0; tabIndex < tabHost.getTabWidget().getTabCount(); tabIndex++) {
            var tabChild = tabHost.getTabWidget().getChildTabViewAt(tabIndex);
            var t = tabChild.getChildAt(1);
            if (view.color) {
                t.setTextColor(view.color.android);
            }
        }
    }
}
common.SegmentedBar.itemsProperty.metadata.onSetNativeValue = onItemsPropertyChanged;
var SegmentedBarColorDrawable = (function (_super) {
    __extends(SegmentedBarColorDrawable, _super);
    function SegmentedBarColorDrawable(arg) {
        _super.call(this, arg);
        return global.__native(this);
    }
    SegmentedBarColorDrawable.prototype.draw = function (canvas) {
        var p = new android.graphics.Paint();
        p.setColor(this.getColor());
        p.setStyle(android.graphics.Paint.Style.FILL);
        canvas.drawRect(0, this.getBounds().height() - 15, this.getBounds().width(), this.getBounds().height(), p);
    };
    return SegmentedBarColorDrawable;
})(android.graphics.drawable.ColorDrawable);
var SegmentedBar = (function (_super) {
    __extends(SegmentedBar, _super);
    function SegmentedBar() {
        _super.apply(this, arguments);
    }
    SegmentedBar.prototype._createUI = function () {
        this._android = new OurTabHost(this._context, null);
        if (types.isNumber(this.selectedIndex) && this._android.getCurrentTab() !== this.selectedIndex) {
            this._android.setCurrentTab(this.selectedIndex);
        }
        var that = new WeakRef(this);
        this._listener = new android.widget.TabHost.OnTabChangeListener({
            onTabChanged: function (id) {
                var bar = that.get();
                if (bar) {
                    var oldIndex = bar.selectedIndex;
                    var newIndex = parseInt(id);
                    if (oldIndex !== newIndex) {
                        bar._onPropertyChangedFromNative(SegmentedBar.selectedIndexProperty, newIndex);
                    }
                }
            }
        });
        var tabHostLayout = new android.widget.LinearLayout(this._context);
        tabHostLayout.setOrientation(android.widget.LinearLayout.VERTICAL);
        var tabWidget = new android.widget.TabWidget(this._context);
        tabWidget.setId(android.R.id.tabs);
        tabHostLayout.addView(tabWidget);
        var frame = new android.widget.FrameLayout(this._context);
        frame.setId(android.R.id.tabcontent);
        frame.setVisibility(android.view.View.GONE);
        tabHostLayout.addView(frame);
        this._android.addView(tabHostLayout);
        this._android.setup();
    };
    Object.defineProperty(SegmentedBar.prototype, "android", {
        get: function () {
            return this._android;
        },
        enumerable: true,
        configurable: true
    });
    return SegmentedBar;
})(common.SegmentedBar);
exports.SegmentedBar = SegmentedBar;
var OurTabHost = (function (_super) {
    __extends(OurTabHost, _super);
    function OurTabHost(context, attrs) {
        _super.call(this, context, attrs);
        return global.__native(this);
    }
    OurTabHost.prototype.onAttachedToWindow = function () {
    };
    return OurTabHost;
})(android.widget.TabHost);


text:
Q: ¿Cómo hacer que jQuery signature que funcione en el móvil? Tengo una pagina con un formulario que la persona tiene que firmar el formulario. En el navegador anda perfecto pero en el móvil no funciona, solo deja clicar y poner puntitos, no se puede firmar. Estoy usando en plugin de jQuery signature. Me gustaría saber como hago para que funcione también en el móvil, si es posible.
Dejo mi código:

var sig = $('#sig').signature({syncField: '#signature64', syncFormat: 'PNG'});
    $('#clear').click(function(e) {
        e.preventDefault();
        sig.signature('clear');
        $("#signature64").val('');
    }
);
.kbw-signature { width: 100%; height: 200px;}

#sig canvas{
    width: 100% !important;
    height: auto;
}

Firma:

<button id="clear">Limpiar</button>
<textarea id="signature64" name="signed" style="display: none;"></textarea>

<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="assets/css/jquery.signature.css">

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Oklahoma man at center of 'The Innocent Man' to be released from prison
Posted 1:57 pm, December 18, 2019, by KFOR-TV and K. Querry
ADA, Okla. (KFOR) –A man who was convicted in a controversial murder case will soon be a free man.
The 1984 murder case of Denice Haraway has been in the spotlight recently after it became the focus of the Netflix docu-series "The Innocent Man."
The series is based on the John Grisham book, The Innocent Man. It documents the murder cases of two Ada women: Debbie Carter, raped and killed in 1982, and Denice Haraway, who went missing and was found murdered two years later.
Two men were convicted in Carter's case, but both were ultimately cleared by DNA evidence years later. The series revealed mistakes and bad decisions made by the investigators and prosecutors in that case.
It also detailed similar issues in the Haraway case, suggesting that the two men who are still in prison for her murder, Tommy Ward and Karl Fontenot, perhaps should not have been charged and convicted.
Tommy Ward and Karl Fontenot have been in prison for more than 30 years for a crime they say they didn't commit.
In 2017, Fontenot's legal team asked for any new evidence in the case, but the city and police department said there was no such evidence. Ward's legal team sent a similar request one year later and was given three boxes of new evidence.
Earlier this year, a court order from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma stated that Karl Fontenot should be either released from prison or granted a new trial.
Fontenot's lawyer challenged his murder conviction saying that newly discovered evidence proves that his client is innocent, his rights were violated when the district attorney's office withheld evidence, police interfered with his attorney-client privilege and that police knowingly presented false testimony during his trial.
Karl Fontenot
Following over a hundred pages of evidence detailed in the court order, the court ultimately decided that the evidence in the case showed Fontenot was not involved in Haraway's murder.
"The Court finds no rational juror who was able to set aside the tragedy of Mrs. Haraway's death could find beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Fontenot should be convicted based solely on his unsubstantiated confession."
Now, Fontenot will soon become a free man.
Fontenot is scheduled to be released from prison on Thursday, Dec. 19.
DOC: "The Innocent Man"'s Karl Fontenot has been released
DOC officials confirm release of inmate who was subject of 'The Innocent Man'
Man convicted in high-profile Ada murder case to be released from prison
'Making a Murderer' subject Brendan Dassey is petitioning for clemency
Oklahoma man sentenced for murder of girlfriend
Oklahoma pharmacist convicted of murder moved to different prison
Death row inmate gets widespread support from Oklahoma faith community
Trump pardons Oklahoma soldier in prison for ordering deaths of unarmed Afghan civilians
Wrongfully convicted Tulsa man struggling in life after release from 18 years in prison
Sentencing scheduled for Joe Exotic in murder-for-hire conviction
Jury finds man accused of killing Tecumseh officer guilty on all charges


text:
Film Features
"I'm Not That Kind Of Nerd" - Simon Pegg Interviewed
Simon Jablonski , June 8th, 2012 08:46
To mark the release of A Fantastic Fear Of Everything, Simon Pegg chats about degrees of geekdom, surreal moments in Hollywood and the dialectic behind his Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy. Interview by Simon Jablonski
Simon Pegg is a man. A ruddy bloody bloke. When he greets me in his hotel he doesn't smell of cinnamon or have an unnatural tan like films stars usually do. He's not even doing the thing when they sit there in carefully ripped $3,000 joggers and 'I'm just like you' casually scrawled across their face. Simon Pegg is a massive, über fanbase-having film and television icon, yet he's just sat there like a bloody man wearing clothes a man would wear.
Instantly the genesis of characters he created and played in Spaced and Shaun Of The Dead appear in his mannerisms and lingo, which is perhaps why there's an unnerving sense that I already know him. After checking to see if I'm in the right room, I sit down. After explaining that the Quietus sent me here because we're both called Simon, we sit in silence for around 15 seconds, could have been more, before I ask about his pants.
He's promoting his new movie A Fantastic Fear Of Everything, written by Kula Shaker frontman Crispian Mills and jointly helmed by Mills and music video director Chris Hopewell. Unfortunately it's terrible: a wacky, would-be Ealing-style take on mental illness that can't decide what genre it is, so fails on the tension and bombs on the laughs. He does spend most of the running time in a pair of dirty Y-fronts though. It's the usual double-edged criticism hurled at Simon Pegg: why are you doing this when you've created such funny and successful projects? As if Delia Smith has somehow been conned into working at Wetherspoon.
Pegg is a self-made star who, along with Edgar Wright, built a comedy empire not by flashing his baby at tabloid photographers but with his hands (which are quite delicate) and brain (which is massive). Though it only lasted two series, Spaced set new standards of inventiveness from the confines of a lounge. Being about 18 when it first aired, I realise that I'm talking to the man who, along with Dave Lister, created around 60% of my casual lexicon, and am instantly and unexpectedly launched back on a rocket of nostalgia. Wait, I realise, he's not just a man at all. He's Simon fucking Pegg!
Is there anything funnier than a man in his pants?
Simon Pegg: It's a comedy staple which underpins an essentially thoughtful and interesting and different kind of movie. But at the root of it is a man in his pants, which is the safety net.
Was the intention when you were doing Big Train to go into movies?
SP: No, I've thought about this, about what I wanted when I was doing Big Train. I'm not a particularly forward planning person, I never had a five-year plan. I was getting Spaced together at the time and was just sort of ambling along. I never thought for a second when I said about odd-numbered Star Trek movies being shit that I would end up being in an odd-numbered Star Trek movie less than ten years later.
Have you ever been tempted back into stand-up?
SP: I have occasionally. You can't just walk back into stand-up because you have to get match fit, it requires you to be very sharp. It's like extreme performing, the crystal meth of performing: you are validated on the spot there and then.
You keep your private life quiet, but every time you create something it seems extremely personal. Is it?
SP: My theory in terms of writing has always been write what you know and write with authority, because then it would be true. Even if there are coded elements of your true self in there. It doesn't bother me being personal as long as it's not my actual private life. That's something I don't feel has any relevance to my job. I see people introducing their baby to the world in fucking Hello! magazine or something. You fucking whores. Jesus.
I had this idea that everything you put on screen was smoke and mirrors, and you never read a comic book and you hated Star Wars.
SP: Yes, I'm a big fake. I often think I'm less of a geek than everyone thinks I am. I love science fiction, though sometimes I do prove myself wrong to a degree, because I do know ridiculous amounts about that kind of stuff. But I'm not a speccy, sand-in-your-face kid. I'm not that kind of nerd. People say Spaced was geeky, but it was also about people who liked to go clubbing and take ecstasy. It wasn't just about that particular demographic.
Do you ever over-geek to appease the fanbase?
SP: No, because I don't ever want to be untruthful. I also get frustrated with the notion of celebrity being that you have to be a certain thing, you have to stop liking the thing you're in. I've always been honest about how I'm very excited to do the job I do and I get a real kick out of being in Star Trek because I like Star Trek. I'm not going to be all, "Whatever, it's just another day at work with Tom Cruise." I'm like, "Fucking hell it's Tom Cruise!"
You've worked with some pretty big names now. What has been your most surreal experience?
SP: Most surreal experience was the Paramount 100 year anniversary photograph which we shot in LA in February. They had a big group photo of 100 actors, directors and writers that had worked with Paramount over the last 100 years and it was like being in a waxwork museum that had come to life. It was most extraordinary. I was given access to this special day, but so were Mickey Rooney and Jerry Lewis and Kirk Douglas and Jack Nicholson and Steven Spielberg and George Clooney and Brad Pitt. Also, no assistants or partners were allowed in the room, so it was just the people. Peter Bogdanovich and Robert Evans and Scorsese and De Niro and Tom Cruise, Meryl Streep and Shirley Maclaine. I was thinking, "I'm from Gloucester!" It was oddly surreal.
Have you had any awkward moments after berating The Phantom Menace so publically?
SP: No, George Lucas doesn't know who I am. I've worked for him on [animated series] Clone Wars, which I was happy to do. But I know Steven Spielberg now and it's interesting to talk to him about stuff like that because George Lucas is his friend and he defends him, in so much as he'll say, "They're George's films and he can do what he likes."
You asked Steven Spielberg if he thought The Phantom Menace was shit?
SP: No, I could I think, but I wouldn't want to put him in that position. I probably wouldn't because it's rude. I bring it up with Bard Bird, who directed MI [last year's Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol], and he's got… oh I don't want to get anyone into trouble.
Every time you have something out there's always tremendous expectation. Are you ever worried that's going to haunt you?
SP: As long as I'm happy with it. Much is made of the product when it comes to art, when art is not a product it's a process. The product is the result of art. It's what you're left with once it happens. A painting is a relic of what the process was. A film, even though it's enjoyable in and of itself, is still evidence of something that took place. As long as I enjoyed the process and am happy with what I've done, I don't really care what people think of it. It's a joy if they like it because it means I can do more work. If something comes out, I've got to take it on the chin if people don't like it. But if it's something I'm proud of, if someone doesn't like that, it's not my problem.
Do you find that people enjoy the films you've done which you've written yourself, rather than projects you've just acted in?
SP: Yes, sometimes. There's a core group out there who specifically like Shaun Of The Dead and Hot Fuzz and wish I'd stop doing films like Mission: Impossible and go and write another series of Spaced. But there's probably a bigger audience who go to see the bigger stuff and have no idea who I am and what Shaun Of The Dead is. I want to keep everybody happy. If I did a film that turned out to be rubbish, and had a good time making it, I'd never regret doing that, even if it got slammed by the critics and audiences alike. If I make good friends and enjoy going to work every day, I'm never going to regret it.
How did the Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy come about as an idea?
SP: It's a very easy story to track. In Shaun Of The Dead, because they were both hungover on the morning of the zombie apocalypse, Shaun goes to the shop and we thought, what's a good hangover cure? And Edgar said, "Cornetto. I always used to have a Cornetto when I was hungover." Cut forward to the premiere party and Cornetto provide us with free ice cream. So we were writing Hot Fuzz and, in a very self-indulgent way I'm sure, we thought: let's put a Cornetto in Hot Fuzz and we might get free ice creams again. It was that self-serving. So then when we were doing the press for Hot Fuzz, we were asked if these films were about ice creams, and Edgar said, "Yes, it's Three Flavours Cornetto," making a joke on Krzysztof Kieślowski. That stuck and it became the blood and ice cream trilogy.
Does accepting the trilogy idea make the next film seem unnecessarily final?
SP: It is a final part in this set of films. We always had the idea of doing this series of thematic sequels, and not like direct sequels, so Hot Fuzz wasn't a continuation of Shaun Of The Dead, but it is thematically a sequel. And World's End is the binding piece that will gather it all up as a trilogy. All three films are about the individual against the collective and, if you want to get really film theory about it, it's the dialectic of evolution, devolution, revolution. So Shaun… is about evolution, because it's not just about the emergence of a new species, it's about someone becoming something. Hot Fuzz is about someone devolving into something less. It's about Nicholas Angel becoming a thug because that's what he has to do. And the revolution, you'll see why when it comes out.
How much of this is your own imposed theorising?
SP: No, that's us. The ice cream thing is imposed, the other stuff is conscious. We didn't set out and go let's make a film about da da da, it dawned on us though the making of it that our thought process has taken that kind of… that's our journey with the film. And it is about our lives in a way. Shaun… was about growing up. Hot Fuzz we were feeling like we were being forced to be more mature, and with World's End the idea was about becoming middle-aged and fighting that. So as a film student I can analyse my own work to find out what I was subconsciously going for with each film. You can look at any film and look at the subtext, look at what was going on in the filmmaker's mind, what his preoccupations and concerns were at the time. I can track our films very clearly as to what we thinking about at the time.
What flavour is World's End?
SP: This one has to be mint because I think that's the last one. There are certain special edition Cornettos but it has to be. Shaun... was strawberry, Hot Fuzz was traditional regular - whatever that is, blue and white - and this one will be mint.
Is the final film in the trilogy the end of a working relationship?
SP: No, not at all. We're friends first and foremost and I'll work with both of them hopefully the rest of my career. All I want to do is work with the people I trust and love, and Edgar Wright and Nick Frost are most certainly those people.
A Fantastic Fear Of Everything opens in UK cinemas today.
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I have another Damask Design card for you today...I hope you are not getting sick of seeing cards with DD :) I promise to ink up a few different stamp sets for next week's posts. I have been super busy with my photography session/editing/etc...that last night I realized I didn't have anything to post for today *gasp*, so whipped this up in a jiff!!! I couldn't leave my blog friends without some paper crafting goodness!!! The card came together really fast and could almost be used as a "guy card" (maybe with out the button and ribbon, LOL!).
How is your week going? Do you have any plans for Halloween? Mike and I will probably just hang out at home and watch a movie (since our kids are a little old for trick or treating).
Thought I would post the treats I made for the office (plus Ashley's treat's too~we work together). I found these cute cups at Target and filled them with some Halloween candy, tied it up with some curling ribbon and stamped (Halloween stamp set by Recollections) and punched a little tag~easy peasy!!!
And my cute daughter who is a little crafty herself...made these for the office :) She also got her supplies at Target.
Lots of packaged goodness for today's post.
A few weeks ago I submitted 5 cards for an upcoming Stamp It magazine, and 4 were chosen for publication *happy face* This one didn't make it, so thought I would post it on my blog. After I took the photo, I noticed a hair on the card~and I was too lazy to re-take the picture, LOL!
Okay...told you it would be a quick post, LOL. I have a busy weekend planned (I need to stop cramming so much into my weekends!!!), so I will see ya on Monday!!!
I finally broke down and bought Damask Designs!!! UPS delivered my order on Monday and I had a few moments to play last night. Not sure I am in love with this particular layout, but it might grow on me.
My hubby is in CT this week visiting his family, his mom had a pretty bad fall a few months ago and he flew out to help her out. He told me last night that he was going to clean her house for her today (after almost 24 years of wedded bliss~he is trained pretty well, don't ya think???). He hasn't been back to our hometown in over 8 years, so I am sure he is having a fun time....even if he is freezing, LOL!
Happy Friday my blog friends...do you have any thing exciting planned for the weekend? Today I am doing a newborn photo shoot (really excited~hope it goes well, as babies can be a little unpredictable). I also have some Papertrey goodies on the way *woot woot* (didn't order any of the new release stuff yet, because I am still trying to decide).
Don't forget to remember your boss today...it is Boss Day...I packaged up my gifts and delivered them to the office last night after everyone had gone home...(since I have today off) and totally forgot to take a picture of them for my blog *sigh* I'll see if Ashley can take a picture with her Blackberry today and email it to me, LOL!
Monday...Monday...are you ready for a new week?
Have you seen the new button stamp set over at Papertrey??? So stinkin' cute!!! That one is def going on my must have list!!!
Have you heard of Once a Month Cooking??? I bought this cookbook at Costco the other day because it intrigued me...Ashley and I are going to give it a try to see if we like it. The thought of having a months worth of meals in the freezer really does sound pretty nice!!! (We may start with 2 weeks first~not to overwhelm ourselves, LOL!). We have to set a date to shop/cook...I'll let you know how it goes.
Today is gonna be a quickie...lots of stuff to do.
Since the weather has been cooling off a bit here in Arizona and feeling like fall (in the 70's in the morning)...I decided to make a fall'ish card...of course I had to add a button to it, LOL!
I still have some stamp sets for sale if you are interested...you can see them here.
I am going to see this movie tomorrow, with Ashley and another friend...cannot wait~I saw the preview for it a while back and have been waiting anxiously for it...hope I am not disappointed!!!
I hope you had a marvelous weekend! Ashley and I went to the movies on Saturday, which is always fun having a girls day out. And Mike and I celebrated Ashley and Nate's one year anniversary with them last night. We ate at this yummy place (I don't even want to know how many WW points I consumed...but it was a LOT!!!).
I needed a baby card for a new baby at our church (we have several on the way), I used my Hampton Art set (purchased at Michael's), Oh Baby. Of course I paper pieced the stork to match the polka dotted cardstock. I even pulled out my markers to color the baby.
I mentioned last week that I was going to go through my stamp sets and put them up for sale on EBay. I thought I would offer them here on my blog first and next week list them with EBay. If you are interested in purchasing any, please email me (link in my sidebar). It will be on a first come basis (just to be fair). I listed them with photos on Flickr, and the prices are in the comment section. All stamps are in good to excellent condition and from a smoke free home.
I will ship (within the US) with a flat rate envelope or box (depending on amount of stamps purchased), which starts at $4.95. If you are outside the US I will need to weigh the package at the post office and then email you your total.
I accept Pay pal (you are responsible for any fees), check or money order.
The for sale list is here.
Today is my nephew's birthday...Happy Birthday Nathan!!!!!
I pulled out my Cornish Heritage Farms stamp set called Cutie Pet-Tootie (I love that name, LOL!) and of course, since I don't really like how my marker colored images look...I paper pieced (one of my favorite techniques!!). I then popped the doggie up with some pop dots that I purchased recently at Michael's (and these babies really pop up your image!).
I am so excited to have the next few days off from work...I don't really have anything planned, but hope to have a few mental health days :) I do plan on going through my SU! sets to sell (and I did get contacted by a few blog readers for my list before I list them on ebay~I should have it ready early this week).


text:
Matt Oster's blog ›
Cybersecurity Strategies Across States
Matt Oster
Thursday, June 14, 2018 at 09:01 AM
Cybersecurity has become a central issue for many state officials across the nation. In the past six months, Colorado, Connecticut and North Carolina have all been victims of cybercrime. In today's world, where so many aspects of daily life depend on data sharing devices that communicate via the internet, state officials are trying to mitigate the damage that can be done by hackers. There is little uniformity among state cybersecurity strategies. However, three states have positioned themselves as potential leaders for enhancing security of the state's online information.
In Arizona, the cybersecurity operations are coordinated between the state government and a non-profit coalition made up of businesses and universities. Arizona Cyber Threat Response Alliance, or ACTRA, grew out of an FBI program launched in the early 2000s that was designed to share information about cyberthreats between the public and private sectors.[1] The group runs workforce development programs designed to help employees identify and fend off a cyberthreat. Convening members from academia, industry leaders, and law enforcement, this program facilitates discussions between businesses, universities and the state government, which allows for a robust state cybersecurity system.
In New Jersey, the state's Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Cell, or NJCCIC, is the state's one-stop shop for cybersecurity information. As the statewide cybersecurity coordinator, NJCCIC takes the lead on all cybersecurity issues for the state and even serves cities and localities not equipped with the resources to respond to a cyber threat or attack. This consolidation of state and local resources allows for a uniform approach in dealing with cybersecurity. This agency answers to New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness, rather than the state information technology office. Placing the chief information security officer under the homeland security office gives the program the authority to expand cybersecurity planning across state agencies.[2]
Rather than establishing a single agency or having a public-private partnership, Washington state coordinates cybersecurity strategies through a chief information security officer but also assigns significant roles to members of emergency management and state military officials. The cooperation between departments has increased the longevity of this program. By incorporating the National Guard into security measures, Washington takes a more defensive approach in securing their online infrastructure. By incorporating the emergency management and military affairs departments, the state expanded their incidence response team in the event a cyberthreat becomes an issue.
Each state must work to find a strategy that is unique to their security needs. The three approaches listed above demonstrate how proper innovation, organization and governance can foster a cybersecurity strategy capable of addressing problems and implementing plans. The one thing in common with these three strategies is coordination across multiple stakeholder groups. Bringing together all stakeholders allows these states to inventory potential partners, leverage existing relationships between agencies and outside entities, blend and braid funding to allow funds to be used more easily and creatively at the point of service and delivery, have a comprehensive definition of success, and easily communicate across cabinets and agencies.
[1] http://azinfragard.org/?page_id=8
[2] https://www.cyber.nj.gov/press-releases/njccic-and-nh-isac-partner-to-en...
Policy Area›Public Safety
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© 2016 The Council of State Governments. All Rights Reserved.


The Vortex are the Black Hand's main "agents provocateur", specialists in undercover and secret operations. Rigorously recruited, they are not called "special operatives" for nothing. Their operating profile requires exceptional abilities for combat and for the collection of intelligence. In exchange, the Black Hand gives them freedom to act according to their own judgment, and evaluates them only on the basis of objectives met. And Vortex meets them, because they are professionals. These guys can have a run at anyone; they can eliminate any other operative from the Sphere or beyond it. They are top-notch hitmen. They have done plenty of "jobs", but always with a low profile, operating under the radar. The Vortex are destabilizing agents with a wild vibe. If they show up, you'd better be ready for action. They are old school spies from a dirtier, more expedient era. They are intimately acquainted with danger, vertigo and action. Vortex live in the tough side of chaos, where no one is in charge and anything can happen. That's the way they like it, because when your bread and butter is outrunning ALEPH, you end up with a liking for the high-speed jobs.


I'm a big believer in having style with comfort. My last few days have consisted of pre-sunrise city commutes and back-to-back seminars, which calls for some creativity in terms of outfit selection. Do I wear the pumps and risk limping home? Should I go with the flattering pants that might be a size too tight? For those of you who ride the struggle bus when choosing a work outfit that will last all day, this is for you. I call it pajama chic.
Your work outfits don't have to be limited to restrictive pencil skirts or trousers. Loose-fitting pants like these are perfect substitutions for the office when paired with other elements of professionalism. The additions of a button-down blouse and lower-heeled shoes instantly create a balanced look that is both work-appropriate and ultra-comfortable. When dressing up casual pieces, don't forget the power of accessories as well. Just by incorporating a structured tote, you'll be ready to convince others that you mean business. And in the meantime, you'll feel like you barely changed out of your pajamas. It's a win-win situation.
Your pants and shoes are perfect. Love the stripe blouse too. You always stylish. Have a nice time.
you look perfect the pants is so great, I love the color!!
Thanks so much, Claire! I definitely agree with that mantra!!
That color is amazing! Love how well it pairs with the stripes hun!
You look so lovely! It's a perfect work outfit. I especially love the warm hue of those pants!


text:
©2018 by The Olive Tree Madrassah.
What Can We Offer? Our Talk With the Church of Scotland
On Wednesday, the 24 October, the Olive Tree Madrasah director, Yahya Barry was invited by the Presbytery of Edinburgh (all Church of Scotland churches in Edinburgh) to talk about interfaith relations and work in the city. The gathering was attended by around thirty community leaders, ministers and staff. Below is the speech given by our director as he shared his insights into this interesting and challenging area of work.
What is this thing (Islam) doing here?
We are a small community which 'has got on with it' - relatively well, perhaps sheltered by the presence of bigger factors such as anti-English sentiment (Anglophobia) and Sectarianism which has diverted some animosity away from it. And specifically in Edinburgh, a city which enjoys social, cultural and economic affluence hasn't precipitated the segregation of Muslims into certain areas - as we see in other cities - something, which has helped their integration and foster positive relations.
In such a climate, the Islam Festival, the Mosque Kitchen, the MELA have become established Edinburgh institutions facilitating cultural dialogue and communication - what I regard as essential ingredients in interfaith work. But I have the feeling that the audience will agree with me here when I say: (1) there is so much more potential to tap into, and (2) there remains substantial work for the Muslim community to do.
I hope I may be pardoned for daring to forward a theory, perhaps even a proposal. That is: I see that the rich heritage of faiths in this wonderful city risks being marginalised in the religious economic system of this country if they don't succeed in asserting their relevance to the everyday lives of the citizens. And although the interfaith dimension perhaps seeks to contribute to boosting the role of religion in the public sphere, it needs considerable creativity to successfully compete with the other alternatives. So what is the role of Islam, and why am I here?
I am here because I believe that Islam has a potentially huge role to play in the lives of people in this wonderful city of Edinburgh, and in this unique nation that is Scotland. And of course, I proceed upon the principle that we have agreed to differ. And it is this diversity of worldviews, cultures and traditions which can enrich us so much on the one hand, and yet, on the other, risk dividing us, especially when it is manipulated for certain political gains.
And it is at this juncture that I have to make a distinction between Islam and Muslims. While the religion has defined itself in terms of its creed, legislation, morals and values, how they are interpreted and the extent to which they are applied by its people enormously varies. As a theologian aware of the fact that scripture shapes religion but also being fully aware that in this age of modernity, individual autonomy contests authority, I have to embrace both views to deal with the status quo. And so I talk both about the role of Islam and Muslims.
In our context, locally and nationally, Islam has to resist being stigmatised. It needs to come out of the shell that has been cast for it and show it's worth as a religion that embraces humanity in all its exuberant diversity but also in its weakness and vulnerability in order to keep its propensity to oppress and transgress at check. It is therefore events like this which Muslims need to actively participate in to be on the active front of shaping their relations with their fellow citizens. Having reflected upon Islam, I have found it to be a religion whose origins and modus operandi for social reform has always been grassroots. I am therefore a keen advocate of grassroots initiatives and approaches starting with family, neighbour and locality. My Islam enables me to share the good I have with my neighbours albeit with the sensibility of tact, respecting the secular nature of the public space and therefore being careful about how I seek to express my religious identity within it.
And in line with this grassroots approach, education is absolutely key. And as far as Islam is concerned, the religion has been gifted with the unique opportunity of the curiosity of people on the one hand, and the negative sensationalist portrayals on the other - any publicity could be turned into good publicity right? However, Muslim institutions need to be up to the task. They need qualified personnel to identify these opportunities and engage with the public. This is an area of work that I am indeed very passionate about. In my first year as Imam serving this city, I engaged over 95 official engagements to this effect of which about 25 were of an interfaith nature.
To conclude, the status quo is indeed challenging. But challenges exist to not only make manifest the negative elements of human society, but to precipitate the very best of human resolve, determination and creativity. When I look at this great city of Edinburgh, I see that it is potentially uniquely poised to offer the world what could be a model for peace and a cohesive pluralist citizenship. And Islam and Muslims specifically have the ball in their court. The extent to which they engage can add and bring so much more to the table. I have recognised it and I am here to engage.
What we Learned in our Opening Week
"Why I am Taking my Mosque to Court" - an Imam Speaks Out
islam in scotland
madrasah education