text:
A New Watergate?
By John Simkin
October 28, 2005 in JFK Assassination Debate
John Simkin
Is this the beginning of the end for Bush? Is this Bush's Watergate? You might be interested in this thread.
http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=4297
I thought you might like this cartoon published in today's Guardian.
Tim Gratz 27 posts
John Simkin 17 posts
Ron Ecker 7 posts
Pat Speer 7 posts
Ron Ecker
These people are going to remain in power. They didn't steal it for nothing. The worse things get politically for Bush, the more dangerous they get for the American people and the rest of the world. There is no poll numbers problem that another terrorist attack, worse than 9/11, couldn't solve, followed by martial law. Everyone should hope Bush gets through this CIA payback with minimum damage.
Mark Stapleton
Maybe, but hopefully a comprehensive shellacking in the mid-term elections will temper their hubris.
There are several reasons why I believe the Plame Scandal has the potential to be more damaging than Watergate. The main reason is that at the core of this story is the way the Bush administration lied about the reasons for invading Iraq. As this war has resulted in the deaths of over 2,000 Americans, this is about as serious as it gets.
In his address to the nation in January 2003, Bush lied to the American people about attempts by Iraq to buy uranium in Niger. Joseph Wilson was one of many people who knew Bush was lying. However, he was the only one with the courage to come forward and say it as he did in his article in the New York Times in July 2003.
Bush's reaction was the same as that of Nixon. He instructed Karl Rove to begin a dirty tricks campaign against Wilson. Unfortunately for Bush, as with Nixon, his aides went too far. By telling a small group of loyal journalists that Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, was a CIA operative, they committed a serious felony.
These were the same journalists who published false stories about WMD. They also willingly published these stories about Wilson and Plame. In doing so, they also committed a serious felony.
These journalists have all done deals and are likely to give evidence in Libby's trial. It is not clear what names they gave Patrick Fitzgerald. However, we do know that one of them gave Libby's name. At the moment, Liddy has only been charged with taking part in the cover-up: lying to the grand jury, lying to federal investigators and hindering a grand jury investigation into the leak.
Why then has Libby not been charged with the far more serious offence of disclosing that Valerie Plame was a CIA operative? I believe the reason is that Fitzgerald is trying to do a deal with Libby. He will only charge him with the lesser offences if he gives the name of the person who told him to do it. In other words will he become a John Dean or a Gordon Liddy. If Libby becomes a Liddy then only one man will go to prison. However, if he decides to become a Dean, he will bring down Rove and maybe even Bush.
There are also several journalists, including Robert Novak, Matt Cooper and Judith Miller, who also know a great deal about this story. I know they are all right-wingers but one might decide to really break this story.
Thought JFK members would be interested in this defence of Rove and Bush posted by Tim Gratz on another thread. It seems that the right-wing Republicans are feeling the pressure:
So I assume John you will be able to show where you ever wrote anything critical of Phillip Agee for revealing the names of hundreds of CIA covert operatives around the world? What he did was of course a hundred-fold worse than whoever revealed Plam's status, given the number of agents he "outed".
I too noticed that no one has been charged with the offense of revealing that Plame as a CIA agent. Libby was only charged with obstructing justice etc. by allegedly giving false information to investigators and to the grand jury. What bothered me was (according to news commentators) the allegedly false information that Scooter gave was so easily refuted by others that he must have been a complete idiot to think he could get by with it. I really no little about Libby but presumably no one who rises to a position as high as the one he held lacks intelligence.
I assume most members have heard the commentary that analogizes the indictment against Libby with the offense for which Martha Stewart was convicted. She was not convicted of illegally using any inside information but only of lying to investigators about the incident.
But once again your post is replete with lies. (What else can you call a factual assertion that has no support in fact?) You wrote: "Bush's reaction was the same as that of Nixon. He instructed Karl Rove to begin a dirty tricks campaign against Wilson. Unfortunately for Bush, as with Nixon, his aides went too far. By telling a small group of loyal journalists that Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, was a CIA operative, they committed a serious felony."
What evidence if any do you have that Bush issued any such instructions to Rove? Without any such evidence, how dare you make such a statement? And as long as we are it it, you claim the disclosure of Plame's identity was a "serious felony". Just so we understand where you are coming from, perhaps you can identify several felonies that you consider "non-serious".
More on this later.
I question whether Bush gave Rove instructions for a dirty tricks campaign against Wilson. I say this not because I agree with Tim, which I don't. I say it because Bush is an empty suit who does or says what his handlers tell him. So I imagine it was Rove's or Cheney's idea and Bush simply said okay, if Bush was even told about it.
There are those who suspect that Nixon himself had no idea what the Watergate burglary was about. Similarly, Bush may have had no idea that Plame was going to be outted by his handlers. The only grounds for thinking that Bush had any hand in the decision is that it was a stupid thing to do. But even intelligent people can do stupid things, particularly when they have the power to do anything they want. And I can understand why Bush may be angry and frustrated nowadays, going to bed pouting if not plastered every night, because he doesn't have more of a say-so around the White House.
Guest Stephen Turner
I can understand why Bush may be angry and frustrated nowadays, going to bed pouting if not plastered every night, because he doesn't have more of a say-so around the White House.
Ron, being "plastered" in these neck of the woods translates as being falling down drunk, Are you saying that Bush has fallen off the wagon? I tried to imagine having a conversation with a drunk GWB, but it refuses to compute.
Stephen,
There is tabloid gossip that Bush is on the booze again and that Laura has to go around the White House looking for hidden bottles. If true I doubt that it's anything new, since it was a couple of years ago that Bush "choked on a pretzel" and passed out, bumping his widdle head.
The idea of conversing with an intoxicated Bush is indeed intriguing. I suspect that the effect of booze on Bush is the opposite than for most people. The drunker he gets, the more he actually makes sense.
LOL, Classic. I find your comments earlier about the worse it gets for Bush, the nastier the Administration will get chilling, I cant shake this image of Chaney sitting somewhere deep in the bowels of the Whitehouse, stroking a white cat and cackling insanely.
Dawn Meredith
Location:Austin, Tx.
Interests:political justice, conspiracy/truth, music, law, Bible prophecy
This is a very important post. I agree 100% Ron.
Scary times these. Your post sums up the situation perfectly, imo.
Frank Agbat
So what, exactly, does this have to do with the assassination of JFK?
Nic Martin
Does anyone think it's possible that the real reason behind Tenet's resignation was related to this?
Robert Howard
I wish that anyone who reads this thread (and I am sure there are) watched Larry King (speaking of ghosts of JFK, Eh) Oct 27, 2005 when he had a panel type discussion with Bob Woodward, David Gergen, a former White House adviser to president's Nixon, Ford, Reagan and Clinton; Newsweek's investigative Michael Isikoff; Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. and, Sen.Christopher Dodd, D-CT, and Robert Bork.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0510/27/lkl.01.html
The 64 dollar question about the "Plame affair" is whether evidence that Fitzgerald has or will obtain will lead to a resurrection of the WMD issue, which for the most part seems to have disappeared from the media, which I think, is a sad commentary about the electorate. I personally believe that between drowning in cynicism and suspecting the worst about "our government" many American's are so unaware of the co-opted media (see Pres. Reagan vetoing of "Fairness in Media Act" to become Federal Law link http://www.twf.org/News/Y1997/Fairness.html)
that the problem in restoring some semblance of reality to America's democratic process, is pre-empted by the fact that media has been asleep at the wheel for a couple of decades now. How can you solve problems in this country, when the electorate is basically sedated watching Nancy Grace and Hollywood Scandals Volume 12. IMO there is appx. a minority of Americans who realize that the Republican vs. Democrat battle royal is really more of a sideshow to the very real FACT that American government needs to "be reformed."
Bad things seem to happen to people throughout American history who have "a vision" that does not fit in with the status quo, see
MLK's "Re-distribution of Wealth, Poor People's March on Washington."
A kinder, gentler Malcolm X who seemed ready to "join forces with MLK."
RFK's - "Healing the rifts between black and white, young and old, pro or con over Vietnam and civil rights."
And so it goes....as Fearless Leader once said "Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, er ah #%&* can't get fooled again."
I interpret Tenet as being the fall guy, i.e. the closest thing there has been to anyone at all being held accountable for the blanket government "incompetence" of 9/11. Of course a resignation for "personal reasons" two or three years after the fact was a pretty weak show of accountability, indeed virtually imperceptible from an administration PR standpoint. But I imagine the CIA didn't take this backstabbing of the agency kindly, even though it was probably pleased to see the Bush lackey Tenet go. This scapegoating plus the Plame affair called for some payback, which Bush is now experiencing.
Nancy Eldreth
Interests:Watergate, art, JFK assassination, swimming, arts and crafts,
cats, music, needlepoint, cooking.

When I see it happen then I will believe it.
Bush keeps covering up all of his wrongful doings. So, when? His fathers has all of his records covered up and that was a long time ago.
Sad, they both get away with so much.
So, for me, it is don't count your chickens before they hatch. Like to see this one hatched, should have been a long time ago. NEver even to get to the point of 9/11 ever. Should never have happened and yet it did. Smiles on Bush's face are always at the wrong times, everyone in America should have picked up on that also a long time ago.


Petit larceny is a theft crime in Las Vegas that requires the intent to steal. Petit larceny is only a misdemeanor charge in Las Vegas, Nevada, but an intentional theft charge on your record may make it difficult to get a job.
If you have been arrested for petit larceny, contact a Las Vegas criminal defense attorney to defend the charges or even have them dismissed.
Petit larceny is the intentional theft of items worth $250 or more, but less than $650, from a person against his or her will.
Leading or carrying away domesticated animals and pets.
As long as the property is worth less than $650, the Nevada crime of petit larceny can be charged. If the property is worth more than $650, you can be arrested or charged with grand larceny instead.
How does Petit Larceny Relate to the Burglary?
Petit larceny is not a lesser-included offense of burglary, which means that you can be charged with both crimes. This is another reason why retaining a criminal lawyer to handle your petit larceny charge as soon as possible is very important to protect your rights.
Petit larceny in Nevada is a misdemeanor offense that will probably not result in jail time. If you are convicted of a petit larceny charge in Las Vegas, you will be required to pay restitution.
The sentence increases for petit larceny in Nevada if the property involved includes utility wires or scrap metal. A minimum of 100 hours of community service may be required for a first offense, and the penalties can increase to a felony depending on the value of the property taken.
Value is always a defense in theft cases, including petit larceny cases in Las Vegas, Nevada. The highest reasonable value of the goods taken or carried away will be applied.
Part ownership of the property may not be a defense. Contact a Las Vegas defense lawyer before taking away property you believe belongs to you, and which another person believes belongs to him or her to avoid arrest for petit larceny.
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So today I want to start a Mini series with Mini cards.
If you follow my blog you know how much I love mini cards because you can use them as tags for presents, little pick-me-up cards for many occasions or even attach them to the front of a larger card.
The three cards below have a summer party theme or even invites for a cook-out.
Good morning all, I don't have a card to post yet today but I thought I'd share a picture of a flower in my garden. I took this yesterday morning.
Our cooler weather has been kind to the hydrangea's this year and they stayed blue.
I just want to say how much fun I had working on this card today.
I have a fellow DT member on one of my challenge blogs that draws her images and offers them on Etsy. She also has a blog where she sends out certain images for free, yes that's what I said!
She has all kinds of images at a great price.
Anne also has a blog where she offers the details of how to get her images for free.
I took the image and colored with Copics and then I printed the image several more times on Vellum.
I colored the wings of the Vellum on the reverse side and then cut them out. Layering them and attaching on the back side of image to add the dimension.
I also added Stickles on several areas and some black flock for her hair/head piece.
The circle Hexagon is a die from Simon Says.(Hexagon Pattern Circle) I used the punch outs as accents on the card. I found a very small Bee in my stock and stamped it several times.
Added a computer sentiment and there you go.
Thanks for stopping today, and don't forget to visit Anne's site.
Our challenge is 'Anything Goes', so options are limitless.
I used an image from LaLa Land that I had not had the opportunity to color, so this was my chance.
Hope you enjoy your week and thanks for stopping by.
I want to share my card for the Design Team Challenge.
August 3rd is National Friendship Day so our OPTIONAL twist this week is to create a card or gift for a friend. Our newest sponsor has plenty of images that are perfect for friendship cards!
Please join us for the challenge and Inspiration. Don't forget that special friend August 3rd.
After using a 12 X 12 paper pad for one of my challenge post, I found some really fun papers and decided to make this card. I must admit that some scrap laying around was also used on the card.
I have a sentiment stamp with a bible verse, 1 Thessalonians 5:18 that I love.
Looks like I'm becoming more and more obsessed with the fishtail pennant/banner.
Thanks for stopping by and have a Great Sunday.
Tonight I thought I would just play a little so I went to my rounder that holds all my 6 X 6 paper pads and I closed my eyes and picked one.
So what did I pick.....Country Boutique by Fancy Pants.
Its somewhat neutral, but I choose several papers and made this card.
With the heart paper, I decided to use the LOVE sentiment and added some simple twine.
Tonight I had a chance to play a little with some Gelatos by Faber Castell. I was motivated by a video from a blog of a good friend. If you ever want a short tutorial you need to go over to Kimberly Crawfords blog.
She's one of the Paper Crafts Go To Gals and she always has cool stuff featured.
So I used some Heide Swapp paper and created this card.
Very simple card, some layered papers, pearls and some ribbon.
Thanks for stopping by today and I appreciate you being patient that I haven't posted everyday this week.
This little man has been at my house and grandma doesn't get much done other than snuggle.
I want to share the Greets Challenge for this week over at The Outlawz.
This week our challenge to you is to 'emboss' something. you can wet or dry emboss or even combine them.
My card for the week shows dry emboss using two different patterns.
Go on over to The Outlawz and see all the inspiration.
So I wanted to share a card I did with a rick st. dennis image that I am totally obsessed with.
This is Randi Dandi and I colored her with a little punk style.
I also have been testing out a video setup, so there is a video to go with this. I have listed the Copic colors below because I believe I might have given you a wrong number on the reds.
I Love Tim Holtz stuff and some of my favorite things are the kits that come from Archivers.
have mini cards in them and come with a 4 stamp set, a pad of 6 X 6 paper, some embellishments and instructions.
You usually need to provide a couple colors of ink and maybe some optional stickles.
These kits are so easy and can be adapted for so many things. The fact that you have the 4 stamps for future projects is actually well worth the cost.
So, I had the Birthday set sitting around and decided to pull everything out and make the cards.
These four are complete and I have almost the entire paper pad left.
I needed to put all my stuff away today after hosting the craft camp over the weekend. My wonderful Husband carried everything back downstairs to my room, but the task of putting it back in its proper spot....well it's all back and I did a little sorting and cleaning.
Found a few things lying around so I put this card together.
I love making these cards, just go through the scrap and somehow it all comes together.
This week our challenge is Christmas in July. If you don't celebrate Christmas then make a holiday card that shows your belief.
Our sponsor this week is Eureka Stamps.
I thought this was a good image since last week we focused on Cookies.
Here is my second card. A good basic holly card.
Come on over and look around. at all the DT Inspiration cards.
Today starts a couple of new Challenges for several of my blogs. I will address 613 Avenue Create first.
As always its Anything Goes, but we'd love for you to add the twist of 'Birthdays'.
Thanks for Stopping by today and stayed tuned, more to come.
I am on the DT Greetings Team and always look at the other challenges, but usually don't have the time to participate. I can't win any prizes, but its always fun to color something for fun.
I have an image from The Paper Shelter, "Adorable Cowgirl" that I picked up the other day and I decided it was perfect for this challenge.
She is so cute and I took the time to put together a card today.
Go over and check out the site and join in the fun.
Tomorrow I'm hosting another day of open crafting time at our office location. This will be a day of crafting, sewing, laughter and eating. If you've ever gone to a crafting/crop day you know what I mean, if you haven't then you need to find something in your area NOW!
If you happen to be in the Cedar Rapids, Iowa area and think this is something you're interested in, please get in touch with me. You can go to http://www.meetup.com/Craft-Camp-Extended/ and sign up.
I will have some special Amuse Studio projects to share.
Today I got to spend the day with my DIL and that fabulous grandson of mine. We did a little shopping and had a great lunch while at the mall. He is such a good baby and I can't wait until later next week when I get to keep him everyday for a couple of weeks.
Not sure how much crafting will take place, but we'll see how grandma can juggle her time.
Spending a little time in my craft room tonight, I was able to put this quick card together.
This is the Lawn Fawn set "Summertime Charm" It has stamps and dies.
I used some simple paper flowers, a couple of edge punches and twine to finish everything off.
Hope you had a great day and thanks for stopping by.
Sharing today an extra card that's not needed for one of my upcoming DT challenges.
This is a digital image from The Paper Shelter and was so much fun to create. Most of The Paper Shelter images come already colored or you can use the line art. They are great if you don't like to color or are short on time. This one was colored with Copics and I used a computer generated sentiment.
Check in Sunday for the card that I used for the Challenge over at 613 Avenue Create.
You know when you have those small calendars with pictures at the top?? Sometimes they are very nice images and hard to throw away. Well today I have a couple of cards that I put together using basic leftover scraps . I have 2 to share tonight and plan on making more to complete a set. Great, simple gift idea.
I cut the focal image into thirds and mounted on a card base. Added ribbon and sentiment. Used some $1.00 bling from the local craft store.
It's Greetings Team challenge day over at The Outlawz and who doesn't like cookies?
That's the theme for the week and not sure I'm going to make it through without cranking up the oven.
Edie has posted the challenge with a little history about the cookie, so go on over and check it out.
Who knows, you may get inspired and send us your own cookie card or project.
Here's my card for the week.
My night of lost sleep is easy to make up and I am so blessed to be his grandma.
It's summer and time for strawberries and I want to share a Mo Manning image that I got last year and never had a chance to color. Knowing that I wanted to make the strawberries red, I then needed to find a paper that would work with that color. I had this paper from Pine Cone Press that has been laying on my desk just waiting for the correct image. Today was the day. Having 4 patterns on one side of the 12 X 12 paper was just what I needed and the perfect fit. I love this color combo anyway so it was so easy to put together. The sentiment is from Amuse Studio and then I added a little bling.
I hope you have a great weekend and as always, thanks for stopping by today.
Playing around today with a couple of images still laying on my desk from an upcoming challenge post, so I just picked one up and made this card. I'm not using this image for next weeks challenge over at The Outlawzs, so I can share it with you today.
The image is digital cookiefairy from Whimsiedoodle.
I colored with Copics and used a little Stickles on her wings. Layered a couple of papers added some ribbon and I think this cookie is baked and ready to go.
I want to wish everyone a Safe and Happy 4th of July.
Today I want to share a very quick card that I made.
I recently purchased the Martha Stewart Circle Edge Punch and of course the minute I got it home I had to play. I started with the scallop punch that comes with the base then I punched a circle using the Diamond Lace design. The punch system is very easy, but I must admit that this pink one had a small area that was not perfect. Well I couldn't throw it away, so I cut it up and applied to the front of a card base.
I stamped a basic sentiment and then layered a few paper flowers with a brad for decoration.
So easy and I have another basic thank you card in my stash.
Have I told you lately how much I like to use my paper scraps!
Its a fun challenge with great colors.
I used one of my favorite images from Mo Manning and the three challenge colors.
Hope you decide to join us this week, or at least stop over for some inspiration.


Offered for sale is this Edwardian inlaid satinwood writing desk which dates from 1900. Made from satinwood, it has an olive green tooled leather writing scribe with gold border. It has a central draw with 2 cupboard doors either side. The doors have an inlaid decoration and also brass drop handles. It stands on slender tapering legs with brass castors, ebony line inlay. Probably adapted from a dressing table.


The Western Intergovernmental Audit Forum (WIAF) next meeting will be held Thursday to Friday, September 18-19, 2014, at The Westin Bonaventure Hotel and Suites, 404 South Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, California. We will offer 12 CPEs at a cost of $275. Meals (continental breakfasts on Thursday and Friday; lunch and reception on Thursday) are included. Appropriate dress for all sessions is business casual.
The forum will feature sessions on a variety of topics, including presentations by Elaine Howle, California State Auditor; Ron Galperin, Los Angeles City Controller; and Chuck Young, Managing Director, Office of Public Affairs, U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO).
Please register with WIAF no later than Monday, September 8, 2014. (Registration for this meeting is on a first come, first-served basis.) Online registration is the preferred method; however, should you need a registration form emailed to you, please contact Sylvia Woo at woos@gao.gov or 415-904-2214.


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Tangoio Beach
@Hawke's Bay NZ
Tangoio Beach Tangoio 4181, New Zealand
Fossick, beach walks and exploration of a coastal environment are key attractions for Tangoio. There are paths along the beach offering fantastic views of Hospital Hill and Napier. There is a prominent rock which is the star of a number of instagram posts aptly named 'Flat rock.' Further north on the original pre-European path to Wairoa is Stingray Bay and Punakarau (Tait's) Beach, a beautiful scenic spot with golden sand. Moa bones, traces of kumara pits and other signs of Maori habitation have been found in this area.
Tangoio Beach Surf Report & Surf Forecast with Live Surf Webcams
WHITE PINE SCENIC BUSH RESERVE
Tangoio Beach is a 9 minutes drive from White Pine Bush Scenic Reserve. White Pine Bush Scenic Reserve walks: Tutira area, Hawke's Bay region.
Short loop (800 m), 30 minutes
The short loop track has a grade and surface suitable for people using wheelchairs. This 650 m path, which takes in much that the reserve has to offer, should be completed in an anticlockwise direction. About halfway along the track, there are tables and chairs, a perfect spot to sit and listen to the songs of native birds while enjoying a picnic lunch.
Longer loop (1.6 km, 40 minutes) Follow the longer loop track to see some large kahikatea and a great view over parts of the reserve. This section of track is not suitable for wheelchairs. A picturesque stream and small waterfall are both visible from the track—sometimes small fish, eels and koura (freshwater crayfish) can be seen. Please do not touch the giant stinging nettle (ongaonga), especially in summer, when it's full of new growth. Despite their fierce reputation, nettles are the exclusive food of the red admiral butterfly. Source DOC online.
Find out more about what to do nearby Tangoio Beach in Hawke's Bay guide things to do with places to stay and nearby walks.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


George Vondriska teaches you how to properly set two boards into a Porter Cable dovetail jig in preparation for creating a half blind dovetail joint. He talks about writing coordinating letters on the boards and orienting them correctly into the machine, as well as adjusting the side fence and comb to make the faces of the boards flush with each other. Keep an eye out for more new videos with tips for using the Porter Cable dovetail jig throughout January and February. Next week we will discuss how to set the depth of cut.


Long grain white rice and Orzo pasta lightly seasoned with garlic, onions and bell peppers. 50% more than regular size. A New Orleans tradition. Since 1889. Complements any meal. No artificial flavors. Made with real vegetables. No MSG added (except those naturally occurring glutamates). No colors from artificial sources. Pilaf is an ancient dish with variations found across Central Asia, the Middle East, India, Eastern Europe and the Caribbean. Despite wide-ranging recipes, a hallmark of rice pilaf is grains that are distinct, perfectly tender and infused with flavor. Visit zatarains.com for more fresh, bold recipe ideas. Zatarain's has been the leader in authentic New Orleans style food since 1889. So when you want great flavor, jazz it up with Zatarain's! Love our mixes? Give us a call and let us know! 1-877-837-3796. Facebook: Follow the Zatarains tradition on Facebook!


text:
Get Holy Lands from Amazon.com
Order our Holy Lands Study Guide
Section 1, pages 1 – 13
Section 2, pages 14 – 25
Section 8, pages 86 - 98
Section 9, pages 99 - 109
Section 10, pages 110 – 122
Section 11, pages 123 - 134
Holy Lands - Section 11, pages 123 - 134 Summary & Analysis
This Study Guide consists of approximately 99 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more - everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of Holy Lands.
This section contains 2,164 words
From Harry Rosenmerck to Rabbi Moshe Cattan – Nazareth, August 4, 2009. Harry tells Moshe that the "anti-pork group" has asked to meet him at "Our Lady of the Fright Church" (123). He says they have a compromise to propose, and that he will write once the meeting is finished. He apologizes for not being able to have Moshe visit for dinner, and adds that for various reasons, he is thinking about giving up the farm, but protests that "every society needs transgression, and my pigs are a reasonable one!" (123). He signs off "with love" (123).
Handwritten Note from Rabbi Moshe Cattan to Harry Rosenmerck. The note is slipped under Harry's door, warning him to not go to the church and saying he is hoping to meet Harry in front: he is "not allowed to enter the sanctuary of another cult" (124). He says the church "was...
(read more from the Section 11, pages 123 - 134 Summary)
More summaries and resources for teaching or studying Holy Lands.
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5.1/4''-20 and 3/8''-16 threaded holes on the bottom for attachment of other plates.
1/4''-20 and 3/8''-16 threaded holes on the bottom for attachment of other plates.
SmallRig Baseplate for Blackmagic Design Pocket Cinema Camera 4K (Arca Compatible) 2261 is a dedicated baseplate that provides 15mm rail support at 85mm rod height. It is designed to work with SmallRig Cage 2203 and 2254. On the top are Arca compatible QR plate and receiver, where the cage can be quickly mounted. On the middle is 15mm rail clamp for SmallRig 15mm Rods 1053, where accessories like SmallRig Shoulder Pad Kit 2077, SmallRig Lens Support 2152, Matte Box, follow focus and SmallRig Shoulder Rig Handle Kit 998 can be attached. It comes with an integrated ARRI dovetail on the bottom which can directly mount to SmallRig ARRI Standard Dovetail Plate 1463. Additionally, there are multiple 1/4 and 3/8 threaded holes on the bottom of the baseplate so other tripod plates could be attached.
NOTE: If you prefer Manfrotto compatible quick release on the top, please take a look at SmallRig Baseplate 2266.


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2021 BZC Membership Drive: Meeting the World as Sangha
The theme of this fall's practice period is "meeting the world as sangha." Reflecting on this now, I realize that this phrase can be understood in two ways. In one sense, in meeting the world (or in any encounter) there is the possibility of seeing those whom we are meeting as not separate from us. We are immediately included in the community of all beings, and we all wake up together. The world is the sangha.
In another perhaps more relative understanding, our activity of meeting a suffering world is supported and bolstered by the strength and upright friendship that we find in spiritual community. We are not in this alone.
Of course, as is often the case in Zen, we come to see that both frames—the nondual and the relative—are true at the same time.
I find that membership at Brooklyn Zen Center (BZC) can be experienced in the same way. By practicing generosity in an ongoing way like this, we enter into an intimate and ethical relationship with a universe that is always and ever giving and receiving. It is a great reminder of our fundamental interconnectedness with all life.
On the relative and practical side, BZC membership is a way of supporting the community that supports you. It is a tangible act that reaffirms our commitment to practice and to all those who are supporting us on the path. From a strictly financial perspective, membership is BZC's most reliable ongoing source of income and is essential to sustain our community and programs. To paraphrase Dōgen, we could say that membership is the "skin, flesh, bones and marrow" of Brooklyn Zen Center.
And so we will be having a membership drive during the month of October. Our goal is to raise an additional $1000 per month in membership revenue, which corresponds to about 15 new members. I invite and encourage you to consider joining us and become a member today.
Thank you all for your generous support and your consideration. May we all continue to meet the world as sangha.
Ian Case
Director, Brooklyn Zen Center
The Bodhisattva Path of Liberation program: application deadline extended
Due to a great deal of interest in the past few days, we are extending the application deadline for The Bodhisattva Path of Liberation: Racial Suffering and Collective Transformation. Applications will now be accepted through October 9. The first meeting will begin on October 17.
This program is a ten-month immersive group experience oriented towards transforming racial harm and suffering through the Bodhisattva path. Participants meet monthly in an online format, balancing intimate small group exploration of racial conditioning and trauma-based somatic practices within a Dharma framework of liberation.
Participation is limited to practitioners who identify or are identified as white. Mixed race participants with European ancestry who wish to explore their relationship to whiteness and white supremacy are also invited to participate, with the understanding that this will be a predominately white space.
More information and registration is available here.
Stay in touch with BZC!
There are many ways to stay in touch with Brooklyn Zen Center!
– Sign up to the BZC mailing list where we share monthly newsletters and occasional special announcements
– Connect with BZC on social media: Facebook, Instagram and Twitter
– Get access to the BZC online offerings, like the weekly Online Zendo offerings and dharma talks, by contacting us here
New audio dharma by Kosen Greg Snyder
A new audio talk by BZC dharma teacher and co-founder Kosen Gregory Snyder is now available on the BZC Audio Dharma Podcast!
Audio dharma talk by Kosen Greg Snyder (2021/06/19)
Our programs are given free of charge and made possible by the donations we receive. If you would like to support Brooklyn Zen Center, please visit the "Giving" section of this website. A suggested donation of $10 per audio dharma talk is greatly appreciated. Thank you!
Letters from the Garden: Apple Time
Dear Sangha,
Welcome back to fall. The nights here are starting to be a bit chilly, and a few of the trees are starting to think about changing colors. I had to wear socks during study period for the first time last week, and today we went swimming in the quarry for probably the last time this year. It was quite brisk.
The garden reached that point around late August where everything was overgrown and out of control, and I gave up trying to keep on top of it all. We've still been harvesting a ton of tomatoes, peppers, and greens, but things are winding down in these last few weeks before the frost comes. Even though I'm not planting anything new, we'll still be picking cold-hardy greens like kale, collards, chard, and spinach through at least November.
A variety I'd never grown before called Double Red Sweet Corn.
It was both beautiful and delicious — nutty and creamy, and the kernels were white inside!
The big excitement of the fall here is picking and processing all of the apples from the orchard. Last year we had so many apples to peel and cook down that it became a running joke about advertising for some "apple interns" who could be paid in the hot new currency of apples.
We do two, well, three main things with all these apples. The first is to eat the nice ones for breakfast, the second is to cook the less-nice ones down into applesauce or apple butter, which we also freeze and eat for breakfast, and the third (my favorite) is to wheedle the tenzo into allowing a special day-off baking of apple cake. The apple cake tradition began last fall, when we were overwhelmed with apples and I baked a different apple dessert every day off for about six weeks straight…until the practice period started and we had to renounce cake.
Rahel is not an apple intern
Baby, it is September again and we are back in apple cake season, and I am here to spread the love of apple cake. This recipe was one of our favorites from the great apple cake trials of 2020, and it has become something of a house recipe. Or, at least something of a Sansei recipe. It reminds me a lot of my grandma, who was from a Pennsylvania Dutch farming family and was always making very German things with lots of cinnamon and buttermilk. I don't know why it's called Apple Grunt, but I like to think it's because it's so good that you lose the capacity for higher speech when eating it.
Apple Grunt
*recipe adapted from the Mennonite Community Cookbook, by Mary Emma Showalter, which is a bountiful source of classic apple dessert recipes
6 tbsp butter, softened
3 cups flour (I like to make one cup whole wheat, for added body)
1½ tsp salt
1½ tsp baking soda
1½ cups buttermilk (may need to add extra until you reach a pancake-batter consistency)
6-7 cups apples, cut in about ¾-inch chunks, don't need to be peeled
3 tbsp butter, very soft
¾ cup brown sugar
1 tsp flour
Cream the sugar and butter together in a large bowl. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. Separately mix the dry ingredients together, and add to egg mixture in alternation with the buttermilk. Stir just to combine, then mix in the apples. In a small bowl, beat the topping ingredients together until well combined, and scatter small dollops all over the top of the cake. Bake in a greased 9×13" pan at 375 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes, until golden on top and baked all the way through. It's a very snackable cake, not too sweet, and delicious for breakfast or warm with vanilla ice cream.
Sansei
Letters from the Garden: August, August 6
Letters from the Garden: Living by Vow, July 26
Letters from the Garden: Full Bloom, July 9
Letters from the Garden: Digging, June 25
Letters from the Garden: Harvest, June 4
Letters from the Garden: Warm Days, Warm Nights, May 23
Letters from the Garden: Permission to Be, May 8, 2021
Letters from the Garden: Work Week, April 17, 2021
Letters from the Garden: Planting Good Seeds, April 3, 2021
Letters from the Garden: Dharma Blossoms, March 20, 2021
Letters from the Garden: The First Birdsong, March 6, 2021
New audio dharma by Chimyo Atkinson!
A new audio talk by BZC visiting dharma teacher Chimyo Atkinson is now available on the BZC Audio Dharma Podcast!
Audio dharma by Chimyo Atkinson (2021/07/10)
Sep 4 2021 September 5, 2021
New BZC program: The Bodhisattva Path of Liberation
It is with wholehearted sincerity that Brooklyn Zen Center announces the launch of a new program offering this fall. The Bodhisattva Path of Liberation: Racial Suffering and Collective Transformation is a ten-month immersive group experience oriented towards transforming racial harm and suffering through the Bodhisattva path.
Participants meet monthly in an online format, balancing intimate small group exploration of racial conditioning and trauma-based somatic practices within a Dharma framework of liberation.
This program is limited to practitioners who identify or are identified as white. Mixed race participants with European ancestry who wish to explore their relationship to whiteness and white supremacy are also invited to participate, with the understanding that this will be a predominately white space.
Please visit the program page for a full description, schedule, and application link. The application deadline is October 1 and the program begins on October 17. Please contact us with any questions at undoingwhiteness@brooklynzen.org.
With warm hearts,
Laura O'Loughlin
Kristin Miscall
Terence Caulkins
Sansei Simmons Antell
Aug 27 2021 August 27, 2021
Reflections on Resistance and Pipeline 3: a share by Yoko Ohashi and Koan Anne Brink
On this new episode of the BZC Audio Dharma Podcast, Yoko Ohashi and Koan Anne Brink share about their experience with the Line 3 resistance movement in Minnesota.
Reflections on Resistance and Pipeline 3 (2021/06/12)
New audio dharma talk by Laura O'Loughlin and Sally Chang!
A new audio talk by BZC dharma teacher Laura O'Loughlin and visiting teacher Sally Chang is now available on the BZC Audio Dharma Podcast!
Audio dharma by Laura O'Loughlin and Sally Chang (2021/06/05)
Letters from the Garden: August
We're reaching the far side of summer, when the farm stands are filling up with fresh ears of corn and the swimming holes are warm from months of sun. It's hard to think about the cold right now, but it's time to be getting fall vegetables in the ground, because we're only about two months away from the first frost. Still, it's difficult to drum up too much enthusiasm for planting kale and spinach when it's much more exciting to be picking the first eggplants, tomatoes, and buckets of peppers. Today I hauled in about a gallon of shishito peppers, which are going to be delicious roasted up.
Tomatoes!
This is what ten gallons of peppers looks like
As I've been exploring this question of what garden practice means within a Zen monastery, I'm pulled back again and again to the relationship between growing food and eating it, between the earth and our lives. In many ways, garden practice is an extension of the kitchen, or perhaps kitchen practice is an extension of the garden; both request a deep alignment of the activity of our lives.
To cook from the garden instead of the supermarket requires more than simply learning lots of different ways to use summer squash. It requires flexibility, creativity, and a renunciation of the quality, variety, and on-demand availability that our industrial food system provides at a great and invisible cost. Eating from the garden is not always sexy. Often our greens are bug-eaten, sometimes we have a lot of one vegetable and none of another, and to truly eat with the seasons means a lot less variety and giving up most fresh produce in winter.
Dogen Zenji advises us to handle all ingredients as though they were our own eyes, and to wash the rice with such care that not a single grain is lost. His teaching is that there is no difference between preparing a meal and practicing the way. "When handling and selecting greens," he tells us in his Instructions to the Tenzo, "do so wholeheartedly, with a pure mind, and without trying to evaluate their quality, in the same way in which you would prepare a splendid feast. The many rivers which flow into the ocean become the one taste of the ocean; when they flow into the pure ocean of the dharma there are no such distinctions as delicacies or plain food, there is just one taste, and it is the buddhadharma, the world itself as it is."
Lots of lettuce
I don't have answers here. But I can say that when I showed up in the kitchen with 16.6 lbs of Chinese cabbage last week, we made a good few gallons of kimchi with it…
P.S. This letter will be taking a break for the rest of August, so look for it again in the fall.
A new talk by dharma teacher Kosen Gregory Snyder is now available on the BZC Audio Dharma Podcast.
Audio dharma by Kosen Greg Snyder (2021/03/21)
Aug 1 2021 August 1, 2021
Audio dharma by Kosen Gregory Snyder (2021/03/20)
Jul 26 2021 July 26, 2021
Letters from the Garden: Living by Vow
What is garden practice? It's a question I ask myself every day. What does it mean to practice, in and with the garden? What is it to understand myself as not separate from the living world around me? What does it mean, as a monastic community, to grow our own food in a moment of such ecological crisis?
It has been easy for me to emphasize interconnection in these letters, because interconnection is easy to see outside with bees buzzing around and rain clouds on the horizon. But such communion is not passive; it requires something of us in return. It asks us to be in right relationship to the bees and the fields and the rain. It asks us to confront every part of how we are living, individually and collectively, that is based in killing, stealing, lying, arrogance, greed, and disparaging the value of life itself. To practice with the garden is to be radically challenged by it, to confront something that is beyond my small control, to let myself be changed by the work and the land in ways that I cannot predict or understand.
It is one thing to intellectually understand that tomatoes grow on plants, which come from farms, and then are shipped to the store for us to buy. It is something else for my body to know what it is to plant tomato seeds in the dark of winter in faith that the warmth will come, to dig a bed by hand with sweat pouring off my head, to water them in the heat, to weed out the grasses and smell the distinctive perfume of tomato leaves on my hands for hours, and to watch day by day as the fruits set and grow dusky pink until finally they are ripe to pick. It is one thing to know intellectually that pesticides are harmful; it is something else entirely to stand in the field and consider spraying poison on the ground that I have tended and the vegetables that I am going to feed to people I love. My body actually will not let me do it. And yet we live in a world where such a thing occurs on a staggering industrial scale.
Greens and flowers from the garden
What would it mean to live our vow to the earth? I'm not asking abstractly. Our lives actually depend on it. Please genuinely sit with this question in your own life, and in our lives together. Our food comes from the earth. All of it. And the earth cannot sustain the way we have been living.
What would it be to truly face the carbon consequences of eating meat and dairy? What would it mean to let go of "supermarket thinking"—going out to acquire the predetermined specifics for a recipe, wherever they may come from—in favor of cooking based on what is available in our place and season? Would it be possible to only eat foods that grow within our region, in the season in which they grow? What might it look like to develop a vegetarian home and temple cuisine that honors our own ethnic heritages, but is based in foods that grow here, rather than relying on cultural foodways that may come from very different climates and require globally-sourced and resource-intensive ingredients, like coconut and other produce from the global south? Where does renunciation live in our practice of ethical life?
I don't have answers to these questions, but these are what the garden is asking of me right now. I share them with you with the invitation to explore them together, and encourage you to consider them with the kind of heart that is open to being changed by the encounter. What does it mean to live our vows as a community when the stakes are our very lives?
In faith and love,
New audio dharma by Ian Case
A new talk by Ian Case is now available on the BZC Audio Dharma Podcast.
Audio dharma by Ian Case (2021/05/08)
New audio dharma by Laura O'Loughlin
A new talk by BZC dharma teacher Laura O'Loughlin is now available on the BZC Audio Dharma Podcast.
Audio dharma by Laura O'Loughlin (2021/05/01)
Jul 9 2021 July 11, 2021
Letters from the Garden: Full Bloom
I'm writing this from the relatively cool downstairs library, because it is two in the afternoon and close to 90 degrees outside. There are thunderstorms forecast for later this evening, but sometimes they blow past us without giving any rain. We've reached that part of the summer where the air is heavy with humidity, and the whole valley feels thick with life. It seems like everything—birds, plants, insects, animals—is throwing all possible energy into growing as much as possible in the next few months.
I was in the city this past weekend, and was shocked at how much the garden grew in the three days we were gone. We are officially out of the cool spring season (peas, spinach, rabe) and into the season of full summer heat. The tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, and squashes are all setting fruit. The first flowers are now reaching full bloom and are decking all our altars. Early lettuce plantings are starting to bolt, so we've been eating them in abundance. I stand in daily awe of the abundance and fertility given by this land to feed and heal us in so many different ways. Living close like this to the cycles of the year and the labor of planting turns every vegetable that comes to the table into good medicine, grown in love and given completely.
Snapdragons and the view up the hill from the garden
Kabocha squash in our future
Snow peas on the vine. Although they're getting a little fried in the heat.
If you're a BZC member, please save the date for the upcoming AHZM Sangha Day, here at the monastery on Sunday, August 15 from 12:30 to 6pm, right after the end of the Watershed retreat. You don't have to be sitting the retreat to join the party. I'm looking forward to the opportunity to gather again in person and catch up on each other's lives for the past 18 months. There will be potluck foods (probably featuring something that we've grown) and I'll be giving tours of the garden. We can give thanks together for everything we've come through, for everything we've been given, and for everything that's brought us here, warm heart to warm heart.
New audio dharma talk by Teah Strozer
Audio dharma by Teah Strozer (2021/04/24)
New audio dharma talk by Kritee Kanko now available!
The audio talk and presentation offered by Kritee Kanko to the BZC sangha in April is now available to all!
Audio dharma by Kritee Kanko (2021/04/10)


text:
Q: Moshi JsonAdapter to handle Observable in Retrofit Currently, I'm decoding Bitmap the following way:
@GET("api/users/get_avatar/{userId}/default.png")
fun getAvatar(@Header("ApiToken") apiToken: String, @Path("userId") userId: String): Observable<ResponseBody>

and decoding it in ViewModel
val avatar = it()?.let { body ->
   val stream = body.byteStream()
   BitmapFactory.decodeStream(stream)
}

However, I would like to use for that more elegant Moshi JsonAdapter.
My call looks like:
@GET("api/users/get_avatar/{userId}/default.png")
fun getAvatar(@Header("ApiToken") apiToken: String, @Path("userId") userId: String): Observable<Bitmap>

I'm adding adapter:
return Moshi.Builder()
        .add(BitmapAdapter())

However, most probably my adapter is wrong:
private class BitmapAdapter {

    @ToJson
    fun toJson(value: Bitmap): String {
        return value.encodeBase64()
    }

    @FromJson
    fun fromJson(value: String): Bitmap {
        return value.decodeBase64()
    }
}

How it should look like?

A: Moshi is meant for parsing JSON, not directly decoding images. If you want to get a Bitmap from a Retrofit client, you'd want a Converter.Factory to supply directly to Retrofit.
Example:
import android.graphics.Bitmap
import android.graphics.BitmapFactory
import okhttp3.ResponseBody
import retrofit2.Converter
import retrofit2.Retrofit
import java.lang.reflect.Type

class BitmapConverterFactory : Converter.Factory() {

    override fun responseBodyConverter(type: Type, annotations: Array<Annotation>, retrofit: Retrofit): Converter<ResponseBody, *>? {
        return if (type == Bitmap::class.java) {
            Converter<ResponseBody, Bitmap> {
                value -> BitmapFactory.decodeStream(value.byteStream())
            }
        } else {
            null
        }
    }
}

And supply it wherever you instantiate your Retrofit instance:
Retrofit.Builder()
    .baseUrl("https://myapi.com")
    .addConverterFactory(BitmapConverterFactory())
    .addConverterFactory(MoshiConverterFactory.create())
    .build()

Edit: I initially made a mistake in BitmapCoverterFactory. The comparison of type was initially against Bitmap::javaClass, it should be Bitmap::class.java.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Pavilion 20 Inch Touch-Screen All-In-One Computer - 4GB Memory - 1TB Hard Drive
HP Pavilion 20-f234 all-in-one computer that features built-in wireless networking for quick and easy Web access.
Pavilion 20" Touch-Screen All-In-One Computer - 4GB Memory - 1TB Hard Drive
Purchase Info Stay connected with this HP Pavilion 20-f234 all-in-one computer that features built-in wireless networking for quick and easy Web access. The 20" high-definition touch screen delivers striking images and helps simplify navigation.
AMD E1-2500 Accelerated Processor with AMD Radeon 8240 graphics
Delivers enhanced performance.
20" LED-backlit high-definition widescreen 5-point optical touch-screen display
With 1600 x 900 resolution offers simple navigation and delivers intense detail and clarity.
All-in-one design
Features integrated speakers and DTS Sound+ for rich, clear audio. USB chiclet-style keyboard with volume control and dedicated hot keys and an optical mouse allow easy use.
Multiformat DVD±RW/CD-RW drive with double-layer support
Records up to 8.5GB of data or 4 hours of video using compatible DVD+R DL and DVD-R DL media; also supports DVD-RAM.
4GB PC3-10600 DDR3 SDRAM
For multitasking power, expandable to 16GB.
1MB L2 cache memory
For efficient system processing.
1TB Serial ATA hard drive (7200 rpm)
Offers spacious storage and fast read/write times.
AMD Radeon HD 8240 graphics
Feature up to 2023MB total available video memory as allocated by Windows 8 for lush images.
Built-in TrueVision HD webcam and microphones
Make it easy to video chat with and send video mail to family and friends in crystal-clear 720p resolution.
6-in-1 media reader
Supports Secure Digital, Secure Digital High Capacity, SDXC, MultiMediaCard, Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO and xD-Picture Card formats.
2 USB 3.0 and 4 USB 2.0 ports
For fast digital video, audio and data transfer.
Built-in 2.4GHz high-speed wireless LAN (802.11b/g/n)
Connect to the Internet without wires.
Built-in 10/100/1000Base-T Ethernet LAN
For quick and easy wired Web connection.
Microsoft Windows 8 operating system preinstalled
Provides a stable platform for word processing, Web navigation, gaming, media storage and more.
Software package included
With CyberLink PhotoDirector, CyberLink PowerDirector, CyberLink PowerDVD and more. Includes 1-month trial of Microsoft Office 365.
Designed to use less energy and meets strict energy efficiency guidelines set by the Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Energy.
AMD, AMD Arrow logo, AMD Athlon, QuantiSpeed, AMD PowerNow! and combinations thereof are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
Warranty Terms - Parts
Warranty Terms - Labor
AMD E-Series (Also known as the CPU). The part of the computer that interprets and executes instructions. Think of it as the brain of the computer.
1.4GHz How fast a computer processor carries out instructions. In general, faster is better, but processor speeds across brands may not be equivalent (i.e., a 3.0GHz AMD processor may not be the same speed as a 3.0GHz Intel processor).
1MB on die Level 2 A small segment of memory that stores frequently used information for fast access by the processor, improving response time.
4GB The memory a computer uses to run its operating system, applications and active data files. Greater amounts of RAM improve speed and enable more applications to run at once.
System Memory (RAM) Expandable To
16GB Maximum amount of memory a computer can support (as opposed to the amount that comes preinstalled).
Type of Memory (RAM)
SATA (7200 rpm) Hard drives are classified based on the interface they use to connect to a computer. Common interfaces for internal hard drives include EIDE, PATA (also known as, ATA and IDE), SATA and SCSI. Common interfaces for external hard drives include USB 2.0, FireWire and eSATA.
AMD Radeon HD 8240 Type of graphics (video) adapter (usually built into the motherboard), identified by manufacturer and model.
Up to 2023MB total available (allocated by Windows 8) Manages display functions, including screen refresh rates, resolution and color. The more video memory a computer has, the better graphics and video will look.
Screen Size (Measured Diagonally)
20" Size of the screen, in inches, measured diagonally from corner to corner.
DTS Sound+
Built-in Webcam
Built-in 10/100/1000Base-T Ethernet LAN Allows a computer to connect to a network either by using cables (Ethernet) or wireless technology (IEEE 802.11).
Built-in 802.11b/g/n wireless LAN
Recordable DVD Drive
Yes, double-layer DVD±RW/CD-RW Drive that can read CDs and DVDs, as well as write and rewrite CDs and various types of DVDs.
Recordable DVD Drive Speeds
6x DVD+R DL; 6x DVD-R DL; 8x8x8 DVD+RW; 8x6x8 DVD-RW; 5x DVD-RAM; 24x24x24 CD-RW Maximum write (DVD±R), rewrite (DVD±RW) and read (DVD-ROM) speeds of the DVD±RW drive.
Direct-Disc Labeling
Digital Media Reader or Slots
Yes, digital media card reader
USB 2.0 Ports
2 USB 3.0 (side); 4 USB 2.0 (rear) Ports that allow high-speed (up to 480 Mbps) data transfer between compatible devices.
Keyboard Description
USB chiclet-style with volume control and dedicated hot keys Indicates design, functionality or connection features. Some keyboards offer special buttons for gaming or multimedia use, while other keyboards include features such as illumination or wireless connectivity.
Other Control Devices (mouse, etc.)
Operating System Platform
Windows 8 The master software that controls hardware functions and provides a platform on top of which any software applications will run. Commonly used systems include Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X for computers and Palm OS and Microsoft Windows Mobile for PDAs.
CyberLink PhotoDirector, CyberLink PowerDirector, CyberLink PowerDVD and more
Yes ENERGY STAR is a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy helping us all save money and protect the environment through energy efficient products and practices.
Best Buy PC App
1TB Capacity for storing programs, photos, video, music and other electronic information. Hard drive capacities range from a few gigabytes to several hundred.


text:
Veterans group may restore cross in Mojave Desert
A veterans group can restore a memorial cross in the Mojave Desert under a court settlement that ends a decade-old legal battle, the National Park Service said Tuesday.
A veterans group may now maintain a cross atop Sunrise Rock in the Mojave Desert because of a land swap -- one acre on which the cross resides will be traded for five acres of donated land. This could end a controversy that became tangled in the thorny issues of patriotism and religion and made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court in 2003.Liberty Legal Institute via AP file
April 30, 2012, 10:34 PM UTC / Source: The Associated Press
By ROBERT JABLON
A federal judge approved the lawsuit settlement on Monday, permitting the park service to turn over a remote hilltop area known as Sunrise Rock to a Veteran of Foreign Wars post in Barstow and the Veterans Home of California-Barstow.
The park will give up the acre of land in exchange for five acres of donated property elsewhere in the 1.6 million acre preserve in Southern California.
The swap, which could be completed by the end of the year, will permit veterans to restore a cross to the site and end a controversy that became tangled in the thorny issues of patriotism and religion and made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court in 2003.
The last cross was ordered removed by the park service in 2010 because of a court order.
The donated land is owned by Henry and Wanda Sandoz of Yucca Valley.
Henry Sandoz, 72, cared for and replaced several crosses at the hilltop site over the years that were later defaced or stolen. He has a replacement 7-foot steel cross ready to go, said his wife, Wanda, 68.
"We're very hopeful. We've been disappointed in the past," she said in a telephone interview. "We thought when the Supreme Court ruled that we'd be out there within days putting it back up. Things move kind of slow but we really think this is it this time."
Once the swap is complete, the park service will fence the site, leaving entrances for visitors, and post signs noting that it is private land. A plaque will be placed on the rock noting that it is a memorial for U.S. war veterans.
"We want to wrap this, we want to get it done," Mojave National Preserve spokeswoman Linda Slater said of the controversy. "No cross can go up until the exchange is complete."
Wanda Sandoz said a wooden cross was first erected on Sunrise Rock in 1934 by a World War I veteran, Riley Bembry. He and other shell-shocked vets had gone out to the desert to recover and would hold barbeques and barn dances near the site, she said.
Her husband knew Bembry and promised the dying vet that he would look after the cross, Wanda Sandoz said. He kept the promise for decades.
"We love the cross," she said. "My husband is not a veteran but he feels like this is something he can do for our country."
The wooden cross was eventually replaced with one made of steel pipes. However, the site became part of the national preserve in 1994 and that meant the cross was then on public land.
The settlement involves a lawsuit filed in 2001 by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of a retired park service employee who argued that the Christian religious symbol was unconstitutionally located on government land. Federal courts ordered the removal of the cross.
In 2003, Congress stepped in and ordered the land swap. But the courts said the transfer was, in effect, an unacceptable end run around the constitutional problem.
The issue wound its way up to the U.S. Supreme Court, which in April 2010 refused to order removal of the cross and directed a federal judge to look again at the congressional transfer plan.
Justice Anthony Kennedy, siding with the 5-4 majority, wrote that the cross evokes more than religion.
"It evokes thousands of small crosses in foreign fields marking the graves of Americans who fell in battles, battles whose tragedies are compounded if the fallen are forgotten," he said.
Justice John Paul Stevens, one of the dissenters, wrote that troops killed in battle deserve to be honored, but government "cannot lawfully do so by continued endorsement of a starkly sectarian message."
Weeks after the court decision, the metal cross — which had been covered up to comply with court injunctions — was stolen. A replica mysteriously appeared on the site, but park service officials ordered it taken down because of a court order against displaying a cross on the site.
A second lawsuit was filed last year against the federal government on behalf of the veterans. That suit pushed for the land swap and will be dropped once the exchange is complete, said Gregg Wooding of the Liberty Institute, a Texas-based nonprofit legal organization that filed the suit.
ROBERT JABLON


text:
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Object.defineProperty(exports, "__esModule", {
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var _react = require("react");

var _reactTweenState = require("react-tween-state");

var _reactTweenState2 = _interopRequireDefault(_reactTweenState);

function _interopRequireDefault(obj) { return obj && obj.__esModule ? obj : { default: obj }; }

exports.default = {
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    transitionDuration: _react.PropTypes.number
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    return {
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    };
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    var transition = this.props.transition;

    var state = {
      z: 1
    };

    if (transition.indexOf("fade") !== -1) {
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    if (transition.indexOf("zoom") !== -1) {
      state.scale = 1;
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    if (transition.indexOf("slide") !== -1) {
      state.left = 0;
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    if (transition.indexOf("spin") !== -1) {
      state.x = 0;
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    return state;
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  routerCallback: function routerCallback(cb, immediate) {
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Do my customers need a Stripe account to pay?
Understand what information your customers need to pay with Stripe.
The answer is no! Customers simply need a debit or credit card in order to pay. Payment with Stripe is a very simply process, and customers can just use their mobile phone number to pay in subsequent transactions (if they choose!).
Below is a preview of what the Stripe checkout form looks like. It only asks for three pieces of information, and ticking the box to Remember me means subsequent payments can be made via SMS.


The Guidelines and Tables came into impact in May, 1997. Before they existed, judges in several areas of the country decided child help matters utilizing many alternative components, including the 'means and desires' of the parties and the children. As a outcome, baby help selections were not constant, and were not all the time being primarily based on the identical components. The Guidelines and the Tables have been developed to provide mother and father and courts a algorithm, in order that little one help points had been decided persistently throughout Canada.


This Family Literacy forum is provided to assist families in gaining knowledge on managing money more effectively. GLC collaborates with financial institutions or agencies in presenting options in banking, saving or investing money. Strategies are shared to encourage the use of family budgets. Children are encouraged to begin a penny bank savings.


We decided to spend our final full day in Iguaçu at the Iguaçu National Park on the Brazil side and take our chances with the weather. We agreed to meet between 0830 and 0900 at the entrance to the Iguaçu National Park, the last stop of our 120 bus route if coming from town. To make this early arrival time, I had to wake up at 7AM, have breakfast, and get to the bus terminal at 0745 to catch the 0800 bus. I barely made it in time and luckily was more efficient the payment this time since I knew the drill and what to ask for: "Ciento veinte por favor". I was on the bus at 0752 and it pulled away a minute later (again leaving 5 minutes early).
The bus arrived at the Iguaçu National Park visitor's entrance at 0835, passing by the stop I usually got off at to get to the hostel as well as the helicopter tour building.
I didn't see the guys there yet but a line was already forming so I stepped in it and waiting. The park apparently opened at 0900 so we still had a few minutes to go. At 5 minutes to 0900, Rami and Amir showed up and I signaled to them that I had a place towards the front of the line. We made a plan – I would buy the ticketed and they would go to the tour office to see about booking other activities. There was a 2 hour boat ride under the waterfalls and hike in the morning, and a 4 hour bike/jungle hike/kayak adventure through the Waterfalls National Park. In other words, we decided to max out the day with park activities at save the actual picture talking of the falls from above as the last activity. It was a well-made plan.
And you know what God does when he learns of well-made plans? He laughed, and it rained. All day. A torrential jungle rain. The kind where you can't get dry and you are wet and cold to the bone. The sun was gone. Just rain. Doing all of these activities in this kind of rain was disheartening, but we soldiered through. The good news was that we got many of the guides/tours to ourselves and could have a better time getting to know the guides and being flexible on time and activities.
We took a double-decker bus from the main visitor's center of the Iguaçu National Park to our first stop, the Macuco station, where we would pick up the morning activity. It started with a ride through the jungle on a tram – a la Jurassic Park. At this point we were still getting used to the wet and cold and still fighting it, trying to stay dry under our ponchos. We debarked after about a 30 minute drive and chose to do the rest by foot as the others continued on the bus. Our guide (John Paul, I think?) was a young man with a lot of energy and great knowledge of the jungle and the park. He pointed out heart of palm, different types of trees and their uses, and orchids that grew in trees and were not parasites.
The guide led us on a hike under a smaller waterfall and then towards a cable car that brought us down to the water, where we boarded speed rafts.
We found a spot in the front of the raft and took off, whizzing across some rapids and approaching the falls. We were excited but already getting soaked. We stopped trying to stay dry when the raft went under the waterfalls (at that point, nothing was dry). We went in for two separate approaches, and I think that Ramy was recording the whole thing through his phone turned in to a Go-Pro by putting it in a waterproof bag and strapping it around his neck. I was sort of in the front middle of the raft and could barely see over the front to view the falls, but occasionally caught a glimpse of them. I was really looking forward to taking some better pictures of them later in the day, as there was literally no chance to do this with all the water and speed happening at this stage (unless one had an underground camera).
Now we were absolutely freezing. In the Iguaçu National Park at the Macuco station, we stripped down and laid our clothes out a bit to dry as we have various hot beverages – cappuccinos, hot chocolates, and café con leches. We each had at least two, and some empanada snacks. At this point, I had an eye towards giving us for a while and finding some real food. The boys wanted to continue on, doing the 4 hour tour next. I grudgingly agreed to go along with them to the next station and at least learn about what we'd be doing.
We took the bus to the next activity stop in the Iguaçu National Park and got off, meeting our guide, Johnny, another young, enthusiastic, but slightly sardonic guy. He explained the plan – walk or drive through the jungle (bikes were out due to the weather), then take a boat and do some exploring, then go kayaking, then finish with another small walk or drive. I asked him how many of these activities "were covered" and he laughed while he answered the question: "All of them can be except for the kayaking". I decided to go for it. At this point we were all still wet and freezing, and would just get more so as the day progressed.
We opted for the jungle drive rather than the jungle walk. Johnny gave virtually the same spiel the other guide gave so we started asking him other questions to find out more about him and about the Iguaçu National Park. He said that he was born in Iguaçu (Brazilian side) and that his mother was Paraguayan and father Brazilian. In his excellent English, we he learned in school, he told us with pride that his mother is a lawyer who commutes to Ciudad del Este every day, and that his older brother is a doctor. He wants to save enough more to travel to Europe and backpack around, and especially wants to explore Germany. Working as a guide is a temporary profession for him to save some money and follow his passion to travel.
He also explained a little more about the Iguaçu National Park. He said that it used to be part of a farm owned by a single family. Eventually the government bought it, reforested it (it was a young jungle) and made it a national park. It's one of the 7 natural wonders of the world and clearly the big economic factor in the area. Most of the park's employees were youth, and it seemed like a great way to provide a living for them, while also allowing them to practice their language skills and interact with guests from all over the world.
After the drive, we took a small walk (Tarek was barefoot at this point, but the rest of us were still in soaked sneakers) to the boat, where we boarded. There was a dedicated captain for the boat and Johnnie and the other fellow who was more of a naturalist (but who wasn't as chatty) accompanied us. The boat took us, as it picked up speed, water started spraying everywhere again, re-soaking us.
Johnnie took us to an area called the Black Well, named for its deepness – it did actually look black compared to the surrounding areas. Then we rode by several islands facing the Argentinean side of the falls. They had Brazilian flags planted in them to indicate to Argentina that they were Brazilian property.
Along the way were each served a snack pack consisting of crackers and cookies (the cookies were delicious and were the high point of the day so far for me. The second high point was having the café de leche in the dry Macuco area in the Iguaçu National Park).
Next, we had the option to kayak. I passed, but the boys went for it.
Even the guides though they were insane. At least the water was warmer than the rain failing on us. They were out for about 20 minutes as we tacked along the shore to lead them. Tarek found an orange – which apparently were here and there throughout the Waterfalls Park, a remnant of the former form.
Back in the boat, Ramy, Amir, and Tarek were now starting to really get cold. But they had big smiles on their faces. I was still pretty miserable, past the point of shivering. The boat returned to shore and we reached a shelter area where there was hot sugared coffee (third highlight of the day) and delicious plums. These helped us regain our energy and spirits. Actually, considering the horrible weather conditions, we had made the vow not to let weather get in our way and had stuck to it. After only a short ride back through the jungle back to Macuco, the tour was over, we made it, and I was proud of us. Nobody really complained and we all made the best we could of a bad situation.
It was still raining, and we hadn't yet made it to the actual waterfalls viewing area which would take roughly 2 hours to explore and do the full walk around. We mustered up our remaining shred of sanity and will to move forward, and got on the bus to take us there. Once there, within minutes of starting, the rain began to relent and the sun teased us, in and out of the clouds. The Iguaçu National Park waterfalls were SPECTATULAR.
I mean, up there with the Grand Canyon or Big Sur spectacular. As the sun further emerged and the rain stopped, we felt amazing as we began to shed layers and get dry. Of course, we got wet again when we decided to follow the devil's throat sign into the waterfall spray. I got some quick pictures and got out of there, too attached to my newfound dryness.
We took the elevator to the top and continued taking pictures and enjoying the view.
Finally, after about 2 hours of playing in the waterfalls, trying different camera techniques, and posing for some fun shots, we were done. The only things left to do were go to the bathroom at the visitor's center, check out the gift shop where Ramy and Amir had to dry some money before they spent it, and get on a bus headed back to the main center.
A good day, but a hard day at the Iguaçu National Park.
Back at the hostel the guys showered while I used the Wi-Fi, and then Tarek and I caught the bus back in to town so that I could also have a hot shower. I was starting to get cold again as the sun disappeared, the wind came, and night began to fall. I will still damp from head to toe. The buy ride took forever, but a hot shower waited for me on the other side. I spent about 20 minutes with the water on the highest heat setting as possible just to de-thaw.
After the shower, Ramy and Amir had just arrived to the hotel lobby, so we discussed dinner. Tarek and I really didn't want a meat-fest, but Ramy and Amir had their hearts set on one. We ended choosing Churrascaria do Gaucho, a Brazilian restaurant rated #28 on TripAdvisor that seemed to have a decent salad bar with other options – and it had a good price, R35, so we couldn't complain too much.
I had some fun while we waited for our table.
I barely tried any of the meat but what I did try wasn't very good – overcooked and not seasoned. The favorite was the grilled pineapple, with sugar and cinnamon and a light burn. I learned that Brazilian Italian food used heavy cream the same way Egyptian Italian food did and after that stayed away from the lasagna. The salad bar and the dessert bar were the highlights for me – mint chocolate chip ice cream was actually available, and although it didn't take the same as in the US, it was still refreshing. I also tried a red Brazilian Cabernet which wasn't that great.
After dinner around 2100, I walked back to the hotel and the boys went back to their hostel via the bus. We all had early morning flights on separate airlines – mine was at 615AM and there's was at 535AM – so we made plans to meet in the airport in Sao Paulo after baggage claim.
I stayed up until about 0100 writing and woke up at 0400 to grab a taxi at 0430. The taxi ride was R60 – which I choked on considering the bus was R3.20; however, the bus didn't start its rout until 0500 so I didn't have a choice. The airport was surprisingly crowded with a lot of early morning flights, so the bag drop off took quite some time. Once inside, I only waited for about 15 minutes before boarding began on my GOL flight. Once I got on board, I fell asleep immediately and basically woke up right as we arrived in Sao Paolo.
My bags also made it, and just as planned, outside of baggage claim the boys were waiting for me. Time to start our Sao Paulo adventure.


text:
The Austrian Grand Prix is held at the Osterreichring, which is located in the municipal territory of Spielberg. It was renamed the Red Bull Ring in 2013 and is known for it's idyllic setting. It's a very pretty circuit and is beautifully integrated into the surrounding forests as opposed to some racetracks that look like a scar slashed into the landscape. The Styrian Mountains provide a dramatic backdrop and it's lush slopes do ensure that the circuit sees more than it's fair share of rainfall during the year.
The sweeping high-elevation track in the mountains.
The Red Bull Ring has good elevation changes over its lap (4.3 kilometres only), which adds to its beauty. When you first see the layout it seems simple, but the off-cambered corners make it trickier then you'd expect to nail the perfect lap. The first sector is all about short sharp corners followed by long straights, so you often see quite a bit of overtaking action here. It's followed by the second sector with blind, off cambered corners. And the last sector has these two fast corners which lead onto the front straight, which just reward committed full throttle driving.
The long straights with tight corners in the first half of the lap does mean it's considered a horse power track- although not quite as much as in Canada and Azerbaijan. So we will see the similar trend of the last couple of races with Mercedes powered Williams and Force India remaining strong. Also Renault, Torro Rosso and Mclaren will find it a little challenging. Having said that, we will see an improvement from Mclaren due to Honda bringing their new spec 3 engines for both their drivers.
Sebastian Vettel's retirement in last years race.
While Red Bull might have won the last race in Baku, normal service should resume here in Austria with Mercedes and Ferrari going at it hammer and tongs. The Sebastian Vettel "should he or shouldn't he be" penalized further for his incident with Lewis Hamilton, has done just the trick for adding the edge this Championship fight deserves. Both of them have been showing each other a disturbing amount of love before Baku. With shots now fired I expect the feistiness to be taken up a notch or three this weekend.
It's still very close between the two teams though and will be hard to call which team should have the advantage. If anything, I'd probably wager on Mercedes having a slight advantage, especially in qualifying. Come the race though it will be very close and I'm hoping for a straight fight between Vettel and Hamilton. A proper one with overtaking possible that goes all the way to the flag.
However let's not forget their teammates, Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) and Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes), who will not have given up on race wins or in Bottas's case even fighting for the championship. If one or both of them could qualify on the front row, it will lead to all sorts of possible permutations, which would give their respective teams and teammates something to think about.


Description: 1010 Liquor is a business categorized under liquor stores, which is part of the larger category liquor stores. 1010 Liquor is located at the address P.O. BOX 144 in Hot Springs National, Arkansas 71902-0144. The Owner is Suzi Irwin who can be contacted at (501)318-1010.
Location & access map for "1010 Liquor"


COPYRIGHT © YAMATO UNKNOWN ORIGIN. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
More than ten centuries ago, a capital of Japan existed here.
Several generations of kings of the "Yamato Dynasty" ruled here and expanded their influence outward.
Eventually, Yamato became a word meaning "the whole of Japan".
The foundation of Japan was built here.
and thus was left largely untouched.
Feel the unknown mystery of the history of Japan in this quiet, untraveled location.
In this section we will introduce noteworthy sites in Yamato.
The Yamato region is home to numerous Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines.
These sites are relatively unknown among visitors from overseas even though they contain a wealth of history.
The scenery in Yamato is a product of its natural surroundings and its long history.
In this section we will introduce beautiful photography and videos of the scenery as it changes with the seasons.
In this section we will introduce recommended routes for touring Yamato.
We hope these will be a useful reference when planning your personal itinerary.
Yamato is home to numerous unique festivals with histories going back to ancient times.
Try to incorporate them into your itinerary if the timing works out.
such as restaurants made from converted older Japanese-style homes.
Buddhist vegetarian cuisine, and more.
Why not pick something unique to Yamato as a souvenir?
or even the varieties of traditional candies that are only available in Yamato.
Yamato offers many options for visitors to experience Japan's heart and soul.
In this section we will introduce Yamato's wealth of options for lodgings, ranging from hotels to guest houses, traditional ryokan inns, converted older Japanese-style homes, and campgrounds. It's always best to reserve lodgings in advance.
For when you feel you're finally ready to visit Yamato.
In this section we will introduce information on transportation to Yamato.
Useful information for those traveling to Yamato.
This section is helpful to read before arriving, or as an aid when you find yourself in trouble during a visit.
Lost and Found, Difficulties, Accidents, Etc.


text:
TV Shows » Rock of Love »
Rock of Love: Episode 10, "Meet the Parents" Recap
Episode Overview: The three remaining girls' parents show up, and crap hits the fan. Heather and Lacey go after each other, and in the end, it's down to the final two.
As the title of tonight's all new Rock of Love would suggest, Bret Michaels has invited the Awesome Threesome's parents to the house. Heather's parents are first, and they seem quite normal, and she's very happy to see them. Apparently they're divorced and she's not accustomed to seeing them in the same room together. Jes' parents are quite different than I'd imagined. Her mom is quite short and rotund, her father kind of looks like David Letterman. She describes her relationship with them as "kick ass." Lacey is happy to see her father, as she's "daddy's little girl." Her mother (step-mom) looks like she belongs on Age of Love, or maybe even duking it out with Lacey on this show. She's trying to pass for a much younger woman.
Bret remembers being seated next to Lacey's dad on a plane, which is either a lucky coincidence, a purposeful manipulation by the producers, or a total lie. Bret thought he was odd, and when Bret saw a picture of the man's daughter and asked if he could date her, Lacey's father said she was too young for him.
Heather and her parents go out with Bret to eat. Instantly, her parents get hammered and start making fart and poop jokes. Bret loves them. Heather goes to ride the mechanical bull, and when it starts "shimmy shaking," she says "my tatters are flip-flopping everywhere." That is one euphemism for fake breasts I had never heard before. My opinion of Heather is greatly improved after seeing her parents.
Next Bret takes Jes and her parents to a rock clothing store. They play dress up with the parents, and they seem game, if not entirely comfortable in this place. It's kind of funny, and Jes seems to get along well with her parents. She says they're good sports, and that's probably the perfect description of them.
He goes to a nice sit-down dinner with Lacey's folks, and her dad is drilling Bret with countless questions to see if he's good enough for his daughter. Lacey's dad gets even crazier when he says he's a wealthy man (that explains Lacey's trophy step-mom) and that, if he marries Lacey, there will be a pre-nup. Bret says it best: "Are you f***ing kidding me?" Then, if possible, her dad flies off the rails. She has her own money, is a Presidential scholar, and doesn't do drugs, smoke or drink a lot. I guess delusions run in her family.
When they get home, Heather is drunk and roaming around in her room topless with a thong on. You know, as people do when they're on a TV show. Lacey is offended, but Heather is even moreso because "Lacey's dad is staring at my tatters." Then she calls him "Creepy Creeperton." I don't know where this awesome, hilarious Heather was hiding all season, but I'm really starting to like her. Lacey tries playing with Heather's mind, talking about how she's a stripper, and asking her to do a demonstration on the pole. The thing she forgot is Heather knows exactly what Lacey's game is, and won't fall for it.
Before a big group dinner, Heather debriefs her parents on all the madness in the house, then ominously states she's gonna call Lacey out in front of her dad on all the crap she's been up to. At dinner, Jes earns my ire by saying the atmosphere was "literally so tense you could cut it with a knife." When people misuse that word, it makes me so mad my head literally explodes. Heather gets upset at Lacey's condescending father, and man, it took everyone no time at all to hate her father as much as they hate her.
Lacey's dad builds up his daughter with her great music career and her wise investments, then Heather starts calling out all the drunken mayhem Lacey has caused in the house. Jes is smart enough to lay back and let these two go at it. Lacey's step-mom, obviously a master manipulator, pulls her aside to discuss strategy, re: Heather. While they're gone, Lacey's dad is badmouthing restaurants with mechanical bulls, which disgusts Bret even further.
The morning after, Bret is hitting a punching bag (probably imagining it's Lacey's dad), when Lacey comes out to do damage control and throw Heather under the bus. The problem is Heather and Jes overhear this whole thing. Heather storms out and goes off on Lacey. Lacey just sits back and tries to come across as the calm sensible one. Jes sits back and enjoys the whole cat fight. Heather lets out one final tirade to Lacey: "Why don't you tell your dad how many times you BLEEP BLEEP BLEEP BLEEP BLEEP since you've been here?" I'm not sure what it is, but Jes lets out an adorable "Oh dear."
Basically, Heather is unhinged and, in this episode, singlehandedly triples the number of bleeps for the entire season. One confessional sums it up nicely. "Lacey is the biggest BLEEP bitch. How dare she talk BLEEP about me. She's the biggest BLEEP BLEEP BLEEP in this whole house and has been since day one." Meanwhile, Jes and her parents are chilling and finding this whole battle amusing.
Heather goes another round with Lacey, trying to explain how her father will be shocked when he sees what his daughter has been up to. Lacey tries to deny it and come across as a good little girl. Heather, however, goes for the jugular about how Lacey is a slut, talking about all the sexual stuff she's done with Bret. "I saw you BLEEP his BLEEP," Heather says. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what goes in there, and I completely believe that Heather has literally seen such an act be performed.
Lacey's dad naturally wants to talk about whose BLEEP his daughter has been BLEEPING. Wow. Notice that, though Lacey denied it when Heather accused her, Bret makes no such denial other than to say that nobody knows what anyone did with anyone. That's the most obvious non-admission admission I've ever heard.
Rock of Love Elimination Time! Jes knows she has nothing to worry about. The other two are fighting it out, and Lacey is overly confident about her chances. It's unclear if she really believes she has a deep connection with Bret, or if she's totally nuts. Lacey gets sent packing, because otherwise the finale would be completely anticlimactic.
Next week, on the Rock of Love finale, will it be Jes or Heather? The awesome and adorable punk chick, or the stripper with a tattoo of Bret's name on the back of her neck. They're heading to Cabo San Lucas to find out.
-John Kubicek, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Image courtesy of VH1)


The power of football has travelled from Qatar to Kaski as the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC) opened a new community football pitch in Nepal. Nestled in the foothills of the breathtaking Himalayas, SC assistant secretary general Nasser al-Khater joined Nepal's Vice President Nanda Bahadur Pun at the official inauguration of the pitch in the village of Bhandardhik.
Kathmandu: There have been several agreements between Civil Bank and Mercy Corps. Kishore Maharjan, CEO of Civil Bank, and Sanjay Karki, Country Director of Mercy Corps signed the agreement amid a function today. According to the agreement, Mercy Corps will work together with the Bank to disburse loans to Carpet and Pashmina Industries to promote Cleaner Production and reduce pollution through capacity building activities. The Bank will provide financial advice and trainings to such industries. Mr. Maharjan believes that the agreement will help to improve the carpet and pashmina industries leading to increased production and contribute to the national export.