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Swan, Virginia
January 20th, 2011 Guest Book »
Virginia A. (McCarthy) (Maio) Swan, age 79, of Wilmington, formerly of Lowell, died January 20, 2011.
Beloved wife of the late Adam Maio and the late Willard Swan, devoted mother of Robert Maio & his wife Lena and David Maio & his wife Joyce all of Merrimack, NH, Gail Bowen & her husband James of Amherst, NH, Linda Chamberland of Hudson, NH, and Daniel Maio & his wife Suzanne of Pelham, NH, loving Grandma of 13 and Great-grandma of 4, cherished daughter of the late Edward & Elizabeth McCarthy, dear sister of Mary McCarthy, John McCarthy & his wife Anita all of Lowell, and the late Dorothy Gibson, Helen Counter, Paul McCarthy, and Edward McCarthy, loving step-mother of William Swan & his wife Nancy of Byfield, Kathleen Severino & her husband Paul of Concord, Peter Swan & his wife Deborah of Indianapolis, IN, Alan Swan & his wife Mimi of Candia, NH, Susan Bagrowski and Mary Tufts both of Billerica, John McCormick & his wife Sheila of Woburn, Barbara Spiritus of Wellington, FL, and Winifred Gagnon of Medway, and beloved Nannie to their 37 grandchildren and 35 great-grandchildren. Virginia is also survived by many nieces and nephews.
Family and friends will gather for a Funeral Service in the Wilmington Congregational Church, 220 Middlesex Ave., Wilmington, Monday, January 24th at 10:00 am. Visiting hours Sunday, January 23rd from 2:00 – 8:00 p.m. at the Nichols Funeral Home, Inc., 187 Middlesex Ave. (Rte. 62), Wilmington.
Memorial donations in Virginia's name may be made to V.N.A. of Middlesex East Hospice House, 320 Haverhill Street, Reading, MA 01867.
13 Entries in Guest Book for "Swan, Virginia"
Kimberly Sweeney & Family says:
We will cherish all of our christmas eve and scrabble memories. You were a very special part of our family who will be greatly missed.
Kim, Brian, Lindsay & Stephen
Kelly,Tom and William says:
Grandma you will be missed terribly. We know that you will be our gaurdian angel when we need you. Love and condolences to the rest of the family
Sherry Kerrigan & Family says:
There are no words to express the sadness we are feeling at this time. Our hearts are broken and we were blessed to have you in our lives. Thanks for the scrabble memories.
Barbara & Lisa says:
Ginny, you are going to be missed by everyone who was lucky enough to have known you. I will not be able to be there in person, but my thoughts and prayers are with you. May you rest in peace.
All our Love Barbara & Lisa
Nancy Turner says:
My Heartfelt sympathy go out to the Maio & Swan family Virginia was a great friend. I spent many Friday mornings with her and she always would share a great family story with me and always listen to one one of mine! i will miss you dearly my friend ( will think of you every friday morning )
all my love Nancy
Bill and Nancy says:
Dearest Ginny, You have been an inspiration to our family. You have been a strong and kind caretaker throughout your life…always pleasant, always patient. There will be an empty seat at our table on Wednesday evenings and an empty place in our hearts. We have lost a treasure that our father found and cannot be replaced, you will be forever missed.
All our love, Bill and Nancy
Steve Tufts & Family says:
We will cherish the times on Christmas Eve. We will miss you. Rest in peace.
Love Steve, Rene', Skylar and Cameron
Madonna Toto says:
On behalf of myself and Salon Essence we are saddened by the news of the loss of Virginia. She was the definition of a lady..Her warm and gracious ways will be missed. Our sincere sypmathy to the family.
Donna Toto and Staff
Jack, Janet Merlino and Family says:
Dear Billy, Nancy and family,
Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.
I love you Grandma. You will truly be missed. You were such an amazing woman and I will never forget you. You will always be in my heart,
Beth Krugaluk Morrison says:
My Deepest sympathy go out to the Swan family and my thoughts and prayers are with you all.
Mary & Tom Cestone says:
Our deepest sympathy to the Swan family. We met Virginia at the time of our daughter, Mimi, & son-in-law, Al's, wedding. Our memory is of a very sweet lady.
Daniel C. Cestone says:
My deepest condolences to your family, Al. Your stepmother is in Nancy's and my thoughts and prayers.


Students need to be able to talk about their learning with their teachers and other students in a variety of contexts to become independent, self-motivated learners. Research proves that students learn and retain more from dialogic discussions than through lecture or question-and-answer sessions. This workshop is designed to help teachers transform their classrooms into active, engaging learning centers by organising thought-provoking classroom discussions.
Ms. Uzma Shabbir brings with her an experience of 25 years in teaching English Language and Literature at the secondary level. In addition to that, she has also worked in Curriculum Development and Teacher Training and Support in the capacity of an Academic Coordinator. She is currently teaching O Level English Literature and is the Academic Coordinator for the O Level section at Haque Academy.


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1 What Ingredients Can You Find In Keto BHB 800?
2 How Does Keto BHB 800 Work?
4 Are You Ready To Try Keto BHB 800?
5 What Is Keto BHB?
6 What Is Garcinia Cambogia?
7 What Is Hydroxycitric Acid?
13 What Is Chlorogenic Acid?
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Wyoming State Historical Society -- Publications & Artwork
Here are links to Wyoming State Historical Society publications. There are also links to artwork produced for the Society. For more details call headquarters at 307-322-3014 or e-mail linda@wyshs.org.
Annals of Wyoming
Annals of Wyoming - Index
Calendars and Maps
Calendar of Wyoming History (published yearly)
University of Wyoming's Digital Collections
American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming, Digitized Collections in Western History and Culture
Wyoming State Archives Photo Collection
American Heritage Center Catalogue
Wyoming State Archives Catalogue
Publications Recognized by the Society or Written By Society Members - These books can be ordered via email to linda@wyshs.org or from your local bookseller.
ALL NEW - "Snow Chi Minh Trail: The History of Interstate 80" 50TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION by John Robert Waggener. This special Golden Anniversary edition includes updates, additional historical information, more maps and historical photographs made available to the author after the release of the 2nd revised edition in February 2018. Books sell for $29.95 plus sh/h. These are going fast!
Locating the Iron Trail" by Edward Gillette. Originally published in 1925 by the Christopher Publishing House and reprinted in 2015 by the Society. On SALE for $10.00 plus s/h.
"Jukeboxes and Jackalopes: A Photographic Companion to Wyoming's Bars & Backways"
Wyoming State Historical Society — Award Winning Publications

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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adidas Basketball Debuts New Crazylight Boost 2.5 PEs for Andrew Wiggins
adidas Basketball Debuts New Crazylight Boost 2.5 PEs for Andrew Wiggins Jan 4, 2016
The Minnesota Timberwolves are better than they've been in a very long time. Much of this is due to the leadership of elder statesmen Kevin Garnett, and the youthful vigor of potential Rookie of the Year Karl Anthony Towns. But the centermost point of the Wolves success is undoubtedly Canadian whiz kid, Andrew Wiggins.
Athletically and skillfully effortless in his every movement, Wiggins has quickly risen through the ranks of the league's best. adidas Basketball showcases three new Crazylight Boost 2.5 PEs for Wiggins, all of which bear unique sentiment to his family roots and those of his origins in Minnesota.
The "Marita," which ties back to Andrew's mother whose a world-class sprinter, is the first of the three. Secondly, the "North Star," calls to Minnesota's state motto and lastly, the "Home Away From Home" pays tribute to his journey from Canada to the NBA.
Of the adidas Crazylight Boost 2.5 PEs for Andrew Wiggins the "Marita" is available now on adidas.com. The "North Star" and "Home Away From Home" will release in February for $125.
adidas Crazylight Boost 2.5
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The Best Adidas Y-3 Shoes on Sale for 50% Off
This Upcoming Nike Air Force 1 High Pays Homage to the Game of Basketball


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Finished size is 14-1/2″ x 34″ NOT 12″ x 34″.
You need  2-1/2 x WOF strips, NOT  as the original pattern stated.
On Page 3, Step 6. Join the Color 2 Square with a Background piece 2-1/2 x 3-1/2.


MPPSC A.E. Last Year Question Paper: Here in this article we are going to share the MPPSC Assistant Engineer previous years question papers in PDF file. Candidates can download it by following the direct Google drive links.
The question paper is really important stuff for those candidates who want to qualify in written examination. It can help them a lot to prepare for Assistant Engineer examination. Those candidates can download MPPSC Assistant Engineer examination's question papers from here in PDF format from December 11, 2015.
Above listed all 3 terms do match with this article content. So if you are looking for the above terms then you are at right place.
We are trying hard to share some others years question papers as well. It may take some time so candidates should stay connected with this page. They can bookmark this page for more MPPSC A.E. previous years question papers. If you want to be notified then you can subscribe as well. Once we share the other years question papers, you will be notified though an email alert.
If you need to know something more about MPPSC Assistant Engineer question papers then must comment below along with your question.


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UN Agency: Thousands of Christians Flee Central Iraq
CP World | Friday, December 17, 2010
By Katherine T. Phan, Christian Post Reporter | Friday, December 17, 2010
The U.N. Refugee agency reported that thousands of Iraqi Christians are fleeing central Iraq and seeking refuge in the northern region of the country.
About 1,000 families have fled Baghdad and Mosul to the Kurdish-controlled region and Ninewa plains in the north, according to The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). An increasing number of Iraqi Christians have also crossed the border to Syria, Jordan and Lebanon.
The agency expressed dismay that Sweden forcibly repatriated this week a group of 20 Iraqis, including 5 Christians from Baghdad, after their applications for asylum were rejected.
"UNHCR strongly reiterates its call on countries to refrain from deporting Iraqis who originate from the most perilous parts of the country," Melissa Fleming, the agency's chief spokesperson, told reporters in Geneva on Friday.
One Christian man told agency officials that he escaped Iraq in 2007 after receiving a death threat from militiamen. He traveled throughout the Middle East and Europe before finally arriving in Sweden.
The man said he applied for asylum three times in 2008 but all of them were rejected because he was not considered to have been personally targeted.
Some were rejected asylum because of improved security conditions in Iraq.
The "slow but steady exodus" of Christians was sparked by the Oct. 31 deadly attack on a Catholic Church in Iraq's capital and subsequent targeted attacks. At least 58 people, mostly worshippers, died when armed militants, some wearing suicide vests, stormed Our Lady of Salvation Church during Sunday Mass.
"We have heard many accounts of people fleeing their homes after receiving direct threats. Some were able to take only a few belongings with them," Fleming said.
"Our offices have distributed emergency assistance and are in contact with the local authorities to ensure that the recently displaced Christians are supported and assisted."
Many of the Iraqi Christians that recently arrived in Syria, Jordan and Lebanon told UNHCR offices that they left in fear as a result of the violent attack on Oct. 31.
The refugee agency said that churches and non-governmental organizations have warned them to expect more people fleeing in the coming weeks.
On Wednesday, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said in his address before the U.N. Security Council that the frequency of violent attacks has reached its lowest level since the U.S. government entered Iraq in 2003.
But he acknowledged that "attacks by extremists" remain among the challenges faced by security forces in Iraq and expressed particular concern over recent targeted attacks against people of faith, including Christians and Muslims.
The UNHCR said it recognizes the efforts the Iraqi government is making to try to protect all its citizens, including vulnerable minority groups such as the Christians.
"Iraq has reiterated its commitment to increase the protection of places of worship," said Fleming.
While the number of civilian casualties are down from last year, minority groups are increasingly susceptible to threats and attacks, she added.
Fleming reiterated the UNHCR's position that asylum-seekers who come from Iraq's governorates of Baghdad, Diyala, Ninewa and Salah-al-Din, as well as from Kirkuk province, should not be returned and should benefit from international protection.
The spokesperson added that other claims from Iraqi applicants, including those who are of a religious minority, should be "considered carefully" given the "still high level of violence" throughout Iraq.
"UNHCR considers that serious – including indiscriminate – threats to life, physical integrity or freedom resulting from violence or events seriously disturbing public order are valid reasons for international protection," said Fleming.
Christians, Muslims Condemn 'Inhumane' Attack on Baghdad Church
Catholic Bishops Back House Resolution to Protect Iraq's Christians
Groups to Press Obama to Defend Iraqi Christians
Iraqi Christians Remember Church Siege Victims, 40 Days Later
Commission Urges U.S. to Step Up Protection for Iraqi Christians
Biden Condemns Attacks on Iraqi Christians at UN Meeting
More In World
Christian MP says prosecution for tweeting Bible verse on homosexuality is a 'privilege'
14-year-old Pentecostal girl kidnapped, forced to marry captor in Pakistan
200 Hindu radicals attack Christians at house church in India


Functionality tests for email example module.
EmailExampleTestCase::testContactForm Verify the functionality of the example module.
// Enable the email_example module.
// First try to send to an invalid email address.
// Verify that email address is invalid and email was not sent.
// Now try with a valid email address.
// Verify that email address is valid and email was sent.
// Grab the first entry.
// Verify that signature is attached.


text:
Get live updates from RTÉ
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Ireland's Favourite Folk Song: Meet The Jury
The Jury for Ireland's Favourite Folk Song comprises of musicians, musicologists and broadcasters, all of whom are passionate and knowledgeable about folk music.
Meet the jury below...
Mary Black (Presenter & Chair)
For over a quarter-century, singer Mary Black has been a dominant presence in Irish music, both at home and abroad. Mary has released 11 studio albums, all of which achieved platinum sales status and spawned countless hits. She has shared stages, TV shows and recording studios with some of the most revered performers of her time. She has also played a front-line role in bringing Irish music, past and present, to an increasingly appreciative and ever-growing global audience. She is indeed a real Irish treasure and her talent a gift from this small island to a grateful world.
Mary Black is the presenter and chair of Ireland's Favourite Folk Song.
Dr. Aileen Dillane
Dr. Aileen Dillane is an ethnomusicologist and musician with research interests in local/global Irish music; musical migrations and diasporas; protest music; popular culture, and soundscapes. She lectures in music at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, University of Limerick, specialising in the traditional, folk and vernacular music of Ireland and its diaspora, as well as in popular music studies and ethnomusicology.
Aileen plays traditional flute and piano with the Templeglantine Ceilí Band (2010 All-Ireland winners) and has collaborated and recorded with musicians in Ireland and the USA.
Diarmaid Ferriter
Diarmaid Ferriter is Professor of Modern Irish History at UCD. His books include The Transformation of Ireland 1900-2000, Judging Dev: A Reassessment of the life and legacy of Eamon de Valera, Occasions of Sin: Sex and Society in Modern Ireland, Ambiguous Republic: Ireland in the 1970s, A Nation and not a Rabble: The Irish Revolution 1913-23 and On The Edge: Ireland's Offshore Islands, A Modern History. His latest book is The Border: The Weight of a Century of Anglo-Irish Relations. He is a regular broadcaster on RTE television and radio and a weekly columnist with the Irish Times.
Brian Mullen
Brian Mullen was born in Derry, where he still lives. His mother's family were all singers and he sang pop and folk as a teenager. At university in Bangor, North Wales he met musicians who had links with Ireland and, travelling with them, he met such singers as Nioclás Tóibín in Ring and Mick Flynn in Miltown Malbay. He gathered songs at home while a teenager, then in Wales, around Ireland and in Coleraine, assembling an eclectic repertoire which has English, Scottish and American ballads, music hall ditties and songs in Irish. In 1986, he joined the BBC's Irish Language Unit as a producer and shortly afterwards began presenting Caschlár, which features music from all over the world and styles including pop, soul, country and traditional Irish music.
Nuala O'Connor
In 1987, Nuala established Hummingbird Productions with Philip King to produce high quality music and arts documentaries. With Philip King she worked as assistant producer on Bringing It All Back Home and is the author of the book which accompanied the series. Nuala won an Emmy award for writing a one-hour version of Bringing It All Back Home for the Disney television channel in the US. Nuala has written, directed and edited amongst others Sult – Spirit of the Music (Series 1 & II), Sruth na Maoile, Freedom Highway, One Faithful Harp: The Life and Music of Thomas Moore, Se Mo Laoch (Series 1 to 6), The Raw Bar (Series 1 and II), documentaries on the life of Sinead O'Connor and Mary Black, and Donal Lunny: Following the Music. She is currently working as co-director and series editor of An Droichead Beo / The Living Bridge. Nuala also worked as the traditional music reviewer for the Irish Times for many years.
Leagues O'Toole
Leagues O'Toole spent most of his adult life writing about records and promoting live music, with a diverse love of sounds from across all genres. He began writing as part of Dublin's underbelly of punk-fanzine culture is the early 1990s, before becoming a regular contributor to a slew of music magazines and newspaper across the globe. In the early 2000s he presented and edited the RTE leftfield music television programme, No Disco, focusing on numerous movements within the culture from the homegrown Irish independent scene to hip-hop, electronic and folk music, including a special one-off documentary about 1970s pioneering folk-trad ensemble, Planxty. After his tenure with No Disco he wrote the band-endorsed biography, The Humours of Planxty, published in 2006, contributed as guest radio presenter for the likes on Tom Dunne and Donal Dineen on Today FM, and began publishing his own aesthetic-driven music magazine, Foggy Notions for a number of years. He also programmed the famous Whelan's venue for five years before joining the ranks of Aiken Promotions where he currently works with hundreds of international and Irish artists.
Ruth Smith
Ruth is a performer, broadcaster and musician based in County Clare. As a regular presenter on RTÉ Radio 1 she shares her knowledge and passion for folk music every Sunday evening on her show Simply Folk. In October 2018, alongside well-known broadcaster John Creedon, Ruth was co-host for the inaugural RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards in Vicar Street. An experienced MC & events producer, Ruth has worked with The Volvo Ocean Race, The London Olympics and closer to home with the GAA, MC'ing the All-Ireland Hurling and Football finals at Croke Park. At the 2018 Fleadh Cheoil Ruth was one of the presenters on TG4's FleadhTV. A multi-instrumentalist on fiddle, piano & guitar, singer & songwriter, Ruth has performed at many festivals and events around the country including Doolin Folk Festival, Temple Bar Trad Fest and Body & Soul. Ruth's academic studies span the traditional, classical and theatrical worlds with a BA in Music, Drama & Theatre Studies and HDip from Trinity College Dublin and a Masters in Trad Performance from The Irish World Academy of Music & Dance, University of Limerick.
Vincent Woods
Vincent Woods is a writer and broadcaster who has worked extensively with music and musicians in public performances and as a critic and editor. He co-edited The Turning Wave: Poems and Songs of Irish Australia and Fermata: Writings Inspired by Music and has written liner notes for a number of albums. He has written song lyrics set to music by Mairtín O'Connor, Aidan Brennan and Charlie McGettigan and recorded by a number of singers in Ireland and the U.S. He was part of a stage performance entitled The Leitrim Equation (2015/16), and with composer/musician Danny Diamond and dancer Edwina Guckian has developed a new performance piece, Open Room. His plays include At the Black Pig's Dyke and A Cry from Heaven. Recent publications are Leaves of Hungry Grass: Poetry and Ireland's Great Hunger and Borderlines (with Henry Glassie). Vincent lives in Dublin and is a member of Aosdána.
Voting for the nominations for Ireland's Favourite Folk Song is now officially closed - thank you to the many thousands who made your voices heard, and for your brilliant selections - now for the shortlist! #rtefolksong
Irelands Favourite Folk Song
What is folk music? Irelands Favourite Folk Song


Small - 6" x 1.5"
Large - 9" x 2"
Extra Large - 12" x 3"
A cholla cactus wood perch infused with Manu minerals; an exciting alternative to mineral blocks!
This Manu-cholla perch is a unique and interesting method to provide useful nutrients to your companion parrot. The minerals infused in the cholla are an exact copy of minerals found in the banks of the Manu River in Peru which birds flock from miles around to consume in order to aid digestion and fight against toxins picked up from foraging food.
The hardened minerals provide a variable surface that attracts your parrot's curiosity, and also helps to lengthen the life of the cholla perch base, which all parrots love to chew. To clean the perch soak it in clean water, then brush lightly and rinse it thoroughly before leaving to dry completely before placing back in your parrot's cage.
Small = 6" long and approximately 1-1/2" diameter - recommended for Conures, Cockatiels, Lovebirds, Parakeets and other similar sized birds.
Large = 9" long and approximately 2" diameter - recommended for Greys, Amazons, Eclectus and other similar sized birds.
Extra Large = 12" long and approximately 3" diameter - recommended for Macaws, Cockatoos and other similar sized birds.
Each perch has two washers and one wing nut and are zinc plated. If you would like to purchase stainless steel replacements, appropriately sized parts are available in our Stainless Steel Toy Parts category.
Small perches have washers 1.5" in diameter with 1/4" wing nut to fit bolt, and the Large and Extra Large have 2" washers with 3/8" wingnut.
Click the button below to add the Manu Mineral Perch to your wish list.


Italian transfer website calciomercato.it has reported that Roma sporting director Monchi has his eyes on Schalke 04 midfielder Johannes Geis. The 25 year old's contract with the German side expires in the summer and they appear more than willing to sell the player —- something they tried to do in the summer. Geis has not made a single appearance for Schalke this season and has no future at the club. In fact, he was even training with the team's U-23 side late in the summer, so should Monchi table an acceptable offer, the Germans appear willing to deal.


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HE HAS A PEN: Gov. Hickenlooper Threatens to Veto Any Bill Without Bipartisan Participation
Last year, Hick never met a bill he wouldn't sign into law.
Governor Hickenlooper has started on his Great Apology tour throughout rural Colorado. Last week, he visited the Eastern plains town of Yuma, where he spoke with five county commissioners. He said he has told current legislative leadership that the legislative process must be fair and that legislation passed without all parties being allowed to participate will face a certain veto from him this year.
Not surprisingly, the topic of the rural renewable energy mandate came up, but what The Yuma Pioneer reported Hickenlooper as saying was even more interesting. Hick pledged to not sign legislation that didn't have bipartisan participation. Here's the excerpt from the article:
When challenged by commissioners from five eastern Colorado counties, Governor John Hickenlooper conceded that the process for passing SB 252 on rural renewable energy in last year's Colorado Legislature was flawed.
He said he has told current legislative leadership that the legislative process must be fair and that legislation passed without all parties being allowed to participate will face a certain veto from him this year.
After his plummeting poll numbers in the state, we can hardly blame him for not wanting to do a repeat of last year. Too bad his fellow liberal legislators didn't get the memo. So, of course, this puts Hick in a tricky situation. There are many pieces of legislation that have moved forward without bipartisan participation. Will he veto them all? We'll certainly be watching.
Wandy Weatherford	on February 22, 2014 at 4:32 am
Yeah…you know it!
Jeffrey Machado III	on February 20, 2014 at 4:06 pm
Yep, he is a liar…
http://coloradopeakpolitics.com/2014/02/19/bipartisan-bypass-hick-signs-election-fraud-bill-into-law/
Linda Mackety	on February 19, 2014 at 10:28 pm
It's simple; Hick lied.
Neal Pashman	on February 19, 2014 at 9:17 pm
shared this with a "H/T" to you!
signed last night… 2/18/14
Todd Hutchcroft	on February 19, 2014 at 1:44 pm
KICK THE HICK 2014! Thanks for nothing
Jeffrey Machado III	on February 19, 2014 at 4:44 am
I'm sure these are just false promises, but I would like to see him veto some of the crap being rammed through the legislature…
Scott Merker	on February 18, 2014 at 9:38 pm
He'll have to ask Roxane White to find his veto stamp. Rumor has it, its tucked away in the same box she hid his jones in when it came time to sign dunlaps death warrant.
Bob Simons	on February 18, 2014 at 5:56 pm
I say "Fire enough of the liberal, loser, liars" that jammed 2013 legislation down our throats and we'll fix the problems ourselves! Pack your bags Chickenlooper!
Joe Oglesby	on February 18, 2014 at 3:49 pm
If he said that and then signs HB1164 then he has a real problem.
Barnes Dave	on February 18, 2014 at 4:24 am
No one, except the gun nuts, really thinks that additional background checks took away people's rights.
Janice Herron	on February 18, 2014 at 3:34 am
Will he keep his word? Voters will be watching.
Ed Leachman	on February 18, 2014 at 3:16 am
"Gov. Hickenlooper Threatens to Veto Any Bill Without Bipartisan Participation"
BWAHAHAHA! You funny man!
Marilyn Marks	on February 18, 2014 at 1:31 am
If there were ever a bill rammed through without citizen participation, 1164 was it. Likely on the governor's desk now. If he signs it, he will be signing a license for corruption in local elections. It allows private for-profit contractors (say Karl Rove, Inc. or Rachel Maddow, Inc.) to conduct local elections hundreds of miles from the voters, with no local polling location, and no ADA accessible voting equipment, no SOS oversight. Abolishes all SOS Election Rules for special district elections, and makes it no longer a crime to tamper with voter rolls in local elections! Allows taxes and bonds to be approved in November elections on separate ballot controlled by the private enterprise. Too bizarre to be true, but sadly it is. But Democratic lawmakers had no time to listen to the 150 or so errors found in the draft. Some violate TABOR.
Gene Schmeling	on February 18, 2014 at 12:47 am
Veto…I don't think he knows the meaning of the word. We need to teach him the meaning and hold his feet to the fire.
Dave Gill	on February 18, 2014 at 12:20 am
Repeal the renewable energy mandate and draconian anti gun bills forced on Rural Colorado by the Dems in the last session and then talk about a bipartisan future. What Hickenlooper is doing is like a Bank Robber saying he's sorry after he got caught. It's too little and too late and not very convincing.
Neal Pashman	on February 17, 2014 at 11:55 pm
1164 ?
Randy Redus	on February 17, 2014 at 11:37 pm
Looks like Hickenlooper got the memo and is trying to backpedal to save his political career. I recall he was more than happy to quickly sign SB 252 last year.
Pamela Forristall	on February 17, 2014 at 9:16 pm
LICKENPOOPER screwed up….TOTALLY….when he did not VETO all the GUN LEGISLATION. He took our SECOND AMENDMENT RIGHTS. BYE BYE!
Colorado Peak Politics - BIPARTISAN BYPASS: Hick Signs Election Fraud Bill Into Law - [...] Well, that was fast. Just a few days ago, we reported that liberal Gov. John Hickenlooper told The Yuma…


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I made this joke about "home me-o staying" (having some down time). I'm reading about Proxemics, a discipline founded by Ed Hall (anthropologist), which is the science of how humans and other animals co-organize in space.
For example what's the plan of an ideal house, what are the rooms for, and how close should you stand to someone you're addressing? What level of voice is polite. I just read a chapter comparing Brits to USers, in very broad brush stroke.
He takes Americans for having automatic neighborliness, a " kids will play with your kids" egalitarianism, whereas a British family has no expected obligations, no lending of a cup of sugar, now over the fence camaraderie.
Having lived in many parts of the US, in several states (New Jersey, Florida, North Carolina... Oregon), in many zipcodes, I'd say many neighborhoods, including suburban, are just as isolating and foam-like (Sloterdjik) as the urban.
Not that urban villages don't exist.
We don't all live in Twin Peaks, that's for sure. It's David Lynch week in Portland, unbeknownst to me when Melody made a pit stop and reminded me of that heritage.
I'm well into Season Two, after seeing the pilot after Season One. We're talking about a series made over twenty years ago, but recently resurrected. I'm striving to catch up.
Eclipse Day
Oregon has been girding for today for some time. I didn't have specific plans until my assignment came through to do computer camp in Lake Oswego, not quite in the path of totality (99.4%).
All the kids had eclipse glasses but I didn't. One of them kindly shared. The eerie low light (never completely dark, no stars) was likewise spectacular.
We had three classes going simultaneously today, though with only two instructors. Jeremy was covering both Little Coders and Minecraft Modding, which I consider a feat.
My stint was longer, 9 - 4, but only one camp at a time.
An added stress factor came after camp was over: my car decided to throw a fit when I tried to start it, sounding the alarm. I couldn't think of anything to stop it. Should I call AAA? After a brief conversation with mom, the Nissan started with no problems. Weird.
I headed to a nearby McMenamins (John Barleycorns) to unwind and finish paperwork. That's where I am now, having a Hammerhead and a Dungeon Burger. I parked in a far corner of the lot in case the car throws a fit again.
Followup: no Torture Taxi tantrum this time; I swung by PDX Code Guild on the way home to Asylum District, in case Flying Circus was happening, traffic light.
Business Accelerator building (2828 SW Corbett) was a ghost town, however.
I made it home in time for all but the first five minutes of the CBS Evening News with Anthony Mason anchoring from Carbondale, Illinois.
:: in the corner ::
Atomic Blonde (movie review)
Wonder Woman remembers the mission, which is to save humanity from corruption by the devil (aka Mars). But in attempting to save us, she has to join the fray, a Joan of Arc figure, with knights ever eager to serve under her command.
Fast forward to Lorraine, two wars later (really one) and now at a signature apex, the convergence of the two Germanys as symbolized by a wall-divided Berlin overcoming its internal divisiveness.
As the opening narrative makes clear, this story explores a violent underbelly of this convergence chapter, through a favored lens when exploring this era: that of the spy thriller comic book genre. Le Carré uses a similar backdrop sometimes.
Some will raise their eyebrows at my use of "comic book" and ask what's so funny about all that head bashing, more like Streets of New York.
I think because of the superpowers on display, an ability to play these violent games that shows some purpose and intent, not just people caught up willy-nilly in awkward conditioned-reflexing.
The martial arts make for some bloody ballet, with protagonists appearing somewhat in control of their own destinies, more as predators in the know than as helpless victims. They serve and protect the rest of us, if cast as heroes (heroines).
Both Wonder Woman and Atomic Blonde use similar wartime spy thriller motifs, with their focus on Amazons (female warriors).
Rome, Italy, where I was during early Cold War years, was another hotbed of intrigue and secrets, with all the high fashion and flashy cars to match.
I was too young to pose as an adult of any stature, but I soaked up some of that James Bond culture at the English language movie theaters, the Archimedes especially (near Piazza Euclide).
Berlin over ten years later was more into grunge and proto-punk from the looks of things here recreated. Disaffected youth didn't want to grow up with some Iron Curtain through their psychology.
The Korean DMZ stands out as another Berlin Wall of today.
These spies did not have the Internet, nor much in the way of social media. The film takes us back to when people used ordinary landline telephones and didn't have to deal with strong encryption.
I most recently saw John Goodman in 10 Cloverfield Lane and couldn't quite shake the idea that this was a flashback to before his retirement to that bunker, just a passing thought. American dads can be pretty crazy.
Lorriane smokes and drinks and lives a punishing lifestyle, which will catch up with her later.
I was interested to learn that Charlize Theron, who plays Lorriane, is natively Afrikaans with American English her second language (IMDB). I wonder if she knows Yolandi Visser.
I did make it to Berlin before the wall came down, took the tour. Our train was actually East German, terminating on the east side in Berlin, starting with a ferry trip from Sweden I believe it was. We were unusual for American tourists, not the first time. Dad liked to plan interesting trips.
At first I didn't like that the timer was running even if I'd not signaled my willingness to begin, by punching the green flag. I'd have the option to turn that off, given the See Inside powers conferred in a copyleft economy. I didn't write this game, merely remixed it and value added.
The point is to keep going to the next level, by setting off chain reactions that consume tiny sprites. The surface area of the target area is variable and rises as more sprites are consumed, before falling again. You anchor the target initially and then sit back to see if you've won the round, so it's basically a one click per round game, a feature, a kind of minimalism.
Note the timer resets on each explosion. The sprites are all clones of the main ball, which spawns multiple copies of itself, shrunk to 15% of original size. The number spawned is three more than the level number. Notice you have less time as the level number rises. But then more explosions per time unit would be expected.
All in all, I consider this a handsome little game, elegantly implemented. I'll plan to show and tell about in at summer camp today. I actually found it in the official handbook, so it's not like I'm straying far from my ken.
Banning Nukes
Portland has joined a lot of cities, as cities stand to lose the most.
The uber-cowards plan to head for spacious luxury apartments in various gated mountain suburbs, there to send out hapless journalists at the point of a gun to see whether Planet of the Apes or 12 Monkeys has come true or not. In the meantime, they'll eat nachos and swill Bud.
Portlanders don't savor that genre of science fiction as a their real future and so push back, joining a broad alliance of city mayors and others, signalling in the history books we were never on board with the selfish oligarchs.
The oligarchs have various pretenses or ploys they float as trial balloons, trying to gauge the public mood. Recent results have been disappointing from their point of view. A nuclear conflagration is harder to get started even if the UN Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty is just something on paper. So are a lot of things "just paper" (like money for example, other entitlements?).
This year, our memorial event (remembrance ceremony) featured a Buddhist invocation, several speeches, and a second indoor event in nearby NW 70 Couch Street. We were permitted to take pictures, and indeed spreading visualization memes was part of the intent.
I fought rush hour coming home from the day job, where mom was waiting. My mistake to think the Hawthorne Bridge could be any better, now that Morrison is one way each way, but no way from the east side, short of joining I-5 somewhere north, which is crazy. But then traffic-wise Portland has succumbed to North America's chief ailment: addiction to one-driver commute lifestyles (leads to opium addiction, heart disease...).
Usually, with no evening events pending, I don't have to fight rush hour. I know a friend with a swimming pool just off Boones Ferry, plus have Lake Oswego friends scattered around I can visit. The game around rush hour is to avoid it completely. Fortunately the day job starts around noon, and the drive is then typical, at posted speed limits.
2016: Hiroshima Day
2015: Disarm Day 2015
2013: A-Bomb Day
2007: Remembering...
Visiting Vancouver
Vancouver, Washington is an important port and way station, a gateway to Oregon. People complain the I-5 draw-bridge is a choke point, however Oregon State Senator Lew Frederick says the studies he's seen point to replacing the rail bridge instead, re-routing trucks to their own deck.
In some simulations, this redesign would do much more to alleviate the problem than replacing the I-5 bridge, especially if people enjoy reading and social media enough to prefer taking mass transit, even high speed rail in some possible futures.
Sam Lanahan has view property overlooking the Willamette-Columbia confluence, though from a safe distance away, which explains the telescope. Freight traffic is fun to watch. Glenn and I got to see the hexagonal flextegrity table, which Glenn had helped build in my garage, amidst other marvels, on our car trip there today.
For those of you into intellectual history, when Alexander Graham Bell had the command of vast resources, post inventing the telephone, he plowed time and energy into what he called "kites", and which today we might call an "isotropic vector matrix" if into Fuller, or perhaps an "octet-truss" if aware of the patent literature.
Sam's matrix is no mere knock off of Bell's solution as the tension and compression forces get distributed by a different strategy. However it helps to see it in the lineage of space frame solutions, in this particular family of lattice structures.
In the latest incarnation the basic "brick" is a soccer ball of hard plastic made of six base parts, hence the name C6XTY, all identical, with eight screw-in disks to secure each assembly.
Armature members with their own smaller screws then fix these spherical components in place, creating the Bell-like lattice with the ball centers in CCP or FCC positions, for those of you schooled in crystallography, or willing to watch a few Youtubes.
Standing in the courtyard at his house, Sam had a prime example of the kind of sculpture one might create from C6XTY, given the liberty to explore the IVM "in vitro" so to speak, as an organic pattern.
He's working on and/or commissioning several more examples for an upcoming photo shoot. My backyard is one of the construction sites. We returned with a portable gazeebo on the roof of my car. I excavated and removed the brick fire pit to make room for the new work area.
I need to study Quantum Mind again tonight, a book by Arnold Mindell. You'll find Jungian psychology a recurring theme in these blogs. I'm thinking Bell, Bucky, Lanahan and others were attuned to resonant frequencies in a collective unconsciousness that surfaces in their cases. Something deep within us wants to get it out there. The zeitgeist is making waves.
Leaving Terrebonne
:: airfield, Madras, Oregon ::
I'm preparing to jet out of here, with "jet" more a metaphor as I'm driving the Maxi Taxi. Yes, there's an air transport connection from PDX to Redmond, and car rental solutions, however I'm partial to taking my own wheels over the mountain on Hwy 26, then down Hwy 97, through Madras, which also hosts a substantial airport. I'm thinking ahead, about Earthala, with roots in Terrebonne (Good Earth), science fiction at the moment, though others might call it investment memory banking.
I took down the campsite, and was never far from coffee nor WiFi, so I wouldn't exactly call what I did "roughing it". Rather I was joining over forty others in a memorial service for Sam (my brother-in-law) at Haystack Reservoir, a special place for Sam & Judy, as is the whole of this area, where they've lived since the 1970s, having met in Florida as college students. I always feel a part of a tribe, an extended family, when coming over here, this time especially given so many reunited to pay tribute (heartfelt complements) to wise man Sam.
Sam's sister Dawn (Carla later) also sought wisdom, as she was much on the same path as her bro. They grew up together in Ohio, Nashville, and later in Satellite Beach, Florida after the marriage was dissolved (Carla stayed with Don). She took the name Wicca, as in Dawn Wicca, to give herself a high bar to live up to, a constant reminder to seek wisdom. She was not establishing herself as a Wiccan per se, a specific invented religion you may wish to read about in Triumph of the Moon, about Gardner and so on.
We're enjoying a global warming heat wave in 2017, with temperatures in Portland staying in triple digits for longer than we're used to. I don't use air conditioning in the car and like to keep things cool and less trafficked, so chose an early departure time both coming (4:15 AM) and going (6:45 AM). Carol (mom, 88) is back in Portland with Melody (passing-through house guest). Last time we came over, Tara joined us. Alexia came over with Elise, whom Dawn was living with on a horse farm when we first met. You'll find her elsewhere in this Russian "novel" (in quotes because I'm doing non-fiction here).
Fires are a big fact of life around here. Orchards burn, other cultivated lands, even homes. Firefighters can't reverse the irreversible. Mother Nature is not intimidated by humans, even a little. They're her creation after all. Planet Earth has a long history of creatures coming and going.


Bandai Namco will host a "Tales of Crestoria News Channel" live stream on December 14 at 21:00 JST, the company announced. You will be able to watch it on YouTube and Periscope.
The live stream will feature a deeper dive into the smartphone RPG's main characters, as well as debut the full version of its concept movie created by Yasutaka Nakata and Kamikaze Douga.
Before that live stream, however, Tales of Crestoria will be featured on the previously announced Tales of series 23rd anniversary live stream on December 8 at 20:00 JST with a reveal of the game's key visual, full story summary text, important keywords, and a new video. You will be able to watch that here.
A release date for Tales of Crestoria has yet to be announced. Pre-registrations for the game have already topped 150,000.


A practical application of using a custom lightbox to play back animations and footage, generating intricate refraction and reflections in an elegant spot.
This project was a sister project of the Glass piece. The same setup was used for this piece with some slight adjustments to the template in order to fit the new lensing and framing of the subject. We wanted to create something very simple, clean, and beautiful while keeping everything in camera and out of post production. The result is something that was a on an extremely quick turnaround while still keeping the feeling of a high end piece.
Strange & Wonderful™ 2015. All Rights Reserved.


The idea I really want to purse is the "Four Care Bears of the Apocalypse". I could just see it.
Death is black, wears a cloak, has solid white eyes and a skull on his belly.
War is blood red, wears a horned helmet, and has a battle axe on his belly.
Pestilence is a vague greenish-grey, with patches of mange, and a Mr. Yuck symbol on his belly.
Famine is gaunt, pale, and dead grass on his belly.
The four of ride together, using the Care Bear Glare to usher in the apocalypse.


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Gamethread #80: New Jersey Devils vs. New York Rangers
Tonight is the final home game of the 2018-19 regular season for the New Jersey Devils. The opponent is Our Hated Rivals. I don't want any fooling around; I want a win. Talk about the game as it happens here.
By John Fischer Apr 1, 2019, 6:00pm EDT
Share All sharing options for: Gamethread #80: New Jersey Devils vs. New York Rangers
Beat this stupid team for once this season!
Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images
This is the final home game of the season so can they finally beat Our Hated Rivals just one time in this stupid and terrible regular season? No foolishness, just a win, please.
The Matchup: The New Jersey Devils vs. the New York Rangers (SBN Blog: Blueshirt Banter)
The Time: 7:00 PM ET
The Broadcast: TV - MSG 2; Digital Audio - The "Devils Hockey Network." A.K.A. Go to Radio.com or NHL.com for an audio feed.
The Song for the Night: One of New Jersey's greatest. From one of the greatest albums in its genre. Featuring Jamie Jasta of Hatebreed and Cristian Machado of Ill Niño, this is "Battle Lines" from The Renaissance. E-TOWN.
The Rules: The rules remain the rules even though you expected Baptism, Doormats (intro is dirty), Time 2 Shine (also dirty), Cycles (dirty again), Hindsight (dirty too), I Got This (romance and dirty), So Many Nights (not really a game song), and/or Mandibles (just listen to WSOU and you'll hear it enough times) among other legendary jams. Please keep your comments clean, legal (read: no streams, no links to streams, no asking for streams, no streams), and all about the games itself. Just as importantly, let's respect each other. There's no need for drama or being unwelcoming of your fellow Devils fan. This is a Gamethread, let's focus on the game.Thank you for reading. Go Devils!


Saturdays are for bottomless brunches and we've found one in Shoreditch worth writing home about. Located in Shoreditch, at 46 Great Eastern Street, the creators of the Looking Glass Cocktail Club has transformed a former iron factory into a triple tier drinking and den. The venue is really as cool as they have kept the original features such as cast iron pillars and the industrial lift which houses the DJ booth. The juxtaposition of the original features with luxury dining makes this an interesting place to visit.
The favourite thing about our brunch at Iron Bloom, is that the resturant takes classic British brunch dishes, such as Eggs Benedict, Florentine and Royale and serves them in a Yorkshire pudding! Utter genius! The taste was amazing and they were delightfully instagrammable.
The staff suggested we also sampled the British Wagyu beef burger, so we halved that. We certainly were glad we took their advice. The roasted whole cloves of garlic really made it that something special.
If bottomless prosecco isn't your thing… then there is a gorgeous cocktail list. All your drink needs will certainly be covered.The staff at Iron Bloom were super friendly so were more than happy to help you find a cocktail to wet your whistle.
It was quiet whilst we were visiting, which was the only disappointment as it's such a fab little venue with great food and great service.This may be because Iron Blooms store front was Thanks Iron Bloom for inviting us down. We will be back to enjoy lunch again because for £30 for an egg dish and bottomless prosecco… you've convinced us Iron Bloom is a place to add to your must brunch at list.


On Saturday, July 28th, we are throwing the wildest and wettest, biggest beer event of the summer.
Our first ever Wet & Wild Beer Bash is here to cool down your summer with a day packed full of refreshing summer beers, a slip and slide zone, a DJ blasting summer jams, food trucks, special water events and more.
Summer in South Florida calls for flip-flops, swimsuits, and cooling off with good beers and good friends, all while beating the heat, so buy your ticket and get your friends on-board because this will be fun. Although there is no admission charge, a ticket purchased here gets you all you can drink of our summer favorites! These tickets as well as individual drink tickets will also be available at the event.


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« This is not fair to poor old Joe | Main | Joe Biden should not have control of the Gold Codes and the Football »
"Russia offered bounties to Afghan militants to kill US troops" - TTG
(CNN) - Russian intelligence officers for the military intelligence GRU recently offered money to Taliban militants in Afghanistan as rewards if they killed US or UK troops there, a European intelligence official told CNN.
The official was unclear as to the precise Russian motivation, but said the incentives had, in their assessment, led to coalition casualties. The official did not specify as to the date of the casualties, their number or nationality, or whether these were fatalities or injuries. "This callous approach by the GRU is startling and reprehensible. Their motivation is bewildering," the official said.
This story was first reported by the New York Times.
US intelligence concluded months ago that Russian military intelligence offered the bounties, amid peace talks, the New York Times reported Friday. Citing officials briefed on the matter, the Times reported that President Donald Trump was briefed on the intelligence findings and that the White House's National Security Council held a meeting about it in late March.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said in a statement Saturday that the President and Vice President Mike Pence were not briefed "on the alleged Russian bounty intelligence." McEnany said her statement "does not speak to the merit of the alleged intelligence but to the inaccuracy of the New York Times story," which said Trump had been briefed. McEnany did not deny the validity of the reported US intelligence that a Russian intelligence unit offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants to carry out attacks on coalition forces in Afghanistan (CNN)
Russia denies the story in its entirety. That's to be expected. The Washington Post, Wall sStreet Journal, CNN and Sky News back up the NYT reporting through their sources. The White House doesn't deny the intelligence reporting, but denies Trump was in the loop. McEnany's insistence that Trump is clueless about this is either a damning indictment of the Trump administration or a damned lie. Either way, it's not good. At any rate, it does appear this is another serious leak of classified information within the White House. That's also not good.
So was Trump kept in the dark by his NSC? Did he just refuse to believe the IC reporting? Or did he not know whether to shit or go blind? Did he decide to keep this out of the public eye and quietly confront Putin about this episode in the continuing shadow war. That would be a reasonable response. Totally unsatisfying to me, our military and most of the American public, but reasonable from a realpolitik point of view.
Russia's alleged action is not near as heinous as it may sound. Remember, we supported and supplied the Mujahideen with weapons to kill Soviet soldiers while they were in the process of withdrawing from Afghanistan. It does show that Russia is not our friend and Putin is not Trump's friend. It doesn't mean we have to go to war with each other, but we should realize our relationship is not akin to a herd of glitter fartin' unicorns prancing across the rainbow bridge.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/27/politics/russia-us-troops-afghanistan/index.html
Posted at 09:39 PM in Afghanistan, Intelligence, Russia, TTG | Permalink
Colonel Lang -
Which stories?
Posted by: Leith | 29 June 2020 at 04:21 PM
So what, media trash is still media trash no matter how much you want to talk about it. If you believed that the USG and USI were drug dealing criminals how could you stand to be associated with us? In all my time in the field and in high level posts in DC I NEVER ever saw any evidence of the USG involvement in drug dealing. It was all just BS.
Well TTG, Twisted does not begin to describe your lack of knowledge and logic on this topic of drugs.
Probably the best source is PBS Frontline: (https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/drugs/special/cia.html)
A series of expose articles in the San Jose Mercury-News by reporter Gary Webb told tales of a drug triangle during the 1980s that linked CIA officials in Central America, a San Francisco drug ring and a Los Angeles drug dealer. According to the stories, the CIA and its operatives used crack cocaine--sold via the Los Angeles African-American community--to raise millions to support the agency's clandestine operations in Central America.
The CIA's suspect past made the sensational articles an easy sell. Talk radio switchboards lit up, as did African-American leaders like U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Los Angeles, who pointed to Webb's articles as proof of a mastermind plot to destroy inner-city black America.
One of the people who was accused in the San Jose Mercury-News of being in the midst of the CIA cocaine conspiracy is one of the most respected, now retired, veteran D.E.A. agents, Robert "Bobby" Nieves.
"You have to understand Central America at that time was a haven for the conspiracy theorists. Christic Institute, people like Gary Webb, others down there, looking to dig up some story for political advantage," Nieves said. "No sexier story than to create the notion in people's minds that these people are drug traffickers."
But in the weeks following publication, Webb's peers doubted the merit of the articles. Fellow journalists at the Washington Post, New York Times and Webb's own editor accused him of blowing a few truths up into a massive conspiracy.
Amongst Webb's fundamental problems was his implication that the CIA lit the crack cocaine fuse. It was conspiracy theory: a neat presentation of reality that simply didn't jibe with real life. Webb later agreed in an interview that there is no hard evidence that the CIA as an institution or any of its agent-employees carried out or profited from drug trafficking.
Still, the fantastic story of the CIA injecting crack into ghettos had taken hold. In response to the public outcry following Webb's allegations--which were ultimately published in book form under the title Dark Alliance--the CIA conducted an internal investigation of its role in Central America related to the drug trade. Frederick Hitz, as the CIA Inspector General-- an independent watchdog approved by Congress--conducted the investigation. In October 1998, the CIA released a declassified version of Hitz's two-volume report.
You reference Sy Hersh. Sy is an old friend. I've known him for 40 years. He'd tell you the same thing--the USG as a major player in drug trafficking is bullshit.
Posted by: Larry Johnson | 29 June 2020 at 04:54 PM
@The Twisted Genius | 29 June 2020 at 03:55 PM
Many here seem to think Russia is a nation totally separate from the now-defunct Soviet Union, that Russia is incapable or unwilling to engage in the seamier aspects of realpolitik like all other nations. Funny, Putin does not ascribe to this view. A short time ago, someone posted a link to a lecture by the KGB defector, Yuri Bezmenov
Bezmenov was trying to please the new owners. Russia does not have resources to engage like USA in Full Spectrum Dominance games. Like Obama correctly said, Russia now is a regional power.
Also, why bother to do petty dirty tricks in Afghanistan, if an internal fight between two factions of the neoliberal elite, is a really bitter and dirty fight. You cannot do better than neoliberal Dems in weakening and dividing the country. Why spend money, if you can just wait.
The enormity of problems within Russia itself also excludes any possibilities of trying to emulate the imperial behavior of the USA and CIA dirty tricks. Russia does not have the printing press for the world reserve currency, which the USA still has.
And Putin is the first who understands this precarious situation, mentioning this limitation several times in his speeches. As well as the danger of being pushed into senseless arms race with the USA again by the alliance of the USA neocons and Russian MIC, which probably would lead to similar to the USSR results -- the further dissolution of Russia into smaller statelets. Which is a dream of both the USA and the EU, for which they do not spare money.
Russia is a very fragile country -- yet another neoliberal country with a huge level of inequality and a set of very severe problems related to the economy and "identity politics" (or more correctly "identity wedge"), which both EU and the USA is actively trying to play. Sometimes very successfully.
Ukraine coup d'etat was almost a knockdown for Putin, at least a powerful kick in the chin; it happened so quick and was essentially prepared by Yanukovich himself with his pro-EU and pro-nationalist stance. Being a sleazy crook, he dug the grave for his government mostly by himself.
Now the same game can be repeated in Belorussia as Lukachenko by-and-large outlived his usefulness, and like most autocratic figures created vacuum around himself -- he has neither viable successor, not the orderly, well defined process of succession; but economic problems mounts and mounts. This gives EU+USA a chance to repeat Ukrainian scenario, as like in Ukraine, years of independence greatly strengthened far-right nationalist forces (which BTW were present during WWII ; probably in less severe form than in Ukraine and Baltic countries but still were as difficult to suppress after the war). Who, like all xUUSR nationalists are adamantly, pathologically anti-Russian. That's where Russia need to spend any spare money, not Afghanistan.
Currently, the personality of Putin is kind of most effective guarantee of political stability in Russia, but like any cult of personality, this cannot last forever, and it might deprive Russia of finding qualified successor.
But even Putin was already burned twice with his overtures to Colonel Qaddafi(who after Medvedev's blunder in the UN was completely unable to defend himself against unleashed by the West color revolution), and Yanukovich, who in addition to stupidly pandering to nationalists and trying to be the best friend of Biden proved to be a despicable coward, making a color revolution a nobrainer.
After those lessons, Putin probably will not swallow a bait in a form of invitation to be a "decider" in Afghanistan.
So your insinuations that Russian would do such stupid, dirty and risky tricks are not only naive, they are completely detached from the reality.
The proper way to look at it is as a kind of PR or even false flag operation which was suggested by David Habakkuk:
...we are dealing with yet another of the collusive 'information operations' practised by incompetent and corrupt elements in the 'deep state' in the U.S., U.K. and Western Europe.
Posted by: likbez | 29 June 2020 at 05:26 PM
likbez: Well I suggested it may have been a false flag, but I'm more inclined to think it may have been Pakistan's ISI.
And what is your evidence for claiming that the EU and USA want to break up Russia into 'smaller statelets'? That smells a bit fishy. It would make the world a more dangerous place. I don't see or hear of sane people here or in Europe wishing for that. Maybe a few whackos? Let's hope they never get their hands on the levers of power.
Posted by: JP Billen | 29 June 2020 at 05:47 PM
We hear more about unconfirmed reports from the mainstream media than we do about the facts of the attempted coup against President Trump. A coup which run by the Obama White House with full participation of the mainstream media. In fact since Trump took office this coup has been continued with full force by these same anonymous unconfirmed leaks which get reported as fact but weeks later are confirmed lies. I personally can't believe anything from the mainstream media and the resist faction, in fact they all need to go to jail for what they have done. I bring this up in the context of this thread because everything that's reported or leaked must be first thought of as apart of this coup, this has been the pattern for the last 3 and half years. If it doesn't fit this pattern of the on going coup then we can start to consider if it's true or not.
Posted by: Dennis Daulton | 29 June 2020 at 06:35 PM
TTG has actually provided the nugget of information that can be used to dismiss this allegation without, apparently, realising it.
It is here, when he quoted from the NYT article:
"The crucial information that led the spies and commandos to focus on the bounties included the recovery of a large amount of American cash from a raid on a Taliban outpost that prompted suspicions."
So that vast swathe of cash represents the bounties that have been paid for the killing of American and British soldiers by the Taliban.
If the payment has already been made then the deed has already been done because, obviously, that's how a "bounty" works.
So all we need ask is a simple question: has there been a dramatic uptick in fatalities amongst American and British troops?
Yes? Or no?
Because *both* of these statements can not be true:
1) Fatality rates amongst the troops have not increased.
2) The massive amounts of cash now being found in Afghanistan are the result of a bounty paid by the Russians for dead GIs.
You can have one, or you can have the other.
But you can't have both.
Posted by: Yeah, Right | 29 June 2020 at 07:06 PM
likbez
I hardly think paying a performance bonus for successful attacks on Coalition targets in Afghanistan is going to break the GRU's budget. There are better arguments against this story's veracity.
Regarding a possible Minsk Euromaidan and repeat of the Orange Revolution in Belarus, I would like to hear the opinion of Andrei Martyanov on this. I strongly suspect he would laugh his socks off at the prospect of any such action being permitted by Moscow.
Furthermore, any such attempt would likely be massively counterproductive, as it would give Russia the perfect excuse for an Anschluss operation which would make Crimea's annexation look like chicken feed. In the wake of 2014 the details for such a contingency must surely have been worked out in great detail. Hey presto - an unannounced Zapad 2020 exercise and you'd have the sum of all NATO fears; Russian forces deployed right up to the Suwałki gap.
TTG, you are obviously unable to share with us any info you may have on the USG's assessment of the hypothetical possibility described above, but do you have a view on the chances of a successful color revolution being achievable in Belarus?
None of us has any "insider poop."
The more I have read on this topic the more convinced I am that this "scoop" has a simple genesis.
It is this: someone in the US military has noticed that Afghanistan has suddenly become awash with cash, and they want to know where it came from.
(And before anyone comments, I have no doubt Afghanistan has always been awash with US dollars. I am talking about a sudden, recent deluge of cash).
The CIA has made up this story about "Russian bounties" in order to explain that deluge of money.
I know it is made-up because *if* it were true *then* there must be a dramatic uptick in combat fatalities ("bounty", remember).
No such uptick has occurred.
So the CIA has had to make up this story to explain the cash now sloshing around Afghanistan.
They have done so either because:
1) They Don't Actually Know Where It Came From or,
2) They Don't Want Anyone To Know It's Their Money.
One or the other.
But not this nonsense about "Russian bounties", because in the absence of dead GIs that can not possibly be the explanation for that mountain of cash.
Isn't that what I said about Webb and his allegations?
"But if Gary Webb is that guy claiming the CIA is responsible for flooding Los Angeles with crack cocaine, I agree with you. That's total bullshit."
Hersh laid out Noriega's narco-trafficking and money laundering in 1986. North's White House emails subsequent to Hersh's work showed his and Poindexter's use of Noriega to support the Contras in spite of Noirga's illicit activities. This was an "active policy of laissez faire towards allies engaged in drug trafficking" as I also said earlier. Your insistence of characterizing the relationship as being either "the USG as a major player in drug trafficking" or a state of perfect grace is simplistically binary and flat wrong. We were an enabler and made the choice of "the lesser of two weevils" as Colonel Lang used the phrase.
Yeah, Right,
You're getting wrapped around the axle over the term "bounty." The Russians are merely providing financial support to an indigenous force with the expectation that they will continue lethal attacks against US and coalition forces. This is not an unusual foreign policy, covert intelligence or military tactic. There were 22 US troops killed in 2019, the highest number since 2014. Nine have died this year. Most of those have been from Taliban attacks.
The use of the term "bounty" by the NYT was likely used to inflame and increase the outrage.
I know Hersh as well. A lot of his stuff is very self obsessed in its focus and sourcing.
TTG "The Russians are merely providing financial support to an indigenous force with the expectation that they will continue lethal attacks against US and coalition forces."
I'm sorry, that argument leaves me cold. Very, very cold.
If the Russian policy is to see lethal attacks against US forces then they would be supplying *arms* to the Taliban, not *money*.
After all, if you give the Taliban a wad of cash then they can do whatever they want with it. But if you give them a gun, well, let's be honest: a gun is rather limited in its application.
On the other hand if the Taliban is being given "financial support" then it is merely your supposition that this is intended to buy a lot of dead bodies.
Why, exactly, is that the only (or even likely) reason for the Russians to supply financial support to the Taliban?
There are many reasons the Russians may want to do that, first and foremost to buy influence amongst a group that in all probably will become the next government of Afghanistan.
Both you and the NYT appear intent upon reaching a very shaky conclusion constructed atop a mountain of unwarranted assumptions. And all of it - all of it - pivoting upon an single very subjective word: "expectation"
Here is an amazing quote from CNN's source https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/29/politics/russia-bounties-presidential-daily-briefing/index.html
"The source tells CNN that intelligence of this nature with risk to US troops should be assumed to be true until you know otherwise."
He/she is saying that truth is based on the severity of the accusation. This sounds more like something a politician would say rather than a professional Intel officer.
Posted by: Christian J. Chuba | 29 June 2020 at 09:34 PM
And what is your evidence for claiming that the EU and USA want to break up Russia into 'smaller statelets'? That smells a bit fishy. It would make the world a more dangerous place.
One of distinctive features, the hallmark of neocons who dominate the USA foreign policy establishment is rabid, often paranoid Russophobia which includes active, unapologetic support of separatist movements within Russia.
The same is true about GB.
https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/03/06/the-long-roots-of-our-russophobia/
I think the evidence of the USA and EU (especially GB, but also Poland, Sweden, and Germany) multi-level (PR, MSM, financial, diplomatic and sometimes military) support of Islamic separatists in Russia is well known: support of separatist movements in Russia is just a continuation of the support of separatist movement within the USSR, which actually helped to blow up the USSR from within (along the key role of KGB changing sides along with a part of Politburo who deciding to privatize Russia's economy)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dissolution_of_Russia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_active_separatist_movements_in_Europe#Russia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_active_separatist_movements_in_Asia#Russia
Here is old but still relevant list of "who is who" in the USA foreign policy establishment in promoting separatism in Russia. You will see many prominent neocons in the list.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Committee_for_Peace_in_Chechnya#ACPC_members
The foreign policy of the USA toward Russia to a considerable extent is driven by emigres from Eastern Europe and people who were accepted to the USA before and, especially, after WWII from filtration camps. This "diaspora lobby" includes older generation of emigrants such as late Brzezinski, Madeline Allbright, as well as more recent such as Farkas, Chalupa, Appelebaum, etc. The same is true for Canada (Freeland). All of them are rabid, sometimes paranoid (Brzezinski) Russophobs. They consistently use the USA as a leverage to settle the "ancient hatred".
https://www.wilsoncenter.org/event/diaspora-communities-influencing-us-foreign-policy
I find the arguments to be highly unpersuasive.
First, Russia is, generally speaking, not in the habit of paying people, in particular people they arent very fond of, for things they were going to do anyway. If you think the Talebs require Russian financial incentives to kill Americans where they reasonably can I have a bridge over the Pacific to sell you.
Secondly, while there is plently of things the Russian would want to extract payback for, using the Talebs of all people adds to much risk for too little gain. Even using the same "scheme" of offering boutnies, well,
Offering bounties to Syrian/Iraqi/Lebanese organisations for pretty much the same thing would be less risky (these organisations are farther from the Russian homeland and have less of a hostile history with russia, in addition, Iran rather then Russia would likely get blamed for it) and about as rewarding.
Third: I fully expect that Trump was not briefed on this "information". It is actually quite simple, a lot of "intelligence" goes into the US. Then you have people called analysts, who, among other frequently more interesting things, make judgement calls in what to pass on or not and if yes with what caveats. This process is repeated several times, until at some point something ends up with the US National Security council and/or the president himself.
If the analysts make the, in my opinion wholly justified decisions, that the information is somewhere between speculation and outright lies, they will not pass it further up the foodchain.
What I do not know is what types of record keeping are used in the US for the analysts, who probably have to document their decision on wether to pass certain information or not in writing probably including their reasonings, it is quite possible that one of the reasons for not sending it up the food chains was that the "foreign intelligence official" may have come from a country that wishes to increase US-Russian hostility, in particular, I would be unsurprised if the country in question was one characterized by some pretty intense fluctuations regarding its territorial size courtesy of comparable fluctuations in russian controlled territory over the centuries.
Posted by: A.I.S. | 30 June 2020 at 09:00 AM
TTG:
From the description of the evolution the thinking of Christopher Steele by his co-conspirators Glenn Simpson and Peter Fritsch:
'When the Soviet Union finally collapsed, the suffocating surveillance of Western diplomats and suspected intelligence officers suddenly ceased – which for a brief moment seemed like a possible harbinger of a new, less authoritarian future for Russia. But the surveillance started again within days. The intrusive tails and petty harassment were indistinguishable from Soviet practices and have continued to this day. To Steele, that told him all he needed to know about the new Russia: The new boss was the same as the old boss.'
This was, apparently, the figure who MI6 judged fit to head their Russia Desk, and whose analyses were regarded as serious among people in the State Department, CIA, FBI, DOJ etc. LOL.
As to Simpson and Fritsch, they were supposed to be serious journalists. LOL again.
A curious thing is that Tom Catan once was.
He wrote a good long investigative piece in the 'Financial Times', back in 2004, about the death of Stephen Curtis, one of the fourteen mysterious incidents in the U.K., which according to Heidi Blake of 'BuzzFeed', American intelligence agencies have evidence establishing that they were the work of the Russian 'special services.'
(As, according to the 'Sky' report you and Colonel Lang discussed, the supposed attempt to assassinate Sergei and Yulia Skripal is supposed to be.)
What Catan established is that, at the time his helicopter was blown out of the sky, Curtis, lawyer both to the Menatep oligarchs and Berezovsky, had started 'singing sweetly' to what was the the National Criminal Intelligence Service.
And what he was telling them about the activities of Khodorkovsky and his associates would have been 'music to the ears' of Putin and his associates.
As with the deaths of Berezovsky and Patarkatsishvili, which also feature in Ms. Blake's farragos, at the precise time they died, it was precisely Putin and his associates who had the strongest possible interest in keeping them alive.
Ironically, she inadvertently demonstrates a crucial element in this story – the extent to which not only British, but American, intelligence/foreign policy/law enforcement agencies 'got into bed' with the members of the 'semibankirshchina' of the 'Nineties who refused to accept the terms Putin offered.
(See https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/heidiblake/putin-global-assassination-campaign-berezovsky-london . Note, in the link, 'putin-global-assassination-campaign-berezovsky-london.')
Unfortunately, I cannot provide a link to the Catan article, as it is no longer available on the web, and when I put my old link into the 'Wayback Machine' version, I was told it was infected with a Trojan.
But I can send you a copy, if you are interested.
Leith,
Of course, no ancestry – be it Lithuanian, or Polish, or Ukrainian, or whatever – 'automatically' produces bias.
A prescient early analysis of Putin, which brings out that the notion that his KGB background meant that he wanted conflict with the West is BS, is the 2002 paper 'Vladimir Putin & Russia's Special Services.'
It was published by the 'Conflict Studies Research Centre', which was what the old 'Soviet Studies Research Centre', which did 'open source' analysis for the British military at Sandhurst became, after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The actual name of 'Gordon Bennett', who wrote it, is Henry Plater-Zyberk. They were a great, and very distinguished, Polish-Lithuanian noble family.
(See https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/96481/02_Aug_4.pdf .)
In quite a long experience of refugees to these islands from the disasters of twentieth-century European history, and their descendants, I have found that sometimes the history is taken as a subject of reflection and becomes a source of insight and understanding not granted to those with more fortunate backgrounds.
At other times, however, people become locked in a trauma, out of which they cannot escape.
Posted by: David Habakkuk | 30 June 2020 at 01:04 PM
likbez: Your wiki references seem to say dissolution of Russia if it comes will come from within and not from external sources. Your wiki ref on Chechnya and the ACPC is no longer valid since Chechnya became peaceful years ago when Putin figured out how to deal with it by a) subsidizing Imams, b) isolating the radicals by a divide & conquer strategy, and c) no occupation but an iron fist when needed. The West could learn a lot from that. The British Raj used to do something similar but they seem to have forgotten how.
The remainder of the references you claim as evidence of the west wanting to dismember Russia seem pretty incredulous. I suspect a bit of paranoia on the part of the Kremlin. It beggars belief to think that anyone would want to split up Russia other than ethnic minorities within Russia who want more independence. But I think Putin is doing a good job of co-opting any resistance movements.
It appears that there was strong push-back by both NSA and Gina on un-vetted raw intel, backing White House claims that Trump was never briefed.
Posted by: J | 30 June 2020 at 07:29 PM
David Habakkuk,
Steele obviously didn't look very hard. I knew a number of Muscovites during those days. They had some wild stories about events in the city in August 1991. One was hit by cobblestone fragments when a tank's machine gun sprayed the street in front of him. I attended a silent vigil outside the Soviet Embassy on Friedrichstrasse in Berlin while Gorbachev was under house arrest. That silent demonstration was most impressive. My Moscow friends told me how deep the collapse of the state apparatus reached. Bureaucrats and functionaries disappeared over the first few days. The workings of the city and the state were left to volunteers, mostly from the Russian and Soviet Academy of Science institutes. For a short time, the old system gave way to youthful idealists... idealists with the knowledge and expertise to make things work. Those acquaintances of mine were in the thick of that bold experiment.
Unfortunately, those days didn't last long. Once the shock of the collapse wore off, those scientific idealists were pushed aside by the worse kind of opportunists... brutal and rapacious criminals and the worst of the old nomenklatura and minor functionaries, all in a mad grab for power and riches. The scientists of the Academies of Science largely left for foreign institutes so they could continue their research with the hope of returning once Russia composed herself. Russian became the predominant language at many German research institutes.
Yeltsin was left to deal with a government rife with criminals and the worst of the old functionaries. The KGB was one of the first institutions to right itself. All those reorganizations allowed more competent and patriotic professionals to weed out the opportunists. The new generation was a vast improvement and created a competent and more efficient security and intelligence apparatus. But this generation was still KGB in their souls. They needed to be in order to clean out the criminals and opportunists infesting the new government. It was a painful birth, but the new Russia is a vast improvement over the old USSR. Even this "Lithuanian nationalist" can see that. But I also see the continuity that exists in Moscow's security and intelligence services. They're the same hard hearted organizations in service to a humbler and more pragmatic state. Thankfully, the new boss is NOT the same as the old boss, but he still has cold KGB blood running through his veins.
I've not followed the supposed trail of assassinations in England, beyond the blaring headlines and your detailed postings. I'm not convinced either way as to who was responsible. I certainly would not rule out Russian mafiya bosses and oligarchs (often the same persons) as suspects. I am interested in that Catan article you mentioned.If you could forward a copy to Colonel Lang, I'm sure he'll get it to me.
In your comment to Leith, you point out that the concept that Putin wants conflict with the West is absurd. I agree. In my opinion, he is far too pragmatic and calculating a Russian nationalist to desire that. I'm reminded of a conversation I had with General Jaruzelski's foremost civilian advisor. This man was an expert in military psychology among other things. He told me that no one in his circles ever desired or even believed war in Europe between NATO and the WTO was a realistic possibility. It's only sure result would have been the destruction of all of Europe. All the war plans and war games were just theater to keep the generals busy. Even the generals didn't believe the propaganda.
My introduction to this Polish gentleman was amusing. It was at an academic affair in 1987. My graduate advisor introduced me as a Special Forces officer, a Green Beret. The old Polish gentleman turned white, visibly shuddered and stiffened momentarily. Clearly he had heard of all that old Soviet propaganda about us GBs being recruited out of prison death rows and being allowed to roam the countryside at night to keep our murderous skills honed. He relaxed and we shared numerous vodkas. You see, in the old country when you drink with someone to within an inch of your lives, you become friends.
So, the Academic dissidents of old USSR, fierce critics of the Soviet System, and who, like their Decemberist predecessors, were desirous of a more liberal state, they, decamped to greener pastures and left the Russian, Ukrainian, and others to fend for themselves.
They were no where to be found when Ghaidar was raping the pensioners and calling it shock therapy. And in the West, these champions of human rights did they ever criticize anything in the West?
I think not. It was all a pose. And it was left for hard men such as Putin to restore the state power in Russia.
Academic? An opportunistic wimp.
Colonel, at least on this issue I think you have a very articulate ally:
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2020/06/30/the-insufferable-and-political-media-stupidity-around-the-russian-bounty-narrative/
From this tenuous evidence footnoted with "according to multiple officials familiar with the intelligence", democrat operatives in media desperately clutch their pearls and stake out another batch of apoplexy claiming President Trump is not doing anything about it.
Posted by: Keith Harbaugh | 01 July 2020 at 03:44 AM
Supposedly the NVA offered a $50000 reward for a captured US pilot. Our Ops O. was a living legend & Hanoi Hannah would address him by name when she offered a new dead or alive bounty on his head. Intel also said that NVA troops received a bicycle, a ball point pen & 2 weeks leave if they shot down a helo. Unfortunately for the 12.7mm gun crew that shot me down, an air strike killed them immediately after they exposed their position.
Posted by: Booby Hatch | 01 July 2020 at 09:38 AM
@David Habakkuk: "Of course, no ancestry – be it Lithuanian, or Polish, or Ukrainian, or whatever – 'automatically' produces bias."
You should tell that to the ones up-thread that suggested it did.
As far as Putin goes, I have never claimed nor implied that he wants conflict with the West. Any who claim that he does is/are mistaken. As I recall right after 9/11 the Kremlin provided both diplomatic help and tacit intelligence support to the US and Western alliance in Afghanistan. And back in 2006 I went to Bayonne NJ to see the Tears of Grief Memorial built by Russia and dedicated by Putin to the victims of the 9/11 terror attack since both of our countries had been victimized by international terrorism.
But for some reason all that goodwill dissipated. Why? I think there are some paranoid adults in both the West and Russia that still think there are boogeymen hiding under the bed or just across the border. It is probably true for every country in the world.
Posted by: Leith | 01 July 2020 at 11:16 AM


Allston man charged with switching plates. An officer patrolling Rte. 9 observed an orange car that had only one license plate, on the rear. A query of the plate number showed it matched a green ca.
Matthew Whitermore, of 24 Pratt St., Apt. 1, in Allston, was charged with furnishing liquor to underage drinkers and with disturbing the peace, police said. After leaving the party, a car full of teen.
of 112 Allston St., driving with a revoked registration, driving an uninsured vehicle, 115 Haverhill St., 1:10 a.m. Arrest: David Keene, 34, of 25 Independence Drive, Methuen, driving an uninsured veh.
If there's one lesson four Lawrence teens probably learned this week — other than not to steal a car — it's not to crank up the radio. 1, Lawrence; and Leonardo Toribio, 17, of 110 Allston St., L.
Isn't that your car on fire? A man who reported his 2000 Chevrolet Malibu stolen from his Allston home on Jan. 6 is now facing charges of insurance fraud. An investigation by the Boston Police Special.
Most students moving to Boston do not need a car. If you have decided to live within the city of Boston or in surrounding neighborhoods (Brighton, Allston, Brookline), you. at 1019 Commonwealth Ave.