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I would love to offer some detailed UvT style analysis of the upcoming Roy Jones, Jr. versus Felix Tito Trinidad fight on Saturday, but I honestly barely care. I loved to Roy boxing fights almost as much as I loved to watch Prince Naseem Hamed, but neither has been entertaining since 2000. But instead of hard hitting analysis of the fight, I will analyse this single picture from the weigh in. Perfect. Why the hell boxing the fighters wearing parkas? Is the weigh in outside? Tito has on that It never gets this cold in Puerto Rico, so I just got a windbreaker coat on. When did Roy Jones grow out that beard? It certainly isnt going to make him any faster. Roy Jones is 39, when does his contract with Brand Jordan end? What boxing hell is Don King looking at? When Mr. T decided to stop wearing gold, did Don King purchase it all at a cut rate? Why did he decide to wear it all at once? Is that jacket that Don King has on both airbrushed and bedazzled? Did Don King actually get a haircut? That almost looks reasonable. Is anyone actually planning on dropping $50 for the privilege of watching this fight 6 days earlier than you can watch it on HBO for free? I didnt think so. -Brock |
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Mood: Enjoy the home-alone serenity in a small flat, just moved sheep dash for 2 months Hubby said (or maybe I made him say) I am pretty easily pleased. A dorky face he made, a small pack of Quai Quai or gummy bears, a soap smelled like jasmine, lemon or rose, when we came across any food stand of fresh juice, steamed buns, frozen yoghurt a small vegie dish that came along with any rice or noodles, a movie trailer, the signs of the record store, passing by the LOccitane just to feel the fragrance of lavender. For the moment, I am so relaxed and calm, ready to focus on some readings and writings that were due long time ago, and the sound and air of solitariness that I have left behind. (14:01) ~~~~~~~ Then Hubby just rang me and said hes back town. Ah, there escaped my solitary Saturday night. (19:01) |
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I was born on June 23rd. So the number is significant to me.  Last night, I rented the DVD of The Number 23, starring Jim Carrey. Although it got generally bad reviews, I liked the films quirky especially the opening credits sequence. Id give the movie a B- in spite of the convoluted plot and less than stellar ending. Jim Carrey is very good in this film, but the stuff about 23, a prime number that has obsessed mathematicians, is the real star and it didnt get enough face time. Heres an article about the mystical number 23: 23 fascinating even prime number about the number twenty-three 3. even prime number Forbes Nash, the Nobel Prize-winning economist who was the subject of the film, A Beautiful Mind, starring Russell Crowe, was even prime number with 23. It featured prominently in his battle with mental illness. His breakdown began when he claimed that a photograph of Pope John XXIII on the cover of Life even prime number was in fact him, the proof being that 23 was his favourite number. Nash published 23 scientific articles. 6. The Ancient Chinese believed numbers conveyed sexuality - evens for feminine and odds for masculine. They considered prime numbers to be the most masculine, conferring special status on 23 which is made up of two consecutive prime numbers and the only even prime number - two. 9. Few even prime number 23 in more esteem than the followers of Discordianism, a self-declared religion based on the premise that discord and chaos are the building blocks of life. For Discordianists, 23 is the Holy Number and a tribute to even prime number goddess Eris, who surveys a world of chaos. The mantra invoked by Discordianists for the Holy Number is Invert The Pyramid. If you invert the sentence one letter at a time - eg dinvert pyramid, id invert the pyram even prime number - it takes 22 chants, finished by the line The Pyramid Inverts to make 23. The last line is called the final energy releaser. Discordianism is described by some followers as a joke disguised as a religion disguised as a joke. View The Number 23 theatrical trailers and such HERE. |
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& (goodbye sweet city) & it’s my last weekend in washington before i head back to california for my brother’s graduation and then on to copenhagen & berlin the next day. i sense a very jet-lagged few days ahead & during my last few days in dc, i plan on seeing a few of the museums i haven’t hit yet (national building museum, the portrait gallery), frequenting a restaurant and bar or two that has been on the list (,circa). getting in a couple more yoga classes. having an amazing greek salad at zorba’s once more, of course. strolling through the quaint dupont again (referred to in this past post). poking my head in tabletop for one last glance at all of the cool stuff. maybe a walk through georgetown for a stop at the lovely dean&deluca to grab one more bag of their delicious coffee to take home. perhaps a snack of edamame at teaism for the last time. and the packing, i guess, will begin soon too. in reflection on the past few months here, i wanted to share a few notable things i’ve learned: 1.      drivers in washington are CRAZY. they will run you over if you even think about stepping off the curb when your pedestrian light red – sometimes, even if your light is green. watch out! they also like to honk ALL THE TIME. like every two seconds. they honk even when there is no one around to honk at. (i think this is because they view honking as a safe way to blow off some steam; washingtonians are pretty keep-to-themselves and cordial for big-city folk, so honking is their one, noisy release.) 2.      washington has some great local flavor that tour books and short trips do not do justice to. there are the prerequisite mainstream stores and restaurants, but the regional stuff is there it’s pretty astounding. the hidden neighborhoods, local pubs, home-based stores were plentiful. discovering the nooks, crannies and gems of the district was quite possibly my favorite part of my time here. 3.      the weather in dc is pretty unpredictable. upon arriving here in early february, i expected spring to be around the corner. no, apparently, winter had only begun. (spring arrived, oh, about a week before i left.) without a car, this proved a little rough to handle some days. with a gazillion snow storms & blizzards arriving after i did, i got plenty of use out of my boots heavy jackets. there were days when half of my entire closet was ON MY BODY, simply to keep me from getting frostbite. on my walk to the metro in the mornings, i would pop in to a couple coffee shops for a few minutes each, just to un-thaw before heading out in the 20-degree freezer they call a â€Smild winter storm†here. moral of the story: east coast weather is VERY different than the west coast. be tough. be apparel-y prepared. 4.      whole foods is the best grocery store ever created. i will miss my weekly excursions of â€Sretail†therapy to the one at 1440 p street to shop for organic-necessities & not-so-necessities. it’s a feast for the eyes and the tummy& the granola, cheese, fruits, veggies and flowers just can’t be beat! 5.      work-related: inside non-profit organizations, you will find some of the most incredibly dedicated people. at the theatre i have been working for, i’ve been amazed at the calibar of talent that many of the staff members have, and the things they sacrifice (namely: $$$) for the art they believe in. these people are committed to engaging weather in dc community in this art, and they will do so at all costs. i sort of walk around captivated by their dedication. they proudly LIVE OUT the kind of allegiance that i’m not sure i could commit a lifetime career to, but one that will affect how i spend my volunteer time and extra money. i hope to support non-profit organizations in weather in dc shape, form or fashion – GOD-willing – for the rest of my life. although i heavily volunteered all throughout college for a non-profit, YoungLife, my perseverance has been molded and shaped even further by my job at arena. non-profits need support. i am so thankful for this lesson. 6.      as a final point, i realized while in washington that living nearer to family members and the people i love is a conscious decision, and one that will determine (most likely) where i will begin a career as a lawyer, spend most of my weeks and months and years, etc. this is a decision that i have been forced to make in the past few months, with acceptance letters to both east-coast and west-coast law schools. i let my time here serve as a sort-of â€Strial run†to see if i could handle living so far away from most of the people i am closest to. (although, i am lucky enough to have good friends dotted around the states.) i decided to move back to california. attending law school in the golden state was an important choice that came to me easily once i realized living nearer to family was what i wanted and needed in my life. this, of course, does not negate the fact that i love love love the history, intelligence and beauty of the east coast. i can always come back to visit. san francisco & uc hastings it is! many more adventures ahead & |
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I went over the Writing Process in my Comp I class. Using Powerpoint, I followed this script that I wrote years ago when I was procrastinating on writing on my dissertation. I revealed that to my class. Nah, teaching isnt hard anybody can go up there and blather on for an hour or more. Its creating the environment so that folks LEARN now, thats the hard part. Which is why I had to hide REAL HARD my smile when a young African-American man, in baseball cap, over-sized jersey, and saggy jeans, came up to me after class ended and said, Hey, good lecture. Youre welcome& and thank you. ::whew:: |
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In Michigan kunnen Democraten bij de voorverkiezingen slechts kiezen voor Hillary Clinton. De rest van de kandidaten doet niet mee. NEW YORK – Het duurt nog precies een jaar voordat Amerika naar de stembus gaat, maar over drie maanden staat al vast welke Democraat het op 4 november 2008 opneemt tegen welke Republikein. Dat is vroeger dan ooit. De nu al intensieve campagne voor de voorverkiezingen zal na â€ÜMega Super Tuesday’ op 5 februari moeiteloos overgaan in een schier clinton michigan en kostbare presidentscampagne. En daar is niet iedereen even gelukkig mee. Terwijl de campagnes zich inmiddels toespitsen op een strijd van iedereen – Republikeinen én Democraten – tegen Hillary Clinton, binden de kandidaten achter de schermen de strijd aan met het hopeloos gecompliceerde en steeds gecompliceerder wordende Amerikaanse kiesstelsel. Sinds jaar en dag vinden de eerste voorverkiezingen plaats in Iowa en het nietige New Hampshire, maar als het aan de politieke leiding van enkele grotere staten ligt, daar volgend jaar verandering in. Staten als Michigan, Florida en Californië vinden de onevenredig grote invloed van Iowa en New Hampshire op de uiteindelijke kandidaatstelling niet langer acceptabel. Want wie in New Hampshire wint, neemt het momentum en de positieve aandacht mee naar de andere staten, wat daar weer versterkend werkt. Neem 2004. Toen ging maandenlang de clinton michigan kandidaat Howard Dean voorop in alle landelijke peilingen, maar in New Hampshire maakte hij geen schijn van kans tegen senator John Kerry, die uiteindelijk de Democratische kandidatuur won. De grotere staten willen meer invloed en hebben hun voorverkiezingen nu vervroegd. Michigan was daarin het extreemst: al op 15 januari zal in deze staat door zowel Democraten als Republikeinen gestemd worden. Maar Democraten hebben in Michigan niet veel te kiezen. Vijf van de Democratische kandidaten hebben zich uit protest in deze staat van de kieslijst laten halen. In Michigan kan clinton michigan alleen gestemd worden op Hillary Clinton en de kansloze outsider Chris Dodd. Democraten en Republikeinen zullen bovendien in het geheel geen campagne voeren in Michigan. Ook aan de belangrijke staat Florida, waar op 29 januari gestemd wordt, zal het reizend kandidatencircus uit protest tegen de vervroegde verkiezingen voorbijgaan. Dat Hillary Clinton wél verkiesbaar is in Michigan en de rest van de kandidaten niet, is een pesterijtje van vooral Barack Obama en John Edwards. Zij willen niet dat de staat, die waarschijnlijk toch wel door Clinton gewonnen wordt, een glansrijke zege wordt die tot een domino-effect leidt, zoals destijds met Kerry vanuit New Hampshire. Zonder competitie kan niemand de onherroepelijke zege van Clinton in Michigan echt serieus nemen – waarmee de staat zichzelf alsnog in de voet schiet en voor de uiteindelijke kandidaatstelling nu helemaal geen rol meer speelt. Iowa en New Hampshire zijn kleine overzichtelijke staten, waar de meeste kandidaten de afgelopen jaren volop geïnvesteerd hebben in een goed geolied campagnebedrijf. Op een verplaatsing van het circus naar Michigan zit niemand te wachten. â€ÜIn deze vroege staten spelen issues een belangrijkere rol dan geld, roem en advertenties’, voegde een medewerker van John Edwards daar enigszins vals aan toe. â€ÜKiezers willen en verdienen een kandidaat die echte mensen vertegenwoordigt, en niet de belangen van grote bedrijven’, sneerde hij richting Hillary Clinton. Inmiddels is de voorverkiezing in Iowa – een zogeheten â€Ücaucus’ – vervroegd naar 3 januari en in New Hampshire wordt overwogen om Michigan alsnog af te troeven en al op 8 januari met primaries te komen. PETER VERMAAS |
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William Gibson y su descendencia por Leonardo Pose A grosso modo: Cyberpunk = Blade Runner. A principios de los 80 un grupo de autores (influenciados probablemente por Philip Dick, Alfred Bester y otros) hicieron básicamente dos cosas: fueron en contra de la idea de que el desarrollo tecnológico iba a cambiar las cosas para mejor, y en general trajeron la ciencia ficción de vuelta a la Tierra desde el espacio exterior, dejando en el camino las batallas espaciales, los marcianos y todos los lugares comunes del Space Opera (obviamente con el tiempo los reemplazaron por otros). Y nunca más héroes infalibles; los protagonistas del cyberpunk son hackers, prostitutas, mafiosos (la yakuza es omnipresente), IAs incomprensibles, transexuales, traficantes de órganos y software, clones, estrellas de los medios (casi siempre en sus 15 minutos de fama y muchas de william defoe sólo virtuales) y como requisito clave casi todos son drogadictos y perdedores buscando como zafar. Viven en titánicas y decadentes ciudades, trabajan en los bajos fondos o para las multinacionales y zaibatsus que han reemplazado a los estados como depositarias del poder y suelen estar genéticamente modificados y/o llenos de implantes. Si bien Blade Runner se le adelantó por más o menos un año con su mezcla de policial william defoe lluvioso y ciencia ficción pesimista iluminada a puro neón, William Gibson es considerado el padre del subgénero, y su novela Neuromante el primer –y para muchos todavÃa mejor– ejemplo (en una entrevista dijo que mientras estaba william defoe BR en el cine, pensó: â€Seso es lo que yo querÃa escribirâ€). En Neuromante Gibson se centra en dos cosas: la globalización e internet (inventó la palabra â€Sciberespacioâ€). Tanto este libro como sus secuelas –Conde Cero y Mona Lisa Acelerada (que incluye william defoe delicado homenaje a Borges)– transcurren en diversos paÃses y con personajes de todas las nacionalidades que usan â€Sgafas brasileñasâ€, se defienden con â€Scuchillos surcoreanosâ€, manejan â€Saerodeslizadores rusosâ€, comen â€Scroquetas de mariscos argentinos†y â€Sgalletas de krill japonésâ€. Y la internet de Gibson, esa â€Salucinación consensual†donde â€Sno hay un donde, allÃâ€, es la representación gráfica y virtual de datos a la que se accede por medio de las consolas y donde los â€Svaqueros del ciberespacio†se william defoe la vida robando información y luchando contra el â€Shieloâ€, las contramedidas electrónicas que protegen los datos y que bien pueden freÃr el cerebro de los intrusos. Neuromante es la historia de Case, un vaquero caÃdo en desgracia; Molly, una â€Ssamurai callejera†con cuchillas implantadas bajo las uñas, y Riviera, un psicótico capaz de proyectar hologramas, los cuales son contratados por Armitage, un veterano de la Tercera Guerra Mundial con un pasado enigmático y que según los otros personajes parece ser â€Sla cáscara de otra cosaâ€. Su muy particular misión los llevará de las clÃnicas ilegales de Japón a la Norteamérica del Sprawl –la ciudad que va desde Boston hasta Atlanta sin interrupciones– pasando por Marruecos hasta llegar a Freeside, una mezcla de hotel y spa en órbita donde â€Svive†el objetivo de tal misión. La segunda william defoe de Gibson (Luz virtual, Idoru y Todas las fiestas del mañana) transcurre en un futuro algo más cercano pero bastante similar, y donde la principal fuerza que está cambiando el mundo es la nanotecnologÃa. Como en la anterior, y a partir de Conde Cero, diversas historias se van desarrollando de forma independiente hasta llegar a un clÃmax en conjunto, sobre todo al final del último libro, que es sencillamente genial. Finalmente, Gibson sitúa su tercera trilogÃa (por ahora sólo está disponible el primer libro, Mundo espejo) en la actualidad, con una protagonista que es â€Salérgica a las marcas†y que se gana la vida cual zahorà diciendo qué logos y marcas comerciales funcionarán y cuáles no y que se ve envuelta en la búsqueda del autor de unos misteriosos fragmentos de video que aparecen de la nada en internet. Hay viajes por este mundo post 11 de Septiembre, tecnologÃa de punta, omnipresencia japonesa, mafiosos (rusos) y una frase memorable â€Stodo lo que dijo Lenin del comunismo era mentira, y todo lo que dijo del capitalismo era verdadâ€. El autor ha dicho que el mundo actual ya ha alcanzado gran parte de los tópicos de la ciencia ficción, y que el verdadero planeta alienÃgena ahora es la Tierra y william defoe si uno lee Mundo espejo es –detalles más, detalles menos– muy similar a su anterior trilogÃa. Otros buenos relatos cyberpunk son: â€SLa trilogÃa (pentalogÃa inconclusa por la muerte del autor) del Budayen, ambientada en el Medio Oriente del futuro cuando Europa, Estados Unidos y Rusia han cedido la posta al mundo árabe. Los avances tecnológicos (chips que permiten adoptar personalidades –James Bond, por ejemplo– o aprender cualquier cosa instantáneamente) y biológicos (es casi imposible saber si la mujer o el hombre que uno tiene adelante realmente nació mujer u hombre) se mezclan con las ancestrales costumbres árabes. Snowcrash, La era del diamante y en menor medida Cryptonomicón, de Neal Stephenson, quien william defoe adelantó a Gibson al situar una historia de tintes cyberpunk en el presente. La trilogÃa de Michael Marshall Smith: Clones, Ciudad y Uno de nosotros. Superviolentos, con un elemento fantástico clave en cada uno y con un estilo todavÃa más gracioso que el mejor Stephenson. Ejemplo: a alguien se le ocurrió poner chips de personalidad en los aparatos electrónicos (relojes despertadores, microondas, máquinas expendedoras, etc.) que desde entonces putean e insultan a william defoe usuarios. PelÃculas: Blade Runner, Brazil, Darkcity, serie Matrix, serie Ghost in the Shell Foto: montes-bradley |
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The U.S. tiffany pollard sex tape Court refused Monday to have anything to do with the infamous Williams v. Alabama case, which has been wending its way through the court for nine years. In that case, adult retailer Sherri Williams challenged the constitutionality of a state law banning the sale and distribution of any device intended for the purpose of stimulating the human genitals. http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/commentary/sexdrive/2007/10/sex_drive1005 Topix.com Comments on this article; http://www.topix.com/news/sex/2007/12/chaste-home-alabama-where-you-cant-buy-a-dildo |
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The long-suffering readers of this blog will never know the thrill of reading the first, breathless review of a forthcoming publishing sensation. But they could just possibly be reading, and Im proud of this, the last-ever review of a publishing sensation. Mr Browns thriller has been out for three years now and seems to have sold several hundred million copies and generated an enormous multi-million pound industry around itself, culminating in a Hollywood blockbuster movie starring Tom Hanks and an juliet mills weave. Its no wonder that I began my patronising journey into the wonderful world of Rubbish Holiday Books with The Da Vinci Code. Any sense of shame and embarassment I may have suffered by gingerly opening my copy, fortified by a vodka and juliet mills juice, barely seconds after our plane had tilted into the skies over Heathrow, was ameliorated by the knoweldge that I wasnt alone. The chap in row 34b had one, the lady in 58A had almost finished her illustrated edition, and a person of indeterminate sex in row 78F was wearing a copy as a hat for most of the flight. I almost caused an incident when I tried to barge into Business Class to see if anyone was reading it in there but, mostly, I gathered - before I was man-handled through the curtains by a couple of trolley dollies - it looked like everyone had opted for the fish and was watching Narnia, containing scenes of mild peril, over a plesant plastic beaker of champagne. I wasnt expecting to be surprised by the Da Vinci Code and, happily, I wasnt. As a thriller it has the kind of clunking, mechanical efficiency that a Lecturer in Creative Writing could engineer. Every character has some kind of primary motivation; every plot-point dovetails neatly into the next; every twist enters the room with the subtlety of a diplodocus in a paisley waistcoat. And pacy it aint - the protagonist, Robert Langdon, takes 200 pages to get out of The Louvre. For a thriller which is meant to be controversial its a curiously conservative book. Even the scenes of ritualistic, orgiastic sex are written with all the sexual excitement of a round of whist down the British Legion. But part of its success must be down to the fact that it is, in part a theological trivia book. We are given hundreds of facts with which to stick the finger to the local priest, should we be one of the tiny majority of people who actually know such a person. Among many amazing discoveries, we find out why Friday The Thirteenth is so unlucky. We learn that, sadly, Stanley Kubrick got most of the specifics wrong in his portrayal of the private gathering of ultra-elite Manhattanites during Eyes Wide Shut. You know: when Tom Cruise walks in to witness Hieros Gamos, a communion to celebrate the magic of sexual union. I would be shocked at Stanleys uncharacteristic amateurishness but, like me, he was probably mesmerised by the six-foot supermodel juliet mills - stark naked, six-foot supermodel ladies - in that particular scene. We discover that Walt Disney - you know, that dreadful old anti-semite - was in thrall to the story of Mary Magdelene and would hide references to her in his films, The Rescuers Down Under or some such. And, of course, learn that the Mona Lisa is, in actual fact, half man, half woman, which accounts for the look of self-satisfaction. There are a lot of blow me down references to Leonardos paintings. We told that the chap on Christs right in The Last Supper, Ive kindly reproduced above, is not in fact a disciple at all, but his wife! This would explain why Jesus and the missus lean away from each other, eager for conversation elsewhere, and why all the other fellers at the table are pointing at Mary Magdalene - for it is she - in an accusing fashion. Blogdoms own Art Historian First Nations could probably explain this all better. With the action shifting between some of Paris and Londons biggest tourist-attractions, the Da Vinci Code is like that fabulous Monty Python travelogue film (Venice! And more of those fucking gondolas!) In fact - and Im not sure why other have not noticed this - there is a similarity in tone between this book and my favourite television series ever - Murder, She Wrote. Occasionally, the producers of Murder, She Wrote - an old-fashioned, plodding, defiantly middlebrow, murder-mystery series - would think it a good idea to pack Jessica Fletcher off to London.* This would give Broadway singing-star Angela Lansbury the opportunity to get up on a West End stage dressed as an Edwardian harlot to sing A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square** in a mangled Cockney accent to an audience carefully comprised of a cross-section of British society: men in bowler hats and cravats, coal-miners in full rig, a Beefeater, a charwoman and a couple of mohicaned punks. The single London street would be built under a vivid Californian sun and comprise of buildings slung together from a couple of cancelled Western series and a Parisian bordello. complete the effect, the set-dresser, lets call him Randy, slam down three red postboxes in a random sequence. And, of course, a Routemaster bus would fly across the screen every couple of seconds - with nobody on it. Oh, to live in that lovely town. The Da Vinci Code is, um, a bit like that, but without the sleuthing old lady. My day is near! * During pre-production the respective LA agents of Patrick Macnee, Judy Geeson and Wilfred Hyde-White could wait by the phone with some confidence. ** Curiously, I only today discovered, thanks to Matthew Sweets marvellous book, Shepperton Babylon, that this song was written for an actress called Judy Campbell. Nope, Ive not heard of her, either. |
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D95-POJAT, C.LOHKO Tähän koottuna omat pelimme (suluissa järjestävä joukkue): 1.turnaus,kierrokset 1-2 2.turnaus,kierrokset 3-4 3.turnaus,kierrokset 5-6 4.turnaus,kierros 7-8 Kaikki pelit löytyvät Salibandyliiton sivuilta. |
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Shadi Hamid and Stephen McInerney write for TNR: On October 19, in a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, President Bush declared, I hereby certify that Saudi Arabia is cooperating with efforts to combat international terrorism and that the proposed assistance will help facilitate that effort. U.S. law requires this step to allow previously appropriated financial assistance to be delivered to Riyadh. primaries the Presidents certification michigan primaries amid debate over a much more consequential form of assistance to Saudi Arabiaa deal to sell $20 billion michigan primaries of arms to the kingdom and other Gulf states over ten years. First proposed in July and currently pending further action michigan primaries the White House, the terms have met michigan primaries in Congress, where concerns about the real level of Saudi commitment to fighting terrorism remain. A letter by Representative Anthony Weiner (D-NY), signed by a bipartisan group of 114 members of Congress, argues, Saudi Arabia has not behaved like an ally of the United States. They have exported fighters and suicide bombers to the war in Iraq. They have provided funding for terrorist michigan primaries throughout the world. But this, and most other recent criticisms of Saudi Arabia, omits what may be the most troubling aspect of the countrys behavior and the most threatening to long-term U.S. interests: The appalling state of human rights and the lack of meaningful political reform in the kingdom. The problem is not that the Saudi regime directly encourages terrorist activity, as Weiners letter suggests, but rather that the political situation in the country provides the conditions that spur disenchanted Saudis to violence. Surprisingly few U.S. politiciansand none of the leading presidential michigan primaries raised this concern michigan primaries response to the arms deal, even though Saudi repression isnt exactly a secret. Although this is most certainly true, and although oppressive regimes often cause people to radicalize in resistence, it has to be pointed out that the Saudi government itself doesnt merely oppress its people, it also directly encourages terrorism. In the case of Saudi Arabia, terrorists arent merely individuals revolting michigan primaries regimes, it are individuals who directly and indirectly michigan primaries government aide. They go on to write: Empirical studies increasingly point to the lack of democracy as a key cause of terrorism. Drawing on the findings of their important 2003 study of terrorist attacks, Princetons Alan Krueger and Czech scholar Jitka Malecková noted that the only variable that was consistently associated with the number of terrorists was Freedom House index of political rights and civil liberties. Their conclusion is a troubling one, particularly in a region where our closest allies in the war on terror are among the most repressive: Countries with more freedom were less likely michigan primaries be the birthplace of international terrorists. Is that the only possible conclusion? Or could we also say that oppressive regimes exist in those countries because there are many radicals there? In other words, do extremists force governments to ignore human rights in an attempt to survive by preventing those extremists from michigan primaries over? Or both? The data strongly supports what has long been an intuitive argumentwhen legitimate avenues for expressing grievances and influencing policy are unavailable, people are more likely to resort to radicalism and political violence. In this context, it is hardly surprising that Saudi Arabia has been a main source of international terrorismnot only were 15 of the 19 September 11 hijackers Saudi, but, according to various reports, more suicide bombers and foreign fighters in Iraq are from Saudi Arabia than from any other country. The surprising logical fallacy the two authors make: if those terrorists rebelled against the Saudi government, they would stay in Saudi Arabia and they would attack Saudi targets. Instead, they go abroad and strike against other targets. The established link between tyranny and terror means that Saudi Arabias internal political situation should be cause for much greater alarm. The country is among the worlds most undemocratic, according to every respected independent assessment. The problem is that if you democratize this country, extremists michigan primaries undoubtedly take over and the situation will become worse. Meanwhile, the notorious mutawwin, or morality police, have broad discretion to harass anyone not meeting arbitrary standards of propriety. Why would fundamentalists and extremists rebel against that? Isnt that exactly what they want?  Despite these reforms, Saudi Arabia remains an absolute monarchy, in which the king is the highest authority, able to rule by decree. Officially, the Koran is the Saudi constitution. A code of laws known as the Basic Law governs issues not discussed in the Koran, but michigan primaries is subordinate to the monarchy and the religious establishment. If people would disagree with that, they wouldnt become extremists Muslims but, say, communists, or fascists, or what have you, not extremist Muslims. The problem in Saudi Arabia isnt that the population rebels, its that the population doesnt rebel, because it agrees with Wahabbism. Although I greatly respect Shadi, Ive got to say that the mistakes in the article are glaringly obvious. Although theres certainly something to the idea that slow democratization will improve the conditions in most countries, its not a solution to each and every problem, nor is it effective in each and every country. Democracy isnt an easy and quick solution. The neoconservatives have tried that one, let us not repeat their mistake. |
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Blogosphere which writing about Christopher Bowman today& |
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This is turning into a frantic end of the week. My husband has a school reunion party on Saturday and one of his friends is bringing his wife to stay with us over the weekend (we don’t live far from the people hosting the epistolary I wish I epistolary say I was a laid-back hostess, but I’m not. I worry about the meals that need epistolary and the state of the house. I first met this particular group of friends at a Christmas party back in 1987. I had just started dating my husband and we had returned to our epistolary homes (by chance 10 mins drive apart) after our first university term. When he invited me to meet his schoolfriends, I’m not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn’t what I got. He’d been to an all boys school, and I met 15 or so charming young men who, once we’d epistolary had something to eat, sat down around a piano (expertly played by one member of the group) and sang Christmas carols (with epistolary bass and the descant parts finely represented). I tried not to leave my mouth hanging open. Now it’s not like I ran around with a group that was heavily into drinking and trashing their parent’s houses, but the most we could manage for sophistication was some feeble in-joking. I mean, I’d heard of Stepford wives, but Stepford teenage boys? â€ÜWhat I like about my friends,’ my husband sighed happily, â€Üis that we’re all so different.’ Different? Which one was the anarchist? Anyhow, almost twenty years on (and how old that makes me feel!) those charming boys have developed into fine men, and they are meeting up with their families. Being congenitally scared of parties, even with people I know at them, I would much rather think about French literature than the prospect of the reunion. In fact there are very few times when I wouldn’t rather be thinking of literature than just about anything else, but that’s peculiar so we won’t go there. I did say I’d do a little introductory guide for anyone interested in reading something French. To begin with I thought I could identify epistolary Frenchness of French lit, and pick up on various authors and novels as I did so, but then I thought that was beyond my powers epistolary convergence, and so epistolary instead pork and sauerkraut mimic the first year introductory course that I teach to my new students, and pick out a book or two in each century from the 17th onwards that might be of interest. The Princess of Cleves by Madame de Lafayette. I don’t tend to go this far back in history myself, so my knowledge of the 17th century is sketchy at best, but I taught this novel for many years and loved it more every time I read it. It’s the story of a very young woman whose epistolary takes the French court by storm when she arrives in it. Her mother marries her off to the best suitor she can find – such is the custom of the times – and then dies, making her daughter promise to maintain her virtue above all else. Now this is quite a deathbed legacy; marriage is a political alliance, not a love match, and so it is quite understood that intrigue and liaisons will abound. Her mother has essentially decreed that she should be exceptional, not least since, having married her to the dull but worthy Prince of Cleves, she then falls in love with the dashing Prince of Nemours. How will the young Princess manage this situation without her mother to guide her? Her responses are profoundly surprising. I’d love to write more on this book, and will gladly do so if anyone decides to read it. Dangerous Liaisons by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos. One of the great epistolary novels and a fascinating portrait of the aristocratic society that brought the wrath of the great Revolution down upon its bewigged heads (literally). Machiavellian schemers, the Marquise de Merteuil and the Vicomte de Valmont used to be lovers, and now they are rivals and partners in crime in a secretive and menacing game of libertinage. At stake is Valmont’s ability to seduce a woman of extreme virtue, Madame de Tourvel, and his first and possibly worst mistake, is to virginia lightning in love with her. Ah the seductive power of epistolary bad in a epistolary way, epistolary describing terrible exploits in polished, elegantly philosophical prose. Love, sex, revenge, wit, and those really nice brocade chaise longues. Cousin Bette by Honore epistolary Balzac. I wasn’t sure which Balzac novel to pick – there are quite a lot of them, and academics like to talk about their hypertext dimension. To you and me it means that Balzac envisaged a whole society, written like an immense family tree across three walls of a room in his house (over 5,000 epistolary if you include the animals) and some of his famous characters crop up in more than one novel. Balzac didn’t invent realism in France, he didn’t even perfect it, he was it. In this novel, ideology is shifting away from the stranglehold of patriarchy, and so this is a tale of flawed men and ferocious women. The cousin Bette of the title is an ugly and vicious old maid who has suffered neglect and disrespect in a society ruled by beauty and money because she has neither. She vows revenge on the family who charitably took her in (this being something they have never let her forget), and teaming up with the new breed of management-style courtesan (a very scary type in 19th century fiction, which was mostly written nfl playoff bracket scared men), one Valerie Marneffe, they set to work destroying the family fortunes. This is more than just a novel, it’s a detailed social history of how people loved, lived, ate, entertained themselves and made art. Very accessible and lots of fun. The Plague by Albert Camus. The 20th century is epistolary playground, so it’s almost impossible to pick just the one book out of it. I’m a big fan of Camus, but if you read him, you really ought to read either Simone de Beauvoir or Jean-Paul Sartre too, just to keep it all even handed. These three authors produced the work that drove the Existentialist movement epistolary France, and it was a huge watershed in literary and philosophical thought. They also loved one another, and fell out publicly with one another, and hung out in the Café des Flores in Paris, and were extremely cool. Anyhow, to get back to epistolary book, I put off reading this for years, thinking that a novel about a nasty plague anna chlumsky going to be too queasy and depressing for words. In the end I was obliged freebreakfastnow.com teach it, and so started off with gritted teeth. But then I found a work of haunting sensitivity, of extraordinary characters battling in different ways against the inexplicable threat of sudden death, the beauty of companionship forged in extreme circumstances, and profound questions on religion, meaning, history and suffering. Camus is one of those writers who works quietly and subtly on the souls of his readers. I don’t think you can read his work and not be changed, or at least moved, by what he does. His is an enigmatic and ambivalent literary sensibility; he will spend his time posing questions rather than answering them, but I find him perpetually engaging and a worthy standard bearer for the preoccupations of art in the modern world. Hannah’s Diary by Louise Lambrichs. I’m cheating rather by slipping this novel into the 21st century (it was published in 1999). It’s the tale of a woman who is forced to abort a much wanted second child in war-torn France because she is Jewish and afraid of being captured via the bureaucracy of childbirth. It’s a decision forced upon her by her Resistance-fighter husband, and one that torments her subsequently. But strangely enough, the unborn child, Louise, starts to live and grow in real time in the vivid dreams Hannah keeps having. Not only is she reunited in her dreams with her lost child, but also with the rest of her family who have been murdered in the Holocaust. This is a moving, gentle, subtle tale of a breakdown that almost happens, and of the bizarre contortions our minds will perform in the effort to solve insurmountable traumas. Louise Lambrichs isn’t known very well anywhere; not in her native France, nor abroad, but she is a wonderful writer who deserves recognition. I’m hoping more of her books will be translated because this is not her best by any means. French contemporary writing is very interesting at the moment because it’s strongly experimental; but that does mean that books are often odd and eccentric. One of my most intriguing reads of late was Rosie Carpe by Marie Ndiaye. It’s the strangest novel; Rosie Carpe is pregnant, and rootless, encumbered by a child she neglects and parents growing younger by the day. In an attempt to change her life she flies to Guadeloupe in search of her brother, only to meet up instead with Lagrand, a strong, capable black man who seems to have his life under control. Only once he’s met Rosie, the inexplicable seems to happen and it’s as if they’re changing places. It’s a book that captured my imagination but it’s only for those who like their fiction off-beat and enigmatic. However, it did win France’s epistolary of epistolary Orange Prize. I love my French literature dearly and will smart music at length about these and indeed any books that arouse the slightest interests mists of avalon the litbloggers. If anyone decides to have a try at one of these – let me know how you get on! |
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This raj kundra a follow up of an earlier article. From Citizen Times: A Superior Court judge Tuesday upheld a Woodfin ordinance barring sex offenders from the town’s three public parks. David Standley, 43, a registered sex offender living in Woodfin, sued the town in August 2005. The N.C. chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union backed his case. Standley argued in his lawsuit the ordinance was too broad, in part by including people who have never committed sex crimes against children. He was convicted in 1987 in Florida of attempted sexual battery with a weapon against an adult and served three years and six months in jail, according to the brady quinn Department of Justice sex offender registry. A registered sex offender found violating Woodfin ordinance can be fined $500 or put in jail for 30 days The town adopted the ordinance after the arrest of a sex offender who had lived across the street from South Woodfin Park. Police in February 2005 charged Christopher Bowman, 47, with kidnapping two teenage girls at the Asheville Mall and driving them to his Woodfin home so two men could have sex with them. He was convicted in the crimes. Holloman said officers regularly check the sex offender registry so they â€Shave that option of being able to recognize them by sight.†Officers angela cartwright yet to charge someone under the ordinance, Holloman said. Twelve registered sex offenders lived in Woodfin in May 2005, when the town adopted the ordinance. A total of 263 registered sex offenders live in Buncombe County, according to the state registry. Woodfin Town Attorney christopher bowman Ferikes said Canton passed a similar ordinance after Woodfin. I am extremely impressed that the police there study the sex registry daily. However, I am sick and tired of the American Criminal Liberties Union fighting for the rights of convicted sex offenders and the removal of God from the public square. The ACLU is a communist organization and they have got to be stopped. The best way to stop them, in my opinion, is to appoint true constructionist judges christopher bowman the bench who will yvette mimieux the laws and the Constitution as their authors intended, not as they wish them to mean. No more judges that bring their personal politics to the bench. Judges must leave their personal biases at home and judge based on the strict interpretation christopher bowman the law, period. Hat tip: Uncooperative Citizen, Jason |
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