QR track - Blue Springs Lake

My track from today's local race at Blue Springs Lake. Not much to say. I struggled physically, especially in the first half when I just could find a good running feeling.Back to okansas.blogspot.com.

One Million Tax Dollars Per Job

Roanoke Times, 10-29-09, Pg 16: Number of jobs saved by federal contracts overstated.
The White House says it is working to fix errors in the report on stimulus-funded jobs.
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Roanoke Times, 10-31-09, Pg 12: Report credits 650,000 jobs to stimulus.
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What ever happened to the Jan 09 Obama 3-Million jobs promise?
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1208/16774.html
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$767 BILLION (that’s 767 times ten to the ninth power) tax dollars resulting in what? Clearly no one can account for 650K jobs added when we have lost millions of jobs and are at 10+% unemployed!
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And IF these numbers were valid, this would represent $1,000,000 of tax money spent to get each job! Why would the White House want to brag about that?
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Not to be left out, Va Gov Kaine (also the national Democrat party chairman) reports that Va got 5,900 jobs for over $5 BILLION taxpayers money.
That’s also $1,000,000 of tax money spent for each job! Nice job Timmy!
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Obama, his White House team and his associates in the liberal media are avoiding at all costs the publication of the 16.8% unemployment U-6 number!
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“But another more comprehensive gauge of unemployment ticked up even more. The government’s broader measure, known as the “U-6″ for its data classification, hit 16.8% in August, 0.5 percentage points higher than July. The comprehensive measure of labor under utilization accounts for people who have stopped looking for work or who can’t find full-time jobs.”
http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2009/09/04/broader-unemployment-rate-hits-168-in-august/
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Yet another Obama economic achievement is the new clunker news:
USA Today published that the cash for clunkers program costs taxpayers $24,000 per car!
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/driveon/post/2009/10/620000657/1
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Prior clunkers item:
http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2009/08/uaw-for-clunkers-program.html
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At what point are the major news media going to start reporting the real news about Obama, his administration, the truth about his programs and the dismal track-record to date? Ever Pravda was more honest than today’s major US media!
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Prior Items:
http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2009/06/obama-abc-and-new-pravda.html
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http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2009/10/kaine-and-vdot-not-shovel-ready.html
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http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2009/06/economic-reflections-revisionism.html
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Federal Hate Crime Laws Discriminatory & Redundant

Roanoke Times, 10-29-09, New law adds protection for gays.
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Federal hate-crime laws, including this expansion for homosexuals, are themselves inherently discriminatory and redundant with existing state laws.
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Why is someone who is included in the definition of hate-crimes more important or has more value than others? Where in the Constitution does it say we have classes of people more valuable than others that deserve or require special laws.
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Since ALL states and US territories have severe laws dealing with battery and violence against any and all persons, why do we need to federalize these crimes? And how do these redundant laws “add protection for gays” against violent lawless persons? A major risk of our personal freedoms is that the police cannot stop a crime; they can only intervene after a crime is committed and this is already being done by the states.
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Doesn’t the 17th Amendment and Thomas Jefferson’s positions on states rights make federal laws like this, that totally overlap existing state laws, not only discriminatory and redundant but unconstitutional?
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Apparently Obama-Pelosi-Reid understood all the above issues with this law and therefore included it as an addendum to a military funding law so that it would not receive the visibility and debate it deserved.
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Perhaps the real reasons these laws are enacted are to buy the political support of particular groups of people and therefore are not enacted for the public good.
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On the virtues of crate training...

“The $100 avoidance chamber” is what my parents call my home, sweet home within a home, to which I retreat when I wish. Only when I wish.

Here’s when I like to go in the crate:
1.    Say it’s raining, and they want to take me outside. I zoom into the crate, and that is that! Can’t catch me, I’m the stubborn-recalcitrant-obdurate man!

2.    Say it’s a great day, but I just don’t feel like going for a walk. The car is so much more fun! I’ll just pout in my crate, with the occasional whimper for effect, until someone gives in.

3.    I save the very back of the crate when it’s time for any poking or prodding with medicines or ear cleaning or whatever. It’s a great place to hide.

4.    Of course, I also like to head to the crate when it’s thundering and lightning outside, or when it’s the Fourth of July, or anywhere around there, when my neighbors mindlessly shoot off scary sounding stuff. Or any Saturday in the summer, when they rev, rev, rev, their motorcycles. Is that really necessary?

The idea was, mom and dad tell me, that I would use the crate as a cozy spot to retreat from the world.  I do, so what’s the problem? My home is my castle, moat and all.

Woe is Poe on Film?

Are Poe's short stories best served by shorts?

In today's Baltimore Sun, Chris Kaltenbach penned an article ("Macabre movies miss the mark") about the dearth of quality film adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe's tales. While Kaltenbach liked Jules Dassin's 1941 adaptation of The Tell-Tale Heart (which is available as an extra in Warner Brothers' The Complete Thin Man DVD boxset), he regretted that it was only 20 minutes long, lamenting that most feature film adaptations - usually by Roger Corman during his reign at AIP - missed the mark, though he gave a grudging pass to Corman's Nicolas Roeg-lensed 1964 version of The Mask of Red Death.

It's an interesting debate, one that makes me think that Kaltenbach was onto something. Maybe the master short story teller was best served by the short film medium, and maybe The Tell-Tale Heart was the Poe story best translated to film. In that case, here's a shout-out to my favorite Poe short, the 1953 UPA animated version narrated by James Mason.

The Tell-Tale Heart (1953)
Directed by Ted Parmelee
Narrated by James Mason



This Oscar-nominated short is essential viewing for Poe afficionados. It surprisingly comes from UPA, the studio whose animation style is most often associated with Mr. Magoo cartoons (as well as Gerald McBoing-Boing, for those who remember him!). James Mason's narration is inspired and atmospherically pitch-perfect! It captures the mood, tone and feel of Poe's story perfectly and is an incredible piece of work. Director Ted Parmalee also helmed a critically acclaimed adaptation of Hans Christian Anderson's The Emperor's New Clothes (1953) and went on to direct many TV episodes of The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show.

Watch it here:


For some reason this short turned up as an extra on the 2004 DVD release of the feature film Hellboy.

OK, while we're on the subject of Tell-Tale Heart shorts, another of my favorites for your consideration - though it takes outrageous comedic liberties with the Poe tale - is Jill Chamberlain's (much sought after) Poe-meets-Sex-in-the-City spoof The Tell-Tale Vibrator.

The Tell-Tale Vibrator (1999)
Written and Directed by Jill Chamberlain
(USA, 9 minutes, color)

"Let's just say that then title says it all in this provocative and extremely funny film"- RISD Film Festival catalog

I first saw this at the MicroCineFest in 1999. It played the festival circuit that year, winning the Jury Prize for Best Screenplay at the Atlantic City Film Festival and Best Short at the Saguaro Film Festival. As the title suggests, this humorous short tells the story of a single woman who, when her parents come to visit her in her new apartment in New York City for the first time, becomes unnerved by the tell-tale, albeit familiar, buzzing sound coming from her bedroom bureau.

Does anyone have a copy of this (hmmmm, Skizz?)? I remember it being really funny.

Related Links:
UPA's animated Tell-Tale Heart (YouTube)

Everyday English Expressions 2

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Everyday Englis Expressions 2

View more presentations from Parent Toolbox.

Inventor of basketball photographed in prime sprint orienteering terrain

James Naismith was not just a famous Canadian. He was also the inventor of basketball. He invented the game when he was in Western Massachusetts, before he moved to Lawrence, Kansas. I came across this photo of Naismith and his wife Maude in a NYT story this weekend.What struck me about the photo was...it was taken from a spot on one of our local sprint orienteering maps!The buildings labeled

Private Eleanor

Private Eleanor: On top of the world

Thanks to the Enoch Pratt Central Library's local music collection, I just discovered my favorite local band: Private Eleanor. And as luck would have it, they no longer exist. Typical me: I don't miss my water 'til my well runs dry. The album I heard was their fourth and final recording from 2007, Sweethearting. As the band is currently on hiatus, it remains their swan song in absentia.


Sweethearting
Private Eleanor
Beechfields (2007)

The band's introspective dreampop sound has been compared favorably to everyone from American Analog Set to Yo Lo Tengo, with nodding winks along the way to Big Star, The Go-Betweens, Mojave3, Red House Painters, Elliott Smith, and Wilco. Me, I hear SF's Sneetches in there for some reason. Whatever musical signposts they point to along the way, Private Eleanor's sound is (was?) definitely Twee with a capital T. And I like that. I mean, how can you not love a band that names an album Deciduous?


PE performing live

Though they've gotten some good national press, my favorite description of Private Eleanor comes from the Baltimore City Paper's Jess Harvel, who's a good a music writer as there is around town:

"Private Eleanor makes music so perfect for solitary drives on the cusp of late night/early morning that you want to rewind back a decade and listen to the band's music on an unlabeled C90 in your old beater's tape deck...The drizzly, cinematic sweep of Stahl's road-weary, twentysomething heartbreak is more sharply observed than ever, set to a lush swirl of bells, vibraphone, Hammond organ, and Rhodes piano meticulously arranged for the tingling of spines, crisply recorded and hitting all the band's now well-established sweet spots...Each song works beautifully as a little standalone slice of baroque indie-pop."
- Jess Harvel, Baltimore City Paper

PE performing live at Fletchers

According to the band's blog circa June 2009, leader Austin Stahl recorded a solo record that's available for free download at AustinStahl.net.

"It's a record I made by myself at home, just for fun (much like the earliest PE stuff) but I liked it enough to want to share it with you. This is the first music I've ever released under the name Austin Stahl. Go download it! If you like Private Eleanor music at all, I think you'll enjoy it." Heads up, Stahlinists!

***

DIGITAL DOWNLOADS

Private Eleanor's back catalog is now available digitally at their digital store: privateeleanor.bandcamp.com.

Their first three records had never been available digitally, until now... And their first album, Deciduous (2002), had been out of print completely, unavailable in ANY form, for over five years. As Austin Stahl says, "Well, we've remedied that at long last. Go get them all!"

***

Here's the band's press bio from the Beechfields record label.

PRIVATE ELEANOR BIOGRAPHY

“Built upon sturdy melodies and the type of harmonies rarely practiced these days, they dared to be genuine and pretty, hurt and poppy, confused yet direct. They made pop that the likes of Teenage Fanclub and Mojave 3 would happily call their own.”
—John Foster, BrightestYoungThings.com

Private Eleanor was a band from Baltimore, Maryland, who over the course of little more than five years was responsible for four records of unfashionably lovely folk-pop. For now, they’re on indefinite hiatus, having left behind little but those remarkable records – full of sly hooks, sparkling textures, and evocative, poetic lyrics as good as any you’re likely to hear.

Songwriter Austin Stahl began the band on a four-track cassette recorder in the bedroom of a Baltimore rowhouse, crafting a pair of intimate albums with the help of a rotating cast of friends. Stahl was soon hailed as the city’s best songwriter by the local City Paper, and began performing live with a full-time band. The higher-fidelity No Straight Lines followed in 2005, gaining slightly wider release (via Maryland label The Beechfields) and earning critical accolades on a national level (75orless.com called it “the final album Elliott Smith should have made.”). Before long, the band was bringing its subtle, harmony-laden pop songs to half-empty rooms throughout the nation.

Sweethearting was released in 2007. Recorded and mixed with the help of T.J. Lipple (Aloha) and Chad Clark (Beauty Pill), the album was performed mostly live in the studio, and showcased more than ever the vocal harmonies between Stahl and fellow singer Marian Glebes. The shifting backdrop provided by Chris Merriam (drums), Bruce Sailer (bass), and Drew Stevens (Rhodes/piano/organ) made for the band’s most varied and sonically deep record – at times the hushed vocals and vintage keyboards call to mind American Analog Set; other moments resonate with the quiet emotion of Ida or Red House Painters; some of the louder, catchier songs could pass for Yo La Tengo tackling your favorite Big Star tunes. It was the band’s best-received record to date, but they were unable to tour behind it and went on hiatus soon after.

As of this writing, Private Eleanor has no current plans to perform or record. Two new compilations feature what are, for now, the band’s final recordings: Love Goes On, a tribute to Grant McLennan of the Go-Betweens, for which Private Eleanor was chosen to contribute a cover of the title track; and This City of Neighborhoods, a new compilation from the Beechfields Record Label.

LABEL CONTACT
The Beechfields Record Label
P.O. Box 6732
Towson, MD 21285
info@thebeechfields.com
www.thebeechfields.com

BAND CONTACT
pe@privateeleanor.com
www.privateeleanor.com

AUSTIN STAHL CONTACT
www.austinstahl.net

A Smart Power Grid Needs Supply

Roanoke Times, 10-28-09, Pg 20: Editorial: Obama to spend $3.4 BILLION to upgrade the national power grid with money from the stimulus package.
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The money comes from the stimulus package?
HELLO!!! THE MONEY COMES FROM THE TAXPAYERS!
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Apparently the new energy policy is to use a “smart Grid” to be invented by Virginia Tech to ensure energy supplies when the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow. “Editor: A smart grid can compensate for that”
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Good choice VT! Should work in well with the VT Smart Road project!
A better start would be for Virginia Tech. to do a comprehensive Energy Change Assessment outlined in:
http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2009/04/vt-energy-assessment-challenge.html
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The national electric grid (already quite smart) is sets of wires and switches connected to electric sources as inputs and to electric users as outputs. The amount of power moved each day is beyond the comprehension of most people (like the $2 TRILLION debt that Obama-Pelosi-Reid just committed us to).
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The Obama/Gore plan is to eliminate all fossil-fuel generators and replace them with wind and solar systems that are very expensive and are intermittent supply systems
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This conversion will probably take a lifetime based on the Virginia Highlands wind project that has been in the Virginia bureaucratic swamp for 5 years and is now still on hold because it is visible from a West Va. civil war cemetery.
http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2009/03/no-new-energy-jihad_23.html
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The key to system design of intermittent supply systems is storage. This is similar to squirrels storing nuts or computers utilizing cache memory or a car battery.
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The Smith Mountain Dam System is perhaps the only example in Virginia of a utility-size energy storage system. It has very limited capacity and is used only for limited “peak power” grid demand that is integrated into the current electric grid.
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Most of the peak-power systems in the country are jet-engines (modified aircraft jet engines) that burn natural gas and are located within cities. NYC has hundreds of these facilities sited on vacant lots and in abandoned commercial buildings. These are switched into and out of the grid as required.
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So when one says glibly: “A smart grid can compensate for that”; one must ask where and what are the energy storage systems that can carry the absence of sun-power for 18 hours a day ( 4 PM to 10 AM )?
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The cost to the taxpayers and electric customers for this energy substitution will be incalculable and the reasons driving these changes are hypothesis and not facts.
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Energy independence is our crisis and the truly “green” solution for utility power is nuclear not wind or sun.
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Prior Items:
http://www.roanokeslant.org/GlobalWarmingThoughts/
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http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2009/07/virginia-below-national-average-cost-of.html
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http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2009/05/for-climate-change-fashion-go-white.html
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Why Obama Doesn’t Need GITMO or Patriot Act

Roanoke Times, 10-25-09, Pg 8: Hit list of drug kingpins worries Afghan officials.
Obama has a hit-list of Afgans to target with drone-missiles strikes. He refuses to share the list with Afgan government or military.
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Afgan officials are worried that Obama will “act on his own to kill suspected drug lords, based on secret evidence, instead of handing them over for trial”!
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What a stroke of genius. - Why didn’t Bush and Cheney think of this?
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ADVANTAGES:
No chance of our troops getting hurt capturing terrorists for intelligence gathering (who cares about what they know anyway?)
No camps to hold terrorists.
No complex transportation requirements.
No GITMO facilities.
No Military tribunal issues.
No conflicts with Constitutional issues.
No CIA briefings required.
Nobody accused of abusing prisoners.
No human-rights issues.
No turn-them-loose issues!
Pelosi & Reid happy and satisfied.
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Only a Chicago Community Organizer could come up with this brain-storm!
The liberals and left-wingers must be elated!
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Yet more hope and change we can believe in!
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Prior Items:
http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2009/08/turn-them-loose-justice-for-terrorists.html
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Obama & Hillary Embracing Anti-Christ Obscenities

Roanoke Times, 10-27-09, Pg 3:Obama & Hillary Clinton opposed a UN resolution that would condemn religious defamation.
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What are some examples of what Obama and Hillary are embracing with their family-friendly first amendment rights policy; and it's this the administration that proclaimed it's embracing what the world and UN want?
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Comedian Larry David’s mocking of religion and Christian belief in miracles in the latest episode of his HBO series "Curb Your Enthusiasm." On the show's most recent installment, which aired Sunday night, David's character urinates on a painting of Jesus Christ, causing a woman to believe the painting shows Jesus crying.
http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2009/10/28/catholic-league-blasts-larry-david-curb-episode-urinates-jesus/
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"Christ on Campus" comic strip in Radford's Whim Internet Magazine included gross representations of Christ that the liberal media and Radford administrators thought were just fine examples of “free speech”.
http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2006/02/jesus-at-radford.html
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William & Mary president, Gene Nichol’s major accomplishments is that he has established himself as a hero to the left-wing community by arrogantly and unilaterally removing the Christian Cross from the W&M Chapel that had been there in the Chapel for 314 years. Apparently Nichol concluded: that’s long enough, times up; and anyway, who cares?
http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2008/02/goodbye-dont-let-door-hit-you-on-way.html
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Andres Serrano who collected $15,000 of taxpayer-funded money from the National Endowment for the Arts for his photographs of Jesus submerged in a container of urine.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piss_Christ-http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE4D61F3BF930A25754C0A96F948260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1
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HOWEVER – have you noticed that every government and every media world-wide have refused to publish even a “likeness” of Mohammed? What a touch of sensitivity!
Based on the Salman Rushdie experience and the fate of Daniel Pearl, all the “creative artists” and writers and cartoonists and editors seem to focus on Jesus and shun Mohammed.
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Not clear how that relates to or supports the first amendment and free-speech! Perhaps the editors of the Roanoke Times can explain that in their next editorial including a picture of their vision of Mohammed’s face.
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ObamaCare Part 1: Obama In-charge While Children Die From H1N1

Roanoke Times, 10/25/09, Pg 1 & 3: H1N1 get priority

Over 1000 Americans including 100 children have died from H1N1.
The government now HOPES to have 50 million does of vaccine by mid-November
(A FRACTION OF THE REQUIRED AND PROMISED AMOUNT).
More hope and change we can believe in?
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Obama took charge of the H1N1 vaccine plan in January, declaring it a crisis and directed his administration to be in charge of the drug approval, selection of suppliers, distribution management and tracking and reporting.
So – what happened?
People are dying and the liberal left-wing media totally ignore the ObamaCare Part 1 accountability, responsibility and liability!
Not a word holding Obama to account for this major failure!
Note to media: Hope is NOT a plan!
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Back in Oct. 20, 2004 the media ferociously attacked Pres Bush when there was a shortage of the plain-old-ordinary flue shots, now, not a word, what a difference five years makes!
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Complicit in this failure is Obama’s new CDC Chief Thomas Frieden who has a history of failure to protect the public health in NY.
http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2009/06/dr-thomas-frieden-and-health.html
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Yet another example of the slant and bias and gross lack of fairness of the liberal left-wing media that Obama has Pravdazitized.
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Prior Items:
http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2009/10/kudos-to-abc-cbs-cnn-nbc.html
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NEW H1N1 NEWS JUST IN

Roanoke Times, 12/28/09, (small print buried back on pg 9): supply starting to increase
ObamaCare Part 1:
14 Million doses of the 150 million planned now available!
And not one Roanoke Times negative word about this administration’s major failure to protect the American public!
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Roanoke Times, 12/28/09, (small print buried back on pg 8): Obama kids get theirs
Not to worry about the Royal Family!
The Obama kids just got their shots out of the first available batch of vaccine; apparently not so much for the 100 kids that have died and the thousands that are ill!
“It’s good to be the King” - Blazing Saddles
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Haloween.. is almost here... Spooky Fun

The scariest night of the year. All around the world, people celebrate spookiness.

Click here to try CBBC Newsroom's Hallowe'en quiz

 

On 31 October there are loads of Halloween traditions. If you go to a party, expect stuff like:

• Scary fancy dress
• Making pumpkin lanterns
• Trick or treating
• Bobbing for apples
• Telling ghost stories

But not everyone agrees with Halloween. Some religious people believe that making a game out of evil spirits and witches is wrong.

• The British Council site has a spooky language game.. with Halloween words....want to try it? 
• A haunted house has lots of scary things in it - ghosts, skeletons and lots more! Can you find objects in the haunted house? Click on level 1 or level 2
•  
• And A Halloween story: The Magic Spell.
• Billy and Tom are pretending to be wizards. They are making a magic potion. Watch, read and listen to the story. Will the magic spell work?
• Have you finished the story? Print an activity to do (164KB) 
• Here you can read about Halloween from Around the World
• The New York Times has a spooky slide show about Halloween with great photos!
• How to videos about Halloween at Videojug
• Halloween postcards

Now, it's your turn.. these are great resources for you to write your own Halloween post. What are you waiting for? Go ahead and don't forget to let me know and your classmates you posted about Halloween.

Keep on shining Love and Peace..even on Halloween night... giggles!
Doris3m 

Recalcitrant, obstinate, stubborn: defined

Thinking over my attributes, I feel it’s time to properly define the words recalcitrant, stubborn and obstinate, adjectives often used to describe moi. My sister, who soon will show her mastery of vocabulary on the SAT, is helping me with this task. Often confused with each other, these words really have important differences, which I shall illuminate with examples from personal experience. To wit:

Recalcitrant: a higher form of obstinacy: having an obstinately uncooperative attitude toward authority or discipline.

Example: Remember the time I gave my trainer a fat lip? I was being recalcitrant then. Sorry, Elaine! (not) Origin: from the Latin, kicking out with the heels (or head, in this case).

Obstinate: stubbornly refusing to change one’s opinion or course of action despite attempts to persuade one to do so. Origin: Middle English, to persist.

Example: I am obstinate when I perform the Plop O’Doom. I know perfectly well where my people want me to go, and they object to my objection. Overruled!

Stubborn: showing dogged determination not to change one’s attitude or position on something, esp. in spite of good reasons to do so. Difficult to move or remove.

Example: Refusing to go out in the rain even though the need is rather desperate. Standing in the open doorway as if I am considering such an insane move is only to please my folks. They love fresh air!

The dictionary notes, in explaining the differences between stubborn and obstinate, that “dogged can be either positive or negative, implying both tenacious, often sullen persistence and great determination.” I feel triumphant!

Bonus words!

I forgot about these two synonyms: intractable and obdurate. Obdurate: a stubborn resistance marked by harshness and lack of feeling (moi? Au contraire!); intractable: stubborn in a headstrong sense, difficult for others to manage (oui!).

The dictionary cautions that “you probably don’t want to be called pertinacious, which implies persistence to the point of being annoying or unreasonable.” Well, I probably was called pertinacious today by my very well educated dog walker, poor thing. I might have tested her patience just a tad too much. Things did not go well. More later.

US Champs map and QR track

The map shows my QR track from the US Champs (red course). The terrain was quite interesting and a lot of fun.My routes are a bit extra cautious. That was planned, but probably cost me a bit of time. I was concerned that relocating would be difficult. The contours are a bit round, making it a bit harder to relocate precisely. I decided to be cautious, give up a bit of time on each leg, but

Home

I am joining in a lovely Monday Celebration of our homes, our cottages
hosted by ~ The House In The Roses. "Show off your cottage Mondays"



Home for me has been a very important word and place for me. As I have
raised my family I have tried to create a place that is rejuvenating, safe...
a place where the batteries can be re-charged form busy, fun, exciting and
challenging days. Even during renovation and up-keep projects that my
husband and I do often together.



Where even with a busy family there is always someone to say goodbye
and hello to you :)





A place for me to find some quiet time for reading.



A home that is filled with all of our love in so many
different ways.

I wish you a very wonderful, loving Monday.

Hugs,
Mary

Home

I am joining in a lovely Monday Celebration of our homes, our cottages
hosted by ~ The House In The Roses. "Show off your cottage Mondays"



Home for me has been a very important word and place for me. As I have
raised my family I have tried to create a place that is rejuvenating, safe...
a place where the batteries can be re-charged form busy, fun, exciting and
challenging days. Even during renovation and up-keep projects that my
husband and I do often together.



Where even with a busy family there is always someone to say goodbye
and hello to you :)





A place for me to find some quiet time for reading.



A home that is filled with all of our love in so many
different ways.

I wish you a very wonderful, loving Monday.

Hugs,
Mary

The Art of Writing, A film by Yu Ji.

This is a story told in a different way. What's different? Can you tell us?



Now, that you had watched it. Would you write about it? What happens in it? Let's talk about it?

Keep on shining Love and Peace!
Doris3m

Obama Jumps on Deeds’ Band Wagon and Then Throws Deeds Under The Bus

Roanoke Times, Sat. 10/24/09, Pg 9: Democrats bailing on Deeds?
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On Thurs Obama got on Deeds’ Band Wagon for Gov. of Va.!
On Friday Obama Threw Deeds under the Bus with a White House rebuke of Deeds and his campaign content and style.
Apparently Obama realizes that a hundred Blue-Dogs are watching Va very carefully and his conflicts with them are just beginning!
-
Deed’s should have seen this coming. We all saw how Obama handled his loyalty to the Rev. Wright, his minister, mentor and personal friend for 20 years.
Apparently Community Organizers from Chicago are quick to "cut" their losses.
-
"He's become a double-edged sword in Virginia," said Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. "The overall impression is that he's trying to do too much too quickly, and he's becoming identified with big spending and big government. "That doesn't sell well in Virginia," he said.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/08/06/obamas-campaign-efforts-double-edged-sword-virginia-governor-race/
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Recent Yard Sale Deals!

Oh yard sales, you are awesome! I spent $22 and got a lot of bang for my bucks!

Some of my treasures included a porcelain server with a lid and laddal, a retro fondue pot , two blue mason jars, and eight champagne glasses.

I got these four colorful margarita glasses for $1!

I also got three board games for just $2! Because no party girls entertaining supply is complete without some fun board games to break the ice!

I went yard saling with a friend and so I packed us a yard sale breakfast!

Here's what I packed:

-2 "yard sale sandwiches"

-two containers of chilled mandarine oranges

-iced coffee in a thermos

-and tater tots!

Recent Yard Sale Deals!

Oh yard sales, you are awesome! I spent $22 and got a lot of bang for my bucks!

Some of my treasures included a porcelain server with a lid and laddal, a retro fondue pot , two blue mason jars, and eight champagne glasses.

I got these four colorful margarita glasses for $1!

I also got three board games for just $2! Because no party girls entertaining supply is complete without some fun board games to break the ice!

I went yard saling with a friend and so I packed us a yard sale breakfast!

Here's what I packed:

-2 "yard sale sandwiches"

-two containers of chilled mandarine oranges

-iced coffee in a thermos

-and tater tots!

Peanut butter and marshmallow fluff cookie sandwiches!

These days I find myself short on spending money, so what should I do when a friends birthday comes up ? Well, I never tire of baking and cooking for loved ones. I really enjoy finding or created recipes that are suited just to their taste! For my friend Amber, I decided on peanut butter and marshamallow fluff sandwich cookies! I used the recipe on Modern Marie for "babysitter cookies" ....and they were so quick and delicious! I made them mini  and just added marshmallow fluff in beteween!

The cute final birthday package!

I fit 9 cookies into a white square box I had in my gift wrapping stash.

..and a sweet note makes the gift complete!

Peanut butter and marshmallow fluff cookie sandwiches!

These days I find myself short on spending money, so what should I do when a friends birthday comes up ? Well, I never tire of baking and cooking for loved ones. I really enjoy finding or created recipes that are suited just to their taste! For my friend Amber, I decided on peanut butter and marshamallow fluff sandwich cookies! I used the recipe on Modern Marie for "babysitter cookies" ....and they were so quick and delicious! I made them mini  and just added marshmallow fluff in beteween!

The cute final birthday package!

I fit 9 cookies into a white square box I had in my gift wrapping stash.

..and a sweet note makes the gift complete!

American Psycho: The Mix Tape

"Hit play baby!"

I watched American Psycho (2000) when it was on TV a few nights ago. It's a fun film, as far as over-the-top black comedies based on novels by Brett Easton Ellis go, with a number of great quotes - like Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale)'s Worst Pickup Line Ever ("You're a fucking ugly bitch. I want to stab you to death and then play with your blood" - c'mon, has this line ever worked, fellas?) - but what was most memorable to me wasn't all the severed heads in Bateman's fridge or all the bodies hanging on meat hooks in his closet. No, the most shocking aspect of the film (and book) was Patrick Bateman's music library: Phil Collins, Huey Lewis, and Whitney Houston. Yes, I know: surely this is tell-tale signs of a sick and twisted mind!

To see a video montage of all of Patrick Bateman's monologues about his favorite musical artists, click here.

And here, for all you text lovers, I give you the American Pyscho Mix Tape, a Populist Manifesto of Song:

1. Genesis - "Susudio"
(from the 1986 LP Invsible Touch)



Patrick Bateman: Do you like Phil Collins? I've been a big Genesis fan ever since the release of their 1980 album, Duke. Before that, I really didn't understand any of their work. Too artsy, too intellectual. It was on Duke where Phil Collins' presence became more apparent. I think Invisible Touch was the group's undisputed masterpiece. It's an epic meditation on intangibility. At the same time, it deepens and enriches the meaning of the preceding three albums. (Christy, take off your robe.) Listen to the brilliant ensemble playing of Banks, Collins and Rutherford. You can practically hear every nuance of every instrument. (Sabrina, remove your dress.) In terms of lyrical craftsmanship, the sheer songwriting, this album hits a new peak of professionalism. (Sabrina, why don't you, uh, dance a little.) Take the lyrics to "Land of Confusion." In this song, Phil Collins addresses the problems of abusive political authority. "In Too Deep" is the most moving pop song of the 1980s, about monogamy and commitment. The song is extremely uplifting. Their lyrics are as positive and affirmative as anything I've heard in rock. (Christy, get down on your knees so Sabrina can see your asshole.) Phil Collins' solo career seems to be more commercial and therefore more satisfying, in a narrower way. Especially songs like "In the Air Tonight" and "Against All Odds." (Sabrina, don't just stare at it, eat it.) But I also think Phil Collins works best within the confines of the group, than as a solo artist, and I stress the word artist. This is "Sussudio," a great, great song, a personal favorite.

2. Huey Lewis and The News - "Hip To Be Square"
(from the 1987 LP Fore)



Patrick Bateman: Do you like Huey Lewis and the News?
Paul Allen: They're OK.
Patrick Bateman: Their early work was a little too new wave for my tastes, but when Sports came out in '83, I think they really came into their own, commercial and artistically. The whole album has a clear, crisp sound, and a new sheen of consummate professionalism that really gives the songs a big boost. He's been compared to Elvis Costello, but I think Huey has a far much more bitter, cynical sense of humour.
Paul Allen: Hey Halberstram.
Patrick Bateman: Yes, Allen?
Paul Allen: Why are their copies of the style section all over the place, d-do you have a dog? A little chow or something?
Patrick Bateman: No, Allen.
Paul Allen: Is that a rain coat?
Patrick Bateman: Yes it is! In '87, Huey released this, Fore, their most accomplished album. I think their undisputed masterpiece is "Hip to be Square", a song so catchy, most people probably don't listen to the lyrics. But they should, because it's not just about the pleasures of conformity, and the importance of trends, it's also a personal statement about the band itself.
[raises axe above head]
Patrick Bateman: Hey Paul!
[he bashes Allen in the head with the axe, and blood splatters over him]
Patrick Bateman: TRY GETTING A RESERVATION AT DORSIA NOW YOU FUCKING STUPID BASTARD! YOU, FUCKING BASTARD!

3. Whitney Houston - "The Greatest Love of All"
(from the 1985 LP Whitney Houston)



Patrick Bateman: Did you know that Whitney Houston's debut LP, called simply Whitney Houston had 4 number one singles on it? Did you know that, Christie?
Elizabeth: [laughing] You actually listen to Whitney Houston? You own a Whitney Houston CD? More than one?
Patrick Bateman: It's hard to choose a favorite among so many great tracks, but "The Greatest Love of All" is one of the best, most powerful songs ever written about self-preservation, dignity. Its universal message crosses all boundaries and instills one with the hope that it's not too late to better ourselves. Since, Elizabeth, it's impossible in this world we live in to empathize with others, we can always empathize with ourselves. It's an important message, crucial really. And it's beautifully stated on the album.

Nice terrain

Heading off to Wisconsin to run in this terrain this weekend. Looks fun.Back to okansas.blogspot.com.

Kudos To ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC

Not found in the Roanoke Times (for obvious reasons)

Obama made his Pay-Czar available to the White House Press Pool but excluded the FOX representative.
-
Fortunately ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC refused to participate without FOX!
(Very unlikely position if Roanoke Times Editors were involved!)
-
Then Obama limited his Czar to a 2-minute interview instead of 5.
-
Exactly how small and petty is this Community Organizer?
Or is this just another Example of The Obama Pravdazation of Our Media!
-
Prior Items:
http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2009/10/obamacare-in-closet.html
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http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2009/10/obama-accomplishments-jive-talkin.html
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http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2009/09/more-obama-lies-and-intimidation.html
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http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2009/06/obama-abc-and-new-pravda.html
-
-
The Article the Roanoke Times should have printed:
http://directorblue.blogspot.com/2009/10/obama-administration-tries-to-ban-fox.html
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Unprecedented: White House Tries to Ban Fox from Press Pool
Today the White House stepped up its attack on Fox News, announcing that the network would no longer be able to conduct interviews with officials as a member of the Press Pool. The Pool is a five-member group consisting of ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox News and NBC organized by the White House Correspondents Association. Its membership is not subject to oversight by the government.-Before an interview with "Pay Czar" Kenneth Feinberg, the administration announced that Fox News would be banned from the press pool. This marks the first time in history that an administration had attempted to ban an entire network from the press pool.-To their credit, the other networks objected. They told the White House that if Fox were banned, none of the other networks would participate. The White House relented, but in an apparent act of petulant retaliation, it restricted each network to a two-minute interview instead of the standard five.
-

Ho Ho Ho~ there is a lot of soft, sparkling Christmas making going on in my studio!
I have some New things and some wonderful special Heirloom items being made.Thank You for being patient!

Do you hear jingle bells in the distance???

Hugs,
Mary

Ho Ho Ho~ there is a lot of soft, sparkling Christmas making going on in my studio!
I have some New things and some wonderful special Heirloom items being made.Thank You for being patient!

Do you hear jingle bells in the distance???

Hugs,
Mary

The Greatest Mix Tape Ever

That there independent music the kids are listening to nowadays, seriously...you would never understand. I'm going to ride my fixed gear bike to the copycat - Vol. 1
A Tophat Production (2009)

My friend Chris Schatz just made me the best CD "mix tape" ever, the sarcastically named That there independent music the kids are listening to nowadays, seriously...you would never understand. I'm going to ride my fixed gear bike to the copycat - Vol. 1. It's great because this two-disc compilation saves me the headache of deciding which of today's Generation YouTube bands I need to check out, as I only know three of the bands in Chris's superlative mix, specifically Of Montreal, Dengue Fever, and MGMT (and the latter only because their "Time To Pretend" is used as a theme song on cable TV's Sundance Channel). But with a primer like this, I'm ready to jump on the listed bands' respective bandwagons.

Thanks, Chris! You rock!

Here's the song tracking - and beautiful accompanying packaging - of this epic Photoshop production. I've only listened to the first disc so far, because I like to listen to stuff over and over until I get sick of it, but so far the standout tracks to me are The Faint's "The Geeks Were Right" (from their debut album, Fasciinatiion), Be Your Own Pet's "Becky," and twee-twangers Tullycraft's hilarious "Georgette Plays a Goth."


That there independent music - Vol. 1, Disc 1


That there independent music - Vol. 1, Disc 2


"They are young and on the edge of this extraordinary Baltimore..."
That there independent music, inner sleeve

Tentang DEE : si PEMILIK PERAHU KERTAS

Saya tertarik dengan tulisan-tulisan ibu ini awalnya lewat blog dee-idea.blogspot.

Blognya sederhana, dengan template yang standart bawaan blogger berwarna hijau. Tak banyak widget-widget hiasan pernik-pernik atau iklan seperti blog lain pada umumnya. Namun konten dari blog ini tak sesederhana templatenya. Jangan tanya soal trafficnya, walaupun tak dipasang widget Google Page Rank atau Alexa Rank, blognya sarat pengunjung.

Dewi Lestari adalah seorang penulis Indonesia lahir di Bandung, Jawa Barat, 20 Januari 1976; umur 33 tahun) adalah seorang penulis dan penyanyi asal Indonesia. Lulusan jurusan Hubungan Internasional Universitas Parahyangan.

Dee menikah dengan penyanyi R&B, Marcell Siahaan pada 12 September tahun 2003. Dari pernikahan tersebut, mereka dikaruniai anak laki-laki yang diberi nama Keenan Avalokita Kirana (lahir 5 Agustus 2004). Pertengahan tahun 2008 pernikahan mereka retak. Dee menggugat cerai suaminya di Pengadilan Negeri Bale Bandung pada tanggal 27 Juni 2008.

Dewi kemudian menikah lagi dengan Reza Gunawan tanggal 11 November 2008 di Sydney. Seorang therapist holistic yang telah lama di kenalnya.

Sebelum saya mengenal Dewi Lestari sebagai penulis, saya mengenal Dewi Lestari sebagai Vocalist kelompok RSD (Rita, Sita, Dewi) yang beranggotakan 3 cewe manis : Rida Farida, Sita Nursanti, dan Dewi Lestari Simangunsong (Dee).

Kelompok itu sendiri akhirnya bubar dan anggotanya meneruskan karir sendiri-sendiri, Dewi Lestari masih tetap aktif menyanyi dan menjadi Penulis.

Walaupun sebelumnya telah ada buku-buku Dee lainnya yaitu : Supernova (2001) dan Filosofi Kopi (2006), tapi Novel pertama Dee yang saya Baca adalah Rectroverso (2009). Saya tertarik dengan Puisi-puisi Dee di Rectroverso yang terasa menyentuh seperti :

Aku sampai di bagian bahwa aku telah jatuh cinta.
Namun orang itu hanya dapat kugapai sebatas punggungnya saja.
Seseorang yang hadir sekelebat bagai bintang jatuh yang lenyap keluar dari bingkai mata sebelum tangan ini sanggup mengejar.
Seseorang yang hanya bisa kukirimi isyarat sehalus udara, langit, awan, atau hujan.

atau

Untuk diam, duduk di tempatku
Menanti seorang yang biasa saja
Segelas air di tangannya, kala kuterbaring... sakit
Menentang malam, tanpa bimbang lagi
Demi satu dewi yang lelah bermimpi
Dan berbisik : "Selamat tidur, tak perlu bermimpi bersamaku...

Wahai tuhan, jangan bilang lagi itu terlalu tinggi

Dee merilis novel terbarunya yaitu RECTOVERSO yang merupakan paduan fiksi dan musik. Tema yang diusung adalah Sentuh Hati dari Dua Sisi.

Recto Verso-pengistilahan untuk dua citra yang seolah terpisah tapi sesungguhnya satu kesatuan. Saling melengkapi. Buku RECTOVERSO terdiri dari 11 fiksi dan 11 lagu yang saling berhubungan. Tagline dari buku ini adalah Dengar Fiksinya, Baca Musiknya. Website khusus mengenai ulasan buku RECTOVERSO ada di www.dee-rectoverso.com

Dan pada Bulan Agustus 2009, barulah Dee menerbitkan novel Perahu Kertas.