Happy Halloween, Wanna See Something Scary?

Watch this guy process a deer in under two minutes.<br /><br />If you are squeamish, don't bother coming around here.<br /><br />This Blog isn't for pussies or little kids anyway.<br /><br /><iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/XF2kKqjvG08" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br /><br /><br />BTW, Happy Birthday to my little brother BP.<br /><br /> Heh, little, the shithead outweighs me by damn near 90 pounds and is two inches taller than I am.<br />50 years ago I got my trick or treating cut short because of him and I still remember having to sit in the damn car at the hospital.<br /><br />He turned out alright in the long run though, a real fish killin' machine and quite the finish carpenter.<br /><br />Love ya dude.

Happy Halloween, Wanna See Something Scary?

Watch this guy process a deer in under two minutes. If you are squeamish, don't bother coming around here. This Blog isn't for pussi...

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Self-Branded Smartphone from Idea: Idea Ultra

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Indian telecom provider company Idea Cellular have made announcement to launch its self-branded smartphone. The smartphone comes with the tag of Idea Ultra and company also declared the price of device Rs. 10,500.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Smartphone include all the latest ongoing features, which are popular in the market like 8 MP high resolution camera, dual SIM support, 2000mAh battery with more back-up, 1.2 GHz quad-core processor and Android 4.1.2 OS. The device comes with 5-inch IPS display.</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-k-BMzWKc_cM/UnH8tTJiscI/AAAAAAAAAeI/3lC0nmOHDek/s1600/265x312xUltra-smartfone_jpg_pagespeed_ic_jDEOHV9QjO.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="idea ultra smartphone with latest features like Camera, Processor" border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-k-BMzWKc_cM/UnH8tTJiscI/AAAAAAAAAeI/3lC0nmOHDek/s1600/265x312xUltra-smartfone_jpg_pagespeed_ic_jDEOHV9QjO.jpg" title="" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This is 12th smartphone introduced by Idea with 3G enabled since last two year. Company will provide the device across 3G market in India through Idea retail and service outlets. Idea cellular is also providing the new and better data plans for the users, to enjoy more.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Chief Marketing Officer, Idea Cellular Sashi Shankar made a statement on launching event “The true potential of mobile broadband can be unleashed only with the development of the entire ecosystem. Keeping this in mind, Idea has been actively focused on offering affordable 3G smartphones with high-end features, in addition to rapidly growing 3G network and product portfolio, to ensure that Idea users enjoy the best 3G experience. We are now encouraged to venture into the 12.7cm (5”) category Smartphone with ULTRA, which is targeted at the evolving and experimental, young Indian consumers, for whom the smartphone is increasingly becoming an integral part of their lives”.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: inherit;">Technical specifications:</span></h3><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><ul><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Display: 5-inch IPS display with FWVGA resolution</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Camera: 8MP rear and 0.3 MP front</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Processor: 1.2 GHz quad-core</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Space: 512 MB of RAM 4GB internal storage with expandable option</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">OS: Android 4.1 with more processing speed</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Connectivity: Bluetooth 2.0, 3G, Wi-Fi</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Battery: 2000mAh, providing more back-up to users.</span></li></ul><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://plus.google.com/100638775997274345522" rel="author"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Anil Swami</span></a></div></div>

idea smartphone Self-Branded Smartphone from Idea: Idea Ultra

Indian telecom provider company Idea Cellular have made announcement to launch its self-branded smartphone. The smartphone comes with the ta...

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Halloween Isn't Scary...Everyday Life Is!!

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCx7AwEyqcBQ9y019q8u7buC4EjSVpNaBYKnpcIO9uKhEQj-0pVcHkEQJEpbOP_c_kkxEPsk9m0-wHuH12v98-mn0300JuEjd4ZdrqqcIPVOq4NMb4LvuhqcCG352ZEOOXNA1eGiYhSAje/s1600/Scary+Halloween.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCx7AwEyqcBQ9y019q8u7buC4EjSVpNaBYKnpcIO9uKhEQj-0pVcHkEQJEpbOP_c_kkxEPsk9m0-wHuH12v98-mn0300JuEjd4ZdrqqcIPVOq4NMb4LvuhqcCG352ZEOOXNA1eGiYhSAje/s400/Scary+Halloween.jpg" width="400" /></a>Happy Halloween you sexy ghosts and wacky goblins.<br /><br />Unless you live in Amish country or have mean, uncaring, evangelical Christian parents, you know that today is Halloween…<br /><br />A day in which children from 2 to 92 with joy in their hearts and senses of fun, roam about the earth dressed in fun costumes, or in the case of the older children…<br /><br />Dress as pimps and sluts, go to the bars, and drink until they get their chance to make it with someone dressed as Frankenstein or Miley Cyrus.<br /><br />However, Halloween for many is just a fun time to enjoy being scared.<br /><br />People love to pay to walk through manufactured “haunted houses” whose proceeds go to the recently crippled kid down the street, the wife whose husband was killed in a grain elevator accident, or to the local Kiwanis Club so that they can continue to do whatever it is the Kiwanis Club does.<br /><br />I don’t really get scared by “haunted houses” and the traditional Halloween stuff, however…<br /><br />In every day life, there are a boatload of things that scare the hell out of me, and/or more accurately, give me an exponential case of the heebie-jeebies.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIwXZwkiHYoNZCYIun3S8YU69hJ6bAIrYWkThe46hUbjRB2SsgUFcMyifLlfaoLV-Kjn-yxVy8qBo0IN2frR5awDxt_fmp9Z1Rva-YcxsUC-Kiu8xNAQCIRDcnMOD8xcqYStOH6c4nf8jR/s1600/house_centipede.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="162" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIwXZwkiHYoNZCYIun3S8YU69hJ6bAIrYWkThe46hUbjRB2SsgUFcMyifLlfaoLV-Kjn-yxVy8qBo0IN2frR5awDxt_fmp9Z1Rva-YcxsUC-Kiu8xNAQCIRDcnMOD8xcqYStOH6c4nf8jR/s400/house_centipede.JPG" width="400" /></a>Spiders?  Snakes?  Pffffffft.  While I am always leery of those two creepy crawly types, nothing freaks me out more than fast moving multi-legged bugs, many of which I have never seen, nor even knew existed.<br /><br />I hate bugs who just appear out of the blue…bugs that have never been pictured in textbooks, and believe me…<br /><br />They’re out there!!  ICK!!<br /><br />Body Lotion…Oh Dear GAWD…Just thinking of putting that greasy crap on my arms and legs even after completing forty days and nights in the desert with Jesus, makes my skin crawl.  Uuch!!<br /><br />Brussels Sprouts and Eggplant…Seriously?  They both suck…They are things that those stupid Kiwanis Club Haunted Houses would use for their dish of “Frankenstein’s Brains.”  And what really gets me about Eggplant?  I have heard often…<br /><br /><i>“Try Eggplant Lasagna, it’s really good.”</i>  And of course I reply, <i>“But I think Eggplant is gross.”</i><br /><br />And then I hear, <i>“No, it’s really good; you won’t even taste it.”</i><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNwuAWL3Zpr0kPd1Kur90BvVRMsQQDQZNFwW85bE1w1A5UCkCGh6mDDGaAFtVETpgacv_xBNsF8pFh5yL298B_d7BUAB8sQyi8-HyWTIYcmvRlWgCOXH4FJZX6kn6u6V6D-AAetu-CZ_DU/s1600/Nose+Drops+Old.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNwuAWL3Zpr0kPd1Kur90BvVRMsQQDQZNFwW85bE1w1A5UCkCGh6mDDGaAFtVETpgacv_xBNsF8pFh5yL298B_d7BUAB8sQyi8-HyWTIYcmvRlWgCOXH4FJZX6kn6u6V6D-AAetu-CZ_DU/s320/Nose+Drops+Old.jpg" width="320" /></a>If it’s really good, why allegedly, does it not have any taste!!?  Eggplant pushers!!<br /><br />And if you are my age or older, remember getting nose drops when you were a kid with a cold? They’ll clear you right up…<br /><br />And the nose drops, pressured down your nose by Mama and Papa Mengele always went to the back of your throat and tasted liked carp piss.  Ugh.<br /><br />And here’s one that I think many people feel more than uncomfortable with…<br /><br />When I worked for SEIU, we had many meetings, many conferences, many planning sessions.<br /><br />And of course when you have big groups like that, said groups must have break-out sessions and mini-meetings contained within said meeting or conference.<br /><br />These twenty-one words were uttered often during those meetings, and to this day, give me a giant case of the goo…<br /><br /><i>“Before we begin our meeting, why don’t we go around the table, introduce ourselves, and share a little something about ourselves?”</i><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFNh46Goq9F7wMh_pBuQSr6zLqskRXETrKTn_dr4B_A9a_jOhQBa7HNswTRY3bNeHR81HZRJFvpJhWNHwMTp9rVxtVbhU65_1fHROaulRDFFFUKczRNWJsssm4NvPbQhBOBizP0NwzGpmd/s1600/Meetings+Are+Stupid.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFNh46Goq9F7wMh_pBuQSr6zLqskRXETrKTn_dr4B_A9a_jOhQBa7HNswTRY3bNeHR81HZRJFvpJhWNHwMTp9rVxtVbhU65_1fHROaulRDFFFUKczRNWJsssm4NvPbQhBOBizP0NwzGpmd/s400/Meetings+Are+Stupid.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Whenever I heard, or hear that to this day, I curl up into a fetal position and while crying, say what I always wanted to say to that question/order…<br /><i><br /></i><i>“Hi.  My name is Matt.  I eat scrambled rats brains for breakfast. I eat my girlfriend for lunch, and for dinner?  I go meatless, and drink my own, day-old urine from a rusty, empty Beefaroni can. How you doin’?”</i><br /><br />Oh dear God, how I hate that more than anything…Well…<br /><br />Except for expiration dates on food and milk and food.<br /><br />I never used to care about those, but man…If I come across a container of milk that expires on the day on which I want to drink it?<br /><br />It better have a time stamp on it as well.  Because an expiration date of 10/31/2013 at 8 AM ain’t the same as 10/31/2013 9 PM.<br /><br />Thanks a lot Dad!!<br /><br /><i>Cheers!!</i><br /><br />Matt-Man<br /><br /><a href="mailto:mattmaniws@ymail.com">mattmaniws@ymail.com</a><br /><a href="https://twitter.com/MattMan_IWS" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">@mattman_iws</span></a><br /><a href="https://www.facebook.com/mattmaniws" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">My Facebook Page</span></a></div>

Halloween Isn't Scary...Everyday Life Is!!

Happy Halloween you sexy ghosts and wacky goblins. Unless you live in Amish country or have mean, uncaring, evangelical Christian parents, y...

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Governor McDonnell recognized by tech council for extraordinary leadership

Governor Bob McDonnell has excelled the past four years leading Virginia in the right direction, and Wednesday night he was recognized for that accomplishment. McLean-based Northern Virginia Technology Council presented their <a href="http://www.governor.virginia.gov/news/viewRelease.cfm?id=2055">Chairman's Award</a> to the Governor in recognition of "his extraordinary leadership of the Commonwealth and his successful efforts in ensuring Virginia remains a top state for business."<br /><br />For a man who campaigned as "Bob's For Jobs," it is a recognition that he kept that campaign promise, and more. He joins a Who's Who of leaders including former Senator George Allen, former Congressman Tom Davis, former Senator John Warner, Senator Mark Warner, and Senator Tim Kaine.<br /><br />Appreciative of the award, McDonnell noted:<br /><blockquote>“Over the past four years we’ve worked across party lines to bring Virginians together to get positive results for the Commonwealth. In this effort we’ve had no greater partner than the Northern Virginia Technology Council. <br /><br />"Through the leadership of President Bobbie Kilberg, the group has been a consistent and effective advocate for a number of our policy proposals including our successful efforts to make college more affordable and accessible for Virginia students, help Virginia’s technology community thrive and succeed in an increasingly competitive global economy, and finally put in place the long overdue, long-term transportation funding plan Virginia businesses needed to keep creating good paying jobs for our citizens. Today, unemployment is down and the Commonwealth is headed in the right direction. I thank the members of the NVTC for their hard work in helping make these accomplishments possible, and I greatly appreciate tonight’s award.”</blockquote>NVTC President and CEO Bobbie Kilberg was complimentary of McDonnell, commenting:<br /><blockquote>“We are very pleased to present the 2013 NVTC Chairman's Award to Governor Bob McDonnell in recognition of his exceptional service to the Commonwealth. During his four years in office, Governor McDonnell has advocated for policies that promote technology, entrepreneurship and innovation, backed increased funding for education with a focus on producing more graduates with science, technology, engineering and math degrees, and championed much-needed comprehensive transportation funding legislation. His extraordinary leadership and policy initiatives have helped ensure that Virginia remains a top state for business.”</blockquote>Congratulations to Governor McDonnell for this well-deserved recognition.

Bob McDonnell Bob's for Jobs Bobbie Kilberg George Allen John Warner Mark Warner Northern Virginia Technology Council Tim Kaine Tom Davis Governor McDonnell recognized by tech council for extraordinary leadership

Governor Bob McDonnell has excelled the past four years leading Virginia in the right direction, and Wednesday night he was recognized for t...

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HOTTIE ALERT: John Spainhour for Bench

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin73t5r86eBC28DMj5y4V-edp2yGc9S4KGsjKvb-iQ3YHD393p7d4UVRzwa9HpltoGuF6lB-d5Ou8ANJoBuHUYn7TEeEvrOq6cyRzdarHrtxS7XlRmhaO-QCz_2pkxN5Gw_66RUljLCrDN/s1600/bench+-john+spainhour.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin73t5r86eBC28DMj5y4V-edp2yGc9S4KGsjKvb-iQ3YHD393p7d4UVRzwa9HpltoGuF6lB-d5Ou8ANJoBuHUYn7TEeEvrOq6cyRzdarHrtxS7XlRmhaO-QCz_2pkxN5Gw_66RUljLCrDN/s1600/bench+-john+spainhour.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">John Spainhour</span><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[photo: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/BenchBodyModels" style="text-align: center;">facebook.com/BenchBodyModels</a>]</span></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br />

Bench Body hottie alert john spainhour HOTTIE ALERT: John Spainhour for Bench

John Spainhour [photo:  facebook.com/BenchBodyModels ]

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October colors at home

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1yP0YHh7IEnnJAVsi-ZbKyqKzErK29NL3Jk3I6KkvIDY2awS4hkdm3FAMG3RZJINkVUtQuignD9gRuHmT-g_z4ZNuWsLvWBdkIuDmq2Qbw1ikNUqFZOeMa9rRH8OppWumhz0Jm-XSf3py/s1600/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="351" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1yP0YHh7IEnnJAVsi-ZbKyqKzErK29NL3Jk3I6KkvIDY2awS4hkdm3FAMG3RZJINkVUtQuignD9gRuHmT-g_z4ZNuWsLvWBdkIuDmq2Qbw1ikNUqFZOeMa9rRH8OppWumhz0Jm-XSf3py/s400/3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The maple tree beside the deck puts on a show every year and 2013 is no exception. While the autumn colors this year have been hit-and-miss, this reliable maple remained a star in our October yard.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4B9gFIwYWv981WI_lFFbyeunsj5OJxPrzdc-n69P0Fo0CEHZCjUIEzQVX5SUX3rN0XytCes8ggP62ZSRolawvED2C5uo8OW_MfppV1XRIcT9DNgUuycxa0SmF3zlbBGRBXuWPcuLVW2td/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4B9gFIwYWv981WI_lFFbyeunsj5OJxPrzdc-n69P0Fo0CEHZCjUIEzQVX5SUX3rN0XytCes8ggP62ZSRolawvED2C5uo8OW_MfppV1XRIcT9DNgUuycxa0SmF3zlbBGRBXuWPcuLVW2td/s640/1.jpg" width="426" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Mini pumpkins and gourds from the garden.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX_x35To_A54_oEnK97Cpe1r4UN0RQQ0HXbCA1-FxvY5xehE9V8wp59HIlvXroi6OnkT4ntdor_gOHQIZZ42eXX713YBpPDbXOzp8Xjj9AHpPDthx64wEalrscCacsUIyoiYnjCBAGmRXF/s1600/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX_x35To_A54_oEnK97Cpe1r4UN0RQQ0HXbCA1-FxvY5xehE9V8wp59HIlvXroi6OnkT4ntdor_gOHQIZZ42eXX713YBpPDbXOzp8Xjj9AHpPDthx64wEalrscCacsUIyoiYnjCBAGmRXF/s640/2.jpg" width="380" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgA-bArHCMj51V7UVKZZ8cWAOnlKwREwMulCd_-p_loFhDP4U1B8PIvpSDENXYVG2E2E2kRLc0eFg_WHnGzxh6I2uFGg3oxCoe1Zp_mG_I4EQZXRbasT59cbu-WVMnR3one__4LgiucLaR/s1600/6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgA-bArHCMj51V7UVKZZ8cWAOnlKwREwMulCd_-p_loFhDP4U1B8PIvpSDENXYVG2E2E2kRLc0eFg_WHnGzxh6I2uFGg3oxCoe1Zp_mG_I4EQZXRbasT59cbu-WVMnR3one__4LgiucLaR/s640/6.jpg" width="412" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaFPwrGgNP7U_laHy246jOiObv0m6UE8npw9aTg8zJuxLZaJX53Gk9y7tVHy5TepbvdNY56WQMbtt0sKOr-Lb7eb861mcK-goE1fevg6p_rc4zNLv3ZxCzF2cpvFAH0hsE5_vJgPgLCWAJ/s1600/5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaFPwrGgNP7U_laHy246jOiObv0m6UE8npw9aTg8zJuxLZaJX53Gk9y7tVHy5TepbvdNY56WQMbtt0sKOr-Lb7eb861mcK-goE1fevg6p_rc4zNLv3ZxCzF2cpvFAH0hsE5_vJgPgLCWAJ/s640/5.jpg" width="426" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKptEWiwc82NuZEcJaRbiP9Cb5zxswSPLPIjYxyy1vz3EQp-xdtDHxKOnxpDS4Wf5utXm1hV3qDx1mKfcAdx05uwUziY0LtYBw9Ab8yhYLuhbo8DPVFlu-G0LBLeXWuoWBZlhGcXqb34O0/s1600/4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKptEWiwc82NuZEcJaRbiP9Cb5zxswSPLPIjYxyy1vz3EQp-xdtDHxKOnxpDS4Wf5utXm1hV3qDx1mKfcAdx05uwUziY0LtYBw9Ab8yhYLuhbo8DPVFlu-G0LBLeXWuoWBZlhGcXqb34O0/s400/4.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Photos by Lynn R. Mitchell<br />October 30, 2013

Augusta County autumn in the Shenandoah Valley autumn leaves October October colors at home

The maple tree beside the deck puts on a show every year and 2013 is no exception. While the autumn colors this year have been hit-and-miss,...

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MAG COVER: Bianca Gonzalez for Mega

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKeU7YqcS4WdnVI7pWZkowjNsgMD23-yahkdf3QTM9HRFCcXBr183n96I2hn1k-OoThc9eck-cziDtMvPf75O8yp_xL_H9_X_zSgdeNXHgP2yslPLB4VYfZmnKLvhZv6VFVf7K9We3Bzsv/s1600/bianca+gonzalez+for+mega.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Bianca Gonzalez for Mega Magazine [duchessofandrogyny.blogspot.com]" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKeU7YqcS4WdnVI7pWZkowjNsgMD23-yahkdf3QTM9HRFCcXBr183n96I2hn1k-OoThc9eck-cziDtMvPf75O8yp_xL_H9_X_zSgdeNXHgP2yslPLB4VYfZmnKLvhZv6VFVf7K9We3Bzsv/s1600/bianca+gonzalez+for+mega.png" title="Bianca Gonzalez for Mega Magazine [duchessofandrogyny.blogspot.com]" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Bianca Gonzalez on the cover of Mega Magazine November 2013 issue.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />

bianca gonzalez MAG COVER mega magazine november 2013 MAG COVER: Bianca Gonzalez for Mega

Bianca Gonzalez on the cover of Mega Magazine November 2013 issue.

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Joan Rivers takes a swipe at Chris Brown on twitter

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-7410976635118812044" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; position: relative; text-align: start; width: 616px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFGHrL238cWT6piU2t96JyJmY9xGUhp7J7kf57jDJfvIs-kkBwhdGbBCf2IGVg9bP0-LTwQwI_sIHgceft9uzSXtRs52S42v727E22fA6oG0VoHceCQqiZYqjXpduVkfi2MnW9sZOOMUch/s320/JoanRiversWeb.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid rgb(158, 9, 11); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px;" width="287" /><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4b_sYBoyTvdUbER5HSQK7GIrvxksOTLMyi4_kINdZ2oG-jInlnRKmvsG8rdsTMxnGVlFIwqZgypVtYhhhaX2BZz5SSTtl1RReU_wfu9SWtl6p_4AwlgshjqqSGLX0q487fVZPrUdh1vMi/s320/chris-brown-amas-2012-red-carpet-01.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid rgb(158, 9, 11); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px;" width="286" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVXoS7QYoL4N-6uXRk_QyzCGOKxLgRiRmgMSq_dPCWmwq41EgehyphenhyphenROw5P-jk6cQr2VfynywYOg6d_4vlF1R7YHLk0Pf97jkP9grx0_4-oZRtHBzM3bkEHErkquZI85-jWuZVjtaCLEANM7/s1600/Untitled.png" imageanchor="1" style="color: #b41e20; cursor: url(http://webfactory.ng/cursor/bottle2.png), auto; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVXoS7QYoL4N-6uXRk_QyzCGOKxLgRiRmgMSq_dPCWmwq41EgehyphenhyphenROw5P-jk6cQr2VfynywYOg6d_4vlF1R7YHLk0Pf97jkP9grx0_4-oZRtHBzM3bkEHErkquZI85-jWuZVjtaCLEANM7/s1600/Untitled.png" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid rgb(158, 9, 11); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">People should learn to be them before talking shit about Chris Brown!!!  #praying for him!!!</div></div></div>

Joan Rivers takes a swipe at Chris Brown on twitter

People should learn to be them before talking shit about Chris Brown!!!  #praying for him!!!

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14 year old boy rapes 9 year old girl to death in Nigeria

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-4442637300768372290" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; position: relative; text-align: start; width: 616px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgev30wmuEkD4KpV8jDYRzWV3ebqNDJWDzA8zyFUkjrDPMEG0Vfe7sN2yzyJg673C4tqoN5RgrBnsy4koMKflK1_ptHxqwpspP_658iT8eZvmPXdxardL2Vp-41ZBbwxUxhWwHEibNy-hQJ/s1600/Rapist-480x300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="color: #b41e20; cursor: url(http://webfactory.ng/cursor/bottle2.png), auto; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration: none;"><br /><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgev30wmuEkD4KpV8jDYRzWV3ebqNDJWDzA8zyFUkjrDPMEG0Vfe7sN2yzyJg673C4tqoN5RgrBnsy4koMKflK1_ptHxqwpspP_658iT8eZvmPXdxardL2Vp-41ZBbwxUxhWwHEibNy-hQJ/s1600/Rapist-480x300.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid rgb(158, 9, 11); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" /></a></div><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-4442637300768372290" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; position: relative; text-align: start; width: 616px;"><br /></div>Sad story of how a teenage boy raped a 9yr old girl to death in the Ikorodu area of Lagos<br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">From <a href="http://www.punchng.com/news/boy-14-rapes-nine-year-old-girl-to-death/" style="color: #b41e20; cursor: url(http://webfactory.ng/cursor/bottle2.png), auto; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Punch</a> </div><blockquote class="tr_bq"><div style="text-align: justify;">The police in Lagos State have commenced investigation into how a nine-year-old girl died, after sustaining injuries caused by alleged consistent rape. According to police authorities, the deceased was raped over five times, by a 14-year-old student, Onyi Adimabua, in the Ikorodu area of the state.</div></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><div style="text-align: justify;">The father of the deceased, Simeon Jigo, told <i>Punch Metro</i> that Onyi is the son of the proprietor of the school his daughter attended. He said his daughter opened up about the rape when she started having medical problems. The 77-year-old man said his daughter died on October 3, 2013.</div><a href="http://draft.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8120270386125426868" name="more" style="cursor: url(http://webfactory.ng/cursor/bottle2.png), auto;"></a></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"><a name='more'></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He said, “Up until my daughter’s death, she was a pupil of Fulfilled Greenland School, Ikorodu, and she was in primary three. One day, she came home and started complaining of pains around her vagina, stomach area. We rushed her to Ikorodu General Hospital.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“A doctor checked her and after conducting some tests on her, told us that my daughter had sustained medical complications due to forced sexual intercourse. I was alarmed by this; so, I had a private discussion with my daughter.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“She told me that it was her school proprietor’s son, Onyi, that had been raping her. The boy had threatened to kill her if she ever told anyone about it.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The indigene of Ondo State told <i>PUNCH Metro</i> that after initial treatments, he took his daughter to Arogbo in Ondo State to be taken care of but her condition continued to deteriorate.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">A few days after the troubled father travelled to Ondo State, Onyi, accompanied by his parents, also travelled to Ondo State, to apologise to Jigo’s family. The girl, however, was said to have died that very day.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> “On getting to the house where my daughter was, we discovered that she was dead. Onyi confessed that he had been raping my daughter prior to her death,’ Jigo said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>PUNCH Metro</i> learnt that after the girl’s demise, irate youths in the area attempted to lynch the 14-year-old boy.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The bereaved father was said to have intervened and reported the matter to a nearby police station, where the teenager was held for safe keeping. The next morning, Onyi and his parents travelled back to Lagos.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The alleged rapist’s parents, in company with a chief in Ikorodu, reportedly visited Jigo when he returned to Lagos. The group were said to have pleaded that the bereaved father should not pursue the case but he refused.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Jigo said, “I went to the Ikorodu Police station to report the case but was surprised when the policemen on duty said I should not write any statement.  They only told me to write down my telephone number and said they would call me later.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">“After waiting for many days without any call, I wrote a petition and the matter was transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department, Yaba.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;">It was however learnt that Onyi had been taken to his father’s hometown in Delta State thereby stalling police investigation.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The teenager’s parents,  however described the incident as the handiwork of the devil.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The 14-year-old boy’s father, Andrew Adimabua, said, “I trained that boy in the way of the Lord and expected so much from him. He has confessed to the act; there is nothing to hide. He told me that he learnt about sex by watching blue (pornographic) films.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“We are not hiding him and we will cooperate with the police. On the day the little girl died, he was beaten up and made to stay in the rain for hours. As a result, he contracted pneumonia so we sent him home for treatment. When he recovers, he’ll be taken to the police for questioning.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Police Public Relations Officer, Ngozi Braide, who confirmed the incident to our correspondent on the telephone, expressed shock at the development.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Braide said Onyi would be re-arrested in the course of investigation.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">“It is appalling that a teenager could indulge in such act. The matter is under investigation and the culprit will be re-arrested.”</div><div><br /></div><div style="clear: both;"></div></div><div class="post-footer" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; text-align: start;"></div></div>

14 year old boy rapes 9 year old girl to death in Nigeria

Sad story of how a teenage boy raped a 9yr old girl to death in the Ikorodu area of Lagos From  Punch   The police in Lagos State have comme...

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Forbes releases World's Most Powerful list, puts Putin ahead of Obama

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-750281737288651505" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; position: relative; text-align: start; width: 616px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu1D592EjhrVeNAk4CCdIZv_WVaTIq0Ig8cSG0w_x1xLVRq1bVw8YodPppZDkgpMVcaKIz0Ikrk1roOB-bqhCJtrh_W84C1_eFBdmq-H_KrBN0aKD0KjKflI64N1dvg9fYATVdarclCfc2/s1600/Untitled.png" imageanchor="1" style="color: #b41e20; cursor: url(http://webfactory.ng/cursor/bottle2.png), auto; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration: none;"><br /><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu1D592EjhrVeNAk4CCdIZv_WVaTIq0Ig8cSG0w_x1xLVRq1bVw8YodPppZDkgpMVcaKIz0Ikrk1roOB-bqhCJtrh_W84C1_eFBdmq-H_KrBN0aKD0KjKflI64N1dvg9fYATVdarclCfc2/s1600/Untitled.png" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid rgb(158, 9, 11); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" /></a></div>Forbes just released its World's Most Powerful People list and put Russian president Vladamir Putin ahead of US president Barack Obama. That's wack! They also said Dangote is more powerful than President Goodluck Jonathan. Dangote was placed 64th most powerful person in the world, Jonathan didn't make the list. See the rest after the cut...<br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="" name="more" style="cursor: url(http://webfactory.ng/cursor/bottle2.png), auto;"></a></span><a name='more'></a><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxhOlBbRmcJeGSF9W3x0Xyv6OvfAxvkAwXDr410n2FKL3FAaFG3wKVjsSSisbiLJqHq5TTLmgbSpqPFye2F7zA-B5qeFSRVKvkhh5fw98TKuDhGAePzow2Il-UKPCn7YyOAF1r-tPt8XOt/s1600/Untitled8.png" imageanchor="1" style="color: #b41e20; cursor: url(http://webfactory.ng/cursor/bottle2.png), auto; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxhOlBbRmcJeGSF9W3x0Xyv6OvfAxvkAwXDr410n2FKL3FAaFG3wKVjsSSisbiLJqHq5TTLmgbSpqPFye2F7zA-B5qeFSRVKvkhh5fw98TKuDhGAePzow2Il-UKPCn7YyOAF1r-tPt8XOt/s1600/Untitled8.png" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid rgb(158, 9, 11); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1Cw66R_70B-NePfih8zC3VTAQbPuS43VofnVz2RMmRtvWRhKgg04vdQyrq91Am9ecgHL_pzugq-FuLO5wzd2TWt5ylHU48ZzA1_CUvJq3lkgsupWnkZAtOMOzdh-JA9nZnpDqFscKiVpl/s1600/2.png" imageanchor="1" style="color: #b41e20; cursor: url(http://webfactory.ng/cursor/bottle2.png), auto; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1Cw66R_70B-NePfih8zC3VTAQbPuS43VofnVz2RMmRtvWRhKgg04vdQyrq91Am9ecgHL_pzugq-FuLO5wzd2TWt5ylHU48ZzA1_CUvJq3lkgsupWnkZAtOMOzdh-JA9nZnpDqFscKiVpl/s1600/2.png" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid rgb(158, 9, 11); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu0wN0sxw0USOn13Dr7CXt611U1RZ91-BBY-m8n56uxvggNm4O-o17uSPKSzn1h88XG9xiiOgiaYFt6fKalXznsFE1Ze0X5eLVtquBCD2O13oD0lHgIPI6gSYDfPWkYGDkaesEgiogIjOf/s1600/3.png" imageanchor="1" style="color: #b41e20; cursor: url(http://webfactory.ng/cursor/bottle2.png), auto; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu0wN0sxw0USOn13Dr7CXt611U1RZ91-BBY-m8n56uxvggNm4O-o17uSPKSzn1h88XG9xiiOgiaYFt6fKalXznsFE1Ze0X5eLVtquBCD2O13oD0lHgIPI6gSYDfPWkYGDkaesEgiogIjOf/s1600/3.png" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid rgb(158, 9, 11); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPbOaueWL6celb6-Ce_Q3lbQ5CO1FYgaMBPE5tXLH9QWD3d55xi-RuPDc14RPTnBF87SW0EkVSp1YGOIAVHOa0uCMdtQtKw179-0bEjvqvVZp9krs1uClaHzuJkcUSpMvzOqCz7HENtKaL/s1600/4.png" imageanchor="1" style="color: #b41e20; cursor: url(http://webfactory.ng/cursor/bottle2.png), auto; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPbOaueWL6celb6-Ce_Q3lbQ5CO1FYgaMBPE5tXLH9QWD3d55xi-RuPDc14RPTnBF87SW0EkVSp1YGOIAVHOa0uCMdtQtKw179-0bEjvqvVZp9krs1uClaHzuJkcUSpMvzOqCz7HENtKaL/s1600/4.png" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid rgb(158, 9, 11); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiM4DYq5pwu2T0MHqqpO8VKzrUUVY8eBjDhc2lP5vPW5e2AHszjvXUmQ_ZCJzZYWrLl2_AGEYHPHyaXOBpBF9MiyLvHF7XzBPkKDq4dVRlzAOTMZZ3HGzGG0GKQLvsJjVnCpA-nSbpXgEL/s1600/1.png" imageanchor="1" style="color: #b41e20; cursor: url(http://webfactory.ng/cursor/bottle2.png), auto; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiM4DYq5pwu2T0MHqqpO8VKzrUUVY8eBjDhc2lP5vPW5e2AHszjvXUmQ_ZCJzZYWrLl2_AGEYHPHyaXOBpBF9MiyLvHF7XzBPkKDq4dVRlzAOTMZZ3HGzGG0GKQLvsJjVnCpA-nSbpXgEL/s1600/1.png" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid rgb(158, 9, 11); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUKC2NChxgZ0atGuxjqnasYy1xy3ykufM4MV-nFnkvE3GDJVTQ_XIv7O11ysn9hGu09P5gmeFTw9H7x_74pi9KudBqURHautwVWyfSHSO6Fv-JE4NwPgXc_oK5ySHDdZzLuONYfMmOtPDC/s1600/5.png" imageanchor="1" style="color: #b41e20; cursor: url(http://webfactory.ng/cursor/bottle2.png), auto; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUKC2NChxgZ0atGuxjqnasYy1xy3ykufM4MV-nFnkvE3GDJVTQ_XIv7O11ysn9hGu09P5gmeFTw9H7x_74pi9KudBqURHautwVWyfSHSO6Fv-JE4NwPgXc_oK5ySHDdZzLuONYfMmOtPDC/s1600/5.png" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid rgb(158, 9, 11); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" /></a></div><div style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></div></div></div>

Forbes releases World's Most Powerful list, puts Putin ahead of Obama

Forbes just released its World's Most Powerful People list and put Russian president Vladamir Putin ahead of US president Barack Obama. ...

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Rihanna's tribal hand tattoo covered with hideous tattoo

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-6726759525293469470" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; position: relative; text-align: start; width: 616px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOlZK3PWVbw-gqSSgde3lYjwCM20SYoL02hDanEFA5-HVwKQ8h46B3bkxlalGeNAg7d6go3PEVtS_FXbqWsjOw6om2HjfHP9bWWoDMW2Ao1loCQIc67zN304J0BKXD7BNqXf9EkQu2vIVq/s1600/ne9q3n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="color: #b41e20; cursor: url(http://webfactory.ng/cursor/bottle2.png), auto; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOlZK3PWVbw-gqSSgde3lYjwCM20SYoL02hDanEFA5-HVwKQ8h46B3bkxlalGeNAg7d6go3PEVtS_FXbqWsjOw6om2HjfHP9bWWoDMW2Ao1loCQIc67zN304J0BKXD7BNqXf9EkQu2vIVq/s1600/ne9q3n.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid rgb(158, 9, 11); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" /></a></div>Earlier this month Rihanna shocked her fans by getting a traditional maori tattoo performed with a chisel and mallet. She just got the painful memento covered up...with a more hideous tattoo.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.blogger.com/null" name="more" style="color: #b41e20; cursor: url(http://webfactory.ng/cursor/bottle2.png), auto; text-decoration: none;"></a>According to reports, Rihanna was so over her maori tattoo that she flew her New York tattoo artist Bang Bang to the Dominican Republic to cover it between tour dates! Check out the new ink she got after the cut...<br /><br /><a href="" name="more" style="cursor: url(http://webfactory.ng/cursor/bottle2.png), auto;"></a><a name='more'></a><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGJu-S6En2iUMq-wW-jVbHZCXIlMs-FglXvZO37IOLQpZBanKfbFqMy6kb3NH79ZfwTfterUzUq4vaRIrdtE6MlYHB61I5rk9oD15JCKFkbn_i_7-y9hnv-yPKYm5CHoQPDtpVmC03Jtwl/s1600/2i7tyjk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="color: #b41e20; cursor: url(http://webfactory.ng/cursor/bottle2.png), auto; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGJu-S6En2iUMq-wW-jVbHZCXIlMs-FglXvZO37IOLQpZBanKfbFqMy6kb3NH79ZfwTfterUzUq4vaRIrdtE6MlYHB61I5rk9oD15JCKFkbn_i_7-y9hnv-yPKYm5CHoQPDtpVmC03Jtwl/s640/2i7tyjk.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid rgb(158, 9, 11); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="396" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCzeGnpQCLsXLEcVDeT3N19DZVqWCNvdFXf4ebpiAZ7aUa3WKv6i_8ZAYr5dS5GoD23WLeTYzhYR57y387PLFDpqQZFk6-ESRDh5EC1DU8_6BQ_fBqXL-zBRj1ADmRPNXgVjlJU2mZODNX/s1600/article-2480263-1915271700000578-826_634x650.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="color: #b41e20; cursor: url(http://webfactory.ng/cursor/bottle2.png), auto; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCzeGnpQCLsXLEcVDeT3N19DZVqWCNvdFXf4ebpiAZ7aUa3WKv6i_8ZAYr5dS5GoD23WLeTYzhYR57y387PLFDpqQZFk6-ESRDh5EC1DU8_6BQ_fBqXL-zBRj1ADmRPNXgVjlJU2mZODNX/s1600/article-2480263-1915271700000578-826_634x650.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid rgb(158, 9, 11); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" /></a></div>Rihanna enjoys pain...<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="clear: both;"></div></div><div><br /></div><div class="post-footer" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; text-align: start;"></div></div>

Rihanna's tribal hand tattoo covered with hideous tattoo

Earlier this month Rihanna shocked her fans by getting a traditional maori tattoo performed with a chisel and mallet. She just got the painf...

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Head of Brazilian footballer discovered in a bag on his front doorstep

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-226943360064946673" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; position: relative; text-align: start; width: 616px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivCHi8wb4DwSbxm5-Q-_aLrNttIB52Sei9rMLeo0Ut4co69l7x-ktI0vT56WDBCjX3Ih58gVTZWkSRj197lyANidgij-3MCY4K5GCfiMQFjmFlYJtr4J8Zd2OmZjUWKW5TpZmfwnj6UVcN/s1600/article-2480016-191484C700000578-919_634x443.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="color: #b41e20; cursor: url(http://webfactory.ng/cursor/bottle2.png), auto; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration: none;"><br /><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivCHi8wb4DwSbxm5-Q-_aLrNttIB52Sei9rMLeo0Ut4co69l7x-ktI0vT56WDBCjX3Ih58gVTZWkSRj197lyANidgij-3MCY4K5GCfiMQFjmFlYJtr4J8Zd2OmZjUWKW5TpZmfwnj6UVcN/s1600/article-2480016-191484C700000578-919_634x443.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid rgb(158, 9, 11); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" /></a></span></div>Police in Brazil have launched a manhunt after the severed head of a former professional footballer was left on the doorstep of his home. The horrified wife of Joao Rodrigo Silva Santos, 35, made the gruesome discovery as she left the house in Rio de Janeiro for work early yesterday morning.<br /><br />The player's eyes and tongue had been cut out and his head placed inside one of his own rucksacks, police said. Mr Santos retired from football two years ago after a successful career playing for several teams in Rio de Janeiro, as well as for clubs in Sweden and Honduras.<br /><br /><div style="background-color: white; border: medium none; overflow: hidden; text-align: left;">He had recently set up his own business selling health foods and dietary supplements. Continue...<br /><br /><a href="" name="more" style="cursor: url(http://webfactory.ng/cursor/bottle2.png), auto;"></a><a name='more'></a><br /><br />Police said today that Mr Santos is believed to have been snatched from outside the shop he had opened in the Realengo district of Rio as he closed up at around 7.45pm on Monday.<br /><br />Witnesses said they saw several men bundling him into his car, a Hyundai i30, and speeding off just before midnight, a spokesman said. He was reported missing by his wife at 9pm on Monday.<br /><br />Mr Santos' brother-in-law, who didn't want to be named, told Brazil's Globo G1 website that the player's wife, Geisa Silva, 31, stayed up all night after her husband failed to arrive home.<br />He said: 'Every time a car passed by she would go to see.<br />'She was getting ready to go to work at around 5.30am when she heard a noise, opened the front door and saw his rucksack.<br /><br />'When she opened it she discovered it contained his head. <br />'I did not want to look but the people who saw it said they had gouged out his eyes and cut off his tongue,' said the horrified relative.<br />Neighbours living close to the crime scene reported hearing a woman screaming: 'My God, it's Joao! It’s Joao’s head.'<br /><div style="background-color: white; border: medium none; font-size: 13px; overflow: hidden;"><span style="font-size: small;">From what I know, he didn't have any enemies and neither did his wife,' the relative added.In a statement Mr Santos' widow said the couple had not been subjected to any threats.<br /><br />Lead murder investigator Rafael Rangel from the 14th Military Police Battalion (BPM) in Rio, said witnesses saw armed men kidnap the businessman. 'We believe that the people who took him knew the family’s routine,' said Rangel.<br /><br />Investigators are working on the hypothesis that Mr Santos could have been murdered by a drugs gang because of Mrs Silva's work at a military police base in a local slum.<br />The Police Pacification Unit in the Morro do Sao Carlos is one of dozens set up in Rio's favelas to retake control of the city's slums from violent drug traffickers.<br /><br />However, according to police chief Rafael Rangel, Mrs Silva worked as a social worker in the base and didn't patrol the streets or make arrests like other police officers.<br />He told Brazil's O Dia newspaper the motives of the murder are still unclear.<br />He said: 'Mrs Silva has no idea who would have done this. Neither she, her husband or any other member of the family have suffered any type of threat as far as she knows.<br />'There is nothing that would justify such a barbarous crime.'<br />Santos did not have a police record.<br /><br />Later today Brazilian police said body parts dumped beside a city river were believed to be those of Mr Santos.<br />The player's brother-in-law told Brazil's Globo G1 website that family members had positively identified a torso found next to the Guandu river in Queimados, greater Rio de Janeiro, by a birth mark on Mr Santos' stomach.<br />A police spokesman said other body parts had also been found in the area and were being DNA tested.<br /><br />He said the murder bears the hallmarks of an execution by drug gangsters, but stressed that "every line of investigation" is still open.<br /><br />The couple had been together for 11 years and were described as ‘lovely’ by neighbours.<br />'They were a happy, quiet couple,' said a neighbour, who asked not to be identified. 'But you never know what may have motivated a crime as stupid and as senseless as this.'<br />Mr Santos’ played as a professional footballer between 1996 and 2005 - during which he scored 33 goals in 103 matches as a striker.  Nicknamed Humble Hero, he was signed to a number of second division teams. He also played abroad for Swedish Club Oster Vaxjo  and Olimpia in Honduras. <br />A recent United Nations report into drug trafficking-related crime in Brazil found that more than half of the homicides, robberies and thefts have a direct or indirect link with this criminal activity.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: medium none; font-size: 13px; overflow: hidden;"><span style="font-size: small;">Culled from UK Daily Mail</span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div></div><div style="clear: both; font-size: 13px;"></div></div><div class="post-footer" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; text-align: start;"></div></div>

Head of Brazilian footballer discovered in a bag on his front doorstep

Police in Brazil have launched a manhunt after the severed head of a former professional footballer was left on the doorstep of his home. Th...

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#Respect!!! Chris Brown enters rehab + Karrueche proves they are still together

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-894907683313280025" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; position: relative; text-align: start; width: 616px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNpuZE9MRZHD_SYxu3iPnVAjQsdXT74G1TWm97HFjQowMXJK8_rIPMNIVkSY_lBRpUPUDrW8Do0A75YdaNgErkjIqM-HmO83ZBaC8Lq16uo7xU7erSqr2zcMubFsGTcvfhVN-gevVprUHc/s1600/BXzkAwRIAAAqTYN.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="color: #b41e20; cursor: url(http://webfactory.ng/cursor/bottle2.png), auto; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" height="598" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNpuZE9MRZHD_SYxu3iPnVAjQsdXT74G1TWm97HFjQowMXJK8_rIPMNIVkSY_lBRpUPUDrW8Do0A75YdaNgErkjIqM-HmO83ZBaC8Lq16uo7xU7erSqr2zcMubFsGTcvfhVN-gevVprUHc/s640/BXzkAwRIAAAqTYN.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.199219) 0px 0px 0px; background-color: transparent; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid rgb(158, 9, 11); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.199219) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6cXXvdFP5_dPHa7MWMZuzc34kfNXDdhV-UIfQlmdP9Jzwzes_TwcDHyit0msMlykClg1ikdHBdZaKJJAgpz1cE16qzCne0WoaCDa9of78jvTZ_crN9LipI1nK8NViZ8artR7DIA-uuTHa/s1600/Untitled.png" imageanchor="1" style="color: #b41e20; cursor: url(http://webfactory.ng/cursor/bottle2.png), auto; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" height="77" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6cXXvdFP5_dPHa7MWMZuzc34kfNXDdhV-UIfQlmdP9Jzwzes_TwcDHyit0msMlykClg1ikdHBdZaKJJAgpz1cE16qzCne0WoaCDa9of78jvTZ_crN9LipI1nK8NViZ8artR7DIA-uuTHa/s640/Untitled.png" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.199219) 0px 0px 0px; background-color: transparent; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid rgb(158, 9, 11); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.199219) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"></div>To shut down the break up rumours, Karrueche Tran posted the photo above on her instagram page and wrote 'Always and Forever'. Meanwhile it's being reported that Chris Brown has just entered a rehab facility in Malibu, California for anger management issues<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">"Chris Brown has elected to enter a rehab facility," a rep for the singer said in a statement to E! News Tuesday. "His goal is to gain focus and insight into his past and recent behavior, enabling him to continue the pursuit of his life and his career from a healthier vantage point."</blockquote>L.A. County probation department is trying to determine if Chris violated his probation by getting arrested in D.C. over the weekend after allegedly punching a guy in the nose.<br /><div style="clear: both;"></div></div><div><br /></div><div class="post-footer" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; text-align: start;"></div></div>

#Respect!!! Chris Brown enters rehab + Karrueche proves they are still together

To shut down the break up rumours, Karrueche Tran posted the photo above on her instagram page and wrote 'Always and Forever'. Meanw...

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Steven Furtick Has a "Walter White" Problem: What Do I Do With this Boatload of Cash?

<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8384632623933772727" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8384632623933772727" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijtENQqamXU3v3t90Ed8NmGEDXTLDN5P8yesohPzrOpZozOCKmt-LrKWz8_qG2sZwCuw0wptkAVLFyZb7ExYt-02cmnoLg5Zhmt89lcYtMT4xp5fJuAr3X_EAzCVFgqZc8Qokq6FRYOj-N/s1600/breakingbad_skylerwaltmoney.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijtENQqamXU3v3t90Ed8NmGEDXTLDN5P8yesohPzrOpZozOCKmt-LrKWz8_qG2sZwCuw0wptkAVLFyZb7ExYt-02cmnoLg5Zhmt89lcYtMT4xp5fJuAr3X_EAzCVFgqZc8Qokq6FRYOj-N/s320/breakingbad_skylerwaltmoney.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />Readers, if you want to read the most important article written so far analyzing the Steven Furtick mansion issue, please read the analysis of Dr. James Duncan at his <a href="http://www.pajamapages.com/steven-furtick-and-the-walter-white-conundrum/" target="_blank">Pajama Pages blog</a>.<br /><br />Duncan explains what Steven's root problem is regarding his money: he has a "Walter White" problem. Walter White is the main character of the hit TV series "<a href="http://www.amctv.com/shows/breaking-bad" target="_blank">Breaking Bad</a>" who had gained so much money from his side business, but yet he really couldn't spend it for fear of the source and magnitude of his fortune would become known. Get the picture? Read this article, it is masterful.<br /><br />You might say who is James Duncan? Well, James is a blogger who dared to write s<a href="http://fbcjaxwatchdog.blogspot.com/2009/12/rage-at-spring-another-bloggerchurch.html" target="_blank">ome articles that were mildly critical of Perry Noble and NewSpring</a> church about 4 or 5 years ago. His family then suffered much at the hands of Noble's minions who sought to harass and harm Duncan, including the disruption of an adoption an attempts to get Duncan fired from his position at Anderson University - and it led to a <a href="http://fbcjaxwatchdog.blogspot.com/2013/01/perry-noble-and-newspring-church-settle.html" target="_blank">lawsuit settled earlier this year</a>.<br /><br />Duncan probably more than any other person has experienced the ugliness of the cult-like mentality that exists in churches like Furtick's and Noble's, where followers view critics as the enemy. They view themselves as God's agents to protect "God's man", and <a href="http://www.pajamapages.com/newspring-attacked-my-family-but-im-the-jackass/" target="_blank">Noble's preaching during this period against bloggers fueled his followers actions against Dr. Duncan</a>. Like me, he has gone through the grueling process of suing a mega church, and the legal discovery process that ensues. Like me, Duncan has sat down face to face with these men and their minions, and watched them answer questions posed by their lawyer. What you see on the platform ain't what you see of these people in real life - both Duncan and myself can attest to that.<br /><br />And Duncan did prevail, choosing to settle out of court for an undisclosed amount of money for the very real damage done to he and his family.<br /><br />Duncan is an excellent writer - he is a professor of Communications at Anderson University, and he knows what he is talking about in these matters. And he has more to add to the Furtick saga, so stay tuned to his blog.<br /><br />Read his Furtick analysis - and his conclusions at the end are some that I really hadn't considered before: the likely outcome of all this money being dumped in the laps of these seeker-friendly celebrity pastors.

Steven Furtick Has a "Walter White" Problem: What Do I Do With this Boatload of Cash?

Readers, if you want to read the most important article written so far analyzing the Steven Furtick mansion issue, please read the analysis ...

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A Year After Sandy -- Are We Better Educated On Storm Impacts?

Sandy's brunt was felt one year ago yesterday -- restating the obvious in terms of impact, disaster, and everything else has been done by everyone else, everywhere else.<br /><div><br /></div><div>The storm wasn't your typical hurricane. Whether or not you want to argue the semantics of continuing warnings to landfall and the National Hurricane Center choosing not to consider Sandy a hurricane, what matters more is not whether a storm is tropical or not, it's about what the damn storm is going to do.</div><div><br /></div><div>We're still missing that point in many quarters of the weather industry.</div><div><br /></div><div>While I do think we are seeing improvement in communicating impacts -- what a storm will do, when, and where -- I do think we're still missing the point in large extent with hurricanes and storms. Reports from media focus on the position of a hurricane, for instance, while not communicating on the size of the storm or its potential impact. It's "easier" to throw coordinates for the center on a graphic, post that on TV or a website but not focusing on the radius of tropical storm force winds. Given Sandy's maximum winds were lower than Katrina's when it came ashore, or that its pressure was not far removed from Hugo, maximum winds or center points aren't the key arbiter of what matters with a storm. Size matters. Impacts matter.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://www.climatecentral.org/news/1-year-later-experts-say-hurricane-sandy-showed-limits-of-an-accurate-forecast-16648" target="_blank">So does how you communicate those impacts</a>.<br /><br /></div><div>“(It’s) not just physical science anymore,” Louis Uccellini said of the job of severe weather forecasting at the NWS in a very <a href="http://www.climatecentral.org/news/1-year-later-experts-say-hurricane-sandy-showed-limits-of-an-accurate-forecast-16648">well-written piece of Andrew Freedman at Climate Central</a>. “It’s physical science plus social science, if in fact we want people to take the response that we expect when we make the forecast.”<br /><br />Getting over the title, the center point, those little details in the hurricane advisories are a starting point.  Some have gotten the hint -- <a href="http://philadelphiaweather.blogspot.com/2013/06/impacts-matter.html" target="_blank">we posted what</a> Brad Panovich from Charlotte posted on his Facebook page back in June when Tropical Storm Andrea moved up the East Coast.  Some forecasters, including us, have shunned usage of Saffir-Simpson and are stressing the need to focus on what a storm *can* do as opposed to what a storm's maximum winds or lowest pressure are.  Given how mediocre this hurricane season was, we weren't tested on this too heavily.  That said, avoiding categories and focusing more on what happens where is starting to happen...it's struggling to happen in enough places though.<br /><br />Communication is critical -- showing what, where, when, how bad, and how much (wind, rain) are things that matter to many. A title, a name doesn't change that. Irene was a hurricane, Sandy was a hybrid storm of both tropical and nontropical characteristics. Both had completely different impacts along the East Coast based on the location one resides at.<br /><br />No two storms are alike. If that point hasn't sunk in people's heads by now, I don't know if it ever will but it's a point that I think the weather community needs to make sure we beat over people's heads. No two hurricanes are alike, no two nor'easters are alike. Every storm brings its own little "variety" to the table.  Labels and titles don't magically make them the same.  At the end of the day, it's "what's it going to do, where's it going to happen, how much, and when" that matters.<br /><br />Media, meteorologists, and the weather industry collectively need to emphasize that point repeatedly. If you need to "bludgeon" the point home ad nauseum, do so. At the end of the day, it's the public (end consumer) that ingests what they see from us and from those who are running other news and information sources. It's our job to educate the consumer on what's going to happen.<br /><br />By and large, growing numbers of the weather community appear to be getting that hint to an extent. Not everyone is, yet...but until we see another "test" case with a large scale storm coming for any significant part of the US, it may be hard to see just how much improvement really has been made in communication of impact and less about mere points or titles.<br /><br /></div>

communication Sandy storm based impacts weather information A Year After Sandy -- Are We Better Educated On Storm Impacts?

Sandy's brunt was felt one year ago yesterday -- restating the obvious in terms of impact, disaster, and everything else has been done b...

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Recording leaked of manager intimidating workers about joining union

<div class="tr_bq">UPDATES to ADD link that was pvsly broken and new graf 3 with driver reax.<br /><br />An Iron Mountain manager was recorded telling workers who want to join the Teamsters why they shouldn't. Then the recording was leaked. All over twitter. All over Facebook. All over tumblr. And then in the news media. </div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMBbHyko3wZFZs4Bl9GD4s1EOcLr_yxGf-syRUu_MFh7yHUD2L935h8GHybhSAydtbERWv7x0FqaHLehPoBNtgn7v2N0GJExwC-fuJ2J8PJx0P5qwwxbHTj9FxyZBb_zujODIqZhjfOfYS/s1600/kitteh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMBbHyko3wZFZs4Bl9GD4s1EOcLr_yxGf-syRUu_MFh7yHUD2L935h8GHybhSAydtbERWv7x0FqaHLehPoBNtgn7v2N0GJExwC-fuJ2J8PJx0P5qwwxbHTj9FxyZBb_zujODIqZhjfOfYS/s320/kitteh.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />The manager was holding what's known as a captive audience meeting. All the union busters do it. It's legal so long as managers don't intimidate workers.<br /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">In this case, the drivers reported it WAS intimidating when their managers forced them into such meetings to lie about the Teamsters. The two managers also emphasized that the company will not bargain in good faith, by stating they will not achieve improvements in a Teamsters contract.</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Here's the link: </span><a href="https://soundcloud.com/organizega/iron-mountain-anti-union" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;" target="_blank">https://soundcloud.com/organizega/iron-mountain-anti-union</a><br /><br />Hamilton Nolan at <a href="http://gawker.com/heres-audio-of-managers-scolding-employees-for-wanting-1454892141" rel="nofollow">Gawker</a> reported:<br /><blockquote>This is a recording of a recent meeting in which two Iron Mountain managers "educate" the employees about the downside of a union. (The link was sent out last night to an email list of labor journalists.) Its content is not especially outrageous—its value lies in the fact that it offers a full look at one of the many little stumbling blocks that go along with any workplace's attempt to organize. </blockquote><blockquote>"This is the South. This is not something where unions are [prevalent]," says one manager. "If the union comes in, it will make it much more difficult to get things done." When the other manager addresses the employees, he says of their union campaign, "I can't help but take it personally... it does hurt. It does sting." </blockquote><blockquote>At one point, a manager tells the workers, "No one in this room has more union experience than me." At that, one worker speaks up to note that he was in a union for five years at a previous workplace, and tells a story of how the union helped save his job after the company tried to fire him unjustly. "Well shame on the company," replies the manager, "but we don't do that here." (The worker's previous employer would no doubt say the same thing.)</blockquote>The company tried to respond on the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ClassWarKitteh?fref=ts" rel="nofollow">Class War Kitteh Facebook page</a>, but the corporate boilerplate was no match for the kitten in the box.<br /><br />Heh-heh.

union-busting Recording leaked of manager intimidating workers about joining union

UPDATES to ADD link that was pvsly broken and new graf 3 with driver reax. An Iron Mountain manager was recorded telling workers who want to...

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Happy Halloween from the zoo!

A friend said I was too mopey today and sent these.  LOL they're really cute! <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH39MtZKu_VY0EwU6LDWI2sRaL4gB97_n9PhXCojdpOYQuo9axb2QbE9ZUtmV9hvOiEDUuzOLjTl5kQoaG0BR7v1d3DfTHa4AWEUvB715wriUAYOAutflAb52ykYtSoalMr0t4yH9PmBg/s1600/a+coati.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH39MtZKu_VY0EwU6LDWI2sRaL4gB97_n9PhXCojdpOYQuo9axb2QbE9ZUtmV9hvOiEDUuzOLjTl5kQoaG0BR7v1d3DfTHa4AWEUvB715wriUAYOAutflAb52ykYtSoalMr0t4yH9PmBg/s320/a+coati.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGQnTJqwDTDxIgP0zlaZGRLvY4cL_xpJHs8gDsbbvUMlQcF2xMq0bG_UUavZ0-T8guJbjOmdMEuRhYB1jgkzB1Ha6voZlixYT0ZkY_jEk_aT-BABfVT91yl6m6CCIh5S4wpnPyJGq-wok/s1600/baboon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGQnTJqwDTDxIgP0zlaZGRLvY4cL_xpJHs8gDsbbvUMlQcF2xMq0bG_UUavZ0-T8guJbjOmdMEuRhYB1jgkzB1Ha6voZlixYT0ZkY_jEk_aT-BABfVT91yl6m6CCIh5S4wpnPyJGq-wok/s320/baboon.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjZ4hNjTEveWJOG8B8cuIdlbUS539Sgao1-Pxrr73gShCSb6Aq9ve20tsRM5d9yjv1_mDyF5mXWaEo7pjcPlAftT7ocbRS8ge2gw890y4OM8v8ARF9VE1C2NQ2LOU6Fua0dVhACX_TtRY/s1600/elephants.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjZ4hNjTEveWJOG8B8cuIdlbUS539Sgao1-Pxrr73gShCSb6Aq9ve20tsRM5d9yjv1_mDyF5mXWaEo7pjcPlAftT7ocbRS8ge2gw890y4OM8v8ARF9VE1C2NQ2LOU6Fua0dVhACX_TtRY/s320/elephants.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqMUScpo5XhgyiIM4jtkIvCTttSIs6XOZuSMyvBSaCA86kDdJhsmyO69oGOaZC7hzjkEwlN219tK2-qq-jwagkHQ2QOwAe7fNJ9BnY791Q1a14OMmmQbSdU1CZZ1-9pe3cJi_-xnNBslc/s1600/meerkats.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqMUScpo5XhgyiIM4jtkIvCTttSIs6XOZuSMyvBSaCA86kDdJhsmyO69oGOaZC7hzjkEwlN219tK2-qq-jwagkHQ2QOwAe7fNJ9BnY791Q1a14OMmmQbSdU1CZZ1-9pe3cJi_-xnNBslc/s320/meerkats.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDxT_xR4U2hf-16U1tgRY028RDxYJ3ef8qMCssPwnYbHiM_AHSRIgDw_oR1Gm2f2iJfpziJofW3YqNc4yDppuY5qmc9z0jCvINAHAIvB-cT_hg4te_bus5XslhoSAT5wU9a75gFFYYzUg/s1600/orang.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDxT_xR4U2hf-16U1tgRY028RDxYJ3ef8qMCssPwnYbHiM_AHSRIgDw_oR1Gm2f2iJfpziJofW3YqNc4yDppuY5qmc9z0jCvINAHAIvB-cT_hg4te_bus5XslhoSAT5wU9a75gFFYYzUg/s320/orang.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-fNHvIwM8t5b2bnurFApu2MuzHhvHD9pFJCIOAdB5GYfNJm63AAeU1KPpBw4GAs0HnEf52HFcGH8Gu89GYr3AS1Sqp4TBdvkxXm7e6TfUDnRjPNi8-WAi2Gzkv_0nkvjZWxLhNT_1uEg/s1600/tiger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-fNHvIwM8t5b2bnurFApu2MuzHhvHD9pFJCIOAdB5GYfNJm63AAeU1KPpBw4GAs0HnEf52HFcGH8Gu89GYr3AS1Sqp4TBdvkxXm7e6TfUDnRjPNi8-WAi2Gzkv_0nkvjZWxLhNT_1uEg/s320/tiger.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwKQCi5HbqGQqgN2Bw8axxpQgIYH_9CVrLENXHToCE6WRFLoszJR-MtXbcXMgHupDsiCudt8M8FqOqmRyPwXW8d7yynrnV9U3IS56ktd9n71ESWBqnU9-oI8tazWTFoFZIaCtRhe7uFYs/s1600/elephant.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwKQCi5HbqGQqgN2Bw8axxpQgIYH_9CVrLENXHToCE6WRFLoszJR-MtXbcXMgHupDsiCudt8M8FqOqmRyPwXW8d7yynrnV9U3IS56ktd9n71ESWBqnU9-oI8tazWTFoFZIaCtRhe7uFYs/s320/elephant.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />

Happy Halloween from the zoo!

A friend said I was too mopey today and sent these.  LOL they're really cute! 

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GEO-INT TRADE-CRAFT: “HUMAN GEOGRAPHY”

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font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style><![endif]--> <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxUmj4f5028wabExH7E_8IGj-9u-iQ8b8le3OlFajs8dr73PHF2oVZ_OSk9QhyphenhyphenF6YZ09toktaGD8V7dh5Q7eKXPtFGaesqJ_UfRKVRG3yQshT2xPUhczdoXtml4tmE7hS6PAQdKt2FSoML/s1600/geo_solution_left.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxUmj4f5028wabExH7E_8IGj-9u-iQ8b8le3OlFajs8dr73PHF2oVZ_OSk9QhyphenhyphenF6YZ09toktaGD8V7dh5Q7eKXPtFGaesqJ_UfRKVRG3yQshT2xPUhczdoXtml4tmE7hS6PAQdKt2FSoML/s320/geo_solution_left.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">SOCIAL MEDIA: THE TOOL FOR ACTIVITY BASED INTELLIGENCE</span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><ul><li><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The ROMANS invented roads to move armies and became an empire</span></b></span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The BRITISH invented railroads to move natural resource and became and empire</span></b></span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>The UNITED STATES OF AMERICA invented the data-highway to gather information and subsequently became an empire    </b></span></span></span></span></li></ul><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Source: Def Systems</span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Geography and social media analytics represent the latest tradecraft within Defense Department and the intelligence community, incorporating “human geography” into geospatial intelligence. For instance, the 2013-2017 NATIONAL GEOSPATIAL-INTELLIGENCE AGENCY (NGA) Strategy calls for using both traditional and non-traditional (e.g., human geography and social media) geospatial sources.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Case in point: When the SOMALI terrorist group al-Shabaab massacred more than 60 civilians at a shopping mall in Nairobi, KENYA, in September, they tweeted live during the attack trying to explain and justify the carnage. While al-Shabaab’s use of Twitter to communicate its motives to a worldwide audience was brazen, it was not surprising. Jihadists like al-Shabaad with links to al-Qaeda are increasingly turning to social media sites to exchange ideas and publicize their beliefs, according to a 2013 report from the New AMERICA Foundation.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghL_MIBJQZSkNn57f_0LzdsvyFzgVyymNGGUXqwXVxY8POGAT61ohOOXfyPS_yvIA2UiMGfiPL2KXPcriD6DB5Es39tafsmPRRWHIKCmum78ucZKSKT5Mx1f-DEGm8A0-6G6kkkSJSGKeK/s1600/gI_123957_USGIF+seal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghL_MIBJQZSkNn57f_0LzdsvyFzgVyymNGGUXqwXVxY8POGAT61ohOOXfyPS_yvIA2UiMGfiPL2KXPcriD6DB5Es39tafsmPRRWHIKCmum78ucZKSKT5Mx1f-DEGm8A0-6G6kkkSJSGKeK/s1600/gI_123957_USGIF+seal.jpg" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“It is only a matter of time before terrorists begin routinely using Twitter, Instagram, and other services in ongoing operations,” concluded the report. “We have already seen this in a limited manner from al-Shabaab, which tweets its #JihadDispatches on recent battles.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Social media platforms such as blogs, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have “flattened control over the production of online jihadi media,” enabling jihadist groups to share news items, original articles and essays, tribute videos and even Islamic-sanctioned music, the report revealed. “Those so inclined can talk about jihad all day on the Web, even if they are geographically dispersed,” the report added.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><span style="color: #cc0000;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #cc0000;">LEVERAGE OPEN SOURCE DATA</span> </span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In response, U.S. defense and intelligence agencies are monitoring Arabic-language jihadist Web forums and other online communications in order to “map” the “human terrain” of terror groups based on a treasure trove of open source data available on the Internet. Among the emerging tools is a discipline called Activity Based Intelligence.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">SOCIAL MEDIA ANALYTICS AND CONTENT CATEGORIZATION TECHNOLOGY</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">SAS Federal, a business analytics and software services company, is helping U.S. intelligence agencies to leverage open source data to better understand the motivation of jihadist groups, where they operate and what they are doing. Social media analytics and content categorization technology from SAS coupled with data mining capabilities are used to scan more than 20 million websites, including blogs, chats, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, while “natural language processing” extracts online discussions in ARABIC, Farsi and 28 other native languages and dialects.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">All this is used to support geospatial intelligence gathering and analysis. The technology is designed to enable the identification of “unknown unknowns.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy9TQFICCufwdd-r4Gweares6tCW-3_s5O9o6Aqwi03L6qTFs50_1nJ7WD0qOmCB0Mn1RqTCYHDs75qvRi59sKXA3hiyUnC6VCUjX5w2GyG6XMs4Adv7LvxEudyoGE2cbWQ0kYdUb35LP3/s1600/partners_sas_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy9TQFICCufwdd-r4Gweares6tCW-3_s5O9o6Aqwi03L6qTFs50_1nJ7WD0qOmCB0Mn1RqTCYHDs75qvRi59sKXA3hiyUnC6VCUjX5w2GyG6XMs4Adv7LvxEudyoGE2cbWQ0kYdUb35LP3/s320/partners_sas_1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“With a couple of mouse clicks, an NGA analyst, as an example, could look at a whole category of unknown neighborhoods or villages and see the latest conversations and discover that there is a local reference to a neighborhood we did not have on the map,” said Marc Kriz, an account executive with SAS Federal’s National Security Group. “We’re constantly extracting conversations about things like unknown hospitals and clinics, schools, mosques, neighborhoods, villages and governance. We’re discovering a rich plethora of geospatial data vis-a-vis social media.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“It sounds funny but it’s very difficult to know when a hotel changes, for instance, from a Best Western to a Hilton,” added Scott Simmons, CACI’s executive director of Geospatial Solutions. “You can try and search on websites every day and hope that they have that updated information. But, shockingly, someone in Nairobi is going to tweet about it and send a message that the hotel’s Best Western sign came down.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #cc0000;">“<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">DIGITAL MULTICULTURAL AWARENESS</b>”</span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Kriz said there are often local slang words used by indigenous populations for neighborhoods or villages that are identified by social media analytics and have been subsequently added to the U.S. geospatial intelligence names database. Based on an assessment of the “patterns of life” in a particular neighborhood or village, analysts can better understand those patterns and linkages. For instance, through open source media, analysts leveraging social network analytics can discover conversations about mosques in a particular part of the world that helps them to identify Imams and their followers, he said.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Sentiment analysis” is another area of geospatial intelligence that is important to some DOD and intelligence community customers, according to Rebecca Garcia, director of intelligence solutions for SAS Federal. “We can look at how unrest may be spread through an area or within a human geography,” said Garcia, noting that the Arab Spring, the revolutionary wave of demonstrations and protests (both non-violent and violent) that have rocked the MIDDLE EAST in recent years, have been fueled by social media.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This kind of analysis seeks to extract and identify popular, negative or neutral sentiment from open source content.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“ACTIVITY BASED INTELLIGENCE” ENHANCES AND BREAKS THE LINEARITY OF INTEL GATHERING PROCESSES </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Understanding the “Human Domain,” defined as the presence, activities, social structure or organization, networks and relationships, motivation, intent, vulnerabilities and capabilities of individuals or groups is a vital part of Activity Based Intelligence.  ABI, a multi-intelligence approach to analysis embraced by U.S. intelligence agencies, is a discipline in which analysis and subsequent collection is focused on the activity and transactions associated with an entity, a population or an area of interest. It is based on persistent collection of intelligence over a broad area from multiple sources.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“ABI is really a new tradecraft that builds on top of something that’s been around for awhile called ‘patterns of life,’” said Jordan Becker, vice president and general manager for GEOINT-ISR at BAE Systems. “As a new tradecraft, it really moves away from some of the traditional processes such as tasking, collection, processing, exploitation and dissemination. What ABI does is [it] enhances and breaks the linearity of that process.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #cc0000;">GEOSPATIAL INTELLIGENCE AND HUMAN DOMAIN ANALYTICS</span> </span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH_Dt3yz5kYtXfldzbWjzwcIXh1_y8YcUeWtZkBNCJ2aux9agy7__k8_iuJMTewkVtuyR6V8FGWYy46plkI9TNMnbJYX4ANTSdmSzmphout3LQ4Xpk2XXycDEkuktr8oYaqIrN5bqEUIB4/s1600/info-sharing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH_Dt3yz5kYtXfldzbWjzwcIXh1_y8YcUeWtZkBNCJ2aux9agy7__k8_iuJMTewkVtuyR6V8FGWYy46plkI9TNMnbJYX4ANTSdmSzmphout3LQ4Xpk2XXycDEkuktr8oYaqIrN5bqEUIB4/s320/info-sharing.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Geospatial intelligence, coupled with human domain analytics, is the foundation of ABI. In December 2012, BAE won a multi-year, $60 million contract to provide ABI systems, tools and support to NGA. Using a computer-assisted problem solving methodology, ABI analysts leverage big data to spot trends and patterns of activity when they intersect, enabling the identification of “unknown unknowns” and more predictive intelligence that anticipates targets and threats. As NGA COO Ellen McCarthy has stated, ABI “reveals what we don’t know and helps us find what doesn’t want to be found.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">McCarthy could not be reached for comment for this story.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“The ultimate goal is better intelligence,” added Becker of SAS. “It’s not about how many more reports you can generate or how many more items you can identify on a map, whether it’s relevant or not. It’s can you really get closer to intent and help that analyst formulate better hypotheses.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">ADVANCED INFORMATION SYSTEMS ALLOWS ANALYSTS TO BE PROACTIVE RATHER THAN REACTIVE</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Mike Manzo, director of geospatial solutions for General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, said ABI allows analysts to be proactive rather than reactive. “ABI has been around in different forms in the past, but what has made it more attractive now is computing power,” said Manzo. “The cloud enables you to have those real-time capabilities where you have access to a lot more data and computing power.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“As processing power increases and smarter algorithms are developed,” he added, “we’re going to start to see more intelligence systems infer activity based on a myriad of different data coming in.”</span></div>

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