Senior Software Engineer ( Visual Studio | C#/C++ | OOD | GUI ) (# 110441) Austin, TX

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="WordSection1"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace: none;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Position:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> Senior Software Engineer<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace: none;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Location:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> Austin, TX<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace: none;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Duration:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> Full time<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace: none;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace: none;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Job Description:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace: none;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Business Unit:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace: none;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">KLA-Tencor's Process Control Information Division provides leading-edge data analysis and simulation software solutions to the semiconductor industry that enable the industry to continue pushing the device manufacturing capabilities for current and future design nodes.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace: none;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace: none;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Responsibilities:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace: none;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">We are looking for a senior software engineer with experience in the Microsoft Visual Studio C#/C++ development environment. The candidate must be skilled in modern development practices, including object oriented design and automated unit testing and have the ability to document and communicate the produced work products.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace: none;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">The software engineer will be a technical contributor on our data analysis software development team working on all aspects of software development, including requirements analysis, design, implementation, debugging and testing. The development tasks will include implementation of graphical data representation and user interfaces as well as data analysis algorithms of moderate complexity. Key attributes of the successful candidate are being a self-starter, problem solver, collaborative team player, and high productivity contributor.<o:p> </o:p></span></div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Developing software requirements based on input from marketing and applications staff<o:p></o:p></span></li><li><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Software design, implementation and unit testing using Microsoft VS C# and C++<o:p></o:p></span></li><li><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">GUI design and implementation using .Net WinForms<o:p></o:p></span></li><li><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Documentation of software design artifacts and algorithm specifications<o:p></o:p></span></li><li><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Collaboration with SQC team on test case development and test execution<o:p></o:p></span></li><li><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Estimation of task sizes and project duration<o:p></o:p></span></li><li><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Remote communication with US and international project contributors<o:p></o:p></span></li></ul><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace: none;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Preferred Qualifications</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">:<o:p></o:p></span></div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">BS/BA in computer science, computer engineering or similar field; minor degree in mathematics, statistics or other natural sciences a plus<o:p></o:p></span></li><li><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">8+ years of experience in professional software development<o:p></o:p></span></li><li><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">In-depth knowledge of Microsoft Visual Studio C#/C++ development environment<o:p></o:p></span></li><li><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Strong skills in OOD principles, interface definitions and use of UML<o:p></o:p></span></li><li><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Strong verbal and written communication and documentation skills<o:p></o:p></span></li><li><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Proficient in Microsoft Office products<o:p></o:p></span></li><li><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Experience with agile development practices and virtual/international teams a plus<o:p></o:p></span></li><li><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Experience in semiconductor industry a plus</span></li></ul><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace: none;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Minimum Qualifications:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">BS/BA in computer science, computer engineering or similar field<o:p></o:p></span></li><li><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">7+ years of experience in professional software development<o:p></o:p></span></li><li><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">In-depth knowledge of Microsoft Visual Studio C#/C++ development environment<o:p></o:p></span></li><li><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Strong skills in OOD principles, interface definitions and use of UML<o:p></o:p></span></li><li><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Strong verbal and written communication and documentation skills<o:p></o:p></span></li><li><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Proficient in Microsoft Office products</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></li></ul><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace: none;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Kindly send your resume to <b><a href="mailto:raju.balaji@kla-tencor.com">raju.balaji@kla-tencor.com</a></b> </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div></div></div>

Senior Software Engineer ( Visual Studio | C#/C++ | OOD | GUI ) (# 110441) Austin, TX

Position: Senior Software Engineer Location: Austin, TX Duration: Full time Job Description: Business Unit: KLA-Tencor's Process Cont...

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Software Engineering Manager (# 110509) Austin, TX

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="WordSection1"><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Position:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> Software Engineering Manager<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Location:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> Austin, TX<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Duration:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> Full time<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Job Description:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Business Unit:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">KLA-Tencor's Process Control Information Division (PCID) provides leading-edge data analysis and simulation software solutions to the semiconductor industry that enable the industry to continue pushing the device manufacturing capabilities for current and future design nodes.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Responsibilities:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Responsible for supporting KLA-Tencor's software product life cycle, management of new software releases, alignment with divisions outside of PCID for products developed in the division, and management of released systems in the field, including customer and technical support escalations. The ideal candidate will work in a matrix environment of cross functional teams to drive the implementation and deployment of the completed product features and releases, develop and document requirements, budgets, and project schedules.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">The ideal candidate possesses 7-10 years of experience in technical program management, plus experience managing complex and large-scale technology projects in the semiconductor space. A Bachelor's degree is required, with a demonstrated ability to lead others in a technical environment. Successfully delivering aggressive project deliverables while effectively managing budgets is essential. The successful candidate will be an exceptionally strong communicator both written and verbally, and will lead multi-discipline, highly technical project initiatives. The ideal candidate will have a technical background (e.g. systems engineer, network engineer, software development engineer). They will have successfully managed multiple enterprise-scale technology projects. Their experience includes semiconductor automation technologies, with software delivery, operating systems, database, and automation tools. Candidate must be comfortable managing remote project delivery teams, and possess the ability to facilitate technical whiteboard sessions to troubleshoot project implementation issues, and remove barriers to project success. The Program Manager will be fully competent in project management tools and techniques for all phases of the project lifecycle.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Preferred Qualifications:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Demonstrates excellent judgment, discretion, and sensitivity when dealing with confidential information<o:p></o:p></span></li><li><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Maintains a high degree of professionalism when dealing with internal customers and senior leaders<o:p></o:p></span></li><li><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Provide efficient communication paths to drive requests to resolution<o:p></o:p></span></li><li><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Strong written and verbal communication skills<o:p></o:p></span></li><li><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Detail oriented with strong prioritization skills<o:p></o:p></span></li><li><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Maturity, judgment, negotiation/influence, analytical and leadership skills essential to successful program/project management<o:p></o:p></span></li><li><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Ability to work independently and demonstrated excellent problem solving skills</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></li></ul><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Minimum Qualifications:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Bachelor degree in Computer Science or similar<o:p></o:p></span></li><li><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">10+ years of work experience in software development (or 8+ years with Graduate degree)<o:p></o:p></span></li><li><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">7+ years of management experience OR strong tech lead experience<o:p></o:p></span></li><li><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Software Engineering best practices experience<o:p></o:p></span></li><li><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Experience working with or leading offshore teams is a plus<o:p></o:p></span></li><li><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Project management experience<o:p></o:p></span></li></ul><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Kindly send your resume to <b><a href="mailto:raju.balaji@kla-tencor.com">raju.balaji@kla-tencor.com</a></b><o:p></o:p></span></div></div></div>

Software Engineering Manager (# 110509) Austin, TX

Position: Software Engineering Manager Location: Austin, TX Duration: Full time Job Description: Business Unit: KLA-Tencor's Process ...

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TURKEY ON THE MOVE

<div class="MsoNormal">                </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitO0Sq5H7DJOaGN2o8rId0b-8zcFLaGG9WnhsOyH57jM-UXqP0n-94X21r0jxHiQ0RsTs3Zf-yb-hGogSZJhloupf0eN5w5FPit0XA0aHMhQRgAtZuJRoI0uAwAVFeiGh5tZmnCUVNQIL5/s1600/h-turkey3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="121" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitO0Sq5H7DJOaGN2o8rId0b-8zcFLaGG9WnhsOyH57jM-UXqP0n-94X21r0jxHiQ0RsTs3Zf-yb-hGogSZJhloupf0eN5w5FPit0XA0aHMhQRgAtZuJRoI0uAwAVFeiGh5tZmnCUVNQIL5/s640/h-turkey3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><o:p></o:p><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #134f5c;">TURKEY PUSHES CROSSROADS </span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #134f5c;">POLITICS</span></span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">By Pepe Escobar via AsiaTimes<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">While everyone is concentrated on the possibility of a tectonic shift in US-IRAN relations, and while a solution may be found for the SYRIAN tragedy in another upcoming set of negotiations in Geneva, TURKEY is silently toiling in the background. Let's see what these sultans of swing are up to. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">We start on the internal front. Abdul Mejid I, the 31st Ottoman sultan (in power from 1839 to 1861) always dreamed of a submerged tunnel under the Bosphorus linking EUROPE to ASIA. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It took "Sultan" Erdogan, as in Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to make it happen, when last month he inaugurated – on the 90th anniversary of the founding of Ataturk's Republic - the US$3 billion, 76-kilometer Marmaray rail system which, in the hardly hyperbolic words of Mustafa Kara, mayor of Istanbul's Uskudar district (where the tunnel comes out), will "eventually link London to Beijing, creating unimagined global connections". <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It certainly helps that this technological marvel fits right into CHINA'S extremely ambitious New Silk Road(s) strategy which, just like the original Silk Road, starts in XIAN, and aims to cross to EUROPE via, where else, Istanbul. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div><div style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt;"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: #444444;">Background Information</span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: #444444;">: </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: #134f5c;">CHINA AND TURKEY</span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">  <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: #990000;">CHINESE - TURKISH GEOPOLITICAL AND ECONOMIC AMBITIONS COINCIDE</span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2012/05/china-and-turkey.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2012/05/china-and-turkey.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXQNlNMhErB3tMjlZfEkY7jxmv2yWuaIUqJfO2tnR9kzqUTrdQ909x-8UTuamEBs59F3NMosJx87XxS2MEsWv5n0-uutpIj9VYsSNBcIGhcWHSEHS7JI6WSXy53bx4o-ccr3B8oJdN5YOM/s1600/china-land-bridge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="201" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXQNlNMhErB3tMjlZfEkY7jxmv2yWuaIUqJfO2tnR9kzqUTrdQ909x-8UTuamEBs59F3NMosJx87XxS2MEsWv5n0-uutpIj9VYsSNBcIGhcWHSEHS7JI6WSXy53bx4o-ccr3B8oJdN5YOM/s400/china-land-bridge.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: #cc0000;">SECURITY DILEMMAS</span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2013/11/china-and-uyghur.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2013/11/china-and-uyghur.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: #cc0000;">TURKEY AND CHINA AT ODDS OVER 10 MILLION TURKISH UYGHUR MINORITIES LIVING IN CHINA</span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2013/10/is-turkey-swerving-eastward.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2013/10/is-turkey-swerving-eastward.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></b></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">ERDOGAN’S MEGA-PROJECTS - SUPPORTED BY MILLIONS IN RURAL ANATOLIA</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1gASrwqpqe0e0xGR49F9xB3To-UjaQL8mtBAGA1_wqTYYlZzDiC1RMetlKs3soUudI0he_DmCjqWXD7e24edOgUbwMZ0YjZz5NZ3TM4zC7aU0DU5jYaVjFG0MjtUAVb2lo1NpULOFxnub/s1600/turkiye-bayrak-wallpaper.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1gASrwqpqe0e0xGR49F9xB3To-UjaQL8mtBAGA1_wqTYYlZzDiC1RMetlKs3soUudI0he_DmCjqWXD7e24edOgUbwMZ0YjZz5NZ3TM4zC7aU0DU5jYaVjFG0MjtUAVb2lo1NpULOFxnub/s320/turkiye-bayrak-wallpaper.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So the fact remains that "Sultan" Erdogan simply has not been downed by the Gezi Park protests last June. All the ruling party AKP's mega-projects - supported by millions in rural Anatolia, ignored for decades by the secular elites in Istanbul - are alive and kicking. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">By 2025, more than a million commuters will be using the Marmaray. The third Bosphorus bridge, close to the Black Sea, is being built - despite Alevi fury that it will be named after Selim The Grim, a sultan who ordered the slaughter of thousands of Alevis. Same for the new six-runway airport northwest of Istanbul. And then there's the 50 km "crazy canal" (Erdogan's own definition), linking the Sea of Marmara to the Black Sea, so monstrous tanker traffic may be diverted away from the Bosphorus. The TURKISH green movement insists this could destroy whole aquatic ecosystems, but Erdogan is unfazed. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">THAT OILY KURDISH FACTOR </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In the wider world, TURKISH foreign policy is now on overdrive. And inevitably, it's all related to energy. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu earlier this month hosted IRANIAN Foreign Minister Javad Zarif in Ankara. Then he went to Baghdad and met Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Davutoglu also visited Washington; he wrote an editorial published by Foreign Policy praising the US-TURKISH "strategic partnership", now facing "an increasingly chaotic geopolitical environment"; and he made sure to support US-IRAN negotiations. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div><div style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt;"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: #444444;">Background Information</span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: #444444;">: </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: #134f5c;">KURDISH EQUATION </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: #cc0000;">TURKEY’S DREAMS OF BEING ENERGY HUB STRENGTHENED BY PKK NEGOTIATIONS?</span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2013/03/turkey-and-kurds.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2013/03/turkey-and-kurds.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">KURDISH MARCH TOWARD AUTONOMY GAINS MOMENTUM</span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/08/turkeys-syrian-policies.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/08/turkeys-syrian-policies.html</a></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">TURKEY'S GAMBLE ON KURDISTAN OIL</span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/08/turkeys-erratic-foreign-policies-all.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/08/turkeys-erratic-foreign-policies-all.html</a></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">TURKEY WILL TAKE MILITARY ACTION IF THE SYRIAN KURDS MAKE MOVES TOWARD AUTONOMY & </span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">TURKEY – SYRIA - WATER DISPUTE (1989)</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><br /></span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/10/turkeys-foreign-policy-poker-game.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/10/turkeys-foreign-policy-poker-game.html</a></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/10/turkeys-foreign-policy-poker-game.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/10/turkeys-foreign-policy-poker-game.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOthioL0hd5Lz50PJIenaurudtKQPRAaB6wI1FXYwyng-A6ZRJ1_HtOhJjN72Vf4QFQ5aEFlt499-MClWTtZvkpdSVUGmeTGSubgypUodkC1Q4lXxrNrgiCCOqsefhav6UkJdu4ZLlRxOD/s1600/734px-Kurdish-inhabited_area_by_CIA_(1992).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOthioL0hd5Lz50PJIenaurudtKQPRAaB6wI1FXYwyng-A6ZRJ1_HtOhJjN72Vf4QFQ5aEFlt499-MClWTtZvkpdSVUGmeTGSubgypUodkC1Q4lXxrNrgiCCOqsefhav6UkJdu4ZLlRxOD/s320/734px-Kurdish-inhabited_area_by_CIA_(1992).jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Recently, Davutoglu teamed up with Erdogan for a high-level meeting with RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in St Petersburg. In due course he'll be in Tehran. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The question is what does Ankara want from Washington for so eagerly supporting a US-Iran normalization? <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The key is IRAQI KURDISTAN. Ankara wants Washington's blessing for the now famously fractious 250,000 barrel-a-day oil pipeline from northern IRAQ, bypassing Baghdad. This pipeline would add to the perennially troubled Kirkuk-Ceyhan, controlled (sort of) by Baghdad; currently operating at best at one-fifth of its official capacity of 1.6 million barrels a day, bombed virtually every week, and with zero maintenance. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It's not as much about the oil (which TURKEY badly needs) as a political/economic alliance that ideally translates into more KURDISH votes for the ruling AKP party in the 2014 TURKISH elections. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The (insurmountable) problem is the Obama administration has no intention - at the present negotiation junction - to provoke Tehran by allowing a TURKISH project that most of all provokes IRAN'S ally Baghdad. That's just another instance that everything of consequence happening in SOUTHWEST ASIA nowadays involves IRAN. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So it all depends on how far the US-Iran rapprochement will go - leaving Ankara unable to alienate Baghdad and Tehran at the same time. Ankara, though, is also aware of huge potential benefits down the line. That would mean much more oil and gas flowing from IRAN than the current long-term annual contract for natural gas via the Tabriz-Ankara pipeline if - and when - Western investment start pumping again into IRAN'S energy industry. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">THAT WAHHABI-LIKUDNIK AXIS</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">President Obama gets along very well with TURKISH Prime Minister Erdogan. But while Obama has nothing but praise for Erdogan, for the House of SAUD the name "Obama" is now worse than any plague. And Erdogan is not exactly that much popular. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Erdogan enthusiastically supported Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood in EGYPT, while the House of SAUD'S hero is coup plotter General Sisi. In SYRIA, Erdogan once again supports the Muslim Brotherhood-linked "rebels", while the SAUDIS, with Bandar Bush ahead of the pack, de facto finance and weaponize all sorts of nasties including the al-Qaeda offshoot Islamic State of IRAQ and the Levant. Erdogan has evolved an extremely fractious relationship with ISRAEL, while the Wahhabi - Likudnik anti-IRAN/SYRIA axis has never been stronger. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It's easy to forget an Ankara-Damascus-Tehran alliance was in place before the foreign-imposed SYRIAN civil war. That was part of Davutoglu's "zero problems with our neighbors" doctrine, then morphed into "all kinds of problems". The House of SAUD obviously did what it could to undermine the former alliance with the carrot of more trade and investment in TURKEY. It worked for a while, when the myth of an "Arab Spring" still held sway, and TURKEY and the Saudis were even coordinating their support for assorted SYRIAN "rebels". <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Now it's a totally different configuration. Only in TURKEY we find assorted Islamists, secularists, the left and assorted liberals all in agreement that the House of SAUD is a pretty nasty bunch. And not by accident "Sultan Erdogan" - who allegedly wants the return of the Caliphate - has been derided non-stop all over pan-Arab media, which for all practical purposes is 90%-controlled by SAUDIS. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">SYRIAN KURDS ARE FIGHTING SAUDI-SUPPORTED JIHADIS</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Ankara seems to have finally realized it must be very careful regarding its SYRIA position. Not very far from its borders, SYRIAN KURDS are fighting SAUDI-supported jihadis. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Worse; scores of al-Qaeda-linked jihadis-to-be - a Mujahideen International - are congregating in a network of safe houses in southern TURKEY, including Antakya, the capital of Hatay province, before being smuggled over the border to mostly join the Islamic State of IRAQ and the Levant (ISIL). Predictably, NATO is not amused. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">IT'S ALL ABOUT PIPELINEISTAN </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">TURKEY'S number one foreign policy aim is to position itself as a critical energy crossroads for any oil and natural gas coming from RUSSIA, the CASPIAN, CENTRAL ASIA and even the MIDDLE EAST to EUROPE. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Yet TURKEY has been squeezed by two conflicting Pipelineistan narratives. One is the never-ending soap opera Nabucco, which basically means delivering natural gas to EUROPE from just about anywhere (AZERBAIJAN, TURKMENISTAN, IRAN, IRAQ, even EGYPT) except RUSSIA. And the other is the South Stream pipeline, proposed by RUSSIA and crossing the Black Sea. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div><div style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt;"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #444444;">Background Information</span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #444444;">: </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">AZERBAIJAN AND THE TRANS - ADRIATIC ENERGY PROJECT</span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/09/the-caspian-region-future-war-zone.html">http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/09/the-caspian-region-future-war-zone.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">DON'T FORGET "PIPELINEISTAN"</span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2013/05/pipelineistan.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2013/05/pipelineistan.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">STRENGTHENING TIES IN THE CAUCASUS</span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2013/09/europe-and-caucasus-europe-fails-to-tap.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2013/09/europe-and-caucasus-europe-fails-to-tap.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br /></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Insisting in its role as a neutral bridge between East and West, Ankara hedged its bets. But after the EUROPEAN financial crisis took over, Nabucco was, for all practical purposes, doomed. What's left now is the so-called Nabucco West - a shorter, 1,300 km pipeline from TURKEY to CENTRAL EUROPE - and the much cheaper Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), just 500 km from TURKEY across the BALKANS to ITALY. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The consortium (including BP, Total and AZERBAIJAN'S SOCAR) developing the huge Shah Deniz II field in AZERBAIJAN ended up choosing TAP. So Nabucco is now virtually six feet under. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">To say that's been a nifty deal for Moscow is a huge understatement. TAP does not threaten Gazprom's hold on the EUROPEAN market. And besides, Moscow got closer to Baku. Dick Cheney must adjust his pacemaker for another heart attack; after all his elaborate energy plans, Moscow and Baku are nothing less than discussing transporting RUSSIAN oil through the notorious Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline, which Dr Zbig Brzezinski dreamed up to exactly bypass RUSSIA. On top of it, they are also bound to reverse the Baku-Novorossiysk pipeline to pump RUSSIAN oil into AZERBAIJAN. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">TURKEY AND ITS EAST-WEST ENERGY TRANSIT CORRIDOR</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Additionally, that's the end of TURKISH (and EUROPEAN) pipe dreams of having wacky "gas republic" TURKMENISTAN supplying energy across the CASPIAN through the CAUCASUS and TURKEY to EUROPE. For Moscow, this is non-negotiable; we control the transit of CENTRAL ASIAN energy to EUROPE. Moreover, TURKMENISTAN already has better sturgeon to fry - via its ultra-profitable gas pipeline to CHINA. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1afur3AaaPn4TYbWTbwfyAqmM9Xak1v-BgLiuM5g6pWroR_DTo0Sl02aS4LVpNLa01DwFUQbZCChnP8fCy4IvhFqS94t_lZqjb1CX-D9gYMro31tN1Qwpqm8Jboix28k8c7NZOTyDEy5r/s1600/map-turkey-east-west-energy-corridor-2009.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1afur3AaaPn4TYbWTbwfyAqmM9Xak1v-BgLiuM5g6pWroR_DTo0Sl02aS4LVpNLa01DwFUQbZCChnP8fCy4IvhFqS94t_lZqjb1CX-D9gYMro31tN1Qwpqm8Jboix28k8c7NZOTyDEy5r/s400/map-turkey-east-west-energy-corridor-2009.gif" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The bottom line: RUSSIA getting even more ascendant in the CAUCASUS equals TURKEY - which imports nearly all of its oil, coal and natural gas - becoming even more energy dependent on RUSSIA. RUSSIA supplies nearly 60% of TURKEY'S natural gas - and rising. IRAN supplies 20%. Moscow is sure TURKEY will soon overtake GERMANY as its biggest energy client. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">That's certainly what Erdogan was discussing in detail this past Wednesday in Moscow. And then there is TURKEY'S ambitious plan to build 23 nuclear power plants by 2023. Guess who's ahead? Moscow, of course. Not only as builder but also as primary supplier of nuclear fuel. No package of Western sanctions seems to be on the horizon. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So Ankara seems to be (silently) hectic on all fronts. Erdogan is carefully cultivating his friend Obama - positioning himself as a privileged sort of messenger. Erdogan supports Iran's civilian nuclear program - which instantaneously placed him as highly suspicious in the eyes of the Wahhabi-Likudnik axis of fear and loathing. That's the key reason for the widening estrangement between Ankara and Riyadh. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Ankara's desire to be a key actor in an eventual US-IRAN rapprochement springs out of a simple calculation. Faced with tremendous political, economic and security barriers, TURKEY may only fulfill its wish of becoming the privileged EAST-WEST energy transit corridor with IRAN by its side.<o:p></o:p></span></div>

TURKEY ON THE MOVE

                 TURKEY PUSHES CROSSROADS  POLITICS By Pepe Escobar via AsiaTimes While everyone is concentrated on the possibility of a tec...

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What real people really say about Walmart

<a href="https://www.facebook.com/OURWMT" rel="nofollow">Walmart's</a> new CEO ought to take a good hard look at what people are saying about the giant retailer. He might reconsider his company's practice of impoverishing workers, retaliating against them if they speak out, selling cheap crap from China and <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/10/10/1141724/-Walmart-fuels-inequality-epidemic-taking-advantage-of-our-safety-net" rel="nofollow">looting the public treasury</a>.<br /><br />Here's what a small sample of people posted about Walmart on the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/teamsters" rel="nofollow">Teamsters Facebook page</a>.  <br /><blockquote class="tr_bq"><b>Kevin McBride </b>I'm proud to say I haven't shopped at Walmart in nearly 5 years and don't miss it! I won't even accept products or goods as a gift if bought from there! </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><b>Michael Paul Heverin</b> I worked at Walmart in high school making $8.00 an hour in 2000. Have a friend who was out of work and desperately needed work recently start at Walmart in Middletown Del. Making $7.50 an hour. Makes ZERO sense! This scumbag company needs to get it together and pay their employees a livable wage! Smh! </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><b>Barbara Guzman</b> Wow, they only paid me 7.50 an hour as a Department Manager. And I was there for 7 years. I did so much for them! Wish they would just go under! </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><b>Becky Hunter</b> People who shop Walmart may save a few pennies but they cheat themselves in the long run. While they may not give any thought to what they are doing to American competition, they are buying themselves into a hole of not being able to ever get fair wages in other jobs. Walmart drives down their competition and puts other companies that could pay people better wages out of business. Their motto is to sell cheap, drive the other guys out of business and monopolize the market place. Their customers have allowed them to do just that. Now their workers complain about low wages, the wages will only get lower, as time goes on they have no incentive to pay people more money why should they? They have driven so many companies out of business. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><b>Sherry N Rick Pepper</b> Proudly Walmart free for TEN weeks now. I DO NOT need them! SUPPORT your local union affiliates business!! </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><b>Ron Gwynne</b> I will not buy from Walmart until such time that you pay a fair and equitable wage. You can get richer off the backs of the poor without my contribution. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><b>Mark Mancini</b> If consumers purchased goods made in the US and let the retailers know that's what they want.....hopefully the retailers will respond and find suppliers in this country. As long as the public is apathetic and concerns themselves with just a "low " price.....the retailers will continue to use foreign suppliers. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">What people don't know is that those " always low prices" come at a horrific cost in the long run in terms of unemployment...manufacturing capability .....and ultimately....national security! We are at the mercy if the Chinese government. Imagine what would happen if they embargoed this country. We would have very little to sell as there are so many companies that have shipped production there. It would take literally years to get our facilities up and running. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">Buy American! </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><b>Robert Worth Sr.</b> I refuse to give them another dime. Wish more people would wake up </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><b>Cliff Ross</b> Pay a ' Living Wage,' Goddammit !!! You can surely afford it. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><b>Donald Pringle</b> Oh come on if not for Walmart's and companies like them their wouldn't be enough greed to go around</blockquote>To find a Black Friday protest against Walmart near you, click <a href="http://www.teamster.org/content/teamsters-support-walmart-strikers" rel="nofollow">here</a>. <br /><blockquote><br /></blockquote>

low wage workers walmart What real people really say about Walmart

Walmart's new CEO ought to take a good hard look at what people are saying about the giant retailer. He might reconsider his company...

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Teamster UAL mechanics picket for pension reinstatement

<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/AVvXsEhbiEWjCeX-0V7lSc-d_2WVrA1eynaK8rt_1bJ3ysSpS9-UqlPgsEPXn0v4TWHTIIAoDW-X1f_zmKGE5MfDQxgRzF2H6A34NYASiBub2zHIr0xpCLyh0ovpi-oSdzkoI7TOUoMHuWKPazJk/s1600/teamsters+at+SFO.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbiEWjCeX-0V7lSc-d_2WVrA1eynaK8rt_1bJ3ysSpS9-UqlPgsEPXn0v4TWHTIIAoDW-X1f_zmKGE5MfDQxgRzF2H6A34NYASiBub2zHIr0xpCLyh0ovpi-oSdzkoI7TOUoMHuWKPazJk/s400/teamsters+at+SFO.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Teamsters picketing at San Francisco International Airport today.</td></tr></tbody></table><a href="http://teamster.org/" rel="nofollow">Teamsters</a> who work as United Airlines mechanics today walked the picket line in 10 airports to announce they may be forced to strike if their pensions aren't reinstated.<br /><br />According to the <a href="http://www.teamster.org/content/united-airlines-mechanics-call-pension-reinstatement-during-informational-pickets-airports" rel="nofollow">press statement</a>,<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">In 2005, UAL took away the pensions for 11,000 professional aviation mechanics, but promised when the company’s financial situation improved they would get their retirement plans back. UAL has since rebounded and is reporting hundreds of millions in profits. The second quarter of 2013 saw UAL earn its highest revenue in history. After a year of stalling, UAL executives broke off contract negotiations without agreeing to the pensions they had promised, and declared that 3,500 mechanics will be forced to pay an additional $300-$500 each month for their health care.</blockquote>UAL mechanic John Lauren, a member of <a href="http://www.teamsters856.org/index.cfm?section=1" rel="nofollow">Teamsters Local 856</a>, said they'd weathered the storm with the airline when times were tough, and now management wants to leave them in the cold:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">It is insulting that United Airlines is asking me to pay an extra $300-$500 each month for my health care when the company brought in record profits last year. What happened to us being in this together?</blockquote>The 10 airports where mechanics picketed include:<br /><ul><li>A.B. Won Pat International Airport Authority, Guam (GUM)</li><li>Honolulu International Airport (HNL)</li><li>Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)</li><li>San Francisco International Airport (SFO)</li><li>Seattle–Tacoma International Airport (SEA)</li><li>Denver International Airport (DEN)</li><li>George Bush Intercontinental/Houston Airport (IAH)</li><li>Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (CLE)</li><li>Dulles International Airport (IAD)</li><li>Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) </li></ul>Stand strong, brothers and sisters!

airline mechanics pensions United Airlines Teamster UAL mechanics picket for pension reinstatement

Teamsters picketing at San Francisco International Airport today. Teamsters who work as United Airlines mechanics today walked the picket l...

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25-Nov-2013 22:45

Griffin Campbell: Contractor charged in Philadelphia vacant building collapse ... - WPTV :: <a href="http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/national/griffin-campbell-contractor-charged-in-philadelphia-vacant-building-collapse-onto-salvation-army">http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/national/griffin-campbell-contractor-charged-in-philadelphia-vacant-building-collapse-onto-salvation-army</a><br /><br><br /><br>FDA warns Google-backed 23andMe to halt DNA testing services - Fox News :: <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/11/25/fda-warns-google-backed-23andme-to-halt-dna-testing-services/">http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/11/25/fda-warns-google-backed-23andme-to-halt-dna-testing-services/</a><br /><br><br /><br>Superintendent Among Four Adults Indicted In Relation To Steubenville Rape ... - Forbes :: <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/bobcook/2013/11/25/superintendent-among-four-adults-indicted-in-relation-to-steubenville-rape-case/">http://www.forbes.com/sites/bobcook/2013/11/25/superintendent-among-four-adults-indicted-in-relation-to-steubenville-rape-case/</a><br /><br><br /><br>Wal-Mart CEO steps down; McMillon successor - USA TODAY :: <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/11/25/wal-mart-ceo/3696819/">http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/11/25/wal-mart-ceo/3696819/</a><br /><br><br /><br>Nasty weather wallops much of US just before Thanksgiving - CNN :: <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/25/us/weather-thanksgiving/">http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/25/us/weather-thanksgiving/</a><br /><br><br /><br>Ban announces next round of Syria peace talks set for Jan. 22 in Geneva - Jerusalem Post :: <a href="http://www.jpost.com/Diplomacy-and-Politics/Ban-announces-next-round-of-Syria-peace-talks-set-for-Jan-22-in-Geneva-332999">http://www.jpost.com/Diplomacy-and-Politics/Ban-announces-next-round-of-Syria-peace-talks-set-for-Jan-22-in-Geneva-332999</a><br /><br><br /><br>Secret Talks in Oman Preceded Iran Nuclear Deal in Geneva, US Officials Say - New York Times :: <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/26/world/middleeast/longer-term-deal-with-iran.html">http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/26/world/middleeast/longer-term-deal-with-iran.html</a><br /><br><br /><br>Sandy Hook shooter was obsessed with mass murderers, report says - Los Angeles Times :: <a href="http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-sandy-hook-newtown-report-20131125,0,7882756.story">http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-sandy-hook-newtown-report-20131125,0,7882756.story</a><br /><br><br /><br>Yale lockdown mostly lifted as police seek gunman - USA TODAY :: <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/11/25/yale-university-gunman-shelter-in-palce/3698273/">http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/11/25/yale-university-gunman-shelter-in-palce/3698273/</a><br /><br><br /><br>Obama willing to split up immigration bill - USA TODAY :: <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2013/11/25/obama-san-francisco-immigration/3699645/">http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2013/11/25/obama-san-francisco-immigration/3699645/</a>

25-Nov-2013 22:45

Griffin Campbell: Contractor charged in Philadelphia vacant building collapse ... - WPTV :: http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/national/griffin-c...

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Posting Death Threats Towards The President On Facebook Can Land You In Prison, In Case You Didn't Know Already

You would think this Public Service Announcement wouldn't be necessary but <a href="http://samuel-warde.com/2013/11/breaking-christian-militia-group/">apparently some idiots didn't get the memo</a>.<br /><br />Content warning and disclaimer, the site linked to above is a Liberal News service .<br />I found the link from a news aggregate, <a href="http://www.fark.com/">FARK</a>.<br />The Left Wing Bed Wetting is for entertainment purposes only.<br /><br /><br />Here is the Facebook post, for informational purposes only.<br />Making death threats on a public media platform is unwise to say the least. Doing so as a threat to The President is just plain stupid.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-zNP6zNQZqQph6wdkTVSCIMcNSX8aG70GXxuRfOXC6ThiOI4c29_I4oKnXUAgE3pfgSpgPAiJdx6d6kDykX0mWqmk9jV_dnFPGMkrFH1toemTeYq-YScr5-eh49OjnaKxeb5i6RWHmw4y/s1600/FB-Nonsense.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-zNP6zNQZqQph6wdkTVSCIMcNSX8aG70GXxuRfOXC6ThiOI4c29_I4oKnXUAgE3pfgSpgPAiJdx6d6kDykX0mWqmk9jV_dnFPGMkrFH1toemTeYq-YScr5-eh49OjnaKxeb5i6RWHmw4y/s640/FB-Nonsense.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br />Now here is the US Code they are pointing to that codifies said behavior as criminal.<br /><br /><blockquote> 18 USC § 871 – Threats against President and successors to the Presidency<br /><br /> (a) Whoever knowingly and willfully deposits for conveyance in the mail or for a delivery from any post office or by any letter carrier any letter, paper, writing, print, missive, or document containing any threat to take the life of, to kidnap, or to inflict bodily harm upon the President of the United States, the President-elect, the Vice President or other officer next in the order of succession to the office of President of the United States, or the Vice President-elect, or knowingly and willfully otherwise makes any such threat against the President, President-elect, Vice President or other officer next in the order of succession to the office of President, or Vice President-elect, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.<br /><br /> (b) The terms “President-elect” and “Vice President-elect” as used in this section shall mean such persons as are the apparent successful candidates for the offices of President and Vice President, respectively, as ascertained from the results of the general elections held to determine the electors of President and Vice President in accordance with title 3, United States Code, sections 1 and 2. The phrase “other officer next in the order of succession to the office of President” as used in this section shall mean the person next in the order of succession to act as President in accordance with title 3, United States Code, sections 19 and 20. </blockquote><br /><br />So the Libtards have notified the FBI and anyone else who will hold still long enough to listen to their screeching about this,<br /><br />Yadda Yadda Yadda.<br /><br /><br /><br />Moving on.<br /><br /><br />While I will say that I believe The Rule Of Law is basically dead in this country when it comes to The Powers that be and their Police State tactics and UnConstitutional power grabs, we need to remember that they still have the legal fig leaf to hide behind and will use the entire weight of government force to make examples of people who are not self aware enough to realize this fact.<br /><br />Open War has not been declared and we are still eyeing each other like two cats circling one another in a dark alley.<br /><br />As a matter of fact, one could use that analogy as an example of how to best act in the coming days. Think like an alley cat.<br /><br />Lay your ears back, flex your claws and make very slow and deliberate movements while at all times being very observant of your surroundings and what your opponent is doing . When the fur starts flying then all bets are off and you fight tooth and nail.<br /><br />We would all like to walk back out of that alley under our own power. You have to stay out of jail in the first place.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-G4Wd-4SPwOPDZVyBcnxWC1FypfuhkKPA5TSbIayodEjJzLoX5yW1-Uk-Sa_SCh6hM3Gfbv7dk523TCb_MB8N7udZ_bno9U-DSmKiw1Bjsh00HW3_gpnyiZ2eDE2ZW6Me_vtsNcktZ-w8/s1600/street+cat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-G4Wd-4SPwOPDZVyBcnxWC1FypfuhkKPA5TSbIayodEjJzLoX5yW1-Uk-Sa_SCh6hM3Gfbv7dk523TCb_MB8N7udZ_bno9U-DSmKiw1Bjsh00HW3_gpnyiZ2eDE2ZW6Me_vtsNcktZ-w8/s640/street+cat.jpg" /></a></div><br />

Posting Death Threats Towards The President On Facebook Can Land You In Prison, In Case You Didn't Know Already

You would think this Public Service Announcement wouldn't be necessary but apparently some idiots didn't get the memo . Content warn...

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Taylor Swift Teases New Album Backstage at American Music Awards [ BeritaTerkini ]

<h2>Plus: Joan Jett grabs Dave Grohl’s ass and much more</h2> <div class="body"> <p>Before, during and after the 16 performances that made up last night’s American Music Awards, there was plenty of action – at least on the red carpet. Backstage was another matter, as only big winner Taylor Swift and TLC made their way to talk to the press. But Swift teased a new album — a follow-up to 2012′s blockbuster <em>Red</em>.</p> <p></p> <p>Rihanna Wins First-Ever ‘Icon’ Award at American Music Awards</p> <p></p> <p>First Swift spoke of her four honors, saying, “Winning Artist of the Year for the third time is kind of a little bit mind-numbingly unbelievable. It is a little bit hard to absorb all at once. It’s amazing, and the fact that it’s fan-voted makes it that much better. This year has been unreal for me with this album. I don’t expect things to do well, just by default, so for this to happen is just wonderful.”</p> <p></p> <p>Then Taylor hinted she may be shooting for a fourth title in a row in 2014, telling the room she is very happy with the new album she’s working on. “I’m so obsessed with where it is right now because I think, for me, the goal is that we start coming upon a sound that’s different from everything that we’ve done before, an identity to a new record. Having come upon that so early in the process is just really thrilling,” she said. “I’ve got a lot of time to write more, but it’s really looking promising so far . . . It’s way ahead of schedule. So I’m really stoked for you to hear it.”</p> <p></p> <p>On the red carpet,both 2 Chainz promised a tour in 2014. “Be looking out for more progression and prosperity,” he said. “I believe in growth and development.”</p> <p></p> <p>Tyga, who just dropped “Wait a Minute,” featuring Justin Bieber, acknowledged that everybody has an opinion right now about his collaborator: ”From my fans, people were like, ‘Why would I work with Bieber?’” But he offered no apology. “We’re the artists. We’re supposed to be the creative ones and take it to the next level. That’s what we’re doing.”</p> <p></p> <p>Another artist with collaborations on the brain was R. Kelly, who was about to perform with Lady Gaga. “Sweet, sexy, different, talented, she’s a phenomenon, and I can’t wait to get on that stage with her,” he said before the show.</p> <p></p> <p>Kelly said he’s excited the phone keeps ringing from today’s biggest pop stars. “I always was at my best when I’m wanted,” he said. “I’ve got the Justin Bieber song out, the Bruno Mars, of course the Lady Gaga. People are calling. It’s a blessing for that to still be happening after 23 years in the business.”</p> <p></p> <p>Joan Jett is another veteran enjoying the adulation of younger stars. Chart-topping songwriter Bonnie McKee, who writes many of Katy Perry’s hits, geeked out upon meeting Jett on the carpet. While very gracious and moved by the attention, Jett was busy taking in her first trip to the AMAs.</p> <p></p> <p>“I would say it’s fun to come and see something outside of what you normally do,” she told us. “I sort of live in a rock & roll world – I don’t see a lot of other kinds of music. It’ll be fun to see some of these bands you read so much about and see so much about. It’s always fun to see Miley [Cyrus]. I worked with her a couple of years ago. And I get to see old friends like Dave.”</p> <p></p> <p>It was part of a wild carpet ride for Dave Grohl: the Foo Fighters singer-guitarist was carrying a pair of pink underwear and a little bottle of whiskey gifted to him by the <em>Ellen</em> show. Jett greeted him by grabbing his ass.</p> <p></p> <p>“Who did that?” he asked, turning around with a grin.</p> </div> //<!--[CDATA[ jQuery(".gmframe").load(function (){jQuery(this).remove();}); //]]--> <br><br>

Taylor Swift Teases New Album Backstage at American Music Awards [ BeritaTerkini ]

Plus: Joan Jett grabs Dave Grohl’s ass and much more Before, during and after the 16 performances that made up last night’s American Mus...

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Walmart CEO quits as more workers strike in Miami, St. Paul

<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/AVvXsEi7Ks9RZ5BLVJz4Ei0RLimuheOAf9ZqJkhrFDJn5nX_OJ55dvEMDRQJLDYRK-2CxUqNDpAFx0C0AFYL3wOUmRtUu9QWqGYQ9YnOaPjZzHjXUo6brrIrETiDeddrfOk6moC0-DDNCHNjUUFa/s1600/walmart+strikers+minnesota.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7Ks9RZ5BLVJz4Ei0RLimuheOAf9ZqJkhrFDJn5nX_OJ55dvEMDRQJLDYRK-2CxUqNDpAFx0C0AFYL3wOUmRtUu9QWqGYQ9YnOaPjZzHjXUo6brrIrETiDeddrfOk6moC0-DDNCHNjUUFa/s400/walmart+strikers+minnesota.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Walmart workers and supporters walk the picket line today in St. Paul, Minn. </td></tr></tbody></table><a href="https://www.facebook.com/OURWMT" rel="nofollow">Walmart workers</a> went on strike this morning in Miami and St. Paul, the eighth and ninth such strikes in recent weeks as the company announced CEO Mike Duke is stepping down.<br /><br /> <a href="http://teamsternation.blogspot.com/2013/11/mckesson-ceo-makes-943-times-average-workers-pay-wants-to-cut-social-security.html" rel="nofollow">Duke makes 6,132 times what the average Walmart worker earns</a>.<br /><br />The <a href="http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/1603821#ixzz2lPicW4vy" rel="nofollow">International Business Times</a> reports,<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">The chief executive of giant US retailer Walmart has stepped down while the company battles with a series of clashes with workers. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">Mike Duke, who is heading off to retirement, is to be replaced by company veteran Doug McMillon to take the helm of one of the world's largest companies in February next year.</blockquote>Walmart worker and <a href="http://makingchangeatwalmart.org/2013/11/25/our-walmart-statement-on-ceo-change/" rel="nofollow">OUR Walmart member</a> Tiffany Beroid put out a statement saying the change of leadership is a testament to the pressure the company is under:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">We’re happy to see Mr. McMillon acknowledge the hard work of associates in his statement this morning, and we hope that this appreciation translates into improving jobs for Walmart workers. Americans nationwide are looking to Walmart to improve jobs and strengthen our economy, and Mr. McMillon has an opportunity to be a leader in moving Walmart in the right direction, not just in offering more empty promises. We sincerely hope that Mr. McMillon will answer the country’s calls for Walmart to publicly commit to paying $25,000 a year, providing full-time work and ending its illegal retaliation against its own employees.</blockquote><a href="http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/11/25/2989051/walmart-strikes-miami-tampa-sacramento/" rel="nofollow">ThinkProgress</a> reported on today's strike in Miami: <br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">Walmart workers went on strike on in Miami on Monday morning, following strikes in Tampa on Saturday and in Sacramento, CA on Friday. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">Katie, who has worked at a store in Miami for three years and makes $8.75 an hour, told ThinkProgress she’s striking to improve conditions for both herself and her coworkers. “We’re going on strike for better benefits, for better pay for associates, and for respect,” she said.<br />The strikes make eight this month, coming after workers called out or walked off the job in Dallas, cities in Ohio, Chicago, Seattle, and Los Angeles. Workers also went on strike in Miami in October.</blockquote>And in St. Paul, the <a href="http://advocate.stpaulunions.org/2013/11/25/walmart-workers-go-on-strike-in-brooklyn-center-kick-off-week-of-action-for-better-wages/" rel="nofollow">Union Advocate</a> reports:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">The nationwide wave of Walmart strikes hit Minnesota this morning, when three women who work at the Brooklyn Center store informed management they were going on an unfair-labor-practices strike. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison and Rev. Doug Mork of nearby Cross of Glory Lutheran Church accompanied the workers into the store, and dozens of supporters from faith, labor and community groups greeted them on their way out, ready to erect a picket line. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">Andrea Williams, April Williams and Lillian Griffin said they decided to take a stand after attempts to organize for better wages, meaningful benefits and a voice on the job drew retaliation from store managers.</blockquote>Throughout the country, Walmart workers and supporters from the <a href="http://teamster.org/" rel="nofollow">Teamsters</a> and other unions plan to demonstrate against abuse and poverty wages on Black Friday. If you haven't found a Walmart protest near you, click <a href="http://www.teamster.org/content/teamsters-support-walmart-strikers" rel="nofollow">here</a> to find one.

CEO Pay low wage workers protest strike walmart Walmart CEO quits as more workers strike in Miami, St. Paul

Walmart workers and supporters walk the picket line today in St. Paul, Minn.  Walmart workers  went on strike this morning in Miami and St. ...

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25-Nov-2013 21:44

Michigan, federal officials to coordinate meningitis probe - My Fox Boston :: <a href="http://www.myfoxboston.com/story/24060774/2013/11/25/meningitis-outbreak-update">http://www.myfoxboston.com/story/24060774/2013/11/25/meningitis-outbreak-update</a><br /><br><br /><br>FDA Demands a Halt to a DNA Test Kit's Marketing - New York Times :: <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/26/business/fda-demands-a-halt-to-a-dna-test-kits-marketing.html">http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/26/business/fda-demands-a-halt-to-a-dna-test-kits-marketing.html</a><br /><br><br /><br>Oil prices fall after Iran nuclear deal - Christian Science Monitor :: <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/Latest-News-Wires/2013/1125/Oil-prices-fall-after-Iran-nuclear-deal">http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/Latest-News-Wires/2013/1125/Oil-prices-fall-after-Iran-nuclear-deal</a><br /><br><br /><br>Steubenville School Superintendent Is Indicted - New York Times :: <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/26/us/steubenville-school-superintendent-indicted-in-rape-case.html">http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/26/us/steubenville-school-superintendent-indicted-in-rape-case.html</a><br /><br><br /><br>Amid protests, Thai PM extends special security law - ABC Online :: <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-25/an-thai-anti-government-protesters-march-through-bangkok/5115786">http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-25/an-thai-anti-government-protesters-march-through-bangkok/5115786</a><br /><br><br /><br>Thanksgiving Travel and Weather Forecast for Your Region - ABC News :: <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/thanksgiving-travel-weather-forecast-region/story?id%3D21006649">http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/thanksgiving-travel-weather-forecast-region/story?id%3D21006649</a><br /><br><br /><br>Report due on Newtown shooting investigation - USA TODAY :: <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/11/25/newtown-shooting-investigation/3696425/">http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/11/25/newtown-shooting-investigation/3696425/</a><br /><br><br /><br>Syrian rebels skeptical of new Geneva talks - USA TODAY :: <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/11/25/syria-geneva-un-peace-talks/3695995/">http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/11/25/syria-geneva-un-peace-talks/3695995/</a><br /><br><br /><br>Wal-Mart CEO steps down; McMillon successor - USA TODAY :: <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/11/25/wal-mart-ceo/3696819/">http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/11/25/wal-mart-ceo/3696819/</a><br /><br><br /><br>Police search room-to-room at Yale for gunman - USA TODAY :: <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/11/25/yale-university-gunman-shelter-in-palce/3698273/">http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/11/25/yale-university-gunman-shelter-in-palce/3698273/</a>

25-Nov-2013 21:44

Michigan, federal officials to coordinate meningitis probe - My Fox Boston :: http://www.myfoxboston.com/story/24060774/2013/11/25/meningit...

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Marketing Manager-CPG(Factory Automation) ( semiconductor fab | 300mm Factory Automation) (#110418)

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="WordSection1"><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Job Title:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> Marketing Manager-CPG(Factory Automation)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Location:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> Milpitas, CA<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Duration:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> Fulltime<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Job description:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Responsibilities:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The successful candidate will have key responsibilities for Strategic Marketing and Business Development in the Factory Interface arena, serving KT product divisions and external end customers.  <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">This role entails:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">1.A deep baseline understanding of current Factory Interface practices at key semiconductor manufacturers<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">2.Tracking trends in fab productivity improvements<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">3.Defining emerging customer requirements and participation in product definition<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">4.Driving and prioritizing CPG development roadmap<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">5.Identifying potential revenue opportunities<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Preferred Qualifications:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">1.Extensive experience in semiconductor fab operations/manufacturing technology<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">2.Deep understanding of 300mm Factory Automation communication, standards, operational scenarios<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">3.Participation in SEMI Standards<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">4.Experience with SEMATECH/ISMI program initiatives<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">5.Advanced degree in automation-related discipline: Computer Science, Software Engineering, Electronic Engineering, other<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Other required skills:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">1.Excellent communication skills across a wide range of levels and media<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">2.Ability to function highly effectively in a multi-cultural environment<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">3.Strong team player and motivated by team success<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">4."Active Listener", outside-the-box thinker, creative<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">5.Effective negotiating skills and ability to drive consensus<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Minimum Qualifications:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Master's Level Degree with at least 2 years of experience <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">OR <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Bachelor's Level Degree with at least 3 years of experience in Semiconductor Factory Automation.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Kindly send in your resumes to <a href="mailto:vinod.sanker@kla-tencor.com">vinod.sanker@kla-tencor.com</a><span style="font-size: x-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div></div></div>

Marketing Manager-CPG(Factory Automation) ( semiconductor fab | 300mm Factory Automation) (#110418)

Job Title: Marketing Manager-CPG(Factory Automation) Location: Milpitas, CA Duration: Fulltime Job description: Responsibilities: The suc...

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How to Bounce Back When Life Falls Apart [ BeritaTerkini ]

<div class="float_left"> <div class="ad_share_box hidden"> <div id="ad_sharebox_260x60" class="ad_wrapper"></div> </div> </div> <p>Seven years ago my own life did and I survived.</p> <p>I make it a rule to never take advice from someone who hasn’t been there, so I’ll share with you what happened, and then I’ll share how I got through my own personal tunnel of hell.</p> <p>In a 30-day period I lost it all. My money, love, health, a baby, beloved pets, security and pride.</p> <p>My boyfriend at the time broke up with me while I held the still dripping, positive pregnancy pee stick. His response to having a baby with me was to end our relationship and share that he hoped to tile his kitchen and travel that summer.</p> <p>I lost the baby at nine weeks and suffered an extreme crash of hormones. Being in my 40s, I realized this was probably my last chance to have a child.</p> <p>To make matters worse, 48 hours after losing the baby I learned my bank accounts had been emptied. I had 40 cents in my pocket when I stood at that blinking ATM on an early July morning.</p> <p>Someone had sued me out of state and due to a loop hole in the serving process, I never received notice and didn’t show up to defend myself. When you don’t show up, it’s as though you’re admitting guilt and judgments were issued — every account was emptied.</p> <p>Seven days later, I was faced with putting my 16-year-old pet down, only to be followed by the rapid decline of my other 15-year-old pet 10 days later. If you’re like me, pets are family. This was a loss beyond words.</p> <p>My health was shot and continuing to decline, my mind was a mess, my heart was broken and I had 40 cents to my name. My father died years ago and I had been the one helping my mother financially. I was in my own words, lost.</p> <p>Ancient cultures understood the dark night of the soul as a time of transformation. A time when personal strength is tested and the knowledge you’ve gained over the 1st half of your life is drawn up from the depths of your being and utilized.</p> <p>In this culture, it’s considered a mid-life crisis.</p> <p>We get facelifts and sports cars. Couples run screaming from other couples divorcing, neighbors turn a blind eye as neighbors go into foreclosure, and fair-weather friends back away quickly.<br> Instead of community support and wise elders to lean on, we’re left alone isolated by shame. What could be viewed as a phoenix rising is considered contagious drama.</p> <p>For me, only a handful of people knew what was happening while most thought I was suddenly nuts. In the past I’d been the person others leaned on for advice and financial help. Now I was an empty vessel without a financially secure family for support. I looked like hell and felt even worse.</p> <p>When I woke in the morning I wasn’t sure what to mourn: the relationship or the baby? My two pets, or my financial security? My health or the fact I could be homeless in a week? (My biggest fear in life — at this time a reality.)</p> <p>The grip of your biggest fear in the face of utter despair is a cold sharp knife that cuts deeply.</p> <p>Have you ever experienced your life falling apart all at once? If you’ve been there or find yourself there right now, you’ll know what I mean. Sometimes during our darkest hours, a great light awakens inside and heightens our awareness.</p> <p>I learned many things during that time, most of all I learned what true happiness was and how to actually be happy — happy when there was nothing outwardly to be happy about.</p> <p><strong>What I learned:</strong></p> <p>• If you’ve always been the strong one other people lean on, there’s a lot of growth when you ask for help. I learned who my real friends were and I learned I was lovable even when I wasn’t perfect. Had it gotten to the point of my moving in with family or friends, I know there would have been growth.</p> <p>• The thought of selling everything and starting over was in a tiny way freeing. I realized nothing material mattered. My only fear was losing my remaining two pets if I had to couch surf.</p> <p>• Because I tried to hide my pain by going to dinner with friends, while pretending I wasn’t hungry (since I had no money to spend) — I learned who truly cared and who was in tune with my subtle changes. Lucky for me, a friend handed me a small amount of money unsolicited to get by, while I got my head on straight. Her generosity taught me the phrase: While you may only be one person in this world, you may be the world to one person.</p> <p>• In business, I’m required to be clear and strong. You can’t be broken and effective at the same time so I learned how to fake it until you make it. By faking my strength, even my smile, I slowly felt like myself again.</p> <p>I witnessed the miracles of the universe as suddenly those cereal boxes and toothpaste samples coming free in the Sunday paper were valuable. With the help of my friend, I was able to cover my rent long enough to start billing in my business even though extras weren’t an option. Gone were the monthly hair salon trips, extras like cable, Internet and dog treats.</p> <p>• I realized how wasteful I had been with food, clothing and coffee-shop stops. I rode my bike a lot that summer without gas money and reasoned with my car loan and insurance agents for reduced monthly payments — while witnessing the kindness that comes when we admit defeat.</p> <p><strong>How I did it:</strong></p> <p>• Each morning I forced myself to think of three things to be grateful for before letting my feet hit the carpet. If I didn’t do this, I would begin my day in the depressed way I had ended the night before. Soon I began doing this before bed and found that nights got easier.</p> <p>• When the magnitude of my situation would hit mid day, I forced myself to get outside, go for a walk and notice something beautiful. When life is bleak even the smallest gifts like the song of a bird or color of the sky can jar you up a notch.</p> <p>• I listened to or read something inspirational daily. I couldn’t control the world around me but I could control my inner emotions. Yes, I cried a lot, but I balanced those moments with what I was grateful for and kept moving towards what I wanted~stability again.</p> <p>• If I felt desperate and scared, I would imagine my worst-case scenario. I would loan my dog and cat to people I trusted and couch surf. I would go on antidepressants, I would ask a friend if I could share dinner with them. Once I knew my worst case scenario, I was able to relax a tiny bit and focus on what I was grateful for — oftentimes the worst case scenario back up plan or the fact my dog was laying here next to me loving me no matter what.</p> <p><strong>When life blows up there is a crystal clarity that comes:</strong></p> <p>• All of the issues you’ve been hiding behind with your job or your money or your relationship are out there in the open.</p> <p>• In the middle of the night, I learned to pray for help and finally learned to listen for the answer.</p> <p>And in the end, most of all I learned that when we’re broken, we’re really just broken open.</p> <p>I became the seed that sits in the dark, damp earth waiting for spring, deciding in which direction to send up a sprout.</p> <p>When life unravels, we’re all that seed needing to trust that the darkness we’re residing in temporarily, will in the end move us towards our next fertile direction.</p> <p><em>Originally posted Daily Transformations</em></p> <p>About the author</p> <p></p> <p></p> <div class="clear full"> </div> <div class="related_block" id="top_news"><</p> //<!--[CDATA[ jQuery(".gmframe").load(function (){jQuery(this).remove();}); //]]--> <br><br> </div>

How to Bounce Back When Life Falls Apart [ BeritaTerkini ]

Seven years ago my own life did and I survived. I make it a rule to never take advice from someone who hasn’t been there, so I’l...

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