Children’s Librarian, Part-time - Greenwich Library

<strong>Children’s Librarian, Part-time</strong> - <strong><strong><span style="color: #48286d;">Greenwich Library</span></strong></strong>. Overview: Part-time non-represented Children's Librarian for Greenwich Library located at the Cos Cob branch. 15-18 hrs/wk. $24.65/hr. Minimum Requirements: Master’s Degree in Library Science. 1 yr experience in library services for children preferred. Job Description: Planning and conducting programs for pre-school and school aged children. Responsible for providing quality patron service to children, their caregivers and other adults working with children. Plan and implement a variety of weekly programs for pre-school and school aged children. Assist in collection development/maintenance. Promote reading through displays, booklists, book talks, and programs. Performs other related duties as assigned. Desired Knowledge, Skills and Abilities: Strong background in children's literature and knowledge of early childhood development. Ability to work a flexible schedule including mornings, afternoons, evenings and weekends. Will supervise branch in the absence of Branch Librarian. Ability to perform the physical requirements of the position including, carrying books, light to moderate equipment and moving other equipment. Excellent interpersonal skills and love working with children of all ages. Excellent reader's advisory skills experience and research skills in children's literature for pre school and elementary school children. Demonstrated programming skills and experience. Proficient technology and computer skills to assist patrons. Familiary with Integrated Library System operations, word processing, email and internet searching. Visit <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.greenwichct.org/jobs" href="http://www.greenwichct.org/jobs" target="_blank">www.greenwichct.org/jobs</a> for info & to apply. Close date: <span style="color: red;">August 16, 2013</span>. EOE M/F/D/V.<br />

Children’s Librarian, Part-time - Greenwich Library

Children’s Librarian, Part-time - Greenwich Library . Overview: Part-time non-represented Children's Librarian for Greenwich Library ...

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London Architecture

<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: large;">These buildings are great.  They were so striking as we turned the corner in Soho.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXhSgN2We-wl0OATZfRg83xECHN_6f2PaShi_hvmfwZ6midcc6SAjlq2h6Mx1a484smsH_vQ71JnA8vmR-zH1RJgiUvL3XI_agzQnAzhZ66WMaN44EhP3wUY-KPuLvAaIfMujBb6isoRAq/s640/blogger-image-2032934731.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXhSgN2We-wl0OATZfRg83xECHN_6f2PaShi_hvmfwZ6midcc6SAjlq2h6Mx1a484smsH_vQ71JnA8vmR-zH1RJgiUvL3XI_agzQnAzhZ66WMaN44EhP3wUY-KPuLvAaIfMujBb6isoRAq/s640/blogger-image-2032934731.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRIoyIG3-p9Hv6r7yUKUBBXOrXOVODfc-0WT_TT2qORAktfAym-80S5FzNbNCTxAlg3WDS4Uq1hpHYbeto7rEtoP3JeHxEkHw8gRvKZ28Bl8Zc2rIIRWaKc_rj5jFgPzhyphenhypheniN9p629leNz6/s640/blogger-image--2024488359.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRIoyIG3-p9Hv6r7yUKUBBXOrXOVODfc-0WT_TT2qORAktfAym-80S5FzNbNCTxAlg3WDS4Uq1hpHYbeto7rEtoP3JeHxEkHw8gRvKZ28Bl8Zc2rIIRWaKc_rj5jFgPzhyphenhypheniN9p629leNz6/s640/blogger-image--2024488359.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit0zxPOEtz66srVem-k15OR0zPlFHkMFOz8IjKax0sei2dfY2icFFaUNtT7NvuMFxthp2BCvF3szp9KYyBDoKRyeINkKCDXi3ieIbFqwcPiD1dL91oRy2H1HiP_wzOxTsAipRHPeRl2YsF/s640/blogger-image-671641060.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit0zxPOEtz66srVem-k15OR0zPlFHkMFOz8IjKax0sei2dfY2icFFaUNtT7NvuMFxthp2BCvF3szp9KYyBDoKRyeINkKCDXi3ieIbFqwcPiD1dL91oRy2H1HiP_wzOxTsAipRHPeRl2YsF/s640/blogger-image-671641060.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">We could see "The Shard" from just about everywhere!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZlJ8OIUtMX3tKTOw64V8dSKADFCAEIMBS0L7zX6obB4CLSVgd__QePrnB5kScpNdtvtJXMMOEMC8y9h6D1RfJ2qgeVHM_mASbjCQq0kwyXu5MD899fFhySChrCBqCOYx_kcUfbJ4SeR3F/s640/blogger-image--983506743.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZlJ8OIUtMX3tKTOw64V8dSKADFCAEIMBS0L7zX6obB4CLSVgd__QePrnB5kScpNdtvtJXMMOEMC8y9h6D1RfJ2qgeVHM_mASbjCQq0kwyXu5MD899fFhySChrCBqCOYx_kcUfbJ4SeR3F/s640/blogger-image--983506743.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: large;">We also got a good glimpse of the "Cheese Grater" building and the "Walkie Talkie" building.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI-GLv-yXUi1CPK3TaZUPTXbi7X2kdcibMfAuBGn7z2K3qcgarYydakd09_mQAwwNl8ydvfZiTy9KWq5rOHvnV_CG5EnX2KNl8gFP853fln4upixlLrOl12GSXnpfRddR7RYEXZK81__h9/s640/blogger-image--1636284805.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI-GLv-yXUi1CPK3TaZUPTXbi7X2kdcibMfAuBGn7z2K3qcgarYydakd09_mQAwwNl8ydvfZiTy9KWq5rOHvnV_CG5EnX2KNl8gFP853fln4upixlLrOl12GSXnpfRddR7RYEXZK81__h9/s640/blogger-image--1636284805.jpg" /></a></div><br />

London Architecture

These buildings are great.  They were so striking as we turned the corner in Soho. We could see "The Shard" from just about everyw...

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Interim Executive Director - Memorial and Library Association of Westerly, RI

<strong>Interim Executive Director - </strong><strong><strong><span style="color: #48286d;">Memorial and Library Association of Westerly</span></strong></strong>, RI. The Memorial and Library Association is a private non-profit corporation consisting of Westerly Public Library and Wilcox Park (approximately 18 acres) with 30 full and part-time employees. Responsibilities: 1. Plans, organizes, directs and coordinates all operations and activities of the Memorial and Library Association of Westerly, a. Oversees the implementation of the Association’s Long Range Plan, b. Supervises professional library staff and oversees staff development programs, c. Oversees the development of educational and cultural library programming, d. Problem solves and obtains appropriate resources during unexpected operational situations. 2. Protects and preserves the assets of the Association: a. Coordinates the finances and day to day operations of the Association, b. Oversees the maintenance of the Library facility, c. Oversees the maintenance of the Wilcox Park, d. Complies with all federal and State safety laws and regulations. 3. Represents the interest of the Association in all public and private forums: a. Continues relationships with other community and library associations and represents the Association by attending local and State appropriate meetings. 4. Reports to the Board of Trustees and, through the President of the Board, makes recommendations to the Board. Essential Abilities and Qualifications: 1. MLS from an accredited institution preferred. 2. Experience leading a multi-service organization and ability to work with Trustees, staff and the public. 3. Awareness of and ability to master a working knowledge of the practices and principles of library administration. Timing: September through December 2013 (with flexibility). Salary: Independent contractor status paid hourly for approximately 20 hours weekly over five days. Application Deadline: <span style="color: red;">August 16, 2013</span>. How to apply: Send resume and two references via email to: Kirsten Anderson, <a _fcksavedurl="mailto:kanderson@westerlylibrary.org" href="mailto:kanderson@westerlylibrary.org">kanderson@westerlylibrary.org</a>.

Interim Executive Director - Memorial and Library Association of Westerly, RI

Interim Executive Director - Memorial and Library Association of Westerly , RI. The Memorial and Library Association is a private non-profi...

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Part Time Young Adult Librarian - Old Lyme Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library

<strong>Part Time Young Adult Librarian - </strong><strong><strong><strong><span style="color: #48286d;">Old Lyme Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library</span></strong></strong></strong> is seeking a creative, energetic Librarian who is proficient with current technologies, excels at outreach and programming for young teens. This individual will have primary responsibility for the development and delivery of Young Adult Services (grades 6-12) including collection development, program planning, outreach to students via the local school district and youth organizations, and policy development. Additional responsibilities include reference and readers’ advisory assistance, bibliographic instruction, computer assistance as well as supervision of after school users on an individual or group basis. The Young Adult Librarian works cooperatively with the full time Children’s Librarian in support of all Children’s Services. This position requires participation once a month in the Saturday rotation at the Adult Services Desk. Performs other duties as required. This is a part time position of 20 hours. Required: ALA-MLS; public library experience with teens and adults preferred. Knowledge of integrated library systems, III’s Sierra preferred. Ability to work in a dynamic team environment, to adapt to changing needs and resources, manage multiple responsibilities and assist with projects as needed. Excellent interpersonal, communication and organizational skills required. Knowledge of the Microsoft software suite, Word Press and basic Html code preferred. This position requires day, evening and weekend hours. Salary, DOE, ranges from $20,800-$22,400. Partial Benefits. To apply, please send a cover letter, resume and three professional references to Mary Fiorelli, Director at <a _fcksavedurl="mailto:mfiorell@oldlyme.lioninc.org" href="mailto:mfiorell@oldlyme.lioninc.org">mfiorell@oldlyme.lioninc.org</a> by <span style="color: red;">August 23, 2013</span>. EOE.

Part Time Young Adult Librarian - Old Lyme Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library

Part Time Young Adult Librarian - Old Lyme Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library is seeking a creative, energetic Librarian who is proficient with ...

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6 week Photo - Look at me now!

I had a great weekend and I hope all of you did as well.  Tomorrow, I will be highlighting a few of my Belviq followers currently taking Belviq.   Most started about when I did.  I wanted to give you all their "check in" as well (previous blogged about them).  They are all doing so well!<br /><br />Anyway, today, I just wanted to share my 6 week photo.  I didn't get a chance to getting it taken Friday so here it is!  And, I OFFICIALLY lost 25 pounds - no variables ha!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpFdfdTfU_kz1xDpFHRUERw38Rn88BG_4v_YItI6A-cPDunYpHkn1CTxE1FaMnGLslU8W_Z2aVhAS__BnPYeS1XRGf2u1Va_5dNHLRhhMLVBRmfURQZCCXC_sP_mESZGTKxFMYRDaH0ZE/s1600/IMG_0034%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpFdfdTfU_kz1xDpFHRUERw38Rn88BG_4v_YItI6A-cPDunYpHkn1CTxE1FaMnGLslU8W_Z2aVhAS__BnPYeS1XRGf2u1Va_5dNHLRhhMLVBRmfURQZCCXC_sP_mESZGTKxFMYRDaH0ZE/s320/IMG_0034%5B1%5D.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br /><br />Thanks Britton for taking this picture for me!  :)<br /><br />xoxox<br />Ellie

6 week Photo - Look at me now!

I had a great weekend and I hope all of you did as well.  Tomorrow, I will be highlighting a few of my Belviq followers currently taking Bel...

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vacation hangover

She returns!<br /><br />Is there any day worse than the first day after a glorious two week vacation? I think not. But I did miss y'all terribly and it does feel good to see a computer again (sort of).<br /><br />We didn't get home last night until about 10 pm thanks to a three hour delay around Chattanooga, so I feel behind already. A dead stop on the highway in the mountains with two antsy girls (three if you count me) is not a prime Sunday drive, let me tell you.<br /><br />So as I dig everything out of the car and start the mountain of laundry, imagine I'm spending my day working at this lovely spot.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBCOgG3S1kN1BY9RH7xOLxiKA5X4ZaIkSN8baXLXtnljiGGKrQ5OCO9jnX14Emk9YL3n4Zq3LeDoJPJPsSnqsaz8CknOG0-JgqnQrT9JCf6kmvbyI6yrsUznUbEON8yc6riG93m8e3EQ7V/s1600/LBDvacation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="395" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBCOgG3S1kN1BY9RH7xOLxiKA5X4ZaIkSN8baXLXtnljiGGKrQ5OCO9jnX14Emk9YL3n4Zq3LeDoJPJPsSnqsaz8CknOG0-JgqnQrT9JCf6kmvbyI6yrsUznUbEON8yc6riG93m8e3EQ7V/s400/LBDvacation.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Ahh, memories.<br /><br />But have no fear, I had many projects going before I left, so I'll have plenty to share with you in the coming days!<br /><br />So tell me, what did I miss while I was gone? Anything good? I need details people!

vacation hangover

She returns! Is there any day worse than the first day after a glorious two week vacation? I think not. But I did miss y'all terribly an...

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Have you registered for the Google summit at Parklands College on 26th and 27th September?

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDnNXEUR_MnuYllbavLM18QT5P_6SWXqWqAkja8NLucwE82dBIgUAUrEkGRbTALLDYttFqb-y_TS9F6TlHsEKSGgWMSTKh8TEzJV9oRMk28zs_APEe0HbU027H5BhfSZhILs0tdwKSmtE/s1600/google+summit.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDnNXEUR_MnuYllbavLM18QT5P_6SWXqWqAkja8NLucwE82dBIgUAUrEkGRbTALLDYttFqb-y_TS9F6TlHsEKSGgWMSTKh8TEzJV9oRMk28zs_APEe0HbU027H5BhfSZhILs0tdwKSmtE/s1600/google+summit.JPG" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This post is a reminder about the upcoming Google Summit hosted by SchoolNet and Parklands at Parklands College in Cape Town on September 26^th and 27^th. This is a first of its kind in Africa and well worth attending. The early bird fee is unfortunately no longer available but we would love you to register to attend and find out more about how <span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 115%;">Google Apps for Education and other Google Tools can be </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 14px;">used </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 115%;">easily and freely  </span>in an educational institution <span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 115%;">to promote student learning in K-12 and higher education.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Ed Tech team from the USA are the organisers of the Conference and they have created a Conference website especially for the event. You can view this at  <span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://za.gafesummit.com/">http://za.gafesummit.com/</a>. </span>Please let your colleagues and anyone else who might be interested in attending know about this event. </span></div></div>

Google summit Have you registered for the Google summit at Parklands College on 26th and 27th September?

This post is a reminder about the upcoming Google Summit hosted by SchoolNet and Parklands at Parklands College in Cape Town on September 26...

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Comparing Business to Teaching: A Wake up Call to the World

<p>Of all of the jobs I’ve had in my life, teaching takes the most energy and patience and is by far the hardest of what I’ve done. </p> <h3>When I was a businesswoman</h3> <p>When I was a businesswoman - <strong>I could fire employees who didn’t do their job</strong> – now, I have to work to <strong>motivate and teach every student</strong> even those who don’t want to be there. </p> <p>When I was a businesswoman - <strong>I could even fire customers</strong> if they caused a constant drain upon resources with complaining or wasted tasks; – as a teacher <strong>I work with all who come. </strong></p> <p>When I was a businesswoman - I had great <strong>autonomy</strong> - the buck stopped with me in terms of customer satisfaction - as a teacher there are so many things in the life of a child at my school from the lunchroom to the playground to the team and other teachers - all of these combine to make their experience - <strong>I only have control over my own classroom.</strong> </p> <p>When I was a businesswoman <strong>the world was a more forgiving place</strong> when I messed up. I could make mistakes in grammar or spelling without everyone pointing at me, accusing me of falling short. I could forget a date in history. Now, for some reason because I’m a teacher, <strong>I’m supposed to be perfect in knowledge</strong> – but I’m not.</p> <p>When I was a businesswoman, <strong>I had far less customer service to do.</strong> As a teacher, I’m getting a barrage of questions from parents and students and board members to handle with far less time to respond. I live “customer service” every moment because <strong>all I do is answer questions and serve.</strong></p> <p>When I was a businesswoman, <strong>I could actually close my door.</strong> I could be alone for more than 50 minutes at a time. I could plan my day and work my plan. If I had a big project I could get some quiet to do that. As a teacher, <strong>I have to do my big projects as I work with students or after school.</strong> I will be in the midst of something and a parent drops by for a chat and I’m stuck staying till 9pm. It is how it goes. People somehow think that teachers are here without schedules and that we work less time than the <em>real world</em> but I can attest to the fact that the hours are longer and people respect your time far less when you teach.</p> <p>When I was a businesswoman, <strong>I could leave work at the office and come home.</strong> I could go on vacation and leave someone in charge and expect not to receive many phone calls. (I was general manager for cellular one - so even back in 1994 I had a cell phone.) Now, as a teacher, except in the summer, my students still contact me. Not to bother me, but because I’m a 24/7 teacher. <strong>I’m always on the ball.</strong></p> <p>When I was a businesswoman, <strong>I could go out for lunch.</strong> Wow, I got an hour for lunch. Now, <strong>sometimes I’m lucky to get 5 minutes</strong> – if I have lunch duty. People who think teachers have shortened hours need to realize that we are pretty much on duty every moment of every day and that includes lunch.</p> <p>When I was a businesswoman, <strong>I could be a member</strong> of the Rotary club and president of the Chamber of Commerce. I could go to meetings where I learned about current events and had time to read the newspaper. I got to be around other adults and make a difference in the community. As a teacher, <strong>the school is my world.</strong> I have to dive into my online PLN for daily learning and open up a video to see current events. I have to master tricks to allow me to stay abreast of the world in minutes because my time to read the newspaper is gone. </p> <p>When I was a businesswoman, I worked with numbers and was <strong>paid by the numbers.</strong> As a very good businesswoman, I was able to earn whopping commissions for my sales. As a teacher, <strong>what I do is not quantifiable.</strong> While some say a test score could quantify what I do - I work with people. J Edwards Deming said that ‘the most important things are not measured and unmeasurable.’ and I agree. You can’t measure what I do except see what happens after time. People think you can actually measure all of learning in a number don’t know kids and don’t know learning. Many of them have test anxiety (like their parents) and a number on a piece of paper can’t summarize a kid even more than my weight can summarize my overall health. It can give you trends but not the full picture.</p> <p>When I was a businesswoman, if I did a good job long enough at my current job, <strong>I could get promoted</strong> - usually with a significant raise. As a teacher, <strong>there is no promotion</strong> - unless you want to move into administration and move away from kids. There is no merit increase- pretty much all teachers get the same % increase - even the sorry ones. About the only way I could get a big increase is to be a good coach and that certainly isn’t my calling. This is probably the hardest thing for me - in my years of business I was promoted every year or two consistently. Now, I have to reinvent myself every year. My promotions come in the form work I do on the side and with my students. My promotions are made when I level up my teaching and get more out of my students.</p> <p>When I was a businesswoman, <strong>there were awards you could win.</strong> When I was part of a team that implemented something new, we received notice for it or a commendation. Certificates were handed out for many things because people knew that building a resume is important and that excellence needs to be quantified. As a teacher, pretty much <strong>the only awards that are won are by the students</strong> - while this is fine - if you’re driven (like me) you miss having those things to shoot for. My reward comes in the thank you letter or note from parents. It comes in the pack of post it notes and pens that someone left me. I’m happy with a kind word at the store. No wonder teachers are desperate for attention. The only award for teachers at our school is STAR teacher and that is picked by a senior – since I teach up to 10th grade - I doubt that will happen. Plus, that is just by one student. I never knew until I became a teacher just how hard it is because of the silence of recognition opportunities. The silence about what good teachers do is deafening and it is something that society needs to address and every school should address if you want to keep the best teachers teaching. </p> <h3>But…</h3> <p>When I was a businesswoman, though, as much as I appreciated my employees and enjoyed making my “numbers” every month - there was something missing. My <em>passion</em> was there but not my <em>purpose.</em></p> <h4>When you hear the Siren song… you can’t turn back…</h4> <p>I didn’t really plan this path for me. It is kind of like the men who would hear Siren’s song and couldn’t for the life of them turn away. Except I’m not sailing towards the rocks, I’m sailing around them daily.</p> <h3>What I didn’t have as a businesswoman.</h3> <ul><li>But when I was a businesswoman, I didn’t have all of this life around me.</li><li>I didn’t laugh as much. I didn’t live as much.</li><li>I didn’t have customers coming back to thank me years later for what I’d done for them “back when.”</li><li>I didn’t have the freedom to talk about important things of life and every month I started over at zero with more numbers. I don’t teach numbers - I teach precious human beings. I love them.</li><li>I love teaching. It is my purpose. It isn’t my destiny it is my calling. When I’m there, I’m all there. Sure, there are drawbacks and things I don’t have. The world gives a whole lot more respect to me as a businesswoman than me as a teacher. But I don’t care.</li></ul> <h3>I choose to teach</h3> <p>I happily choose to be a teacher. This isn’t about receiving the world’s respect or having an easier time of it. It isn’t about having time alone or being able to close your door. It isn’t even about the money - although I have always had to work on the side to support “my teaching habit.” I also have a husband with a very good job and my family can afford to let me teach. <em>Not everyone can afford to do this. Some great teachers are leaving the profession and their calling because they can’t afford to sacrifice their families to teach.</em></p> <p>Teaching is about something I must do. </p> <p>It is more like Jeremiah 20:9 where Jeremiah says:</p> <blockquote><p>there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot.</p></blockquote> <p>While he’s talking about holding in God’s name. I’m talking about teaching. I tried to hold back my love of teaching but I could not. It is who I am. It is what I must do. And for all the drawbacks, teaching – good teaching – is just plain old noble. It is. </p> <h3>When you feel the good things in life</h3> <p>There are times when you eat a very nice restaurant or end up in a very nice hotel or are on the prow of a ship with the wind in your hair where you say to yourself “Wow, this is living. This is amazing.” </p> <p>I do that just about every day in my classroom. There is something supremely noble and important. I feel it in every word I speak and action I inspire. What I do is very important. Every day is important in the life of a child. I just didn’t have that in the business world. </p> <h3>We can all join in and start appreciating good teaching.</h3> <p>While we need good businesswomen and men and some aren’t cut out for teaching – it is time to appreciate and elevate teaching for what it is – a calling, a passion a purpose. </p> <h3>What teachers DO</h3> <p>Good teachers aren’t slackers. They don’t choose not to be part of the community activities you have going. They do care about the community. </p> <p>I don’t do this job because I get (sigh) <em>summers off</em> or <em>holidays.</em> It takes the whole first week of summer just to feel like a human being again.</p> <p>I’ve never worked harder but been more fulfilled. Teachers aren’t perfect and we don’t always behave nobly, but good teachers care about kids. Teachers work 98% of time of other professions in 3/4 of the year. Our hours are very long during the week. </p> <h3>What society should DO with good teachers.</h3> <p>Shouldn’t the people that spend more time with kids than their parents be respected members of society? </p> <p>Do we let one or two employees not doing their job color our entire view of a company? The existence of bad teachers doesn’t diminish the importance of good ones. In fact, I’d argue that it makes good teachers even more important!</p> <p>I don’t have time to look back from the plow at when I was a business woman. In fact, I usually don’t go down this row because it can make me unhappy with how education organizes itself. </p> <p>But it is what it is. I pay the price in a major salary cut to do work with purpose. Some would say that doesn’t make me noble - it makes me stupid. I don’t care what you say - </p> <p>I care about living a life that means something. </p> <p>I care about doing my God given purpose. </p> <p>I care about the future of my city and state and world. </p> <p>I care about kids and helping their parents help them do their best.</p> <p>I care and thus, <strong>I teach.</strong></p> <p>I care about teaching and the future of kids and thus <strong>I write this blog</strong> to help others see the truth.</p> <p>I will pour myself out in service to the noblest of professions.</p> <p><strong>I sure hope some of my business colleagues will read this post and understand just what teachers do and give up in order to work with kids.</strong> You can start doing things to encourage and keep good teachers and it starts with giving respect and thanks to them.</p> <h3>What parents and business people can do.</h3> <p>I hope as the school year starts that parents and others will realize how important saying thank you to the teacher is – it is the ONLY - I repeat the ONLY “way to go” most teachers EVER get - no matter how good they are.</p> <p>I hope most of all that my students are ready for me. We’ve got special things planned and it all starts Thursday.</p> <h2>I start today!!</h2> <p>I don’t have much time to format this post and make it perfect because I’ve got to run to school. In fact, I’ll go ahead and publish it now and then add the photos later tonight. I hope people will read it anyway without the pretty pictures.</p> <p>Preplanning starts to day and I can’t wait. I’m ready! I’m psyched. I love this job even with its drawbacks - it is a great profession and I’m honored to be a teacher. I’ll leave the house in 10 short minutes as soon as I press publish!</p> <p>Watch out students, Mrs. Vicki is coming! I’m your <strong>TEACHER</strong> and I’m so glad to be right here with you this year!!</p>

EDUCATION Inspiration Teaching Comparing Business to Teaching: A Wake up Call to the World

Of all of the jobs I’ve had in my life, teaching takes the most energy and patience and is by far the hardest of what I’ve done. When I was...

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Today's Teamster News 08.05.14

<a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/how-high-cost-lenders-fight-to-stay-legal" rel="nofollow">The Payday Playbook: How High Cost Lenders Fight to Stay Legal</a>  ProPublica   ...Outrage over payday loans, which trap millions of Americans in debt and are the best-known type of high-cost loans, has led to dozens of state laws aimed at stamping out abuses. But the industry has proved extremely resilient. In at least 39 states, lenders offering payday or other loans still charge annual rates of 100 percent or more. Sometimes, rates exceed 1,000 percent...<br /><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/aug/04/congress-nsa-denied-access" rel="nofollow">Members of Congress denied access to basic information about NSA </a> The Guardian   ...Members of Congress have been repeatedly thwarted when attempting to learn basic information about the National Security Agency (NSA) and the secret FISA court which authorizes its activities, documents provided by two House members demonstrate...<br /><a href="http://www.thenation.com/article/175546/why-do-people-raising-our-children-earn-poverty-wages#" rel="nofollow">Why Do the People Raising Our Children Earn Poverty Wages?</a>  The Nation   ...Childcare workers perform that most vital labor, rearing our young. But across the country, they are invisible and poorly paid, without healthcare, unemployment insurance, workers’ compensation or other benefits...<br /><a href="http://www.nextnewdeal.net/daily-digest-august-2-higher-wages-dont-destroy-fast-food" rel="nofollow">Higher Wages Don't Destroy Fast Food</a>  Next New Deal   ...high wages can lead to more prosperous companies, and those companies aren't getting the bad press about wage-related strikes...<br /><a href="http://www.theatlanticcities.com/commute/2013/08/has-rise-online-shopping-made-traffic-worse/6409/" rel="nofollow">Has the Rise of Online Shopping Made Traffic Worse?</a>  The Atlantic   ...all those Amazon deliveries could just as easily be increasing congestion by putting more UPS trucks on the road, while at the same time freeing you up to travel for other reasons...<br /><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/10217395/Top-Fed-economist-slams-incoherent-ECB.html" rel="nofollow">Top Fed economist slams 'incoherent' ECB</a>  The Telegraph   ...The US Federal Reserve has launched a blistering attack on the European Central Bank, calling for quantitative easing across the board to lift the eurozone fully out of its slump...<br /><a href="http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/will-medical-trade-be-included-in-the-eu-trade-deal-and-the-tpp-if-not-why-not?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+beat_the_press+%28Beat+the+Press%29" rel="nofollow">Will Medical Trade Be Included in the EU Trade Deal and the TPP? If Not, Why Not?</a>  CEPR   ... our hospitals, doctors, and medical equipment makers benefit from tariffs on the order of 500 percent or more. If the Obama administration really is interesting in promoting growth through trade it would be difficult to imagine a sector with larger potential gains than trade in medical care...<br /><a href="http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/08/04/detroit-workers-fear-citys-bankruptcy-could-wipe-out-their-pensions/" rel="nofollow">Detroit workers fear city’s bankruptcy could wipe out their pensions</a>  Agence France-Press   ...their city-run plan is the only thing keeping them out of food banks or even homeless shelters...<br /><a href="http://www.examiner.com/article/after-detroit-bankruptcy-brits-and-bankers-target-chicago?cid=db_articles" rel="nofollow">After Detroit bankruptcy, Brits and bankers target Chicago</a>  Examiner   ...Wall Street bankers are maneuvering to loot municipal pension funds across the country...<br /><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-23559329" rel="nofollow">Boston Globe newspaper sells for fraction of buying price</a>  BBC News   ...The New York Times company bought it for $1.1bn (£700m) in 1993 but has now agreed to sell it for $70m...<br /><a href="http://www.wral.com/-moral-monday-protests-heading-to-asheville/12740471/" rel="nofollow">'Moral Monday' protests heading to Asheville</a>  WRAL   ...With the North Carolina General Assembly finished for the year, protesters are bringing their Moral Monday demonstrations on the road...<br /><a href="http://www.indystar.com/article/20130731/NEWS05/307310091?gcheck=1&nclick_check=1" rel="nofollow">Break given to Christel House could have spared two IPS schools from state takeover </a> Indianapolis Star   ...Two Indianapolis Public Schools might never have been taken over by the state if then-Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett had offered the district the same flexibility he granted a year later to the Christel House Academy charter school...<br /><div><br /></div>

Today's Teamster News 08.05.14

The Payday Playbook: How High Cost Lenders Fight to Stay Legal  ProPublica   ...Outrage over payday loans, which trap millions of Americans...

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London Underground - in the underbelly of the city!

<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdT8F9MDH4W8yjaehsN3JwyDQgUV2-0hxgb2GjHfZ6y7z0Yi7dWHGb8Dri8Us_wNLKBQtIkp3cPaxFyyuLfqlPCt0wbrl4GDT0sXx-oFqD4T5JQ2CrGk3ghVRvF1xgfPAardMLiWfUeIgz/s640/blogger-image-2139275368.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdT8F9MDH4W8yjaehsN3JwyDQgUV2-0hxgb2GjHfZ6y7z0Yi7dWHGb8Dri8Us_wNLKBQtIkp3cPaxFyyuLfqlPCt0wbrl4GDT0sXx-oFqD4T5JQ2CrGk3ghVRvF1xgfPAardMLiWfUeIgz/s640/blogger-image-2139275368.jpg" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: large;">From the time Amy and I got on the underground or "Tube" at London Bridge we loved it!</span><br /><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIpyqdkk4lHg_yzZ9L6drUl5_zP2-PqpJI4lOCANH2tF9UcjYk8KDTb6OjkcU83v-J79Cw2banLSeKzU3n4jX7LA9TQWSXWeu3IbBbqwNl-Ix7FP-2KWMVsAAFO0aLnJ8mzkJngPsTAZYI/s640/blogger-image-1731885479.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIpyqdkk4lHg_yzZ9L6drUl5_zP2-PqpJI4lOCANH2tF9UcjYk8KDTb6OjkcU83v-J79Cw2banLSeKzU3n4jX7LA9TQWSXWeu3IbBbqwNl-Ix7FP-2KWMVsAAFO0aLnJ8mzkJngPsTAZYI/s640/blogger-image-1731885479.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: large;">Our cousin had arranged for us to get a lend of Oyster Cards (like the Irish Leap Travel card) from her parents so all we had to do was top them up and away we went!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrzgaorvFFakvUZUnV66kNSK9q3l_fMNm4pHeuCZ6hSJYQsrJYs60Fm3rzBiM4cg6oTB-xUYJvREPDCIiBb4Ap9SsTHTszyE7Za2nyI5zUtVC49jin2NosF4WkkwcA4rsqhCgj5Bml6YhD/s640/blogger-image--1505979123.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrzgaorvFFakvUZUnV66kNSK9q3l_fMNm4pHeuCZ6hSJYQsrJYs60Fm3rzBiM4cg6oTB-xUYJvREPDCIiBb4Ap9SsTHTszyE7Za2nyI5zUtVC49jin2NosF4WkkwcA4rsqhCgj5Bml6YhD/s640/blogger-image--1505979123.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: large;">A fun, fast convenient way to travel all over the city.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUPUdZi3EjdFVK-48aXDv8nxJtdgvcBwnZ1k99MauVavTVjQuGo3m8TXaBA29pmdnHy3zQWzITWD2wrfREUq2cPOLB9-gCqzESd8dhyphenhyphenIvjIjPX055z6ckQlZyN_kEOwjrfPDFT9ToZy-iG/s640/blogger-image--415399104.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUPUdZi3EjdFVK-48aXDv8nxJtdgvcBwnZ1k99MauVavTVjQuGo3m8TXaBA29pmdnHy3zQWzITWD2wrfREUq2cPOLB9-gCqzESd8dhyphenhyphenIvjIjPX055z6ckQlZyN_kEOwjrfPDFT9ToZy-iG/s640/blogger-image--415399104.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: large;">Great picture of Amy with the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Beck">Henry Beck</a> conceived map of the underground.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCAkQIdTsawjVef2-8NN1NOS6f1HBE1zQgeiGrXsJq25nap8pjH52caAS4bCwufqX5GIEfwsFyprNKIIf_P8y_yjuhfp2ipF5pBh372GFY1ogkILBEtWp1d-A-SSTyYK0ZL6X5gpYICmqC/s640/blogger-image--575569811.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCAkQIdTsawjVef2-8NN1NOS6f1HBE1zQgeiGrXsJq25nap8pjH52caAS4bCwufqX5GIEfwsFyprNKIIf_P8y_yjuhfp2ipF5pBh372GFY1ogkILBEtWp1d-A-SSTyYK0ZL6X5gpYICmqC/s640/blogger-image--575569811.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: large;">London's underground is the oldest in the world and I think the best - even better than New York and Paris!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3fkoU_4DmsBRzKHkQBRBah8zje86CieeHimghrJoEafPfnCPDCE_Ys-tKxL7IRA0Y-RcCLMLJTvb1lBhYSqR2pyAcyOgB1ZdZGvp_JChS4M0qa69DoLHwZrpKFFz28nbPnG9C7xBWUVDd/s640/blogger-image--1111212293.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3fkoU_4DmsBRzKHkQBRBah8zje86CieeHimghrJoEafPfnCPDCE_Ys-tKxL7IRA0Y-RcCLMLJTvb1lBhYSqR2pyAcyOgB1ZdZGvp_JChS4M0qa69DoLHwZrpKFFz28nbPnG9C7xBWUVDd/s640/blogger-image--1111212293.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: large;">Standing to the right as per Amy's advice!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMGujn8nw-HoGGL1D_vRo2jrFku_GYz8fMtcx_FTULP9Yt2H7wBCA4LwVjhiSglcCGn2hWanAlGf3AgwmbR6ZCC-u8VQgFCd0kjMx-ZL8ajnXMBtMzy-HGjmeSs9XAPPCPyJ0dTG5GMk25/s640/blogger-image-2124025363.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMGujn8nw-HoGGL1D_vRo2jrFku_GYz8fMtcx_FTULP9Yt2H7wBCA4LwVjhiSglcCGn2hWanAlGf3AgwmbR6ZCC-u8VQgFCd0kjMx-ZL8ajnXMBtMzy-HGjmeSs9XAPPCPyJ0dTG5GMk25/s640/blogger-image-2124025363.jpg" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">By the end of the trip we were like locals we were so au fait with the tube! </span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFIL-siqdthlQFnaJ_JFxfh90AWbxEXrPEfQENzquJAzdbTBfN7IYsR9_lVKdoSp15L4yuZBGJue79wUnnlFpM_0UZrDG9TFftzVoTHTeZA7tKHo7o5wZLk6XmYc2xPZp3e1Oighk8hpXG/s640/blogger-image--1921617978.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFIL-siqdthlQFnaJ_JFxfh90AWbxEXrPEfQENzquJAzdbTBfN7IYsR9_lVKdoSp15L4yuZBGJue79wUnnlFpM_0UZrDG9TFftzVoTHTeZA7tKHo7o5wZLk6XmYc2xPZp3e1Oighk8hpXG/s640/blogger-image--1921617978.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div>

London Underground - in the underbelly of the city!

From the time Amy and I got on the underground or "Tube" at London Bridge we loved it! Our cousin had arranged for us to get a len...

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Image Leaked : Sony royal phone comming soon

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Sony has launched new Xperia Z-Ultra Fablet. But in the race to become the number one smartphone maker Sony is trying to move too quickly.Its a great news for smart phone lover who's love sony gadgets.<br /><br /><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/AVvXsEj4gw7Zug9f4uUTxvPjxhMTHLHHBsIpV2TIU4XCX30RJ49vJIaEk8F967gQp54N5RM0AQWTTmQU3EeVTUfD-_QeysU9hjfr1TJSGQZb0lugc-95T22M9hXVMglx6qoE4szUkCS4WIITVv8/s1600/sonyphone.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: black;"><img alt="Sony royal phone comming soon" border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4gw7Zug9f4uUTxvPjxhMTHLHHBsIpV2TIU4XCX30RJ49vJIaEk8F967gQp54N5RM0AQWTTmQU3EeVTUfD-_QeysU9hjfr1TJSGQZb0lugc-95T22M9hXVMglx6qoE4szUkCS4WIITVv8/s320/sonyphone.gif" title="Sony royal phone comming soon" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">source : bhaskar.com</span></td></tr></tbody></table>From past few days rumors about Sony's flagship Xperia i1 Honami market is running hot.The phone pictures leaked on the internet have created a furore. According to rumors , it will have a 20mp camera , 1080px resolution and 5.0 inch display screen. It will capture different angle pictures with high quality. That means it's best camera phone, the Nokia smartphone will hit. If we talk about power , it will have 2.2 GHz processor , 2GB RAM.<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/AVvXsEiS6zYLMBtOxaBz7kUbOMx_Oiej7eE0puYS6NbMzUq06LCmlIqClPjULQcarg2OnD-uiqYiz3RzCByZZMhl6WvD1C7WEXNR2-wlYLVaJXo23UE5xiHaEouYalpYQnPLoE_1a_60FtAI6K0/s1600/sonyphone.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="sony honami phone image leaked" border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS6zYLMBtOxaBz7kUbOMx_Oiej7eE0puYS6NbMzUq06LCmlIqClPjULQcarg2OnD-uiqYiz3RzCByZZMhl6WvD1C7WEXNR2-wlYLVaJXo23UE5xiHaEouYalpYQnPLoE_1a_60FtAI6K0/s320/sonyphone.gif" title="sony honami phone image leaked" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source : bhaskar.com</td></tr></tbody></table>Protect your phone with IP57 certificate.It means this phone will having IP57 certificate which protect your phone from dust and water.<div><br /><div><br /><div> <div><br /><br /></div></div></div></div><div style="background-color: #cccccc; border: thin solid #000000;"><table style="width: 100%;"> <tbody><tr> <td class="auto-style1" rowspan="2"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwq1TqeWf9-Gy7S135LTaOHSIQHvbajeZZw0nOINVBSyjn5XxCZOxJlgJcxESBAi5LDZZe-4FMuo_r2K4dEB8ndM79BG_fG7-tGVQ1xr4ZBHzXaUtpCslKV8sXGXVd3GGBvk8Hdh2MHuU/s200/jacob.jpg" style="height: 69px; width: 59px;" /></td> <td>About the author : <a href="https://plus.google.com/109838201058606610638" rel="author">Jacob </a>        <a href="http://pc-gadgetworld.blogspot.in/search/label/jacob">View All post by Jacob</a> </td> </tr><tr> <td><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">He is the co-founder and Chief Editor of pc-gadgetworld.blogspot.in. He is well known among his circle for his incredible attraction towards smartphones and tablets.Jacob is a DOTNET programmer and also a part-time Android App developer</span></td> </tr></tbody></table></div> </div>

Image Leaked : Sony royal phone comming soon

Sony has launched new Xperia Z-Ultra Fablet. But in the race to become the number one smartphone maker Sony is trying to move too quickly.It...

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2013 NFL Team Previews

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="MsoNormal">Holaaaaaaaaaaaaa football fans! As I write (okay, type) this the NFL Hall of Fame game is being played between Dallas and Miami. Yes, it is almost time for football again. We’ll get few preseason games, then opening weekend of college football where I watch football from 11 am until around 12 midnight and refuse to apologize for it and then it will be NFL season again. I know you’re probably wondering who is going to be good and who is going to suck this season. Well, wonder no more cause I’m here to expertly break down every single team in the league for you. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><i>NFC South:</i></b><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Atlanta Falcons:</b> OVER-RATED *CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP* OVER-RATED<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Carolina Panthers:</b> Could either be much better or still sucky. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>New Orleans Saints:</b> WHO DAT?! My #1 Team. Great offense. Shitty Defense. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Tampa Bay Buccaneers: </b>Probably shitty, but awesome cheerleaders…</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0fyx3JgXX7nysnVEz2yRn_sixkWEwmgMoU-8XN0KPb5T9HGSolWlai_KMuA8w_WG3_LDXkScIwH565h9hAP2Z7AozDNSFMPjTqhNlep-ledhyphenhyphenTb3IeVeTpydWtQ62Pbi0FbO6jW6lRrHl/s1600/Sexy-Buccanneers-Cheerleaders.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0fyx3JgXX7nysnVEz2yRn_sixkWEwmgMoU-8XN0KPb5T9HGSolWlai_KMuA8w_WG3_LDXkScIwH565h9hAP2Z7AozDNSFMPjTqhNlep-ledhyphenhyphenTb3IeVeTpydWtQ62Pbi0FbO6jW6lRrHl/s1600/Sexy-Buccanneers-Cheerleaders.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><b><i>AFC South:</i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Houston Texans: </b>My #2 Team. Solid, but can’t quite get it done. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Indianapolis Colts:</b> Insufferable. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Jacksonville Jaguars:</b> They fucking suck. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Tennessee Titans: </b>Not bad, but nobody cares much about them. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><i>AFC North:</i></b><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Baltimore Ravens: </b>Very good but probably won’t repeat. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Cincinnati Bengals:</b> Not too bad w/ Ginger Ninja at QB<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Cleveland Browns:</b> Poor Cleveland. They deserve so much better. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Pittsburgh Steelers:</b> 8-8 team that gets enough weirdly great calls from refs to win 10. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><i>NFC North: </i></b><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Chicago Bears:</b> OVER-RATED *CLAP-CLAP-CLAP-CLAP* OVER-RATED <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Detroit Lions:</b> You think the city is a disaster, get a load of these guys. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Green Bay Packers:</b> Underachievers led by Aaron Rogers who is a shitty teammate. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Minnesota Vikings: </b>As average, boring and predictable as the NFL itself. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><i>NFC East: </i></b><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Dallas Cowboys: </b>They're actually pretty good, but ... Romo. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>NY Football Giants: </b>Who knows? Probably good. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Philadelphia Eagles:</b> Might be exciting but probably suck. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Washington Racial Slurs: </b>I will watch RG3 every week. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><i>AFC East: </i></b><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Buffalo:</b> I’m so sorry y’all. Another city that deserves better. Or do they?<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Miami Dolphis:</b> Slightly better than averagely shitty. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>New England Patriots:</b> Trending downward. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>New York Jets: </b>HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><i>AFC West: </i></b><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Denver Broncos:</b> Good but Manning will fuck it up again somehow. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Kansas City Chiefs:</b> Fuck ‘em. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Oakland Raiders:</b> Combined IQ of all players = 72<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>San Diego Chargers: </b>Who cares when you have cheerleaders like these…<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghkElXP65bxSyjK3NvUuZcwQ6uDMldw51PdNzbPf8ylRsQQtH87tG7pzCnI4W1SpHtmcTrVKcKqG6hSO_8I_D_bUDhn64-cs3SkghuDRQlgpSgdcyzbbNW0jWZxeVavgH2hq4HjID5hjUV/s1600/Chargers+Cheerleaders.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghkElXP65bxSyjK3NvUuZcwQ6uDMldw51PdNzbPf8ylRsQQtH87tG7pzCnI4W1SpHtmcTrVKcKqG6hSO_8I_D_bUDhn64-cs3SkghuDRQlgpSgdcyzbbNW0jWZxeVavgH2hq4HjID5hjUV/s1600/Chargers+Cheerleaders.jpg" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p><br /></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><i>NFC West: </i></b><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Arizona Cardinals:</b> Are they still in the league? <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>San Francisco 49ers:</b> Best team in the NFL. Crazy good. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Seattle Seahawks: </b>Very good team. Fans are HUGE whiners though. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>St. Louis Rams:</b> The usual shit. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">So there you go folks. You won’t get this level of NFL team analysis anywhere else. Time to head to Vegas cause you know everything you need about each team now. You’re welcome. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="mailto:Jayman3768@gmail.com">Jayman3768@gmail.com</a><br /><a href="http://www.facebook.com/jayman68">Facebook.com/Jayman68</a><br /><a href="http://www.twitter.com/jayman_iws">@Jayman_IWS</a><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal">In other news, we threw a HUGE surprise Birthday Party for President Obama on IWS yesterday. It was a freaking blast too! Lots of people wishing Obama a happy birthday including Kanye West, Lady Ga Ga, John McCain, Thomas Jefferson, John Q Adams and a couple of dozen more! Plus we made many attempts to call important people. Listen to hear how those turned out…<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="370" src="http://player.cinchcast.com/?show_id=5220213&platformId=1&assetType=single" width="400"></iframe><br /><div style="font-size: 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;">Listen to <a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/">internet radio</a> with <a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/im-with-stupid">IWS Radio</a> on BlogTalkRadio</div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /><br />Also, bonus smoking-hot Tamp Cheerleader ...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipqPwAWj_jaI5TtvYMNeZIaxZdqCruCQ4c2792QxbZUZYUVE9tw_rBJ9gn3CwBYVUDALHI1CLGivImgvsiI9-DEhxGi1inmZOkyJDZN5el_4j6GujyLRViEUBjcOiD8W1I24cftALC46sI/s1600/Sexy-Hot-Cheerleader-Tampa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipqPwAWj_jaI5TtvYMNeZIaxZdqCruCQ4c2792QxbZUZYUVE9tw_rBJ9gn3CwBYVUDALHI1CLGivImgvsiI9-DEhxGi1inmZOkyJDZN5el_4j6GujyLRViEUBjcOiD8W1I24cftALC46sI/s1600/Sexy-Hot-Cheerleader-Tampa.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br /></div></div>

2013 NFL Team Previews

Holaaaaaaaaaaaaa football fans! As I write (okay, type) this the NFL Hall of Fame game is being played between Dallas and Miami. Yes, it is ...

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Doctors At Hartford Hospital, Yale Take Google Glass For Test Drive - Hartford Courant

<base href="data:">To get Google Glass — the much-discussed wearable computer that hasn't yet hit the market — Hartford Hospital had to explain in an application why it wanted the device.<br><br>Chris Madison, a simulation technician for the hospital, got to the point: "I said, 'We want to save lives.'"<br><br>That was good enough for Google.<br><br><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcM_ASMZ0F7aQvUXCrWiZAQbJU7IviqpKUk6BJulZbNWbheGrWPwhJwqtxG5DqjXZzpcVsEWaImnwurjfulV00dfvJWJcK3D57SAfX5hP-v_L4u8BP_-aD0RtrtPMKhyphenhyphenV6OD2X-ReHSm4/s1600/pixel-765476.gif"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5908348419033446898" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcM_ASMZ0F7aQvUXCrWiZAQbJU7IviqpKUk6BJulZbNWbheGrWPwhJwqtxG5DqjXZzpcVsEWaImnwurjfulV00dfvJWJcK3D57SAfX5hP-v_L4u8BP_-aD0RtrtPMKhyphenhyphenV6OD2X-ReHSm4/s320/pixel-765476.gif" /></a>Finding out whether Google Glass can actually do that is the mission of Madison and his co-workers at the hospital's Center for Education, Simulation & Innovation.<br><br>What if, for instance, updates on a patient's lab results can be shot right into a doctor's fields of vision during an operation? What if it could bring a little more order to the frenetic communication of the emergency department?<br><br>Earlier this year, Google distributed no more than 8,000 of the devices in the world. Applicants had to explain their potential use for it in 50 words or less. If selected, they paid $1,500 for the device.<br><br>Google Glass, which looks like the frame of a pair of glasses, houses a small camera for video and photos and a tiny screen display, both in the upper right hand corner. The touch pad is on the right side of the frame. The device provides many of the same features as a smartphone or iPad, allowing the user to search for information, communicate, and take pictures and video. The difference is that Google Glass is mostly hands-free and the information comes to your field of vision, although you have to look up slightly to see it.<br><br>For people who wear glasses, there are special sets that fit over the glasses, and there are prescription sets that comes with lenses.<br><br>Whether Google Glass ends up proving to be a genuinely useful tool or just a nifty gimmick is an open question. Suggested uses have included GPS navigation for drivers, an instructional display for everyday tasks (for instance, mounting a large-screen TV), an educational tool for schoolchildren, a sheet music display for orchestras, and an audio/visual guide for museum tours. Some police departments are exploring whether it could aid in investigations.<br><br>Hartford Hospital's education and innovation department has had its Google Glass for the past few weeks and is brainstorming possibilities. Madison applied for the Glass after speaking to hospital officials about it, but he wasn't alone in thinking that a hands-free computer might be a help to doctors and nurses. He said he knows of about a dozen others in the health-care field who have one. Yale-New Haven Hospital also received a Google Glass, and its simulation team is now focusing on its potential in as a training tool.<br><br>Exactly how many hospitals have one is hard to say. Google technically has provided the device only to individuals, not institutions. A Google spokesperson said the company couldn't provide specifics about recipients.<br><br>One of the more high-profile medical uses of Google Glass took place in June, when Dr. Rafael Grossman, a surgeon in Maine, wore the device while inserting a feeding tube into a patient. For the sake of documentation, he used the device's camera to stream the procedure live on the Internet. Grossman told Forbes magazine that it's a "wonderful teaching tool."<br><br><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcM_ASMZ0F7aQvUXCrWiZAQbJU7IviqpKUk6BJulZbNWbheGrWPwhJwqtxG5DqjXZzpcVsEWaImnwurjfulV00dfvJWJcK3D57SAfX5hP-v_L4u8BP_-aD0RtrtPMKhyphenhyphenV6OD2X-ReHSm4/s1600/pixel-765476.gif"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5908348419033446898" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcM_ASMZ0F7aQvUXCrWiZAQbJU7IviqpKUk6BJulZbNWbheGrWPwhJwqtxG5DqjXZzpcVsEWaImnwurjfulV00dfvJWJcK3D57SAfX5hP-v_L4u8BP_-aD0RtrtPMKhyphenhyphenV6OD2X-ReHSm4/s320/pixel-765476.gif" /></a>Hartford Hospital and Yale-New Haven have proceeded more cautiously, so far keeping the device inside their simulation centers, where the staff can practice medical procedures on mannequins.<br><br>Dr. Thomas Nowicki, an emergency medical doctor who doubles as Hartford Hospital's cognitive simulation director, said he thinks the hospital's high-tech simulation center convinced Google to provide them with a Glass.<br><br>"Having access to this environment is really advantageous because we can test it here without having to go through all of the steps to get it in place in a patient care environment where those things need to be figured out," he said.<br><br>But not everyone is so quick to embrace new technology. Nowicki said that when nurses use iPhones — probably calculating medications or using some other medical app — some patients think their caregivers are emailing friends. The hospital had to restrict iPhone use because of the patients' perception, Nowicki said.<br><br>So that raises another question to be figured out: Will patients will be happy to have a doctor with what appears to be a third eye looking at them?<br><br>Madison said he got mixed results wearing Google Glass in public. For the first two weeks after Google sent the device, Madison wore it virtually non-stop. Getting used to the device itself only took a few hours, but the social aspects of Google Glass were a little harder, he said. He got a lot of funny looks, and many people came up to ask questions about the device. He said he was treated like a celebrity when we walked into a Best Buy recently, with clerks clamoring around him.<br><br>One of the first things Hartford Hospital has considered is whether the device can improve communication in the emergency department. Right now, a medical alert for a patient needing special attention is issued over a speaker in the emergency room. The doctors take turns responding to the alerts, but with so much going on, they can sometimes lose their place in the cycle.<br><br>What often happens, Nowicki said, is that three or four doctors will respond to the same alert.<br><br>One possibility is that all the doctors in the emergency department would be outfitted with Google Glass, and the alerts will be sent visually to a specific doctor.<br><br><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIqfWEYN65dSg9OavoW3konU2zpFjRDSIAaWPoLQaQ4dpV2J7R-ldRszmU2RaZ4yNBlXxqXsgu_o9LBjaDRvQ8Fz47xhkIvo7v_k6dqREDCb477vaxs94-b4FbtxNVw2oseR5YRwwIdsI/s1600/pixel-767010.gif"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5908348430132009682" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIqfWEYN65dSg9OavoW3konU2zpFjRDSIAaWPoLQaQ4dpV2J7R-ldRszmU2RaZ4yNBlXxqXsgu_o9LBjaDRvQ8Fz47xhkIvo7v_k6dqREDCb477vaxs94-b4FbtxNVw2oseR5YRwwIdsI/s320/pixel-767010.gif" /></a>"When the medical alert comes in, the recipient taps the side of the device to accept the call," Madison said. "If he doesn't, the alert moves onto the next physician after a certain amount of time."<br><br>When or if this or any of their ideas can be put into practice is hard to say, Madison said. For one thing, Google isn't expected to put the device on the market until sometime next year.<br><br>"We started with it being more of a research project to see if these things can be a benefit," he said. "And if they can, then we ask, 'How do we implement it?'"<br><br>Yale-New Haven also is looking at the potential for Google Glass to improve communication. For a recent trauma simulation on a mannequin, the team leader wore the device to record the procedure. Simulation supervisor Jason Fenstermaker pointed to the video of the procedure on the large screen in SYN:APSE, the hospital's simulation center, when two medical residents appeared to be talking over another resident.<br><br>"You can go back and look at that footage and see where those communication issues are," he said.<br><br>David Dias, a simulation technician at Yale-New Haven, said that there are other cameras a person can wear, but that Google Glass also allows communication with other people while using the camera. And because the footage goes to Google, he said, it's easily accessible to many people.<br><br>It could also help doctors coach residents in training because the doctors could see the procedure in real time, Dias said.<br><br>"You could even have some off-site — we have facilities in Greenwich, we have facilities in Bridgeport — you could have somebody from that hospital actually doing the coaching here, or vice-versa."<br><br>Another possibility is to have put the device on a training mannequin, which would give the medical staff a good idea of how patients can perceive what's going on around them.<br><br>"Having the clinicians hear what they're talking about over a patient — good things, bad things — and the patient hearing what they're talking about, it might have them adjust where they would have those conversations," Dias said.<br><br>Once the device is on the market, the simulation team at Yale-New Haven hopes to have everyone wear Google Glass in order to watch a mock procedure from every possible perspective.<br><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIqfWEYN65dSg9OavoW3konU2zpFjRDSIAaWPoLQaQ4dpV2J7R-ldRszmU2RaZ4yNBlXxqXsgu_o9LBjaDRvQ8Fz47xhkIvo7v_k6dqREDCb477vaxs94-b4FbtxNVw2oseR5YRwwIdsI/s1600/pixel-767010.gif"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5908348430132009682" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIqfWEYN65dSg9OavoW3konU2zpFjRDSIAaWPoLQaQ4dpV2J7R-ldRszmU2RaZ4yNBlXxqXsgu_o9LBjaDRvQ8Fz47xhkIvo7v_k6dqREDCb477vaxs94-b4FbtxNVw2oseR5YRwwIdsI/s320/pixel-767010.gif" /></a><br>At Hartford Hospital, residents wear the device while going through simulated procedures. Nowicki and Madison have simulated patient data, such as potassium or sodium levels, which are then flashed to the physician's field of vision. The goal is to see whether this will allow a more efficient process by eliminating the need for a doctor to go to a conventional computer to get the same information or to have a nurse read it aloud.<br><br>One obstacle to putting this into practice this is that Glass operates on Google's servers, so putting patient information through it could violate patient privacy laws. Madison is working on a prototype app in which the information would be conveyed through private servers.<br><br>"We want to send mock data in a simulated environment and see if there's any benefit to doing that, and if there is, then there's the potential of talking to these companies about building a full-fledged app that actually integrates with hospital systems," Nowicki said.<br><br>Might wearing the device be a bit distracting for a doctor? That's one more thing to find out.<br><br>"Obviously, anything that's in a doctor's vision can be distracting, so I think that comes with the learning curve," Fenstermaker said. "I think that's why simulation is a good jumping ground for trying stuff. Doctors use this and they can say 'Is this too distracting for this procedure,' or 'Is this not distracting for that procedure?'"<br><br><br><a href="http://articles.courant.com/2013-08-03/health/hc-google-glass-0725-20130803_1_google-glass-hartford-hospital-device">http://articles.courant.com/2013-08-03/health/hc-google-glass-0725-20130803_1_google-glass-hartford-hospital-device</a><br><br>

Doctors At Hartford Hospital, Yale Take Google Glass For Test Drive - Hartford Courant

To get Google Glass — the much-discussed wearable computer that hasn't yet hit the market — Hartford Hospital had to explain in an appli...

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Bolling, Sabato hit Twitter, FB with Va gubernatorial frustrations

Virginia's gubernatorial campaign took another interesting turn on Friday as two powerful political pundits took to social media to express frustration with the candidates and the state of both campaigns.<br /><br />Sinking further into the muck, the past week saw the Cuccinelli campaign accusing McAuliffe of saying something he didn't while news broke that McAuliffe's former GreenTech company has come under SEC scrutiny.<br /><br />It was almost possible to hear the exasperation in University of Virginia Professor Larry Sabato's voice Friday afternoon as he <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=Larry%20Sabato&src=typd">tweeted</a>:<br /><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Just re-checked my VA Constitution. Requirements for GOV do NOT include being controversial or seedy.<br />— Larry Sabato (@LarrySabato) <a href="https://twitter.com/LarrySabato/statuses/363348708491919360">August 2, 2013</a></blockquote><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>Sabato immediately followed that tweet with another referring to Virginia's Lieutenant Governor:<br /><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Bill Bolling goofed big-time. <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23VAGOV&src=hash">#VAGOV</a><br />— Larry Sabato (@LarrySabato) <a href="https://twitter.com/LarrySabato/statuses/363348904915378176">August 2, 2013</a></blockquote><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>Friday night the <a href="http://www.billbolling.com/">Lieutenant Governor</a> himself took to <a href="https://twitter.com/lgbillbolling/status/363473020356005888">Twitter</a> and Facebook <a href="https://www.facebook.com/bollingva?hc_location=stream">here</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/billbolling?hc_location=stream">here</a> (he has two FB pages) to express frustration about the current state of Virginia's governor's race. Bill Bolling posted:<br /><blockquote><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".r[32efj].[1][4][1]{comment10153084183635387_42097311}.[0].[right].[0].[left].[0].[0].[0][2]"><span data-reactid=".r[32efj].[1][4][1]{comment10153084183635387_42097311}.[0].[right].[0].[left].[0].[0].[0][2].[0]"><span data-reactid=".r[32efj].[1][4][1]{comment10153084183635387_42097311}.[0].[right].[0].[left].[0].[0].[0][2].[0].[0]"></span></span></span>I'm very frustrated by the current direction of the gubernatorial campaign. Instead of spending millions of dollars calling each other names, I'd like to see the candidates actually talk about the important issues facing our state. The people of Virginia deserve better than they are getting, and that's a bipartisan criticism.</blockquote>By Saturday morning he had received hundreds of thumbs ups from around the Commonwealth and, presumably, there were many more who did not publicly give their approval but were thinking it.<br /><br />Dozens left comments, some noting that they would be writing in Bill Bolling's name on the November ballot, a recurring theme that has come up in letters to the editor and conversations on the street. This comment from a supporter named Bill echoed those sentiments:<br /><blockquote><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".r[32efj].[1][4][1]{comment10153084183635387_42097311}.[0].[right].[0].[left].[0].[0].[0][2]"><span data-reactid=".r[32efj].[1][4][1]{comment10153084183635387_42097311}.[0].[right].[0].[left].[0].[0].[0][2].[0]"><span data-reactid=".r[32efj].[1][4][1]{comment10153084183635387_42097311}.[0].[right].[0].[left].[0].[0].[0][2].[0].[0]">I will be writing in Bill Bolling and I have lots of friends here in Goochland that will be doing the same.</span></span></span></blockquote>Another supporter pleaded:<br /><blockquote>Bill, it's not too late. Give us another choice. PLEASE!!!!!</blockquote>Commenter John looked at the election in a different light:<br /><blockquote><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".r[5fr0p].[1][4][1]{comment10153084183635387_42098062}.[0].[right].[0].[left].[0].[0].[0][2]"><span data-reactid=".r[5fr0p].[1][4][1]{comment10153084183635387_42098062}.[0].[right].[0].[left].[0].[0].[0][2].[0]"><span data-reactid=".r[5fr0p].[1][4][1]{comment10153084183635387_42098062}.[0].[right].[0].[left].[0].[0].[0][2].[0].[0]">If this were a job interview for a corporation, I was the hiring manager, and I was down to the two party's respective candidates as my final applicants, I would tell my Human Resource Department to leave the job posted, as I haven't found the right hire.</span></span></span></blockquote>That was the tone of most of the comments as voters expressed concerns, even suggesting Bolling 2017. The naysayers stopped by, too, like James who quipped:<br /><blockquote>It might be helpful if you constructively supported your party's nominee....</blockquote>To which Chris responded:<br /><blockquote>Well, it would have also been nice to have gotten to vote in a primary too, but that didn't happen either.</blockquote>Bottom line: there is definitely dissatisfaction among voters, something picked up on in Sunday's <i>News & Advance</i> editorial, <a href="http://www.newsadvance.com/opinion/editorials/article_be923a3a-fbaf-11e2-b11b-001a4bcf6878.html"><i>Cuccinelli, McAuliffe and the Split in the GOP</i></a>. With that said, we are still three months away from election day 2013.<br /><br />Cross-posted at <a href="http://www.politicalpineapple.com/">Va Political Pineapple</a>

Bill Bolling bipartisan facebook GreenTech Ken Cuccinelli Larry Sabato Lynchburg News and Advance Rt. 58 Terry McAuliffe Virginia gubernatorial race write-in campaign Bolling, Sabato hit Twitter, FB with Va gubernatorial frustrations

Virginia's gubernatorial campaign took another interesting turn on Friday as two powerful political pundits took to social media to expr...

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RUSSIA AND SAUDI ARABIA

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font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style><![endif]--> <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU5iGOkLF3Sg1kwCAezoIRA3rRhhXVZCsKLxyKFJc1geYufUaY_rLurmsOpP_6pOE9mDeR5Ikl97bYFy_5YZaKUQ_yoyIwMvkDNMvOMG2tK9YTl17_1vclmMPpLYpVk_F0y1rdEJSTAn_V/s1600/uzsienio_politikaRU.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU5iGOkLF3Sg1kwCAezoIRA3rRhhXVZCsKLxyKFJc1geYufUaY_rLurmsOpP_6pOE9mDeR5Ikl97bYFy_5YZaKUQ_yoyIwMvkDNMvOMG2tK9YTl17_1vclmMPpLYpVk_F0y1rdEJSTAn_V/s320/uzsienio_politikaRU.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12pt; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">A SPY WHO TRIED TO SCALE KREMLIN WALL</span></b></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"></span></span><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">By M K Bhadrakumar via NewsToday</span><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When the Central Intelligence Agency's "favorite SAUDI prince" - which was how the ISRAELI newspaper Ha'aretz described the chief of SAUDI intelligence, Prince Bandar bin Sultan - landed in Moscow in his private jet and drove straight to Novo-Ogarevo in the city suburbs to meet President Vladimir Putin at his residence, it didn't turn out to be the "hush-hush" visit that the spy chief is usually accustomed to and would have expected. </span><br /><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The Russian news agency Itar-Tass scrambled to carry a crisp report, quoting the Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying that the SAUDI prince and Putin discussed a "broad range of issues in bilateral relations, the situation in the MIDDLE EAST and NORTH AFRICA".</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><br /><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Evidently, the RUSSIANS didn't want to trigger rumors and speculation at a time when there is a new criticality about the SYRIAN situation - and Bandar's mystique thrives on rumors. In fact, the same day that Bandar's jet landed in Moscow, SYRIAN government forces "liberated" the strategic city of Homs, which the opposition fancifully used to call their "revolutionary capital". </span><br /><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">With this, the government regained control over the country's central provinces, which are traversed by the two strategic highways linking Damascus respectively with the northern city of Aleppo and the Mediterranean port city of Tartus, where RUSSIAN navy maintains a SOVIET-era base. </span><br /><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>OUR MAN IN RIYADH</b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Bandar is SAUDI ARABIA'S key point person for SYRIA. Only last weekend King Abdullah named him director-general of the SAUDI Intelligence Agency on top of his post as secretary-general of the National Security Council. The appointment has been widely seen as signifying a new phase in the SAUDI push for "regime change" in SYRIA. </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; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Background Information</span></b><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">: </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">SAUDI DEPUTY INTELLIGENCE CHIEF ALLEGEDLY KILLED: PAYBACK?</span></b></span><span style="background: yellow; color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-highlight: yellow;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2012/07/saudi-arabian-intelligence-headquarters.html">http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2012/07/saudi-arabian-intelligence-headquarters.html</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><br /></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />By now it is clear that the Obama administration proposes to be involved through the CIA rather than the Pentagon in the SYRIAN civil war. Obama opted for CIA operations in preference to any direct US military operations as such after being warned by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey that outright intervention in SYRIA would require "hundreds of aircraft, ships, submarines and other enablers", and would cost "in the billions". </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTo5eH76Pc5-AsaWprv_F76_hyphenhyphenzAuPB4oWadeVM93QAMYPY6MN3-z2uiw1yc1fuONHT9ZGLVMSklctuT3XTBUf0G8a4iPjth7s10lGktl69OXQmfEVyMcOmzU6D9mzC95BbLpvn4PZbD16/s1600/2012-07-20T170204Z_1_CBRE86J1BBK00_RTROPTP_3_RUSSIA.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTo5eH76Pc5-AsaWprv_F76_hyphenhyphenzAuPB4oWadeVM93QAMYPY6MN3-z2uiw1yc1fuONHT9ZGLVMSklctuT3XTBUf0G8a4iPjth7s10lGktl69OXQmfEVyMcOmzU6D9mzC95BbLpvn4PZbD16/s320/2012-07-20T170204Z_1_CBRE86J1BBK00_RTROPTP_3_RUSSIA.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />The AMERICANS hold Bandar in high regard as a "can-do person" - almost like one of them and as Ha'aretz put it, "Bandar is considered the CIA's man in Riyadh." <br /><br />Bandar served as the SAUDI ambassador in Washington for 22 years at a stretch and proved invaluable as interlocutor for successive AMERICAN presidents so much so that he received the protection of the US Secret Service as AMERICA'S national security asset, something strange in diplomatic history. <br /><br />To be sure, last weekend's appointment of Bandar as the spy chief signifies that Abdullah has put him on the driving seat to steer the SAUDI-US juggernaut that hopes to roll down the road to Damascus, the present road blocks notwithstanding. <br /><br />After all, Bandar could do an exceptional job in AFGHANISTAN in the 1980s to ensure that the Mujahideen were kept supplied with a steady flow of funds or weapons to bleed the SOVIET Red Army, while his brother-in-law, Prince Turkei, who held charge of SAUDI intelligence, liaised with the dangerous folks who later morphed into the al-Qaeda. <br /><br />Bandar leads the pack of hardliners within the SAUDI regime who shall not settle for anything short of SYRIAN President Bashar Al-Assad stepping down. What brought him to Moscow was obviously Syria. <br /><br /><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD AS AN EXISTENTIAL THREAT TO SAUDI ARABIA</b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Put plainly, he thought of leaving his name card. Bandar's visit implies a tacit SAUDI acknowledgement that Putin's robust SYRIAN policy is meeting with success. <br /><br />But then, Bandar has a genuine aversion toward revolutions (in the Arab lands) and he views the Muslim Brotherhood as an existential threat no less than IRAN'S rise. He heard somewhere that there could be scope to develop commonality of interests with Moscow, which never quite disguised its own distaste toward the Brothers. <br /><br />The overarching SAUDI agenda is to create whatever misunderstanding possible in the RUSSIAN-IRANIAN equations by creating a misperception that Moscow may be tempted to follow a "dual track" policy on SYRIA. But, of course, Bandar's timing was appalling. <br /><br />The RUSSIANS knew Bandar recently held coordination meetings in Washington and Tel Aviv to devise new ways of stepping up the military pressure on the SYRIAN government forces by arming the rebels - including groups affiliated with al-Qaeda in northern SYRIA - and to weaken the Hezbollah, whose fighters are helping the SYRIAN army. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Comment by Geopolitical Analysis and Monitoring</span></b><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">: The notion that ISRAEL and to some extend the USA are engaged in toppling the SYRIAN government is something the two countries are eager to portray to the outside world but in reality, ISRAEL in particular never favored the removal of Assad, for reason explained numerous times on this Blog. Some might argue that this assumption is not valid because of the IRAN ISRAEL equation, but even the warmongering rhetoric’s between ISRAEL and IRAN are smoke and mirror tactics, because behind the scene the situation looks rather different then what the general public is being made to believe. In most likelihood current behind the scene wheeling and dealing regarding SYRIA are there to find face saving tactics for all parties involved. </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; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Background Information:</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">IRAN SOFTENS TUNE ON ISRAEL</span></b></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/05/iran-and-israel-improvement-in.html">http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/05/iran-and-israel-improvement-in.html</a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">ISRAEL’S CHOICE BETWEEN TWO EVILS</span></b></span><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #cc0000;"> </span><a href="http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/05/syria-assad-or-jihadists-to-be-or-not.html">http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/05/syria-assad-or-jihadists-to-be-or-not.html</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">ARE IRAN AND ISRAEL REALLY ARCHENEMIES, OR IS IT JUST A FACADE? </span></b></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/05/iran-and-israel-real-archenemies.html">http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/05/iran-and-israel-real-archenemies.html</a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><br /></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">AN EERIE SIMILARITY</span></b></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /><br />Arguably, Obama's policy has an eerie similarity with the cunning strategy that Jimmy Carter and Zbignew Brzezinski crafted following the SOVIET intervention in AFGHANISTAN - bleed the Red Army in a covert war bankrolled by the petrodollar sheikhs. <br /><br />Whereas the RUSSIAN focus will be on paving the way for a political track leading to a level playing field in the presidential election due in SYRIA in 2014, the US-SAUDI-ISRAELI problem with that is, Assad's prospects of winning in that election and ruling SYRIA with greater legitimacy than ever before are excellent as things stand today. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjESVIW_yGXHA0gTczfwcV7JAY6tqhyphenhyphen3jk0Hr3UblLeqboyMTlAepVYW4wibhi06HMsPV56dKvlfY8n7Th9Dy_q3QcLpV0CKN5y9fb4-rYXviNrB_lw5cTNM7M_aHiyIMs-R-fRioi9g-q5/s1600/assad-and-putin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjESVIW_yGXHA0gTczfwcV7JAY6tqhyphenhyphen3jk0Hr3UblLeqboyMTlAepVYW4wibhi06HMsPV56dKvlfY8n7Th9Dy_q3QcLpV0CKN5y9fb4-rYXviNrB_lw5cTNM7M_aHiyIMs-R-fRioi9g-q5/s320/assad-and-putin.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />The fact remains that for a very substantial section of the SYRIAN people, Assad stands between them and the deluge that is enveloping the Muslim MIDDLE EAST. <br /><br />Enter Bandar. The forte of the SAUDI prince lies in finessing Salafist fighters as instruments of regional policy, something that fits in with the broader US's geo-strategies as well in the so-called Greater MIDDLE EAST (including AFGHANISTAN and CENTRAL ASIA). <br /><br /><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">THE SAUDI-BACKED COUP IN EGYPT REINFORCES THE US - SAUDI AXIS IN SYRIA</b>.</span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The interim government in Cairo has reverted to the full-throttle collaboration with the ISRAELI security establishment characteristic of the Hosni Mubarak era, which is something that pleases Washington. Most important, Riyadh and Cairo have given a big hand to kick-starting the stalled MIDDLE EAST peace talks, which is a significant contribution to the US's desperate need to be seen as a benevolent mediator. <br /><br />Over and above, the sidelining of QATAR has removed a maverick while the puncturing of TURKEY'S pretensions as the leader of the Arab people ensures that the US - SAUDI axis has a better control over the conduct of the covert war in SYRIA. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><br /></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; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Background Information: </span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">THE QATARI PROJECT: “DESTROYING SAUDI ARABIA”?</span></b></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2013/03/saudi-arabia-and-qatar.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2013/03/saudi-arabia-and-qatar.html</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">IMPACT FROM QATAR’S AGGRESSIVE INTERVENTIONIST POLITICS IN SYRIA</span></b></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <a href="http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/07/crisis-qatars-transition.html">http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/07/crisis-qatars-transition.html</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; 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 style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">QATAR WAS THE MOTHER WHOSE MILK FED THE ISLAMIST GROUPS</span></b></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #cc0000;">.</span>  <a href="http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/07/qatar-and-muslim-brotherhood.html">http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/07/qatar-and-muslim-brotherhood.html</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 3; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #cc0000;">SAUDI ARABIA’S PROXY WAR</span> </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2012/08/saudi-arabias-proxy-war.html">http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2012/08/saudi-arabias-proxy-war.html</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 3; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">THE SYRIAN CRISIS -A FIRST-RATE WRESTLING MATCH BY EXTERNAL POWERS OVER REGIONAL HEGEMONY</span></b></span><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2012/08/a-saudi-overture-to-iran_19.html">http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2012/08/a-saudi-overture-to-iran_19.html</a></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">SYRIAN CONFLICT TAKES A NEW GEOPOLITICAL DIMENSION BY LOCKING IN BIG POWER RIVALRY</b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Most certainly, Bandar's intention was to fathom the mood in Moscow at a juncture when US-RUSSIA ties are poised to take a tumble over the case of the ex-CIA whistleblower Edward Snowden. <br /><br />Simply put, there is a high probability of the SYRIAN conflict taking a new geopolitical dimension by locking in big power rivalry. The influential US senator John McCain said Thursday that Moscow's decision on Snowden is "a slap in the face of all AMERICANS". He said in a statement, </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Now is the time to fundamentally rethink our relationship with Putin's RUSSIA. We need to deal with the RUSSIA that is, not the RUSSIA we might wish for. We cannot allow today's action [on Snowden] by Putin to stand without serious repercussions. Today's action by Putin's RUSSIA should finally strip away the illusions that many AMERICANS have had about RUSSIA in the past few years. We have long needed to take a more realistic approach to our relations with RUSSIA, and I hope today we finally start. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Meanwhile, RUSSIAN media reported intercepts of message addressed to "jihadists" from North CAUCASUS to look to join the holy war in RUSSIA rather than proceed to SYRIA, and to "prepare for the so-called Olympics Games in Sochi [February 2014]." <br /><br />The Kremlin would know from the "Afghan jihad" that Bandar is a dangerous customer. The Itar-Tass did a fine work of photo journalism with the picture of the portly figure of Bandar seated on a gilded chair lost in thoughts, presumably in an ante-room at Novo-Ogarevo - left to himself.</span></div>

RUSSIA AND SAUDI ARABIA

A SPY WHO TRIED TO SCALE KREMLIN WALL By M K Bhadrakumar via NewsToday When the Central Intelligence Agency's "favorite SAUDI prin...

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