take it outside

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Happy Monday! I hope that everyone survived the weekend and there is no storm damage outside your window today. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Now that the pollen has finally stopped falling from our big old Oak trees in the backyard, we can get started on one of the projects I have on <a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2012/01/2012-goals.html" target="_blank">my 2012 list</a> - the deck.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">While there is a lot of unsexy things that need to be done to the deck - new stairs, railings and replacing several boards - there is also a decision to make.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>Is our outdoor space going to be a place for dining?<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/AVvXsEjytQjX4s3eQzouTAjTlsq8BNlRxWdaaPoFMQYV7ICaHgYf-n2fdKOlXyttWU86vxCgi1Y-uiNAKA8tqhPHaji0qskw7dpOu9orEMrDDv4VTywXeCAIrASkNGR8hMerbewxCKPqCzv1JT9Z/s1600/7299919771.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjytQjX4s3eQzouTAjTlsq8BNlRxWdaaPoFMQYV7ICaHgYf-n2fdKOlXyttWU86vxCgi1Y-uiNAKA8tqhPHaji0qskw7dpOu9orEMrDDv4VTywXeCAIrASkNGR8hMerbewxCKPqCzv1JT9Z/s640/7299919771.jpeg" width="424" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://buddhainteriors.tumblr.com/post/7299919771" target="_blank">Buddha Interiors</a> via <a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/6896205649608191/" target="_blank">Pinterest</a></td></tr></tbody></table><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/AVvXsEh5l9syk1MmBDJZXjF6HHOdVkgYZ5OCyEzYZFLhBIs5hUAghPCL60Y-t2BtAZnwxI6ptg4kivHOUD4XW-0yZ2AGWDtx0IHRyE1fQ9v7SmCqS1KCqANcXSIIgngAyxUiXlYpjC4XqESuSbYH/s1600/sunniestpatio35pse2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5l9syk1MmBDJZXjF6HHOdVkgYZ5OCyEzYZFLhBIs5hUAghPCL60Y-t2BtAZnwxI6ptg4kivHOUD4XW-0yZ2AGWDtx0IHRyE1fQ9v7SmCqS1KCqANcXSIIgngAyxUiXlYpjC4XqESuSbYH/s640/sunniestpatio35pse2.jpeg" width="448" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">via <a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/6896205649608233/" target="_blank">Pinterest</a></td></tr></tbody></table><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/AVvXsEi4RjGKzKOT6uYDvhOX-nQFycgiTfublH44NE2i6yiW5iCklH86rzZN0872WrW6TcnfvMhai7qBAFC7zp9kg0R72vv4LYHhFFtH9ake9YzubI5y-pyBYqxkKprguYH_ZKmw2vQvz7Cz0JvH/s1600/backyard-retreat-l.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4RjGKzKOT6uYDvhOX-nQFycgiTfublH44NE2i6yiW5iCklH86rzZN0872WrW6TcnfvMhai7qBAFC7zp9kg0R72vv4LYHhFFtH9ake9YzubI5y-pyBYqxkKprguYH_ZKmw2vQvz7Cz0JvH/s640/backyard-retreat-l.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.southernliving.com/home-garden/gardens/front-back-screen-porch-patio-00417000071944/page39.html" target="_blank">Southern Living</a> via <a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/6896205649610367/" target="_blank">Pinterest</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Or, will it be for lounging?<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/AVvXsEim-AcXunOfPBoSIKfWWK2Ad0LpYr-0fUPTks746Q1MQEVcwnoG8w0nCiKPUOuHF3vkAA6NidER-s4yQoYYbDzwVi-RqafbGQAPP9syfUtToL6YrEsP3TU-x3roy4VLORLg6KL97ZmEzxyt/s1600/home-tour-cape-cod-style-cottage-in.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="font-size: medium; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim-AcXunOfPBoSIKfWWK2Ad0LpYr-0fUPTks746Q1MQEVcwnoG8w0nCiKPUOuHF3vkAA6NidER-s4yQoYYbDzwVi-RqafbGQAPP9syfUtToL6YrEsP3TU-x3roy4VLORLg6KL97ZmEzxyt/s640/home-tour-cape-cod-style-cottage-in.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.southernliving.com/home-garden/decorating/cape-cod-cottage-makeover-decorating-ideas-00417000072851/page18.html" target="_blank">Southern Living</a> via <a href="http://www.mixandchic.com/" target="_blank">Mix and Chic</a> via <a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/6896205649454493/" target="_blank">Pinterest</a></td></tr></tbody></table><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/AVvXsEi4U14J0xiQN8ICRdOK4sgYfmfKQDj-bTsTDWyZ6kj7EGYp4tK_JvzeNfcZbmuP-ILymJrtz5t5qXVa8VG3TFvcMz3wxQXIa5Y2I9anILZkuEBuxZeUVXk_tWWb1B3miuUMNTnfRUgNOihA/s1600/outdoor+living.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4U14J0xiQN8ICRdOK4sgYfmfKQDj-bTsTDWyZ6kj7EGYp4tK_JvzeNfcZbmuP-ILymJrtz5t5qXVa8VG3TFvcMz3wxQXIa5Y2I9anILZkuEBuxZeUVXk_tWWb1B3miuUMNTnfRUgNOihA/s640/outdoor+living.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">via <a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/6896205649113503/" target="_blank">Pinterest</a></td></tr></tbody></table><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/AVvXsEjpWpCZ1ddpIZprLE-krOacaBieblhqZmdHN7DazOimdczIlDwK2iwTrZxu0DGzTFKFga5iOhNZoqW7fYYoU0aYjYar_VqCRq08jeYeNzOUaHrqhIB17ECeLp4_nPmLVrQbG5bBp_vIOXRA/s1600/updated-traditional-design.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpWpCZ1ddpIZprLE-krOacaBieblhqZmdHN7DazOimdczIlDwK2iwTrZxu0DGzTFKFga5iOhNZoqW7fYYoU0aYjYar_VqCRq08jeYeNzOUaHrqhIB17ECeLp4_nPmLVrQbG5bBp_vIOXRA/s640/updated-traditional-design.jpeg" width="500" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">House Beautiful via <a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/6896205649113502/" target="_blank">Pinterest</a><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></td></tr></tbody></table>Do you have an outdoor space? Do you use it for hanging out? For eating? Eating while you hang out?

take it outside

Happy Monday! I hope that everyone survived the weekend and there is no storm damage outside your window today.  Now that the pollen has fin...

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A quick, free way to run meetings

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Submitted by Fiona Beal </i></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Today I came across this meeting site which said. “Meet Face to Face Online, hang out with co-workers and teams, run as many meetings as you want, no software or signups needed. Best of all, it's free”. This sounded great – almost like a free group Skype but maybe with video? The site is called ‘<i>meetings.io</i>’ and the address is <a href="http://meetings.io/">http://meetings.io/</a></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuN2Rp6e8OQnZF2bSFQFo-3Jr2k28C4GVLYlNyT19R1o9ECXvERKJDwtUeikrCAMgtjkU2gIavgEewMo6UwQYQzQe5L9zsGQlhRgpECRFOTH00dGyKXIETJVAHCfTJ8kAfM8MMV1fMON0/s1600-h/image%25255B4%25255D.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg5uoQTJ8l7bz5FDRfFBamJ6PDb8i6_RZGBlbJbY9I1AiY038PAPR2Xa7ScVBUGFxByjhkW4Gw8YhyPneEiLlmeQ3C2Asp5U50gr6qYJk5PV_cl3tczBUNVM71bMiOTb2QfRHzaXj8sBk/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="320" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><u>Step 1</u>: To start off you click on ‘Get a meeting room’.</span><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span> <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7_bfyg66ivmQu_LdFUs7CskGu6janK6s_wiC_mzMmwkNRi4CUhVaLWAbDXdZtBOxwHWMQRuGVth7WV22oDasRErB1KbbjB8hj21b5glQDvKH3Ot39dFGfcaNSOM1vF9KLXfMHAhyphenhyphenEhvs/s1600-h/image%25255B9%25255D.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="110" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFO8Fc4gZZtUTb6I9132mojqbRJJx3_P4Hbx_RxS0yl6097U2hdBeeioZgAxEKVcqeIO5tgZ4KHp3phfcHeBddPcYysaZHZ4KMTM4j97A_EhG-Nbo_DLjS25WHJrFHNXm5rlStvNu08Y4/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="242" /></a></div><br /><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><u>Step 2</u>: This takes you to a meeting room number that you can enter at any time.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyt2Uujt7HyY6xhiICIr886TPhzH0fNjWm4cS3vvhHy-zsOzohkLK9XAFhdZKroPKxguoe8RxJzG0jiHfnqcuXYYfMIZdz2kDAPo0P2AM-zEiJQPcVHd4gV34vm8XIc6p50CcudmXOV74/s1600-h/image%25255B13%25255D.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="121" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivq8gicIu8miDRmQO7UTQiL6e7oelskHOmPKDv-RyD4u0giqm5Lze2Ee8AzVe1amHsuYbSg819ihZ427e3ylJ6QX0vqdDVZEaiVyIzvJqY1zUCMuszefC1cpR6hiJcu8cKHsJdVfp70VY/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="242" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><u>Step 3:</u> You now enter the meeting room with your name.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikl9CxxFfyYBkPPyzM-PIqrwwFjMj9p6ouFi9zsdw68k5VqPrVRMfJSAabq-bm1H8D2C-ESxP-771KJCOIl79mhr38LqpWhQVoGJQ8PMMbOSLPyKddpevHevPqyizJJmwPUIGb0-sf1fo/s1600-h/image%25255B16%25255D.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlaijrH0o-U_ip2oobB4wIsx5gbnvND8AzpPLKU0vHWUeMjuhh6uklBJqslMYrtbjmIuO_MEZcrbLpSQNdgnK_rREnmvKy_ZXUqFkOFQsXI8za5F3lTEiRA0rBvLiCV9oAXL2DbO7fhjQ/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /></a></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br /><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><u>Step 4</u>: You are asked a question about your bandwidth.</span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGcuEKpb321krNKwiP3U3qBmP2SZ4kmDnQ1-WJt8TEMIyeumSdRQbz_-o7NQQQde7ZYot8ouRHL02r47kkzosxSyvgJZJqUCTESOohFwhPwoVduJB2ev_TC-QMp9K-TOOMilFJ8UoCGN8/s1600-h/image%25255B19%25255D.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="176" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJJlEgmH-Uk1r4gyvLNFEiy_3VWoq1l8tCRYzXOg23re9MpgEKTJmJdXnCRbFtfRezcZexjmz8MrjjPIYvaRapv6QbdqYbenXrH7A6FUZYrgeoC5wuZitjTGSePAAe0VbHm-NFq8KCgL0/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><u>Step 5</u>: It asks if you want to allow meetings.io to access your cameras and microphone</span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8UqxdpgOqlGwKNnhDt3qFE1WHTVfYtTp0tnDvPfIqj_k6drVs4BZfQVLL_qihBgN8kL6ZSXTvYwbbuuUcv9CX0-WcIOka671QvBsIZkcNPGq4rot_jWI-4T27S7bFg4Nh1mF01-uRI1w/s1600-h/image%25255B22%25255D.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqF5-eYpR9syrKiFYZLofDSxzKTYYp6hinLwWq_AgylkkRF1tje7OYKLDI7V91FEmI_ZkccxODOC6Uu0WfLbWsGBFNcOhZhRtxhTU9uBrY24welNNas97rJxXAcDOMXQxH6IdGJtxnwyg/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="173" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I didn’t go any further than that, but this looks good! I think I’ll try it out on some colleagues later.Another look at the site shows amazing features.  This site looks well worth exploring.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><u>Application for schools</u>:</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">1. Groups could use this to discuss and plan group projects at home.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">2. If you are in a collaborative global project this site could be used for discussions.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">3. Teachers could have a quick meeting from home when time for a meeting doesn't fit into the school day. <br /></span></div></div>

Web tools Website reviews A quick, free way to run meetings

Submitted by Fiona Beal Today I came across this meeting site which said. “Meet Face to Face Online, hang out with co-workers and teams, run...

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Break out the champagne (again), the '55 Hitchcock...

<div style="color: #990000; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmeB90vTS5bppAvlRUUmZQzJ0ZU62CAw8bcFRkvcpgBUnzDHqFD8eop3YcqGfOZ9jp0SN68BnhfcvWhe-7m8q1ZzQg4N5wAU8d-iPSm5G-rgii8mSgUjf7OcTQeqGJcw46mCf4ELDibB4T/s1600/to-catch-a-thief-hitchcock-fritz-von-runte+poster++2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmeB90vTS5bppAvlRUUmZQzJ0ZU62CAw8bcFRkvcpgBUnzDHqFD8eop3YcqGfOZ9jp0SN68BnhfcvWhe-7m8q1ZzQg4N5wAU8d-iPSm5G-rgii8mSgUjf7OcTQeqGJcw46mCf4ELDibB4T/s1600/to-catch-a-thief-hitchcock-fritz-von-runte+poster++2.jpg" /></a></div><br /><i><span style="font-size: small;">Alfred Hitchcock’s </span></i><span style="font-size: small;">To Catch a Thief</span><i><span style="font-size: small;"> screens today at the 2012 TCM Classic Film Festival. In celebration of the third annual greatest-classic-film-festival-in-the-world, I’m posting this new and improved version of a piece on </span></i><span style="font-size: small;">To Catch a Thief</span><i><span style="font-size: small;"> that first appeared here on New Year’s Day 2011.</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Traditionally, champagne is the drink <i>du jour</i> (or <i>nuit</i>) at New Year’s, and so champagne it shall be now. A bottle of ‘96 </span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: small;">Dom Pérignon Ros</span><span style="font-size: small;">é</span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: small;"> would be fitting, but I’m in the mood for something really special…an old favorite… Hitchcock’s distinctive ’55 vintage from the Cote d'Azur. <i>To Catch a Thief</i> (1955), a delectable “Hitchcock champagne,” boasts a rare combination of elegance and flair. Light-bodied with a smooth finish that lingers, it remains unmatched, though it has been imitated far and wide for decades.</span></div><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-7Bji7gSXs0Q-kAUD6HU7MuxKxznY-R753bqG2R6uH8kElwg6fVoQKP_JhwQWAKUYV2t8W6JixBBz2kDlepfwlEYVLB4HLXr-ddyzlFJcNP0iL__fy0_gsr6x0TsYpokPev7cnH7zXvcM/s1600/cote+d+azur+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-7Bji7gSXs0Q-kAUD6HU7MuxKxznY-R753bqG2R6uH8kElwg6fVoQKP_JhwQWAKUYV2t8W6JixBBz2kDlepfwlEYVLB4HLXr-ddyzlFJcNP0iL__fy0_gsr6x0TsYpokPev7cnH7zXvcM/s320/cote+d+azur+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"the azure coast" of France</td></tr></tbody></table><span lang="EN" style="font-size: small;">A jaunty score sets the tone as opening credits roll over a shot of an international travel service with a poster in the window, “If you like life, you’ll love France.” The tinkling keys of a grand piano hint at continental sophistication and adventure long before the first scream bemoaning stolen jewelry issues from a Riviera hotel balcony.</span><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span><span style="font-size: small;">Quickly the action picks up speed with a colorful cruise through the Cote d'Azur as French police race to the village of Sainte-Jeannet and the hillside villa of retired jewel thief and prime suspect, John Robie (Cary Grant). From these early sequences and throughout the film, cinematographer Robert Burks displays VistaVision/Technicolor to full effect; it was Hitchcock's first use of the widescreen/color process that would become a signature of his color films for the rest of the 1950s.</span></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmdbwh1cpxzMsbI3MU2c6IEtNAZUKyH2f2bo5ZAte0xH1QQpvsFVVrGnnlFrqtlZQD0cK4-U_1NdlWuJI1URtu9Jo_nvNi4QjgL2v2noPelRHNvuoxTUlM_ISQ4nr1OEv67NrsvHuXdVOF/s1600/robert+burks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmdbwh1cpxzMsbI3MU2c6IEtNAZUKyH2f2bo5ZAte0xH1QQpvsFVVrGnnlFrqtlZQD0cK4-U_1NdlWuJI1URtu9Jo_nvNi4QjgL2v2noPelRHNvuoxTUlM_ISQ4nr1OEv67NrsvHuXdVOF/s1600/robert+burks.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cinematographer Robert Burks</td></tr></tbody></table><span lang="EN" style="font-size: small;">Alfred Hitchcock and Robert Burks had initially worked together five years earlier following the director’s return to the U.S. after making two films in England. Hitchcock was beginning production on <i>Strangers on a Train</i> for Warner Bros. and the studio cinematographer assigned to the project was 40-year-old Burks. It would be the beginning of a fabled partnership. Burks began his career at 19 in the Warner Bros. special effects lab when Hal Wallis, who favored shadows and high contrast on the screen, was in charge of production. Burks apprenticed under James Wong Howe, worked his way up to DP and, by 1948, had risen to cinematographer.</span></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: small;">The early influence of German expressionism on Hitchcock corresponded nicely with the influences Burks absorbed at Warner Bros. and the two would collaborate on 12 films from 1951 – 1964, every picture Hitchcock made during that period except <i>Psycho</i>. Like Burks, Hitchcock had intimate knowledge of special effects and had an affinity for scenes of complex imagery. One of the most memorable in the Hitchcock/Burks canon came in <i>Strangers on a Train</i> with the scene in which Robert Walker’s murder of Laura Elliott is reflected in the lens of her fallen eyeglasses. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDRImOIG_rk45IZY2kfJ0S-65SAKjHmgHNMxdeF6i99gpOFrc4-ZXZ0KDa8KBiMsam8EBH5P0jr8SlDLJqQD0Iv40A2KusFhnWNxyTOH0VdonewgLxfCOzzGRsLDRzgsmZ2wE43Q6Sfkcq/s1600/filming+TCat+in+VV.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDRImOIG_rk45IZY2kfJ0S-65SAKjHmgHNMxdeF6i99gpOFrc4-ZXZ0KDa8KBiMsam8EBH5P0jr8SlDLJqQD0Iv40A2KusFhnWNxyTOH0VdonewgLxfCOzzGRsLDRzgsmZ2wE43Q6Sfkcq/s1600/filming+TCat+in+VV.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hitchcock (top center) beside the VistaVision camera</td></tr></tbody></table><span lang="EN" style="font-size: small;">Robert Burks was Oscar-nominated for <i>Strangers</i> and again for <i>Rear Window</i>. With <i>To Catch a Thief</i>, he finally won an Academy Award for cinematography. From 1955 – 1958, Burks shot five Hitchcock films in VistaVision/ Technicolor; four of the five were for Paramount Pictures. Paramount had been the only major film studio to balk at the widescreen CinemaScope system when it came on the scene in 1953. The studio set out to develop a process of its own and worked with Eastman Kodak to develop VistaVision, a method that delivered a higher resolution widescreen version of 35 mm. The VistaVision process printed down large format negatives to standard 35 mm, creating a finer-grained print and improved image. The use of Technicolor's dye transfer process was key to VistaVision color image quality. For his first foray into VistaVision/Technicolor, Hitchcock devised a stylish romantic thriller infused with dazzling starpower.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span id="goog_1252722499"></span><span id="goog_1252722500"></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: small;">When he introduced a recent screening of <i>To Catch a Thief</i>, TCM’s Robert Osborne remarked that it had “the best asset any film could have...Cary Grant.” Good point. This was the third of Grant’s four Hitchcock pictures and it came nearly ten years after their last collaboration, <i>Notorious</i> (1946), one of the best films in either man’s illustrious filmography. In the interim, Hitchcock’s career had gone into and dramatically come out of a slump. During the same period, Grant had continued to make popular films, but had begun to move away from the kind of part he had trademarked – the dapper, self-effacing man of the world. Following <i>Dream Wife</i><b> </b>(1953) Grant retired, dissatisfied with the parts and films he was being offered. But then he was approached by Alfred Hitchcock who had a project in mind with the requisite amount of elegance and humor to attract him. In <i>To Catch a Thief</i> Cary Grant returned to type; John Robie, “The Cat,” is a dashing charmer, “a man of obvious good taste” very few could or would want to resist. Grant seldom departed from type during the remaining years of his career.</span><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span lang="EN">To Catch a Thief</span></i><b><span lang="EN"> </span></b></span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: small;">was the third and final film Grace Kelly would make with Hitchcock, who would have worked with her for the rest of his career had she not left movies to become Princess of Monaco. Hitchcock’s breathtaking onscreen vision of Kelly brings to mind Josef von Sternberg’s ravishing cinematic glorification of Marlene Dietrich 20 years earlier. Kelly was a beautiful woman but among the handful of films she made, it was in her films for Hitchcock that her image as a screen goddess achieved perfection. In <i>To Catch a Thief</i> she plays a spoiled rich girl, the ultimate "snow covered volcano" and "Hitchcock blonde."</span></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><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/AVvXsEikUDzrHfipmeyoDmjbsJtyBPcAxhaN8aOhc0x6TPLtvYtcWI0dY1aq5-m5Yr2FU6KgNGtk8Za7P2-1J4XJ4NhZbLz8TuaiHQfAvNg479VlFcmU-wqWbj8Fy7idDMacNeoXBUxIyBqQKp_i/s1600/Kelly+and+Grant+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="287" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikUDzrHfipmeyoDmjbsJtyBPcAxhaN8aOhc0x6TPLtvYtcWI0dY1aq5-m5Yr2FU6KgNGtk8Za7P2-1J4XJ4NhZbLz8TuaiHQfAvNg479VlFcmU-wqWbj8Fy7idDMacNeoXBUxIyBqQKp_i/s400/Kelly+and+Grant+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Grace Kelly and Cary Grant</td></tr></tbody></table><span lang="EN" style="font-size: small;">Grant and Kelly are captivating together onscreen and both deliver iconic characterizations with ease - Grant as a debonair retired thief/innocent man, and she as a haughty/hot debutante. The pair literally generates fireworks.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNnOshRfPe_U96fJAzoK4DKsBfOCRsZ6l0nG268p-cOkPTv8lEk6iNkXKyg_kHzho8HQxwOLjpUdSm-6Db76iBGPoonyZjlF4lZlXMeA0NvEUkMGTZyjPjs3BlC6zgO8jiuuTUijHxNTF9/s1600/Jessie+Royce+Landis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNnOshRfPe_U96fJAzoK4DKsBfOCRsZ6l0nG268p-cOkPTv8lEk6iNkXKyg_kHzho8HQxwOLjpUdSm-6Db76iBGPoonyZjlF4lZlXMeA0NvEUkMGTZyjPjs3BlC6zgO8jiuuTUijHxNTF9/s1600/Jessie+Royce+Landis.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jessie Royce Landis</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: right;"></div><span lang="EN" style="font-size: small;">In her first Hitchcock outing, Jessie Royce Landis portrays Kelly’s insouciant and earthy, bourbon-sipping mother. Hitchcock liked to include colorful women as supporting characters in his films, ranging from the ridiculous (Florence Bates in <i>Rebecca</i>) and the oblivious (Patricia Collinge in <i>Shadow of a Doubt</i>), to the observant and wisecracking (Thelma Ritter in <i>Rear Window</i>, Barbara Bel Geddes in <i>Vertigo</i>). Royce Landis portrayed two of the most appealing of the latter type in this film and <i>North by Northwest</i>.</span></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: small;">Actor John Williams made his third appearance in a Hitchcock film with <i>To Catch a Thief</i>, this time as an insurance agent helping Robie track down the real jewel thief. His H.H. Hughson is a fine foil for Grant’s Robie. Their early scenes provide Hitchcock the opportunity to have some fun with a favorite theme, the ambiguity of guilt and innocence. Robie tells Hughson flatly that though he “only stole from those who wouldn’t go hungry,” he “kept everything myself.” Chiding Hughson for stealing hotel sundries and cheating on his expense account, Robie comments, “I was an out and out thief…like you.” Robie emphasizes his point with the throwaway line, “I wish I’d known someone in the insurance racket when I went into the burglary business.” Hitchcock toys with subject again when Robie refers to the sensitive hands and delicate touch of his cook and housekeeper, Germaine, who bakes a quiche as "light as air" and who, during the war, “strangled a German general once…without a sound.”</span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><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/AVvXsEjWMGGRLIgTGrM5k6S-MP7mqJziokgnGlbK26vbc3ALJo7jUXCQj46ukcLZ8VfG3CA7J0277WzcAEwEAOjb4hOK9RslL9E0iCKJ_c0NKhf9eU6agV4dG4oHptfE0vmU2oo1Tojaelk7Tm5f/s1600/john+williams+grace+kelly+rene+blancard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="291" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWMGGRLIgTGrM5k6S-MP7mqJziokgnGlbK26vbc3ALJo7jUXCQj46ukcLZ8VfG3CA7J0277WzcAEwEAOjb4hOK9RslL9E0iCKJ_c0NKhf9eU6agV4dG4oHptfE0vmU2oo1Tojaelk7Tm5f/s400/john+williams+grace+kelly+rene+blancard.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">John Williams, Grace Kelly, Rene Blancard...costumes by Edith Head</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">While some dismiss <i>To Catch a Thief</i> for lack of substance, there's no question that it is a solid film of its genre. With meticulous craftsmanship and tremendous style, Hitchcock delivered exactly what he intended - a voluptuous romantic thriller. All elements blend in harmony, from the John Michael Hayes screenplay to Robert Burks' VistaVision/ Technicolor photography, Lyn Murray’s score, Edith Head’s eyeball-popping costumes, two scintillating stars and the Cote d’Azur setting.<i> </i></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><i>To Catch a Thief</i></span><span style="font-size: small;"> was successful and influential, and many later films bear its earmarks...most prominently Stanley Donen’s <i>Charade</i>, as well as his <i>Arabesque,</i> William Wyler's <i>How to Steal a Million</i>, Blake Edwards' <i>The Pink Panther</i> and countless romance/thriller romps ever since.</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">~</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="color: #cc0000; text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">One of the principal  themes of this year's 2012 TCM Classic Film Festival is </span></i><span style="font-size: small;">Style in the Movies</span><i><span style="font-size: small;">. Kimberly Truhler of <a href="http://glamamor.com/" style="color: #0b5394;">GlamAmor.com</a>, who is attending and blogging on the festival, produced and hosts the following video, </span></i><span style="font-size: small;">Cinema Style File - Grace Kelly in To Catch a Thief</span><i><span style="font-size: small;">: </span></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/JFL8npiVibU" width="560"></iframe></div><br /><br /></div>

Alfred Hitchcock GlamAmor Kimberly Truhler TCM Classic Film Festival The Lady Eve (author) To Catch a Thief Break out the champagne (again), the '55 Hitchcock...

Alfred Hitchcock’s To Catch a Thief screens today at the 2012 TCM Classic Film Festival. In celebration of the third annual greatest-classi...

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SYRIA, IRAN, NORTH KOREA and ISTANBUL

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGaU146WveeHqUvI7tZ188aP9KIR1GIlqcxjWx6S-YmMbm08_oUT8_V5uPBWytN4QZg25qJRyOuiEOjeW4kmXoovSWpYMC_DLc-bANRzEezgfT4jw0cIRXTpVaEgikV3AMRDyVybZjKP0z/s1600/chessboard20animation_global.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGaU146WveeHqUvI7tZ188aP9KIR1GIlqcxjWx6S-YmMbm08_oUT8_V5uPBWytN4QZg25qJRyOuiEOjeW4kmXoovSWpYMC_DLc-bANRzEezgfT4jw0cIRXTpVaEgikV3AMRDyVybZjKP0z/s1600/chessboard20animation_global.gif" /></a></div><b><span style="color: blue; font-size: x-large;"><span class="s1mainStoryHeadline"> </span></span></b><br /><b><span style="color: blue; font-size: x-large;"><span class="s1mainStoryHeadline">Obama’s election politics empowers Iran, North Korea, Syria before Istanbul talks</span> </span></b><br /> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="articleDescription">via DEBKA<em>file</em></span> </span><span class="articleDescription red italic"></span><br /><div class="articleBodyWrapper"> <div class="photoContainer" id="photoContainer" style="width: 150px;"> <div class="photoContainerPhoto" id="photo"> <a href=""><br /> </a> </div><div class="photoContainerCaption" id="caption"><br /></div></div><span class="articleBody"> <span style="font-size: large;">In their different ways, the rulers of Iran, North Korea and Syria this week tried to throw US President Barack Obama off balance by exploiting the foreign policy balls he is juggling to win the November election – a combination of tough talk and  maneuvers to avoiding military confrontation.</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /> Wednesday, April 11, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad  chose Abu Musa island near the Strait of Hormuz to offer the Arab Gulf rulers a piece of advance:  “…they should take a look at the map of Iran so that they understand about which great and powerful country they are talking.”<br /> Turning to threats, he said: “Some of these countries give their oil money to the arrogant powers so that it can be used against another country. But they must be aware that their days are numbers and one day, the oil money will be used against themselves.”  </span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /> Was he setting the tone for the resumed nuclear talks opening in Istanbul Saturday, April 14, between his government and six world powers (US, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany)?<br /> Or reminding them that when sanctions were first imposed on Iran to counter its nuclear program oil sold at $25 the barrel whereas it has since soared to $110?</span><br /><br /> <span style="font-size: large;"> As for Iran’s Arab neighbors across the Gulf, Ahmadinejad was giving them an ominous geostrategic lesson:  Saudi Arabia was 1,034 kilometers away from Abu Musa and the Hormuz waterway which carried their oil to market, whereas Abu Musa was only 183.5 kilometers and bristling with a profusion of Iranian military hardware, notably sea-mines, explosives-packed speedboats and shore-to-sea missiles. They are all in position to block the Strait of Hormuz and strike at the lifelines of Gulf oil producers, their wells and infrastructure. No need to wage full-blown war on Saudi Arabia to bring disaster down on the world’s key oil-producing region.</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /> Therefore, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s remark Thursday, April 12, that Tehran has sent “mixed signals, hinting toward a compromise” hardly connects with reality, unless she was referring to signals filtered</span><br /> <span style="font-size: large;"> through secret channels.<br /> The Iranian president was obviously crowing over Tehran’s success in preserving Syrian President Bashar Assad in power and vowing to make Gulf nations pay for backing his enemies.   </span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /> A large Saudi delegation headed by Defense Minister Prince Salman visited London and Washington this week. In addition to their top-level talks with President Obama and Prime Minister David Cameron and their heads of defense, they also talked to British and US army chiefs dealing with the military side of the Persian Gulf. In London, Prince Salman had a long conversation with Air Chief Marshal Sir Simon Bryant and later in Washington with Gen. James Mattis and the president’s adviser on terror John O. Brennan.<br /> Their focus of concern appeared to have shifted from a possible US or Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear program and its consequences over to a potential clash between Iran and Saudi Arabia.</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /> On Syria, Obama and Saudi King Abdullah are at odds. The former stands solidly against US military intervention against the Assad regime, whereas the latter is pressing for heightened Western and Arab military involvement in Syria including a supply of heavy weapons for the rebels fighting government forces. Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan was in Riyadh Wednesday but failed to convince the king to line up behind the Washington-Ankara policy on Syria.</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /> With Iranian and Russian support, Assad has managed to turn the tables on Turkey. Friday’s Saudi newspaper <em>Shawq al</em>-<em>Awsat </em>mocked Ankara and its oft-repeated, never-fulfilled proposal to set up a buffer zone in Syria for refugees with a sarcastic headline: “Did al-Assad set up a buffer zone in Turkey?”<br /> The first two days of the Syrian ceasefire, which was declared as part of UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan’s six-point peace plan, were encouraging in that the number of deaths from violence declined from the horrendous norm. At the same time, outbreaks here and there were still current and Syrian troops and heavy weapons remained in the cities.</span><br /><br /> <span style="font-size: large;"> The UN Secretary Ban Ki-moon and peace envoy Kofi Annan are convinced that rushing UN observers into Syria and getting them on the ground will stabilize the ceasefire. But most Syria watchers are skeptical. Assad is firm in the saddle.<br /> As for the Istanbul talks, <span class="debka">debka</span><span class="file">file</span>’s military sources report the conviction in the State Department that Iran is not coming to the table to resolve its nuclear dispute with the world, but rather as a toe in the water to gauge the strength of Obama’s resolve to terminate its nuclear program.  Iran’s resolve is unquestioned. As Ahmadinejad put it, “Iran will not retreat one iota from its nuclear rights.”</span><br /> <span style="font-size: large;"> Like Syria and North Korea, Iran is gambling on Obama dropping back in time to avoid real confrontation with the Tehran-Moscow-Beijing line-up.<span class="debka"> Debka</span><span class="file">file</span>’s military sources report that North Korea is playing on the same pitch. Despite the breakup of the Unha-3 carrier rocket, supposedly to boost a satellite into orbit, shortly after takeoff from Sohae Satellite Launching Station in Tongchang-ri Thursday, April 13, North Korea has established four facts:</span><br /><br /> <span style="font-size: large;"> 1. It is very close to the capacity for building multistage intercontinental ballistic missiles and will keep on conducting tests until the technology is fully mastered:</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /> 2.  Pyongyang is set for its third nuclear test;</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /> 3. It is well on the way to an ICBM with a nuclear warhead capable of reaching Washington and not just Tokyo;</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /> 4.   As it forges ahead, North Korea displays extreme indifference to the threats of world powers, United Nations censure or even the cancellation of US food aid just announced.</span><br /> <span style="font-size: large;"> Its rulers are bucked up by the information reaching them about the mood in Washington - not from Chinese intelligence but American mainstream media. They agree that President Obama aims to woo the American voter by sounding tough but staying clear of military confrontations with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Bashar Assad and Kim Jong-un.</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /> This posture was summed up succinctly by Leslie H. Gelb in the Daily Beast: “Typically, Mr. Obama is reacting like almost all his predecessors in presidential-election years: he is trying to simultaneously show strength and avoid war. He is walking the familiar tightrope…”</span><br /><br /> <span style="font-size: large;"> Going into critical talks in Istanbul Saturday with a tough customer like Iran on a tightrope, the US president wobbles over dangerous waters, say DEBKAfle’s sources:  A misjudgment could suddenly make him lose his balance; Iran, Syria or North Korea may push him off-balance; in his anxiety to avoid war, he may, as is often the case, cause one - maybe without American involvement but most certainly one that sets up high turbulence across the entire Middle East. </span><br /> </span> </div><span style="font-size: large;"><ins style="border: medium none; display: inline-table; height: 60px; margin: 0pt; padding: 0pt; position: relative; visibility: visible; width: 468px;"><ins id="aswift_2_anchor" style="border: medium none; display: block; height: 60px; margin: 0pt; padding: 0pt; position: relative; visibility: visible; width: 468px;"></ins></ins></span>

SYRIA, IRAN, NORTH KOREA and ISTANBUL

  Obama’s election politics empowers Iran, North Korea, Syria before Istanbul talks via DEBKA file   ...

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KOSOVO

<br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDElxI6QixsmqA7HSlkoi5Kz4KaZMXYL6b_Dpj0OHr3kcQbs0Qw0hxbUiuWRzv8reKL5YEYdm_djyVYR2dA7jhaexpl1p8Wsxju8BXk_QRgu7PDLfgG65sFYSsWJ8NL7mc7jgQjkKYfqq5/s1600/kosovo-flag1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDElxI6QixsmqA7HSlkoi5Kz4KaZMXYL6b_Dpj0OHr3kcQbs0Qw0hxbUiuWRzv8reKL5YEYdm_djyVYR2dA7jhaexpl1p8Wsxju8BXk_QRgu7PDLfgG65sFYSsWJ8NL7mc7jgQjkKYfqq5/s320/kosovo-flag1.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="color: blue; font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Washington’s Kosovo Strategy </span></b></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><b>By F. William Engdahl </b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">In one of the more bizarre foreign policy announcements of the Obama Administration, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has announced that Washington will “help” Kosovo to join NATO as well as the European Union. She made the pledge after a recent Washington meeting with Kosovan Prime Minister Hashim Thaci in Washington where she praised the progress of the Thaci government in its progress in “European integration and economic development.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Her announcement no doubt caused serious gas pains among government and military officials in the various capitals of European NATO. Few people  appreciate just how mad Clinton’s plan to push Kosovo into NATO and the EU is. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Basic Kosovo geopolitics</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The controversial piece of real estate today called Kosovo was a part of Yugoslavia and tied to Serbia until the NATO bombing campaign in 1999 demolished what remained of Milosevic’s Serbia and  opened the way for the United States, with the dubious assist of EU nations, above all Germany, to carve up the former Yugoslavia into tiny, dependent pseudo states. Kosovo became one, as did Macedonia. Slovenia and Croatia had earlier split off from Yugoslavia with a strong assist from the German Foreign Ministry.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn7gC-AA11xvQX9crAsXZpeGxmxqo0OLOeXpWiq5K8lkngAuiEWpL5EU1Af-UgbBooRAmH9hTQOfnxJNzlviaNcCaI-gR4IgbMoYRlFNWEUI-FG3XdpxJjItm2yKr6zDyJ_duAJ43MAYTu/s1600/timthumb.333php.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn7gC-AA11xvQX9crAsXZpeGxmxqo0OLOeXpWiq5K8lkngAuiEWpL5EU1Af-UgbBooRAmH9hTQOfnxJNzlviaNcCaI-gR4IgbMoYRlFNWEUI-FG3XdpxJjItm2yKr6zDyJ_duAJ43MAYTu/s320/timthumb.333php.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Some brief review of the circumstances leading to the secession of Kosovo from Yugoslavia will help locate how risky a NATO membership or EU membership would be for the future of Europe. Hashim Thaci the current Kosovo Prime Minister, got his job, so to speak, through the US State Department and not via free democratic Kosovo elections. Kosovo is not recognized as a legitimate state by either Russia or Serbia or over one hundred other nations. However, it was immediately recognized when it declared independence in 2008 by the Bush Administration and by Berlin.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Membership into the EU for Kosovo would be welcoming another failed state, something which may not bother US Secretary Clinton, but which the EU at this juncture definitely can do without. Best estimates place unemployment in the country at as much as 60%. That is not just Third World level. The economy was always the poorest in Yugoslavia and today it is worse. Yet the real issue in terms of the future of EU peace and security is the nature of the Kosovo state that has been created by Washington since the late 1990’s.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Mafia State and Camp Bondsteel </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Kosovo is a tiny parcel of land in one of the most strategic locations in all Europe from a geopolitical standpoint of the US military objective of controlling oil flows and political developments from the oil-rich Middle East to Russia and Western Europe. The current US-led recognition of the self-declared Republic of Kosovo is a continuation of US policy for the Balkans since the 1999 US-led NATO bombing of Serbia—a NATO “out-of-area” deployment never approved by the UN Security Council, allegedly on the premise that Milosevic’s army was on the verge of carrying out a genocidal massacre of Kosovo Albanians. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyLJ5SSkeEl1aMCgRlQAhlKRWUYcc2MOeJR2o5ih_igqqtrHa4Wj8K_ry0otKxJ4ld3O2PD40nhxt-UiPyVkeycHrV_5wEEmgVvh3N42FO8Ha5SsbVz-F3-62-c9WORhzE7yaIUs_VyJDq/s1600/Pogled_na_Bondstil_iz_vazduha.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyLJ5SSkeEl1aMCgRlQAhlKRWUYcc2MOeJR2o5ih_igqqtrHa4Wj8K_ry0otKxJ4ld3O2PD40nhxt-UiPyVkeycHrV_5wEEmgVvh3N42FO8Ha5SsbVz-F3-62-c9WORhzE7yaIUs_VyJDq/s400/Pogled_na_Bondstil_iz_vazduha.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Some months before the US-led bombing of Serbian targets, one of the heaviest bombings since World War II, a senior US intelligence official in private conversation told Croatian senior army officers in Zagreb about Washington’s strategy for former Yugoslavia. According to these reports, communicated privately to this author, the Pentagon goal already in late 1998 was to take control of Kosovo in order to secure a military base to control the entire southeast European region down to the Middle East oil lands. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Since June 1999 when the NATO Kosovo Force (KFOR) entered Kosovo, then an integral part of then-Yugoslavia, Kosovo was technically under a United Nations mandate, UN Security Council Resolution 1244. Russia and China also agreed to that mandate, which specifies the role of KFOR to ensure an end to inter-ethnic fighting and atrocities between the Serb minority population, others and the Kosovo Albanian Islamic majority. Under 1244 Kosovo would remain part of Serbia pending a peaceful resolution of its status. That UN Resolution was blatantly ignored by the US, German and other EU parties in 2008. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Germany’s and Washington’s prompt recognition of Kosovo’s independence in February 2008, significantly, came days after elections for President in Serbia confirmed pro-Washington Boris Tadic had won a second four year term. With Tadic’s post secured, Washington could count on a compliant Serbian reaction to its support for Kosovo.   </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Immediately after the bombing of Serbia in 1999 the Pentagon seized a 1000 acre large parcel of land in Kosovo at Uresevic near the border to Macedonia, and awarded a contract to <b>Halliburton when Dick Cheney was CEO there, to build one of the largest US overseas military bases in the world, Camp Bondsteel, with more than 7000 troops today.</b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The Pentagon has already secured seven new military bases in Bulgaria and Romania on the Black Sea in the Northern Balkans, including the Graf Ignatievo and Bezmer airbases in Bulgaria and Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base in Romania, which are used for "downrange" military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. The Romanian installation hosts the Pentagon's Joint Task Force–East. The US's colossal Camp Bondsteel in Kosovo and the use and upgrading of Croatian and Montenegrin Adriatic harbors for US Navy deployments complete the militarization of the Balkans.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6896989063397229776#_edn1" name="_ednref1" title=""><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;"></span></a></span><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The US strategic agenda for Kosovo is primarily military, secondarily, it seems, narcotics trafficking. Its prime focus is against Russia and for control of oil flows from the Caspian Sea to the Middle East into Western Europe. By declaring its independence, Washington gains a weak state which it can fully control. So long as it remained a part of Serbia, that NATO military control would be politically insecure. Today Kosovo is controlled by NATO, whose KFOR has 16,000 troops there for a tiny population of 2 million. Its Camp Bondsteel is one of a string of so-called forward operating bases and "lily pads" as Donald Rumsfeld called them, for military action to the east and south. Now formally bringing Kosovo into the EU and to NATO will solidify that military base now that the Republic of Georgia under US protégé Saakashvili failed so miserably in 2008 to fill that NATO role. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Heroin Transport Corridor</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">US-NATO military control of Kosovo serves several purposes for Washington’s greater geo-strategic agenda. First it enables greater US control over potential oil and gas pipeline routes into the EU from the Caspian and Middle East as well as control of the transport corridors linking the EU to the Black Sea. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">It also protects the multi-billion dollar heroin trade, which, significantly, has grown to record dimensions in Afghanistan according to UN narcotics officials, since the US occupation. Kosovo and Albania are major heroin transit routes into Europe. According to a 2008 US State Department annual report on international narcotics traffic, several key drug trafficking routes pass through the Balkans. Kosovo is mentioned as a key point for the transfer of heroin from Turkey and Afghanistan to Western Europe. Those drugs flow under the watchful eye of the Thaci government. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Since its dealings with the Meo tribesmen in Laos during the Vietnam era, the CIA has protected narcotics traffic in key locations in order partly to finance its covert operations. The scale of international narcotics traffic today is such that major US banks such as Citigroup are reported to derive a significant share of their profits from laundering the proceeds.  </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">One of the notable features of the indecent rush by Washington and other states to immediately recognize the independence of Kosovo is the fact that they well knew its government and both major political parties were in fact run by Kosovo Albanian organized crime. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisc-1nnQlawT0zKUb4IlfiGi4HZlpeplkNBZHjVCiPjxXMkXVCKZ3AIW0WZBGQPOTmKgYhc1GaXkfvOMo-8foZB96djCmeM5iZ70qQ0RvaIIJh79UvHqW1RL38RWripbEcgqcJmr2M6Ok2/s1600/uck-memorial-sharr-1_JPG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisc-1nnQlawT0zKUb4IlfiGi4HZlpeplkNBZHjVCiPjxXMkXVCKZ3AIW0WZBGQPOTmKgYhc1GaXkfvOMo-8foZB96djCmeM5iZ70qQ0RvaIIJh79UvHqW1RL38RWripbEcgqcJmr2M6Ok2/s320/uck-memorial-sharr-1_JPG.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Hashim Thaci, Prime Minister of Kosovo and head of the Democratic Party of Kosovo, is the former leader of the terrorist organization which the US and NATO trained and called the Kosovo Liberation Army, KLA, or in Albanian, UCK. In Kosovo crime circles he is known as Hashim “The Snake” for his personal ruthlessness against opponents. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">In 1997, President Clinton’s Special Balkans Envoy, Robert Gelbard described the KLA as, “without any question a terrorist group.” It was far more. It was a klan-based mafia, impossible therefore to infiltrate, which controlled the underground black economy of Kosovo. Today the Democratic Party of Thaci, according to European police sources, retains its links to organized crime. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="DE" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">A February 22, 2005 German BND report, labeled Top Secret, which has since been leaked, stated, <i style="color: blue;">“Über die Key-Player (wie z. B. Haliti, Thaci, Haradinaj) bestehen engste Verflechtungen zwischen Politik, Wirtschaft und international operierenden OK-Strukturen im Kosovo. Die dahinter stehenden kriminellen Netzwerke fördern dort die politische Instabilität. Sie haben kein Interesse am Aufbau einer funktionierenden staatlichen Ordnung, durch die ihre florierenden Geschäfte beeinträchtigt werden können.“ </i></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><i style="color: blue;">(OK=Organized Kriminalität)</i>. (Translation: “Through the key players—for example Thaci, Haliti, Haradinaj—there is the closest interlink between politics, the economy and international organized crime in Kosovo. The criminal organizations in the background there foster political instability. They have no interest at all in the building of a functioning orderly state that could be detrimental to their booming business.”</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The KLA began action in 1996 with the bombing of refugee camps housing Serbian refugees from the wars in Bosnia and Croatia. The KLA repeatedly called for the “liberation” of areas of Montenegro, Macedonia and parts of Northern Greece. Thaci is hardly a figure of regional stability to put it mildly.  </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The 44 year old Thaci was a personal protégé of Clinton Secretary of State Madeleine Albright during the 1990s, when he was a mere 30-year old gangster. The KLA was supported from the outset by the CIA and the German BND. During the 1999 war the KLA was directly supported by NATO. At the time he was picked up by the USA in the mid-1990s, Thaci was founder of the Drenica Group, a criminal syndicate in Kosovo with ties to Albanian, Macedonian and Italian organized mafias.  A classified January 2007 report prepared for the EU Commission, labeled “VS-Nur für den Dienstgebrauch” was leaked to the media. It detailed the organized criminal activity of KLA and its successor Democratic Party under Thaci. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">A December 2010 Council of Europe report, released a day after Kosovo's election commission said Mr Thaci's party won the first post-independence election, accused Western powers of complicity in ignoring the activities of the crime ring headed by Thaci: "Thaci and these other 'Drenica Group' members are consistently named as 'key players' in intelligence reports on Kosovo's mafia-like structures of organised crime," the report said. "We found that the 'Drenica Group' had as its chief – or, to use the terminology of organised crime networks, its 'boss' – the renowned political operator ... Hashim Thaci."</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The report stated that Thaci exerted "violent control" over the heroin trade. Dick Marty, the European Union investigator, presented the report to European diplomats from all member states. The response was silence. Washington was behind Thaci.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The same Council of Europe report on Kosovo organized crime accused Thaci’s mafia organization of dealing in trade in human organs. Figures from Thaçi's inner circle were accused of taking captives across the border into Albania after the war, where a number of Serbs are said to have been murdered for their kidneys that were sold on the black market. In one case revealed in legal proceedings in a Pristina district court in 2008 organs were said to have been taken from impoverished victims at a clinic known as Medicus – linked to Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) organ harvesting in 2000.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The question then becomes, why are Washington, NATO, the EU and inclusive and importantly, the German Government, so eager to legitimize the breakaway Kosovo? A Kosovo run internally by organized criminal networks is easy for NATO to control. It insures a weak state which is far easier to bring under NATO domination. Combined with NATO control over Afghanistan where the Kosovo heroin controlled by Prime Minister Thaci originates, the Pentagon is building a web of encirclement around Russia that is anything but peaceful.  </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: x-large; line-height: 115%;">The Thaci dependence on US and NATO good graces insures Thaci’s government will do what it is asked. That, in turn, assures the US a major military gain consolidating its permanent presence in the strategically vital southeast Europe. It is a major step in consolidating NATO control of Eurasia, and gives the US a large swing its way in the European balance of power. Little wonder Moscow has not welcomed the development, nor have numerous other states. The US is literally playing with dynamite, potentially as well with nuclear war in the Balkans.     <br /><br /><i></i><b></b></span> <br /><div style="mso-element: endnote-list;"><br /><hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" /><div id="edn1" style="mso-element: endnote;"><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div></div></div>

KOSOVO

Washington’s Kosovo Strategy   By F. William Engdahl  In one of the more bizarre foreign policy announcements of the Obama Administration, ...

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Weigh In & ANOTHER WWM & Miscellaneous

Another week in the weight loss journey has come and gone, this time affording me a move in the right direction.  During these last few weeks I've been really struggling with staying On Plan, and that has certainly been a reason why I haven't posted as often.  I've been gaining and losing the same 2.5-3 lbs for weeks now.<br /><br />No one, myself included, wants to hear constant re-declarations of "This is it!" and "It's a new week and I'm going to get my butt back in gear!",  only to find out as the week progresses that I'm not doing so well after all.  I need to refocus and get motivated so I can move past the 30 lbs mark.  I need to go back over the Weight Watchers material to refresh my memory of what I'm supposed to be doing.  I know what this is, but I need to re-read it.  I need to see those words in black/white and "hear" it again.  <br /><br />What I have been doing well is exercising, which is probably why the weight gain hasn't been more significant.  My weekly activity goal has moved up a day, bringing me to three total days of activity.  Most weeks, I've even went beyond those 3 days thanks to lunchtime walks with Katie and Meghan, and weekend excursions with Joel.   Girls - you really don't even know how much I appreciate our little walks!<br /><br />Guess what I received two of in the mail this week?  That's right, another Weight Watchers Magazine! <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/AVvXsEgPAQU8pCW-sCbooz6k5xE6uU18gEGyiUNLIRIgBubyA3iVQUcUSUnakYB1XxdUURcUj652T5GCGM5aBA6-SXYFmC_Lm-PYun6xVxWmLPDEQTXQs9UxPj0qHnWc-zD_Nni9qsjPL_PNF5E/s1600/weight+watchers+may+2012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPAQU8pCW-sCbooz6k5xE6uU18gEGyiUNLIRIgBubyA3iVQUcUSUnakYB1XxdUURcUj652T5GCGM5aBA6-SXYFmC_Lm-PYun6xVxWmLPDEQTXQs9UxPj0qHnWc-zD_Nni9qsjPL_PNF5E/s400/weight+watchers+may+2012.jpg" width="292" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">May/June 2012</td></tr></tbody></table><br />I FINALLY contacted customer service about this, but in the meantime you are going to benefit yet again.  The first person to leave a comment below stating that they want it wins!  Just say you want it then drop me an email with your mailing address (thebigweight@hotmail.com).   <br /><br />This weekend is going to keep me busy between the National MS Walk (there's still time to donate - just click on the button on the right), baby showers and birthday parties, not to mention a wine night with the ladies tonight - I cannot WAIT for that!<br /><br />I'm going to leave you with this ridiculous picture taken last weekend.  We were in Maryland touring some covered bridges and Joel took this pic of me looking up through the floor boards of the bridge.  I can promise you my hair is not <i>that </i>purple!  It was all lighting!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhslAKvjzk89pcywHmlAhOVRmOofKZD4jFknYpie69kY3xMahAv1aitg0y7fUZHbqFslNCJeOk8uMkBiPht3lIUcZeAeXmFxw3W64K_VIignQ0eje07RaxV75PxpOCHeCVwQELmsc6oo2A/s1600/purple+hair.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhslAKvjzk89pcywHmlAhOVRmOofKZD4jFknYpie69kY3xMahAv1aitg0y7fUZHbqFslNCJeOk8uMkBiPht3lIUcZeAeXmFxw3W64K_VIignQ0eje07RaxV75PxpOCHeCVwQELmsc6oo2A/s400/purple+hair.jpg" width="281" /></a></div><br />Have a great weekend!

Loss Success Walk MS weigh in Weight Watchers Magazine Weigh In & ANOTHER WWM & Miscellaneous

Another week in the weight loss journey has come and gone, this time affording me a move in the right direction.  During these last few week...

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Give 'Em the Old Pizzazz - Funny Face (1957)

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPtny_gfVAQdWtE2utDdfEmx7prXKSAU7O1vOV_XkwTjNtRlDBvM058zeyrEzXWvlGEibSL_r9EHQdwByC21q2gK6WgU-w-KHetwW35txnBLtaJb6mn3Q9kgLtQ_R2zc_DwvZqsC5oNATK/s1600/funny+face+red+dress+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="353" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPtny_gfVAQdWtE2utDdfEmx7prXKSAU7O1vOV_XkwTjNtRlDBvM058zeyrEzXWvlGEibSL_r9EHQdwByC21q2gK6WgU-w-KHetwW35txnBLtaJb6mn3Q9kgLtQ_R2zc_DwvZqsC5oNATK/s400/funny+face+red+dress+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 14pt;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="color: #990000;">Director Stanley Donen and actress Audrey Hepburn are being honored separately and together at this year's TCM Classic Film Festival in Hollywood. The director, who will be making personal appearances at all screenings of his films, did some of his best work with the sublime Audrey as his leading lady. With a "happy birthday" to Stanley Donen who celebrates his 88th birthday today, this post is dedicated to them both... </span></i></span><br /><i>  </i><br />Pizzazz! The very word came into being with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Funny Face</i> in 1957.</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 14pt;"><br /><a name='more'></a></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 14pt;">Stylish and energetic, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Funny Face</i><b> </b>is a collaboration extraordinaire involving some of the great talents of the era: Producer Roger Edens and director Stanley Donen, screenwriter Leonard Gershe, cinematographer Ray June, costumer Edith Head, couture designer Hubert de Givenchy, photographer Richard Avedon and the film's matchless stars Audrey Hepburn, Fred Astaire and Kay Thompson. Sprinkled with an assortment of Gershwin tunes, this is a movie of considerable pizzazz...</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 14pt;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC5ZN2jsdSujI2QpKuGzSPEwGQFvVLijCcuyxbH18A0jZdclAiFV4wkNomCLrUUhQvQiS2NdsLa5aHp037Vbmts31Bd0HpfSaXVNMfi__vYH_UUf6YivQGJnVlXMKVkY7ESOJhUZF2gdQB/s1600/audrey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="161" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC5ZN2jsdSujI2QpKuGzSPEwGQFvVLijCcuyxbH18A0jZdclAiFV4wkNomCLrUUhQvQiS2NdsLa5aHp037Vbmts31Bd0HpfSaXVNMfi__vYH_UUf6YivQGJnVlXMKVkY7ESOJhUZF2gdQB/s200/audrey.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Audrey Hepburn as Jo Stockton</td></tr></tbody></table><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Funny Face</i> had been a work in progress for years, but the vital element that finally brought the project together was Audrey Hepburn. Then under contract to Paramount, Hepburn was a white-hot star at the time and any picture with her name attached had a very good chance of being made. She loved both the script and the opportunity to dance with Fred Astaire and quickly agreed to do the picture.</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 14pt;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 14pt;">Astaire, then nearing 60, was coming to the end of his career in musical films. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Funny Face</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Silk Stockings</i> were released within months of each other in 1957 and were his last popular movie musicals.</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 14pt;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 14pt;">Though its name was taken from a '20s Gershwin musical in which Astaire had starred, the title and a few tunes were all the film had in common with the original New York show. The film's story came from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wedding Day</i>, Leonard Gershe's Broadway musical about the fashion world based on 'the aura' (rather than the life) of legend-to-be photographer Richard Avedon and his wife. Doe Avedon, a great beauty of the time, was a reluctant muse; it was her husband who turned her into a top-notch model and who guided her career.</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 14pt;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 14pt;">Kay Thompson, ace vocal coach, arranger and cabaret star, had worked with Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Lena Horne and many others during her years in MGM's music department. Gershe had her in mind from the start for the role of Maggie Prescott, a character closely modeled on powerhouse fashion editor and style doyenne of the era, Diana Vreeland. According to Leonard Gershe, it was Vreeland who coined the word 'bizzazz' that mutated into 'pizzazz.' Thompson as Prescott is an invigorating presence and she steals just about every scene she's in; early on, her "Think Pink!" number kicks <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Funny Face</i> into high gear...<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 14pt; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/gVserRvKyec" width="560"></iframe></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 14pt;"><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Think Pink!</span></span></i></div><br /><i>Funny Face</i> is a Cinderella tale, the kind of story that was Audrey Hepburn's bread and butter. The film begins in the offices of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Quality</i> magazine where editor Maggie Prescott (Thompson) decrees that the world of fashion shall think and wear pink (though she does not)! Soon after, she and photographer Dick Avery (Astaire) venture to bohemian Greenwich Village on a shoot...where bookstore clerk Jo Stockton (Hepburn), an ugly duckling with swan potential, is unearthed. The plot takes off from here. Cut to Paris where newly made-over model Jo wears exquisite Givenchy haute couture and is gorgeously photographed by Dick everywhere in the City of Light. Songs are sung. Dances are danced. Love blooms. A fairytale ending eventually comes to pass.</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 14pt;"><br /></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjemEVIDuyxPcTXg3TX10wcoDJXUyFXiJ4P2pBPem0mf8hqE8OCQC8yYoiSVhdxNcU7uXZROOzCFDMFCXPykH-QmBD8r3SxzXwVR_GDAN6rmRcuz5W0bx8l6462RQvOywe4JRHIrMnCWFX7/s1600/funny+face+astaire.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjemEVIDuyxPcTXg3TX10wcoDJXUyFXiJ4P2pBPem0mf8hqE8OCQC8yYoiSVhdxNcU7uXZROOzCFDMFCXPykH-QmBD8r3SxzXwVR_GDAN6rmRcuz5W0bx8l6462RQvOywe4JRHIrMnCWFX7/s320/funny+face+astaire.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fred Astaire as Dick Avery</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 14pt;">The basic storyline is nothing new, but watching Hepburn, Astaire and Thompson cut loose in New York and Paris (and in song) is so easy on the eyes and ears that in so many ways...'s wonderful.</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 14pt;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 14pt;">And there's the 'beatnik' interlude, most noteworthy for Audrey's dance routine in a subterranean Parisian club dressed in black turtleneck and capris with white socks. Though Hepburn battled Donen over the color of her socks, he won and the result is memorable.</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 14pt;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 14pt;">Stanley Donen was never nominated for an Academy Award, although he created some of the greatest musicals in movie history - including <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Singin' in the Rain</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Seven Brides for Seven Brothers</i>. He also made several successful non-musicals, films like <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Charade</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Two for the Road</i>. In 1998, the Academy honored him with a Lifetime Achievement Award and in his acceptance speech he both sang and danced to Cole Porter's "Cheek to Cheek"...he still knew how to "give 'em the old pizzazz!"</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 14pt;"><br /><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 14pt;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj70JUAfe2Dr48tA0F1Fv2MSF_72CKQAlarV-GByOkoklG-Tv7ycEQOxACz1GHKoQmLfBaDS-JICRWWblqOkLz1ws7vjwRSW5paGgQOjwlIGT_caDk70zQ_aq5gcIBo7gF_69e5tTOjnDY9/s1600/Stanley+Donen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj70JUAfe2Dr48tA0F1Fv2MSF_72CKQAlarV-GByOkoklG-Tv7ycEQOxACz1GHKoQmLfBaDS-JICRWWblqOkLz1ws7vjwRSW5paGgQOjwlIGT_caDk70zQ_aq5gcIBo7gF_69e5tTOjnDY9/s320/Stanley+Donen.jpg" width="254" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stanley Donen and his Lifetime Achievement Oscar, 1998</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://youtu.be/JMC8kHycgwM" style="color: #990000;">Click here</a> to watch his acceptance of his Lifetime Achievement Award</div><br /></div></div>

Audrey Hepburn Fred Astaire Funny Face Hubert de Givenchy Kay Thompson Leonard Gershe Richard Avedon Stanley Donen TCM Classic Film Festival The Lady Eve (author) Give 'Em the Old Pizzazz - Funny Face (1957)

Director Stanley Donen and actress Audrey Hepburn are being honored separately and together at this year's TCM Classic Film Festival in ...

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Information Technology Director - West Hartford Public Schools

<strong>Information Technology Director</strong> - <span style="color: #48286d;"><strong>West Hartford Public Schools</strong></span>. Description: Under the general direction of the Superintendent of Schools and Town Manager, and in consultation with school administrators and department directors, provide organization-wide vision, leadership and management in all areas of information technology for the Town of West Hartford and West Hartford Public Schools. Essential Job Functions: Responsible for the overall planning, coordination and management of information technology strategies and initiatives in support of the operational missions and objectives of the Town of West Hartford and West Hartford Public Schools. Develop organizational technology strategies by consulting with the user community, investigating and understanding informational and operational requirements and establishing new technology goals and objectives in line with organizational objectives. Develop and implement technology solutions by assembling staff, vendor and service resources to evaluate, design, test, install, and maintain hardware, applications and systems software, and networks. Work closely with Town and School leaders to understand the user communities' system requirements and ensure that the technical direction is consistent across projects. Provide cost effective and secure computer systems and services to meet Town and School needs. Improve availability, accuracy and eliminate redundancy of existing data and information from disparate systems. Organize and manage Town-wide network infrastructure to support and guide individual departments/sites in computing and information technology efforts. Devise, promulgate and enforce information technology policies and standards for Town and School departments. Establish policies and controls to coordinate and support the implementation of hardware and software consistent with established standards. Support and promote continuous improvement efforts to enhance performance and provide increased functionality. Evaluate prototypes and recommend applicable tools and technologies. Review and approve all contracts for computing and information technology software, services and equipment. Coordinate and manage the development, evaluation and implementation of all back-up and disaster recovery procedures and business continuity plans. Develop, recommend and defend departmental budget and capital improvement requests for the Town Manager, Superintendent of Schools, and the Budget & Finance Committee; authorize and expend funds consistent with town policies and procedures; monitor budgets to ensure compliance within approved levels and take action as required. Develop and maintain effective working relationships with vendors to maximize return on investment and performance of installed solutions. Ensure employees receive timely training and support from information technology staff and vendors. Ensure compliance with all applicable Federal and State privacy and public records laws. Ability to recognize Town-wide priorities and work cooperatively to support their accomplishment as part of the Town Manager's and Superintendent's management teams. Knowledge of continuous quality improvement policies and techniques. Ensure the availability of network resources on a 24/7 basis and effectively trouble shoot network problems in a timely manner. Demonstrated expertise in various technologies including: client/server and Web security, Web servers, browsers, various third-party utilities and tools for integrating applications with databases and legacy systems; LAN and WAN networking including Fiber Optics, Broadband, TCP/IP, routers, switchers, load balancers and firewalls. Ability to establish a high level of user confidence. Strong analytical and conceptual skills; ability to create original concepts/theories for various projects. Must have managed full life cycle from point of inception, analysis, Development, QA, implementation and acceptance. Ability to quickly learn and understand custom software programs. Prior experience managing a service provider organization with a strong track record in software and network architecture and technology innovation in software applications. Experience with project management of infrastructure initiatives, business case analysis, network architecture development, and network design. Ability to work independently, retain flexibility and maintain composure under pressure. Proven experience in maintaining project schedules, documentation, communications, and meeting deadlines. Strong commitment to professional development as it relates to knowledge of emerging information technology's "best practices" and standards. Supervisor Responsibility: Supervise Town and School technology staff (15). Job Environment: Work is performed primarily in a business office setting subject to continuous interruptions and background noise. Works independently with minimal supervision. Position requires an ability to frequently move throughout town and school facilities and travel to off-site locations for regular inspection of buildings and attendance at meetings. Must be able to work under stress from demanding deadlines and changing priorities and conditions. Manages and coordinates multiple priorities adhering to established time frames and performance standards. Attends to tasks/functions for more than thirty (30) minutes at a time. Attendance and participation required at occasional extended night meetings outside the normal business workday. Minimum Qualifications: Successful candidates will have a Bachelor's Degree, Master's Degree preferred, in information systems, computer science, business administration, or Master's in Educational Technology, and/or comparable work experience in information systems, information technology oreducational technology. Seven (7) to ten (10) years of progressively responsible experience in information technology involving systems planning, management operations, training, network operations and procurement. Five (5) years of supervisory experience in similar management positions within the public or private sector. Valid driver's license required. <a href="http://www.applitrack.com/whps/onlineapp/jobpostings/view.asp?category=Technology" target="_blank">Get more information and apply online</a>.

Information Technology Director - West Hartford Public Schools

Information Technology Director - West Hartford Public Schools . Description: Under the general direction of the Superintendent of School...

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Systems Librarian - Southern Connecticut State University

<strong>Systems Librarian</strong> - <span style="color: #48286d;"><strong>Southern Connecticut State University</strong></span> is currently recruiting a Tenure-Track Assistant Librarian – Systems Librarian. Brief Description of Duties/Responsibilities: The Systems Librarian provides leadership for planning, implementing, and managing library systems, digital services, and information technologies, serves on a variety of internal and external committees, maintains the library website and other library systems, and provides staff technology training. The Systems Librarian may also serve as liaison to one or more academic departments, providing subject-specific instruction, creating instructional materials and developing collections. Required Qualifications: ALA accredited MLS, or equivalent. Minimum of two years of current professional experience with an integrated library system. Excellent interpersonal and communications skills, both oral and written, and the ability to work independently and collaboratively. Proven ability to manage multiple projects and to meet deadlines. Familiarity with emerging trends in library services and systems. Experience with web site development. Experience with OCLC and document delivery systems. Experience with Windows operating systems. Familiarity with Macintosh platforms and familiarity with programing languages. Preferred Qualifications: Academic library experience. Experience with staff training. Experience with Innovative Interfaces Incorporated comprehensive automated system, Ariel, and ILLIAD. Experience with electronic reserves and digitization software. Experience with link resolvers and citation managers software. Experience with CCS, HTML, PHP, Mac OS, UNIX, and Linux. Experience with liaising on behalf of the library to the university IT department. Application Process: Please submit Letter of Interest, Resume, and Three References to: Dr. Christina D. Baum, Director of Library Services, Southern Connecticut State University, 501 Crescent Street, New Haven, CT 06515 (<a href="mailto:baumc1@southernct.edu">baumc1@southernct.edu</a>). In order for your application to be given full consideration, all materials must be received by <span style="color: red;">May 18, 2012</span>. Position will remain open until filled.

Systems Librarian - Southern Connecticut State University

Systems Librarian - Southern Connecticut State University is currently recruiting a Tenure-Track Assistant Librarian – Systems Librarian....

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Library Clerk - Windsor Locks Public Library

<strong>Library Clerk (Part time)</strong> - <span style="color: #48286d;"><strong>Windsor Locks Public Library</strong></span> seeks one or two individuals with excellent customer service skills to serve a diverse public. Prior library experience and familiarity with SIRSI system preferred. Candidates must possess strong computer skills and the ability to perform a variety of circulation duties, including shelving of materials. Hours include Thursday and Friday afternoons, and Saturday mornings. Availability to fill additional hours as needed is a plus. Hourly rate is $8.50-9.50 commensurate with experience. Interested applicants may apply to the Director, Windsor Locks Public Library, 28 Main Street, Windsor Locks 06096.

Library Clerk - Windsor Locks Public Library

Library Clerk (Part time) - Windsor Locks Public Library seeks one or two individuals with excellent customer service skills to serve a d...

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Office Assistant, Teen Services - West Hartford Public Library

<strong>Office Assistant, Teen Services</strong> - The <span style="color: #48286d;"><strong>West Hartford Public Library</strong></span>’s Teen department seeks an enthusiastic and energetic part-time office assistant to cover weekend, evening and occasional weekday hours in busy Teen Room. Job Description: The successful candidate will apply library techniques and procedures as directed and be proficient with Microsoft Office applications. A familiarity with the Sirsi Automation System is a plus. Duties include, but are not limited to: supervising the Teen Room; providing reader’s advisory service in all genres of Young Adult literature; being familiar with teen movies, music and pop culture; instructing patrons in the use of library’s technology including public access computers, online catalog and the Internet. Shelving library materials in the teen room is required and assisting the Teen Librarian with clerical duties such as preparing flyer or brochures. Send your resume and cover letter to <a href="mailto:jobs@westhartfordlibrary.org">jobs@westhartfordlibrary.org</a>, attention Ann Marie Salerno by <span style="color: red;">May 4th, 2012</span>. Salary: $17.08 per hour. For more information: <a href="http://tinyurl.com/cjbaf9e" target="_blank">http://tinyurl.com/cjbaf9e</a>.

Office Assistant, Teen Services - West Hartford Public Library

Office Assistant, Teen Services - The West Hartford Public Library ’s Teen department seeks an enthusiastic and energetic part-time office...

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Library Associate - New Britain Public Library

<strong>Library Associate</strong> - Full-time position (37.5 hrs/wk) for Adult Programmer that includes at least one evening per week, as well as alternate Fridays & Saturdays. Responsible for creating, publizing, implementing, and tracking the results of adult programs and Outreach services to the community under the supervision of the Head of Adult Services. Additional duties include backup on various service points. Interfaces with all other departments to assure good communication and parallel marketing efforts library-wide. $31,295.52. Bachelor’s degree and at least four years of experience in programming and marketing of public library services. Ability to research and analyze data, to perform detailed work, and to plan, organize, and implement both long and short termed projects. Apply in writing to the Library Director, <span style="color: #48286d;"><strong>New Britain Public Library</strong></span> Administration, 20 High Street, New Britain, CT 06051. Candidates can also apply via email at <a href="mailto:prutkowski@nbpl.info">prutkowski@nbpl.info</a>. No phone calls please.

Library Associate - New Britain Public Library

Library Associate - Full-time position (37.5 hrs/wk) for Adult Programmer that includes at least one evening per week, as well as alterna...

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seeing spots

We don't have a lot of art in our house.<br /><br />Correction.<br /><br />We have a lot of the crayon/marker/glue and dried pasta variety. However, we don't have a lot of grown-up art. Tons of pictures, a few prints and one etching (fancy I know) but not much art to speak of.<br /><br />So I find it funny that I have a <a href="http://pinterest.com/ladybaum/art/" target="_blank">whole board on Pinterest</a> dedicated to that very thing. Lots of paintings - abstract, landscapes etc. A whole bunch of things I absolutely love but would never in a million years be able to create not to mention the fact that they aren't very budget friendly.<br /><br />But what good is Pinterest if it doesn't inspire you to get off your arse once in a while and try something new. Can I get an amen?<br /><br />So with a <a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2012/04/gotta-know-when-to-fold-em.html" target="_blank">perfect blank slate</a> just waiting to be 'arted' (I don't think that is a word but I am here by declaring it a verb. I'll alert Webster's.) I decided to give it a shot.<br /><br />I've always loved this painting by <a href="http://www.damienhirst.com/opium" target="_blank">Damien Hirst (<i>Opium</i>)</a>. So with the <strike>ignorance</strike> confidence of a novice I uttered those famous 5 words, "how hard could it be?"<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/AVvXsEhgQu4MTLjXSdFCGphz2M5x-Z2cZQq8YXH5da9tqMj_pHPXI_j0BK2scHcQp__BsAleG9IonMkNQKfb1tnjid3tefQ4_gA_VkaZkdoaFFb6FYlOKT-vEol7GMMD_gJmnpDshtV5jlkDmNHv/s1600/style-profile-luis-bustamante.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgQu4MTLjXSdFCGphz2M5x-Z2cZQq8YXH5da9tqMj_pHPXI_j0BK2scHcQp__BsAleG9IonMkNQKfb1tnjid3tefQ4_gA_VkaZkdoaFFb6FYlOKT-vEol7GMMD_gJmnpDshtV5jlkDmNHv/s640/style-profile-luis-bustamante.jpeg" width="476" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.luisbustamante.com/ingles/main.html#/Home" target="_blank">Luis Bustamante</a> via <a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/6896205649371889/" target="_blank">Pinterest</a></td></tr></tbody></table>I went to Michael's with my coupons and a list of colors I wanted to use. First big break, the canvas was on sale. I went with a 16x20 so as not to overwhelm myself with a big vast white board screaming 'ok, so make me beautiful ms. know-it-all.'<br /><br />Picking out the paint colors was a huge time suck. Apparently I don't craft enough as I had no idea how many shades of every color in the rainbow there was in the world of craft paint. Luckily at $.60 a bottle, I stayed within my meager budget. Two packs of small round stencil sponge brushes to create my circles and I was armed and read to create.<br /><br />Maybe it was the fumes from all of the craft paint but I was psyched. I couldn't wait for nap time so I could get to work.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_fITYZf31qbcp5GwYbyZKsxZStsOvhcy4zEKYER75O6Uy1GqqBFNmruZ7wywU16EaUFuDyDr9WRdcQd2w72Poh4zHGwK_qADjeE_PEFjTpzODwETiJmAARXwcvv6330whDbKK1WQ_ueuD/s1600/P4125937.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_fITYZf31qbcp5GwYbyZKsxZStsOvhcy4zEKYER75O6Uy1GqqBFNmruZ7wywU16EaUFuDyDr9WRdcQd2w72Poh4zHGwK_qADjeE_PEFjTpzODwETiJmAARXwcvv6330whDbKK1WQ_ueuD/s640/P4125937.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>In order to keep those perfect lines I figured a grid pattern would do the trick. With the very thin painters tape left over from my <a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2012/02/shirt-turned-tray.html" target="_blank">tray</a>, I first made all of my horizontal lines using a piece of tape as my spacer. Then, I repeated the same process vertically.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDiLaWO7RiBuh6_mg41MzV_UHG0lv4knMrBzB9pXuvqsLiyrK-kF3fwRgLWa97tfAnRnRowiXT4aayyRlCdkSLjV6PJXp2gQBNLsnrAKsEc2C80qZTn0mqWk6p5RxcfUrzs9NakCVoy8NG/s1600/P4105897.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDiLaWO7RiBuh6_mg41MzV_UHG0lv4knMrBzB9pXuvqsLiyrK-kF3fwRgLWa97tfAnRnRowiXT4aayyRlCdkSLjV6PJXp2gQBNLsnrAKsEc2C80qZTn0mqWk6p5RxcfUrzs9NakCVoy8NG/s640/P4105897.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>Although it made a lovely gingham pattern, the squares were just a bit too small for my spongy circle things. Big bummer.<br /><br />Attempt number two. I used my wide painters tape for my spacer...and that was a total bust. That tape was too wide and I only got a few rows in.<br /><br />Third time is a charm. I put two pieces of the thin painters tape together, overlapping them slightly and used that for my spacer. Just right. Do I sound like goldilocks?<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-pEqZ-_bIVznSZsrjijXa2j9egMHs5L_AlVrQHYG9GLQIXlCS1QQWdEXvEOKqKANyCqvOxr1IUXyYv9o9hAIRzU6bgB8oXTso6_d8c6kz8Yx2E-Cmc7waL6MY7tc4gwVTdVbmZ8wRGvgo/s1600/P4105899.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-pEqZ-_bIVznSZsrjijXa2j9egMHs5L_AlVrQHYG9GLQIXlCS1QQWdEXvEOKqKANyCqvOxr1IUXyYv9o9hAIRzU6bgB8oXTso6_d8c6kz8Yx2E-Cmc7waL6MY7tc4gwVTdVbmZ8wRGvgo/s640/P4105899.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>With some old cardboard I made myself a little painters palet and got to work. At first I thought about trying to follow the colors in the original painting dot for dot. But that would have driven me bonkers. So I went random.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxQr41ecH5EgMBS8MpIcRrLdHpxLvUmwRn3JkZWmfTK-rz6Dcs4Un7qRFOpPbBNVPg6SkBRyUietBbOCTHVo7D4difA3g1l0LuXPyw5rb22_tgVvgUpJFioKC5A5Ba2I2p_hLKxf9guIex/s1600/P4105900.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxQr41ecH5EgMBS8MpIcRrLdHpxLvUmwRn3JkZWmfTK-rz6Dcs4Un7qRFOpPbBNVPg6SkBRyUietBbOCTHVo7D4difA3g1l0LuXPyw5rb22_tgVvgUpJFioKC5A5Ba2I2p_hLKxf9guIex/s640/P4105900.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>Starting with one color, I would fill in 3 random squares. (I don't know why I picked 3). Then, move to the next color. I went thru the whole rainbow, doing 3 squares of each color before starting over again with the first color. Repeating this over and over until I got to the last few empty squares. At that point it became a bit of a chess game but turned out pretty well.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1ADCe0WLzKky7o3IDmw2XRpvhOhtfwksl410iyuwJki_DABDIqZZM_XVW98ismYhh-FRcj8gjBkHcnuZvgu0l1Yhn1KUzEsZURA_VKXfZRCOOJgMMWCUs8a40cZMshMdgwpqqfUIp9_kF/s1600/P4115904.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1ADCe0WLzKky7o3IDmw2XRpvhOhtfwksl410iyuwJki_DABDIqZZM_XVW98ismYhh-FRcj8gjBkHcnuZvgu0l1Yhn1KUzEsZURA_VKXfZRCOOJgMMWCUs8a40cZMshMdgwpqqfUIp9_kF/s640/P4115904.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>Some of the circles got a little wonky and aren't exactly uniform, but I kind of like that actually. Because really, what in my house isn't a little wonky and not exactly uniform?<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpQPATNd0-bKVqGv9wvbQFFyqb2O6GLFHBFBPFkSgF5iR4y0kmsMZOKiXQNgFBfH7jhkHBW4cWuPhGKry8gD-_mhKwysCgY8zciq8s7QV7QDH-cDyrnAHP3T08b_UFRr5XNgTlVhLMeQK9/s1600/P4125930.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpQPATNd0-bKVqGv9wvbQFFyqb2O6GLFHBFBPFkSgF5iR4y0kmsMZOKiXQNgFBfH7jhkHBW4cWuPhGKry8gD-_mhKwysCgY8zciq8s7QV7QDH-cDyrnAHP3T08b_UFRr5XNgTlVhLMeQK9/s640/P4125930.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>The whole project only took about an hour (would have been shorter if I didn't have to tape and retape) and was under $20. A great deal I would say.<br /><br />Have you attempted to recreate a piece you've seen on Pinterest?

seeing spots

We don't have a lot of art in our house. Correction. We have a lot of the crayon/marker/glue and dried pasta variety. However, we don...

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