FOMC to declare the state of the economy

<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>From the State of the Union Address</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJXSdzid1HAQWMHYtxKJJ_MF5TUrqohWK4sHFazbyurI2ziY4Z3OkFGLmZpWPv97a01zyTI7QUIK0DtDM4zPKJGrKWGyF_NguT0v-cvUwgxVuQv3dkCVOdpkDxo5CLFx4uoz2uSit_JYE/s1600/ObamaUnionAddressPIC.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJXSdzid1HAQWMHYtxKJJ_MF5TUrqohWK4sHFazbyurI2ziY4Z3OkFGLmZpWPv97a01zyTI7QUIK0DtDM4zPKJGrKWGyF_NguT0v-cvUwgxVuQv3dkCVOdpkDxo5CLFx4uoz2uSit_JYE/s1600/ObamaUnionAddressPIC.JPG" width="240" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>to the state of the economy</b></span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFJDbdZ4njrBxX95IVNOcpJEpbIZ1_fQ5fPBbVYlbi6FMxvDc3yWFJoJRnwMOin03A0jQjk9A9s04dTL_Q21kYTRUdmxxjN7CvV76SGwOuOw8HrgKhYcsbtI6a5l2VU48MnI-A_XTdg2c/s1600/BernankeYellenPIC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFJDbdZ4njrBxX95IVNOcpJEpbIZ1_fQ5fPBbVYlbi6FMxvDc3yWFJoJRnwMOin03A0jQjk9A9s04dTL_Q21kYTRUdmxxjN7CvV76SGwOuOw8HrgKhYcsbtI6a5l2VU48MnI-A_XTdg2c/s1600/BernankeYellenPIC.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>This is what really matters on Wall Street </b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Money talks and bullshit walks</b></span></div><br />The FOMC announcements are coming soon after the bullshit of the State of the Union Address was declared.  Now we'll get a reality check as Wall Street is already on the edge:<br /><a href="http://www.marketwatch.com/story/obama-pledges-to-act-alone-on-economy-2014-01-29?dist=tcountdown" style="color: red;">http://www.marketwatch.com/story/obama-pledges-to-act-alone-on-economy-2014-01-29?dist=tcountdown</a><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/hed1nP9X7pI?feature=player_detailpage" width="640"></iframe><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/m6SZV1S4Pgs?feature=player_detailpage" width="640"></iframe><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/dTeSiaejrHo?feature=player_detailpage" width="640"></iframe><br /><br />...developing...

FOMC to declare the state of the economy

From the State of the Union Address to the state of the economy This is what really matters on Wall Street Money talks and bullshit walks Th...

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90% of Americans want to be disarmed? Really?

<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Moms and Mayors Demand Action!</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>The move to disarm Americans for the sake of our children... </b></span></div><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/jM0bxwvlDPw?feature=player_detailpage" width="640"></iframe>

90% of Americans want to be disarmed? Really?

Moms and Mayors Demand Action! The move to disarm Americans for the sake of our children...

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EXPLOSIVES CONCERNS rising for Super Bowl XLVIII

<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>X22 Report cites Super Bowl XLVIII Concerns</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I wouldn't go there.  You get into a large assembly of persons like this and there is no escape:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/v3lxfTN4vWM?feature=player_detailpage" width="640"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">...developing...</div>

EXPLOSIVES CONCERNS rising for Super Bowl XLVIII

X22 Report cites Super Bowl XLVIII Concerns I wouldn't go there.  You get into a large assembly of persons like this and there is no esc...

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The BITCOIN BUST begins

<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Zjv-aMKvVwQ?feature=player_detailpage" width="640"></iframe>

The BITCOIN BUST begins

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World War III and Economic Disaster Soon

<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>It keeps getting closer :-)</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">Hagmann and Hagmann along with Steve Quayle and some guy called "V" have it all figured out.  Just buy some gold and silver and listen to their words of wisdom below:</div><br /></div><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="370" src="https://player.cinchcast.com/?show_id=5866135&platformId=1&assetType=single" width="400"></iframe><br /><div style="font-size: 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;">Online News Radio at Blog Talk Radio with <a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/cfp-radio" rel="nofollow">Hagmann and Hagmann Report</a> on BlogTalkRadio</div>

World War III and Economic Disaster Soon

It keeps getting closer :-) Hagmann and Hagmann along with Steve Quayle and some guy called "V" have it all figured out.  Just buy...

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President Obama State of the Union Address January 28, 2014

<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b> ...and may God bless America.</b></span></div><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><i><b>When he speaketh fair, believe him not: for <i>there are</i> seven abominations in his heart.</b></i></span><br /><b><span style="font-size: large;"><i>--PROVERBS 26.28 </i></span></b><br /><br /><b>FULL State of the Union Address...</b><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/hed1nP9X7pI?feature=player_detailpage" width="640"></iframe><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/m6SZV1S4Pgs?feature=player_detailpage" width="640"></iframe><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/dTeSiaejrHo?feature=player_detailpage" width="640"></iframe><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/6Jg_JnXOzIw?feature=player_detailpage" width="640"></iframe>

President Obama State of the Union Address January 28, 2014

 ...and may God bless America. When he speaketh fair, believe him not: for there are seven abominations in his heart. --PROVERBS 26.28 FULL...

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One Million Moms take on Disney's 'Good Luck Charlie'

<div class="MsoNormal">“Disney should stick to entertaining instead of pushing an agenda.”<o:p></o:p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjov9PoBH-uQO0z2bpk9OjSXsOk8RcYaSfRaUbYBGvnvc6Qq-TOMpT-nIs5ySeb3UVOO9M7e9Sd6lemfKVoWnwwuU0apGp6L5lP6m1r8jlGm_jag_S32bzZIPt4sGK19QnWHd_hdbXmoP9-/s1600/download+(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="85" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjov9PoBH-uQO0z2bpk9OjSXsOk8RcYaSfRaUbYBGvnvc6Qq-TOMpT-nIs5ySeb3UVOO9M7e9Sd6lemfKVoWnwwuU0apGp6L5lP6m1r8jlGm_jag_S32bzZIPt4sGK19QnWHd_hdbXmoP9-/s1600/download+(1).jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">These were the thoughts of the Conservative advocacy group One Million Moms on the subject of the Disney Channels latest episode of <i>Good Luck Charlie </i>which debuted on Sunday.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">On the show, Charlie, the main character, with her father Bob (played by actor Eric Allen Kramer) and her mother Amy (played by Leigh Allyn Baker) discussed a play date that was set up with Charlie’s friend Taylor. Amy told Bob that Taylor’s parents would also be joining them while the girls played which then led to the two debating Taylor’s mother’s name. Both had said they had individually met the woman, but while Amy said her name was Susan, Bob remembered meeting a parent named Cheryl and since they weren’t together at the time of the interactions, the two remained at odds. When the doorbell finally rang and Taylor arrived with her mothers, Charlie’s parents realized that they were both right: Susan and Bob were speaking about two separate women. “Taylor has two moms,” Bob said after answering the door. “Nothing gets past you, Bob,” Amy said.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">The topic had been talked about since this past summer. A Disney representative said on how they chose to approach the topic, “This particular story line was developed under the consultancy of child development experts and community advisers. Like all Disney Channel programming, it was developed to be relevant to kids and families around the world and to reflect themes of diversity and inclusiveness.”<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Although it was designed to be relevant to all children and families, some advocacy groups feel it was inappropriate. The group One Million Moms, which is a group dedicated to “give moms an impact with the decision-makers and let them know we are upset with the messages they are sending our children and the values (or lack of them) they are pushing”, had this to say on the subject, “Conservative families need to urge Disney to avoid controversial topics that children are far too young to comprehend. This is the last place a parent would expect their children to be confronted with topics that are too difficult for them to understand. Mature issues of this nature are being introduced too early and too soon, and it is extremely unnecessary.”<o:p></o:p></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">What do you think? Is it inappropriate or just a sign of the times? <o:p></o:p><br /><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Follow Brittnye Webb-Earl on Twitter <b>@BeeNoelle</b></span></span></div>

One Million Moms take on Disney's 'Good Luck Charlie'

“Disney should stick to entertaining instead of pushing an agenda.” These were the thoughts of the Conservative advocacy group One Million M...

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The Broncos are Going to Lose

<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I am pretty convinced that the Broncos are going to lose on Sunday. I’m not really sure why, but here are a few passing thoughts that are convincing me:</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1. Cold!</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Broncos are based in Denver, and the weather is always changing. For most of the Broncos’ games, however, it’s been sunny and relatively warm. When they’ve had to play in the cold (Sunday night at New England, Sunday night at home, and Thursday night at home), they lost two of those games.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Quarterback Peyton Manning has told reporters to “Shove it” when discussing how he can’t perform in the cold. I’m less inclined to say that Manning can’t perform in the cold, than the fact that the </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">team</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> has a hard time in the cold.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Looking at Seattle’s home weather conditions (cool and moist), they are much more inclined to perform better in colder weather.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2. Injuries</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Running back Knowshon Moreno is nursing bad ribs. Kicker Matt Prater has been sick. Manning has had ankle issues in the latter half of the season. Linebacker Vonn Miller is gone, as are center Dan Koppen, tackle Ryan Clady. Receiver Wes Welker is just coming back from a concussion.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All of these guys were/are very important to the team. It is great how much depth there is to the team, but is it Super Bowl depth?</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3. Defense Wins</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I am a huge believer in the phrase “defense wins championships.” I tend to root for teams that have a stronger defensive presence than offensive. (2004 Pistons, anyone?) It is rare that I want the strong </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">offensive</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> team to win.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As you might have been aware, this Super Bowl matchup is the Number One Defense (Seattle) against the Number One Offense (Denver). Although I’m rooting for the offensive team, I still believe that the defense will win.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">4. Letdown</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is an all-sports-related – not just football. I have gotten so used to my team making it to the championship and then losing. 2006 Tigers. 2009 Red Wings. 2012 Tigers. 2013 Michigan basketball. It’s been six years since I’ve been able to revel in a championship (oh, woe is me, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">sarcasmsarcasmsarcasm</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">), and I haven’t had much to celebrate. So it might just be my personal mindset that convinces me that the Broncos will lose.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">However…</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I will be rooting for the Broncos to crush it on Sunday night. (Or Saturday. Or Monday. Or whenever they play the game.) I will be going to a party, likely full of other Broncos fans (and a few Packer fans, I’m sure) and cheering my socks off. My classroom is having a “Sports Day” on Friday, where they are all encouraged to wear their favorite team colors – and I will wear my Broncos t-shirt.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So here we go – let this be a good one!</span></div><span id="docs-internal-guid-4be05c7c-dc0d-6caf-fd77-07ec8a9d9427"><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span>

The Broncos are Going to Lose

I am pretty convinced that the Broncos are going to lose on Sunday. I’m not really sure why, but here are a few passing thoughts that are co...

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DNA Evidence Proves That The First People In China Were Black (Blog)

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRpd1w12ZtVhb-8sdDH-RhPC5sGLw4kb29lab_ZEftme3Mqr3-_QkTvdHH_ybjaeefTy4J8Z4wx4blUSOL50EXknZ3wALlBHgtq0s8B04Btj_-tOouG9aGY5OlHWBQ1nKNImIuFGor43U/s1600/first-men-in-china-were-black-300x183.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRpd1w12ZtVhb-8sdDH-RhPC5sGLw4kb29lab_ZEftme3Mqr3-_QkTvdHH_ybjaeefTy4J8Z4wx4blUSOL50EXknZ3wALlBHgtq0s8B04Btj_-tOouG9aGY5OlHWBQ1nKNImIuFGor43U/s1600/first-men-in-china-were-black-300x183.jpg" /></a></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, palatino linotype, palatino, times new roman, times, serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px;">China is apparently finding out now what Black historians have been reporting for many years, the first inhabitants of China were in fact black.</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px;">H. Imbert, a French anthropologist said in his book, “Les Negritos de la Chine”,”The Negroid races peopled at some time all the South of India, Indo-China and China. The South of Indo-China actually has now pure Negritos as the Semangs and mixed as the Malays and the Sakais.”</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px;">Another author and professor, Chang Hsing-Lang, revealed similar information in writing “The Importation of Negro Slaves to China under the Tang Dynasty”, “Even the sacred Manchu dynasty shows this Negro strain. The lower part of the face of the Emperor Pu-yi of Manchukuo, direct descendant of the Manchu rulers of China, is most distinctly Negroid.”</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px;">These professors through their research and studies have reason to believe that a Negro Empire actually existed at the dawn of the country’s history citing evidence of substantial populations of Blacks in early China, including finding reports of a major kingdom ruled by Blacks being frequently mentioned in historical Chinese history documents. And, Chinese chroniclers report that a Negro Empire existed in the South of China at the dawn of that country’s history</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px;">The notion that blacks were the original inhabitants of China has been thwarted by white scientists and even some blacks as the result of a sweeping message of white superiority and inferiority of black Africans and their descendants spreading worldwide.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px;">In 2005, DNA testing proved that the first inhabitants of China were black Africans. The study was conducted by a Chinese DNA specialist named Jin Li and a team of Chinese and other scientists. Li admits that he wasn’t trying to prove this fact, instead he initially wanted to prove that the Chinese evolved from hοmo erectus independently of all humans. After collecting more than 12000 DNA samples from 165 different ethnic groups, Li and his team found that early humans belonged to different species but modern humans had descended from the East African species.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px;">One scientist on the team, Li Hui, said that 100,000 years ago humans began migrating through South and Southeast Asia into China from Africa. Their testing showed that 65 branches of Chinese all carry similar DNA mutations as the people of Southeast Asia.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px;">Another scientist on the team, Jin Li had this to say about their findings, “we did not see even one single individual that could be considered as a descendant of the hοmo erectus in China, rather, everybody was a descendant of our ancestors from Africa.”</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px;">When asked how he felt about these findings, he responded, “after I saw the evidence generated in my laboratory. I think we should all be happy with that. Because after all, modern humans from different parts of the world are not so different from each other and we are very close relatives.”</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px;">The team of scientists participating in the 5 year study of geographic and genealogical routes tracing the spread of settlements of ancient and modern humans were from China, Russia, India, Brazil and other nations.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px;">Richard Leaky, a well-known, Kenyan-born Paleoanthropologist who has dedicated his life to studying fossils and the past believes that we must study the past if we are to have a future. He had this to say, “If you get to the stage where you can persuade people on the evidence, that it’s solid, that we are all African, that color is superficial, that stages of development of culture are all interactive, then I think we have a chance of a world that will respond better to global challenges.”</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px;">Wow, so it appears that Africa truly is the cradle of all civilization after all.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px;">By Daphne R</span><br /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span><em style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px;"><b>Daphne R is an experienced marketing and communications professional that provides social commentary, self-help, tips, and reports news of events that matter to African Americans.</b></em></div></div>

DNA Evidence Proves That The First People In China Were Black (Blog)

China is apparently finding out now what Black historians have been reporting for many years, the first inhabitants of China were in fact bl...

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A Conversation on MoMA's Plan for Expansion

I'm at the New York Society for Ethical Culture for the <a href="http://archleague.org/2014/01/a-conversation-on-the-museum-of-modern-arts-plan-for-expansion/">ArchLeague/MAS/AIANY event</a> on MoMA's controversial expansion plan by Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R). I'll update with photos (pardon the low-res, cameraphone shots) as the evening progresses, adding some commentary tomorrow.<br /><br />For background on the controversy, which involves the destruction of Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects' 2001 American Folk Art Museum (AFAM), which MoMA purchased in 2011, see <a href="http://archidose.blogspot.com/2014/01/goodbye-folk-art-hello-art-bay.html">my previous post on DS+R's plan</a> unveiled three weeks ago.<br /><br />A crowd packs the New York Society for Ethical Culture on the Upper West Side:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9G0RfsJB7yDUTFFwC6i4DVxRk2Adkm1V54OIq4mg8buTc_-zJM8dlMbWkTDoETf-ncXP8pTL_j-O1Q6dFtHVvdOOmUO3jBcoktmrkJTmNCCDNsapG87irzOFbBuoiZyiHyTSJdgQBLf27/s1600/2014-01-28%25252018.27.47.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9G0RfsJB7yDUTFFwC6i4DVxRk2Adkm1V54OIq4mg8buTc_-zJM8dlMbWkTDoETf-ncXP8pTL_j-O1Q6dFtHVvdOOmUO3jBcoktmrkJTmNCCDNsapG87irzOFbBuoiZyiHyTSJdgQBLf27/s640/2014-01-28%25252018.27.47.jpg" /> </a><br /><br />MoMA's Glenn Lowry (director) and Ann Temkin (curator) begin the proceedings by outlining their main objectives with the expansion, namely that they have a responsibility as an important cultural institution, and therefore they need more space to show more art. Temkin uses the Frank Lloyd Wright archives that MoMA jointly acquired in 2012 as an example of something they'd be able to show with more galleries, clearly to appease to the crowd of mainly architects. She also mentions that while MoMA traditionally show the art of the past and the art of the present, a "new generation of curators" is working in across multiple histories in a "non-linear, networked" fashion. Here Lowry presents before Temkin speaks:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyFMsEO_O0oevrgdzT0L2Smo99_lxlfYfs6qPRiwin23j7v5wRX_xDfJ95ZeiOsqr1dxfWgAu2CkxdVILNT6MSjvnH7DjTEHv0DyYsdR6rGhIVByfduhW_5bnDBij6lY-ufzt5zEOYgtUa/s1600/2014-01-28%25252018.47.34.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyFMsEO_O0oevrgdzT0L2Smo99_lxlfYfs6qPRiwin23j7v5wRX_xDfJ95ZeiOsqr1dxfWgAu2CkxdVILNT6MSjvnH7DjTEHv0DyYsdR6rGhIVByfduhW_5bnDBij6lY-ufzt5zEOYgtUa/s640/2014-01-28%25252018.47.34.jpg" /> </a><br /><br />Liz Diller of DS+R starts her presentation by stating the two reasons why they accepted the MoMA commission:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">1) They believed they could save AFAM;<br />2) They believed in MoMA's "forward mission" of expanded and diverse programming that results to some extent from the new generation of curators that Temkin mentions. </blockquote><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBdiYTMipJK5DJ-sVbjyaI0kXWezAEXBgMU1iEbe9da92oPvhJDv6Ein0X_Q9Ofsovr03iqcxXxMatZYmSh-Cz2dUw3Uxk792YqbsmSgEXi_TEwP-hhzWUB6pL9vvpncNfVpNORv-I3aAD/s1600/2014-01-28%25252018.56.40.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBdiYTMipJK5DJ-sVbjyaI0kXWezAEXBgMU1iEbe9da92oPvhJDv6Ein0X_Q9Ofsovr03iqcxXxMatZYmSh-Cz2dUw3Uxk792YqbsmSgEXi_TEwP-hhzWUB6pL9vvpncNfVpNORv-I3aAD/s640/2014-01-28%25252018.56.40.jpg" /> </a><br /><br />Diller then explains the goals of their six-month study, based on the notion that there is a "good MoMA" (represented by the view of an art-filled gallery above) and a "bad MoMA," which is the crowds of people in the lobby and elsewhere:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7iSFwNtVG5p5_l6Sa5XADIpzNV18qI7Qh7IEjeOVPDArpwCdxlqCo1KaRJMdgOm0jkMksV5c2JelMt_7AD2uRLCZexQMYmp2rr5v_RMb9eQuCGcDsRqk7rJQcavqThPjBekM6SMrjjtLS/s1600/2014-01-28%25252019.01.36.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7iSFwNtVG5p5_l6Sa5XADIpzNV18qI7Qh7IEjeOVPDArpwCdxlqCo1KaRJMdgOm0jkMksV5c2JelMt_7AD2uRLCZexQMYmp2rr5v_RMb9eQuCGcDsRqk7rJQcavqThPjBekM6SMrjjtLS/s640/2014-01-28%25252019.01.36.jpg" /> </a> <br /><br />Starting with a plan showing the current extents of MoMA in yellow, AFAM in pink, and the Jean Nouvel/Hines Tower in Green (which includes gallery space for MoMA on the lower floors), Diller explains the "closed loop" of the chronologically ordered galleries in MoMA's Taniguchi building (loop not show in this photo, but imagine a clockwise route moving from the atrium in the middle of the yellow spaces moving to the left and then back to the atrium):<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3_JqL40sCH7xeaXCM4aBKP5RjbMG5mJ3y4BX0BsY4JTFErNJ-ej3RyWcR1o2Fcm5sLHaBSCxd2wmMcr_W1miX-ZmHamfSjOLYS8TTiWnvzAfHSrqCgxpbwR3-FT7c8Qa1PG7k7EP-D1SF/s1600/2014-01-28%25252019.04.57.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3_JqL40sCH7xeaXCM4aBKP5RjbMG5mJ3y4BX0BsY4JTFErNJ-ej3RyWcR1o2Fcm5sLHaBSCxd2wmMcr_W1miX-ZmHamfSjOLYS8TTiWnvzAfHSrqCgxpbwR3-FT7c8Qa1PG7k7EP-D1SF/s640/2014-01-28%25252019.04.57.jpg" /> </a><br /><br />Diller then shows that the closed loop becomes a dead end that requires a back track, when the AFAM is not touched and the galleries extend only into the Nouvel/Hines tower:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgulpzcKl4-ZLTU9-K1Pi7O-LlRz-kwTq2iFDLYo3ckCiQSV5Vvfw25QhcdUJqDdUhydbWTgPiEJvlTWwfLaQ5Y8hOMqo5J68Q_oB_TAVczb66a13AGmKi7bREb-YhJfnjoqXyaXdAHym3A/s1600/20140128_190908.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgulpzcKl4-ZLTU9-K1Pi7O-LlRz-kwTq2iFDLYo3ckCiQSV5Vvfw25QhcdUJqDdUhydbWTgPiEJvlTWwfLaQ5Y8hOMqo5J68Q_oB_TAVczb66a13AGmKi7bREb-YhJfnjoqXyaXdAHym3A/s640/20140128_190908.jpg" /> </a><br /><br />So naturally AFAM is seen as a way to close the loop again, by bridging across it in one or two places:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPiWuQlr7vEQcdni4pW7XaQByusZxVh5TPbcqiCxrbMP961PvoRlepspuhXo7Zd2BzA6vZpFqw_sPgP6LrhxiEk8qBfLrBYwCRl5_nwKraJdvcAG8Fp9keQckKMj5-1idZfQJG0xRLTohe/s1600/20140128_190942.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPiWuQlr7vEQcdni4pW7XaQByusZxVh5TPbcqiCxrbMP961PvoRlepspuhXo7Zd2BzA6vZpFqw_sPgP6LrhxiEk8qBfLrBYwCRl5_nwKraJdvcAG8Fp9keQckKMj5-1idZfQJG0xRLTohe/s640/20140128_190942.jpg" /> </a><br /><br />The best location of a bridge is at the front of the building, which would necessitate the "white glove" removal of the facade and it being mounted on a new armature incorporating the bridges:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiWIK940Fx-MlgaPN9ai0Dydmdnobg2pJef1Xt8TGzZB3AAZAx8rwzaVbY8V4_YO6CjZcSJEWwuwHPE1iAmKk-cm0vSLLYBLj1DgCIaUJybCzCJWllwf8Izt8uBtC1j9lVyV3RnXlgaetR/s1600/20140128_191251.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiWIK940Fx-MlgaPN9ai0Dydmdnobg2pJef1Xt8TGzZB3AAZAx8rwzaVbY8V4_YO6CjZcSJEWwuwHPE1iAmKk-cm0vSLLYBLj1DgCIaUJybCzCJWllwf8Izt8uBtC1j9lVyV3RnXlgaetR/s640/20140128_191251.jpg" /> </a><br /><br />DS+R's analysis of AFAM finds four aspects of the Williams Tsien design that give the building its character:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">1) Its facade;<br />2) The sculptural stairs;<br />3) The vertical openings through the building;<br />4) The skylights at the rear yard and top of the building. </blockquote>The overriding concerns on the part of MoMA and DS+R are threefold:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">1) Close the loop;<br />2) Find a place for the necessary new core;<br />3) Find a place for the required mechanical rooms.</blockquote>This slide shows what happens when the loop is closed, the core is inserted into AFAM's rear yard, and the mechanical space is plopped atop the building:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh43H2x1I6_pR7gEBozkNVxXnKIp6GjYPrC3xTZKuqzT8sJC_HwxcXoGOzcKe-JsubsaLsWd92wPQqiVepJxaRUAuZP6GAyTcnmfCipX7UFRsKY9SwHJ2Qr-DZaaHg6KIUJr9gPNoTMqWUr/s1600/20140128_191358.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh43H2x1I6_pR7gEBozkNVxXnKIp6GjYPrC3xTZKuqzT8sJC_HwxcXoGOzcKe-JsubsaLsWd92wPQqiVepJxaRUAuZP6GAyTcnmfCipX7UFRsKY9SwHJ2Qr-DZaaHg6KIUJr9gPNoTMqWUr/s640/20140128_191358.jpg" /> </a><br /><br />DS+R did convince MoMA to let them explore alternative programming within AFAM:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRtcXL54jaQjxhVaS2n4mMo9TANFbcrlfJfZM_piaFrxPLFXJ3YI7NOCqiyuLvUA_xgcgv8-SMGJ4K4gOh4tnE9Z8eLu-nW-hlk0oeNHaWkZejSgpFGbYaKW359519y8mLtc9mnXxQh_hG/s1600/20140128_191437.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRtcXL54jaQjxhVaS2n4mMo9TANFbcrlfJfZM_piaFrxPLFXJ3YI7NOCqiyuLvUA_xgcgv8-SMGJ4K4gOh4tnE9Z8eLu-nW-hlk0oeNHaWkZejSgpFGbYaKW359519y8mLtc9mnXxQh_hG/s640/20140128_191437.jpg" /> </a><br /><br />Even looking at ways that the existing building would be revealed through the bridge that closes the loop (note the way the floors do not align, one "misfit" that would necessitate removing most if not all of the floors in AFAM):<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhIneVfXTnu02HMnlY4K5M4QPpxV4sZ66YEJW7xmF54lJycrqBv9D2c5b0rSA4fx7Xv-Or4rJqFtgKspzYqj_ND6F2YJaNzhP_3Xajp0Giq6rgpX-CW3caJdmN1jnGlZFrav2ZXtTECnLV/s1600/20140128_191602.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhIneVfXTnu02HMnlY4K5M4QPpxV4sZ66YEJW7xmF54lJycrqBv9D2c5b0rSA4fx7Xv-Or4rJqFtgKspzYqj_ND6F2YJaNzhP_3Xajp0Giq6rgpX-CW3caJdmN1jnGlZFrav2ZXtTECnLV/s640/20140128_191602.jpg" /> </a><br /><br />Diller tells the crowd that they really tried to reuse the 12-year-old building, but "the building is so obdurate," a term she uses at least three times during the evening.<br /><br />One of the last images showed a newly considered East 53rd Street elevation, from the reconfigured entrance to the Taniguchi building and the clear glass inserted above the gift shop, to the "Art Bay" in place of the old AFAM, and the Nouvel/Hines tower. A band of clear glass unites all three:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXcs6kWBA3oVhpcqwVINEwoG_D6g-5yu1MWXMA1l3qaJo0cMycnsbqXpt2umwGTsOttzjsf5LFHNF54sANdNQNKXKWxYrJnmBpSpmNBrpgk6BBpZgii7GAZJ-aK9kcBCaYLor7V0M7atkQ/s1600/20140128_192146.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXcs6kWBA3oVhpcqwVINEwoG_D6g-5yu1MWXMA1l3qaJo0cMycnsbqXpt2umwGTsOttzjsf5LFHNF54sANdNQNKXKWxYrJnmBpSpmNBrpgk6BBpZgii7GAZJ-aK9kcBCaYLor7V0M7atkQ/s640/20140128_192146.jpg" /> </a><br /><br />Another view of the packed auditorium:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc4GSc3e1b7jDJxSx7nyePNMgYe6BApabyJLjPW7dDCVQoDyzSeWNQ9sJRtNJ4Lb0hlhVuaDESSii6SvovAjvmxg7wmoal2_C2lhMFJssW9x5gzLMaJB-L1-dmCohM8UiZJ5CkdF84VH3U/s1600/2014-01-28%25252019.33.32.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc4GSc3e1b7jDJxSx7nyePNMgYe6BApabyJLjPW7dDCVQoDyzSeWNQ9sJRtNJ4Lb0hlhVuaDESSii6SvovAjvmxg7wmoal2_C2lhMFJssW9x5gzLMaJB-L1-dmCohM8UiZJ5CkdF84VH3U/s640/2014-01-28%25252019.33.32.jpg" /> </a><br /><br />After Diller's presentation the panel convened. Moderated by Reed Kroloff (Cranbrook), the panel consists of Cathleen McGuigan (Architectural Record), Jorge Otero-Pailos (Columbia GSAPP), Nicolai Ouroussoff (former New York Times critic), Stephen Rustow (Museoplan), and Karen Stein (independent architectural advisor):<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9zMrJBa_EFEvL1XnHmjfM3Jf2-zhEiExUfcUZJcCtRB_Ay0hfPUl8rwD8hzJB-EYfQfbMenocsIlF59dcKEcX2pWDHseP7xoJiOsQdVN2GVSHcDOHm9VFzcx5hFOPcJYvC9Vgq6O_WfrZ/s1600/2014-01-28%25252019.32.32.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9zMrJBa_EFEvL1XnHmjfM3Jf2-zhEiExUfcUZJcCtRB_Ay0hfPUl8rwD8hzJB-EYfQfbMenocsIlF59dcKEcX2pWDHseP7xoJiOsQdVN2GVSHcDOHm9VFzcx5hFOPcJYvC9Vgq6O_WfrZ/s640/2014-01-28%25252019.32.32.jpg" /> </a><br /><br />Some paraphrased highlights from a few of their comments:<br /><br /><b>Rustow:</b> Given that DS+R's scheme is a feasibility study, and it is only as good as the questions asked, what they were given would have to result in AFAM coming down. Any change in that fact would entail posing the original questions in different ways. One way to do that is to treat AFAM like the original MoMA building, which has been altered considerably over the years, even when inadequate, because it has always been considered an integral part of the museum's evolution. <br /><br />We should look to Carlo Scarpa for ways of being creative with preservation. For him, the materials on site were fair game, something he created a dialogue with. Additionally, by calling the preservation of just the AFAM facade "facadism" – with all the negative connotations of the term – something that could be creatively reused is being thrown out. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZyAEdiCk4Ud3LOvddfRjKS3jUel4zu9ak2wRqJ3RACKEIpH1vSAyX9LjYxPOgFSkyJgoALaP8S_HYhNADbl2R6_oSpVPNiYTiyY-R6lTudZwzDPNoV1xNZekez8CQxtO1l8oATbuOmOa6/s1600/2014-01-28%25252020.00.29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZyAEdiCk4Ud3LOvddfRjKS3jUel4zu9ak2wRqJ3RACKEIpH1vSAyX9LjYxPOgFSkyJgoALaP8S_HYhNADbl2R6_oSpVPNiYTiyY-R6lTudZwzDPNoV1xNZekez8CQxtO1l8oATbuOmOa6/s640/2014-01-28%25252020.00.29.jpg" /> </a><br /><br /><b>Otero-Pailos: </b>Rethinking preservation is important. For example, what about preserving the smell of AFAM, which has a distinctive olfactory sense emanating from the way the building has been crafted. On the other hand MoMA has an "airport smell." And as advice to the MoMA board members, think ahead 15-20+ years, when the museum decides to relocate due to running out of space in Midtown; what will they have left to the city and its people? And what <i>could</i> they have left them?<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPrDrYg9xHbiRgdu-PFGLMj-0q2D9HkRXLy2z4LbCiIZRRbsKYvdaBlLremtBtGD8ORRyBurhhoLQ5shSpZRYRm-8Ju8s9QJaGiJMjNuDwqJWVUA1uddA30Rg1srqhv79oAl1kGFJeUhgY/s1600/2014-01-28%25252020.00.06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPrDrYg9xHbiRgdu-PFGLMj-0q2D9HkRXLy2z4LbCiIZRRbsKYvdaBlLremtBtGD8ORRyBurhhoLQ5shSpZRYRm-8Ju8s9QJaGiJMjNuDwqJWVUA1uddA30Rg1srqhv79oAl1kGFJeUhgY/s640/2014-01-28%25252020.00.06.jpg" /> </a><br /><br /><b>Stein:</b> DS+R's process unfolds like a "mathematical theorem," such that one thing logically follows from the previous. But the continuous loop that it is founded upon is problematic. (I'd agree, since the closed loop is based on an art historical view of things, and the new generation of curators that Temkin speaks about work in other ways, meaning the loop is no longer a valid way to organize the museum.)<br /><br />At the end of the night it is clear that most people in the audience and on the panel want to preserve AFAM in some way. This is particularly obvious when applause follows each of the above comments from the panel.<br /><br />Lowry, Temkin and Diller join the panel on stage to field questions from the audience, written on cards given out at the beginning of the event. L-R: Kroloff, McGuigan, Otero-Pailos, Diller, Ouroussoff, Rustow, Stein, Lowry, Temkin:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQc7CPaC1PwlXLA7VjJnEuwUzHJsZljt2n1u_2H6xlHFLnhdOpLfAtodyDlYMVA6eh9M6ZL9rY-VGrgyn4fIBqwUmTVJrp0vqnuv_7mHVvGWiFgt1lcwkRmCWpikIusVWzs19w40YhPLdo/s1600/2014-01-28%25252020.19.55.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQc7CPaC1PwlXLA7VjJnEuwUzHJsZljt2n1u_2H6xlHFLnhdOpLfAtodyDlYMVA6eh9M6ZL9rY-VGrgyn4fIBqwUmTVJrp0vqnuv_7mHVvGWiFgt1lcwkRmCWpikIusVWzs19w40YhPLdo/s640/2014-01-28%25252020.19.55.jpg" /> </a><br /><br />A couple questions are directed at Lowry, who nonchalantly says: "Our decision has been made," and: "We don't collect buildings." Any hope for further discussion is dashed in the course of one sentence, be it an expected one.<br /><br />As the event comes to a close and Kroloff thanks MoMA and the panelists, the largest applause goes to Liz Diller for "her bravery" in presenting. Of course missing from the crowd are Williams and Tsien, but they probably know that coming to the "conversation" with the hopes of a different outcome is unrealistic, something most people in the crowd are sad to realize over the course of the 2-hour event.

A Conversation on MoMA's Plan for Expansion

I'm at the New York Society for Ethical Culture for the ArchLeague/MAS/AIANY event on MoMA's controversial expansion plan by Diller...

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Real Oil Price: Old Normal vs. New Normal

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4eEoMkmgClgHg1VdlfcWSgv-p98AdbfBoH5ht60Qvqur8mUfi9OSvuEvUE4HdXPD_JBt1BNjKfWDAzAmGXYp-lGitybFL5eVN12c5NpKgCeu3N53p_CvKM6LEGFL3x_Zkm_zSuvLG-Lo/s1600/Real+Oil+Price+v.2.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4eEoMkmgClgHg1VdlfcWSgv-p98AdbfBoH5ht60Qvqur8mUfi9OSvuEvUE4HdXPD_JBt1BNjKfWDAzAmGXYp-lGitybFL5eVN12c5NpKgCeu3N53p_CvKM6LEGFL3x_Zkm_zSuvLG-Lo/s320/Real+Oil+Price+v.2.jpg" /></a><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">Click to enlarge.</span><br /><br />The Fed wants 2% inflation per year. If <a href="http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?g=rrw">real household median income</a> and <a href="http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?g=rrA">real household debt per capita</a> can't get us there, then oil will have to do.<br /><br />Here's the good news. If real household median income starts to fall again, then the Fed may help raise the price of oil to compensate again. In fact, the lower real median income goes, the more help they may offer! <a href="http://www.despair.com/government.html">Genius!</a><br /><br />Put another way, the less you make at work the more it may cost you to get to work! You know, just to balance it out and what not. This is such a great idea. Should give you all the motivation in the world to get paid more.<br /><br />What label should we use to describe what's going on?<br /><br />1. Deflation.<br />2. Inflation.<br />3. Stagflation.<br />4. All of the above.<br /><br />You make the call. As for me, I'm calling it hyperdefstaginflation! We'll need two words to describe what we're feeling as well.<br /><br />For the optimists: hyperdefstaginf<a href="http://www.thefreedictionary.com/elation">elation</a>ed!<br />For the pessimists: hyperdefstag<a href="http://www.thefreedictionary.com/infestation">infestation</a>ed!<br /><br />As a side note, one can probably deduce the typical feeling based on how little it costs to fill one's gas tank as a percentage of net worth. The closer you are to the top 1%, the more you'll feel hyperdefstaginfelationed! Well, not always. There may be a little bit of whining involved.<br /><br /><b>January 28, 2014</b><br /><a href="http://seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2022773745_perkinsapologyxml.html">VC legend Tom Perkins apologizes for comparing attack on rich to holocaust</a><br /><br /><div style="color: #666666;"><i>Perkins told Bloomberg Television that he made the analogy between wealthy Americans and Jews because the rich are a minority, like the Jews who made up just 1 percent of the German population before the Holocaust.</i></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcIABgzOaPZ7CUY5P0Qo3vyD_rKlPBJ3zM8I7T_5XbGYoSVY2nBY9DBAlHa4OsXnp6sbRFGqJuoWUsWR7Pka9uENnv4GFwSdoEVHGxlEmbGpfISYz2emT0zrxI0MrlyvorS8VEnW-HAuA/s1600/Wealth+Inequality.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcIABgzOaPZ7CUY5P0Qo3vyD_rKlPBJ3zM8I7T_5XbGYoSVY2nBY9DBAlHa4OsXnp6sbRFGqJuoWUsWR7Pka9uENnv4GFwSdoEVHGxlEmbGpfISYz2emT0zrxI0MrlyvorS8VEnW-HAuA/s320/Wealth+Inequality.jpg" /></a><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:If-us-land-mass-were-distributed-like-us-wealth.png">File:If-us-land-mass-were-distributed-like-us-wealth.png (Stephen Ewen)</a></span><br /><br />The 1% minority are being persecuted by that little red dot. Oh the humanity! Although none have lost their lives so far, there's been a great deal of emotional damage. When your net worth is over a billion dollars and you experience even 2% emotional damage, that's tens of millions of dollars! For a 200 pound billionaire, that's easily $6,250 per ounce in tainted <a href="http://www.thefreedictionary.com/self-worth">self-worth</a>! Don't the poor realize this?<br /><br /><b>Source Data:</b><br /><a href="http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?g=rrs">St. Louis Fed: Custom Chart</a>

Real Oil Price: Old Normal vs. New Normal

Click to enlarge. The Fed wants 2% inflation per year. If real household median income and real household debt per capita can't get us...

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Fast Food Sponsoring the Olympics; Oxymoron or Necessity?

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkdr_O6_x685bmdUSBeiy91reZLVPcRZvddvp2HaPH6PATVtMw9Ips6bQmd_V6FIyvTZn_qx9ZiTaVdxt6lhW6PhXcNFh_GoGJeDu55rouy1Wbrn18DDtBQw-Z0jFicCX8hiDywFMt6G9I/s1600/download.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkdr_O6_x685bmdUSBeiy91reZLVPcRZvddvp2HaPH6PATVtMw9Ips6bQmd_V6FIyvTZn_qx9ZiTaVdxt6lhW6PhXcNFh_GoGJeDu55rouy1Wbrn18DDtBQw-Z0jFicCX8hiDywFMt6G9I/s1600/download.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal">On February 7^th the twenty second annual winter Olympics will be held in Sochi, a city in Krasnodar Krai, Russia. While the sole purpose of the Olympics is to demonstrate athletic excellence from all parts of the world, the sponsors backing the event do not support the same and in fact have quite a few people up in arms. All branded food and drink served at the Olympics come from just five companies: McDonald's, Coca-Cola, Cadbury, Heineken and granola-bar maker Nature Valley but realistically with the exception of some endurance athletes, who burn 4,000 to 6,000 calories every day while training, fast food, alcohol and sugary snacks are generally off the menu for Olympians.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXpbfE6vPr7xGZefk8mq-UMfvsr5NF5yo8QnbDpDutqoT94ForEDS6pHkU8woLV74Q8n9d29qLEhFV9G5WIdA6A7AsiPLWFJTeblhok31Q0UNuE5an5yjQeVaIl9Mn5zORjGBFCapsR-Qx/s1600/4282658992_3e72772b5d_z_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="131" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXpbfE6vPr7xGZefk8mq-UMfvsr5NF5yo8QnbDpDutqoT94ForEDS6pHkU8woLV74Q8n9d29qLEhFV9G5WIdA6A7AsiPLWFJTeblhok31Q0UNuE5an5yjQeVaIl9Mn5zORjGBFCapsR-Qx/s1600/4282658992_3e72772b5d_z_2.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal">McDonald's is the main company that is making the Olympics a bit of an oxymoron. While it is the TOP sponsor for the event, it is also widely known that it is very unhealthy.  U.S. swimmer Ryan Lochte credited his abolition of fat and sugar which included his favored breakfast, the Egg McMuffin from his diet with helping to accelerate him to the top of the podium. According to Terence Stephenson, a practicing pediatrician and chair of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, “At an event that celebrates athletic achievement, I don’t think we need to promote high-calorie, high-fat foods that are not good for the health of the human body.” On the actual McDonald's resource line for employees, it even expresses the fact that their food isn't healthy saying, “Fast foods are quick, reasonably priced, and readily available alternatives to home cooking, while convenient and economical for a busy lifestyle, fast foods are typically high in calories, fat, saturated fat, sugar, and salt and may put people at risk for becoming overweight.” The post continued, “Although not impossible it is more of a challenge to eat healthy when going to a fast food place, in general, avoiding items that are deep fried are your best bet … limit the extras such as cheese, bacon, and mayonnaise. Eat at places that offer a variety of salads, soups and vegetables to maintain your best health.”<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">The following is a list of ingredients used in the food from the McDonald's website, “sodium phosphates bleached wheat flour (nutrients removed), food starch-modified (likely genetically-modified), dextrose (sugar), partially hydrogenated soybean oil and cottonseed oil with mono-and diglycerides, (trans fats), TBHQ, tertiary butylhydroquinone, a petroleium dervived product; Dimethylpolysiloxane added as an anti-foaming agent (a form of silicone used in cosmetics, and Silly Putty).”<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">The disagreement lies in between those who see the sponsorship as unhealthy and the International Olympic Committee whose President Jacques Rogge says, “Growing financial demands of the event made it difficult for it to hold on to its values.” While on the other hand Malcolm Clark who is head of the U.K. Children’s Food Campaign, worries that young visitors are being targeted. Of the 2012 London Olympic Games he said, “The Olympic mascots are promoting chocolate sweets and Happy Meals, what kind of signals is this sending?” Yet according to the International Olympic Committee, “Without McDonald’s, Coca-Cola and others, they read, “there would be no goose bumps, gasps, records smashed, strangers hugged, or a whole world brought together.”<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"> It comes down to the age old battle of money versus ethics. Which side of the fence do you stand on?<o:p></o:p></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Follow Brittnye Webb-Earl on Twitter <b>@BeeNoelle</b></span></span></div>

Fast Food Sponsoring the Olympics; Oxymoron or Necessity?

On February 7 th the twenty second annual winter Olympics will be held in Sochi, a city in Krasnodar Krai, Russia. While the sole purpose o...

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The New Aussie Chainsaw

Here I thought us Americans were rednecks.<br /><br /><br /><br />Hold the man's beer and stand back, the chips are gonna fly!<br /><br /><iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/T5WO9nulOXc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br /><br /><br />H/T my buddy Bob.

The New Aussie Chainsaw

Here I thought us Americans were rednecks. Hold the man's beer and stand back, the chips are gonna fly! H/T my buddy Bob.

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A Glimpse of Real Prosperity

<b>January 14, 2014</b><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/9Q8dJsu4SyQ" width="420"></iframe><br /><br /><div style="color: #666666;"><i>After a month of research and looking through over 10,000 vintage teddy bears on online, I was able to find clues to reconstruct her childhood teddy bear "Whitey." Whitey was given to her as a gift during her mother's baby shower for Jess, so he is technically older than she is!<br /><br />When I began this venture, Whitey was in two pieces (his head ripped off) and missing an ear, his nose, both eyes, and not to mention half of his stuffing was gone. So, I took him to the Secaucus Doll and Teddy Bear Hospital, and after a week, they were able to restore him to his original glory.</i></div><br />Sometimes the best things in life really do come in small packages. :)

A Glimpse of Real Prosperity

January 14, 2014 After a month of research and looking through over 10,000 vintage teddy bears on online, I was able to find clues to recons...

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Madonna and Miley Cyrus sing together

<script type="text/javascript"><!-- google_ad_client = "ca-pub-8441125172513237"; /* bleu 280 */ google_ad_slot = "8164661108"; google_ad_width = 336; google_ad_height = 280; //--></script><script type="text/javascript" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"></script><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">American actress and singer Madonna and Miley Cyrus to issue joint statement. According to the publication E! Online, women perform a duet during a concert Miley Cyrus MTV Unplugged, but what kind of a song performed by the star is still unknown.</span><br /><br /><script type="text/javascript"><!-- google_ad_client = "ca-pub-8441125172513237"; /* biner3 */ google_ad_slot = "7346003106"; google_ad_width = 468; google_ad_height = 60; //--></script><script type="text/javascript" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"></script><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh80wtbkkn9cC4-7tdlGmd1dwssyw_fGKL27FnVwwIl6-sqnSBEECYAdh3lS3_faIhIgr0bM-xdvRInPHgUWXqGp_f-6e3co2pld7nfzzREbaLEIRmJVw1LoqTPNjtC9P_rSOvI0wpT/s1600/Madonna+and+Miley+Cyrus+sing+together.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Madonna and Miley Cyrus sing together" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh80wtbkkn9cC4-7tdlGmd1dwssyw_fGKL27FnVwwIl6-sqnSBEECYAdh3lS3_faIhIgr0bM-xdvRInPHgUWXqGp_f-6e3co2pld7nfzzREbaLEIRmJVw1LoqTPNjtC9P_rSOvI0wpT/s1600/Madonna+and+Miley+Cyrus+sing+together.jpg" title="Madonna and Miley Cyrus sing together" /></a></div><br />Miley is not officially confirmed the participation of the Madonna, reported just that at a concert MTV Unplugged young celebrity will perform their best songs, which became a springboard for her music career. With it in a press release MTV declared "special guests", whose names were not disclosed. "Miley and her fans always have an invisible connection through her music. MTV Unplugged stage will be an excellent platform for the audience to see how passionate and inspiring her music can be "- said in a release.<br /><br /> Must say that Miley duets have obtained even very decent. So, she has performed with Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, Ryan Lewis, and others.<br /><br /> Television show broadcast channel MTV Unplugged in 1989. Since there were Mariah Carey, Adele, Katy Perry, Bruce Springsteen and many others, and the group even got Nirvana "Grammy" in the nomination "Best Alternative Video" for her performance in this show on the MTV.<br /><br /><script type="text/javascript"><!-- google_ad_client = "ca-pub-8441125172513237"; /* boton */ google_ad_slot = "4392536701"; google_ad_width = 200; google_ad_height = 90; //--></script><script type="text/javascript" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"></script>

Madonna and Miley Cyrus sing together

American actress and singer Madonna and Miley Cyrus to issue joint statement. According to the publication E! Online, women perform a duet ...

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Book Review: OASE 91

<a href="http://www.oasejournal.nl/en/Issues/91"><b><i>OASE #91: Building Atmosphere</i></b></a> edited by Klaske Havik, Hans Teerds, Gus Tielens<br /><a href="http://www.naipublishers.com/architecture/oase91_e.html">nai010 Publishers</a>, 2013<br />Paperback, 128 pages<br /><br /><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHl5H-EQ-8-hwj8cKV34PjEfzvmoga-Mk9BR2_97KpoNO1p5y8vFDfM-WMAk1ewy4wGA9awtI-Bf_ovKKEbj7PKY-k2qA7ZCy0jOm9bllGV7WJTsXcJ1MJf3aHsnlpS2maUA_piR2jsSKv/s1600/oase91.jpg" /><br /><blockquote><i>Quality in architecture...is to me when a building manages to move me. What on earth is it that moves me? How can I get it into my own work?...How do people design things with such a beautiful, natural presence, things that move me every single time. One word for it is Atmosphere.</i></blockquote>This quote from Swiss architect Peter Zumthor's 2006 book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/3764374950/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=3764374950&linkCode=as2&tag=aweeklydoseof-20"><i>Atmospheres: Architectural Environments - Surrounding Objects</i></a> comes at the beginning of the editorial introduction to <i>OASE #91</i>. It is hardly the first utterance of the word "atmosphere" relative to architecture (the editors mention a Mark Wigley essay from a 1998 issue of Diadolos, but it probably goes back farther than that), but it is one that has shaped how architects and critics have started to use the word in the years since. More common or not, it is a term that has not been explored much in architecture, to the point that a definition of atmosphere is non-existent; perhaps it is a highly personal thing, as Zumthor's quote alludes. The editors paraphrase Jorge Louis Borges in this regard, such that, like poetry, atmosphere is something that can be recognized but not defined; it can only be known when we can't define it.<br /><br />My definition of atmosphere is spatial and environmental. In other words, the quality of atmosphere comes about through enclosure (therefore the inside of a building rather than the outside, though in-between spaces, like those of Japanese architecture, could be included) and the way a space is "formed" by the materials of architecture and their interaction with the surroundings. This sounds pretty vague, but it seems that staking out this position is nevertheless a start, eliminating exteriors and focusing on, for example, the way sunlight touches a wall or the way a view is framed by a window or the way breezes move through a screen. Linking the spatial and environmental is our presence and the way we sense and experience these qualities. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/archidose/166624377/" title="Nanzen-ji Temple by archidose, on Flickr"><img alt="Nanzen-ji Temple" height="480" src="http://farm1.staticflickr.com/60/166624377_da9625cd21_z.jpg?zz=1" width="640" /></a><br />[Nanzen-ji Temple. Photo by John Hill]<br /><br />Not surprisingly, Zumthor's buildings spring to mind, specifically the way atmosphere saturates the spaces within the Therme Vals – light from the slots in the ceiling hitting the stone and concrete; sounds echoing off the hard surfaces; the humidity of the air; and of course the water on one's body when in the various pools. It's also not surprising that Zumthor makes up a good chunk of this issue of <i>OASE</i>. The editors paid a visit to his office to speak with the architect and see how he works, how he gets atmosphere into his own work. The studio visit is worth the price of admission, with some keen insights on the part of the editors and some candid quotes of Zumthor speaking with his employees.<br /><br />Much of the rest of the issue is comprised of an interview with Juhani Pallasmaa, a Finnish architect known more for his essays and books. Like Zumthor, Pallasmaa talks a good deal about atmosphere, but for the Finn it is a long held notion in his writing, but one that has only recently gone by that term. His infatuation with filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky is but one indication of how much he values space as something dripping with both emotional and physical feeling. In addition to the interview that lets us know more about Pallasmaa the man than his own writings convey, he contributes an essay on Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West, where he recently stayed for a period of five months.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/archidose/9429207841/" title="Therme Vals by archidose, on Flickr"><img alt="Therme Vals" height="480" src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3734/9429207841_88c6d3b81e_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />[Therme Vals. Photo by John Hill]<br /><br />Tying together the primary pieces of Pallasmaa and Zumthor that make up this issue are a couple essays by German philosopher Gernot Böhme. One is an English translation of chapter from his 2006 book <i>Architektur and Atmosphare</i>, and the other is an essay on "the concept of atmosphere in the work of Juhani Pallasmaa and Peter Zumthor." The first goes a long way toward defining atmosphere relative to architecture ("being mindfully present in space"), while the second is interesting for giving an outsider's perspective on two figures often read and critiqued primarily by architects. The issue is rounded out with projects, photographs, and <a href="http://www.world-architects.com/en/pages/film/3-scenes">a specially commissioned film</a>, making it a highly recommended book for fans of Pallasmaa, Zumthor and architecture in general.<br /><br /><b>US: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/9462081077/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=9462081077&linkCode=as2&tag=aweeklydoseof-20" target="_blank"><img alt="Buy from Amazon.com" border="0" src="http://www.archidose.org/books/buy-from-tan.gif" /></a> CA: <a href="http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/9462081077/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=9462081077&linkCode=as2&tag=aweeklydoseof-20" target="_blank"><img alt="Buy from Amazon.ca" border="0" height="28" src="http://www.archidose.org/books/buy-from-tan-ca.gif" width="90" /></a> UK: <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/9462081077/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=9462081077&linkCode=as2&tag=aweeklydoseof-20" target="_blank"><img alt="Buy from Amazon.co.uk" border="0" height="28" src="http://www.archidose.org/books/buy-from-tan-uk.gif" width="90" /></a></b>

Book Review: OASE 91

OASE #91: Building Atmosphere edited by Klaske Havik, Hans Teerds, Gus Tielens nai010 Publishers , 2013 Paperback, 128 pages Quality in arc...

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From blonde to brunette: Margot Robbie dyed hair

<script type="text/javascript"><!-- google_ad_client = "ca-pub-8441125172513237"; /* bleu 280 */ google_ad_slot = "8164661108"; google_ad_width = 336; google_ad_height = 280; //--></script><script src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js" type="text/javascript"></script><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Screen wife Leonardo DiCaprio in "The Wolf of Wall Street" <b>Margot Robbie</b> dyed from blonde to brunette. Such a sacrifice - for the role of fantasy "Z - Zechariah means". </span><br /><br /><script type="text/javascript"><!-- google_ad_client = "ca-pub-8441125172513237"; /* biner3 */ google_ad_slot = "7346003106"; google_ad_width = 468; google_ad_height = 60; //--></script><script src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js" type="text/javascript"></script><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhecHdYajvUVj38bYtrJYgqHfUeKaUbJ2wv18xO_KvfmqbZLAbPoqDdW-p8yPev_XgNSiR_UEgqERb2hE9-4M7H2xc7O4nkpYSteEhlm4VDvVNVcvgMC95MIpDwVSmslK9qjNSYmOLU/s1600/From+blonde+to+brunette+Margot+Robbie+dyed+hair.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt=" Margot Robbie dyed hair" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhecHdYajvUVj38bYtrJYgqHfUeKaUbJ2wv18xO_KvfmqbZLAbPoqDdW-p8yPev_XgNSiR_UEgqERb2hE9-4M7H2xc7O4nkpYSteEhlm4VDvVNVcvgMC95MIpDwVSmslK9qjNSYmOLU/s1600/From+blonde+to+brunette+Margot+Robbie+dyed+hair.jpg" title=" Margot Robbie dyed hair" /></a></div><br />23-year-old actress posted a photo in the image on the page and in WhoSay wrote: <br /><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">first day on the set of "Z - Zechariah means "! She is no longer the Countess. </blockquote><br />Recall recently learned that Margo replace this movie Amanda Seyfried. In addition to her in the sci-fi film are Chris Pine and Star "12 years of slavery" Chiwetel Ejiofor. <br /><br />Blond or brunette - which image is Margot Robbie more?<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBbRuk9UvzyOrv9IdNT824e0Ap3YG9nlUUomWtA24yF2-Vd_CDERDXseH-XIpGSLrmo3KmyOhDcMl7bXRAqig1YPDVbsIPyvabwby5GDcjApElanQufJ1mr-MVdRsvFWFuJK9deRhe/s1600/Margot+Robbie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt=" Margot Robbie dyed hair" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBbRuk9UvzyOrv9IdNT824e0Ap3YG9nlUUomWtA24yF2-Vd_CDERDXseH-XIpGSLrmo3KmyOhDcMl7bXRAqig1YPDVbsIPyvabwby5GDcjApElanQufJ1mr-MVdRsvFWFuJK9deRhe/s1600/Margot+Robbie.jpg" title=" Margot Robbie dyed hair" /></a></div><br /><br /><script type="text/javascript"><!-- google_ad_client = "ca-pub-8441125172513237"; /* boton */ google_ad_slot = "4392536701"; google_ad_width = 200; google_ad_height = 90; //--></script><script src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js" type="text/javascript"></script>

From blonde to brunette: Margot Robbie dyed hair

Screen wife Leonardo DiCaprio in "The Wolf of Wall Street" Margot Robbie dyed from blonde to brunette. Such a sacrifice - for the...

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Building Permit Slowdown for Privately Owned 1-Unit Structures

The first chart shows the annual change in new privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits for 1-unit structures. I'm using quarterly averages to smooth out the noise a bit.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhykSb_yM9Apt_wyGJCUKVE5D7_ybPwy7UXMmZtzmi2yazoZjJiVAJh1JhQw_eqYh5FO2GIimiTC8zMG9h_K9MtEx5nOzAvQiGj0W7MD2fpS21JDJJ1C4C18ycVmIcS4mdbcsJZbgmxkuQ/s1600/Building+Permit+Slowdown+-+National.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhykSb_yM9Apt_wyGJCUKVE5D7_ybPwy7UXMmZtzmi2yazoZjJiVAJh1JhQw_eqYh5FO2GIimiTC8zMG9h_K9MtEx5nOzAvQiGj0W7MD2fpS21JDJJ1C4C18ycVmIcS4mdbcsJZbgmxkuQ/s320/Building+Permit+Slowdown+-+National.jpg" /></a><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">Click to enlarge.</span><br /><br />Can't we just blame it the weather and call it good?<br /><br />The next chart shows just the data for Florida, Nevada, and Arizona (three of the previous housing bubble's largest hotspots).<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0JQHTIUiLpl_DbZBZzSK5905ApOdiKdrT7vibCJxEK3-2zhx-lUswMSYErPRw6DhGfChhEE9kflFhcANgkAu4FtAjPmZuPpVFwh9kIpsVQM5APrv6ZnEjWLEhLp0FFB7vTJ1AYOp7SmU/s1600/Building+Permit+Slowdown+-+Florida+++Nevada+++Arizona.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0JQHTIUiLpl_DbZBZzSK5905ApOdiKdrT7vibCJxEK3-2zhx-lUswMSYErPRw6DhGfChhEE9kflFhcANgkAu4FtAjPmZuPpVFwh9kIpsVQM5APrv6ZnEjWLEhLp0FFB7vTJ1AYOp7SmU/s320/Building+Permit+Slowdown+-+Florida+++Nevada+++Arizona.jpg" /></a><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">Click to enlarge.</span><br /><br />I guess it all depends on how much annual polar vortex activity there was in Florida, Nevada, and Arizona. As seen in the chart, the growth trend has been decelerating at a consistent pace for a full year. We'll therefore need a whole year's worth of polar vortex activity in three of the warmest states. Totally doable with the right spin!<br /><br />Further, just look at all that volatility in the data since 2005. I can't even begin to tell you how much that fills me with confidence. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tortoise_and_the_Hare">Slow and steady is so overrated.</a> Anarchy! Random profits and losses! That's what makes the casino life right for me!<br /><br />This is not investment advice (especially that part about casino life being right for me).<br /><br /><b>Source Data:</b><br /><a href="http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?g=rqK">St. Louis Fed: Building Permits for 1-Unit Structures (National)</a><br /><a href="http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?g=rqT">St. Louis Fed: Building Permits for 1-Unit Structures (Florida + Nevada + Arizona)</a>

Building Permit Slowdown for Privately Owned 1-Unit Structures

The first chart shows the annual change in new privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits for 1-unit structures. I'm u...

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End of Love Zrinka Cvitesic and Hrvoje RUPCIC

<script type="text/javascript"><!-- google_ad_client = "ca-pub-8441125172513237"; /* bleu 280 */ google_ad_slot = "8164661108"; google_ad_width = 336; google_ad_height = 280; //--></script><script type="text/javascript" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"></script><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Great romance between? In Zrinka Cvitesic and Hrvoje RUPCIC (Rupčić) yet ended. After months of speculations city? Verse events confirmed it and I'm a drummer Cubismo</span><br /><br /><script type="text/javascript"><!-- google_ad_client = "ca-pub-8441125172513237"; /* biner3 */ google_ad_slot = "7346003106"; google_ad_width = 468; google_ad_height = 60; //--></script><script type="text/javascript" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"></script><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEoMDiTh86dmgiRuh8q_AEReyavKThmz5cvlOswJbYjXmDNkfzK9gXf2UcQY6QqmYgbcd1tc_pgsU_U91r0ZP6Vq05sunlMRbRZadqX8D4apOUY5MBvrZKeIqgGnlv9NXL1xxKLZm2/s1600/End+of+Love+Zrinka+Cvitesic+and+Hrvoje+RUPCIC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEoMDiTh86dmgiRuh8q_AEReyavKThmz5cvlOswJbYjXmDNkfzK9gXf2UcQY6QqmYgbcd1tc_pgsU_U91r0ZP6Vq05sunlMRbRZadqX8D4apOUY5MBvrZKeIqgGnlv9NXL1xxKLZm2/s1600/End+of+Love+Zrinka+Cvitesic+and+Hrvoje+RUPCIC.jpg" /></a></div><br />The love story of successful, actress and<b> Hrvoje RUPCIC (Rupčić)</b> after five and half years ended - interruption.<br /><br /> It is <b>exclusively for new code Story confirmed 43-year-old handkerchief.</b><br /><br /> To learn difficult decision to end fell and actress and musician, so at first it only rarely trusted loved ones. Hrvoje and Zrinka split up at the end of December last year, but as sources claim, still occasionally hear the phone.<br /><br /> All on termination of their love story, which is initially filling newspaper columns since then has been Hrvoje married to Tina handkerchief with which he has all sons, 15-year-old Noah and Jacob eight years, as well as their business and life circumstances of the journey last year - read the new edition of Story, which is at all kisocima from Wednesday, 29 January<br /><br /><script type="text/javascript"><!-- google_ad_client = "ca-pub-8441125172513237"; /* boton */ google_ad_slot = "4392536701"; google_ad_width = 200; google_ad_height = 90; //--></script><script type="text/javascript" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"></script>

End of Love Zrinka Cvitesic and Hrvoje RUPCIC

Great romance between? In Zrinka Cvitesic and Hrvoje RUPCIC (Rupčić) yet ended. After months of speculations city? Verse events confirmed i...

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Jennifer Garner became the face of the Italian brand

<script type="text/javascript"><!-- google_ad_client = "ca-pub-8441125172513237"; /* bleu 280 */ google_ad_slot = "8164661108"; google_ad_width = 336; google_ad_height = 280; //--></script><script src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js" type="text/javascript"></script><br /><span style="font-size: large;">«Max Mara» is one of the most popular brands among celebrities. Each new collection imbued with elegance. Clothing fashion house gives the woman a sophisticated look and makes you feel irresistible. Following <a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2013/10/lady-in-red-penelope-cruz-photocall-for.html" target="_blank">Penelope Cruz</a> and <a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2014/01/eva-mendes-if-i-had-not-become-actress.html" target="_blank">Eva Mendes</a>, the representative of the brand this year was <b><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2013/08/jennifer-garner-devoted-mother-hen-who.html" target="_blank">Jennifer Garner</a></b>.</span><br /><br /><script type="text/javascript"><!-- google_ad_client = "ca-pub-8441125172513237"; /* biner3 */ google_ad_slot = "7346003106"; google_ad_width = 468; google_ad_height = 60; //--></script><script src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js" type="text/javascript"></script><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwi4U620BRRkYVcZBhbKe50eAS6KVMchXoOfrNxJi524XanKtUl7mQCq30anncZwdVJhYpJVtYCE9ZKZdnBPPlaSR4Eq9Om55ZibdWuzcqgZWXcq-vxd2smRN7wZ0JzIRNsm45GbwN/s1600/Jennifer+Garner+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Jennifer Garner became the face of the Italian brand" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwi4U620BRRkYVcZBhbKe50eAS6KVMchXoOfrNxJi524XanKtUl7mQCq30anncZwdVJhYpJVtYCE9ZKZdnBPPlaSR4Eq9Om55ZibdWuzcqgZWXcq-vxd2smRN7wZ0JzIRNsm45GbwN/s1600/Jennifer+Garner+3.jpg" title="Jennifer Garner became the face of the Italian brand" /></a></div><br />To create an advertising campaign, «Max Mara» hired photographer Mario Sorrenti, who is best known for his photography of nude models for the pages of magazines such as «Vogue» and «Harper's Bazaar». <br /><br />This time Mario is not demanded beauty, mother of three children, naked, and vice versa. Advertising concept was devised in such a way to maximize focus on spring-summer collection 2014. So, the pictures presented handbags, sunglasses, outerwear etc.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzMgu4mFSSp-YOFQ2bhJP3k3v3e0i61U4dYLUB2bo4Q45LHdZJPqYqPY_JuYjZ0CVtLU_S9oOqpU1VsqeAGwYPItqI6a1oKPZC1-Eump50mbfyTk8iVbfpsWhXIjwOcL1sj1QxZoa5/s1600/Jennifer+Garner+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Jennifer Garner for Italian brand" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzMgu4mFSSp-YOFQ2bhJP3k3v3e0i61U4dYLUB2bo4Q45LHdZJPqYqPY_JuYjZ0CVtLU_S9oOqpU1VsqeAGwYPItqI6a1oKPZC1-Eump50mbfyTk8iVbfpsWhXIjwOcL1sj1QxZoa5/s1600/Jennifer+Garner+1.jpg" title="Jennifer Garner for Italian brand" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4SxPjWAON22Ebh4UiQIVLxL0NagrzAOsv9sP9e-QVPPLqyG037bm_svByXL47A1-PCs6pFeqOsftKtE6oPaixcH0_UZeREV03d9VlTrRYMcyJSMaTzqGWKGufodHVPxamfwvdI3BH/s1600/Jennifer+Garner+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Jennifer Garner for Italian brand" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4SxPjWAON22Ebh4UiQIVLxL0NagrzAOsv9sP9e-QVPPLqyG037bm_svByXL47A1-PCs6pFeqOsftKtE6oPaixcH0_UZeREV03d9VlTrRYMcyJSMaTzqGWKGufodHVPxamfwvdI3BH/s1600/Jennifer+Garner+2.jpg" title="Jennifer Garner for Italian brand" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7TNlFELjyREhtFJc8FECnXGnsDnmjOKoXjl7YcL8ntcmKWom1rF7b4jvDJKbFrl5piAV5r_osa9henkXRB5coVVwaQt9GMVfQHtjqSBWzJ-JwL19-WC7-IAblWyCYmC-lSRHBbvAI/s1600/Jennifer+Garner+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Jennifer Garner for Italian brand" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7TNlFELjyREhtFJc8FECnXGnsDnmjOKoXjl7YcL8ntcmKWom1rF7b4jvDJKbFrl5piAV5r_osa9henkXRB5coVVwaQt9GMVfQHtjqSBWzJ-JwL19-WC7-IAblWyCYmC-lSRHBbvAI/s1600/Jennifer+Garner+4.jpg" title="Jennifer Garner for Italian brand" /></a></div><br /><script type="text/javascript"><!-- google_ad_client = "ca-pub-8441125172513237"; /* boton */ google_ad_slot = "4392536701"; google_ad_width = 200; google_ad_height = 90; //--></script><script src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js" type="text/javascript"></script>

Jennifer Garner became the face of the Italian brand

«Max Mara» is one of the most popular brands among celebrities. Each new collection imbued with elegance. Clothing fashion house gives the ...

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