Strait of Hormuz and Syria

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red;"><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><br /><div style="color: blue; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Geo – Strategic Puzzle - Black Gold </b></span></div></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: blue; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><div style="color: blue; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>THE SYRIAN, </b><b>LEBANESE</b></span><span style="font-size: large;">, </span><span style="font-size: large;"><b> IRAN - STRAIT OF HORMUZ  USA CONNECTION </b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBwJ3Ya4zl3wa_3z9OLOwQXL1demT_OLHiB4rMG2oebzt9r2zSFgplQlYrXcei9Ji3inChJCz3UkQvifIOM0O1ovfAwW2D6qyk1aB6qxtZl9e6XWF_QaRNQGuO0T5wjjexjcako3NuNMI/s1600/irimages.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Recent war mongering between IRAN and the USA regarding the blockage of the STRAIT OF HORMUZ and the attempt by foreign entities to tumble the SYRIAN regime are most likely connected and part of broader geo strategic plan, orchestrated by SAUDI ARABIA, the USA and to some extend the UK. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: blue; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>NEW ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALIST REGIME IN SYRIA IN ORDER TO REACTIVATE SAUDI ARABIA’S AND USA ARAMCO  TRANS ARABIAN OIL PIPELINE? </b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Many geo strategic analysts and political experts are at odds over the reason why even the UNITED STATES, a key ally of ISRAEL, is pushing for a regime change in SYRIA, even if such move will probably turn SYRIA into a fundamentalist Islamic State at the doorsteps of ISRAEL. It could be argued that the USA and SAUDI ARABIA prefer a SUNNI fundamentalist Islamic government in SYRIA in order to eliminate IRANIAN influence in SYRIA and at the same time reactivate, for geo – strategic reasons, SAUDI ARABIA’S  ARAMCO company constructed TRANS ARABIAN OIL PIPELINE “TAPLINE” </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;">(See<a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1662211321" style="color: red;"> </a><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2011/12/syria-cause-and-effect.html" style="color: red;">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2011/12/syria-cause-and-effect.html</a></span><span style="color: red; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;">). </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOhwxGh3t7CPx2x_6KMx9lJw0XR9Qy1Q2IDPZ5wJRZE_6CgtY1taV4CVuuejSwSQs4cA3heJ1uzVQNTCZmiWtX_1NdJKQE1bCc5cWDJCsE32afPpoyDaoC2nIRagwga6dtaAOuHZwjBBw/s1600/Tapline.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOhwxGh3t7CPx2x_6KMx9lJw0XR9Qy1Q2IDPZ5wJRZE_6CgtY1taV4CVuuejSwSQs4cA3heJ1uzVQNTCZmiWtX_1NdJKQE1bCc5cWDJCsE32afPpoyDaoC2nIRagwga6dtaAOuHZwjBBw/s400/Tapline.png" width="400" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;">Tapline route from Saudi Arabia to Lebanon, crossing Jordan,Syria and the Golan Heights </span></div></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>REACTIVATION OF PIPELINE WOULD ELIMINATE THE STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE OF THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Reactivation of the pipeline would eliminate the geo strategic importance of the STRAIT OF HORMUZ and thus IRAN’S leverage over the passage, through which 35% of the world’s crude oil is shipped. Needless to say, a blockade would have enormous global consequences. Sunni SAUDI ARABIA and Shiite IRAN have been at odds with each other over theological as well as economic issues for centuries (See <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strait_of_Hormuz" style="color: red;">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strait_of_Hormuz</a>)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf8FgUrb9RBE7EPQjp-2FztSuyP9jipw0WzJQBxRXnpwKY-FPh-2P7sPtYFoCvKqvtM5k6YdHlM9pPWo6jh1hJQAuNULBX_mKu7Xh2dY9UtiVKe-HDM_fpU-cVd3_uG4oavdH21OSeurk/s1600/Strait_of_Hormuz_map.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf8FgUrb9RBE7EPQjp-2FztSuyP9jipw0WzJQBxRXnpwKY-FPh-2P7sPtYFoCvKqvtM5k6YdHlM9pPWo6jh1hJQAuNULBX_mKu7Xh2dY9UtiVKe-HDM_fpU-cVd3_uG4oavdH21OSeurk/s400/Strait_of_Hormuz_map.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;">Reactivating the Tapline in Dhaharan would reduce the strategic importance of the Strait of Hormuz. Looking at the map one also realizes why Saudi Arabia intervened in Bahrain for it could not afford to loose Geo strategic control over the  peninsula.   </span></div></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: blue; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>PIPELINE ROUTE LEADS THROUGH PRO IRANIAN SYRIA, THE GOLAN HEIGHTS AND LEBANON, THUS A SAUDI FRIENDLY REGIME IS REQUIRED IN SYRIA IN ORDER TO ACTIVATE THE PIPELINE </b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJdBTyDNM6YLm3JeEC4xkf9ou6Cs9rvjp3JqfurvYMeluJMF4SR7Z2maf4UQcw3GF_NplNihyphenhyphenz3nfHckZLKWYRBA-aGLJuwZVO-CyIyxCJ_CzKpuJcDbnISkBiVkc0hhVrwPTtR-x5fUE/s1600/golan-heights-closeup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJdBTyDNM6YLm3JeEC4xkf9ou6Cs9rvjp3JqfurvYMeluJMF4SR7Z2maf4UQcw3GF_NplNihyphenhyphenz3nfHckZLKWYRBA-aGLJuwZVO-CyIyxCJ_CzKpuJcDbnISkBiVkc0hhVrwPTtR-x5fUE/s200/golan-heights-closeup.jpg" width="156" /></a>In order to reactivate the TAPLINE however, SAUDIA ARABIA and its allies need to eliminate IRAN’S influence in SYRIA and stronghold in LEBANON, which is also home to pro IRANIAN HEZBOLLAH, because the route of the pipeline leads over SYRIAN terrain, ISRAL occupied GOLAN HIGHTS, ending in the Mediterranean oil terminal ZAHRANI, south of the city of SAIDA in LEBANON.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Since SYRIA fosters close eco – political ties with Shiite IRAN, SYRIA will hardly permit the reactivation of the “SAUDI” Tapline on its soil. Not to mention the GOLAN HEIGHTS, which had been seized by ISRAEL during the 6 day war and which are now monitored by United Nations Disengagement Observer Force, UNDOF. Israel and Syria technically are still at war, thus permitting reactivation of the Tapline on the Syrian side of the seized Golan Heights is out of the question, for it would need the consent of both, ISRAEL and SYRIA. (See: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six-Day_War" style="color: red;">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six-Day_War</a> )</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">By tumbling the SYRIAN regime however, SAUDI ARABIA would be able to expand its influence in SYRIA and LEBANON, and thereby gain control over the pipeline and direct access to the MEDITERRANEAN SEA oil terminal south of SAIDA, from where crude oil could be shipped to EUROPE and the USA, at 40% less transport costs than by oil tankers passing through the SUEZ Canal in EGYPT. One could now keep on speculating why the “Arab Spring” in EGYPT did not turned out the way it was expected to be expected by the protesters!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: blue; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>GEO STRATEGIC SIGNIFICANCE OF IRAN’S NATURAL RESOURCES AND GAS PIPELINE DEAL BETWEEN IRAN SYRIA AND IRAQ</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Some analysts argue that Iran is bluffing with its threat to block the strait, for it can’t afford not to export its own oil resources which also have to pass through the strait. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">What many forget though is that IRAN is not solely relying on oil export but also proves to be a major gas exporter, thus in August 2011, IRAN, SYRIA and IRAQ signed a gas pipeline deal which will transport Iranian gas via the new pipeline trough SYRIA to EUROPE. The deal benefits EUROPE and would also give SYRIA more strategic importance. Negotiations on constructing an IRAN - CHINA oil pipeline, although shelved for now, could easily be reactivated in case CHINAS demand for crude is increasing. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: blue; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>REGIME CHANGE IN SYRIA WOULD DIMINISH RUSSIA’S IMPORTANCE AS GAS EXPORTER AS WELL AS NAVAL PRESENCE IN THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA </b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">By tumbling the ASSAD Regime, SAUDI ARABIAN and USA would also cause a serious economic as well as strategic blow to RUSSIA who’s only naval base in the Mediterranean Sea is located in the SYRIAN port city of TARTUZ. But asides from the military strategic point of view it would also mean that RUSSIAS gas exportation to the EU and other parts of the world would suffer a blow, because dependence on RUSSIAS gas supplies to various regions would diminish. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Looking at the SYRIAN issue from the natural resources point of view it becomes evident as to why the sudden change in strategy by key world players.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: blue; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>REGIME CHANGE IN SYRIA, FULL SCORE FOR ISRAEL? </b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><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;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi926p8wbgDBiVG0MPMAt26vw6MCYhfv4zvdD54G3euEpc606tZyIN1S8yZr0Rgb7v43oYYueLGuFpq9uFRbkXKQ5gjY3VCj03ZdXsbG2QtWFiHWc07M3KANBt84xoZXCbmzkj3RNnKDD4/s1600/tributaries.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi926p8wbgDBiVG0MPMAt26vw6MCYhfv4zvdD54G3euEpc606tZyIN1S8yZr0Rgb7v43oYYueLGuFpq9uFRbkXKQ5gjY3VCj03ZdXsbG2QtWFiHWc07M3KANBt84xoZXCbmzkj3RNnKDD4/s200/tributaries.gif" width="133" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Freshwater Supply For Israel</span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">As for ISRAEL a regime change in SYRIA in the end might not be such a bad deal after all. SAUDI ARABIA and ISRAEL have been fostering unofficially economic ties for quite some time because of both countries close ties to the USA and vice versa. ISRAEL would in most likelihood once and for all be able to keep the GOLAN HIGHTS, something the ASSAD regime would never have accept and always made it a precondition for peace talks with ISRAEL. For ISRAEL keeping the GOLAN HIGHTS on the other hand had been always a priority, not so much for strategic advantages or prestige, but for its freshwater supply, a key issue which is hardly addressed in mainstream media.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The minute SYRIA’S IRAN ties are cut; HEZBOLLAH would lose its influence in LEBANON and thus ease tensions on ISRAEL’S northern frontier. SAUDI ARABIA on the other hand would probably make sure that the SAUD ARABIAN friendly fundamentalist Islamic regime in SYRIA would keep its distance to ISRAEL in order to assure permanent oil flow from SAUDI ARABIA to the Mediterranean Sea, thus making SAUDIA ARABIA and its alley the USA an even bigger player in the oil market. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Links to related topics: </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="background-color: yellow;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: yellow; color: red;"><a href="http://pipelinesinternational.com/news/iran_iraq_and_syria_sign_on_for_pipeline_to_europe/062853/#">http://pipelinesinternational.com/news/iran_iraq_and_syria_sign_on_for_pipeline_to_europe/062853/#</a></div><div style="background-color: yellow;"><span style="color: red;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: yellow; color: red;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: yellow; color: red;"><a href="http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/04/12/the_pipeline_paradox?page=0,0">http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/04/12/the_pipeline_paradox?page=0,0</a></div><div style="background-color: yellow;"><span style="color: red;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: yellow; color: red;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: yellow;"><span style="color: red;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: yellow; color: red;"><a href="http://www.thecuttingedgenews.com/index.php?article=52026">http://www.thecuttingedgenews.com/index.php?article=52026</a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: yellow; text-align: justify;"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div>

Strait of Hormuz and Syria

Geo – Strategic Puzzle - Black Gold  THE SYRIAN, LEBANESE , IRAN - STRAIT OF HORMUZ  USA CONNECTION  Recent war mongering between IRAN and ...

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Deadly Obsession: Alfred Hitchcock's VERTIGO

<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><i>by guest contributor R.D. Finch</i></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_Q461R4v6TaoOiZsNb__lq68SMG7t1x6WOayngCaFhVkhfU2MWnIGy6ZoP_1OmzNlbfTSTC9aXvLv8MwQVI4sbq5-sADXjD3FcW0bxx6vYYDBryIM0fdWvmKyscbhnKaamrzd0GCZmK_J/s1600/RD+vertigo+8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_Q461R4v6TaoOiZsNb__lq68SMG7t1x6WOayngCaFhVkhfU2MWnIGy6ZoP_1OmzNlbfTSTC9aXvLv8MwQVI4sbq5-sADXjD3FcW0bxx6vYYDBryIM0fdWvmKyscbhnKaamrzd0GCZmK_J/s1600/RD+vertigo+8.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">"What's that old Oscar Wilde thing? 'Each man kills the thing he loves...' That I think is a very natural phenomenon, really."</span></i><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-size: small;">Alfred Hitchcock, in a 1963 interview</span></div><br /><span style="font-size: small;">In his fifty-five year long career in films, Alfred Hitchcock directed sixty-seven movies. At least a dozen of these are bona fide masterpieces, and about an equal number are excellent movies that fall just short of the masterpiece mark. By any measure that's an impressive record, one unequaled by any other filmmaker I can think of. Even more impressive is that Hitchcock's pictures are not rarefied works of art of interest mainly to aesthetes and film scholars, but full-blooded movies that appeal equally to ordinary filmgoers looking for accomplished entertainments and to cinephiles looking for an intellectually and artistically stimulating film-viewing experience. Of all Hitchcock's pictures, none managed to combine these two modes—entertainment and art—so skillfully, so intriguingly, and so pleasingly as his 1958 film <i>Vertigo</i>.</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br /><a name='more'></a><span style="font-size: small;"> Most people are familiar with the plot of <i>Vertigo</i>. A retired San Francisco police detective, John "Scottie" Ferguson (James Stewart), psychologically traumatized after a rooftop chase to apprehend a criminal ends badly, is targeted as a dupe by his old college friend Gavin Elster, who exploits Scottie's crippling fear of heights to bring off an intricate scheme to murder his wife Madeleine (Kim Novak). The film's plot is a clever one and since this is a mystery thriller with hints of the supernatural (can Madeleine really be the reincarnation of her ancestor, as she believes?), neither the audience nor Scottie realizes what is really happening until quite far into the film. This allows the viewer's understanding of the situation to be manipulated, just as Scottie's is, to create a mood of suspense and, after the truth is revealed to the viewer about three-quarters of the way through the film, for that suspense to be prolonged as the film proceeds in a completely unexpected direction right up to its shock ending.</span></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;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvzUFAe1aYlBpATnyvewIqIhDd87pwj_0Fq4llaSlw5J3YxCFT5sEG4wLdKrkcg0B1uwRWunVg11MMEUDKSXdgqmDOdTdEXEPuH5KJsfi5WkB4FN0aovjxlOshmns6lqcB_XIxmR_57Vfg/s1600/RD+vertigo+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvzUFAe1aYlBpATnyvewIqIhDd87pwj_0Fq4llaSlw5J3YxCFT5sEG4wLdKrkcg0B1uwRWunVg11MMEUDKSXdgqmDOdTdEXEPuH5KJsfi5WkB4FN0aovjxlOshmns6lqcB_XIxmR_57Vfg/s320/RD+vertigo+5.jpg" width="243" /></a></div><span style="font-size: small;">Such a narrative strategy requires that the viewer's reactions be precisely guided at every turn, and nobody was more expert at this than Hitchcock. Well known for his need for absolute control over all aspects of his films from conception to release, Hitchcock was by temperament the epitome of the film auteur, the director who puts his stamp on every element of his work. The way he accomplished this was by meticulous attention to detail. Because each shot was storyboarded in advance, the final film essentially needed no editing and thus was immune to tampering with by producers and studio executives. Like most filmmakers who began by directing silents, Hitchcock viewed cinema storytelling as essentially a visual process, with dialogue, music, and sound used to augment the film's imagery. Because the way he chose to show the action—placement and movement of the camera, the use of visual effects that formed his famous set pieces, the exact way images succeeded one another to form a spatial and narrative continuum—was the product of his own imagination, his films always seem expressions of a personal and very distinctive vision. Many directors have made movies in the Hitchcock style, but I can't think of a single one of these films that on close viewing could actually be mistaken for the work of the master himself.<br /><br />Because of the convoluted and deceptive nature of its plot, <i>Vertigo</i> is even more dependent on Hitchcock's almost obsessive attention to detail as a means of controlling audience response than any other film he made. But in <i>Vertigo</i> he uses his working methods as much more than merely a practical means of telling a story in his own way. He amplifies his control-freak approach to directing until it becomes an all-encompassing aesthetic used to suggest a great deal more than is apparent in what at first seems little more than a deftly contrived suspense melodrama. It is this effect of using every device in his vast panoply of cinematic tricks to evince the complex psychological and thematic undertones of the film that makes <i>Vertigo</i> Hitchcock's greatest achievement. It's a haunting film that can be watched again and again and still continue to entertain and thrill and deliver new revelations.<br /><br />Perhaps the most powerful and resonant thing about the film is the way Hitchcock uses repetition to emphasize the idea of doubling. Elements in the first part of the film recur later in the film, and elements in the later part of the film mirror those in the first part, giving the film a strange pattern of symmetrical associations. Scottie seeks out places where he saw Madeleine in the beginning of the film and revisits them later in the film: the missions, the florist's shop, the museum, Ernie's restaurant. He watches Judy at her hotel window the same way he watched Madeleine at her hotel window earlier. His transformation of Judy into Madeleine exactly duplicates Elster's transformation of Judy to pass her off as his wife.<br /><br />Near the end of the picture Hitchcock expresses the complete fusion of Madeleine and Judy, of past and present, of Scottie's memories and his dreams, in the most striking of several memorable set pieces in the film—a long, passionate kiss between Scottie and Judy after he sees her for the first time as the fully re-created Madeleine. The camera swirls, Scottie and Judy swirl, and the room appears to revolve around them. The background fades from Judy's room to the stable where Scottie and Madeleine kissed for the last time and finally back to Judy's room again, while Bernard Herrmann's glorious music—clearly inspired by Wagner's <i>Tristan und Isolde</i>—surges and pulses in unison with the intense emotions of the passage. It's the most rapturously erotic scene in a Hitchcock movie since the kiss in <i>Notorious</i>.</span><br /><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="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/AVvXsEhASvzr1-h-M6YtpfVA_PbFsm8wxDUuQFoVPi2O4mx85GoDSZlJ2nlWEIoi-bLYuWRtj9wFgFuFp947ix19nr22Fe1YS4-2pEV8iwjXBbLPStuCB0frUKFcK2N8iiT7V5XAsr4mdheRHvPd/s1600/RD+Vertigo+3+b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhASvzr1-h-M6YtpfVA_PbFsm8wxDUuQFoVPi2O4mx85GoDSZlJ2nlWEIoi-bLYuWRtj9wFgFuFp947ix19nr22Fe1YS4-2pEV8iwjXBbLPStuCB0frUKFcK2N8iiT7V5XAsr4mdheRHvPd/s1600/RD+Vertigo+3+b.jpg" /></a></div><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Hitchcock was famous for his lack of interest in the acting of his performers, and for saying that actors should be treated like cattle, that is, prodded into doing what he needed for the shot he was working on. This was perhaps a holdover from his silent days, when facial expressions, body language, and movement were more important than character development and line delivery because the director essentially created the performance visually, through the staging and editing of the film. This is one reason experienced theater actors often found working with Hitchcock such a frustrating experience. Yet for all this, in <i>Vertigo</i> he gets two remarkable performances from his stars.<br /><br />It is well documented that Kim Novak was not Hitchcock's first choice to play Madeleine/Judy; Vera Miles was. But by the time he was ready to begin shooting, Miles was pregnant and so somebody else had to be cast. I have no idea how he hit on the idea of casting Kim Novak, but I did notice that just as Elster and Scottie transform Judy into the image of Madeleine, Hitchcock almost seems to transform Kim Novak into an uncanny image of Grace Kelly, right down to her hair and makeup, and her accent and diction. I can't help wondering if one of the reasons <i>Vertigo</i> seems to be Hitchcock's most personal film is his own understanding of the compulsion behind Scottie's Pygmalion-like behavior.<br /><br />At any rate, Novak, who under the right conditions could be a much better actress than she is generally given credit for, does a tremendous job as the mysterious, spaced-out Madeleine. But her more demanding incarnation as Judy is even more impressive. If Madeleine is an enigma, Judy is a fully defined character. Hitchcock and his writer, Samuel Taylor, make a daring narrative decision that happens soon after Scottie meets Judy. The conventional thing to do would have been to conceal the truth about the murder plot from the audience until the end then reveal it to the viewer and Scottie at the same time, in the kind of twist ending typical of films of this kind. Instead Hitchcock and Taylor devise a situation in which Judy writes a letter to Scottie explaining everything to him then impetuously tears it up before he sees it.<br /><br />The audience is now aware of the true nature of events even if Scottie isn't, and the entire tone of the movie has changed. Now that we know the truth, the point of view shifts much more in Judy's direction. The crux of suspense is no longer what really happened, but how long will it take Scottie to figure it out and what will be his reaction when he does. What all this means for Novak's performance is that she can no longer play her character as an enigma, but must externalize the conflict Judy feels about what she has done to Scottie and the ambivalence she feels about his controlling attitude. Novak's role immediately becomes much more demanding, and she handles the requirements of those demands admirably. If only she looked less like a caricature of a rather common shopgirl!<br /><br />But the real center of the movie is James Stewart's Scottie, a character who inspires Stewart to give one of the most remarkable performances of his career. We tend to think of the screen persona of James Stewart as that of an optimistic, boyish everyman. But in truth Stewart's characters often had a dark side to them, a willfulness that threatened to cause the passion of their emotions to spill over into obsession. We tend to forget this because until <i>Vertigo</i>, even though that dark side might threaten to take over whatever character Stewart was playing—George Bailey or even Jefferson Smith for Frank Capra or one of the revenge-driven men in the Westerns he made with Anthony Mann, for instance—at the end of the film his character always managed to pull back from the brink before he went over the edge. Hitchcock himself perceived the latent darkness in Stewart's screen image and used it as a sort of dangerous recklessness in the characters Stewart played in <i>Rope</i> and <i>Rear Window</i>. But in <i>Vertigo</i>, for the first and only time I can think of, Stewart's character is completely overcome by the darkness in him and propels the film to a catastrophic conclusion.<br /><br />During the course of the picture, Stewart must convincingly go through a series of changes that illustrate the stages of the disintegration of Scottie's personality. At the beginning of the movie, he seems like the familiar James Stewart. He has experienced a traumatizing event, his life has been drastically changed by it, and he must live with the handicap of disabling acrophobia. But his resilience and sense of proportion intact, he seems able to cope with the changes in his circumstances. As he reluctantly follows Madeleine, he finds his detective's curiosity about this mysterious woman aroused. Curiosity soon turns to fascination and then to passionate love. At this point he is already beginning to lose his objectivity as he desperately tries to rationalize Madeleine's delusional behavior.<br /><br />After Madeleine's death, he is a broken man, a state he conveys in his scenes in the mental hospital through his dazed expression and total lack of affect. If he seems to have regained a precarious sense of balance after several months of treatment, he begins to lose it as soon as he first spots Judy. As he grows closer to her, he progressively loses control of himself until he has become an emotional juggernaut moving inexorably toward the annihilation of both himself and the object of his love. This idea that external and internal forces could collude in such a way to transform a person's ego into an unstoppable engine of destruction is a chilling one indeed.</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQpiNl0Djp-SxMcLF7OPyWZmjxRhZDFv7AaDfJH1qNYFdFHJadf5Egp6OKAvAPc9d3aNlpHrOu7TIISMR8uAovvwHNhO39J7iG4u8CwhcpEyyHb2fXT_2ECCT0qqvLu96G4NYuF02Ou7SH/s1600/RD+vertigo+9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQpiNl0Djp-SxMcLF7OPyWZmjxRhZDFv7AaDfJH1qNYFdFHJadf5Egp6OKAvAPc9d3aNlpHrOu7TIISMR8uAovvwHNhO39J7iG4u8CwhcpEyyHb2fXT_2ECCT0qqvLu96G4NYuF02Ou7SH/s1600/RD+vertigo+9.jpg" /></a></div></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;">By the film's conclusion, Hitchcock has carefully guided us to a place where he is at last able to make the point he has been aiming for all along: the fine distinction between passion and obsession, between real life and dreams, between creation and destruction. The death of Judy at the end makes real the fake suicide that was staged for Scotty's benefit earlier. What began as make-believe has taken on a terrible life of its own and become reality, a reality born of the destructive potential when love overpowers reason.</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">~ </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><i>A nearly life-long cinephile, <b>R. D. Finch</b> lives in rural Northern California. His favorite films are the classics (roughly 1930-1980), both American and foreign. His blog,<a href="http://themovieprojector.blogspot.com/" style="color: #990000;">The Movie Projector</a><span style="color: black;">, was honored with two CiMBA Awards in 2010 from the Classic Movie Blog Association: Best Film Review (Musical or Comedy) for his post </span></i><span style="color: black;">Love Me Tonight (1932)<i>, and Best Classic Movie Article for his piece </i>The Best Fred Astaire Musicals Without Ginger Rogers. </span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRnTmRO1yjFf66xDkJjVVVGxWhfpebXHMz7G6WoPVXm9PV1LDeJz7KSV_g3gt-yyAR_OV8J5C3iaDc2LeQgo9azZkZ4PKlbgxey9WqoVrCKKK5sPKjO8F7pcIqxJrKBy73Uh2jZb0YFb0/s1600/The+Movie+Projector+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="77" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRnTmRO1yjFf66xDkJjVVVGxWhfpebXHMz7G6WoPVXm9PV1LDeJz7KSV_g3gt-yyAR_OV8J5C3iaDc2LeQgo9azZkZ4PKlbgxey9WqoVrCKKK5sPKjO8F7pcIqxJrKBy73Uh2jZb0YFb0/s320/The+Movie+Projector+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></div></div>

A Month of Vertigo Alfred Hitchcock Bernard Herrmann James Stewart Kim Novak R.D. Finch Vertigo Deadly Obsession: Alfred Hitchcock's VERTIGO

by guest contributor R.D. Finch "What's that old Oscar Wilde thing? 'Each man kills the thing he loves...' That I think is ...

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2012 arrives...

<center><br /><a href="http://www.goodlightscraps.com/new-year-glitters.php" title="Animated New Year Glitter Graphics"><br /><img alt="New year glitter comments, animated newyear gif scraps, happy new year wishes" border="0" height="320" src="http://www.goodlightscraps.com/content/new-year-glitters/new-year-glitter-1.gif" width="320" /></a></center><center><br /><a href="http://www.goodlightscraps.com/"></a></center><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">...and <i>A Month of VERTIGO </i>is about to begin...</span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></span></span></div>

The Lady Eve (author) 2012 arrives...

...and A Month of VERTIGO is about to begin...

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Happy New Year!

Happy New Year blogger friends :).<br /><br />I wanted to swing by real quick this morning to wish you and your family the very best for 2012!<br /><br />As I look back on this blog in 2011, I am pleased with the progress I've made in my weight loss journey, and I know I owe a chunk of that progress to those of you who read and comment.  <i>You </i>keep me going.  <i>You </i>keep me accountable.  <i>You </i>make me want to come back here to own up to my setbacks, or celebrate with you in my successes.  Thank you for taking time out of your day to read and/or comment and share your encouraging words.  It is <b>always </b>appreciated.<br /><br />I will leave you with some of my favorite posts of 2011:<br /><ol><li><a href="http://the-big-weight.blogspot.com/2011/11/it-all-started-with-new-tradition.html">It All Started With a New Tradition</a>.  The engagement story :).<br /></li><li><a href="http://the-big-weight.blogspot.com/2011/04/drawing-inspiration-from-places-other.html">Drawing Inspiration From Places Other Than the Scale.</a>  The story behind what really got my butt kicked into gear to lose this weight once and for all.  <br /></li><li><a href="http://the-big-weight.blogspot.com/2011/04/setting-goals-for-2011.html">Setting Goals for 2011.</a>  The start of my plethora of 5Ks in the spring and early summer.  So proud of myself for that.<br /></li><li><a href="http://the-big-weight.blogspot.com/2011/05/march-of-dimes-march-for-babies-5k.html">March of Dimes March for Babies 5K</a>.  A first hand look at how the money raised for organizations like this can really make a difference.<br /></li><li><a href="http://the-big-weight.blogspot.com/2011/09/why-do-you-want-to-lose-weight.html">Why Do You Want to Lose Weight?</a> An outline of my reasons.  I plan to do a follow up post on this to reflect on what goals, if any, I achieved on this list in 2011.</li></ol><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz8YRHfjBRkCIoAtZnrSTBG2l74971guy2VF_bKSnECGpfpY6WPBuerjXDu7e1lg7xm5WYMToRC4iR7aPJ_xpOh2FEULqwHp7wNioXMLSZz1yffwSdNsoR6Mi4RF9__nawPPjYTklJ-eY/s1600/christmas+flower+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="343" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz8YRHfjBRkCIoAtZnrSTBG2l74971guy2VF_bKSnECGpfpY6WPBuerjXDu7e1lg7xm5WYMToRC4iR7aPJ_xpOh2FEULqwHp7wNioXMLSZz1yffwSdNsoR6Mi4RF9__nawPPjYTklJ-eY/s400/christmas+flower+3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Cheers to the best year yet to come for both you and me! Wishing you and yours a blessed 2012!<br /><br /><br />

Holidays New Years Eve Happy New Year!

Happy New Year blogger friends :). I wanted to swing by real quick this morning to wish you and your family the very best for 2012! As I loo...

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It's going to be a long and busy day

Just had breakfast of an egg, thin slice of Canadian bacon and English muffin. It as a frozen store brand, Fred Myers here, but probably Kroegers in the rest of the world. It was a "Lite" version at 220 calories. Not sure of Points since not in Weight Watcher scan app, and I'm too rushed (or lazy) to put in the PointsPlus app. Love these app. Sort of tasty, fast breakfast.<br /><br />Great visit with my sister last night. She couldn't stop crying when she saw me. I told her I sure hoped they were tears of happiness and not sadness. She laughed.<br /><br />Husband is here and we're heading out to see my sister this morning, then appointments and then the house (the dreaded house and mass of paperwork).<br /><br />No internet until I get home on Sunday morning.<br /><br />Happy New Year!

It's going to be a long and busy day

Just had breakfast of an egg, thin slice of Canadian bacon and English muffin. It as a frozen store brand, Fred Myers here, but probably Kro...

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Weigh In + Weekly Goals + More Christmas Celebrations

Well the verdict is in.... I am up 0.5 lbs and I'm okay with that.  After the serious eating challenges I've had almost the entire month of December, I'm not fretting about 0.5 lbs.  I know that things will start to move in the right direction this week!<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/AVvXsEhrR2fz6ykPOlqqtwQS8_iJgypy3me7h40U-Z9dMOyf1FUR88WXLFQ0VN3q5CU93JWxXqvJyOmIitVRDFryAGVY34YmrK4x2TmqUiVfEv76UBvZ-dI59lLrBFPzveVnU8vob32OevtIYLE/s1600/christmas+gifts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrR2fz6ykPOlqqtwQS8_iJgypy3me7h40U-Z9dMOyf1FUR88WXLFQ0VN3q5CU93JWxXqvJyOmIitVRDFryAGVY34YmrK4x2TmqUiVfEv76UBvZ-dI59lLrBFPzveVnU8vob32OevtIYLE/s400/christmas+gifts.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">sad that Christmas is over though</td></tr></tbody></table>As I stated <a href="http://the-big-weight.blogspot.com/2011/12/merry-christmas-week-recap.html">the other day</a>, this Christmas was awesome.  They seem to get better and better each year!  Despite my <a href="http://the-big-weight.blogspot.com/2011/12/one-day-at-time.html">battles</a> with the baking, I am still glad I did it because the recipients seemed so grateful.  Plus, there is something about putting in some hard work and seeing the smiles it brings to people's faces that make it all worth it :).  <br /><br />Together, Joel and I made this red velvet cake that we took to his grandparents on Christmas day.  It was quite a hit!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTznu2aWyrAWhKEiZMLsIcCc80Fa1K2TJXwo453qxnfTjoK-NQuA-nS7aPJ0roH6CsDQ1AZvdqt2Q-OSDz9Y80pKjgszKRiZlNE7rYLIaMCOP31kSMn3WLycNXPieTTSbK82B6hDc1ShY/s1600/red+velvet+cake+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTznu2aWyrAWhKEiZMLsIcCc80Fa1K2TJXwo453qxnfTjoK-NQuA-nS7aPJ0roH6CsDQ1AZvdqt2Q-OSDz9Y80pKjgszKRiZlNE7rYLIaMCOP31kSMn3WLycNXPieTTSbK82B6hDc1ShY/s400/red+velvet+cake+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />I did the baking and the white icing, Joel hand drew & iced the reindeer and Noel.<br /> <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3COfPJwlTX8EOZT5FXjJIXDmeKI7znMxnxQSo1VS1NUxc-_JEkSPJX0IiSyYEa_BJU2KMYyveTTdMdsWSy9SJS0_d5Y74cADWoPJUkIOlSvdc6CUMOhZ8CAqU_ekHiyjMisnyhVOlULw/s1600/bhg+red+velvet+cake+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="323" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3COfPJwlTX8EOZT5FXjJIXDmeKI7znMxnxQSo1VS1NUxc-_JEkSPJX0IiSyYEa_BJU2KMYyveTTdMdsWSy9SJS0_d5Y74cADWoPJUkIOlSvdc6CUMOhZ8CAqU_ekHiyjMisnyhVOlULw/s400/bhg+red+velvet+cake+1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />The only thing I would do differently in regard to this cake was bake it for less time.  It was a little on the dry side, but overall, not bad for my first try at red velvet.<br /><br />Another rewarding part of Christmas is giving to my niece and nephew.  It's so cool watching them open their gifts and seeing their reactions.<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/AVvXsEhK_-S2AIUqj7O2a201lHUid2I5Np4nuLh-9bOVE5VKP3XBS_qTUUa2AoNqsgxxcAS-8Yk4vQBjsxCD3AhdjMvH6utxrE2afwIsDqg7boXChxo-BcJOhyphenhyphenp8CwrGmO4BfXnQlaedCB4gIbk/s1600/rexon+bumbo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK_-S2AIUqj7O2a201lHUid2I5Np4nuLh-9bOVE5VKP3XBS_qTUUa2AoNqsgxxcAS-8Yk4vQBjsxCD3AhdjMvH6utxrE2afwIsDqg7boXChxo-BcJOhyphenhyphenp8CwrGmO4BfXnQlaedCB4gIbk/s400/rexon+bumbo.jpg" width="318" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rexon in his new Bumbo with a book, of course :)</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/AVvXsEhsYFdtSf0HMUTrgCo9T_PPoDiAX-GaoGO3cQwUpStsNCWJcBRvvwSqmaAOWo8AZeL4WmkxcDW5BXRfmv5UYmRzsYHX9mfKUws_ZmDKqmmvzsSjJRB5G_ON4IKQcAa2r-1U07qcCy2K19g/s1600/christmas+2011+010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsYFdtSf0HMUTrgCo9T_PPoDiAX-GaoGO3cQwUpStsNCWJcBRvvwSqmaAOWo8AZeL4WmkxcDW5BXRfmv5UYmRzsYHX9mfKUws_ZmDKqmmvzsSjJRB5G_ON4IKQcAa2r-1U07qcCy2K19g/s400/christmas+2011+010.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oh, hey Merlin!</td></tr></tbody></table>Oh yeah, and then there was Dad and one of his new toys - the self-proclaimed Gift of the Year...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNfeagDyI1-CFCM9rNaAKYWdpIdcj26x1Z67_F1zVZPIUAPVhiqrKCY9vVYaqBAqOIgVGuqbl9y6vyICyhTwtdxb7wHFtq3foSf-eyGmGvUxd5Uf8WLb4VAQc3TdOnKSLInW49LURkVok/s1600/dad+wii.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNfeagDyI1-CFCM9rNaAKYWdpIdcj26x1Z67_F1zVZPIUAPVhiqrKCY9vVYaqBAqOIgVGuqbl9y6vyICyhTwtdxb7wHFtq3foSf-eyGmGvUxd5Uf8WLb4VAQc3TdOnKSLInW49LURkVok/s400/dad+wii.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br />Also, another decision that was made final this week was our wedding date:  <b>October 6, 2012</b>!  We made our deposit on Wednesday when I took my parents to see the wedding venue.  I'm so glad and relieved that the venue has been decided upon and we can begin to proceed with photographer and dj selections.<br /><br />On to the weekly goals! <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEPHHXZcGayhBxS9vC7YcoFq6_ZHzGYSWuOo-BlOdbMWpof09vHPM20Oa2UQfXqzy0bmBTUxveiaJW5X_APpzAfF_nB2GxclJGudMWazU-Mg7SUXmA6CUvvFRcVYsiloZLUl2ZEVaEQ0A/s1600/weight-watchers-diet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEPHHXZcGayhBxS9vC7YcoFq6_ZHzGYSWuOo-BlOdbMWpof09vHPM20Oa2UQfXqzy0bmBTUxveiaJW5X_APpzAfF_nB2GxclJGudMWazU-Mg7SUXmA6CUvvFRcVYsiloZLUl2ZEVaEQ0A/s1600/weight-watchers-diet.jpg" /></a></div><br /><b><span style="color: blue;">Goals for the week:</span></b><br />Stay within daily Points+ allowance (39) for 5 of the 7 days. If I have to delve in to the Weekly Points+ allowance, I want to use no more than 34 of them, leaving a balance of 15. <br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /><b style="color: blue;">Potential Challenges + Solutions:</b></div><ol><li><b>New Year's Eve:</b> I think I will be safe on the menu part since I am preparing the food, but the alcohol consumption will be a challenge.  </li><li><b>Going over daily Points+ allowance:</b>  Back to this again.  As I've stated before, I struggle with this every week.  I have a 4 day weekend coming up ahead of me and with that time I plan to construct a menu for the upcoming week to keep me well on track.     </li></ol><b style="color: blue;">Planned Activity: </b><br />I'm sticking to 2 days of activity this upcoming week again.  If I do more, then that's a bonus.  The activity of choice will most likely be the elliptical.<br /><br />Speaking of activity options, Joel and I had started the <a href="http://the-big-weight.blogspot.com/2011/08/august-goals.html">New Rules of Lifting challenge</a> back in August.  I really enjoyed this because it shook up the dull cardio routine that I had been doing for almost 8 months straight.  We slacked off on the challenge big time in October and November, only completing Stage 1.  Last week, while on lunch at work, I read through Stage 2 and once again I'm intimidated.  Many of the moves seem like they will be difficult to learn, and I'm not too excited about re-acclimating myself to the meat-head side of the gym. It will be even worse this time of year, with all the New Year's resolution people.  Dang it.  We desperately need to get our butts back in gear with the weight lifting - it was really helpful and it broke up the same, dull routine of cardio.  I just can't find the motivation to do it.<br /><br /><b>What are your plans for New Year's Eve? </b> Almost every year since I've lived in the DC area, my parents come between Christmas and NYE and we end up doing nothing.  So lame we are. <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/AVvXsEixIOIH16mT__FflnxQcAsABWxOdraNmbzauLUwvyw2vLyFa5UENCGHGn_Wn1L3xymqzJpOZj5zM6bNYDB8mRiXMhx8EicqifK3E6HHThk2-5g_NoBSKz3kimNqHhK381zCDcO_LejLMWI/s1600/NYE+2010.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixIOIH16mT__FflnxQcAsABWxOdraNmbzauLUwvyw2vLyFa5UENCGHGn_Wn1L3xymqzJpOZj5zM6bNYDB8mRiXMhx8EicqifK3E6HHThk2-5g_NoBSKz3kimNqHhK381zCDcO_LejLMWI/s400/NYE+2010.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">NYE two years ago... LAME</td></tr></tbody></table><br />This year, Joel doesn't have to work for once, and so we want to at least go out to a bar for a few drinks and then come back here to hang out.<br /><br />Happy New Year to you and your family!

Christmas Weekly Weight Watchers Goals Weigh In + Weekly Goals + More Christmas Celebrations

Well the verdict is in.... I am up 0.5 lbs and I'm okay with that.  After the serious eating challenges I've had almost the entire m...

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IMF Seeks Collective World Bailout

<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: blue; font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Now IMF Seeks Collective, World Bail-Out of Europe</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">via The Daily Bell</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">December, 2011 – by Staff Report</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>IMFwants the world to save Europe .. Christine Lagarde., the managing director of the IMF, said the escalating crisis now needed to be addressed as "collectively as possible" ... The European financial crisis is "escalating" and is so serious that it is unlikely to be solved by eurozone countries alone, the head of the International Monetary Fund warned Thursday night. British taxpayers are now likely to be involved in an internationally co-ordinated bail-out led by the International Monetary Fund [IMF] for countries in the single currency. Christine Lagarde, the managing director of the IMF, said the escalating crisis now needed to be addressed as "collectively as possible". Without action, the world faces the spectre of a 1930s-style depression, she said. – Montreal Gazette/UK Telegraph </i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Dominant Social Theme:</b></span><span style="font-size: large;"> Unshackle the IMF to save the world.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Free-Market Analysis:</b></span><span style="font-size: large;"> Right on schedule, the International Monetary Fund's Christine Lagarde has emerged to call for a united, Western effort to salvage the Eurozone and perhaps the euro.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">This is entirely predictable in our view and has to do with the larger strategy of the Anglosphere power elite, which is to create a worldwide economic crisis in order to provide the requisite centralizing solution. If one wants to create global governance, a few "eggs" may have to be broken in the process.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Of course, as we've pointed out before, the preference of the powers-that-be would be to keep the EU together and expand it, along with the euro. But the alternative course has its attractions, too, if one is trying to build world government. Out of chaos ... order.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">And here comes the IMF. It is no surprise that the International Monetary Fund is raising its profile once again. It was developed after World War II as part of a larger global-government-in-waiting. In fact, the history of the modern age is the history of wars and economic depressions, each leading to greater sociopolitical and economic centralization.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">We have come to call this trend "directed history" because not only do the results seem predictable but so do the events leading up to them. It is just as Shakespeare once said: "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players."</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Only he didn't mean that history was being organized and directed from the top. But in the 19th and 20th centuries anyway that certainly seems to have been what happened. From the American Civil War on, especially, one can see the centralization of society advance, not only in the US but throughout the West.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Through the twin tools of war and central banking, a power elite located in the City of London with subsidiaries in DC, and the Vatican has advanced global governance step by step.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">It has used dominant social themes in order to frighten Western middle classes into giving up power and wealth to specially created globalist facilities. The most pervasive political tool is the UN, and its funding source is the central banking mechanism. The IMF is a large part of the mechanism as well. Here's some more from the article:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Mrs Lagarde spoke out after other European countries indicated that they were unlikely to back a new treaty designed to shore up the single currency. Hungary and the Czech Republic said they would not agree to any new deal that involved European-wide taxes. David Cameron has already vetoed any British involvement. Yesterday, the head of the IMF described the prospects for the global economy as "quite gloomy".</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>"There is no economy in the world, whether low-income countries, emerging markets, middle-income countries or super-advanced economies that will be immune to the crisis that we see not only unfolding but escalating," Mrs Lagarde said."If the international community doesn't work together, the risk from an economic point of view is that of retraction, rising protectionism, isolation.</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>"This is exactly the description of what happened in the Thirties and what followed is not something we are looking forward to." She added: "It is not a crisis that will be resolved by one group of countries taking action. It is going to be hopefully resolved by all countries, all regions, all categories of countries actually taking action."</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">We can see from this excerpt how direct Lagarde is being. From our point of view, the economic crisis is a manufactured one, but it doesn't matter much. Once a war or economic crisis has been created, the next steps flow logically from what has occurred. The opening is there for the taking.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">And she is surely playing her part. She is quoted as comparing the Euro-crisis to the ancients' Gordian Knot and the need for concerted action as Alexander's sword. "[It starts] with those at the centre [and then includes] the support of the international community probably channeled through the IMF."</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">She is already focused on the channeling as well, explaining that both European and non-European countries will be asked for more money. "What is happening now is that conversations, contacts are taking place between the fund and its membership about the scale and the amount in which this could be brought to a conclusion," according to an IMF spokesperson.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">And so it builds. Suddenly the IMF, which the powers-that-be have already designated as a kind of world central bank, is in charge of collection efforts to save the EU. In fact, the EU doesn't need salvaging, nor does the euro. If both foundered and failed, the world would pause for a few moments and then go on.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Conclusion: But without a crisis there can be no further centralization. And without further centralization there can be no world government. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>

IMF Seeks Collective World Bailout

Now IMF Seeks Collective, World Bail-Out of Europe via The Daily Bell December, 2011 – by Staff Report IMFwants the world to save Europe .....

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Fairbanks, Alaska...hell has frozen over

I'm in the hotel dining room and just had a quick dinner of a salad and a hamburger patty. I took off the bun, and just ate the patty with the lettuce and tomatoes. I said no fries and a salad instead, they still  brought the fries and the salad. They're the skinny, seasoned fries and look really salty. I didn't eat any, didn't really even want them. I honestly can't remember the last time I ate beef. Actually, it tasted pretty good.<br /><br />About Fairbanks, the most God-forsaken place I've ever been when it's thirty-three degrees below zero. I can't believe I lived in the interior Alaska for thirty years before I left here. I forgot how miserable it is when it's this cold. It literally hurts.<br /><br />It was pitch dark when I got here at 3:30pm, and so cold I thought I had frostbite by the time I got the car scraped off (covered in ice and snow). It has awesome heated seats...a new requirement for any future Fairbanks rental cars in the winter. <br /><br />I had a bit of an anxiety attack on the plane. Actually, I had it at work before I left for the airport and it just continued on the plane. A sort of mental breakdown after reading an email from my brother (who I thought liked me). He said I was too hard on my crazy niece, and our sister would want me to be kind to her and help her. I couldn't stop crying. This same thing happened to me after I think my third trip up here. Where the tears wouldn't stop and my heart ached with pain.<br /><br />Honestly, I'm out of kindness, forgiveness and love when it comes to my niece. She's attacked me for the last time, and I will not fall for the false sweetness which turns to mean, hateful and very hurtful behavior.<br /><br />I saw a quote in the Oprah January magazine that I left up in the room. Basically, it was about running away from toxic people. I get that. My niece is toxic. If I was to put a label on her, I would guess it's bipolar. I'm not sure, but there's definitely something wrong with her.<br /><br />My husband is flying in later tonight. Thanks to Sarah's comment, we'll be having a bonfire of paperwork outside at my sister's house. She doesn't have a fireplace, but she has a 123 acres of land, no neighbors and the house sits on a river. Lots of snow too. Of course, not sure how I'll be able to handle the -40 temperature since her place is always ten degrees colder than in town.<br /><br />Thanks you guys for all your kind comments. Your support and kindness continues to amaze me.<br /><br />I'm off to see my sister. I hope I don't cry when I see her. It's just so sad, but it's life and I have to make the best of it. <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />

Fairbanks, Alaska...hell has frozen over

I'm in the hotel dining room and just had a quick dinner of a salad and a hamburger patty. I took off the bun, and just ate the patty wi...

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SYRIA - CAUSE AND EFFECT

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: blue; font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>NO PROVE - NO VERIFICATION </b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Since the beginning of the uproar in SYRIA, mainstream media, political analysts etc. have been speculating about the cause and effect, the SYRIAN upraise has and will have  in the region, as well as who or what is behind it, and last but not least, why. Subsequently conspiracy theories such as US intelligence services involvement, foreign mercenary infiltration, PSY- OPS etc. have been on the rise. The fact is that none of the mainstream media reports can be verified or considered impartial, thus we are exposed to speculations and conspiracy theories, none of which we are able to confirm.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: blue; font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>GEO STRATEGIC NIGHTMARE  </b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH7M8Ktu9zNdUQjJMiB5Y3_U10y_INuneRyrPegfd0NkEPfatbqlB2xVlPzMQqesIQzajsEeqN18x2vUpc5S7YzZ3kIQvk-uudKuvDXEcN4o1DuF79rsYrOjUv_00nsnJcLeMW0FbmtBY/s1600/Syrian+Israeli+border+map.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH7M8Ktu9zNdUQjJMiB5Y3_U10y_INuneRyrPegfd0NkEPfatbqlB2xVlPzMQqesIQzajsEeqN18x2vUpc5S7YzZ3kIQvk-uudKuvDXEcN4o1DuF79rsYrOjUv_00nsnJcLeMW0FbmtBY/s320/Syrian+Israeli+border+map.jpg" width="214" /></a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Geo strategically speaking, tumbling the Syrian government does not make sense. I have posted numerous articles about this topic on this blog. If the ASSAD regime is removed, ISRAEL’S worst nightmare will come true: Civil War in a neighboring Muslim country. Enough that EGYPT has become a geo strategic uncertainty factor for ISRAEL. ISRAEL can hardly afford an unstable EASTERN frontier. Such scenario will be a strategic and tactical nightmare.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">One should not forget that although SYRIA and ISRAEL are technically still at war, the frontier  between the two countries has been the most stable one in the entire Middle East, thus all the speculative theories of ISRAEL and other US friendly ARAB countries trying to tumble the Assad are irrational. One can argue that SYRIA’S close ties with IRAN are one of the reasons ISRAEL and the US would like to see the Assad regime tumble, even so it is much easier for ISRAEL to clutch onto the current status quo, and live with the fact that IRAN is influencing SYRIA, rather than face a country in civil war which subsequently will end up being a FUNDAMENTALIST ISLAMIC state. </span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">So much as for rational thinking, but if looking at the entire situation from another angel, ISRAEL could shift its geopolitical doctrine towards a "irrational" one and support a regime change in SYRIA in order to gain a Geo-strategic advantage. ( The details of which will be analyzed in due cause on this blog )     </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> <b> </b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: blue; font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>ARAB LEAGUE, GATEWAY FOR ASSAD TO EMERGE WITH MINIMUM COLLATERAL DAMAGE?</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">First feedback's from the ARAB LEAGUE s observer mission suggest that their observations and opinions are used as a gateway for the ASSAD regime to emerge with minimum collateral damage in order to sustain geo - strategic stability in the region.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: blue; font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>IS THE TRANS ARABIAN PIPELINE “TAPLINE” THE ANSWER TO THE WHY</b>?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFWCSISKPf1WTYEX_BmCtwUFxs9LqVeIN0jKcJYzB-GVe-eMUWaxzhXYFAlpT0PU36sf7DX11TsnyFUPKlxLiOp6ZD8_BMLs_Em9sDJ0GXV0P1mFtuaBe_Nwm9U9dakTxQNZ4qLVCGsYo/s1600/440px-Tapline.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFWCSISKPf1WTYEX_BmCtwUFxs9LqVeIN0jKcJYzB-GVe-eMUWaxzhXYFAlpT0PU36sf7DX11TsnyFUPKlxLiOp6ZD8_BMLs_Em9sDJ0GXV0P1mFtuaBe_Nwm9U9dakTxQNZ4qLVCGsYo/s400/440px-Tapline.png" width="400" /></a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The TRANS-ARABIAN Pipeline Company, a joint venture by STANDARD OIL OF NEW JERSEY (ESSO), STANDARD OIL OF CALIFORNIA (CHEVRON), THE TEXAS COMPANY (TEXACO) and SOCONY-VACUUM OIL COMPANY (MOBIL), was a major factor in economic development of LEBANON after independence and especially in the emergence of the south, Tapline was an important industrial adventure in global trade, the petroleum industry and AMERICAN - MIDDLE EAST politics.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The company which started operations in 1950 was the largest oil pipeline of its time, transporting SAUDI ARABIAN oil from the gulf fields to the terminal at ZAHRANI south of SAIDA, where it was shipped to the markets of EUROPE and the eastern UNITED STATES seaboard. At the peak of its operations in 1950, Tapline is said to have transported up to 30% of ARAMCO’S production of SAUDI ARABIAN crude, which amounted to 300,000 barrels per day which was increased by adding some additional pumping stations to 500,000 barrels per day.<br /><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The pipeline was originally planned to run from SAUDI ARABIA'S ABQAIQ oil fields to the port of HAIFA in ISRAEL where there already was a modest terminal facility for a pipeline from the Kirkuk oil fields in IRAQ. The conflict between the BRITISH MANDATE and the ISRAELI INDEPENDENCE movement had the Tapline Company surveying alternate routes already in 1946. These routes were all aimed at circumventing Palestine territories . "TRANS-JORDAN" appeared also at the time to be a country to be avoided. The final route went through JORDAN, over the GOLAN HEIGHTS in SYRIA - and not without some political consequences - to end at SIDON in LEBANON. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: blue; font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>SYRIAN PARLIAMENTARY OBJECTIONS NECESSITATED THE CIA-AIDED 1949 COUP</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">SYRIAN parliamentary objections necessitated the CIA-aided 1949 coup in order to secure "right of way" over the GOLAN HEIGHTS. The end of pipeline operations were also instigated by sabotage and related problems with the portion passing over the Heights in the climate of political turmoil after the 1967 occupation by ISRAEL. All oil transportation in the western (SYRIAN and LEBANESE) portions of the line ceased in 1976. That portion of the line was evacuated of all crude oil and the installations in LEBANON were handed over to the LEBANESE government in 1983. <br /><span class="hps">Despite these</span> <span class="hps">problems, the</span> Trans Arabian <span class="hps">pipeline is considered a potential</span> <span class="hps">export route</span> <span class="hps">for</span> <span class="hps">crude oil transport</span> <span class="hps">from the</span> <span class="hps">PERSIAN GULF region</span> <span class="hps">to EUROPE and</span> <span class="hps">the UNITED</span> <span class="hps">STATES.</span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="hps">An analysis</span> <span class="hps">has</span> <span class="hps">shown that the</span> <span class="hps">transport</span> <span class="hps">cost via the Tapline through HAIFA to EUROPE is</span> <span class="hps">up to 40</span> <span class="hps">percent</span> <span class="hps">lower</span> <span class="hps">than by tankers</span> <span class="hps">through</span> <span class="hps">the SUEZ CANAL.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="hps"> </span> </span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Worthwhile to monitor is why British and USA mainstream media keep up negative reporting on the Syrian issue, despite being supporters of the Arab League observer mission, thus sparking new and controversial theories and assumptions. Cause and Effect!</span></div>

SYRIA - CAUSE AND EFFECT

NO PROVE - NO VERIFICATION  Since the beginning of the uproar in SYRIA, mainstream media, political analysts etc. have been speculating abou...

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Common interview questions -- and how to answer them effectively

<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://emj.cbdr.com/artieimages/0s/ar5l53269b3z1khpzh0s.gif?time=6/7/2011%2011:29:31%20am" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://emj.cbdr.com/artieimages/0s/ar5l53269b3z1khpzh0s.gif?time=6/7/2011%2011:29:31%20am" /></a></div><div class="ArticleHeadline" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin-top: -30px;"><div class="hdr_org_bld" style="color: #ff6600; font: normal normal bold 18px/normal arial, helvetica;"><h1 id="articleHeadline" style="color: #ff7700; font-size: 18px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><br /></h1></div><b><span id="cbArticle_lblByLine">Robert Half International</span></b><br /><br /><div class="cbmsnArticleImage">Every hiring manager has a different set of go-to interview questions. In a recent survey by our company, we asked more than 650 managers in the United States and Canada to name the single question they ask that provides the most insight about a job applicant. Responses ranged from classic queries ("Where do you see yourself in five years?") to less-traditional ones ("How would you describe yourself in five words?").</div></div><div class="ArticleContent" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">While there's not always one right way to answer an interview question, some approaches are better than others. Here are some questions from the survey that you may face in your next interview, along with tips on how -- and how not -- to answer them:</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>"Can you tell me a little about yourself?"</b></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>Do:</b> Prepare for this popular question -- which is often the first one asked -- by developing an incisive summary of your career. Your sound bite should be succinct but include enough detail about your pertinent skills, work experience, accomplishments and goals that the hiring manager can quickly see what you bring to the table.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>Don't: </b>Give your life story, discuss leisure pursuits or describe aspects of your professional background that aren't relative to the position you're interviewing for.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>"Why do you want to join our company?"</b></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>Do:</b> Walk into the interview with beyond-the-basics knowledge of the firm. Read the company's website, marketing materials and relevant news stories to gain a good grasp of its mission, history, reputation and corporate culture. The more information you collect, the more specific you can be about why you're an excellent fit.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>Don't:</b> Answer in the context of your financial needs. Saying "I hear you provide good pay and benefits" or "Frankly, I need a job" won't score you any points.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>"What's your biggest weakness?"</b><br /><b>Do:</b> View this as an opportunity to demonstrate your self-awareness, sincerity and problem-solving prowess. Mention an area where you could improve and spotlight the steps you've taken to do so.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Here's an example: "In the past, I sometimes overextended myself. Reading time-management books has helped me, though. Now, I make prioritized to-do lists, I've learned it's OK to delegate and I volunteer for extra projects only when I'm caught up on core responsibilities."</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>Don't: </b>Offer a transparently fake flaw ("I care too much about my work!") or pretend to be perfect ("Weaknesses? None come to mind."). And, of course, don't be your own worst critic by citing countless shortcomings.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>"Where do you see yourself in five years?"</b></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>Do:</b> Position yourself as an ambitious but flexible realist. One way to do this is to speak of your desire to continually take on broader responsibilities and grow professionally no matter what role you're in. You also might emphasize your commitment to lifelong learning by mentioning your interest in attaining advanced industry certifications.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>Don't:</b> Focus on an overly lofty objective. For instance, boldly proclaiming you intend to be the firm's next CFO when you're an entry-level accounting candidate certainly shows drive, but it's not a practical five-year objective. In addition, steer clear of fanciful daydreaming ("I'll be counting my lottery winnings on a Hawaiian beach").</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>"Why are you looking to leave your current employer?"</b></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>Do: </b>The interviewer is trying to figure out if you truly want the position, or if you're looking for any way out of a bad job. As such, reiterate what you like about the role you're seeking rather than gripe about the one you hope to vacate. Make it clear you're chasing a great opportunity, not running away from an unpleasant situation.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>Don't:</b> Speak ill of your current employer. Regardless of how unhappy you are with your job or company, never act bitter or resentful in an interview. Hiring managers seek candidates who are loyal, positive-minded and team-oriented. They aren't inclined to hire people they perceive to be potential headaches.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Finally, despite your best efforts, you can't anticipate every question you'll be asked.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">"How would you define your personality in one word?" or "How will you behave if you get blamed for something you didn't do?" were just two of the unique questions that popped up in our survey of hiring managers.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">If an interviewer throws you a curveball, maintain eye contact, take a deep breath and pause to consider your response. Many of your competitors will fluster easily. Set yourself apart by keeping your cool in the hot seat.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><i>Robert Half International is the world's first and largest specialized staffing firm with a global network of more than 350 offices worldwide. For more information about our professional services, please visit <a href="http://www.roberthalf.com/" style="color: #3300cc; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">www.roberthalf.com</a>. For additional career advice, follow us on Twitter at<a href="http://www.twitter.com/roberthalf" style="color: #3300cc; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">www.twitter.com/roberthalf</a>.</i></div></div>

Common interview questions -- and how to answer them effectively

Robert Half International Every hiring manager has a different set of go-to interview questions. In a recent survey by our company, we asked...

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Really? Fairbanks again?!

I swear I have the most dysfunctional, crazy, weird family in the world, and I don't mean that in a good way.<br /><br />After weeks of listening to the whining and complaining about cleaning out their mother's house, one of my nieces (the most crazy of the crazy) called me yesterday (the first time since she changed all her phone numbers a month ago). She demanded to be paid for her time for helping her mother by cleaning out her mother's house, as well as for her gas for driving the six miles to the house.<br /><br />Oh.My.God. Are you serious?  Yes, she was serious and NO-FREAKING-WAY will she get paid. I don't get paid and darn it...you don't get paid. May I remind you, this is for your mother! I'm just totally flabbergasted over this latest event. Who are these people?! Their mother, my sister, practically dedicated her life to them and this is how they repay her?<br /><br />After contacting my attorney, I decided to fly up to Fairbanks tomorrow night. Friday morning I'm having all the locks changed on my sister's house. Then I'm meeting with an auctioneer at the house to discuss how to go about auctioning off all my sister's personal belongings and household items, then to the realtor to sign the listing agreement. My brother will visit the house once a week to make sure it's okay.<br /><br />The children...they are DONE. I don't want to hearing about it anymore. They seem to take joy in telling me what a mess it is and how they're mother had a shopping problem and how hard they're working. I've had enough. Keep in mind these aren't young people, they're between the ages of 46 to 49 and neither of my nieces even have jobs.<br /><br />Here's the forecast for Fairbanks, and where my sister's house is located twenty-three miles out of Fairbanks it's always ten degrees colder. That would make it a low of -46 degrees. Yuk.<br /><img alt="" 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" /><br /><br />I'm probably going to stay at my sister's house, which is going to be very weird. No internet, TV, or phone (and my cell phone barely works out there), I had it all turned off to save money. The main reason I'm staying there is I'm on a shredding mission while I'm there, to shred as much paperwork as possible in a day and a half. My sister doesn't own a shredder. That alone should tell you something.<br /><br /><br />The diet and exercise<br />Still at it, gym every day as usual. I didn't track my food today, but I don't think I ate enough because my family situation was stressing me out. The worst thing about going to Fairbanks is that I'll miss my Saturday Weight Watcher meeting. Very frustrating. <br /><br />The good thing about this trip, I get to see my sister, even if it is for a short time. I really miss her.

Really? Fairbanks again?!

I swear I have the most dysfunctional, crazy, weird family in the world, and I don't mean that in a good way. After weeks of listening t...

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