News for today's 2018

Today's archidose #602

7:30 PM Tukiyooo 0

Here are some photos of the Canada Water Library in Southwark, London by <a href="http://www.czwg.com/">CZWG Architects</a> (2011). Photographs are by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/dwape/">Pawel Paniczko</a>.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/dwape/7638949008/" title="Canada Water Library by Pawel Paniczko, on Flickr"><img alt="Canada Water Library" height="427" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7273/7638949008_286d54aa99_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/dwape/7638964966/" title="Canada Water Library by Pawel Paniczko, on Flickr"><img alt="Canada Water Library" height="427" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8153/7638964966_1437dd437a_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/dwape/7639006752/" title="Canada Water Library by Pawel Paniczko, on Flickr"><img alt="Canada Water Library" height="427" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7252/7639006752_7544d59a38_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/dwape/7638932768/" title="Canada Water Library by Pawel Paniczko, on Flickr"><img alt="Canada Water Library" height="427" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8424/7638932768_4a5ed47606_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just:<br /><blockquote>:: Join and add photos to the <a href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/archi-dose/">archidose pool</a>, and/or<br />:: Tag your photos <span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/archidose/">archidose</a></span></blockquote>

Today's archidose #602

Here are some photos of the Canada Water Library in Southwark, London by CZWG Architects (2011). Photographs are by Pawel Paniczko . To con...

WHY RUSSIA IS BACKING SYRIA

4:57 PM Tukiyooo 0

<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4epPmzrAuoejctg42WsWRLGj5ud2JD1WZRWBuxO7sdxYgAqObZ77YIPOPhyTbkBf1AfC4RtB9rgkUzSEl2dXdqbCJJRrO-vTNKhQCOEjo4i6L5cVfXea6jMS346-IHhg0MgOhx0tzQgW0/s1600/1383010173.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4epPmzrAuoejctg42WsWRLGj5ud2JD1WZRWBuxO7sdxYgAqObZ77YIPOPhyTbkBf1AfC4RtB9rgkUzSEl2dXdqbCJJRrO-vTNKhQCOEjo4i6L5cVfXea6jMS346-IHhg0MgOhx0tzQgW0/s400/1383010173.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">FEARS OF ISLAMIC RADICALISM</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">By Ruslan Pukhov</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Many in the West believe that RUSSIA’S support for SYRIA stems from Moscow’s desire to profit from selling arms to Bashar al-Assad’s government and maintain its naval facility at the SYRIAN port of Tartus. But these speculations are superficial and misguided. The real reason that RUSSIA is resisting strong international action against the Assad regime is that it fears the spread of Islamic radicalism and the erosion of its superpower status in a world where Western nations are increasingly undertaking unilateral military interventions.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">SYRIA IS AMONG RUSSIA’S SIGNIFICANT CUSTOMERS, BUT BY NO MEANS ONE OF THE KEY BUYERS OF RUSSIAN ARMS</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Since 2005, RUSSIAN defense contracts with SYRIA have amounted to only about $5.5 billion — mostly to modernize SYRIA’S air force and air defenses. And although SYRIA had been making its scheduled payments in a fairly timely manner, many contracts were delayed by RUSSIA for political reasons. A contract for four MiG-31E fighter planes was annulled altogether. And recently it became known that RUSSIA had actually halted the planned delivery of S-300 mobile antiaircraft missile systems to SYRIA.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">SYRIA is among RUSSIA’S significant customers, but it is by no means one of the key buyers of RUSSIAN arms — accounting for just 5 percent of RUSSIA’S global arms sales in 2011. Indeed, RUSSIA has long refrained from supplying Damascus with the most powerful weapons systems so as to avoid angering ISRAEL and the West — sometimes to the detriment of RUSSIA’S commercial and political ties with SYRIA.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">To put it plainly, arms sales to SYRIA today do not have any significance for RUSSIA from either a commercial or a military-technological standpoint, and SYRIA isn’t an especially important partner in military-technological cooperation.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Indeed, RUSSIA could quite easily resell weapons ordered by the SYRIANS (especially the most expensive items, like fighter jets and missile systems) to third parties, thus minimizing its losses. And even if the Assad government survives, it will be much weaker and is unlikely to be able to continue buying RUSSIAN arms.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The RUSSIAN Navy’s logistical support facility at Tartus is similarly unimportant. It essentially amounts to two floating moorings, a couple of warehouses, a barracks and a few buildings. On shore, there are no more than 50 seamen. For the Navy, the facility in Tartus has more symbolic than practical significance. It can’t serve as a support base for deploying naval forces in the Mediterranean Sea, and even visits by RUSSIAN military ships are carried out more for demonstrative purposes than out of any real need to replenish supplies.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">RUSSIA’S current SYRIA policy basically boils down to supporting the Assad government and preventing a foreign intervention aimed at overthrowing it, as happened in Libya. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Comment by GEOPOLITICAL ANALYSIS AND MONITORING:</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">PAYBACK TIME FOR BEING LEFT OUT OF THE LIBYAN EQUATION </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">As mentioned numerous times on this Blog, RUSSIA and CHINA felt that they were left out of the equation regarding the LIBYAN operation instigated by the USA, FRANCE and BRITAIN. CHINA and RUSSIA invested heavily in LIBYA prior to the toppling of the LIBYAN regime, only to find out that they were kept completely out of the picture regarding the true intentions the Western coalition force had in mind with LIBYA once the regime was removed. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Subsequently RUSSIA and CHINA learned their lesson and thus would not make the same mistake regarding SYRIA, permitting LIBYAN style intervention by WESTERN and GULF STATES coalition forces. No matter that SYRIA lacks oil reserves or other natural resources worth fighting over, their veto was more of a symbolic gesture telling Western and Gulf States coalition forces: that’s how far you can go this time around, but no further. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">RUSSIANS believe that the collapse of the Assad government would be tantamount to the loss of RUSSIA’S last client and ally in the MIDDLE EAST and the final elimination of traces of former Soviet prowess there — illusory as those traces may be. They believe that Western intervention in SYRIA (which RUSSIA cannot counter militarily) would be an intentional profanation of one of the few remaining symbols of RUSSIA’S status as a great world power.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">ARAB REVOLUTIONS DESTABILIZED THE REGION AND CLEARED THE ROAD TO POWER FOR</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;"> FUNDAMENTALIST </span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> ISLAM</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Such attitudes are further buttressed by widespread pessimism about the eventual outcome of the Arab Spring, and the SYRIAN revolution in particular. Most RUSSIAN observers believe that Arab revolutions have completely destabilized the region and cleared the road to power for the Islamists. In Moscow, secular authoritarian governments are seen as the sole realistic alternative to Islamic dominance.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The continuing struggles in Arab countries are seen as a battle by those who wear neckties against those who do not wear them. Russians have long suffered from terrorism and extremism at the hands of Islamists in the northern CAUCASUS, and they are therefore firmly on the side of those who wear neckties.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">To people in Moscow, Mr. Assad appears not so much as “a bad dictator” but as a secular leader struggling with an uprising of Islamists. The active support from SAUDI ARABIA, QATAR and TURKEY’S Islamist government for rebels in SYRIA only heightens suspicions in RUSSIA about the Islamist nature of the current opposition in SYRIA and rebels throughout the MIDDLE EAST.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Comment by GEOPOLITICAL ANALYSIS AND MONITORING</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">It is interesting to note that Russia in particularly sees Turkey as part of the Islamist movement in the region. Relations between the two countries have been strained for some time now, mainly because of gas supplies and other energy issues which could alter the geo-strategic landscape of the region.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">See: <a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/07/turkey-and-russia.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/07/turkey-and-russia.html</a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">VIOLATION OF UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTIONS IN LIBYA ARE SEEN AS ONE OF THE MAIN REASONS FOR RUSSIA’S CURRENT STANCE ON SYRIA</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Finally, RUSSIANS are angry about the West’s propensity for unilateral interventionism — not to mention the blatantly broad interpretation of the resolutions adopted by the United Nations Security Council, and the direct violations of those resolutions in LIBYA.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">According to this view, the West, led by AMERICA, demonstrated its cynicism, perfidy and a typical policy of double standards. That’s why all the Western moralizing and calls for intervention in SYRIA are perceived by RUSSIAN public as yet another manifestation of cynical hypocrisy.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">PRESERVING HIS OWN POWER IS ALSO ON MR. PUTIN’S MIND AS HIS AUTHORITARIAN GOVERNMENT BEGINS TO WOBBLE </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">There is no doubt that preserving his own power is also on Mr. Putin’s mind as his authoritarian government begins to wobble in the face of growing protests that enjoy political approval and support from the West. He cannot but sympathize with Mr. Assad as a fellow autocratic ruler struggling with outside interference in domestic affairs.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">But ideological solidarity is a secondary factor at best. Mr. Putin is capitalizing on traditional RUSSIAN suspicions of the WEST, and his support for Mr. Assad is based on the firm conviction that an Islamist-led revolution in SYRIA, especially one that receives support through the intervention of Western and Arab states, will seriously harm RUSSIA’S long-term interests.</span></span><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /></span></div>

WHY RUSSIA IS BACKING SYRIA

FEARS OF ISLAMIC RADICALISM By Ruslan Pukhov Many in the West believe that RUSSIA’S support for SYRIA stems from Moscow’s desire to prof...

The Blurb: Hype Springs Eternal

3:02 PM Tukiyooo 0

Welcome to the Blurb: 2012 Olympics edition! Almost every day that the Olympics are happening, I will be posting my opinions and excitement and disappointment in all the major Olympic stories!<br /><br />Are you sick of the Olympics yet? I know - they haven't even started, and it seems like that's all we've been hearing about for a few weeks now. But that is how it usually is around this time. The organizers have to get people interested in watching the games, and so they pick a few athletes and push them out into the spotlight...even before they compete! This usually ends up in two ways: the athletes live up to expectations and get all the endorsement deals, or they fail to medal and gradually fade into the background.<br /><br />Heck, there were a few athletes that were being shown in commercials that didn't make it out of the Olympic <i>trials</i>, let along the Games themselves: Brian Clay, the reigning gold medalist in the decathlon, failed to compete for London. He was in commercials for both NBC's Olympic coverage and for BP. Nastia Liukin was the reigning all-around gold medalist in women's gymnastics, and her uneven bar routine in the trials was embarassing. Shawn Johnson, also a gymnast who won gold in Beijing, pulled out because of injury. Natalie Coughlin, a multiple-medal swimmer, barely made the Olympic team this year. And 2004 400-meter gold medalist Jeremy Wariner couldn't get out of the pack this year in Oregon and finished sixth.<br /><br />Hyped reigning medalists. Not even appearing in London.<br /><br />So who <i>is</i> being hyped? Let me count the athletes: Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte (both of whom can't be mentioned without mentioning the other, because of the huge "rivalry" that the media has created), Jordyn Wieber, Gabby Douglas, Danell Leyva, Hope Solo (who I can't stand for multiple reasons - I may have time to expound on that in a later post), Ashton Eaton, Usain Bolt, Queen Underwood, Lolo Jones, Sanya Richards-Ross, Allyson Felix, Tyson Gay, the Williams sisters, the entire USA men's basketball team (hyped especially by ESPN), Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh, Steven and Diana Lopez, and - hey, have you heard about this 17-year old named Missy Franklin? Of course you have! She may win seven. gold. medals!<br /><br />Will she win seven gold medals? Of course not. Will any of these athletes? Yes! But not all of them. I dare you: look at this article after the Olympics have wrapped (you'll be in withdrawl, like me; I guarantee it) and you'll think to yourself about one of those athletes: "Man, he/she didn't do anything in these games!"<br /><br />I can think of one perfect example to prove my point: Lolo Jones. The night of the women's 100m hurdle finals, all I could hear was "LoloLoloLoloLoloLoloLoloLoloLolo etc." They highlighted no one else. It was Lolo's race to lose. They got in the blocks, the gun went off, she cleared eight hurdles, and then...tripped and stumbled into the finish. Who won? Dawn Harper, a Team USA athlete that NBC NEVER TALKED ABOUT. She was from the US! No one thought she'd win, so NBC never mentioned her more than her introduction.<br /><br />That's usually why I pick out the American athlete that hasn't been profiled in every Olympic reel and root for them - the only exception being Michael Phelps. For the most part that lowlighted athlete doesn't fare well, but occasionally they emerge as a gem.<br /><br />Sick of the hype? Don't worry - the real deal starts tomorrow.

The Blurb: Hype Springs Eternal

Welcome to the Blurb: 2012 Olympics edition! Almost every day that the Olympics are happening, I will be posting my opinions and excitement ...

Library Director - Wallingford Public Library

10:13 AM Anonymous 0

<strong>Library Director - </strong><span style="color: #48286d;"><strong>Wallingford Public Library</strong></span> Board seeks a dynamic, knowledgeable, and skillful Director to lead our  talented, savvy, and dedicated staff into the future. Wallingford  Public Library is an Association Library with a $2.8 million budget and a  long history of excellent Town government support. The 67,000 sq. ft  building was expanded and renovated in 2008 and bustles with activity 65  hours per week. The Library is a vibrant community center, with  circulation over 700,000. Wallingford Library is a founding member of  the Libraries on Line (LION) consortium, and has a small branch to serve  the Yalesville section of town. The Town of Wallingford is located  between New Haven and Hartford, as well as New York City and Boston, and  is home to over 45,000 residents, hundreds of businesses, and Choate  Rosemary Hall School.  Learn more about the Town of Wallingford at <a _fcksavedurl="http://town.wallingford.ct.us" href="http://town.wallingford.ct.us/" target="_blank">town.wallingford.ct.us</a>. View job description at <a _fcksavedurl="http://wallingford.lioninc.org/pdf/directordescription.pdf" href="http://wallingford.lioninc.org/pdf/directordescription.pdf" target="_blank">wallingford.lioninc.org/pdf/directordescription.pdf</a>.  Applicants should submit a letter of interest, resume, and three  professional references with contact information via email attachment to  <a _fcksavedurl="mailto:director4wpl@gmail.com" href="mailto:director4wpl@gmail.com">director4wpl@gmail.com</a>.  In addition, paper copies of these documents should be mailed to Dr.  Cynara McPhail, Board President, c/o Wallingford Public Library, 200  North Main Street, Wallingford, CT  06492. Review of applications will  begin August 15th and continue until the position is filled.  Interviews  of select candidates will be scheduled beginning mid-September.   Position has an intended start date of January 2, 2013.

Library Director - Wallingford Public Library

Library Director - Wallingford Public Library Board seeks a dynamic, knowledgeable, and skillful Director to lead our talented, savvy, and...

Children's & Teen Services Manager - Avon Free Public Library

7:56 AM Anonymous 0

<strong>Children's & Teen Services Manager -</strong> <span style="color: #48286d;"><strong>Avon Free Public Library</strong></span>.  Energetic, enthusiastic, tech-savvy, professional person to lead  Children’s and Teen Departments in a vibrant public library with  recently expanded and renovated facility. Plans, organizes and  supervises the Children’s and Teen Departments including; scheduling,  collection development, programming, reference, readers advisory, staff  training, technology/computer operations and creating and implementing  library programs for children and teens,  ages newborn-18 years. Serves  as the “Manager in Charge” on a rotational basis in the absence of the  Director. Provides general supervision and direction to Teen Librarian,  Children’s Library Specialists, Library Assistants, and task supervision  to clerical staff, pages and volunteers. Requirements: MILS/MLS.  At  least 3 years of progressively responsible experience in providing  excellent customer service in a children’s department in a public or  school library. Supervisory experience is desirable. Full-time position  (37.5 hours per week; regular night and Saturday rotation) with all  applicable Town benefits. Salary is dependent on qualifications. Closing  date is 4:45 p.m. on Monday, <span style="color: red;">August 13, 2012</span>.  Town of Avon Application for Employment must be completed and can be  obtained at the Human Resources Office, 60 West Main Street, Avon, CT  06001, on-line at <a _fcksavedurl="http://www.town.avon.ct.us" href="http://www.town.avon.ct.us/" target="_blank">www.town.avon.ct.us</a> (under job opportunities), or by calling (860) 409-4301. Minorities and women are encouraged to apply. EOE M/F.

Children's & Teen Services Manager - Avon Free Public Library

Children's & Teen Services Manager - Avon Free Public Library . Energetic, enthusiastic, tech-savvy, professional person to lead ...

guest post - My Crafty Home Life

6:09 AM Anonymous 0

I'm back from vacation and trying to come out from under the pile of laundry that has taken over my house. But I do have a treat for you - I'm guest posting today over at my <a href="http://mycraftyhomelife.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">dear friend Linda's</a>.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1xRu2Hj-12ZJtlYOtwtPLDLvEVPPjlCkFteywxJC-lWwqPoeEkxq0FcJdCxA_JQj59mjZep7vRNeGl9WuPOeE5XjFpHaD4QroDfgSpm2YxqZdYey7ozS8tp9k_SSR65O7QVKlI4nOnzUV/s1600/mycraftyhomelife.blogspot.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="341" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1xRu2Hj-12ZJtlYOtwtPLDLvEVPPjlCkFteywxJC-lWwqPoeEkxq0FcJdCxA_JQj59mjZep7vRNeGl9WuPOeE5XjFpHaD4QroDfgSpm2YxqZdYey7ozS8tp9k_SSR65O7QVKlI4nOnzUV/s400/mycraftyhomelife.blogspot.png" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>I'm talking about some of my favorite DIY projects. <a href="http://mycraftyhomelife.blogspot.com/2012/07/the-little-black-door-is-hereguest-post.html" target="_blank">Check it out!</a> And make sure to visit her next Wednesday as well to see everyone's big reveal for the One Room Challenge!</div><div><br /></div><div>Wish me luck on tackling this pile by the end of the day!</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>

guest post - My Crafty Home Life

I'm back from vacation and trying to come out from under the pile of laundry that has taken over my house. But I do have a treat for you...

Where are all the fat people?

5:21 PM Tukiyooo 0

I took the day off from work. It was going to be a sort of mental health day for me, and catching up on chores. That idea ended quickly when my husband called as he was on his way to work and said his sister had texted him that their dad's blood pressure was less than 60/40 and the machine couldn't even read it. This is one of the signs that death is near. <br /><br />My husband rushed home, we made a conference call to the hospice and his dad is doing "okay", and could hang on for days or weeks. He was asking for his Coke so they took that as a sign he's got a little life left in him. Plus he's still flirting with the young nurse, Ashley. She looks a lot like my mother-in-law did when she was young, absolutely gorgeous (they're divorced). Ashely calls my father-in-law her Romeo. He always wants a  hug and kiss from her. Guess he's not dead yet.<br /><br />The hospice urged us to make arrangements for cremation, which we were suppose to do Monday, but my husband is really having a hard time dealing with everything. I called a few cremation services in Denver and made the arrangements. My husband headed back to work at noon. <br /><br />I'm not close to my father-in-law, but watching my husband being torn apart over this is hard. In addition, he just started a new job two months ago so he can't really take time off and sit by his dad's bedside waiting for him to die. <br /><br />So I bet you're wondering about the title of this post, "Where are all the fat people?". Well, I just back from the gym. I realized today why I hate my gym so much. I am the fattest and oldest person there, by at least 80 pounds and at least 20+ years. Everyone is height, weight proportionate, muscled or toned and they all appear to be under 30. I can't figure our what happened to all the fat, out-of-shape people that went to my old Ballys before they closed. I miss them!<br /><br />My favorite thing at the gym, lifting free weights, isn't very fun anymore. First of all the free weight area is really tiny at L.A. Fitness compared to my old Ballys (it had three weight rooms). Then there are always young, twenty-something guys lifting extremely heavy free weights or cute young girls lifting five and ten-pound weights.<br /><br />I know I need to get over this, and I belong there as much as they do, but I feel awkward and out of place. I never felt like this at Ballys. It's not going to stop me, and I'll keep going. I really don't have any other choice. I'm not disciplined enough to work out on my own at home, and it's the only gym in the area. Guess I'll just have to deal with being the fattest and the oldest person at the gym. <br /><br /><br />

Where are all the fat people?

I took the day off from work. It was going to be a sort of mental health day for me, and catching up on chores. That idea ended quickly when...

Book of the Moment: Five Borough Farm

1:30 PM Tukiyooo 0

Last night the <a href="http://www.designtrust.org/">Design Trust for Public Space</a> and project partner <a href="http://added-value.org/">Added Value</a> celebrated the launch of <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008JEA9X2?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creativeASIN=B008JEA9X2&linkCode=xm2&tag=aweeklydoseof-20">Five Borough Farm: Seeding the Future of Urban Agriculture in New York City</a></i>. The book, which is accompanied by <a href="http://www.fiveboroughfarm.org/">a website</a>, surveys the more than 700 citywide farms and gardens that grow food; metrics are outlined toward gauging the success of urban agriculture; and the project is aimed at affecting policy, so that farms and gardens will be formally recognized and supported in the city. Much more will follow from the Design Trust and Added Value in the next year, but the book is a watershed in examining the benefits of urban agriculture. A review of the book on this blog is forthcoming.<br /><br /><img alt="5borough-farm.gif" src="http://www.archidose.org/Blog/5borough-farm.gif" title="Five Borough Farm" /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.fiveboroughfarm.org/about/">About the Project</a>:<br /><blockquote><b>Need for <i>Five Borough Farm</i></b><br /><br />Urban agriculture is booming in New York City, with more than 700 food-producing urban farms and gardens citywide. In all five boroughs, New Yorkers have turned vacant lots and rooftops, schoolyards and NYCHA gardens into places to grow food.  But urban agriculture also encompasses a wide range of other activities: participants earn income at farmers markets, capture stormwater, compost food waste, gain leadership and job skills, learn about nutrition and the environment, and create safe, attractive public spaces. These activities contribute to many citywide health, social, economic, and ecological benefits, as well as to the goals of municipal agencies and elected officials.<br /><br />Yet while many government agencies are engaged in urban agriculture, there is no citywide policy or plan to coordinate actions across agencies, and few systematic efforts to track the full range of urban agricultural activities that take place at the city’s farms and gardens.<br /><br /><b>Project Origins</b><br /><br />In 2009, the Design Trust for Public Space issued an open call for projects to improve public space in New York City, receiving twenty submissions from organizations citywide. The nonprofit organization Added Value (with the assistance of the design firm thread collective) submitted a proposal to address urban agriculture. This proposal was one of two selected by an independent jury of architects, policy experts, open space advocates, and Design Trust board members for the Design Trust to take on as a project.<br /><br /><b>Project Goals</b><br /><br /><ol><li>Survey and document New York City's existing urban agricultural activity using photographs, maps, and infographics.</li><li>Establish a shared framework and tools to enable farmers and gardeners to track urban agricultural activity and evaluate their social, health, economic, and ecological benefits.</li><li>Develop policy recommendations that will help make urban agriculture a more permanent part of the city's landscape and governance.</li></ol></blockquote>

Book of the Moment: Five Borough Farm

Last night the Design Trust for Public Space and project partner Added Value celebrated the launch of Five Borough Farm: Seeding the Futur...

Encouragement to Keep Moving

5:40 AM Tukiyooo 0

On my Facebook page, we've been talking about the stages of grief as our <br /><br /><center><a href='https://picasaweb.google.com/115916382183421477315/BloggerPictures?authkey=Gv1sRgCNPCp6bK0YDF6gE#5769086120504457218'><img border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-TnxplzMihzW2K1j1aXiyfKB3a_fXmBdWYqZJTe079zahyphenhyphenz41FNtpun3qcSk5zjWCTmBQyk81vfaDmBkLgIMFNSeUp5Cc9vqx0YNGnRQzpGvokU1cTBpeNoUSxCP7GtjHDjgZcN8fzvzY/s288/0.jpg" style="margin:5px" width="281"></a></center><br />summers come to a close in the northern hemisphere. Words like "death of a dream" and "mourning" have been used. Many of us are excited and "those" dreams have started again for me.<br /><br />I have recurring dreams that happen before school starts, I knew they would start soon and indeed last night they began again. I'm in college and attending a class that I skipped the last time, just to find out we have a major test that I didn't study for. I have the complete and utter feeling that I have monumental task ahead that I am not prepared for.<br /><br />It doesn't matter how much I study or how much I plan or how much I do anything -- I never FEEL ready. Ever. This is year 11 for me of teaching and I don't feel ready even now.<br /><br />It is a great profession where you can completely start over every year. And yet, it is hard because we start over -- I don't want it said of me "She was a great teacher." I want to BE a great teacher. That is an active word that means I am doing it right now.<br /><br />Prepare. Plan. Pray. But, most of all, come to school with your good attitude intact. "I" am at the middle of my own attitude. Attitude is not a secret weapon because everyone knows what kind you have. Everyone. <br /><br />Attitude, content knowledge, and teaching know-how make you an unstoppable force in the classroom as you motivate and encourage students to learn. Educate yourself to stay relevant (and employable) because your academic institution may become obsolete, but you won't.<br /><br />Move ahead into the school year. As much as I need my summers (to heal, more than anything), the greatest moments of my teaching career are not during the summertime but during the studenttime. ;-)<br /><br />Students rock and I want to as well. Get ready, kiddos, here comes Mrs. Vicki and I'm ready to roll! I love you and I'm Back!<br /><br /> (School starts August 8).<br /><br /><br />- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad<br />

Encouragement to Keep Moving

On my Facebook page, we've been talking about the stages of grief as our summers come to a close in the northern hemisphere. Words like ...

Microsoft webinar tonight 25th July at 6.30 pm: LEAP21 series -Assessing 'Knowledge Building'

4:26 AM Tukiyooo 0

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This evening 25th July (and for another three Wednesdays after that) Microsoft Partners in Learning, Johannesburg is running a LEAP21 series of webinars on assessing 21st Century skills, from 6 - 6:30 pm using their Lync webinar software. This webinar series will focus on innovative teaching and learning approaches and how the LEAP21 material supports this. It will be of special interest to teachers who wish to enter innovative projects for the Partners in Learning Forum in 2013. The webinar on the 18th was about ASSESSING COLLABORATION.  The webinar tonight on the 25th July at 6:30pm will be about assessing <b>KNOWLEDGE-BUILDING</b>. </span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Previous blogpost about these webinars </span></b></span></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></span><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I wrote a previous blogpost about these webinars a week ago when announcing the first one on Collaboration on 17 July 2012 </span><a href="http://e-blogschool.blogspot.com/2012/07/join-microsoft-partners-in-learning.html">http://e-blogschool.blogspot.com/2012/07/join-microsoft-partners-in-learning.html</a></div><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>How to join the webinar</b></span> <br /> </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Join ALL these online meetings at this web address </span><a href="https://join.microsoft.com/meet/v-angels/Q6Z25RJQ"><span style="font-size: small;">https://join.microsoft.com/meet/v-angels/Q6Z25RJQ.</span></a></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span>  <br /><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>More about tonight’s webinar on 'knowledge-building'</b></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Big idea: Knowledge building happens when students do more than reproduce what they have learned: they go beyond knowledge reproduction to generate ideas and understandings that are new to them. Activities that require knowledge building ask students to interpret, analyse, synthesize, or evaluate information or ideas. </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>What you need to do to prepare for tonight</b></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">1. Think about this question: Are students required to build knowledge? Is that knowledge interdisciplinary?</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">2. Make sure your system can manage the Lync by reading/downloading the following information </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.box.com/s/79ddc1b92bdfd9fd6279"><span style="font-size: small;">https://www.box.com/s/79ddc1b92bdfd9fd6279</span></a><span style="font-size: small;"> </span> </div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">3. Take a look at the lesson plan worksheet</span> </div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.box.com/s/a742f6c34f7accc536c0"><span style="font-size: small;">https://www.box.com/s/a742f6c34f7accc536c0</span></a><span style="font-size: small;"> </span> </div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Please join us at 6pm if you are free. Presenter is Megan Rademeyer.</span> </div><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div>

Microsoft Microsoft webinar tonight 25th July at 6.30 pm: LEAP21 series -Assessing 'Knowledge Building'

This evening 25th July (and for another three Wednesdays after that) Microsoft Partners in Learning, Johannesburg is running a LEAP21 series...

You made me made me cry and you made me smile

10:24 PM Tukiyooo 0

You made me made me cry and you made me smile

Tonight I finally took a few minutes to read through the comments on my post "Hitting Rock Bottom". I was stunned and amazed at yo...

Yayoi Kusama at Louis Vuitton

7:30 PM Tukiyooo 0

Earlier today I walked up Fifth Avenue and noticed that the Louis Vuitton at 57th Street, <a href="http://architourist.pbworks.com/w/page/13599679/Louis%20Vuitton%20Store">designed by Jun Aoki</a>, looked a bit different.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/archidose/7641020978/" title="Yayoi Kusama at Louis Vuitton by archidose, on Flickr"><img alt="Yayoi Kusama at Louis Vuitton" height="1000" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8150/7641020978_c26dfc53b5_o.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Crossing the street to take a closer look, I realized that the storefront is decked out for <a href="http://whitney.org/Exhibitions/YayoiKusama">Yayoi Kusama's exhibition at the Whitney Museum</a>, which is <a href="http://www.louisvuittonkusama.com/">sponsored by Louis Vuitton</a>. Corporate ties to the world of art are hardly new, and brands like Louis Vuitton are particularly well connected to artists. I remember Takashi Murakami putting his cartoon characters on their handbags some years ago, so this one doesn't come as a shock.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/archidose/7641021526/" title="Yayoi Kusama at Louis Vuitton by archidose, on Flickr"><img alt="Yayoi Kusama at Louis Vuitton" height="904" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7119/7641021526_80cdbafde9_o.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />But putting the artist in the storefront would be a shock. I must admit that I was fooled in my quick glance at this shop window. Was she taking the corporate tie-in to the next level? But <a href="http://runway.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/11/kusama-retrospective-is-new-exhibit-for-an-old-idea/">photos of the 83-year-old artist</a> around the Whitney opening and the unveiling of the polka-dot exterior show her in a wheelchair, so she is probably not up for standing in a window acting out the <a href="http://www.coolhunting.com/culture/the-abramovic-method.php">Abramovic Method</a>. Nevertheless the facade and displays are quite fun and playful, bringing plenty of attention to Louis Vuitton and Kusama's art.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/archidose/7641022124/" title="Yayoi Kusama at Louis Vuitton by archidose, on Flickr"><img alt="Yayoi Kusama at Louis Vuitton" height="927" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8283/7641022124_3ec7f08cfd_o.jpg" width="640" /></a>

Yayoi Kusama at Louis Vuitton

Earlier today I walked up Fifth Avenue and noticed that the Louis Vuitton at 57th Street, designed by Jun Aoki , looked a bit different. Cro...

SAUDI ARABIAN INTELLIGENCE HEADQUARTERS BLASTED

6:50 PM Tukiyooo 0

<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9dmQqh6831zCHEPg5RhjVF3LMSpJCet6EtoSJVjAhZW65rap6-xSXufVUb_ThmIMVY_kKP_ZzwjPl8HVy9NEzJtFAYhiN4tYPES16Tt4MmChsrps_fRcB5jzG8WYNUxacMgKFjjRZxhHn/s1600/url.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9dmQqh6831zCHEPg5RhjVF3LMSpJCet6EtoSJVjAhZW65rap6-xSXufVUb_ThmIMVY_kKP_ZzwjPl8HVy9NEzJtFAYhiN4tYPES16Tt4MmChsrps_fRcB5jzG8WYNUxacMgKFjjRZxhHn/s320/url.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 1;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> SAUDI DEPUTY INTELLIGENCE CHIEF ALLEGEDLY KILLED:</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> </span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">PAYBACK ?</span></b></span><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 24.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Explosion Rocks SAUDI ARABIA’S Intelligence Headquarters</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b>TEHRAN (FNA)- Reports from SAUDI ARABIA said an explosion rocked the Arab country’s intelligence headquarters and killed the SAUDI deputy intelligence chief.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Arabic al-Fajr news website reported from SAUDI ARABIA that the deputy head of SAUDI ARABIA’S secret service has been killed in the blast. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;">No official report has yet been released on the incident. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;">On Thursday night Prince Bandar bin Sultan was appointed SAUDI ARABIA</span><span style="font-size: large;">’S new spy chief.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;">Prince Bandar, 63 who vanished from public view when he was recalled from Washington by King Abdullah in 2005 after notching up 22 years as the kingdoms ambassador there, will immediately be thrust into a Middle East crisis. </span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: normal;"><br /></div><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;">The US</span><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;">’ closest Arab ally is a supporter of the Syrian rebels who want to oust Assad and is mending fences with Washington after a disagreement over the Arab uprisings. </span>   <div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">It should be noted that the  incident allegedly occurred already on the <span> </span>22<sup>nd</sup> of July, but only now more details are emerging on alternative news outlets.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"> </span></span> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">Source: FARSnew</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><br /></span></span></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></b></div>

SAUDI ARABIAN INTELLIGENCE HEADQUARTERS BLASTED

SAUDI DEPUTY INTELLIGENCE CHIEF ALLEGEDLY KILLED: PAYBACK ? Explosion Rocks SAUDI ARABIA’S Intelligence Headquarters TEHRAN (FNA)- Report...