News for today's 2018

Sharing Medical Records With Patients - NYTimes.com

10:44 AM Tukiyooo 0

<base href="data:"><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; color: black; text-align: left; "><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">The patient, a wiry businessman in his 50s, needed a copy of his medical records to bring to a specialist for a second opinion. He assumed that getting the copies would be straightforward; the records were, after all, his.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">But after multiple trips to his doctor's office and the hospital and several days of missed work, he learned otherwise. At the hospital, after spending the good part of a morning hunting down the right person to process his request, he learned that signing the requisite permission forms was not enough. He would have to pay for the copies that would take several days to put together. Those copies turned out to be incomplete, so he had to wait another few days, and pay more, for copies of the missing pages.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">At his doctor's office, the staff and then his own physician had responded to his request by asking him why he even needed his records. "I told them the truth, that I wanted a second opinion, but it was more than a little awkward," he recalled. "I'm not sure if my doctor will treat me differently from now on."</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">"It's like they and the hospital were doing everything they could to make it harder for me," he said.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Two weeks later, dossier in hand, he swore he would never let it out of his sight. But, he added, "I can't say that this whole experience has given me a lot of confidence in my doctor or my hospital."</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">This patient's experience, like those of so many others who have tried to obtain their medical records, came to mind this week when I read about the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/27/health/27chen.html" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102); text-decoration: none; ">long-awaited results of a study</a> in which patients were given complete access to their doctors' notes. The findings, <a href="http://annals.org/article.aspx?articleid=1363511" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102); text-decoration: none; ">published in the Annals of Internal Medicine</a>, do more than shed light on what patients want. They make our current ideas about transparency in the patient-doctor relationship a quaint artifact of the past.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Since 1996, when Congress passed the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or Hipaa, patients have had the right to read and even amend their own records.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">In fact, few patients have ever consulted their own records. Most do not fully grasp the extent of their legal rights; and the few who have attempted to exercise them have often found themselves mired in a parallel universe filled with administrative regulations, small-print permission forms, added costs and repeated delays.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Many physicians also remained hesitant to share their notes, part of the patient's records, because of concerns that such openness might have harmful effects on both their patients' well-being and their own practices. Some worried that mention of minor abnormalities in laboratory values - for example, a slightly elevated prostate specific antigen or white blood cell count - could cause patients to worry unduly about some dread disease.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Other doctors feared that common medical abbreviations like "SOB" (shortness of breath) or "anorexic" (lack of appetite) could be misinterpreted. Still others imagined that writing notes with patient readers in mind would only complicate the process, adding to the already Sisyphean administrative demands of practice and inviting an onslaught of patient e-mails and calls for extended consultations.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Those fears, it now turns out, were largely unfounded.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">For one year, the study, aptly called <a href="http://www.myopennotes.org/" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102); text-decoration: none; ">OpenNotes</a>, allowed over 13,000 patients from three medical centers - the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, the Geisinger Health System in Danville, Pa., and the Harborview Medical Center in Seattle - to have complete access to one part of their medical records, the notes that doctors wrote about them. Within days of seeing their doctors, patients received an e-mail inviting them to read the doctor's signed note on a secure patient Web site. Two weeks before their return visit, patients received a second e-mail inviting them again to review their doctor's note from the previous encounter.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">After a year, almost all the patients were enthusiastic about the OpenNotes initiative.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Surprisingly, so were the majority of doctors.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Approximately three-quarters of all the doctors said that such transparency had none of the dreaded impacts on their practice. Many felt there was more trust, better communication, more shared decision-making and increased patient satisfaction. While a portion of the doctors were hesitant at the beginning of the study, not a single one opted to stop sharing notes with patients after the study ended.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">"Their fears simply never materialized," said Jan Walker, one of the two lead authors and a registered nurse and health services researcher at Beth Israel Deaconess.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">There were several surprising results for patients, as well. While many said they felt more in control of their own care, up to almost 80 percent of the patients said that reading their doctors' notes helped them to take their medications more regularly and better follow their doctors' treatment recommendations. Furthermore, having access to their doctors' notes became so important that nearly all of the patients said any future decisions regarding doctors or hospitals would be predicated on being able to access their records easily.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">All three hospitals in the study are working to allow those patients who participated to continue to have access to their doctors' notes. Beth Israel Deaconess, which already allows all patients to view their test results on a secure patient Web site, plans to expand the program even further over the coming year, becoming one of the first hospitals in the country to allow all patients open access to notes from not only their doctors but also their nurses and all other health care providers.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">And in what may signal even wider adoption of this new vision of transparency, representatives from several national health care groups, including the American Medical Association and the American Hospital Association, will be <a href="http://www.myopennotes.org/save-the-date-opennotes-summit-on-october-11th/" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102); text-decoration: none; ">meeting in Washington next week</a> to discuss the study results and ways of implementing similar programs in other institutions.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">"On the one hand, we call this the 'new medicine,'" said Dr. Tom Delbanco, the other lead author and a primary care physician who is a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. "But we're also just giving patients what is already their right."</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: medium; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.7em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.375em; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: static; z-index: auto; ">He added: "It's as we say: <em>Nothing about me without me</em>."</div></div><a href="http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/04/letting-patients-read-the-doctors-notes/?src=recg&pagewanted=print">http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/04/letting-patients-read-the-doctors-notes/?src=recg&pagewanted=print</a><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; color: black; text-align: left; "><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div>

Sharing Medical Records With Patients - NYTimes.com

The patient, a wiry businessman in his 50s, needed a copy of his medical records to bring to a specialist for a second opinion. He assumed t...

Architecture in Ireland in 1950's

10:39 AM Tukiyooo 0

<span style="font-size: large;">This morning we walked down to <a href="http://www.number31.ie/architect_sam_stephenson/">Number 31</a> which was open to the public as part of the Open House Architecture Festival.  </span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">We were meeting friends at 2pm for lunch and tours of the guesthouse started at 12pm.  We got in line at 11.30am (we were in 2nd place) as we needed to have the tour completed by 1pm or so.  </span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Here's some pictures that I took of the place.</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br /><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/AVvXsEhgXEt-hKEKo3zP5-ZBulPFDEPOm6ADmwN34OCuClZyzoXYd0HiZx9XK7sHfSXo8W4qjl4LrGKe_vmF8n15_Of0y9ANIExJGAr4F6dSA71jJ1gl7HVfV3rcN-Khzud-LzvZHw9wFr_hhmnR/s1600/IMG_2134%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgXEt-hKEKo3zP5-ZBulPFDEPOm6ADmwN34OCuClZyzoXYd0HiZx9XK7sHfSXo8W4qjl4LrGKe_vmF8n15_Of0y9ANIExJGAr4F6dSA71jJ1gl7HVfV3rcN-Khzud-LzvZHw9wFr_hhmnR/s320/IMG_2134%255B1%255D.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Here's the exterior of the building.  It is a mews so the entrance is down a lane at the back of a building.</span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOBQhY_wuxYF4spVEkXxww_YPRJRRfIOiXguFYepzjdXG2Z-yO_bu9koVeVB9tsWaNGw89oZiqN4ExeFKaj08rfYmQO0tge0cF9slkwWH5bBz2KurxXuyc7DCzY-BTwJR5n9PoS_3ZWyUz/s1600/IMG_2137%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOBQhY_wuxYF4spVEkXxww_YPRJRRfIOiXguFYepzjdXG2Z-yO_bu9koVeVB9tsWaNGw89oZiqN4ExeFKaj08rfYmQO0tge0cF9slkwWH5bBz2KurxXuyc7DCzY-BTwJR5n9PoS_3ZWyUz/s320/IMG_2137%255B1%255D.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div> <span style="font-size: large;">The Piece de Resistance in the house - the sunken conversation pit around the fireplace</span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioA57JjKQOvZsuqD4pz9b9sPdih4Nnv6AGPMC9e2vBR2dI0KocuWNyrI_7y5LSlQfthjrO4flRVR1lvK52n4Gx6MmbGI_GOk-49TXHqsKrTfPYPUhK-HEpxphQFR9WQFYZxopO-xetsjGZ/s1600/IMG_2138%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioA57JjKQOvZsuqD4pz9b9sPdih4Nnv6AGPMC9e2vBR2dI0KocuWNyrI_7y5LSlQfthjrO4flRVR1lvK52n4Gx6MmbGI_GOk-49TXHqsKrTfPYPUhK-HEpxphQFR9WQFYZxopO-xetsjGZ/s320/IMG_2138%255B1%255D.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div> <span style="font-size: large;">The ground was covered in tiniest white rectangular tile mosaics.</span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9uHlnwiOtZ12CQeinD5LUY7QjKoTSO2sfzGL-KCe0QRWiFZq1YkegA-FtMW02c9Gopp8We8mp0FeWOINr1ToqS-Xx7HZ-TR0MNrUhEOVGgpEL9wzq8Hlt1iF-BjM7EVqsmUUTllw2Fz2C/s1600/IMG_2139%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9uHlnwiOtZ12CQeinD5LUY7QjKoTSO2sfzGL-KCe0QRWiFZq1YkegA-FtMW02c9Gopp8We8mp0FeWOINr1ToqS-Xx7HZ-TR0MNrUhEOVGgpEL9wzq8Hlt1iF-BjM7EVqsmUUTllw2Fz2C/s320/IMG_2139%255B1%255D.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5GFqnGLrfOXwsJggr2sLYVTIb9lKTrKnzkIBtUq0yHrTEc6wGkmz8N99fkxyTPhlGvOW9_vhpcqCuj97783KnJAibovUf_Kd_Z7ewmVBWLbnQ5qcV2haUdTbmdVV3GX8XfZfdUxLNhVfR/s1600/IMG_2141%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5GFqnGLrfOXwsJggr2sLYVTIb9lKTrKnzkIBtUq0yHrTEc6wGkmz8N99fkxyTPhlGvOW9_vhpcqCuj97783KnJAibovUf_Kd_Z7ewmVBWLbnQ5qcV2haUdTbmdVV3GX8XfZfdUxLNhVfR/s320/IMG_2141%255B1%255D.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhycQMpW4gKvyeHMHTkGbZMYXsn1S1J728YIjI4yyx2plR7e2SsinIGgYQu0sbmnU9kZuNDI6DU1LjATYRJS7lAOpZULpaEkhPXw7_ZU2xL8JRG1k-3CnrshwXohLsMzADUNlaWtT7bRXhq/s1600/IMG_2142%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhycQMpW4gKvyeHMHTkGbZMYXsn1S1J728YIjI4yyx2plR7e2SsinIGgYQu0sbmnU9kZuNDI6DU1LjATYRJS7lAOpZULpaEkhPXw7_ZU2xL8JRG1k-3CnrshwXohLsMzADUNlaWtT7bRXhq/s320/IMG_2142%255B1%255D.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnGlxBsmdxWi2CX2rbILToPJN6AXGQk60uEyM7aX1Ietjx2pbU0b3SlG24FYYJmyC7WYpKlt948xfIc2gh_JVIWSpSLtJyW3f7DSVqkX-0I61csFg7eSv0-lyE1E3cI1A2IaLl6-If53cd/s1600/IMG_2144%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnGlxBsmdxWi2CX2rbILToPJN6AXGQk60uEyM7aX1Ietjx2pbU0b3SlG24FYYJmyC7WYpKlt948xfIc2gh_JVIWSpSLtJyW3f7DSVqkX-0I61csFg7eSv0-lyE1E3cI1A2IaLl6-If53cd/s320/IMG_2144%255B1%255D.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHIIG4i_q-sMM6Eq_sKCjbtaoaeZ4O5LT2ReEmv-FwuhzwfvtFRcl4K7jMfll2zzPGrQdkT9BDFXqwxNGeXGlrxFMAOvTPyDH0YaaonPH26x8dIP7pVRb18ux8bypgBinGO57OhdF7_os7/s1600/IMG_2145%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHIIG4i_q-sMM6Eq_sKCjbtaoaeZ4O5LT2ReEmv-FwuhzwfvtFRcl4K7jMfll2zzPGrQdkT9BDFXqwxNGeXGlrxFMAOvTPyDH0YaaonPH26x8dIP7pVRb18ux8bypgBinGO57OhdF7_os7/s320/IMG_2145%255B1%255D.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWrGfJtw3rSr-94-MPcV2AEHXrMavLeCC7RmsTKbWWFXg-CwcyTsyGmyBF06gVI24RLGIbs_P9ym21Kt4GUNUl4A0OaFd0BjexUHo7L2l262C0F2cyF3cvw5pRIdEIB7ihGVTALir9O2eK/s1600/IMG_2150%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWrGfJtw3rSr-94-MPcV2AEHXrMavLeCC7RmsTKbWWFXg-CwcyTsyGmyBF06gVI24RLGIbs_P9ym21Kt4GUNUl4A0OaFd0BjexUHo7L2l262C0F2cyF3cvw5pRIdEIB7ihGVTALir9O2eK/s320/IMG_2150%255B1%255D.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div> <span style="font-size: large;">We got to sit in the conversation pit to fully experience it - here I am making myself comfortable!</span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnBS3XXT157T6SkjBQxMmJkqaqwm-unFXZrZhjdQXKkMkz4DvyKAWhpUWNjIW7VZxtXzJl7PqrM4RQ758iyx1A7rQm2texqhEQdsx-doPErjzAflVm9dTtHdqoysEKzQSHSvw5J181rM4y/s1600/IMG_2152%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnBS3XXT157T6SkjBQxMmJkqaqwm-unFXZrZhjdQXKkMkz4DvyKAWhpUWNjIW7VZxtXzJl7PqrM4RQ758iyx1A7rQm2texqhEQdsx-doPErjzAflVm9dTtHdqoysEKzQSHSvw5J181rM4y/s320/IMG_2152%255B1%255D.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> To the back of the room was a bar that was tiled in mosaic mirrored tiles.  Very cool!!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilDjUhoaF2Qr4ncIZSiProl5ZvRSD43LkcoVXIjouN0J64DQt5ihg1hX1cWiO2JfY10SOcqkC0N-JrLGoqcLgJdKtwcbG_4Y5wDGdjSLqLvRtLPbbmFyXU0lMfCWXLCdT6QDqmkjORmcB-/s1600/IMG_2140%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilDjUhoaF2Qr4ncIZSiProl5ZvRSD43LkcoVXIjouN0J64DQt5ihg1hX1cWiO2JfY10SOcqkC0N-JrLGoqcLgJdKtwcbG_4Y5wDGdjSLqLvRtLPbbmFyXU0lMfCWXLCdT6QDqmkjORmcB-/s320/IMG_2140%255B1%255D.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUqaDlsd2IUBX3RvybtbVgbtEpmRBTRMpxpJVI7-PLPNcHJivaQ7UZsUbujTuKAB09Cx1rUrLfLyEqqYdM9n2DJonYAqQ4I0nw1u_-LGjYDHlVvUDSK5MheZx08qBmd08Wj61N1iz9ozfk/s1600/IMG_2153%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUqaDlsd2IUBX3RvybtbVgbtEpmRBTRMpxpJVI7-PLPNcHJivaQ7UZsUbujTuKAB09Cx1rUrLfLyEqqYdM9n2DJonYAqQ4I0nw1u_-LGjYDHlVvUDSK5MheZx08qBmd08Wj61N1iz9ozfk/s320/IMG_2153%255B1%255D.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYIWAA4B95gfvXw8ZMbzYYPYJNn75MHbKWOEabmxCg89vgDeOC7r4c8oI2EEvAkrLsqAqrp7TdnL8x_ZoU3CUKykFOVphlh18Wx0A1ZNPdhvMbS8ZUsHldbTmFFvIpGLvZRKdj7U-XWjik/s1600/IMG_2156%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYIWAA4B95gfvXw8ZMbzYYPYJNn75MHbKWOEabmxCg89vgDeOC7r4c8oI2EEvAkrLsqAqrp7TdnL8x_ZoU3CUKykFOVphlh18Wx0A1ZNPdhvMbS8ZUsHldbTmFFvIpGLvZRKdj7U-XWjik/s320/IMG_2156%255B1%255D.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvnR1J3ZySFTUjb8t-IPFo07Evjx1uahWwz59Hr8j8lc_UBSbJzXb90abdsF35_aK2zkf4Rp7ybBo1LRNnScKkK7b7dQhhgDV9r617gbZAs-40oiQqsXeuckeb36bZGx3ILbG17OAx_Nbw/s1600/IMG_2157%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvnR1J3ZySFTUjb8t-IPFo07Evjx1uahWwz59Hr8j8lc_UBSbJzXb90abdsF35_aK2zkf4Rp7ybBo1LRNnScKkK7b7dQhhgDV9r617gbZAs-40oiQqsXeuckeb36bZGx3ILbG17OAx_Nbw/s320/IMG_2157%255B1%255D.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqwG7eTm39jAfBdvkLhqCPSvbZdKE3SHJw2G7SuZ2MzLs0Dd1UjS1a70rs9GsEjDtSLt5IpAFCMyEeIyJk5fwypp9m-l2w8UyB0di-UjpWSbiYb4gD_39DaBN5fuNV8rjsyHghCDMVFDrN/s1600/IMG_2160%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqwG7eTm39jAfBdvkLhqCPSvbZdKE3SHJw2G7SuZ2MzLs0Dd1UjS1a70rs9GsEjDtSLt5IpAFCMyEeIyJk5fwypp9m-l2w8UyB0di-UjpWSbiYb4gD_39DaBN5fuNV8rjsyHghCDMVFDrN/s320/IMG_2160%255B1%255D.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9wtgkztjjJuj9hlDqSTbMcva1w2yGUFgoMj5TFG6OrFUIm5Has2LVZ5NbdkpX5fwJ9XhchGeR69BOvg5jXNhUU8A3rWCcC2V11ukfEsOyjSZF8fcu-2v94B7Yxl-TThjta-qZ-JUfFI_3/s1600/IMG_2163%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9wtgkztjjJuj9hlDqSTbMcva1w2yGUFgoMj5TFG6OrFUIm5Has2LVZ5NbdkpX5fwJ9XhchGeR69BOvg5jXNhUU8A3rWCcC2V11ukfEsOyjSZF8fcu-2v94B7Yxl-TThjta-qZ-JUfFI_3/s320/IMG_2163%255B1%255D.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjij1oyL0G65Ul4L2p2wa5vLSPvYcpKhH9_DdpenDNPwSHIUqDa1g1xwBypR5kSHbFloUItWtXzE1H93yBuokxv6_8kS6e7WARlhgZbuW2zBx6jzhk7X_cCjdXPBbENBOm412WAZqy4M05I/s1600/IMG_2164%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjij1oyL0G65Ul4L2p2wa5vLSPvYcpKhH9_DdpenDNPwSHIUqDa1g1xwBypR5kSHbFloUItWtXzE1H93yBuokxv6_8kS6e7WARlhgZbuW2zBx6jzhk7X_cCjdXPBbENBOm412WAZqy4M05I/s320/IMG_2164%255B1%255D.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: large;">The tour took about 20 minutes as we only toured a few of the rooms in the guesthouse - this is a working business so obviously we could not see the whole building.</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">You can stay in this guest house!   A word of warning though - some of the rooms are based in the main house so make sure you request a room in the Sam Stephenson house.</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">More info <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/picturegalleries/7941194/Dublin-hotels-four-of-the-best.html?image=3">here</a>!</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://renovatinglpa.blogspot.ie/2012/07/lets-conversate.html">Our conversation pit being built.</a></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>

Architecture in Ireland in 1950's

This morning we walked down to Number 31 which was open to the public as part of the Open House Architecture Festival. We were meeting fr...

LIBYA, SYRIA

7:56 AM Tukiyooo 0

<br /> <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5cwcgbfhWGtIQIBXNHbT8NY3q1ZQ1J8tvnbfYNRPHQbjomaIPjsHwjULEwej_HHgsNf1KWvwFcA7FFsbnAY8IVNc_Fp-pFKlKMViYoKw3pFDr3xak9BKeSYtNComGrtuLc6pjVEp1eelf/s1600/Syria-Libya-flags_2067254c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5cwcgbfhWGtIQIBXNHbT8NY3q1ZQ1J8tvnbfYNRPHQbjomaIPjsHwjULEwej_HHgsNf1KWvwFcA7FFsbnAY8IVNc_Fp-pFKlKMViYoKw3pFDr3xak9BKeSYtNComGrtuLc6pjVEp1eelf/s400/Syria-Libya-flags_2067254c.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: red;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">AND GAZPROMS DECLINING INFLUENCE IN EUROPE</span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Analyzing the situation in SYRIA, and how it differs from LIBYA, and recap the situation of GAZPROM (See <a href="http://www.gazprom.com/">http://www.gazprom.com/</a> <span> </span>) which now finds itself in dire straits thanks to the US shale gas boom and the fracking revolution. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">(See <a href="http://www.economist.com/node/21556249">http://www.economist.com/node/21556249</a>)</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: red;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">THE LEVEL OF US INTERVENTION IN A CONFLICT IS ALMOST ALWAYS DETERMINED BY OIL AND GAS</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">. </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The US is not getting involved in SYRIA, other than through back channels, precisely because SYRIA has little in the way of oil resources, and what it does has is the purview of FRANCE’S Total. Thus, FRANCE has been the most vocal about intervention in SYRIA; it has assets to protect. This is also why any governments who wish to help the SYRIAN rebel cause are funneling money through FRANCE. Herein lays the main difference between SYRIA and LIBYA, which is rich with oil and thus was ripe for fast intervention. It is also why ITALY was the first to light the fuse in LIBYA—to protect its ENI assets. (See <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eni">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eni</a>) </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> </span><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> </span></b></span></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">WHAT HAPPENS IN SYRIA NEXT WILL BE OF IMMENSE GEOPOLITICAL SIGNIFICANCE</span></b></span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span></b></span></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">and will involve a host of countries and micro and macro balances of power, from IRAN, IRAQ, TURKEY, LEBANON, ISRAEL, EGYPT and JORDAN most pressingly, and RUSSIA and the US indirectly. But it’s too complicated and there are too many variables to predict all the potential outcomes, so intervention on this level is diluted. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Washington is scrambling to help the “Free Syrian Army” to collect “donations” for the purchase of weapons and other equipment, but the funds have not been as forthcoming as hoped. Still, the rebels remain unrelenting, despite disunity in their ranks. What will unfold in the aftermath--understanding that the genuine rebel forces have been dangerously infiltrated by various extremist groups with diverse agendas--will help determine any shift in the balance of power in the MIDDLE EAST. Everyone’s actions are equally muddled, from the AMERICANS and the SAUDIS to the IRANIANS and ISRAELIS.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">THE KURDISH EQUATION </span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><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/AVvXsEgUqtBNlUGmFLtJ2dVav2ZdY2j7ktefHhKOpVBeFvbycXo6Lp-lzjbyQUYIHj-UT1DIeIWCgO1MPIlm7Mea0bGyQ_tXIZDXA5j81j7sO28ByyMZ4C_gAavgrOXmP2qBuMH9B09O_7oY3iUM/s1600/kurdistan1.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUqtBNlUGmFLtJ2dVav2ZdY2j7ktefHhKOpVBeFvbycXo6Lp-lzjbyQUYIHj-UT1DIeIWCgO1MPIlm7Mea0bGyQ_tXIZDXA5j81j7sO28ByyMZ4C_gAavgrOXmP2qBuMH9B09O_7oY3iUM/s400/kurdistan1.gif" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">In recent days, things have become more complicated, particularly with TURKEY in a tough spot supporting the rebels but fearing the empowerment of militant KURDS on its southern border in the process. To keep TURKEY happy, the SYRIAN rebels appear to be lashing out now, violently, at the KURDS. This is a bad omen. External forces were hoping to bring the KURDS into the rebel fold against Assad, with vague hints at KURDISH independence. Now this new front line has been more clearly drawn. The KURDS will hinder the rebel cause and TURKEY will be forced to fight back. While SYRIA itself cannot affect the oil and gas market, the geopolitical changes of the scale that will unfold can, and will.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">(See</span> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/08/turkeys-syrian-policies.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/08/turkeys-syrian-policies.html</a>and <a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/08/turkeys-erratic-foreign-policies-all.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/08/turkeys-erratic-foreign-policies-all.html</a>and <a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/08/double-dealing-in-iraq-and-syria.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/08/double-dealing-in-iraq-and-syria.html</a>)</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">OUTCOME AFTER LIBYAN INTERVENTION WAS OBVIOUS. NOT THOUGH FOR THE USA AND BRITAIN</span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Meanwhile, in LIBYA, the recovery of oil production is insecure at best, despite the variety of optimistic reports that came to a very abrupt halt when the US envoy to LIBYA was murdered in an attack on the consulate in Benghazi. Even before this, though, intimations that the revolution in LIBYA had been a success were tainted by the reality on the ground: LIBYA is today a chaotic mess of countless, uncontrollable militias and the new government certainly is not in control.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">If the USA and its allies, in particular BRITAIN would have done their homework regarding LYBIA well, they would have foreseen the negative outcome such interventions trigger. A</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">s always, ignorance, lack of multicultural awareness prompted the US and BRITAIN into this venture, naively believing that they could “stabilize and democratize” the ARAB world. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Or at least make the region “stable” to such extend to retrieve their oil investment. (See: <a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/09/us-intelligence-failures.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/09/us-intelligence-failures.html</a>)</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivUGg9yjyo-U8plSwSmGGuiXy7pYI4gU2W99yxAziiDgTA3Z2S_UGZgn8u5LK7q2lE_Plzf7aT8HaXFHk1zT0g2AskLLtIVhj_bjXq2O5tS4TF0sXl9rlQSFPBQ2FfQGpv0EfIOvZ5Jtq_/s1600/Syria+oil.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="249" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivUGg9yjyo-U8plSwSmGGuiXy7pYI4gU2W99yxAziiDgTA3Z2S_UGZgn8u5LK7q2lE_Plzf7aT8HaXFHk1zT0g2AskLLtIVhj_bjXq2O5tS4TF0sXl9rlQSFPBQ2FfQGpv0EfIOvZ5Jtq_/s320/Syria+oil.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Another gas-related geopolitical dynamic one should closely follow in the coming weeks and months will be those nipping at the heels of RUSSIA’S GAZPROM, which has become hostage to the US shale gas boom. EUROPE has suddenly become brave in the face of its gas captor, and continued low gas prices will help it maintain courage. GAZPROM has already announced a restructuring of its finance and logistics assets in EUROPE, though it will deny that this was a result of any pressure by the investigatory forces in the EUROPEAN Commission.  </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Though the US is presently dithering over the issue of regulations that hinder natural gas exports, stalling a decision until after the elections, it can be assumed that we are on the edge of a bonanza of US natural gas exports, which will help further chip away at GAZPROM’S stranglehold on WESTERN EUROPE, and particularly on EASTERN EUROPE—the geopolitical implications of which are extremely beneficial for the US. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">adapted from Oilprice</div>

LIBYA, SYRIA

AND GAZPROMS DECLINING INFLUENCE IN EUROPE Analyzing the situation in SYRIA, and how it differs from LIBYA, and recap the situation of GAZP...

Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 10/07/2012

2:33 AM Tukiyooo 0

<ul class="diigo-linkroll">      <li>      <p class="diigo-link">                <a href="http://lifehacker.com/5867049/nine-stubborn-brain-myths-that-just-wont-die-debunked-by-science">Nine Stubborn Brain Myths That Just Won't Die, Debunked by Science</a>      </p>      <p class="diigo-description">This is a good summary of many of the brain and learning studies, although it is not written by a researcher or cognitive expert. I find the last one interesting, "believe you can get smarter" and it becomes possible. ;-)</p>              <p class="diigo-tags">          <span>tags:</span>                      <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a>            <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a>            <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/brain">brain</a></p>                                <ul class="diigo-comments">                  </ul>                      </li>      <li>      <p class="diigo-link">                <a href="http://edudemic.com/2012/10/50-search-engines/">50 Search Engines You Probably Don't Use Yet</a>      </p>      <p class="diigo-description">I always find searching interesting. This Edudemic post includes 50 different search engines. Some of these are being used, at least by my students, but every media specialist should peruse this list.</p>              <p class="diigo-tags">          <span>tags:</span>                      <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a>            <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a>            <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/media">media</a>            <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/librarian">librarian</a></p>                                        </li>      <li>      <p class="diigo-link">                <a href="http://www.bcomber.org/editorials/2012/10/01/merit-pay-will-not-improve-student-learning/">The Beachcomber : Merit Pay Would Not Improve Student Learning</a>      </p>      <p class="diigo-description">A Daniel Pink TED video about merit pay demonstrated to me that this wouldn't work. This is also a good article about the topic with some sound reasoning.</p>              <p class="diigo-tags">          <span>tags:</span>                      <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a>            <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/edreform">edreform</a>            <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a></p>                                        </li>      <li>      <p class="diigo-link">                <a href="http://edudemic.com/2012/10/google-world-teachers-day/">Google Announces 100 Live Hangouts For Teachers Around The World</a>      </p>      <p class="diigo-description">This is a big deal. Daily hangouts aimed at teachers have been launched by Google. I'm not sure who they have recruited to run these sessions, but if they tap into the right networks, these could be a big deal. Check out this article from edudemic to find out dates and times. </p>              <p class="diigo-tags">          <span>tags:</span>                      <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a>            <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a>            <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/teaching">teaching</a>            <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/tumblr">tumblr</a></p>                                        </li>      <li>      <p class="diigo-link">                <a href="http://walnutcreek.patch.com/announcements/california-launches-suicide-prevention-website">California Launches Suicide Prevention Website - Walnut Creek, CA Patch</a>      </p>      <p class="diigo-description">A new website with resources for counselors. Such sites are great, of course, because the Internet is international, sites like this can be far reaching.  "As part of its comprehensive Suicide Prevention Initiative, the California Mental Health Services Authority (CalMHSA) announces the official launch of the Know the Signs campaign website www.suicideispreventable.org"</p>              <p class="diigo-tags">          <span>tags:</span>                      <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a>            <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a></p>                                        </li>  </ul><p class="diigo-ps">Posted from <a href='http://www.diigo.com'>Diigo</a>. The rest of my favorite links are <a href='http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher'>here</a>.</p>

Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 10/07/2012

Nine Stubborn Brain Myths That Just Won't Die, Debunked by Science This is a good summary of man...

Babe of the Week: Stacy Keibler and George Clooney? WTF?

9:00 PM Tukiyooo 0

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"></div>Now dig it...It's not that George Clooney doesn't already have everything in the world available to him...Now rumor has it that Stacy Keibler is moving in with him...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy8yPHqYJSwfPuuPEuzdkHC-hF8AWhbfnFFDOYf-7m-nA3Bw0TcdfBc8PXyVqLhFd2ogE0K6puHm9nlOPFqRKxBuxFtu3CK4PzSeDMGX4KI4qkD_xAgVBmZRko0BrEZMHi3Jki7KKv5Os/s1600/Stacy_Keibler+WWE+Sexy+Naked.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy8yPHqYJSwfPuuPEuzdkHC-hF8AWhbfnFFDOYf-7m-nA3Bw0TcdfBc8PXyVqLhFd2ogE0K6puHm9nlOPFqRKxBuxFtu3CK4PzSeDMGX4KI4qkD_xAgVBmZRko0BrEZMHi3Jki7KKv5Os/s400/Stacy_Keibler+WWE+Sexy+Naked.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />I mean c'mon...Stacy Keibler?  She's nasty looking...<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR1HAnV8rSxldRaW5LvWdvjCk9SHRjFPWIwTKkBSzvWQRviSnHq5HVNgOYBDlxFy8g2TmQsAFnOrkJtuEqPZJS7-of6IWNeK-dYjKVxmkijocAvLh-l7yqtRBri9ZDl4NTDHo2PQOeHPU/s1600/stacy+keibler+how+sexy+nude.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR1HAnV8rSxldRaW5LvWdvjCk9SHRjFPWIwTKkBSzvWQRviSnHq5HVNgOYBDlxFy8g2TmQsAFnOrkJtuEqPZJS7-of6IWNeK-dYjKVxmkijocAvLh-l7yqtRBri9ZDl4NTDHo2PQOeHPU/s400/stacy+keibler+how+sexy+nude.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />For heaven's sakes...Why would George Clooney want a chick like Stacy Keibler?<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQALWX5KFirma4W5-dus01zifDC8WUgZX96-JoqtoVDEBGyh2KJwDqt-gHs3-vZaoPf2eVtXQHU8dHZN012YmBM0hOLTQqwqhHsBpvDqqEW908Jz_1f7gSu_tFnU9IypJjAY9F8-0yKLQ/s1600/stacy-keibler+nude+hot+sexy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQALWX5KFirma4W5-dus01zifDC8WUgZX96-JoqtoVDEBGyh2KJwDqt-gHs3-vZaoPf2eVtXQHU8dHZN012YmBM0hOLTQqwqhHsBpvDqqEW908Jz_1f7gSu_tFnU9IypJjAY9F8-0yKLQ/s400/stacy-keibler+nude+hot+sexy.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br />It's not like this WWE chick is anything special...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh78jGmWiy4BK2xoe2o5PNq_NWJsspVwoiczZBVap9HAw1wYC3c-Bb3eRv-7xnIsf1rp0id-PHBUd88KsRNvySPSQcuAJLUvrb1HnEkIj7HArrVYmAjAnfPBRz0D1DCERbwzTlP1HhipTo/s1600/stacy-keibler-ass.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh78jGmWiy4BK2xoe2o5PNq_NWJsspVwoiczZBVap9HAw1wYC3c-Bb3eRv-7xnIsf1rp0id-PHBUd88KsRNvySPSQcuAJLUvrb1HnEkIj7HArrVYmAjAnfPBRz0D1DCERbwzTlP1HhipTo/s400/stacy-keibler-ass.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Pffffft....I don't understand the attraction, but what I do understand is that Jay and I will be interviewing this hot babe today <a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/im-with-stupid/2012/10/07/one-hot-miss"><i><span style="color: blue;">LIVE at Noon ET</span></i></a> on Blog Talk Radio....<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ8FM4tjV0THsYvX0cgYY4iTdn-60ljjWMmHwSwNk2V22x3MXC3gpXmGNySptr0EKWdM-Rg5B-yg_eqvGFgn1lNAKdWOBZTVDMNRXuleOaGLklGP1gHAzZlH-CBTh47myainfS_LHPq8k/s1600/Missy+Cali+Love.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ8FM4tjV0THsYvX0cgYY4iTdn-60ljjWMmHwSwNk2V22x3MXC3gpXmGNySptr0EKWdM-Rg5B-yg_eqvGFgn1lNAKdWOBZTVDMNRXuleOaGLklGP1gHAzZlH-CBTh47myainfS_LHPq8k/s400/Missy+Cali+Love.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Damn right...IWS is proud to welcome the uber-lovely Missalicious to the studios to chat it up on your Sunday afternoon.<br /><br />For those of you out there, who say, <i>"This could only happen to me?"</i>  You listen to Miss today, and you are going to go..<i>."Holy Cow, that could only happen to her!!"</i><br /><br />She's hot, funny, and has a lot a stories to tell, so join us LIVE Today at Noon Et on Blog Talk Radio as IWS Radio presents.....<a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/im-with-stupid/2012/10/07/one-hot-miss"><i><span style="color: blue;">One HOT MISS.</span></i></a></div><br /><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.adobe.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,0,0" height="270" id="143577" name="143577" width="210"><param name="movie" value="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/btrplayer.swf?file=http://www.blogtalkradio.com%2Fim-with-stupid%2Fplay_list.xml%3Fitemcount%3D5&autostart=true&bufferlength=5&volume=80&corner=rounded&callback=http://www.blogtalkradio.com/flashplayercallback.aspx" /><param name="quality" value="high" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /><param name="menu" value="false" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><embed src="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/btrplayer.swf" flashvars="file=http://www.blogtalkradio.com%2fim-with-stupid%2fplay_list.xml%3Fitemcount%3D5&autostart=true&shuffle=false&callback=http://www.blogtalkradio.com/FlashPlayerCallback.aspx&width=210&height=270&volume=80&corner=rounded" width="210" height="270" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" quality="high" wmode="transparent" menu="false" name="143577" id="143577" allowScriptAccess="always"></embed></object><div style="font-size: 10px;text-align: center; width:220px;">Listen to <a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com">internet radio</a> with <a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/im-with-stupid">Im With Stupid</a> on Blog Talk Radio</div></div>

Babe of the Week: Stacy Keibler and George Clooney? WTF?

Now dig it...It's not that George Clooney doesn't already have everything in the world available to him...Now rumor has it that Stac...

MLB Postseason...A Whole Other Animal

8:26 PM Tukiyooo 0

You always hear that the postseason of any sport is the "second season." All the work over the long regular season has subsided, and a new method of playing the game has to be implemented.<br /><br />But let's face it: baseball is waaaay different from any other sport.<br /><br />When the NBA or NHL seasons begin, it's hard to tell that the regular season has ended until a few weeks into the playoffs. The NFL has a one-and-done playoff method that keeps the desperation of the end of the regular season at full tilt even as the playoffs begin.<br /><br />But when it comes to baseball, the regular season and the playoffs are so different that you can't help but notice the contrast. The game is the same between the foul lines, but the energy can't be more diverse.<br /><br />Take the crowd. For a normal Major League Baseball game in the middle of June, you'd normally find several groups of people present: regular season ticket holders who follow their team all year, groups who have purchased tickets with an interest in the team, groups who are celebrating something, families taking their children, and twenty-somethings who like to hang out and drink.<br /><br />However, the crowd at a playoff game in October is hugely different. Most of the crowd understands the importance of the game. Very few small children are present because dads and moms are only buying a couple of tickets. There are probably more fans from the opposing team who want to see their team in the playoffs. The crowd tends to follow the game a lot more closely than a game in July. Home runs are cheered louder. Mistakes are jeered with bloodthirsty intensity.<br /><br />Another big difference is the dress code. When I attended a Tigers game in June, the weather was 95 degrees - everyone was in shorts and short-sleeved shirts or tank tops. Tonight's game 1 against Oakland probably started in the 40s, and coats and hoodies were the primary clothing choice. Hats and gloves were also required.<br /><br />A game that starts at 7:05pm in June won't be under the lights until 9 - or maybe even 10, depending on where you are in the time zone. But a game in October will already be under the lights at 7:05! The sun, when an afternoon game is held, hits the field differently than the summer afternoon games. Ice cream bars and frozen lemonade are replaced with honey roasted peanuts and hot chocolate.<br /><br />All of these differences help to make the atmosphere of an MLB playoff game so unique - unique from the MLB regular season <i>and</i> unique from other playoff seasons -  and so much fun to watch. Whether you are present at the game (I highly recommend it if the opportunity arises) or watching on TV, the excitement is absorbed by everyone. You really feel like the whole world is watching, and that your day is glorious or excruciating depending on how your team did the night before.<br /><br />I hope that you take the time to enjoy the MLB playoffs this season, no matter if your team is in it or not. I'm sure you'll be able to absorb the intensity and excitement of a baseball postseason battle.

MLB Postseason...A Whole Other Animal

You always hear that the postseason of any sport is the "second season." All the work over the long regular season has subsided, a...

Taste explosion!

3:18 PM Tukiyooo 0

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">My twins sister makes the most beautiful canapes - I call them "Taste Explosions"!!! Here's step by step instructions with pictures of how to make them.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">1. Spread a generous smear of cream cheese on bite size </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">blinis (mini pancakes)</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnQDdDiv3pZpkc0QcYA9w3OV1yP_had2SOQpQwrPUwlYqcCYNqsj1PQkmvw-0mbyyO75iTBRbEsWrLoU38z-vNeAaXa3QiVG66WKQnYVHf2Eb-iuhCrIqABG32nbhL3qg2XbB7cIIu0QgG/s1600/IMG_2122%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnQDdDiv3pZpkc0QcYA9w3OV1yP_had2SOQpQwrPUwlYqcCYNqsj1PQkmvw-0mbyyO75iTBRbEsWrLoU38z-vNeAaXa3QiVG66WKQnYVHf2Eb-iuhCrIqABG32nbhL3qg2XbB7cIIu0QgG/s320/IMG_2122%5B1%5D.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: large;">2. Pour a few drops of sweet chilli sauce on the cream cheese</span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiULqMCedKnMq6S_5e1o8Zu9mksVN_xCN-oydP2q62lmCe4B6rEJeCJarur8KZJuaIlur_pV5mxDHkGskC-IxYOyj4RTO57i51igJ-lnA09-uhMGE_izySz9sKVo-L4VuaT_-jbo78trwfn/s1600/IMG_2123%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiULqMCedKnMq6S_5e1o8Zu9mksVN_xCN-oydP2q62lmCe4B6rEJeCJarur8KZJuaIlur_pV5mxDHkGskC-IxYOyj4RTO57i51igJ-lnA09-uhMGE_izySz9sKVo-L4VuaT_-jbo78trwfn/s320/IMG_2123%5B1%5D.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: large;">3. Top with smoked salmon </span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvugdt-unttWLG-sdyElDXlLNeGtBfDNf0l95zi54tPJ6NayWBQ9LxStPt9z-C61tvTeoQhPAICKdGx_AlPyu2syXY8h0uu-wnaUXej5lv-BahMkLClpcNWHgbG7hldZpS2RDLMBJUFfCq/s1600/IMG_2124%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvugdt-unttWLG-sdyElDXlLNeGtBfDNf0l95zi54tPJ6NayWBQ9LxStPt9z-C61tvTeoQhPAICKdGx_AlPyu2syXY8h0uu-wnaUXej5lv-BahMkLClpcNWHgbG7hldZpS2RDLMBJUFfCq/s320/IMG_2124%5B1%5D.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: large;">4. Season with black pepper</span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr5XOQFUTGe8bKYtWyz63NIBsYseCLe39cRXVASNJiapL1zLqPRctwKct69pU5RttJPXSHHPAjUSdOV3-PQXEXFnQuffbpfXXmkC4AdLClcPJJYvplEgRBvhOOJjgVZrS0Kavuu3W8MhA2/s1600/IMG_2125%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr5XOQFUTGe8bKYtWyz63NIBsYseCLe39cRXVASNJiapL1zLqPRctwKct69pU5RttJPXSHHPAjUSdOV3-PQXEXFnQuffbpfXXmkC4AdLClcPJJYvplEgRBvhOOJjgVZrS0Kavuu3W8MhA2/s320/IMG_2125%5B1%5D.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: large;">These canapes are totally delicious - I recommend eating them in a single bite!!</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Here are a few more canapes and nibblies that we made:</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Smoked Salmon on Brown Bread with lemon garnish</span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidU_u8Vf5l70SbrL4x8CVyIvF6Wc6Y8Opyh9zD7ukPv-aGx9bnjwOTZtDByuOu609L644XvCCMauHf6Qi6ZerpXNa3CUcGA6O_2lambwkXNewTOHSZHWiz9ZNdv8eoTm5gMzIROzbUR-W0/s1600/IMG_2126%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidU_u8Vf5l70SbrL4x8CVyIvF6Wc6Y8Opyh9zD7ukPv-aGx9bnjwOTZtDByuOu609L644XvCCMauHf6Qi6ZerpXNa3CUcGA6O_2lambwkXNewTOHSZHWiz9ZNdv8eoTm5gMzIROzbUR-W0/s320/IMG_2126%5B1%5D.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Black Olives, Charcuterie of Italian Prosciutto & Spanish Ham, Cheese selection, Crackers and Red Pepper Hummus.</span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjldBnM4nh1W7jAjjaS5UZ5UkL8aqAtnVNc5sJxIrajLTk0TcnCPl8OalaPPlmlxT8U3R_asVlTYEogD5K6okvSmtzrOUSgYwV81L49bLPWw-YPbz4c8dRkBk_VerxhUXLirvVzLe27x-n0/s1600/IMG_2127%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjldBnM4nh1W7jAjjaS5UZ5UkL8aqAtnVNc5sJxIrajLTk0TcnCPl8OalaPPlmlxT8U3R_asVlTYEogD5K6okvSmtzrOUSgYwV81L49bLPWw-YPbz4c8dRkBk_VerxhUXLirvVzLe27x-n0/s320/IMG_2127%5B1%5D.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8Uz4i5SmQHihnoVTbrLmePaxBGdYlUqha-2I1abvC3v9s9m3hFQvvdZHq7Xrj2O7KysX2lg00XBwnTJfcYZq0NqwF4DNL9A8QVfwCpm2PQNYhrutaViPvG-kyDuRGMc8ob-GKUeYVonBZ/s1600/IMG_2128%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8Uz4i5SmQHihnoVTbrLmePaxBGdYlUqha-2I1abvC3v9s9m3hFQvvdZHq7Xrj2O7KysX2lg00XBwnTJfcYZq0NqwF4DNL9A8QVfwCpm2PQNYhrutaViPvG-kyDuRGMc8ob-GKUeYVonBZ/s320/IMG_2128%5B1%5D.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: large;">And here we are along with friends enjoying wine and nibblies!</span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDGekk-scDCLyGWTW2FfY6M5q-m7nIdi4AdiPqjNUQxVqnSqwHqz5V-dWvKAt-B-SbSRzIAc5PSeLMpaX4tL-C8UzwCjLPQLJK34X9l9aH6gDVvyVgb1mSjcWTzkORGC8ujqWAUD1hqy-4/s1600/IMG_2129%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDGekk-scDCLyGWTW2FfY6M5q-m7nIdi4AdiPqjNUQxVqnSqwHqz5V-dWvKAt-B-SbSRzIAc5PSeLMpaX4tL-C8UzwCjLPQLJK34X9l9aH6gDVvyVgb1mSjcWTzkORGC8ujqWAUD1hqy-4/s320/IMG_2129%5B1%5D.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0dZAg8Ya_QA8y_eFmIgqcePc4eJ4Z8MaQycYJjY6IsHINSswpYXZTZvL5MeS_iVRSggXRf9gFSDv67uIZF2hZfLbvCVVQTrxBJASmbyWW3Ut_ByaMDMq8aWjDXMN_b3duHn3fxKNMP8g_/s1600/IMG_2133%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0dZAg8Ya_QA8y_eFmIgqcePc4eJ4Z8MaQycYJjY6IsHINSswpYXZTZvL5MeS_iVRSggXRf9gFSDv67uIZF2hZfLbvCVVQTrxBJASmbyWW3Ut_ByaMDMq8aWjDXMN_b3duHn3fxKNMP8g_/s320/IMG_2133%5B1%5D.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div>

Taste explosion!

My twins sister makes the most beautiful canapes - I call them "Taste Explosions"!!! Here's step by step instructions with pic...