Private prisons’ profit scheme: lockup quotas and “low-crime taxes”

<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKngdUrVaaMFr5ZUn4zq8ZtmjIPorCH020-CUUhp39DMnAfdtQjoQhxuBvvU7R3eDcJmW_RVL-6_i3lkCJ4QXGPsIqsSsJtcwGwOxWJS79JlAm2rEvIq2fvbBzN4OSuvEWdBkDYAJQt7bv/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-02-04+at+11.43.09+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKngdUrVaaMFr5ZUn4zq8ZtmjIPorCH020-CUUhp39DMnAfdtQjoQhxuBvvU7R3eDcJmW_RVL-6_i3lkCJ4QXGPsIqsSsJtcwGwOxWJS79JlAm2rEvIq2fvbBzN4OSuvEWdBkDYAJQt7bv/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-02-04+at+11.43.09+AM.png" /></a></div>It would be a good thing if crime levels dropped to historic lows, right? Well, not if your business model relies on high incarceration rates. A <a href="http://www.inthepublicinterest.org/article/criminal-how-lockup-quotas-and-low-crime-taxes-guarantee-profits-private-prison-corporations" rel="nofollow">new report</a> from <a href="http://www.inthepublicinterest.org/" rel="nofollow">In The Public Interest</a> (ITPI) explains how prison industry giants like <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Corrections_Corporation_of_America" rel="nofollow">Corrections Corporation of America</a> are making big profits by locking states into contractual occupancy quotas and “low-crime taxes”:</div><blockquote class="tr_bq">65 percent of the private prison contracts ITPI received and analyzed included occupancy guarantees in the form of quotas or required payments for empty prison cells (a “low-crime tax”). These quotas and low-crime taxes put taxpayers on the hook for guaranteeing profits for private prison corporations.</blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">Arizona, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Virginia are locked in contracts with the highest occupancy guarantee requirements, with all quotas requiring between 95% and 100% occupancy. Though crime has dropped by a third in the past decade, an occupancy requirement covering three for-profit prisons has forced taxpayers in Colorado to pay an additional $2 million.</blockquote><div>When the big house is big business, low crime hurts the bottom line, so private prison corporations have cooked up all kinds of schemes to keep their jails full. The ITPI report, titled “Criminal: How Lockup Quotas and 'Low-Crime Taxes' Guarantee Profits for Private Prison Corporations,” says three private prisons in Arizona are administered by contracts that require 100 percent capacity. That's right – the state is obligated by the corporation to keep these prisons full or pay a fee for unused beds. <br /><br /></div><div>Hmm, do you think this kind of system would encourage or discourage criminalization? Well, it doesn’t matter – as long as corporate profits are high.</div><div><br />That’s why CCA pitched the idea to dozens of states last year:</div><blockquote class="tr_bq">In 2012, Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), the largest for-profit private prison company in the country, sent a letter to 48 state governors offering to buy their public prisons. CCA offered to buy and operate a state’s prison in exchange for a 20-year contract, which would include a 90 percent occupancy rate guarantee for the entire term. Essentially, the state would have to guarantee that its prison would be 90 percent filled for the next 20 years (a quota), or pay the company for unused prison beds if the number of inmates dipped below 90 percent capacity at any point during the contract term (a “low-crime tax” that essentially penalizes taxpayers when prison incarceration rates fall). </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">When policymakers received the 2012 CCA letter, some worried the terms of CCA’s offer would encourage criminal justice officials to seek harsher sentences to maintain the occupancy rates required by a contract inserting occupancy guarantee provisions into prison privatization contracts.</blockquote>Ya think! And even as they work to force states to keep their prisons full, private prison companies push for more draconian sentencing laws. <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/09/private-prisons-occupancy-quota-cca-crime" rel="nofollow">Andy Kroll writes</a> in <em>Mother Jones</em>:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">Private prison companies <a href="http://www.justicepolicy.org/uploads/justicepolicy/documents/gaming_the_system.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">have supported and helped write</a> "three-strike" and "truth-in-sentencing" laws that drive up prison populations. Their livelihoods depend on towns, cities, and states sending more people to prison and keeping them there.</blockquote>Occupancy quotas protect the private companies from changes in the prison population and fluctuations in the crime rate. Meanwhile, they put taxpayers on the hook for reduced incarceration rates – all in the name of sustaining an industry that thrives on throwing people behind bars.<br /><br /><div>Michele Deitch, a criminal justice expert at the University of Texas, told <em><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/19/private-prison-quotas_n_3953483.html" rel="nofollow">Huffington Post</a></em>:</div><blockquote class="tr_bq">It's really shortsighted public policy to do anything that ties the hands of the state. If there are these incentives to keep the private prisons full, then it is reducing the likelihood that states will adopt strategies to reduce prison costs by keeping more people out. When the beds are there, you don't want to leave them empty.</blockquote><div>We’ve reported a lot on the <a href="http://teamsternation.blogspot.com/2012/01/security-worse-at-private-prisons.html">horrible safety record</a> and criminal mismanagement of privately-run prisons. These contracts show once again why privatized prisons are such a bad idea.</div><div></div><div>Unlike state-run prisons, which are actually accountable to taxpayers and not driven by profit, private prison companies are the worst offenders when it comes to poor safety standards, including low staffing and other violations. They’re not in the business of keeping communities safe. They’re in the business of big business – by locking up more and more people and doing it on the cheap.<br /><br />And that’s why private prison corporations like to claim that privatization saves money. But occupancy guarantees prove they do just the opposite. When the prison companies cut corners, the savings go to private profits, not taxpayers who pay more for prisons that are less safe.</div>

CCA corporate greed prison privatization private prisons Private prisons’ profit scheme: lockup quotas and “low-crime taxes”

It would be a good thing if crime levels dropped to historic lows, right? Well, not if your business model relies on high incarceration rate...

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Ideas For Improving Your Face Including Lip Injections Utah Spas Offer

<div style='font-style:italic;' class='uawbyline'>By Roxy Albright</div><br /><br /> <div class='uawarticle'>Beauty tends to begin at our faces, and we will discuss ideas for improving it including the lip injections Utah medical estheticians may offer. There are many products and services out there for improving our facial features and characteristics. Some things we may try are not always the best ideas though. We will discuss the pros and cons of various ideas like using weight loss programs like Vive weight loss or getting the lip injections Utah spas offer. This short article will cover three different ideas for improving facial appearance, and whether they're good ideas.<br /> <br /> First, we will talk about how permanent cosmetics can be something that many women look to for improving their looks. Second, we will discuss getting wrinkle fillers or lip injections Utah cosmetic professionals can provide. Third, we will discuss how weight loss can actually be a method for improving the appearance of our faces.<br /> <br /> Permanent cosmetics solutions might be among the things people may desire to improve their looks. Many people can benefit greatly from these treatments, which utilize tattoos that look like makeup. As an example, individuals who have burned off their eyebrow hairs may want permanent eyebrow fills. Others might find this type of permanent makeup helpful as it could reduce the amount of time they spend applying makeup. Nonetheless, just like other cosmetic treatments such as the lip injections Utah citizens may want, this could cost a decent amount. It might also lessen the variety of looks a face may have through cosmetics.<br /> <br /> Getting the wrinkle reduction treatments or lip injections Utah medical estheticians can offer may be another strategy for improving facial appearance. Many lip injection or wrinkle filler procedures are fairly low impact. They can improve facial appearance by reducing wrinkles and making lips appear fuller and smoother. However, these operations can be somewhat costly. They may also lead to uncomfortable swelling or bruising. It's also important to make sure you use a qualified professional as proper application and products are important for safety.<br /> <br /> Losing weight may not be the very first thing we think about when we wish to improve our faces. Nevertheless, for many who have some excess weight, shedding some pounds could give them a more slender face that shows off more facial structure. It may help to use programs like Vive weight loss, but this may be somewhat expensive. The most useful idea for losing weight would probably be to talk it over with a physician and to work hard.<br /> <br /> Employing various treatments and resources like Vive weight loss or the lip injections Utah spa services provide could be able to help, but getting your most beautiful face must be done carefully and without rushed decisions.<br /> <br /> </div><br /> <div class='uawresource'><br /> <div style='font-style:italic;' class='uawabout'><br /> About the Author:<br /> </div><br /> <div class='uawlinks'>Want to find out more about <a href='http://www.elase.com/utah/vive-weight-loss'>vive weight loss</a>, then visit Esme Spence's site on how to choose this or other services like <a href='http://www.elase.com/utah/lip-augmentation'>lip injections Utah</a> for your needs.</div><br /> </div><br />

Ideas For Improving Your Face Including Lip Injections Utah Spas Offer

By Roxy Albright Beauty tends to begin at our faces, and we will discuss ideas for improving it including the lip injections Utah medica...

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James River High School Rapids ... Ladies Varsity Field Hockey

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZoaUgKJab9G-ufN6b3pLLJ5p1hZbHiYHjJDMu6OLS8isIPeAaMVtWGhoYjFo2t2DhUIRNbgjaE3cEMgeSnyElA_XImdKt7zLKJQkb_L5DPbid7vuqOr8LnhkNqv0_5QFXBqnMtGqgkvxn/s1600/4.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZoaUgKJab9G-ufN6b3pLLJ5p1hZbHiYHjJDMu6OLS8isIPeAaMVtWGhoYjFo2t2DhUIRNbgjaE3cEMgeSnyElA_XImdKt7zLKJQkb_L5DPbid7vuqOr8LnhkNqv0_5QFXBqnMtGqgkvxn/s320/4.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">James River High Schools "Swamp" ... the football/field hockey field along the mighty James River in Chesterfield County, Virginia.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmd1zRU2rpCK5Xk_5xeIMnscit51dr8I7DDkGa9LJj0ep1Mm93_zMX9NZDO7TI_ThLZFQVtJnKMXEXnio82QR4mAqXjoo9fEXKw5DcvUbDBq9Xxn9BlOLtV-G42ExPAyp8aJtp9KnMMUHf/s1600/6.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmd1zRU2rpCK5Xk_5xeIMnscit51dr8I7DDkGa9LJj0ep1Mm93_zMX9NZDO7TI_ThLZFQVtJnKMXEXnio82QR4mAqXjoo9fEXKw5DcvUbDBq9Xxn9BlOLtV-G42ExPAyp8aJtp9KnMMUHf/s320/6.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">I had to get a picture of brother-in-law Jon's shirt. The Rapids' colors are purple so we were all wearing purple for SWAC Niece. Go, Rapids!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDafK3j18zVcZNINMfTDeq9Jx6ExcyUbWcSACzrKbLBP_sUem9-QrcY7j3AwJyXYx4H1YcbcD2m-lJxXm_4LclmziNyKESPOxcUVd87gmdZPVHn6YTfw-YSH45OLnvJVN09GVzr7cktRhW/s1600/5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDafK3j18zVcZNINMfTDeq9Jx6ExcyUbWcSACzrKbLBP_sUem9-QrcY7j3AwJyXYx4H1YcbcD2m-lJxXm_4LclmziNyKESPOxcUVd87gmdZPVHn6YTfw-YSH45OLnvJVN09GVzr7cktRhW/s400/5.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The starting lineup against Matoaca included SWAC Niece.</div><br />Photos by Lynn R. Mitchell

high school sports James River High School Ladies Varsity Field Hockey Rapids James River High School Rapids ... Ladies Varsity Field Hockey

James River High Schools "Swamp" ... the football/field hockey field along the mighty James River in Chesterfield County, Virginia...

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Social support key to cancer survival | Health Newsline

<base href="data:"><div style="color: black; text-align: left; "><p style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; 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); "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Helvetica Neue'">While early diagnoses and proper and effective treatment are known to boost cancer survival rates, researchers have found another factor crucial for the extended lifespan post cancer diagnosis – marriage!</font></p><p style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; 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); "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Helvetica Neue'">According to the findings of a new study, cancer afflicts who are married are 20 percent less likely to succumb to their disease over a three-year period as compared to people who are divorced, widowed or unmarried.</font></p><p style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; 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); "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Helvetica Neue'">Also, married people with cancer are 17 percent less likely to have metastatic cancer, tumors that spread beyond the original site.</font></p><p style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; 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); "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Helvetica Neue'">The study, conducted by the researchers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, found that married cancer patients fared better than singles in any type of cancer.</font></p><p style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; 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); "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Helvetica Neue'">Surprisingly, in tumors of the prostate, breast, colorectal, esophageal and head/neck, the survival benefits bestowed by marriage were much larger than those from chemotherapy.</font></p><p style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; 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); "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Helvetica Neue'">"Improving social support for our patients may be equally important as providing effective therapy, and it is less costly to develop and implement," study's senior author, Paul Nguyen, a radiation oncologist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, said.</font></p><p style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; 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); "><strong style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Helvetica Neue'">The study</font></strong></p><p style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; 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); "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Helvetica Neue'">For the purpose of the study, researchers looked at outcomes of over 700,000 Americans diagnosed with cancer between 2004 and 2008.  The participants had one of 10 cancers: lung, colorectal, breast, pancreatic, prostate, liver/bile duct, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, head and neck, ovarian and <a href="http://www.livescience.com/35748-does-your-diet-put-you-at-risk-for-esophageal-cancer.html" style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 136, 0); text-decoration: none; ">esophageal cancer</a>.</font></p><p style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; 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); "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Helvetica Neue'">After taking into account factors that could have a direct bearing on health, the researchers found that married people were 20 percent less likely to die over a three-year period vis-à-vis cancer afflicts who were divorced, widowed or never married.</font></p><p style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; 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); "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Helvetica Neue'">On the contrary, unmarried, widowed or divorced patients were 17 percent more likely to have metastatic tumors and 53 percent less likely to get appropriate cancer care as compared to married counterparts.</font></p><p style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; 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); "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Helvetica Neue'">Interestingly, the benefits of marriage on cancer survival outcomes were greater in men than women.</font></p><p style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; 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); "><strong style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Helvetica Neue'"> "Social support," rather than a wedding ring</font></strong></p><p style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; 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); "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Helvetica Neue'">The real secret to improved and enhanced cancer survival is 'social support', rather than the marriage per se, study's first author Ayal Aizer, chief resident of the Harvard Radiation Oncology Program in Boston, marked.</font></p><p style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; 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); "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Helvetica Neue'">Spouses provide affection and moral support, which is critical for cancer survival, Aizer said.</font></p><p style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; 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); "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Helvetica Neue'">"Spouses provide many practical services, nursing their partners through therapy, driving them to the hospital, helping with medications and making sure that patients eat well. This kind of help can allow patients to complete recommended therapy, rather than skip treatments or drop out early," Aizer said.</font></p><p style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; 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); "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Helvetica Neue'">"We don't just see this as an affirmation of marriage," Nguyen said. "Rather, it should send a message to anyone who has a friend or loved one with cancer. By being there for that person and helping them navigate their appointments and make it through all their treatments, you can make a real difference to that person's outcome."</font></p><p style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; 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); "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Helvetica Neue'">The findings of the study are published in the Sept. 23 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.</font></p><div><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Helvetica Neue'"><br></font></div></div><a href="http://www.healthnewsline.net/social-support-key-to-cancer-survival/253378/"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Helvetica Neue'">http://www.healthnewsline.net/social-support-key-to-cancer-survival/253378/</font></a><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; color: black; text-align: left; "><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div>

Social support key to cancer survival | Health Newsline

While early diagnoses and proper and effective treatment are known to boost cancer survival rates, researchers have found another factor cru...

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The Sound of Silence: How you can pursue greatness in the still morning

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoBcMsIsJPkv98niAu5xWyyhygczEp8O1xxfhyphenhyphenq6AGZ-DhBsrTpmmQ5Ob-0R2Wnjluy70y0nLcWBm5t6bC1HlkWsdrPrZHp1buFFhTuX4OYf99pfOBTxsXM_S2HMUlB05hxD9hTcA8iKOk/s960/Photo%252520Sep%25252024%25252C%2525202013%25252C%2525206%25253A06%252520AM.jpg" target="_blank" style=" "><img alt="" class="aligncenter" height="375" id="blogsy-1380019852693.1956" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoBcMsIsJPkv98niAu5xWyyhygczEp8O1xxfhyphenhyphenq6AGZ-DhBsrTpmmQ5Ob-0R2Wnjluy70y0nLcWBm5t6bC1HlkWsdrPrZHp1buFFhTuX4OYf99pfOBTxsXM_S2HMUlB05hxD9hTcA8iKOk/s500/Photo%252520Sep%25252024%25252C%2525202013%25252C%2525206%25253A06%252520AM.jpg" width="500"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The view from my favorite chair in the den this morning as I listen for purpose in the silence.</td></tr></tbody></table> <p> Great strength can be found in the quiet moments before the day starts. The time where no cat mews and the night's dew rests quietly upon the ground. Before the tyranny of the noise and the barrage of notifications and matters of nonimportance glare at you with self important demands.</p> <h3>Hearing your purpose in the silence...</h3> <p>Yet, through the quiet, I can hear the whisper of the true priorities of this day speak to my heart and mind and settle my spirit. To demand that those among us who don't get the mornings and don't like them become morning people is silly. But I would be remiss if I didn't at least point out that much time and peace awaits you if you'll set that alarm earlier and get up before anyone else stirs. The younger your children are, the more you need this time alone. The more you work with kids, <strong>the more you need this time alone.</strong></p> <p>For, to me, truly, this time isn't time spent alone. It is time spent with my Maker and myself - two essential people with which I must get along for this life to amount to much besides the reorganization of dust.</p> <p><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-jTHJGcM9-Yk/Uj4U61Y_yfI/AAAAAAAENKo/c3MTIqpRC4U/s505/forest-nature-wallpaper.jpg" target="_blank" style="text-align: center; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" class="aligncenter" height="356" id="blogsy-1380019852698.693" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-jTHJGcM9-Yk/Uj4U61Y_yfI/AAAAAAAENKo/c3MTIqpRC4U/s500/forest-nature-wallpaper.jpg" width="500"></a></p> <p><strong>Light your fire before the darkness comes...</strong></p> <p>I cannot depend upon the completion of an ever <strong>growing task list </strong>to determine if I'm a woman of worth. The <strong>compliments</strong> of fellow human beings are not enough kindling to start and keep the fire in my heart going.</p> <p>No, my fire must be <strong>lit with a purpose </strong>that is struck deep within my soul as my calling combusts with the oxygen of a heart still enough to hold onto a vision that transcends the menial scratchings upon my planner pages. </p> <p>That is a fancy way to say that we can lose our vision of the forest as we wander among the trees and yet, for a teacher and a Mom - the dark forest is indeed very dark and very engulfing.</p> <a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-4eYP-CtTqJE/UgQFftukL2I/AAAAAAAAIXU/SdTeCrps1Fg/s2048/Hot%252520Air%252520Baloon%252520-02.jpg" target="_blank" style="text-align: center; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" class="aligncenter" height="357" id="blogsy-1380019852705.9353" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-4eYP-CtTqJE/UgQFftukL2I/AAAAAAAAIXU/SdTeCrps1Fg/s500/Hot%252520Air%252520Baloon%252520-02.jpg" width="500"></a><h3>Seeing the view high above the trees...</h3> <p>The bigger trail can only be seen as I jump in the balloon of perspective in the early morning and look down upon the meanderings of life from far above. There, I'm able to refocus and see the bigger purpose in the trek I must walk that day. </p> <p>I'm able to have quiet conversations with Upper Management about the bats that flit around my mind to frighten me into a retreat from tasks worth doing. </p> <p>I'm able to see that I am a person of worth with a purpose despite the fact that the world and the burdens I carry often make me feel like the unappreciated pack mule at the rear who keeps being tossed yet another trinket to carry on the journey as proud horses toss their manes at the front of the entourage and eat from feedbags full of golden grain and honey.</p> <p><strong>The questions common to all humankind are often best asked in the quiet...</strong></p> <p>You don't have to be a teacher or parent to identify with the <strong>ponderings of purpose</strong>. These are things common to the human race. Questions of self worth and the ability to bear up under the load are questions common to us all. Yet, many of us bear burdens we were not meant to carry and look for meaning to be reflected in broken mirrors. </p> <p><strong>When is the last time you've listened to silence? </strong><span style="line-height: 1.3em;">The still ringing of hearing nothing but the turn of the page, the click of the keyboard, or the quiet muffled sound of a car driving past your house? </span></p> <p>Silence and the pursuit of quiet time alone has been one of the most defining practices of my life and this morning as I listened to the silence, I heard, in the quiet, the thought that perhaps there are others of you wishing to serve who are pouring from pitchers of water about to run dry lest you take a minute to dip more water from the well.</p> <p>This time is something you must create for yourself but my own time spent praying, reading, and journaling is the most important time of my own day. When I started doing this around age 27, it made a profound difference in my life and still does. </p> <p>Quiet time each morning <em>doesn't make me perfect,</em> it makes me <strong>purposeful</strong> and intentional about living a life that is too short to do everything. It helps me choose.</p> <h3><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-oKij9CYW9hI/S98nP7ywFxI/AAAAAAAABFQ/PQv98Yl9rAI/s380/ist2_2865661-appointment-book-calendar-and-pen.jpg" target="_blank" style="font-size: 18px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 23px; text-align: center; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" class="aligncenter" height="253" id="blogsy-1380019852647.2979" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-oKij9CYW9hI/S98nP7ywFxI/AAAAAAAABFQ/PQv98Yl9rAI/s380/ist2_2865661-appointment-book-calendar-and-pen.jpg" width="380"></a></h3> <h3>Make an appointment now...</h3> <p>I'm hoping that<span style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.3em;"> all of you make an appointment with yourself today, tomorrow, and the next to truly hear the sound of silence. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.3em;">For in such sounds, you may just hear the tinkling of your calling and find your purpose and passion yet again amidst the tyranny of a noisy, distracting world that won't leave you alone to catch your breath.</span></p> <p> </p><div style="text-align: right; font-size: small; clear: both;" id="blogsy_footer"><a href="http://blogsyapp.com" target="_blank"><img alt="Written by Vicki Davis, author - Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds - Posted with Blogsy from my iPad" height="20" src="http://blogsyapp.com/images/blogsy_footer_icon.png" style="vertical-align: middle; margin-right: 5px;" width="20" />Written by Vicki Davis, author - Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds - Posted with Blogsy from my iPad</a></div>

Inspiration productivity The Sound of Silence: How you can pursue greatness in the still morning

The view from my favorite chair in the den this morning as I listen for purpose in the silence. Great strength can be found in the quiet m...

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Today's Teamster News 09.24.13

<a href="http://www.teamster.org/content/warehouse-workers-georgia-join-local-528" rel="nofollow">Warehouse Workers in Georgia Join Teamsters Local 528</a>  teamster.org   ...On September 11, warehouse workers at Americold in McDonough, Georgia voted to become Teamsters...<br /><a href="http://www.teamsters117.org/teamsters_at_darigold_leaflet_walmart_shoppers" rel="nofollow">Teamsters at Darigold Leaflet Walmart & Sam's Club Shoppers at 10 Locations</a>  Teamsters Local 117 ...Teamster production workers and lab technicians, employed by Darigold, distributed leaflets at ten Walmart and Sam’s Club locations throughout the day to inform consumers about the company’s multiple violations of federal labor law and the growing threat of a potential lockout or strike...<br /><a href="http://www.rochesterhomepage.net/story/wegmans-employees-disgruntled-over-retirement-payments/d/story/J6ycqi0VN0O0GYqsDyk2pw" rel="nofollow">Wegmans Employees Disgruntled Over Retirement Payments</a>  Rochester Homepage   ...Dozens of people were outside Wegmans' company officers Friday practicing picketing over disagreements with Wegmans on retirement payments and wages. Current warehouse and driver employees are represented through the Teamsters Union...<br /><a href="http://www.alternet.org/economy/average-american-family-pays-6000-year-subsidies-big-business" rel="nofollow">The Average American Family Pays $6,000 a Year in Subsidies to Big Business</a>  AlterNet   ...That's more than an insult—it's an attack...<br /><a href="http://www.salon.com/2013/09/23/white_house_rebuffed_union_pleas_to_ditch_walmart/" rel="nofollow">White House rebuffed union pleas to ditch Walmart</a>  Salon   ...Labor leader says allies in the Administration tried to persuade First Lady to dump retail giant -- but were denied...<br /><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/23/us-bankofamerica-hustle-idUSBRE98M11H20130923" rel="nofollow">Bank of America goes to trial over U.S. mortgage fraud charges</a>  Reuters   ...Bank of America Corp heads to trial this week over allegations its Countrywide unit approved deficient home loans in a process called "Hustle," defrauding Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the U.S. government enterprises that underwrite mortgages...<br /><a href="http://one%20big%20trader%20lost%20millions%20betting%20on%20romney%2C%20study%20finds/" rel="nofollow">One Big Trader Lost Millions Betting on Romney, Study Finds</a>  Washington Wire   ...A <a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2322420">new academic paper digging into presidential betting</a> in the final weeks of the 2012 election finds that a single trader lost between $4 million and $7 million placing a flurry of Intrade bets on Mitt Romney—perhaps to make the Republican nominee’s chance of victory appear brighter...<br /><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/23/child-labor-drop_n_3974870.html?utm_hp_ref=business" rel="nofollow">Child Labor Dropped By One-Third Over The Past Decade, But UN Officials Urge Faster Progress</a>  Associated Press   ...The number of children doing hazardous work dropped by half to 85 million from 2000 to 2012, but the rate of progress isn't fast enough to meet the goal of having no child laborers by 2016...<br /><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/20/suicides-great-recession_n_3962766.html" rel="nofollow">Suicides Spiked One Year After Great Recession: Study</a>  Huffington Post   ...The Great Recession resulted in 5,000 additional suicides worldwide in 2009, according to a recent study -- the first to look at suicide trends globally in the wake of the crisis...<br /><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-23/why-100-000-salary-may-yield-retirement-flipping-burgers.html" rel="nofollow">At 77, He Prepares Burgers Earning in Week His Former Hourly Wage</a>  Bloomberg News   ...At the height of his corporate career, Tom Palome was pulling in a salary in the low six-figures and flying first class on business trips to Europe. Today, he juggles two part-time jobs: one as a $10-an-hour food demonstrator, the other flipping burgers…<br /><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/09/23/why-are-47-million-americans-on-food-stamps-its-the-recession-mostly/" rel="nofollow">Why are 47 million Americans on food stamps?</a>  Washington Post   ...There's a fairly basic question underlying <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/09/19/heres-how-the-house-gop-would-cut-39-billion-from-food-stamps/" rel="nofollow">the current food-stamp debate</a> in Congress. Why has the program grown so rapidly over the past few years — to the point where 47 million people, one-sixth of the country, now receive food stamps?...<br /><a href="http://www.alternet.org/economy/buy-house-make-your-payments-then-discover-youve-been-foreclosed-without-your-knowledge" rel="nofollow">Buy a House, Make Your Payments, Then Discover You've Been Foreclosed On Without Your Knowledge</a>  AlterNet   ...This should never happen, but it did, thanks to the sordid mortgage servicing industry...<br /><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/22/chiquita-colombia-lawsuit_n_3971616.html?utm_hp_ref=business" rel="nofollow">Chiquita Asks Court To Block Suits Blaming Banana Giant For Violent Deaths</a>  Associated Press   ...Faced with potentially billions of dollars in legal liability, Chiquita Brands is asking a federal appeals court to block lawsuits filed against it in the U.S. by thousands of Colombians whose relatives were killed in that country's bloody, decades-long civil war...<br /><a href="http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20130923/EDIT07/309239997/1021/EDIT" rel="nofollow">Ag-gag resurfaces, threatens whistleblowers</a>  Fort Wayne Journal Gazette   ...Opponents of ag-gag legislation reasonably fear that it obstructs First Amendment rights. Such legislation also protects illegal and unethical practices while punishing whistleblowers...<br /><a href="http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/09/major_police_union_to_sit_out_race_for_governor.html#incart_river_default" rel="nofollow">Major police union will sit out race for New Jersey governor</a>  Star-Ledger   ...In a blow to Democratic gubernatorial candidate Barbara Buono, one of New Jersey’s two largest police unions has decided to sit out the election for governor...<br /><a href="http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/os-hardest-hit-20130920,0,4470130.story" rel="nofollow">Florida offers to cut loan balances for 'underwater' homeowners</a> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Orlando Sentinel   ...Florida homeowners with "underwater" mortgages may now qualify to have as much as $50,000 chopped from their loan balance under a new program announced Friday by the state...<br /><a href="http://www.statejournal.com/story/23496625/amazon-to-collect-6-pct-sales-tax-in-wva" rel="nofollow">Amazon to collect 6 pct sales tax in WV</a>  Associated Press   ...Amazon will start collecting a 6 percent sales tax on purchases shipped to West Virginia starting Oct. 1...<br /><a href="http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/news/article/BART-prepares-for-another-possible-worker-strike-4834109.php" rel="nofollow">BART prepares for another possible worker strike</a>  Associated Press   ...As another potential strike looms, <a href="http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/?controllerName=search&action=search&channel=news&search=1&inlineLink=1&query=%22Bay+Area+Rapid+Transit%22" rel="nofollow">Bay Area Rapid Transit</a> officials are preparing other ways to get commuters to work, including possibly allowing managers to drive a limited number of trains...

Today's Teamster News 09.24.13

Warehouse Workers in Georgia Join Teamsters Local 528   teamster.org   ...On September 11, warehouse workers at Americold in McDonough, Geor...

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It Was A Matter Of Time

Somebody needs a good slap upside the head for a little over reacting here.<br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/09/23/suspended-student-may-be-expelled-for-rest-of-the-year-for-playing-with-toy-gunin-his-own-yard/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=story&utm_campaign=ShareButtons"><b>Suspended Student May Be Expelled for Rest of the Year for Playing With Toy Gun…in His Own Yard</b></a><br /><br /><br /><blockquote>A suspended seventh-grade student in Virginia Beach, Va., could be expelled for the rest of the school year for shooting an airsoft gun with a friend in his yard as they waited for the bus to come.<br /><br />Khalid Caraballo, 12, and his friend, Aidan, were suspended for “possession, handling and use of a firearm” because they “shot two other friends who were with them while playing” with the airsoft guns, WAVY-TV reported.<br /><br />Caraballo answered “no, sir,” when asked if he took the toy gun to the bus stop or to school.<br /><br />“We were in our yard. This had nothing to do with school,” the student said.<br /><br />Caraballo’s mother, Angel, said being punished for “possession, handling and use of a firearm” was “pretty harsh” for a toy that she bought for $25.<br /><br />Tim Clark, Aidan’s father, told the news station that the school neglected to use common sense in the incident that occurred off school property.</blockquote><br />This zero tolerance bullshit don't fly when the activity has absolutely nothing to do with school assholes.<br /><br /><br />You overzealous motherfuckers have stepped way beyond your boundaries this time.<br /><br />

It Was A Matter Of Time

Somebody needs a good slap upside the head for a little over reacting here. Suspended Student May Be Expelled for Rest of the Year for Playi...

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USA PRESSURING RUSSIA INTO PASSING UN RESOLUTION ON SYRIA ALLOWING MILITARY FORCE

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href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNICLzZysmPizJUNoiLclvanzxzkZ8aYErFPeK0ewH2MGyYOEj2VKip1y3r43leis42gCRw-5SQ_a6bja6Q-qxZf0eyPPEbw3m7L_oRHjtfs8XmpqNrp1Sm9FXDJXdN-GlofGhbuvvQGO7/s1600/14diplo-articleLarge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNICLzZysmPizJUNoiLclvanzxzkZ8aYErFPeK0ewH2MGyYOEj2VKip1y3r43leis42gCRw-5SQ_a6bja6Q-qxZf0eyPPEbw3m7L_oRHjtfs8XmpqNrp1Sm9FXDJXdN-GlofGhbuvvQGO7/s400/14diplo-articleLarge.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Photo NY Times</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">CLOSE RESEMBLANCE TO THE LIBYAN UN RESOLUTION "TRAP", RUSSIA AND CHINA STEPPED IN WHEN APPROVING THE RAID ON LIBYA BY US COALITION FORCES </span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 1; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVES ON SYRIA</b></span>. Via RT</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The US is pushing RUSSIA into approving a UN resolution that would allow for military intervention in SYRIA, in exchange for AMERICAN support of SYRIA’S accession to OPCW, RUSSIAN Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Our AMERICAN partners are starting to blackmail us: ‘If RUSSIA does not support a resolution under Chapter 7, then we will withdraw our support for SYRIA’S entry into the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). This is a complete departure from what I agreed with Secretary of State John Kerry',”</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> RUSSIAN Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told Channel 1's Sunday Time program. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Chapter 7 of the UN charter would allow for potential military intervention in SYRIA. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #cc0000;">WESTERN COUNTRIES BLINDED BY 'ASSAD MUST GO' ATTITUDE</span> </span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The head of RUSSIA’S Foreign Ministry went on to say he was surprised by the West’s <i>“negligent”</i> approach to the conflict. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Our partners are blinded by an ideological mission for regime change,”</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> said Lavrov. <i>“They cannot admit they have made another mistake.”</i> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Slamming the West’s intervention in LIBYA and IRAQ, the foreign minister stated that military intervention could only lead to a catastrophe in the region. Moreover, he stressed that if the West really was interested in a peaceful solution to the conflict that has raged for over two years, they would now be pushing for SYRIA’S entry into the OPCW in the first place, not for the ouster of President Bashar Assad. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt;"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; 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";">Background Information</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="border: none; line-height: normal; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><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";">RUSSIA AND CHINA LEFT OUT OF THE LIBYAN EQUATION</span></b></span><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="border: none; line-height: normal; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 1; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"><a href="http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2012/09/libya-doomed-from-day-one.html">http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2012/09/libya-doomed-from-day-one.html</a></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“I am convinced that the WEST is doing this to demonstrate that they call the shots in the MIDDLE EAST. This is a totally politicized approach,”</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> said Lavrov.  </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><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";">IF MILITANTS COME TO POWER, SYRIA WILL NO LONGER BE A SECULAR STATE</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The RUSSIAN foreign minister pointed out that in the case of a military scenario, militants would come to power and SYRIA would no longer be a secular state. Up to three quarters “<i>of these guys are Jihadists</i>,” including the most radical groups such as Al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State of IRAQ and LEVANT, who want to create an Islamic Caliphate in SYRIA and in neighboring territories, Lavrov said. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“<i>If our western partners think at least two steps ahead, they cannot but understand it,</i>” Lavrov noted. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">As to why the West would want that, Moscow has so far received no clear answer, but hears “mantras” on the necessity to promote democracy and protect human rights, said the minister. That is important, but “responsible politicians should be guided not only by that. Not to care about stability in a key world region is absolutely irresponsible,” he added. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">According to Lavrov, some experts alleged that “<i>someone is attempting to create a guided chaos</i>” in the region for their own benefits. However, the foreign minister said he personally sees no possible advantages that Western countries would gain if they were behind moves to stir up instability. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“<i>There’s only an attempt to grasp a straw, and turn a blind eye to the fact that the world is changing and becoming multipolar</i>,” Lavrov concluded. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">'A REPEAT OF GENEVA 2012' </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Lavrov harked back to last year’s Geneva accord which was agreed upon by the international community, including RUSSIA and the US. However, when the resolution went to the Security Council the US demanded that Chapter 7 be included. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“History is repeating itself. Once again in Geneva an agreement has been reached which does not contain any mention of Chapter 7. But the Security Council wants to redo the document in their own way to include it.”</span></i><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="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">He called on the West to observe international law and stop writing resolutions motivated by their <i>“geopolitical ambitions.”</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><i> </i> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #cc0000;">‘BOTH SIDES MUST HAND OVER CHEMICAL WEAPONS’</span> </span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Sergey Lavrov has also insisted that opposition forces take part in the decommissioning of Syria’s chemical weapons stockpiles. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“The solutions currently being worked out at the OPCW suggest that all stocks of SYRIAN chemical weapons must be brought under control and ultimately destroyed.”</span></i><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="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Lavrov further charged that the West was <i>“not telling the whole story”</i> by asserting that chemical weapons are only possessed by the regime, and not the opposition. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">He added that the available information provided by the ISRAELIS confirmed that on at least two occasions, the rebels had seized areas in which chemical weapons were stored and those arms might have fallen into their hands. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfa9Gp3bfyTSeafviDlde-U4Cnluw2qpKpUHUxXKxix8dErXIzOdr8H0j6w4ARlGSGPlQhdABIjA-kjOeJVwSb1ocLOGUKTEtpRIckKWuEm67m9ISw7Cxh0WSKdrq3Yqza3PrYpfhK-fbO/s1600/0608-UN-Syria-resolution.JPG_full_600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfa9Gp3bfyTSeafviDlde-U4Cnluw2qpKpUHUxXKxix8dErXIzOdr8H0j6w4ARlGSGPlQhdABIjA-kjOeJVwSb1ocLOGUKTEtpRIckKWuEm67m9ISw7Cxh0WSKdrq3Yqza3PrYpfhK-fbO/s320/0608-UN-Syria-resolution.JPG_full_600.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">"According to our estimates, there is a strong probability, that in addition to home-grown labs in which militants are trying to cook up harmful and deadly concoctions, the data provided by the ISRAELIS is true,”</span></i></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> the Russian FM said. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Preparatory work for OPCW inspectors to assume control of chemical weapons storage sites requires that those who fund and sponsor opposition groups –  including extremists –  demand that they hand over the [arms] which have been seized so that they can be destroyed, pursuant to the Convention on the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.”</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></i><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="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Lavrov added that RUSSIA was not a guarantor for the disarmament of SYRIA’S chemical weapons, as SYRIA’S commitments fell under the auspices of the Chemical Weapons Convention, which is internationally administered by the OPCW. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Lavrov said RUSSIA and the US were working out a draft resolution to be submitted to the OPCW, although several points were yet to be agreed upon. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Earlier in September, Moscow said it would submit data to the UNSC proving that the chemical weapons in a Damascus suburb were used by the rebels.  These “purely technical” documents were handed over to RUSSIA by the Bashar Assad government and are being examined by RUSSIAN specialists. This data “<i>is an addition to what we already know and to what is known to…independent experts who give their assessments and confirm that the opposition regularly resort to provocations, attempting to accuse the regime of using chemical weapons</i>” and this way get foreign military support, Lavrov said.  </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><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";">BRITAIN AND FRANCE QUICK TO JUMP ON THE BANDWAGON </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The UN expert team, who investigated the August 21 attack in SYRIA, presented a report on their findings, in which they described the ammunition and substances they discovered on the scene, but made no conclusions regarding who was behind the incident. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">However, the US, along with BRITAIN and FRANCE, moved quickly to repeat their accusations against the SYRIAN government.  “<i>Such an approach is neither scientific, nor professional but rather politicized and ideology-driven</i>,” the RUSSIAN foreign minister stressed.  </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">According to Lavrov, it was no secret that they did not need any report. Long before the document was prepared, they stated that they already knew everything from their intelligence findings – which have never been presented to the public in full, the RUSSIAN minister noted. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“<i>What they did show to us does not convince that the [SYRIAN] regime is linked to the episode with the use of chemical weapons,</i>” Lavrov said. </span></div>

USA PRESSURING RUSSIA INTO PASSING UN RESOLUTION ON SYRIA ALLOWING MILITARY FORCE

Photo NY Times CLOSE RESEMBLANCE TO THE LIBYAN UN RESOLUTION "TRAP", RUSSIA AND CHINA STEPPED IN WHEN APPROVING THE RAID ON LIBYA...

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Partisan Troll are Ruining Twitter

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="MsoNormal">Hola Libtards and Rethugs! Sunday night I was watching the Emmys when the category for best writing for a variety show came up. As each of the shows like “The Daily Show” and “The Colbert Report” and Jimmy Kimmel reeled off their looooooooooooooong list of writers I noticed something interesting. Basically the intros went like this “White Guy” “White Guy” White Guy” “White Guy” “White Woman” “White Guy” “White Guy” and finally “White Guy.”  <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKK6aL7sgTmESUfAIkANBh5HMRzYwwr1PuPFFYawzBRJKBeMrj_gDEw45lgCxZaZchs8VxH6qtJ9zPPSElXVJcq5c4LvrIFP-pMfQlqC8DkpSXO4YwkOWrDu9Th4kjPEZVV2BibHjfKOZO/s1600/colbert+report+writers+emmys.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKK6aL7sgTmESUfAIkANBh5HMRzYwwr1PuPFFYawzBRJKBeMrj_gDEw45lgCxZaZchs8VxH6qtJ9zPPSElXVJcq5c4LvrIFP-pMfQlqC8DkpSXO4YwkOWrDu9Th4kjPEZVV2BibHjfKOZO/s1600/colbert+report+writers+emmys.jpg" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p><br /></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Sheeeeeeeeeeeit …. <a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/im-with-stupid" target="_blank">IWS Radio</a> has more diversity in ONE correspondent than Colbert has on his whole freaking staff. (There was a woman up there somewhere with them but she isn’t in this pic. The second time they went up, there was a second woman, but I suspect they just grabbed her out the audience so they would look more diverse. They would have grabbed a black and/or Latino too IF THEY COULD HAVE FOUND ONE IN THAT AUDIENCE.)<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">I was struck by the lack of diversity on these writing staffs especially given the liberal bent of these shows and how much they love to lecture others about diversity. So, I Tweeted “Funny how the ‘lecture everyone else about diversity’ shows can’t find any black, Latino and only one woman writer.” Or something close to that. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Well, turns out that some far left-wing extremist partisan was trolling twitter and decided to respond to me: “I wasn’t aware that these businesses that produce those shows were liberal to any degree. You’re evidence?” <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Oooooooooo … She nailed me! Wow! I was knocked on my heels for minute there. We all know that no “business” is ever anything but evil and conservative. I guess she was trying to imply that the corporations that own the networks that these shows are on are conservative so the shows are also? Or maybe she was ignoring the leftward lean of the shows and talking about the parent companies only? Or maybe she considers anything to the right of Chris Hays to be “conservative?” We’ll never know because she never elaborated. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">So, I hit back with “The Daily Show and Colbert Report are raging right-wing shows? I had no idea.”  ZIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING! <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">It was at this point that she realized she was completely wrong so she did what everyone in that situation does. She got personal and ignored my original point by telling me “You do appear to be out of ideas!”  HAAAAAAA!! Wooo this chick is almost more than I can handle! <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Okay, so it was apparent to me that this was going to go nowhere and I had found yet another person who isn’t interesting in any real discussion if it challenges her “My side is pure and perfect and always right” world view. I decided to try, just once to see if she would address the lack of diversity issue I had tweeted about. After another exchange where she once again resorted to name calling I asked her “Are you bothered by the lack of  black, Latino and women writers on these HUGE staffs or are you so partisan that you can never criticize your … uh … OUR (I am for the most part Team Blue) side?” <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Her sad little response was “Oh, you make it too easy.” This is what people say when they agree with you but can’t admit it. They pretend to be sooooo intellectually superior that they can’t even be bothered to answer. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglnFkGAI-sDsFW2aCM9hXqBaN_CTsa7KtC9_pj5XRYgsqo-eNKKrhdQvnkslu4HqqXhhBVkFuGB_FgtSuHrwvzaUOKoIkbMJLd4rr_Vgnk55Y8vOU8qYXEVsoYbVEqSPqUh8DIyLvie7nd/s1600/Colbert+Report+Writers+No+Blacks+No+Latinos+One+Woman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglnFkGAI-sDsFW2aCM9hXqBaN_CTsa7KtC9_pj5XRYgsqo-eNKKrhdQvnkslu4HqqXhhBVkFuGB_FgtSuHrwvzaUOKoIkbMJLd4rr_Vgnk55Y8vOU8qYXEVsoYbVEqSPqUh8DIyLvie7nd/s1600/Colbert+Report+Writers+No+Blacks+No+Latinos+One+Woman.jpg" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p><br /></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">See there’s Colbert’s token female writer! I told you she was there somewhere. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">The obvious truth is that YES she is bothered by the lack of diversity on these writing staffs. She can’t admit it though because if she does she would be acknowledging that her side isn’t as pure and perfect as she pretends it is. She’s not alone either. Democrats suddenly are totally in favor of all kinds of stuff they used to be opposed to. From support of the surveillance state to ignoring lack of diversity to support for launching an unnecessary, unprovoked war of choice with Syria, extreme partisans like this Twitter Troll have decided to copy the republicans by refusing to ever admit that maybe, just possibly, someone on their side might be even the slightest bit wrong about anything EVER! <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">This is why we can’t have nice things America. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="mailto:Jayman3768@gmail.com">Jayman3768@gmail.com</a><br /><a href="http://www.facebook.com/jayman68" target="_blank">Facebook</a><br /><a href="http://www.twitter.com/jayman_iws" target="_blank">@Jayman_IWS</a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div></div>

Partisan Troll are Ruining Twitter

Hola Libtards and Rethugs! Sunday night I was watching the Emmys when the category for best writing for a variety show came up. As each of t...

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