At least he still has his head attached, which is more than we can say for his victims.

You live by Violence, You Die by Violence

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Too Little, Too Late?

President Bush declares a state of emergency as New Orleans begins gathering up and counting the dead across a ghastly landscape awash in perhaps thousands of corpses.

As the floodwaters recede and the search for the dead begins, there are grim signs that authorities predict a "staggering death toll" from Hurricane Katrina.

"It is going to be about as ugly of a scene as I think you can imagine," the nation's homeland security chief warned. As authorities struggled to keep order, police shot and killed at least five people Sunday after gunmen opened fire on a group of contractors traveling across a bridge on their way to make repairs."

In New Orleans' Garden District, a woman's body lay at the corner of Jackson Avenue and Magazine Street, a business area with antique shops on the edge of blighted housing. The body had been there since at least Wednesday. As days passed, people covered the corpse with blankets or plastic.

By Sunday, a short wall of bricks had been built around the body, holding down a plastic tarpaulin. On it, someone had spray-painted a cross and the words, "Here lies Vera. God help us."

Yesterday Israel killed Hasan Nasrallah, Hezbollah's leader for more than 20 years. In doing so Israel allegedly flattened 6-8 residential apartment blocks with bunker buster bombs. According to...

One of the more vexing and frustrating aspects of managing a Texas real estate transaction is what we agents call “clearing the Option Period”. The Option/Inspection Period is the agreed upon number of days during which a Buyer can unilaterally terminate the purchase contract. It’s usually 5-10 days. The buyer doesn’t need a reason. It’s a straight up right to terminate, for which the seller is paid a nominal fee, usually less than $500. The problem is that, per the current contract language, a 7 day Option Period ends at midnight on the 7th day. I don’t know about you, but whether you’re a buyer, seller or agent, none of us like being up at 11:45PM waiting for an Amendment and wondering if the deal is going to crater. It’s one of the stupidest things we do, and nobody likes it, but it happens repeatedly. A proposed change to the ... Read more

(posted by Craig) A couple weeks ago, I was giving my usual demonstration for proper deadlift technique before the back & hamstrings track. Getting the form nailed on this part of the routine seems to be a tougher nut to crack with classes than it ought to be. Many times I notice class participants - especially new folks - simply bending over rather than executing the move with the backside leading the motion, knees behind the toes.

And then it struck me - I was thinking of some demonstration I'd seen once where women could bend over and pick up a chair while standing next to a wall, while men would fall forward. So rather than check my facts, I just went with that and proceeded to tell our class full of ladies that it's probably more natural for them to bend over without pushing their butts out than it is for us guys. While demonstrating the motion, I noticed Tami staring at me. "Really?" she asked.

"Oh yes" said I, though it came out with a tad less conviction than I'd hoped. "Haven't you ever seen that little trick where women can bend over and pick up a chair but men fall flat on their faces?"

"No, I haven't."

"You haven't? I thought everybody knew about that. It works because of the way we're balanced - men have more mass concentrated in their shoulders, see, while women have more mass... uh, you know, lower than... men."

Her eyes narrowed slightly. "Why don't you show us?"

Self confidence fleeting, I looked around the room for support - by now everyone had stopped getting their weights together. And while most will tell you they come to our classes for the workout, truth be told it's tasty moments like these that surely must add something extra to the post-class locker room conversation. Small wonder, then, that nobody offered up a hint of support.

I stood against the wall, and bent over. Naturally I fell forward. Then Tami did the same. "So much for your anatomy lesson" she said, as my theory dissolved into that sea of satisfied laughter that comes from witnessing a member of the opposite sex make a complete fool of himself.

I wish I could say I learned a lesson that day, but chances are I didn't. It'll happen again. It always does. I suppose that's why Tami gets so many hugs from our class regulars, and why she always says it's a "lot less interesting" when she has to teach alone.

PS. Here's a link to a question and answer info about the women vs. men bending-over thing. I may've been technically right about the difference in balance, but equating it to ease of doing deadlifts probably wasn't my proudest moment!

The good folks from streaming giants Crunchyroll have sent us details about Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction. The new series is due to...

Keeping a secret can bring unexpected problems to those with tight lips.

Besides the Superbowl hoopdedo and Ground hog's day, not to mention the impending meltdown of the thugs who run Arab countries in the Mideast...there is the non-story of dead President Ronald Reagan's 100th birthday.

I have 63 year old 16mm Kodacolor movie my dad shot of Ronald Reagan judging a local beauty contest at the pool of the Beverly Wilshire Hotel.Reagan was a 2nd-rate washed up actor in 1948, and if it weren't for his lead-ins to the TV show "GE Theater" in the 1950's, most of us wouldn't know about him today.

It was that presence, plus an ability to read other people's words and sound real sincere, and a measure of political ambition fueled and flourished by wife Nancy, that is the reason so many jaw-droppingly ignorant republicans still love his legacy.


Did I miss something amongst the commentaries about his 2-term slosh as the "Great Communicator," in that he was party to, and possibly even initiator of, crimes against the State as well as utterly abrogating his presidential oath of office to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution?" This morass became known as the "Iran-Contra Affair," of which few citizens understand or care about.

The history of US Presidents abounds in scandals too numerous to mention. Some were political for the sake of power, like Nixon's Watergate.Others were awash in historical events that no one cares about anymore--Harding may even have been poisoned in office. Grant's appointees were so blithely money grubbers that he stood aside and let the chips fall where they may--which is why even his hands-off not knowing what's going on get him listed often as one of the worst presidents in history.

After Watergate, there was a feeling in the land that subsequent laws enacted to provide more vigilance of our elected leaders--politicians after all, the least noble of professions--would prevent another scandal, at least, or attempt to take over the government at most, from happening again.

While the conspiracy-mongers among us, or at least the wink-wink cynical know-it-alls, understand that politics by definition breeds duplicity and deceit--in order to provide the uppity-word version of that, which is "compromise," on a day-to-day basis most of us non-paranoiacs don't see the government as trying to subvert the law on every level in every minute.


So, 10 years after Watergate, when the winds of "The Iran-Contra Affair" started blowing across the country, it was a little bit harder to believe that the Great Communicator Ronald Reagan was involved in anything corrupt or dirty--like selling arms to Iran, which was against the law, in order to provide funds for the Nicaraguan rebels--Contras--whom again by law the US government could not openly support or of course, give them any money.

Big scandal. People should have gone to jail:

"In the end, fourteen administration officials were indicted, including then-Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger. Eleven convictions resulted,
some of which were vacated on appeal. The rest of those indicted or convicted were all pardoned in the final days of the George H. W. Bush
presidency; Bush had been vice-president at the time of the affair. Some of those involved in the Iran–Contra affair who were convicted of felonies
and subsequently pardoned, later became members of the administration of George W. Bush."

Every time I see that sound bite "Mr. Gobachev, tear down that wall," I imagine the Soviet Premier with trowel and pick in hand yelling back at Reagan, "I've been working on this for awhile but no one seems to care anymore."

Reagan wasn't just a bad President--he was a non President.

Still, it was fun to take the kids to see his library and trudge through the actual Boeing 707 that he used in office. Boy can you cover up a lot of manure if you have enough money!

Using the correct deadlift training techniques for your powerlifting workout.

How to do the deadlift exercise.

[Premium Times] The prolific forward died at the age of 38 following complications from high blood pressure.

Community Network Against Protected Areas (CNAPA) issued a public statement on killings and fake encounters by Assam Forest Department in Laokhowa Wildlife Sanctuary.

1. South Korean actor Song Jae-lim dead at 39  CNN
2. South Korean Actor Song Jae-rim Dies in His Seoul Apartment at 39  PEOPLE
3. Song Jae Rim death: South Korean actor's last Instagram post sparks concern among fans  The Economic Times
4. Tragic K-drama star Song Jae-lim's cryptic final Instagram post before his death as sister's funeral plans rev  Daily Mail
5. South Korean actor Song Jae Lim dead at 39  BBC.com

1. UPDATE: At least 2 people dead after massive factory explosion in Louisville  WHAS11.com
2. 2 people confirmed dead after large explosion in Louisville facility  WLKY Louisville
3. Video Investigation after explosion at Kentucky manufacturing plant kills 2  ABC News
4. 12 hospitalized, 2 in critical condition after workplace explosion in Clifton neighborhood  WAVE 3
5. Louisville explosion: 2 in critical condition, no fatalities  Courier Journal

1. 'Taking revenge on society': Deadly Zhuhai car attack sparks questions in China  BBC.com
2. Man Upset About Divorce Allegedly Rams Car into Crowd, Killing 35: Reports  PEOPLE
3. Video: 35 killed in mass hit-and-run in Zhuhai, China  CNN
4. Driver rams his car into crowd in China, killing 35. Police say he was upset about his divorce  The Associated Press
5. Zhuhai car attack: China clears memorial as government scrambles to respond  Reuters

Fr. John Whiteford shares on the Sunday of the Last Judgment.

This is the prayer of one who is still in the world, but no longer of the world. When despair and anxiety bite they feel like a little death. When your tiredness, your sin or your despondency collapse over you, you need to pray with the prayer of the dead, the prayer of our nothingness silently hoping against hope, silently crying out for Christ, silently waiting for the Resurrected One to be risen from our own tomb: our body and our soul. This is not abandonment, but the exact opposite: this is the prayer which is proper to our fallen nature, the desperate cry for Life of one who is made of nothing, but does not belong to nothing. This is the prayer of one who is still in the world, but no longer of the world - instead, they now belong to Christ

To die to the world has nothing to do with self-destruction or the destruction of the world. Quite the opposite, when we die to the world, we begin the process of being born in Christ, which is then reflected back unto the world as a new blessing, a new input of grace, a new change for salvation. To be dead to the world means not to engage with the world in its fallen state, but to engage with its full spiritual potential, with the hidden image of God imprinted on everyone.

Fr. Seraphim gives an update on the monasteries.

As we approach Lent, we are confronted by Jesus’ parable of the sheep and goats in Matthew 25, and Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 8 about making good judgments in life. We see these two passages illumined by the prophet Ezekiel’s parable of the Shepherd and the sheep.

We read the fourth of the six Orthros psalms of penitence, Psalm 87 (LXX)/88 (MT), looking to Jesus as the “perfect Die-er” who brings light to the whole world, showing wonders even to the dead! This heavy psalm is understood through the similarly difficult passages of Luke 2:29-35, 2 Cor 5:21, Gal 3:13, John 12:20b-36, and Psalm 21(LXX) /22 (MT).

Fr. Ted reflects upon the recent bombing in a Coptic Orthodox Church in Cairo, Egyptd during the Divine Liturgy.

In this episode, Kevin and Father Steven C. Kostoff discuss two views of the afterlife that separate the New Age/Eastern/Gnostic from the central historic Christian belief.

On this encore program from 2008, Kevin speaks with Fr. Jonathon Ivanoff, Secretary of the Department of Evangelization of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA) about the "life cycle" of parishes and how to know whether your parish is thriving, dying or dead on the vine -- and what can be done about it!

How can we communicate with the departed saints if they are dead? What is the state of the departed according to the Scriptures? Are they concious, and if so, of what? Can they hear the petitions of those alive on earth? What do they do when people pray to them? These and other questions are actually answered in the Bible. Tune in and find out where.

In the final program of the series on "Prayer to the Saints" we continue the discussion of the state of the departed from the Scriptures. In many enigmatic passages we find the foundations for why the Church affirms the "Communion of the Saints" as including both those "in Christ" on earth and the "departed in Christ." Within these passages we find the rationale for believing that those who have gone before us do stand before the throne of God and intercede on our behalf because of our prayers to them.

As we celebrate Pentecost, Fr. Tom discusses what "dead religion" really is - ritual and form devoid of power. The descent of the Holy Spirit allows us to partake of the world-changing power of Christ but only if we thirst for it, only if we draw deeply from the well of the Church.

Does it matter what happens to our bodies after we die? The Orthodox Christian faith says, "Yes!"

Life or pigs? Roof or health? Job or Christ? The choice is yours!

Sometimes, people just need to lie down. 1 Corinthians 16: 13- 24, Matthew 21: 33- 42.

Acts 9: 32-42, John 5:1-15 . No excuses, leave the past, stand.

Police say the large deer posed a 'danger' and take the decision to 'humanely' destroy it.

The services involved were the 18:31 from Shrewsbury to Aberystwyth on Monday night.

Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the blaze in Middleton, Greater Manchester.

UK Power Networks says it is aware of the incident and is looking to install bird diverters.

Police are asking for anyone with doorbell or dashcam footage of the man to come forward.

The 46-year-old man is remanded in custody and due before magistrates on Wednesday.

The rabbits were found abandoned in Worcestershire on Monday evening.

There was a thread recently on InfoQ asking whether standalone BPMS is dead.

1. Israel has missed US deadline to boost Gaza aid, UN agency says  BBC.com
2. US says Israel hasn't breached its law against blocking aid in Gaza  BBC.com
3. Israel misses deadline to let more aid into Gaza, but U.S. maintains support  CBC News
4. Antony Blinken decides against changing U.S. military assistance to Israel: report  The Globe and Mail
5. U.S. says it will not limit Israel arms transfers after some improvements in flow of aid to Gaza  CTV News

Tensions are a ubiquitous feature of social life and are manifested in a number of particular forms: contradictory logics, competing demands, clashes of ideas, contradictions, dialectics, irony, paradoxes, and/or dilemmas. This essay aims to explore in detail tensions surrounding seven common findings of the information seeking literature relating to: interpersonal communication, accessibility, level of skill, individual preferences, psychological limits, inertia, and costs. Our incomplete understanding of these tensions can lead us to suggest resolutions that do not recognize their underlying dualities. Human information behavior stands at the intersection of many important theoretical and policy issues (e.g., personalized medicine). Policy makers need to be more attuned to these basic tensions of information seeking recognizing the real human limits they represent to informing the public. So, even if you build a great information system, people will not necessarily use it because of the force of these underlying tensions. While rationality rules systems, irrationality rules people. The proliferation of navigator roles over the last several years is actually a hopeful sign: recognition that people need a human interface to inform them about our ever more complex health care systems.

Many online are raising questions about a recent spate of public violence, as officials continue to censor discussion.