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Christmas cupcakes

2010-12-18T21:05:00.000-08:00

Source::http://sweetsassycakes.wordpress.com/2010/12/17/christmas-cupcakes/

Every year my children love to take cupcakes into school for all of their friends. These are this years cupcakes.

All of the cupcakes were topped with edible glitters and really gave off a lovely sparkle.

This year i also made some cupcakes just for all of the teachers and staff at my children’s school. These were put in the staff room for everyone to enjoy.

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Shoot Your Own 3D

2010-12-18T20:37:00.000-08:00

Source::http://technologizer.com/2010/12/16/shoot-your-own-3d/

Last Gadget Standing Nominee: FujiFilm Real 3D W3

Price: $599.99

I’m not sure if the world is ready to start taking photos in 3D, but FujiFilm sure came up with an attractive was to do it. The FinePix Real 3D W3 digital camera is the first compact consumer 3D digital camera capable of capturing both 3D still images and HD 3D movies at 720P resolution, thanks to its dual-CCD, dual lens system. You can view 3D photos and movies on the W3’s autostereoscopic widescreen display–no glasses required–and the HDMI output port lets you connect the camera to 3D TVs. Other features include Advanced 2D Mode, which takes advantage of the dual CCD/dual lens system to capture two different 2D images at the same time–zoom and wide angle, for instance, or two different sensitivity settings.

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The .Gif Friday Post No.156 - SoccerButtDance, CatCardHouse & MufflerMouse

2010-12-18T20:09:00.000-08:00

Source::http://tackyraccoons.com/2010/12/17/the-gif-friday-post-no-156-soccerbuttdance-catcardhouse-mufflermouse/

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Cuisine and Craft Fair of the Province in the courtyard of the Diputación de Sevilla

2010-12-18T19:40:00.000-08:00

Source::http://morethanpress.wordpress.com/2010/12/17/cuisine-and-craft-fair-of-the-province-in-the-courtyard-of-the-diputacion-de-sevilla/

From today until Sunday 17 December 19 will take place in the courtyard of the headquarters of the Provincial Government of Sevilla la II Feria de Cuisine and Craft of the Province, an exhibition that offers visitors tastings of olive oil, ham Iberian cured meats, preserves, candies, liqueurs, as well as crafts or decorative textiles. 74 companies participating in this year.

From our hotel in Seville is easy access to it, as it is located in the center of the city.

The exhibition not only aims to promote food and crafts of the peoples and the promotion of domestic tourism, but is also a business success: the first year, sales were above the 700,000 euros.

In addition to the tastings are available in different stand and selling products, the sample has a large program: they create dishes such as paella and mushroom hunting, by the School of Hotel and province of Seville, is taught a seminar tasting cocktails and cocktails, the School of Hotel Gambrinus beer produces bores, and there are performances, like the children’s choir campanilleros Cañada del Rosal.

Admission is free for visitors and will remain open on Friday from 12.00 h. to 14.00 h. and 16.00 h. to 20.00 h. On Saturday and Sunday from 11.00 h. 14.00 and 16.00 h. to 20.00 h.

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Namibia: Naute Dam grape harvest dips

2010-12-18T19:15:00.000-08:00

Source::http://ocregistershine.wordpress.com/2010/12/17/namibia-naute-dam-grape-harvest-dips/
Namibia: Naute Dam grape harvest dips « Food /* */#headerimg{background: url(http://s2.wp.com/wp-content/themes/pub/contempt/images/blue_flower/head.jpg) no-repeat;}#header h1 a, .description {color:#E5F2E9;}FoodHomeAbout Namibia: Naute Dam grape harvest dips

The Namibia Development Corporation’sgrapeharvest at the Naute Dam Irrigation Project near Keetmanshoop will be slightly less this year than last year due to weedkiller damage to vines. NDC production manager Japie Mar predicts a 59 per cent loss in production caused by the wrong application of weedkiller chemicals. This year’s harvest in the undamaged parts of the vineyards is above average, he said. According to Mar, about 110 000 boxes of grapes weighing 4,5 kg are earmarked for the European market. Only 10 per cent of the grapes is sold locally, Mar said.

“We would like to increase the volumes for the local market, but we’re producing for export.”A low demand for grapes in the local market also contributes to the short supply, he added. Government has allocated 40 hectares of land to the Naute Dam Project as part of a five-year strategic plan. Other crops such as dates will be added in future. Thegrapeproject employs 17 permanent workers and 140 seasonal workers.

Source

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It ain't Gingerbread it's Ninja Bread!

2010-12-18T18:47:00.000-08:00

Source::http://kirsty815.wordpress.com/2010/12/17/it-aint-gingerbread-its-ninja-bread/

So with Thanksgiving just past and now Christmas upon us, we’ve been doing a lot of baking in the Gone Bananas household! We’ve turned out pumpkin rolls, oatmeal cookies, sugar cookies, chocolate gooey butter cookies and most recently our favorite baking project was Ninja Bread Cookies!

No! Not gingerbread cookies… Ninja bread cookies!

They’re gingerbread men in ninja poses!

My friend Susie found these super cute cookie cutters at www.perpetualkid.com and was itching to try them, so I whipped up some gingerbread batter from my fabulous, trusty Joy of Cooking cookbook and it didn’t take long for us to start playing with our food.

I call this sequence of photos the sneak attack or stealth ninja.

*Cue music*

Everybody was kung fu fighting… huh!

Those cats were fast as lightning…

It was a little bit frightening… huh!

But they fought with expert timing!

Oh oh-oh oooooh oh oh-oh ooooh!

HIYA!!!!

And…… Scene!

After a good half hour of playing around we baked our first batch and they came out perfect.

We even managed to give a few of them proper ninja attire!

I have to say I think my first attempt at ninja bread cookies rocked!

They were pretty tasty!

To join our Friday Food Fight, post a picture of your favorite food, meal, snack
or drink. Of course, we’d love to see you enjoying your tasty treat, but you
don’t have to be in the picture. Then on Friday, post your drool inducing photo
and link up here. That’s it.

And while you’re sharing your favorite foodie photo, we’d love for you to add
our fun Friday Food Fight button to your post and link back here.

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Today's Special: Egg Nog Oatmeal

2010-12-18T18:21:00.000-08:00

Source::http://nutritionella.com/2010/12/14/eggnog-oatmeal/?tpref=foodpress

When I woke up this morning it was 16 degrees in Chapel Hill! I wanted a warm breakfast before heading off to work and had an ingenious idea: egg nog oatmeal! With the holidays right around the corner, last weekend I picked up some light eggnog made with reduced-fat milk, no artificial flavors, colors or preservatives. (Thank you Trader Joe’s!)

Here’s what I combined:

¼ C low-fat milk ¼ C light egg nog½ C old-fashioned oats

Old-fashioned oats take a bit longer to cook. I microwaved for 4 minutes on medium heat, stirred well, & let it sit for 2 more minutes to soak up all of the good egg nog flavor.

I topped it off with a fist-full of raisins, half of a sliced banana and a couple shakes of cinnamon. This breakfast is a good source of fiber, protein, calcium & even includes a serving of fruit!

It was delicious. I highly recommend it if you like a slightly sweet oatmeal.

Last night I met a friend at Spice Street in Chapel Hill. Picture a lavishly cozy restaurant with a lounge-feel to it. I’m a sucker for atmosphere and I can say that this place has it right! Here’s a picture from their website. The menu is a refreshingly unique fusion of Asian & Mediterranean dishes. Our server recommended the Seafood Risotto… so I went with that. It had shrimp, lobster, scallops & chorizo served over saffron risotto. Heavy, yes, but so delicious! I saved some for lunch today.

My evening tonight is a bit less calorically indulgent. After work, I’m headed to my favorite power yoga class. I recently started going 1-2 times per week and love it because I always leave a little bit stronger, calmer & totally exhausted!

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Another hospital visit...but luckily not mine!!

2010-12-18T17:51:00.000-08:00

Source::http://lifeaftergastrectomy.wordpress.com/2010/12/17/another-hospital-visit-but-luckily-not-mine/

I was very pleased to return a very special favor to a good friend. She needed a ride to the hospital for a routine colonoscopy. Considering that I have already “been there/done that” I was able to keep her thinking positively. Everything turned out okay and she tooted her way home in my car blissfully mellowed from the medications.

On the downside, I will be meeting with the surgeon on January 13th to discuss when to plan the 2nd surgical intervention. My case was presented to the group of GI docs and surgeons last week. It was a doctor group consensus that I have a partial blockage that needs to be resolved. This will solve part of the problems. I am currently on a low starting dose of a medication that might address the other problem. It has a downside of lowering blood pressure and mine is already plenty low. So, I monitor both my blood sugars and my blood pressure throughout the day. Today they upped the dose so if there are going to e problems they will probably be present soon enough.

I will be posting daily – my goal! These will be general postings about my observations of the world around me. I think you will enjoy my twisted displays of humor.

They bumped me from 12-hour pump cycle back up to a 14-hour pump cycle because I was having some serious sugar crashes during the time off the pump.

I’ve decided not to post anymore about this issue until after I meet the surgeon on the 13th of January. DON’T PANIC! I will still be posting but not about the upcoming surgery. I am not in a good place about the surgery and my chances for “recovery”. I will chat about this later. Right now, I just want to keep my strength about for the holidays. They are going to be draining me as it is – emotionally, physically and financially.

I am plugging along on TPN/iv nutrition. I’ve had problems with swollen joints, water weight gain, hair loss, bruises, cold feet and hands, sore muscles…..but I know it make take some time to tweaking my formula. I am trying to start a very light exercise program right now to build up so much of the muscles lost during the last year.

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hello lisa (post-summer).

2010-12-18T17:22:00.000-08:00

Source::http://bulks.wordpress.com/2010/12/17/hello-lisa-post-summer/

lisa came to visit me while i was house sitting in silver lake. started with a picnic at lacma, and ended our day at malo tacos.

the next morning we had brunch at alcove on hillhurst. delicious!

btw…three celebrity sightings all weekend!

the girls were thoroughly satisfied.

This entry was posted on December 17, 2010 at 7:00 am and is filed under food, life.

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Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon Are Having Twins

2010-12-18T16:56:00.000-08:00

Source::http://machronicles.com/2010/12/17/mariah-carey-and-nick-cannon-are-having-twins/

Nick Cannon revealed today in an interview with what everyone has been suspecting! Nick and Wifey Mariah Carey are expecting Twins. In an Interview with 92.3 FM Radio Station, Nick shared that the first person to learn that they were expecting Twins was President Obama:

“On Friday, you will see my wife perform in front of the President and the first family … and she opens the show with a song she wrote called “One Child” which is kind of ironic. It’s a festive holiday song … she even speaks of how she was inspired writing this song and being pregnant. So as she’s singing this song and goes backstage and has the opportunity to speak with the President and the First Family, and they even questioned my wife about ‘So what are you having, are you having twins?’ At this point she hadn’t told anybody anything … and because of the excitement, she was overwhelmed and she shared with the President that we are having twins.”

There has been speculation that Mariah was having twins after she referenced to the baby as ‘they’ in an interview last month.

I’m really happy for them! Congratulations to the happy couple!

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Vegan And Alkaline: Almond Butter

2010-12-18T16:26:00.000-08:00

Source:http://innerscientist.wordpress.com/2010/12/17/vegan-and-alkaline-almond-butter/

I love almonds at this time of year, when the cold really bites and the body yearns for warm, comforting foods. I try to incorporate them into my diet as much as possible – eating them with my fruits in the morning, or soaking them overnight and eating them with honey and black pepper. That’s a must try if you feel the sniffles coming, by the way.

Almonds are generally great for the body – they are high in protein, aid digestion, lower cholesterol levels, they’re rich in Vitamin E and contain zinc, potassium, magnesium, iron, calcium and others.

Almond Butter

So I’ve been wanting to make a delicious spread to eat with bread or rice crackers – kind of a healthy snack between meals. Peanut butter is too acidic and so I came across this really simple, delicious recipe which is both vegan and alkaline.

1 cup almonds – preferably roasted, as that gives them a nice crispy flavour

1/2 tbsp Olive oil

Salt to taste

Blend together and voila – you have a nutritious, delicious spread. I poured some over my fruits this morning, added some raisins and had a very yummy, filling breakfast.

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Vegan Banana Cake

2010-12-18T15:56:00.000-08:00

Source::http://veggielover99.wordpress.com/2010/12/17/vegan-banana-cake/

This banana cake was one of the easiest to bake. You don’t need a fancy topping on this cake: a simple sprinkling of confectioners powdered sugar does the trick.

Ingredients:

Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a bowl.

Beat together the oil and sugar with a handheld mixer for about two minutes.Add the soymilk mixture and beat until just mixed.Add the mashed bananas and beat in. Make sure there are no big lumps remaining.Add the flour to the banana-soymilk-oil mixture in 2 batches, beating in after each addition until the mixture is smooth. Do not overbeat, though. Line a 9-inch square pan with parchment or wax paper. Oil the paper.Pour in the batter and bake 25-30 minutes in a 350-degree oven until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.Place the cake on a rack to cool.After about 10 minutes, lift out the cake by the parchment paper and place it on the rack to cool thoroughly.Dust the confectioners’ sugar over the cake.Cut into squares and devour!

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Carid Car Floor Mats

2010-12-18T15:28:00.000-08:00

Source:http://eatloveshop.wordpress.com/2010/12/17/465/

Winter is here and my vehicle knows it! My Chevy Tahoe is taking a beating with all the muddy snow going in and out of it. I try to keep it as clean as I can of course, but when my four children are parading in and out of it… well things get a little messy. The weather isn’t helping much either. Thankfully there are just a simple things I can do to help keep up with the mess and turn clean up time into a faster, easier experience. I took a swing on over to Carid online and looked around at the car floor mats for my Tahoe. I figure I could use an update for sure. At first I really wanted to go with something attractive and fashionable but then I found the RubberTite All-Weather Floor Mats. Perfect! They are simple, sleek floor mats that are designed specifically for my make, model, and year vehicle and they are ideal for the weather in my area.

LLOYD® - RubberTite™ All-Weather Floor Mats

I really like the overall design and the variety of colors and shapes/prices. I looked around Carid’s site and found the mats that were perfect for me. I simply entered my vehicle information and was able to view all the different options for my Tahoe. The All-Weather Floor Mats are designed to trap liquid, mud, dirt, etc. I live on a gravel road in southern Iowa and with all the dust in the spring and summer and snow in the winter, the All-Weather mats will make a great fit! They are available in black, grey, tan, and crystal clear. I had a lot of options to choose from. I decided to go with tan because it matches my leather interior. I also had the option to purchase a couple of different styles. They have the one piece front mat, two piece front mat set, one piece back mat set, and cargo set. I went with both the front and back sets and for a good price too; only $44.91 for the front and $35.91 for the back set. They are solid, well made mats and should last a long time which is exactly what I need.

If you are looking for a nice set of car floor mats for your car and want to grab them at a decent price, visit Carid. I recommend them to all my readers, you will not be disappointed.

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Pea nut chicken curry

2010-12-18T14:59:00.000-08:00

Source:http://flashnewsonline.wordpress.com/2010/12/17/pea-nut-chicken-curry/

click her to know how to prepare pea nut chicken curry….

Be the first to like this post.Sorry, I could not read the content fromt this page.

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Recipe: Low-Fat Holiday Eggnog

2010-12-18T14:30:00.000-08:00

Source:http://darksiren.wordpress.com/2010/12/17/recipe-low-fat-holiday-eggnog/

Recommended by Carrie Wiatt

Want to serve something festive that won’t have you looking like Santa in the New Year? P90X nutritionist Carrie Wiatt’s twist on this holiday favorite has a great carb-protein-fat ratio that’ll help you stay healthy for the holidays.

4 cups skim milk12 oz. evaporated skim milk4 eggs1/2 cup sugar1 tsp. vanilla extractGround nutmeg

Chill 6 oz. of the evaporated milk in the freezer for 30 minutes so it will whip better. In a saucepan over medium heat, whisk together skim milk, remaining 6 oz. of evaporated milk, eggs, and sugar. Rinse your whisk in hot water to ensure that no bacteria from the egg remain. Once you’ve done that, use a wooden spoon to stir the mixture on the stove constantly for 10 minutes until slightly thickened. (Do NOT boil.) Remove pan from heat; transfer mixture to a large bowl.and let it cool for several minutes. Place chilled evaporated milk and vanilla in a small bowl and whisk together until slightly thickened. Add it to the egg mixture and whisk for a few minutes more, until frothy. Refrigerate for 4 to 24 hours. If the eggs begin to coagulate, you can strain the mixture to remove the solids. Top with ground nutmeg before serving. You may substitute 1/2 cup of rum or brandy for vanilla. Makes 12 servings.

Preparation Time: 20 minutes (mixing), 4 hours and 30 minutes to 24 hours (prechilling)

Nutritional Information (per serving):

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Almond Stuffed Chicken with Long Grain Rice and Peppers

2010-12-18T14:04:00.000-08:00

Source::http://sydneyskitchen.tv/2010/12/15/almond-stuffed-chicken-with-long-grain-rice-and-peppers/?tpref=foodpress Almond-stuffed chicken with rice and peppers

Dinner

The easiest way to switch up a chicken meal is to add stuffing. It brings a whole new dimension to the meal. New flavors, tastes and textures how can you go wrong?

For the Chicken

Ingredients for Chichen and stuffing

1/3 cup light garlic and herb cream cheese

1/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted, coarsely chopped and divided

3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, divided

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, washed and dried

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 1/2 tablespoon butter

In a small bowl, combine the spreadable cream cheese, 3 tablespoons of toasted almonds, and 2 tablespoons of parsley and set aside.

Cut a horizontal slit through the thickest portion of the breast to form a pocket. Stuff 1 1/2 tablespoons of the cheese mixture into each pocket; secure each pocket with a wooden tooth pick. Sprinkle the chicken breast with salt and pepper.

Cooking the chicken

Heat the butter in a large non stick fry pan over medium heat. Add the chicken to the pan; cook 6 minutes on each side and then place on a baking sheet and place in the oven for 5-10 minutes at 400F until done. Remove from the pan; cover and let stand for 2 minutes. Top the chicken with the remaining tablespoon of almonds and remaining tablespoon of parsley.

Cooking Stuffed Chichen

For the Long Grain Rice

Rice

1 cup water

1/2 cup long grain rice

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon of butter

In a small pot boil the water and add the salt and butter; add the rice and boil for a few minutes and then reduce the heat and cover. Simmer for 20-25 minutes until the water is gone then fluff with a fork.

For the peppers

cooking the peppers

1 each Red, Orange and Yellow bell peppers

3 cloves of minced garlic

2 teaspoons butter

salt and pepper

In a medium fry pan melt the butter until foamy then add the garlic and saute until fragrant. Add the peppers and saute until tender but not too soft; add salt and pepper to taste.

Almond-Stuffed Chicken with rice and peppers

This was an amazingly simple meal with an abundance of taste and texture. I really love the crunch of nuts in the stuffing it really is something different and it is so tasty! The whole meal takes only 30-40 minutes to prepare depending on your oven and cook time. I assure you there will be no disappointment here!

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About 2PM

2010-12-18T13:38:00.000-08:00

Source::http://pichsopheak.wordpress.com/2010/12/17/about-2pm/

2PM is a South Korean boy band, originally a seven-member group, but currently consisting of six members[1] due to the sudden contract termination of leader Jaebeom following an Internet controversy in September 2009. They are managed by JYP Entertainment. The current members are Junsu, Junho, Nichkhun, Taecyeon, Wooyoung and Chansung.

2PM is one of the two subgroups branched out from the eleven-member (before Jaebeom’s departure) boy band One Day, the other being 2AM. They debuted with the song “10 Jeom Manjeome 10 Jeom” (10? ??? 10?, lit. 10 Points Out of 10 Points), which showcased their acrobatic dance styles.[2] They achieved their first No. 1 song with “Again & Again”.

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Peter Hoffman sometimes wonders ... what if Nietszche or Kierkegaard took photos?

2010-12-18T13:10:00.000-08:00

Source::http://photopol.us/2010/12/16/peter-hoffman-sometimes-wonders-what-if-nietszche-or-kierkegaard-took-photos/

My girlfriend in high school told me her photography class was fun, and I loved the skate photos in my monthly Thrasher, so I took the class. The teacher was terrible because he was preoccupied with being a wrestling coach, but the upside of that was that I pretty much got to do whatever I wanted in class, so I had fun. Fast-forward a few years to when I was 20 and living in New Zealand going on surfing road trips with some new found friends and I felt like I needed to take tons of pictures, probably for the first time in my life.

A Hasselblad, or Leica M6, also Contax g2. I try to keep it simple. My clients usually want digital so that’s just Nikon D700 and a few small primes. I love shooting film though and would do so exclusively if I could.

Yikes, there isn’t one. I’d say I get the ideas and the drive to make new work when I’m outside being active. That usually means trail running but sometimes surfing or snowboarding. The most visually present inspiration in my work is probably my concern about and love for nature. A lot of the time I am looking for elements of nature within a man made world, and questioning the relationship between the two. I’m probably an optimist at heart but I photograph out of concern, curiosity and frustration in many cases.
Also I’m inspired by different writings, particularly existentialism lately. It’s sort of an absurd thought but sometimes I wonder what if Nietszche or Kierkegaard took photos? How would that look? I often think that photography, at least in terms of how I practice it, is much more akin to writing than it is to painting, or illustration. If I read something that I feel changes the way I perceive the world then often the first thing I want to do is make pictures. I know that might sound a bit strange and may not necessarily show in the actual photos I make, but that’s the sort of thing that gets me going.

I find that the greater challenge is forcing myself to get out the door to shoot even if I have an open day. It’s not that I don’t want to, it’s just that when I wake up and the light isn’t perfect and my bed is just so good and I probably won’t find anything or meet anyone today and what’s the point of this project anyway and do I really have the money to be sending 5 more rolls to the lab and maybe I should market myself today instead and…. you get the idea. Beating that is harder than finding time. I have about three bodies of work that I am currently working on that can all be advanced within my area if I am successful with getting myself out the door for the day.

I guess I don’t think of photography in those terms. I’m just interested in compiling a collection of work that communicates some cohesive notion about the time and place we are in. My foundation is that of a photojournalist and although I realize I am a completely subjective being I photograph things as they are, be it space, people, things etc. The one thing I’m not interested in is creating a fantasy or another world. I really just want to make pictures that cause people to question or reconsider their surroundings.

I just had some work (Bryan House) up at the Fotografia Festival in Rome, and I’m getting published in the American Photography 26 edition, but other than that right now I’m mostly concentrating on making new work. I get really hesitant about putting much work out there right now because most of it is not what I would consider a complete thought, yet.

I’m not really sure that any of my images are really unique, but I hope that when I die, if someone stumbles on a shoebox of my prints they might get specific a sense what the world I saw was like. I hope that my catalogue is an honest representation of who I am and the world I’m in. That’s about it.

Off the top of my head, probably Timothy Leary or Augustine of Hippo. Not for the pictures necessarily. I look at portrait shoots as a chance to have a conversation with someone, and the portraits are a byproduct of my connection with that person. I’d love to talk to those fellows.

I’d love to go back to New Zealand and photograph a town called Piha, as well as most of the Islands really. I’m mostly shooting things that are at least loosely related to water right now, so anywhere with coastline. If I had a camper van and some good friends, surfboards and bicycles that would all be great too. I spent a summer on the road solo…company would have helped at times. There are a few places in Canada in in the Nordic countries I would love to photograph too, but I’m looking at those as more long-term goals.
That said, I’ve spent a large portion of my life wanting to and trying to leave the Midwest, and though I have in fits and spurts I always end up back here. Now that I’ve accepted this and am actually quite okay with it, I feel it pretty important to make Midwestern work. I think there is a lot of uncharted territory here (photographically speaking) and I’m here to try and explore some of that. I won’t lie, my recent forays into surfing on Lake Michigan are a big part of why I’m okay with living here now. For the work I feel strongly about doing, I’m in exactly the place I need to be at this particular moment. In a year it may change.

I take my film to the lab and then pick it up. For digital I use Lightroom. I really try to minimize my computer time. That’s not where you make photography. I hardly use photoshop anymore, which makes me happy. If I do it’s pretty much all curves adjustment layers and cloning out dust from scans.

I pretty much like the stuff I have. I rarely photograph anything shorter than 35mm and longer than 85mm so I’ve got it covered. Maybe I’d get another lens (50) for my Leica, and that new 35 1.4 for the Nikon, and spend the rest of the money on a better scanner and really just endless film and processing.

This changes but some constants are William Eggleston, Trent Parke, Sam Abell and Michael Kenna. Lately I’ve really gotten into work by Gus Powell and Saul Leiter. There is so much good work out there now though, it’s pretty cool. I like them all for different reasons.

The things that have helped my photography the most were 1) Ohio University letting me into their grad program for photojournalism and 2) The fellowship I got for the National Network of Forest Practitioners where I pretty much drove around and shot documentary work of people and their relationship with the land for an entire summer. I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be anywhere without those opportunities. That said, I’m still trying to figure this whole “career” thing out…

You should check out the work of my friend Ross Mantle. *ed. note: oops, we already did – last week.

I like a lot of ambient and hip-hop instrumental type stuff for editing, Blockhead and RJD2 etc. Also jazz….Hird and the Bad Plus are a couple good ones I’m digging at the moment. I’m still big into hip hop and punk rock though….Pennywise, Bad Religion, Tribe Called Quest, Aesop Rock are some constant favorites.

Going running is key to my functioning, so, the forest preserve or anything outside where I’m not being constantly reminded of things like traffic and strip malls is good. Other than that yea I’ve got a favorite watering hole I hit up with my friends, but they have bad cover bands on the weekends so it’s mostly a Tuesday night thing.

I’ve never thought about that. Most of my favorite images just sort of happen when I’m living my life, and I usually don’t know that I like something until days or weeks after. If it’s an assignment I feel pretty good about maybe I’ll go on a long run afterward. Then again, if it’s one I’m pretty frustrated by I’ll probably do the same thing. I love Chicago pizza…Lou Malnati’s followed by Giordano’s.

This always changes for me, which is partially why I keep making photos, I guess. Lately I’ve been photographing the streets of Chicago quite a bit which has been a new and interesting challenge. I was teaching high school kids downtown this summer and I often went out shooting after class as a way to unwind. I think about 30 min before I made this photo (see first image below) a guy threatened to bash my head in, but he spoke more eloquently and graphically than that. Photographing in public is always an adventure. I have my reasons for liking it, but you can take from it what you will.

I can’t judge photographers based on one picture. I feel that’s like reading a page of a novel and making an assessment. It just totally short changes the work. The photographers that I admire all have great bodies of work. I’ll show the portfolio from Alec Soth’s Dog Days Bogota book. This is possibly my favorite photo book, despite the fact that I feel like this one gets looked over in his catalogue.

No. If it did I would pick up a hammer or something. Yea there are shoots where I may have to do something I’m not into, but I really try to minimize this. If I get to meet new people or see a new place I’m happy, even if one would think the place might be boring. I had an assignment recently where I was sent to a strange town I’d never been to and the editor told me to just do what Eggleston might do. There’s not much you could say to make me more excited. What’s better than getting hired for shooting how you want to shoot? Days like that will make me put up with a decent amount of nonsense and still love the medium.

I seem to always have this wool hat that my late grandfather bought in Ireland some decades ago. I don’t always wear it, but it’s usually nearby.

Aquarius

©PeterHoffman

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Editorial #174: Miley Cyrus Smoking a Bong?

2010-12-18T12:42:00.000-08:00

Source::http://autismpolitico.wordpress.com/2010/12/17/editorial-174-miley-cyrus-smoking-a-bong/

Autism Politico is aware that Miley Cyrus was supposedly filmed smoking a bong.

Cyrus then flops back in her chair and laughs uncontrollably before telling her friends: “Oh I’m gonna lose it now… I’m going. Having a little bit of a bad trip! Is that a f**king Liam lookalike or what the hell is that? Is that my boyfriend? Is that my boyfriend? Oh my God, he looks so much like Liam!”

The teen star points to her head and giggles as she asks a pal: “Is it me tripping? Is it me tripping?” before breaking down in uncontrollable laughter.

Readers of this blog may wonder why Autism Politico would post such tripe as this.

The reason, of course, is to show you what sort of news catches the interest of the average person. News like Cyrus taking a hit makes the newspapers, but no one appears interested in knowing whether or not you are getting the medical assistance you are looking for, or the educational assistant you need in school, or the assistive technology you may need to communicate.

But part of the blame for this falls on your own shoulder. If you aren’t vocal enough, nobody will hear you and nobody will listen.

And if you clicked on the link, then you are just as guilty of reading up on fluff news as the average NT is. What you should have done instead is leave a comment about whatever plight you happen to be suffering at the moment so that others who come to this blog will have an appreciation for what you are going through.

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Brave New World, 1957

2010-12-18T12:16:00.000-08:00

Source:http://calculable.org/2010/12/17/brave-new-world-1957/

It’s been 53 years. Wouldn’t you say it’s time to put all those fabulous ideas into action?

Source: Paleo-Future

The modified, eight o’clock Mercedes star serves as label for all car-related posts on The Calculable, for no obvious reason other than the mere fact that posts are published at eight—and my clearly misguided conviction that the logo conversion is a strike of genius (Man, me and my blasted ego!).

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Today's Special: Steamy Whole Wheat Squash Rolls

2010-12-18T11:49:00.000-08:00

Source::http://thegastrognome.wordpress.com/2010/11/30/steamy-whole-wheat-kabocha-rolls/?tpref=foodpress

The heat in our apartment appears to be controlled by martians so the cool days have been inspiring me to do something I fear like the reaper: Bake. By martians, I may actually mean the girls that live below us. Point is, its cold during the day so instead of being productive with work, I want to bake.

I had an idea in mind; though stumbling across this post confirmed to me that it was a good idea. I also had a Kabocha squash, my very favorite kind, sitting on the counter.

Squash

Winter

Warm

Bake

Visions of warm, buttery rolls floated through my head, emitting puffs of steam when you pulled them apart, letting pats of butter melt into their every crevice.

Knowing that baking isn’t my forte, I set out to make something involving flour, eggs and squash.

And then, a few quick hours later, there they were, too hot to handle, ready to fulfill all of my bread related fantasies.

If you still have giant amounts of cranberry sauce left (as I do) it makes a great compliment to these.

Whole Wheat Kabocha Squash Rolls

1 small to medium Kabocha squash
Canola oil
1/2 cup warm water
1.5 tsps. baking yeast
2 tsps. brown sugar
2 eggs
2 cups white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
3 tsps. salt
More flour for the board

Rub the oil on the outside of the squash and roast it until soft. For me, this was about 30 minutes in a 375 oven. Cut it open, scoop out the guts and toss, then scoop out the ‘meat’ and save. Put the water and the yeast into the bowl of a food processor, then add the sugar. Leave it for a few minutes, then add the eggs and squash (about 2 cups) and process until smooth. At this point, add the salt and leave the processor going on low and add the flour through the tube. Once all three cups are in, let it process until it forms a ball or close to it. You’ll probably want at least a little more flour, but I err on the low side, its easier to add than subtract!

Once you’ve got it in a ball, place on a floured board, cover with a towel or plastic wrap and let rise for an hour. Roll in to balls (I got ten out of this), cover and let rise another 45 minutes to an hour. If your house is freezing, you can turn on the oven and let it come up to 375 degrees while you sit in front of it during this time.

Either way, place on a floured pizza stone or baking sheet and put it in the oven. After about 5 minutes, open the oven and splash a little water in–this gives the rolls a crustier exterior. Let it keep baking for about 25 minutes in total. Then cool and eat. or don’t cool. and eat.

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Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

2010-12-18T11:21:00.000-08:00

Source::http://whaticrave.wordpress.com/2010/12/14/cream-cheese-coffee-cake/?tpref=foodpress

Over the weekend, my sister, brother-in-law and their two kids came up to stay. We wanted to have our cousin Elsie, resident family photographer, photograph the kids so that we could surprise my parents for Christmas (shhh..). I see my sister fairly often and when we get together, it’s a zoo. I always imagine that the mornings will be leisurely, where my sister and I lounge around with our coffee cups and chit chat about this and that. In reality, the kids go nuts and run around in circles until someone barfs or drops from dizziness and we get to clean up the mess. But it is fun. And we do get to talk a bit over coffee.

Knowing it would be a little chaotic to whip up a big breakfast the next day, I made a cream cheese coffee cake the night before. I served it at room temperature the next day and it was good but it would be great warmed up.

Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

Makes one 8-inch round cake

Filling

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

1 egg

1 teaspoon maple syrup

1/8 teaspoon stevia

Cake

6 eggs

3 tablespoons butter, melted

1/2 cup yogurt

3 tablespoons maple syrup

1/4 teaspoon stevia

1 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon coconut flour, sifted

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup pecans, chopped

1 tablespoon coconut sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease one 8-inch round cake pan.Beat together all ingredients for cream cheese filling. Set aside.Combine wet ingredients for cake then add the dry ingredients through the salt. Mix well.Toss pecans, cinnamon and coconut sugar together in a separate bowl.Pour cake batter into pan and drop bits of the pecan mixture throughout batter.Top with cream cheese filling and use a knife or tooth pick to swirl it around.Bake for 25 minutes and let cool slightly before slicing.

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My 51st Favorite Thing: A1

2010-12-18T10:56:00.000-08:00

Source::http://marlowesnymph.wordpress.com/2010/12/16/my-51st-favorite-thing-a1/

A1 is the best sauce ever. Seriously. It trumps every other steak sauce I’ve ever tasted. I mean, Cattlemen’s is pretty good, but A1 owns. I can eat it with steak, chicken, mashed potatoes, I even like to lick it off the plate sop it up with bread. Ahhhhhh, my mouth is watering just thinking about it!

Tags: A1 sauce, food

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chocolate truffles & pretzel bark.

2010-12-18T10:27:00.000-08:00

Source:http://wellthatsawkward.wordpress.com/2010/12/16/chocolate-truffles-pretzel-bark/

I’ve spent the past couple of days making some holiday treats for my friends, since I’m pretty much too poor to buy presents this year and homemade is better anyway.

Although if any of my friends don’t like chocolate, they’re pretty much not getting anything.

Chocolate Truffles

2.5 pkgs (20 squares) Baker’s semi-sweet baking chocolate1 pkg cream cheese, softenedsprinkles, chopped nuts, etc. for decorating

Allow cream cheese to soften to room temperature, then beat with a mixer until creamy. Melt 8 squares chocolate in saucepan (don’t forget to stir so it doesn’t burn!) Stir chocolate into cream cheese mixture and mix until well blended. Refrigerate until firm.

Spoon out by teaspoon and roll into 1 to 1.5 inch balls and place on wax paper lined cookie sheet.

Melt remaining chocolate (12 squares – don’t forget to stir!). Use a fork to dip into the chocolate, making sure to coat completely; twirl to drip excess chocolate, then place back onto cookie sheet. (If the cream cheese balls start to soften up too much, just pop them back into the refrigerator for a few minutes – but decorate the dipped ones first!)

Decorate truffles with sprinkles, chopped nuts (I used hazelnuts), or whatever else you can think of — get creative! Then keep them refrigerated until serving (or gifting!)

Peanut Butter Pretzel Bark

After dipping my truffles, I had some melted chocolate left over, and of course I didn’t want to just waste all that tasty dark chocolatey goodness. So I put it back on the stovetop, added a few tablespoons of peanut butter and mixed in crushed pretzels, then spread it out onto waxed paper and stuck it in the refrigerator for about half an hour to harden into pretzel bark.

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Delicious Morsels From Swan Mama's Kitchen To Yours

2010-12-18T09:59:00.000-08:00

Source:http://plotmamas.wordpress.com/2010/12/17/960/

Peanut Butter Bars

1 cup peanut butter

3 ½ cups powdered sugar

1 package graham crackers (crushed) Note: the new packages are smaller add two & ½ more crackers

1 cup butter or margarine (melted)

Melt butter and mix with sugar, crackers and peanut butter. Press into an 11 x 15 ½ jelly-roll pan (the cookie sheets with sides).

2 cups chocolate chips (I think that’s one bag)

¼ cup milk

3 Tblspns butter

Melt chocolate chips, butter and milk together. Pour over peanut butter base, spread and chill in fridge. Cut into squares and store in plastic container in fridge.

These make a great take-along finger dessert and a yummy treat for your family. So simple and yet sooooo delicious.

Love much, laugh often, live well,

Swan Mama signing off

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Olivia Wilde Gets Healthy

2010-12-18T09:32:00.000-08:00

Source::http://urbanmogullife.wordpress.com/2010/12/17/olivia-wilde-gets-healthy/

The Tron: Legacy actress shows her beauty on this month’s cover of Women’s Health. She discusses her routine for training for Tron: Legacy and how she likes to relax.

On Her Training Routing for Tron: Legacy: “I worked with a personal trainer, so I did about an hour of cardio five or six days a week, weight training three times a week, mixed martial arts/fighting three times a week, and that’s a lot more than my normal [routine]!”
On Quorra: “The great thing about playing a strong female character is that I feel like I’ve created someone for little girls to look up to.”

On How She Relaxes When Not Training: “Striving for physical perfection takes a lot of energy. For me it’s important to come home from work, cook a meal with my husband, and spend the afternoon reading a book, instead of always running around.”

Filed under Entertainment, Magazine Tagged with Jeff Bridges, Life, Mogul, Movie, Olivia Wilde, Tron, TRON Legacy, urban, Weight training, Women's Health

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It ain't Gingerbread it's Ninja Bread!

2010-12-18T09:02:00.000-08:00

Source::http://kirsty815.wordpress.com/2010/12/17/it-aint-gingerbread-its-ninja-bread/

No! Not gingerbread cookies… Ninja bread cookies!

They’re gingerbread men in ninja poses!

I call this sequence of photos the sneak attack or stealth ninja.

*Cue music*

Everybody was kung fu fighting… huh!

Those cats were fast as lightning…

It was a little bit frightening… huh!

But they fought with expert timing!

Oh oh-oh oooooh oh oh-oh ooooh!

HIYA!!!!

And…… Scene!

After a good half hour of playing around we baked our first batch and they came out perfect.

We even managed to give a few of them proper ninja attire!

I have to say I think my first attempt at ninja bread cookies rocked!

They were pretty tasty!

And while you’re sharing your favorite foodie photo, we’d love for you to add
our fun Friday Food Fight button to your post and link back here.

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Click here to enter your link and view this Linky Tools list…

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Spider photography

2010-12-18T08:37:00.000-08:00

Source::http://notesfromafrica.wordpress.com/2010/12/17/spider-photography/

So besides practising my photographic skills on the birds in our garden, I’m also using the many spiders in our house to develop my bug photography skills. The Spider Club photographers make it look so easy (CLICK HERE for The Spider Club Gallery). Well, it isn’t! Most spiders are tiny. Then there’s the problem of getting a good spider photo – one which can be used for identification purposes – and having it against an interesting background. Although I have now managed the first successfully a couple of times, my spiders have been on cream coloured walls i.e. not fascinating to a non-spider person.

Having nearly squashed the spider below when I opened the door for the dog this morning, I decided to try and take some photos of it. Again, another patient little spider!

Have to be careful where one puts one's hands!

Close-up of spider above

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Poopy McPoopShoes

2010-12-18T08:07:00.000-08:00

Source::http://holographicmeatloaf.com/2010/12/16/poopy-mcpoopshoes/

Unlike many southern California residents, I actually enjoy it when we get some rain around here. In fact, I’d like to vacation in Seattle sometime and just sit around, relax, and take in day after day of torrential storms.

Of course, I say that now.

Anyway, today we had a little bit of rain which meant that the drive to work was going to be a bit of a struggle since, as you may well know, people out here lose their fucking minds in the rain. It’s just one more obstacle to deal with when you’ve already got to drive while holding your latte and text, IDK, your BFF Jill. And even if you don’t fall into that category and actually spend time on the road driving (*raises hand*), the drive can still be a challenge.

At any rate, I was on the freeway when Ann called me* to let me know that she heard about an accident on the 405 southbound near the 55 and 73 interchanges. I’m glad she let me know—I listen to my iPod in the car and wouldn’t have known about this otherwise.

I already had my commute punched into my GPS as I always do just in case the freeway comes to a standstill and I need to take an alternate route. So after the call, I chose a route my GPS suggested and followed the green arrows.

It was nice taking another way to work and even better in the rain. I was really digging the drive and enjoying some cool tunes while passing some places I never knew existed.

While grooving to some of the aforementioned tunes, I had to pause for a moment. The song was still playing in the background but I wasn’t listening as something else caught my attention.

There was this…smell coming from somewhere inside the car. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it but yeah, it smelled pretty bad. I made the assumption that because it smelled so sour, maybe Anthony had left an empty milk carton in there somewhere after a Saturday morning doughnut run from a few weeks ago. That had to be it, right?

I kept sniffing the air and even glanced at the rear seat. No trash in sight.

The stench kept permeating as I continued driving. Not wanting to look down at my shoe for fear of discovering something I didn’t want to, I did just that at the next red light.

Shit. Exactly. There was some kind of animal shit on the corner of my shoe.

Now, I was tolerating the foul odor up to this point as I didn’t know exactly what it was and my commute was going okay so far, despite having to take an alternate route. But upon discovering the shit on my shoe, the drive became 100 miles longer, the streets were more crowded, and the smell suddenly turned into something that I couldn’t take any longer.

Funny how that works, huh? It was now Situation Critical.

I had to do something at the very next opportunity I got. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t have any kind of napkin or paper towel in the car but since I’ve been spending lunch in the car lately, I had a few stored in the armrest. Grabbing them and doubling them up, I tried to wipe the crap off of my shoe at the next red light.

Well, most of it came off but in the process, the wiping acted as some kind of Stench Activation Mechanism (SAM for short) and almost gagged me. And it wasn’t like I could roll down the windows and air out the car—it was raining, you know.

So I made my way to work with the poop-filled towel on the floor mat. It continued to stink up the place and was getting worse. Fortunately and ironically, a recent trip to Disneyland yielded an air freshener (see image above) that was attached to a fold-out card promoting ABC Family’s 25 Days of Christmas programming. They’ve been giving these out for the past few years as you enter the parking structure.

In an effort to kill the awful smell that was bound and determined to kill me, I unwrapped the air freshener—it was pine scented—and threw it around the shifter. And it worked for a little while but eventually the poop combined forces with it and then the car just smelled like a Christmas tree that took a mean shit.

Is that even possible?

I continued to drive to work and upon finding a spot in the parking lot, immediately threw the poo infested towel out the door—only to step on a corner of it upon exiting. Luckily, it was the only corner that was poo-free. And the good thing is that since it had been raining, there were plenty of puddles I could sort of dip my toe into and hopefully dissolve some of the shit before I entered the office.

No dice. I ended up going into the bathroom and spent some time in a stall using toilet paper to wipe away any remaining excrement off of my shoe. I was a few minutes late to my desk but nobody even noticed.

Once work was over, I entered the car and was pleased to find that, for the most part, the smell of poop was pretty much gone and the pine-scented air freshener was going its job. The source of the poop remains a mystery. It could quite possibly have been an errant log that one of the cats shot outside their communal litter box or a pile on the lawn that I stepped in while walking to the car.

Who knows and honestly, who cares? But today wasn’t totally crappy as I continued my Christmas winning streak by scoring a $15 gift card for movie tickets, which means that I can take Anthony to see Tron Legacy tomorrow. So despite starting the day off crappy, it ended on a high note.

I just hope the movie isn’t shitty.

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"Beauty Sleep" Is Real . . . The Less You Sleep, the Uglier You Look

2010-12-18T07:37:00.000-08:00

Source::http://mix1065fm.radio.com/2010/12/17/beauty-sleep-is-real-the-less-you-sleep-the-uglier-you-look/

The study here isn’t exactly groundbreaking . . . but researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, say if you get a full eight hours of sleep, you look better than if you’ve been awake on a 30-hour bender. No, really.

The researchers wanted to test the concept of “beauty sleep.” They took photographs of volunteers waking up after a nice eight hours of sleep . . . and then took photos after the volunteers stayed up for 31 straight hours.

When other people rated the photos, they almost always said the sleep-deprived photo looked less healthy and less attractive.

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dunes

2010-12-18T07:10:00.000-08:00

Source::http://ineveryatom.wordpress.com/2010/12/17/dunes/

Sand dunes in soft, cool light at dusk, Rajastan

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Bizarre Animals (6) - Have you ever heard of a cheebah ?

2010-12-18T06:41:00.000-08:00

Source::http://thomtmo4ca.wordpress.com/2010/12/17/bizarre-animals-6-have-you-ever-heard-of-a-cheebah/

This interesting new species has been getting a lot of publicity recently with the launch of the official cheebah breeders club’s new website(OfficialCheebah.com).

To most this creature really does seem bizzare but celebrities are taking to them in their droves.

New lines of cheebah related extracts and incences are starting to be released, we’re not too sure what the animal rights activists are going to say about this but apparently they actually like having these extracts made from them ???

According to the official cheebah breeders club;
“Cheebah’s naturally release a small amount of their defensive aroma when the are happy. By treating cheebahs with care and attention official cheebah breeders are able to produce a potent synthetic extract almost as powerful as a full on blast from the back of a full grown male cheebah.”( Cheebah burning incense – Officialcheebah.com )

But what are these cheebahs ? I’ve certainly never seen one..

Well according to the same website;
“Cheebahs are small kangaroo like creatures, Contrary to popular belief Cheebahs are not marsupials but are a totally unique (some could say alien) species.” ( About cheebah – OfficialCheebah.com)

They sure look cute but I couldn’t find out much information about this bizarre animal… i’m interested to find out more…

For more information about the cheebah see the official cheebah breeders club website ( OfficialCheebah.com )

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Astounding

2010-12-18T06:11:00.000-08:00

Source:http://prolifik-one.com/2010/12/16/astounding/

One ill bippu status Nissan Cima/President. I wouldn’t give a stock one a second look, but the differences that a drop and wheels make, turns it into a head turner.

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The Sustenance of Nature

2010-12-18T05:44:00.000-08:00

Source::http://mendofleur.com/2010/12/17/the-sustenance-of-nature/ December 17, 2010 by mendofleur

I have been all over the map it seems in the last month. Traveling is part of my life on a regular basis, endless road trips real and imagined. This photo was taken coming back from Northern California in an area that has large numbers of Roosevelt elk. I never tiring of viewing them so whenever we travel though this area I always manage to go very slowly and sometimes stop.

This particular afternoon a large herd was crossing the highway, and we all waited patiently while they crossed the road in front of us.

A few days after arriving home we boarded a train to Northern Washington to visit my husband’s brother and wife in the town of Mt Vernon. This is a view from the train with the Olympic Mountains in the background.

On the other side to the east were the Cascades.

These are the geese that winter in the Skagit Valley near the town a little farther north where Deb Gorr lives. She lives in a beautiful area of the country. This valley is really quite magical.

The next day after returning from this trip I headed to Southern California and took a photo of the beach at sunset while strolling with little Lincoln.

As I turned around I saw the sun glowing on this beautiful plant in full bloom.

No matter where one is in life, whatever the circumstance, however one views the glass full or empty, there is less madness and more comfort sometimes in the beauty of nature, its unfolding, nuances, and sometimes dramatic changes. It always seems to give a measure of peace as well as pleasure. I reside here in both real and imagined ways. So when the holiday season often seems too much for our endurance, there is always the sustenance of nature that can transform our minds and hearts.

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cookies for breakfast

2010-12-18T05:19:00.000-08:00

Source::http://joudandesuyo.wordpress.com/2010/12/17/cookies-for-breakfast/

the other morning before class, i was half-asleep, eating oatmeal and mused oatmeal should be in pancake form. youri then inception-ed me and suggested adding raisins, thus an idea was born. i woke up from my dream within a dream and it was time for breakfast.. OATMEAL RAISIN PANCAKES!

it’s like if Oatmeal had an affair on Raisins with Pancakes, so Raisins hired Brown Sugar P.I. to investigate but they all ended up having sexytimes. This would be that bastard skankalicious love child. food porn! get it??

uh, i digress.
i kind of invented a recipe, but not really because it’s mostly adapted from smitten kitchen’s oatmeal pancakes.

oatmeal raisin pancakes:

makes about 6 pancakes

1/2 cup oat flour (you can make this by pulsing rolled oats into a food processor or spice grinder until finely ground)
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of Kosher or coarse salt
2 tablespoons melted butter and cooled slightly (plus extra for the pan)
3/4 cups milk
1/2 cup cooked oatmeal
1 tablespoon honey
1 large egg
1/4 cup raisins

maple-brown sugar glaze:
( i didnt really measure so these are rough guesses)
1/4 cup powdered sugar
2-3 tablespoons brown sugar
about 2 tablespoons milk
1 or 2 tablespoons maple syrup
pinch of coarse salt

garnish:
toasted nuts (optional)

For pancakes:

Whisk the dry ingredients (oat flour, flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt) in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, whisk the butter, milk, cooked oatmeal, honey and egg together until thoroughly combined. Gently fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Fold in raisins.

Heat a 10-inch cast-iron pan or griddle over medium heat until water sizzles when splashed onto the pan. Lower to medium-low. Rub the pan generously with butter. Working quickly, dollop 1/4-cup mounds of batter onto the pan. Once bubbles have begun to form on the top side of the pancake, flip the pancake and cook until the bottom is dark golden-brown, about 5 minutes total. Wipe the pan with a cloth before griddling the next pancake. Continue with the rest of the batter.

(I hate when pancakes get cold while waiting for the rest of the batter to cook. To remedy this, I keep my pancake plate warm by resting it on a pot of simmering water on very low heat, like a double boiler. Or you can keep them warm in a low oven.)

For Brown Sugar-Maple Glaze:
Whisk (or sift if you want) brown sugar and powdered sugar. Whisk in maple syrup until the texture is peanut butter-y. Add milk a tablespoon at a time until it’s smooth and pourable.

it doesn’t have the butter and sugar content to make it taste Exactly like an oatmeal raisin cookie. i guess this is a responsible grown-up version of cookies for breakfast, save that sugary sweet brown sugar glaze. you know i’m not that responsible or grown-up.

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Blue Bottle Cafe

2010-12-18T04:50:00.000-08:00

Source::http://happysnapshots.wordpress.com/2010/12/16/blue-bottle-cafe/

My favorite coffee place, now. I can’t drink coffee straight, because it just tastes too strong and bitter. So when I ordered the New Orleans iced coffee, I was expecting that its combination of coffee + milk would be too strong without massive amounts of syrup, half and half, or chocolate. And yet it was smooth, mild, and so good. It didn’t need any cream or sugar or anything. This was like a paradigm shift for me.

Anyway, some pics I took on this trip last weekend in the San Francisco Blue Bottle location, including a shot of our friend DC (you’re now a star to my audience of two!):

Blue Bottle Coffee
66 Mint St
San Francisco, CA

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Today's Special: Dark Chocolate and Hazelnut Semi Freddo

2010-12-18T04:21:00.000-08:00

Source::http://mammyskitchen.wordpress.com/2010/12/15/christmas-cookalong-part-one-dark-chocolate-and-hazelnut-semi-freddo/?tpref=foodpress

Well the first Friday of December has been and gone and that means only one thing – the Irish Foodies monthly cookalong. This month’s theme was of course Christmas (well how could it be anything else?) and rather than cook an elaborate dinner, I decided to do a dessert and a bit of baking instead.

So the first recipe I decided on for the cookalong was Dark Chocolate & Hazelnut Semi Freddo from Rachel Allen’s Home Cooking book. Although (technically) its not actually cooking, this is one of the desserts I made last year to follow Christmas dinner. Instead of freezing in a loaf tin as suggested, I lined a pudding bowl to give it a more Christmassy shape.

I was lucky to get the picture above as about 5 seconds after it was taken, child#2 somehow managed to knock the plate off the table sending it crashing to the floor!

Dark Chocolate & Hazelnut Semi Freddo

What you need:

3 eggs, separated

150g caster sugar

500ml cream

100g dark chocolate finely chopped

100g chopped hazelnuts

What you do:

Line the base of a loaf tin with parchment or cling film, leaving the excess hanging out over the edges.Whisk the egg yolks and sugar together until pale and fluffy.In a second bowl, whip the cream until it forms soft peaks.Finally, in another (spotlessly clean) bowl, whisk the egg whites (with a clean whisk) until they form firm peaks.Gently fold the whipped cream into the egg yolk mixture then carefully fold in the egg whites.Sprinkle a third of the chopped chocolate & hazelnuts evenly into the base of the prepared tin. Pour half of the semifreddo mixture over the chocolate, followed by the next third of the chocolate. Finally, pour over the remaining semifreddo and top with the remaining chocolate. Cover with the excess hanging parchment or cling film and freeze for at least 6 hours until solid.Once it is set, carefully remove the semifreddo from the tin by turning upside down onto a plate and remove the parchment/clingfilm and cut into slices.

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Langley suzuki

2010-12-18T03:52:00.000-08:00

Source:http://wikicarsis.wordpress.com/2010/12/17/langley-suzuki/ 17 Dec

Langley suzuki. Used Suzuki Sx4 Cars For Sale in Langley, British Columbia. we found 9 used vehicles for Province: british columbia X City: langley X Make: suzuki X Model: David Suzuki said something very profound last Friday that should signal a shift in strategy and tactics for environmentalists around around 2007 Suzuki Grand Vitara JLX-L For Sale, Local Car, No Accident, No Rebuilt, One Owner Engine: 2.7L 185HP V6, Top of the line, Langley Community Music School – Suzuki Student & Teacher Training Langley : 604-534-2848 http://www.langleymusic.com. États-Unis File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat – View as HTML Abenante Motor Sports Inc. dba Langley suzuki [Court Appointed Receiver] This page is for information purposes only and you should consult your financial or

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Featured Blogger: Sara

2010-12-18T03:27:00.000-08:00

Source::http://amongthetortillas.wordpress.com/?tpref=foodpress

This recipe is a clear-cut argument for adding pureed chipotle into pretty much anything. The simple addition here adds such depth of flavor that if you like spicy foods at all, you’ll wonder where this mac & cheese was in your life. It’s quickly become a must-have for any party we throw that involves plenty of people to help eat it, because really, if I made it for just Nick and I, I’d eat the whole pan!!

+ 1 package of whole wheat pasta (12-16oz or so)
+ 1 can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (see below for details on what to do with it)
+ pat of butter
+ 1 tablespoon whole wheat pastry flour
+ 1 1/2 cups milk (your choice of type, I generally use nonfat cow’s milk because that’s the standard in our kitchen; you may or may not want to add a little cream if you use nonfat)
+ 4-5 cups of grated cheese (I love using a mild white cheese that melts really well such as monterey jack)
+ salt & pepper, to taste

In case you’re not sure what chipotle peppers look like, here’s what to look for at the store:

1. Put your water on to boil and get that pasta cookin! (According to your package directions, of course.) Drain when cooked.

2. Process your can of chipotle peppers in a food processor until relatively smooth (it’ll always be a little lumpy; that’s OK). Set aside. (By the way, you’re going to end up with leftover chipotle after this; I suggest you store it in an airtight container and then add a little into some of your dishes here or there.)

3. Heat the butter in a pan (it’ll eventually hold all of the cheese sauce, so pick something with high-ish walls). When melted, add your flour and whisk around until incorporated. (Congrats, you just made a roux, you’re practically Julia Child!) Let the mixture cook for a few minutes, being careful not to burn it.

4. Add your milk, whisking it all together well.

5. Add your processed chipotle, and whisk together again. Now, if you’re like me and like things pretty darn spicy, you’ll want to add 4-5 tablespoons of the pureed chipotle. If you just like a little warmth but nothing outrageous, add 1 tablespoon, just to be on the safe side. If you’re not sure that you can take it, but kinda want to find out, add 3 and wish for the best. If you can’t handle any spice, step away from the chipotle! (But you sure can make it without the chipotle and it’d still be a kick-ass mac & cheese.)

6. Start adding in your cheese a little bit at a time, letting it melt between each addition.

7. *droool*

8. Once your cheese is all incorporated, and you may or may not have dipped a tortilla chip in to make sure it’s delicious, add some salt & pepper, turn the heat off and add your pasta to your sauce (or add the sauce to the pasta, depends which is the bigger pot/bowl). I call this the rivers of cheese. (Anyone know a good real estate agent so I can buy a house on the banks of this river?!)

9. Mix everything up so it’s all good and cheese-covered.

10. Put the whole thing into a lightly oiled/buttered baking dish, covering with a little more cheese on the top if you’re into that sort of thing (I’m betting that you are if you’ve gotten this far!).

11. Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes, until the top is cooked as you like it (longer cooking time = crispier top). Let it rest for at least 5 minutes before digging into it.

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Vegan Substitutes

2010-12-18T02:58:00.000-08:00

Source::http://veggielover99.wordpress.com/2010/12/17/vegan-substitutes/

Finding substitutes for animal products is perhaps the trickiest part of vegan cooking, both for a new conscious-eater, and for someone who’s been doing this a while. But it can also be a lot of fun to upend some long-held traditions on cooking and baking by using cruelty-free products and getting results that are just as good and usually healthier than their animal-infested versions.

Here is a list of the substitutes that always work.

1 EGG
(To replace more than one, just multiply)
1 tbsp of ground flax meal + 3 tbsp of water
used most often for baked bread-cakes, like Banana Nut Bread and Zucchini Bread, and in cookies and muffins.

1/4 cup tofu
(I usually blend my tofu so it is smooth before using it. If you add it as is to a recipe, you might never be able to break the lumps. Tofu works especially well in quiches and pancakes and pastas. It is also a great replacement in scrambled eggs).

1/2 banana
(don’t use banana unless you want the recipe to be banana-flavored, as in Banana Cake.)

1/4 cup applesauce
(Applesauce also makes a baked good really moist, so it allows you to cut down on fat in the recipe. It works great in Carrot Cake.)

Commercial powder substitutes like EnerG
(I don’t use these a lot, but they are handy at times, especially in lighter cookies, like Amaretti. Read package instructions for measures.)

1 CUP MILK

(With all the alternatives available, there is really no excuse to use dairy milk. Soymilk with cereal and in cakes and muffins etc, or using almond milk instead of milk in many Indian sweets)

1 cup Soymilk

1 cup Rice Milk

1 cup Almond Milk

1 cup Hemp Milk

1 cup Hazelnut Milk

1 CUP YOGURT(Yogurt substitutes work great in raitas and other Indian foods like biryanis which call for yogurt Commercial soy yogurts are also available in all parts of the world.)

1 cup silken tofu blended with 2 tbsp lemon juice + 1/4 tsp salt (use more or less lemon juice if you don’t want your yogurt to be too acidic.)
Look in the regular refrigerator aisle alongside regular yogurt.

1 CUP BUTTERMILK
(Buttermilk substitutes can be used in any recipe that calls for it, including cupcakes, pancakes, and southern-style biscuits)

1 cup soymilk or almond milk + 1 tsp vinegar (use any you have on hand, from plain vinegar to balsamic to apple cider. Mix and set aside for a couple of minutes to curdle.)

1 TBSP BUTTER
(Butter substitutes, like milk and yogurt substitutes, replace all the cholesterol with healthy fats that are better for you. Of course, vegan fats also contain the same number of calories as animal fats, so don’t overdo the use of fats of any kind.)

1 tbsp vegan margarine or “butter”

1 tbsp flavorless oil

1 tbsp vegetable shortening (vanaspati in India)

1 TBSP CHEESE

1 tbsp nutritional yeast
(This is most commonly used in pestos, pastas etc. as a cheese substitute and it adds a wonderfully cheesy flavor. It has all the yumminess of cheese minus the bad fats, and, cherry on the icing, it is packed with healthy B vitamins.)
1 tsp miso
( this Japanese seasoning can be used all the time instead of salt and in place of cheese in pestos and soups. You can also add it to quiches, sauces, etc. Always add miso at the end of cooking, since heating miso can kill the wonderful enzymes it has that regulate your digestion).

OTHER DAIRY PRODUCTS

There are commercial brands of vegan cream cheese and vegan sour cream (like Tofutti) that taste and acts like the original thing.

1 TBSP HONEY: 1 tbsp maple syrup (Maple Syrup can be a great flavor-enhancer in some treats like oatmeal cookies and even nut breads.)

1 tbsp agave nectar ( Agave nectar has a low glycemic index and makes a healthy sugar substitute)

**

1 TBSP WORCESTERSHIRE SAUCE: 1 tbsp soy sauce with a smidgen of vinegar to add a slightly tangy note. Vegan versions of worcestershire sauce are also on the market, but be sure to read labels carefully.

THAI CURRY PASTES: Thai curry pastes are great to have on hand for quick curries, but vegans need to watch out because most off-the-shelf products contain animal ingredients. The pastes are super-easy to make at home, and you can’t beat the flavor.

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Caja China / Cajun Microwave Cuban Pig Roast Recipe

2010-12-18T02:32:00.000-08:00

Source:http://cajachinagrillmasters.wordpress.com/2010/12/17/caja-china-cajun-microwave-cuban-pig-roast-recipe/

After years of trying and creating recipes for our La Caja China style (Cajun Microwave) roasting boxes, here’s a recipe that never fails to please: the classic Cuban pig roast. No one who owns a pig roaster should go without trying this at least one in their lifetime!

Classic Cuban Mojo Seasoning!

The key to doing a Cuban pig roast (beside using a “Caja Asadora” or Roasting Box) is the marinade. The flavors this recipe calls for are classic Caribbean fare, common from Puerto Rico throughout the islands, and into Cuba. They include garlic, sour orange (or “naranja agria” in spanish), salt, black peppercorns, and oregano. If unable to find sour orange, a two to one mixture of orange and lemon juice can be used instead. For a whole roast pig, use four or five large heads of garlic (70 to 80 cloves). For every 10 cloves add about ½ teaspoon of salt and black pepper and oregano to taste. Use a mortar and pestle to mash the mixture into a paste and scoop into a separate bowl. Continue this procedure until all the garlic cloves are gone, then stir in about one quart of sour orange. This amount is desired to barbecue whole pig. It is preferable to brine the hog the night before your pig roast. This will ensure that the hog does not dry out while cooking in your Caja China box. Brining is basically covering the pig in a liquid solution that is one-gallon water to one-cup salt, and allow it to sit overnight. For Latin Touch events, we inject the whole pig (especially in the pork shoulders and pork butt) prior to brining, allowing the marinade more time to work its magic. When placing the whole pig onto the Caja China Roasting Box rack you can also use a dry mojo rub on the skin prior to cooking. If available, you can add halved sour oranges along the ribs and cavity as well. Three to four hours later (after flipping the pig for the last 30-45 minutes) you can officially consider yourself an honorary Cuban. You have just prepared a classic dish dating back generations, and because you did it in a Caja China (or La Caja China) box, it didn’t take 8 hours to do it! Serve with “moro” (white rice and black beans) and yucca and you will have the perfect side dishes for your classic Caja China Cuban pig roast.

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Stimulus Payment

2010-12-18T02:06:00.000-08:00

Source::http://whatticksmeoff.wordpress.com/2010/12/17/stimulus-payment/

December 17, 2010 by kevinemmons

Sometime this year, we taxpayers will again receive another ‘Economic Stimulus’ payment.
This is indeed a very exciting program, and I’ll explain it by
Using a Q & A format:

Q. What is an ‘Economic Stimulus’ payment ?
A. It is money that the federal government will send to taxpayers.
Q.. Where will the government get this money ?
A. From taxpayers.
Q. So the government is giving me back my own money ?
A. Only a smidgen of it.
Q. What is the purpose of this payment ?
A. The plan is for you to use the money to purchase a
High-definition TV set, thus stimulating the economy.
Q. But isn’t that stimulating the economy of China ?
A. Shut up.

Below is some helpful advice on how to best help the U.S. economy by spending your stimulus check wisely:
* If you spend the stimulus money at Wal-Mart, the money will
go to China or Sri Lanka .
* If you spend it on gasoline, your money will go to the
Arabs.
* If you purchase a computer, it will go to India , Taiwan or
China .
* If you purchase fruit and vegetables, it will go to Mexico ,
Honduras and Guatemala ..
* If you buy an efficient car, it will go to Japan or Korea .
* If you purchase useless stuff, it will go to Taiwan .
* If you pay your credit cards off, or buy stock, it will go
to management bonuses and they will hide it offshore.

Instead, keep the money in America by:
1) Spending it at yard sales, or
2) Going to ball games, or
3) Spending it on prostitutes, or
4) Beer or
5) Tattoos
(These are the only American businesses still operating in the U.S. )

Conclusion:
Go to a ball game with a tattooed prostitute that you met at a yard
Sale and drink beer all day !

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Skywatch Friday

2010-12-18T01:38:00.000-08:00

Source::http://edprescott.wordpress.com/2010/12/17/skywatch-friday-31/

Why a pic of the moon? Well next Monday the 20th around 11p.m. eastern time there will be a full lunar eclipse and I can’t wait!!! I’ll have the super tele out and on the tripod and will be happily clicking away like a maniac..:-))

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Play Ball

2010-12-18T01:10:00.000-08:00

Source::http://chesapeakebeachphotographer.wordpress.com/2010/12/17/play-ball/

I went to a handful of baseball games this summer, and was fortunate enough to get a few photos that I was really pleased with (after discarding oh about 500 or so!). This one is quite possibly my favorite though. It was taken during the National Anthem. (me, run late…never!) The only thing is that I wish I would have stood there longer to get a shot of the guy actually saluting, because in this photo he was likely wiping sweat from his brow – it was stifling hot that day.

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Today's Special: Custard Slices

2010-12-18T00:41:00.000-08:00

Source::http://thecompletecookbook.wordpress.com/2010/12/10/custard-slices/?tpref=foodpress

I am starting to think I should have called my book – All of Mandy’s Favourites. Custard Slices are one of those yummy treats that I love seeing on the table at tea parties, next to the quiche, you know, just to balance the sweet and savoury taste buds in one go along with the ever important cup of tea.

Ingredients

1 packet cream crackers
1 litre milk
250ml sugar
60g butter
120ml cake flour
80ml custard powder
2ml salt
100ml water
3 eggs separated
10ml vanilla essence
500ml icing sugar
± 40ml boiling water

Method

Grease a shallow 35x25x5cm glass dish.Arrange 15 of the cream crackers in the base in 3 rows of 5 each, lining up the centre perforations of the biscuits.Bring the milk to the boil in a large saucepan and then add the sugar and butter and stir until melted and remove from the stove.Mix the cake flour, custard powder salt and water together.Add the egg yolks and beat well.Gradually fold in some of the milk mixture.Add this to the remaining milk mixture in the saucepan and stir over a low heat for 5 minutes or until thickened.Remove from the stove and stir in the vanilla essence.Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form and then fold them lightly into the custard mixture.10. Pour the custard mixture over the crackers in the dish.Cover the custard mixture with another 15 crackers making sure the centre perforations line up with those of the bottom layer.Allow the filling to cool then refrigerate until completely cold.Mix the icing sugar and boiling water to a spreading consistency.Pour over the crackers and spread evenly.Store in the fridge.

To serve, cut the custard slices along the perforations.

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Week 2: Hue . Purple . Texture . Unlimited | {my life}

2010-12-18T00:15:00.000-08:00

Source::http://newvintagephotography.wordpress.com/2010/12/16/week-2-hue-purple-texture-unlimited-my-life/

Here is my hue and texture journey for the week. It’s been fun to keep my eye out during the week for any bit of purple in my life. I started with my daughter’s purple shoes and ended with my sister’s scarf.

hue . purple . texture . unlimited

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Greetings from Kakamega!

2010-12-17T23:47:00.000-08:00

Source::http://megweill.wordpress.com/2010/12/17/greetings-from-kakamega/

I’m finally a Peace Corps Volunteer!! That’s right, I made it through training. Here’s a (not so) quick update of what’s happened since the dysentery incident.

The last week of training was long. We took our LPIs (language proficiency interview) and everyone passed (yay!). Then we spent a day listening to a bunch of American college students talk about environmental problems and ways to fix them, which almost always involved a complete change in the way of the life of the people involved (which was the most boring 4 hours of my life). Then I got to practice teaching on all the other trainees because I missed my model school lesson. It was mildly painful, but I think it went well.

Last Saturday was host family appreciation day, where we had a ceremony and lunch and then said goodbye to our host families. It was a little sad, but to be honest, I was ready to get out on my own. We spent that night at Outward and then on Sunday we took the trip to Nairobi. Sunday was pretty much empty, so we went to the mall, which was kind of horrifying after being in a small village for so long, and then I went out and had Indian food with a few people. It was hands down the best meal I’ve had since coming here. I think we all died, it was so good. It was mad expensive, but worth every shilling. After dinner we went to the grocery store and bought a large bottle of wine and went back to AFRALTI.

On Monday we had a long day of sessions. Considering I didn’t get as much sleep as I’m used to the night before, it just seemed longer than it was. After we finished we went to another mall (which was far nicer and far more intimidating). We checked out Nakumatt (the Kenyan version of Walmart), but I didn’t buy much because there’s a Nakumatt in Kakamega and I didn’t really have room in my bags for a lot of new stuff. Then a couple of us went out for burgers, which were definitely not very good by American standards, but by Kenyan standards, which is what we’re all used to now, there were absolutely amazing. Then we went back to the hotel and I watched Star Wars with my friend Ana (yeah, that’s right. I geeked out a little).

We met our counterparts/supervisors on Tuesday. I was super nervous because, let’s face it, I’m not all that good at first impressions. It went well though. My principal is the person who came for me. His name is Humphrey. He’s kind of awesome. He was very much into working together and giving me a workload that works for me. He’s also very into me being a role model for the girls in my school and encouraging them to try hard to reach whatever goals they want. I’m so excited about it. He also wants me to do counseling sessions on Thursday afternoons, which I’m also excited about. He told me my school is very small and very very poor, so I think this whole experience is going to be very eye opening. After a day of training and doing medical stuff and so forth we ate dinner at AFRALTI and Ana and I watched the Empire Strikes Back. I love Star Wars.

We swore in as volunteers on Wednesday. It was really exciting. We’re all volunteers! We all made it! We were so excited. After the ceremony, we all went back to AFRALTI to pack and eat lunch. After packing we hit up the mall one last time and I bought a small duffel bag because one of my bags was not closable, and that’s not okay on a matatu. I also found a bookstore that was selling classics for 160 /= each, which is just over $2, so I bought a bunch of books, which I then had room for in my new duffel. That night we all got dressed up like Americans (!!) and went out dancing. It was a lot of fun.

Yesterday we all left each other. It was super sad. I suck at goodbyes and I hate them. Fortunately I’m really close to a lot of my friends, but a couple of my favorite people are nowhere near my and I won’t see them again until April. It kind of sucked. A lot. I was also one of the last to leave, which kind of made it worse. But, on the bright side, Alan and Kristin are both within 2 km of my house, so I’ll probably see them on a regular basis. Unfortunately my house is in the middle of nowhere and the only form of transportation is piki piki, which I’m not allowed to ride, so I’ll be buying myself a bike. I’m going to be so fit by the end of this. I’m about 3-4 km from the paved road where there are matatus, so I’ll be biking that on a regular basis. I’m also much closer to Kakamega than I thought. Once I hit the paved road, it’s about 1 or 2 more km before I’m in the middle of town, which is nice. I’m also fairly close to the rainforest, which we drove through to get here. It’s beautiful. I’m so excited.

My house is tiny tiny tiny. I have only 2 rooms. It came with a bed and a table and chair in each room. I need to get a new mattress, a sofa, and some shelves. A higher table might be nice too. The nice thing about where I am is that it’s in a family compound, so whatever furniture I don’t want, I can just give back to the family. My bathroom is pretty far from my little house, but it’s all mine, so that’s good. We have a water pump in the front yard (which is huge) and apparently they’ve already chlorinated the water. I still need to filter it though. I have no kitchen, so I think I’ll end up cooking outside, which sucks a little, but I’ll get over it. At least I have electricity!

Anyhow, it’s time for me to go. Alan, Kristin and I are going shopping in town today with our counterparts to get food and furniture and stuff. I’ll take some pictures of my house as soon as I have everything unpacked and set up. Until next time!

P.S. I have a new mailing address! I’ll put it on my communications page. Please send all my mail to that address now. Thanks!

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Revision-Short Essay-Book Review-The True Value of the Value Menu

2010-12-17T23:19:00.000-08:00

Source::http://envirowriters.wordpress.com/2010/12/16/revision-short-essay-book-review-the-true-value-of-the-value-menu/

“A nation’s diet can be more revealing than its art or literature (Fast Food Nation, p. 3)” emphasizes Eric Schlosser’s view of the enormous impact today’s focus on fast food has on our society. In his book he describes the fast food trend from its birth in California to its overtaking of our culture we once had. We are what we eat, and with that we have become a sad society that does not encourage the interaction a family meal. The Golden Arches, one of the most famous symbols on our planet, rivals even the Christian cross in regards to recognition and popularity (Fast Food Nation, p. 4). This should leave each one of us speechless. Although the American fast-food commercialism, as described in the book “Fast Food Nation” by Eric Schlosser, has had a revolutionary influence on our lives, we need to reduce the dramatic power these corporations have because it affects our economy, our health, and our lifestyles in general.

Eric Schlosser has a wonderful way of describing the start of the fast food era and the great minds who invented the process. Unfortunately profit started becoming the main focus of many of these business owners. Morals, ethics, and other values were neglected to increase the bottom line. Throughout the years we allowed these corporations to control a large part of our food market and food production. These corporations own the farms that produce the foods for them (Food Inc., 2008). Each year they are required to include further mechanical innovation and investment until these farming businesses find themselves in a financially hopeless situation. Encountering the amount of dept to keep up with the high demands of these firms required them to give up their voice to be able to survive. The government does not take a part in addressing this monopolized industry. Why would our nation not encourage a healthy country and why do they not put a stop to this development? We want and need to be able to trust in our political system. Besides the economical impact of this trend, our society is experiencing immediate health effects.

A value meal at McDonalds is full of fat, calories, and does not include any nutrients. But according to Eric Schlosser, it has been chemically created to be very tasteful (Fast Food Nation, p. 9). It is very sad to think that we could possibly eat a product that tastes like chicken, but actually was not even produced by a chicken, rather chemically enhanced to appear to be chicken. Many of the meat products used in the delicious burgers that a chemically enhanced to taste like burgers are produced from animals that arrived dead in the factory or meat that carried diseases. USDA, I believe it was called, controls this? Maybe we should take a close look at the fine print. Mostly the food that is available at these fast food restaurants have more calories than we need I an entire day. It increases our risk of obesity, heart diseases, and many other health problems. Today’s generation is largely obese, mostly thanks to our poor lifestyles. Children are not encouraged to exercise; instead we rather teach them to live a busy and unhealthy lifestyle. Today’s children are absorbed by electronic stimulations and unhealthy eating habits. The sad truth is that purchasing healthy foods for our loved ones is much more expensive as providing unhealthy foods that will harm our children. Unfortunately, some families do not have the luxury of having a choice. Healthy foods are not as profitable and therefore have no priority to be made available to our society.

The American culture is starting to deteriorate completely. Traditions and family are starting to be completely neglected. Our busy lifestyles do not allow the time to value a delicious meal, further we do not even take the time to slow down while we eat. At one point in our society we valued a meal as a ritual of a family sharing thoughts, experiences, and love. Today, going to a fast food restaurant is as familiar to us as giving parents a hug. Life is not enjoyed or valued anymore, it is taken for granted. Erik Schlosser describes in his book the relationship that established between McDonalds and Walt Disney (p. 35). Everything is created to reach our children. Many children do not grow up sharing a meal at the family dinner table. It affects our families in a much larger scale than most people realize. It affects our lives, the way we socialize, and our quality of life. We literally choose food that potentially is harmful to us over a family shared dinner due to time constrains. The scariest part in the book was that these multinational companies are not even stopped to reach our children in schools. We are losing every tradition prior generations have established. We as parents need to protect our children, set an example, and teach them to enjoy a healthful life.

The book has been a valuable insight into some aspects of American live that we neglected to review. Eric Schlosser wrote an incredible book, revealing the truth objectively, but yet forcing us to form a voice. I believe that the book gives each reader the tools necessary to create an individual opinion and hopefully use the voice that we are said to have to make a difference. If “Americans spend more money on fast food than on higher education, personal computers, computer software or new cars (Fast Food Nation, p. 3)”, we might want to reconsider and invest the money in our children’s education to give them the tools necessary to make a change to this society. It is always easier to point fingers, but sometimes we do have to realize that we can actually make a difference by standing our grounds and reducing the power these corporations have on our lives. It is in our hands to change and boycott this corrupt system. If we reduce the influence this trend has on our children they might understand the negative impact this fast food society has on our lives. Or we could start by setting an example, and not choose a convenient fast food solution over a time consuming dinner that would force us to spend quality time with our family.

Kenner, R. (Director). (2008). Food, Inc. [Motion Picture]. United States: Magnolia Pictures.

Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation (New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2001)

Filed under: Fall 2010, Food, Revision, Short Essay

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Picking Out the Perfect Rock

2010-12-17T22:53:00.000-08:00

Source::http://365missmorgan.wordpress.com/2010/12/16/picking-out-the-perfect-rock/ 16 Dec 2010

It has been so nice out lately! Chilly in the morning but t-shirt weather in the afternoon. When the weather is perfect, the outdoors call! We got home and immediately started watering the cilantro and garlic growing in the rose beds. Then it was off to the dirt hill to shovel a hole. After that got boring it was on to picking out the perfect dirt clod to throw at the nothingness. Hey, better than at me.

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Busta Rhymes ~ "Roman's Revenge" Remix

2010-12-17T22:26:00.000-08:00

Source::http://iamnikkig.com/2010/12/17/busta-rhymes-romans-revenge-remix/ Busta Rhymes

Bussa Buss is always swole and out of control… but you gotta love him. Check out his remix to Nicki Minaj’s “Roman’s Revenge”.

If you pay close attention, Busta added the snippet of his line from the joint “Scenario” with A Tribe Called Quest (hence the line “How you gon’ take my hot line and make it a hot song?”). Just a little music history for you guys :0)

Anyways, check out his remix to Nicki’s joint below.

Busta Rhymes – Romans Revenge Remix by xoxoNikkiG

To download the track, click [HERE].

“Scenario” ~ A Tribe Called Quest ft. Busta Rhymes (His “Dungeon Dragon” line can be found at 3:28).

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Kashmir coordination panel meets

2010-12-17T21:59:00.000-08:00

The much-hyped National Conference-Congress coordination committee met here Thursday for less than 45 minutes, without discussing the contentious issues bothering the coalition.

It was the first such meeting after nearly six months.

The panel, headed by state Congress chief Saifuddin Soz, met around 4.30 p.m. "We discussed panchayat elections and certain amendments," Soz said.

Informed sources said the meeting was cut short as panel members, particularly from the National Conference, wanted Soz not to rake up contentious issues.

This included setting up three new universities in Jammu and Kashmir.

Both Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and National Conference president Farooq Abdullah did not attend the meeting.

Omar Abdullah is reportedly unhappy with the way Soz has been criticizing the coalition government in public.

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Lifestyle Change...

2010-12-17T21:58:00.000-08:00

Source::http://markdief86.wordpress.com/2010/12/17/lifestyle-change/

“Did you know we’re all born with the same number of fat cells (about 40 billion, give or take)? As we grow up, the number of fat cells we have increases until after our pubescent and adolescent years, when they are pretty much set. In the past, it was assumed that the only difference between overweight people and thin ones was that overweight or obese people had all their fat cells filled to maximum capacity. It’s now known that we can-and do, in fact-”grow” more fat cells in adulthood. This is because when fat cells expand to their maximum size, they divide and increase again the number of fat cells. Some obese people have more fat cells than non-obese people. But in the end, both the number and the size of the fat cells determine the amount of fat someone has.
A fat cell is like a tiny, expandable capsule so tiny, it can’t hold but a microscopic drop of fat. But fat cells prefer not to live alone; they cluster together like little gangs to become fatty tissue. They generally just chill out until they’re called into action by precise biochemical signals, usually hormones and enzymes. When hormones and enzymes signal fat cells, they become active, releasing fat into the bloodstream to be used for different purposes.
When you overeat, those extra calories will travel right back into those deflated fat cells and fill them back up. No matter how much weight you lose or how many hours you spend in Spinning class, your fat cells will never disappear. A deflated balloon is still a balloon.” Flat Belly Diet

Body fat isn’t always a harmful bad thing. In fact there are many benefits of having it. 2 to 5 percent of a man’s body weight comes from essential fat, whereas women it’s 10 to 13 percent. Fat is essential in humans for energy, maintaining proper hormone levels, regulating body temperature, protecting vital organs, fertility, and bone growth. Body fat only becomes a problem when there’s too much of it. At that point, it puts a strain on your heart and other organs and starts to interfere with your body confidence. I am a very confident person except when it comes to my body’s image. I am ashamed every time I look in the mirror and see what I let myself transform in to. I am in control of my body and blame myself for the outcome. It’s time for a lifestyle change.

I will become more confident, healthier, and once again be in full control of my body. This blog will be my journey through my lifestyle change and will be of great help during those rough times when I’m in need for a little bit of self-encouraging. After a long discussion with my best friend and boyfriend we all have decided it’s time to be in control again of our body’s and become the healthiest we can. So here we go.

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Boundary resolution requires patience, says Wen Jiabao

2010-12-17T21:43:00.000-08:00

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao Thursday struck a cautious note on the boundary dispute with India, saying it was "a historical legacy" and its resolution requires patience.

"It will not be easy to completely resolve this question. It requires patience and will take a fairly long period of time," Wen, who began his three-day visit to India Wednesday, said in a speech on India-China relations at the Indian Council for World Affairs.

"Only with sincerity, mutual trust and perseverance can we eventually find a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable solution,” he added.

The boundary dispute figured in delegation-level talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Wen.

“The two sides reiterated their firm commitment to resolving outstanding differences, including the boundary question, at an early date through peaceful negotiations,” a joint communique said after the talks.

The two sides, it said, “resolved to actively seek a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable solution from the political and strategic perspective.”

“Pending the resolution of the boundary question, the two sides shall work together to maintain peace and tranquility in the border areas in line with the previous agreements,” it said.

Wen also allayed Indias concerns about cross-border rivers, saying managing them was a “shared responsibility.”

Wen described these rivers as "a source of livelihood for the people living along the rivers".

"To properly preserve, utilize and manage the trans-border rivers is our shared responsibility," he said.

"China takes seriously Indias concern about the trans-border rivers, and we are ready to further improve the joint working mechanism," he said.

"We will do whatever we can and do it even better," he said, adding: "All the upstream development activities by China will be based on scientific planning and study and will never harm downstream interests."

Rejecting rivalry, Wen outlined a vibrant picture of India-China relations in the future.

"China and India, two great nations that have gone through so many trials and tribulations, will, as always, remain vibrant, live up to the important mission bestowed by history, and work together for new glories of the Oriental civilization," Wen said at the end of his speech.

There is enough space in the world for the development of both countries and enough areas for them to cooperate, he said. "Such important consensus is deeply rooted in the time-honoured cultural traditions of the two countries and our long history of exchanges," he added.

And "it comes from our correct reading of the international situation and keen understanding of our national interests," said Wen, after his wide-ranging talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

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Blue Bottle Cafe

2010-12-17T21:33:00.000-08:00

Source::http://happysnapshots.wordpress.com/2010/12/16/blue-bottle-cafe/

Anyway, some pics I took on this trip last weekend in the San Francisco Blue Bottle location, including a shot of our friend DC (you’re now a star to my audience of two!):

Blue Bottle Coffee
66 Mint St
San Francisco, CA

Filed under Out and about, Food

Tagged as food, drinks, cafe, coffee, Canon XSi, California, photography, cups, Sigma 30/1.4, San Francisco, city, latte, New Orleans iced coffee, Blue Bottle, barista, making coffee, pouring

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Scope of CBIs spectrum probe expanded: Bhushan

2010-12-17T21:25:00.000-08:00

Senior counsel Prashant Bhushan Thursday welcomed the Supreme Court order expanding the scope of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the 2G spectrum scam.

He said that now the CBI will probe the spectrum muddle in its entirety starting from 2001.

The probe will cover the role of officials of the department of telecommunications (DoT) who signed bank loan papers of telecom operators.

"The apex court order has expanded the scope of the investigation into the 2G spectrum scam," Bhushan told IANS.

He had argued the case on behalf of NGO Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL), which sought the courts monitoring of the probe by the CBI.

The counsel said that the CBI will also look into the bank loans given by the public sector banks to telecom operators.

"The role of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and its inaction against telecom operators who did not fulfil their rollout obligations as provided under the licence conditions will also be investigated," Bhushan said.

He said the CBI, the Enforcement Directorate and the Income Tax department will keep updating the apex court on their investigations.

The director general of Income Tax department will provide the transcripts of telephonic intercepts of business lobbyist Niira Radia tapes to both the court and the CBI.

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Vishnu Sahasranamam Songs – Listen Online

2010-12-17T21:07:00.000-08:00

List of Songs of Vishnu Sahasranamam

TRACK LISTING:

Song Name : Bhaja Govindam
Artist(s): MS. Subbulakshmi

Song Name : Vishnu Sahasranamam
Artist(s): MS. Subbulakshmi

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Festive Biscuits

2010-12-17T21:04:00.000-08:00

Source:http://paulfordsound.wordpress.com/2010/12/17/festive-biscuits/

For this recipe you will need:

300g plain flour (we used wheat-free)
100g butter/marg
100g light muscovado sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch of salt
3 tablespoons golden syrup
2 eggs
100g icing sugar
2 tablespoons water
Cake decorations (we used mini smarties)
1 toddler (live) – optional
Patience (1 truckload – only necessary if also using toddler)

Sift the flour into a large bowl, then add the salt, baking powder and cinnamon. Give it a good mix before adding the sugar. Scrape up the handfuls of flour the toddler has thrown onto the table, put them back in the bowl and stir.

Put three tablespoons of golden syrup into a cup, and break one of the eggs into it. Clean raw egg off toddler’s hands after he has squished the second egg in his fist. Get another egg from the cupboard and put it out of his reach. Beat egg and syrup mixture together, add to the flour and combine. Add the second beaten egg a bit at a time to make sure the dough isn’t too wet.

Scrape remaining dough off toddler’s jumper, form the whole lot into a ball and wrap in cling film. Put in the fridge to chill for 20 minutes, while changing toddler’s entire outfit.

Put plenty of flour onto a worktop or board, and a rolling pin. Divide the dough in two, making it easier to work with, then roll out into a sheet and use some Christmas themed shape cutters to cut out the biscuits, placing them onto a greased and floured baking sheet. Grab offcuts of dough before toddler can eat them, reform and repeat.

Preheat over to 160 degrees, and cook biscuits for about 15 minutes – check them at about 12 minutes, and keep cooking if they’re still soft to the touch. When done, place them on a rack to cool (they will crisp up while cooling down).

For the icing, sift 100g of icing sugar into a bowl and add two tablespoons of water. If the consistency’s not quite right either add more sugar or a tiny bit more water. Spread onto the cooled biscuits and decorate with your festive topping of choice. Remove icing spoon from toddler’s mouth and change his outfit again.

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Srikrishna Committees Telangana report in two weeks

2010-12-17T20:51:00.000-08:00

The Srikrishna Committee, which is looking into the demands for and against a separate Telangana state, will submit its report to the central government within two weeks, the panel said.

On the last visit to Andhra Pradesh before submitting its report, the panel Thursday said its report was almost ready and it would be submitted before Dec 31, the time given by the central government.

Former Supreme Court Justice B.N. Srikrishna, who is heading the five-member panel, told reporters here that his judgement as a judge may be liked by some and disliked by others.

He appealed to all political parties and other groups to maintain peace and law and order in the state whatever be the committee report. "State is bigger than the party and the nation is bigger than the state," he said.

Srikrishna said the committee was satisfied with the job it has done during the last 10 months by eliciting opinion from all stakeholders, including the common man.

Former union home secretary V.K. Duggal, who is member secretary of the committee, hoped that all sides would be satisfied with the committees report. He said the report would be a reflection of the aspirations of the people.

He said the panel has prepared its report by seeking the opinion of a large number of people and groups within a short time.

The committee members met Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan, Chief Minister Nallari Kiran Kumar Reddy, Chief Secretary S.V. Prasad, Director General of Police Aravinda Rao and leaders of various political parties for the final round of interaction.

The panel was constituted after Andhra Pradesh was rocked by a series of protests for and against Telangana state following the Dec 9, 2009, statement of Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram that the process for the formation of the Telangana state would be initiated.

IIT Delhi professor Ravindar Kaur, National Law University vice-chancellor Ranbir Singh, and Abusaleh Sharif, a senior research fellow at the New Delhi office of International Food Policy Research Institute, are the other members of the committee.

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Search query - Dodge ram transmission problems fitoved.com

2010-12-17T20:36:00.000-08:00

Source:http://wikicarsis.wordpress.com/2010/12/17/search-query-dodge-ram-transmission-problems-fitoved-com/

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Day of Ashura – Muharram SMS and Text Messages

2010-12-17T20:34:00.000-08:00

Please find below Day of Ashura – Muharram SMS and Text Messages :

Daman e Aql Ko Jo Chaak Nhi Kr Skta,
Wo Kbi Noor Ka Idrak Ni Kr Skta,
Bughz e HAIDER Ki Nijasat Ha Nijasat Aisi,
Aab-e-Zum Zum Bhi Jisy Pak Nhi Kr Skta.
__________________________

Kya Haq Ada Karega Zamana HUSAIN Ka,
AbTak Zamee Pe Karz He Sajda HUSAIN Ka,
Jholi FelaaKar Manglo Mumino,
Har DUA Kabul Karega DAI HUSAIN Ka
_____________________________

libaas hai phata hua, ghubaar mein ata hua
tamaam jism e naazneen, chida hua, kata hua
yeh kaun zeewaqaar hai, bala ka shahsawaar hai
ke hai hazaaron qaatilon, ke saamne data hua
_____________________________

God is the light of the heavens and the earth;
His light is as a niche in which is alamp,
and the lamp is in a glass…
God guides to his light whom
He pleases; and God strikes out parables for men,
and God all things doth know”
_____________________________

Zikre Shabbir ko fatwaon se dabanay waly,
Kitny nadaan hain sooraj ko chupany waly,
Ghaib se aati hai sadaye Mehdi,
Zikry Shabbir ko hum hain bachany waly.

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Apex court pulls up Orissa on rural job scheme (Lead)

2010-12-17T20:16:00.000-08:00

The Supreme Court Thursday asked the Orissa government why a CBI probe should not be ordered into the alleged diversion of central funds meant for rural jobs.

Even as the court issued a show cause notice to the state, Additional Solicitor General Indira Jaisingh said that New Delhi had already asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to look into the diversion of funds under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA).

Chief Justice S.H. Kapadia, Justice K.S. Radhakrishnan and Justice Swatanter Kumar asked the Orissa government why the implementation of the operational guidelines under NREGA should not be made mandatory.

The state was asked to be ready with the answer at the next hearing.

The directions came in the wake of Jaisingh telling the court that the central government was struggling to implement the guidelines under NREGA as there was resistance from the state governments.

Appearing for a petitioner NGO, senior counsel Prashant Bhushan told the court that the guidelines provided for various officers to deal with different aspects of NREGA, including the social audit of the rural job scheme.

The petitioner has alleged irregularities in the implementation of the rural job scheme.

Bhushan said that state governments were not enforcing these guidelines.

He also told the court that another area of problem was the processing of the applications by the new job applicants.

At this, Chief Justice Kapadia said that for now the court would only address the issue of diversion of funds.

Jaisingh told the court that there were over 115 million job card holders under the NREGA and wages of 82 percent of them were credited in banks and post offices.

She told the court that monitoring payments in post office accounts was posing problems as these were manually handled. The court was told that 11 lakh bogus job cards were cancelled in Orissa alone.

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Friday 5: Aquatic Insects that Suck

2010-12-17T20:09:00.000-08:00

Source::http://dragonflywoman.wordpress.com/2010/12/17/suction/

For today’s Friday 5, I’m going to discuss five aquatic insects that suck. No, not that kind of sucking! These are insects that have suction cups, or suction cup-like structures, that allow them to live in their aquatic habitats. Now I don’t know about you, but I find it pretty amazing that there are insects with suction cups on their bodies, so I feel the need to share the love! In no particular order, I present 5 aquatic insects that suck:

Water penny, top view
Water penny, bottom view

1. Water pennies.

Water pennies are funky insects – and yes, that IS an insect! As adult beetles, most species aren’t that exciting, just nondescript black beetles. But the larvae, pictured here, are bizarre! These insects don’t have suction cups on their bodies like most of the other insects on my list today. Instead, their whole broad, domed shaped bodies work like suction cups! I’ve written about how water penny larvae work before, so I won’t go over it in detail again here. However, if you think of the little plastic suction cups you use to stick things onto windows, you’ll have a pretty good idea of how the suction works. You’ll find these living on the tops of rocks in cold, fast flowing streams.

Net-winged midge larvae, top

Net-winged midge larvae, bottom. The dark, round discs are the suction cups.

2. Net-winged midges.

Ah, blepharicerids. I can remember the first moment I found one of these in a stream. I nearly yelled out in utter joy! It’s one thing to see pictures in a book and quite another to find hundreds of them all over rocks in a stream. These fly larvae are truly amazing. They’re bizarrely shaped, even by insect standards, with constrictions along the length of the body. Each constricted section also contains a suction cup. Like the water pennies, they live right out on top of rocks in cold, fast flowing streams, so they’re constantly being slammed with water as it flows downstream. The suction cups keep them from being swept away! (If you think the larvae of these flies are interesting to look at, I highly recommend that you take a look at the pupae. Weird!)

Predaceous diving beetle (Thermonectus nigrofasciatus)

Predaceous diving beetle foreleg. The suction pad is made up of several individual suction cups.

3. Predaceous diving beetles.

These are the only adult insects I know of that have suction cups. And, they don’t use their suction cups to prevent their washing downstream like most aquatic insects with suction cups. Any idea what they might be used for? Hint: only the males have them. These suction cups are used during mating! Predaceous diving beetles are extremely well adapted for swimming and exhibit very smooth, domed bodies that allow them to move through the water with surprising grace. If you’ve ever tried to pick one up with forceps, you know how slippery these little buggers are! This causes problems when a slippery dome-shaped male wants to climb onto his slippery domed-shape mate’s back and get down to business. So, they evolved suction cups on their forelegs! You can see them there in the photo – lots of little suction cups making up a big suction pad. The male presses the suction pad onto the female’s back and is able to hold on long enough to mate. Pretty neat, eh?

Rhithrogena impersonata. Photo from http://www.troutnut.com/specimen/482.

Rhithrogena impersonata, bottom. Photo from http://www.troutnut.com/specimen/482.

4. March brown mayflies.

Mayflies in the genus Rhithrogena (family: Heptageniidae) are rather similar to the water pennies in that they do not have true suction cups. Instead, they have flat bodies and their abdomens are ringed by broad, flat gills. The space between the gills works like a suction cup and keeps these mayflies attached to the rocks on which they live in streams. While these nymphs are not dome shaped like the water penny larvae, their suction cup works in a similar manner.

Leech. Leech sucker is inset.

5. Leeches.

Leeches are not insects. In fact, they’re not even arthropods! However, they are aquatic and they definitely have suction cups, so I’m including them in my list. Leeches use their suction cups to grab the substrate or to hold onto their prey as they suck their fluids. I also personally think they add to the overall distasteful appearance of these animals. I mean, what’s not to love about an animal that uses a sucker at one end to attach to you and a sucker at the other end to suck your blood? :) (Okay, I’ll admit that I do actually like leeches. Ever seen one swim? It’s both horrifying and mesmerizing and I can’t tear my eyes away!)

Don’t know what I’ll do next week! I have a long list of ideas, so it will depend on my mood when I sit down to write. Maybe something Christmasy!

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Orissa cold wave: Phulbani coldest at 7.6 degrees

2010-12-17T20:01:00.000-08:00

A cold wave has gripped several parts of Orissa with Phulbani town in Kandhamal district being the coldest at a minimum temperature 7.6 degrees Celsius, an official said.

Other places that recorded minimum temperatures of less than 10 degrees Celsius include Sundergarh at 8.9 degrees, and Sambalpur and Koraput both at 9.2 degrees Celsius, G.Dutta, an official of the Bhubaneswar meteorological centre, told IANS.

Bhubaneswar and nearby Cuttack city remained relatively warmer with minimum temperatures of 13 and 13.4 degrees Celsius respectively, he said.

Phulbani town is some 200 km from state capital Bhubaneswar.

The official added that the cold wave conditions would continue at some places for the next two days.

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Facebook Launches New Registration Sign Up Tool For Status Login

2010-12-17T19:42:00.000-08:00

Social Networking Website Facebook has officially launched its new “registration tool” for third-party websites. This powerful plugin allows websites to insert a single line of code to create a registration form which pre-populates fields with a user’s Facebook data.

Facebook New Registration Tool :

The registration tool allows users to easily sign up for your website with their Facebook account. The tool is a simple iframe that you can drop into your page. When logged into Facebook, users see a form that is pre-filled with their Facebook information.

The registration tool gives you the flexibility to ask for additional information which is not available through the Facebook API (e.g. favorite movie).

The tool also allows users who do not have a Facebook account, or do not wish to sign up for your site using Facebook to use the same form as those who are connecting with Facebook.

Main Benefits of New Registration Tool :

Registration forms will be auto-populated and hence the sign up process will be quicker and all your users can now quickly login with Facebook while you still gain access to the user data.

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The divine

2010-12-17T19:39:00.000-08:00

Source::http://littlescribe.wordpress.com/2010/12/17/the-divine/

A couple of days ago, the daily prompt for the e-class Picture the Holidays asked for an image of the divine. I am not religious myself, but the divine is certainly present in my life anyway. I ended up posting the image to the left, of a recent winter sunrise; the fact that dark gives way to light every day without fail is a natural miracle I will always appreciate.

We live right across the road from a church. Every Sunday morning we hear the church bells ring, to summon people to church and to mark the end of the service. You might think that I would find it an annoyance, nothing but a noise without significance that prevents me from sleeping in on Sundays. Thankfully, that is not true.

In the same way, I am not upset or annoyed by the religious imagery related to Christmas. The birth of a child, the birth of a person with a potential to be absolutely anything – a great author, the one who finds a cure for cancer, my future children’s best friend – is another miracle, worthy of celebration, to remind me that there is something bigger out there, that the world is grand and beautiful and filled with sunrises.

So I treasure the church bells for their promise of the divine.

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Indian Army remembers fallen heroes of Battle of Basantar (Lead)

2010-12-17T19:24:00.000-08:00

Mathura (Uttar Pradesh), Dec 16

The Indian Army Thursday remembered its fallen heroes in the 1971 war with Pakistan, celebrating the hard-won victory in a fierce tank battle of Basantar in the western sector.

The two-day commemorating ceremony at the Strike 1 Corps headquarters in this Uttar Pradesh garrison town concluded with a light and sound show in the evening depicting the “epic” battle in which over 30 soldiers laid down their lives protecting the nation.

As colourful crackers lightened up the skyline in this serene army cantonment, the audience, which included soldiers and their families, watched with rapt attention how soldiers of the Indian Army braved a fierce onslaught by Pakistani troops in the Shakargarh sector between Jammu and Punjab.

And the unforgettable song of national fervour - “Aye mere watan ke logo" sung by Lata Mangeshkar - brought the audience to tears, like it had first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru when she had sung it at the Ramlila grounds in New Delhi on Republic Day in 1963.

The light and sound show prepared by the Strike 1 portrayed each vital moment of the Battle of Basantar, also known as the battle of Barapind, fought Dec 4-16. It said “our brave soldiers sacrificed their lives because it was one of the vital victories for India in the 1971 war in the western sector.

Two officers were given Param Vir Chakra - the highest war-time gallantry award - following the victory. Young Second Lieutenant Arun Khetrapal who was only six-month old in the army received the award posthumously. Colonel Hoshiar Singh was awarded as it is said he stuck to his post even after getting injured and chased the enemy troops away to give India its “best decorated” victory.

Earlier in the day, the next of kin of two winners of the gallantry award were felicitated at the ceremony.

The 85-year-old mother of Khetrapal, killed in the battle between the armoured regiments of the Indian and Pakistani armies, was the guest of honour at the ceremony. She was given a memento citing the "supreme sacrifice" of her son who died fighting at the age of 21.

The son of Colonel Hoshiar Singh was also given a memento on the occasion.

Lt. Gen. S.R. Gosh, heading the Western Command, and Lt. Gen. A.K. Singh who heads the Strike 1 Corps, laid floral wreaths at the war memorial in the army cantonment here, erected in memory of the fallen heroes.

The Indian Army had won the battle to secure the area in the Punjab-Jammu sector.

A coffee table book summarising the history of Strike 1 Corps was also released on the occasion.

Basantar is a tributary of the river Ravi that flows in the states of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh. The battle took place in the Shakargarh sector, a bit of the Pakistan boundary abutting in the Indian territory.

The point was strategic for both sides as it comprised road links to Jammu from Punjab which, if cut off by Pakistan, could have led to snapping of a key link to Jammu and Kashmir.

According to war records, Pakistan had an advantage of having an army base in Sialkot close to the battle zone, but the Indian Army maintained a base at Pathankot, nearly 300 km from Shakargarh.

Kheterpal, who served in 17 Poona Horse, a cavalry unit, fought the battle on a T-55 tank after he was ordered to establish a bridgehead across the Basantar river, covered with deep minefields.

He fiercely attacked and overcame the enemy defences along with his tank troop, and destroyed nearly 10 Pakistani Patton tanks before his tank was also hit and burst into flames. The gallant officer was mortally wounded.

Remembering the dead lieutenant, Maheshwari Khetrepal said her son had done "nothing extraordinary" by offering his life. "This was his duty and he had joined the army to protect the nation. He did me proud. Im an equally brave mother," she told IANS in a choked voice.

Major (as he was then) Hoshiar Singh was a 3 Grenadiers Regiment officer, who led his troops to capture Jarpal in the Shakargarh sector during the battle. Singh met with fierce resistance from the Pakistan Army but he went from trench to trench and repulsed the enemy attack along with his company. He was seriously wounded, but Singh refused to be evacuated till ceasefire.

He retired as a colonel before he died Dec 6, 1998.

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Yellowmangoes.com: LG Optimus 2X, World's First Dual-Core Android Smartphone

2010-12-17T19:14:00.000-08:00

Source::http://yellowmangoesblog.wordpress.com/2010/12/17/o2x/

You can always get a good price at YELLOW MANGOES ONLINE STORE.

Dual-core smartphones have been touted as the future of the smartphone industry for years, and now we finally get to taste that future with LG’s Optimus 2X.

The world’s first smartphone with a dual-core proccesor – a 1 GHz Nvidia Tegra 2 – also features a 4-inch WVGA screen, 8 GB of memory (expandable up to 32 GB via microSD memory cards), a 1,500 mAh battery, a 8-megapixel rear camera with 1080p recording capabilities and a 1.3-megapixel front camera for video calls.

It also has an accelerometer, a gyro sensor, and a micro-USB port. It supports HDMI mirroring, which lets you expand content on external displays to full HD quality. The phone can connect wirelessly to DLNA-compatible devices, such as home network devices and HD TV sets.

LG Optimus 2X will initially ship with AndroidAndroidAndroid 2.2 but will later be upgraded to the latest version of the OS, Android 2.3. The device will first be available in Korea next month, followed by a later launch in more countries in Europe and Asia.

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Shhh! Chandigarh environs are hosting winged visitors

2010-12-17T19:07:00.000-08:00

Escaping the harsh cold of their habitats, hundreds of warbling guests - among them brahmi ducks, red-crusted pochards, grebes and geese - have come flocking to Sukhna Lake and the 190 water bodies dotting the area. And they are being made to feel at home.

Migratory birds start arriving in the Sukhna wildlife sanctuary from early November and their stay lasts till March or April, depending on the climatic conditions.

However, hosting these special guests is not an easy task.

"Migratory birds from various cold countries and Himalayan regions have started coming to Chandigarh. They can be seen flocking to Sukhna Lake and at the water bodies in the Sukhna wildlife sanctuary," Santosh Kumar, Chandigarhs chief wildlife warden and forests conservator, told IANS.

"These birds are very sensitive; so we have made arrangements to make the environment conducive for them.

"Nobody is allowed to play loud music or burst firecrackers near the lake and the sanctuary as that might disturb their lifestyle. Also, forest guards and officials are keeping a close eye on poachers," he added.

Migratory birds come from places like Siberia, China and Afghanistan. These are brahmi ducks, common pochards, red-crusted pochards, grebes, geese, shell ducks, marsh ducks, diving ducks, rails, coots, stilts, hill kingfisher, mallard, pintail, cormorants, Siberian ducks, cranes, storks and sandpipers.

Besides, in a bid to attract more tourists to watch these birds, the Chandigarh administration will install a spotting scope at the regulator end of the lake.

"Initially, we will install only one spotting scope on a trial basis. Bird watchers, students and environmentalists can come and watch the activities of these foreign guests. We are bringing it from New Delhi and it costs around Rs.35,000," Kumar said.

Kumar also said depending on the response from the activity, they will install more such equipment.

Spotting scope is a small portable telescope with additional optics that help in presenting a better image. They are used for bird-watching, hunting, surveillance and for other jobs that require more magnification than a pair of binoculars.

According to forest officials, the winged visitors have been congregating here for the last 25 years as conditions in the region are very hospitable for them. They will be in their full strength by December end.

In 2009, around 8,000 migratory birds had assembled in this union territory.

These birds are also making their abode at water bodies in the Botanical Garden and at Patiala-Ki-Rao Lake in Chandigarh. Pleasant weather conditions and a good number of reptiles and fish in the water bodies provide an ideal habitat.

"Migratory birds travel thousands of miles for several weeks to reach Chandigarh. Due to intense cold and heavy snowfall, there is shortage of food and water for them in their home countries," said Mahavir Singh, a city-based wildlife expert.

"There are watch towers and hideouts at the sanctuary from where we can closely observe their activities," Singh said.

(Alkesh Sharma can be contacted at alkesh.s@ians.in)

View the original article here

Ahmedabad to house Asias biggest cancer hospital

2010-12-17T18:47:00.000-08:00

The Gujarat Cancer Society, one of the oldest public charitable trusts in the country, Thursday announced a fund raiser event for their ambitious project of building Asias largest cancer care centre here.

"We are building a new super-specialty cancer hospital on 25 acres of land. The hospital will have a total capacity of 1650 beds - making it one of the largest cancer treatment facilities in Asia," said Pankaj Shah, director of the Gujarat Cancer Society.

"A self-financed medical college will also be operational from August next year," he said.

Established in 1960, Gujarat Cancer Society has been instrumental in creating initial infrastructure for cancer care in Gujarat. The fund raiser event will be held Saturday.

The event will also celebrate the societys 50th anniversary.

"More than 1.5 lakh people in Gujarat are currently living with cancer. The existing cancer hospitals in Gujarat are running at near 100 percent bed occupancy levels," said Pankaj Patel, executive chairman and vice president of the Gujarat Cancer Society.

"The project is estimated to cost around Rs.300 crore," he added.

View the original article here

Is Kim Kardashian Going to Adopt a Child from Africa?

2010-12-17T18:44:00.000-08:00

Source::http://machronicles.com/2010/12/17/is-kim-kardashian-going-to-adopt-a-child-from-africa/

Life and Style Magazine is reporting that Kim Kardashian may be making plans to adopt from an Orphanage in South Africa. On December 15th, Kim will be travelling to Africa to promote Brutal Fruit Cocktails (so many questions about how that name came about…..What makes a Fruit brutal?) and she has made plans to visit Days of Hope Orphanage:

Kim was heartbroken when a friend recently showed her a touching photo of 16 precious babies being cared for at another orphanage, Shepherd’s Keep, in South Africa. “She couldn’t believe that all these beautiful little babies were orphans,” her friend reveals to Life & Style. “Kim was in shock — she just couldn’t believe that none of them had a mom or a dad to love them and tuck them into bed at night. That picture really changed her mind about adoption.”

She soon found out it was too far to travel from her work commitments in Johannesburg to the orphanage in Durban during her short time in the country so a determined Kim located another orphanage, Door of Hope, near where she was staying. The orphanage has a weight-sensored outdoor bin where desperate mothers leave an average of 16 babies per month. “Kim was devastated by the statistics,” says the friend. “She contacted her people and asked them to arrange for her to visit the orphanage during her visit.”

Hmmm…..Kimmy K adopting? I can’t see it. I know that it is pretty popular for Hollywood Parents to adopt Children from Foreign Countries, but I just don’t think that Kim is ready to take that major step in her life. Kim still really seems to enjoy the nightlife and being Fabulous on a Red Carpet on most nights. Changing diapers and night feedings for Kim……eh eh, not going to happen.

As for the visit to the ophanage, I’m thinking that if she visits, she will give the Kids some new cribs, diapers and some Baby Gap Clothes and then she will hit the Brutal Fruit Coctails Red Carpet with a clear conscious.

View the original article here

Spectacular ceremony marks 60 years of India-China ties (Lead)

2010-12-17T18:32:00.000-08:00

The colours and cultures of two of Asias most powerful and populous nations merged in a spirit of diplomatic synergy at the spectacular closing ceremony of the festival of China in India here Thursday that was attended by visiting Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The ceremony at Delhis Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium was the culmination of a series of cultural events and activities held to mark 60 years of the establishment of diplomatic ties between India and China and was also attended by a high-level ministerial delegation from China.

Addressing the packed gathering of 500 guests, mostly Chinese delegates and school children from the capital, Manmohan Singh said: "India and China have played a crucial role in increasing awareness about each others cultures and civilisation. India and China are two great civilisations that have flourished for thousands of years. The art and the culture and the unyielding quest for progress and development over the last six decades have been the cornerstone of India and Chinas foreign policy."

"India-China cooperation will be the keystone of the Asian century that is unfolding before us," he added.

"In the development of this century, India and China will mark it as friends, not as rivals," he said, adding: "There is enough space in the world for both India and China to grow and fulfil development aspirations of their respective people."

He said that both countries should work towards bridging the "information gap" between the two nations.

"We must close the information gap between us and learn about each others achievement, directly rather than through third countries," he said.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao also called for "heart-to-heart" exchanges between the two populous nations. He designated 2011 as the year of exchange between India and China.

The nine-month long festival of China opened in April 2010 at the Purana Qila with a religious concert Harmony of the Divine Land: A Symphony of Chinese Buddhist Music by a 160-member Buddhist orchestra.

The reciprocal festival of India in China began in May.

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Rushing for lunch finds Pomodor's Pizza

2010-12-17T18:14:00.000-08:00

Source::http://cdvillard.wordpress.com/2010/12/17/rushing-for-lunch-finds-pomodors-pizza/

In spite of a lack of food funds, I’ve finally been able to knock out a post. Having finally obtained gainful employment, my schedule has been quite busy with constant adjusting and last-minute changes. Luckily, I do manage to find one port of calm in the storm during my half-hour of lunch everyday. The issue of redundancy arises, however, when the only nearby options are a corner store, a hospital cafeteria, and the remains of higher-end restaurants long gone. So, in an attempt to venture past those to the closest burnt chicken joint, my lunchtime rush found me Pomodoro’s Pizza in Coral Gables.

In a part of the township chockfull of competing restaurants, Pomodoro’s has managed to stay open in its current location for five years on what I have to imagine is a great pizza pie. It can’t be the foot traffic. Hidden away off Coral Gables’ main streets, the storefront offers a bar-and-stool arrangement for maybe eight people; it’s almost pristine whenever I pass by. Right in the window, a whiteboard denotes the specials while a huge poster-board inside lists a small hill of offerings including sandwiches, finger foods, and pizzas by the pie and slice.

Reminiscent of New York’s utility pizza, a slice of cheese will cost the customer $2.50 and feed two small children easily. Anything more on a slice will cost an extra 50¢ per topping. Whole pies are available of course, ranging from a $9 for a small cheese to $18 for one of their specialty pies. Cans of soda run for about a dollar, and other items like stromboli, calzone, sandwiches, and wraps run the gambit between $5 and $8.

Being in a rush, I ordered two slices to go, and being of the mind that pizza should and must be topped with wonderful things, I ordered them meat lover’s style – with pepperoni, ground beef, sausage, and bacon. After watching my slices be loaded and put in the oven for a time, I realized while I was rushing back to the office that I’m the poor type of sap who likes to over-think things, seeing this as a challenge to Pomodoro’s name if the flavor of the pizza could withstand Miami’s current climate of whatever Mr. Frosty up there is feeling like.

Thankfully, its flavor did hold up, and made for an interesting taste. From what I’ve tasted of New York utility pizza, the sauce here was minimal and almost all but absent from the bite. It did lend a slight hint of tomato and a bit of sweetness to the slice that’s usually absent in pizza. The cheese was done right, and the toppings’ flavor really got the chance to come through, thanks in part to that lack of sauce. Pizza being the touchy subject that it can be, it could be argued that Pomodoro’s treats the pie as a vehicle for toppings, not the thing itself.

A pleasant plus was that the pizza wasn’t as greasy as other places I’ve tried. Granted that may have been because the pizza has found time to sit after being freshly baked, and slices are topped upon order. Freshness nuts, simmer down. Whole pizza pies made to fill an order for one slice is inefficient, and offering slices only from freshly-made pies is delicious; but just bad business sense. Either way, there isn’t much to say that’s wrong with Pomodoro’s Pizza. Well, I have my thing with the sauce, but that’s personal. All in all, it makes for a great lunch.

Pomodoro’s Pizza is located at 2413 Galiano Street in Coral Gables, FL, near the corner of Galiano Street and Miracle Mile. Open Monday to Saturday from 11:00 am to 9:00 pm, and closed Sunday.

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Technical snag hits Delhi Metro

2010-12-17T18:12:00.000-08:00

Thousands of commuters had a harrowing time Thursday after a technical snag hit Delhi Metros Jahangirpuri-Huda City Centre network.

The train services were affected just before 11 a.m. following a failure in the computerized signalling system, a Delhi Metro spokesperson said. It was eventually set right before noon, the official said.

But because trains ceased to ply on one section of the route, it led to a shortage of trains on the parallel section too, causing discomfort to thousands of people.

Many Metro commuters turned to buses and autorickshaws to reach their destinations.

In recent weeks there have several incidents of technical snags disrupting Metro services, especially during morning and evening peak hours.

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BenQ Unveils World’s First 3D LED Monitor XL2410T in India @ Rs. 28,000

2010-12-17T17:52:00.000-08:00

BenQ unveiled the latest and infact the World’s first 3D LED Monitor in India on Thursday, under the codenamed XL2410T. BenQ XL2410T is the first 3D LED backlit Full HD monitor to be launched in India, co-developed with the help of two professional gamers Emil “HeatoN” Christensen and Abdisamad “SpawN” Mohamed.

The new LED Monitor has been targeted at the gaming freaks in India as LED-backlit variation on 23.6-inch 1080p panel gives the most amazing gaming experience of watching 3D content in full HD.

The gaming monitor, XL2410T has been developed by BenQ after understanding the mindset and needs of gamers. It is a completely featured packed device comprising 120Hz refresh rate (3D capable) for an ultimate gaming experience, 16:9 Aspect Ratio, 2ms response time and a PBP (Picture-by-Picture).

The PBP feature enable users split the screen in half in order to view two different content streams from two different sources at the same time. Connectivity features of the LED include VGA, DVI-D and HDMI 1.3.

BenQ 3D LED Monitor

Interestingly, it also features Display Mode which gives you different scaling options like Full, Overscan, Aspect, 1:1, 17-inch, 19-inch, 19-inchW and 22-inchW for different type of games and resolutions. BenQ’s Gaming Display Modes gives 2 options to users, whether to choose from FPS Mode or from the two User Game modes for more dedicated and personalized settings.

To add more delight, BenQ XL2410T also allows you to put the monitor in portrait form, enabling height, tilt and orientation adjustments. XL2410T is not only a sharp gaming gear, but is also the best personal enjoyment centre for web browsing or watching videos and TV programs.

BenQ XL2410T Price in India: India’s first 3D LED Monitor will be available in the coming weeks in stores for a street price of Rs. 28,000 while the MRP is set at Rs. 31,200.

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Camille Grammer Playboy Hot Pics

2010-12-17T17:47:00.000-08:00

Source::http://trendsandhottopics.wordpress.com/2010/12/17/camille-grammer-playboy-hot-pics/

Camille Grammer Playboy Hot Pics: Camille Grammer is an American appearance model, extra and ball aerialist built-in on September 2nd, 1968 at the admirable country of Newport Beach, California.

Her bearing name is Camille Donatacci. She affiliated Kelsey Grammer in the year of 1997; Kesley is an American amateur and actor acclaimed for his two decade assuming as a analyst in NBC ball “Cheers” and has anon filed for break and divorce.

Camille Grammer met her would be husband on a blind date in MTV hosted party in 1996 and they married a year later in August 1997 at Malibu. Camille made a guest appearance on the TV sitcom “Frasier” with hubby Kelsey Grammer. The couple has a daughter by the name of Mason born in 2001 and a son known as Jude born in 2004. Both children were born to a surrogate mother. Their marriage lasted 13 years when Camille decided to get divorced on July 1st, 2010. She is currently fighting for custody of her two children and spousal support in court.

In 1996, Camille Grammer was diagnosed with Irritable Bowel Syndrome and currently works to create awareness against this disease.

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Greenville County Schools Closed today due to Bad Weather : greenville.k12.sc.us

2010-12-17T17:35:00.000-08:00

Greenville County Schools will remain closed today, 16th December 2010. This is mainly due to bad weather this morning.

There is lots of snow every where, and weather forecast predicts more rainfall and snow.

Greenville County Schools Website says -

Due to icy conditions, Greenville County Schools and offices are closed today.

Disciplinary hearings that were scheduled today will be rescheduled to Friday, December 17 at the same time. Please call 355-2060 for questions.

For More details visit Greenville County Schools Website -

http://www.greenville.k12.sc.us/index.asp

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a christmas tree so tacky, glenn beck would be proud

2010-12-17T17:18:00.000-08:00

Source::http://robertcargill.com/2010/12/16/a-christmas-tree-so-tacky-glenn-beck-would-be-proud/

Boss Creations Glowing Cross "Put the Cross back in Christmas" Trees. Now in "Natural" and "American Flag"

I simply don’t know what to say about this line of merchandise. A company, Boss Creations, has tried to put the ‘cross’ back in Christmas by selling Christmas trees with actual glowing crosses in them!!

And just when you thought Santa’s special troop of fundamentalist tacky elves couldn’t get any worse, Boss Creations has gone and Glenn Beck-ified Christmas by creating a red, white, and blue American flag Christmas tree, complete with glowing cross. Boss Creation’s new ‘Christian Nation’ Christmas tree (I kid you not, I’m not making this up) means they’ve gotten back to the true meaning of Christmas and put the ‘America’ back into Christmas.

(John 11:35)

Seriously?

The existence of this product has forced me to create a new blog category entitled HOLY CRAP, because that is literally what garbage like this is: HOLY CRAP! Or, like Steven Colbert said, “It’s like George Washington and Jesus teamed up and declared independence from taste.”

They even took the time to write President Obama a letter. (I wonder if they’re Republicans?)

HT: Steven Colbert and Steven Colbert.

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MoDOT to close two lanes on Boone Bridge Thursday

2010-12-17T17:16:00.000-08:00

The Missouri Department of Transportation will close two lanes on westbound Highway 40-61 at the Daniel Boone Bridge over the Missouri River Thursday and Friday nights for expansion joint repairs, weather permitting.

Crews will close the two left lanes at 9 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 16 and Friday, Dec. 17. The lanes should be reopened by 5 a.m. the following day.

Depending on work, crews may have to periodically close the entire roadway for up to 15 minutes during portions of the work.

For more information about MoDOT work zones, call 1-888-ASK-MODOT or visit www.modot.org/stlouis/.

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Tron Legacy Movie Starcast and Release Date

2010-12-17T16:56:00.000-08:00

Cast :

Jeff Bridges, Garrett Hedlund, Bruce Boxleitner, Olivia Wilde, Michael Sheen, James Frain

Directed :

Joseph Kosinski

Produced :

Sean Bailey, Jeffrey Silver, Steven Lisberger

Written Story :

Adam Horowitz

Music :

Daft Punk

Release Date :

16.12.2010

Country :

United States

Language :

English

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SWEET AND SPICY CHILI

2010-12-17T16:48:00.000-08:00

Source:http://jerseyne.wordpress.com/2010/12/17/sweet-and-spicy-chili/

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small sweet yellow onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons light brown sugar or natural sweetener
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
One 28-ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained
One 6-ounce can tomato paste
2 cups apple juice
One 4-ounce can diced hot green chilies, drained
3 cups cooked or two 15-ounce cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups vegetarian burger crumbles (such as Yves ground round)
6 cups freshly cooked aromatic rice (like jasmine or basmati)
1/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted for garnish

Preparation:

1. Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic, cover, and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the chili powder, brown sugar, cumin, cinnamon, salt, and cayenne. Add the tomatoes and juice, tomato paste, apple juice, chilies, and beans. Stir to combine and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, stir in the burger crumbles, and simmer for 30 minutes.

2. Serve over the rice, garnished with the almonds.

SERVES 6

TAKEN FROM:
“Vegan Plant: 400 Irresistible Recipes with Fantastic Flavors from Home and Around the World” by ROBIN ROBERTSON

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The real Sarabjit has been arrested, claims family

2010-12-17T16:39:00.000-08:00

Family members of Sarabjit Singh - the Indian who is on death row in Pakistan - say a criminal arrested here Thursday is the one responsible for the blasts which Pakistan has blamed on Sarabjit.

Panchkula police arrested Manjeet Singh Rattu in connection with a case of fraud registered here a few months back.

Manjeet is also the name by which Sarabjit is known in Pakistan.

Sarabjit Singhs lawyers and family members have repeatedly claimed that he is a victim of mistaken identity, and that the real Manjeet Singh was someone else.

“I am sure that police have arrested the same Manjeet Singh who was actually responsible for Pakistan blasts. Tomorrow I will go myself to see him in the police station. I have also talked to Haryana police chief and he has assured me of all possible help,” Sarabjits sister Dalbir Kaur told IANS here Thursday.

However, Panchkula police are not so sure of the Sarabjit familys claims.

“Our investigation is on. So far we have not found any evidence that he (Manjeet) was responsible for bombing in Pakistan,” police superintendent Maneesh Chaudhary told IANS.

Sarabjit, who is languishing in Pakistan jails for over 19 years, has been convicted of staging four bomb blasts in Lahore and Multan in 1990 that claimed 14 lives. He is currently lodged in Kot Lakhpat jail in Lahore, facing the death sentence.

His family claims he crossed into Pakistan inadvertently in a drunken stupor in August 1990 and was arrested.

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Tamilnadu ITI Results 2010 declared; available on www.ititraining.tn.nic.in

2010-12-17T16:24:00.000-08:00

Tamil Nadu Industrial Training Institute has declared the Results of Tamilnadu ITI 2010 Exam Results.

Tamilnadu ITI Results 2010 are available on – www.ititraining.tn.nic.in

Best of Luck Guys !!!

Government of Tamil Nadu Commissionerate of Employment and Training Training Wing – ITI Tamil Nadu is the training institute which takes the examination of various professional courses in Tamil Nadu. ITI Tamil Nadu offers many courses.

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Vegan Amaretti Cookies

2010-12-17T16:21:00.000-08:00

Source::http://veggielover99.wordpress.com/2010/12/17/vegan-amaretti-cookies/

With a crispy, crumbly exterior and a chewy inside, these cookies, which are made mostly with almonds and which bedazzle you with their almond-y flavor, are a delicious treat from Italy.

Method:
Mix together the almond flour, pastry flour and baking powder.

In a food processor, or by hand, add to the flour mixture the sugar, the two extracts, and the egg-replacer mixture. If using a food processor, pulse a few times to mix the ingredients.

The dough will be sticky. With a teaspoon, place rounded mounds of the mixture on a cookie sheet greased well, or covered with parchment paper and then greased.

Bake in a preheated 300-degree oven about 25-30 minutes until the tops are lightly browned, and the bottoms are a deeper, richer golden-brown.

Place the sheet on a rack to cool about 10 minutes. Then, using a thin spatula, remove the cookies from the cookie sheet and place directly on the rack to cool thoroughly.

When cooled, sprinkle tops with some powdered confectioners sugar.

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Zee Rishtey Awards 2010 19th December on Zee TV

2010-12-17T16:05:00.000-08:00

Raising a toast to the completion of 18 glorious years of its precious relationship with audiences, Zee TV presents Zee Rishtey Awards 2010 – Jashn 18 Saalon Ka. The awards ceremony to be held on December 4, 2010 and telecast on December 19, 2010 will be a grand celebration of the spirit of Zee TV.

The event will be a memorable evening when the entire constellation of Zee TV’s most popular stars will descend on a single platform and set the stage ablaze with breathtaking performances bound to set your pulses racing.

In the week leading up to the telecast of Zee Rishtey Awards’ Jashn 18 Saalon Ka, Zee TV will showcase lively interactions of the channel’s primetime heroes and heroines with their fans from across the country in a special segment called ‘Rishton Ki Saugat’.

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Top 5 Christmas Zombies.

2010-12-17T15:56:00.000-08:00

Source::http://teamhellions.com/2010/12/17/top-5-christmas-zombies/ Top 5 Christmas Zombies. « Team Hellions /* */#page-wrap2 {background: url(http://teamhellions.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/cropped-stack1.jpg) no-repeat 50% bottom;}#header h1 a {color: #be1513 !important;} Blogging about wrestling, comics, and related topics.Team HellionsHomeAboutContact.« The Son of God Really Ties the Room Together.Top 5 Christmas Zombies.

5. I Am Scrooge: A Zombie Story for Christmas

Was Tiny Tim’s disease something more sinister? Also, Jacob Marley has never been more frightening.

4. It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Zombies: A Book of Zombie Christmas Carols

Hopefully containing The Little Drummer Boy (was delicious) by Brains Crosby and Dead Bowie.

3. The Last Christmas

Written by Brian Posehn, its Santa vs. the post apocalypse.

2. A Very Zombie Christmas

Comic from 1990, before the current zombie craze. Get it while its still cheap.

1. The Bible

Oh, I went there. I apologize, but had to take the cheap joke. Merry Christmas one and all.Share this:DiggFacebookRedditStumbleUponbook, books, brains, Christmas, comic, Comic book, comic books, comics, humor, Jesus, jokes, parody, zombie, zombies

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Richmond County Schools Opening after Two Hour Delay due to Bad Weather

2010-12-17T15:46:00.000-08:00

Due to inclement weather, all Richmond County Schools are operating on a two hour delay for today.

As of 9 a.m., the temperature in Richmond County was at 32 degrees Fareinheit and some ice was visible on parked cars. The high temperature for today was 44 degree farenheight.

The five day forecast calls for daily highs in Richmond County in the 40s and lows in the 30s except for Friday and Saturday when it will be in the 20s.

Many schools in other states are also closed.

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Poser models vol 44 for Poser

2010-12-17T15:31:00.000-08:00

Poser models vol 44 for Poser | 298.12 MB
This is volume 44 from the company that is always moving. Store shelves and packaging. It broke down to 310 models. converted to a Poser library.
Download:Hotfile

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Download:FileServe

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Walk around West Wollongong --1

2010-12-17T15:27:00.001-08:00

Source::http://neil2decade.wordpress.com/2010/12/17/walk-around-west-wollongong-1/

Christmas lights house in daylight

Summer cicada

Gumnuts and blossoms

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Srirangam Temple | Vaikunta Ekadasi 2010 at Srirangam Temple | Vaikunta Ekadasi Vratham

2010-12-17T15:27:00.000-08:00

Srirangam Temple

Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple in Srirangam, Tiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu, India is a Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Ranganatha, a reclining form of Lord Vishnu.Srirangam is the foremost of the eight self-manifested shrines of Lord Vishnu.It is also considered the first, foremost and the most important of the 108 main Vishnu temples.This temple is also known as Thiruvaranga Tirupati, Periyakoil, Bhoologa Vaikundam, Bhogamandabam.In the Vaishnava parlance the term KOIL signifies this temple only.The temple complex is 156 acres in extent.

Vaikuntha Ekadasi Festival is The most important festival celebrated for full twenty one days during Tamil month Margazhi is divided to two ten days as pagal pathu and ra pathu, with all pomp and pageantry.On Vaikunta Ekadesi day, Lord Ranganatha, attired in splendid garment, proceeds in a magnificient procession through Paramapada Vasal, arrives at Thirumamani Mandapam in the Thousand in a pillared hall to the thrill and joy of the devotees gathered in lakhs who have come from all over India and abroad.This occasion is the peak point of all festivals conducted in the Temple, on this day of days Sri Ranganatha becomes a virtual king and is known as Sri Rangaraja.

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Insensitive, callous to demolish night shelters: Apex court (Lead)

2010-12-17T15:12:00.001-08:00

Pulling up the authorities, the Supreme Court Thursday said it was the responsibility of the central and state governments to ensure that no deaths occurred due to lack of night shelters and asked that two shelters pulled down in this biting winter be restored within three days.

The apex court bench of Justice Dalveer Bhandari and Justice Deepak Verma said it was "insensitive and callous" on the part of the authorities to demolish night shelters meant for the homeless urban poor when the severity of the winter is increasing.

The bench said this when it was told that two night shelters that were set up on land belonging to the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) were demolished during the last few days.

The court was hearing a petition by human rights organisation Peoples Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) seeking directions to the central government and states to set up adequate number of night shelters for the homeless urban poor.

It directed the DDA to restore within three days the two night shelters pulled down by it and also asked the Delhi government to ensure that all its 64 night shelters were functional and people sheltered there were given good quality blankets.

The court directed DDA to find out which officer was responsible for pulling down the two night shelters and take appropriate action against him.

The court said it was the duty of the central government and the states to ensure that no death occurred on account of lack or absence of night shelters.

"To preserve and protect the lives of the people is the basic responsibility of the welfare state," Justice Bhandari said.

The court said that it was incumbent upon the "welfare state to ensure that no one slept under the open sky".

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Sex for Dummies

2010-12-17T15:12:00.000-08:00

Sex for Dummies
For Dummies | 2000 | ISBN-10: 076455302X | 432 Pages | PDF |11 Mb

Dr. Ruth is back with a new edition that tackles the hottest, most current sexual issues. Updated material includes expanded coverage of medical concerns -? from prostate cancer and Viagra to birth control and sexually transmitted diseases. In addition, expert advice cuts through the medical jargon and presents the latest and most comprehensive information on AIDS?from new statistics and research to current treatments.

New and updated illustrations supplement no-nonsense advice on everything from puberty to procreation, and expanded coverage of cybersex resources offers tips for exploring sex on the Internet to enhance understanding and increase enjoyment while protecting kids from inappropriate websites. Sex For Dummies , 2nd Edition provides you with the information you need to make smart choices about your sexuality.

Download Links

Hotfile
http://hotfile.com/dl/89762206/f9b8324/Sex_Dummies.rar.html

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Beach sunrise day 2

2010-12-17T14:58:00.000-08:00

Source::http://amhardinphotos.wordpress.com/2010/12/17/beach-sunrise-day-2/

I shot this one at the exact moment the sun started appearing. It also was shot on film and scanned, but hardly any post work was done to it. I shot at real low shutter speed, which gave it this almost surreal look.

Be the first to like this post.

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Teacher critical after acid attack

2010-12-17T14:53:00.001-08:00

A woman teacher was in critical condition Thursday after three men threw acid on her inside a government school in Uttar Pradesh, police said.

Ranjana Singh, 30, was attacked at a primary school in Peeparpur area in Chhatrapati Sahuji Maharaj Nagar.

Police officer P.P. Singh said the attackers were three men on a motorcycle. The teacher suffered serious burn injuries on her face, neck and back.

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NTI Media Maker 8 Plus + (Rus)

2010-12-17T14:53:00.000-08:00

NTI Media Maker 8 Plus + (Rus) | 745 MB

Media Maker is a software application for creating CDs. Using Media Maker and supported device CD / DVD burner you can produce CDs in a variety of formats, including CD-ROM, CD-ROM XA, DVD-ROM, Audio CD / DVD, video CD-ROM, Combo CD-ROM, and CD Extra. When you work with the familiar Windows interface, the production of CD-ROM drive is a simple movement of files with the mouse or click the button.
Only just drag and drop files from the original hard drive or other storage medium for partitioning the image of your CD-ROM, and a few minutes you will be re-created his own CD.
Intuitive Media Maker allows you to instantly search the computer and easily find the files you want. You can find files through search tools Windows, easily accessible from the toolbar. Our completely redesigned user interface has never been so easy to use. All operations are performed through a very simple action steps. Each step is clearly defined program.
Record for most types of CD-ROM drive is a simple two-step process

Title: NTI Media Maker
Version: 8 Plus
License: Other
Operating System: Windows

Homepage: http://www.nticdmaker.com/en/us/product/media_maker8.asp

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www.jnrvuniversity.com | RVD University Exam Time Table 2011 | Rajasthan Vidyapeeth University Exam Schedule 2011

2010-12-17T14:37:00.000-08:00

RVD University Time Table

Janardan Rai Nagar Rajasthan Vidyapeeth University With the awakening of national consciousness in the early years of the last century, a few notable efforts were made in British India to improve the system of education prevalent in India during that time. Gujarat Vidyapeeth, started by Mahatma Gandhi, aimed at preparing youth to serve and uplift the rural masses Shantiniketan tried to bring the cultures of the East and West into universal harmony Jamia Millia tried to educate the Muslims in keeping with the needs of the main stream of national life.

Gurukul Kangri aimed at preserving the cultural heritage of the nation keeping with the requirements of the modern age.Inspired by the same spirit Pandit Janardan Rai Nagar established Rajasthan Vidyapeeth in 1937 to uplift the down-trodden common man in the feudal state of Mewar. Started as a Night Study Centre for the Elementary, Secondary and Advanced Courses in Hindi, our national language, Rajasthan Vidyapeeth has grown into a large complex of more than 50 institutions spread over several districts of Rajasthan.

Janardan Rai Nagar Rajasthan Vidyapeeth University has publish Winter Exam Time Table Jan-Feb 2011.

Rajasthan Vidyapeeth University Exam Time Table 2011.

CLICK HERE FOR TIME TABLE

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Lil Wayne New Weezy

2010-12-17T14:36:00.000-08:00

Lil Wayne ? New Weezy
MP3 320 Kbps CBR | Release: 13.12.2010 | tracks: 17 | 128Mb
Genre: Hip-Hop / Rap / RnB

Tracklist:

1. Lil Wayne ? 30 Minutes To New Orleans
2. Lil Wayne ? Prom Queen (Remix)
3. Lil Wayne ? Lollipop (Remix)
4. Lil Wayne ? Girl U Nasty (Feat. Mack Maine, Jae Millz & Tyga)
5. Lil Wayne ? I Don?t Like The Look Of That (Remix) (Feat. Gudda Gudda)
6. Lil Wayne ? Girl Like Her (Feat. RL)
7. Lil Wayne ? Fire Flame (Remix) (Feat. Birdman)
8. Lil Wayne ? YM Salute (Feat. Nicki Minaj, Lil Twist, Lil Chuckee, Jae Millz & Gudda Gudda)
9. Lil Wayne ? Throwin Money
10. Lil Wayne ? Whats Wrong With Them (Feat. Nicki Minaj)
11. T-Wayne ? Hoes & Ladies feat Smoke (Field Mob)
12. Lil Wayne ? Bill Gates
13. Lil Wayne ? Fuck You (Feat. Slim Thug)
14. Lil Wayne ? I Don?t Like The Look (Willy Wonka) (Feat. Gudda Gudda)
15. Lil Wayne ? In The City (Feat. Jae Millz & Short Dawg)
16. Lil Wayne ? Inkredible (Feat. Trae & Rick Ross)
17. Lil Wayne ? Succesful (Feat. Drake, Trey Songz)

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Beef Stir Fry

2010-12-17T14:29:00.000-08:00

Source:http://thecompletecookbook.wordpress.com/2010/12/17/beef-stir-fry/

Last night’s dinner was created from left over fillet steak that I had in the fridge and a couple of extra remaining carrots from Carrot Cake Cupcakes I made on Tuesday (recipe coming up soon), plus a few other ingredients and it was seriously yummy served over basmati rice – there is just enough left for lunch today.

Ingredients

500g beef fillet cut into thin slices
60ml dark soy sauce
40ml honey
5ml crushed garlic
2.5ml crushed ginger
1/3 cabbage shredded
2 carrots grated
1 large onion sliced

Method

Place the beef, soy, honey, garlic and ginger in a bowl and mix to combine. Let marinate for 30 minutes, the fillet will soak up all the soy.Heat a little sunflower or grape seed oil in a wok until very hot, add the beef and stir fry for no longer than 2 minutes. Remove the beef with a slotted spoon and reduce the liquid left in the wok by half and pour over the meat.Add a little more oil to the wok, add add all the vegetables and stir fry until tender but still crispy and add the beef back and stir into the vegetables to heat through.

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Two missing Delhi students found in Katra

2010-12-17T14:21:00.000-08:00

Delhi Police Thursday traced two teenaged students of a Delhi school, who went missing two days ago, to Katra in Jammu and Kashmir and took steps to bring them back.

"We have traced the two to Katra from where they are being brought back. The two were on their way to Vaishno Devi," a senior police official said.

The police earlier filed cases of kidnapping after the girl, a Class 9 student, and the boy, a Class 10 student, from a south Delhi school were reported missing.

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Adobe Acrobat 9.3.4 Pro SI-Silent Installation (2010/ENG)

2010-12-17T14:14:00.000-08:00

Adobe Acrobat 9.3.4 Pro SI-Silent Installation (2010/ENG) | 586 MB
Access to all data PDF in any place and at any time opens exciting prospects. Package Software Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro Extended now includes Adobe Presenter, Adobe LiveCycle Designer ES, and Adobe 3D Reviewer.

The program for creating PDF documents. Adobe Acrobat allows you to combine in one document the various types of data and diverse multimedia content. With the program you can create PDF files from documents applications Microsoft Word, Excel, Access, Outlook, and also from the scanned material and captured pages of websites. Then there is the possibility of installing a thin system protect the contents of a PDF document, which will restrict only certain user actions.

System requirements:
- CPU clock speed 1.3 GHz or higher;
- Internet Explorer 6.0;
- 256 MB RAM (512 MB recommended);
- 3 GB of free hard disk space;
- Monitor resolution of 1024x768;
- Optical Drive DVD-ROM;
- Video hardware acceleration (optional).

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Hungarian Mushroom Soup

2010-12-17T14:04:00.000-08:00

Source::http://katieatthekitchendoor.wordpress.com/2010/12/15/good-foodie/?tpref=foodpress
December 15, 2010 by katieatthekitchendoor

So, the friendly people over at Marx Foods recently asked the internet-at-large “What have you done to be a good foodie this year?” And, being a member of the internet-at-large, I felt compelled to answer them. It would’ve been rude not to, right?

And so I began pondering. Pondering and musing. This was my first year blogging, and I’m getting the hang of it. My second year cooking for myself, and people seem to think I’m alright at that. My 21st year eating, and I consider myself a master at that. So I have some experience with food. But what about this year made it different? Seeing as how it’s finals week and I’m a senior in college and I’ve been having all sorts of deep thoughts about the value of a good education and how college has changed me and what on earth I am going to do in the real world, the answer came to me pretty quickly.

Learning. This year, in the realm of food and in pretty much all the other realms of my life, the thing that has been most significant throughout my experiences has been learning. In terms of food and blogging and eating, I’ve learned a ton. Big things and little things. Big things like how to take a decent food photo, how huge the difference is between high quality and cheap ingredients, and how much work (but oh how rewarding too!) blogging can be. Little things like how to like mushrooms and tomatoes, two foods I was convinced I hated a year ago, how incredible slices of fresh avocado can taste, that cardamom is what makes danish pastries taste like danish pastries and not just any other baked good, and how to consistently make good pasta dough. I’ve tried countless new recipes, ordered meals I wouldn’t have touched as a kid, and discovered incredible websites. On any given day I probably spend a good hour or two thinking about food and recipes and menus – sometimes actively, but sometimes passively, like when I’m sitting in class and realize that half of my notebook is filled with flavor combinations rather than steel code stipulations like it should be. And I like it. I hope I can find a way to make this learning continue and deepen.

In the non-food portion of my life I’ve learned a lot too. Probably too much to say. So I’ll just touch on the big stuff… like how to take care of my own finances. How to dress and talk and smile for job interviews. How to be rejected from said job interviews. How much I truly love to dance. How to stop crying and pull yourself together when you’ve been dumped and your world feels shattered. How frustrating research is. How good independence feels. How important being with other human beings on a daily basis is. How little I know about what I want in my life. How much time I have to figure it out. How to save your last tailgate. And on and on.

And there you have it. That’s what’s made me a good foodie, and a good student, and good at being myself this year. And since I couldn’t leave you without a recipe, in the spirit of learning to like new things and those friendly people over at Marx Foods, I decided to try their Hungarian Mushroom Soup. They posted it a few weeks ago, and although they aren’t flavors I usually work with, the recipe really intrigued me. Maybe it’s the time of year. Maybe it’s my recent mushroom kick – now that I know I like them, I want to eat them! Maybe it’s my inner Eastern European. Who knows. But I made it, and although I was apprehensive beforehand, I liked it more with every bite. It tastes very authentic (although you should know that my only authority in that matter comes from one week in Hungary last year), and rich and the dill really comes through in a great way. It also took 30 minutes to come together, including 20 minutes of time soaking the mushrooms, so that was a nice surprise. Everyone loves a 10 minute meal. The only thing that put me off about it was the chewiness of the reconstituted mushrooms – next time I would either chop them up into smaller pieces pre-soak, or blend the soup when it was finished.

One last thing… Since they asked, the gift I would most like to receive if a stocking full of edible goodies happened to arrive on my doorstep from Marx Foods would be saffron threads. Why? Honestly, because they are way out of my weekly food budget range, and they have such a lovely flavor and I keep having to not make recipes where they are a key ingredient.

Hungarian Mushroom Soup

Reposted from Marx Foods, scaled down to serve 2.

1/2 oz. dried mushooms1 TBS butter1/2 c. diced onion1 TBS flour1 c. milk1 tsp. paprika1/2 c. stock or water2 TBS sour cream1 tsp lemon juice1/2 tsp. dill1/2 tsp. salt1 tsp. vinegarPour boiling water over mushrooms to cover. Let stand 20 minutes.In a medium saucepan, sautee onions in butter until translucent. Add flour and cook for another 2 minutes, stirring constantly.Add mushrooms and their soaking water and stir until thickened. Add milk and paprika and cook 2-3 minutes.Add 1/2 c. stock, sour cream, lemon juice, dill, salt, and vinegar and stir until all incorporated. Cook 2-3 minutes more to let flavors combine. Serve hot with a dollop of sour cream.

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