Michael Crowley writes that President Obama probably wouldn’t pull out of Iraq as quickly as some may hope:
The truth is Obama has no secret plan for Iraq. Interviews with nearly two dozen foreign policy and military experts, as well as Obama’s campaign advisers, and a close review of Obama’s own statements on Iraq, suggest something [...]
weight loss after pregnancy is a major issue with many women. During pregnancy, a woman can gain around 25 to 35 pounds. After delivery, she will lose around 12 to 22 pounds. This leaves around 12 to 22 pounds that she will have to deal with. The key is to remember that it is possible [...]
BeforeI like very much to do nice effects with Photoshop, but I still have many things to learn about the vast possibilities that Photoshop has to offer.So, yesterday I was searching for Photoshop tutorials, because I would like to learn to do some water effects in real photos, and I have found one very interesting. As you can see in these pictures, the tutorial teaches how to make a realist water surface in a real photo.So, if you like to know how to do this excellent effect, just go to this webpage. After
Shankara was an Illusionist; Aurobindo was a Realist ( "Maya is real, because it is the Self's experience of the Self" )The term assigned by Sankara to the whole process of creation was Maya. Aurobindo, on the other hand, called it Leela or the play of the Divine. Leela includes the idea of Maya and exceeds it !" This is our Eternal Lover luring us to Himself, through all these flashy masks of Himself, through all this shimmering blazes of His eternal and ineffugable Self-Existence " said the Master !
New Height Books serves as a comprehensive collection of Romantic Realist Literature/Movies and Rational Nonfiction. Our purpose is to find authors and books (explicitly Objectivist or not) that meet Ayn Rand's definition of Romantic Realism in any branch of literature.
"The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees opportunity in every difficulty." -Winston Churchill, former British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill books//
Are you a pessimist or optimist? You know, glass half empty versus glass half full? Pessimists piss me off, probably because they piss on everything. I admit that optimists can be annoying too, especially unrealistic optimists. Come to think of it, what is a realist? A realist is a critical opportunist. Pessimists always think the risks are too great, while optimists always overestimate their own abilities. Realists calculate the risks and compare it to their own abilities to determine if success is...
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I'm sure those pencil enthusiasts out there know what I'm talking about. It is the Holy Grail of Pencils. What the DeLorean is to cars, is what the Faber Castell Blackwing 602 is to pencils. It's the hard-to-find, insanely-expensive, out-of-production pencil.
And many people out there give it a perfect 10 rating.
A popular review of the Blackwing, which has captured the attention of such sites as Boing Boing (here and here) is pencilpages.com's review, "The Blackwing 602 - Final Chapter."
An excerpt:"What is so special about this pencil that its devotees will accept no substitute and make them willing to spend $250.00 for a box of them? It has a sleek and unique design, and if you've ever used one, you know it is a very smooth-writing and easy to use pencil. Its famous slogan "Half the Pressure, Twice the Speed" is no exaggeration. It is also the last of a line of pencils featuring a distinctive rectangular ferrule with a unique, replaceable eraser. I am no artist, but I know
Bass blog reader Rúben Meirelles e-mailed me recently wondering if there are any shops in the Miami, Florida area that carry Realist Bass Transducers. If any readers know where Rúben can find a Realist in Miami, could you leave a comment on this post? Thanks!
Rebirth of a Realist
America is the craziest place on the planetI think it is an old Italian expression that says, "From the head the rotting fish stinks first."One presidency after another for the last forty years has been rocked with one kind of a scandal or another. They have taken our moral structure down with them. Bush, of course, has escalated that slide downward.On February eight a pathetic, wretched women died at the early age of 39.Let’s pretend that we are a Muslim man in Tehran who has access to American media and sees three anchors on CNN news devote almost the entire day to every detail they could find about the women and the sudden death. Newspapers across the country made it a front-page storySo who is this women that has caused millions of dollars to be spent just for American scandal sheets to get a picture of her? Is she a holy person? Maybe a queen? Perhaps a great scientist that has found a cure for one of our killer diseases or perhaps a political figure that h
Rebirth of a RealistLieberman on Lieberman,It is ironic that the elections in Israel and the elections in the US will involve two similar political characters named Lieberman. The Lieberman of Israel is described by Uri Avnery as a man who, "advocates the expulsion of the Arab citizens from Israel. He threatened to destroy Egypt by blowing up the Aswan Dam. He demanded the execution of the Israeli Arab Knesset members for meeting with Syrian and Hamas leaders."Joe Lieberman and his namesake are similar in that they are both blind faith right wing Zionists. Joe an eighteen year US Senator, lost the primary in the Democratic party to a neophyte, albeit a very rich neophyte, Primarily because of his goose stepping to the marching tune of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and supporting the war in Iraq. With the help of AIPAC and about eighteen million Dollars or more he is thumbing his nose at the party and may go back to the senate as an Independent.One congressional s
Rebirth of a Realist"NO BLOOD FOR OIL."Most popular sign carried all over the world during May, 2003 anti-war demonstrations.At the end of World War II, American and British oil companies were once again fighting for control of the Iranian oil fields and giving Stalin another reason for deep concern. The Iran -Soviet border was long and treacherous. Stalin had already pulled his troops out of Iran in April of 1946, but his own very productive oil fields in Baku were near the Iranian border. With the western powers constantly fomenting revolution and discord in Iran, Stalin was understandably concerned. Aramco, Shell, Socony and other huge international oil companies were rushing to sign long- term contracts with the western supported, Iranian Government. For sixty years, the British plundered the Iranian oil fields by maintaining friendly sovereigns in power. After World War II, the people of Iran were calling for an end to what they referred to as British imperialist rule. Revolutiona
Rebirth of a RealistHas there ever been a time in history when so many were cowed and terrorized by so few?Many anti-war voters in Connecticut gave the country and certainly the President a punch in the nose byVoting against the eighteen year incumbent senator and committed Zionist war hawk Senator Lieberman.Fearing to speak it out loud frustrated peaceniks were voting against Israeli aggression and the total grip AIPAC (American Israel Public affairs Committee, I prefer to call it the American Israel Political Action Committee because that is what it is.] has on American foreign policy. I have tried to point out to the local media that AIPAC owns Lieberman's Ears, eyes, mouth and heart. The media feels Israel and AIPC are not germane to our elections.Acknowledging the power of AIPAC the right wing columnist Novak pointed out that" Washingtonremains largely a bipartisan, criticism-free zone for Israel."Important new details of the U.S.-Israeli espionage case involving Larry Franklin,
Rebirth of a Realistexcerpt from the book GOD GO WITH THEMPart of a discussion about the military draft in 1965 taking place in a seminary someplace in Connecticut.Wait a minute, Howard said. “Why are we spending so muchtime talking about Canada? We agreed that we wouldn’t waste a lot of time talking about the war or the politics of the war because we all agree on that, so the way Cathy and I saw this thing tonight was to move in to much more personal problems with our commitment. I would like to touch again on the subject of parents because I did not agree with Wilfred. I think that most parents do make great sacrifices for their children and do deserve to be considered. I’m not saying that they should keep you from making your own decisions. I am saying that you should do your utmost to include them. I know that Wilfred’s folks do not oppose what he is doing. They are just as much against this war as he is, but he doesn’t give them credit for being revolutionaries like he s
Rebirth of a RealistThe night after the 1948 presidential elections, I played basketball in the adult YMCA league in Passaic New Jersey. I remember it because after the game we all went to our favorite bar to have a few beers and play some shuffleboard. I did not want to go home. While none of us expected Wallace to win, we wanted to make a statement to the world that Realists were still here and unafraid. We wanted to say that we are building a new concept in American politics that would lead to a new America. It was an emotional ride, and we still had the great acceptance speech ringing in our ears. When I re-read it now I feel a sense of guilt. Why didn’t I, and all Realists work harder to make that great man our president and save the world from the insanity of todayOn the day Wallace accepted the nomination he said,“ Franklin Roosevelt looked beyond the horizon and gave us a vision of peace, an economic bill of rights; the right to work, for every man willing. The right of eve
Rebirth of a RealistWilliam Sloan CoffinWell, Bill finally is at peace. The last time I saw him speak he said he had about six months to live. That was at least a year ago. He would like folks to say that he was a pretty tough guy.We had our differences about realism and how to apply it. Coffin was an ex CIA agent. He had been a friend of George W.H. Bush since his youth. They both attended Phillips Academy (1942), and he brought Coffin into the exclusive Scull and Bones secrete society at yale. As a CIA agent he spent three years in West Germany recruiting so called anti-Soviet refugees, and bring them to the US and train them on how to undermine Stalin's regime. Some of them were the most ruthless Nazis such as Radislow Ostrowski and Emanual Jasiuk The darlings of the Einsatzgruppen and Major Dimitri Asmowitch the Ruthless Nazi mayor of Smolensk. I could never forgive him for that. The Nazis destroyed my father’s hometown in Byelorussia.Many left-liberals in the civil rights and
Rebirth of a RealistToday (4/9/06) I went to my local feed store to buy bird feed. The owner gave me a cap with the store logo on it. It was very nice and remembering the old adage of never looking a gift horse in the mouth, I waited until I got home to read the label. Yes, it was made in China. I always read labels. It tells me a lot about my country and the world. In 1996, I was invited to attend a symposium at Moscow University. The university itself is amazingly conservative. Perhaps I should use a better word, for in Moscow the media has confused the public by using the word conservative to describe those on the left. A great many students there are sent by corporations of other countries to study economics. The host for the gathering was a professor in the economics department. The subject was the future of Socialism and how can it democratically be achieved.While there, I was asked to speak to a young group of students with Communist backgrounds trying to adjust to the new Yelts
