France as a mediocre and weak second rate power is one of the nations that benefits greatly from the poseur club that is the UN. For decades the French and others have used the UN as a means to assert their own relevancy, even as their hard power has waned and faded. Free-riding off the US hegemon is more easily accomplished under the guise of a sanctioned and accepted international group with a supposed claim on morality and clarity, then it is as a single, fainéant and hypocritical power. Repeated scandals, corruption, and immoral support for terrorist regimes and an inability to discern right from wrong; good from bad; and moral from the moral; has ensured that the UN and its main benefactors in the Franco-Russian-Sino-Arab-African world, is no more than a criminal gang of dangerous elements. Lebanon is just another example of the irrelevancy of both France and her liberal inspired fetish, the UN.

In order to appear politically powerful and to satiate their obsession with providing a ‘contre-puissance vers les Americains’ [a counter power to US hegemony], the French used the UN to force the Israeli’s into a defeat in the latest round of Arab and Islamic violence against the liberal Jewish state. Of course the French promises which were the core of the UN cease-fire and new Resolution were immediately invalidated. In order to force the Jews to stop destroying their terrorist and Arab allies, the French convinced the Americans and the UN that a ceasefire, under French management, would allow for a lasting peace. What the French really want is good relations with the Arab world; a profitable trading and investment presence in Islamic states, and a method to insert themselves into international dialogues of consequence. They have no intention in Lebanon or elsewhere of helping end the Islamic war against civilization or protecting the rights of Jews in Israel to live in peace.

French perfidy in Lebanon, as elsewhere in the Arab world, is immediately obvious. The French promised thousands of troops as part of the UN resolution to end the conflict between an Islamic fascist group residing in a terror supporting state, and Israel. Of course the French had no intention of providing troops, or forcing French soldiers to engage in the bloody dismantlement of Hizbollah as promised by the Resolution, nor are they much interested in doing anything to upset their Islamic-Arab allies. The entire cease-fire and French sponsored Resolution is a sordid, sick joke. In fact the French plan is of course to do the opposite of what needs to be done; re-supply Hizbollah; recognize and legitimized its political and social activist groups; and demonize Israeli attempts at self defense.

The French promised thousands of troops to enforce the UN resolution which clearly stated that Hizbollah must be disarmed. Now of course the ‘thousands’ are down to 200 troops and 200 engineers. I never knew that structural engineering was critical in disbanding a terror group that supports a fascist ideology. Never in the history of man has a terrorist group willingly gave up its raison d’etre and armaments. Hizbollah has ignored all UN resolutions calling for its dismantlement and the respect of Israeli territory since 1989. It is hard to believe that a new UN resolution will accomplish anything intelligent especially if there are no troops to enforce it.

The Lebanese government is an open ally of the terrorist group and it is well known that the military commanders in the Lebanese army are sympathetic to Hizbollah. The Lebanese state is an active supporter of terror doing nothing to secure its own borders or deconstruct centers of drug trading in the Bekaa valley; importation of arms; and the spread of Hizbollah throughout society. Fully 80% of Lebanese Arabs support the terror group, many bought off by Iranian money, job contracts and social services, but many more attracted by the Islamic ideology of jihad; hate; martyrdom; and Jews killing. The fact that the Lebanese state has never condemned Hizbollah or tried to arrest its growth makes it a willing and complicit actor in Islamic terrorism.

Terrorist elements in Lebanon were supposed to be disbanded long ago. By the terms of the 1989 Taif Accord that ended Lebanon’s civil war, all domestic Lebanese militias were to be disarmed or forced into the regular army. U.N. Security Council Resolution 1559 of 2004 makes the same demand, as does the current 1701 declaration. Yet the Lebanese state has never had any intention to disband Hizbollah. Its pro-Syrian Lebanese President Fuad who is also commander-in-chief of the army, has described the notion of disarming Hezbollah as “disgraceful”. “How can they ask us to disarm while the blood of the martyrs is still warm?” he has recently whimpered. Fuad and others have made it clear that they will fight Israeli incursions into Lebanon even allying the Lebanese army with Hizbollah if necessary. In such a milieu of incompetence and Islamic-Arabic intolerance for peaceful settlements and the disbanding of the use of terror to achieve political goals, it is hard to be hopeful about the future of Lebanon.

The US and Israel need to learn [again] from the Lebanese case example. It is foolish not to fight a war to win. It is more foolish to allow the French to broker a toothless and useless UN resolution to allow Iran to resupply Hizbollah. US credibility is now at a low level in the region and beyond. The Arabs and Muslims don’t respect weakness; good intentions or appeasement. They only respect war, guns and blood. In a fight for civilization Rice, the US State Department and Israel might do well to keep that in mind. Listening to the perfidious French is not smart policy.

The country slogan is “Land of a thousand hills” and I think 900 of them make up Kigali. Subsequent in-country road trips lead me to amend the slogan to “thousands of hills and even more potholes”! It’s setting is spectacular and despite the heat induced slowness, it’s a city hustling with building projects, animated people and a general sense of purpose – traffic signals are obeyed, walking is easy. I stayed at a small guesthouse, Banana Guest House, in a quiet residential district. It’s an expensive country compared to Ethiopia and a room with breakfast set me back $160 but I was within easy walking distance of the first genocide site.

Certainly I was aware in 1994 of the genocide here in Rwanda and neighboring Burundi but my understanding of the motivation and history was unclear. Reading what history I could find learned that tribal differences between Tutsi and Hutu were manufactured, beginning with Belgian colonization, and by 1932 the Belgians had effectively divided the country into two classes – you were a Tutsi if you owned 10 or more cattle and a Hutu if you owned fewer. Families and villages were divided and the minority Tutsi became the favored group; the division was further developed by the issuance of identification cards. Sporadically, between 1932 and 1994, violence between groups occurred. In the latter part of the last century, the Hutu majority took power and retribution against perceived injustices on the part of the Tutsi increased

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By 1990 a cult of government supported hate radio and sponsored violence toward individual Tutsi was condoned and encouraged. 1993, the then president signed a peace agreement implying an end to internal hostilities; the hate campaign intensified in response. March 1994, the president’s plane was shot down over Kigali. In conversation with Rwandans there is a quiet cynicism about this. The official line, although never proven, is that Tutsi rebels brought the plane down; the facts don’t support this hypothesis as the rockets were fired from a heavily fortified Government Hill and it is thought impossible that rebels would have access to that site. Both the UN commander at the time and other witnesses, suggest that the attack was from within the government inner circle and had one goal – that of inciting the genocide- to that end, the Hutu president was expendable.

The Hutu were ready for genocide. No genocide is spontaneous. Genocide is planned. Gangs of unemployed Hutu youth had been trained in massacre techniques, machetes and guns stashed in secret locations, lists of Tutsis circulated along with instructions on the most effective methods of killing large groups. Hate radio and literature had done their job well; for 100 days terror beyond my comprehension was let loose. Depravity, cruelty, violence, death reigned. Over two million Tutsi were killed in Rwanda in those 100 days and several hundred thousand in neighboring Burundi. Priests betrayed their congregations; neighbors their neighbors; colleagues their office mates. Children were singled out in a biblical attempt to destroy the race; women suffered unspeakable acts of violence. A photo journalist I spoke with recalled a photographer telling him of driving into a village at night, lights out to avoid detection and to their horror discovering that the road was not pot-holed as first thought – they were driving over piles of bodies.

The French UN commander begged for assistance. Kofi Anan, President of the UN and other world leaders including President Clinton, spoke after the event of not understanding the situation and wishing they had made different decisions. The world responded too late to yet another genocide.

My first evening in Kigali I walked the quiet hillside street to Hotel Mille Collines, the setting for the film, Hotel Rwanda. There was nothing there to commemorate that it had been the scene of such desperation. Privately a Rwandan told me that the Hutu manager was “not such a hero” as he had only sheltered those who could pay.

Monday morning my driver took me to the National Genocide Memorial within the city limits. It is a quiet, peaceful place. Interior exhibits lead through a brief history of the Rwandan people, culture and era of colonization. There is no effort to shock here; it’s not needed. Even the display of skulls, many cracked by machetes have a dignity that defies horrific. Photos and heartbreakingly short biographies of children killed fill one room. Other displays eulogize the heroic Hutu men and women who sheltered friends and strangers alike. Two magnificent stained glass windows designed by a child of holocaust survivors bring light and hope into dark rooms. Another area is devoted to a history of genocide throughout time and asks that we learn from this and work to prevent another genocide.

Outside, above a simple pool, a flame burns. It is lit annually for the 100 days of the genocide. A series of gardens lead through a meditation on unity and hope. In one, at the edge of a pool of water, an almost comical clay representation of an elephant holding a cell phone is telling us that elephants never forget and that we should, as the memory keepers, alert the world.

Go through the rose garden, walk under blossom-laden trellises and you come to a three-tier area of mass graves. Over 250,000 men, women and children, their bodies recovered from massacre sites, are buried here. It is a solemn, silent place. I left with a feeling of unease and sadness that clouded the rest of my time in the city.

Nothing prepared me for the final genocide site I visited on Wednesday. Initially I resisted visiting the church at Nyamata. I had read a description of what took place there.

About a thirty-minute drive east of Kigali we turned off into the township of Nyamata and parked outside the Catholic Church under the shade of a plane tree. The fence around the church was draped with pink and purple bunting and a banner over the door translated to “If you knew me you would not have killed me”- ironic because neighbors murdered neighbors.

It’s a big brick building, simple, no elaborate stained glass window, nothing monumental. A few school children walked across the dusty plaza to a row of schoolrooms, they chattered and kicked a plastic bottle. My driver declined to come inside. “I’ve seen,” he said. The iron security door of the church is twisted; the walls and ceiling pockmarked with shrapnel holes from grenade explosions. On May 8th. 1994 more than 10,000 terrified Tutsis from the surrounding area filled very inch of this sanctuary. They crawled under the wood slab, backless benches, they wedged themselves under the altar, they huddled in the crypt, and they pressed themselves into wall niches. It is inconceivable to me that so many could fit into this space. The Hutu mob surrounded the church eventually using a grenade to blow gap in the steel bars of the gate and then began hurling in grenades. They stormed in and hacked, beat, shot to death in an orgy of rape then killing. One woman was singled out (and please forgive this graphic description but unless we hear of such horrors, I fear we will forget) for rape and then killed by a stake that was driven through her vagina to her skull.

It’s still inside the church now. There is a musty, unrecognizable smell. The rows of benches are piled several feet high with the bloodstained, torn clothing of the victims. Colors have faded to a dun brown uniformity but occasionally something stands out and catches the eye – for me it was a crocheted hat still showing some green wool – I imagine it once sitting jauntily on the owner’s head; I noted a pale pink toddler sized tee shirt. The cement floor is patterned with dark stains – blood. Five people survived the massacre.

All 10,000 are buried here and an additional 41,000 from massacre sites around the area. Under a large aluminum awning out back the mass graves have open windows and you look down of satin draped coffins and neat rows of skulls and bones.

Throughout the countryside signs that speak of reconciliation and healing mark villages. “We are Rwandans, we are neither Tutsi nor Hutu” is the word from all you meet. How much people believe that, I don’t know. Not one Rwandan I met offered any personal history on the genocide – they spoke of reconciliation and of repentant “genocideers”- many of the latter, clad in blue overalls, seen working throughout Kigali and rural areas on re-building projects. There is something akin to an hypnotic denial of the past. Of post-genocide President Kenneth Kagame, they speak highly; tangible results of his nine years of leadership seen in the reverse migration of Rwandans, returning home to be Rwanda’s future.

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And what are those rules or characteristics of the biggest winning stocks? When I recommended TIE, TASR,ICE, HANS, NTRI, DRYS for 100%,200%+ moves to my subscribers they all had this:

1)      Generally you will find the biggest winning stocks are all relatively new companies. Whilst I am not talking about new I.P.O.’s (Initial Public Offerings) you will find the biggest winning stocks are generally less than 10 years old.

2)      At all time highs. Look for stocks at there highest price ever. I cannot emphasise how important this is. EVERY stock I have recommended that has go onto make 300%+ gains was at an all time high in price. BUT you have to time your entry correctly.

3)      They usually have a high demand, international new product that is selling like gang busters. If you ask your “Average Joe” on the street about their product they will know about it. I am talking about companies like Google, TASR (the new Taser gun) CROX (Crox shoes) HANS (HANS high energy drink). Failing this the product they are selling will have a huge story behind the product they sell. Like TIE aluminium (huge new orders for the new Boeing super aircraft that was sucking up aluminium prices) DRYS was all about a huge surge in bulk shipping rates.

There’s a little more to it than simply finding these stocks. In order to profit you need to super time them. By this I mean you need to watch volume and price action in order to time your entry. But use the above criteria and you should get onboard some of the biggest winning stocks in 2010 and beyond.

            It’s easy to condemn terrorists’ “evil” actions.  But how many of us take responsibility for the climate in our collective unconscious that hatches such “monsters?”  After all, our outer world is created by the internal political environment in our psyche.  Why do we harbor inner terrorists? 

            We all have internal “voices” that eat away at our inner peace and deep sense of security. Like terrorists, they pose a constant threat to our well-being. Lurking in the shadows, these inner terrorists are slippery—difficult to confront with the rational mind. Just when we assume that all is well, they torment us with uneasiness.  Blindly entrenched in perceptions slanted toward everything harmful, adverse and malefic, their false beliefs counter the truth of who we really are. 

            Inner terrorists arrest our optimism when we dare to grow and expand. Their extremist credo is:  life is dangerous, someone is out to get us, we’ll be hated if we flourish, something horrible is going to happen. They compel us to shore up munitions, defensive postures, in preparation for inevitable attacks.  Their threats drive us into hiding our authenticity. 

            Inner terrorists represent a very small part of our being. Yet they overwhelm us through the tyranny of terror. This feeds the illusion that they have total power—as if they  could actually destroy our world, soul and spirit. Broadcasting hatred, they generate a self-condemnation that imprisons our perspective. Their fanaticism, like a one-track mind that blocks out greater realties, augers into our tender soul to spawn powerful distortions of danger that clamp us in a vice-grip of self-torture. We feel helpless in the face of their particular brand of mental torment.

            We often hire our own gang of terrorists—people who make our stomach churn into a knot when they walk into the room.  We dread their demands, anger, judgments.  They are precise dramatizations of our inner terrorists and the power we relinquish to that part of ourselves—as if we deserve to be molested and abused. Sadly, we’ve all unconsciously agreed that paranoia and oppression is normal on the earth plane. Our childhood karma brought terrorists in the form of parents, teachers, siblings, peers. They seemed so big and scary. We carry this terror forward into adult relationships with people who push our buttons. 

            It’s impossible to quietly meditate in areas bombarded by terrorist attacks. Likewise, it’s just as daunting to let go, trust and deeply surrender to the Divine Flow when inner terrorists are making sneak assaults on our well-being, violating internal peace-zones. With no hope of a truce, we can’t rest easy. Every moment is haunted with life-negating menacing intimations so convincing that we bolt out of bed in the middle of the night riddled by their “gunshots and bombs” of fear. Fear pistols, fired every time they browbeat us with despotic beliefs, stimulate anticipation of the worst to ripple through the psyche. The din of their machine gun thoughts in our unconscious keep us primed for fight or flight.  This adrenaline state prevents us from sinking deep into our tummy, the chi center. But it’s our birthright to dwell lightheartedly in the big round belly of the Laughing Buddha.  

            Its foolish to assume that we can attain true inner “homeland security” by using precious energy to shore up vigilance.  We empower inner terrorists through our denial of their presence. Desperate for serenity, we override their bludgeoning impact by sweeping their threats under the rug.  We must stop running from ourselves and confront this internal battleground. The karmic origins of terror, deeply buried in the unconscious, are hard for the ego to identify.  The inner terrorists make deposits in the fundamental fear bank whose matrix is encoded in our cells.

            Currently, accelerating energies bless us with a powerful surge throughout the soul body that kicks up this original pattern of foreboding and panic. All unresolved past life anxiety is spiking—a field day for inner terrorists who reference the past, however subliminal, as prophecy for the future. If we listen to their messages during this acute cleansing and transformation, we’ll be paralyzed in horror. But if we muster up the courage to objectively face the inner terrorist, we can uncover the core negative programming in the human condition. Then we have the CHOICE to disbelieve ancient brainwashing and break from this tyranny in the soul at long last, especially as we renounce all polarization and refuse to give power to anything other than our ultimate truth.

            My inner terrorists strike when I’m open, undefended, relaxed with a deep sense of well-being or stretching out into internal/external uncharted territory.  They gun down my sense of possibility with admonitions of:  “You are not safe anytime or anywhere.” “Don’t get too comfortable.” “Don’t trust.” I can only surrender to this onslaught while maintaining the perspective that my life is filled with blessings and opportunity.  Inner terrorists aren’t the only surprise visitors—so too are the ambassadors of Universal Goodness and Divine Love who reside within me as well. I don’t expect the Armies of Light to do battle with my inner terrorists.  Instead, I work to transmute their toxicity of hate/fear into a state of precious vulnerability, acceptance, trust and faith.  I know it’s not our spiritual legacy to be terrorized.  We’re designed as beings of flowing, loving energy who embrace life unconditionally. 

           The Tibetan, offering a Cosmic Healing Balm to reinstate a deep sense of safety, teaches:

          Humankind is in the process of an enormous evolutionary leap of faith. This metamorphosis blasts open soul terrain that stores the deepest memories of trauma. The cleansing of this material as it moves through the ‘bloodstream’ of the collective unconscious is felt subliminally by everyone. 

            Humankind specializes in scaring itself to death. This Reign of Terror is based on the illusion that there’s actually something to fear! The rigors of evolution have certainly brought great human drama to the earthly plane. But ultimately no soul has ever been permanently damaged or destroyed. Transformation and healing, initiated in the Spirit of Love, have always been the Prime Objective of all karmic pathways.

            The current horror of terrorism on the planet represents the final purging of humankind’s fear-based reality.  Terrorists seize power by propagating panic. This exhibits humankind’s willingness to defer to the aberrations and contrivances of the lower mind, thereby entrenching itself in nightmarish images that pervert and warp their perception of Source’s true nature. 

            What would it be like if humankind interpreted all of its earthly challenges to be a loving offering to the soul?  Instead people still hold beliefs in a judgmental, punitive God who penalizes, avenges, scourges and castigates through tests of suffering, affliction, hardship — as if that’s the only way for the soul to grow. This God disdains its offspring by exiling them from the eternal heavenly garden through imprisonment on a hellish earthly plane for which humankind has to pay dues of misery. Why wouldn’t people feel that someone is out to get them when their own Source can’t be trusted. 

            This distorted perception of Divinity, a perversion of the Divine Plan, generates a massive swamp of terror that disrupts the intergalactic family.  This lack of trust creates fissures in humankind’s emotional body, like ruptures in the skin that never heal, which attract lower astral energy based in the illusion of lovelessness. Humankind is forever on the run from itself.

It’s time to rout out the roots of this foolish distortion and comprehend Source’s fundamental nature—LOVE. Humanity’s only true path is a mutual endorsement of potential, cohesiveness, cooperation, Oneness. 

            Terror thrives on isolation and division. Dare to experience true communion with each other, supported by a deep embrace with Source. Then the nightmares that feed inner terrorists will fade like a passing moment of madness—a final release of distortion. 

            Humankind is verging on a new consciousness based in Mutuality.  Many allow inner terrorists to rule because the ego feeds on the “dread drama.”  But the fierce tsunami wave of Source’s Love usurps the ego’s need for control and washes self onto the Beach of Bliss.  Invite inner terrorists out from the shadows into Divine Light and examine their essence. Self will find nothing more than a tender aspect of the soul desperate for connection and acceptance. Shower this aspect of self with Love and open to the glorious New World of Trust and Kinship for All.

            Copyright© 2007 School of the Golden Discs, all rights reserved

“Crash” is a movie that addresses not only racism but also stereotypes and that everything is a matter of perspective. People are born with good hearts, but they grow up and learn prejudices. The movie is set in Los Angeles, a place where there is a mix of every nationality. The story begins when several people are involved in a multi-car accident. We are taken back to the day before the crash, seeing the lives of the main characters, and the problems each character encounters during that day. The movie shows us that life is not always black or white, good or bad, it is all a matter of perception.

The theme of the movie was the fact that in recent times, people have gotten so that we are constantly protecting ourselves, putting up shields from strangers, being extra careful not to touch others in case of lawsuits. The opening lines explain clearly: “It’s the sense of touch. In any real city, you walk, you know? You brush past people, people bump into you. In L.A., nobody touches you. We’re always behind this metal and glass. I think we miss that touch so much, that we crash into each other, just so we can feel something.”

Rick Cabot (Brendon Frazer) a white district attorney and his wife Jean Cabot (Sandra Bullock) are depicted as helpless “good” guys when they are carjacked at gunpoint by two black young men (no racism intended). Rick Cabot later shows his “bad” side when he tries to win votes to save his career by pretending to be racially sensitive. Jean proves her “bad” self when a young Hispanic man comes to change her locks and she describes him as a “gang banger with the shaved head, the pants around his ass, [and] the prison tattoos” who is going to sell her key as soon as he steps out the door.

The two young boys who steal Rick and Jean’s car, Peter and Anthony also have a good and a bad side. Throughout the movie, Anthony walks around pointing out racist tendencies in the people around. While he tends to exaggerate a fair bit in terms of the boys experience in the movie, he hits the mark with regard to perception out in the wide world. Bad: the boys hijacked a car. Good: Anthony may have been right about racism and people’s perceptions against blacks because when Peter tries to pull out a figurine of a saint to show a young police officer, the officer mistakes the gesture for Peter pulling out a gun and shoots him.

Well, the young officer, Tom Hansen (Ryan Phillippe), is not all bad. He is partnered up with a bigoted white officer who continuously harasses black people for no apparent reason other than the fact that they are black. Officer Hanson is very unhappy with his partner’s behavior and protects the people that are unfortunate enough to get stopped.

Surprisingly, Officer Hanson’s partner, John Ryan (Matt Dillon) is not all bad either. His father has suffered great financial and business losses due to racist policies and is now very ill. He has been miss-diagnosed and will not be treated due to a black insurance representative who takes offence to Officer Ryan’s behavior. I suppose he can also swallow his pride because later on in the movie, a black woman he molested is trapped in a car that is burning and he risks his life to save her.

There are many other characters in the movie, each with their own intricate lives, with their good and bad sides, with their right and wrong opinions. The movie keeps you guessing right till the last minute, what is going to be around the next bend? But most of all, it makes you feel utterly ashamed of how we treat each other, with suspicion and revenge, with preconceived stereotypes. If a black man reaches into his pocket, is he getting a gun? If a young man has tattoos, does that mean he is a criminal and he has been to prison? If a man looks middle-eastern does that mean he is a terrorist? Even if you are not a minority, do you have to be discriminated against? We may be different colors, shapes, sizes, with different backgrounds and different opinions, but in the end, we are all people.

Bottom line. Let’s start with the BL. I used the 1.3 horsepower, 3.7 SCFM X-Lite in the three highest-drain applications I encounter as a home-improvement contractor: nailing off sheathing, running a roofing gun, and using my old Shingle Saw Pro II. It kept pace through and through.

I had absolutely no issue with laddered nails while rapid firing 8d, ring-shank nails or popping off shingles. And I wasn’t nailing into any brand new softy 2×10 SPF; I was gunning into 80-year old Doug fir 1×12 sheathing and 2×8 rafters. I drove four nails into every 1×12 board up the roof — a way tighter nailing schedule than 1/2- inch roof decking, wall sheathing or subfloor. My nailer never starved for air.

It’s worth pointing out that the EX8016 is a heavy breather and really liked having a dedicated cord straight out of the power supply — it tripped the lame-o surge suppressor strip I use as a multi-plug (no surprise, no demerits) — but on its own 100-foot cord, it ran fine, even in temps right around freezing.

I also ran my Shingle Saw Pro II. This pneumatic shingle saw (no longer in production; it’s been re-designed) gobbles air big time. Nevertheless, one-off shingle cuts were a snap. Impressive. And X-Lite recovered quickly when the tank drained.

Weight a minute. When a tool’s weight passes a certain threshold — around 80 pounds — carrying it becomes an experience of both necessity and pure dread. Such is the case with most compressors I’ve owned. But — and I mean and ALL-CAPS-bold-italics BUT — the X-Lite’s aircraft quality aluminum tanks drops this baby’s gross vehicle weight to a mere 57 pounds. I won’t say that’s feather-light, but holy mack-o (as my daughter says), there’s no comparison between the X-Lite and other compressors where the lift-and-lug process toggles between a serious chafe at the minimum to an exercise in blood-pressure management by week’s end.

Details done right. Beyond the light weight, the Maxus designers kept pushing during their design charrettes and executed smart, savvy details that carry the X-Lite furlongs further towards top-of-el-heapo status.

It starts with a carry handle/roll cage that’s aces. See, the compressor is cubic — roughly the same shape as other compressors in the class — but the handle is positioned to deliver optimum carry efficiency between truck and site or between floors. Combined with its lighter weight, you can practically carry it like a suit case without having a back surgeon on speed-dial.

The roll-cage part of the handle houses everything — supply lines, gauges and the pump motor, to name a few biggies — so that it’ll be darn tough to break them when Bruno the Meatball javelins a shovel or stack of 2×6s into the back of your truck.

Speaking of the truck and cubism, the machine really is cubic! This means that there aren’t hose fittings, gauges, cords, or round/odd shapes sticking beyond the tool’s recti-linear perimeter. How much do I love this when loading the truck? Seriously, thanks, Maxus, for yet another weapon against entropy.

What I also love (but can’t recommend, of course) is that because the tool really is cubic, if you happen to load something on top of it in the truck or gang box, so what? Certainly loading tool and kit boxes around it is easier than any other compressor I’ve used. This is really smart design.

Here’s some other cool stuff:

· The +/- pressure dial is easy to see, read, locate and use.

· There are two (thank you, lord) air ports right on the front of the tool.

· The cord is long enough too. I like this for trim or floor jobs where I might have the compressor in the room with me and need to move it here and there for whatever reason.

· The gauges are easy to see and read.

· Rubber feet mean I don’t have to worry about putting the tool down on a finished floor. Tip: placing any compressor in the finished space on a piece of cardboard helps curb possible damage to the floors.

· It has an oil-lube pump; I don’t mind changing the oil in every so many — er — years.

My only complaint. I wouldn’t be living up to the secret writer’s code if I didn’t find at least one thing ‘wrong.’ Seriously, you get nasty letters from the Writers Guild if you don’t. Anyway, it’s the same complaint I have with all compressors and one that’s a super-easy fix: the drain valve. I’d swap out the existing valve (one of those backwards-threaded 1/2 inch twist deals) with a ball valve. ‘Nuff said.

Maxus-ed out. If you ask me, the Maxus EX8016 X-Lite compressor is the current industry leader in this category.

If you have ever watched those old movies on Hong Kong, then you would know that the Hong Kong Police seriously had their work cut out. Trying to save innocent children from the clutches of man eating tigers, high speed boat chases to nab sea pirates and going incognito to infiltrate drug cartels were everyday duties for them. The history of the Hong Kong Police Department and the crime stories of the country are chronicled at the Police Museum that is situated at the former Wan Chai Gap police station at the Peak.

 

The predecessor of the Hong Kong Police was the Police Historical Records Committee which was set up in 1964, this committee had collected a significant amount of artifacts pertaining to the police force which necessitated the setting up of a museum to house them.

 

Upon entering the museum one can see the large field gun at the entrance; this particular gun had guarded the Old Tai Po police station for over 45 years. The museum itself is divided in to four different sections each one chronicling a different aspect of the Hong Kong Police force. The first exhibit that one would encounter would be the Orientation Gallery, this describes the history of the Police Department utilizing historical documents, artifacts, photographs and archaic equipment.

 

The most popular section is the Triad and Narcotics Gallery which is based upon the notorious Hong Kong organized crime gangs and their drug smuggling activities. It shows the history of the secretive Triad societies and explains their rituals and customs. The rampant drug menace during that time in Hong Kong is demonstrated through photographs, trafficking paraphernalia and a replica of a heroin manufacturing laboratory.

 

The Police Then & Now gallery explores the illustrious 160 year history of the Hong Kong Police Department, which is closely knit with the history of Hong Kong itself. The current exhibit is usually changed periodically; this section holds police uniforms and thematic exhibitions on different police units such as the Traffic Police, The Canine unit and the Marine Police.

 

A hotel in Hong Kong that is within easy reach of the Police Museum and other attractions at The Peak is Hotel Jen, which is a great accommodation option for travelers.

Police departments’ resources are stretched beyond capacity anyhow but with budget cutbacks thrown into the mix it just makes it worse. Police response times are constantly on the rise.

Individuals must assume more responsibility for their own safety and security by doing at least the following three things:

GET SOME TOOLS. By this I mean choose one or more self defense products to help in your own defense and that of your family. It can be pepper sprays, stun guns, personal alarms, tasers-whatever-but get some! There are many choices out there. Pick one you feel most comfortable with. Then learn how to use them.

GET SOME SELF DEFENSE TRAINING. Man does not live by the sword alone. Self defense products are a great start but when combined with even a basic amount of self defense training it is a fabulous combination that really builds your confidence.

For many it is impractical and too time consuming to go to classes. Enter the self defense DVD that allows you to learn in the comfort of your own home at your own pace from world class instructors.

PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE. All the tools and training in the world are not worth much if you don’t hone your skills. Get a friend and practice using your self defense training, practice using your pepper spray or stun gun.

Practice in different emergency scenarios so that when and if the time comes you REACT instinctively instead of wondering what to do.

If you do these three things you will take a giant leap in building your confidence in and your actual ability to defend your self and your family.

Jack Krohn is the #1 author of Home Security Articles in the country. He owns SECURITY SOLUTIONS a one stop resource that provides solutions and answers for all your self defense and home security problems.

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Home Page Art & Entertainment “the Good, the Bad and the Ugly” Ends Sergio Leone’s Spaghetti Western Trilogy
“the Good, the Bad and the Ugly” Ends Sergio Leone’s Spaghetti Western Trilogy

Posted: Aug 29th, 2008 | Comments: 1 | Views: 67 |

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“the Good, the Bad and the Ugly” Ends Sergio Leone’s Spaghetti Western TrilogyAuthor: Ed Bagley
Copyright © 2008 Ed Bagley

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo in Italian) – 4 Stars (Excellent)

After enjoying unexpected commercial success with “A Fistful of Dollars” and “For a Few Dollars More”, Italian Director Sergio Leone ends his trilogy of “Spaghetti Westerns” with “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly”.

Amazingly, even at this point in his masterful direction of western movies made in Spain, Leone would not enjoy a nickel’s worth of adulation from the critics as only the Laurel Awards would give a single award to Clint Eastwood for Action Performance, and that was as runner-up.

Hollywood and its stars ignored Sergio Leone just like they have Johnny Depp. They refuse to recognize that even westerns or pirate pictures can be artfully done and have unique acting performances. Clint Eastwood is The Man With No Name, and Johnny Depp is the perfect pirate as Captain Jack Sparrow. There will never be another equal of either in these roles.

At least one film director, screenwriter and actor

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Home Page Art & Entertainment “the Good, the Bad and the Ugly” Ends Sergio Leone’s Spaghetti Western Trilogy

“the Good, the Bad and the Ugly” Ends Sergio Leone’s Spaghetti Western Trilogy

Posted: Aug 29th, 2008 | Comments: 1 | Views: 67 |

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<br /> <h1>“the Good, the Bad and the Ugly” Ends Sergio Leone’s Spaghetti Western Trilogy</h1> <p><strong>Author: <a title="Ed Bagley" href="http://www.articlesbase.com/authors/ed-bagley/4259.htm">Ed Bagley</a></strong><br />Copyright </p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://southlosangelescalifornia.com/2010/01/14/the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly-ends-sergio-leones-spaghetti-western-trilogy-2.html/feed</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>Racing Car Games Vs Shooting Games</title> <link>http://southlosangelescalifornia.com/2010/01/13/racing-car-games-vs-shooting-games.html</link> <comments>http://southlosangelescalifornia.com/2010/01/13/racing-car-games-vs-shooting-games.html#comments</comments> <pubDate>Wed, 13 Jan 2010 07:58:42 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>LA Editor</dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[Guns and Gangs]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Games]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Racing]]></category> <category><![CDATA[shooting]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://southlosangelescalifornia.com/2010/01/13/racing-car-games-vs-shooting-games.html</guid> <description><![CDATA[One of the major forms of entertainment for the small kids these days is playing with the games on their computer. The games are mostly loved by the small children and they are really interested to play and have fun. When it comes to games, you can find different kind of gaming, and among them [...]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>One of the major forms of entertainment for the small kids these days is playing with the games on their computer. The games are mostly loved by the small children and they are really interested to play and have fun. When it comes to games, you can find different kind of gaming, and among them the racing car games and the shooting games are the most popular ones mostly. Both the racing car games and the shooting games are liked by the kids and there are some of the games combined with the shooting game and the racing car games too. In this kind of game, you have to shoot the opposite people, who are obstacles in the race and overcome the forces and finally win the race. You can play the shooting games and the racing car games online, and also you can join in the online groups to enjoy the ultimate fun and excitement.</p> <p> There are some free online games which you can play instantly and you can play the games by clicking on it. The games are also played by visiting the game world and play the games for a particular amount of time by paying the money. The game called Freedom Fighter is full of shooting. You have to shoot the opposite army forces, where you have to destroy the enemy teams and their gang with powerful guns and rocket launchers by traveling in cars and tanks. Mostly all the games have three or five chances of lives for your character and within the given target of life you must finish the stages of the games. There are many kinds of shooting games, there are some games which are very simple and for beginners like small kids. The games like Duck Hunt and the Wild Gun Man are such beginner games for children wherein the objectives are simple like just aiming at the target and gaining points by shooting it right.</p> <p> There are many racing car games like Ultimate Formula Racing, Deadly Driver, Rally Wix, Scania Driver, 3D Car Racing, Micro Racers 2, Need For Speed, Speed Racer, Crazy Jeep, Road Racing, Car and Ufo, Reach the Goal, Web Trading Car Racing, Mafia Driver, Super Racer and many more games. In the car racing games, you must win the race and reach your goals by gaining the points. In some races the difficulty is raised by putting in obstacles or by difficult tracks which are hard to manipulate. The racing car games and the shooting games are available in many DVD’s and CD’s, and you can buy the disks from the shopping centers and game centers or you can directly buy the games online by adding the selected games to the shopping cart. There are many free online games available on the internet; you can join freely in the games. The games can be played immediately by clicking on it.</p> <p> One of the popular games which involves both the racing car games and the shooting games is the Grand Theft Auto game. This game is really very interesting to play by finishing the theft deals and complete the stages of the game. Such games satisfy followers of both these genres of gaming.</p> <p> Effectively, its hard to conclude which of these genres of gaming is more popular, as both have their huge share of fan following! So take your pick, follow your interests, either push the pedal or pull the trigger!</p> <div style="margin:5px;padding:5px;border:1px solid #c1c1c1;font-size: 10px;"> <div class="text">I recommend playing <a rel="nofollow" target="_NEW" onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/article_exit_link');" href="http://www.netracegames.com">Racing Car Games</a></div> </div> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://southlosangelescalifornia.com/2010/01/13/racing-car-games-vs-shooting-games.html/feed</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> </channel> </rss>