The BSG word is spelt "frak", mind you
In the future, the Berlin wall will be a mile high, and made of steel. You too will be made to crawl, to lick children's blood from jackboots. There will be no creativity, only productivity. Instead of love there will be fear and distrust, instead of surrender there will be submission. Contact will be replaced with isolation, and joy with shame. Hope will cease to exist as a concept. The Earth will be covered with steel and concrete. There will be an electronic policeman in every head. Your children will be born in chains, live only to serve, and die in anguish and ignorance.
The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference.
Crazy fucking commies.The Swedish pop quartet ABBA, hugely popular during the 1970s and 1980s, has just been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
At the height of its fame, ABBA found what may have been its most enthusiastic audience behind the Iron Curtain.
Their cute, middle-of-the-road image and catchy tunes appealed instantly to the cultural censors in the Soviet Union who blocked more controversial acts. It didn’t hurt that ABBA’s breakthrough with “Waterloo” during the 1974 Eurovision TV song contest was shown live in a number of then-communist European countries, including Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Poland, and Hungary.
A number of then-popular Eastern European and Soviet performers routinely included ABBA cover songs in their concerts, to the enthusiastic reception of the audience. Even Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev was said to have had a weak spot for ABBA.
ABBA albums were promptly licensed and issued in vinyl by Soviet recording company Melodia starting in the late 1970s. Because copies were limited, they fetched several times their original price on the black market. It has been reported that because of the nonconvertible status of the ruble and the lack of hard currency in Melodia’s budget, ABBA was paid for its Soviet record deals in oil commodities.
When it came out in 1977, "ABBA: The Movie" was promptly licensed and shown for a limited period in a number of Eastern European countries and in two theaters in Moscow. Thousands of Soviet teenagers viewed the Cinderella story of the four newcomers from Sweden with almost religious fervor, wondering if the same fortune could come to them.
ABBA never played in the Soviet Union, although there were rumors of behind-the-scenes negotiations to bring them in as the opening act of the 1980 Summer Olympic Games in Moscow.
Even today, more than a quarter of a century after ABBA disbanded, its influence on the Russian popular music is significant. Dima Bilan, one of Russia’s most popular current acts, often pays tribute to ABBA during his performances.
In 2009, an ABBA tribute band claimed it had performed a private show for Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who allegedly danced to ABBA hits and shouted “Bravo!” Putin’s spokesperson denied the claim.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, on the other hand, is known as more of a rock fan than a pop listener. His choice for a Kremlin command performance: veteran British rockers Deep Purple.![]()
We're stuck in a bloody snowglobe.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8575717.stm
Dutch fury at US general's gay theory over Srebrenica
Some 8,000 people were killed at Srebrenica in 1995
Dutch officials have rejected a retired US general's claim that its forces failed at Srebrenica because of poor morale over openly gay soldiers.
A defence ministry spokesman dismissed as "complete nonsense" the remarks by John Sheehan, a former Nato commander.
Gen Sheehan had been speaking at a US Senate hearing on allowing gay people to serve openly in the US military.
He said Dutch leaders had told him that the presence of gay soldiers had contributed to the Bosnian massacre.
Srebrenica was a UN safe haven under the protection of Dutch peacekeepers when, in 1995, Bosnian Serb forces overran the town, killing some 8,000 Muslim men and boys.
Gen Sheehan said the former chief of staff of the Dutch army had told him that the presence of openly gay soldiers in the Dutch peacekeeping force were seen as "part of the problem" which contributed to the fall of Srebrenica.
He argued that since the end of the Cold War, European militaries had changed and he concluded "there was no longer a need for an active combat capability".
'Totally off-target'
This "socialisation" process, Gen Sheehan said, "included open homosexuality" and led to "a focus on peacekeeping operations because they did not believe the Germans were going to attack again or the Soviets were coming back".
Gen Sheehan is a former Supreme Allied Commander, Atlantic
"It is astonishing that a man of his stature can utter such complete nonsense," Dutch defence ministry spokesman Roger van de Wetering said in response.
"The Srebrenica massacre and the involvement of UN soldiers was extensively investigated by the Netherlands, international organisations and the United Nations.
"Never was there in any way concluded that the sexual orientation of soldiers played a role."
The Dutch ambassador to the US, Renee Jones-Bos, added in a statement on the embassy's website that she "couldn't disagree more" with the claims by the former general, who retired from the military in 1997.
In the US Senate itself, Senator Carl Levin, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, told Gen Sheehan he was "totally off-target".
Several countries - including Britain, Canada, Australia and Israel - allow openly gay people to serve in the armed services.
I could have had class. I could have been a contender.
I could have been somebody. Instead of a bum
Which is what I am
I aim at the stars
But sometimes I hit London
Two Fulton County School Bus employees lost their jobs after an incident caught on school bus video.
Bus video showed school bus aide Betty Burden grabbing an autistic 10-year-old and putting him in a head-lock. The victim, Jonah Griffin, suffered bruises on his face and swollen eyes.
The student's mother, Cassandra Lawrence-Rainey, was outraged when she saw the injuries to her son after he got off the school bus March 4.
"Nobody's gonna hurt my baby, nobody. Momma's gonna see to that," said Lawrence-Rainey.
Burden told Griffin's mother she intervened after Griffin, who has autism, ADHD and is developmentally delayed, had been involved in an altercation with another student on the special education bus.
"Restraining does not come by restraining someone by the face," said Lawrence-Rainey.
The school bus driver, Elmira Dixen, was seen on video walking to the back of the bus, where the alleged beating was taking place, and telling the bus aide something. Dixen was then seen on video, covering the camera up.
"I couldn't breathe when she did it," said Griffin.
"Protocols are in place and they were not followed. Immediately upon learning about this situation from the parent we launched an investigation. Based on our findings, we made the decision to terminate the bus employees and file criminal charges," Fulton County School official Allison Toller said in a statement to Channel 2 Action News.
Burden faces battery charges.![]()
We're stuck in a bloody snowglobe.
And I thought the one who was breaking into schools and destroying the vending machines was odd.A man is suspected of stealing bubble gum machines from seven businesses around Newnan, police said.
James Donald McAuliffe Jr., 42, dubbed the "Bubble Gum Bandit," was behind a rash of thefts that left many business owners upset and confused, authorities said.
The string of burglaries and thefts authorities said McAuliffe is responsible for began on Feb. 19 at Cagle Insurance Company. McAuliffe allegedly smashed the front door using a piece of asphalt and only took the bubblegum machine.
McAuliffe was stopped after witnesses said they spotted him taking a bubble gum machine at a restaurant Friday night. Police said they found the machine in the van.
During an interview with police, McAuliffe stated that he was taking the candy machines because he has a severe drug problem, according to police officials.
McAuliffe is now charged with five counts of burglary and two counts of theft.
We're stuck in a bloody snowglobe.
Ocean used to do the pageant circuit, and has a shelf full of trophies and a cloest full of pictures to show for it.
Now Brandy wants to start with Scarlett, and I don't know where I stand on the idea...thought about starting a thread on the whole child pageant idea, but this about all the content I would be able to start it off with.
I think its a horrid thing to do to a kid. And even though I assume you and Brandy wouldn't turn Scarlett into a little Jonbenet, you'd still be around people who think that is perfectly acceptable.
Kittycat watched a show one night. It was scary. I should have told her that watching horror flicks is bad for pregnant kitties.
We're stuck in a bloody snowglobe.
I'm most curious about how the other parents are. Ocean only entered prettiest smile and/or eyes events, so makeup never entered into the equation, and thats what Brandy wanted to try with Scarlett too. We tried asking Ocean how she felt about the events, since its been about a year since her last one, but she doesn't remember them, at all. Which could be mean a thousand different things.
Toddlers and Tiaras. It was a trainwreck to watch.
While some of the older girls (8 and older) seemed to enjoy it to an extent, many of the 2-4 years weren't having a good time, and were only there because of the parents' ambitions.
It's also not a cheap adventure. These people spend alot of money on clothes and such. And while there is prize money and scholarships involved, if you aren't first prize you've sunk alot of money into it for nothing.
but you so love creating threads about my kids. I can't take that pleasure away from you!
Nope, sorry to break it to you but it wasn't all about you.
source
That little article tells us how a taxi-driver in Utrecht (NL) gets a 'mystery guest' in his car for a trip from the train station to the Utrecht University Medical Center. That's about 10-15 minutes tops. During the ride he ran a red light 11 times and drove on a buslane. It also turned out his driver's license had expired. He got a €992 fine and his license was revoked.
The worst of this is that none of this really surprises me; taxis in The Netherlands are as close to a free market as it gets, and it's not really working. I hardly ever take a taxi any longer in this country; drivers routinely take detours and meddle with their meters. Mostly with impunity because unless you really go to far like that guy in the article, they can't revoke your license.
Congratulations America
I'm designing the idea/theme for my portfolio website in Photoshop, and its almost ready to be coded, and I'm researching web safe fonts...and the amount of hatred people can muster for certain fonts, besides Comic Sans, is a little wtf...
. . .
There's noting wrong with comic sans.
Now, Arial. That is hideous. Times New Roman is bland.
Errr, I don't see why anyone CARES.
And whatever the really hideous one I found while playing with fonts in MIRC was - that one was really worthy of fury. It wasn't actually readable.
We're stuck in a bloody snowglobe.
We're stuck in a bloody snowglobe.
I've just remembered I have a book on Typography lying around somewhere from my undergrad days (feels old now)...I think I should find it and give it a quick read...
...I'm still waiting for Minx to respond to whether or not he uses the Women's restroom...
. . .
Is it true that by looking at a person's font, you can tell a lot of things about his/her character?
I could have had class. I could have been a contender.
I could have been somebody. Instead of a bum
Which is what I am
I aim at the stars
But sometimes I hit London
Just remember that all the haters are secretly using comic sans![]()
We're stuck in a bloody snowglobe.
Comic sans?
What a depressing name![]()
I could have had class. I could have been a contender.
I could have been somebody. Instead of a bum
Which is what I am
I aim at the stars
But sometimes I hit London
You're all conformists!![]()
I could have had class. I could have been a contender.
I could have been somebody. Instead of a bum
Which is what I am
I aim at the stars
But sometimes I hit London