text stringlengths 1 330k |
|---|
1) Bush and the Saudi princes become the biggest heroes in history and establish a world government that gives everyone freedom, education, fresh air, health care and satellite TV. Then space aliens reprogram the satellites to suck our brains out and transport all our thoughts to their galaxy for a new reality show cal... |
2) earth becomes a boring European socialist utopia where everyone sits around sidewalk cafes all day, meditating and reading poetry, and complaining about tourists, Hollywood blockbusters, and the three-day work week that’s running them into the ground, or, just as likely, |
3) we’re neck deep in strife, as the world keeps contracting and everyone gets more and more irritated, like the inside of an atomic bomb, or a family in a hot motel room with a broken TV. |
If (1) comes true, it doesn’t matter what I do. If (2) comes true, I’ll have to learn French and etiquette just to get a job as a busboy. If (3) comes true, an executive-level CIA job in Paris or Rome might be nice— so long as I get to wear a disguise that makes me look un-American and I don’t have to visit the embassy... |
We have to worry about getting blown up nowadays because everyone in the world hates America. We were stupid enough to give them TV, they’ve seen all the stuff we have, and now they want it for themselves. They hate the way we run the world, too, as though they could do a better job. I just saw some Norwegian on the Wo... |
Everyone else had, what?, thousands of years to make the world a decent place to live and they failed miserably. We’ve been at it for less than 100 years, and now even the most backwards village in the world can drink Coke and watch MTV. What are these ingrates complaining about? |
But I guess it’s natural for people from old places to be jealous after they’ve spent centuries cultivating the best cuisine, art and ideas, and then an upstart nation stumbles from one success to another without even trying, like a blessed idiot. It’s got to be galling to feel the haute blood of royalty coursing throu... |
Conclusion: There’s Only One Right Thing to Do, I’m Pretty Sure |
No matter how the world turns out, I’ll need more money right away (on top of living expenses), so I can pay tuition, buy books and get some clothes in the school colors. Beyond school spirit, I’ll need faith, purpose and money, like the right wingers, religious nuts and terrorists have, but more positive and less dead... |
With that kind of purpose and more money, all I need is faith. No matter what classes I take, I’ll have to cultivate myself, so I have faith in myself. And I’ll need to cultivate my faith in humanity, so I care about it enough to help save it. My faith in humanity, and maybe humanity itself, depends on you and your con... |
Thankfully yours, |
Kurt Strahm is a prolific painter and writer. He lives in Greenpoint. |
Kurt Strahm |
This is the process or science of accurately determining one’s location, often when travelling in an aircraft, and being able to plot the route of a journey and then following this course. Excellent navigation skills are crucial to effectively flying an aircraft even if technology has been improving continuously since ... |
You are here |
Bitcoin Sentiment API - Changelog |
Bitcoin Sentiment is a polling site where users vote on the future price of Bitcoins. The site also offers charts of the sentiment data, and makes the data freely downloadable. The Bitcoin Sentiment API allows users to send votes to indicate bullish or bearish prospects for the Bitcoin economy, and get data from Bitcoi... |
Arms flow into Mideast dangerously rises: Study |
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) has found that arms sales to the Middle East have grown by 87 percent over the past five years, with Saudi Arabia topping the list of importers. |
The SIPRI said in a report on Sunday that Saudi Arabia’s arms imports in 2014-2018 increased by 192 percent, compared to the preceding five years, becoming the world’s top arms importer. |
Other countries at the top of the list of global arms buyers included Egypt, Algeria, the United Arab Emirates and Iraq. The institute measures the volume of deliveries of arms, not the dollar value of deals. |
According to the report, arms sales to the Middle East now account for more than a third of the global trade. |
The defense think-tank’s annual survey also showed how the United States and European countries sell jets, jeeps and other gear used in controversial wars in Yemen and beyond, Pieter Wezeman, a senior researcher with SIPRI, told Middle East Eye. |
“Weapons from the US, the UK and France are in high demand in the Persian Gulf, where conflicts and tensions are rife. Russia, France and Germany dramatically increased their arms sales to Egypt in the past five years,” he said. |
Wezeman attributed the growth in Middle Eastern imports to the need to replace military gear that was deployed and destroyed in Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Libya, as well as political tensions and a regional arms race. |
Social Network |
Name (*) |
Invalid Input |
Email (*) |
Invalid Input |
Defining The Oriental Rug |
By the strictest definition, Oriental rugs are handmade carpets that come from the “Orient,” meaning from Asia and other Eastern Regions. Iran, China, India, Russia, Turkey, Pakistan, Tibet and Nepal are some of the biggest rug exporters of fine Oriental carpets. Persian rugs also are Oriental rugs but they are made on... |
Persian carpets are traditionally known for their tremendous variety in design, color, size, and weave. Their handmade qualities and unique weaving process make every rug a one of a kind work of art. The rugs are generally named after the village, town or tribe where the carpet was woven or collected. |
History of The Oriental Rug |
The art of carpet weaving existed in Iran in ancient times, according to evidences and in the opinion of scientists, the 500 B.C. Pazyric carpet dating back to the Achaemenid period. The first documented evidence on the existence of Persian carpets came from Chinese texts dating back to the Sassanid period (224 – 641 C... |
Historical records show that the Achaemenian court of Cyrus the Great at Pasargade was adorn with magnificent carpets from wall to wall. The collection was so vast and visually stunning that Alexander II of Macedonia was said to have been dazzled by the carpets in the tomb area of Cyrus the Great at Pasargade. |
The advanced weaving technique used in the Pazyryk carpet indicates a long history of evolution and experience in this art. Pazyryk carpet is considered as the oldest carpet in the world. Its central field is a deep red color and it has two wide borders, one depicting deer and the other Persian horseman. However, it is... |
Contruction of an Oriental Rug |
Dyes: |
The natural dyes in an Oriental rug are derived from plant materials and insects such as indigo, madder, oak, sumac, pomegranate, cochineal and larkspur. Before the 1870s, they were the only source used to dye wool. Since the invention of synthetic dyes, there has been much debate about which type of dye produces a ... |
Weaves and knots: |
Most consumers know about “counting knots” to discern a high quality rug from others. Below you will find procedures and tips to counting knots, but please be advised, the simple counting of knots is not a true test, but merely a guideline. The actual knot count needs to take into consideration the material used in t... |
A consumer needs to consider the entire carpet, the design, the dyes, the material used, as well as the emotional value they receive from a rug. If you purchase your carpet from a reputable dealer, then the only thing the average consumer needs to know is if they appreciate the appearance of the carpet and if the carpe... |
Knot density (knots per square inch) is an important indicator of rug quality. Most weaves are measured simply by counting the number of knots per linear inch along the warp (i.e., along the length of the rug) and the number of knots per linear inch along the weft (across the width of the rug) and multiplying to get th... |
How do you know when to count one bump on the back of the rug as one knot? It’s easy… Look carefully at the individual areas of color across the width of the back of the rug. If you only see colored elements in pairs, you need to count each pair as one knot. If you see lots of single colored elements, the rug has offse... |
Register now for |
Free Consultation |
Fine Area Rug Repair |
Arizona Oriental has a powerful network of artisans skilled in the repair of valuable Oriental and specialty area rugs. |
July 14, 2015 |
Movie Sharing: Insidious Chapter 3 |
This story happened prior to the Lambert Family haunting. |
Photo Source: Mashup Trends |
After that meeting, Quinn started to experience unusual. |
During her audition for a theater school, she saw a man wearing a mask waving at her in the auditorium. This man is the same man she saw before her accident. |
At home, while recovering, the incident and appearance of the man with the mask is getting more frequent. She asked her father to look for Elise for help. |
Elise was reluctant because whenever she goes "into the further", there is a woman trying to kill her. But with her friend, Carl, made her realized that she is living and much stronger than this woman. |
Instead of asking Elise’s help, Quinn’s father seek the help of the duo Specs and Tucker. During their session to help fight with the demon, Quinn was possessed and tried to slashed her neck in front of them. |
Just in time, Elise appeared on the door and tried to recover Quinn. Again, she went "into the further" and get Quinn back to her body. She saw Quinn limbless and was starting to get by the "man who can't breathe". Elise went back but Quinn was caught again. |
Elise heard a voice of someone who just died, Quinn's neighbor, telling her to get the book. Elise found Quinn’s diary and found a letter from her mom that she wants to read it before Quinn's graduation. With the help of Lilith, the "man that can't breathe" vanished and Quinn returned to the living world. |
Starting that day, Elise, Spec, and Tucker worked together to fight for such supernatural being. |
On that night, when Elise is about to go to bed, her dog suddenly barked into the darkness where Elise found the woman who wants to kill her in the other world. |
The movie is not scary but frightening because of the sound effects. One scene that scares me and makes me about to jump from the chair me is when Quinn was hit by a car. Another is when Elise was visited by the “man that can’t breathe” in her reading room. |
Watching this movie, I remember that in first two chapters, Elise uses a mechanical device (like the one below) when bringing someone to sleep before going "into the further". At first I thought that this is specifically for this purpose but I was wrong. |
Mechanical Metronome (Source: Wikipedia) |
This device is is know as metronome intended for musicians to have a steady and constant tempo as they play. This is also used to have a perfect timing. I am wondering if the musical director uses digital version of this accessory, like the mt-01, in creating perfect timing of the sounds that makes the movie more scary... |
Have you seen this movie too? |
Coney Island Avenue |
Monday, January 15, 2018 |
The morning of Al’s funeral we wake to streets, sidewalks, trees, and cars encased in a sheet |
of ice one-eighth of an inch thick so that everything under our overcast sky gleams |
Al is my neighbor Felicia’s father |
His father’s surname was Rabinowitz, but the family anglicized it to Roberts |
A week and a half ago, Al died, aged ninety-four and ninety-five days |
The last time I saw Al, he was wearing a Chicago Cubs cap and was sitting on Felicia’s back |
deck in a wrought-iron chair on a warm day in early November, watching the |
orange-yellow leaves of the sugar maple tremble in light breeze |
His eyes were a watery blue. They almost matched the Cubs cap |
By the end he had lost his short-term memory |
The Cubs had just won the World Series for the first time in one hundred and eight years |
He didn’t say much |
His eyes kept tracking the squirrel leaping from half-bare branch to black telephone line and |
Even after salting the sidewalks, everyone walks slowly, baby step by baby step on the ice, as |
if they too are nonagenarians and have misplaced their canes or walkers |
Joshua, his eldest son, gives the eulogy and tells the family story of how Al was supposed to |
meet them all at the ferry to Martha’s Vineyard |
They got on the ferry—Joshua, Felicia, Matthew, and their mother, Audrey |
“All aboard!” the captain called out over the loudspeaker |
No sign of Al |
The ferry started to move away from the dock |
Then they saw Al sprinting toward them |
At the last possible moment, Al jumped from the dock out over the four-foot gap of |
saltwater widening between dock and ferry |
Joshua says, “To me at eleven years old, it looked like my father was Superman, able to leap |
tall buildings in a single bound” |
He starts to cry |
He cries silently for almost a full minute |
Everyone in the retirement community’s nondenominational chapel is quiet |
Grief is like walking on ice |
One has to go forward, knees bent, leaning forward slightly |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.