2006 U.S. Congressional Elections

Wednesday, November 8, 2006

As of 10:00 p.m EST November 8, 2006, the Democratic Party is projected to have gained control of both the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate in the 2006 United States general elections. MSNBC projects that the Democrats now control 234 seats in the House of Representatives, 16 more seats than the 218 needed to control the House of Representatives as all 435 seats were up for election. In the Senate, where the balance of power is closer, one-third of all seats were up for grab. As of 10:00 p.m. EST, AP and Reuters were projecting that the Democrats had picked up all six seats they needed to retake the Senate, including the seats of incumbents Rick Santorum (Penn.), Lincoln Chafee (R.I.), Jim Talent (Missouri), Mike DeWine (Ohio), John Tester (Montana), and Jim Webb (VA). The Tester victory by less than 3,000 votes was projected at approximately 2 p.m. EST after the State of Montana announced the results of overnight recounts. Democrat Jim Webb has prevailed in that race by slightly more than 7,000 votes, though his opponent has not conceded and a recount may still occur.

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28 May

Brazil’s Minas state stops sales of Toyota Corolla

Friday, April 23, 2010

Minas, one of the largest states of Brazil, has stopped the sale of the Toyota Corolla over safety concerns.

The move was made after nine Corolla customers reported that their cars automatically accelerated. The state public prosecutor’s office said in an online statement on Tuesday that the problem is blamed on accelerator pedals sticking underneath floor mats. Local government said the issue was “putting in danger the lives of occupants”.

According to the prosecutor’s office, sales of Corollas may resume when Toyota alters the floormats in its current models. Toyota has recalled over eight million vehicles worldwide due to acceleration problems.

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28 May

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27 May

Usual Therapeutic Diets In The Hospital}

usual THERAPEUTIC DIETS in the hospital

by

ARISTOTLE MANGULABNAN

1. Clear Liquid Diet

Purpose:relieve thirst and help maintain fluid balanceUse:post-surgically and following acute vomiting or diarrheaFoods allowed:carbonated beverages; coffee (caffeinated and decaff); tea; flavored drinks, strained fruit sugar; popsicles; commercially prepared clear liquids; and hard candyFoods Avoided:milk and milk products, fruit juices with pulp2. Full-Liquid DietPurpose:provide an adequately nutritious diet for patients who cannot chew or who are too ill to do soUse:acute infection with fever, GI upsets, after surgery as a progression from clear liquidsFoods allowed:clear liquids, milk drinks, cook cereals, custards, ice cream, sherbets, eggnog, all strained fruit juices, creamed vegetable soups, puddings, mashed potatoes, instant breakfast drinks, yogurt, mild cheese sauce or pureed meat, and seasoningFoods avoided:nuts, seeds, coconut, fruit, jam, and marmalade3. Soft dietPurpose:provide adequate nutrition for those who have troubled chewingUse:patient with no teeth or ill-fitting dentures; transition from full-liquid to general diet; and for those who cannot tolerate highly seasoned, fried or raw foods following acute infections or gastrointestinal disturbances such as gastric ulcer or cholelithiasisFoods allowed:very tender minced, ground, baked broiled, roasted, stewed, or creamed beef, lamb, veal, liver, poultry, or fish; crisp bacon or sweet bread; cooked vegetables; pasta; all fruit juices; soft raw fruits; soft bread and cereals; all desserts that are soft and cheesesFoods avoided:coarse-whole grain cereals and bread; nuts; raisins; coconut; fruits with small seeds; fried foods; high fat gravies or sauces; spicy salad dressings; pickled meat; fish, or poultry; strong cheeses; brown or wild rice; raw vegetables; as well as lima beans and corn; spices such as horseradish, mustard, and catsup; and popcorn4. Soft-Restricted dietPurpose:reduce sodium content in the tissue and promote excretion of waterUse:heart failure, hypertension, renal disease, cirrhosis, toxemia of pregnancy, and cortisone therapyModifications:mildly restrictive 2g sodium diet to extremely restricted 200mg sodium dietFoods avoided:table salt; all commercial soups, including bouillons; gravy, catsup, mustard, meat sauce and soy sauce; buttermilk, ice cream, and sherbet; sodas; beet greens, carrots, celery, chard, sauerkraut and spinach; all canned vegetables; frozen peas.all baked products containing salt, baking powder, or canned shellfish; all cheeses; smoked or commercially prepared meats; salted butter or margarine; bacon, olives; and commercially prepared salad dressings5. Renal dietPurpose:control protein, potassium, sodium and fluid levels in the bodyUse:acute and chronic renal failure, hemodialysisFoods allowed:- high-biological proteins such as meat, fowl, fish, cheese, and dairy products – range between 20 and 60 mg/day- vegetable such as cabbage, cucumber, and peas are lowest in potassium- potassium is usually limited to 500 mg/day- fluid intake is restricted to the daily volume plus 500 ml, which represents insensible water loss- fluid intake measures water in fruit, vegetables, milk and meatFoods avoided:cereals, bread, macaroni, noodles, spaghetti, avocados, kidney beans, potato chips, raw fruit, yams, soybeans, nuts, gingerbread, apricots, bananas, figs, grapefruit, oranges, percolated coffee,, coca-cola, orange crush, sport drinks, and breakfast drinks such as Tang or Awake6. High-Protein, High Carbohydrate dietPurpose:to correct large protein losses and raises the level of blood albumin. May be modified to include low-fat, low sodium, and low cholesterol dietsUse:burns, hepatitis, cirrhosis, pregnancy, hyperthyroidism, mononucleosis, protein deficiency due to poor eating habits, geriatric patient with poor intake; nephritis, liver and gallbladder disorderFoods allowed:general diet with added proteinFoods avoided:restrictions depend on modifications added to the diet. The modifications are determined by the patients condition7. Purine-Restricted dietPurpose:designed to reduce intake of uric-acid producing foodsUse:high uric acid retention, uric acid renal stones and goutFoods allowed:general diet plus 2-3 quarts of liquid dailyFoods avoided:cheese containing spices of nuts, fried eggs, meat, liver, seafood, lentils, dried peas and beans, broth, boullion, gravies, oatmeal and whole wheat, pasta, noodles, and alcoholic beverages. Limited quantities of meat, fish and seafood allowed8. Bland dietPurpose:Provision of diet low in fiber, roughage, mechanical irritants, and chemical stimulantsUse:gastritis, hyperchlorhydria (excess hydrochloric acid), functional G.I. disorders, gastric atony, diarrhea, spastic constipation, biliary indigestion, and hiatus herniaFoods avoided:- fried foods, including eggs, meat, fish, and seafood; cheese with added nuts or spices; commercially prepared luncheon meats; cured meats such as ham; gravies and sauces; raw vegetables- potato skins; fruit juices with pulp; figs; raisins; fresh fruits; whole wheat; rye bread; bran cereals; rich pastries; pies; chocolate; jams with seeds; nuts; seasoned dressings; caffeinated coffee; strong tea; cocoa; alcoholic and carbonated beverages and pepper9. Low fat, Cholesterol-Restricted dietPurpose:reduce hyperlipedimia, provide dietary treatment for malabsorption syndromes and patient having acute intolerance for fatsUse:hyperlipedimia, atherosclerosis, pancreatitis, cystic fibrosis, sprue, gastrectomy, massive resection of small intestine, and cholecystitisFoods allowed:nonfat milk; low-carbohydrate, low-fat vegetables; most fruits; breads; pastas; cornmeal; lean meatsFoods avoided:- remember to avoid the five C’s of cholesterol-cookies, cream, cake, coconut, chocolate; whole milk or cream products, avocados, olives, commercially prepared baked goods such as donuts and muffins, poultry skin, highly marbled meats- butter, ordinary margarines, olive olive, lard, pudding made with whole milk, ice cream, candies with chocolate, cream, sauces, gravies and commercially fried foods10. Diabetic dietPurpose:maintain blood glucose as near as normal as possible; prevent or delay onset of diabetic complicationsUse:diabetic MellitusFoods allowed:choose foods with low glycemic index compose of:a. 45-55 fatsc. 10-25% CHON- coffee, tea, broth, spices and flavoring can be used as desired- exchange group include: milk, vegetable, fruits, starch/bread, meat (divided in lean, medium fat, and high fat), and fat exchanges_ the number of exchanges allowed from each group is dependent on the total number of calories allowed_ non-nutritive sweeteners (sorbitol) in moderation with controlled, normal weight diabeticsFood avoided:concentrated sweets or regular soft drinks11. Acid and Alkaline dietPurpose:furnish as well balance diet in which the total acid ash is greater than the total alkaline ash each dayUse:retard the formation of renal calculi. The type of diet chosen depends on the laboratory analysis of the stoneAcid and Alkaline ash food groups:a. Acid ash: meat, whole grains, eggs, cheese, cranberries, prunes, plumsb. Alkaline ash: milk, vegetables, fruits (except cranberries, prunes and plums)c. Neutral: sugar, fats, beverages(coffee, tea)Foods allowed:- Breads: any, preferably whole grain; crackers; roll- Cereals: any, preferable whole grainsdesserts: angel food or sunshine cake; cookies made without baking powder or soda; cornstarch, pudding, cranberry desserts, ice cream, sherbet, plum or prune desserts; rice or tapioca pudding- Fats: any, such as butter, margarine, salad dressings, crisco, spry, lard, salad oil, olive oil- Fruits: cranberry, plums, prunes- Meat, eggs, cheese: any meat, fish or fowl, two servings daily; at least one egg daily- Potato substitutes: corn, hominy, lentils, macaroni, noodles, rice, spaghetti, vermicelli- Soup: broth as desired; other soups from food allowed- Sweets: cranberry and plum jelly; plain sugar candyMiscellaneous: cream sauce, gravy, peanut butter, peanuts, popcorn, salt spices, vinegar, walnutsRestricted foods:no more than the amount allowed each day1. Milk: 1 pint daily (may be used in other ways than as beverage)2. Cream: 1/3 cup or less daily3. Fruits: one serving of fruits daily ( in addition to the prunes, plums and cranberries)4. Vegetable: including potatoes: two servings daily5. Sweets; chocolate or candies, syrups6. Miscellaneous: other nuts, olives, pickles12. High-fiber dietPurpose:- soften the stool- exercise digestive tract muscles- speed passage of food through digestive tract to prevent exposure to cancer-causing agents in food- lower blood lipids- prevent sharp rise in glucose after eatingUse:diabetes, hyperlipedimia, constipation, diverticulitis, anticarcinogenics (colon)Foods allowed:- recommended intake about 6g crude fiber daily- all bran cereal- watermelon, prunes, dried peaches, apple with skin; parsnip, peas, brussels, sprout, sunflower seeds13. Low Residue dietPurpose:- reduce stool bulk and slow transit timeUse:bowel inflammation during acute diverticulitis, or ulcerative colitis, preparation for bowel surgery, esophageal and intestinal stenosisFoods allowed:eggs; ground or well-cooked tender meat, fish, poultry; milk, cheeses; strained fruit juice (except prune): cooked or canned apples, apricots, peaches, pears; ripe banana; strained vegetable juice: canned, cooked, or strained asparagus, beets, green beans, pumpkin, squash, spinach; white bread; refined cereals (cream of wheat)see related link in my Fundamentals labels

http://promdinurses.blogspot.com/

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usual THERAPEUTIC DIETS in the hospital}

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27 May

US to sell precision-guided bombs to Saudi Arabia

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

The Bush administration officially notified Congress Monday of its intention to sell sophisticated precision-guided bombs to Saudi Arabia. The action, coinciding with President Bush’s visit to Saudi Arabia, is part of a broader U.S. effort to bolster Gulf allies in the face of a more assertive Iran. VOA’s David Gollust reports from the State Department.

The Bush administration has already briefed Congress on its arms sales plans for Saudi Arabia. Monday’s announcement sets in motion a 30-day period in which the House and Senate can block the plan with a joint resolution – an action that appears highly unlikely.

Under the proposed deal, worth more than $120 million, the United States would provide Saudi Arabia with 900 kits and associated equipment to convert conventional gravity bombs into GPS-guided smart-bombs, known as JDAMs.

The weapons are a mainstay of the U.S. military arsenal and their accuracy would vastly enhance the capability of the Saudi Air Force, which has top-of-the-line U.S.-made fighter-bomber aircraft.

The sale is part of a broader $20-billion arms package for Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states announced by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates last August on a mission to the Gulf, aimed at shoring up U.S. allies concerned about Iranian influence in the region.

Several elements of the broader package including sales of Patriot anti-missile systems to Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, and upgrades for Saudi Arabia’s AWACS airborne command and control planes, have already gotten congressional assent. Officials here say they also expect the Saudi J-DAMS sale to proceed despite concerns expressed by some congressional supporters of Israel.

At the time the Gulf weapons sales package was announced last year, the Bush administration also committed to a 10-year, $30-billion arms package for Israel, representing a 25 per cent increase in annual U.S. arms aid to that country.

Briefing reporters, State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack said the administration has assured Congress it would do nothing to upset Israel’s military edge over potential enemies in the region.

“We’ve spent a lot of time assuring that we abide by our commitments to a qualitative military edge for Israel,” said Sean McCormack. “This is something that President Reagan first talked about and it’s been reiterated and reconfirmed by each successive president after that. We’re committed to maintaining that qualitative military edge for Israel.”

Israel itself has not protested the pending sale. Israeli officials have said they anticipate being provided with a new-generation U.S. smart bomb more capable than J-DAMS, which have been in service for more than a decade.

A spokesman for House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Tom Lantos, a prominent advocate for Israel in Congress, said he does not intend to push a resolution of disapproval.

However one House member, New York Democrat Anthony Weiner, said he would introduce such a measure and already has more than 30 co-sponsors.

Critics of the package have faulted Saudi Arabia’s record in combating terrorism and advancing political reform. Under questioning here, Spokesman McCormack said the Saudi government has made “quantum leaps” in action against terrorist cells and financing in recent years and has begun the process of reform, though not necessarily at a pace that would please some critics.

Two-thirds majorities of the members in both houses would be required to block the sale and officials here say chances for that appear nil.

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26 May

John Vanderslice plays New York City: Wikinews interview

Thursday, September 27, 2007

John Vanderslice has recently learned to enjoy America again. The singer-songwriter, who National Public Radio called “one of the most imaginative, prolific and consistently rewarding artists making music today,” found it through an unlikely source: his French girlfriend. “For the first time in my life I wouldn’t say I was defending the country but I was in this very strange position…”

Since breaking off from San Francisco local legends, mk Ultra, Vanderslice has produced six critically-acclaimed albums. His most recent, Emerald City, was released July 24th. Titled after the nickname given to the American-occupied Green Zone in Baghdad, it chronicles a world on the verge of imminent collapse under the weight of its own paranoia and loneliness. David Shankbone recently went to the Bowery Ballroom and spoke with Vanderslice about music, photography, touring and what makes a depressed liberal angry.


DS: How is the tour going?

JV: Great! I was just on the Wiki page for Inland Empire, and there is a great synopsis on the film. What’s on there is the best thing I have read about that film. The tour has been great. The thing with touring: say you are on vacation…let’s say you are doing an intense vacation. I went to Thailand alone, and there’s a part of you that just wants to go home. I don’t know what it is. I like to be home, but on tour there is a free floating anxiety that says: Go Home. Go Home.

DS: Anywhere, or just outside of the country?

JV: Anywhere. I want to be home in San Francisco, and I really do love being on tour, but there is almost like a homing beacon inside of me that is beeping and it creates a certain amount of anxiety.

DS: I can relate: You and I have moved around a lot, and we have a lot in common. Pranks, for one. David Bowie is another.

JV: Yeah, I saw that you like David Bowie on your MySpace.

DS: When I was in college I listened to him nonstop. Do you have a favorite album of his?

JV: I loved all the things from early to late seventies. Hunky Dory to Low to “Heroes” to Lodger. Low changed my life. The second I got was Hunky Dory, and the third was Diamond Dogs, which is a very underrated album. Then I got Ziggy Stardust and I was like, wow, this is important…this means something. There was tons of music I discovered in the seventh and eighth grade that I discovered, but I don’t love, respect and relate to it as much as I do Bowie. Especially Low…I was just on a panel with Steve Albini about how it has had a lot of impact.

DS: You said seventh and eighth grade. Were you always listening to people like Bowie or bands like the Velvets, or did you have an Eddie Murphy My Girl Wants to Party All the Time phase?

JV: The thing for me that was the uncool music, I had an older brother who was really into prog music, so it was like Gentle Giant and Yes and King Crimson and Genesis. All the new Genesis that was happening at the time was mind-blowing. Phil Collins‘s solo record…we had every single solo record, like the Mike Rutherford solo record.

DS: Do you shun that music now or is it still a part of you?

JV: Oh no, I appreciate all music. I’m an anti-snob. Last night when I was going to sleep I was watching Ocean’s Thirteen on my computer. It’s not like I always need to watch some super-fragmented, fucked-up art movie like Inland Empire. It’s part of how I relate to the audience. We end every night by going out into the audience and playing acoustically, directly, right in front of the audience, six inches away—that is part of my philosophy.

DS: Do you think New York or San Francisco suffers from artistic elitism more?

JV: I think because of the Internet that there is less and less elitism; everyone is into some little superstar on YouTube and everyone can now appreciate now Justin Timberlake. There is no need for factions. There is too much information, and I think the idea has broken down that some people…I mean, when was the last time you met someone who was into ska, or into punk, and they dressed the part? I don’t meet those people anymore.

DS: Everything is fusion now, like cuisine. It’s hard to find a purely French or purely Vietnamese restaurant.

JV: Exactly! When I was in high school there were factions. I remember the guys who listened to Black Flag. They looked the part! Like they were in theater.

DS: You still find some emos.

JV: Yes, I believe it. But even emo kids, compared to their older brethren, are so open-minded. I opened up for Sunny Day Real Estate and Pedro the Lion, and I did not find their fans to be the cliquish people that I feared, because I was never playing or marketed in the emo genre. I would say it’s because of the Internet.

DS: You could clearly create music that is more mainstream pop and be successful with it, but you choose a lot of very personal and political themes for your music. Are you ever tempted to put out a studio album geared toward the charts just to make some cash?

JV: I would say no. I’m definitely a capitalist, I was an econ major and I have no problem with making money, but I made a pact with myself very early on that I was only going to release music that was true to the voices and harmonic things I heard inside of me—that were honestly inside me—and I have never broken that pact. We just pulled two new songs from Emerald City because I didn’t feel they were exactly what I wanted to have on a record. Maybe I’m too stubborn or not capable of it, but I don’t think…part of the equation for me: this is a low stakes game, making indie music. Relative to the world, with the people I grew up with and where they are now and how much money they make. The money in indie music is a low stakes game from a financial perspective. So the one thing you can have as an indie artist is credibility, and when you burn your credibility, you are done, man. You can not recover from that. These years I have been true to myself, that’s all I have.

DS: Do you think Spoon burned their indie credibility for allowing their music to be used in commercials and by making more studio-oriented albums? They are one of my favorite bands, but they have come a long way from A Series of Sneaks and Girls Can Tell.

JV: They have, but no, I don’t think they’ve lost their credibility at all. I know those guys so well, and Brit and Jim are doing exactly the music they want to do. Brit owns his own studio, and they completely control their means of production, and they are very insulated by being on Merge, and I think their new album—and I bought Telephono when it came out—is as good as anything they have done.

DS: Do you think letting your music be used on commercials does not bring the credibility problem it once did? That used to be the line of demarcation–the whole Sting thing–that if you did commercials you sold out.

JV: Five years ago I would have said that it would have bothered me. It doesn’t bother me anymore. The thing is that bands have shrinking options for revenue streams, and sync deals and licensing, it’s like, man, you better be open to that idea. I remember when Spike Lee said, ‘Yeah, I did these Nike commercials, but it allowed me to do these other films that I wanted to make,’ and in some ways there is an article that Of Montreal and Spoon and other bands that have done sync deals have actually insulated themselves further from the difficulties of being a successful independent band, because they have had some income come in that have allowed them to stay put on labels where they are not being pushed around by anyone.
The ultimate problem—sort of like the only philosophical problem is suicide—the only philosophical problem is whether to be assigned to a major label because you are then going to have so much editorial input that it is probably going to really hurt what you are doing.

DS: Do you believe the only philosophical question is whether to commit suicide?

JV: Absolutely. I think the rest is internal chatter and if I logged and tried to counter the internal chatter I have inside my own brain there is no way I could match that.

DS: When you see artists like Pete Doherty or Amy Winehouse out on suicidal binges of drug use, what do you think as a musician? What do you get from what you see them go through in their personal lives and their music?

JV: The thing for me is they are profound iconic figures for me, and I don’t even know their music. I don’t know Winehouse or Doherty’s music, I just know that they are acting a very crucial, mythic part in our culture, and they might be doing it unknowingly.

DS: Glorification of drugs? The rock lifestyle?

JV: More like an out-of-control Id, completely unregulated personal relationships to the world in general. It’s not just drugs, it’s everything. It’s arguing and scratching people’s faces and driving on the wrong side of the road. Those are just the infractions that land them in jail. I think it might be unknowing, but in some ways they are beautiful figures for going that far off the deep end.

DS: As tragic figures?

JV: Yeah, as totally tragic figures. I appreciate that. I take no pleasure in saying that, but I also believe they are important. The figures that go outside—let’s say GG Allin or Penderetsky in the world of classical music—people who are so far outside of the normal boundaries of behavior and communication, it in some way enlarges the size of your landscape, and it’s beautiful. I know it sounds weird to say that, but it is.

DS: They are examples, as well. I recently covered for Wikinews the Iranian President speaking at Columbia and a student named Matt Glick told me that he supported the Iranian President speaking so that he could protest him, that if we don’t give a platform and voice for people, how can we say that they are wrong? I think it’s almost the same thing; they are beautiful as examples of how living a certain way can destroy you, and to look at them and say, “Don’t be that.”

JV: Absolutely, and let me tell you where I’m coming from. I don’t do drugs, I drink maybe three or four times a year. I don’t have any problematic relationship to drugs because there has been a history around me, like probably any musician or creative person, of just blinding array of drug abuse and problems. For me, I am a little bit of a control freak and I don’t have those issues. I just shut those doors. But I also understand and I am very sympathetic to someone who does not shut that door, but goes into that room and stays.

DS: Is it a problem for you to work with people who are using drugs?

JV: I would never work with them. It is a very selfish decision to make and usually those people are total energy vampires and they will take everything they can get from you. Again, this is all in theory…I love that stuff in theory. If Amy Winehouse was my girlfriend, I would probably not be very happy.

DS: Your latest CD is Emerald City and that is an allusion to the compound that we created in Baghdad. How has the current political client affected you in terms of your music?

JV: In some ways, both Pixel Revolt and Emerald City were born out of a recharged and re-energized position of my being….I was so beaten down after the 2000 election and after 9/11 and then the invasion of Iraq, Afghanistan; I was so depleted as a person after all that stuff happened, that I had to write my way out of it. I really had to write political songs because for me it is a way of making sense and processing what is going on. The question I’m asked all the time is do I think is a responsibility of people to write politically and I always say, My God, no. if you’re Morrissey, then you write Morrissey stuff. If you are Dan Bejar and Destroyer, then you are Dan Bejar and you are a fucking genius. Write about whatever it is you want to write about. But to get out of that hole I had to write about that.

DS: There are two times I felt deeply connected to New York City, and that was 9/11 and the re-election of George Bush. The depression of the city was palpable during both. I was in law school during the Iraq War, and then when Hurricane Katrina hit, we watched our countrymen debate the logic of rebuilding one of our most culturally significant cities, as we were funding almost without question the destruction of another country to then rebuild it, which seems less and less likely. Do you find it is difficult to enjoy living in America when you see all of these sorts of things going on, and the sort of arguments we have amongst ourselves as a people?

JV: I would say yes, absolutely, but one thing changed that was very strange: I fell in love with a French girl and the genesis of Emerald City was going through this visa process to get her into the country, which was through the State Department. In the middle of process we had her visa reviewed and everything shifted over to Homeland Security. All of my complicated feelings about this country became even more dour and complicated, because here was Homeland Security mailing me letters and all involved in my love life, and they were grilling my girlfriend in Paris and they were grilling me, and we couldn’t travel because she had a pending visa. In some strange ways the thing that changed everything was that we finally got the visa accepted and she came here. Now she is a Parisian girl, and it goes without saying that she despises America, and she would never have considered moving to America. So she moves here and is asking me almost breathlessly, How can you allow this to happen

DS: –you, John Vanderslice, how can you allow this—

JV: –Me! Yes! So for the first time in my life I wouldn’t say I was defending the country but I was in this very strange position of saying, Listen, not that many people vote and the churches run fucking everything here, man. It’s like if you take out the evangelical Christian you have basically a progressive western European country. That’s all there is to it. But these people don’t vote, poor people don’t vote, there’s a complicated equation of extreme corruption and voter fraud here, and I found myself trying to rattle of all the reasons to her why I am personally not responsible, and it put me in a very interesting position. And then Sarkozy got elected in France and I watched her go through the same horrific thing that we’ve gone through here, and Sarkozy is a nut, man. This guy is a nut.

DS: But he doesn’t compare to George Bush or Dick Cheney. He’s almost a liberal by American standards.

JV: No, because their President doesn’t have much power. It’s interesting because he is a WAPO right-wing and he was very close to Le Pen and he was a card-carrying straight-up Nazi. I view Sarkozy as somewhat of a far-right candidate, especially in the context of French politics. He is dismantling everything. It’s all changing. The school system, the remnants of the socialized medical care system. The thing is he doesn’t have the foreign policy power that Bush does. Bush and Cheney have unprecedented amounts of power, and black budgets…I mean, come on, we’re spending half a trillion dollars in Iraq, and that’s just the money accounted for.

DS: What’s the reaction to you and your music when you play off the coasts?

JV: I would say good…

DS: Have you ever been Dixiechicked?

JV: No! I want to be! I would love to be, because then that means I’m really part of some fiery debate, but I would say there’s a lot of depressed in every single town. You can say Salt Lake City, you can look at what we consider to be conservative cities, and when you play those towns, man, the kids that come out are more or less on the same page and politically active because they are fish out of water.

DS: Depression breeds apathy, and your music seems geared toward anger, trying to wake people from their apathy. Your music is not maudlin and sad, but seems to be an attempt to awaken a spirit, with a self-reflective bent.

JV: That’s the trick. I would say that honestly, when Katrina happened, I thought, “okay, this is a trick to make people so crazy and so angry that they can’t even think. If you were in a community and basically were in a more or less quasi-police state surveillance society with no accountability, where we are pouring untold billions into our infrastructure to protect outside threats against via terrorism, or whatever, and then a natural disaster happens and there is no response. There is an empty response. There is all these ships off the shore that were just out there, just waiting, and nobody came. Michael Brown. It is one of the most insane things I have ever seen in my life.

DS: Is there a feeling in San Francisco that if an earthquake struck, you all would be on your own?

JV: Yes, of course. Part of what happened in New Orleans is that it was a Catholic city, it was a city of sin, it was a black city. And San Francisco? Bush wouldn’t even visit California in the beginning because his numbers were so low. Before Schwarzenegger definitely. I’m totally afraid of the earthquake, and I think everyone is out there. America is in the worst of both worlds: a laissez-fare economy and then the Grover Norquist anti-tax, starve the government until it turns into nothing more than a Argentinian-style government where there are these super rich invisible elite who own everything and there’s no distribution of wealth and nothing that resembles the New Deal, twentieth century embracing of human rights and equality, war against poverty, all of these things. They are trying to kill all that stuff. So, in some ways, it is the worst of both worlds because they are pushing us towards that, and on the same side they have put in a Supreme Court that is so right wing and so fanatically opposed to upholding civil rights, whether it be for foreign fighters…I mean, we are going to see movement with abortion, Miranda rights and stuff that is going to come up on the Court. We’ve tortured so many people who have had no intelligence value that you have to start to look at torture as a symbolic and almost ritualized behavior; you have this…

DS: Organ failure. That’s our baseline…

JV: Yeah, and you have to wonder about how we were torturing people to do nothing more than to send the darkest signal to the world to say, Listen, we are so fucking weird that if you cross the line with us, we are going to be at war with your religion, with your government, and we are going to destroy you.

DS: I interviewed Congressman Tom Tancredo, who is running for President, and he feels we should use as a deterrent against Islam the bombing of the Muslim holy cities of Mecca and Medina.

JV: You would radicalize the very few people who have not been radicalized, yet, by our actions and beliefs. We know what we’ve done out there, and we are going to paying for this for a long time. When Hezbollah was bombing Israel in that border excursion last year, the Hezbollah fighters were writing the names of battles they fought with the Jews in the Seventh Century on their helmets. This shit is never forgotten.

DS: You read a lot of the stuff that is written about you on blogs and on the Internet. Do you ever respond?

JV: No, and I would say that I read stuff that tends to be . I’ve done interviews that have been solely about film and photography. For some reason hearing myself talk about music, and maybe because I have been talking about it for so long, it’s snoozeville. Most interviews I do are very regimented and they tend to follow a certain line. I understand. If I was them, it’s a 200 word piece and I may have never played that town, in Des Moines or something. But, in general, it’s like…my band mates ask why don’t I read the weeklies when I’m in town, and Google my name. It would be really like looking yourself in the mirror. When you look at yourself in the mirror you are just error-correcting. There must be some sort of hall of mirrors thing that happens when you are completely involved in the Internet conversation about your music, and in some ways I think that I’m very innocently making music, because I don’t make music in any way that has to do with the response to that music. I don’t believe that the response to the music has anything to do with it. This is something I got from John Cage and Marcel Duchamp, I think the perception of the artwork, in some ways, has nothing to do with the artwork, and I think that is a beautiful, glorious and flattering thing to say to the perceiver, the viewer of that artwork. I’ve spent a lot of time looking at Paul Klee‘s drawings, lithographs, watercolors and paintings and when I read his diaries I’m not sure how much of a correlation there is between what his color schemes are denoting and what he is saying and what I am getting out of it. I’m not sure that it matters. Inland Empire is a great example. Lynch basically says, I don’t want to talk about it because I’m going to close doors for the viewer. It’s up to you. It’s not that it’s a riddle or a puzzle. You know how much of your own experience you are putting into the digestion of your own art. That’s not to say that that guy arranges notes in an interesting way, and sings in an interesting way and arranges words in an interesting way, but often, if someone says they really like my music, what I want to say is, That’s cool you focused your attention on that thing, but it does not make me go home and say, Wow, you’re great. My ego is not involved in it.

DS: Often people assume an artist makes an achievement, say wins a Tony or a Grammy or even a Cable Ace Award and people think the artist must feel this lasting sense of accomplishment, but it doesn’t typically happen that way, does it? Often there is some time of elation and satisfaction, but almost immediately the artist is being asked, “Okay, what’s the next thing? What’s next?” and there is an internal pressure to move beyond that achievement and not focus on it.

JV: Oh yeah, exactly. There’s a moment of relief when a mastered record gets back, and then I swear to you that ten minutes after that point I feel there are bigger fish to fry. I grew up listening to classical music, and there is something inside of me that says, Okay, I’ve made six records. Whoop-dee-doo. I grew up listening to Gustav Mahler, and I will never, ever approach what he did.

DS: Do you try?

JV: I love Mahler, but no, his music is too expansive and intellectual, and it’s realized harmonically and compositionally in a way that is five languages beyond me. And that’s okay. I’m very happy to do what I do. How can anyone be so jazzed about making a record when you are up against, shit, five thousand records a week—

DS: —but a lot of it’s crap—

JV: —a lot of it’s crap, but a lot of it is really, really good and doesn’t get the attention it deserves. A lot of it is very good. I’m shocked at some of the stuff I hear. I listen to a lot of music and I am mailed a lot of CDs, and I’m on the web all the time.

DS: I’ve done a lot of photography for Wikipedia and the genesis of it was an attempt to pin down reality, to try to understand a world that I felt had fallen out of my grasp of understanding, because I felt I had no sense of what this world was about anymore. For that, my work is very encyclopedic, and it fit well with Wikipedia. What was the reason you began investing time and effort into photography?

JV: It came from trying to making sense of touring. Touring is incredibly fast and there is so much compressed imagery that comes to you, whether it is the window in the van, or like now, when we are whisking through the Northeast in seven days. Let me tell you, I see a lot of really close people in those seven days. We move a lot, and there is a lot of input coming in. The shows are tremendous and, it is emotionally so overwhelming that you can not log it. You can not keep a file of it. It’s almost like if I take photos while I am doing this, it slows it down or stops it momentarily and orders it. It has made touring less of a blur; concretizes these times. I go back and develop the film, and when I look at the tour I remember things in a very different way. It coalesces. Let’s say I take on fucking photo in Athens, Georgia. That’s really intense. And I tend to take a photo of someone I like, or photos of people I really admire and like.

DS: What bands are working with your studio, Tiny Telephone?

JV: Death Cab for Cutie is going to come back and track their next record there. Right now there is a band called Hello Central that is in there, and they are really good. They’re from L.A. Maids of State was just in there and w:Deerhoof was just in there. Book of Knotts is coming in soon. That will be cool because I think they are going to have Beck sing on a tune. That will be really cool. There’s this band called Jordan from Paris that is starting this week.

DS: Do they approach you, or do you approach them?

JV I would say they approach me. It’s generally word of mouth. We never advertise and it’s very cheap, below market. It’s analog. There’s this self-fulfilling thing that when you’re booked, you stay booked. More bands come in, and they know about it and they keep the business going that way. But it’s totally word of mouth.

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25 May

News briefs:July 26, 2010

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24 May

Cut Your Energy Bills Today

byadmin

Keeping warm in the winter can be a challenge, especially when you’re faced with high heating bills. Most people use space heaters and other direct contact heating to keep them warm while running their furnaces on low in the background. Whether you’re using propane tanks in Manchester CT, or power from your local energy company, there are ways to save on heating costs. Here are a few of them to get you started.

Whole Home Insulation

If you haven’t already done so, make sure that your home is fully insulated for the winter. It’s not enough to just insulate the attic and not the rest of the home, especially if you have an older structure. Your walls need to be insulated to keep the cold air from coming into the cracks and crevices of the outer walls of your home. You can have a company do this for you, or you can do it yourself. It’s one of the best ways to keep the heat in and save on heating costs in the winter.

Window Coverings

Your window coverings should have a thermal backing. Thermal coverings can help keep the cold out. You can also cover your windows with plastic to ensure that no cold air seeps in from that area. This is a simple task that can be done within a few hours, depending on the size of your home. When you’re out buying propane tanks in Manchester CT, stop and pick up a roll of plastic. It’s inexpensive and could make a big difference in the amount of cold air that enters your home from the windows.

Layered Clothing

When you’re at home in the winter, layer up your clothing to keep from having to turn up the thermostat. Add a layer of long johns to your normal clothing, and this could make a big difference in how you feel. Heavy sweaters that are easy to remove are also ideal in winter. Wool socks and other warm materials can be beneficial when the winter months arrive and you’re not able to pay for the increase in power needed to keep warm. You will need to keep your pipes from freezing, so turning your furnace off entirely to use a space heater or any other source of alternative heating is not recommended.

Start your search for propane tanks in Manchester CT now, and start seeing a difference in your energy costs.

22 May

Canada’s Don Valley West (Ward 26) city council candidates speak

This exclusive interview features first-hand journalism by a Wikinews reporter. See the collaboration page for more details.

Friday, November 3, 2006

On November 13, Torontonians will be heading to the polls to vote for their ward’s councillor and for mayor. Among Toronto’s ridings is Don Valley West (Ward 26). Four candidates responded to Wikinews’ requests for an interview. This ward’s candidates include Muhammad Alam, Bahar Aminvaziri, Orhan Aybars, Michele Carroll-Smith, Mohamed Dhanani, Abdul Ingar, Geoff Kettel, Debbie Lechter, Natalie Maniates, John Masterson, John Parker, David Thomas, Csaba Vegh, and Fred Williams.

For more information on the election, read Toronto municipal election, 2006.

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21 May

The Types Of Fences Offered By Residential Fence Contractor In Colorado Springs Co

byadmin

Beautification theory is not only limited to the interior of homes; it’s also applicable to the exterior part as well. In fact, no esthetic improvement can so immediately enhance the enjoyment, visual and investment value of a residential home than a handsomely constructed fence. However, contrary to the expectations of many, enclosing a space is not an easy task as it seems at first glance. It requires specialized tools, artistic design knowledge, and intensive labor. Whether an individual’s primary concern is for heightened beauty, security, or enhanced privacy, hiring a Residential Fence Contractor in Colorado Springs CO is the best way to go about the fencing process.

Fences are available in a gamut of styles, designs, and materials. There’re a plethora of fences to choose from, depending on your preferences, needs, and even the budget. When making a decision to settle on a particular fence consider the reasons for enclosing a particular space, the size of the space and the expectations for the use of the area. This is because fences are differentiated by various factors such as styles, materials, purpose, and budget.

The article below shines a light on the some of the different residential fences offered by Residential Fence Contractor in Colorado Springs CO based on their functionality, or rather purpose.

Pool Fences

There’re a variety of options that meet all the necessary safety codes when constructing pool fences. A pool fence should be pragmatic, yet chic. Often, but not always, vinyl products are used in the construction of the fence due to their durability and elegance.

Dog Fences

A dog fence is a superb way of keeping the dogs inside safely in the compound while increasing the family’s privacy and enhancing the property’s aesthetics.

Garden Fences

A residential garden fence offers a breathtaking way to protect the household plants. A residential fence contractor is always happy to discuss on how to improve the perfect solution that will meet and individual garden needs and budget.

Privacy Fences

These type of fences are made with the aim of creating a paradise within a residential home. They provide added security, privacy, and stability in a residential environment. Moreover, they act as excellent border partitions with the neighbors.

Affordable Services Inc. is the premier fencing company that offers residential fences at highly competitive prices.

20 May