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Sabtu, 28 Januari 2012

Police Close Streets, Tear Gas Occupy Oakland Demonstrators


Police tear gassed Occupy Oakland protesters this afternoon near Lake Merritt and warned them to leave an area where they had gathered or they would be forcibly removed.
At about 3:45 p.m., the crowd still had not dispersed around the intersection of Jackson Street and 12th Street.
Police declared the intersection an unlawful assembly area and began running toward protesters with their shields.
Occupy Oakland organizers rallied at Frank Ogawa Plaza before they began marching earlier this afternoon. During the rally one of the organizers, Shake Anderson, said, "We are here to protect each other and to be civil disobedient. ... We're doing it to change the world, not just today but every day."
The march started just after 1:30 p.m., with dozens of police nearby in riot gear.
The protesters headed toward Laney College. Some people were wearing bandanas over their mouths and others were holding signs saying, "We are the 99%." A marching band dressed in pink and black tutus and neon pick tights also was in the crowd.
Occupy organizers said the plan today was to go to a vacant building that was to be their new home. Once they reach their destination, organizers had planned to kick off a two-day "Oakland Rise-up Festival" to celebrate the establishment of the movement's new space.
"Clearly there were some tactical mistakes today," said Sean Gallagher, 23, who was among those in the crowd. ... I think the goal of today to occupy a building was to give offices to working class people to organize."
Police are advising motorists that they have closed streets in the area.


Sources : sfappeal.com

10 Things My Father Was Right About

Maybe your dad taught you how to get a laugh or let a boy down easy. Chances are, he’s still doling out wisdom. The author pays tribute to her father’s best advice, past and present.


My father spent his youth as a crossing guard, a Boy Scout, and a designated driver. I, on the other hand, squandered mine cutting gym class and hanging out at the mall. Back then, my father would deliver themed, Mike Brady–style lectures (one recurring favorite was the Importance of Being Honest), which I grudgingly tolerated and later dismissed. But as I’ve gotten older, a funny thing has come to pass: I’ve often found myself doing exactly what he told me to do, following even his most questionable advice—like renting the movie Pink Cadillac. Herewith, his greatest hits. (Caution: Some of these lessons may trigger flashbacks to your own father’s finest moments.)

1. Hold hands while you hash it out. My folks have been married for 47 years. One of my father’s rules for a happy marriage is that if a nasty argument erupts, hold hands as you fight. You’ll feel goofy doing this, but here’s the thing: It works. Recently my husband, Tom, forgot to pay a few bills that were buried under a pile of clutter. I was incandescent with rage. So we interlaced our  fingers while we talked it out, and I felt my blood pressure plummet and my endorphins flow in spite of myself. It’s impossible to scream at someone who is giving your hand a gentle squeeze. It just is.

2. Pay attention to anyone who wears a tool belt... My father is practical, thrifty (or, put more accurately, cheap), and savvy about home improvements. He calls a repairman only as a last resort—and when he does, he hovers around the guy and asks tons of questions. “Carefully observe anyone with a skill that you don’t have,” my father often said, “and then you can take care of the fill-in-the-blank yourself.” He was right: After shadowing a handyman for an hour, I later fixed my own dishwasher, to the perpetual amazement of friends who call their super to change a lightbulb.

3. ...Or a uniform. It has always annoyed my dad that a waiter gets a 20 percent tip for serving a crème brûlée, while a hotel maid who disposes of used dental floss often winds up with bubkes. My father routinely told our sanitation men and the crew who cleaned his office that they were doing a good job and made sure to compensate them at holidays. As a child, I used to writhe with embarrassment when he did this. Now I do the same for the sanitation workers in my neighborhood. One guy once told me, with a catch in his voice, that in 10 years, it was the first time he had ever been thanked.

4. You can never have enough baggies. Anything can be stored in a resealable plastic bag, according to my father. Shoelaces, maps, socks, meat. I used to mock his habit of bagging everything, but since then I’ve seen the light. They’re miracle workers—easy to stash, and you can spot their contents at a glance. Now, just like Dad, I have a special drawer just for these bags, which range from giant (for sweaters) to tiny (to squirrel away nuts in my purse). When I’m missing a size in my lineup, I get tense.

5. You can’t go wrong with Clint. Dad says if you are at Blockbuster and are unable to decide what to rent, get a Clint Eastwood movie. Even the bad ones, he contends, are superior to most other films. Even Every Which Way but Loose. Even The Gauntlet (look it up). Now, when I’m overwhelmed by racks of DVDs, I simply look for Clint’s scowling face.

6. Don’t belittle the annual sack race. When my sisters and I hit adolescence, my father doggedly upheld our many family traditions, despite a tsunami of scorn. “They don’t mean anything to you kids now,” he’d tell us, “but one day you’ll invest in them yourselves.” Have we ever. Every Fourth of July, we have a sack race, and I just introduced a new tradition last Christmas. After dinner, I passed out lottery tickets and coins. Soon, all you could hear was an industrious scritch-scratch. And my father was beaming.

7. For Pete’s sake, stop worrying. Dad, like many guys of his generation, is a doer, not a talker. Just “fix it,” he tells himself, no matter how intractable the problem seems. His swift and decisive action used to strike me, a champion ditherer, as impulsive, but I’ve come to realize that consulting your gut leads to better decisions than exhaustive (and exhausting) deliberation. Now when I’m stymied, I say this phrase, and the answer comes.

8. Carry a hankie. Years ago, my parents and I were visiting a museum. I had a cold. My father handed me a fresh hankie and told me to keep it in my purse. And so I have. Tissues disintegrate, but not this sturdy cloth. Restroom dryer on the fritz? Handkerchief! Want to wrap a cookie to go? Handkerchief!

9. No one’s smarter than you. Long ago, if I was in a group and the conversation strayed to an unfamiliar topic, I’d keep silent. Dad urged me to say, “I don’t understand. Can you explain what you’re talking about?” Asking questions makes you sound smart, he said, and confident to boot. At a recent gathering, somebody mentioned the Mauritius Continental Shelf. Silence. Then I asked, “What’s that?” And all the former Ivy Leaguers around me exhaled and admitted they didn’t know what the hell it was, either.

10. You will want kids. My father always encouraged me to have a baby. I used to tell him that it wasn’t for everyone, but he shot back, “I know you, and you would love it.” True enough: Tom and I became parents recently, and that little girl is the joy of my life. I cannot wait to impart my own pearls of wisdom to her, such as the infinite uses for twist ties or the Importance of Being Honest (sound familiar?). And since she’s a lot like me, she’ll probably roll her eyes and grumble—and listen to every word.

Sources realsimple.com
Originally Posted By Jane Isay

Awesome Vintage Photos





















Sources : visboo.com

Jumat, 27 Januari 2012

Top 10 Controversial Writers



Throughout the history, lot of people have preferred to convey their intellect and thoughts through literature. It’s a sure fact that writers are heavily tempted by the society as well as the social context, but it’s a matter of fact that some time, some authors are rejected by the same society for exploring its hidden aspects. TopYaps lists ten controversial writers who conveyed their opinions through books and novels, but were labelled as disputatious.



10. Judy Blume:
Best known for writing one of the most arguable  novels on children and young adults, Judy Blume is an eminent yet controversial writer of America. Judy Blume’s novels revolve around teenagers, dealing with several issues such as sexuality, existence of God, friendship, religion and other burning topics which are considered contagious for a particular age-group. No doubt, this controversial writer has been banned in United States for independently writing on censored topics, yet her books have managed to exceed sales of 80 million copies worldwide.

9. Thomas Paine:
One of the founding fathers of the United States, Thomas Paine revolutionized the literal world by writing a deistic pamphlet, “The Age of Reason,” which challenges the authenticity of Bible and severely criticizes the methodologies of institutionalized religion. This controversial writer was blackballed for ridiculing Christianity by contemporary intellectuals, and till the date he is considered as one of the most controversial figures in writing arena.

8. J. D. Salinger:
Perhaps, most well known for his controversial novel – “The Catcher in the Rye,” J. D. Salinger is termed for being one of the most controversial writers of the 20th century whose works led to public attention and scrutiny. Main characters in Salinger’s stories were generally misfits of society who search for happiness through symbolism, religion and loneliness. For employing disputed subjects in his novels, Salinger is believed as controversial writer by many critics.


7. D.H. Lawerence:
David Herbert Richards Lawerence was an eminent novelist, essayist, poet and painter of England, who, by his works, earned stack of retaliations in the literal world and endured censorship along with official persecution. This controversial writer was widely known for fueling some of the frank discussions such as religion, psychology and sex. During the last time of his death, Lawerence’s reputation was that of a pornographer who had devastated his artistic integrity, moral sincerity and considerable talents.


6. Taslima Nasrin:
Taslima Nasrin was a doctor in Bangladesh who later turned into a firebrand poet and author. Thiscontroversial writer has been widely criticized by intellectuals and some of the prominent authors for ridiculing Islamic principles and propagating objectionable and preposterous comments against this religion. Since 1994, Taslima has been living in exile and currently she is residing in New Delhi where she works for human rights, freedom of thought and equality for women.


5. Voltaire:
Counted among one of the most eminent French Enlightenment figures, Voltaire was a prolific yetcontroversial writer who is best known for advocating freedom of religion as well as separation of church and state. A straight-from-the-shoulder supporter of social reform, Voltaire had earned controversy from the very beginning of his writing career.

4. Sigmund Freud:
Founding father of psychoanalysis and a celebrated researcher of unconscious mind, Sigmund Freud’s view on women is still a subject of controversial debate. Theories of this controversial writer on female nature have been marginalized by experts of psychology as they were sexist and pseudo-scientific. According to Freudian theory, the primary motivational energy of human life is sexual desire. No doubt, his books are considered as objects of controversy, but he has a strong impact upon the civilisation in western world over 8-9 decades or so.


3. Salman Rushdie:
Legendary head in the ring of modern controversial writers, Salman Rushdie came to prominence after after winning Booker Prize for his second novel – “Midnight’s Children.” It’s a matter of fact that this top-notch author of magical realism became a matter of global hatred after launching his controversial novel “The Satanic Verses.” Rushdie was widely condemned by Islamic groups and various authors for ridiculing Islam and its functions in this novel. Not even this, for his blasphemy, a fatwa was issued against him by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the Supreme Leader of Iran.

2. Mark Twain:
Best known for being the greatest humorist of his age, Mark Twain’s ironies and satires have been often considered by many intellectuals as vulgar and insensitive. His popular novel “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” was criticized by contemporary critics for violating the traditions of American democracy. Racial slurs used in this novel were enough to flare up controversy during the Civil Rights movement in United States.

1. Vladimir Nabokov:
Vladimir Nabokov was a Russian author who was widely criticized for his tongue-in-cheek erotic novel, “Lolita.” Considered as one of the most controversial and erotic novels of 20th century, the word Lolita is now synonymously used to account a sexually precocious girl. Though the book was scandalous, it catapulted the controversial writer to enormous fame and fortune.

Sources : topyaps.com

Minggu, 15 Januari 2012

A popular fashion trend in Europe (44 pics)

It's not a new trend but it became very popular in Europe over the last years. It's called “Arrive Half-Naked, Leave Fully Dressed” sale.












































Sources :izifunny.com