It was a fairly slow Sunday evening in New Eden yesterday. As the US Thanksgiving Day holiday was winding down there were quite a few still with family and friends in the real world, leaving us in space to fen for ourselves.

I was casually doing some scanning in our home wormhole while also watching Sunday Night Football here States-side. Our Alliance was chatting off and on about nothing in particular when I picked up a new Cosmic Anomaly on my scanners. I quickly scanned it down to 100% strength, while our Alliance Leader was kind enough to give me and a fellow member an overview on wormhole identification procedures. It was a great brief talk and I’m sure it cleared things up for us as we continue to learn the ropes of W-space.

An Alliance mate and myself decided to jump through this new WH and found that it dropped us into a Class IV system. We quickly scanned if anyone else was residing in this new system and found it totally devoid of player habitation. We did find, however, roughly 35 other sites. There were 25 Sleeper sites, a.k.a. – Combat sites, and 10 other sites, such as Ladar and Radar where you harvest Gas and Hack containers. The most I had ever seen at a time was 9 sites, most of which were other wormholes, thus this was quite exciting for us.

Being that there was only 2 of us, and that this was a C4 system, we decided to take on one of the weakest Sleeper sites…’weakest’ being a relative term. Typically we can handle most Sleeper sites in our home system solo when flying the right ship, but not tonight. The plan was for me to fly in first with my Drake, which had a fairly decent passive shield setup, and him to follow. He was attempting to run two accounts at once, thus flying two ships at the same time to provide more firepower for our little recon group. This didn’t end up working out, so it was just me in a Drake and he in a Raven.

The site contained 2 heavy hitting Sleeper Battleships. As I flew in with my Drake they immediately started knocking out my shields. The Raven eventually showed up and attempted to remotely repair my shields. Unfortunately for me the shield repair just couldn’t keep up with the Battleship firepower that was baring down on me and as I attempted to warp out to safety I got hung up on a structure and my trusty Drake of 2 months went down in a blaze of glory.

The Raven stuck around for as long as he could, but we were clearly outclassed by this difficult C4 system. I ran back and grabbed my trusty Caracal with which I was able to salvage my wrecked Drake and save about 9 components. I spent the rest of the night flying around buying a new Drake and all it’s proper fittings. Luckily for me I had a large amount of Sleeper loot to sell, so in the end I think I came out even in terms of ISK lost & gained, with the insurance payout and loot sold.

All in all it was a fun evening, though bitter sweet. All this experience is great for such a new pilot like my self and my Alliance mates are such great players for helping me learn the ropes. So for now the Sleepers of the C4 can claim victory, but I guess that’s payback for the past few days I’ve spent obliterating their lesser sites in our home WH. We’ll get them next time!

From http://www.reuters.com:

On November 30 3009 Sanofi-aventis signed an exclusive licensing agreement with Intelliject Inc for a novel epinephrine injector for the emergency treatment of anaphylaxis in North America (US and Canada). Sanofi-aventis is to take responsibility for manufacturing and commercial activities in North America and Intelliject the on-going development and regulatory submission in the US. In addition Intelliject retained certain rights to co-promote the product in the US. Under the agreement Intelliject received an upfront payment and is eligible for future milestone payments and royalties on product sales.

Wherever you find your BIG IDEA we can all help you make it happen!

We need hundreds of people to check out the new Lead for England website now and find all the glitches, and problems with it! We think it’s great but we’re sure you’ll know of ways it can be made even more useful for people like you.

I bet we’ve all either been in, or are currently in a situation where we have a project or new challenge that we are trying to work on in our lives and just wish we had extra support in some way. We look and others and think ” Well how did they do that?” Who did they know who got them into that position?” “What great pastors / vicars / youthworkers did they have in their big church that gave them the support and encouragement to help get them experience at doing that?” And we get stuck at that point and sort of wait and hope help will come our way.

But you don’t have to wait any longer! Whether you’re running projects yourself and are on the entrepreneur side, or whether you’d love to transform lives now by investing in entrepreneurs, or whether you want to do both, use the new Investment platform on the website as an easy way for us help each other get going and ” Lead for England”! (That’s as in the figure of speech for doing something passionately as opose to a national soil thing – but wouldn’t it be brill to change this little country in the process too!)

So we need you to bombard us with criticisms, feedback, comments, improvements, squashed tomatoes or whatever just to help this thing get going. But we don’t know where it’s going – that’s totally up to you. It’ll just totally depend on the profiles that get uploaded. There’s no preconceived ideas, agendas, or big central organisations so it’ll go where it goes in a viral way I guess. Take 2 mins to upload your profile and this thing’ll go where all of us collectively are going in our projects, walks with God, or journeys.

That will be so encouraging for all of us I reckon, to get the big picture, as well as providing a platform for us all to help each other when we really need stuff that we can’t find through our existing other networks. Or when some of us are feeling pretty isolated and unsure where to get just the right expertise, mentoring, finance, prayer, or small group coaching, or purchases that we need.

Can’t wait to see how we’re all “Leading for England” already – and pick out people who may benefit from my investment.

We’re back to our normal weekend routine. Spent friday at zk’s granny’s place to prepare for the kukup trip. We’ve still got quite a bit to prepare before the trip. Zhikang and I being the F&B reps have not prepared anything! heh. so screwed.

Woke up early the next morning for CFA briefing at relc with zk and his brother. We went to shangri-la for my bread breakfast. Then rushed back to the briefing. And it was BEACH TIME!! There we met his cousin. And many of my old friends! (: Beach was fan-fantabulous! Ten over 2 on 2 games!

Then comes sunday. Played like SHIT during Aljunied Hougang. Now, we’re back to jul’s place for mj and off for training at imh. Typical good’ol sunday.

Another match at xinmin tomorrow! (:

Life’s all about vb and now, with a swollen knee. But vb’s still fun. Especially with the dingdongs ((:

stair of destiny

Stepping through the Dark Portal was a sensation unlike anything she’d ever felt before. When the guild Mages crafted portals for quick movement to and from guild meetings, the rippling magick had felt almost like water, smooth and refreshing against her skin, or like the refreshing mountain air when exiting the heated halls of Ironforge. But this, this was a thick, searing light and a thick, almost gluey press of dark energy that left her feeling filthy the moment she was free of it.

It took a moment for her eyes to adjust as she stood blinking and rubbing her eyes, and was so distracted by trying to wipe what felt like slime from her skin that she was nearly toppled as Shawnisi stumbled through the portal behind her.

“Bloody pushy Generals, think they can just…” Shawnisi muttered, and then trailed off into silence. Kesryn, finally getting her blurred vision to focus, turned and looked at her friend, surprised at the awestruck look on the normally stoic Human’s face.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, and when Shawnisi mutely raised a hand and pointed over her shoulder, Kesryn turned and immediately took in the most incredible sight she’d ever seen.

It was a visual assault of blasted, angry red – the distant cracked ground, the carved pillars, the rusted chains that led down the hazardously steep stairs. And the sky, the sky was a mass of open horizon, the largest she’d ever seen, with swirls of gaseous clouds that stretched like shimmering ribbons everywhere she looked. And below, infernals larger than any beast she’d ever encountered raged against the defending armies of Horde and Alliance, lumbering pit lords the size of small towns barking orders in foul tongues behind them.

“Good Goddess…” she breathed, a sentiment she heard softly echoed by the growing number of battle-ready soldiers that crossed through the portal behind her. Night Elves, Orcs, Humans, Trolls, every race under the opposing faction banners, they stood united for a moment in humble awe at the immensity of the world that reached in every direction before them.

the dark portal 2

“Can you believe this?” Kesryn called excitedly, clumsily climbing to the top of an unused ballista. “Look at all of them!”

By them, she meant the multitude of demonic creatures that had rushed through the swirling portal before them – raging green infernals that shook the ground as they ran, snarling felhounds with swirling masses of dark energy around their mandibles, and violet-skinned demon lords hurling shadowbolts at anything that moved.

Kesryn and her companion, Taesa, a fellow Hunter, had heard of the commotion at the portal while dining in Ironforge. What had begun as hushed whispers of concern and rumors of demonic invasion had grown to a full battle cry that propelled hundreds of Alliance and Horde soldiers to the Blasted Lands to face off against the Legion at their own doorstep.

Now, the two Night Elves stood in the middle of the insanity, the air thick with smoke, ash, and the battle cries of the warriors around them. Taesa, who stood some fifteen feet away in the rich green armor of the Alliance Commanders, turned with a wicked grin on her pale lips as she drew her twin axes from her belt.

“Just what we’ve been waiting for!” she yelled, and rushed headlong into an approaching infernal.

Con il deck dell’Unholy Death Knight abbiamo completato la prima serie di 10 deck in base a tutte le classi per ora esistenti in WoW TCG ed adesso riprendiamo a descrivere le stesse classi in base ad una diversa configurazione prendendon come elemento diversificativo il talento di ogni eroe per quella specifica classe.

Il deck di oggi è l’Enhancement Shaman basato sull’eroe Moala Stonebinder. Si tratta di un deck molto veloce, di tipo rush deck e che, rispetto alllo Shaman Traitor Kil’zin of the Bloodscalp, usa le abilità per aumentare i poteri delle proprie armi a discapito del numero degli alleati in esso innclusi, fatto questo che qualifica tale mazzo come un “solo deck”.

Eroe
Moala Stonebinder

Il flip di Moala Stonebinder consente, al costo di 2 risorse, che una propria arma non venga distrutta, cosa questa molto importante soprattuto se su di essa sono presenti potenziamenti di vara natura.

Alleati 3
3x Great Elekk

Unico alleato presente è il Great Elekk, la nuova cavalcatura dei draenei con cui, oltre che a velocizzare il completamento delle missioni facendo pagare una risorsa in meno il loro costo di attivazione, nel turno in cui si gioca una risorsa a faccia in su, ossia una missione o location, l’eroe infligge +2 danni aggiuntivi ogni volta in cui esso deve infliggere del danno. Un altro alleato che potrebbe trovare posto in questo tipo di deck è Galway Steamwhistle, per aumentare gli attacchi con un arma, o First Responder Avaressa, per sfruttare il suo potere curativo.

Abilità 27
4x Storm Shock
3x Lightning Arc
3x Lightning Bolt
2x Earth Shock
3x Fork Lightning
3x Storm Strike
3x Maelstroam Wheapon
3x Shamanistic Dual Wield
3x Grounding Totem

Per quanto riguarda le abilità, Storm Shock, Lightning Arc, Lightning Bolt, Earth Shock e Fork Lightning sono tutte abilità offensive capaci di infliggere danni di tipo natura al singolo eroe o agli alleati avversari; in particolare Fork Lightning è un ottima risposta contro Weldon Barow. per quanto riguarda le abilità che hanno effetto sulle proprie armi, Storm Strike è un abilità istant che fa tornare ready il proprio eroe ed una sua arma, anche dopo che essi hanno attaccato consentendo così un secondo attacco, e che aggiunge +2 danni ai prossimi danni di tipo natura inflitti; Maelstroam Wheapon è in parte un’abilità istant che infligge 2 danni di tipo natura ad un eroe o alleato bersaglio ed in parte un’abiltià ongoing su una propria arma e che per ogni danno da combattimento inflitto dal proprio eroe con l’arma infligge 1 danno di tipo natura aggiuntivo; e Shamanistic Dual Wield che, oltre a concedere all’eroe il potere dual wiled, consente di far pagare 1 risorsa in meno il costo per colpire di ogni arma posseduta. Grounding Totem infine è un efficente “parafulmini” che fa perdere tempo prezioso all’avevrsario convogliando su se stesso gli attacchi degli alleati e le abilità offensive avversarie.

Equipaggiamento 15
4x Whispering Blade of Slaying
4x Retainer’s Blade
4x Black Amnesty
3x Quickstrider Moccasins

L’equipaggiamento di questo deck ricalca molto da vicino quello dello Shaman Traitor Kil’zin of the Bloodscalp: Whispering Blade of Slaying oltre a conferire dual wield aggiunge +1 atk agli altri pugnali; Retainer Blade è un ottimo pugnale ally remove; e Black Amnesty è un pugnale che, oltre a conferire dual wield, è un ottimo espediente per difendersi sottraendosi dal combattimento. Quickstrider Moccasins avendo il potere di far tornare pronta una carta offre molte possibilità di utilizzo come far tornare pronto l’eroe e mettere in gioco una nuova arma con cui attaccare o far tornare pronto un pugnale, come ad esempio Black Amnesty, per difendersi.

Location e Missioni 15
3x Eye of the Storm
3x Forces of Jaedenar
3x A Warm Welcome
2x Corki’s Ransom
4x Orders from Lady Vashj

Per quanto riguarda le risorse, la location Eye of the Storm consente di spossare fino a 4 bersagli tra eroe e alleati avversari, utile nel caso di protettori in gioco, mentre le altre missioni, vale a dire Forces of Jaedenar, A Warm Welcome, Orders from Lady Vashj e sopratutto Corki’s Ransom, assicurano un buon draw aggiuntivo di carte.

Side Deck
1x Earth Shock
3x Crackling Purge
3x Wind Shear
3x Scraper Ironbane

Come Side deck oltre ad una copia aggiuntiva di Earth Shock sono state incluse tre copie di Crackling Purge  e tre copie di Scraper Ironbane che distruggono le abilità ongoing e gli equipaggiamenti, e tre copie di Wind Shear abilità istantanea che interrompe un’abilità bersaglio e spossa un eroe o una alleato bersaglio.

In definitiva, come nel caso dello Shaman Traitor Kil’zin of the Bloodscalp Deck, siamo in presenza di un ottimo mazzo rush che al posto degli alleati ha il suo punto di forza solo nelle abilità offensive e nelle armi. Tuttavia tale deck, vista l’assenza di un’altra minaccia effettiva data dagli alleati, può avere poche possibilità di vittoria contro deck  di prevenzione del danno, come il Protection Paladin, o contro deck che fanno dell’hand control e dell’ability control il proprio punto di forza.

Ibrahim Sajid Malick

A look back at Pakistan’s history exposes the hypocrisy of such assertions. It was, in fact, during Gen.Zia ul Haq’s rule that the US was allowed to construct five ‘intelligence and recon basses’ in Pakistan. It was under Gen. Musharaf’s rule that Pakistan compromised the security of it’s nuclear assets, allowed drone attacks, handed over Pakistani civilians to the CIA and allowed Blackwater to launch covert operations.

Blackwater operatives have been working under a covert program run by the Joint Special Operations Command, the military’s top covert operations force. The previously undisclosed JSOC operations would mark the first known confirmation of U.S. military activity inside Pakistan.

This was possible because in 2006 Gen. Pervez Musharaf struck a deal with the Bush administration that allows U.S. Special Operations forces from the Joint Special Operations Command to enter Pakistan with the understanding that they were, “following the target.”

Indeed, if you read Pakistan’s short history you will find that our Army has always served America’s interest and its foreign policy has been congruent with US policy in the region. Although our nation’s key decision to stand in America’s camp pre-dates the Ayub regime, it was during our first martial law that Pakistan’s anti-imperialist forces were completely crushed.

Two more significant telegrams sent from the US embassy in Karachi clearly indicate that: America was fearful of Pakistan’s left inclined politicians and Ayub Khan was being encouraged to take control ie. “a coup by a military dictatorship”.

I will be adding to more documents here to deconstruct the notion that Pakistan’s army is anti-imperialist. Secondly, I will also continue to question the assertions of many that Pakistan’s Army is truly religious. It only promoted and protected Islamist elements to serve U.S. interests. Ironically Pakistan’s army also promoted westernized voices in early parts of it history, also at the behest of it’s American masters. A religious bigot like Zia ul Haq was built-up when America wanted to exploit religious sentiments. And, Gen. Musharaf was nurtured as a ‘westernized’ voice when that was the need of the day. This willingness to be anything the U.S. wants is often observed by Pakistan watchers who say: if America wants a transvestite, the Pakistan army will hurry up and promote a hijra through it’s rank.

Extracts from Ibrahim Sajid Malick’s article originally published at:
http://ibrahimsajidmalick.com/is-pakistan-army-anti-america-not-really/433/

To read full article, please visit author’s blog.

Disclaimer: We neither subscribe to Ibrahim Sajid Malick’s ideology on Democracy nor we intend to support his views directly or indirectly, we have carefully selected this article because it exposes notion as misunderstood by majority of Pakistanis that Pakistan’s army is anti-America and they have Islamist elements within them.

Ibrahim Sajid Malick

A look back at Pakistan’s history exposes the hypocrisy of such assertions. It was, in fact, during Gen.Zia ul Haq’s rule that the US was allowed to construct five ‘intelligence and recon basses’ in Pakistan. It was under Gen. Musharaf’s rule that Pakistan compromised the security of it’s nuclear assets, allowed drone attacks, handed over Pakistani civilians to the CIA and allowed Blackwater to launch covert operations.

Blackwater operatives have been working under a covert program run by the Joint Special Operations Command, the military’s top covert operations force. The previously undisclosed JSOC operations would mark the first known confirmation of U.S. military activity inside Pakistan.

This was possible because in 2006 Gen. Pervez Musharaf struck a deal with the Bush administration that allows U.S. Special Operations forces from the Joint Special Operations Command to enter Pakistan with the understanding that they were, “following the target.”

Indeed, if you read Pakistan’s short history you will find that our Army has always served America’s interest and its foreign policy has been congruent with US policy in the region. Although our nation’s key decision to stand in America’s camp pre-dates the Ayub regime, it was during our first martial law that Pakistan’s anti-imperialist forces were completely crushed.

Two more significant telegrams sent from the US embassy in Karachi clearly indicate that: America was fearful of Pakistan’s left inclined politicians and Ayub Khan was being encouraged to take control ie. “a coup by a military dictatorship”.

I will be adding to more documents here to deconstruct the notion that Pakistan’s army is anti-imperialist. Secondly, I will also continue to question the assertions of many that Pakistan’s Army is truly religious. It only promoted and protected Islamist elements to serve U.S. interests. Ironically Pakistan’s army also promoted westernized voices in early parts of it history, also at the behest of it’s American masters. A religious bigot like Zia ul Haq was built-up when America wanted to exploit religious sentiments. And, Gen. Musharaf was nurtured as a ‘westernized’ voice when that was the need of the day. This willingness to be anything the U.S. wants is often observed by Pakistan watchers who say: if America wants a transvestite, the Pakistan army will hurry up and promote a hijra through it’s rank.

Extracts from Ibrahim Sajid Malick’s article originally published at:
http://ibrahimsajidmalick.com/is-pakistan-army-anti-america-not-really/433/

To read full article, please visit author’s blog.

Disclaimer: We neither subscribe to Ibrahim Sajid Malick’s ideology on Democracy nor we intend to support his views directly or indirectly, we have carefully selected this article because it exposes notion as misunderstood by majority of Pakistanis that Pakistan’s army is anti-America and they have Islamist elements within them.

hyjal 2

We took the path down, circling the mountainous cliffs around the World Tree, until we reached the small pools and ponds that ringed the ancient battlefield. When I’d first set foot in Hyjal, I’d been more interested in the landscape – the sweeping cliffs, the scattered forests, the paths that wound round and round forever. But after encountering Kesryn by chance, my attentions shifted somewhat.

She was in what she called her traveling clothes, and we’d planned to take a posed shot of her and Baptyst, the faithful companion she’d recently tamed in Winterspring. The photo I actually took for her, though, was as she stared wistfully at the World Tree – her thoughts, I suppose, lost in whatever memories she had of her home and the stories she’d been told growing up.

Kesryn and I stayed in touch after this, if only to exchange stories while I struggled through school and she struggled through Outland once the Dark Portal opened. It has been almost three years since this moment, so needless to say I was surprised when, upon discovering I was crafting a memoir of my travels, she insisted that I include this photo, her only memory of her quiet, personal trip to Hyjal.

hyjal 1

“Why do you suppose nobody comes here?” the Huntress asked me.

Her name was Kesryn Starsinger, and we’d run into each other during exploration of Hyjal. I’d grown up hearing of the great battle that ensued at the World Tree, as had she, though her recollection of the events were greatly skewed by a sort of Night Elf bias (apparently in Teldrassil they love to take credit for all of this).

I was perched in a tree, trying to balance myself and the cumbersome Snapper to take a shot when she walked right out in front of it. Ah well, I thought to myself, gives it some perspective.

“I’m not really sure,” I mentioned as we walked the paths on our mounts. The air was still around us, full of the rich colors of the untouched foliage and the ember glow of the setting sun. “They talk about it so much, you’d think someone would be interested.”

In the few moments we’d spent together, I’d quickly learned that Kesryn was not the type to stay quiet long (“You wouldn’t believe it, my sisters and I drove Father crazy back when I lived at home, it’s the whole reason I travel now!”) – however, as she paused and looked over her shoulder at Archimonde’s bones tangled in ancient wood, there was a sort of melancholy about her.

“I’d like a photo, if that’s alright,” she said, and to my surprise, reached into her backpack and pulled out a Snapper of her own. “Down there.” She motioned to the pools at the bottom of the cliffs, and as my eyes traced the mountain line I could see a path that angled down.

My hearthstone had not yet recharged from the last time I’d used it, so I nodded to her, and we rode down in silence with Archimonde’s body casting a dark, forbidding shadow after us.

zul’gurub

It wasn’t long after I’d picked up my first Super Snapper FX from Curgle that I was commissioned for a guild portrait. The catch? They wanted it snapped in the middle of Zul’Gurub, as the guild had recently begun their wild stampede of raids into the Troll city. While I was hesitant to go wandering about in the wilds of Stranglethorn, a starving student will go to great lengths for a bit of coin.

The raid leader was a wild, violet-haired Rogue by the name of Rainadraken, who was more than happy to drag me up and down the roadways trying to find the perfect spot for the photo.  They were a fun, vivid group of raiders, still full of vigor unlike some of the exhausted, battle-weary folks I’d seen coming out of Molten Core or Blackwing Lair.  After some difficulty wrangling mounts, we managed just one perfect shot before they raced on to their next challenge.

Last I heard, The Wanderers, as they were called, were still active under Raina’s steady hand, though I’ve been told they’ve wandered much further than Zul’Gurub these past years!

ungoro roar

“Wow,” Kesryn murmured, staring up at the shimmering night sky. “Shawni, have you ever seen so many stars?” Shawnisi, who was sitting next to the fire, glanced up as well.

“Hmm, can’t say I have,” she replied thoughtfully. Dressed in a traveling tunic and patched cloth pants, she turned her attention back to her sewing, delicately drawing a needle and thread through the shimmering fabric of her robe. “Probably because I’m spending more time fixing my damn clothing than stargazing.”

“I said I was sorry about the devilsaur,” Kesryn retorted, rolling her eyes. “How many times are we going to rehash this?”

“How about as many times as I had to visit the spirit healer today?”

“Oh please, you’re a Priest, you can heal -” Kesryn paused as Shawnisi turned a bloodchilling blue-eyed glare on her, and sighed. “Alright, alright, I’ll go get more firewood.”

Grabbing an empty pack and climbing up on the saddle of her hulking stalker mount, she worked her way around the camp’s exterior, gathering any spare branches she could find that weren’t soaked through from the crater’s damp environment. Pausing at one cliff edge, she stared up at the moon with a wistful expression.

“Kind of makes you miss home, doesn’t it?” she asked the great beast, patting the side of his neck. The stalker purred in response. “You know, me and my sisters, we used to howl at the moon all the time. It would drive Father crazy! You ever done that?” The cat only grunted. “It’s pretty easy, you know, just make as much noise as you can!” With that, she tilted her head back and let out a warbling, obnoxious howl that bounced off the high mountain walls beside them and echoed back to her. “Now, you try,” she encouraged.

Her mount paused a moment, then arched its back and let out a deep roar so loud she had to clap her hands over her ears. It was so long and so loud, that by the time the beast finally shook its head and silenced itself, the noise still echoed down into the crater below, where gutteral cries rose up from the prehistoric beasts that wandered around the tar pits. Kesryn snorted back a laugh and scritched the cat’s head.

“Showoff,” she muttered.

hat of doom

“Shawni!  Shawni, hold still a sec, I want to try this thing out!”  When Shawnisi kept walking, rummaging in her backpack and counting the vials of mana potion she’d just purchased, Kesryn stamped her foot in annoyance.  “Shawni!” she barked.  “Come on, stop being such a stick in the mud!”

The young woman finally turned to face her blue-haired, Elven counterpart, and scowled around the packet of enchanting dust she had pinched in her teeth.

“Kes, ee eel-ee…”  She rolled her eyes, dropped her bag, and spat the packages into her hand.  “We really don’t have time for this.”

“But I got this and I wanted to…”  When she saw the forbidding look on Shawnisi’s face, Kesryn’s expression deflated and her lip quivered in a pout.

“Oh good Goddess, are you pouting?”

“N-no…”

“Alright, alright, fine, one stupid picture and then we have to go!”  Shawnisi leaned over and started tugging things out of her backpack, digging for something.  “As it is we’re running late if we ever hope to make it to the guild meeting… where is my… ah, okay!”  She removed a battered, heinously ugly red hat from the bag and tugged it on over her cropped black locks.  “There!”  She struck a pose in the middle of the stone walkway.  “What do you think?”

“You’re not seriously going to wear that, are you?”

“My hat?”

“Yes, the hat.”

“Do you have any idea how many things I had to kill to get this hat?”

“I gave you that hat.”

“Then you have no right to complain!”  Shawnisi braced her feet and lit her hands with a smooth, healing glow.  “Now or never, Longears!”

On November 25 2009 Merck & Co and Idera announced they are extending their three year partnership for fourth year. Begun in December 2006 the collaboration aims to develop vaccines that could be used against cancer, infectious diseases, and Alzheimer’s disease. The extension will complete the contract between Idera and Merck, as the companies agreed to work together for two years with two one-year options.

On November 26 2009 Merck & Co Inc indicated that it plans to start a clinical phase IIa trial with the biotechnology company Karo Bio’s lead investigational drug candidate, MK-6913, identified as part of their joint research collaboration. The randomized, double-blind, placebo- and active-controlled study will assess the safety, tolerability, and efficacy of MK-6913 for the treatment of moderate-to-very-severe vasomotor symptoms (hot flashes/hot flushes) in postmenopausal women. It is estimated that 300 patients will be enrolled in the study.

In the partnership Merck has the exclusive worldwide rights to all compounds identified during the collaboration and is responsible for their further preclinical and clinical development. Karo Bio has the rights to certain milestone payments from Merck based upon the further successful clinical development of the compound and final drug approval, but is not to receive a milestone payment for the initiation of the phase II trial. Karo Bio has the rights to royalties on future drug sales.

The collaboration is targeting estrogen receptors with the aim to develop novel treatments in the field of women’s health. The joint drug discovery phase of the collaboration with Merck was completed in 2002. MK-6913 is the first such estrogen receptor compound arising from the collaboration to enter Phase II.

Julian and elaine met me for lunch at Suntec yesterday. Buffet lunch at Pearl River Palace. Heh, I thought certain dishes were great. And we sat there for 2 full hours and talked about every other thing under the sun. Thanks for the treat tudu. We’ll get you 12 pairs of mizuno socks for christmas (:

Have been to the chinese doctor twice to get my knee fixed. Zhikang’s mum recommended that doctor. and yeah, he did take the pain away somehow. Cool. Just that I couldn’t understand whatever he said and zhikang and to do the translation. zzz

And now I’m craving for bbq! and I want that huge christmas ball on the christmas tree outside suntec! wheeeteehee!

From TheWashingtonPost.com:

One year ago, I stood with city leaders on a hill in Northeast as we broke ground for affordable housing in the District. When the St. Martin’s Apartments are completed, nearly 200 low-income families and individuals will get a fresh start on life in a wonderful example of the type of effective public-private partnerships the residents of our nation’s capital need.

St. Martin’s is being developed by Catholic Charities, on land owned by the Catholic Church and with funding sources that include the District of Columbia.

Catholic Charities and the Archdiocese of Washington are committed to continuing to serve the people of the District as we have for many decades. That includes partnerships such as St. Martin’s. Unfortunately, the D.C. Council is considering legislation that could end these kinds of partnerships.

It doesn’t need to be that way. While we do not agree with the council on redefining marriage, we recognize that it is firmly committed to opening marriage to homosexual couples. We are asking that new language be developed that more fairly balances different interests — those of the city to redefine marriage and those of faith groups so that they can continue to provide services without compromising their deeply held religious teachings and beliefs. The archdiocese has not been alone in requesting broader language. Other groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, the InterFaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington and nationally recognized legal scholars all called for stronger protections for religious freedom in their testimony on the original bill.

For the archdiocese and Catholic Charities, two core tenets of our faith are at the heart of our concerns: our understanding of the nature of marriage and our commitment to expressing Christ’s love through service to others. Under the legislative language before the D.C. Council, the archdiocese would be forced to choose between these two principles. The archdiocese has long made clear that all people have equal dignity, regardless of sexual orientation. But marriage is reserved for husband and wife because of its essential connection with the creation of children.

The proposed legislation offers little protection for religious beliefs, including no protections for individuals, as is required under the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Under the bill, religious organizations would be exempt from participating in ceremonies or from teaching about same-sex marriage in religion classes and retreats in accordance with their faith beliefs, but they would be required to recognize and promote same-sex marriage everywhere else, including in employment policies, and adoption and foster-care policies, against their beliefs.

The proposed legislation offers little protection for religious beliefs, including no protections for individuals, as is required under the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Under the bill, religious organizations would be exempt from participating in ceremonies or from teaching about same-sex marriage in religion classes and retreats in accordance with their faith beliefs, but they would be required to recognize and promote same-sex marriage everywhere else, including in employment policies, and adoption and foster-care policies, against their beliefs.

So what does this mean?

The archdiocese and Catholic Charities are committed to continuing to provide services in the District. Despite the headlines, there has been no threat or ultimatum to end services, just a simple recognition that the new requirements by the city for religious organizations to recognize same-sex marriages in their policies could restrict our ability to provide the same level of services as we do now. This is so because the District requires Catholic Charities to certify its compliance with city laws when applying for contracts and grants. This includes contracts for homeless services, mental health services, foster care and more. Since Catholic Charities cannot comply with city mandates to recognize and promote same-sex marriages, the city would withhold contracts and licenses.

Each year, 68,000 people in the District rely on Catholic Charities for shelter, nutrition, medical and legal care, job training, immigration assistance and more. This assistance is offered to whoever needs it, regardless of race, religion, gender, nationality or sexual orientation. Many of the programs are offered in partnership with the city, which turns to Catholic Charities and other ministries when it cannot provide social services on its own. Catholic Charities has a proven track record of high-quality service, supported through caring, qualified staff, thousands of dedicated volunteers and millions of dollars in financial support from parishioners all over the region. This legislation won’t end Catholic Charities’ services, but it would reduce unnecessarily the resources available for outreach.

We recognize that the council is likely to legalize same-sex marriage. It is the hope of the archdiocese and Catholic Charities that council members will work with us to find a way to better balance interests so religious organizations that have served this city well for many decades may continue to provide services without compromising the tenets of their faith.

The writer is archbishop of Washington.

Lors de la rencontre du 21 novembre dernier, Vincent Fauvel, laïc de l’Assomption nous a présenté le travail réalisé autour d’une session internationale qui s’est tenue à Nîmes  l’été dernier. Une session essayant de mieux discerner quel est ce “chemin d’alliance” que religieux et laïcs expérimentent déjà dans de nombreux pays à travers le monde.

Le documentaire réalisé par KTO à cette occasion est visible ici.

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DL

Today is World of Warcraft’s fifth birthday! Though there are often in-game events, Blizzard parties and hilarious meme images to accompany games’ birthdays, to commemorate the anniversary of this time-and-CPU-eating behemoth I will share with you the best WoW-themed birthday (and event) cakes Google Images has to offer. Behold:

Via ArsTechnica, a roommate’s girlfriend’s creation

Amazing airbrushing, via Erisana’s deviantart

Inspired by the Horde cake above, this thing is truly magnificent

Tons more, after the jump.

Two-tiered birthday cake – formal!

Nothing says, “Happy Birthday!” like a scowling green orc

Via geekologie and WoW insider, source unknown (though click through for a TON of additional themed cakes

A groom’s cake by Swank Cake Design

Fondant topping skillfully crafted by by Lori F. (Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England)

Really cute gnome cake by Clever Cake Studio; click through to see the amazing marbled inside!

WoW wedding cake by Art Eats Bakery. For the Horde!

Guild photo on a sheet cake (for the poster’s boss…the company that plays together, stays together!)

Happy Birthday, World of Warcraft!