"Hit the road." That said a lot, and advice is generally good for us all, but it's really the best way for a person in a divorce – especially as often it is not the first instinct.

This is not to be a saint, but he is actually trying to be an act of "class" during an incredibly tough, it should be seen as sad for all concerned. This means being honest and impartial, and a good human being as you are reasonablyfor you to be – although, as is rightly upset. And yes, it's hard.

And yes, it is partly performance, "because there is a constant desire to scream – in indignation and despair – and returns to strike not only receive shots.

Anyone who has recently faced a divorce, it is reasonable to fear that taking the high road is to be passive, not wanting to "fight against" and then worry that can be seen, and even be effective, a weakness or character flaw inviting contempt and furtheraggression.

It is true that – there is no guarantee your ex take the road, or any other person realizes near enough to appreciate what you do and you can not totally exclude the possibility that something bad may happen because we weren 't the "total war" mode yourself.

What should take the high road to the bottom line is that at least they take their lives seriously, and you do not want – in passing – A look back at this major lifecrisis, and cringe as you have done for you.

Now, I have not mentioned the children or money to plan, because too often become the excuse for why someone wanted to take the high road, but "could not". The reality is that taking the road generates personal benefits beyond the moment. It is a commitment to emotional health.

This does not mean not to defend against attacks or falsity (in fact, having to defend themselves), but it means that your way of showing the values andlimits. And doing so would mean that you've accomplished something most people never do – a handful of successful executive control of your thoughts and feelings – and was built in the middle of a situation very difficult and emotionally charged.

This is no small thing in reality, it is impressive, admirable personal achievement, which will serve for the rest of your life. In addition to that, he may be learning, "" processing, the experience that really puts you on a course to qualifyalways aim to achieve this goal – the happiness of true man.

Thanks To : http://astore.amazon.com/tw2-20 http://uk.fernstudiumde.com/ http://chelseyeve.changjy.com/

Recently I’ve had conversations with OSL students about the programs shortcomings and about things I would change. My tone came across much harsher than I meant, which happens to me often, and because of that I’ve received a fair amount of backlash about my character. In just a few days I’ve been accused of being pessimistic, a bad listener, having a superior attitude, being too clingy, talking too much, and a few other things I can’t remember. Although it was tough, I’ve learned a few valuable lessons through all this that I wanted to share.

1. Know who you are. Don’t let other people’s words define you. Understand that their perception is only one small portion of the reality that makes you who you are. Be careful to understand that many people, mostly insecure ones, will remember bad over good, and give them grace when this happens. Have compassion, know your own character, and think critically about their accusations.
2. Search yourself. If someone has accused you, don’t let pride overtake your spirit and keep you from discover new revelation about areas in which you could change. If more than one person has mentioned some negative thing about you, it requires extra attention because it is more than like true, although not always. Be confident in yourself, but leave room for error.
3. Be discerning of motive. As I mentioned above, a person who is struggling with insecurity in any certain area will automatically look to another who is not insecure and attempt to tear them down. Think about areas you are insecure in, and you will remember speaking negatively about another person or else having bitterness in your heart towards those who have overcome these same insecurities. Understanding that the problem lies mostly within the accuser will ease your own hurts.
4. Don’t let the other person define you. In my case, my entire character has been defined by two or three conversations, when in reality I know this isn’t true. Because I have become confident in who I am, I understand that their grievance against me is only one facet of my personality. It is still difficult, though, when you know you are one way but someone accuses you of being another. It becomes less difficult the more you know yourself. What people think of you should not dictate your life, but what God thinks of you should be of extreme importance.
5. Saturate yourself in prayer. When someone comes against you it’s easy to let pride overtake and to ignore the truth in what your accuser says. Be prayerful and seek God’s direction on what to do with these accusations, and listen closely. Do not turn a deaf ear to the correction and discipline God may be sending your way, because it is in these things that we are refined and made more complete, more like Jesus.

My lesson has been learned, and I am thankful to the Father for His discipline. Thankfully I am at a place now where I can (a) look back and recognize that these accusations are not 100% correct, (b) realize I do look to the bright side as often as not, (c) know that I do encourage people often, and (d) see I have been accused more out of others’ insecurity than my actualy wrongdoing. This doesn’t get me off the hook, though; if people are saying these things, I have to step up and examine myself, rid my heart of negativity, and take responsibility for my own shortcomings.

This whole Christianity thing gets hard sometimes, but I wouldn’t trade my walk with Him for anything in the world.

J.R. digital musicRotem is the daddy
After separating from Kevin in late 2006, Britney dated J.R., who produced tracks onarchive storage both of their albums, for two weeks. Although Britney and J.R. split, and he spilled juicycontent details about their relationship in interviews, they started to see each other again recently. “She’s not in love with J. R. and she doesn’t want to get married again so soon,” a pal says. “But she knows he would make a great father to their baby.”How does her new man feel about it?
Now that Britney is pregnant with J.R.’s baby, she might have some explaining to do to her new boyfriend, Michael Marchand, a waiter at LA restaurant Mirabelle. “They started dating in early November,” a friend says, but adds that they aren’t serious. Another pal adds, “J.R. loves Britney. He wants to marry her.”

Owen’s beach ‘ therapy Name Brandscontinues
Although Outdoor Speaker Owen Wilson had to pull out of the new Ben Stiller movie he was scheduled to Reviews RSSfilm in Hawaii, he made it there for another purpose: to celebrate his 39th birthday! Owen splashed : on the beach in Maui with his brother, Luke, and his new girlfriend, model Le Call, on November 18.

Se utilizan para señalar una objeción o reparo a lo dicho anteriormente.

although / though / even though – aunque

• Although Jack is not very tall, he is excellent at basketball.
  Aunque Jack no es muy alto, es excelente en el baloncesto.
• She decided to go to work, though she was not feeling well.
  Ella decidió ir al trabajo, aunque no se estaba sintiendo bien.

Se utilizan para señalar una objeción o reparo a lo dicho anteriormente.

although / though / even though – aunque

• Although Jack is not very tall, he is excellent at basketball.
  Aunque Jack no es muy alto, es excelente en el baloncesto.
• She decided to go to work, though she was not feeling well.
  Ella decidió ir al trabajo, aunque no se estaba sintiendo bien.

Se utilizan para señalar una objeción o reparo a lo dicho anteriormente.

although / though / even though – aunque

• Although Jack is not very tall, he is excellent at basketball.
  Aunque Jack no es muy alto, es excelente en el baloncesto.
• She decided to go to work, though she was not feeling well.
  Ella decidió ir al trabajo, aunque no se estaba sintiendo bien.

Se utilizan para señalar una objeción o reparo a lo dicho anteriormente.

although / though / even though – aunque

• Although Jack is not very tall, he is excellent at basketball.
  Aunque Jack no es muy alto, es excelente en el baloncesto.
• She decided to go to work, though she was not feeling well.
  Ella decidió ir al trabajo, aunque no se estaba sintiendo bien.

Regardless of exactly how you might feel, the attitudes you express may be recognized as consisting of three major components: an evaluative component, a cognitive component, and a behavioral component. They represent the basic building blocks of the definition of attitudes.

 Attitudes have a great deal to do with how we feel about something. Indeed, this aspect of attitude, its evaluative component, refers to our liking or disliking of ant particular person, item, or event (what might be called the attitude object, or the focus of our attitude). You may, for example, feel positively or negatively toward your boss, the scuplture in the lobby, or the fact that your company just landed a large contract.

 Attitudes involve more than feelings; they also involve knowledge—that is, what you believe to be the case about an attitude object. For example, you might believe that one of your coworkers is paid much more than you, or that your supervisor doesn’t know too much about the job. These beliefs, whether they are completely accurate or totally false, comprise the cognitive component of attitudes.

 As you might imagine, the things you believe about something (e.g.,”my boss is embezzling company funds”) and the way you feel about it (e.g., “I can’t stand working for him”) may have some effect on the way you are predisposed to behave (e.g., “I’m going to look for a new job”). In other words, attitudes also have a behavioral component—a predisposition to act in a certain way. It is important to note that such a predisposition may not actually be predictive of one’s behavior. For example, although you may be interested in taking a new job, you might not actually take one if a better position isn’t available or if there are other aspects of the job you like enough to compensate for the negative feelings. In other words, your intention to behave a certain way may or may not dictate how you actually will behave.

 My Consultancy–Asif J. Mir - Management Consultant–transforms organizations where people have the freedom to be creative, a place that brings out the best in everybody–an open, fair place where people have a sense that what they do matters. For details please visit www.asifjmir.com, Line of Sight

Well that’s all folks, E3 is finished and has left us again for another year! This years E3 was actually pretty impressive, amidst rumors that E3 was dying this year seems to have been its resurrection. It announced a whole host of interesting games and unveiled some pretty impressive tech *cough* Natal *cough*

This years E3 showed new trailers, exclusive game footage, impressive looking demos and tons of new features we can all look forward to. Although many of the games announced had already been unveiled in advance E3 gave everyone a chance to see footage and a little more about the stories or features of the games. Like Mag the PS3 game that’s able to play 250 people in one game.

This little E3 wrap up message is just to let you, my sweet Xbox followers, get up to date and see the exciting releases.

This game has been talked about for AGES now and everyone is starting to feel the hype build, which is kind of a shame considering that it’s not due for release until November 09. Anyway E3 helped to show off some of the game footage as well as a cool game trailer found below and it all looks pretty impressive.

The game’s story differs from the previous in that our new hero,  Enzio, doesn’t begin as an Assassin like Altair he chooses to become one in order to gain vengeance. Admittedly the story sounds a little clichéd but hey you play an assassin who cares? The game takes part in 1486 Italy, so since you’ll be spending some time in Venice they have added a swim feature to the game something its predecessor missed. Along your path of assassinations you make friends to help you on your quest, one of whom being Leonardo Da Vinci. His famous flying machine even features a part in one of the missions!

There are a collection of cool new things that help make this more challenging and realistic than the first this being that you can be discovered in a hiding spot, although you can also attack and stash enemies there too. Another nifty feature is that because you didn’t start your life as an assassin you have unarmed experience and can disarm your enemy using their own weapons against them.

There hasn’t been much talk about how the missions are structured but I’m sure Ubisoft have learned from their mistakes in the past and have decided to change the levels as you go through them. After all variety is the spice of life.

Another game set to tingle your excitement and get the tongues wagging is Alan Wake. Media for it has been slowly teasing itself free and E3 delivered a nice fix for all those desperately seeking a Wake hit. This included new screenshots a trailer and a short demo to play the responses to this have been positive.

The game is a psychological thriller that’s set to confuse you and make you scared to take the next step but at the same time desperate to do it. The story is about our guy here, Alan Wake, a bestselling author who hasn’t been able to write for two years. When his Wife decides to take him to an idyllic town to try and get his creative juices flowing again things take a horrible turn. Shortly after they arrive Alan’s wife disappears without a trace, in his search Alan finds a thriller story he wrote but has no memory of. As he reads the story he realizes every word is coming true and he’s trapped.

View Full Album

As predicted E3 also brought the news that Crackdown 2 was on the way, now I’m not going to lie to you guys. I haven’t checked up on a lot of this but I did hear rumors the second game involved zombies? I’ll get back to you guys with more info as soon as I get it.

The last day of E3 also brought some new info on Bioshock 2 this was also followed by 3 extra screenshots. The news released some info on single player features letting everyone know what to expect from Bioshock 2 well, features wise anyway no story was set in stone as such. All they said was you return to Rapture 10 years after the original game, new abilities, dual wielding possibilities for both weapons and plasmids. You’ll also be playing big daddy in the second game and as you progress there are more ways to reveal the story than in the original. The multiplayer game will show off rapture before it was torn asunder by it’s crazed citizens.

The games will allow people to play in the civil war that destroyed Rapture and features completely reworked maps ready for multi player needs. All in all the game sounds pretty impressive and appears to have reworked some things to give it a more immersive game experience. At the same time they’re keeping the things that worked to avoid moving to far from what made the game great in the first place.  Check out the new screen shots.

I don’t talk much. Seriously, I can go for hours and not say a word, I don’t have to have constant interaction with someone, I enjoy being alone to my thoughts. I’m not saying that I don’t enjoy the company of some people but even then I don’t talk much. You will probably never know how many times someone either made a joke or were serious about forgetting I was even there. Although I have been told once in a serious manner that I was being “quiet today” and that just kind of blew me away. Anyways, since I don’t speak I either listen or think, depending on which seems more interesting at the time. I do think about why I’m so quiet sometimes, most of the time I think it’s because I have a really quiet voice due to vocal chord damage when I was born, this is also why I write. Since I can’t express my thoughts vocally I write. I think too much sometimes but that helps me to see things on different levels, I think if we were all to just sit down and think a little before we speak or act then we might see things differently, do things differently.

- Alana Littman

Army of Two: 40th day had been announced a while back. An unexpected, and to some an unwanted, sequel to the original game. The good folks down at E.A were kind enough to write out an info sheet for the game talking about some of the things to expect and here’s what it said

“Army of Two: The 40th Day features a bigger playbook of new co-op moves that either player can use at any time, opening up new strategies and countless choices for both players. The result is a bigger, better, more organic and immersive co-op experience that lets gamers put their best two-man tactics to use whenever and wherever they want.”

A pretty impressive promise from E.A. and something they’re backing up with an impressive, in game footage, trailer of the game.

Sad news was announced by Eidos interactive as they confirmed the rumors that Batman Arkham Asylum has been delayed. Although they never announced a definite date of release they had said the game was slated for release in the summer of 2009. Eidos have now announced however that the game isn’t set for release until the end of summer 09. Thanks again to xboxmattyb89 for tipping me off about this unfortunate piece of news.

The people involved in the games production said this time was going to be used to best improve the game so that it’s “at the highest quality for gamers.” As one of the fan boys anxious to get my hands on this game I sure hope this is true and they’re not stalling because the games looking sketchy.

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 is one of the most anticipated games to be announced, after the roaring success of the first game, selling over 12 million copies to date and winning multiple awards, this is one title everyone is happy to have announced. Infinity ward were even so kind as to announce a solid release date which I’m sure you all noticed at the top of this news bit.

I haven’t gotten concrete info on this baby yet and considering how far the release is I think any information at this time would be susceptible to change anyway, so I’ll wait until I get the correct details. Until then indulge yourselves with this interesting all be it uninformative teaser that’s driving gamers everywhere crazy.

One of the best looking games to be announced by Ubisoft, think I am legend but with no monsters and that’s what you have here. Unfortunately little else has been said about the game after the initial release information and interest. All Ubisoft have mentioned is that the game is a post apocalyptic game featuring a hero called Adam. The other aspects of the game such as story line, game play and features haven’t been confirmed, Ubisoft appear to be keeping their hand close to their chest on this one. The website is live but it doesn’t offer any more information other than a graphic wallpaper and trailer. The game was announced at last years E3 but nothing more has been said about it and with this years E3 quickly coming in it makes one wonder exactly what Ubisoft is doing about this game.

The trailer itself does open up some questions and gives an idea into what the game is about. The trailer starts by our hero, Adam, attempting to escape pursuers just to protect a bottle of water. amazingly enough the trailer shows the world in a wreckage and says it all appears to have happened in just 6 DAYS! That alone should wet your appetites at least your curiosity, find out for yourself check out the trailer below it’s looking good.

Christmas is going to be a merry one this year, as well as multiple other games being announced around this time the new splinter cell is announced. The fifth installment of the franchise seems to tie in close with the rest of the games.

This game sees you running from the government you once served in an attempt to get to the truth of who wants you dead. In order to survive you’ll need the usual stealth practices of the other games and the ability to build an underground base of allies.

These allies will help you get your hands on the cool gadgets everyone has come to love about the splinter cell games. As well as stealthy sneaking around the game includes what at first glances appears to be a pretty cool hand to hand combat system. 

Every now and again a game comes along that shocks people and lives on far past the shelf life of some radioactive materials, champions online looks set to be one of those games. Now that I got that over excited statement out of my system I’ll continue, champions online does look set to be an immense game but you have to really like the genre to get swept into it. I’m not saying that Champions online is the best game out there and people will all rush to buy it like the madness of GTA IV. What I’m saying is if you like MMORPG, as well as comics, then you better start saving your pennies because your holy grail is set for release.

I’d heard rumours about champions a while ago now and figured it for a city of heroes clone but I was wrong, dead wrong. Although COH can still be seen in many aspects of the game Champions goes that little bit further to really make this a stand alone title. The game setting is a world gripped by fear and chaos, all because of the classic “bad guys”, seriously they’ve thrown everything in there.

Let me explain, when you start champions you choose your hero and when I say choose I mean you really choose everything. You choose their sex, look, powers, costume the whole deal and champions offers a massive selection. You choose height, weight literally everything to create the hero of your dreams. You choose whether or not they have powers, magic, gadgets any other hero gifts.

As well as this you can create your hero’s arch nemesis so every now and again they’ll pop up causing you havoc. Another interesting thing to note about this feature is that your nemesis will randomly generate into other hero’s missions meaning they get to share your burden too. The plus about this is you will have the chance to face some truly original, and downright weird, villains. However as I’m sure people will remember from creation sharing on spore you could also face people made to look like a huge penis, it’s stupid but it happens.

Originally there were concerns that the game was to be released on just the PC but the creators have assured everyone that the game is being released on xbox, I promise. As well as full custom creation regarding appearance, powers and even your nemesis there is another feature that champions has in the bag. It’s the enemies you face and the areas you explore. Fighting of a couple of muggers, thieves, gangs, etc is all well and good but not worthy of champions. 

To help make your champion worthy of park statues you have to face, evil corporations, aliens, monsters from other dimensions and spell totting bad guys people that your run of the mill hero just can’t handle. This means as well as getting to explore your heroes world, you get to explore space and other dimensions. All this and the game is created using “live ink” giving that extra comic book feel so even if you’re character is getting their ass kicked you still can’t help to stop and think this looks just like a comic book scene. Best wait till after the fight though, so because of all these incredible features and rich detailed game world champions is definitely something to keep your eye on.

Even if you’re not that into superhero stuff but like rpg’s this is still the game for you, with so much to explore and so many adventures to be had it’s a game with hours of solid game play. I can’t say for definite when the release date for this little gem is, for xbox anyway, but the PC versions are being released on July 14 so I’d imagine the xbox versions will be close behind.

Red Faction is a well known series that has gone from strength to strength with each release. The original red faction was a fun all be it mediocre game, the second however increased on this and red faction became a much stronger franchise because of it. Giving improved game play, graphics and missions as well as an alternate ending depending on how you played the game. It listened to it’s players and delivered what they loved and what they wanted to see proving red faction was a worthwhile label worthy of greatness.

The next installment of the red faction franchise seems set to do the same. Guerilla, unlike the others before, involves a different style of warfare. The hint is in the name people that’s right it’s guerilla tactics. This isn’t the only thing that separates this game from the others in the franchise but before we get into the destruction and mayhem of the game, we’ll enjoy some details about the game itself.

Red faction: Guerilla is set 50 years after the original game the EDF, Earth Defence Force, has swooped in to help Mars. However as they were seen to be the shinning light of good at the end of the first game they are now the enemy in this game. This is because rather than flying in to save Mars from there captors Ultor, they instead took control and continued the work and slavery. So instead of the miners being exploited by a fat cat business they are being exploited for “the good of Earth.”

After the EDF seized control they split mars into 6 sectors 4 of these are colonies and the remaining 2 are military zones or “badlands” meaning these two sectors will be the most difficult and require the best weapons and skill you have. The point of the game is to remove the control of the EDF and this is where things get interesting. This means depending on which sector you choose to play and what action you choose you could be freeing a small town from military control, or ambushing a military outpost to weaken control and gain supplies. Another interesting point to make about this game is that just like guerilla warfare each attack against your enemy does actually give you supplies. As you kill enemies and destroy buildings you can steal ammo, weapons or scraps to buy, build or upgrade your weapons. It really is a case of guerilla by name guerilla by nature, well game play at least.

The game play of this red faction is set to be non stop action that involves explosions and gunfire requiring quick thinking and fast reflexes. Red faction has always promoted the ability to destroy the environment in their games however this game takes it one step further than before. It use to be a case of if you were stuck at a door you could blow a way through the wall, or destroy your enemies cover and riddle them with bullets. Red Faction took that further in Guerilla by giving you the ability to destroy entire buildings and installations. They even went so far as to make this destruction and mayhem count towards your morale, almost making it a crime to leave EDF property in tact.

Although many might see this as a gimmick to make the lovers of violence quiver with excitement it actually serves a greater function. For example if you’re having trouble with snipers in a tower, set a charge at the base and watch it fall to the ground. Guerilla is also chock full of choice and selections with regards to missions and weaponry. To complete the game you need to remove EDF control but it’s you that decides how to do this, you can complete missions, guerilla actions or even just destroy all EDF buildings and troops in mars. This means you play the game the way you want to and you choose how the rebellion unfolds.

If destruction is your thing then the possibilities are endless in this game as it features not just a wide selection of weapons and mining tools to wreak havoc it also features a selection of vehicles from small transport cars to large walkers. Not to mention a series of upgrades for the weapons you do have, guerilla knows what they’re doing when it comes down to causing chaos and mayhem. However it is not just a game that is based around destruction time was taken in the storyline and character development.

In fact as hard as it is to believe when you are running around smashing skulls with a sledgehammer or destroying tanks in a walker you’re character, Alec, is actually a reluctant hero doing what he has to because nobody else will. If you download the demo from Xbox Marketplace you can even see the beginning movie itself appears to be that of a movie trailer. Or you can just check out a trailer below not so cinematic as the other but a perfect example of the action packed game play you can expect from the game.

All in all this is one game that offers excellent, although exaggerated, action game play that will get anyone’s heart pumping as they find new and more catastrophic ways to blow things up. The storyline appears to be solid and if the missions and guerilla warfare live up to the taster in the demo and the promises of Volition this is one explosive game to definitely get in your collection. Eagerly awaiting it’s release in June this is one gamer who says congratulations to Volition and who wants to taste my hammer?

After several exciting days of diving, I couldn’t help but try to dive one of the best dive sites in the world: the SS Yongala.

Unfortunately I discovered they day before I was hoping to dive it, that the trip had been cancelled due to bad weather. Short on time, I converted my 7-hour coach ride into a 12-hour one, and just kept going to my next destination, Airlie Beach. I suppose that means I’ll have to come back to Australia some other day to do the Yongala!

Airlie is the gateway to the Whitsunday Islands, a magnificent group of volcanic peaks separated from the Australian mainland by a narrow passage of a few kilometres. It is also quite a pleasant, compact town with plenty of backpacker accommodation and agencies arranging yachts for charter.

Upon presenting myself at my hostel’s booking desk my first morning to book a sailing trip, I was asked whether I wanted to join a “party boat”, “traditional boat” or “racing boat”. Having had quite enough to drink at The Woolshed in Cairns, I erred away from the “party boat” and went for the racing option even though it was considerably more expensive. “Right, well there’s a boat leaving in 45 minutes,” the agent declared. Keen to make best use of my time, I jumped into action.

One hour later a group of eleven of us, and two crew, are sailing out of the the Abel Point Marina on former America’s Cup contender the Southern Cross. Definitely a “racing boat”! Here she is.

Provided there were enough other volunteers, we could really help out as much or as little as we liked on the Southern Cross. However, with respect to one’s personal property, there are some basic precautions one should we aware of before volunteering. Unfortunately, we were not prepared and within fifteen minutes of leaving the marina, Tobias (Switzerland) and I had lost our sunglasses overboard! (And I had only bought the sunglasses in Sydney two weeks previously.) Andy the skipper, who really should know better, also had his baseball cap blown overboard, but given that this floated we were able to make a detour to pick it up.

Given the fairly tame wind conditions, the boat picked up some good speed, and we were leaning heavily away from the wind. Just a couple of minutes down below to use the loo was enough to make me quite seasick (and I rarely get motion sickness). After some time we arrived at out first destination, Whitehaven Beach, where the sand is supposedly some of the whitest and finest in the world.  We all hopped into a rib (called a tender in Australia) to be taken to the shore. It got a little cloudy as we arrived, but we enjoyed the beach (in our stinger suits given the jellyfish issue). From left to right: James (UK), Tobias (Switz), Maud (NL), Jenny and Hans (Sweden), and Rutger (NL)

After a fabulous sunset (see below) and slap-up supper on the boat, the stars came out. The moon set shortly thereafter and we had a perfect view of the stars of the southern hemisphere, including the namesake of the boat, the Southern Cross. Unfortunately the rocking deck meant there was no opportunity for long-exposure photography,  but here is the sunset I mentioned earlier.

Feeling all soppy and overwhelmed by the stars, I fell asleep on deck. When I woke in the morning, I saw James and Maud had done the same.

The next morning was quite dramatic: Rutger, who had been seasick since we left dock, started having heart palpitations, and had to get urgent medical assistance. A call was put out over the radio, and we altered course to take us to the nearest hospital on a private resort island. About half-an-hour later, we were met halfway by a high-speed boat that we transferred Rutger to to take him the rest of the way. There wasn’t much anyone could do while we were waiting, and we discussed afterwards whether we thought the response should have been quicker. I thought that given we were so far away from habited land, and yachts don’t react particularly well to helicopters, half-an-hour was as good as anyone could have expected. We heard over the radio later that afternoon that Rutger had been airlifted to the mainland from the resort island hospital.

With two members of our crew down (Maud had accompanied Rutger to the resort to help with translation) and not much else we could do, we carried on with our excursion. This included the opportunity of swimming to our own island and laying on the beach for the rest of the afternoon.

Reunited with Maud later that afternoon, we had another great meal and sunset.

We visited another island the next morning…

… and given we were covered in salt water, the private waterfall was useful.

Unfortunately it was then time to sail back to Airlie Beach, but before we could do that, there was another dramatic development: as we switched back to the motor for our final approach towards the marina, the rope supporting our mainsail got stuck within the mast i.e. we couldn’t bring the mainsail completely down. Andy, the skipper, was going to have to climb up the mast and cut the rope from the other end. N.B. The mast of the Southern Cross is 100 feet (30 metres) high!

Andy was going to need ropes, lots of ropes, to help pull him up to the top of the mast, support his weight, deliver equipment to him, and eventually bring him back down without him falling off. Although Andy was really the only one who knew which ropes were going to do what, he was over 30m away, and was going to need us to do the leg-work. We must have learnt a thing or two about how the ropes work over the three days, as everything seemed to go swimmingly (with the help of the Portuguese deputy on deck level). My role was to translate between native-speaking Andy thirty metres away, and the mainly continental group on deck.

With that drama out of the way, we were able to bring the original drama to a close when we saw Rutger greet us on the marina as we docked.

That night we celebrated with a drink or two (as demonstrated by Sandy below)

The English Channel is cold. At university I decided it would be great fun to learn to scuba-dive with the sub-aqua club. After a few months of Monday evenings at the University of London Union in the classroom and pool, we were sent down to Plymouth for a week of fun in water that was only 12 Celsius and very murky.

The Great Barrier Reef (GBR), off the coast of Queensland, on the other hand is supposed one the best diving locations in the world. Diving the reef was an opportunity not to be missed. In particular, as a BSAC Sports Diver with over 40 dives under my belt, I now consider myself a pretty good diver who could really do the GBR justice. I signed up to a three-day live-aboard all-in trip with Prodive, Cairns. They promised eleven dives (including a couple of night dives) at a number of different sites on the reef.

Fitting 11 dives into three days was going to necessitate a lot of early starts. The first morning was no exception as we met at the Prodive centre at 6:15am. Along with 35-or-so people, we were driven over to our boat in the Cairns marina. By no means luxurious, it was well kitted out with a large lounge and sun deck, a galley with full-time cook, twin bunk cabins and lots of scuba equipment; what more does one need for a fun three days?

After a two-or-three hour journey out to the reef and the first of many great meals (although I can never fault with any fried breakfast) it was time for the dive briefing! As an “experienced” diver, about 12 of us were separated from rabble and taken to the top deck for an illustrated induction.

I was actually really impressed by how professional everything was, and by the trust and independence the crew gave us. Everyone is overly concerned with safety in the UK (probably justifiably given the cold and murky water) and my other trips in the tropics have seemed more like guided tours. Here, the message was very much about having fun and feeling free to explore.

Marie, from Sweden, and I linked up as dive buddies. It was to become a successful relationship as we both used modest amounts of air and so could stay down longer than many other dive pairs over the next couple of days. We would frequently be the first couple into the water and the last pair out. Here we are enjoying the sun deck.

Another reason for being very lucky to be paired with Marie, is that she had an underwater camera. Here I am!

In case you are wondering why I appear to be wearing a wetsuit in tropical waters, it’s actually a stinger suit used to protect divers from the jellyfish that inhabit these waters at the time of the year.

At times it really did seem like we were on the set of Finding Nemo. Although I don’t know the names of the fish, I was constantly recognising characters from the film. Strangely enough, it was the fabled clownfish (Nemo himself) that was hardest to find, but here is a magnificent photo that Marie took of two we found.

The two night dives didn’t lend themselves particularly well to photography, but they were both great. Each diver gets allocated a fluorescent glowstick (attached to the air tank) and a torch (tied to a hand with strict instructions no to lose). For most of the dive you don’t see anything except these items on the other divers – very eerie. Nonetheless some different wildlife comes out at night. As our second night dive was starting, the crew were throwing away the leftovers from supper over the side of the boat. Then the Jaws theme music starts being played over the tannoy! As we were kitting up, we could see about eight reef sharks swimming around the boat. Reef sharks supposedly don’t eat humans, but the group was fairly hesitant as we were signed out of the boat. My cries of “a life lived in fear is a life half-lived” went down a storm. Needless to say, everyone made it back okay.

Once back in Cairns, we all met up for drinks. Cairns itself is a bit of a hillbilly town, which is somewhat pleasant but wouldn’t have enough to keep anyone entertained for more than a day. However, in backpacker circles, a bar by the name of The Woolshed is legendary. Here it is acceptable to dance on tables (yes I did join in, if not lead the way). One can also watch groups of young ladies take part in something called a wet T-shirt contest. The guy with the jet-spray wasn’t looking as happy as I would expect someone with his job should.

And yes, photographs of the girls were allowed. (Not sure why I ended up with a front-row view, but it was probably because the bouncers had to kick me off the stage where I was dancing)

So I hope to have reassured you all of the cultural aspects of my great trip abroad!

I suspect I have spent just about exactly as much time actually writing as the average person my age has spent watching television, and that, as much as anything, may be the real secret here. Arm the population. Take away their hope. What do you expect?

I’m fine. I’m fine. I’m really fine. Shut up. Who’s asking? Who’s asking anyway?

I’m fine.

Got my final paycheck. Gonna get some beer. Watch some TV. Settle in, kick back. I’m fine. I’m fuckin fine. Dude, this is my time. My moment. Some well-earned rest.

A knock at the door. A tearing sound. The sky opens and rain falls out into a hot wind.

I’m fine.

Obama is busily running around the world with his wife Rue Paul selling out America.  He keeps apologizing for our greatness, and what we’ve done in the world in an attempt to make everyone like us.  Now he is publicly discounting and denying the heritage that this country was founded on.  Here is the quote from his April 6th speech in Turkey.

…That’s something that’s very important to me. And I’ve said before that one of the great strengths of the United States is — although as I mentioned, we have a very large Christian population, we do not consider ourselves a Christian nation or a Jewish nation or a Muslim nation; we consider ourselves a nation of citizens who are bound by ideals and a set of values…”

The reality of the foundation of our great nation can be summed up no better than in this quote from Patrick Henry:

“It can not be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians, not on religions, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ!”

– Patrick Henry

Sadly, we are BECOMING a nation that is not Christian as the forces of liberalism erode the value system that glued this country together since its inception.  The moral underpinning of America is systematically being destroyed.  Mr. Obama says that we are “bound by ideals and a set of values.”  Really?  And just what do you believe those “ideals” and “values” to be?  Based upon the evidence you have presented thus far, these are some of the values I think you believe in:

• Either the supremacy of Islam or atheism
  • You continue to publicly appease the Muslim terrorists and the Muslim states
  • You claim to be a Christian, yet almost everything you do publicly says that you are anything but a Christian
    • #1 – You support abortion.  Need I say more?
    • #2 – You have been caught lying so many times that no one can keep count
    • You attack the Christian foundations of our country constantly
  • You’re either a Muslim lying and pretending to be a Christian, or you are a deceived and foolish atheist
    
• Total government control of all aspects of citizens lives
• Ever increasing size of government
• Destruction of capitalism
  • Support for high corporate taxes which drive businesses to other countries
  • Picking winners and losers in business rather than letting the market decide
    
• Destruction of personal freedom
  • Elimination of freedom of speech (Fairness Doctrine, or whatever you call it this week; state sponsorship of specific news papers and TV outlets to the detriment of others)
  • Elimination of our 2nd Amendment rights to protect ourselves (see my post on Ted Nugent explaining the need for the 2nd Amendment)
    
• Elimination of personal wealth property rights
  • Against the will of the American people you have effectively sealed our doom financially by more than doubling all the debt held by this nation from its founding until you took office
  • After all is said and done, each tax paying family will owe at least$200,000 over the next 10 years to pay for your spending
  • Your spending is not constructive.  It forcibly takes what has been EARNED and gives it to those who have not earned and DO NOT DESERVE to share in this wealth

Obama may not be the anti-Christ, but I think he is at the very least a false prophet, and definitely anti-American.

April fools?  I don’t think so.  As with all comedy, its foundations begin in truth.  If you have seen the compilation of Obama’s teleprompter speech gaffs, especially when combined with his total lack of social grace (giving the Queen of England an iPod loaded with Obama speeches and BOWING to the King of Saudi Arabia as if he were a subject, which he may be) you will agree that Obama is nothing more than an empty suit, totally devoid of CONSTRUCTIVE ideas.

Obama Recovering After Closed Captioning ‘Mishap’

by Mac Johnson (more by this author)

Posted 04/01/2009 ET
Updated 04/02/2009 ET

Bethesda, Md. — Doctors were said to be treating President Barack Obama at Bethesda Naval Hospital today for exhaustion and possible vocal cord injuries after a freak television accident occurred at the White House Tuesday evening.

Closed Captioning Counseling

According to a statement read by White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, President Obama, noted for his near total dependence on the teleprompter when speaking, was leaving a practice session for an upcoming press conference when he happened upon a muted television set near the White House Briefing Room on which someone had activated the “closed captioning” function.

“Apparently, Mr. Obama mistook the captioning for his new flat screen teleprompter and began reading the text aloud,” Gibbs said. Gibbs stated that “what followed was a tragic marathon speaking session that lasted for nearly 14 hours before staff discovered Obama and disconnected the device.”

The President’s accidental filibuster was said to have included a 2-hour episode of “The Biggest Loser,” a much anticipated “Law and Order: Special Victim’s Unit,” the local evening news, and a late night paid infomercial for “natural male enhancement.” The press later described Obama’s reading of the captioning as “eloquent” (New York Times), “historic” (CNN), and “emotionally moving” (Newsweek).

This event comes on the heels of several embarrassing teleprompter gaffes by Obama, including one in which he thanked himself for being invited to the United States when he accidentally read the teleprompter text intended for the visiting Prime Minister of Ireland on St. Patrick’s Day, his repeated mispronunciation of the written word “Orion” at an event for Orion Energy in Milwaukee (staff had apparently neglected to spell it phonetically on his teleprompter), a little reported campaign event in which Obama’s thoughts disappeared with his flickering teleprompter image, and a news conference in which Obama responded to complaints about his addiction to the teleprompter blocking the view of photographers by having a giant flat screen TV installed on the back wall and reading his thoughts from that.

When asked for an explanation of how such an event could occur to the President of the United States, Gibbs responded, “That’s a good question. We’re investigating now. How anyone could leave the closed captioning on like that is just inexplicable. The White House staff should know better by now.”

A source at Bethesda Naval Hospital, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the President was doing fine, but was “quite hoarse” and getting some much needed rest ever since doctors turned the screen on his heart monitor around so that he couldn’t read it anymore. “Before that he just kept saying ‘Heart rate 98, Heart rate 97, Heart rate 98…’” the source said, adding, “It was kind of weird, but since we removed that he’s been OK. Although I’d hate to see what would happen to this guy if someone accidentally left him alone in the room with the crawler on the Fox News Channel.”

Another source at the hospital commented that Obama’s dependence on the teleprompter was predictable given his earlier self-admitted addiction to his Blackberry, or “Crackberry,” as it is popularly known. “Those Blackberrys are like a gateway drug,” the source said. He added, “First you’re getting your jokes and ideas from that apparently harmless little toy, and the next thing you know, you can’t even speak like an adult unless someone feeds you your thoughts word for word on a giant television monitor hung right in front of your face. It’s sad — just sad.”

“Oh, and Happy April Fools’ Day.”

Cartoon by Brett Noel.