As Fort Collins considers spending millions of dollars to silence freight trains on the Mason Corridor, elected federal officials are pleading with regulators to help end a “nuisance” they say keeps residents awake and stifles economic development. About 15 trains run daily along the city’s Mason Corridor, each blowing its horn for at least 15 seconds before entering crossings at intersections with streets such as Prospect, Mulberry and Mountain.

Federal Railroad Administration regulations require those train horns, and there are two ways to silence them: spend millions to install “quiet zones” with special crossing gates, or change federal regulations entirely. So while Fort Collins considers whether it should spend the money, U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and Mark Udall, both Colorado Democrats, are asking regulators to reconsider the rules.

“City leaders across the state have told us how train horns stifle business and development in downtown areas and that they’ve run into challenges trying to meet regulations on quiet zones,” Bennet said in a statement issued Thursday. “We’re working to bring their voices to Washington and asking the FRA to take another look at these rules. Ideally, they’ll be more responsive to the needs of communities and we’ll have less bureaucratic red tape.”

Colorado Senators Bennet and Udall have sent a letter to FRA Administrator Joseph Szabo. Here is a copy of that letter:

January 23, 2013

Dear Administrator Szabo:

We write to request that the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) reopen the rulemaking process on the Final Rule on the Use of Locomotive Horns at Highway-Rail Grade Crossings (hereafter the “Train Horn Rule”). This would give the affected communities the chance to provide further input on the rule’s impact, while continuing to ensure the safety of their residents.

As you know, the Train Horn Rule was published in 2005 and was designed to promote safety while providing flexibility to communities negatively impacted by the requirement that trains sound their horns at certain times and decibel levels when traveling through municipalities. The 2005 rule allowed municipalities to apply to be a part of so-called “quiet zones” where they could be exempted from train horn sounding requirements when certain conditions were met.

Municipal leaders from Fort Collins, Loveland, Longmont, Greeley and Windsor, Colorado have expressed concerns to our offices that the train horn noise is a nuisance for local residents and that it stifles economic development by discouraging businesses and housing developers from building and locating in the heart of their communities. As you may expect, train horn noise impacts almost everyone in communities where the railroad runs right through the center of town and where the business and residential area is spread over a relatively small area. These impacts are amplified in downtown areas, which are focusing on redevelopment and urban renewal, as well as on creating healthy, walkable neighborhoods.

Although the underlying rule provides a quiet zone exemption, the communities listed above have indicated that the complexity of analyzing each different crossing and the costs associated with qualifying for an exemption are prohibitive for many municipalities in the state impacted by the rule.

While we strongly support the Train Horn Rule’s goal of reducing accidents at highway-rail grade crossings, we are concerned that it may prevent certain municipalities from being able to create quiet zones without incurring prohibitive costs. A more flexible rule could enable these communities to craft a solution that ensures safety yet also reduces noise and promotes long-term economic growth.

The Office of Management and Budget recently invited comment on the rule regarding how information and data relevant to the rule’s implementation is collected, with the goal of streamlining the process of collecting information from affected communities.

While this is an encouraging step, we believe the rule itself should allow for additional flexibility. It is therefore our hope that the FRA will consider re-opening the rule in order to consider further changes.

Thank you in advance for your consideration.

TGV passing through level crossing — without sounding the horn.

Particularly disconcerting to engaged rail activists, however, is that Amtrak and CAHSR trainset needs could not be more different, effectively rendering such an RFI a pointless, and potentially dangerous, example of government incompetence. To fully understand why, knowledge of Amtrak and CAHSR’s plans is critical.

California’s system requires its trains to travel at speeds of 220 miles an hour to achieve legally mandated travel times of 2:40hr between Union Station in downtown Los Angeles and the now under construction Transbay Terminal in central San Francisco. These trains would be racing over brand new, clean-slate high speed rail right-of-way featuring stiff grades and minimal curvature. The infrastructure would be state-of-the-art and require equally state-of-the-art passenger vehicles to operate at optimal efficiency. The platform heights at each of the stations would conform to the specifications of a manufacturer that remains as-of-yet undetermined. What the system demands is nothing less than the world’s fastest steel-wheel on steel-rail trains, featuring power units that accelerate and decelerate rapidly to expedite travel times. A slew of manufacturers can provide such trainsets easily, and since the system is brand new and largely independent of the legacy rail network (with exempted exceptions in San Francisco and Los Angeles), it can run equipment free of FRA regulatory burdens, like minimum weight standards, absurd crash management systems and speed limitations. This allows for the purchasing of what is called off-the-shelf trainsets, significantly lowering purchase prices (if, of course, burdensome Buy America regulations do not prevent the CAHSR authority from purchasing, say, French or Spanish trains).

Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor ambitions, on the other hand, are an unglamorously delusional $151 billion rail scheme that will achieve 220 mile an hour running speeds and dramatically alter travel in that region. Although it too would be a clean slate project featuring minimal curves—much like the CAHSR project—it is wholly without support, disastrously expensive and features component projects that are remarkably unnecessary (for example, a ten mile, multi-billion dollar deep bore tunnel underneath Philadelphia laughably estimated to cost $3 billion). What is more feasible—and logical, and sensible and financially sound—is a dramatic overhaul of the current 19^th century built corridor that straightens or eliminates curves and eradicates slow points, particularly north of New York. Surprisingly, the line between New York and Washington is already a remarkably tangent railroad, and its finessing into very high speed rail standards could be achieved with select, critical upgrades to frustrating curves, speed-limiting tunnels and bridges and urban bypasses. Such an approach to this segment of the corridor would cost multiple billions less, yet it is still billions that Amtrak is never likely to receive. Consequently, Amtrak is decades away from even hinting of high speed rail operations on this segment, even though it does run its Acela trains at a 160 mile an hour or so top speed for a few miles through some parts. To be clear, though, 160 mile an hour top speeds for a total of a few minutes, achieving average speeds of 80 miles an hour for a trip (including station stops), is not true high speed operation. By comparison, France’s TGV achieves average speeds of 185 miles an hour, with top speeds of 200 to 220—true high speed running.

The Northeast Corridor’s improvement between New York and Boston, often called the Coast Line, however, is not so simple. Requiring massive upgrades to straighten out curves, it would be best served by undertaking the most meaningful alterations to the corridor and running a particular type of train— those that tilt with high cant deficiency. Cant deficiency is best explained as the amount of unbalanced tilt that a train is permitted to experience as it rounds a curve, with more deficiency allowing a train to round a curve at a higher speed. Think of it this way: say you were rounding a curve on a highway at 75 miles an hour. While riding the curve in the road, you feel your body starting to pull toward the outside of the curve because of lateral forces, almost giving you the impression your vehicle might tip over (and sometimes they do, but that’s another story). This feeling is easily avoided by slightly banking the outside of the curve a few precise inches—or, in engineering terms giving it cant—ultimately balancing forces to keep your car upright, you in the center of it, and the coffee safely inside your cup. In addition to that balanced cant, there is what is called cant deficiency, where a train is allowed to tilt on top of a curve and where the curve is not banked to balance out the tilt. Returning to the car example for visualization, imagine that the car is able to tilt on the banked roadway on its wheels toward the interior of the curve, allowing it to go even faster on that same curve. Because the train itself is tilting even further beyond the banked rails, for the vehicle itself was designed to do so, it dramatically alters the running characteristics of curvy railroads. Where a train might have to slow to 30 miles an hour to take an unbanked curve, a tilting train can take that same unbanked curve at 60 miles an hour with its designed cant deficiency, and even faster if the curve itself has a cant. This remarkably reduces slow points on a railroad without undertaking the hugely expensive process of seizing property and straightening out a curve. The cost of select, critical upgrades to this segment of the corridor, as well as the procurement of technologically advanced tilt-capable trains, would still be in the billions, but a multitude of billions less than Amtrak’s insane $150 billion scheme. Furthermore, while it would not achieve the latter scheme’s extraordinary trip times, such sensible improvements would nonetheless reduce trip times enough to make train travel between Boston and Washington and intermediate stops very competitive to flying and driving.

In addition, affecting both the Washington to New York and New York to Boston segments, since the Northeast Corridor is legacy rail that hosts freight trains, it is subject to the damning FRA regulations that disastrously impose themselves on passenger rail operations, as I previously wrote about in this blog. Such FRA regulations have to be addressed and removed before the corridor can operate anywhere near its full capacity or potential. Lastly, while you mercifully thought nothing further could be shared about the complexities of the antique Northeast Corridor, it is held hostage to pre-existing platform heights established many generations ago. Not just any train can work successfully here; the train has to be built for the corridor’s very particular needs.

The importance of these route characteristics rests in the fundamental truth that the two corridors require two disparate trainsets, not the single trainset that would be produced following the issuance of a joint RFI (and the process stemming from it). California’s clean-slate infrastructure does not require tilting trains, for its canted curves are of such a tremendous radius it immediately nullifies lateral forces. These incredible radiuses support 220-mile an hour (plus) operating speeds and will be ready-built into the railroad. Instead, California requires superfast off-the-shelf trains that accelerate and decelerate with expediency. Contrastingly, while Amtrak’s $151 billion Northeast Corridor plan would provide it with California-like new infrastructure, the plan is patently ridiculous and should be immediately disregarded—its just never going to happen. That leaves us with FRA-governing legacy infrastructure featuring sharp curvature on the coasts and within cities. And while it too needs trains that accelerate and decelerate quickly and have high speed abilities, it is far more important to run trains that feature a high cant deficiency to maintain speed around the corridor’s innumerable curves, and which mitigate the sure-to-be awful effects of FRA regulations the most astutely. This brings us to the crux of the problem: disturbingly, what Amtrak and the CAHSR authority have failed to acknowledge, or perhaps do not yet realize, tilting capabilities come at a trade off with very high speed, and the two systems are wholly incompatible with one another for a multitude of obvious reasons. There cannot be one trainset!

Though the Northeast Corridor requires a trainset that meets several unique qualifications for unqualified success, a trainset finely suited for immediate operations would be the high speed (though not very high speed, a difference!), high powered Pendolino by Alstom, a train capable of attaining sustained maximum speeds of 155 miles per hour, which is essentially the current top speed of the Acela. However, where this train usurps the Acela is its performance around curves, which is top-notch, and its ability to accelerate and decelerate expeditiously as a consequence of its light weight and significant power (which would, naturally, conflict with FRA regulations). Seating upwards of 600 people depending on seating configuration, it sails around curves at tops speeds with 8 inches of active tilt and has proven reliable the world over.

California, alternatively, has a gamut of choices, from German Siemens and Alstom TGV models, to Spanish Talgos and more. The state merely needs lightning fast, reliable and high-capacity trains. A variety of manufacturers can supply the rolling stock.

Worst case scenario, if there were to be one type of trainset manufactured, there would be one sure winner and loser. Winner: Amtrak, for it reduced the costs of its 32 new high speed trainsets while also procuring an advanced tilt model. It may not operate at anywhere near 220 miles an hour, but since trains could not possibly operate at such a high speed in the Northeast anytime soon anyway, who cares? At least Amtrak can now sail around curves ever faster and therefore reduce trip times between the big cities without the huge, never-to-come capital investments associated with its $151 billion white elephant.

Loser: California High Speed Rail, for although it paid less for its trainsets, the trains cannot achieve anything close to 220 mile per hour speeds, and therefore do not hit their 2:40hr San Francisco to Los Angeles trip mandates prescribed in 2008′s Proposition 1A. Yes, the trains tilt substantially, but they do not need to. They are also heavier because they comply with FRA weight regulations, severely inhibiting acceleration and deceleration speeds. What California ends up with is 20^th century budget trains on state-of-the-art, 21^st century infrastructure. The absurdity would be akin to racing a 1988 Geo Metro in the Daytona 500 circuit.

While the worst case scenario is indeed tragic, the potential product of such a process instigated by this RFI issuance is completely unfathomable, though whatever is developed from these fools’ errand is sure to be not very good at all. What is clear, at least to those from the outside looking in, is that this is a partnership between two amateurish entities that never should have been negotiated in the first place. It features a 21^st century organization looking steadfastly into the past coupled to a insolvent, occasionally inept government bureaucracy. It also supports a horrifying misconception that any train will work wonders on any type of track or right-of-way, when revolutionary advances in railway technology have rendered that an untruth since the 1800s. No, certain trains can only operate efficiently on certain track, and it is critically important to understand each trainset model’s technological abilities and downsides, and especially how those qualities relate to the route they are intended to operate over. When we fail to consider these, we might as well be throwing money into the flames.

Ending with a short story, this partnership reminds me of a recent conversation I had with a railroader on the Cascades Corridor. Engaged in discussion on passenger operations in the Pacific Northwest, he disparaged the Cascades’ Talgo equipment for their (rare, operationally problematic) interconnectivity and decried the recent Oregon state purchase of two additional Talgo trainsets, despite that fact that the Talgos have been praise-deservingly operated for well over a decade with near 100% availability. Instead, he argued WSDOT and Oregon should purchase Superliner equipment for situations where if a single car proves to be defective, it can easily be replaced with another (whereas a defective Talgo car requires the entire set to be temporarily sidelined due to shared axles and wheels). The gentleman, with all due respect, failed to considered a plethora of details that warrant his suggestion absurd. First, the Talgo trainsets are an innately flawless match for the region, capable of desirable high speeds and high-cant deficiency to swiftly navigate the Cascade Corridor’s numerous curves (particularly north of Seattle); two, Superliner cars are heavy and hulking with limited, if non-existent, cant deficiency abilities, weighing trains down and severely impacting acceleration and deceleration, and: three, superliner cars, due to their bi-level nature, consume more time to load and unload than do single-level Talgo sets, and furthermore do not necessarily provide the higher capacity implied by their second floor (though they can be dependent upon seating arrangements specified at the time of manufacturing). What the gentleman ultimately called for was a regressive usage of sub-par equipment on a corridor clamoring for something else—something better. While his calls for more operational flexibility in times of mechanical breakdown is wholly legitimate, those needs should be met by the procurement of rescue equipment that can act as a replacement train, and, of course, vigilant maintenance.

The international youth of Peas & Carrots have teamed up with NYC’s Franks Chop Shop on a set of New Era caps and matching t-shirts. The blue pack is available on FCS while the green can be had through PNC. Look out for more from Peas & Carrots in the coming months.

Peas & Carrots International x Franks Chop Shop is a post by Pete Williams on http://www.highsnobiety.com.

Southern Air (2nd) is moving its corporate headquarters from Norwalk, CT to Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG) located in Covington, KY as part of its Chapter 11 reorganization. DHL, its largest customer, has a hub at CVG. As we previously reported, Southern Air and its holding company, Southern Air Holdings, Inc., filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and reorganization on September 28, 2012.

Read the full report from the kypost.com: CLICK HERE

In other news, Southern Air retired its last Boeing 747-200F freighter (N783SA) on January 5, 2013 as reported by ch-aviation.

Copyright Photo: Ton Jochems. Boeing 747-281F N783SA (msn 23919) is pictured on the ramp at Frankfurt prior to the retirement.

Southern Air: 

And if you were wondering how (or why?) a single trainset may be designed for both the NEC and CHSRA, you can listen as John Boardman explains that it is simply a matter of switching the trucks…or um, something.

And if you were wondering how this will reduce costs for California, you can listen as Jeff Morales explains that Buy-America policies, and a proprietary FRA spec will increase their buying power…or um, something.

Actually, the entire video is a huge embarrassment to the profession. I suggest having a lot of stiff drinks to make it through all the cringe-worthy moments.

The whole notion of buying quicker trains for the NEC is ridiculous– the existing Acela Express trains have plenty of oomph (16 kW/tonne) to do anything they need to do. “Lighter” and “faster” isn’t the key to anything on the NEC, and dropping in a higher-performance train will not lead to material trip time improvements. They need to speed up the slow bits first, which isn’t something you do by blowing money on trains.

Clem’s criticism got a fair amount of flak in comments, from me and others, for underestimating how important getting around FRA regulations is. What nobody said in comments, and I only realized after the discussion died out, is how the choice of rolling stock depends heavily on what Amtrak plans to do with infrastructure and service planning in the Northeast. It doesn’t make sense in any case to tether Amtrak’s plans for a corridor that’s in many ways globally unique to the California HSR Authority’s for a fairly standard HSR implementation. But what rolling stock is required, and thus how bad the tethering is, depends on a concrete plan for infrastructure and schedule.

At the highest level, the unique issue with the Northeast Corridor is that significant parts can’t be feasibly upgraded to more than 200-250 km/h or easily bypassed, while others can. This means that there’s a tradeoff between top speed and cant deficiency, and the optimal choice depends on how much investment there is into speeding up segments. In any case it’s critical to improve station throats, interlockings, and railroad junctions, but after the 50 and 100 km/h zones are dealt with, the remaining questions are still nontrivial.

The more money is invested, the less it makes sense to run a 270 mm-cant deficiency, 250 km/h Pendolino, and the more it makes sense to run a Talgo AVRIL or E5/E6, both of which are capable of 350 km/h but only about 180 mm of cant deficiency (or N700-I, which is on paper capable of 330 km/h and about 135 mm and in practice could probably be run at 360 km/h and 175 mm). If there’s one segment that tilts the decision, it’s New Haven-Providence: using the legacy Shore Line, even with heavy upgrades, limits speeds and favors high cant deficiency, while bypassing it on I-95 favors high top speeds. But even the New York-Washington segment of today has a few curves strategically located at the worst locations, which make higher tilt degree a benefit.

In medium-speed territory, the Pendolino versus E5/AVRIL/N700-I decision is the muddiest. I ran tough simulations on an upgraded New Haven Line, with bypasses including those I advocated as a first step but also additional ones in the more difficult Stamford-New Haven segment. A train with E5 cant deficiency and N700-I acceleration did New York-New Haven in 32 minutes, and a Pendolino with all cars powered did it in 30. Neither is a standard trainset, though the former is very close to standard (and the Talgo AVRIL is also quite close). The Pendolino as it is, with about half the cars powered, has low power by HSR standards, and this is a problem for accelerating back from a slow zone at medium speed. With all cars powered (which is feasible, at higher acquisition cost) it’s still far from turbocharged, but can change speed more easily. An off-the-shelf Pendolino would not beat an E5 or AVRIL or N700-I on such a corridor, and of course would not beat it south of New York or north of New Haven.

Since nonstandard trains cost more, it’s important to also decide whether they’re worth the cost. Bearing in mind that Amtrak said a new noncompliant trainset costs $35-55 million, which is above the range for 8-car trains (China pays about $4 million per 350+ km/h car), so it may already be factoring in a premium, paying more for trains is worth it whenever the benefits to passengers are noticeable enough. This, like choosing very high-speed rolling stock rather than a Pendolino, is the most effective at high levels of infrastructure investment. An off-the-shelf Pendolino is good enough for most applications. So is an off-the-shelf N700-I without tilt. It’s okay to be 15 minutes slower than the cutting edge if the cutting edge is too expensive. But the effect of 15 minutes on ridership is more pronounced if it’s the difference between 1:35 and 1:50 than if it’s the difference between 3:00 and 3:15. In addition, the faster the service is, the more revenue each train earns, and this allows spreading the extra acquisition cost among more passengers.

Another factor that’s neglected, at least in public statements, is the service plan. Amtrak service is heavily padded: the fastest northbound Acela is scheduled to do Providence-Boston in 47 minutes, but in the opposite direction it’s 34. Remove the Route 128 stop and this can get close to 30 or even below it. About the fastest trains can go with no schedule padding is 19.25 minutes, and reasonable but not onerous padding raises it to about 20.5. Clearly, more of the difference comes from operating efficiencies than from any speed raising; the Acela already goes 240 km/h between Providence and Boston and already has about 180 mm (7″) cant deficiency.

The limiting factor here is more MBTA ownership and operating culture. A good service plan would make it clear how trains can share the corridor (and the same is true on the New Haven Line, another unduly slowed commuter-owned segment), and because MBTA trains are so slow, any cooperation would involve public statements regarding upgrades to the MBTA. The Acela has level boarding at every stop except New London, which is the easiest to cut out and should be bypassed together with the rest of Shore Line East. It’s the MBTA that has non-level boarding, which remains one of the biggest schedule risks, requiring plenty of recovery time to deal with possible long dwell times coming from above-average crowds.

The problem is that Amtrak has made no statements regarding how to integrate the three legs of the magic triangle. It proposed the Vision plan, which even political transit bloggers like Ben Kabak note the extreme cost of; there’s no funding, and the first segment for which it’s trying to obtain funding, the Gateway Tunnel, is very far from the top priority for speed or even for intercity rail capacity. It now proposes new rolling stock, but is unclear about what the trains are supposed to do except be very fast. (Bundling with a new-build line like California makes sense only if all curves are straightened to a radius of 4+ kilometers, even extremely expensive ones.)

Perhaps it’s a feature of opaque government, that Amtrak refuses to say how much money it needs to meet each timetable and capacity goal. For example, it could say that if Congress gives it $10 billion it could reduce travel time from Washington to Boston from the present 6:45 to 5:45 while also running a peak of 4 long trains per hour at that speed. (I think for $10 billion it’s possible to get down to 3:30 or at worst 4:00, but this is a matter of cost control and not just transparency, though transparency can indirectly lead to better cost control.) This would involve heavy cooperation with the commuter railroads that share its tracks and joint plans, as well as detailed public plans for how much to spend on each segment and for what purpose. This is routine in Swiss rail infrastructure planning, since all major projects have to be approved by referendum, but does not happen in the US. It could be that Amtrak knows what it’s doing but acts like it doesn’t because the structure of government in the US is such that these decisions are made behind closed doors.

But more likely, Amtrak doesn’t know what it’s doing, and is just proposing new initiatives that make it seem forward-looking. Changing FRA rules is an unmixed blessing. Bundling an order with California HSR is not. The fact that Amtrak is doing so, while keeping mum about even what kind of rolling stock it thinks it needs, suggests that it reverses the usual way reform should be: instead of a need for reform producing good results and thence good headlines, a need to get good headlines about reform produces reform ideas that sound good. Some of those good-sounding ideas really are good, but not all are. It’s important for good transit advocates to distinguish the two both privately and publicly.

I feel like in the last two years, we’ve seen important American transit and railroad managers say correct things. Shortly after I started making noise in comments about New York’s outsized subway construction costs, Jay Walder said as much in a report entitled Making Every Dollar Count. Joe Lhota proposed through-running on commuter rail as a solution to improve efficiency. Scott Stringer, too, talked publicly about comparative construction costs, and for all of my criticisms of transit managers who say that, I thought it was enough for him to say that as a political candidate for a medium-term office to deserve my endorsement for the mayoral election, which he unfortunately bowed out of. The FRA proposed to start working on new rules for rolling stock last year. At Amtrak, we’ve just now seen Joseph Boardman propose noncompliant rolling stock. Perhaps I’d be more optimistic if Walder and Lhota had stayed at the MTA for longer to implement their positive reform ideas, instead of using it as a springboard to secure a higher-paying job or run for mayor, but increasingly it looks like the good reform talk is not generally accompanied by good actions.

This is, again, where good transit advocates can have the most influence. We more or less know which reforms are required and which are not. There are disagreements at times (Clem, for one, has much better credentials as a good transit activist than I do), but on most of the agenda items there’s agreement. We already know what details we might want to see from a good plan of action, and the advantage of this is that we can check proposed plans against them. That Amtrak’s gotten so many details wrong suggests that it still doesn’t know what the best practices for rail construction are, even if the basic idea of getting around FRA rules is sound. I wish I didn’t have to say it, but I’ll believe Amtrak’s improved when I see it.

But Mr Traviss said a police report described him as ‘the famous film director and partner of the late Amy Winehouse’ and he wondered if he was a ‘big scalp’, but was not scared about telling the truth.

Equal Under Law, huh?

Don’t be shocked, but it all went horribly wrong:

The 35-year-old film producer and ex-boyfriend of Amy Winehouse said CCTV footage from his brother Richard’s London nightclub ‘made all the difference’ to ensuring he was found not guilty.

It showed his 27-year-old accuser having no difficulty walking from the club to a taxi – despite jurors at Southwark Crown Court being told that she was ‘so drunk she couldn’t stand up or walk’

And that’s in high heels, by the way.

All of which is by way of saying that this is not another ‘He Said/She Said’ case, more a ‘She Said/CCTV Footage Clearly Shows’ case. This isn’t a matter of opinion. She stood up in court and said she was hammered when she was barely brushed. That used to be called perjury, but apparently she must have been too drunk to consent to filing a false report too. She just woke up the next morning with a copy of the case file next to her.

Anyone want to hazard a guess what proportion of the women loudly claiming ‘NAWALT’ would support pressing charges here? I’m guessing less than zero. They might concede that false rape accusations are kind of wrong and the guy got a rough deal, but let’s not be some kind of Scary McWomanhater about all this.

No, they don’t support lying about rape, they just think women should be able to do it without consequences.

About Gorgeous Irish &frac12 penny coin – Highlighted in pure Gold – Specially Framed Gorgeous Irish &fra

Time is, of course, gold and stylish One of the stages of growing up with a boy looking boy. Men’s watches are so popular because of their elegance, features and functions. Men’s gold watch – how to choose the right choice as a gift for your man Is your husband, father, brother, boyfriend, one, or just a friend, get him a gold watch for men is a great gift. Since the vast diversity in the men’s designer watches to choose from, I’ll give you some ideas, trying to decide which brand or style may be the best choice for the man in your life. First, you want to choose a designer watch that would suit his personality. Top Accurist 9ct gold watch gold watches are not new to the fashion industry. When it comes to the UK market watch, accurist gold watches, particularly its driving 9ct unmatched. There are several current models, which are equally popular among men and women.

February – I enjoyed every second of it. I was happy as I never was. I was settled. The weather was cold but my heart was warmed. Francesco slowly got into my plans taking a special place inside my heart.

March – Things were great and so after pondering a lot I invited Francesco to move in. A week after that I was officially presented to his parents and our weekends were mostly spent at Rasiglio and Bologna. I got used to be loved once again and I’d no secrets to hide, not this time.

April – My sentimental life was perfect and my business was doing awesomely awesome. As nothing comes for free unexpectedly my family needed me back home. So I quit my job and I flew back to my country.  I lost someone very close that I rather not to comment about… Anyways it was time to heal and to reconstruct a few bonds that were loose.

May – I spent my time over there supporting my family, collecting the pieces, going to the gym, seeing old friends and as far as I remember on Skype with Francesco… I missed him and I missed “our nest” very very much.

June – I can’t recall much of what happened and I think it’s best this way… For what I can say I was partying hard what made me lose just not a lot of weigh but also some of my track.

July – My last days at my homeland was as I like to call “normal”. After a while we were all done of each other, they couldn’t wait for me to be gone and so didn’t I. Arguments became the new good morning and it affected me more than I could handled. I was being so unlucky that I found by chance my biological mother on street. I wanted to die and another attempt was marked on my failed score. Right after that, I took the first flight back to Italy without even search for better deals. And it was the best for everyone…

August – Being home was awkward for both of us during the first days. I was what they call “recovering” and everything was weird. My love was very patient with me all along the way and I’m truly grateful for that. The night of the shooting stars (Notte di San Lorenzo) on the 11^th was magical… Right after that we planned last minute vacations and it felt like honeymoon! He took me to amazing places and he did everything in his power to that become my best vacations ever. This year I’d an amazing birthday, perfection defines. It was so great that I was happy about being at the beach!

September – Backing to civilization I did my acceptance test to start my third post-graduation and I got 4 of 5 votes. I started a Master course in Cinema at IULM but within weeks I knew that that wasn’t for me. I slowly started becoming depressed again (in fact I think I haven’t recovered well backing in time). Anyways it was a tough month where I couldn’t find a place to be. At home I remember playing housewife a lot, I tried to fill my days by trying to be “perfect”.

October – Francesco and I decided to adopt a kitten. We agreed that it was a good thing for me as I was feeling lonely because of his late hours at the office. Nick lived with us for almost two amazing and very happy weeks till his premature death… I was heartbroken once again… Meanwhile a good friend of mine came to visit me. Michael originally from Great Britain travelled from Berlin to Milan to spend a long weekend with us. For my surprise the boys did great together and it made me very proud of my choice this time. I showed Michael  the city I love in a way I haven’t done yet – We parted and got drank and talked and walked a lot too! He cheered me up and that helped me to see things through. I realised that I like cinema but I do love photography… so I was decided I was going to change University and course!

November – With a delay of one month and a half I convinced the President of the Institute and the Coordinator of the course that I was the type of student that they were looking for! I did my second admission test and once again I was accepted with honours to study Photography & Fine Arts. I was feeling very proud of myself, proud of my abilities, content with life in general! I was about to start studying something that I love in a place that I liked with people that seemed to be just like me – a bunch artists trying to find a place in the sun! I can say that I was finally at the right place.

December – The month started with paramedics at home, and this time it wasn’t my fault but it was due to a spinal block… The MRI accused that I’ve a huge hernia between the L4 and the L5. Awesome to do not say FML! Over ten days in bed, no school, no fun. The selling became my closest friend and I felt bad for my love that had to do everything for the both of us – from shower to cooking. After that with strong meds I started to recovering my moves so slowly I get back to my activities. I went to school, I hang out with colleagues, I was once again having fun. Things at home was settled and Francesco and I survived to another “end of the world” laughing a lot about it. The Christmas week was spent in Bologna and I can comfortably say we were all in family even though I missed my own ones… Once back to Milan good news arrived from Brazil! My little sister told me that next year I’m going to become an auntie of two and this time we are all hoping for a baby girl but if not another baby boy will be more than welcome as well! I’m excited about life and about the future in general. As weird as it sound I know that this time the best is yet to come!

The great oak tree in front of my grandparents yard. Aged just like they are. I have so many memories nestled away under it’s branched. Pealing apart it’s seed pods and sticking it to my nose. Falling into the pile of never ending leaves and throwing shoes up in the trees. The ray of sunlight seems to whisper your memories will not be forgotten.

Para pejuang mencari dan memburu Snipers di bandar Aleepo yang di tadbir Syria, meresahkan orang ramai kerana jet akan melepaskan bomb di kawasan yang di syaki ada PAra pejuang, menyusahkan kerja harian para penduduk

Al Jaazera Aleppo, Syria – Pada permukaan, kehidupan kelihatan normal dalam daerah dipegang p

embangkang di Aleppo, modal komersial Syria dilanda peperangan. Ramai sibuk pasaran pek, dan trafik congests jalan utama.

Tetapi tempat kejadian kehidupan biasa adalah berbahaya menipu, pada bila-bila masa yang diberikan jet pejuang Syria atau shell meriam boleh menyerang pusat bandar dan bakar yang normal yang tidak menentu.

Beberapa orang Syria, bagaimanapun, mengadu tentang serangan dan udara terkenanya di sini hari ini. Kebimbangan utama mereka menyediakan keluarga mereka dengan makanan.

“Kita tidak boleh mencari roti dan apabila kita lakukan, kita tidak mampu untuk membayar untuk itu. Harga telah meningkat sekurang-kurangnya tiga kali ganda,” pemastautin Mohammed Ali memberitahu Al-Jazeera.

Beliau menyalahkan pemberontak untuk kesengsaraan beliau. “Mereka berjanji bahawa mereka akan memastikan bahawa komoditi asas boleh didapati. Mereka tidak mampu untuk berbuat demikian. Mereka tidak walaupun subsidi harga,” katanya. “Para pemberontak harus menghilangkan rasuah di bandar sebelum mereka berjuang pertempuran di tempat lain.”

Ramai penduduk bandar merasakan dengan cara yang sama, dengan kritikan sedikit terhadap kerajaan Syria kini terdengar dalam perbualan di jalan-jalan. Malah, kemarahan awam kini teguh ke arah pasukan pemberontak.

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1659202291001?bckey=AQ~~,AAAAmtVJIFk~,TVGOQ5ZTwJaOnnPgAFUa3RPnyd849QP8&bctid=2027182087001

Apabila sebuah pusat kewangan yang berkembang maju, Aleppo adalah tidak lagi mebnajdiu sepatutnya. Pemberontak menyerbu bandar pada pertengahan bulan Julai dan dapat menubuhkan pangkalan di pinggir bandar, terutamanya di Kejiranan Sunni. Pembangkang Syria terutamanya terdiri Sunni, tetapi multi-etnik dan multi-kelas make-up Aleppo tidak sentiasa bekerja bersama untuk pejuang pemberontak untuk memberi manfaat kepada perjuangan.

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Some may think it’s odd to get wrapped up in the thought of discovering a killer fragrance; but, perhaps you know what it’s like to search for a fragrance you love—only to discover that five years later, you are still looking?

Yet, some things are just right.  And you know it instantly.  Such is the men’s fragrance Endymion from London’s house of Penhaligon’s.

Created in 2003, Endymion is a sensual fusion of citrus, spices and leather.  It opens with a burst of sweetened mandarin wrapped gently in sage and leather, then settles and smoothes gently into a dark coffee heart.  As it warms up, mysterious resins rise up with hints of creamy nutmeg, cardamom and the softest leather.” Penhaligons.com

SCENTS ARE STILL MADE IN ENGLAND USING THE FINEST RARE INGREDIENTS; FROM HAND-SQUEEZED BERGAMOT, TO JASMINE AT TWICE THE PRICE OF GOLD. . . House of Penhaligon’s

After being completely allured by Endymion’s discreet ability to catch my attention, later I decided to poke around online in the attempt to find a bad review on the fragrance.  One man lamented that he wanted the scent to linger longer…yet the other reviews that I read sang tabernacle-like praises about the wonder of Endymion.

In fact, most every review sounded more like a love story between a man and his cologne instead of a critique.  And, I believe that this particular fragrance is relationship-material for a man as it calls out to be revisited regularly to ritually bathe the senses in a most pleasurable scent…so that the event of putting on cologne becomes pure pleasure in a world where we crave a certain aesthetical boost, whether we realize it or not.

Only twice in my life have I been frozen where I stood by a scent. To cut a long and embarrassing story short, I followed a guy off the London underground when I had no idea where I was, to find out from him what his scent was. And I’m usually pretty shy. The scent was Endymion, and I couldn’t help but inhale it the way you inhale a lover’s scent with your mouth part open to catch every facet and reflection. Warm, earthy, dreamy yet authoritative and potent. The effect on me may have been exaggerated because the man wearing it was probably the most beautiful man I’d ever seen – either that or his scent made him seem that way. It just made me want to pull his shirt off. I didn’t tell him that bit… but I did go and buy his perfume. –a review by Lucy2shoes@basenotes.net, November, 2012

SPICY BEGINNINGS

The year is 1860; the place, London.  A Cornish barber named William Henry Penhaligon moved to London and soon became Court Barber and Perfumer to Queen Victoria.

William lived in an age of decadence, excess and flamboyance.  He found so much time to self-actualize, that he began relating experiences to fragrances.  His trade remained strong during his lifetime and was carried on by his uber-stylish son Walt Penhaligon.

In the 1940s, the business faded into oblivion, only to reemerge in the 1970s and today, Penhaligon fragrances are coveted by men who, down to their bones, feel an appreciation for the highest standard in life and living.

William’s son, Walt Penhaligon displaying stunning style in 1907.

There is something old-worldly about this Penhaligon fragrance.  When you breathe in the cologne, you feel the purity of the perfumery trade permeate your senses.  What I find particularly pleasing is that the fragrance seems to develop beautifully (even elegantly) on the skin and that there is no offensive reaction of feeling overwhelmed by its intensity, even if a man enjoys lavishing himself with this perineal potion.

Although Endymion is classically masculine, before it develops, it feels distinctly unisex, and I admit that I like it so much, that occasionally I’ve doused myself with this brilliant brew of woodsy orange and eventual sophisticated mix of sage with only a slight hint of lavender.

For me, the scent creates an image of an eternally stylish–yet slightly rugged man toting a leather satchel by his side, taking a clever short-cut through a patch of woods before reaching his rather elite address, simply because his sense of adventure requires him  to do so.

“Founded over 135 years ago, Penhaligon’s is the ultimate old-world perfumer with an impressive patron list including fashion God Tom Ford, Britain’s great Statesman, Sir Winston Churchill and the Royal family, who long before blessing the brand with two Royal warrants from Prince Charles and his father, the Duke of Edinburgh, employed William Penhaligon as Court Barber and Perfumier to Queen Victoria.” (From Localspotter.com)

The bottle pleases the eye and is William Penhaligon’s original design: clear glass with a distinctively Victorian ribbon-wrapped top. And, as a final note, the bottle itself is of immaculate construction, as I confess to have dropped it from a 5 foot shelf onto a tile floor with no damage other than a temporarily racing-heart.

The health department in Kalomo has disposed of over 99, 000 by 50kg bags of rotten maize worth billions of Kwacha which was found unfit for either human or animal consumption in 24 satellite depots belonging to the Food Reserve Agency (FRA). Click here for the Full Story

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