My latest chapter of Relative Wind has generated a bit of controversy, something that kind of surprised me a bit. Specifically, a few people have commented on the political content. It’s a tiny part of the chapter and, to me at least, not particularly important:

Alice ordered a large cheese pizza and a large pizza with anchovies, a surprise to me because I knew of no other person than me who dug anchovies on pizza, and I didn’t remember that particular fact ever coming up in conversation. I was about to make a comment, but Edward chuckled and sneered at the television.

“It figures. How idiotic does the Bush White House have to be to think their emails would never be recovered?” he said.

Emmett, who had heaved himself into a chair across the room, groaned and rolled his eyes. “Seriously, Edward, let it go. Do you really want to subject your daughter’s new roommate to this so soon? She’s young and impressionable.”

I inwardly cringed and thought about how much I wanted to disappear. Alice stood in the doorway of the living room with her hands on her hips, glaring at Edward.

“Dad, quit being such a moonbat. I heard on Fox News the allegedly recovered emails,” Alice used her fingers to air quote on the word ‘recovered,’ and I stared at her with what I’m sure had to be a horrified expression, “aren’t even the ones that are missing. They were recovered before President Bush even left office. It’s just another conspiracy by liberal groups to distort the facts. This is a prime reason we need tort reform.”

Oh my god. She watched Fox News? Maybe living with a drug addict or a pornhound would have been preferable.

“Er, Fox News appears to be the only news outlet reporting the recovered emails were not, in fact, missing,” I said, not able to stop myself. “How do you explain that?”

“The liberal media hates President Bush,” she stated, as if I were an idiot for thinking anything different.

Edward grinned and said, “Alice, honey, the Bush administration’s Press Secretary admitted the White House gave Fox News commentators talking points. I don’t think anyone could ever accuse Fox News of honestly being fair and balanced.”

“Don’t believe everything you hear on MSNBC, Dad.” Alice’s face was twisted up in a condescending sneer, and I was honestly feeling a little faint. I was living with Rush Limbaugh’s evil spawn. Holy crap. At the same time, I was majorly turned on by the fact Edward could speak coherently about politics and was clearly not a conservative.

Bella is getting a master’s in political science, so it makes sense to me that she’d have strong opinions about politics. And I thought perhaps making Alice a conservative would make her beliefs about dating more believeable – most of the politically conservative folks I know are also conservative about what they call ‘family values.’ They don’t approve of divorce or non-traditional relationships. So… there you go.

Plus, like most families, mine occasionally delves into politics. My grandfather and I used to get into huge fights about politics, everything from war to racial disparities. The idea to include political arguments in the father-daughter dynamic between Alice and Edward made a certain amount of sense to me because of my own experience, not to mention that it stands to reason Bella would find Edward much more attractive if he were politically aware.

I’ve read a few fanfics that include political content, and it’s never been a big deal for me. It never occured to me that anyone would give a rat’s ass if I included any in my own, particularly since there are a few political viewpoints being expressed.

Then again, my reading outside the fanfic world does trend toward the political. My very favorite book of all time, A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving), is rife with political talk, and over the last few years I’ve done a ton of reading about the Iraq war, the Bush administration, and political history. Maybe I’m just immune to thinking of politics as an off-limits topic. Huh.

I guess a fic where Bella is an atheist would be frowned upon, eh?

I had another interesting experience last night that I’m definitely going to have to try to work into a future fic: I took a class on circus aerials at the local circus school. I’ve been a competitive athlete for many years and always thought I had a fairly good amount of upper body strength… until I took this class. Holy toledo! I managed not to embarrass myself too awful much on the trapeze, but the silks and rope? Jeebus, I was pathetic and useless. It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. Naturally, I came home and immediately signed up for a series of aerials classes… I can’t stand to be shitty at something, so I feel compelled to work at it until I’m good enough to join Cirque, dammit! OK, well, probably not… but I definitely plan to keep working and improve.

While I am recovering today, I was delighted to launch a new multi-chaptered fic called Relative Wind. It’s an Edward/Bella story with a bit of immediate lemony goodness. This was initially supposed to be a 5,000 word citrus-filled one shot – I was purchased in the Fandom Gives Back auction. I liked the idea I came up with, though, and decided – with my purchaser’s approval – to turn it into a larger project. There’s sky diving and a slightly older Edward involved.

22blue and I just finished writing chapter 21 of Ultio (although only the first five chapters have been published so far (a new chapter every Monday!), and I’m currently working on chapter three of Love Park. It seems kind of crazy to have three multi-chaptered fics going at once. I used to shake my head at people who did that, and admittedly, I always get angry when authors spread themselves too thin and don’t update their fics as quickly as I would like. Since I’m sharing the writing of Ultio with 22blue, and I plan to update Love Park and Relative Wind once a month, it shouldn’t be an issue at all.

I’m kind of excited to also announce that I’m doing a few special one-shot projects. I’m scheduled to be featured at MyVampFiction’s Wicked Wednesday lemontasticness on December 23, and Twilighted’s Smut Mondays, although not until May 3, 2010!

Oh, and lastly, Ultio and Seismic Hazards have been nominated for Shimmer Awards. Voting will open at the end of the month.

After watching the Kareena-Saif movie, we totally feel “hamne apna Saturday ‘Kurbaan’ ko kurbaan kar diya”.

The movie was a bore. And way too much like New York with John Abraham and Katrina Kaif and Neil Nitin Mukesh – Islamic terrorism, a wronged desi guy out to blow up some Americans, a hapless ‘innocent wife’, a friend who’s an infiltrator into the terrorist group. But it’s fascinating how two people can treat one identical storyline in two such totally different ways. New York was nuanced, shocking, held its suspense so well, and made you intensely relate to the characters and feel their moral dilemmas. Kurbaan set out to dazzle you with the looks of the leading pair – and it succeeded with Kareena, not so much with the over-botoxed, rebonded-combovered-hair Saif – and was a movie that never made up its mind about whether it was a love story or a window into the souls of people who like killing other people. At the end of New York you walked out wondering about the pointlessness of terrorism and the senselessness of American state-sponsored violence; at the end of Kurbaan we walked out wondering about the pointlessness of the movie and the senselessness of a story that pretty much glorified terrorism.

The problem (one of the many problems, really) with Kurbaan is that it was like that episode of 24 where a liberal dude trusts the brown stranger against the fervent opposition of the all-American dude suspicious of all brown people with funny names, and then the brown stranger turns out to be a terrorist after all. It shamelessly encouraged the average viewer to go ahead and stereotype every bukha-clad Muslim woman and every young brown man with a backpack and rewarded such stereotypes.

The writing was abysmal. They couldn’t make up their minds whose perspective to pick – Kareena’s or Vivek’s or Diya’s, so they went with option (D), all of the above. Unlike New York, where everything unfolds from Neil’s p-o-v, and so even small revelations – like Katrina knowing all along that her handsome all-American husband is actually a terrorist – are discoveries that keep you engaged in the story. John’s haunted expression and sudden character twists are hugely gut-punching, even more so when you hear the back-story and see the real, very plausible torment he’s undergone. Here, you never really related to Saif or felt for him – not in the initial love story, not when he’s revealed to be a scheming, manipulative husband, not when you’re told why he became a terrorist, and not when he falls in love with his now-pregnant wife, and not when has his final melodramatic change of heart. His journey seems eminently alien and strange, and each twist is totally ‘yeah, right’. They’d've been better off making his a fully negative role, throwing in a couple of wife-whacking scenes and maybe having a last-second unexplained twist (was a change of heart? did he really spare her? or did he miss his target for once?).

The logic was non-existent. It’s completely frustrating how at least two of the characters – Vivek Oberoi’s and Kareena Kapoor’s – are supposed to be Amreekan educated and liberal-thinking, but in any moment of crisis, faced with any example of rule-breaking, small or large, they end up going the illogical, circituous route. When Kareena’s neighbor comes to her for help since she’s presumably being beaten up and about to be murdered, she doesn’t go to the cops or to a local NGO dealing with DV cases, or to a women’s shelter. No, she leisurely pays an in-person visit to a news reporter that the neighbor had met months ago in an internet chatroom (yes, huh?! indeed), and passively walks away when the reporter tells her she’ll call the neighbor in a few weeks after her vacation/travel. And then Kareena, professor and consummate Manhattan girl, generally wanders around in the neighbor’s basement in the dead of night. Seriously heroine, WTF?

Poor Vivek ends up having to go one better. When he gets a lead on the people who may have bombed a plane and killed ~200 people, he decides to take on the whole terrorist agency by himself, and fight for world peace singlehandedly in a severe Miss World relapse moment. When he’s in the middle of the terror plot, he still doesn’t want to tell the cops what he knows, but renders ultimatums to Kareena (who’s under house arrest) to source a f***ing subway map for him ‘definitely by tonight!!!’. He tells the FBI/cops about the plot at the last minute, because evidently just saying ’subway system under threat’ is less helpful than giving exact station names, because the silly FBI can’t figure that out for themselves. Touching, such faith in the American legal system. And just proves my often-repeated assertion that modern journalists are, by definition, stupid. Thank you, KJo.

Of course, the five stations targeted by Saif and Om Puri & co. to ‘teach the goras a lesson’ are the ones with the highest possible concentrations of desi people – Jackson Heights, Lexington Ave – somehow suicide bombing takes on layer 2 meanings here, or maybe they thought desi/NRI audiences wouldn’t be horrified enough if it was 57th avenue or Harlem. After all that analysis, Rensil couldn’t even be bothered to keep his stations straight, because the back-ups bombers who were to target Times Square and Grand Central and 5th ave end up somehow, in a twist, at three of the originally planned locations, having been magically swapped for the dead guys with backpacks.

More logic issues – not only do the incompetent FBI not examine voicemails and evidence – (what happened to all the wiretapped evidence courtesy FISA and the Patriot Act, huh? huh? HUH??!!), they wait around for hours in churches for tip-offs from random people, in touching displays of patience and loyalty to anonymous informers. And then reinforce their good-guy status by exclaiming ‘Jesus Christ!!!’ at regular intervals, since of course this is all a war about Christianity vs. Islam, in which Hinduism mysteriously proves victorious.

Finally, possibly the brightest spark of talent in the movie belongs to Kiron Kher’s uninhibited Afghani character – she somehow assimilates Iranian/Syrian hijabi sartorialism (maybe the real Afghan hijab was way too scary) and diction from villains in 1970s Amitabh-starrers to come up with a pretty good composite character, not too unlovable or too far from her usual Punju mom roles, but also crazy enough so you’re a tad afraid of/for her. She was definitely better than Om Puri, whom one barely noticed – except when he sulked off in a huff when his authority was easily challenged by upstart Saif. And Saif! Saif, that nawabi bad-child looking for his lost youth just continues to embarrass himself and us by trying to be all-in-one: cool-dude and action-superhero and chocolate-boy-lover in every movie. He unfortunately seems to have upped his ambition and jock-style pecs (and steroidal intake) at the exact time that his talent – and jowls, and hair volume – are moving downwards. This when he’s not terrorizing and manipulating Kareena in reel life and in real (watch their interviews where usually confident Kareena turns to him constantly for affirmation, very unlike the Poo-ing brat of Shahid’s time).

Kareena is as luminously pretty as ever, and came good in the last scene with snot freely running down her face, but somehow she leaves you with utter despair for Indian women – if psychology professors are this dumb, there’s not much hope for the rest of us. She’s completely unresourceful, can’t be bothered to do basic checks on the men she falls for, ends up accepting invites to boring sex-segregated parties, is trapped into house arrest in her own house and promptly packs a head scarf when she realizes her husband is a terrorist. And of yes, when tasked to do a difficult (!) chore, she turns to the only tool at her disposal – no, not Google, not her brains or her education, but her body and sexuality. It’s possibly not just Saif here who’s missing the 80’s.

So, yeah, John Abraham still has my heart.

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Nu v-ati intrebat pana acum de ce preturile Blu-Ray-urilor sunt atat de mari? (Spre exemplu un Blu-Ray Sony RW de 32GB (reinscriptibil) ajunge undeva la 40-50 ron, avand o viteza de scriere foarte mica.) Ei bine, s-ar putea sa asistam unor scaderi semnificative a acestor preturi, deoarece Sony se afla sub investigatie masiva, alaturi de Toshiba si Hitachi. Teoretic, motivul real al acestei investigatii nu se cunoaste, insa vocile spune ca este cu siguranta vorba despre pretul supraestimat al acestor discuri cu raza albastra.

Pe mine tare mult nu m-ar afecta sau m-ar impresiona o modificare a preturilor lor, insa ma intrebam cum ar fi daca astfel de controale ar fi mai proeminente si la noi in tara. Ar rezulta un brand mai puternic cu preturi dovedite corect, sau s-ar confirma brand-ul de Romania cu preturi mai mici?

New image in the photo effects photography contest

…
SuperNova RW&B photography picture

El otro día leyendo el blog Data Traveler de mi amigo Vrmpx, me topé con este interesante post del cual uno que otro compañero me ha preguntado si tenemos algún descuento en la adquisición de Windows 7 (siiii eeee); por lo que les dejo el link de este post: Cómo obtener un descuento para Windows 7

Los invito a desinformarse…

There are a lot of terms that generally fall into right of way (RW).

Every road has a permanent RW.  Generally a two lane road (2×12 ft lanes) has a 30 ft from centerline (CL) RW.  That is a 24 ft road has a (2×30 ft) 60 ft RW which includes the lanes, tree lawns and sidewalks.  The RW is determined by the subdivision Plat and can vary.

On Bainbridge Rd you have some old Plats and homes (many times on a deep or  bowling alley lot), these tend to have a RW of 30 ft from CL.  There are newer (70s) subdivisions where the Plat shows a 40 ft from CL RW.

Everything is relative to the centerline (CL) of the road.  So if a new subdivision is across from an old one, it may be that one side has a 40 ft RW and the other has 30 ft RW.  An example of this occurs where the S Huntington Subdivision meets Bainbridge Rd., the South side has a 40 ft RW from CL, the North side has 30 ft RW.

Generally if you have sidewalks they are at the RW, if you don’t it may be less obvious where the RW is.

Generally the CL is where the double yellow lines are, IF the road properly follows the CL.  Bainbridge Rd Phase 1 (and I think Phase 2) does follow the CL.  Pettibone Phase 2 does not.  This is apparent as you move west on Pettibone from Liberty to SOM and you will see the CL + signs move over 5 ft North of the double yellow lines.  Pettibone Phase 2 will realign the road with its centerline.

An easement is another exception to private property.  These can be for several reasons, underground utilities, telephone poles, drainage, etc.  On Bainbridge Rd, newer subdivisions have underground utilities (electric, cable TV, telephone) that are in a 10 ft utility easement that is beyond their 40 ft RW.

So to use the S Hunington example, homes in this subdivision have a 40 ft RW plus another 10 ft of Utility Easement, while on the North Side they have aerial utilities and an older Plat so they simply have a 30 ft RW from CL.

It seems that road construction must stay in the RW, but Utility activities (currently active for Bainbridge Phase 1 and Pettibone Phase 2 and 3) may also use the Utility Easement.  When road construction wants to go outside the RW, then some form of change in RW must occur, if the utilities need to do something past the RW, but still within the Utility Easement, then nothing needs to be done.  This is the reason that Telephone Pole relocations are in the middle of the temp drainage ditch (see post Telephone Pole Relocations).  If they relocated the Poles onto private property (that was acquired through a temp means) they would need to move it back to the Utility Easement when the project was done.  Since property impact on Bainbridge Rd is driven by perceived convenience of MOT 2 way, the poles don’t need to be permanently relocated, hence the odd situation of putting them in the temp ditch to stay within their permanent easement.

There are three times that your private property can be infringed upon.

1. Perm Take
2. Temp Take
3. Right of Entry

Typically road improvement is done within the RW.  Road widening will often need to make a permanent change to the RW by a perm take (option 1 above) and the property affected is purchased from the home owner.

The temp infringement comes in two varieties (option 2 and 3).  A temp take is also an eminent domain action but it only offers a rental fee, presuming that the infringement is over with the project.  A Right of Entry (RoE) is a voluntary granting of access which has some possible legal consequences.  The agency may want a “hold harmless” clause in case they do unanticipated damage.  There may also be a liability issue if a worker is injured on your property.

A temp take has a major procedural difference from a perm take called a “quick take”.   Ohio law states that a temp take for necessity of road projects is assumed as valid and therefore the property rights are removed at the time an appropriation action is filed (and served) and the “fair value” is deposited into escrow with the court.  In a quick take (which is being used for the Bainbridge Rd project), the court will decide fair compensation.   All Phase 1 residents who did not sign with OR Colan (the county’s eminent domain agent) have had appropriation actions filed and are in active litigation.  Phase 2 appropriation actions are being filed now.

If you are unsure of your rights, contact us at bainbridgerd@gmail.com.

The Bainbridge Rd project uses option 1 at intersections for widening and option 2 for most of the project for driveway and yard grading.  The term of the temp take is 2 years, even though each phase is to last one construction season.  The Pettibone project uses option 3 rather than 2 for driveway and yard grading.  It has been discussed that option 3 would be used for Bainbridge Rd restoration.

One of the big complaints of the Bainbridge Rd project is that permanent damage is being done by a temp take.  If this damage was mostly contained to the driveway as it has been on Pettibone, then that would be acceptable since it is easily replaced.

But in the Bainbridge Rd project it appears that, in an attempt to MOT 2 way, they just extended the temp take to the yard too.  Some people have easily replaced grass, others have extensive landscaping features and screening.  This is where the conflict arises.

The Bainbridge Rd project using a temp take for convenience rather than necessity is an extremely dangerous precedent that has serious ramifications for any future construction project.

If you are concerned about this dangerous precedent, contact us at bainbridgerd@gmail.com.

Over this passed weekend, I went out to Best Buy. I was buying a new CD/DVD burner since I sold my last one to a friend of mine when he bought my MSi Wind netbook. Upon entering, I get greeted, standard shit.

Not even 4 steps after that greet, I get asked if I need any help. I’m like, “You dumb cock sucker, I haven’t even gotten near an aisle and you’re asking if I need assistance? Yeah, how about you bend over and fuck your own face for me.”

I eventually made it passed the movies and game section and get approached once more. But, this tool with the most nerdiest glasses ever asking if I need help with cameras. I’m in the middle of this walk way inbetween the cameras(on my left) and home audio(on my right). I replied, “I’m not even in the camera area, why would I need help?” and kept walking by.

As I got near where they keep all their optical drives, I could see a swarm of butt-fuckers in blow polos and khaki pants. I knew, today, God hated me. I sweep by the largest of the group, letting some poor old man deal with their BS. Right when I got to the monitors, BAM! The biggest of this butt fuckers stops me talking to me about this HP’s refresh rate and the great color display.

I spun around him and continued on, no, I don’t need a monitor you fat worthless fuck. FINALLY! I made it. Now, I’m glancing over all the drivers they have looking at the specs and prices over each. Then I hear in the distance behind me, “Sir! Sir! Do you need help?!”

I tried declining, I tried so hard to tell him I don’t need anything! He would. not. leave. me. alone! This is when I knew, I knew God wanted me to explode in a fit of rage… and I did.

I looked around frantic. Grabbed this hard plastic case and started bashing this idiots face in screaming, “I DON’T NEED YOUR FUCKING HELP, YOU FUCKING POLO WEARING NAZI!!!!”

I wiped the bloody mess that got onto my hands on his polo, grabbed the optical drive I felt was the winner and headed to the cash register. Paid for my item.

The only good thing I can say about Best Buy here, besides the nice deals they have, is that the women they hire are really cute and great personalities.

One thanked me for murking that dumbshit.
I murked her vag later that night.

De acuerdo con el marco y el contexto del RW INDEPENDENCE DAY “Rumbo al Bicentenario”, los miembros integrantes del OC tuvimos una planeación estratégica previa, para lograr ofrecer un evento de calidad y sobre todo con un trasfondo cultural importante, nos dedicamos a luchar por la generación de un evento que lograra llenar expectativas de las personas que hicieron posible el evento.

Así bien, todas las actividades que incluyeron la agenda de éste año, estuvieron enfocadas a un marco conceptual, que nos permitiera entender la importancia de nosotros como mexicanos del día de independencia, y más aún porque fue el evento previo a los festejos del Bicentenario, que estaremos celebrando en “2010”.

Concluyendo con el compromiso y trabajo del comité organizador para hacer posible el evento, así como las personas que confiaron plenamente en que el comité local Guanajuato hacía posible la realización de éste RW; los miembros organizadores nos sentimos más que satisfechos por haber impactado de buena forma y sobre todo, contribuir al desarrollo de las personas.
Finalmente reitero la labor incondicional de todas las personas que hicieron posible éste gran evento, y más aún que confiaron en nosotros como organizadores y en el compromiso que nos distingue a todos como AIESECos!!!

Madrasah Ibtidaiyah Muhammadiyah adalah sebuah sekolah swasta Islam yang di sana dulu aku mengenyam ilmu-ilmu dasar membaca, menulis, berhitung, menggambar, bernyanyi, berolah raga dan lain sebagainya. Membaca huruf-huruf alfabhet dari A sampai Z. Menulis huruf besar dan kecil serta huruf Arab baik latin ataupun gandeng yang seperti truk atau kereta api. Yang aku sendiri tidak tahu waktu itu dari mana huruf-huruf itu berasal dan siapa yang membuatnya? Berhitung angka-angka yang susah dari penjumlahan, pengurangan, perkalian dan pembagian dalam pelajaran Matematika. Belajar menyanyikan lagu kebangsaan Indonesia Raya ciptaan Mbah Wage Rudolf Soepratman serta lagu Gundul-gundul Pacul versi pop, keroncong sampai Rock. Aku juga belajar menggambar pemandangan dua gunung dengan jalan setapak di bawahnya diapit sawah di kanan dan di kiri serta di atasnya beterbangan beberapa burung Sruwiti ( burung kecil seperti burung walet yang jika terbang seolah tak pernah mengepakkan sayapnya dan seperti layang-layang putus saja). Gambaran itu teringat, terukir, tertanam dan terpahat jelas di memoriku hingga dewasa. Dan sewaktu aku di suruh menggambar pemandangan pada training MOTIVASI di Jakarta yang ku gambar ya persis seperti itu. Hingga sang Traineer menertawakan peserta yang menggambar pemandangan seperti itu. Bagaimana tidak di tertawakan? Yang namanya pemandangan itu kan tidak hanya pemandangan dua gunung dengan jalan setapak di bawahnya diapit sawah di kanan dan di kiri serta di atasnya beterbangan beberapa burung Sruwiti. Tapi bisa juga pemandangan itu adalah pemandangan malam dengan bulan purnamanya atau pemandangan SUNRISE dan SUNSET-nya yang sangat indah dan mengagumkan, bukan begitu? Atau yang lainnya. Lha ini dari kecil hingga dewasa bisanya gambar pemandangan, itu-itu saja!! Kapan majunya? Di sana, di MIM itu juga aku diajarkan oleh Pak Mawardi guru olah raga asal Magelang yang tinggal di Petukangan, Wiradesa. Beliau senang memberi pelajaran Tenis Meja serta catur pada kami dan juga senam SKJ ( Senam Kesegaran Jasmani ) yang terus berseri seperti sinetron Tersanjung di Indosiar. Selain pelajaran Akademik aku juga diajarkan Ilmu-ilmu Agama Islam dari Sholat dengan syarat dan rukunnya hingga membaca dan menulis Alqur’an. Tak ketinggalan ilmu budi pekerti seperti Pendidikan Pancasila dan Kewarganegaraan dan Kemuhammadiyahan. Dan sewaktu di kelas 3 MI kutemui guru laki-laki yang jika mengajar suaranya bak mesin ISUZU PANTHER. Nyaris tak terdengar. Sehingga jika kami murid-murid diajar beliau dan duduk di belakang bersiap-siaplah untuk membuka daun telinga lebar-lebar supaya gelombang suara pak guru yang frekuensinya hanya 200 Hz itu tertangkap di telinga dan masuk ke otak kita. Di kelas ini juga kepalaku pernah berdarah karena dibenturkan temanku ke dinding. Itu terjadi karena kebandelanku sebagai buah naluri kenakanlan anak laki-laki. Waktu itu aku berantem di kelas dengan

sahabatku yang badannya lebih besar dari aku. Sehingga tubuhku yang kecil mudah saja baginya untuk dikalahkan. Sedang waktu kelas 4 kami kemah TKA/TPA di Lapangan Api-Api, Wonokerto, Tingkat Kabupaten Pekalongan. Kami mewakili TKA/TPA Al-Himmah, Tunjungsari, Sragi dan waktu itu alhamdulillah kami juara UMUM 2. Aku sendiri alhamdulillah ikut menyumbangkan 2 gelar juara individu, juara 3 Lomba Baca Puisi Islami dan juara 3 Lomba Nasyid bareng saudaraku Saiful.

Aku juga diajarkan bagaimana caranya menghukum murid yang bandel, yang suka berisik dan kalau diperintah ia membantah. Pelajaran yang unik ini aku dapatkan dari Kepala Sekolahku yang usianya telah lanjut. Bahkan Ibuku sendiri katanya pernah diajarnya dulu. Hukuman itu adalah dengan menarik JAMBANG rambut anak yang bandel sehingga si anak menjerit kesakitan dengan keras seperti sedang belajar olah vokal do-re-mi-fa-sol-la-si-do-do-si-la-sol-fa-mi-re-do.

Di desa ini yang setiap hari jumat khususnya RT 06/01, ketua RT membunyikan TING (tiang listrik) dengan cara dipukul menggunakan batu untuk memanggil warganya supaya kerja bakti membersihkan jalanan dari rumput dan tanaman yang ranting-rantingnya menggangu jalanan dan menghambat aliran air di kalenan (saluran air). Dari anak kecil, remaja putra dan putri, ibu-ibu hingga

bapak-bapak semua turun dan keluar dari rumahnya untuk ikut serta dalam kerja bakti. Yang bapak-bapak dan remaja putra membabat rumput dan ranting-ranting pohon. Yang ibu-ibu dan remaja putri menyapu sampah dan membakarnya serta ada yang menyiapkan minuman dan makanan. Sedang anak-anak ikut nimbrung membersihkan tapi kebanyakan hanya ikut bersenang-senang dan bermain karena kerja bakti memanglah ramai. Semua warga begitu guyub dan rukun. Tak nampak bermusuhan. Walaupun kadang terjadi sedikit gesekan antar mereka namun hari itu adalah hari di mana setiap individu saling bahu membahu untuk menghasilkan lingkungan yang bersih dan asri. Dari jalan utama hingga jalan arteri yang menghubungkan antara gang yang satu dengan gang yang lain semua di bersihkan dan di rapihkan.

Setiap sebulan sekali, kami juga memandikan Musholla An Nurul Jannah. Satu-satunya musholla di Rt 06/01 desa Tunjungsari. Mengepel, menguras bak air selebar 3 meter x 1 meter, mencuci kambal/karpet musholla dan menjemurnya hingga kering dan membersihkan sawang/sarang laba-laba. Kami juga memperbaiki sasak/jembatan yang terbuat dari anyaman bambu ketika sasak tersebut mulai tercerai-berai.

Hari masih terang. Matahari juga belum memperlihatkan tanda-tanda akan terbenam. Tapi kambing-kambingku lari-lari. Ternyata ia terusik dan ketakutan dengan kedatangan kakakku yang lari menuju ke tempat di mana kambing-kambingku kugembalakan.

“Auu…..au…..au….., sikilku loro,” jeritku merintih.

“Kenopo Ibnu?” tanya kakakku.

“Sikilku kejiret tali sing nggo naléni wedus iki lo mas!” jawabku singkat.

“Yo wis kowé muléh rono kon simak kowé kon mangan sék, karo sekalian di obati, lha wedusé genténan aku sing angon!” kata kakakku yang ke 6 menjelaskan maksud kedatangannya.

“Iyo kang aku arep muléh, tapi sikilku loro nggo mlaku angél!”

“Alah loro semono bé, cah lanang loro koyo kuwi nggo tombo otot. Ra popo-ra popo!” kakakku mengejekku.

Dan bekas tali itupun hingga kini masih membekas di pergelangan kaki kananku.

El retorn al panorama músical de Robbie Williams era molt esperat pels seus fans i per a tots aquells que els hi agrada el pop. Us avanço, dedicant-li la canço a la meva dona, la seva nova canço, Bodies:

I un tros de videoclip:

This week marks the 3rd anniversary of my entry into this virtual world. I was so busy, the day passed before I realised, so I had a sort of remembrance of the past three years a little belatedly.

I arrived in world when the maximum avatars peaked at 13,000 on the best days, when crashing was a very regular event, when I thought graphics were restricted to about 5 colours because I had such a crappy graphics card, before voice, before the great influx of European people, long before the arrival of people from the Asian countries, and when the maximum frame rate I achieved fluctuated between 2 and 4. I look back and wonder what it was that drove me to keep coming back, as it was actually quite difficult with the computer I had at the time. I’m quite sure I was convinced that I had discovered a great thing, having been a chat junkie for years, I saw this as the next evolutionary step that I needed to take.

Pretty pretty Wisteria dress from Prelude

scrumptious textures!

In my world, spring is on the way – Sorbet Dress

See more here

We’ll be challenging our Twitter followers to know their RW stuff. Winners will get a free book (just pay USPS shipping.) We’ll be doing these tweets 1x/weekly until September 9. Follow us @racingwinds or www.twitter.com/racingwinds

Ada lontaran kritik dari Kepala Desk Koordinasi Pemberantasan Teroris Kementerian Koordinator Politik, Hukum, dan Keamanan Inspektur Jenderal (Purn) Asyaad Mbai di Jakarta (27/7), yang menilai masyarakat Indonesia dinilai masih permisif dalam menyikapi aksi-aksi terorisme yang terjadi di Tanah Air, hal ini termasuk juga bersikap permisif terhadap para aktor atau kelompok yang diduga menjadi pendukung para pelaku teror.

Akibatnya, para pelaku teror bisa dengan mudah memperoleh perlindungan. Sampai-sampai pentolan teroris, Noordin M. Top dan lainnya dapat menikah dan punya keturunan semasa pelarian mereka.

Sikap permisif semacam itu, menurut Mbai, tidak terjadi di negara lain, termasuk Malaysia. Ketika gembong teroris Dr Azahari ditetapkan sebagai buronan, keluarganya harus berpindah-pindah tempat karena tidak diteroma oleh lingkungan setempat.

Ketiadaan aturan hukum yang kuat dan mampu mempersempit ruang gerak kelompok-kelompok radikal, juga ditengarai Mbai ; membuat ideologi teroris dapat diterima dan tumbuh subur di negara kita. Aturan atau payung hukum yang dibutuhkan, terkait intelijen atau penanganan hukumnya, seharusnya bisa mendukung penanganan terorisme sebagai bentuk kejahatan luar biasa, yang harus ditangani secara luar biasa pula.

Mbai menyarankan perlunya amandemen atas Undang-Undang Nomor 15 Tahun 2003 tentang Pemberantasan Tindak Pidana Terorisme dengan memasukan beberapa pasal tambahan untuk memperkuat dan menunjang peran serta kewenangan aparat, seperti intelijen.  Masih menurut Mbai, untuk keperluan ini tidak perlu membuat undang-udang baru karena rumit dan lamanya proses legislasi. Dan di sisi lain, masyarakat juga harus aktif mengetahui siapa tetangga mereka. Artinya untuk lebih menggiatkan kerja RT dan RW untuk lebih mengenal kondisi lingkungannya.

Ego sektoral

Dosen hubungan internasional Fakultas Ilmu Sosial dan Ilmu Politik Universitas Indonesia, Edy Prasetyono, mengingatkan pentingnya penguatan kelembagaan intelijen, antara lain dengan menghapus ego sektoral.

Sebetulnya banyak departemen dan lembaga negara yang memiliki mekanisme dan aparat intelijen, seperti Departemen Dalam Negeri, Badan Intelijen Negara, TNI, Polri, Kejaksaan Agung, dan keimigrasian. Namun, sayangnya semua itu belum terintegrasi dengan baik.

Edy menilai bahwa masyarakat sebetulnya tetap punya kepedulian terhadap aksi-aksi terorisme walaupun mungkin masih sebatas ketika peristiwa peledakan bom terjadi. Selebihnya, mereka adalah masyarakat awam yang masih memprioritaskan kebutuhan ekonomi dan kebutuhan pokok lainnya.

“ Jadi, persoalannya jauh lebih kompleks. Akibat masalah ekonomi, masyarakat miskin memang bisa dengan mudah dipengaruhi ideologi kekerasan teroris, “  ujarEdy.

Kesejahteraan ekonomi

Terkait hal itu, Wakil Presiden Muhammad Jusuf Kalla mengingatkan, upaya pencegahan aksi-aksi terorisme tak cukup dengan pendekatan keamanan, tetapi juga harus dilakukan dengan pendekatan kesejahteraan ekonomi.

Selama ini, kesenjangan dan ketimpangan kesejahteraan ekonomi di kalangan umat Islam dunia menjadi salah satu pemicu munculnya sikap radikal dan terorisme. Ironisnya, kesenjangan kesejahteraan ekonomi juga terjadi di antara negara-negara Islam sendiri. Inilah tantangan utama umat Islam dunia.

Kalla menyampaikan hal di atas saat memberikan sambutan dalam seminar “ The Islamic World and The Future of World Civilizations “  yang diselenggarakan oleh Kepemimpinan Masyarakat Islam Dunia (World Islamic People’s Leadership / WIPL) bersama pimpinan Pusat Muhammadiyah di Jakarta (27/7).

“ Teror bom yang terjadi pada 17 Juli lalu selalu dihubungkan dengan teror bom yang terjadi di negara-negara seperti Afghanistan, Irak, dan Sudan. Bom-bom itu selalu ‘diatasnamakan kelompok Islam’. Aksi teror seperti itu salah satunya terjadi akibat kesenjangan kesejahteraan di dunia Islam, “ ungkap Kalla.

Terkait hal ini Dr Muhammad Ahmad Sharif, Sekretaris Jenderal WIPL Wilayah India, mengatakan secara tegas, “ Islam menyebar ke dunia lebih banyak melalui pendekatan damai. Seperti Islam Indonesia yang melalui gerakan sufi, perdagangan, dan pendidikan. Itu sebabnya kekerasan dan ekstremis Islam sebetulnya tidak punya tempat di kalangan Muslim. “

Kepercayaan

Dosen Pascasarjana Ilmu Sosial Universitas Indonesia Kastorius Sinaga dan Kepala Pusat Penelitian Politik Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia Ikrar Nusa Bhakti menilai terjadi kesenjangan lebar antara pemerintah, terutama aparat, dan masyarakat terkait masalah keamanan. Kesenjangan besar terjadi karena kinerja dan perilaku aparat keamanan telah membuat masyarakat kehilangan kepercayaan.

Akibatnya, muncul sikap apatis, tidak peduli, permisif, dan menganggap isu-isu keamanan sebagai urusan pemerintah dan elite semata. “ Oleh masyarakat akar rumput, terorisme dinilai hanya urusan elite tertentu dan bukan masalah mereka, “  ujar Kastorius.

Sumber  :  Kompas, 28 & 29.07.2009

Bersama ini kami sampaikan data surat pengantar periode tahun 2006-2009 sebagai berikut :

1. Surat Keterangan Tidak Mampu / SKTM – 222 orang
2. Surat Keterangan Memperpanjang KTP – 384 orang
3. Surat Keterangan Catatan Kepolisian/SKCK – 128 orang
4. Surat Keterangan Numpang Nikah/N.A  – 129 orang
5. Surat Kematian – 19 orang
6. Surat Keterangan Pindah Alamat  – 67 orang
7. Surat Izin Domisili – 98 orang
8. Surat Keterangan Modal Usaha Kecil – 47 orang
9. Permohonan pembuatan KTP baru – 173 orang
10. Permohonan pembuatan  KK  baru – 85 orang
11. Permohonan izin mengadakan pesta nikah dll – 10 orang
12. Permohonan pembuatan Akte Kelahiran – 43 orang
13. Permohonan pasang tiang listrik – 2 orang
14. Permohonan penambahan daya/PLN – 4 orang
15. Permohonan bea siswa – 7 orang
16. Kehilangan surat-surat penting – 30 orang
17. Membuat  KTP  musiman – 24 orang
18. Membuat  Kartu Kuning – 10 orang
19. Membuat  Kartu Gakin – 10 orang
20. Keterangan belum mempunyai rumah – 8 orang
21. Keterangan Ahli Waris – 6 orang
22. Mengurus surat cerai – 2 orang