The World Health Organization reports insecurity in Afghanistan is jeopardizing health operations and preventing qualified staff from working in remote and rural areas of the country. WHO says this is of particular concern right now as the H1N1 influenza pandemic is spreading in cold parts of the country…. From VOA. Full story

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A 35-year-old New Zealand man is facing up to 14 years in prison for sentencing his wife to a lifetime of pain and suffering, when he forcibly injected her twice with a sewing needle that he had soaked and dipped in HIV tainted blood.

The diseased blood came from his own body, and he injected his 33-year-old unsuspecting wife while she was sleeping next to him in their marital bed.

It is being reported that the man injected her with the disease because his wife decided to abstain from sex with him…because he was HIV positive, which only makes good sense.

If he truly loved her, he would not want to subject her to his disease, and he should have been appreciative that she decided to support him.

But no…this man is a self obsessed narcissist, and the he only cares about his own self-gratification, and is devoid of love. Unfortunetly for his wife, she realized this far too late for her to preserve her health.

The man claimed that he did it so that his wife would start having sex with him again, as she had refused to do so out of fear of contracting the disease. He gave her the virus by pricking her with a sewing needle tainted with his blood.

The Telegraph.co.uk reports that…His wife told a New Zealand court that she discovered a sting-like mark on her left thigh in May last year. Later that day, when she returned home unexpectedly, she saw her husband in the bedroom with a syringe full of blood.

Two days later she awoke to a stinging feeling in her leg, the Australian Associated Press reported. He denied pricking her, but later she found evidence of “blood sprinkles” on the duvet.

In September, when her doctor suggested a test at a routine checkup, she found she was HIV-positive.

This definitely gives us all something to think about, as this is one of those crimes of passion that seems to rate as an attempt on her life.

This is a case of ‘’slow murder” that is premeditated ,coupled with biological warfare. Life in prison would be a more likely charge in my opinion,but he will soon die from his disease.

I hope that they do not treat him for it, and with hold his medication so he can suffer before he dies. It sure seems like he had a good and loyal wife, who does not deserve what she is going through.

Police charged the man in October of last year. Keep the needles to yourself…and leave them to those that need them in order to survive, but absolutely not to kill, as in this case of marital abuse…

Mainlining... Shooting Up...

Read the full story here,and let me know your reactions to this sick crime…

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/newzealand/6752023/HIV-positive-man-infects-sleeping-wife-with-virus-in-needle-attack.html

Reallize that true happiness lies within you. Waste no time and effort searching for peace and contentment and joy in the world outside. Remember that there is no happiness in having or in getting, but only in giving. Reach out. Share. Smile. Hug. Happiness is a perfume you cannot pour on others without getting a few drops on yourself.

This definition of happiness by Og Mandino

Happiness is contagious…when you reflect happiness, then all others around you catch the happy bug and are happy, too.

This definition of happiness by Jennifer Leese

Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.

This definition of happiness by Mahatma Gandhi

Happiness is an inner state of well being. A state of well being enables you to profit from your highest: thoughts, wisdom, intelligence, common sense, emotions, health, and spiritual values in your life.

This definition of happiness by Lionel Ketchian

Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.

This definition of happiness by Thich Nhat Hanh

Sending Light! What do we send when we send light to someone? Can simply loving people be a source of light? Yes it can. When we have feelings of true love for people we become a transporter of light and love. Light is the visual, or external, proof of its conjoining love, which has its own evidence in our world. There is no division of this energy into separate compartments. Light is the very makeup of a soul and love is a attribute of the soul.There can be no separation of these two. How can one separate the soul’s connection with the Creator, the Absolute and maker of our Universe.

much thanx to Reph and Mick for some of the photos.

Today’s suggestion is a rather simple one – to simply put up a small ‘light sign’ to get a message across and raise awareness of an issue. The issue could be ‘peace’ of ‘save trees.’

The message is communicated by making the word/s using a string of lights (fairy lights, etc) and hanging them outside of the house.

This idea is not one I’ll be following up – I’ll do my bit for the environment and not do this one. However, spreading a message via a string of lights can be done – or it could be done by a piece of chalk as with the word ‘eternity,’ by Arthur Stace in Sydney.

http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/s/stace.htm 

A response to reading ‘365 Ways to Change the World,’ by Michael Norton

Here is a link to the deck.

http://mtgurl.com/SFXs

The deck uses two land-altering enchantments, Spreading Seas and Convincing Mirage, to lock the opponent off a color of mana.  In addition, it uses Ardent Plea as a virtual land-altering enchantment, cascading into one of the enchantments.

The four color version made popular by worlds utilized Ajani Vengeant to further hinder the opponent.  In addition, it packs Bloodbraid Elf and Captured Sunlight to further help with the cascading.  These are the problems I see with the four color version:

• Weakness to land destruction – More and more people are playing either Goblin Ruinblaster, Acidic Slime, and Mold Shambler.  Having four colors increases the weakness to getting color screwed due to not having access to a specific color.
• No backup plan should Islands be useful – Spreading Seas becomes a cantrip while possibly fixing their mana.
• Fetchlands – Players will sit on their fetchlands until the turn then need them, discouraging the use of sorcery speed land-manipulation.  Sure, there’s Lavaball Trap, but that requires leaving at least 5 mana open on their turn when you can be doing stuff your turn.

That being said, you’ll notice some interesting card choices in the decklist I’ve posted.  Here are some explanations:

• Mindlock Orb – Tech against fetchlands, though it will stop your Fabricates.  It’s also tech against Nissa Revane, stopping her ultimate and her ability to pull up Nissa’s Chosen.  Sure, Pithing Needle solves both of those problems, but at 1 CMC, it can affect an Ardent Plea.  Mindlock Orb also helps against ramp cards such as Rampant Growth or Harrow.
• Scepter of Domination – Icy Manipulator, but cheaper.  Taps down lands and creatures in a pinch.
• Obelisk of Alara – Win-con, removal, lifegain, and card draw all in one.
• Darksteel Colossus – Win-con I was testing for the mill matchup.  Feel free to replace him with Sphinx of Jwar Isle.
• Fabricate – Searches for your artifacts and turns to discard fodder for Sphinx of Lost Truth when not needed.
• Kiss of the Amesha – Card draw + life gain

Also note that I have an incomplete sideboard.  Here are some cards I would recommend:

• Telemin Performance – Bring it in against opposing control decks and mill decks.  Can be  a near-instant win should your opponent not run any creatures.
• Oblivion Ring – Just all-around removal, taking out creatures, planeswalkers, etc.
• Wall of Reverence – Defender in addition to Wall of Denial, also helping with lifegain.
• Deft Duelist – Something to cascade into should the land enchantments be ineffective.  Stops Elemental Appeal, Ball Lightning, Bloodbraid Elf, and other creatures that many red decks play.

Here’s why I chose UW over four colors in response to the aforementioned problems:

• Weakness to land destruction – With only two colors, you’re more resilient to land destruction.  Just watch out for your Rupture Spires since they fuel the modes of the Obelisk of Alara.
• No backup plan should Islands be useful – Convincing Mirage and Scepter of Dominance help limit the number of blue sources your opponent has.
• Fetchlands – You now have Mindlock Orb.  Play it early for best results.

Despite improving somewhat, I feel that the deck still has weaknesses:

• Lack of creature removal – Yes, there’s Day of Judgment and pseudo removal in Scepter of Dominance, but there is no targeted removal should a creature with a vicious static ability(ie Ob Nixilis) comes into play.
• Weakness versus monocolored decks – This is just a general problem with land destruction decks.  With the inability to hinder their mana base, monocolored decks can continually bring out threats.
• Weakness versus fast decks – Any decks that come out fast with minimal lands is a major threat, ie  Boros or White Weenie.  With only 4 copies of Day of Judgment, opposing decks can swarm the field and beat you down quickly.  Should you be expecting it, feel free to add in Wall of Reverance and Deft Duelists in the SB.

The SpreadEm archetype is best for a meta of multicolored, non-Island decks.  Play it where you plan to see a lot of Jund and Naya Lightsabre decks.  Those two decks will be your best matchup.

I’d like to hear your thoughts on the deck.  Do you think the card choices are optimal?  Any tech that I failed to mention?

Until next time,
ShadowSketched
shadowsketched@gmail.com
www.twitter.com/shadowsketched