Name one benefit to Britain that derives from membership of the EU?

If there is any politician not on holiday or indeed any person at all who is concerned about the future of this country, please respond.

 

In humility is the greatest freedom.

As long as you have to defend the imaginary self
that you think is important, you lose your peace of heart.

As soon as you compare that shadow
with the shadows of other people, you lose all joy,
because you have begun to trade in unrealities
and there is no joy in things that do not exist.




Namaste

 

The French seem to have overcome their reluctance to serve disgusting food in restaurants. I had an expensive and poor dinner in both Bayeux and Paris last week.

Any fool, I know, can find a bad dinner. I suppose it is just that we foolishly believe the chances are lower of a bad draw in France. In familiar places, one intuitively avoids danger signs.

So for lunch on Saturday I decided to concentrate my mind and use the instincts that I found had worked in that notoriously uneven city for food, Venice.

In Paris I was near the Metro station St Michel, and found the streets thick with restaurants, each less inviting than the last. But on the corner of rue de l'Eperon and rue St André des Arts I came across Allard (open every day).

Allard is old-fashioned and the food leans towards expert simplicity.

I was given a salad of frisée (not straight from the fridge like much salad in English outlets) in a bowl with a vinaigrette and a sprinking of fresh lardons, still hot. Delicious.

Then came a pigeon, roast, with just a few peas.

And then a little tart with ripe raspberries and small cup of strong black coffee.

It cost a little less than in most equivalent places in Venice or London, and very cheering it was. 

Good morning everyone! And happy Wednesday! We are getting closer to the end of this contest. In 23 days we will know who all the finalists are! That is very exciting! We can not wait! We have been on this website the majority of our free time. We are usually sitting here watching TV while doing things! Hopefully all of our hard work and efforts will pay off! We are both off to work! Have a great day!

Samantha and Patrick

Mr. Brown has taken his father's beloved franchise and basically run it into the ground.  He refuses to join this millenia as far as an NFL franchise is concerned.  I hate to say it, but I told you so...this had the wretched smell of Mike Browns loser mitts all over it!

You pro-Henry guys are seriously out of your minds...there is no way in hell you can justify his being here.  In 2006, Henry missed 5 games or 31% of the season, in 2007 Henry missed 8 games or 50% of the season, in 2008 (already), he is scheduled to miss 4 games or 25% of the season (and maybe more since the season hasn't started yet). 

I don't want a squeky clean team of saints, I want a winning TEAM with guys you can depend on!!!!! and he is not that guy. 

What does Josh Hamilton, who is on pace to be the AL MVP, or Pete Rose, who is the all-time hits leader and HOF ball player have to do with Henry?

The guy is simply not dependable, production be damned! Matter of fact, last season after coming back he only had 2 touches.  He does not put a lot of effort on the field because he has such great talent.  He coasts on talent like he is still in high school or college, and lacks the committment and discipline to work hard to be truly great.  That is why he will never fully realize his potential.  He short-arms passes, doesn't run routes to their completion, can't or doesn't block, and he is one dimensional...also how many red zone TD's has he had since 2005 (his specialty right, get up and go get the ball)? I'd guess few...

******One of the biggest points you pro-Henry's are also missing is:  how many of you want Mike Brown in full control of this team instead of Marvin...(as the crickets chirp) I thought so!******

Way to send a message Mr. Brown.  Someone please tell Mr. Brown that his Word is supposed to be his Bond, and as a Man his Word now is empty and so is his manhood.  Also can somebody tell him to take his grubby loser paws off this franchise for God's sake!

Anyone who brought into question Marvin's word should apologize.

Thanks, Mr. Brown...Thanks. 

Note:  This is only regarding Mike Brown's prowess, or lack thereof, as an NFL franchise owner and has nothing to say regarding other business ventures he is involved in, nor does it speak to any of his family members.

After watching the Olympics I'm online and saw this guy bust his butt and knew I had to post it.  Watch, cringe and of course feel free to laugh.

- Watch more free videos

Britney swears off the Frappucinos in order to get back in shape for her comeback.  From Justjared.com...

 

Britney Spears looks fabulous in a white bikini on the latest cover of OK! Magazine.

The 26-year-old pop princess showed off her bangin' new body in late July, when Britney vacationed at the Las Ventanas resort in Los Cabos, Mexico, with her assistant Brett, her bodyguard Lee, her dad, Jamie Spears, and pal George Maloof.

Days later, in an exclusive interview at her Beverly Hills home, Britney chatted with OK! about how she's made her stunning transformation.

On eating right: "I'm the healthiest I've been all my life. My diet has a lot to do with my getting into shape. I have no sugar. I don't eat fruit or even fruit juice because of the sugar. I eat chicken and salmon and rice. I eat avocados. I'll have egg whites for breakfast and sometimes turkey burgers for lunch. I try to do just 1,200 calories a day. It may sound like it's not much, but it's actually a lot of food if you eat the right things."

On cutting out a guilty pleasure of hers: "Frappuccinos - gone. (laughs) I do still drink coffee, but just with Equal."

On working out five days/week at an outside gym and sometimes at the fully-equipped gym in her house: "I was working with male trainers and recently switched to a woman because she knew how to lean me out better."

Brit Brit's looking poised for an ultimate comeback!!!!! YAY!!!!!

*****************************************************

...You have to admit.  She looks good, sounds good, and could be set for a major come back if she nails the VMA performance.  My fingers are crossed for you girl! Bring it Brit!

Football in South Yorkshire tends to come off second best when it enters into a tango with Argentinians.


Colace has been prevented from helping Barnsley avoid defeat

For anyone connected with Sheffield United, the name Carlos Tevez still sends a shudder down the spine after the Manchester United striker almost single-handedly brought about their final day relegation from the Premier League in 2007.

It wasn't just his goals, either. That the then West Ham player, along with Javier Mascherano, had been brought to the club via a network of third-party deals and questionable ownership left United with a bitter taste in the mouth and a belief that the Londoners, and not them, should now be on the outside looking in on England's top flight.

And so you might think that neighbours Barnsley would have entered in to a deal to bring former Argentina Under-20 player Hugo Colace - who captained a national under age side that contained both Tevez and Mascherano - to Oakwell with a sense of dread.

Hindsight suggests they should have done anyway. The free transfer from Newell's Old Boys appeared to have been concluded at the end of June when Colace posed for his picture in a Barnsley shirt at the ground.

Nearly two months on, however, Colace has yet to kick a ball in anger for his new club.

Newell's Old Boys, for reasons known only to them, have yet to process the form that is required so as to allow the imposing midfielder to be registered with his new club, and so have clearance to play.

Barnsley have taken their grievances to the FA who in turn have reported the matter to Fifa. After more delays, finally the world governing body have requested that Newell's Old Boys come up with a reason for their procrastination.

Should they fail to do so by Thursday, Fifa will rule on the transfer themselves, taking the Argentinean club out of the equation.

It has been a frustrating time for Colace, who has had to sit and watch as Simon Davey's side open their Championship campaign with two defeats.

Barnsley need Colace. But even if the saga is brought to a close this week, Barnsley's general secretary Don Rowing is pessimistic about Colace's chances of making his debut at Birmingham at the weekend.

"This has been six weeks now and I cannot see him being eligible for Saturday," said Rowing. "In 30 years in football I've never known a problem like this.

"The longest I've ever waited before is a week."

Still, however annoying the situation is, Barnsley can console themselves that it is rivals Sheffield United, again, who have been stung the most by dealings with the South Americans - and not just in the case of Tevez.

On a tour of Argentina back in 1978, United manager Harry Haslam stumbled across a gifted 17-year-old who he thought might add something to his then second division side.

A £200,000 deal was swiftly struck but, when the club failed to produce the funds, Haslam turned to another, cheaper option, in River Plate's Alex Sabella.

Sabella proved popular with the fans but could not prevent United's slide down the league and was sold on to Leeds United.

The one that got away, a certain Diego Armando Maradona, recovered from the disappointment and went on to have a fairly decent career of his own.

Edge vs. Undertaker (Hell in a Cell Match) The Undertaker defeated Edge in the Hell in a Cell match WWE Champion Triple H vs. The Great Khali Triple H defeated The Great Khali in a Standard match for the WWE Championship World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk vs. JBL CM Punk defeated John Bradshaw Layfield in a Standard match for the World Heavyweight Championship ECW Champion Mark Henry vs. Matt Hardy Matt Hardy defeated Mark Henry (with Tony Atlas) by disqualification in a Standard match for the ECW Championship John Cena vs. Batista Batista defeated John Cena in Standard match Montel Vontavious Porter vs. Jeff Hardy Montel Vontavious Porter defeated Jeff Hardy in a Standard Match Winners Take All Tag Team Match Santino Marella and Beth Phoenix defeated Kofi Kingston and Mickie James in the Intergender tag team match for both the Intercontinental and Women’s championships. Chris Jericho punched Shawn Michaels wife in the face.(on acident)

BLOC PARTY GET INTIMATE

In an announcement that dropped jaws and got hips shaking worldwide, London's own Bloc Party has revealed that their third LP, entitled Intimacy, will drop digitally this very Thursday and be available physically as soon as October. This move, reminiscent of the rush-to-the-streets strategies of the likes of Gnarls Barkley, Radiohead, and the Raconteurs, comes as a supposed result of the ridiculously early leak of the band's last LP A Weekend in the City (which we hear at Cannibal Cheerleader had at least six months in advance). Here's the tracklist:

01.Ares
02.Mercury
03.Halo
04.Biko
05.Trojan Horse
06.Signs
07.One Month Off
08.Zephyrus
09.Better Than Heaven
10.Ion Square

Of course we've all heard the inimitable "Mercury" and it's Manchester-scene, vocoder heavy riffing, but in a separate announcement the band placed the as-of-yet unheard "Trojan Horse" on their Myspace today. Care to give a listen? We think it sounds like a more experimental "Prayer", what do you think?

Buy it here: Bloc Party

 On this date in the year 1612, ten women and men known as the Lancashire Witches were executed on the gallows in one of England's most famous Witch trials of the seventeenth century. Ironically, the nine-year-old girl who had supplied the court with incriminating evidence against the Witches was herself found guilty of Witchcraft twenty-two years later and executed in the second great Witch trial of Lancashire.

The Bishop of Leeds, the Rt Rev Arthur Roche, has issued a decree closing seven churches and chapels in West Yorkshire, saying that they must NOT be used for the celebration of Mass after August 23. They include the traditionalist parish of St John the Evangelist, Allerton Bywater, which Bishop Roche twice refers to in the decree as "St John the Baptist".


The Rt Rev Arthur Roche has closed seven churches

In other words, having earlier failed to issue a canonical decree suppressing the parishes, the bishop – a leading member of the liberal "Magic Circle" of prelates who control the Catholic Church in this country – has hastily invoked his authority to lock the church doors.

I say "hastily", because the decree appears to have been written immediately after loyal and distressed parishioners presented a document at diocesan HQ on Friday arguing that Bishop Roche had failed to follow canon law.

The decree is headed: "Decree of Closure of the Churches and Chapels of Our Lady of Graces Kinsley, Our Lady of Lourdes Ackworth, St Edmund's Airedale, St Gerard Majella Featherstone, St John the Baptist Allerton Bywater, St Joseph's Crofton."

The Bishop goes on to repeat his reference to "St John the Baptist". He cannot even name the thriving little parish he is dismantling, along with its community. Understandable, perhaps, given that in ten years this church – which celebrates both the old and new forms of Mass – has not received a single episcopal visitation.

This whole business stinks, and I hear that the smell is beginning drift as far afield as the Vatican.

Arthur Roche has not bothered to reply to canonical petitions from the parishes asking to be kept open, and when Catholics from three parishes visited Hinsley Hall, headquarters of his lordship's bureaucracy, they were met only by John Grady, an ex-priest now serving as a press officer who (as the BBC Sunday programme recorded) ordered them out of the building.

This latest, wretched decree declares: "From the 23rd day of August 2008 these churches and chapels are not to be used for the celebration of the Eucharist or the Sacraments; nor is the Blessed Sacrament to be reserved in these churches."

Imagine what it must feel like to have worshipped in one of these churches all your life, and then to be told that the Blessed Sacrament may not dwell inside it, even though the people are crying out for its presence and there is a priest to serve you.

In the 18 months I have been writing Holy Smoke, this story has attracted more comments from readers than any other. I'm not surprised. We are dealing here with the scandalous mistreatment of devout Catholics.

How does "Bishop Arthur" sleep at nights?

My first blog. Wow, Power has come a long way. Keep it up. On my first blog, i'm excited to tell you about http://www.freemixtapes.com   its a cool site where you can upload your song and download other's songs too. all free. I've created several msgs on their boards. It's really cool. check it out.

Check out this awesome travel album courtesy of Memory Makers Magazine designer Christy Miller. It's the perfect solution for a trip with lots and lots of photos. Just go to the MM blog to download a free template of the mini file folder pockets. Then share your finished projects with us in the gallery!

Watercolor is a wonderful, fluid medium that can capture subtle or sweeping motion in vivid color.


The wonderful red, peach and yellow hues in this painting are created by allowing two pigments to mix directly on the paper as opposed to mixing them on the palette.

This building color with watercolor free project comes from the book Water Color in Motion by Birgit O’Connor. In the book you’ll get:
* complete information on selecting the best papers, paints and brushes and how to achieve intense color passages, the illusion of depth and lively shadows.
* 10 exercises and 15 step-by-step demonstrations that illustrate important lessons on shapes, complementary colors, masking fluid, glazing and more.
* a DVD that shows key techniques in action as well as troubleshooting common problems with washes.

Download this free watercolor painting project here.

Purchase a copy of Water Color in Motion by Birgit O’Conner here. In the U.K., click here.

Other watercolor books you might enjoy:

A Celebration of Light

Paint Watercolors That Dance with Light

hola amigos ya saben me escriben y les escribo y todos contentos yo con gusto estare esperando que me escriban para poder contactarnos un rato va k va

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Well it was announced this past monday there would be a championship scramble for the World Heavyweight Championship at Unforgiven involving Batista, JBL, Kane, Cena, and the champ himself, CM Punk. It'll be for 20 minutes time and in the same format as that Hardcore title scramble back at WrestleMania 2000 or 16. Best Adamle Original yet in my opinion. I wish the best of luck to CM Punk, Cena, and Batista only. JBL and Kane better not be walking out with that belt. And I caught wind of a WWE Title Scramble as well for Smackdown! at Unforgiven. Only one I know who'll be in it with Triple H so far is Jeff Hardy. Now I'm also hoping for an ECW World Heavyweight Championship scramble as well. If they do this for all three brands, then this by far will be the best Unforgiven I've seen in years. ( Last one being in 2006 ) Here's who I'd like to see in the ECW scramble: Evan Bourne, Matt Hardy, Finlay, and John Morrison. I hope those four face Mark Henry in the title scramble if push does come to shove for ECW.