"A woman should be two things: Classy and fabulous."
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Philosophy!
They have this in Hot Cocoa and you seriously need to try it. It smells so yummy and, seriously, your hair and skin will feel real smooth after. They also have shimmery body lotions that you might want to check out. Here is the Sweet Shop Collection by Philosophy, at Sephora.
""I don't think he's so popular with young people in America," said Aviad Tamir, 25. "But from us he received a lot of warmth."
Near the end of his Israel visit, the president has an informal chat with a group of Jewish and Arab students. A frank and lively discussion results. By Richard Boudreaux, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer 6:54 PM PDT, May 16, 2008
JERUSALEM -- Seated under an olive tree with a dozen Israeli students, President Bush was bemoaning the bad rap he gets in the Middle East. Many people believe he hates Muslims, he said, but it's not true.
It was as friendly an audience as Bush could expect in this part of the world, so Henriette Chacar's comeback gave him pause. "I think it comes out that you don't like Muslims because in most of your speeches you tend to relate extremism to Muslims," said the 16-year-old Israeli Arab, who is Christian.
Without bristling, Bush conceded the point.
"Actually, what I say is you're not a religious person if you're a murderer," he replied. "But you're right. I've got to do a better job of making it clear when I talk about Islam [that] I talk about a peaceful religion."
The exchange Friday was part of an unusually frank and lively discussion between an unscripted Bush and a diverse group of young Israelis as he ended a 48-hour visit to Israel. It showed a reflective, self- critical side of a leader in his final year in office, but also a gap in his awareness of the rigid social norms that underlie the region's conflict and reinforce division.
At one point, Bush asked whether Arabs and Jews date, or go to the same dances.
"No dances?" he asked, sounding surprised by the answer.
Then he glanced at 17-year-old Jonathan Blumenfeld, who had spoken about his music, and joked: "You should get him to take out his guitar. How much reconciliation there would be on the dance floor."
Manar Saraia put the issue to rest. It's unusual that she has Jewish roommates, but the 22-year-old Israeli Arab Muslim told Bush that her family would not approve if she dated or married a Jew.
"The parents and the children themselves think if we are of different religions that it's hard to live together as a couple," she said.
Bush conversed easily with the students as he sat with them in a circle of wrought iron chairs on the lawn of the Bible Lands Museum. First Lady Laura Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice joined them.
The student group, representing schools selected by the U.S. Embassy, was a mosaic of native-born Jews, Jewish immigrants from Ethiopia, Argentina and the former Soviet Union, and the two Arab Israeli citizens, members of a minority in Israel that often identifies with Palestinians in the neighboring West Bank and Gaza Strip. They included high school, university and postgraduate students.
Bush had come to Israel to help celebrate the 60th anniversary of the country's founding. And despite little to show for six months of U.S.-backed peace talks, he has pressed at every stop the goal of a partial accord by the end of his presidency, one that would lead to a Palestinian state alongside Israel.
He found support for compromise under the olive tree, where Ron Hasid, a 16-year-old Orthodox Jew, declared that he was willing to give up land to the Palestinians "so they get a good life too." Assaf Irony, 27, called for more cultural programs to bring Israelis and Palestinians together.
But though they shared some of Bush's optimism about peace, the students kept trying to bring his expectations to Earth.
Mor Tzaban, 18, said it is hard to be hopeful when Palestinian rockets fired from Gaza keep landing on her town in the Negev desert. Danny Glushenkov, 26, said Hamas, the militant Islamic group running Gaza, "is the main obstacle."
"Optimism doesn't mean ignoring the truth," Bush replied. Later he said, "I think why people are fighting is there's a group of people that refuse to accept a Jewish state . . . a refusal to admit a certain reality."
That brought a fresh retort from Chacar, the Arab teen, who said Israel for too long had refused to recognize the Palestinians' identity and rights.
"We can't wipe out a whole section of history," she said. "The Palestinian people did exist."
"Did exist and do exist," Bush answered, forecasting a Palestinian state. "It's going to happen."
The president went around the circle for 45 minutes, giving each Israeli a chance to speak. When Aviad Tamir, 25, said he aspired to a public service career and asked for advice, Bush said, "You don't have to lose your soul. . . . Have a core set of principles that you won't change."
Bush left a good impression.
"I don't think he's so popular with young people in America," Tamir said. "But from us he received a lot of warmth. You could tell he enjoyed it."
Even Bush's young Arab critic gave him a thumbs-up.
"He accepted my criticism. He didn't make me feel out of place," said Chacar, who last year served as Israel's ambassador to a high school Model United Nations assembly. "Communication is the key to solving this conflict. To have him communicating with us, it gave us some hope."
These are the kinda guys Obama wants to sit down and talk with.
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Hezbollah gunmen battled supporters of the government on Sunday on the fifth day of a campaign by the Iranian-backed group that has dealt a severe blow to Washington's allies in Lebanon.
The fighting in Aley, a town in the mountains overlooking the capital, and nearby villages killed at least eight people.
Hezbollah, which is also backed by Syria, and its allies have in recent days routed pro-government gunmen in Beirut in Lebanon's worst civil strife since the 1975-1990 civil war.
The drive by Hezbollah to take control of strategic locations has increased pressure on the governing coalition, supported by the United States and Saudi Arabia, to accept the opposition's terms for ending 18 months of political conflict.
Hezbollah and allied Druze fighters took control of several villages in the Aley area on Sunday, security sources said. Explosions and gunfire echoed across the pine-covered hills.
The clashes brought the death toll in five days of fighting across Lebanon to 53. At least 150 have been wounded.
Fighting eased and the army began to deploy after Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, whose supporters were fighting Hezbollah, asked a rival Druze leader allied to the Shi'ite group to mediate an end to the fighting.
The battles stopped for several hours, but the two sides clashed again in Mount Barook to the southeast shortly before midnight. Barook separates the Druze heartland of Shouf from the mainly Shi'ite southern end of the Bekaa Valley.
"COEXISTENCE MOST IMPORTANT"
"I tell my supporters that civil peace, coexistence and stopping war and destruction are more important than any other consideration," Jumblatt, a pillar of the U.S.-backed governing coalition, said in an appeal on LBC television.
Jumblatt's call for his Druze rival Talal Arsalan to mediate was a sign of how big a blow the coalition has been dealt by Hezbollah, a political group with a powerful guerrilla army.
The Druze, an offshoot of Islam, make up less than 10 percent of Lebanon's population but have traditionally wielded disproportionately large influence.
Arab League foreign ministers agreed at an emergency meeting in Cairo to send a mission to Beirut to help mediate an end to the Lebanese crisis, led by the Qatari prime minister.
"We want to rescue Lebanon," Arab League chief Amr Moussa told a news conference. He said the ministers condemned the use of violence to achieve political goals.
Lebanon's political stalemate turned violent on Wednesday after the government decided to try to move against a military communications network operated by Hezbollah, and sacked the head of security at Beirut airport, who is close to the group.
Hezbollah called the move a declaration of war, saying the network had played a key role in its war with Israel in 2006.
Hezbollah seized much of west Beirut on Friday, then pulled back to let the army take control of areas they had captured after the army overturned the government's decisions.
However, Hezbollah said it would maintain a campaign of civil disobedience until all its demands were met.
In particular, it wants explicit recognition that it can keep its weapons for use against Israel. It also demands veto power in any new government, and a new electoral law, before allowing the election to the presidency of army chief General Michel Suleiman, who both sides agree should fill the post.
CABINET TO MEET SOON
Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said his cabinet would meet soon to decide on Hezbollah's demands, and on the army's request that the government annul this month's decisions altogether.
Hundreds of soldiers backed by armored vehicles set up roadblocks in Beirut and took up positions on the streets of the mainly Muslim part of the capital.
There were no gunmen in sight but youths maintained barricades on some crucial roads, ensuring Beirut's air and sea ports remained closed.
The United States, which considers Hezbollah a terrorist group, a threat to Israel and a weapon in the hands of its arch-foe Iran, had welcomed the end of the Beirut fighting.
Iran blamed the United States and Israel for the escalation in Lebanon and said it backed an internal solution to the political deadlock.
The governing coalition accuses Hezbollah of seeking to restore the influence of neighboring Syria, which was forced to withdraw its troops from Lebanon in 2005.
I didn't hear this from the news- I've been busy lately but thank God I ran into it at Pat Dollard's website! This just made me tear up a bit!
Secretary of the Navy Donald C. Winter announced today at a ceremony in Lake Ronkonkoma, N.Y., the name of the newest Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer will be Michael Murphy. Designated as DDG-112, the name honors Lt. Michael Murphy who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions during Operation Red Wing in Afghanistan on June 28, 2005.
Navy SEAL (Sea, Air, Land) Lt. Michael P. Murphy lead a four-man team tasked with finding a key Taliban leader in the mountainous terrain near Asadabad, Afghanistan, when they came under fire from a much larger enemy force with superior tactical position. Mortally wounded while exposing himself to enemy fire, Murphy knowingly left his position of cover to get a clear signal in order to communicate with his headquarters. While being shot at repeatedly, Murphy calmly provided his unit’s location and requested immediate support for his element. He returned to his cover position to continue the fight until finally succumbing to his wounds.
Michael Murphy will be one of the U.S. Navy’s most advanced, state-of-the-art warships in the fleet. With the combination of Aegis, the vertical launching system, and advanced anti-submarine warfare system, advanced anti-aircraft missiles and Tomahawk cruise missiles, the Arleigh Burke-class continues the revolution at sea. Utilizing a gas turbine propulsion system, Michael Murphy will be able to operate independently or as part of carrier strike groups, surface action groups, amphibious ready groups, and underway replenishment groups.
Michael Murphy will be the 62nd Arleigh Burke-class destroyer. The 9,200 ton ship is being built by Bath Iron Works, a General Dynamics Company and will be 509.5 feet in length, have a waterline beam of 59 feet, a crew size of 323 (23 officers and 300 enlisted) and she will make speed in excess of 30 knots.
This product ended my hunt for the perfect foundation (at least for now!). It blends well with my skin and has good coverage: I don't feel the need to pump out a gallon of liquid foundation to cover the occasional flaw (such as a pimple, etc.) on my face. It runs smoothly on your skin and stays on all day. It's also inexpensive, which is a huge bonus! Anyway, I tried on a cool sheet of pearl mask yesterday and I gotta say it works. It kept my face fresh and luminous throughout the entire shitty day. I also had a big date that night, and even if it didn't turn out as well as I hoped it would, I still looked fabulous. =D
President George W. Bush may turn out to be the top economic forecaster in the country.
About a month ago he told reporters, “We’re not in a recession, we’re in a slowdown.” At a White House news conference a few weeks later, despite the fact that reporters pressed him to use the “R” word, Mr. Bush refused. And on Friday, after the most recent jobs report — which produced a much-smaller-than-expected decline in corporate payrolls, a huge 362,000 increase in the more entrepreneurial household survey (the best gain in five months), and a historically low 5 percent unemployment rate (4.95 percent, to be precise) — the president told reporters: “This economy is going to come on. I’m confident it will.”
We’re in the midst of the most widely predicted and heralded recession in history. Problem is, so far it’s a non-recession recession. Score one for President Bush. In an election year, it could be a big one.
First-quarter GDP growth came in at 0.6 percent. It wasn’t the widely predicted decline, and economists expect that number to be revised up. GDP growth for the fourth quarter of 2007 was also up slightly, while the prior two quarters averaged over 4 percent growth.
My pal Jimmy Pethokoukis quotes Stanford professor Robert Hall, who heads the recession-dating committee at the National Bureau of Economic Research: “It seems unlikely that we would ever declare a peak-date when real GDP continued to rise.”
Interesting — isn’t it? — just how durable and resilient our low-tax, free-market, capitalist economy truly is. Hit by soaring food and energy prices, a bad housing downturn, and a Wall Street credit crunch, the economy continues to expand, albeit slowly.
Over the past 7+ years I’ve watched President Bush be relentlessly attacked - mostly on the left, but quite a bit on the right, too. These attacks have tended to an incredible cruelty - no slander has been too extreme for President Bush’s critics…he is hated, by those who hate him, with a white-hot passion which entirely unhinges reason. Through it all, though, President Bush has kept his temper, refused to lash back and - most importantly - gets proven right again and again. Some of the criticism of President Bush won’t be proved wrong until some years after he leaves office, but I do believe that the only thing which will mar President Bush’s record is Campaign Finance Reform…everything else is working just as advertised.
President Bush is the man who has never lied to us; who has always told us how hard things will be; who has always done the right thing no matter what the risk to his political prospects - he is the man we all say we’re always looking for in politics, and just as soon as we got him, half the country went nuts with hatred of the man…no surprise; the true and the good are always welcome in the abstract, despised in the concrete. We’re going to miss President Bush come January, no matter who wins in November - even if the new President does a wonderful job, I doubt much we’re going to get a man with President Bush’s precise mix of raw courage and common sense for quite some time.
About Me: Fashion Design and Merchandising student. I have nothing against women who are materialistic, superficial and vain: They are my role models. I love anything that glitters like the sun and looks pretty. I attended private Catholic schools my whole life, so you know I'm pretty evil! (Ha-ha!)
I am pro-Bush, pro-life, pro-freedom and I support the Global War on Terror.
