UK government opened UK citizen data to NSA

UK government opened UK citizen data to NSA


The latest, via the Guardian and Channel 4 News, on the Snowden revelations is that "The phone, internet and email records of UK citizens not suspected of
any wrongdoing have been analysed and stored by America's National
Security Agency under a secret deal that was approved by British
intelligence officials......an NSA
memo describes how in 2007 an agreement was reached that allowed the
agency to "unmask" and hold on to personal data about Britons that had
previously been off limits. The memo, published in a joint investigation by the Guardian and Britain's Channel 4 News,
says the material is being put in databases where it can be made
available to other members of the US intelligence and military
community."
Good to see Channel 4 paying some attention -

Sugar Hates Me A Weight-Loss Journey Story

Sugar Hates Me A Weight-Loss Journey Story


I don't often get onto a nutrition/eating disorder soapbox, but today I'm going to do just that.

We eat healthfully around here. Vegetables are de rigueur, there's always fruit in the house, we don't have boxes of sugary cereal, etc., etc., etc. But when I was a teenager, I ate crap. Let me amend that: When I ate, I ate crap. A typical day for me went something like this: Get up at 5:30, head to school at 6 and grab a gas station (QuikTrip, so does that really count as a gas station? Never mind, I digress...) cappuccino on the way. I would down that before band started at 7:30. Lunch was open campus at 11:25, but I rarely went out. If I had lunch, it was usually a container of fries or some Swiss cake rolls… and a Pepsi.


Lunch of ChampionsFor dinner as a young child, I ate whatever my mom fixed. I was (and am) not a picky eater. But by the time I got a car, I had a job I worked from 3-6 each day (during which I might drink another Pepsi or nosh on a Three Musketeers bar, one of the few candy bars I could eat with braces on my teeth), and a couple days a week I'd go from there to tae kwon do, so by the time I got back to the house, I had to fend for myself. My dad was usually out in his shop, my sister in her room doing homework, and my mom had taken a job teaching ballroom dance, so she was out of the house more evenings than not. Sometimes there were leftovers, sometimes not. I don't eat sandwiches, so sometimes I'd just skip dinner. I didn't know how to cook and certainly wouldn't have been permitted to ransack the kitchen, so it was easier. Some nights I didn't come home because I had social events I wanted to attend, so I might have grabbed something out, but it certainly wouldn't have been anything good for me. Taco Bueno and I were good buddies.

Obviously, in the long run, my diet did not do good things to my metabolism. When I gave birth to Doodlebug, I had eaten whatever I wanted and gained about 30 pounds. I did not lose this weight while nursing. When I got pregnant with Boo, I weighed about 50 pounds more than I had in high school… and I gained another 20-30 with her. I was not a small woman. I was borderline for gestational diabetes - on the happy side, so I didn't have to do any treatment other than watch what I ate - and again, I didn't lose weight after she was born. My body holds onto poundage. Natural consequences of my teen diet, I suspect.

I have worked hard in the years since Boo has been born to take off those extra pounds. My body will allow me to lose about 10 pounds at a time, which I do sensibly by watching what I eat and exercising, before it will decide that it needs to readjust to its new dimensions. I will never be as thin as I was in high school, but given the fact that I never ate a lot - or ate a ton, because on weekends when my mom was home and fixing food, I'd inhale everything in sight - that's probably a healthy thing. But I've noticed that my body is very sensitive to weight changes. At 170 lbs., I had migraines once a week. I was miserable. My blood sugar fluctuated wildly, and my doctor had me mentally flagged as a pre-diabetic. He didn't want to write it on my chart and have insurance go nuts, but it was there in the back of his mind. My blood pressure wasn't bad, but it wasn't ideal, either. At 5'8", I was barely overweight, but my body was reacting as if I was morbidly obese. As I've lost weight, the migraines have all but vanished. I haven't filled a prescription for Treximet in several years. My back rarely spasms any more. Even my blood sugar stabilized. These are all good, good things. But I still have to watch.

When we moved into this house, we gained an extra refrigerator. At first it was primarily used to hold leftovers and extra produce, but it also has become the 'drink fridge.' This definitely saves us space in our refrigerator, which is barely large enough to hold the food that we go through in a normal two-week shopping cycle, let alone extra beverages, but it also means that we can keep pop on hand all the time. And Pepsi is my Achilles' heel.

I drank the last Pepsi in the box one day last week. I hadn't realized how often I'd been drinking it until a day or two later when my blood sugar crashed (yet again, because that's been happening more often lately) and my son ran out to find me a drink to help me stabilize. I ate something (completely unhealthful, but helpful) instead, and I remembered that the way I lost the first five pounds when I started my long weight-loss journey was to give up Pepsi. I've put on 6. Hm.

Yesterday I forced myself to drink several glasses of water instead of ingesting extra liquid calories. I'm three pounds lighter today. I can understand a normal fluctuation of a pound or two, but three seems significant. I am reminded of how slow my metabolism is and how sensitive my body is to extra sugar.

This infographic that I saw on Pinterest reminded me of exactly why I try to eat healthfully - and why I tend to avoid cookies and sandwiches and cake:


Click to enlargeI hate avoiding Pepsi. I hate how much I have to watch what I eat. But at least I get it. And if it means I'm not passing out every afternoon from blood sugar spikes and crashes, then it's worth it. I can only hope that my kids will be smarter than their mother and avoid the same pitfalls. Society is cruel, but longterm damage is far worse. I don't want them to have the same struggles. I don't want them to feel like they're missing out on their favorite foods (or drinks) because of bad choices they made decades earlier. I want them to be healthy. I think modeling that is the best way to teach them. I can only hope I'm doing a good job.

Our Wedding Day, Despite the Many Setbacks

Our Wedding Day, Despite the Many Setbacks



Myseventh wedding anniversary is coming upNov. 30th.
I wanted to share our wedding story with you that I wrotefour years ago.
Today, makes myfourth wedding anniversary and I can't help but think about the day I finally decided to say I do. It was an ordinary day in Jacksonville, FL., but it was a day that would change my life in many ways. We have had ups and downs since then like every couple, but we have two rules that we always honor. We never let the sun go down on our anger and we call a truce when we cannot reach a conclusion we both agree on.

November 30th 2006 was my official wedding day, but it was a day that I will truly never forget. I began the day excited about our wedding plans and I worked hard to make sure everything was perfect. I didn't want a big wedding, so I invited only my and his family to the wedding. Suddenly, I got a call that our Pastor was unable to marry us, due to being put in the hospital. I almost gave up on getting married that day, but my landlord was a notary and she performed the ceremony right in her office.

My husband and I were married, yet my sister-in-law decided to throw us an official wedding with the frills and all. I explained that I was already officially married and it did no good, because she was not taking no for an answer. We decided to get dressed in Jean and nice t-shirts, since I don't really care for dresses. I decided to make one demand, which was to have the ceremony in my granddad's front yard and I wanted him to give me away.

(Read More)

PS: We love everyone for making our day special, despite the setbacks we endured.

Making A Retro Rocketship

Making A Retro Rocketship



Back in 2008, Pete Murray on the Lead Adventure Forum very graciously offered some drinks cups from an American fast food chain called Denny's to forum members. As I have a large collection of retro-scifi figures this was ideal for conversion. I was lucky enough to get my personal message off quick enough for one and it arrived not long after. Here's a photo I found online, that shows the cup in it's original condition next to a 28mm figure




Roll
on 6 months (that is pretty quick for a project for me) and the decision was made to 'get it sorted' So, for those interested, here's the process...

Step
One, File Extra Lid Details Down Insert Nose Spike
I carved off as much excess detail as I could with a heavy duty knife then using a heavy file followed by fine sandpaper smoothed it down. The nose spike was a golf tee I managed to get off a work colleague (he did look at me funny when I explained what I wanted it for....)



Step Two, Side Doors Windows Cut out a pair of doors window frames from .30 plastic card for detailing the body and stick them on with superglue. The plastic actually stuck quite well, I was concerned that the plastic of the cup might be too greasy but it was OK


Step Three, Rocket Ports Take some plastic tubing, cut lots of 10mm lengths, then superglue them around the body as rocket ports. The tubing I used was 1/8" / 3.2mm styrene tubing from Plastruct. It took two lengths to cut enough pieces, with some spares left over afterwards.
Once finished have a strong drink to settle the nerves!
Step Four, Front Window Frame This was cut from the same .30 plastic card that the side doors were cut from. This needs to carefully curved to apply it to the rounded surface of the cup. I have created a file that shows the size that you need to cut to
Step Five, Wing Stubs Taking a rounded slide binder (used to hold papers together), cut two 25mm lengths, glue the open edge together then cut end pieces and stick them on the outer ends (inner ends will stick to hull) You then need to glue them to the opposite sides of the cup, making sure they are level line up with one another when viewed from the front
Step Six, Paint With all construction complete, time to add paint. I decided on the classic silver scheme and sprayed with a can of Tamiya silver for polycarbonate (to make sure it covers the plastic ok) Next paint in windows edge doors etc using a black base and adding high lights in various shades of blue
I finally gloss varnished the ship to protect the paintwork as I wasn't sure how the paint would hold onto the plastic cup surfaceThis article was originally posted on my website but as I will be closing it I am transferring it to my blog

How to Find a Legitimate Payday Loan Lender

How to Find a Legitimate Payday Loan Lender


A payday accommodation is the ideal band-aid if you are in burning charge of money afore your next payday. It could be for an burning allowance purchase, to pay an behind bill or to fix a torn car. Whatever it is, a payday accommodation is the quickest concise solution. And you can accept the funds in your annual in a bulk of minutes.But the payday accommodation industry has been arguable for assorted reasons. And this has been fabricated worse by betray companies that con atrocious borrowers. Abounding of them accept agleam websites and affable agents who accomplish you feel you are in the appropriate place. But all they're cared about is your money and not in analytic your problem.Because all payday accommodation lenders are now online, accomplishing quick analysis on any lender has become a lot easier. And you can apperceive in account if you're searching at a accepted or betray lender by blockage out the afterward factors:Online ReviewsThe aboriginal footfall to yield if searching for a accepted payday accommodation lender is to apprehend chump reviews. Reviews will acquaint you if a aggregation in fact exists and how continued it's been in business. And sometimes abounding abrogating reviews are not consistently a bad thing; and that's because it's usually humans who accept had a bad acquaintance who leave feedback.But reviews all-embracing will acquaint you if a aggregation provides a acceptable account or not. And this will be a adviser to what you a lot of acceptable will face if you assurance up with them.Lender AgeA acceptable assurance a lender is accepted or not is the breadth of time they've been in business. You can calmly acquisition this out by blockage with Companies House, on their website, the area age on Whois and abounding added areas. If you are still not sure, again you should buzz their offices and even accomplish a appointment if possible.Privacy PolicyThe lender should accept a austere aloofness action and its URL should be secure. It should activate with https and not just http. If the "s " is missing again this agency the website is not defended and your claimed advice could be at risk.Fees and ChargesThe website should accompaniment acutely the lender accuse and fees and what you'll repay. You should be able to calmly acquisition their acceding apropos to backward payments and fees for rolling over a loan. You should aswell be able to acquisition this in an FAQ area and in the Terms.The AgreementThe acceding you sign, whether online or offline, should be bright and understandable. It should acutely cover the accommodation amount, absorption rate, accommodation fees and any added applicative fees. The due date should aswell arise on the acclaim acceding and data of what should appear if you abort to accommodated the due date.Office of Fair Trading (OFT)The payday accommodation lender should be registered with the Office of Fair Trading. And you should analysis their website for their Consumer Acclaim Number which should be acutely displayed on the homepage.SummaryThere are abounding added factors to analysis to accomplish abiding you don't abatement victim to a betray payday accommodation lender. You can acquisition these online and by thoroughly blockage the website, you can save yourself a lot of agitation and assurance up with a accepted lender.

Double bombing kills at least 23, including diplomat, near Iranian Embassy in Beirut

Double bombing kills at least 23, including diplomat, near Iranian Embassy in Beirut






View Photo Gallery — Double bombing kills at least 23, including diplomat, near Iranian Embassy in Beirut: Twin explosions are reported near facility in residential neighborhood. At least one diplomat is reported killed, 147 are wounded, in act that is escalation of sectarian violence spilling over from civil war in Syria.




By Loveday Morris and Ahmed Ramadan, Updated: Tuesday, November 19, 12:31 PM


BEIRUT —Twin explosions near the Iranian Embassy in Beirut on Tuesday killed 23 people, including Irans cultural attaché, Lebanese and Iranian officials said. The blasts appeared to be the latest in a string of sectarian bombings linked to the war in neighboring Syria.

The first explosion in the Bir Hasan area of the Lebanese capital detonated outside the residence of Iranian Ambassador Ghazanfar Roknabadi, Irans state news agency said. The news agency, citing information from Roknabadi, said cultural attaché Ibrahim Ansari was killed.

Witnesses said the initial blast brought many residents out onto the street or to their balconies, leaving them vulnerable to the much more powerful explosion which detonated about two minutes later.

Images from the scene showed bodies lying in the street, and the twisted burning wreckage of cars, while medics rushed some of the injured away on stretchers. Lebanons Health Ministry said a total of 147 people were wounded.

The Abdullah Azzam Brigade, an Islamist group with links to al-Qaeda, claimed responsibility in a message on the social media site Twitter.

“The attack on the Iranian Embassy in Beirut was a twin martyrdom operation by two heroes of the Sunni in Lebanon,” said Sheikh Sirajeddine Zuraiqat, a cleric affiliated with the group. He said the group would continue such attacks until prisoners being held in Lebanon are released and forces from the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah are withdrawn from Syria, where they have joined forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad to try to quell a largely Sunni uprising.

The long-running Syrian civil war has inflamed sectarian tensions in Lebanon and throughout the region, with Assad also receiving support from Shiite Iran. Tit-for-tat bombings have targeted both Shiite and Sunni neighborhoods in Lebanon this year, as Syrias fragile neighbor struggles to insulate itself from the violence.

The Azzam Brigade has repeatedly demanded that Hezbollah, which is financed and backed by Iran, remove its forces from Syria. Majid bin Muhammad al-Majid, the brigades leader, called in August for Sunnis in Lebanon and Syria to unite in fighting Hezbollah, which he described as the “party of Iran.”

Outside the embassy on Tuesday, a large crater was visible in the road beyond the cordons erected by security officials. Forensic teams in white overalls picked through the evidence. Smoldering cars lined the glass-strewn streets, while black-shirted armed gunmen affiliated with the Amal political party, an ally of Hezbollah, patrolled the largely Shiite neighborhood.

A security official who spoke on condition of anonymity said the first bomber was on a motorcycle and tried to ram a checkpoint outside the embassy, while the second bomber followed in a car. Ansari was killed as he was entering the building, the official said. Other reports said the first bomber, wearing a suicide vest, was on foot.

A 23-year-old student who lives less than 100 yards from the blast site said she was in the kitchen when she heard the first, smaller explosion at around 10 a.m. The student, who wanted to be identified only by her first name, Hiba, said she ran to her balcony to see what had happened but was called back in by her maid. The second blast blew in her windows, but she escaped injury.

Others were not so lucky. Five people who work at the furniture store where Rabieh Istanbuli is a manager were injured, Istanbuli said. The stores front steps were spattered with blood.

“The glass just surrounded me,” Istanbuli said of the moment when the second blast detonated. “I saw some people falling down from their balconies. . . . There were a lot of dead people, black from the fire.”

About the size of Delaware, Lebanon has been flooded with an influx of more than 816,000 refugees from Syria, making up one-fifth of the population of the country. As the war has raged next door, violence has periodically spilled over the border as well.

More than two dozen people were killed in coordinated car bombings outside two Sunni mosques in the port city of Tripoli in August, eight days after a car bomb killed at least 21 people in a Shiite suburb of Beirut.

The violence is being closely monitored by Israel, Lebanons southern neighbor, which considers both Hezbollah and Iran to be significant threats. In August, Israel bombed a base run by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command in Lebanon, in response to the launching of four rockets across Israels northern border hours earlier. It was Israels first airstrike inside Lebanon since its 2006 war with Hezbollah.

The Popular Front denied any connection to the rockets, and the Abdullah Azzam Brigade — the same group that said it was behind Tuesdays bombing — eventually claimed responsibility.

Despite the brigades claim on Tuesday, Irans Foreign Ministry blamed Israel for the attack that killed its diplomat.

“The terrorist bombing in front of the Iranian Embassy in Beirut is an inhuman and vicious act perpetrated by Israel and its terror agents,” ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham told the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency.

But a close adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel played no role.

“Israeli security gains nothing from bloodshed,” said Tzachi Hanegbi, a parliamentarian and former intelligence minister. “I think it is a result of the tension in Lebanon, following the decision by Hezbollah — or Iran forcing Hezbollah — to participate in Assads efforts to survive in Syria.”


Lebanese politicians condemned Tuesdays attack. “There is division in the country and tension, which is not helping in reducing the impact of the Syrian war on us. Its causing problems both socially and politically,” parliamentarian Alan Aoun told the television station MTV. “Its not the first explosion; we hope its the last one.”

At a snack shop and supermarket near the site of the bombing, sales assistants wept as they went about serving customers.

“This is too much; its devastating,” said Hanadi Nahhas, a 30-year-old employee. “The second bomb was so loud we thought it was an Israeli airstrike. Our delivery boy, Mohammed, was killed — he is just 16.”



William Booth in Jerusalem contributed to this report.


Source
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Birds don't believe in gravity.

Birds don't believe in gravity.

Does anyone else love a good conspiracy theory?
(www.chacha.com)Mr Boozle and I watched a documentary this week.It was called "JFK- The Smoking Gun"and I am here to tell you right now thatthe bullet that killed JFK was accidentally firedby a Secret Service Agent.After watching it, I have absolutely no doubt at all.Well, that is until I watch a documentary-let's give it a working title of "If you think anyone apart from Oswald killed JFK,
you are a bloody idiot"-and I will change my mind all over again.
(www.americanfreepress.com)I don't think that I am gullible person,not more so that anyone else.I am not stupid...Well, not really stupid anyhow.I wont believe you if you try to tell me that Pamela Anderson's boobs are real.I have never believed in drop bears.
(www.redbubble.com)Don't try to convince me that low calorie ice-cream tastes as good asthat creamy, dreamy, full fat double choc chip Baileys butterscotch ice-cream with fudge topping that will begin to harden your arteriesas soon as you take the lid off the container.But I am open to suggestionsand give me "evidence" and I am all yours.I remember watching a documentary about the Apollo moon landing.I finished watching, knowing that without a doubt that the whole thing was staged.(Who could argue with the evidence of the inconsistent shadows, people?)
(www.vimeo.com)A documentary on the likely scientific truth behind the Bermuda Trianglewas extremely interesting- and somewhat of a reliefthat it could be explained by sciencerather than the supernatural.Perusing webpages,I even had a few seconds when I believed that the September 11th attackscould certainly have been a cover-up of the actions of the US Government.Of course, the merit of anything you read on the web is questionable.It is a platform for any delusional, imaginative, obsessive, extremist orchildish personality to get an immediate and worldwide audienceand the associated gratification.But regardless of how malleable/vulnerable/gullible I might be,some of these theories are fascinating,if not just entertaining.Who hasn't wondered if Lady Di's death was orchestrated rather than accidental?What did crash land at Roswell in 1947?Where exactly is Elvis?Is fluoride in our water an unwanted mass medication?Could Pro Wrestling actually be real?Did Marilyn Monroe really commit suicide?
(en.wikipaedia.org)Are chemitrails really forcing us to buy more Maccas junk food through mind controlor just being used for population control?

Who knew what was built below Denver International Airport?
(And what is with the murals?)Start surfing the net for conspiracy theoriesand you find that there is no shortage of them.But temper the entertaining and thought-provoking ideaswith the ridiculous and the offensive ones.Some people honestly believe that the Holocaust did not happen,that the Boston Marathon was a Government set upor that the victims were actors,that the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was a hoax,that the Pentagon was hit by a Government missile in 9/11
that AIDs is the result of a man-made virus spread deliberately via vaccinations
to decrease the population of Africa.Weird and educational and thought-provoking and funny is all OKbut sadly there can be, at the very least, unpleasant,and, at worst, immoral and hurtful.Luckily, most rational people can recognise the difference.Something I came across listed as a "Conspiracy Theory"
but sounding a lot more like a Zaphod Beeblebox quote
from "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy":The only way we can defy gravity is to stop believing in it.That is why birds can fly.Birds don't believe in gravity.I guess penguins believe in gravity then.
(www.rspcansw.blogspot.com)

3SB December Sketch Challenge

3SB December Sketch Challenge


Hello All!

I just wanted to stop in a share 3 Scrappy Boys December Sketch Challenge where one lucky winner will win a 3 Scrappy Boys Prize Pack!

Here is my layout based on this months sketch:



Products Used: August 3 Scrappy Boys Trio Kit

A close up just for fun!

And the sketch that I created :)



This challenge will run throughthe end of December.Here are the details you need to know to play along with 3 Scrappy Boys.Make a layout or project utilizing the sketch. Be creative and have fun!!! Using 3 Scrappy Boys kits are not required to play, but we love to see them!
Take a picture and link it up on the sidebar of 3 Scrappy Boys Blog using the INLINKZ widget by the end of the month. Please remember to link back to the 3 Scrappy Boys Blog as well.
One winner will be chosen at random and will be posted on our Facebookpageand on our Blog.Make sure to follow 3 Scrappy Boys on both to find out if you are the winner!!!NowI hope you are inspired by the sketch to play along with us and I cant wait to see what you create and share. Just make sure that you link it up on the 3 Scrappy Boys Blog.
Thanks for stopping by today!