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It's a strange and distant tale that would only appear on Jerry Springer in America but comes off as quirky and cute when presented from the cold Nordic perspective. Hylnur still lives at home, and when mom brings in her flamenco instructor Lola (the Kinks' famous song of the same name -- about a she-male -- plays throughout the film and in the most bizarre of contexts), things get dicey. One drunken night, Lola and Hylnur get it on -- and Lola ends up pregnant. And guess what: Mom and Lola want to keep their baby.
Continue reading: 101 Reykjavík Review
He'll be performing a new residency at an intimate theatre.
Queens of the Stone Age front man Josh Homme has described their new music as ''an experience''.
Vicky Cornell explains that they're planning to pay tribute with a sculpture.
It's their first foray into television.
Luc Besson has loved the Valerian story for many, many years.


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Central Avenue Engineering Study
Central Avenue holds the highest traffic volume in Miamisburg, Ohio, with approximately 20,000 cars per day. The roadway was in substandard condition with broken sidewalks, aging utilities, and deficient roadway widths. Years of resurfacing had created a crowning effect on the existing roadway, and most of the drainage structures needed replacement. The existing water main was over 100 years old with many of the valve locations unknown, inoperable, or buried under existing pavement.
The project area included over 120 property owners, an active construction site for the renovation of an elementary school, RTA bus stops, three churches, a senior adult center, library, park, and a railroad crossing.
Barge Design Solutions was the design engineer responsible for plan preparation and opinion of probable construction costs for the reconstruction of approximately 0.94 miles of Central Avenue. Improvements included reconstruction and widening of the roadway to three lanes, a new sidewalk, curb, storm sewer, and street lighting. A subconsultant replaced three traffic signals within the project limits.
The team also added 3,110 feet of new water main to the project and worked with the City of Miamisburg to develop a new Valve Location Map to assist during construction.
Public participation was essential and included informational meetings, project handouts, notifications in the city newsletter, and face-to-face site meetings with residents.
The Barge Factor
With an office in Miamisburg, Barge Design Solutions had first-hand knowledge of the project site, understood the impact it has on the community and was committed to improving the quality of life.

domain: design


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Football is the most popular sport there is! Football matches today bring together tens of thousands of supporters in stadiums and hundreds of millions in front of television screens. Qatar will therefore be at the center of their attention in 2022.
This is where the winner of the 2022 FIFA World Cup will be decided.
Thirty-two teams will meet at the World Cup in Qatar. The underdogs will face the favorites for the chance to become world champions – a scenario not unlike that of the most popular RPG games .
Before we dive into the world of football video games, here are some questions about the World Cup in Qatar.
What is the schedule for the FIFA World Cup in 2022?
The first game of the World Cup and the group stages will start on November 20 at 17:00 CET. These will continue until the first round of playoffs on December 3. The quarter-finals begin on December 9 and the semi-finals are scheduled for December 13.
The final will take place on December 18. Between matches, you can always download the best online football games.
Where will the World Cup be held in 2026?
The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be unique in that it will be hosted by three North American countries: Mexico, USA and Canada.
How will the 2022 FIFA World Cup take place?
The competition will start with the qualification. Teams will be divided into groups and must place first in their group to qualify for the World Cup. Hosts qualify automatically.
At the FIFA World Cup 22 in Qatar, the competition begins with groups of four teams. Each team plays against another and the first two teams qualify for the play-offs.
At this point, teams play playoff matches and the losing team is kicked out of the competition. This continues until there are only two teams left in the final and only one of them wins.
To get into the spirit of the 2022 World Cup, we’ve dug through the archives to track down some of the greatest football games of all time. Sure, they aren’t among the best action games out there , but they have huge armies of fans.
The best football games to discover
What are the best free football games released in different eras, from PC games to console games? Our article is not about FIFA 22 and you will not find online football games for mobile here. We have chosen very unexpected representatives of football video games.
Sensitive World of Soccer
Sensible World of Soccer is the most remembered online soccer game among European gamers, as it was released for the famous Amiga computer.
Unfortunately, back then it wasn’t possible to download games like it is today, which prevented it from attracting the international audience it certainly deserved. However, those who have played Sensible World of Soccer have fallen in love with the game.
Game controls were simple, with eight directions of movement and one keystroke. However, it was possible to perform many actions depending on the situation.
For many, this is the first time that a game of football has evolved from what used to be a variation of the game of Pong.
The main novelty was the ability to manage the careers of team members. For the first time, you could buy and sell players to improve your team. This led to a new direction in terms of management, characteristic of today’s football.
The game was so important that Stanford University named it one of the ten most important video games of all time.
There is a whole legacy of the FIFA franchise, arguably the most well-known game in the world , from street versions to international football. Players often say that FIFA online soccer games are all about profit.
Indeed, the players and the teams change slightly each year, but in fact, the matches differ little from one year to another. Nevertheless, some versions of FIFA have exceeded the boldest expectations.
FIFA 10 is perhaps the most remarkable of the FIFA games. Part of its appeal lies in its return to the basics: action on the pitch. The gameplay techniques are varied and engaging, and the gameplay is flawless.
Even if you’re bothered by the fairly basic block graphics compared to football video games like FIFA 22, the result is still stunning.
It may lack the realism of FIFA 22 and use cars instead of players, but Rocket League is one of the most popular soccer games today. The principle of the game is simple: you take a small buggy or a car on the ground with your team of three people.
Score as many goals as possible by hitting the ball into your opponent’s goal without exploding. It’s a lot of fun and that makes it one of the most played video games right now .
The popularity of Rocket League is huge. This free game combines sports and action games in a fun and cool environment. This football game is so popular that entire eSports leagues are now devoted to it.
You can play for fun with your family, who will easily master the game, or compete against your friends online.
FIFA Street 2
FIFA Street was a true outlier in FIFA games, and the risk paid off. This title is not part of the free browser football games. Released on Xbox, PS2, GameCube and Nintendo DS, it took the action from the field to back alleys and parking lots around the world.
Unsurprisingly, this made it a global hit.
The matches were between two teams of four people. All fights were timed. The objective was to score a goal or earn points by performing tricks.
This soccer game had an outstanding soundtrack, which is rare in soccer video game music , as well as and many unlockable legends.
Although the game received poor reviews, it was ahead of its time. Today, free soccer games and sports games in general are moving towards unlockable rooms and street modes. This humble game pioneered that.
Pro Evolution Soccer 6
For a while at the turn of the millennium, FIFA games held the top spot among the best soccer games. This is partly due to the availability of licenses. Who wouldn’t want to collect real players and legendary teams?
Pro Evolution Soccer has slowly grown as a franchise, working on various aspects of the game to become a top contender. Pro Evolution Soccer 6 has covered all the essentials.
This edition had it all: different game modes, shops to buy accessories, but the most interesting thing was that it could connect to the PlayStation Network, at a time when online sports games were just beginning to emerge.
The developers had finally succeeded in fulfilling the expectations of the players in terms of football games.

domain: sports


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Gingergrass Essential Oil | Alabama Essential Oils
Name Gingergrass Essential Oil, India
Category Essential Oils
Species Cymbopogon martini
Gingergrass Essential Oil, India
Gingergrass Essential Oil, India, (Cymbopogon martini), steam distillation process for extracting Gingergrass oil is derived from the grass of the plant Cymbopogon Martini, which has an yellow golden color and warm earthy aroma quite exotic and sensuous. Gingergrass essential oil blends well with Cananga oil, Rosewood oil, Amyris oil, Sandalwood oil, Guaiacwood oil, Cedarwood oil, and other floral scented essential oils. Gingergrass essential oil can cause irritation to sensitive skin and thus should be used in smaller area with dilution before application.
Gingergrass oil very effective for allergies of throat, colds, cough, inflammation, sinusitis, sore muscles, and muscle joint pains, etc.
Cymbopogon Martini, Gingergrass Essential Oil, India (C. martinii var. sofia) a close relative of palmarosa has a unique chemistry and subsequently unmatched aroma. The oily grassy notes are due to the interesting Perilla alcohol that also adds a fatty-herbal kick. A synonym for Perilla alcohol is dihydro cuminyl alcohol. Fresh rosy notes with a slight woodiness are perhaps the reason Indian soap makers have used this essential oil extensively for decades.
Free Shipping Notification.

domain: chemistry


AMPD: FLOAT 2 – Portable IPX7 (Waterproof) Floating Bluetooth Speaker
Enhance your music experience with the AMPD FLOAT-2-Portable IPX7 Bluetooth Speaker. This portable speaker is equipped with Bluetooth, enabling you to easily connect your smartphone to listen to your playlists. Great for outdoor entertainment, it has a waterproof construction for listening to music at the beach. It comes with a universal mounting screw and can connect to another speaker for stereo sound.


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Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | British billionaire and Virgin founder Richard Branson apologised on Tuesday for posting a picture on Twitter he admitted “clearly lacked diversity” as he launched his new entrepreneurship development centre in South Africa.
On Monday he tweeted a picture of himself and eight others captioned “We aim to become the heart of entrepreneurship in Southern Africa”.
It featured no blacks in a country where they make up 80 percent of the population.
That sparked outrage as racial tensions remain high and the majority black population is still economically marginalised 25 years after the demise of apartheid.
“Where did you find so many white people in South Africa?” one tweet said.
“I wish there were more BLACK entrepreneurs in this picture,” @NomsBomba said.
Following the flurry of angry and sarcastic tweets targeting the mogul, who runs a chain of gyms in South Africa and whose airline daily flies the London-Johannesburg route, Branson deleted the tweet and apologised.
“The Branson Centre of Entrepreneurship is for all South Africans, but yesterday’s choice of a photo to go with my tweet clearly lacked diversity. Apologies,” he said.
The centre serves as business development hub aimed at supporting entrepreneurs

domain: sociology


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Earlier we got a bit of a teaser of Bruno Mars doing his thing on Carpool Karaoke, but now it’s time for the full clip. This time around we get to Watch Bruno Mars On “Carpool Karaoke” as he and James Corden show off their style and sounds. The fellas paired up recently for the latest installment of the short, and Bruno took to a bevy of his singles to do his thing.
He, of course, performed “Uptown Funk,” while also running through his hits like “Locked Out of Heaven” and “Grenade.” Mr. Mars also showed off his love for headwear with a series of hats throughout the piece. Check out the clip in the video below and speak your mind on it after the jump. Stay tuned for much more from Bruno Mars coming very soon!

domain: artistic


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The earrings are brilliant and filled with sparkle. They are clips made to look like pierced earrings. Attached to a small ring is a gold tone bar that suspends a beautiful pear shaped bauble filled with all prong set glass stones. The stones are in very excellent condition-all original to this item. The gold-amber and yellow colors are vivid and beautiful together. 1 3/4".
If you don't see your item in our shop-ask- we may still have it!
Fine Porcelain Limoges trinket boxes- private collection! Great selection !


If the state doesn’t act, Daley told aldermen, the City Council will have to find other ways to balance a 2008 city budget amid rising personnel costs and declining revenues tied to the housing slump.
To appease aldermen, Daley dropped plans to double the city’s gasoline tax, from a nickel a gallon to a dime, and also nixed plans to double the city’s tax on restaurant meals, from .25 percent to .50 percent.
But other taxes would see increases, raising the overall burden on city taxpayers.
“We have a choice: Do we maintain city services and make the investments needed to keep Chicago moving forward, or do we cut services, make substantial layoffs and and risk falling behind?” Daley said. “I believe we have only one choice


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Illustration by Bill Brown
My family recently returned from a trip to France. We began in the gorgeous city of Bordeaux, where our nephew, whom we raised, is wrapping up his junior year of college abroad. The wine was, of course, mind-blowing; the baguettes, beautiful (France is hell for the gluten sensitive); the cheeses, pungent and unpasteurized; the products from the farmers’ markets, as tantalizing as any we can buy here. Raised in Los Angeles, however, my nephew confessed that he was suffering from gastronomic monotony; too many croissants and jambon sandwiches bracketed his days. Passing by a Bordeaux restaurant called O Fajitas, he winced at the memory of a meal there. By the time we reached Paris at the end of our trip, I understood what he meant. The French have mastered the art of cooking but not of cheap eats. We did enjoy one unforgettable pastrami sandwich and some more than decent falafel in the historic Marais district, but it’s difficult to find good pizza, let alone acceptable Chinese food, in the world’s culinary capital. One evening we stopped for dinner at a packed Thai restaurant in the 4th arrondissement. We heard diners ooh-la-la-ing over their meals while we looked at each other and said, meh. The bill was in the three figures, and the food couldn’t compare with even the smallest hole-in-the-wall in East Hollywood’s Thai Town.
In so many American cities cheap eats are limited to Kentucky Fried Chicken or Burger King, but in L.A. a profusion of restaurants run by families steeped in the cooking traditions of their homelands—be it northwestern Azerbaijan or the Shaanxi province—overwhelms the chains. As a culinary adventure, France may be amazing, but ultimately it can be mapped out as predictably as a Rick Steves guidebook. The tiny ethnic restaurants, burger joints, and food trucks that dot our archipelago are harder to pinpoint. In this issue we highlight our favorites in “101 Cheap Eats.” I’m guessing you haven’t heard of many of the places—I sure hadn’t. Seeking out these dining experiences is one of the easiest, most economical ways to explore the city. Going to that Bolivian place in Van Nuys may nudge you not only into an unfamiliar cuisine but into a neighborhood you’ve never visited, which is almost always a good thing.
I know one person who’ll be using our list. After his first semester abroad, we picked up my nephew at Christmas from LAX. As we barreled down the Century Freeway, I called his favorite Mexican spot to order him a ginormous burrito. He ran inside and returned to the car, clutching it like a football and grinning like a little kid. In line in front of him, he said, was Zack de la Rocha from Rage Against the Machine. An awesome burrito and a rock star sighting, too. Man, was he ever glad to be home.

domain: food


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President Barack Obama and Israeli President Shimon Peres discussed how the Israeli-Palestinian peace process fits into the wave of democratization sweeping through the Arab world during a working lunch and then a 40 minute one-on-one meeting on Tuesday..
"We had an extensive discussion about what's happened in the Middle East," Obama said at a press conference after the meetings. "I think he and I both share a belief that this is both a challenge and an opportunity; that with the winds of change blowing through the Arab world, it's more urgent than ever that we try to seize the opportunity to create a peaceful solution between the Palestinians and the Israelis."
At the working lunch, Obama was joined by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, National Security Advisor Tom Donilon, NSC Chief of Staff Brooke Anderson, NSC Senior Director Dennis Ross, incoming U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro, Special Envoy for Middle East Peace George Mitchell, and NSC Senior Director Puneet Talwar.
Both presidents expressed the opinion that bringing the Arab-Israeli conflict to a resolution would help the United States and Israel support democratic change in the Middle East.
"We see it as a clash between generations, a clash between those who want democracy and those who want to go backwards," an Israel official who was present at the lunch told The Cable. "One of the ways to make sure the right side wins is if there could be progress in the peace process."
The most immediate issue for Israel how to set good relations with the next government in Egypt. Obama said the two presidents discussed ways for both countries to support Egypt's economic development as a means of supporting the Egyptian youth. Peres believes restarting the Israeli-Palestinian peace process would also help Israel navigate its changing relationship with Egypt.
"Peres' message is that Palestinians and Israel now have a common interest to get to negotiations, because both sides want Egypt to continue to support the peace process," the Israel official said.
But Obama, following the breakdown of the direct negotiations he and Clinton worked so hard to push forward in 2010, warned Peres that he would only try again if he first saw increased commitment from both parties.
"Obama said he's willing to help, he's willing to push forward, but... he wants to see that a serious effort is being made and then he will add his weight," the official explained.
Obama and Peres also addressed the issue of Iran at their meetings. Peres noted that dealing with Iran is also a moral issue, because the Islamic Republic heads the anti-democratic camp in the region. The two presidents also agreed on continuing cooperation on missile defense against the Iranian threat and the necessity of maintaining economic sanctions on Tehran. .
According to the Israeli official, Peres told Obama that Israel is increasingly concerned about the flow of Russian strategic weaponry into the region and said that Israel wants to purchase an additional 20 F-35 fighter jets.
U.S. officials at the lunch raised the touchy issue of continued Israeli settlement building, but Peres didn't give any ground.
"Look, our policy hasn't changed," the official said, referring to Peres's position. "We have our differences with the administration but this has been our policy all along. We don't agree on everything."
Peres also asked Obama to consider clemency for convicted Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard, and he reminded the U.S. president that he has an open invitation to visit Israel whenever he wants.
Obama acknowledged both points but gave "no sort of reply one way or the other," the official said.
The world's leading Internet giant and a leading foreign policy think tank are convening a major conference this summer in Ireland that will bring together former violent extremists to discuss how to prevent homegrown terrorism.
Google Ideas, the new "think/do tank" led by former State Department official Jared Cohen, is organizing a 3-day event in Dublin in late June in conjunction with the Council on Foreign Relations, where Cohen is also a fellow. The event will bring together about 50 former extremists who used to be members of inner city street gangs, white power groups, Muslim fundamentalist groups, and other violent youth organizations. Over 200 experts from academia, civil society groups, tech companies, victims' groups, and private corporations will also join.
Homeland Security chairman Peter King's (R-NY) controversial congressional hearings last week were criticized for their focus on Muslim extremism. The CFR/Google conference seeks to reframe the debate over homegrown extremism as a problem that cuts across political, geographic, and religious lines.
"We've seen anecdotal evidence of similarities across different types of violent organizations, from gangs to right wing extremists to religious extremists," Cohen told The Cable in an interview. "We know they target young people, we know they are comprised largely of young people, and we know they use similar tactics. But there's a lot of exploring left to be done."
This new project, Cohen's first major endeavor as head of Google Ideas, will focus on "formers" -- troubled youth who have not only left their violent organizations but also speak out against them publicly. The idea is to link them up with professionals, victims' advocates, and even technology firms to help them coordinate their efforts.
The conference will feature "formers" from urban African American gangs, rural white power gangs, neo Nazis gangs, Latin American gangs, Asian gangs, and former nationalist extremists from Ireland, Europe, and Asia, as well as Islamist extremists from the Middle East, North Africa, and Southeast Asia.
"We have a hypothesis that we are exploring," said Cohen. "When you remove the masks of religion or ideology or anything else, what are the root causes? If we accept that nobody is born wanting to be a terrorist, then what happens between the time when they're young and the time when they join these groups?"
This is the first major conference for Google Ideas, and their first major collaboration with CFR. Cohen said the project fits well into Google's efforts to look at the way technology and information can be used to push forward constructive solutions to global problems.
"Counter radicalization is a big challenge for American foreign policy. It's imperative for us to acknowledge the problem and then to ask the question, how do you move against it," said CFR Vice President James Lindsay in an interview.
CFR has been steadily ramping up its activity on this front. The think tank recently brought on Ed Husain, the founding director of the Quilliam Foundation, a British counter-extremism think tank, as a senior fellow in their Civil Society, Markets, and Democracy Initiative. It also started a cooperative program on examining violent extremism with Georgetown University.
So is the Google/CFR project meant to make the point that religion is not a driver of radicalization?
"What we're trying to do is create space for cross-context discussions that haven't taken place before," said Cohen. "Maybe religion doesn't feature at all into the conversations, maybe it features a fair amount. We don't know yet."
For those who can't make it to Dublin but want a taste of the discussion, CFR and Google Ideas are holding a panel discussion April 29 in New York on the topic in conjunction with the Tribeca Film Festival, where six of the "formers" will speak.
Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL) is only one of the many people in Washington who are scratching their heads today after the Director of National Intelligence James Clapper testified that the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt was mostly a "secular" group.
"The term ‘Muslim Brotherhood' is an umbrella term for a variety of movements, in the case of Egypt, a very heterogeneous group, largely secular, which has eschewed violence and has decried Al Qaeda as a perversion of Islam," Clapper told the first ever hearing of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence under new chairman Mike Rogers (R-MI).
Clapper's public affairs chief Jamie Smith "clarified" the remarks, telling ABC that Clapper really meant to say that "in Egypt the Muslim Brotherhood makes efforts to work through a political system that has been, under Mubarak's rule, one that is largely secular in its orientation - he is well aware that the Muslim Brotherhood is not a secular organization."
But the gaffe was enough to invoke the ire of many in Congress, who are warning about the risks of the Muslim Brotherhood coming to power. Kirk, who was a Naval intelligence officer, issued a statement criticizing Clapper Thursday afternoon.
"I am concerned that the DNI's assessment does not agree with recent public statements by senior leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood nor does it agree with the organization's publicly stated goals," Kirk's statement read. "As the world watches these historic events unfolding in Egypt, the United States should support an orderly transition to democracy that prevents the radical Muslim Brotherhood from grabbing power."
The debate over the real identity and role of the Brotherhood is just starting in Congress, and was at the top of lawmakers' concerns at Wednesday's hearing of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
"Now the White House is reportedly making matters worse by apparently re-examining its position on dealing with the Muslim Brotherhood, but also stating that a new Egyptian government should include a whole host of important nonsecular actors," Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) said at the hearing. "The Muslim Brotherhood had nothing to do with driving these protests, and they and other extremists must not be allowed to hijack the movement toward democracy and freedom in Egypt."
When the Hisham Mubarak Law Center in Cairo was raided by state security forces on Thursday, Human Rights Watch researcher Daniel Williams was swept up in the arrests. But before he was carted off to prison, Williams had the presence of mind to call a friend in Cairo and leave his cell phone line open, to broadcast the raid as it unfolded.
The Law Center is a hub and meeting space for various human rights and civil society groups in Egypt and has been amazingly active since the protests began Jan. 25. On Thursday morning, a joint squad of police and military personnel in their respective uniforms raided the Center, interrogated all inside, and forcibly transported dozens of Egyptians and foreigners alike to an unknown detention facility, where Williams remains now.
Before his cell phone was confiscated, the person on the other end of the line, who must remain anonymous for his own safety, heard the violent details of the incident. Police and army personnel were heard ordering the activists up against the wall, started yelling at them, and then claimed they were there to protect them from the pro-regime thugs who were assembled and chanting just outside the doors and who harassed the activists as they were escorted from the building.
"We could let you go out in the crowd and they will kill you or you can come with us," the police and army personnel said, according to Human Rights Watch Washington Director Tom Malinowski, who has been working furiously to try to free Williams and the others arrested in Thursday's crackdown by coordinating efforts with administration officials and human rights groups in Washington and Cairo.
Following the on-site interrogations, the police and army personnel accused all the Egyptians working at the Law Center of being affiliated with Hamas and accused all the foreigners at the Center of being affiliated with Israeli intelligence service Mossad.
"So it's a Hamas-Mossad conspiracy apparently," Malinowski told The Cable with a sigh.
Meanwhile, human rights groups in Washington have been working closely though a stream of emails and phone call with the Obama administration to share information, coordinate action, and press the Mubarak regime to halt the arrests and release the imprisoned activists and journalists.
Primarily, this effort by the administration is run out of the U.S. embassy in Cairo, where Ambassador Margaret Scobey has taken the lead on maintaining ties to Egyptian non-governmental organizations and political opposition groups, instructing her staff to reach out to them to make sure they are safe and sharing information about what's going on. There are also officials in the State Department and the National Security Council who have longstanding ties with these groups and are working the phones on a constant basis, an administration official said, declining to provide details of those interactions.
"The Obama administration has raised with the Egyptian government the need to release people who have been detained for peaceful activism or journalism," Malinowski said. The list of foreign journalists reported to be under arrest is changing moment to moment.
For those in the human rights community who have been watching the crisis in Egypt descend into violence, the regime is clearly responsible.
"What we've seen in the last 24 hours is a counter attack by the ruling party and security apparatus of Egypt, which may be willing to concede Mubarak but isn't willing to concede the dictatorship," said Malinowski. "These thugs are part of the ruling party's army, they deploy it routinely on election days to intimidate voters and they deployed it yesterday as well."
The reported direct involvement of the Egyptian military in the raids is unsettling because until yesterday, the military had been largely neutral in the clashes between the pro-Mubarak and anti-regime groups. But it's not known if they are totally complicit in the crackdown or if they are participating in order to prevent the police from becoming too brutal.
The Obama administration is working hard behind the scenes, especially through senior defense officials including Defense Secretary Robert Gates, to impress upon the Egyptian military the need to protect protestors and support a peaceful government transition. Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Michael Mullen spoke Wednesday with Egyptian Army Lt. Gen. Sami Enan about the clashes and the military's role.
"He assures me that they're very focused on this, and they will continue to be a stabilizing influence within their country," Mullen said after the call. "So far, the Egyptian military have handled themselves exceptionally well."
But in light of the raid on the Law Center, human rights activists are no longer sure the military is neutral.
"The military's stance toward yesterday's counterattack is ambiguous," Malinowski said. "But as bad as things are, they would be worse if not for the pressure the administration has been putting on the military."
Meanwhile, the Egypt Working Group, a bipartisan team of experts that has been advising the administration, issued a new statement on Thursday calling on the White House to make clear that military aid to Egypt will be suspended if the military fails to protect peaceful protests and the transition doesn't start promptly -- as the administration has demanded.
For those who are working to secure the safety of activists like Williams, how the Egyptian military acts during these crackdowns will expose what their true motivations are going forward.
"This is an important part of the larger picture that the administration is looking at. It's one test of whether the regime, which includes the military, is in fact heeding President Obama's call for transition to orderly democracy."
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) just became the most senior foreign-policy figure in Washington to outwardly call for Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to step down from power now.
"Regrettably the time has come 4 Pres. Mubarak 2 step down & relinquish power. It's in the best interest of Egypt, its people & its military," he tweeted Wednesday afternoon.
McCain, who met with President Obama at the White House Wednesday, went further than either the administration or Sen. John Kerry (D-MA), who have called for Mubarak not to run again for president but have stopped short of calling for him to relinquish power at this time.
The message from McCain was not some coordinated communications strategy cooked up with the White House, according to our sources, but simply represented McCain's latest analysis of the ever worsening situation on the ground in Egypt and the handling of the crisis by Mubarak and his regime.
Only yesterday, McCain was supporting the administration's official line. On Tuesday, he praised Obama's call for Mubarak to begin an orderly transition to democracy and to not run for reelection.
"I'm not going to try to second-guess the president at this difficult time," McCain told reporters. "I think there should be a transition and an orderly one."
McCain's call for Mubarak to step aside immediately is also notable because McCain has been arguing strenuously in recent days that the Muslim Brotherhood, which stands to benefit from a free election, is a dangerous and violent organization.
"Have no doubt about the threat of the Muslim Brotherhood. They're a radical organization, they support Hamas, and they would be very bad for Egypt," McCain said Tuesday.
Last fall, McCain led a drive to pass a Senate resolution calling on Mubarak to advance political reform and calling on the Obama administration to press Mubarak on human rights. That resolution died before reaching a vote on the Senate floor.
"We've got to be on the right side of history," McCain told The Cable Tuesday. "If you're on the right side of history, everything will turn out OK."
Following Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's announcement he will not run for president again and the Egyptian protesters' apparent rejection of that concession, it's clear is that even if "envoy" Frank Wisner's mission to Cairo was a success, the Obama administration isn't out of the woods yet on this crisis.
Obama sent Wisner to deliver the message to Mubarak that he should announce he will not run for reelection in September and provide for the orderly transition to a more democratic government. Mubarak's concessions apparently didn't go quite as far as the administration wanted in detailing the terms of such a transition. But administration officials are saying Tuesday night they now realize that even if Mubarak had done everything they asked, that was not going to be enough to satisfy the protesters.
On Tuesday night, following Mubarak's remarks, Obama addressed the rapidly changing situation in Egypt. "We've borne witness to the beginning of a new chapter in the history of a great country, and a long-time partner of the United States," he said, adding that the transition "must begin now."
Nevertheless, the progress made so far has not been enough to end the standoff or repair the protesters' view of the United States, and the Obama administration now must figure out its role in what could become protracted negotiations between Mubarak and the opposition.
"Now there's a strategic game going on between the Obama administration and Mubarak," said the Council on Foreign Relations' Steven Cook, who was in Cairo when the protests broke out. The White House should have known anything short of Mubarak stepping down immediately would not end the crisis, he said.
"Either the administration has some other strategy or they didn't realize that there's the potential for Mubarak to take the opportunity of the next few months to manipulate the political process to favor whomever he wants to follow him," Cook said. "I can't believe they thought this would satisfy the crowds."
Of course, now Secretary of State Hillary Clinton can point to Mubarak's Tuesday night speech in order to hold him to account if the president doesn't actually move to hold free and fair elections. But the Egyptian people, who were already angry about U.S. support for Mubarak, aren't likely to see that as a helpful stance by the Obama team.
"Everybody in Egypt knows we have enabled this regime. At this point we need to get out of the way," said Cook.
Perhaps the administration doesn't want to completely burn its relationship with Mubarak, just in case he actually prevails, but that ship might have already sailed. "The relationship is never going to be the same again, there's going to be hostility anyway, so they might as well double down [on the side of the protesters]," Cook said. "The jig is up."
According to a readout of today's national security meeting at the White House, the Obama administration is still calling for an "orderly transition" to greater democracy in Egypt - a position first outlined by Clinton on Jan. 30.
"With regard to Egypt, Secretary Clinton discussed our focus on opposing violence and calling for restraint; supporting universal rights, including the right to peaceful assembly, association, and speech; and supporting an orderly transition to a government that is responsive to the aspirations of the Egyptian people," the White House stated.
Behind the scenes, there are increasing signs the administration is reaching out to opposition leaders. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley tweeted Tuesday that U.S. Ambassador Margaret Scobey spoke with Mohamed ElBaradei; a senior State Department official also said that she will be speaking with other opposition leaders.
But while Wisner, who is known for being close to Mubarak and his people, might be a perfect "envoy" to send to deal with Mubarak, he's not likely to be the American in the best position to reach out to the opposition groups. That would require a diplomat with close and personal relationships with various non-governmental entities in Egypt.
To be sure, administration officials both in Washington and Cairo have extensive ties with various opposition elements in Egypt and are in contact with them on a regular basis. But if the Obama administration wanted to quickly ramp up its engagement with the opposition, a new envoy could do the trick.
We're told that the administration is now considering a new, different envoy to send to Cairo to fulfill that very mission and the administration is focusing on another former U.S. ambassador to Egypt. The most likely candidates who fit that description are Daniel Kurtzer, an ambassador in Cairo under President Clinton with strong ties to the Obama team, Ned Walker, another Clinton-era ambassador and a former president of the Middle East Institute, and Frank Ricciardone, the ambassador before Scobey and current ambassador to Turkey.
Brian Katulis, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, suggested that it might be better to keep the administration's preparations for what promises to be a radical shift in Egypt's political terrain on a lower level than another unofficial envoy, instead depending on the people who have been working with Egyptian civil society groups on the ground.
"Sending a new ‘envoy' to reach out to opposition groups would send a strong signal, but you need someone who really understands and has relationships with a wide range of figures there," he said.
The White House sent former U.S. Ambassador to Egypt Frank Wisner to Cairo, where he is now holding high-level meetings with Egyptian officials at the behest of the Obama administration.
"Frank Wisner is in Cairo. The U.S. government did ask him to go," White House spokesman Tommy Vietor confirmed to The Cable. "As someone with deep experience in the region, he is meeting with a Egyptian officials and providing his assessment."
Earlier on Monday, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley declined to name Wisner as an official representative of the Obama administration, but explained that Wisner was sent both to deliver the administration's message to Mubarak's people and to bring back information to be fed back into the decision making process.
"We have asked him to add his perspective to our analysis on current developments," Crowley said. "He has traveled to Cairo; is on the ground now. And we look forward to hearing his views when he returns."
Wisner is not officially an "envoy," Crowley noted, and administration officials declined to specify exactly who he would meet with, such as embattled President Hosni Mubarak or presidential candidate-in-waiting Mohamed ElBaradei. But Crowley said Wisner was chosen due to his longstanding ties to the Mubarak regime.
"He's a private citizen, he's a retired diplomat, he's a former ambassador to Egypt, he knows some of the key players within the Egyptian government," Crowley said, adding that Wisner "has a history with some of these key figures."
Council on Foreign Relations Egypt expert Steven Cook put it plainly. "Wisner is known to be close to Mubarak," he said.
It's exactly that history that concerns Egypt hands in Washington now that Wisner's has been given a new role in the center of Obama's policy. Before his stints on Enron's board of directors and as vice chairman of AIG, Wisner had a multi-decade career as a foreign service officer, with stints as ambassador in Zambia (‘79-‘82), Egypt (‘86-‘91), Philippines (‘91-‘92), India (‘94-‘97) and as undersecretary of defense for policy (‘93-‘94).
Since leaving AIG in 2009, Wisner has been active on Egypt policy and is said by several Egypt hands in Washington to have pushed to create a group of scholars and academics in Washington to advocate for strengthening ties to the Mubarak regime. That group, which was never fully formed, was to be a counter weight to the bipartisan Egypt Working Group led by the likes of former NSC official Elliott Abrams and the Carnegie Endowment's Michele Dunne. The Abrams-Dunne group had been pushing for a harder line against Mubarak in the months leading up to the current crisis.
Wisner's advocacy for reaching out to Mubarak was on display at a private and off-the-record meeting on Egyptian succession held last summer at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, where Wisner made several pro-Mubarak arguments, according to two people who attended the session.
"He's the exact wrong person to send. He is an apologist for Mubarak," said one Washington Middle East hand who saw Wisner as unlikely to demand that Mubarak must step down or else suffer consequences from Washington -- or, failing that, deliver a strong rebuke.
But Dunne said that since Wisner is "trusted and liked" by Mubarak and others he'll be meeting with, he's the perfect pseudo-envoy. "He's ... someone who could deliver a tough message if he's given one to deliver," she said.
Wisner's father, Frank Wisner Sr., was the CIA agent portrayed in the film The Good Shepherd. Wisner was previously married to Christine de Ganay, former wife of Pal Sarkozy, the father of French president Nicolas Sarkozy.
A top State Department official in Tunis pledged full American support for the Tunisian drive to hold free elections on Wednesday, but also sought to distance the U.S. position on Tunisia from other mass protests in the region, such as the ongoing unrest in Egypt.
"What happened in Tunisia strikes me as uniquely Tunisian. That the events that took place here over the past few weeks derive from particularly Tunisian grievances, from Tunisian circumstances by the Tunisian people," Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs Jeffrey Feltman said at a press conference.
He called for free and fair elections in Tunisia and pledged both American and international support to set them up.
"The United States stands with the people of Tunisia. This is an exciting and unprecedented moment in Tunisia's history with great challenges but also great opportunities for the Tunisian people to chart their own course," he said.
Feltman allowed that there are some fundamental similarities with regard to human rights.
"The challenges that are faced here are in some cases shared. And we think governments everywhere should be finding ways to permit peaceful assembly, freedom of speech, freedom of the media in order to give people a say in how they are governed and to give them a stake in the future," he said.
Feltman's remarks echo Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's latest statement, which also calls on the Egyptian government to stop harassing protesters, but doesn't call on the Egyptian government to let them participate in a real election process.
"It is important that the government listens to the concerns of those demonstrating and respects rights of freedom of assembly and expression," she said. "Openness, transparency and political freedom are important tenets of stability. We urge the government and demonstrators to seek a peaceful way forward."
The Obama administration's support for Tunisians' right to self determination was on display during last night's State of the Union speech by President Obama, a speech in which he didn't mention Egypt at all.
"We saw that same desire to be free in Tunisia, where the will of the people proved more powerful than the writ of a dictator. And tonight, let us be clear: the United States of America stands with the people of Tunisia, and supports the democratic aspirations of all people," said Obama.
The White House issued a statement from Press Secretary Robert Gibbs at about 11:30 PM, after the president's speech had concluded, expressing U.S. support of Egyptians right to peaceful assembly, but without any call for free and fair elections.
"The Egyptian government has an important opportunity to be responsive to the aspirations of the Egyptian people, and pursue political, economic and social reforms that can improve their lives and help Egypt prosper. The United States is committed to working with Egypt and the Egyptian people to advance these goals," the statement read.
During a Wednesday morning roundtable, State Department Policy Planning Director Anne Marie Slaughter explained the seeming disparity by noting that there was consistency in the sense that both stances include a respect for "universal values."
"That means we are strongly supportive of the Tunisians in the effort to achieve democracy, it also means we are not imposing our values on countries around the world," she said.
The New America Foundation's Steve Clemons said that the George W. Bush administration, despite that it outwardly advocated for democratic change in the Arab world, might have taken a similar stance as the Obama administration has on Egypt.
"The notion that we're somehow in the streets with every potential freedom movement would be a mistake in foreign policy," he said. "If this administration was out there calling for regime change in Egypt, I think that would be a huge mistake."
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton leaves Washington today for a trip to the Gulf, where she will meet with senior Arab leaders and civic groups. Middle East peace, Iraq, and Iran will be at the top of her agenda.
Clinton travels to New York tonight to pay a visit to Saudi King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz, who has been in New York since November for surgery on his back. She'll also meet tonight with Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri in New York, before embarking on a six-day trip that will take her to the United Arab Emirates, Oman, and Qatar.
"She is going to want to talk about Iraq," a senior State Department official said about the trip. "We obviously want to encourage [regional leaders in the Gulf] to be as supportive as possible to the new Iraqi government."
"On the peace process, I think it's time once again for the secretary to take stock on what is happening in the region," the official said. "She will want to talk a bit about where the Arab peace initiative is and she will want to get a better sense of how the region sees the situation on the ground both in terms of both the Palestinian Authority and also in terms of the talks... We are very eager to see progress made but it's an uphill battle."
Clinton will also sound out the Gulf rulers on their opinions toward Iran's recent actions, said the official. With the "P5+1" countries scheduled to hold another round of talks with Iran in Istanbul, it is an important moment to attempt to "unknot this problem that we find ourselves in with the Iranians and their nuclear ambitions," the official said. "She'll also want to take stock of where we are on the sanctions regime."
Clinton will hold bilateral meetings with senior leaders in all three countries. In the UAE, Clinton will meet with Sheikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the crown prince, and his brother Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, the Foreign Minister.
This will be Clinton's first visit to Dubai, where she will meet with ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. She will also go to Abu Dhabi and visit the "green city" of Masdar, the futuristic neighborhood being built to run completely carbon neutral and waste free.
In Oman, Clinton will help celebrate the 40th anniversary of the reign of Sultan Qaboos bin Said, who the State Department official described as "a long time friend of the United States and a valued partner who has made enormous changes on the ground in his country over the last 40 years. "
In Qatar, Clinton will meet with Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, the emir, and participate in the Forum for the Future, a meeting of government, civil society, and business leaders from around the region. There she will participate in a panel with a foreign minister, a civil society representative, and a business leader from the region.
The State Department is billing the trip as "an opportunity to showcase these other dimensions of U.S. engagement in the Middle East and the Gulf, particularly the emphasis we've placed on building partnerships beyond the government to government level, reaching out to civil society, reaching out to the private sector," said another senior State Department official. "That's really the key goal for everything that she's doing on the trip."
The U.S. government is working furiously to counter a plot to attack several European public targets, CIA chief Leon Panetta told the head of Pakistan's intelligence community Wednesday.
The plot, to attack multiple public targets in several European capitals, was slated to occur in late November, according to Panetta. After capturing one of the prospective attackers en route from Pakistan's FATA region, the U.S. government authorized the CIA to step up drone strikes inside Pakistan to unprecedented levels while working with various allied governments to kill or capture the two to three dozen militants reportedly preparing for the operation.
The strikes being planned focus on soft targets, such as tourist attractions and public meeting spaces. No targets were believed to be in the United States, although the targets could very well have American citizens present.
Panetta, traveling in Islamabad, met with Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha, the head of Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence agency (ISI) Wednesday to brief him on what American intelligence services have discovered about a series of Mumbai-style attacks planned by al Qaeda in cooperation with Pakistan's Haqqani Network and Lashkar-e-Taiba, the military group responsible for the devastating attacks in India in November 2008.
The Cable received a read-out from a high-level source who was briefed directly on the Panetta-Pasha meeting. The CIA is asking Pakistan to allow expanded permissions to increase the intensity of drone strikes inside Pakistan -- which are already at record levels --and allow greater access for U.S. and associated forces operating inside Pakistan.
According to The Cable's source, Panetta told Pasha that the U.S. already has in custody one of the alleged attackers, a German citizen of Pakistani origin named Siddiqui. He was captured leaving Pakistan's FATA region and is now currently being held at Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan.
The attacks were planned for late November and allied intelligence agencies are employing all resources at their disposal to round up the rest of the perpetrators, with the understanding that the threat has not yet been neutralized.
"Unless you have killed or captured all 24 to 36 operatives, how can you be sure the plot is foiled?" the source said.
According to the source briefed on the Panetta-Pasha meeting, there were no targets inside the United States for the plot, but the high-value European targets that were reportedly on the list of sites to be attacked could very well have American citizens present.
European governments have already been taking precautionary measures. The Eiffel Tower was evacuated for the second time Tuesday and the U.K. government is holding its official threat warning level at "severe," the second highest level, which means that "a terrorist attack is highly likely."
Panetta told Pasha that the drone strikes will escalate further in the coming days and pressed him for information that might aid the search and increased access to Pakistani intelligence data on the groups involved.
Pasha, in turn, asked Panetta for any remaining intelligence the U.S. is holding on the groups and individuals it was targeting. Pasha wants the ISI to be in the loop on any related CIA operations. The tone of the meeting was friendly, but extremely tense, the source said.
The Pakistani government is cooperating fully with the CIA, but concerns linger that elements not completely under the government's control may still be holding out, protecting friends in and allegiances with groups such as the Haqqani Network.
The crisis couldn't come at a worse time for the Pakistani civilian government led by President Asif Ali Zardari. Zardari has been under increasing attack by elements in the Pakistani military and the ISI, who have been pressing for his ouster and using elements within the media and judiciary to bolster their cause.
Pasha, as well as Army Chief Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, is said to be working with the civilian government on the imminent threat. But simultaneously, elements of the military and intelligence services are increasing their behind-the-scenes opposition to the Zardari government.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton declined to comment on the specifics of the threat Wednesday after meeting with EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton in Washington.
"Now with regard to the intelligence reports of threats, we are not going to comment on specific intelligence, as doing so threatens to undermine intelligence operations that are critical in protecting the United States and our allies," Clinton said.
"As we have repeatedly said, we know that al-Qaida and its network of terrorists wishes to attack both European and U.S. targets. We continue to work very closely with our European allies on the threat from international terrorism, including the role that al-Qaida continues to play."
A behind-the-scenes clash is playing out over President Obama's nominee to be the next U.S. ambassador to Turkey, a key Middle East post at a time of tense relations between Washington and an increasingly independent-minded Ankara.
The would-be envoy, Francis J. Ricciardone, Jr., is a 32-year veteran of the Foreign Service who most recently served as the deputy ambassador in Kabul. He's served in Ankara in the past and speaks fluent Turkish. Ricciardone also played a role in organizing the Iraqi exile community before the 2003 U.S. drive to Baghdad.
But it's his tenure as George W. Bush's envoy to Egypt that has provoked the most criticism, particularly among neoconservatives who are hoping to persuade Republican senators to torpedo his nomination.
Ricciardone served as the U.S. ambassador in Cairo from 2005-2008. Activists and journalists dubbed those first few years the "Arab Spring," when street demonstrations, political ferment, and contested elections in Baghdad, Beirut, and other Arab capitals inspired hope that the Middle East's stagnant authoritarian regimes -- including that of Hosni Mubarak, who has ruled Egypt with an iron fist since Anwar Sadat's assassination in 1981 -- might finally fall.
The Bush administration exerted special efforts to promote democracy and human rights in Egypt, a longtime recipient of billions in military and economic aid, and a close U.S. partner on regional security matters. U.S. officials repeatedly raised human rights concerns with Mubarak's government, including the case of dissident political leader Ayman Nour. Then Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice delivered a ringing 2005 address on democracy at the American University in Cairo, calling on Mubarak to embrace political reform.
Those efforts came crashing down months later, amid the widespread fraud and violence of Egypt's parliamentary elections. The opposition Muslim Brotherhood performed surprisingly well in the early rounds, prompting a harsh government crackdown that continues to this day. When Hamas shocked the world by winning the Palestinian elections the following January, the Bush administration appeared to lose its appetite for promoting Arab democracy altogether.
Former top National Security Council aide Elliott Abrams blames Ricciardone.
"Especially in 2005 and 2006, Secretary Rice and the Bush administration significantly increased American pressure for greater respect for human rights and progress toward democracy in Egypt. This of course meant pushing the Mubarak regime, arguing with it in private, and sometimes criticizing it in public. In all of this we in Washington found Ambassador Ricciardone to be without enthusiasm or energy," Abrams told The Cable.
Ricciardone's supporters counter that he is a distinguished diplomat with a history of serving in tough parts of the world. Some former officials maintain he forged close working relationships across the interagency, worked effectively with the military, and argue that his past experience in Turkey makes him ideal to advance that relationship and U.S. interests across the region as a whole.
"He's an outstanding and extremely dedicated Foreign Service officer who has served his country in some very delicate and dangerous postings," said Mitchell Reiss, who served at the State Department's director of policy planning under Bush,
But other former Bush administration officials are circulating stories they believe show Ricciardone in a negative light.
In one of them, before Rice's Cairo speech, she had a particularly nasty press conference with Foreign Minister Aboul Gheit, where Gheit defended his regime's conduct by criticizing U.S. conduct in the war on terror. Sitting next to Rice following the press conference, Ricciardone blurted out "the problem is that fucking Patriot Act," one senior Bush administration official said, adding that Rice was incensed.
Egyptian officials have cited the Patriot Act in explaining the continued need for their own much-criticized Emergency Law, which contains loopholes that facilitate far-ranging restrictions on freedom of speech and assembly.
"Putting aside the language, this seemed to those in the secretary's party to be yet another case of our ambassador's unwillingness even to see bad conduct by the government of Egypt, and to blame any case of it on Washington," the official said.
Ricciardone's critics claim that his strong personality and often blunt speaking style are the wrong mix for the current task at hand -- and that he has a tendency to get too close to his foreign interlocutors.
"Now is not the time for us to have an ambassador in Ankara who is more interested in serving the interests of the local autocrats and less interested in serving the interests of his own administration," said Danielle Pletka, vice president of the American Enterprise Institute.
Aides from two GOP Senate offices said that while it's too early to say there is firm opposition on the Hill, their bosses have reservations about Ricciardone that could complicate his confirmation process. They plan to not only examine his time in Cairo, but his stints as deputy chief of mission in Turkey once before and his time serving as an official in Baghdad and in Kabul.
"Ricciardone has a lot to answer for on his record in Afghanistan, Egypt and on Iraq policy. What's more, his temperament and professionalism are in serious doubt," said one senior GOP aide. "It's unclear why the administration would send this FSO [Foreign Service officer] to such an important country given the tenuous state of Turkey's relationship with the West."
For all of Riccardione's detractors, he seems to have at least as many supporters. Experts, former officials, and diplomats from across the political spectrum have contacted The Cable in recent days to express their support for him and push back against what they see as the criticisms of a few. They say Ricciardone was made the scapegoat for a flawed Bush administration democracy push that never really had the financial commitment or follow-through it would have needed to be successful.
Steven Cook, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, said that there was never real consensus inside the Bush administration as to how to implement the pro-democracy push Rice highlighted in her Cairo speech, and that Ricciardone was put in the impossible situation of having to manage a complex relationship with a supposed ally while implementing a new policy that was aimed at his overthrow.
"He was quite effective as a U.S. ambassador at a time when the Bush administration and the Egyptian government were at loggerheads. There needed to be someone who could continue the conversation on a range of other things, not just democracy promotion," said Cook.
Ricciardone was tasked with doing two things that seem to be in direct contradiction: Pushing Egypt to help the United States on a host of regional issues, such as the war in Iraq and the fracturing of the Palestinian government, while also pushing Cairo to make reforms it was severely resisting.
"The Bush administration was saying ‘Carry our water while reforming yourself out of power,'" Cook explained, adding that Bush's Egypt democracy initiative never had the financial backing it would have needed to succeed, especially in light of the fact that meanwhile, the U.S. was giving Egypt more than $1 billion in military aid.
Actually, Ricciardone had a solution for that as well. In Cairo, he worked with Faiza Abu El Naga, who runs Egypt's Ministry of International Cooperation, to propose a huge new aid endowment for Egypt, under the thinking that by institutionalizing non-military aid to Egypt, democracy promotion could escape the annual tribulations of the often complicated congressional appropriations process. The fight over that endowment continues to this day.
The nomination fight over Ricciardone will likely become a debate over how best to approach Turkey during this delicate stage. For those who want to use the stick, he's destined to be the wrong choice. For those who think carrots are preferable, Ricciardone's extensive knowledge, fluent Turkish, and reputation for getting heavily involved in public diplomacy make him the perfect selection.
"Let's face it, there hasn't been much of an Obama effect in Turkey, so having an ambassador there who can get out among the people could be very useful," Cook said.
When push comes to shove in the Senate, the main question will be whether the Obama administration is willing to make that case and use some of its political capital to push the nomination through. They haven't always been eager to do so, as with the nomination of Robert Ford to be ambassador to Syria. Ford is well-liked by everybody, but the administration hasn't been active in pressing for his confirmation, potentially because it isn't eager to have a public debate about its policy of engaging Syria -- which has yet to show results.
Another Senate GOP aide who is critical of Ricciardone predicted that the administration won't want to make an issue of the Ricciardone nomination and anticipated that if they don't press it, his confirmation process could languish. "We don't need to put up much of a fight because things are moving so slowly anyway," the aide said.
JAY DIRECTO/AFP/Getty Images
With the Iraqi parliamentary elections set for Sunday, various Iraqi political groups are preparing for a reorganization of the national politics due to unprecedented openness and increased expected participation. This is especially true for the ruling parties in the Kurdistan Regional Government, which could see their national representation reduced proportionally due to expanded Sunni participation and the first fully fledged campaign by the Gorran (Change) party, which swept onto the scene after big gains in Kurdistan's 2009 regional polls.
The Cable sat down with Qubad Talabani, the KRG's representative in Washington and the son of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, to get his take on the elections, the implications for Kurdish interests, and the future of U.S. troops in Iraq's disputed northern provinces. "It's important to know that these elections are far more important for Iraq than those from 2005," he said. "The government that's formed after these elections will have to not only manage a transitioning United States from Iraq, but will also have to deal with the many outstanding issues in Iraq."
The Cable: How do you see the formation of the Iraqi government following the elections?
Qubad Talabani: There will be a widespread call for a swift government formation process. We understand and respect the need for a swift government formation process, but we mustn't sacrifice the quality of the government in consideration of the time it takes to form that government. The world will be watching and what they'll likely see is going to be another complicated, drawn out process. Stakes are very high, competition is fierce, and because of those factors, the government formation process may not look as smooth as many in the United States and around the world will like it to look. So we have to mitigate the expectations.
TC: How has the change of the election format from choosing only lists to voting for individual candidates and lists affected the campaign and Kurdish prospects?
QT: The effect is that people who will go to the parliament will be held more accountable because these people will have been directly voted for by the constituents. Hopefully the performance of these people will be better. It may not affect the numbers per se, but it will create a more accountable process.... You have to put people onto the slates that are popular, confident, and who you think can do the job to serve the people.
TC: What would be considered a success in terms Kurdish seats in the new parliament after the election?
QT: We have 55 seats right now in this current parliament but the national seat allocation has been increased from 275 to 325. Anything higher than 60 seats will be a good result for the Kurds, even if that's proportionally less. We have to be realistic; we do understand that there's a broader participation in these elections and that the three disputed territories is where the hottest competition will take place.
TC: How will the new participation of the Gorran Kurdish movement impact the result?
QT: You have three main Kurdish slates running in these elections: the Kurdistan alliance which is made up primarily of the PUK and the KDP, the Change movement party [Gorran], and the Islamic Union of Kurdistan's slate. There will certainly be competition for the Kurdish votes in the three northern provinces and the three disputed provinces. But I'm confident that once we've put the internal competition aside and people take their seats at the national level, when issues of relevance and importance to Kurdistan come to the table, the majority of the Kurdish blocks in the parliament will unify and vote for Kurdish interests.
TC: How will the overall stakeholders fare on Sunday?
QT: The outcome is really unknown, because of the number of slates participating, because of how close the race is nationally and regionally. Right now it would be premature to make any predictions.
TC: How do you view the news that Gen. Raymond Odierno has put in a request for American combat troops to remain in northern Iraq longer than planned and perhaps after the 2011 withdrawal date enshrined in the Status of Forces Agreement?
QT: The general has a good sense of what's required on the ground. There is a clear need right now for continued U.S. presence, particularly in the disputed territories.... We're open to a continued U.S. military presence as long as they're required. If U.S. forces are required beyond the time than what the SOFA states, that must come about through a renegotiation of an extension of the guidelines set by the current SOFA. The situation on the ground will determine whether an extension is needed. We as Kurds are not opposed to an extension but that will have to be decided at the federal level.
The Cable goes inside the foreign policy machine, from Foggy Bottom to Turtle Bay, the White House to Embassy Row.

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Feminine mobilization largely focused on care, the safety of kids , and charity, based on a division of labor reflecting social class. But girls additionally enrolled within the workplace work of charities, or in the companies that delivered letters and parcels to soldiers and prisoners. Lastly, some women, usually wives of politicians, resembling Belgian Woman Lalla Vandervelde, or of essential personalities including Julie Horta and Marie Depage (1872-1915) , engaged in patriotic propaganda services and undertook extensive excursions overseas, both to raise funds for Poor little Belgium” or to counteract the propaganda spread by Germany in neutral nations.
As in all international locations, the Belgian authorities gave high priority to the reintegration of males in civilian life; political equality was established in 1919, but solely for males. Ladies only bought suffrage in native elections, because of political bargaining, and excluding prostitutes from the vote. Reconstruction also involved repopulation: new legal guidelines have been passed, which had been restrictive in matters Belgium Girls of sexuality , incentive when it comes to fertility, and distributive in allowances (for housewives and family allowances). Wage labor for ladies was strongly condemned. Girls’s mass organizations supported this patriarchal mannequin: the Christian associations based on the doctrine of the Church , the socialist, in response to Marxist doctrine, denouncing the enslavement of workers by the capital.
To embed gender coverage at all ranges of the college, the KUL makes use of range teams and gender vanguards who watch over gender and variety policy on the level of the schools and departments. They generate support for diversity policy within the workplace and talk about central policy decisions within the school, but in addition inform the central Variety Policy Office about gender and variety points that want attention. A selected training programme is provided for the variety groups and gender vanguards by the Range Policy Office.
Swift Methods In Belgium Women – The Basics
You’d be surprised to know that Belgian households, especially women, apprize traditional values. It is common for husbands to take the lead as the pinnacle of the household. Early marriages are prevalent when women typically marry in their twenties. Any single feminine Hot Belgium Girls in her thirties could say that she is divorced, in search of a new and lasting romantic relationship. It is suggested to resort to your due diligence before getting right into a severe relationship with an area woman.
Caluwaerts, Didier, Erzeel, Silvia, and Meier, Petra. 2013. Is it Male Chauvinism or Political Apathy? Gender-Based Preferential Voting in Belgium.” Introduced on the 3rd European Conference on Politics and Gender, Barcelona. Fb Naikmatrimony is part of Copyright © 2020. All rights reserved. Stewardess Gabrielle Defrenne files a gender discrimination go well with against SABENA, the National Airline. The airline forces women to retire at age forty, whereas men are allowed to pursue their job until the legal term of retirement has been reached.
In the early Nineteen Seventies, feminists have been out on the streets, the place they breathed new life into old demands by demanding equality for ladies at dwelling, college and work and in laws. In addition they articulated a brand new view of the body, denounced stereotypes and violence and demanded a fulfilling intercourse life and the appropriate to contraception.Their young, dynamic militancy prompted them to write, hold gatherings and demonstrations and organise joyous, noisy activities geared toward fostering a solidarity-primarily based, egalitarian society in which everybody can flourish.Their calls for and views remain scorching topics today, for though plain progress has been made, a very egalitarian society continues to be a good distance exhibition organised by the Archive and Research Centre for Ladies’s Historical past.
The French-talking community of Belgium has additionally taken steps to enhance gender equality in analysis institutions. These are basically soft regulation measures taken on the stage of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation. The Wallonia-Brussels Partnership for Researchers, adopted in 2011, contains several orientations to improve gender steadiness within the research group.


Nikki Haley, Former Governor of South Carolina, Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations spoke with Fox News Radio's Guy Benson in a wide ranging interview. Guy and Ambassador Haley talked about the U.S Middle East peace deals, racial unrest and President Trump's SCOUTS nominee. Ambassador Haley commented on what it was like to be at the White House for the signing of the Abraham Accords. Saying,
"I'm just so proud guy. I mean, truly, being at the White House and watching that happen was historic. But for me, it was personal because, you know, in my first year at the U.N., it was brutal, you know, to see how all of the countries treated Israel was brutal. But I felt like it was our job as their number one best friend to have their back, but also to fight for truth."
Plus, Ambassador Haley offered her advice to the forthcoming female Supreme Court Nominee. Saying,
"Keep your back up, stand strong, you deserve to be in this moment and you deserve to have this position, fight for it."
Listen To The Full Interview Below:


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Glenorchy is a perfect family holiday spot, writes Kate Watson
If you are looking to reconnect with nature and get a bit of a workout while you're at it, Otago's Glenorchy is just the ticket. On the northern end of Lake Wakatipu, this petite township is the gateway to a number of excellent walks, including the Routeburn Track, and its stunning scenery features in the 2001 Fellowship of the Ring film.
Queenstown, a 45-minute drive away, is convenient for stocking up on groceries pre-arrival, though essentials can be purchased from either of the two main stores. There is also a handful of cafes and restaurants in the town if you need a break from cooking.
Day 1 – The Climb
Need a thigh-burning walk to remind those desk-bound legs what exercise is? Take a 20-minute drive up the Glenorchy Paradise Road, crossing the Rees River and continuing along a narrow gravel road until you reach the Invincible Goldmine Track. There is a small ford just before the track starts that confident drivers may be able to traverse depending on water levels, otherwise be prepared to take your shoes off and walk across. Offering an insight into the gold-mining history of the 1880s, this walk rewards you with some incredible views that are well worth the two-to-three-hour climb.
Day 2 – The Fish
Fancy a spot of fishing but don't have any rods? The small liquor store in the Glenorchy Hotel hires out fishing rods and spinners at a very reasonable price subject to obtaining a fishing licence. With trout and salmon being the main fish in the area, there are catch limits depending on where you choose to fish from.
Our family of four opted for Diamond Lake and spent a very relaxing few hours getting into the meditative fishing zone – unfortunately for us the fish also chose that day to meditate in hidden depths unseen by us.
Day 3 – The Splurge
For a truly memorable experience, book a half-day horse trek with High Country Horses. The two and a half hour trail is suitable for beginners and kids 7 years or older. Accompanied by an experienced guide who will take the time to match you to a compatible horse depending on your level of experience and confidence, the trek takes you across an ever-changing landscape of bushland and the odd rather exciting river crossing that offers plentiful opportunity for great photos. The horses are well-maintained and frequently rotated and rested to ensure they aren't overworked.
Day 4 – The Loop
A 30-minute drive north and across the Dart River will take you to The Lake Sylvan loop walk. At under two hours, this easy-going track meanders through stunning beech forest on a gentle gradient that is ideal for families. The lakefront offers plenty of options for a picnic lunch and, depending on the time of year, a dip.
If food supplies are running low or you're keen for some respite from cooking, finish your day with a meal at the Bold Peak Lodge restaurant which offers generous servings and entertainment courtesy of a pool table or dartboards for a koha donation.
Day 5 – The Thrill
Kids hankering for a change of scene and food supplies running low? Head into Queenstown and ride the Skyline Gondola to the top of the hill and enjoy 220-degree views of Lake Wakatipu and the Remarkables from a 450-metre height. Take your pick of one or both of the two luge tracks for a dose of adrenaline that will please kids and parents alike. I recommend choosing a package that offers a minimum of five rides for the ultimate experience.
When you're finished, grab a meal at one of the many cafes and restaurants in town catering to all budgets before stocking up on food supplies in town or nearby Frankton for the return to Glenorchy.
Day 6 – The Workout
A 45-minute drive circumnavigating the Dart River takes you to the entrance to the Lake Rere Walk. Though graded easy, the track's terrain is mixed, with a few steep climbs in places. Lake Rere itself offers some lovely swimming spots and on the day we went, the water temperature was pleasantly tepid. Later in the walk there are opportunities for more refreshing river dips in selected spots, though do take care to avoid areas with fast-moving currents.
Pack plenty of water for this four-to-six hour hike, particularly on a hot day. This is a highly satisfying walk that will leave you pleasantly weary and ready for a good night's sleep.
Day 7 – The Local
Give the car a day off and stay local. Just past the Trading Post on Mull St, Glenorchy Walkway is an easy one to two-hour boardwalk track on the flat that takes in views of Mounts Earnslaw and Pikirakatahi and circles Glenorchy Lagoon through wetlands where native birdlife abounds.
Afterwards, head to Mrs Woolly's General Store and reward yourself with homemade vanilla bean ice-cream or a slice of their delicious cheesecake or lemon meringue pie to finish off your week of activity.

domain: travel


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I’ve just discovered frozen yogurt like never before. The best flavors are around 120 calories per 1/2 cup. But the no sugar added ones are as little as 45!
I’m currently enjoying cake batter and thin mint flavors topped with strawberries. See! You can indulge and still stay on track! 🙂


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We need custom font filters / tags
We have Favorites in Font Family drop-down list, but that's not enough. Allow us to create our own custom filters / tags and manage them.
@Skilltech, it has been merged with an older request about the same thing, which had more votes. When this happens, the post is converted to a comment and all attachments are also merged.
Thanks Egor. But why did my attachment (illustrator-font-tags.jpg) move out of my post?
A gorgeous mockup, mate!
Font TAGS INSIDE ILLUSTRATOR's FONTS MENU (not in CC). An extension to the fonts menu with an ability to create CUSTOM font tags and easily find "those" fonts you always waste too much time finding.
I can't stress enough how important is to LET DESIGNERS CREATE THEIR OWN TAGS. No predetermined Adobe tags!
Example: Tag a font with an e.g. "Slanted" custom tag, then click on "Slanted" tag in the Tags menu and only the "Slanted" fonts would be listed.
There would be options to:
• Create new font tags
• Assign existing (or new) tags to a selected font
• Filter fonts by tag(s)
• Select filtering type (correlation)
For multiple tags applied, there would be a "Correlation" switch button for filtering, with options "And" and "Or". Let's say we select tags "Tag A" and "Tag B", then:
• "Or" option would show both "Tag A" tagged fonts and "Tag B" tagged fonts
• "And" option would only show fonts that have both "Tag A" AND "Tag B" tags
SEE DEMO IMAGE BELOW
NIKIFOROS BAFAS commented
Since you have added the Star system to set favorite fonts, it would be an amazing addition if we could create custom lists and add as many fonts as we need to filter them according to our designs and our personal style. That way we will save tones of time by filtering very easy what we need.
The new "Find more," under the character tab, is awesome, and it would be really cool if there were a way to apply various colored highlights to fonts I'm interested in per project, so I can easily access my alternate 'maybe fonts' without having to add them to favorites, or remember them as I scroll by, which has become pretty impossible, given all there is to choose from under this new feature. Love the new "find more"...thanks so much.


The vulnerable parts of plasma cutting machine mainly include electrode, nozzle, protective sleeve and distributor.
In order to save users’ cost, I will tell you how to prolong the service time of these vulnerable parts with 15 different methods.
1. Ensure the correct pressure and flow of plasma
The correct pressure and flow of plasma is very important for the service life of consumer parts. If the air pressure is too high, the service life of the electrode will be greatly reduced;
If the air pressure is too low, the service life of the nozzle will be affected.
2. Adopt reasonable cutting distance
According to the requirements of the operation manual, adopt a reasonable cutting distance, that is, the distance between the cutting nozzle and the workpiece surface.
When perforation, try to use the distance twice the normal cutting distance or the maximum height that can be transmitted by plasma arc.
3. The perforation thickness shall be within the allowable range of the machine system
The cutting machine cannot punch on the steel plate exceeding the working thickness.
The usual perforation thickness is 1 / 2 of the normal cutting thickness.
4. Do not overload the nozzle
Overloading the nozzle (i.e. exceeding the working current of the nozzle) will quickly damage the nozzle.
The current intensity should be 95% of the working current of the nozzle. For example, the current intensity of 100A nozzle should be set to 95A.
5. Keep the plasma gas dry and clean
The plasma system needs dry and clean plasma gas to work normally.
Dirty gas is usually the problem of gas compression system, which will shorten the service life of consumer parts and cause abnormal damage.
The method to test the gas quality is to set the cutting torch in the test state and put a mirror under it to consume the gas in the cutting torch.
If water vapor and mist appear on the mirror, it is necessary to find out the cause and correct it.
6. Cutting shall start from the edge
As far as possible, cut from the edge rather than through the hole. Using the edge as the starting point will prolong the service life of consumer parts.
The correct method is to directly align the nozzle with the edge of the workpiece and then start the plasma arc.
7. Avoid plasma arc stretching and expansion
If the plasma arc can only contact the workpiece surface by stretching and expanding, the plasma arc will produce this stretching and expansion at the beginning and end of cutting, which will cause abnormal damage to the nozzle.
This problem can be avoided if the correct edge starting point technique is adopted and the appropriate “arc breaking” signal time is selected.
8. Reduce unnecessary “arc striking (or arc guiding)” time
During arcing, the consumption of nozzle and electrode is very fast. Before starting, put the cutting torch within the walking distance of cutting metal.
9. Apply splash proof chemical coating to the protective housing
The splash proof chemical coating helps to reduce the accumulation of slag on the protective shell.
However, the protective shell must be removed from the cutting torch before anti splash coating can be applied.
10. Remove the slag from the protective shell
The slag on the cutting torch protective shell shall be removed frequently, otherwise this slag will cause destructive heavy plasma arc.
11. Remove the gas after replacing the consumable parts
After replacement of consumable parts or long-term shutdown, the gas shall be removed (2 ~ 3 minutes is appropriate) to ensure that the water and mist are discharged from the cutting torch.
12. Try to keep the cutting torch and consumables clean
Any dirt on the cutting torch and consumable parts will greatly affect the function of the plasma system.
When replacing consumable parts, place them on a clean flannelette, often check the connecting thread of the cutting torch, and clean the electrode contact surface and nozzle with hydrogen peroxide detergent.
13. Remove oxides from air or oxygen nozzles
When air or oxygen plasma is selected, oxide will be deposited in the nozzle, which will affect the air flow and reduce the service life of consumer parts.
Wipe the inside of the nozzle with a clean lint cloth to eliminate oxides.
14. Inject softened water into the cutting torch
Hard water will cause metal impurities to precipitate on the nozzle ring, which will affect the air flow, reduce the quality of the cutting torch and shorten the service life of consumer parts.
15. Check air flow and cooling flow daily
One of the most common causes of cutting torch damage is the lack of cooling flow.
It is necessary to often check the air flow and air pressure (such as air cooling) or coolant (such as water cooling) to the cutting torch.
If it is found that the air flow is insufficient or leaked, it shall be shut down immediately to eliminate the fault.


Headup Games has announced the next entry in its Bridge Constructor series will be a Portal mash-up. The standalone title will see players leveraging the portal technology from Portal's Aperture Laboratories to put a new spin on Bridge Constructor's main mechanic: building bridges to usher vehicles from point to point.
It may not be the Portal sequel that fans have been hoping for since Portal 2's 2011 release, but it's certainly an unexpected mash-up. If the game piques your interest, Headup Games says that Bridge Constructor Portal will launch on December 20 for PC, Mac, Linux, and mobile devices. Console versions are just around the corner as well, with a planned launch in early 2018, Headup says.
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Deep Fryer Dual Tank 3400W 12 Liter Stainless Steel Electric Double Basket Fryer for Commercial Restaurant Countertop Kitchen with Adjustable Temperature, CE Certified & UL Listed. Our deep fryer includes electronic temperature controls to regulate the temperature. These computerized controls save energy by constantly sensing and adjusting the temperature of the oil. The electric dual tank stainless steel deep fryer allows you to fry double the amount of food at once. With its monstrous 12L capacity, you can fry large quantities in an instance. Our Deep Fryer is ideal for fries, buffalo wings, chicken, dumplings, egg rolls, shrimp rolls, mozzarella sticks, jalapeno poppers, or anything else you could imagine. This Deep Fryer is adequate for commercial use and more than enough to satisfy the frying needs of an average household. Heavy duty stainless steel construction for home or commercial applications; Lid cover prevents the oil from spilling or splashing. CE Certified & UL listed for added safety; The temperature limiter kicks in when the temperature reaches abnormality to prevent any potential accidents. Microswitch protection turns the fryer off when experiencing sudden impact. Thermostat control dial makes it easy to fine tune the temperature. Allows up to 374 degrees Fahrenheit (190 degree Celsius). Dual power plugs design for single/dual tank application. Residue plates for filtering out the dregs; Removable oil pan for easy cleaning. Wattage: 3400W (1700w for each tank). Tank Capacity: 12L (6L for each one). Temperature Control Switch: 50190 degree Celsius. Overall Dimensions: 22-3/4″ x 17-1/4″ x 12. Tank Dimensions: 12-3/4″ x 10-1/2″ x 5-3/4. Basket Dimensions: 7-1/4″ x 8-1/4″ x 4-1/4. Power cord Length: 59. 1x Dual Tank Stainless Steel Deep Fryer. 2x Stainless Steel Baskets. 2x Stainless Steel Lit Covers. 2x Stainless Steel Residue Plates. The item “Deep Fryer Dual Tank 3400W 12 Liter Stainless Steel Electric Double Basket Fryer” is in sale since Monday, December 16, 2013. This item is in the category “Business & Industrial\Restaurant & Food Service\Commercial Kitchen Equipment\Cooking Equipment\Other Commercial Cooking Equipment”. The seller is “setecusa” and is located in Arcadia, California, 91006. This item can be shipped worldwide.
- Brand: CE Compass
- MPN: ELC_DOUB_TANK_12L


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North Americans flock to The Hobbit
The Hobbit has set a December movie record for North American box office sales of US$84.77 million (NZ$100.30m) as legions of fans turned out for the long-awaited big-screen return to Middle Earth.
The 3D movie directed by Oscar-winning "Rings" filmmaker Peter Jackson is the first of three films based on a 1937 classic novel by J.R.R. Tolkien. Warner Bros. is aiming to build on the success of the "Rings" series, one of Hollywood's biggest franchises with US$2.9 billion (NZ$3.43b) in global ticket sales.
The "Lord of the Rings" movies debuted in theaters from 2001 to 2003. After that, production on "The Hobbit" ran into delays, leaving fans waiting a decade for another look at the fantasy story of dwarves, wizards and elves.
The opening weekend "Hobbit" sales proved interest remained high. North American (US and Canadian) receipts toppled the old record for December set by Will Smith sci-fi flick "I Am Legend," which pulled in US$77.2 million (NZ$91.3m) when it debuted in 2007.
"The best we were hoping for was to reach or exceed the US$77 million set by that movie and we did it by quite a lot. It was all good and we're very happy about it," said Dan Fellman, president of theatrical distribution for Warner Bros.
"You have to assume that by the time this first week is over we are going to have around US$110 million (NZ$130.16m) in the bank before the holiday even starts," he added.
The new film follows the epic journey of hobbit Bilbo Baggins, played by Martin Freeman, as he travels through the treacherous Middle Earth with a band of dwarves to steal treasures from the dragon Smaug.
The movie also stars Richard Armitage and Benedict Cumberbatch, while Ian McKellen, Cate Blanchett and Elijah Wood reprise their "Rings" roles.
Opening-weekend audiences embraced "The Hobbit," awarding an "A" grade in polling by survey firm CinemaScore. Critics had a mixed response to the nearly three-hour film. Sixty-five percent of reviews on the Rotten Tomatoes website recommended the movie, although some objected to Jackson's decision to shoot it using a 48-frames-per-second format rather than the usual 24.
SOME VIEWERS NAUSEOUS
The faster frame rate delivers clearer pictures, but some critics called the format cartoonish and jarring. Some fans at early screenings in New Zealand complained it made them feel nauseous and dizzy, according to The New Zealand Herald. Only a fraction of theaters showed the film in the new format.
The next two "Hobbit" movies are schedules to reach theaters in December 2013 and July 2014. The films were financed by MGM and Warner Bros.' New Line Cinema unit for an estimated US$500 million (NZ$591m).
"The Hobbit" took a bumpy, years-long journey to the big screen that included two directors and a lawsuit. Jackson made the "Rings" trilogy when producers could not get "The Hobbit" rights that were held by MGM's United Artists unit.
Guillermo del Toro was first hired to direct "The Hobbit" but he left the project when financial woes at MGM caused delays. The movie went into production only after Jackson settled a lawsuit against New Line in a dispute over profits from the "Rings" films.
"The Hobbit" was the only new nationwide release over the weekend. The rest of the top five were films that have been playing for weeks.
In second place was the animated family film "Rise of the Guardians" with US$7.4 million (NZ$8.75m), followed by historical drama "Lincoln" starring Daniel Day-Lewis as the revered US president, which grabbed US$7.2 million (NZ$8.51m) from Friday through to Sunday, according to studio estimates.
James Bond movie "Skyfall" landed in fourth place with US$7 million (NZ$8.28m).
Next on the box office chart was "Life of Pi," which captured US$5.4 million (NZ$6.38m). Teen vampire tale "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2" earned US$5.17 million (NZ$6.11m).

domain: entertainment