Hoalohanani blog

WHAT ABOUT SYRIA?

The president spoke to the nation and made a strong case for why America needed to intervene in this fight -- and why that did not always mean it should intervene in others," said The New York Times in its lead editorial.

"Mr. Obama," said the Times, "said that the United States had a moral responsibility to stop 'violence on a horrific scale,' as well as a unique international mandate and a broad coalition to act with. He said that failure to intervene could also have threatened the peaceful transitions in Egypt and Tunisia, as thousands of Libyan refugees poured across their borders, while other dictators would conclude that 'violence is the best strategy to cling to power.'"

The Los Angeles Times editorialized: "Before President Obama's address to the nation about Libya, three questions about U.S. involvement there loomed large: Why, among all the places with vulnerable civilian populations, did the U.S. and its allies choose to intervene in Libya? Was the mission designed to prevent civilian suffering or to topple Moammar Gadhafi? How (and how quickly) would the U.S. extricate itself from this engagement?"

And, continued that editorial: "In his speech Monday, Obama addressed those thorny questions and many others with cogency and clarity, though not all of the answers were persuasive."

The question these editorials were asking was: "Why is Libya unique, as opposed to other countries, for example Bahrain and Syria?"

Obama's answer was fine as far as it went: A dictator was demonstrating that he would use massive military force against his own people. And what kind of people are we (and other Western countries) if we sit back and watch that happen on television and cellphones, as we did pre-cellphone in Rwanda in 1988?

I think he did the right thing, but am deeply worried about where it will lead.

This is no ordinary time. Presidents must react again and again to events unseen and threats unknown. The density of events these days is a different kind of tsunami than the earthquake-driven wall of water that demolished part of Japan. Mike Allen, whose morning blog is pretty much required reading in Washington, put it this way last Saturday:

"We've had a decade's worth of news in less than two months: It was Feb. 11 -- seven weeks ago -- that Mubarak fled the Arab spring, a rolling reordering of Middle East power that could wind up affecting global security as profoundly as 9/11. It was March 11 -- 15 days ago -- that we woke to the news of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami, which will have ripple effects on the fragile global economy for months to come. And, oh, we're in three hot conflicts at once, for the first time since World War II."

Ignoring the hypocritical fool Republicans who complained that Obama was a timid wuss letting Libyans be massacred and now say he is going too far, too fast, Obama and the rest of us have barely a clue as to how the Libyan adventure will end. If the united-front air-strike strategy works, Obama is a hero. If Gadhafi retains power with crazed brute strength, Obama will have to take the blame at home.

And that is not the worst scenario. The greatest danger for us is in Syria. Libya is a small country on a sea with a horizon now dotted with coalition aircraft carriers. Syria has more than 22 million people, five times more than Libya. So the final unanswered question is what do we do if Bashar Assad is threatened by the Arab freedom wave and begins slaughtering more of his own people. If we (and probably Israel) go to war there, all bets are off -- including what Iran will do -- in the sandy quagmire that is the Middle East.

Taylor's unpublished love letters up for auction

Before becoming a bride eight times over, Elizabeth Taylor was a 17-year-old starlet scribbling letters to her first fiance, charting on pale pink stationery his progression from her one-and-only to the one who got away.

"I've never known this kind of love before — it's so perfect and complete — and mature," Taylor wrote to William Pawley on May 6, 1949. "I've never loved anyone in my life before one third as much as I love you — and I never will (well, as far as that goes — I'll never love anyone else — period)."

Taylor, who died last week at age 79, was engaged to Pawley in 1949, just before her first marriage. More than 60 of the letters she wrote him between March and October of that year will be auctioned in May by RR Auctions of Amherst, N.H. It bought the letters two years ago from Pawley, who lives in Florida.

The unpublished letters — some written in purple fountain ink on pink paper — provide a glimpse of a teenager's transition to adult screen star.

She frets about her weight ("As I'm sitting here — writing to you, I'm just stuffing myself on a box of candy — honestly I've got to stop eating so much") and passing her high school exams. And she contrasts two movies she was filming at the time, "A Place in the Sun" and "The Big Hangover," praising the director of the former and complaining about her role in the latter.

But mostly, she gushes about Pawley, the 22-year-old son of a former ambassador to Brazil, reassuring him over and over that her love is true.

"My heart aches & makes me want to cry when I think of you, and how much I want to be with and to look into your beautiful blue eyes, and kiss your sweet lips and have your strong arms hold me, oh so tight, & close to you ... I want us to be `lovers' always ... even after we've been married seventy-five years and have at least a dozen great-great-grandchildren," she wrote on March 28.

At the time, Taylor was publicly dating football player Glenn Davis, but in several of the letters, she complains about the ruse promoted by her mother and the studio to maintain her girl-next-door image. In a 10-page letter dated April 1, she describes her reaction to Davis accidentally breaking a pair of earrings Pawley had given her.

"I have never had such a strong desire to hit anyone with all my might in all my life," she wrote. "I gave him back his `A' pin, the football and his All-American sweater ... I don't care what they say anymore ... from now on I'm going to live my life the way I want to."

In May, she told Pawley she was ready to say goodbye to her career and everything connected with it, "For I won't be giving anything up — but I will be gaining the greatest gift that God bestows on man — love, marriage, a family — and you my Darling."

By September, however, Taylor was writing about returning her engagement ring at Pawley's request.

"I know with all my heart and soul that this is not the end for us — it couldn't be — we love each other too much," she wrote.

Less than eight months later, she married hotel heir Conrad Nicholson "Nicky" Hilton.

The online auction, set for May 19-26, will also feature letters Taylor's mother wrote to Pawley after the engagement ended, including one in which she wrote, "You have a nervous condition and a problem with jealousy, as such you and Elizabeth can never be together."

Bobby Livingston, spokesman for the auction house, said the letters were estimated to be worth $25,000 to $35,000 before Taylor's death, and he expects they could fetch two or three times that amount now.

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Online:

New Facebook 'Questions' Feature Improves Fan Pages and Q-and-A

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-- Q-and-A at your fingertips -- capable of becoming one of the most productive applications in the social network's recent history. That may sound optimistic, but as the alternatives -- for obtaining fast, useful answers -- are often cumbersome, the practical applications for both consumers and business Fan Pages appear numerous.

On Thursday, Facebook Product Manager Adrian Graham made the announcement via the company blog that Facebook Questions, which was restricted to limited testing, is currently being deployed to everyone. He also noted its basic premise for development.

Graham stated that "friends are often the best source of advice" for consumer related information, such as "Where should I go to dinner?" We also turn to friends for answers on everything from parenting to job hunting advice.

While commercial and fan page use went unmentioned, both businesses and individuals can benefit from the easy-to-use application, particularly the poll feature.

Potential Business Use

There are many lonely Facebook pages about offering little return appeal and interactivity between businesses and customers. Even shoestring businesses can add this application and no coding knowledge is required.

Polls generated with Facebook Questions encourage both feedback and return visits, if focused in an effective manner. Examples:

* A new restaurant may present choices to new fans - regarding a menu item for a grand opening discount, say - and put them up for vote.

* Publications may solicit topic suggestions and feedback.

* Brands could more closely follow complaints and conduct damage control.

The tactics are not novel but for marketing purpose it is easier to reach people already engaged in Facebook. Inherent social networking features, provide more reach. e.g., friends of friends can follow or answer questions.

Basic benefits of Facebook Questions

* Eliminates blind status queries: friends may be invited to answer a question or poll.

* Saves time weeding through off-topic and long comment threads in Facebook Groups for answers.

* Polls are conspicuously displayed on one's Wall with friends' avatars flanking one side of the respective answers.

* Questions can be followed easily (link in the left column) offering the opportunity to track topics of interest.

Potential Pitfalls

* Shouldthe potential for spam or irrelevancy will increase.

* As with all things Facebook, privacy is an issue.and keep it handy for friends and customers.

* Following questions may become annoying if it interferes with status and other updates, therefore discouraging use.

as some tech commenters speculate, though it is feasible the networking class will frequent Q&A sites less and rely on friends and associates more for answers.

Related Content:Facebook vs. Twitter: Which is better for marketing?

Donna Porter parlays her 15 years on the Web into practical information on social media and technology. Her experience in journalism, small business and consumer advocacy is supplemented with ISO certifications in Internet research, data evaluation and related fields.

Child Abuse and Ritual Abuse Newsletter Enters its Sixteenth Year of Publication

The S.M.A.R.T Ritual Abuse Newsletter enters its sixteenth year of publication. S.M.A.R.T is a bimonthly newsletter with information about severe child abuse, ritual abuse and extreme abuse in group settings. S.M.A.R.T. has annual international conferences every summer in Connecticut USA since 1998, a full web page with resources on child abuse, ritual abuse and dissociation and Internet discussion groups for survivors and co-survivors of ritual abuse.Their web page atcontains a full list of scientific journal articles on the topic of ritual abuse and information for ritual abuse survivors.

Easthampton, MA (PRWEB) February 16, 2011

The S.M.A.R.T newsletter enters its sixteenth year of publication. S.M.A.R.T. started out in 1995 as a bimonthly newsletter with information about severe child abuse, ritual abuse and extreme abuse in group settings. Since then, S.M.A.R.T. has added annual international conferences every summer in Connecticut, a full web page with resources on child abuse, ritual abuse and dissociation and Internet discussion groups for survivors and co-survivors of ritual abuse. S.M.A.R.T has over ninety issues of our newsletter online and have been having conferences since 1998.The newsletter can be received for free by e-mail by writing smartnews(at)aol(dot)com.

A conference to help survivors of severe child abuse (ritual abuse) and torture will be held on August 5- 7, 2011, between 8 - 5 PM Saturday and Sunday at the DoubleTree Hotel near Bradley International Airport, 16 Ella Grasso Turnpike, Windsor Locks, CT 06096 (between Hartford, CT and Springfield, MA).This conference will help educate survivors of this abuse and their helpers.Pre-registration is preferred.For information writeS.M.A.R.T., P. O Box 1295, Easthampton, MA 01027-1295 E-mail: smartnews(at)aol(dot)com, conference information is at:.

Ritual Abuse and Extreme Abuse Clinician’s Conference 2011 - A one day conference preceding our regular conference will be open to licensed practitioners in related fields to discuss issues in working with clients suffering from ritual abuse and extreme abuse symptoms.E-mail: smartnews(at)aol(dot)com,

S.M.A.R.T. Ritual Abuse Newsletter and ConferencesP O Box 1295Easthampton, MA 01027E-mail: smartnews(at)aol(dot)com

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NeilBrickSMART Ritual Abuse Newsletter111-111-1111Email Information

RoboCop statue reaches funding goal

Detroit News staff report

Like it or hate it, a RoboCop statue soon could be coming to Detroit.

Tuesday evening, organizers met their goal of raising $50,000, just six days after the whimsical campaign began.

Pete Hottelet, an Oakland, Calif., advertising entrepreneur, pushed the campaign to its goal, donating $25,000 online. The 32-year-old said he saw the effort as an opportunity to help Detroit.

"Detroit has an amazing history, and it's one of those places where something like this fits in."

The average contribution, from 1,500 people, was about $17, according to Corktown resident Jerry Paffendorf, one of the RoboCop campaign leaders.

By 11 a.m. Wednesday, the campaign had raised $50,626 and there's still 38 days to go, according to the kickstarter.com, the website that was used to raise funds.

"People were really interested in making something happen in Detroit," Paffendorf said.

The statue of the half-man, half-cyborg crime fighter immortalized in a 1987 movie would appear on privately owned land near the Michigan Central Depot downtown.

The initiative began as something of a lark last week, when Mayor Dave Bing responded to a question on Twitter and said the city has no plans to build a RoboCop statue.

It has since generated national media attention and substantial debate within Detroit between those who believe a statue is fun and could be a tourist attraction and those who believe it is silly idea at best and condescending reminder of the city's crime problems at worst.

Here's an interesting and humorous interpretation of what the statue might look like by Detroit News graphic artist Rob L'Heureux:

Paffendorf, 29, of Detroit said he hopes the RoboCop campaign inspires residents and leads to other projects.

"If people can raise money for something like RoboCop, then they can do it for their neighborhoods or their schools," Paffendorf said. "Sometimes it takes a RoboCop to open up the consciousness of these things."