PC Magazine (03/2008)
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# 51 Tips & Hacks for Windows Vista and XP
# The 2007 Game of the Year Awards
# Overclocking your Videocard
# How To: Stream Media to Your Xbox 360
# And Lots of Awesome Product Reviews!
# Ask the Doctor
# Rig of the Month
# The Watchdog

Finally I got a chance to visit my dreamland since I was a student... Sanrio Puroland!!!

I went to the one @ Japan Tokyo, Tama Center Station during my March 08 trip to Japan.

The weather was freezing cold in Japan... But nevertheless I must still make the trip down to Sanrio Puroland.

Miscalculated the journey duration... It took me close to 1 1/2 hours to reach Tama Center Station from my hotel at Hamamatsucho Station...

Me, Peirong & Kathleen @ the Bell of Happiness. We can make a wish and hang our wishes on the bell.... for 500Yen

The full-fledged Pink Hello Kitty room @ the Hello Kitty Palace... OMG...

Armchair for the Queenie....

The experience @ Sanrio Puroland was speechless... It was so sensational... I felt like a kid once again... Well of course it was also like a dream that was finally fulfilled since I was a kid. Being engulfed with Sanrio characters, Hello Kitty and her friends, the boat ride... The Kitty Palace, the merchandise, the food at the Eatery... All in Kitty packaging... Even their ladies... It was so dreamy... Like a fairytale...

Can you imagine? This is the toilet inside Sanrio Puroland... OMG....

When will I get to go back again?

That's not all! We are expanding on the march/rally idea to include many educational and action oriented activities throughout the week! We want this march to be more than just a march. We want this event to aid in producing future candidates, campaign managers, activists, and citizen lobbyists! The only way to effect change is legislatively. Now is your chance to do that:

Wednesday-Thursday: Citizens Lobby Workshops for those who would like to lobby Congress on Friday the 11th
Friday: Lobbying your Congressman and Senators with your new found skills
Also Friday: Demonstrating in front of the Federal Reserve Building
And, Friday is the Marshal training for the special folks who signed up to help keep things humming along the march route as well as the rally.
Saturday: The march!!!!!
Saturday, post march: Book signing and opportunities to meet the speakers

One day or the whole week, there will be plenty of opportunity for you to have an impact, network, have fun, and learn along the way! So plan on taking some vacation time and join us!

Have you made your travel plans yet? Currently there are 4 cross-country convoys being planned - starting in California! We are also negotiating with Best Western to be our official Nationwide Revolution March Hotel chain. The enthusiasm is electric!

We'll have more details on the web site about the activities prior to the march as well as more info on the "Ronvoy" in a few days. We will have a special website with all the details posted on RonVoy.com soon!

Important: We are gearing up for a Memorial Day Money Bomb which will be on MarchBomb.com when it is ready. In the meantime, if people wish to donate, they can do it using the Chip-In widget on the RevolutionMarch.com home page. Without donations, this march can’t move forward, so please spread the word on this. Any donation, big or small, is needed and welcomed! Also, we will need your help finding sponsors for the event. Sponsors are organizations that will buy tables at the march to distribute their literature and will be given advertisement exposure on our web site, our radio program, and in our literature. We will have more info on that in a future email.

Please keep in mind when you are promoting that this is a family event, and that we encourage all people, regardless of age or political background to come and stand up for true freedom, and if you have any questions regarding the march, your job, fundraising, or any other aspect of this event, feel free to contact us at any time.

All we need now is the funding and sponsorship to ensure this event is a success! Please help us achieve our goals by donating here:

Thanks
Revolution March Team
http://www.revolutionmarch.com
http://www.revolutionbroadcasting.com

I'm having my field camp this coming week. Truthfully, I'm not really afraid of the field camp. I'm dreading the 8km route march to the camp site more. The previous 6km route march in FBO attire almost killed me, but I guess this time I should (I hope) be more ready and prepared for the 8km one.

One part of me don't really look forward to the field camp, because I know it's going to be physically tiring, and not to forget mentally draining. After Individual Field Craft (IFC), we got a taste of what Orion outfield is like, and it's crazy. The commanders' tolerance level are super low, and so "whole lot knock it down' commands are given like water. Yet another part of me looks forward to it, because I know after field camp things will be much easier, and also because I know field camp is when you're tested and pushed beyond your limits. The little sleep time, the things you have to do, and not to forget the punishments..they're tiring and harsh, but yet it makes you stronger, and it'll make me stronger.

Yet through this one month I've realized something: that I don't have to be afraid; that God is with me. This one month I've realized how He has been so real. It's really when I'm so tired in between and during PT, when all the crap happens around and to me and I have no one else to turn to that I begin to know that He's there. God's there.

Twice I've nearly lost my IC, and I got so miserable and discouraged, yet I found it back. Once I've had a bad stomach and diarrhoea, and it lasted 3-4 days in which on one day it was really quite bad that I shitted 5 times. Oh and I totally had no appetite during this period and so I ate very little. Still He gave me strength and I continued with the PTs. Once I lost my bayonet, and it was during my live range outfield which I had on the Monday of this week. Yet thank God that someone found it, though whether or not I will be punshed for it is another matter (I'll most probably get guard duty if I am).

When you're really down and discouraged and you have really no one else to turn to, I realized He always came through for me. He has never forsaken me. He ended up always turning things around for me.

And so I'm not afraid of the route march, I'm not afraid of the field camp, I'm not afraid of the RT, the IPPT, the SOC, even when it gets discouraging I know God will come through for me. I know I will pass them all.

I'm going to book in later tonight for the RT session tomorrow once again, but I'm glad I'm going to church before that. (:

Press Release

The members of the Australian Oromo Community Association in Victoria protest against the divisive policies of current Ethiopian ‘Tigrean’ lead regime based on the following facts: We came to this country as political refugees seeking humanitarian assistance and descent life. It is a fact that we fled a repression employed by the current minority ‘Tigrean’ led government of Ethiopia leaving members of our family back home. Here in Australia we are very much settled along with many other groups from that country (Ethiopia) accommodating our differences as we embrace Australian way of life.
The Delegates from Hell - Ethiopia The Australian Oromo Community Association in Victoria would like to inform the Australian authorities and public that the current delegates from Ethiopia are not true representatives of the nations and nationalities in the Ethiopian Empire. Read More

Sarasota Association of Realtors®

The demonstrators prayed, sang and chanted slogans including "no justice, no peace" as they converged on six heavily used bridges and tunnels that carry traffic to and from Manhattan Island. The protests were part of a coordinated campaign to urge federal authorities to investigate the shooting of Sean Bell in November 2006.
Source

Another source says that the police asked them to leave because they were blocking traffic and that’s what led to the arrest.
YAY for civil disobedience!! Forget city sanctioned, police escorted, orange blockaded, permit having marches, let’s PROTEST! Dr. King didn’t need no stinking permits! The point of a march is to protest and the point of a protest is to make your voice heard. YAY for Civil Disobedience!!

**Please don’t confuse Civil Disobedience with Looting!! Looting is the dumbest thing black folks came up with other than pouring liquor on the sidewalk. Why would you destroy your own neighborhood to prove a point to people that would never set foot in your hood??****

I'm proud of Al for protesting today!! Now if only he could do the rest of the things on my list…

The Revolution begins with you! It will not be televised, it may however be blogged, podcasted and youtubed…

Chant, chant, chant!!!

Oromos United, we never been defeated!

Oromos United, we never been defeated!

Chant, chant, chant!!!

This mighty human wave

No power could stave

Oromos United, we never been defeated!

Oromos United, we never been defeated!

Chant, chant, chant!!!

Woyanes want all of us dead

but they're only giving us rush of blood to the head

Chant, chant, chant!!!

Oromos United, we never been defeated!

Oromos United, we never been defeated!

Chant, chant, chant!!!

Persecution making me callous

More Oxygen to my brain cells

but a lot more headache for Meles

Your days are numbered

burry your head in sand

We're rising up to FREE our land.

Oromos United, we never been defeated!

Oromos United, we never been defeated!

Chant, Chant, Chant!

O'z UP!

There is an old saying that goes "In beginning or in end, March its
gifts will send" a reference to the idea that March is a month of
many weathers. Its around this time of the year that the blackthorn
decides to produce an abundance of blossoms, fooling many into
thinking that the chill of winter is over and done with. Sadly, we
still have to wait a few weeks for the daylight to be greater than
the darkness in the days here in the UK. But not too long before
those Spring Equinox celebrations where we can all proclaim "thus we
banish winter, thus we welcome Spring..." and hopefully this year,
with more gusto than last year to ensure that there will be no repeat
of all the flooding and misery that it caused in 2007!

I am obviously still getting used to being a mum and being distracted
by all that goes with it. Today is Mothering Sunday, a day which
according to some have been celebrated on the fourth Sunday of Lent
for many centuries as a time when children, sometimes as young as 8
or 9, working away from home would be able to return to their homes
for a weekend before the busy Easter period. This was before the
days of public transport and the children would often walk back home,
picking wildflowers for their mothers as they did so, and sometimes
with gifts from the people they worked for to take home to their own
families. Thus a tradition was started and continued to this day,
long before the days of tacky commercial cards and chemically treated
flowers flown in from the other side of the planet where they are
often tended by child labourers! (at least the latter
is "traditional", sadly so)

Yesterday here in Wales, people celebrated St David's day, a day all
about that wonderful allium the leek which was the favourite
vegetable of St David commemorating his death in 589 CE. Whilst he
went about his own life causing wells to spring up everywhere, he
also lived as a strict vegetarian in Glyn Rhosyn, which is now the
smallest city in the UK aptly named "St David" on the west coast of
Wales.

For those of you who have, with the recent campaigns raising
awareness of the way chicken farming is done, decided to raise your
own chickens in your backyard (and apparently there are around
300,000 homes in the UK doing this now) March is a great month. This
is because chickens hatched in March have long been considered to be
luckier, healthier and also more fertile than those hatched in the
rest of the year - so a great reason to get that chicken run sorted
out asap if you were considering it before. (and if not, why not -
unless of course like me, you are a vegetarian because of chickens
your parents kept in their backgarden when you were young!!!)

Members of the Avalonia Discussion Forums who tried logging in this
evening will have noticed that the forums are currently disabled.
This is because we are upgrading the forums at the moment. We hope
that things will be back up and running by tomorrow (Monday) evening,
and ask that members bear with us whilst we sort out any growing
pains. All current user accounts and threads should still be active
when all is done. I apologise for the downtime, hopefully it will
give you all a chance to think of new and exciting topics for
discussion when we get back online! Confirmations will be sent to
all members when the forums go live again.

Blessings & LVX
Sorita d'Este
http://www.avalonia.co.uk
http://www.avaloniabooks.co.uk

---------------------------------
MARCH NEWSLETTER 2008
---------------------------------
CONTENTS

1. New Book Reviews
2. Pagan Federation Brighton Conference
3. London Event / Pagan Circle: "Some Secret Place"
-------------- )0( ---------------

1. New Book Reviews (February)

A little late this time, the February book reviews have finally been
added to Avalonia.co.uk. A complete list of the reviews for the
month of February can be found at:
http://www.avalonia.co.uk/books/review_books

These include: NeoPagan Rites by Isaac Bonewits; The Circle of Life
Tarot; Freemasonry : The Reality by Tobias Churlton; Nobly Born by
Stephen Dafoe; The Temple of High Witchcraft by Christopher Penczak
and The Thoth Companion by Michael Osiris Snuffin.

Of course the reviews of previous months can also be found here, so
make sure to have a look if you haven't done so already.

-------------- )0( ---------------
2. Pagan Federation Brighton Conference
-------------- )0( ---------------
The Pagan Federation South East is organising their first conference
in Brighton this April. It will be held at the Unitarian Hall,
Brighton. BN1 1UF & The Great Hall, King and Queen Public House,
13 Marlborough Place, Brighton. BN1 1UB on April 12th 2008.

Full details can be found at:
http://www.pfse.org.uk/ASPPFSE/PFSEConference.aspx
For speakers and performers see:
http://www.pfse.org.uk/ASPPFSE/PFSEConferenceList.aspx

-------------- )0( ---------------
3. London Event: Some Secret Place

When Peter asked me to list this group on Avalonia I said yes without
hesitation. Peter used to be a regular at some of the earlier Lapis
Companions meetings David and I used to run in London and we both
remember him as a thoroughly lovely guy. He is now running a monthly
pagan circle called "Some Secret Place" in London. Full details of
this meeting circle follow for those of you who are interested in
finding out more:

"Some Secret Place is a monthly ritual evening focused on deepening
one's personal relationship with the pagan gods. The focus is
experiential -- concentrating on spiritual devotion and development,
with activities including discussion, meditation, and participation
in ceremony. It is aimed at people seeking an introspective and self-
reflexive environment, who have done some reading on witchcraft,
Wicca and/or paganism, and are familiar with its general theological
tenets. Group size is kept deliberately limited to enhance the
personal experience -- maximum 17 places per session. Booking in
advance is required. The event is held in Treadwell's Bookshop in
Covent Garden -- they also take bookings for the circle (their phone
number is listed below.)"

When: The second Friday of each month
Event Location: 34 Tavistock St., Covent Garden, London
Event TIME Details: 7.15 for 7.30pm start
Phone (for booking): (020) 7240 8906
Email (for information): peter@somesecretplace.co.uk

-------------- )0( ---------------

Look out for our next newsletter, later this month, which will be
filled with more news, more events, more book reviews and an extra
special offer on books too.

http://www.avalonia.co.uk
http://www.avaloniabooks.co.uk

"Above, the gemmed azure is
The naked splendour of Nuit;
She bends in ecstasy to kiss
The secret ardours of Hadit"
The Book of the Law, Aleister Crowley

Well, sort of.

See, USW Local 1005 is a bit of a maverick section of the USW, and even in organized labour in general. Why? President Rolf Gerstenberger is a member of the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist), AKA Marxist-Leninist Party of Canada. This means that the union follows a more confrontational line than social democratic or - and I even mention them very reluctantly - liberal unions.

I am not, have never been, nor plan to become in the near future, a member of the CPC (M-L). My only experiences with membership in a political party was my two-year membership with the New Democratic Party where I gradually drifted further left and further libertarian, eventually finding myself in stark disagreement with many NDP policies and the direction of the NDP's activism (or lack thereof). I will soon be renouncing my NDP membership...I haven't gotten around to it lately.

As of yet I have no plans to join a political party. I do, however, find myself in general agreement with many Communist Party and Marxist-Leninist Party policies. My fundamental distrust of political parties as a force for revolutionary change keeps me convinced that neither a victory for the CPC nor CPC (M-L) would ever lead to a genuine socialist society. As a temporary medium through which to make small gains in the grander war for workers' and peoples' power, I have resolved to seriously considering voting for a candidate from either party should they run one in my riding.

At the USW Local 1005 May Day event there was a tone to it that I find severely lacking in reformist trade unions and political parties. That tone was one that prompted myself and the rest of the audience to feel empowered, as if our goals are closer than we believe. It was an optimistically revolutionary tone about fighting for jobs, benefits, security and peoples' political power.

Like I said, it is not an issue with their policies that I disagree with. The CPC is very focussed on classical workers' rights and class struggle analysis, and the CPC (M-L) advocates fundamental, if sometimes extreme and bizarre, democratic ideals. I would recommend a look at both.

My issue is, again, whether or not the political parties are capable of seeing the revolution through.

The examples of degeneration into authoritarian states in the past is not proof that socialism is an impossible dream. It simply proves that the very establishment of a "state" is doomed to caste breeding.

There is no clear reason that any fundamental problems existed with the economies of some of the world's socialist countries. There is obvious political incompetence resulting from centralized control of a bureaucratic state by a single, elitist political party like the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. This political caste effectively became the new capitalist class, controlling the state monopoly over the national economy.

Yet unemployment was eliminated. Quality modern housing at low rents were a common feature. Sports, arts and culture all became accessible to all people and not just the financial elite.

These do not excuse political oppression, increased militarism, and numerous attacks on civil rights. There is much to be answered for on the part of the Soviet leaders whose policies ran contrary to the principles that socialism was founded upon: freedom, liberty, and workers' power.

Back to the point: I may not wish to pursue their path to socialism, but just because we are on different roads does not mean that we don't want to find ourselves at the same destination. It was great to stand among my working class brothers and sisters and feel empowered as opposed to alienated. As we marched down the streets, I felt a sense of strength come through me, as if the fact that I could see all around me that I wasn't the world's last socialist made the possibility of realizing socialism all that much more real.

The march through the industrial core was enlightening, depressing, and also empowering. All three can be summed up in the same quote by a fellow demonstrator: "This is where it all began! This is where Hamilton began!"

His words rang loud, proud and true for those of us who had come out.

At the demonstration before the march Local 1005 members were giving out hats and scarves, local anarchist group Common Cause was giving out copies of their publication Linchpin, and the CPC (M-L) was giving out copies of their May Day statement.

All in all, my May Day experience taught me something important. Even though I may disagree with the CPC (M-L) on many issues, even though I generally don't think trade unions are still a viable means for revolutionary victory of the working class, I now believe it is important that all democratic, peoples' and labour forces unite towards a goal of a free society without capitalist or government exploitation and tyranny.

If the Communist Party doesn't yield a candidate in my riding next election, I may be inclined to vote CPC (M-L) if the NDP candidate fails to inspire me.

We gathered before the march close to the Rose Republic square where I met back up with my new friend Nino Skhirtladze. She is the young and enthusiastic press officer of Georgian Red Cross. She was clearly excited by all the people and especially youth who showed up to celebrate the Red Cross. Running off to organize and put a last touch on something she says she is hoping for 2000 participants.

Nino pointed out groups of people for me and identified groups of volunteers, staff, supporting members and a huge crowd of school children.

“School children?” I asked, “How have you managed to gather some many of them here, and what is the connection with Red Cross?”

Nino goes on to explain how the Georgian Red Cross is arranging an intellectual quiz in cooperation with several schools in Tbilisi. The pupils are competing for various prices, among them a brand new laptop. All of this gives the Red Cross publicity and they are also able to raise some funds through these games. The games also motivate the children to study harder, and it’s warmly welcomed by the teachers and administration of the schools. And I must say; seeing so many young children with a passion for Red Cross makes me happy. They also seemed to be proud of their schools, with their school number painted on their cheeks.

We walked down Rustavelli, occupying two lanes of the busy street with the help of Police escort. We were chanting and celebrating the Red Cross, waving the flags proudly. I was really happy to see all our three emblems represented: the Red Cross, Cresent and Crystal.

The great thing is that they told us we wouldn't have to pay any co-payments anymore until T's first visit after the baby was born. We were actually under the impression we'd have to make that $20 co-payment every month so make sure you check with your doctor or insurance.

Anyhow, I don't have much time to worry because the first draft of my M.A. thesis is due by the end of the month. With the baby on the way, I'm really trying to push and graduate. I don't want to have to worry about the paper once the baby is born in September, that would suck.

They came in their thousands, dressed in their finery, placards at the ready, as sure as ever of their devotion to the cause.

More than two years after former coca farmer Evo Morales was elected as Bolivian president, and with opponents in the gas-rich eastern province of Santa Cruz holding a referendum on greater autonomy, the Indians of La Paz filled the streets to give voice to a simple message.

“Viva Bolivia unida!” they shouted - “Bolivia lives together!”

The cry was overwhelming: no to autonomy, no to a division of the country, no to the demands of the eastern elites, no to the rule of multinational corporations (who, so the insinuation goes, are in league with Washington against President Evo).

There were a few cries of yes - yes to the campesinos, the peasant farmers, yes to the cocaleros, the coca growers - as much Washington’s enemy as the multinationals are its friends - yes to the workers, yes to the comrades, yes to Bolivia.

Interestingly, Evo himself went largely unmentioned as rhetoric cascaded down from louspeakers on a balcony above a banner bearing the iconic image of Che Guevara.

On the streets, though, there was little doubt that that the madding crowds still supported their president, the first indigenous president of a Latin American country.

“Always,” one woman said, asked if Mr Morales still had her backing. “Evo is Bolivia.”

“Evo is the only one who cares about us,” another man said, waving the multi-coloured banner symbolising Bolivia’s indigenous pueblos, or villages. It is a familiar slogan, one heard frequently as Morales rose to power in 2006.

In Bolivia, street protests really count.

In 2004, the underprivileged poor living in La Paz’s so-called “satellite city”, El Alto, cut trunk roads in and out of the city, paralysing the country and contributing to the downfall of the country’s poorly-performing government.

In 2006, a little over two years ago, people power in the country’s indigenous-dominated highland regions swept Morales to the presidency. He promised a new constitution, a re-ordering of the old order. He promised change, fairness and equality.

Two years on and Morales’ power appears to be waning. Sunday’s referendum in Santa Cruz may have been declared illegal by the government, but that won’t stop the former rulers of the country, angry at being ostracised by Morales, from twisting the knife.

The result is not yet known, but with the government calling for a boycott there seems little doubt the pro-autonomy camp will secure a landslide, if non-binding, victory.

Now, they say, Bolivia is on the brink. But on the brink of what?

Technorati Tags: bolivia, morales, protest, referendum, street, politics, southamerica, latinamerica, autonomy, vote, indigenous,

There are worse fates, of course, but I still wasn't supposed to be spending two days in this port city. We left lovely Granada on Wednesday and arrived by bus in Malaga late in the afternoon. The plan was to get into the mountains on Thursday and settle into our new digs.... But the buses don't run on May Day! I should have known, but my track of time of late has been flexible at best.

Days go on and on... they don't end.... But suddenly there is a change.

It was early afternoon. Too early for lunch, I was chatting with a friend of mine when I heard music floating up to my open hotel window... and someone shouting through a bullhorn. Was that The Internationale? Oh yes, comrades. May Day was here!

My companion and I fled our comfortable abode and hit the streets. Standing there across from the cathedral, we were bystanders. But not for long. Unable to resist the pull of the march, we joined in and marched through the old town, transforming a disappointing day (I really wanted to get into the country) into a beautiful, memorable one. Malaga... you won my heart.

Workers of the world, unite! Indeed.

French, Americans and Poles
March has already proved to be a little bit odd, I have discovered a weirdly intense love of french decoration that has lain inert for 30 years only to hit me violently in the head at the beginning of the week. I have been scouring the internet looking for ornate bedheads, bits of lace, copper templates and chaise-longues. Must be an age thing. I've been quite happy with Swedish and good honest British things until now. I might spend a couple of hours on ebay later looking for a blue sign for the outside of the house...

I have also discovered a lovely new pal in the form of an American I have met a few times but never fully exploited. We went out on Friday to watch a display of pole-dancing, the breathtaking athleticism of which I cannot even nearly express here. It was bleeding marvellous. I say "we" watched the display, but new American pal was, in fact part of the display having practised pole-dancing for over a year.

It was so inspiring that I decided to have a go. I did. I leapt. I realised how little upper (and indeed lower) body strength I have. I landed incorrectly, sogged to the ground and am now hobbling about on crutches and being sniffed at for my seedy exploits while trying vainly to get as many people as possible to make me hot, caffeinated drinks.

It's fab. I'm going again. Many thanks to The Art of Dance in Plymouth. Everyone should be going to classes like these. I just need some more strength!

Picture is of Jo, my new teacher, calmly doing the physically impossible.

x hb

www.harrietbedford.com