Red Lips
to create a modern take on the bold red lip, makeup artist diane kendal dusted a loose finishing powder between a first and second coat of sunday riley's modern lip color in persuasive at the victoria beckham show. the result? a strong, beautiful lip that was also fresh and youthful.
Earthy Eyes
for vivienne tam's nomadic girl, makeup artist gucci westman enhanced eyes (while keeping the look earthy with revlon colorstay 16hour eye shadow quads in brazen and attitude. "the key to making this look subtle is to blend a matte brown shadow over the eyelid and into the crease for a soft eye-enhancing look," she said. "a touch of bronzer to the lid will add some tone—just steer clear of anything with shimmer."
Rosy Cheeks
sporty chic models at michael kors looked very apres-ski with fresh-from-the-slopes cheeks. to create the flushed glow, makeup artist dick page blended shiseido lacquer rouge in drama onto the apples of the cheek, and then muted it with a dab of foundation. (shiseido's lacquer rouge doesn't launch till fall, so until then, try the brand's perfect rouge in dragon.
Nude Liner
the grandeur of dolce & gabbana's fall collection was offset by makeup artist pat mcgrath's delicate makeup. she used the brand's crayon intense eyeliner in nude both above and below the lash line to brighten the eyes and make them pop.
Ruby Tips
at dkny, mani maven deborah lippmann revamped the french manicure. after applying a coat of the brand's taupe-y fashion shade, she finished with a swipe of lacquer in single ladies just to the tips of nails.
Colorful Lashes
colored mascara is an easy way to make eyes stand out, and that's just what pat mcgrath achieved at stella mccartney. layering a bright blue pigment on top of covergirl lashblast mascara created the ultimate ultramarine hue. groomed brows—and nothing else—finished off the eye-catching look.
Neutral Lips & Lids
j. mendel is known for its glamorous gowns, so the modern, undone makeup was an unexpected (and refreshing contrast. makeup artist charlotte tilbury used maybelline's creamy superstay 14-hour lipstick in beige for good for a natural tint on lips and lids.
Bronzed Skin
inspired by the australian outback, makeup artist james kaliardos used nars laguna bronzer to create a russet-y, windblown look that was more outdoorsy than beach vacation. "the key is to contour the skin so that it looks dusty and not too glam," he says. next up? hilarious outtakes from fashion week
No JK Rowling or Philip Pullman – but David Walliams and Enid Blyton make the grade. To mark the first anniversary of the Guardian's children's books website, here are the authors that our young critics loved best this year
The Guardian's children's books website is a year old this month and, like any healthy infant, it has been growing at a dramatic rate. Its voice has carried around the world, and you have only to look at recent reviews by our members to see that it is developing a fine set of teeth.
This is a snapshot of children's books as reflected through our children's reviews over the year. Obviously if the website had been running for a decade,
JK Rowling and
Philip Pullman would have dominated, but last year was an unusual one in having no new books from either author – although that didn't stop Enid Blyton from coming in at number 10. In top position, with the most reader reviews, are the perennial favourites Michael Morpurgo and
Jacqueline Wilson. But debut writers such as
Gill Lewis have also had an enthusiastic reception, while celebrity convert
David Walliams has proved that he is to be taken seriously by the people who count.
Although edited by a grown-up, Michelle Pauli, the site provides a space where children have a say over what gets reviewed and how authors are covered.
Michelle Paver,
Jeff Kinney and
Cressida Cowell are just three of the authors who have been grilled by their fans on video over the last 12 months. We have been overwhelmed by the talent of the budding artists who have responded to our
How to Draw masterclasses by a series of top illustrators, from
Emily Gravett to
Oliver Jeffers.
The most heartwarming story of the year has to be
Michael Morpurgo's link-up with a group of readers based in earthquake-torn Christchurch, New Zealand, who made contact through the website. Not only did Morpurgo record a personal message to them, but he arranged for his publishers to send two copies of all his books to replenish their school library. They responded by becoming our first group member, under the name Faultline Fiction Fanatics.
In January we set up our first teen book club, featuring
Ally Kennen's novel
Bullet Boys
. Last month, by popular demand, we branched out from reviewing to include
creative writing by our members, and we have recently begun to take
family reviews for the under-7s section of the site.
With up to 110,000 page views a week, the first year of the site has shown how knowledgeable and passionate our contributors are and how much well-told stories matter to them. New books to watch out for in 2012 include
Emma Thompson's
The Further Tale of Peter Rabbit
,
Shirley Hughes's
Hero on a Bicycle
,
Eva Ibbotson's very last book,
The Abominables
and
Michelle Paver's
Gods and Warriors
.
Julia Eccleshare
Children's books editor
Nicholas Hytner on
Michael Morpurgo
The director Tom Morris told me to read
War Horse
, because his mum had recommended it after hearing
Michael Morpurgo on
Desert Island Discs
. I therefore read the book with the idea that it might be staged already at the back of my mind. I was very moved and also puzzled by how Tom thought it might be staged, because the one thing that I assumed we would both agree on was that there would be no talking horses on stage;
War Horse
, using
Black Beauty
as a model, is written in the first person as if by the horse. Tom was on to that already and introduced me to the
Handspring Puppet Company, whose work I didn't know. We had a similar experience with Michael as we had had with Philip Pullman, when we staged
His Dark Materials
– both of them are real masters, great storytellers and completely in command of their own medium, both had written stories that were perfectly achieved in the form they had chosen, and both of them said "You're the theatre people, I am the novelist. Call on me if there's any help I can give you."
War Horse
took about two or three years to develop, during which Michael was as good as his word. He realised from the start that the play had to change the point of view to assume a much more theatrical objective, a more panoramic point of view. And of course the horse doesn't talk. Michael was always an extraordinary support even when the play, simply by virtue of being a play, was skewing his original vision. The book and the play are attempts to re-experience the catastrophe of the first world war. Obviously we are now writing and performing these stories for generations who have little experience of war. But the attempt has to be made and remade. And I think by telling it through a horse, who is completely innocent and whose motives are never in doubt and not complex or ambiguous in the way human motivation always is, the story really does acquire some kind of elemental force.
The National Theatre has never produced a play that has been seen by more people. Children in particular love it, I think because they can identify more fully with a horse than they can with a solider. And maybe because children instinctively understand the bond that Albert the boy has with the horse, they can imagine themselves being part of a story which is in many ways almost unimaginable to children 100 years on.
Farm Boy
"This wonderful book touches the heart of the reader. It is the sequel to
War Horse
, and I think it is just as good. The lovely countryside setting is a perfect place for the story. I think that it is a good ending to the story of Joey and Corporal. Furthermore, the relationship between the grandson and Grandpa is so touching and realistic. Michael Morpurgo has certainly struck a century with this book."
SaiWish0221 (8-12
Kaspar: Prince of Cats
"
I like historical books because most are beautifully illustrated (this one is! . I especially love Michael Morpurgo's books because he always makes me feel as if I've been magically transported to another time and place. I feel as if I'm really there and I learn a lot too." Faultline Fiction Fanatics
Michael Rosen on Jacqueline Wilson
We often measure the success of a writer in two main ways: is the writer original, is the writer popular? In Jacqueline Wilson's case the second is easy to answer. She is hugely popular in many countries but particularly in the UK. In the world of children's books, to be as popular as she has been means that almost certainly she has helped to create new audiences. Not all children read books, but every so often a writer comes along who appears to be able to reach many of the children who already read but then goes further and becomes the reading for many children who were previously reading very little or not at all.
At one level, no writer is original. We are "assemblers" of what has already been written. All we do is shuffle round motifs, structures, ideas, themes, tone, methods and the like until we think we're doing something new. At another level, this assembling (if this is what it is is a tricky, delicate, difficult and creative thing to do. After all, the choice is pretty wide. Occasionally, something not done quite that way before does appear. I think Wilson did this through her combination of types of character, types of setting and types of happenings. So, for example, plenty of people before her had written about poor children in difficult situations, but mostly it was in order to show them being "saved" by someone good and kind or it was to show them dying in order to save other people – someone like a drunken father who, through the death of the poor child, discovered salvation.
This is all a far cry from Jacqueline's books, where children we could describe as "unfortunate", "disadvantaged", "underachieving", "vulnerable" and the like appear to have spirit, guts, an ability to look at who they are and to overcome at least some of the obstacles that stand in their way. These children are able to reflect on what happens to them and are full of notions of what they might do next. They aren't angels but they are, more often than not, plucky.
My Sister Jodie
"
My Sister Jodie
was a brilliant book. Why I say this is because at the end it makes you have two emotions at once. In fact, opposite emotions: sad and happy. Jodie falls out of the tower window and dies. That's sad. Pearl has a new baby sister. That's good. That brings me to my second reason for why this was such a good book. It's the first book I've read that has the reader as a character in the book. Everyone should read this book!" SpeedyReader (8-12
Candyfloss
"I loved this book
so
much – it is definitely worth reading. If you are a girl (like me and you love reading, then pick up a Jacqueline Wilson book. Her stories are
so
inspiring and hooking." Kertan! (8-12
Tom Holland on Rick Riordan
Although JK Rowling, with her BA in classics and her relish for Latin spells, has done wonders recently for the profile of antiquity, the contemporary author who has really opened the eyes of children to the fascination of the ancient world is the American novelist
Rick Riordan. The world of magic in his five-book Percy Jackson series is unabashedly drawn from classical mythology: centaurs, sirens and furies all stalk a dimension that is dominated by the ancient Greek gods. Percy himself, the eponymous hero, is the son of Poseidon, and his two best friends, Grover and Annabeth – Ron and Hermione to Percy's Harry Potter – are respectively a satyr and the daughter of Athena. Hogwarts has its equivalent in a training camp where assorted demi-gods are steeled to meet their destiny, and Voldemort has his in Kronos, a lord of supernatural evil who is busy plotting the conquest of Mount Olympus. The climax of the series sees New York put under siege by the monstrous Typhon, and Percy battling to save the gods. It is all literally titanic.
Yet if this synopsis risks making the Percy Jackson books sound a touch derivative, then it should not obscure the many sterling qualities that are all the series' own. Percy himself was modelled on Riordan's dyslexic son, and is drawn with palpable love: he makes for a witty, brave and hugely engaging hero. The adventures, whether drawn from the
Argonautica
, the
Odyssey
, or Riordan's vivid imagination, are authentically gripping. The context provided for the various gods and monsters in present-day America is invariably amusing and clever. On a purely personal note, I should add that my elder daughter much preferred Percy to Harry. Anyone with Hogwarts withdrawal could certainly do very much worse than go Greek.
Heroes of Olympus: Son of Neptune
This is my favourite of the Heroes books. It is funny, adventurous and exciting. It is never boring. There are lots of jokes which I really like. I think these books are as good as Harry Potter, and good for boys and girls to read. I'm pleased that this is definitely not the end of the series. LUCA777 (teen
The Battle of the Labyrinth
"This book is exciting, funny, adventurous and difficult to put down. I am a nine-year-old boy and I recommend this book to eight to 15 year olds and Greek and Roman empire geeks like me!" Spartacus (8-12
Philip Ardagh on Annabel Pitcher
The publication of
Annabel Pitcher's
My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece
heralded the arrival of a new voice in children's literature: someone with something to say and the skills to say it beautifully. Here is a book peopled with characters that come alive on the page, victims of circumstance and drawn in situations where emotions run high.
In my original Guardian review of May 2011, I wrote: "Anyone who describes this as an outstanding debut children's novel might just as well exclude the word 'debut'. The fact that this is Pitcher's first foray into fiction is gob-smacking – and she's only 29 – but such a book would deserve equal oxygen if it were a 10th novel by a cherished old hand. It's a wonderful piece of writing. Am I gushing? I do hope so. Books this good don't come round that often." And my opinion hasn't changed.
My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece
deals with big issues, but it's the way Pitcher approaches everything at an everyday level, from the perspective of the 10-year-old narrator Jamie – tackling the minutiae of situations from bereavement and alcoholism to fitting in – that gives the novel such a ring of truth.
But don't be misled. This is no "worthy", issues-laden piece. It's touching, warm-hearted and often very funny. In Pitcher's hands, the story of Jamie having to come to terms with the loss of his sister and the absence of his mother takes many an unexpected twist and turn. But at its heart,
My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece
is a book about family ties, about love, about possibility.
My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece
"I have read a lot of books in my life and in every single book I have read I have found some little mistake, some little flaw, which just mars your enjoyment of the book a bit. And so on opening this book, I prepared to bring my expertise of 11 years into use. This book has had so many good reviews from numerous prestigious people but surely I could find something to improve in it? But however much I tried, I am absolutely delighted to say I could not!" The Book Thief (8-12
"
That is what is so wonderful about the book – you feel everything he feels, because it is narrated with the same simplicity and confusion that he himself would have gone through. It seemingly effortlessly illustrates the tenuous relationships between him and his family members: his love for his sister, his longing for his mother, his unswerving loyalty to his father." Fanus (teen
Frank Cottrell Boyce on Anthony Horowitz
I sometimes wonder whether the infant
Anthony Horowitz wasn't abducted by some evil publishing genius, hell bent on creating the Perfect Writer. The evil genius stuffed young Horowitz's childhood "with everything neccessary to feed a growing imagination – eccentric relations, sudden reversals of fortune. His father had some kind of hush-hush job in the Wilson goverment. He hid the family's money in a numbered Swiss bank account but forgot to tell anyone the number. His mother bought him a skull on his 13th birthday to encourage him to always remain aware of the proximity of death. After that the evil genius set him to work in the TV crime sweatshop, producing hours of
Midsomer Murders
,
Robin of Sherwood
and
Foyle's War
– just in order to perfect his sense of pace and his ear for speech.
Well, the experiment worked. In many ways Horowitz
is
the perfect writer. His dialogue crackles with hardboiled wit. He's brilliantly funny – as you can see just by looking at the titles of his
Diamond Brothers books.
Public Enemy Number 2
, for instance, or
The Greek Who Stole Christmas
. But he's also the master of the nail-biting action sequence, as in the swashbuckling, fast-talking
Alex Rider novels. He's even written a dark gothy fantasy franchise –
The Power of Five
. Not to mention a gripping and authentically atmospheric Sherlock Holmes story,
The House of Silk
. The thing that's most exciting – and annoying about him – is that he seems to get better and better. His recent books have the swagger and chutzpah of someone who is just hitting their pace. You wonder what he'll do next.
Snakehead
"This book is a thriller that blossoms with danger at every step. Anthony Horowitz certainly brings out the gruesome and brutal relationship between the Snakehead and the refugees … It is a book that you can read over and over again without getting bored." Krazy Kesh (8-12
The House of Silk
"It is exciting, punchy, tense and there is always some intrigue going on. You find yourself trying to work out what will happen next but it always turns out to be the unexpected." Leila (8-12
Sue Townsend on David Walliams
I absolutely love David Walliams's books. They are highly original, their titles –
The Boy in the Dress
,
Mr Stink
,
The Billionaire Boy
and
Gangsta Granny
– invite you to read them. I've bought three of those books and I'm looking forward to buying
Gangsta Granny
, for my grandchildren. He is in the tradition of great English comic children's writers. In a few more years his books will become classics. I actually think they are better than
Roald Dahl's, they have a lot of heart and are very compassionate. In every book there's a character who stands out on her own, a lonely character who nearly always find happiness with either a creature or another person. Children love them and Quentin Blake's illustrations are great. They deserve their success; they give you another insight into Walliams; you realise that he is one of the good people, that he is on the side of children. Children are very impressed by his feat of swimming the Channel and then swimming down the Thames. And he's on the telly. He's a hero figure to a lot of children.
Billionaire Boy
"A brilliant story from the actor starring in
Little Britain
, and I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a gripping story. I finished it in one and a half days!" Madster (8-12
Gangsta Granny
David Walliams presents to us another hilarious book for kids about the one thing young people think is boring – their grannies … It's a really funny book and the relationship between Ben and his Gran is really sweet, you wish your granny were like her. It's hilarious and will make you cry." Patrick (teen
Julia Donaldson on Eva Ibbotson
Eva Ibbotson, in common with some of my other favourite authors such as
E Nesbit and Roald Dahl, writes with a delightful mixture of wild imagination and down-to-earth common sense, tempering her flights of fancy with a satisfying sense of justice. These are the sort of stories I enjoyed as a child, which my children enjoyed, and which I'm sure my grandchildren will enjoy too.
The Secret of Platform Thirteen
is about a hidden world entered through a railway station, and populated with hags, witches, princes and mermaids. It pre-dates the Harry Potter books (which are in some ways similar to them by a decade. JK Rowling's success probably helped to rekindle enthusiasm for Ibbotson's books, which, however, don't always contain magic. They are usually adventure stories involving a journey undertaken by an innocent and plucky child who often has some rather pantomime-baddyish relations. My own favourite is
The Star of Kazan
, in which you can see and smell early 20th-century Vienna, but a close second is
One Boy and His Dog
, her last book. (She died last year just after receiving the proofs. It's an escape story, in which a couple of children and an assortment of dogs travel the length of Britain. Even though the plot is sometimes predictable, it is so in a satisfyingly patterned way, and the book has the excitement, emotion and humour which characterise all of her writing.
Although all of her admirers miss her, a treat is in store: in May Macmillan is republishing a collection of her short stories,
Let Sleeping Sea Monsters Lie and Other Cautionary Tales
, which are a delight. The offenders have the usual vices – rudeness, snobbishness, disobedience – but the ways in which they get their come-uppance are most ingenious, and there is an imaginary monster in every tale – a Frid, a Kraken, and a Boobrie to name but three. What a fertile mind.
Journey to the River Sea
"The story has everything you want from an adventure: animals, beautiful rainforest and snobby, spoiled little brats of cousins. This is a touching book, and it shows what friendship, perseverance and lots of other things really are. I loved this book, so hopefully you will enjoy it as much as I did." Rita Skeeter (8-12
The Star of Kazan
"
The Star of Kazan
makes your heart beat faster than a mouse's heartbeat. From an abandoned baby, to a grim suicide to a very volatile school and many more gripping events,
The Star of Kazan
has no bounds to its extraordinary moments." Midnightghost (8-12
Charlie Higson on Robert Muchamore
Robert Muchamore is one of the authors who got boys reading again at the beginning of the millennium by writing the sort of books that they wanted to read. As old-school-style adventure books had been phased out in favour of single parents, relationships and issues, boys had started to think that books weren't for them. Muchamore's stroke of genius was to take the "broken home" style of social-realist fiction and marry it to the action thriller genre.
The Recruit
starts like many a kids' misery tale. James is in trouble at school, his mum's a professional shoplifter, his stepfather's a lazy scrounger. When drink kills off his mum, James is put into care, and that's where the story takes a turn into fantasy. All kids dream of suddenly developing superpowers or at least a talent for kung fu. In Muchamore's case, his hero gets full secret service training when he's recruited by Cherub, a branch of MI5 that uses children. From there on in, Muchamore very cleverly balances gritty, vivid and authentic teen soap opera, the school story (the Cherub training camp standing in for Hogwarts with Bond-style action adventure, as, in a hugely popular series of adventures, James goes up against terrorists, drug dealers, religious cults and biker gangs. The books are written in a pacey, direct style and are seen by their many fans as being, like James himself, cool and a little bit bad.
People's Republic
"This is an explosive read, with action and adventure, and you totally wish it was real. I recommend this book to anyone who reads books, that's how good it is." irav (teen
Henderson's Boys: The Prisoner
"This series is a prequel to the Cherub books and it is just as good, so it's perfect for fans of Cherub. This is a totally brilliant book, there are no flaws whatsoever and it works amazingly as a standalone. I would rate this book 10/10. I really look forward to reading the rest of the series." Isaac260 (8-12
Michael Morpurgo on Gill Lewis
When a group of country boys discover a poacher fishing in their river, and the poacher turns out to be a young girl from a local family with a bad reputation, the reader is immediately drawn into the problems of living in the countryside. Gill Lewis brings her experience as a former vet to bear in her wonderfully touching first novel,
Sky Hawk
. Life in a small rural town is well drawn, portraying self-reliance and good neighbourliness winning out over prejudice and suspicion.
Ioana lives with her alcoholic grandfather, and Cullum lives on the family sheep farm, helping his brother and his father in the holidays. The story of the tragic friendship between Ioana and Cullum is woven round the discovery and love of Iris, an osprey they find nesting on the loch on Cullum's farm. When the bird becomes entangled in a fishing line the children appeal to the local wildlife ranger, and he in turn allows them to help him to attach a satellite transmitter to the back of the bird so that they can follow her migration to Africa.
My only wish was that there had been a map to follow and visualise the incredible journey of the sky hawk from the loch in Scotland to the mangrove swamps in Gambia and back. Despite tragedy, the osprey links the lives of people in the little highland town to a poor community living in Gambia. Thanks to the transmitter and the internet, the wounded osprey is discovered and nursed back to health. The reader is held spellbound by the intensity of the writing and the optimism in the message. This is a book that opens your eyes, touches your heart and is so engaging it almost turns the pages for you. It will move everyone from eight to 80-plus.
Sky Hawk
"It was the best book I have ever read, I couldn't stop reading it. It contains lots of secrets that you can't wait to uncover! I would recommend this book to anyone (girls and boys between eight and 12. It's the BEST! (While I was writing this review, my mum started to read
Sky Hawk
! " Lilybelle (teen
"The book contains a big sadness in it as well as lots of tension, so it would be a good idea to have a box of tissues ready when you start reading. It will take you away from Scotland past the Straits of Gibraltar to the Sahara desert." Lottielongshanks (8-12
Lucy Mangan on Enid Blyton
So, Enid's just scraped in at number 10 on the list of books most often reviewed by children on the Guardian children's books website. You've got to hand it to the woman – 90 years since she first put pen to paper and over 40 since she went to the great Kirrin Island in the sky, "the great nanny-narrator", as children's literature expert
Victor Watson calls her, remains profoundly, unyieldingly popular with children. She survives (give or take the occasional light amendment by publishers to take out the most offensive words changing literary fashions, tastes and sensitivities unscathed.
What is behind her seemingly eternal appeal? Watson, as his nickname for Blyton implies, attributes it to the comfort of her solid, reliable narratives and the additional security provided by the fact that so many of her books belong to series. Not only can you return to the same books time and time again, but they return to the same characters and places too. And plots aren't formulaic if, so early on in your reading journey, you don't yet know about formulas.
Blyton's writing is not great literature. She wrote once to a psychologist who was researching the creative process in writers that she simply "opened the sluice gates – and out it all pours". Her prodigious output – 10,000 words a day at her peak – was possible because she was essentially simply transcribing the words and actions of the figures that walked around all day, every day in her head. She survives so well, perhaps, because she thinks and writes like a child. She is not in the business of wrestling with complex conundrums or inspiring sophisticated thought. She both felt and served a simple narrative need. A good, simple, satisfying story is where we all first find pleasure in reading. It is the foundation for all that comes afterwards, and Blyton's bricklaying is ever sound.
The Enchanted Wood
"Enid Blyton's writing is very good, she invents very exciting places and adventures for her characters to have. Silky was my favourite character, she's a fairy who makes amazing pop biscuits and lives in the Faraway Tree. She's always very kind. This is one of the best books ever and I would love to have a magical tree in my garden!" ChristopherW (8-12
First Term at Malory Towers
"These books make me laugh and make me wonder what it would be like to go to a boarding school. They are my favourite." Holly (7 and under
The Magic Faraway Tree
"Other children should definitely read this because it is very funny, exciting and adventurous. It's a bbbbbrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiilllllllliiiiiaaaaaa-nnnnnttttt (brilliant book." Boo (7 and under
Terms & Conditions |
More Feeds
[Editor’s Note: Trayvon Martin, a black 17-year old boy, was shot and killed on Friday night on his way back from buying candy and ice tea at a Florida convenience store. A white neighborhood watch volunteer, George Zimmerman, claims he shot the boy out of self-defense. 911 tapes released this morning may indicate otherwise. --Grace]
Tapes of 911 calls made by neighbors during the shooting of the unarmed 17-year old Trayvon Martin indicate the shooter's story is not true. George Zimmerman, the Neighborhood Watch captain, claimed he shot Trayvon in self-defense. He was not arrested.
Visit msnbc.com for
breaking news,
world news, and
news about the economy
Many have commented on the Internet that an injustice has been done with no one arrested. 400,000 people have signed a
Change.org petition calling for murder charges to be pressed against George Zimmerman. On the surface this seems to be a simple story of a black teen who went to buy candy at a store in a gated community and didn't come home. He is approached by the Neighborhood Watch captain on his return, because as Zimmerman told the police dispatcher, he felt "this guy looks like he is up to no good. He is on drugs or something." And because of this feeling, not his observation of a crime in progress, Zimmerman winds up taking Trayvon Martin's life.
The Washington Post reports that the family has listened to the police tapes and stated that they can hear their child yelling for help. Neighbors, some of whom were on other recorded calls as the drama unfolded, support the family's version.
“There is somebody screaming outside,” one female caller said, as an unknown male voice can be heard crying in the background. Then a shot is heard. Another male caller tells the dispatcher: “I just heard a shot right behind my house ... They’re wrestling right behind my porch. The guy is yelling ‘Help.’ I’m not going outside.”
After reading about these calls, I believe that Trayvon was not assaulting Zimmerman.
Although Zimmerman was not a police officer, neighbors tell the
Miami Herald that he took his neighborhood watch duties seriously and was extremely zealous. He is said to have knocked on doors asking that they report anything strange with 'strange' including the presence of a black male. He is also reported to have called the police dispatch 46 times during the month of January 2011.
Justice must be demanded for the family of Trayvon Martin.
The Martin family has asked that the case be turned over to the State Attorney's office who can decide if it is appropriate to file charges or present evidence to a grand jury. These simple stories must stop!
I am sick. Do you think Zimmerman should be prosecuted?
 | Optimal HCG emulation complex is an advanced weapon against the obesity war. Specifically formulated to attack fat stores, Optimal HCG emulation diet drop customers have reported losing up to 1-2 lb's per day. Customers have also reported increased energy along with a suppressed appetite. If you've ever struggled with weight loss, you don't have to struggle any longer. With the Optimal HCG emulation complex control is now in your reach. Our price: $48.99 |
Listeria cantaloupes, I honestly needed something a bit more positive to write about.
For those who have known me for sometime you have often heard me say: "put me out of business." But, I doubt most know when I first said it. It was in an Op-ed in the Denver Post on August 4, 2002, entitled, "Four steps to safer food." Here it is in full:This summer, scores of Americans, most of them small children or senior citizens, have already or will become deathly ill after eating ground beef boldly labeled "USDA approved."
The now infamous ConAgra case started with a few sick kids in Colorado and quickly spread coast-to-coast, eventually triggering the recall of 18 million pounds of ground beef tainted with E. coli.
Now we know that this recall came weeks late, after most of that meat had been consumed by innocent consumers from Washington State to New Jersey. Because they trusted government's food inspections, several kids suffered kidney failure and spent days or weeks hooked up to kidney dialysis machines. For some, the long-term prognosis is grim, with the risk of further kidney failure, dialysis, transplants or worse. I know this because I am a trial lawyer who has built a practice on food pathogens. Many of those kids' parents have hired me to help them get compensation for hundreds of thousands in medical costs. Which may prompt some readers to consider me a blood-sucking ambulance chaser who exploits other people's personal tragedies.
If that's the case, here's my plea:
Put me out of business. Please.
For this trial lawyer, E. coli has been a successful practice - and a heart-breaking one. I'm tired of visiting with horribly sick kids who did not have to be sick in the first place. I'm outraged with a food industry that allows E. coli and other poisons to reach consumers, and a federal regulatory system that does nothing about it.
Stop making kids sick - and I'll happily move on. Here's how:
Actually inspect and sample food. At present, the U.S. Department of Agriculture employs thousands of inspectors across the nation to inspect hundreds of plants that produce millions of pounds of beef at processing plants and retail outlets. The General Accounting Office has warned that the USDA's food samplings are so scattered and infrequent that there is little chance of detecting microscopic E. coli or any other pathogen.
So hire more inspectors and give them real authority to sample meat and stop its distribution as soon as a pathogen is detected. Implement a sampling system that provides a reasonable chance of preventing another outbreak.
Doing so might add a nickel a pound - maybe less - to the price of hamburger. But it will also cut into my business. And isn't that the idea?
Consider mandatory recall authority. This authority was required in Sen. Tom Harkin's Safer Meat, Poultry and Foods Act of 2002. Under the present system of voluntary recalls, no company has actually refused to recall contaminated product. But in its recent report, the GAO did document several instances where companies delayed complying with recall requests. Delays mean tainted product has more time to reach consumers.
Require the meat industry to document where specific lots of food are sold. That way, it can be recalled quickly if a pathogen is detected. In most E. coli outbreaks, there is no recall because retailers don't know where the meat came from and processors rarely step forward. ConAgra deserves credit for owning up to its responsibility to track down as much of the tainted meat as possible and for covering the medical costs of its victims.
But ConAgra is the exception. Timely online records would allow meat to be efficiently tracked down and recalled as soon as inspectors get a positive test result. Those plastic club cards issued by grocery chains could enable stores to contact specific individuals who have bought suspect ground beef. Merge the two federal agencies responsible for food safety. Right now USDA's Food Safety Inspection Service and the inspection arm of the Food and Drug Administration share this mission. The system is bifurcated, which leads to turf wars and split responsibilities. We need one independent agency that deals with food-borne pathogens.
None of this will stop E. coli entirely. This invisible poison has been around a long time and is bound to pop up again. But these steps will enable us to detect it far more quickly, to alert stores and families, and to keep our most vulnerable citizens - kids and seniors - out of harm's way. And, with a little luck, it will force one more damn trial lawyer to find another line of work.
Fact:
E. coli O157:H7 cases were down 44% in 2010 compared to 1996-1998. See,
Vital Signs: Incidence and Trends of Infection with Pathogens Transmitted Commonly Through Food --- Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network, 10 U.S. Sites, 1996--2010.
I sit here now working on the cases of two 80 plus year olds, who fought in World War II, (splitting three purple hearts between them - coming home as heroes who got married, who raised families and who then died from eating cantaloupes tainted with Listeria. In years past, my Saturday would have been focused on a 5-year-old who had died or suffered from acute kidney failure (
hemolytic uremic syndrome - HUS due to E. coli O157:H7 in hamburger. From 1993 though 2003, most of my firm's revenue was directly related to E. coli O157:H7 in hamburger. That has changed and changed for the better.
To the beef industry -- yes, including those who sell
"pink slime" -- thank you for meeting my challenge. That being said, there is still much the industry can do. Shiga-toxin producing E. coli will always be an issue, and antibiotic resistant Salmonella, and other bad bugs we do not even know about lurk around the corner. The industry cannot let up. Even with the success there still have been people like
Stephanie Smith and
Abby Fenstermaker who remind you the battle will likely always have to be fought.
However, to the beef industry, take some solace that you have been doing a far better job on food safety -- and doing really well not putting money in my pocket.
Well, back to cantaloupe.
"First they came for the communists, and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.
Throughout my youth I remember wondering how what happened in Nazi Germany could have occurred and how so many otherwise good people could be fooled into going along with such an obviously evil system. I always wished I could go back in time to understand it.
Well, my wish has come true but unfortunately instead of going back in time the exact same thing is happening today in the US, Europe and many other places. If you cannot see the obvious signs of tyranny being constructed all around you at this point then you are purposely trying not to see it.
NEVER ENDING ATTACKS ON LIBERTY
It is actually becoming nearly impossible to keep up with the pace at which dictatorial controls are being put in place. Not a day goes by without some massive new attack on freedom by the US Government.
The Bill of Rights was declared null and void on New Year’s Eve with the signing of the
National Defense Authorization Act and enabled the government to detain US citizens, trial free, indefinitely. Soon after, US Attorney General, Eric Holder, stated that the President of the United States has the power to kill anyone, including US citizens, outside the United States that he feels might be dangerous.. And then last week another Friday afternoon Bill was announced – Friday afternoon’s being saved for the most egregious of attacks – when Nobel Piss Prize winner, Barack The Bomber, signed a new Executive Order giving the office of the President complete control over all the resources in the United States in times of war or emergency. In case you’ve been asleep for the last century, the US is always at war and is always in a state of emergency.
Here is a snippet the latest terrorist attack on liberty, under the latest Executive Order:
Section 101. Purpose. This order delegates authorities and addresses national defense resource policies and programs under the Defense Production Act of 1950, as amended (the "Act" .
(b assess on an ongoing basis the capability of the domestic industrial and technological base to satisfy requirements in peacetime and times of national emergency, specifically evaluating the availability of the most critical resource and production sources, including subcontractors and suppliers, materials, skilled labor, and professional and technical personnel;
Yes, in case the US Government ever finds itself in the unusual situation of not being at war, it states that all of these powers can also be used in peacetime. The order also includes the absolute control over food, water, and the distribution of other resources.
And, in case that's not enough, the order all but reinstates the Draft:
(2 upon request by the Director of Selective Service, and in coordination with the Secretary of Defense, assist the Director of Selective Service in development of policies regulating the induction and deferment of persons for duty in the armed services;
Now we know where all those millions of kids who can't pay their student loans will be going. And if they don't want to go, then we also now know what all the FEMA camps being built are for.
None of this seems to ever bother the majority of the dumbed down and drugged citizenry. Even the
signing of the FAA Reauthorization Act in February with the planned implementation of 30,000 drones to be unleashed in the skies over the US drew nothing but a yawn from the sheeple.
If that wasn't enough, the NSA will be bringing online, the lasgerst data wharehouse ever constructed. It's job? To intercept and analyze every form of electronic comunication on the planet. From
Wired:
The heavily fortified $2 billion center should be up and running in September 2013. Flowing through its servers and routers and stored in near-bottomless databases will be all forms of communication, including the complete contents of private emails, cell phone calls, and Google searches, as well as all sorts of personal data trails—parking receipts, travel itineraries, bookstore purchases, and other digital “pocket litter.”
WHAT WILL IT TAKE TO WAKE PEOPLE UP?
All of the infrastructure is now in place for the creation of one of the worst police states ever dreamt up by man. The cash sniffing dogs and Customs gestapo are set-up to search slaves at US international airports, US citizens have been stripped of their rights and the US Government now has the power to indefinitely detain or kill anyone it wants or to force you into the armed forces at its discretion.
What more do you need to see to realize things are about to get much worse in the US?
We are working to help US citizens and all citizens of western countries (most of which are following the US lead in nearly every facet to get their assets outside of the control of their government and to get second passports to give themselves an escape route as things continue to spiral downward.
In some ways we are starting to feel like someone smuggling Jews out of Germany in 1939. Only this time it isn't just Jews, it is anyone not willing to freely give up all their freedoms and assets to the state.
Don't wait until it is too late. It is better 3 years early than 1 day late.
Subscribe to The Dollar Vigilante today to keep abreast of all the best ways to internationalize your assets and your ass - including second passports and expatriation ideas.
 | There have been generations of weight loss products that have come and gone, but believe this or not, HCG diet drops is here to stay for good. Just Potent HCG + Amino Acids is not just the regular HCG diet you see on Amazon or other online stores... Aside from the fact that you're buying genuine HCG that is doctor approved/recommended, you're also buying a potent formula that will ensure you lose weight; this is not conditional, you will lose 1 - 3 pounds daily using Just Potent HCG + Amino Acids. If you are wondering if it is healthy to lose 1 - 3 pounds per day, the answer to you question is a big YES. Just Potent HCG + Amino Acids has been carefully formulated to ensure that you lose weight, gain energy, regulate your hormones and blood sugar, build lean muscle, burn fat like a furnace, control your appetite, and lots of other good stuff your body needs to lose weight and stay healthy. The good thing with choosing Just Potent HCG + Amino Acids as your weight loss buddy is this: you do not need heavy exercise, EVER! We strongly are against heavy exercises when using Just Potent HCG + Amino Acids. The diet we recommend for you is good enough that you only need to do minimal walks, yoga, or some relaxing activity. Whether you plan to lose 5lbs, 10lbs, 15lbs, 20lbs or even more within the next month or 2, Just Potent HCG will make that happen. You just have to first believe that it is possible and that you can do it. See below for more information on what you can get from using Just Potent HCG + Amino Acids. You must order on time because price will be going up by $10. Ebook will be sent along with your order. It is very important that read the All You Need To Know About HCG Diet + Indepth FAQ when starting with Just Potent HCG + Amino Acids. It has lots of juicy information that will make your weight loss experience the best ever. Our price: $44.99 |
