Truth will always be truth, regardless of lack of understanding, disbelief or ignorance.
Domestic quotes. Tagged Madeleine McCann.
Truth will always be truth, regardless of lack of understanding, disbelief or ignorance.
Qianlong-dynasty Chinese porcelain vase sold for £43m
A vase found in a house-clearance in London has been sold for £43m, thought to be a record for any Chinese artwork.
The 18th Century Qianlong porcelain piece had been estimated to fetch up to £1.2m for the brother and sister who inherited it.
"The sister had to go out of the room and have a breath of fresh air," said Helen Porter from Bainbridges auction house in Ruislip, north-west London.
The vase is yellow and sky blue in colour with a fish motif on the front.
The buyer - who is thought to have come from the Chinese mainland - paid £43m, with an additional premium of £8.6m to go to the auctioneer.
The family who inherited the piece "had no idea what they had", Ms Porter said.
"They were hopeful but they didn't dare believe until the hammer went down."
It is thought the vase left China in about 1860, and belonged to one family for about 70 years. BBC
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Having read that people began lining up in front of bookstores before former President Bush's memoir, Decision Points, was due to be released, I hurried off to purchase mine early on November 9, arriving about fifteen minutes after opening time. I have the distinction of being the first person to purchase Bush's book in Santa Fe, New Mexico.Who says there are no such things as coincidences, I will admit I didn't go looking for it, but I did end up watching this clip of Joe Wilson/Valerie Plame (Mr & Mrs) only yesterday.
I have a special interest in understanding how the former president sees his decision to invade Iraq and his use of intelligence to justify the invasion. I have also been curious about what he might have to say about the betrayal of a CIA covert officer's identity, my wife's, by, among others, two senior members of his staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby and Karl Rove. I had seen his interview with NBC's Matt Lauer in which he volunteered that Scooter Libby was a "loyal" American who had been somehow caught up in the Valerie Plame affair. I was thunderstruck by his description of a man convicted of four counts of lying to federal officials, perjury, and obstruction of justice, the chief of staff to the Vice President who knowingly offered up Valerie Plame's name to a New York Times reporter, and who was so obsessed with destroying my reputation that he kept a three-ring binder on me and an annotated copy of my book. My expectations for truthful revelation in Bush's book, after his comment, were naturally low. I have not been disappointed. In fact, Deception Points might have been a more appropriate title.
The former president deals with the Plame affair briskly, fairly early in the book, in the context of what he describes as the last and most "emotional personnel decision" of his presidency...more hufpo
I want to take this opportunity to congratulate the hundreds of thousands of progressives and others who demanded that Keith Olbermann be reinstated to his position at MSNBC. These people understand the enormously important role that the media play in contemporary American politics. They know the recent ascendancy of the Republican Party and right-wing politics had less to do with the leadership skills of Mitch McConnell or John Boehner and far more to do with the enormously powerful role played by Rupert Murdoch, Fox News and right-wing talk radio.
Progressives know there is something very wrong when a nation divided politically has one major network operating as a propaganda arm of the Republican Party and 90 percent of talk radio is dominated by right-wing extremists.
If there is a silver lining in the action of MSNBC against Keith Olbermann, it is that people will now pay more attention to the political role of corporate media in America. While commentators on Fox and right-wing radio have the backing of Rupert Murdoch, a major Republican contributor, and other conservative corporations, progressives understand that their position is extremely vulnerable. Keith Olbermann was suspended by General Electric's MSNBC for a bogus reason. What will prevent the same thing from happening to Rachel Maddow, Ed Schultz and other progressives? more HufPo
God Listens to Hunters' Prayers
By Guy D. Lawson
I was born in West Virginia, where hunting is the big sport of about everybody, therefore, I have hunted squirrels, rabbits, pheasants, bears and deer most of my life. Due to my health, I have limited myself to deer only for the past 10 to 15 years because of asthma, emphysema and bronchitis. I have trouble field-dressing, and pulling a deer very far.
My hunting partner, who is also my son-in-law, Gary Edwards, hunt on his father's farm, which is in Licking County, Ohio.
One morning in December of 1990, Gary had gotten his deer the day before but decided to go out to help spot for me. He was standing in sight, about 200 yards up the ridge from me, close to the parked truck. About 9 to 9:20 a.m., Gary came slowly toward my stand on the point. He told me he had seen a large buck come through the open field. It went up to the truck, stopped and checked it out, then disappeared into the ravine. Gary had watched him for about an hour, never seeing him again, so we thought that perhaps he had bedded down for the day. Gary suggested that I move up to where his stand had been and he would go up around the field and try to spook the buck.
Hoping to get a clear shot, I started toward his stand, moving slowly and praying all the way. I asked God to give me a good shot and to take control of the slug (12-gauge gun) and to drop him on the spot. Because of my breathing problem, I would not be able to help Gary drag the deer very far.
Just as I got to the stand, I saw Gary coming through the open field to my position right at the edge of a little strip of woods between two open fields. All at once a big buck appeared. He was headed right toward one of the open fields about 150 yards out. For some unseen reason he turned and headed right at me. I followed him over the gun barrel, waiting until I felt the moment was right. I pulled the trigger and he dropped at the crack of the gun approximately 50 feet from me. I reloaded my pump gun and went to check him out. I had seen the slug hit him just below the left antler. I put another shot into his heart.
I told Gary about my prayer and he told me he also was praying. He told me as he came down through the open field he asked himself how he could get the deer up without spooking him into going in the opposite direction, so he began to hack a low cough.
Gary then got the truck and brought it to within 75 feet of us.
I praise God. He turned the buck toward me and gave me that open shot that stopped the buck in his tracks. Of all the deer we have taken in the past, this is the largest. He had a rack of 9 points and weighed in at 176-pounds, field-dressed.
Matthew 18:19 says, "If two of you shall agree on earth as touching, anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my father which is in heaven."
John 14:14 says, "If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it." I trust God's promises! He is faithful, try him!
Guy D. Lawson, Columbus, Ohio