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We all find our own ways to procrastinate, and over the years, I’ve found more than a few: hanging out with friends, getting your character to the next level in World of Warcraft, gaming with your friends, painting miniatures, joining an international live-action role-playing troupe, running games for said troupe, going to con, spending time with your family, petting the cats, cleaning the house. I can go on and on and on, and there’s never really an end to the extent I’ll go to procrastinate.

Like writing this blog.

That being said, I usually find a very fulfilling and satisfying way to wheedle away my time. I love gaming. I love my friends. I love my family. and well, I just dredged up another one. Genealogical research. it combines my interest in my family’s origins with my interest in history. not to mention my penchant to wile away hours with browsing the internet (another one of those procrastination practices). I’ve already procured a genealogical database and started entering records. Being as I’m working off of my grandmother’s work, I have a lot of research to get through before I start my own. and she compiled it all before computers made the work a heck of a lot easier. she was one dedicated woman.

To help me get my own research practices into the 21st-century, I started listening to a couple of podcasts by Lisa Louise Cooke:

[Error: Irreparable invalid markup ('<a [...] _blank”>’) in entry. Owner must fix manually. Raw contents below.]We all find our own ways to procrastinate, and over the years, I’ve found more than a few: hanging out with friends, getting your character to the next level in World of Warcraft, gaming with your friends, painting miniatures, joining an international live-action role-playing troupe, running games for said troupe, going to con, spending time with your family, petting the cats, cleaning the house. I can go on and on and on, and there’s never really an end to the extent I’ll go to procrastinate.

Like writing this blog.

That being said, I usually find a very fulfilling and satisfying way to wheedle away my time. I love gaming. I love my friends. I love my family. and well, I just dredged up another one. Genealogical research. it combines my interest in my family’s origins with my interest in history. not to mention my penchant to wile away hours with browsing the internet (another one of those procrastination practices). I’ve already procured a genealogical database and started entering records. Being as I’m working off of my grandmother’s work, I have a lot of research to get through before I start my own. and she compiled it all before computers made the work a heck of a lot easier. she was one dedicated woman.

To help me get my own research practices into the 21st-century, I started listening to a couple of podcasts by Lisa Louise Cooke: <a href=”genealogygems.tv/ target=”_blank”>Genealogy Gems</a> and <a href=”personallifemedia.com/podcasts/415-family-history” target=”_black”>Family History: Genealogy made Easy</a>. With these podcasts, I’m arming myself with the tools necessary to go down this trail. and really, it’s an endless trail I’m stepping onto.

The writer in me though can’t help considering the story possibilities of my research. really, everything a writer touches is fodder, and often the more personal it is, the more emotional resonance it has, the stronger the kernel that might be generated from it. the thought of speculating about the whys and wherefores about the decisions of my ancestors is enticing, and I’m looking forward to many hours of procrastination ahead.

Paranoid Delusions of a Fantasy Writer – Distracted by Genealogy

Tags: extent, painting miniatures

Seven Muslims were arrested Tuesday for trying to kill yet another Muhammad-doodling European cartoonist. Among them was Colleen LaRose, a blond-haired green-eyed suburbanite who met her co-conspirators on YouTube and online forums, under the name JihadJane.

According to a federal indictment, the 46-year-old LaRose began her jihad in June of 2008 when, under the username JihadJane, she commented on YouTube that she was "desperate to do something somehow to help" Muslims. She began corresponding with like-minded people in South Asia and Europe, two of whom advised Jihad Jane to take advantage of her imperviousness to racial profiling so they could attack a target CNN identifies as Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks, who earned a fatwa for depicting Muhammad astride a donkey.

Instructed a conspirator: "go to sweden . . . find location of [Vilks, presumably] . . . and kill him . . . this is what i say to u." Jihadis: They hate the "shift" key, just like us! Later, the same conspirator would note that LaRose "can get access to many places due to ur nationality," asking her to "marry me or get me inside europe." Romantic.

Jihad Jane went on to raise funds and recruit more co-conspirators for her mission, the indictment says. She infiltrated an artist colony Vilks frequented and, in the fall of 2009, was revved up for the kill.

The New York Times describes Jihad Jane's now-defunct MySpace page. Here it is, complete with Jihad Jane's last status update, from June 25, 2009: "im so bored, i want to scream!! Mood: blessed :)" Jihad Jane's vanity URL: BeyondPrincessForEver. (Click images to enlarge.)

Meanwhile, some other white lady named Colleen LaRose is having a really shitty day.

Pennsylvania Woman Tied to Plot on Cartoonist [NYT]
'Jihad Jane' Indictment Alleges Threat from Within U.S. [LAT]
U.S.: Pennsylvania Woman Tried to Recruit Terrorists [CNN]
Jihad Jane's MySpace [cached]

Reporting from Washington – using e-mail, YouTube videos, phony travel documents and a burning desire to kill “or die trying,” a middle-aged American woman from Pennsylvania helped recruit a network for suicide attacks and other terrorist strikes in Europe and Asia, according to a federal grand jury indictment unsealed Tuesday.

Colleen R. LaRose, who dubbed herself “Jihad Jane,” was so intent on waging jihad, authorities said, that she traveled to Sweden to kill an artist in a way that would frighten “the whole Kufar [nonbeliever] world.”

With blond hair and green eyes, the 46-year-old woman bragged that she could go anywhere undetected, allegedly boasting in one e-mail that it was “an honour & great pleasure to die or kill for” jihad.

“Only death will stop me here that I am so close to the target!” she boasted.

She did not kill the artist, however.

Authorities said LaRose solicited funds for terrorist organizations, helped arrange phony passports and other travel records, and used the Internet to recruit women to kill in Europe and men in Asia. LaRose was arrested Oct. 15 in Philadelphia, and the indictment against her was unsealed Tuesday.

Federal officials held her up as an example of how terrorists sometimes boldly operate inside the United States, fearless of the world watching them on the Internet.

“A woman from suburban America agreed to carry out murder overseas and to provide material support to terrorists,” said David Kris, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s National Security Division. that, he emphasized, “underscores the evolving nature of the threat we face.”

Michael L. Levy, the U.S. attorney in Philadelphia, said the case shows “the use terrorists can and do make” of communicating through e-mails and videos around the world.” He called LaRose “yet another very real danger lurking on the Internet.”

The other danger, authorities said, is that radical jihadists are increasingly turning to homegrown U.S. citizens to carry out their plots. “Terrorists are looking for Americans to join them in their cause,” Levy said, adding that LaRose “shatters any lingering thought that we can spot a terrorist based on appearance.”

But her alleged motivation was not completely clear Tuesday night.

“She appeared to be one of those people who spend a lot of time online and go to all these radical websites and chat rooms,” one source said.

“If there was some moment in her life that changed her, I don’t know,” another said.

Officials said she began to respond to Internet requests from conspirators abroad and to take a leading role in ongoing plots. They said she stole one person’s U.S. passport and “transferred or attempted to transfer it in an effort to facilitate an act of international terrorism.”

The indictment, which also mentioned but did not identify five unindicted co-conspirators, said that LaRose first came to the attention of the FBI in June 2008 when she posted a comment on YouTube under the user name “Jihad Jane.” she stated that she was “desperate to do something somehow to help” the suffering Muslim people.

A second conspirator e-mailed her in January 2009 about a similar commitment for Allah. “I tried twice but I wasn’t successful . . . [but] I will . . . try until Allah will m[a]ke it easy for me,” the conspirator told LaRose.

In March, a third conspirator in Asia invited LaRose to “come here and get the training” so that they can “deal in bombs and explosives effecti[v]ely.” the conspirator told LaRose that she was special because she could “get access to many places” because of her nationality.

One conspirator asked LaRose: “Marry me to get me inside Europe.” she reportedly agreed.

She also e-mailed the Swedish Embassy, asking for instructions on acquiring permanent residency there. as one collaborator told her: “Go to Sweden . . . find location [of an unidentified Swedish resident] . . . and kill him . . . that is what I say to u.”

LaRose allegedly agreed. “I will make this my goal till I achieve it or die trying,” she e-mailed back. “I agree that it is good I blend in.”

The indictment said LaRose also was involved in soliciting “urgent funds for sisters” overseas. By August of last year, she seemed intent on putting plans into action, according to the indictment. “I will be away from here in a couple days. . . . then . . . I will get to work on importan[t] matters.”

Authorities said she removed and concealed her computer hard drive in her home in Pennsburg, Pa., a rural spot between Philadelphia and Allentown. she left the U.S. for Europe and joined an online community hosted by the Swedish resident she was targeting. she also became a “citizen” of the resident’s artists’ enclave.

If convicted of the charges against her, LaRose could face life in prison and a $1 million fine.

Other women caught up in terrorism cases in this country include Lynn Stewart, a New York attorney convicted in 2005 for passing prison messages from a radical sheik to his followers on the outside urging violent attacks. And last month Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani woman who lived in Boston but was not a U.S. citizen, was convicted in New York of attempting to kill U.S. military and law enforcement officials.

richard.serrano@latimes.com

Arsenal are somehow hanging on to a 0-0 scoreline with Atletico, but surely it’s only a matter of time before Atletico’s superior quality shows?

Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts Tuesday criticized President Obama for rebuking the high court's decision striking down some campaign finance reform laws at the State of the Union in January. Speaking to law students at the University of Alabama, Roberts said he had "no problems" with criticism in general.

In the wake of the success of its eDeck, handheld gaming devices at several Las Vegas casinos, Cantor Gaming has extended its mobile gaming offering through a deal with the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

The Hard Rock joins the Venetian/Palazzo and M Resort with the high-tech gaming devices for its casino customers.

Under the agreement, Cantor Gaming will provide its eDeck to Hard Rock customers, allowing them to play their favorite casino games, including table games, video poker and slots, in designated areas of the Hard Rock resort.

In addition to those popular electronic games, Cantor Gaming has also developed proprietary games for its eDeck, including XtraOdds Blackjack and XtraOdds Baccarat, with extra propositional bets that dynamically calculate odds based on the cards dealt, giving players an extra opportunity to press or hedge their bets.

“We’re pleased to bring mobile gaming to the Hard Rock,” said Lee Amaitis, president and CEO of Cantor Gaming. “We’ve had an extremely positive response to eDeck since it was first launched last March at the M Resort. The ability to play casino games away from the casino floor adds a whole new dimension to the Vegas experience, and the flexibility of mobile gaming appeals to customers who are already used to the freedom of using mobile devices in many other aspects of their lives.”

Randy Kwasniewski, president of the Hard Rock, added, “We are excited to welcome the addition of mobile gaming to the Hard Rock. Now, gamers are able to enjoy all the Hard Rock has to offer, such as our pool and beach club, fine dining and exciting nightlife, all the while still able to bet and play casino style games on their mobile device. Mobile gaming reflects our values at Hard Rock: offering our customers innovative, creative and fresh ideas to complete a special and unique experience at our resort.”

President Obama along with Greek Prime Minister Papandreou and His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios of America celebrated Greek Independence Day, a few weeks early, this evening the East Room of the White House.

With her latest stab at relevancy—a new single and a VH1 show—Jessica Simpson is yet again being shoved down our collective gullet. It's time for this uninteresting, talentless person to take a hike. Forever!

I usually scoff at people who criticize celebrities by saying, "They're just famous for being famous." But Jessica Simpson is something worse—she's famous for trying to be famous. She isn't defined by any quantifiable event, talent, or success, but by a constant striving, one that often leads to disastrous failure. The same came be said for "Who We Are" her new single (below), which is a indistinguishable amalgam of pleasant electronic bleeps that will float across your brain as amiably and forgettably as a cloud in a bright sky. It's the theme song for her new show, The Price of Beauty, that starts next month on VH1 and which features her traveling around the world trying out beauty regimens from different cultures. Not a bad concept if we weren't so sick of seeing her face—plastered over with cosmetics—glaring back at us in the televised version of hell.

When she started, she was just another big-breasted, blonde Britney Spears impersonator with a good voice and very determined father. She had some moderate success thanks to corporate marketing and a naive female fan base, but none of her early hits are that memorable.

We probably would have been rid of her by now if it weren't for a little thing called reality television. In 2002, MTV debuted Newlyweds, an "inside look" at her recent marriage to boybander Nick Lachey. Her ditsy persona (or was it her real personality?) took off immediately and America tuned in to see her latest bout with sitcom stupidity and her grappling with various food-related mysteries, like what kind of animal a Chicken of the Sea is and where Buffalo wings come from.

Simpson quickly morphed into a marketing robot, hawking pizza and dubious skin care regimens. With the sound of cash registers echoing in her voluminous hair, Americans soon forgot who she was. You never said, "She sings that song," or "She's the star of that movie." You said, "Oh, she's the stupid girl from MTV." For a while, Simpson was everywhere and we had no real idea why that was, other than we were told to like her and she was busy pawning stuff off on us.

She tried to be more than that, sure. She wanted to be a real star who could do things other than pitch unnecessary corporate goods. But her albums soon stopped selling and she skipped from dud to dud, trying to act in Dukes of Hazzard and something ineffable with Dane Cook. Then, like Jean-Claude Van Damme before her, her flicks went direct to DVD. She tried to make the switch from pop to country, but even stupid Christians in the Bible Belt didn't want her at that point. Like a rotten tomato stuck behind the crisper, she was starting to stink up the joint, but no one could clean her out.

Why? Blame the Celebrity Industrial Complex! Even though we were no longer interested in her entertainment products, she'd started a career as a professional girlfriend, going out very publicly with musician John Mayer and then Dallas Cowboy Tony Romo. The rumors are still swirling that she's inexplicably dating Smashing Pumpkins singer Billy Corgan, which would be the most interesting thing she's done in five years. And when she needs a little career bump she hits the cover of Vanity Fair or Oprah—not to talk about a project, but her personal life. We find it hard to care about either.

Now she's back for another round through the publicity cycle, as if she might have something new or interesting to share with us. Sorry, Jessica, you don't. You're like that sweater we once bought on sale hoping that we would one day fit into it, but we suddenly realized that we will never wear, no matter how hard we try. You won't ever fit us and it's better that we donate you to charity and clear you out of the closet. Because we only have room for so much, and newer, prettier things have come along that we like. Yes, Jessica we're getting rid of you. And since we barely even wanted you in the first place, please do us the courtesy of staying away.

[Image via Getty]

Disaster travel – lessons from the Chile earthquake

Following up on our close call with the Chile earthquake, we talk through our response to a natural disaster and offer some tips and advice along with our story.

Press play or click to subscribe (free!) in iTunes:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Craig Bidois from fearfree.co.nz emailed in some more tips, so our personal experience is supplemented by a professional approach to risk management and planning following an earthquake.

Advice for travel after a disaster:

• Contact family
• Contact your embassy
• Use online networks to communicate you are safe
• If secure, stay put and gather information
• Get out and find out what the feeling on the street is.
• Be aware of water/food supplies, as well as cash

There’s more ideas and more details in the podcast but the over-arching theme is the more prepared you are and the more information you have to hand, the quicker and better you can react to events around you.

Matador has put together some good resources on preparing for a disaster which, admittedly is more tailored to at home than on the road. If you can, please make a donation to the Chile earthquake relief fund — your help is needed here.

ABC News’ Karen Travers and Simon McGregor-Wood report: Vice President Joe Biden issued a strongly worded statement tonight condemning Israel’s plan to build 1,600 new settlement homes in the disputed area of east Jerusalem just as efforts got underway to…