Meital Dohan is in 'Hate With Love'?With Good Reason [INTERVIEW]

MeitalDohan.com

Love is a crazy thing. It?s probably one of the reasons Meital Dohan hates it so much. She does understand it, which could be one of the reasons for her forthcoming album??I?m In Hate with Love.?

Dohan worked with legendary producer Che Pope, who has also worked with music superstars like Dr. Dre, Eminem and?Lauryn Hill, on the tracks and the albums first release ?Yummy? has over one million views on YouTube.

Known from the Showtime hit series ?Weeds? and her role on ?Woke Up Dead?, Meital is a triple threat ? a singer/songwriter, a talented artist and an accomplished actress and screenwriter.

Meital talked about everything from hate and love to running around naked like Rocky Balboa.

GuySpeed: Can you explain what ?I?m in hate with love? means.

Meital Dohan: It?s the name of my album. It?s kind of a look into what relationships are like now. I feel like love is just so much different now because of all the extras that come along with being in love. For example, you could want to be in a relationship but you don?t have time, or you?re putting career first and people are really more in love with themselves than anything else.

GuySpeed: Do you think relationships will change? Is this a good or bad evolution?

Meital Dohan: I don?t think it?s either bad or really good. I do believe in love and I do think that relationships are somewhat preserving the idea of the tribe, keeping the idea of the family. I think its beneficial for humans to know that there is some kind of a change going on.

GuySpeed: So is your music about relationships? How would you say your music involves these relationship aspects?

Meital Dohan: I think between my music and videos try to present a women that is free, sexually liberated, and who can do what the hell she wants. A woman who is strong, and not only that, but we?re flipping the script and having the men take the female role and treating guys as sex objects.? Not in a way that?s treating guys as if they are less than women, but just treating them the same way that men objectified women throughout history.

GuySpeed: Did the album come out?

Meital Dohan: No.?Probably in the fall.

GuySpeed: Do you think it would help if men put themselves in the female role and women put themselves in the men?s role just to see how the other feels and maybe that would help?

Meital Dohan: Maybe we need to do workshops.

GuySpeed: So in your music and video, you take the typical gender roles and reverse them.

Meital Dohan: And well thats what I kind of do a lot in my art.? I think its kind of like we?re going in that direction. ? I?m not saying that I think that men are becoming completely feminine but I definitely think women are definitely becoming more manly. But it?s important though with all of that change that there is also enhancement.

GuySpeed: You are a singer, actress, artist, comedian, author and playwright.? If you put them all in order, which one comes first?

Meital Dohan: Well right now I?m a singer, because I am really focusing on my album and my shows.? I was an actress my whole life?

GuySpeed: So lets say, if you had to classify yourself altogether.? If a person were to only give you one of those words to classify you it would be?

Meital Dohan: I would probably say that I am an artist

GuySpeed: Artist. That would encompass a lot of stuff.

Meital Dohan: Everything, yeah.

GuySpeed: So?comedian. Did you do stand-up?

Meital Dohan: Well I participated in Ugly Betty in Israel. In Weeds, I had a comedic role. I also won the Israeli Tony for a comedic role.

GuySpeed: We wanted to ask you about that.?Are the Israeli Tony Awards the same as our Tony awards? Is there an Israeli version of Neil Patrick Harris that hosts?

Meital Dohan: [laughs] Kind of, but not really.

GuySpeed: We found out about you from your video ?Yummy.? We?re a guys site and your video consisted of you running around in nothing with boxing gloves on? ?so next time you do that could you let us know so we can come and watch and cheer you on Rocky-style?

Meital Dohan: Sure. The video was my idea. I think it?s a secret dream that everyone has ? ?Oh I wish I could just wake up in the morning and punch people in the face and not even put my clothes on,? and on the other hand it?s again a bigger picture of the role changing between the genders.? As a women you have to be so strong and go out there and fight.

GuySpeed: The video ?Yummy? had something like 1.6 million views.? That?s a lot. That?s a lot of people looking at one video or playing one song.?Do you ever set goals for yourself? Like, this many views, this many plays?

Meital Dohan: This many men.?[laughs]

GuySpeed: That would be a very guy thing to do.

Meital Dohan: Who says women don?t make goals like that, too.

GuySpeed: Do you really?

Meital Dohan: No. I?m joking.

MeitalDohan.com

GuySpeed: Where do you get your inspiration from?? For your music or for anything you do.

Meital Dohan: I love so many artists from so many years.Really?different?types of styles of music from Dinah Washington to Kanye West, Eminem, and 50 Cent.

GuySpeed: Of everything you do, you know, singing, acting, ?and writing, what do you consider the most draining?

Meital Dohan: I am actually going on a vacation for the first time in two years and that?s only four days. So I think that?s the most ironic thing that I don?t have any time.? I mean, I love acting, singing? I love all parts. But writing for me is just something I do to put out some ideas and thoughts.

GuySpeed: Be honest: will you actually go on vacation?? Like shut down and not check anything?

Meital Dohan: Yes. Well, no.? I?ll still check e-mails.? No one really goes on vacation.

NEXT: Kurt Braunohler Talks Kittens, Birds and Bunk

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How Sacramental Is Marriage? Wills and Manson Offer Perspectives ...

Jamie Manson

Garry Wills

Inside and outside the church, the debate on marriage equality for lesbian and gay couples has provided some interesting discussion about the institution of marriage generally.? Two recent articles by prominent Catholic thinkers and observers, Garry Wills and Jamie Manson, are two exceptionally good examples.

In ?The Myth About Marriage,? published in The New York Review of Books, Wills focuses on whether or not marriage has any religious significance:

?Why do some people who would recognize gay civil unions oppose gay marriage? Certain religious groups want to deny gays the sacredeness of what they take to be a sacrament. But marriage is no sacrament.?

In examining the scriptures used to support a religious view of marriage?such as the Creation story, Jesus? comments on divorce (Mark 10:8), and the wedding at Cana (John 10:1-11)?Wills finds no evidence of the institution of marriage as a Christian sacrament.? He quotes Fr. Raymond Brown, the renowned Scripture scholar on the Cana story:

?Neither the external nor the internal evidence for a symbolic reference to matrimony is strong. The wedding is only the backdrop and occasion for the story, and the joining of the man and woman does not have any direct role in the narrative.?

Wills also relies on Joseph Martos, who wrote the classic text on the history of the sacraments, Doors to the Sacred, for a history of the sacrament of marriage, which begins only in the 12th century, and culminates in the thought of St. Thomas Aquinas. (An accessible summary of Martos? scholarship on marriage can be found in Marriage Equality: A Positive Catholic Approach,?chapter 8.)? Wills concludes his argument:

?Those who do not want to let gay partners have the sacredness of sacramental marriage are relying on a Scholastic fiction of the thirteenth century to play with people?s lives, as the church has done ever since the time of Aquinas. The myth of the sacrament should not let people deprive gays of the right to natural marriage, whether blessed by Yahweh or not. They surely do not need?since no one does?the blessing of Saint Thomas.?

While I appreciate Wills? point, I think he is throwing out the proverbial baby with the bath water.? Marriage does have both civil and religious dimensions to it.? Many marriage equality advocates strongly support this dual dimension to the institution, but equally as strongly advocate for a separation of the dimensions to their proper authorities:? the secular, political realm governs civil marriage, while the religious realms govern religious marriage.

Wills is accurate in relating Martos? history of marriage, however, I came away with a different perspective from Martos than he seems to have done.? In my reading, Martos? history shows that, indeed, marriage is an institution which has evolved over time.? It changes with different understandings of human beings, their relationships to one another, their sexuality, and the ?contract? that society has with its members in terms of conferring rights and responsibilities.

Marriage also changes with evolving religious understandings of love and its symbolic roles and messages.? Religious people and institutions do have the right to determine those roles and messages?within the confines of their institutions.? More importantly, those roles and messages, even in religious settings, evolve and change over time, as new understandings emerge.

Marriage equality for lesbian and gay couples is being considered by society now precisely because our society has come to realize the value of the love and commitment between couples who share the same gender.? And as polls continue to show, for many Catholics, their is a religious dimension to the quest for securing marriage equality for these couples:? Catholics want equal justice for all couples whose love and commitment contribute to the common good.

Jamie Manson, in a National Catholic Reporter column entitled, ?Sacramental Marriage Beyond Anatomy,?? explores this religious dimension of marriage (applying it to same-gender and different-gender couples).? She first recounts her personal experience, first in witnessing difficult marriages, and then witnessing marriages that were life-giving:

?It wasn?t until I attended graduate school, where many of my classmates were married, that I began to see that two people could flourish in a relationship. I realized that the same couples share a love so deep it actually can inspire hope and faithfulness to their larger community.

?Watching these couples, I began to understand what sacramental marriage means. If a sacrament is a sign of God?s grace, it follows that relationships that are signs of God?s love, mercy, forgiveness, and faithfulness are sacramental. These signs of grace are part of the new life that married couples are called to bring into the world, with or without children.

?I was well into my graduate studies when I realized that I was not heterosexual. I was grateful to have had so many married friends to show me the marks of a good and holy marriage. It helped me to know what to aspire to in my own relationships with women. I also met many same-sex couples during my studies and through them I was able to see that God was present in their relationships in the same way God was manifest in the relationships of my straight friends.?

Manson continues this line of thought by making the sacramental dimension to marriage explicit in her argument, pointing out that anatomical gender is less important that quality of relationship as an indicator of sacramentality:

?What made my straight friends? marriages sacramental wasn?t the fact that their anatomies matched up in a particular way or that they could procreate. As I learned from my childhood, complementing genders and an ability to reproduce in no way guarantees that a marriage will be graced or sacramental. Their marriage was good and holy because it helped both partners to grow in generosity, compassion, mercy, and faithfulness. . . .

?To make procreation and gender complementarity the criteria for marriage simply does not do justice to the Catholic sacramental imagination. To believe that a sacramental marriage cannot happen between two people of the same sex is to place limits on God?s power to work within the relationships of God?s beloved children.

?If we take seriously the Catholic notion of sacramental love, then our concerns shouldn?t be over the anatomies of a couple, but whether or not the couple, through their commitment, brings the life of God more fully into our world. Is their relationship inspiring others to greater faithfulness? Are they a sign of the power of forgiveness and unconditional love? Are the sacrifices that they make for one another an incarnation of the selfless love to which Jesus calls us? . . .

?Rather than concern over the anatomical reality of a couple, the sacramental nature of marriage should be judged by whether there is equality and mutuality between spouses, whether the relationship helps both spouses to flourish individually and as a couple, and whether their relationship brings the love, mercy, and faithfulness of God more fully into our world.?

Manson makes a convincing case for the fact that marriage does have a religious dimension to it.? What I like about her argument is that her view is that the religious dimension?comes from the relationship between the partners, not the anatomy of the partners.? Is this a development in our understanding of marriage?? YES!? And a very good one!? It reflects both our religious and psychological understanding that sexuality and marriage are about more than just human beings? potential for procreation.

Manson?s view of marriage not only aids committed same-gender couples who seek recognition of their relationships, but it also can help us to take a different, more compassionate, approach to heterosexual couples whose marriages are marred by inequality, injustice, and abuse. In effect, by recognizing the importance of relationship as an indication of sacramentality, the discussion on same-sex marriage is helping, not hurting, heterosexual marriage to become a better institution in society.

?Francis DeBernardo, New Ways Ministry

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Arborchase Homes For Sale - Irmo SC Real Estate

Located in Irmo, SC, Arborchase is a peaceful neighborhood. Homes here have prices between $135,000 to $155,000. These homes have either three or four bedrooms and square footage ranging from 1610 feet and 2560 feet. Lexington/Richland Five is the school district for Arborchase. Association fees provide common area maintenance.

From downtown Irmo, Arborchase is about three miles away when taking St. Andrews Road and Arborchase is only eleven miles away from downtown Columbia when also using St. Andrews Road. The neighborhood is near I-26 and the many shops and restaurants of Harbison Boulevard.

Irmo, South Carolina is a fantastic little town that sits between the capital city, Columbia, SC, and Lake Murray, SC. Irmo itself has a lot to offer with its small town appeal with a vast variety of conveniences close by. Just about any type of business establishment you can image can be found in downtown Irmo, SC with a mall and Harbison Boulevards extensive variety of dining and shopping options just 5 minutes away. Also, both downtown Lexington, SC and Columbia, SC add even more options for shopping, dining, and an added wealth of entertainment options to choose from. Columbia, SC is especially known for its number of museums, theatres, arenas, collegiate activities, and outdoor activities providing a variety of entertainment choices. Lake Murray, SC is also just 10 minutes away, offering residents plenty of water related activities to choose from to include swimming, boating, skiing, and even scuba diving. With I-26 and I-20 being so close by also increases the options for out of town activities. Having I-77 only 15 minutes away and I-95 only 45 minutes away further adds to the choices of places within reach. No matter what you may wish to do during your leisure time, living in Irmo, SC puts you in touch with an array of enjoyable activities.

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Online Video Marketing ? Web Video Gets Tasty

Web Video Gets Tasty

Article by Ross Potter

From the time of it?s first launch, DV Kitchen has been cooking up a storm amongst reviewers. DV Kitchen?s major focus has always been encoding and uploading broadcast quality, internet-friendly-bandwidth video to a web site, blog, forum, or for a video podcast. It is easy to import movies, encode them, and upload them in only two clicks.

But things just got a little tastier. The release of DV Kitchen version 2.0 sees a total rebuild of the media publishing room so that you can now:

1. Publish simple Quicktime embedded movies or entire HTML pages
2. Publish Quicktime embedded videos with default poster frame or complete HTML web pages
3. Publish Quicktime embedded videos with custom poster frames you choose
4. Publish Quicktime H.264 or FLV in Jeroen?s Flash Player with a choice of custom skins, custom poster frame and personalized watermark
5. Publish Quicktime H.264 or FLV in ShadowBox

You can spend hundreds more on other encoding programs but the truth is won?t get these hugely useful features anywhere else.

The moment you?ve encoded a batch of clips, the Media Publishing room will crank out code for embedding your movies or images in a web page, blog, or content management system. No matter how you put together your website, DV Kitchen can save you tons of time.

DV Kitchen will auto-generate HTML code snippets so you can simply copy and paste the code from DV Kitchen into your existing website pages to embed movies in a number of player styles, from business to madcap. Or, DV Kitchen will generate and upload finished HTML website pages you can use for prospects to review, trial reels, and much more.

In addition to spectacular quality video encoding and publishing options, DV Kitchen also offers such refinements as SampleLab for pre-encode comparison of encoding recipes, a Bitrate Budget Calculator to find the the best bitrate for just about any given audience and TimeFreezer for capturing top quality photos from your video stream.

Download the free trial and you too will be cookin? up delicious video in minutes.

About the Author

Ross Potter is a product evangelist for DV Kitchen, the best video encoder for mac on the planet. To learn more about how to embed flv, mp4 and QuickTime video into your web pages, watch the free video tutorials on the company web site at http://www.dv-kitchen.com

Use and distribution of this article is subject to our Publisher Guidelines

whereby the original author?s information and copyright must be included.

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Some of the Best Tips for Roofing in Sacramento | Roofing Repair ...

In terms of Sacramento home improvement tasks go, it?s not the scale with the alterations that you just help make. Instead, the deciding issue ought to be the impact that is certainly created. Using this attitude, you don?t need to spend thousands of dollars to make the feeling. This kind of handpicked selection of do it yourself guidelines would work for many forms of projects.

Roofing in Sacramento

One type of roof vent you can use with metal roofing would be one made of ABS plastic. They normally come in the same color of the metal you will be using. They are easy to install with metal screws and stand up well when you are considering the elements.

You?ll be able to set up your own steel roofer correct over the surface of previous asphalt flooring. This can save money and time since you do not possess have got expenses involved in the removal. Be sure to know that if you will find three or higher levels that they?ll have ahead off anyhow.

Metal roofing in Sacramento can be achieved of countless several types of materials. Many of the options you?ve got when selecting are steel, zinc oxide, water piping, stainless, and aluminum. Many of these have their own positives and negatives and you ought to consider each one of the crooks to create a knowledgeable decision.

Imagine you are wanting to replace your roof and they are thinking about utilizing possibly roofing shingles or perhaps material roofs. Which is best? You have to take into account the particular pitch from the roof structure. Either substance work over a sharp message, nevertheless for a low message roofing you should utilize material roofs. Shingles will usually outflow.

Finding a Sacramento home improvement roofing company that you can believe in is important when you are performing a house improvement on your roof. It really is to your advantage to research the roofing contractor prior to you signing any deal. Check out the organization using the Better Business Bureau, Section of Client Affairs, and look on the web for evaluations so you have a whole notion of who?s accomplishing this diy to suit your needs.

Rotate roofing the roofing in Sacramento to get a virtually indestructible complete! Buy roll roofs without the glue deprive. Glue that available in extended strip because it will come off of the roll or even break up into abnormal mathematical forms. Coat thickly using coloring and use any clean to work your coloring equally in to the surface area.

Make sure you get your home looked over before commencing any kind of key renovations. Checking for roofing issues, mites, electrical concerns as well as plumbing related beforehand could help you save lots of trouble later on. Finding problems like these when you?re nearly through a reconstruction process can be quite a nightmare on your spending budget.

Exchanging a top is usually a Sacramento home improvement homeowner?s largest bills. Acquire estimations coming from at least about three roofing firms and be sure to evaluate their particular recommendations. There are many alternatives for new roofer substance, which include light and portable ceramic tile along with metallic roofing, besides the more traditional wood wring and composite shingles. An excellent roofing contractors in Sacramento will help you decide.

Even though you have only one hundred bucks for your use for your roofing in Sacramento, there are several affordable and available diy assignments that can use a excellent impact on the appearance of your home. Keep the assistance because of this write-up in your mind as you start to organize the next home and garden Sacramento home improvement task.

For more information on how you can get the best deal when it comes to roofing in Sacramento visit: www.YanceyHomeImprovements.Com; a leader in the industry and a Sacramento home improvement pioneer.

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Russian Business Process Outsourcing Market ? The Outsource Blog

May 22nd, 2012 by Harsimran Pal Singh Leave a reply ?

Local and international companies have been using business process outsourcing services in Russia since the early 1990s. The first survey of the market was conducted only three years ago by the Russian rating agency Expert RA. The survey showed that the accountancy outsourcing sector was quite small. Few companies offer such services, and only about a dozen provide such services on a large scale.

The first research on the matter covered about 80 companies specializing in accounting outsourcing whose total earnings amounted to 32 billion rubles in 2009. The next year, the Russian BPO market demonstrated a 13 percent growth and the total earnings of surveyed companies amounted to 3.8 billion rubles. In 2011, according to the results of the last Expert RA survey, published on May 7, 2012, a 17 percent sustainable growth of the BPO market in Russia was registered. Similarly, the consolidated revenue of the 90 companies surveyed in 2011 reached 5 billion rubles. For the third year in a row, Intercomp Global Services Company came out on top as the leader of the rating. Intercomp Global Services began its activities in Russia in 1994 and has retained its leading position since then with a total revenue of 0.8 billion rubles, more than twice that of other market players.

The last survey determined that the most popular type of business process outsourcing services in Russia is financial and tax accounting outsourcing. Under this arrangement, the provider is responsible for all bookkeeping and tax accounting. Another favorite outsourced activity is payroll. Also, most survey participants mentioned that one-off projects for outsourcing are now quite popular among clients, such as reporting preparation, accounts inspection and recovery, inventory and fixed assets auditing, cash maintenance, accounting policy development, etc. Outsourcing for HR administration is currently not very widespread in Russia: it accounts for a mere 4 percent of the survey participants? total revenue. The main goals of companies using F&A and HR outsourcing services are to minimize their costs and improve the quality of their functions.

According to the Expert RA surveys, demand for business process services is growing each year. The clients? database is increasing as well. In 2010, surveyed companies provided services to 2,189 clients, and in 2011, to 2,711 clients. Customers have become more experienced and selective about whom they will work with; they now pay more attention to what additional services and friendly usable IT solutions providers include in their basic outsourcing packages.

The research clearly highlights the fact that outsourcing solutions are gaining popularity in Russia. Most of the 90 surveyed outsourcing providers showed 20 percent revenue growth comparable to 2010 and only 13 of them finished 2011 with negative dynamics.

Source:http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/business_for_business/article/research?russian-business-process-outsourcing-market/458934.html

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Obama on Afghan: Leave on time, no 'perfect' end

President Barack Obama speaks at a news conference at the NATO Summit in Chicago, Monday, May 21, 2012. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato)

President Barack Obama speaks at a news conference at the NATO Summit in Chicago, Monday, May 21, 2012. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato)

President Barack Obama walks off stage at the end of his news conference at the closing of the NATO Summit in Chicago, Monday, May 21, 2012. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

President Barack Obama speaks at the start of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) meeting on Afghanistan at the NATO Summit in Chicago, Monday, May 21, 2012. From left are, British Prime Minister David Cameron, left, and Gen. John R. Allen, Commander of the International Security Assistance Force. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

President Barack Obama mingles before the meeting on Afghanistan during the NATO Summit, Monday, May 21, 2012, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

The NATO leaders gather as the opening session of the NATO Summit begins in Chicago, Sunday, May 20, 2012. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

CHICAGO (AP) ? President Barack Obama and leaders around the globe locked in place an Afghanistan exit path Monday that will still keep their troops fighting and dying there for two more years, acknowledging there never will be point at which they can say, "This is all done. This is perfect."

Obama, presiding over a 50-nation war coalition summit in his hometown, summed up the mood by saying the Afghanistan that will be left behind will be stable enough for them to depart ? essentially good enough after a decade of war? but still loaded with troubles.

The war that began in the weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks will finish at the end of 2014.

"I don't think there's ever going to be an optimal point where we say, 'This is all done. This is perfect. This is just the way we wanted it,'" Obama said as the NATO summit closed. "This is a process, and it's sometimes a messy process."

Obama never spoke of victory.

Afghan forces for the first time will take over the lead of the combat mission by the middle of 2013, a milestone moment in a long, costly transition of control. Even in a backup role, U.S. forces and all the rest will face surprise attacks and bombings until the war's end.

Wary of creating a vacuum in a volatile region, the nations also promised a lasting partnership with Afghanistan, meaning many years of contributing tax dollars, personnel and political capital after the end of their soldiers' combat.

The United States has already cut its own deal with Afghanistan along those lines, including a provision that allows U.S. military trainers and special forces to remain in Afghanistan after the war closes.

In an escalating election-year environment, Obama was as at the center of the action in Chicago, beaming and boasting about the city's performance in hosting the event. Noisy protesters loaded the city's streets at times, which Obama called just the kind of free expression NATO defends.

Tensions with Pakistan undermined some of the choreographed unity. Pakistan has not yet agreed to end the closure of key transit routes into Afghanistan ? retaliation for American airstrikes that accidentally killed 24 Pakistani soldiers months ago ? and the issue hung over the summit.

Obama had no official talks with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, although the two chatted briefly. Obama spoke of progress on the standoff but he added: "I don't want to paper over real challenges there. There's no doubt that there have been tensions."

On Afghanistan, led by Obama, the partners are in essence staying the course. They stuck with a timeline long established and underscored that there will be no second-guessing the decision about when to leave.

Since 2010, they have been planning to finish the war at the end of 2014, even as moves by nations such as France to pull combat troops out early have tested the strength of the coalition. The shift to have Afghan forces take the lead of the combat mission next year has also been expected. Leaders presented it as a significant turning point in the war.

It will be "the moment when throughout Afghanistan people can look out and see their own troops and police stepping up to the challenge," said the NATO chief, Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

What the world is poised to leave behind is an Afghanistan still riddled with poverty, corruption and political instability.

Yet, out of money and patience, the U.S.-led partnership said it is confident Afghanistan will be stable and prepared enough to at least be able to protect itself ? and, in turn, prevent its territory from becoming a launching pad for international terrorism.

Questioned about what will happen if Afghanistan eventually falls apart, Obama signaled there is no turning back. "I think that the timetable that we've established is a sound one, it is a responsible one. Are there risks involved in it? Absolutely."

British Prime Minister David Cameron said the leaders were "making a decisive and enduring commitment to the long-term future of Afghanistan. The message to the Afghan people is that we will not desert them. And the message to the insurgency is equally clear: You cannot win on the battlefield. You should stop fighting and start talking."

The political stakes are high for the U.S. president, who will go before voters in November with tens of thousands more troops in Afghanistan than when we took office. His emphasis will remain that he is methodically winding down the war after closing out the one in Iraq; U.S. voters desperate for better economic times have long stopped approving of the war mission.

NATO said it will keep providing "long-term political and practical support" to Afghanistan after 2014 but added: "This will not be a combat mission."

Despite the size of the coalition, the war remains a United States-dominated effort.

The U.S. has 90,000 of the 130,000 foreign forces in the war. Obama has pledged to shrink that to 68,000 by the end of September but has offered no details on the withdrawal pace after that, other than to say it will be gradual.

The fighting alliance called negotiation the key to ending the insurgency in Afghanistan, but avoided mentioning the Taliban by name. The insurgents walked away from U.S.-led talks in March, and urged the NATO nations to follow the lead of France in pledging to remove combat forces ahead of schedule.

The alliance agreed on a fundraising goal to underwrite the Afghan armed forces after the international fighting forces depart.

The force of about 230,000 would cost about $4.1 billion annually ? the bulk of it paid by the United States and countries that have not been part of the fighting force.

U.S. and British officials said during the summit that pledges total about $1 billion a year so far and that fundraising is on track to make up the rest. French President Francois Hollande said the U.S. had requested a little less than $200 million but was non-committal, saying France was "not bound by what Germany or other countries might do."

___

Associated Press writer Julie Pace and Jamey Keaten contributed to this report.

Associated Press

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