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When you are healthy and happy, we are happy! Want to know what our clients like to share?

  • I had lower back pain for more than 15 years and been told extensive arthritis by my medical doctor. Typenol and other anti-inflammatory drugs did not really help at all. I came to Dr. Li after I saw a report on the Metro newspaper. I got better after each acupuncture treatment. My constipation issue got solved too while getting the treatments for my back pain. Amazing!!! Thanks a lot, Dr. Li! ——-Mohamed
  • I had suffered from premenstrual syndrome (PMS) for many years with unstable mood, cramps, dark period with lots of clots, and last for 5 days. After 2 acupuncture treatments, my first period came, I had no camp at all! It was liquidy with no clots, in light color, and last only 3 days. I feel very good and calm. Acupuncture really works!!! Thank you very much Dr. Li! ——Kate
  • I came to Healthtree Healing Centre to ask Dr. Li for helping me stop smoking. To my surprise, Dr. Li offered me treatment of my swollen legs at the same time (with no extra charge). As soon as I received my first acupuncture treatment, my legs changed dramatically. Before the treatment, I had difficulty walking and getting in and out my car. Two days after my first acupuncture treatment, I could run and had no problem getting in and out my car. I felt my legs were very flexible. My daughter and I were very surprised with the results from Dr. Li’s acupuncture treatment. I cannot stop telling everyone I met about my experience with Dr. Li’s acupuncture treatment for me. Oops, I forgot to tell you about the result for my smoking. Yes, three days after my first acupuncture treatment with Dr. Li, the number of cigarettes I smoked in a day was cut down from 25 to 2. No craving symptoms after my second treatment. Amazing!!! Thank you very much Dr. Li for your excellent skills and all the good advices!!! I will recommend your service to anyone I know so they can benefit from it as I do! ——–Stanley
  • Dr. Li provides the best acupuncture treatments and Chinese massage in Winnipeg. I brought my friend for treatments and will bring more people here. Highly recommended! ——–Gloria
  • I have had arthritis of my shoulders and knees for many years. I am fortunately being referred by my friend about the excellent services Dr. Li provides. After the very first treatment, I felt much better with my knees and shoulders. After the second treatment, I can even walk up and down stairs, which I have not be able to for many years. My husband and I was shocked by the amazing changes that Dr. Li’s treatments have worked on me. May the Lord bless him and his healing centre! May his knowledge and skills benefit more people! I will definitely share my experience with as many people as I can. Thank you very much, Dr. Li! —–Justina
  • Dr. Li has understood my situation like no other. I had been told by Western practitioners that the issues I have were non-existent, however, since I started having acupuncture treatments with Dr. Li, I feel more clear minded, less tired, and the pain in my legs has faded away. I would recommend anyone to give it a try, it might also solve issues you were not aware of.—–Cathy
  • I have been having issues with energy and psychosis and have been hospitalized 3 times. The final diagnosis was schizophrenia. The pharmaceutical medication I take has helped considerably. However, I still experience symptoms and loss of energy and drive. I waited this out thinking I would recover my energy over time but sti felt drained. Dr. Li is helping me with these issues. After my first acupuncture treatment I felt a difference. I felt welcomed to the world. I was more happy, grounded, and stable. After my 7th session, my energy and balance returned. I was the most stable and energized I’ve been in years. Before acupuncture treatments, my art work tended to bring back the psychotic episodes. I couldn’t do what I loved to do, because it left me feeling distorted, overwhelmed, and panicked. I would pace and repeat mantras, moving about trying to relax. After my 8th session, I found to my amazement that I can do the things I like without the psychotic reactions. I am more balanced and haven’t experienced any recurring symptoms since I received treatment from Dr. Li. I would highly recommend Dr. Li , who is both kind and skilled. Thankfully! ——Taylor


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Archive for arm numbness

Can Heart Disease Be Reduced With Corrective Chiropractic Care?

Posted in Uncategorized with tags , , , , , , , , on December 2, 2013 by chiropracticdouglasville

In the past most people believed that the only way to reduce Cardiovascular (Heart) Disease was through diet, exercise, sleep, not smoking, and getting regular cholesterol and blood pressure checkups. The latest advances in research and science have revealed that  Corrective Chiropractic Care has a  more dominant impact than previously thought in the reduction of heart disease.

The studies indicate an overwhelming YES!!! to the question, can Correcting structural abnormalities in my spine help to  improve heart function?

According to current research, structural abnormalities in the spine may be a significant factor in a number of disorders. The lack of a proper Spinal foundation can aggravate a person’s nervous system and lead to a variety of different dysfunctions. According to Dr. Nate Blume, “The body’s homeostatic mechanism is thrown off.” Dr Blume was the chief officer of a major breakthrough study that focused on two areas: the relation between blood pressure, and heart rates. Chiropractic research from other doctors has also supported his findings. Repeatedly the researchers found that Structural Correction helped to lower heart rates in patients suffering with above average heart rates.

The main reason thought to be the basis for this finding is that Corrective Chiropractic Care has a therapeutic effect on the nervous system, which has a direct effect on heart rate variability. Researchers have also proposed that Corrective Chiropractic Care does relieve pain that may have caused an increase  in heart rates.  Stress was another factor that was considered.  Pain leads to increased stress, which in turn can cause an elevated heart rate. Thus Corrective Chiropractic intervention directly addresses the cause of the problem.

Another  related study investigated the connection between “systolic and diastolic blood pressure” and anxiety levels, and quantified the changes after subjects received Structural Correction through Corrective Chiropractic Care. Results showed a lowering in not only blood pressure, but also anxiety, again showing evidence that cardiovascular disease can be reduced with Corrective Chiropractic Care.

In a more recent case study, a man at age 54 pursued chiropractic care and his lipid panel normalized following the recommended regime of the health program he followed. Only Corrective Chiropractic Care – not traditional care – was applied in his treatment.  The authors are hoping to expand studies like these and quantify their results.

Dr. Matthew McCoy, published and conducted the above case study,  he stated that all of these findings make sense:

If you damage, compress, or otherwise interfere with the neurological structures in the spine this can have far-reaching implications on the functioning of the body. We are finding that structurally correcting the misalignment or abnormal motion associated with these spinal problems reduces the nerve interference.

McCoy explained that removing  nerve interference is the key to reducing problems related to cardiovascular disease, which is what was experienced by the patient in the above mentioned study.

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Let’s See That Spirit Wear

Thank you so much to our Spirit Wear Chair, Katie Gjeldum, and to the volunteers who delivered the items to homes this week. If you were expecting spirit wear and did not receive it, please contact spiritwear@chmspto.org. Feeling the spirit? Email photos of your eagle(s) wearing the goods to vpcommunications@chmspto.org.


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Film Makers, keep your overhead low and rent a small office!

Lucia This weekend was spring cleaning day in the Living Spirit office at Ealing Studios.

Those of you who have visited my office will know that it’s more like a strange little ‘Harry Potter’ hobbits hole of a cupboard than that of a film production office. And that suits me just fine. I learned a long time ago that one of the keys to success is the ability to survive the drought and famine of film making (be it the economic downturn, long periods of script development or simply a project that fails for reasons beyond your control).

So for me at least, the smaller the office, the better. And if you feel tempted to rent an office for your company, before signing any contracts, ask if they have something cheaper, smaller, maybe tucked away somewhere… In the long run you will not regret it. And if you have amazing success and it's too small, well trust me, this will be the least of your worries!

Lucia, my dear girlfriend, had offered to come in and pretty much industrially sterilize the environment for the next major project we will be launching – whereas I would have given it a light dusting, she attacked it like the terminator! So thank you Lucia for driving me hard to get the office ship shape (and doing the majority of the work while I watched in amazement!)

And ‘that project’ that we will be launching in the coming weeks, will be running out of this, ‘The Production Office’. And we are planning a very exciting window into this world for everyone to experience…

Right, pass the cleaning fluid!

Onwards and upwards!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author

One Response to Film Makers, keep your overhead low and rent a small office!

  1. nic beery March 28, 2010 at 5:27 pm #

    Chris, You have a GREAT girlfriend! My wife won’t clean my small office. I must pay my daughter to do it, which I gladly do.

    I agree, even when clients come into my tiny office and I pull folding chairs out from behind the door, I am happy, because all they are looking at is my monitor anyway. (and a few small trophies)
    -Nic in NC, USA

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Technique and Attitude

It is very common for beginner artists to start a new drawing and despite putting a lot of effort and time into, the result still shows lack of technique and experience. If this has happened to you, don’t panic; you are not the only one. There are different ways of improving the quality of your drawing quite easily and fast. Some would call it technique; I would say it is more of an attitude towards the way you make art. Following these 3 easy steps, it is more than certain that your next drawing will look much better!

1. Avoid those outlines

One of the first mistakes beginner artists make, is to pay too much attention and put too much effort into defining every shape on their drawing. This might be useful in very early stages of the drawing or painting, however very strong outlines rarely look good on your artwork (unless it is a feature or plays some specific role). It is good to have a rough definition of outlines to give you a feel of space, volume, planes, perspective and so on. Do remember though that losing the outlines in the end will make your artwork look more professional. How do you do that though without ending up with a very fluid and “undefined” sketch or painting?

2. Less tone, more contrast

If you look around you, there are almost no hard and bold outlines around the objects. Nevertheless, you can still see clearly the different items. Your eyes use the different colours, the shadow and light and the various tones to distinct all these different things that surround you. It is exactly the same with your drawing! You can still define the objects very well without even adding an outline; just use tone and contrast correctly!

Always keep in mind one thing: It is the contrast that makes the difference, not the amount of tone you add. A solid block of thick black has nothing to offer to your drawing. On the contrary, a good gradation between black and white can show a round surface very well. Or a very high contrast (black going directly to clean white) can show a very sharp edge. If you know how to use these, then you are a step closer to omitting the outlines and making your drawing look better. Again, if a thick block of tone is playing a specific role then of course you will have to use it; otherwise try to avoid using too much tone. Make your drawing light and airy and achieve perspective and volume by good use of gradation and contrasts.

3. Don’t be careful!

Last but not least is the lines themselves. No need to be too careful with your lines; let your hands free to create. Mark making is important and is unique for every artist. Others create very free marks and others use their pencil, charcoal or brush very neatly. Understood; however please imagine yourself as a writer. No one remembers the writers for their handwriting; they remember them for the content of their books and the character of their writing. Use the lines in the same way. Use them as a means of communicating the message but do not get bogged down to creating the perfect lines. If it comes naturally it is fine (you are lucky…) if not; live with it and make it part of your art’s character.

A little bit of extra advice

It is all about contrast and tone variation. High contrast and different tones can make objects on your drawing pop out immediately. An easy way to do this is by using complementary colours. The theory is very easy to understand and it is a matter of spending some time reading and practicing on it. You can find an easy introduction to complementary colours here.

Please do let us know what is the most common problem you face with your art. If you want to have a chat with other artists about it, feel free to join the small and friendly group: Love Sketching and Painting

What is the weakest point of your drawings? Let us know in the comments.

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Join 1,363 other followers

The Artist says:

“Sometimes achieving a better result is a matter of letting yourself and your hands free to create. This is all what art is about anyway. Some technique and theory is necessary however observing the work of established artists and practicing/experimenting with different styles will eventually give you the desired outcome.”

Love Sketching & Painting

  1. Great advice! I’m gonna join your small group I think. I’m seriously wanting to get back into drawing this year! Your post has further inspired me.

    How would you like to collab? Perhaps you could draw/sketch something for me, and I could write a short story inspired by it. Perhaps a monster or fantasy creature etc…

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Hi Gary, you are more than welcome to join the group. Is small and friendly thankfully without pretentious comments. Purely people who love spending some time sketching or painting.

      Also, the idea of combining the art of words with the art of drawing sounds fantastic. The past few months I have been working on Human Anatomy. I d be very keen to provide you with a drawing or some drawings relevant to that. Let’s chat.

      Liked by 1 person

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Category Archives for "Invisible Illness"

Eat To Heal Loss Of Appetite And Depression, Interview With Jo

A lady sitting out in the garden having tea and cake in the sunshine. Title reads Eat To Heal Loss Of Appetite and Depression, Interview with Jo, by Chronically Hopeful

In this interview series we explore how diet and chronic illness affect each other and today I have the honour of sharing Jo's story. Jo's appetite was severely affected by her mental health, but with the help of loved ones, she found a way to overcome it and get back to a place where she could once again enjoy a healthy diet.

When it comes to chronic illness, there is no one-size-fits-all solution, especially when it comes to healing through diet. It's up to us to try different approaches until we find our personal solution - the thing that our body responds to most positively.

I hope this series will inspire you to make changes to your diet too, you never know how much relief you could experience through just a few modificaitons. What you eat really can make a big difference!

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10 Important Life Lessons I Learned From Chronic Illness

10 Important Life Lessons learned from Chronic Illness, by Chronically Hopeful. A woman sits by the window, gazing out while holding a cup of tea. She has shoulder length hair and is smiling contemplatively.

Last year was a tough one for many of us, but looking back I realised that I have learned many important lessons which make me stronger and better equipped for the year ahead.

So although 2018 was a year of very high highs and very low lows, there were many lessons scattered among both the trials and the triumphs. This is the way life goes - it is never linear and it's always changing - but we can always look back and learn something from what we have been through.

Through the course of each year we will grow wiser, we will heal old wounds, we will get up and try again, but each time we will also be a little stronger.

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Photophobia: 6 Ways To Cope With Light Sensitivity

In a dark room a hand is held up to block the light that is shining in. Title reads, Photophobia in ME and CFS. 20 Patients share their experience.

Have you ever experienced that moment of intense pain in your eyes and head when you've opened the curtains on a bright and sunny day? Anybody who has experienced a migraine or even a hangover would likely understand what I'm talking about too. Although photophobia or light sensitivity might seem quite common among the general population, it can be quite debilitating when combined with a chronic illness like ME.

Most people struggle with glare and direct sunlight in their eyes, but what you might not realise is that some people with chronic illness actually cannot tolerate any light at all and might have to spend hours, days, weeks or even months in the dark - and it's not just pain in the eyes that they're avoiding!

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Moving To A New House – Plus 12 Ways To Make Moving Easier If You’re Chronically Ill

A pile of boxes stacked up next to a radiator. Title reads Moving to a new house, plus 12 tips to make moving easier

This summer was a season of great change for our family. After little more than a year in our flat, my dad had found us a lovely big house with a garden and we were packing again. Moving house can be quite stressful for the healthiest of people, so it can really be a nightmare for somebody with a severe chronic illness like ME.

We actually loved our flat, it was enough for my sister and I, it ticked most of the boxes when we were house hunting a year ago, but there wasn't room for the parents when they came over, and it was starting to get crowded.

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Heather Hancock on Faith Through Illness: Spastic Diplegia Cerebral Palsy

Heather resting arms on a table, smiling. Title reads Faith through Spastic Diplegia Cerebral Palsy, Interview with Heather Hancock,ChronicallyHopeful

Welcome to another Warrior of the Week guest interview. In this Faith Through Illness series we will meet various chronic illness warriors who'll share their faith journey with us. How does chronic illness affect their faith and how does their faith affect their condition?

This week I have the honour of sharing Heather Hancock's story. Heather is a Christian Inner Healing Coach helping women to find freedom from their emotional scars and spiritual wounds. She has a gorgeous blog where she writes about healing and overcoming through faith. I'm sure you will be as encouraged by her story as I am.

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Swimming and diving rules changes clarify proper race finish, official timing procedures

Girls swimming generic

(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)

INDIANAPOLIS — Providing more clarity on a proper race finish and official timing procedures are among the noteworthy high school swimming and diving rules changes for the 2020-21 school year.

These topics were among those discussed by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Swimming and Diving Rules Committee at its annual meeting March 22-23, where a total of six rules changes were recommended for approval. The rules meeting was held in an online format to comply with current health safety guidelines. All recommendations were subsequently approved by the NFHS Board of Directors.

Rule 1-1-1 was edited to profile the end wall in more detail. Previously described as “the walls perpendicular to the race course,” the new definition broadens the term to include “the vertical portion of the pool, contiguous surface of the deck and overflow gutter, the front of the starting block or platform, or the touchpad at the end of the course.”

“This additional language provides clarity on what constitutes the end wall,” said Sandy Searcy, NFHS director of sports and liaison to the Swimming and Diving Rules Committee. “The 2019-20 rules book changed the definition of the finish of the race by permitting the swimmer to finish at the end wall, not the touchpad. That change necessitated a more concise definition of the end wall.”

The end wall was also referenced in the change to Rule 6-3-2, which specified acceptable methods for measuring “official” times. When a legal touch is made with the end wall to signify a legal finish, buttons and/or stopwatches, which are commonly used for backup timing, are now explicitly listed as alternatives to touchpads.

Clarity to the usage of backup timing devices was also addressed in a change to Rule 6-3-4. Whereas official times could previously only be taken from backup mechanisms in the event of a malfunction to the automatic timing equipment, the rule’s new language was written to incorporate all other instances where an official time is not properly recorded.

“This rule change more accurately describes the protocol for determining an official time when the competitor contacts the end wall and not the touchpad,” Searcy said. “Backup buttons or stopwatches may need to be used in situations where the swimmer does not activate the touchpad or the touchpad malfunctions. This phrase clarifies conditions when the swimmer does not touch the touchpad initially.”

New articles were added to Rules 1-4-5 and 1-4-6 to differentiate the terms diving “round” from diving “session” and bring consistency to those definitions. Used frequently throughout Rule 9 of the rules book, a diving session refers to one of the various levels – preliminary, semifinal and final – within an 11-dive competition, while a diving round is the completion of one dive by each participant. Additionally, divers are now permitted to practice in between diving sessions at the discretion of meet management.

Alterations were made to the uniform code under Rules 3-3-3 and 3-3-4c regarding accepted and prohibited manufacturers’ logos. In addition to the mark signifying approval from the international governing body for aquatic sports, FINA, the USA Swimming checkmark logo is now considered an acceptable suit marking.

“This rule is a clarification of what the swimming community may see on suits this fall as a result of a rule change made by USA Swimming,” Searcy said. “A small checkmark will be positioned next to the FINA marking on some suits and is not considered as an additional manufacturer’s logo or advertising.”

Finally, headings were added to Rules 9-3-3 and 9-3-5 to help explain the two-step process for entering divers at championship meets. The process includes entering the divers and swimmers’ first and last names, events and school affiliations onto an official team entry document, and then submitting the document at the time and place specified by the meet manager. Subsequently, divers will submit a scoresheet/dive list to complete the process of their entry into the diving event.

According to the 2018-19 NFHS High School Athletics Participation Survey, swimming and diving is the 10th-most popular sport for boys with 136,638 participants in 7,704 schools, and the eighth-most popular sport for girls with 173,088 participants in 8,007 schools.


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Satan exists in our world and he makes deals with humans for their souls. I have no other explanation for the meteoric rise of screenwriter Ehren Kruger. To be fair, it’s not like his entire filmography is full of clunkers (Arlington Road is his saving grace. The Ring doesn’t count in his favor since it’s mostly a straight adaptation of the original film), but nine out of ten of those films are mediocre at best. I have to give him a pass on The Brothers Grimm though, but that’s because I purposefully avoided it. It looked like the most obvious cash grab Terry Gilliam has ever been involved in, but now it looks like the film Disney has modeled all of its reinterpretations on.

Well, if there are any fans of The Brothers Grimm out there, get ready to jump for joy. Miramax announced that Kruger will be executive producing a new TV version based on the film, and while nothing I’ve read states it, I have to believe he’ll be contributing a script or two at the very least.

I’m guessing this is going to act as the goth kid version of Once Upon a Time. My only hope is that the show will dig into some fairy tale deep cuts instead of just the familiar fare. And seeing aspects of the original stories that mostly everyone avoids in their adaptations would give the show some gory novelty.

Where are all you Kruger-ites at? Does someone have an impassioned argument for Blood and Chocolate? Is Impostor a misunderstood masterpiece? Do you think it’s time for people to start reevaluating The Skeleton Key?


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As a kid in the ’80s, I remember The Equalizer very well, although I wasn’t a regular viewer.  Stingray was my show in that genre back then, despite the fact that it didn’t last nearly as long.  Probably the best equivalent to the show today would be Human Target, a program of which I am a regular – and avid – viewer.  Anyway, Edward Woodward played Robert McCall, a former secret agent of an unnamed agency who is looking to atone for past misdeeds by offering his services as a protector or troubleshooter free of charge.  It ran from 1985 to 1989.

So now, The Equalizer is apparently due for a remake, and Russell Crowe has signed himself up to ride in McCall’s Jaguar for The Weinstein Company.  The project’s been in development hell for awhile, even having Push’s Paul McGuinan attached at one point.  Seraphim Falls’ David von Ancken was most recently attached.  No word if that’s still the case or if someone else will come on board.  The premise of the former bad guy atoning is one that’s easily adaptable, and Crowe is a perfect fit for this, I think.

Now if only I can get that theatrical reboot of Vengeance Unlimited with Michael Madsen back in it.

Thanks to Felix for the tip.

via ComingSoon


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Be still – unlocking lockdown

COloured illustration of family sitting on bank of river under a tree

Many times, it is in the stillness that our imagination sparks into life. Thanks to lockdown, mission partners in training H and M are still waiting to return to North Africa. But they discovered a God “shaking us out of our busy, comfortable lives to face the Unknown…”

Words by M, illustration by H

I write this five months since the lockdown began, eight months since our family left Africa to retrain with CMS. There are so many uncertainties, so many unknowns and the borders to our country of work are still closed.

Yet the enforced pause has been a blessing in many ways. It’s helped me take my eyes off all the things I normally have to do, and to push in to God, the one who always IS.

Be still and know that I am God

Birds were singing as we bundled the kids into the car, but we barely heard them. We had a four-hour journey ahead, a meeting with a church leader we had never met, and then presentations and talks to finalise and present. Normal life in February was really busy for a family of six. There were unread emails, huge to-do lists and so much to accomplish. We felt busy, exhausted, frazzled, but tried to feel fulfilled. A busy life is a valuable life, whispers the unspoken mantra of Western culture.

Be still and know that I AM…

We’re trying balance our diaries, seeing old friends, fulfilling more church appointments, attending parents’ evenings, writing assignments and still getting enough exercise to stay healthy. As we run around Aston’s Eyot nature reserve at dusk one evening, we barely notice the muntjac deer silently waiting behind a hawthorn bush, his patient breath on the cool evening air whispering “be still” as we charge by.

Be still and know…

It’s March. Rumours start circulating of the virus spreading in Oxford. One of the kids at House 244 where we live has a temperature, so we don’t send our kids into school the next day. We wonder how we’re going to get our final essays done if we have to do childcare all day. As we sit planning next weekend’s church visits, crowds continue to rush past the windows, but now one or two people wear masks. The vibrant cherry blossom lies trampled on the pavement, unnoticed.

Be still…

The whole country has been told to stay at home. An unearthly silence has descended on Oxford. Birds sing, uninterrupted by traffic noise. There’s no laughter at the restaurant opposite, no one on the streets. The entire world is taking a breath, a pause, a moment of silence. The birdsong goes on, louder than I’ve ever heard. The blue tits, robins and wrens sing with everything they’ve got in case the humans go back to their normal noise tomorrow. The flowers bloom in extravagant beauty, sharing the joy of their Creator with everyone who sees. As the early spring sun shines down, it’s a reminder of God’s goodness, despite the unprecedented disruption to human freedom as we know it.

It’s the middle of lockdown. We inhabit a liminal space the likes of which humanity has never known. Every day has the same routine: wake up and light a candle, then sit gazing out into the garden for a half-hour of contemplative prayer. Then the kids wake up, we do breakfast and homeschool. After lunch, it’s naptime, some short physical exercises, then take the kids round the nature reserve to get them out of the house. We marvel at every flower, every birdsong, every brief sighting of a deer. We love being outside for a few short minutes every day, and wish we hadn’t taken this freedom for granted. Then back into the house for dinner and bed, before another day exactly the same.

Somehow the enforced lockdown has moved us into a space of simply being. There seems to be an unspoken assumption in our Christian culture that if we can just be busy enough, God will turn up and do something. So it’s been a huge blow to our egos, especially mine, to be able to do nothing during this time. When we can do nothing because we have to stay at home, we discover that God is still here, and still at work.

For me, lockdown coincided with a deepening practice of contemplative prayer, and somehow lockdown has become an integral part of this: a wonderful chance to learn to be content, to realise that I am not quite as “in control” of my life as I thought, and to trust that’s okay, because God is in control. I found by sitting in silence every morning, I was somehow given a glimpse of the eternal stillness and love of God’s presence. The words of Psalm 46:10 became my daily mantra. I would light a candle and speak them over slowly in my mind, gently dropping a word off the end with each repetition until I held in my consciousness the phrase “Be… I AM”.

I realised how often I fail to appreciate that God is always present right here, right now, and that the only thing I need to do is to recognise that fact. I found myself reflecting on John 17:21, “just as you are in me, and I am in you. May they also be in us”. What does it mean to be in God, and God in me, especially in these crazy times when I can’t do anything for God? I hear God whispering, “Be still. I AM.” Somehow it means resting in the fact that God knows what is going on, that although the consequences of this virus are terrible, God’s greater purposes are not thwarted.

Somehow he is shaking us out of our busy, comfortable lives, and making us all face the Unknown. Faced with this mystery, it’s been hard even to pray. I’d always thought that prayer is about getting God to act, and asking for things, isn’t it?

“God, I don’t even know what to pray. All I can do is mutter a feeble, ‘help’.” As the days of COVID-19 go on and the uncertainties mount in the silence, I hear a still small voice whispering back again and again, “Be still, and know that I am God.”

Be still. I AM.

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Ahhhhhhhh, Amsterdam~

It’s November, and one must open one’s windows in order to cool an overheated room. This is when the uniqueness of Amsterdam wafts in, making me think back a lot of years, “Is that incense I’m smelling?”
“Wait no, that’s pot.”
Amsterdam sure is aromatic.
And mellow.
I can see why they have so many incredible pastry shops, and people eating in them all night long!
I mean they even have cannabis lollipops. I never liked pot when I was young, but breathing deeply in my room now, inadvertently of course, as I type this, does bring up the possibility that this might be more medicinal to me in my soon to be descending senior years. I seem to be feeling really relaxed……
Amsterdam is unapologetic about pot. Here you can see oodles of it growing inside this historic old house boat in the UNESCO World Heritage Area.

In Kinderdjik Holland one finds idyllic scenes like these windmills built in the 1700’s and still in use today.

Holland is justifiably famous for its flowers,

and it’s artists!

DSC06205 (1)
Cheers to you from Vincent,

Holland, and I~
(Sorry for the repost but this did not show up in my reader!)

177 thoughts on “Ahhhhhhhh, Amsterdam~

  1. Last weekend, we spent a hour or so strolling through the Dutch and Flemish rooms at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Lots of tavern scenes. No pot painted in the 16th and 17th centuries. Enjoy your travels.

  2. Hey, that looks a really cool, like, place, with er, like, water & colours &, like, other stuff, quite literally mind-blowing but, erm, kind of peaceful & things, it sort of transcends everything all around in a kind of way like music does, in your head, sort of trippy and (drones on for hours…) RH

  3. These are really some great shots of autumn with a great feel of the Old World, simply beautiful ~ and also nice to know you will not go hungry with all the pastry shops around…and so many herbs for you to try and enjoy. Cheers ~

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Watch movie Firepower full online free. » Best site to watch Movies free and TV series online is CipFlix.To Daily News Added!

Firepower Online Free

A mercenary is hired by the FBI to track down a powerful recluse criminal, a woman is also trying to track him down for her own personal vendetta.

Free Online: CipFlix.To

Duration: 104 min

IMDb: 5.0


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Product News Tech News

Rugged PC/104 SBC Sports Dual Core Bay Trail SoC

Versalogic has announced “SandCat”, a low-cost rugged new PC/104-Plus SBC. Based on Intel’s dual-core Bay Trail SoC, SandCat is an entry level PC/104-Plus SBC that provides a cost optimized performance level and I/O capability. The SandCat is designed and tested for industrial temperature (-40° to +85°C) operation and meets MIL-STD-202G specifications to withstand high impact and vibration. Latching connectors and fanless operation provide additional benefits in harsh environments.

SandCat’s I/O connectivity includes a Gigabit Ethernet port with network boot capability, four USB 2.0 ports, two serial ports (RS-232/422/485), I2C, and eight digital I/O lines. A SATA 3 Gbit/s interface supports high-capacity rotating or solid-state drives. A Mini PCIe socket with mSATA capability provides flexible solid-state drive (SSD) options.

The board’s SandCat’s Mini PCIe socket allows easy on-board expansion with plug-in Wi-Fi modems, GPS receivers, and other mini cards such as MIL-STD-1553, Ethernet and analog. For stacking expansion using industry-standard add-on boards, the SandCat supports PC/104-Plus expansion, including ISA and PCI based modules. The on-board expansion site provides plug-in access to a wide variety of expansion modules from numerous vendors, all with bolt-down ruggedness.

Like other Versalogic products, the SandCat is designed for long-term availability (10+ year typical production lifecycle). Customization services to help customers create unique solutions are available for the SandCat, even in low OEM quantities. Customization options include conformal coating, revision locks, custom labeling, customized testing and screening.

The SandCat single board computer, part number VL-EPM-39EBK, is in stock at both Versa;ogic and Digi-Key. OEM quantity pricing starts at $370.

Versalogic |

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Note: We’ve made the October 2017 issue of Circuit Cellar available as a free sample issue. In it, you’ll find a rich variety of the kinds of articles and information that exemplify a typical issue of the current magazine.

Would you like to write for Circuit Cellar? We are always accepting articles/posts from the technical community. Get in touch with us and let's discuss your ideas.

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Centre for Internet & Society

The ad appears at the bottom of the page. It has BJP’s symbol and Modi’s photograph displayed prominently.

The article by Yogesh Pawar was published in DNA on March 21, 2014. Sunil Abraham is quoted.

In a hotly contested election where every vote will count, the scramble among political parties to scrounge for votes is understandable. Yet, what would you make of a party that hates a community but wants their votes? The BJP had opposed any move to nullify Supreme Court's order re-criminalizing consensual sex among consenting adults, dealing a huge setback to any move to scrap or dilute Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Party chief Rajnath Singh went to the extent of saying, "Gay sex is not natural and we cannot support something which is unnatural."

This is why the gay community across the country has expressed surprise to find a BJP ad asking for votes on the popular gay social media dating website grindr. The ad which will obviously lead to to a lot of red faces in the BJP, appears at the bottom of the page has both the party' lotus symbol and their prime-ministerial candidate Narendra Modi's photograph displayed prominently. It exhorts voters to vote BJP to stop price rise.

"This exposes the party's hypocrisy," guffawed India's pioneering gay rights activist Ashok Row Kavi. "So you want our votes and not us. I'm glad this has happened. The country will finally know the true face of falsehood of the party."

He's not alone. Many from the community have taken to social media sites like facebook and twitter to make their disgust known. Counselling psychologist Deepak Kashyap is one of them. "So, #BJP says it'd never support the "unnatural act" of homosexuality, but #NaMO has no qualms about asking for support on gay dating apps, like grindr! What a sham(e)!" he posted.

Linking most homophobia with an intense struggle with latent homosexuality Kashyap, the University of Bristol pass-out and equal rights activist for the LGBTQ community told dna, "Whatever makes you jump up in your chair, essentially makes you insecure about your own condition in some way or the other." According to him, similar results were shown in a research called 'Is Homophobia Associated with Homosexual Arousal?', by Georgia University published in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology.

When reached for comment, the BJP's National IT head Arvind Gupta said, "I am not aware of such an ad being placed on this website. If this is indeed true we will take it up with the advertising agency responsible." BJP spokesperson and Lok Sabha candidate from New Delhi Meenakshi Lekhi too told dna, "This is the first I am hearing of such an advertisement," and added, "In the first instance it seems like a deliberate act of mischief in the poll season to embarrass our party."

Centre for Internet and Society, Executive Director Sunil Abraham felt the ad on grindr may have to do more with the lack of knowledge than anything else. "We find many ads by top Indian corporate brands on pirate websites. This happens because people are still not completely conversant with negotiating with advertising networks when it comes to websites."


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AI Tackles The Vatican’s Secrets

Even church archivists don’t know what mysteries lie hidden in the Vatican Secret Archives, since many of its documents have never been transcribed. A machine-vision system for medieval text is about to change that.

The Vatican Secret Archives are the stuff of legend. Reportedly filling some 85 kilometers of shelving in Vatican City, they contain the private letters and other documents of past popes, some of them dating back to the eighth century.

The archives are closely guarded. Since 1881, though, scholars have had limited access to some of the documents, and even this has revealed much.

For example, there’s a 60-meter scroll detailing the trials of the Knights Templar, which started in 1307 and lasted several years. There are letters to various popes from Michelangelo; from Henry VIII, requesting a marriage annulment; and from Mary, Queen of Scots, begging for intercession before her beheading.

The archives also contain more recent correspondence, such as letters from Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis attempting to persuade Pope Pius IX to favor the Union and the Confederacy, respectively.  Then there are the records relating to Pope Pius XII and his dealings with the Nazi regime during World War II, which have never been published. Indeed, all records from 1939 onward are entirely secret.

While publication of the records is forbidden, the archives have their own photographic and conservation studios. And like many historic archives around the world, they have begun to save images of certain documents to preserve them and allow further study.

But the Vatican’s records are so voluminous that transcribing them by hand is impractical in any reasonable period of time. Could machine vision help?

Today we get an answer thanks to the work of Donatella Firmani at Roma Tre University in Italy and a few colleagues. These folks have begun a project called In Codice Ratio (Latin for “The Code System”), which aims to automatically transcribe a part of the Vatican Secret Archives called the Vatican Registers.

LEARN MORE  Artificial Intelligence Is The Weapon Of The Next Cold War

This corpus consists of more than 18,000 pages of official 13th-century correspondence between the Catholic Church and kings, queens, and political and religious institutions across Europe. “Never having been transcribed in the past, these documents are of unprecedented historical relevance,” say Firmani and co.

Medieval texts pose a unique problem for machine vision. Conventional optical character recognition algorithms do not work well, because the manuscripts are written in varying styles with different ligatures (characters that combine adjacent letters) and with idiosyncratic abbreviations.

To get around that, scholars have developed machine vision systems that recognize entire words rather than letters. But this is far from satisfactory, because most words appear only a few times even in long documents. So creating data sets for machines to learn from is hard.

Now Firmani and co have come up with a new way to train an optical character recognition system that divides each word into a series of strokes, which fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. “Our goal is to develop a full-fledged system that transcribes as much as possible from the manuscripts,” they say.

Having divided each word into strokes, the system attempts to fit them together to form known letters and then analyzes all potential permutations of letters. Finally, it rules out all those that are non-grammatical.

For example, a common pattern of strokes can be interpreted as “iii” or as “m,” but the former can be ruled out as grammatically inadmissible. The same strokes might also represent “in” or “ni,” and to decide between them, the system must study the word and its context more closely.

LEARN MORE  The Seven Deadly Sins Of AI Predictions

Firmani and co’s first step was to create a data set to train a machine-vision system based on a neural network. This data set must be labeled so that the system can learn what letters are represented by different combinations of strokes.

Firmani and co used crowdsourcing to complete this annotation. They presented the jigsaw segmentation of words as a pattern recognition problem to 120 high school students, rather like Captcha puzzles. The students together manually labeled a 15,000-character training data set in a couple of hours.

The results are impressive. “We were able to generate the exact transcription for 65 percent of the word images of our dataset,” say Firmani and co.

That’s an important step forward for medieval text transcription and for historians in general. However, there is more work ahead. For example, the transcription works with lowercase letters, so an important next goal is to extend the vocabulary to include uppercase letters and some of the many abbreviations used in medieval text.

Just how the Vatican Secret Archives will use this technology isn’t yet clear. Nor is it known whether the Vatican Registers will be published when they are transcribed.

But even if they aren’t, the tools that Firmani and co are developing should allow scholars to make progress. For instance, they allow a data-driven study of historical documents that could look at word or phrase frequencies, for example, and how they change over time. That can provide important cultural insights.

It will be fascinating to see whether the Vatican decides to share this knowledge—or hide it.

This feature is from MIT Technology Review.

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Jets surprisingly cut Le’Veon Bell after exploring trades

The New York Jets have surprisingly released disgruntled running back Le’Veon Bell, ending a disappointing tenure after less than two full seasons

NEW YORK — Later, Le’Veon.

The New York Jets surprisingly released disgruntled running back Le’Veon Bell on Tuesday night, ending a disappointing tenure after less than two full seasons.

The team issued a statement from general manager Joe Douglas in which he said the Jets made the move after having several conversations with Bell and his agent during the last few days and exploring trade options.

“The Jets organization appreciates Le’Veon’s efforts during his time here and we know he worked hard to make significant contributions to this team,” Douglas said. “We believe this decision is in the best interests of both parties and wish him future success.”

He later followed that up with another tweet: “Got a lot to prove,” he said. “I’m ready to go.”

As a vested veteran, Bell does not have to clear waivers. He will be available to sign with another team after 4 p.m. Wednesday.

Bell and coach Adam Gase appeared to not mesh since the running back signed a four-year, $52.5 million contract with $35 million guaranteed last year as a free agent. There were reports that Gase was opposed to the Jets — mainly then-general manager Mike Maccagnan — giving such a large contract to a running back.

Bell spent his first six NFL years in Pittsburgh, but sat out the entire 2018 season in a contract dispute with the Steelers. He became a free agent and joined the Jets in March 2019 and was expected to be a dynamic presence in Gase’s offense.

Instead, Bell never consistently flashed the skills that made him arguably the NFL’s best dual threat running back before sitting out. He rushed for 789 yards and three touchdowns, and had a career-low 3.2 yards per carry. Bell also wasn’t as prominently featured in the passing game as expected, catching 66 passes for 461 yards and a score.

He spoke at times of wanting to be able to see more touches to try to help the team win. Gase spoke this offseason about needing to find ways to use him more effectively in the offense.

None of that materialized.

Bell. who missed three games this season with a hamstring injury, finished with 74 yards on 19 carries and three catches for 39 yards. And there were increasing rumblings that Bell wasn’t happy.

During training camp, Gase pulled Bell out of the team’s scrimmage practice as a precaution because the coach said the running back’s hamstrings felt a little tight. Bell went on social media and said his hamstrings were fine. The two said they spoke and there were no hard feelings or ill will.

New York tried to find a trade partner, but his salary was a tough sell. He has $6 million remaining on his base salary this year, and it’s fully guaranteed. Bell was likely to be cut in the offseason as a salary cap casualty, so it made sense that New York would look to try to deal him before the NFL’s trade deadline in three weeks.

The team also gave Bell and his agent permission to explore trades on their end. The Jets were willing to pick up a portion of his salary this year, but they found no takers — with Bell’s $8 million injury guarantee for 2021 a hinderance.

So, the Jets instead decided to part ways now rather than risk Bell getting hurt — even with the team 0-5 for the first time since 1996 and now without arguably their most talented player on offense.

Gase has been on the hot seat for weeks, and this move will surely be another strike against the coach who has had a reputation in New York and his previous tenure in Miami for not getting along with some veteran players.

Fans have expressed increased frustration with every loss while calling for Gase’s job. It has been a brutal start for the football teams in the Big Apple, with both the Jets and Giants 0-5 and among the worst teams in the league in several statistical categories.

The Jets will take on the AFC East-rival Dolphins in Miami on Sunday.

Douglas has been tasked with rebuilding the roster, and the release of Bell is the latest major move by the GM in which New York has jettisoned some high-profile players.

Bell joins Leonard Williams, Robby Anderson and Jamal Adams among those who have departed in the last 12 months. Williams was traded to the Giants at the trade deadline last year, Anderson was allowed to leave as a free agent and is thriving in Carolina, and Adams was traded to Seattle during the offseason.

More AP NFL: and—NFL

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How City Connects Coordinators are working through the pandemic

Whether their schools are open for in-person learning or open for virtual learning, City Connects Coordinators are working to get the right services to the right child at the right time.

In their hands, the core City Connects model remains the same, but it is being delivered in increasingly creative and flexible ways.

One example is Zuleika Andrade, who started working as a coordinator in January.

“Then,” she says, “Covid happened.”

So Andrade and her school — Mission Grammar School, a Catholic school in Boston’s Roxbury community – pivoted from in-person to online education. Andrade worked with students virtually running lunch-bunch and snack groups, providing individualized support to students, and helping families navigate access to resources.

“I was calling families and checking in to see what parents needed now that school was closed, because school provides so much, not just education, but meals, child care, social-emotional connections.”

Last month, the school reopened for in-person instruction with a new, safety-conscious look: in addition to new classrooms, a new lab, and a new ventilation system, there are signs with reminders of where to stand to be socially distant. Continue reading

The Weekly Connect 10/13/20

Here’s the new edition of The Weekly Connect. Check it out and sign up to have it delivered to your inbox!

Here are some of the things we’ve been reading about this week:

U.S. Department of Education data reveals that Black girls are disciplined more often than their white peers.

Boston delays the next phase of in-person learning because of rising coronavirus infections.

Some students who struggled in school are successful with remote learning.

To read more, click on the following links.

Continue reading

The Weekly Connect 9/14/20

Here’s the new edition of The Weekly Connect. Check it out and sign up to have it delivered to your inbox!

Here are some of the things we’ve been reading about this week:

An analysis of 375 school districts finds that rural communities are more likely to offer in-person learning opportunities this fall.

Because of COVID-19’s economic impact, public pre-K programs could face steep budget cuts.

Research and anecdotal evidence suggest that as schools struggle to provide free and reduced-price meals, students are going hungry.

To read more, click on the following links.

Continue reading

Our statement on COVID-19

Mary E. Walsh
Mary Walsh, Executive Director of City Connects

Because the students and families we serve will be especially hard hit by the educational, social, and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for strong and effective approaches to student support has never been greater. To help meet this need, the Boston College Center for Optimized Student Support will continue to bring you information and best practices relevant to effectively serving children and families before, during, and after this crisis. The Center’s flagship program, City Connects, is continuing its commitment to provide high-quality, evidence-driven student support in this challenging time.

As schools across the country shut down due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, City Connects Coordinators are responding to the needs of students and families impacted by this ever-changing crisis.

“Many families of the students in our City Connects schools will be especially vulnerable to the worst effects of this crisis,” said Mary Walsh, our Executive Director. “For families whom we serve, this pandemic means unexpected unemployment, heightened food insecurity, lack of child care, and sudden loss of stability provided by the everyday routine of school.”

City Connects Coordinators have been hard at work preparing for school closures. Across all our sites, the most immediate and critical need is food for families and children who rely on school breakfast and lunch programs. Every city in which we work has found different ways to address food provision for students. In Dayton, Ohio, for example, coordinators are helping with a drive-by pick up service at school so families can easily obtain packages of food. In Minneapolis, City Connects Program Manager Laurie Acker and her team have helped coordinate regular delivery of boxes containing food to bus stops. They are also letting students and families know which restaurants in the Minneapolis area are offering free food for those affected by school or business closures. Continue reading

Dreaming bigger with City Connects

Josiah Quincy School students

“We love mentoring,” City Connects Coordinator Will Osier of Boston’s Josiah Quincy School says.

That’s why every week on Wednesdays, 20 girls from the Quincy School in grades eight through 11 go into the heart of downtown Boston and meet with mentors at the online furniture and home goods company Wayfair.

City Connects works in the Quincy Upper school serving students in grades 6-12. In the upper grades, the City Connects model helps older children dream big. And just as they do in elementary schools, Osier and other coordinators working with older students provide individualized services and opportunities that meet students’ strengths and address their needs. Coordinators engage students in designing personalized plans and connect them to resources, relationships, and opportunities that can boost their college and career aspirations.

The Wayfair mentorship program is one good example. It was launched last month by one of the Quincy School’s community partners, the Big Sister Association of Greater Boston. Continue reading

The Weekly Connect 1/21/20

Here’s the new edition of The Weekly Connect. Check it out and sign up to have it delivered to your inbox!

These are some of the things we’ve been reading about:

Middle school coaches can help curb dating violence.

San Francisco parents declare state of emergency over failure to educate black children.

Memphis shifts to universal screening for its gifted program — instead of relying on teacher recommendations — and finds that more students qualify.

To read more, click on the following links.

Continue reading

City Connects students win a Sole Train running award

City Connects Coordinator Ashlei Alvarez does not enjoy running. When she was in school, she was the cross-country runner who hid in the bathroom.

But every Friday morning, Alvarez goes running around the Boston Common with 30 fourth- and fifth-graders, two parents, and a number of staff members from the Josiah Quincy School where Alvarez works.

“My first year here I noticed that we didn’t have a lot of extracurricular, sports-based programs,” Alvarez says. So when a teacher at her school told her about Sole Train: Boston Runs Together, a running program “that’s about deconstructing the impossible,” Alvarez and Kelly Garcelon, a kindergarten teacher who does like running, brought the program into their school.

Alvarez expected five students to sign up. Instead, 30 did. “We were shocked,” Alvarez says. Continue reading

City Connects students pay a visit to Boston College

Recently, Danielle Morrissey, the City Connects Coordinator at Boston’s Thomas J. Kenny elementary school, brought the Kenny’s fifth graders to visit Boston College so that they could see what college is all about.

“The goal was to motivate and provide a learning opportunity for the students to further understand why we are talking so much about Perseverance, Responsibility, Integrity, Dedication to your Education, and Effort (our PRIDE values) and how their future is connected to these values,” Morrissey says.  Continue reading


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News Flash

Sunrise City News

Posted on: July 21, 2020

St. Lucie Public Schools Delays Start

Contact: Lydia Martin

ST. LUCIE COUNTY, FL –St. Lucie Public Schools has delayed the start of the school year by two weeks.  The first day of school for students will be on August 24, 2020.  Superintendent E. Wayne Gent commented, “The additional two weeks gives time for the conditions in the county to improve and additional time for staff to finalize preparations for the school year. Our number one priority is to return to school safely.”

Several factors contributed to the decision to delay the start of school.  The additional two weeks allows more time:

  • For the establishment of general protocols for the safe reopening of schools including safeguards for school campuses and classrooms.
  • For the delivery of personal protective equipment, supplies and school signage.
  • For staff professional development on virtual instruction, curricular resources, and health/safety guidelines.
  • For schools to complete the complex process of scheduling students, including interventions and support for students with special needs.
  • For the deployment of laptops for students who are enrolling in option 2, “MySchool Online.”
  • For the routing of school buses to reduce student ridership on any given route.
  • To fill instructional vacancies.

The school district is working on a revised calendar to accommodate the delayed start of school.

About St. Lucie Public Schools

St. Lucie Public Schools (SLPS) proudly serves students with a graduation rate of 97% at the six traditional high schools.   As a high-ranking B-rated District, there are no failing schools, and SLPS ranks among the top one-third of Florida’s districts for student achievement. The District also has the distinction of being recognized as one of St. Lucie County’s Best Places to Work.  The mission of SLPS is to ensure all students graduate from safe and caring schools equipped with the knowledge, skills, and desire to succeed. Connect with us on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, or visit

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• City of Tacoma QA
  • City of Tacoma Data

NOTICE:  City of Tacoma Bid Opening meetings are cancelled until further notice.  Our Bid Results page has preliminary and final bid results.

The City of Tacoma invites qualified vendors to submit bids and proposals for posted solicitations. Solicitations are posted on the City's Purchasing website and are open to all interested parties. Formal, sealed solicitations are advertised in the Tacoma Daily Index, the City of Tacoma's official legal publication.

SAP Ariba eProcurement

The City utilizes the SAP Ariba Network, an eCommerce platform, for Supplier Registration, Bidding, Contract Management and Electronic POs/Invoices.

Sustainable Purchasing

The City of Tacoma seeks to do business with contractors and vendors who value our commitment to sustainability. This guide shares the knowledge and resources that help guide the City's purchasing decisions.

Vendor Resource Guide

City Council Resolution No. 38248

Contact Us

Until further notice, please note that hand carried/hard copy submittals must be delivered to the TPU Guard House.

In Person/Hand Carried:

Tacoma Public Utilities

Guard House (east side of main building)
3628 South 35th St.
Tacoma, WA 98409-3115

Carrier Submittals (FedEx or UPS for example), must still be sent to:

Finance Procurement and Payables Division

3628 South 35th St.
Tacoma, WA 98409-3115

By Mail:

Procurement and Payables Division

P.O. Box 11007

Tacoma, WA 98411-0007

(253) 502-8468

(253) 502-8372


text:
Hiking Through the Tundra

PSX_20180304_205342When I was at Brandeis, I was part the group that put on major concerts. By the time I got to my senior year, I was an old hand at the process of taking pieces of staging apart, wheeling equipment boxes onto the freight elevator, and helping the roadies load everything onto the truck.

My memories of my last concert in college aren’t very distinct. I don’t remember much about Third Eye Blind’s performance. I don’t remember how long it took to do set up and take down. And, I don’t remember it being an unusually cold night.

What I do remember is that during loadout, I somehow ended up stationed at the loading dock. That frigid New England air started to creep up on me. As the hours ticked away, the cold seeped deeper and deeper into my bones.

Continue reading

These Calves are Made for Walking

I have big calves.

I’m not being self-deprecating or indulging in a moment of low self-esteem. They’re big, and I’m reminded of it every time I try to tug on skinny jeans or almost bust a zipper pulling on a pair of knee-high boots.

The natural response, I guess, would be to dislike them. And I won’t lie, I’ve cast an admiring glance or two at thin-legged ladies. But, I’m proud of my calves.

My body is a gift from people whose names and faces and stories I will never know. Somehow, all the things that they were have come together into one big compilation – and that’s me.

Continue reading


text:
I have to confess when I first started WordPress I didn’t know how to find comments and people thought they were being ignored. I love reading other people’s posts. I always thought that I was a misfit: But realize now I was just “ahead of my time”. When I was young: I thought it wrong that women had no rights or status and children were to “be seen and not heard”. Now both women and children have rights. I found factory farming and production line slaughtering of animals abhorrent: Back then vegans were the lunatic fringe. I have always cared about the ecology. Have always loved trees and nature: and was ridiculed for this. Never understood homophobia Or racism. So much has changed for the better in my life time: I am retired and live by the sea. I have two children and five grandchildren all taller than me. . ……… I have been doing reading since the late 1970s My Dad was a Spiritualist and I was trained by a lovely Spiritualist lady and brilliant clairvoyant; Stella: Honesty is important to me: I am also always ethical: One of the many things Stella taught was not to tell some one something bad (that you “see”) unless you can tell them how to avoid it: People may “make it happen” and the “clairvoyant” could be wrong. Years later Deepak Chopra said a similar thing and called it a “nocebo”! As in the opposite of a “placebo”. At one stage I wouldn’t give off anything unless I “saw” it or “heard” it. Two decades ago another clairvoyant told me to say what concepts came into my head. And I have learned to trust these “concepts”. To contact me email me – Blessed Be Kate

Posts by clairvoyanceetc:


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Vehicle Description

Wonderful condition!

Incredibly rare left-hand Drive V8 Vantage Flip Tail Coupe

One of only 11 factory built for the U.S.

Fitted with high horsepower Euro-Spec DOHC V8 engine (numbers matching engine included)

Stunning factory correct color combination

Incredible original interior

The first British “supercar”

One of the most desirable classic Aston Martin models

$55,700 price when new (equivalent of over $191,000 today)

Options include:

Factory air conditioning
ZF 5-speed manual gearbox
Power windows
Power mirrors
4-wheel disc brakes
15” GKN alloy wheels
Cibie fog lights
AM/FM CD stereo

Documentation includes owner’s manual & related material, British Motor Industry Heritage Trust Certificate and jack

Recently serviced

The perfect example to drive and enjoy

A collector's dream!

In February 1977, Aston Martin unveiled the new Vantage with V8 power. The name was previously used on upgraded Aston Martin’s dating back to the DB2, however the new V8 Vantage pushed the industry forward as the first production car with a capable top speed of 170mph. Considered to be the first true British “Supercar”, the V8 Vantage had a classic GT layout seating up to four. Powered by the same master work 5.3 litre DOHC V8 that was fitted in the Lagonda, the Vantage V8 was tuned with higher duration camshafts, larger valves, and an increased compression ratio. Fed by four Weber 48 IDF carburetors, in Euro specification form the Vantage V8 pushed nearly 400 horsepower! Style was based on the Aston Martin V8 with several aerodynamic aesthetic touches including a solid front air dam with twin CIBIE lights while a front spoiler to draw in air to the radiator. The famous “Flip Tail” spoiler was bolted onto the first 16 cars, and became an integrated part of the body work after. Assembled by hand in Aston Martin’s legendary tradition, the V8 Vantage was praised by the automotive press upon its release. Several publications noted that the V8 Vantage outperformed other great marques including the Lamborghini Countach, the Ferrari 512BB and the Porsche 930. Only 42 of the “Molded Flip Tail” cars were assembled from 1977-1978 and of those, only 11 were sold new in the United States. A coveted model by collectors seeking a mixture of performance, style and luxury that could only come from Aston Martin, the V8 Vantage is one of the most desirable British sports cars the world has ever known.

Finished in stunning Aztec Gold over a gorgeous original Sable brown leather interior, this incredible Aston Martin V8 Vantage Flip Tail Coupe is one of the rarest Aston Martin’s available on the market today. Only 11 examples were assembled for the U.S. market and this example was originally delivered to an Aston Martin Dealer in the Eastern United States where it has spent the majority of its life. This V8 Vantage is tuned to Euro specifications with approximately 400hp. It comes equipped with many desirable options including factory air conditioning, a ZF 5-speed manual gearbox, power windows, power mirrors, 4-wheel disc brakes and more. Accompanying this investment-grade Aston Martin V8 Vantage Flip Tail Coupe is its Heritage Trust Certificate, owner’s manual and a record from its recent servicing. We’re proud to offer what we believe to be one of the best examples of this extremely rare British classic to the most astute collector or investor who desires the best. Ready to make an investment that you can actually enjoy? Classic cars have proven to be among the most resilient and rewarding investments in recent years with the Historic Automobile Group Index (HAGI) jumping 39% in 2013, 16% in 2014 and 17% in 2015 while posting gains of 467% over the last 10 years. Please contact one of our expert sales consultants at (314)291-7000 or [email protected] for more information. They will be happy to give you a complete walk-around, supply you with a more detailed description and answer any questions you may have. Buy with confidence.

Trades welcome! Financing available! Please visit to view our full inventory.

Vehicle Details

  • Listing ID:CC-1086965
  • Price:$239,900
  • Location:St. Louis, Missouri
  • Year:1979
  • Make:Aston Martin
  • Model:V8
  • Exterior Color:Aztec Gold
  • Interior Color:Brown
  • Transmission:Manual
  • Engine Size:V-8
  • Odometer:81488
  • Stock Number:406371A
  • Trim Level:Vantage Flip Tail Coupe
  • Title Status:Clear
  • Exterior Condition:Excellent
  • Seat Material:Leather
  • CD Player:Yes
  • Air Conditioning:Yes
  • Power Windows:Yes
  • Drive Train:Rear-wheel drive


text:
Bruce Springsteen and Jimmy Fallon

USA Today

Jimmy Fallon Channels Springsteen on 'Robert Mueller's Coming to Town'

By: Hayden Wright

December 5, 2017

Bruce Springsteen’s “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town” is one of those seminal holiday records that puts listeners right in the Christmas spirit. On The Tonight Show, Jimmy Fallon got viewers into the indictment spirit with a spoof: “Robert Mueller’s Comin’ to Town.”

Fallon brushed off his trusty old Springsteen impression and rewrote the lyrics to reflect developments in the U.S. Special Counsel’s investigation of Donald Trump and associates’ contact with Russia during the 2016 election.

Lyrics about emails and collusion touched on big news of the season, while the chorus brought the song home with recent news about Michael Flynn.

Flynn, Trump’s former National Security Advisor, pled guilty on Friday to lying to FBI agents about his Russia contacts.

Watch the satirical song here:


text:
Would it really hurt to listen to the kids?

Imagine, it’s 9:00 AM Monday morning. You’re in your office waiting for a visit from a software rep who said he could solve all your problems through his manufacturing productivity software solution. You came in early just to put together a list a questions. The last thing you want is to waste an hour first on Monday morning. Not the way to start ou the week … behind the proverbial eight-ball.

He here is, finally. It’s 9:15 AM, fifteen minutes late. “That traffic was terrible,” a predictable response. It’s Los Angeles, traffic is always terrible! Well let’s get on with it.

Not two minutes into the meeting, (If you want to call it that. A meeting assumes a dialogue.) I felt the flood gates open. It was a relentless barrage of features, platitudes and assumptions. As I tried to get a word in edge-wise, and maybe, just maybe ask a question … I was repeatedly interrupted. His product would solve everything, no matter what. After all this was the edict from above, his boss’s boss. It might as well have come from the Pope pontificating from his perch.

The above recount seems like an absurd way to do business. After all, doesn’t business suppose to adjust itself to the needs of its customers and prospective customers. If they don’t … they won’t be in business long. You can’t ramrod your  wares down someone’s throat and expect to succeed.

While that strategy doesn’t work in business, the world of education hasn’t seem to have gotten the message. Day-in and day-out, our children, the future of our country are subjected to a relentless bombardment of facts and figures presented in a way where only fleeting success is likely. Seldom is the connection made between the material they are force-fed and its application in the real world, the world they are expected to succeed in after they are released from the imprisoned walls of the high school they are mandated to attend.

And even if the material is relevant – the technics used, often decreed by school administrators and boards, take no account of their effectiveness. What matters is that the teachers and students walk in “lock step” abiding to the whims of the “higher-ups” in their ivory towers. God help someone who dares step out of line.

Last week, thirty miles from where I live, in the town of Park City, Montana; the community is in upheaval. Much to the vocal opposition of scores of parents and students, six popular and effective high school teachers were either let go or forced to resign. Accolades poured in from past and present students. “I developed an interested in math I would have never thought was possible, said one student. “I learned how to write, I mean really write!” claimed a past student. “My son actually likes school,” came from a mom. This “gang of six” obviously bucked the system. They didn’t conform to the edicts of the new superintendent and his subservient school board. No matter what the kids had to say, I made no difference. After all, they’re only kids. What do they know.

Little attention is paid in school to student individuality. Everyone is supposed to absorb the material and learn it the same way. If they don’t respond to the prescribed method developed in a vacuum by the administration, then the student be damned. And with a new pursuit of common-core standards, our federal government led by Education Secretary Arnie, “we’ll test you till your fingers bleed” Duncan, assumes knowledge requirements for a student long-term success in South Los Angeles are the same as those in North Dakota. Granted, America is one country. But it’s also more diverse than most continents are. Education should reflect that. And the students can tell you that. They just want to learn things that will help them.

Relevance = engagement = learning!

Students also want a voice in the people who will ultimately determine the future of their learning, the higher-ups!

Last year Billings, Montana, my closest city, appointed a new school superintendent. A group of six high achieving student leaders were invited to interview the five candidates and submit their opinions. After three days of interviews, they assembled, the made their recommendation. They ranked the candidates in order of one to five according to their criteria; past successes, communication skills, vision for the future and potential empathy for the student body. The school board picked the one the students had ranked … LAST! So much for input.

Our future leaders
Our future leaders

If you’re not eighteen, an adult – you’re a second class citizen. You don’t count. For all purposes, you’re just a possession of your parents … not a lot different from your dog laying on the couch. Your opinions, your views, your ideas are routinely dismissed because they don’t “jell” with the real world. After all, “what could you know – you don’t have any experience.” And since you’re not eighteen, you can’t vote. And since you can’t vote, feel lucky we throw any crumbs your way.

Our nation’s elders, our leaders, well …. they don’t seem to doing a very good job leading. Or for that matter, even following.

Our beloved elected officials in Washington and state house nationwide (aka. “the clowns”) more resemble a group of uncompromising six-year-olds than a body of lawmakers. Congress’s productivity has fallen to levels not seen … ever!

Special interest groups, corporate lobbyists and outright “bad” people are trying to role back environmental laws to levels not seen in decades in their efforts to rape and pillage everything in their path. Their actions are not unlike that of Sherman’s “March to the Sea.”

Fueled by the extreme disdain of Barak Obama, hate group participation has increased a seven-fold since 2008. The “if you don’t look or think exactly like I do – I hate you” movement has spun relentlessly out of control. But this phenomena mainly resides with the older generations, those adults our young are supposed to look up to … to be like.

The state of our public education system resembles that of Rome in the days of a fiddling Nero on the eve it burned to the ground. Education reformists seem to have lost sight that reform’s purpose is improvement, not just useless activity and change for the change’s sake. And the ugly specter of standardized testing aims to displace all actual learning in its way – all in the name of accountability.

In contrast, today’s youth, the Millennial generation doesn’t view the world and the future through their parents jaded lenses. They value cooperation and collaboration over confrontation and rigidity. They look at the environment not as just another resource to exploit, but as an inseparable part of the whole of life. Most Millennials believe in acceptance and embrace for all regardless of what they look like or what their views are. And today’s young want to view school as place to learn, to prepare for the future; not just a testing lab giving adults ammunition for support for their “half-baked” reforms.

“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” ~ Albert Einstein

Whether it’s teaching methods, or just overall matters of importance in our country, things don’t seem to be going to well. Would it hurt so much to open our minds to a perspective not jaded with cynicism. Imagine if optimism reigned rather than pessimism.

Would it really hurt that much to listen to the kids. Who knows, we may learn something.

Those that create the problems … will NOT be the ones that solve them!

You can find me on Twitter at @clayforsberg and Google+

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2 thoughts on “Would it really hurt to listen to the kids?

  1. Your blog has addressed several key issues in American education. One size fits all should have been obsolete years ago, but core curriculum has brought it back. We need to listen to the students because they can tell us what they will invest in, and we may be surprised that it is the same sort of subject that we want to teach. Hmmm. Worked for Montessori.

  2. I absolutely agree with you. It’s shocking how people do not value the students’ voice, and I don’t think it ends with just 18-year-olds. If you’re a college student, even, the administration can treat you like a statistic (and not a very important one at that). What needs to change are school leaders – the superintendents that don’t value students or the teachers that students truly appreciate. Thanks for sharing!

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text:
The “Pop-Up Community” and the Evolution of the Commercial Space

More than any other human artifacts, buildings improve with time … but only if they’re allowed to. ~ Stuart Brand

Several years ago I read book called “How Buildings Learn” by Stuart Brand, founder of the Whole Earth Catalogue. The premise of the book was that a building whether it’s a house, a factory, or an office building, should be designed to adapt with its inhabitants. As a family goes through the different stages of its life, so should its home. If it can’t then the family will have to pack up, move and find a new home more suitable to its current needs. Such is the same for businesses.

Unfortunately this is not always the case. In fact, normally it’s not the case. Brand vilified vaunted architects such as Frank Lloyd Wright because his buildings, especially his houses, were built for one specific family at one specific time of their life. If anything in this family’s life changes … their residence wasn’t appropriate for their needs since it couldn’t adapt.

We can take this same principle and apply it to communities. Inevitably communities and cities change over time. Detroit is a dramatic example of this. The auto industry moved out from the city’s core leaving vacant blight in it’s wake with no evolutionary strategy. And unfortunately, unlike a family, a community can’t pack up and move down the street or to the next town. Its stuck where it’s at, abandon buildings and all.

But it doesn’t need to be like this. There are three main impediments to a community’s adaptability; individual design of its buildings, zoning laws and mindset. I believe the first two can be overcome with a little effort. A building, with imagination – can be converted into something more appropriate for the community’s needs at the current time. Zoning laws can be changed, maybe not without a lot of kicking and screaming … but they can be changed.

The third impediment, mindset – is not so easy though. Adaptation and evolution can either be embraced and helped along, or it will come on its own terms. And in the latter, it’s often not pretty. Again we look at the example of Detroit. Once the decline of the Big Thee American auto industry started in the eighties, the city (and especially the auto unions) turned a blind eye to it. “This can’t be real. Nobody’s going buy those foreign cars. We’ll be back bigger and better than ever.” Detroit did not embrace the enviable. Now we see what happens when evolution comes on its own terms. It’s pretty much like a real life version of the four headless horsemen in the “Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” (On a positive note, Detroit is finally making some headway on revitalizing itself by recognizing the the past isn’t coming back).

“Nothing pains some people more than having to think.” – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

It’s easy to do the same old thing the same old way, day and day out – and just expect the world to take a break from change. But it doesn’t work that way anymore than expecting the world to stop spinning. This reluctance to change and except new ideas is the core reason for any generational gaps we’ve had in past, have now or will have in the future. The older generations want things like they were, and the younger generations want things like they’ll be. Well, let me tell you – there ain’t time machines, so we’re not going backwards, at least in time (attitude maybe). For a community to prosper, or even survive – it needs to embrace adaptability. It can hold on to its heritage and history, and it definitely should. But it has to take that heritage and bring into the future and make it relevant to not just generations of the past.

This embrace has to take place with the local presence, the locally owned businesses and commercial property owners. It has to happen with the city policy makers and planners. Adaptability requires being on the pulse of the community, recognizing where its resources are and maximizing them. That’s the advantage local businesses have over the box stores and the national chains. Locally owned businesses can adapt immediately, while the latter change course like the Titanic. In fact that’s the prime advantage a local business has over an “out-of-town conglomerate.” They can’t compete on price. But they can compete on relevance.

But there’s more to adaptability that just changing product mix or revising hours or even sponsoring local events and sports teams. It’s about changing one’s mindset from the old fixed location “brick and mortar” two-year lease – to none of the above. Imagine if you had never known a world where a business was committed to a fixed location for a fixed time period.

What if a business could adapt: come and go, and move around according the to needs of its clientele. This stretch of the imagination is the foundation of the “Pop-Up Community.”

You ever walk around an old downtown area and see all the buildings with nothing in them. It’s not like the downtown is dead or doesn’t have potential, a new potential – it’s just not be utilized or maximized. What if a business could go into one of those buildings for two months and then pack up and leave. And then another business, of a different type would come in a couple of months later for stay three months and leave. It may not be a two-year lease for the building owner. But then again the building owner isn’t getting the two-year lease anyway. Plus having the building occupied, generates traffic and revenue for neighboring businesses.

This is “Resource Maximization.” And this is what communities will need to do to prosper in our “warp speed evolving future.” And the people navigating this “warp speed.” are the younger generations. These “kids” want flexibility to grow with “trial and error.” And a two-year lease in a fixed location just doesn’t cut it. This is the main reason for the boom in “office hubs” or shared office space in recent years. I belong to one in Los Angeles. It works perfect for me since I’m only in L.A. a couple of times a year, but for a month at a time. When I’m there, I pop into The Hub LA, and do my thing, network, attend events or just socialize.

That means, above all, that they are able to live in a community that is a collective expression of their social being and their social ideals, rather than being an obstacle to them.

If a community truly wants to move ahead then it will have to position itself to attract these young entrepreneurs and their crazy ideas, whatever they are. On that note, I’d like present my idea of the next evolution of community, or I call Community 3.0, and the “Pop-Up Community” is a big part of it.

Pop-up store

How to Create Your Own “Pop-Up Community”

  • Customer focused: Be where are the customers are and when are they going to be there.
  • Permissive zoning laws: Flexibility will create more business for everyone including neighboring businesses, thereby raising property values.
  • Special permitting processes for pop-up and temporary businesses: Make it easy for small low capital businesses to operate legally by cutting the red tape.
  • Walkability: Pop-up businesses encourage geographic consolidation therefore access via foot rather than automobile. The less time in a car … the more time in a store.
  • Specific pop-up business network loyalty programs: Having a common loyalty marketing program operating under consistent rules will bind this nomad community together and make it more stable and more likely to be less transient. These programs can also take the form of cooperative promotions.
  • Co-op ventures between property owners and tenants: Rather than relying on old the “fallback” of the two-year lease with set rental rates, property owners should participate in the success of their tenants’ businesses.
  • Street activity: Create a fun, festive environment including visual art, performance art, food carts, etc. which will draw people to an area. This increased traffic (by foot) can only help all neighboring businesses.
  • Pop-up educational opportunities: Make everything, everywhere a learning experience. “Label your community.” Every building, bridge and park has a story just waiting to be told and passed on to the next generation.
  • Encourage community entrepreneurialism: Rather than just focus on attracting big business – a community should grow its own through their own start-ups. The nurturing process should happen on all levels including the chamber, colleges, tech schools as well as co-op ventures with existing community businesses.
  • Office hubs: Pop-up and temporary ventures need not be limited to retail. A community should have multiple micro co-op office space hubs with shared facilities, such as meeting rooms, kitchen facilities and technology areas to make it easier for fledging entrepreneurs to succeed.

I’m all for nostalgia, and I’m definitely for keep the flavor of community’s Main Street. But ’70s suburbia and all it’s physical constraints … not so much. I believe a community’s value lies in its past, its present and its future. The art is to balance and synthesize the requirements of the three. That takes flexibility. And a “Pop-Up Community” provides the flexibility to do that.

Steve [Jobs] felt that most people live in a small box. They think they can’t influence or change things a lot. I think he would probably call that a limited life. And more than anybody I’ve ever met, Steve never accepted that. He got each of us [his top executives] to reject that philosophy. If you can do that, then you can change things. If you embrace that the things that you can do are limitless, you can put your ding in the universe. You can change the world. ~ Tim Cook

Maybe it’s time to let our cities and neighborhoods climb out of that small box.’ It may not change the world … but it may very well change our communities.

I can be found on Twitter at @clayforsberg and on Google+

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2 thoughts on “The “Pop-Up Community” and the Evolution of the Commercial Space

  1. This is awesome Clay. We were born in a different time and place from each other, but we share the same new economy DNA. Great post.

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