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The Storm (2017 BET Hip-Hop Awards Cypher Verse)

The Storm (2017 BET Hip-Hop Awards Cypher Verse) Lyrics

It's the calm before the storm right here
Wait, how was I gonna start this off?
I forgot… oh yeah

That's an awfully hot coffee pot
Should I drop it on Donald Trump? Probably not
But that's all I got 'til I come up with a solid plot

Got a plan and now I gotta hatch it
Like a damn Apache with a tomahawk

I'ma walk inside a mosque on Ramadan
And say a prayer that every time **** talks

She gets her mou— ahh, I'ma stop
But we better give Obama props
'Cause what we got in office now's a kamikaze
That'll probably cause a nuclear holocaust

And while the drama pops
And he waits for shit to quiet down, he'll just gas his plane up
And fly around 'til the bombing stops

Intensities heightened, tensions are risin'
Trump, when it comes to givin' a shit, you're stingy as I am
Except when it comes to havin' the balls to go against me, you hide 'em
'Cause you don't got the fuckin' nuts like an empty asylum

Racism's the only thing he's fantastic for
'Cause that's how he gets his fuckin' rocks off and he's orange
Yeah, sick tan

That's why he wants us to disband
'Cause he cannot withstand
The fact we're not afraid of Trump
Fuck walkin' on egg shells, I came to stomp
That's why he keeps screamin', "Drain the swamp!"
'Cause he's in quicksand

It's like we take a step forwards, then backwards
But this is his form of distraction
Plus, he gets an enormous reaction
When he attacks the NFL so we focus on that in–
–stead of talkin' Puerto Rico or gun reform for Nevada
All these horrible tragedies and he's bored and would rather
Cause a Twitter storm with the Packers

Then says he wants to lower our taxes
Then who's gonna pay for his extravagant trips
Back and forth with his fam to his golf resorts and his mansions?

Same shit that he tormented Hillary for and he slandered
Then does it more

From his endorsement of Bannon
Support for the Klansmen
Tiki torches in hand for the soldier that's black
And comes home from Iraq
And is still told to go back to Africa

Fork and a dagger in this racist 94-year-old grandpa
Who keeps ignorin' our past historical, deplorable factors
Now if you're a black athlete you're a spoiled little brat for
Tryna use your platform or your stature
To try to give those a voice who don't have one

He says, "You're spittin' in the face of vets who fought for us, you bastards!"
Unless you're a POW who's tortured and battered
'Cause to him you're zeros
'Cause he don't like his war heroes captured
That's not disrespectin' the military

Fuck that, this is for Colin, ball up a fist!
And keep that shit balled like Donald the bitch!

"He's gonna get rid of all immigrants!"
"He's gonna build that thing up taller than this!"
Well, if he does build it, I hope it's rock solid with bricks

'Cause like him in politics, I'm usin' all of his tricks
'Cause I'm throwin' that piece of shit against the wall 'til it sticks
And any fan of mine who's a supporter of his
I'm drawing in the sand a line, you're either for or against
And if you can't decide who you like more and you're split
On who you should stand beside, I'll do it for you with this:
Fuck you!

The rest of America, stand up!
We love our military, and we love our country
But we fuckin' hate Trump!

About “The Storm (2017 BET Hip-Hop Awards Cypher Verse)”

Eminem’s 2017 BET Hip-Hop Awards cypher is entirely addressed to Donald Trump. From nuclear war, to athletes taking a knee, to his financial decisions, Em assails Trump for how he’s handled current events and his presidency.

This isn’t the first time Eminem has spoken out against Trump, as he took a similar stance on his song “Campaign Speech,” released while Trump was running for office in 2016, where he rapped:

You say Trump don’t kiss ass like a puppet
‘Cause he runs his campaign with his own cash for the fundin’

He also roasted Trump on Big Sean’s song “No Favors” in February 2017:

Trump’s a bitch, I’ll make his whole brand go under

Along with those lyrics, Eminem started a “fuck Trump” chant in August 2017 at Reading Festival after saying to the crowd, “I don’t want to cause any controversy, so I won’t say no names. But this motherfucker Donald Trump, I can’t stand.”

"The Storm (2017 BET Hip-Hop Awards Cypher Verse)" Track Info


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Painting and Decorating Made Easier!

Under normal conditions, most of us would not expect mold and mildew to interfere with a painting job. Instead, we might find sanding to do, maybe a few nicks in the wall to spackle, and possibly some dust to remove.

For a painter, surface preparation is always an essential part of a quality paint job. Still, on inspection, the presence of mold indicates that painting will have to be postponed, until the area is cleansed properly.

The presence of bacterial growth, especially in a room of one’s home, would make most people cringe, and walk away. However, if one views it in a safe way, then cleaning it will be of little trouble.

For certain, I recommend wearing snuggly-fitting long rubber gloves, a paper hazard suit, eye goggles, and an organic vapor respirator. Especially, when there is quite a bit to remove. By the way, you do not want any of the solution and/or vapors to seep into any part of your body.

As far as products go, bleach appears to be the most effective, affordable, and readily available product. When it comes to using a healthy and safe product, bleach is not the choice by far. Get online/on the internet, and you will find a variety of organic and non-volatile mold and mildew removal products that can be mixed with water.

As I found out the hard way, cleaning mold, when using a respirator, is ineffective sometimes. If you are going to be doing a lot of mold and mildew removal with bleach, your best bet is to use a fresh-air supply respirator system. This will ensure that bleach will not get in your eyes and/or in your lungs.

My preferred method of mold and mildew removal is to use a garden sprayer to apply a chemical solution to the affected surfaces. When the mold is very heavy, I recommend spraying two applications, with about a five-minute interval between the applications.

As this is done, a towel or sponge can be used to wipe the areas where the mold is releasing at a slower rate. As this is taking place, it is then a good idea to have a fan on to circulate the air in the room. After the mildew has disappeared, it will take some time for the odor to dissipate. So, be patient.

During the time that you are cleaning mildew, watch for the physical symptoms that the mildew and/or especially the chemical (bleach) solution is affecting you. Look for watering and/or burning eyes, coughing, sore throat, runny nose, and skin rashes. Mentally, you may notice disorientation, lack of focus, and confusion. If you notice any of these, and/or any other unusual, symptoms, get out of the environment. Be safe and be careful.

As far as products are concerned, there are many available options. Yet, only very few have the effectiveness of bleach, without the toxicity.

The first, Moldstat, is a concentrated peroxide-based cleaner, and it is very effective. Next, Molderizer is an organic remover, sold in five-gallon containers, and is also concentrated. The last, Vital-Oxide, is a antimicrobial and disinfectant. This product contains chlorine dioxide, which is said to have little odor.

Of the three, I prefer Moldstat. You can make up to twenty-one gallons of solution per package of concentrate. That makes it extremely cost-effective.

As you may know, painting is secondary to removing mold or mildew from an infected area. Yet, once this is completed, you may need to repair the surface of the wall, or even cut out sections of drywall that were severely affected, and replace the drywall.

When it’s okay to paint, get out your primer and/or finish. Brush where you need to brush – eg. corners, tight spots, around window and door frames. Then, roll the paint on to bring your walls back to life.

The presence of mold and/or mildew is a certainty, as long as the conditions for its existence are met. And, at certain times of the year with temperature change, and higher humidity, the mold and mildew are going to grow.

Important footnote: It is prudent to use all protective gear that is provided, or available. Every time that you must expose yourself to mold and mildew.

By the way, there are many employees who, as part of their jobs, are exposed to mold and mildew, and a bleach product to clean it. Especially, in prolonged hot and humid environmental conditions.Often, they are not properly equipped, through safety precautions, which can protect their health in the long run.

Bottom line: Mold and mildew must be handled – remediated – before any painting or finishing can be done.

Thanks for stopping by. And, stay safe!

Bob the Painter

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Just One

“We can do no great things, only small things with great love.”

— Mother Teresa

At the Toastmasters District 7’s winter leadership institute conference today, the audience heard from a variety of speakers.

ToastmastersLogo_0One of the speakers is a mentor for the Toastmasters prison clubs in Oregon – clubs that operate as certified clubs, but behind bars. He eloquently described the lives that are being turned around everyday, in part because the inmates are finding focus and value in themselves, through Toastmasters, by learning to lead, listen, and speak better.

After the conference, the mentor told me a short story of making a difference.

A while back, the mentor was speaking to a group of prisoners about the need to take responsibility for one’s actions in life. After his speech, one of the following speakers, a prisoner, came to the front of the room.

However, before the prisoner started his prepared speech, he paused and said, paraphrasing, “I had an opening already planned. But after hearing (the mentor’s) speech, I’m going to change it.”

“Instead, I want to say that I’m a guy who likes making babies. And not taking responsibility for them. But from now on, I’m going to start making some changes.”

It’s just one small step in that man’s life, and it’s just one person who happens to wear prisoner’s clothing. But like the prison club mentor said to me, again paraphrasing, “It’s why I continue to help the clubs behind bars. I can’t help everyone, but I can help one person.”

I couldn’t have said it better myself.

Today’s gift of time … Delivered a new speech as the model speaker at today’s Toastmaster’s conference to help a fellow Toastmaster doing his first judges’ training … Helped lead a brainstorming session for specialty and corporate clubs … Made a contribution to the prisoner’s club fund in District 7. The fund helps go to pay the dues for prisoners who have no income.

About Eric Winger

Our perception of time is key to how we use our time. The most fundamental way to change that perception is to give our time. This opens us up to new opportunities and ideas from which we can build to really make a difference. ... Yes, we *do* have time to make a difference!
This entry was posted in Toastmasters and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.


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If anyone does weird LCD TVs, it's Hannspree. And, while I can understand the importance of fire truck- and french fries-shaped TVs, I am not entirely convinced about Time Square, a 12-inch LCD TV with built-in clock, thermometer and hygrometer, whose dials swing open to reveal speakers.

There's a four-in-one A/V connection (composite, S-Video, audio input and headphone jack) and remote control. Perhaps it's good for anyone thinking of turning the underground nuclear shelter at the bottom of the garden dug by Grandpaw 40 years ago into a den. The Time Square costs $130. [Amazon via Uncrate]


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If you were banking on hacking a new Kindle Fire to take advantage of cheap hardware without Amazon's modded Android OS, you perhaps better think again. Developers over at XDA are speculating that they expect the new range of Fires to be too sophisticated to hack.

In particular, a forum post provides evidence which suggests that the new devices will come with more sophisticated protection, including locked bootloaders and "high security" features offered by Texas Instrument processors.

Of course, with Amazon really pushing its device-as-service concept hard, the news likely won't ruffle the majority of Fire-user feathers. But for those who were cheekily hoping to grab a Fire HD and mod it from the off, there may well be something to grumble about. [XDA via Engadget]


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On a dark night, there can be something malevolent and looming about the trees. They rustle suspiciously behind you. It's like they're hiding some invisible monster. Turns out they are, or it least it looks that way when you shine a projector at them.

These creepy tree-faces are the result of an art project by Clément Briend called "Journées du Patrimoine, Domaine de Daint-Cloud." The effect was achieved using photo-quality, large format projectors with slightly modified optics. The result is erethral floating tree-faces, that capitalize on the texture of the tress to appear three dimensional and just all around creepy. Who said flat white surfaces were ideal for projectors?

It's certainly a cool effect, and must have been even cooler in person, but I certainly wouldn't want one of those illuminated faces staring through my bedroom window at night. [Designboom via Laughing Squid]


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Learn more about Lingua Translation  »

Mahangu Weerasinghe is an undergraduate and freelance writer from Colombo Sri Lanka. He writes over at his personal website, and has been actively involved in other group weblogs including SEA EAT and the now defunct CSF. His passions include free software, chocolate and Jesus Christ.

Email Mahangu

Latest posts by Mahangu

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Bloggers react to Colombo bomblast

Reports of the recent bomb explosion in Colombo trickled in to the Sri Lankan blogosphere today, with veteran political blog Nittewa being the first to pick up the story. Meanwhile,...

4 April 2006

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Celiac and Bi-polar Disorder

From what I can gather, I have had Celiac disease all of my life. (I can never remember a time prior to my diagnosis that I did not have gastro-intestinal issues)

When I was very young, I was diagnosed with many different diseases and disorders that were actually symptoms of Celiac disease.

One of the disorders I was diagnosed with was Bi-polar Disorder.

I had the classic symptoms. I suffered through bouts of depression (sometimes feeling I was in the depths of despair) and moments of euphoria as well as a really “bad temper”.

When I was first diagnosed, they called it Manic Depression.  I am not really sure when it became known as bi-polar disorder.

Bi-polar disorder can be a debilitating condition. As a matter of fact there are people on permanent medical disability assistance because they are Bi-polar.

Because Celiac disease is a neurological disease as well as an autoimmune disease, it is reasonable to connect Celiac and Bi-polar disorder.

I have read articles about children with behavioural problems that dissipated after starting to eat gluten free.  I have also read articles about adults who were severely depressed (In some cases suicidal) who improved greatly after beginning to eat gluten free.

Since starting my gluten free lifestyle (I don’t like to call it a diet) I have had greatly reduced symptoms.  My “mood swings” are within the norm.  I still get a little depressed, but not so anyone else would notice. I still get angry but I can control my outbursts and when I am elated by anything, it is no longer over the top.

Does everyone who has Bi-polar disorder have Celiac disease?  I doubt it very much. Bi-polar disorder can be caused by chemical imbalances in the brain due to other causes.

Does everyone who has Celiac disease have Bi-polar disorder? No.

Can Celiac disease cause symptoms similar to Bi-polar disorder? It did in my case.

If you want medical facts about these two issues, I suggest that you check the following sites:

If you believe that you could have Bi-polar disorder or Celiac disease, please see your health care professional for help.

6 thoughts on “Celiac and Bi-polar Disorder

  1. Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment 🙂
    I am so very sorry to hear of all the tragedy in your family! I am happy that your depression has gone. I don’t understand those who won’t get tested. The tests are not as bad people think and well worth it, all though they could just go gluten free if they are that worried.
    My brother is sweet and supportive as are the rest of my family – I am very lucky.
    Take care of you,

  2. That’s interesting. I have been wondering about that for a while now. I am convinced that my Celiac Disease is from my mom’s side. All kinds of crazy stuff happening that I am sure would have been better if the doctors knew what to look for. At least 4 that I can think of that committed suicide. A few others that tried, but thankfully, did not succeed. Plus cancer, lupus, etc. Unfortunately, no matter who I tell, they are happy for me that I found out, but they won’t get tested. I am very glad my depression has gone away.

    Also, you have a very cool brother. So sweet and supportive.

    Tia 😛

  3. Thank you for sharing this Sarah! I am definately going to try to read this book.
    Take care of you,
    Aunt Jayne

  4. There is a huge link between the gut and the brain – I love the book Gut and Psychology Syndrome by Natasha McCampbell-McBride. It’s a fascinating read and explained so many things I had been experiencing that I never knew were related to the food I was eating!

  5. Wow Jon! That means so much coming from you! Thank you so much.
    I love you tons♥

  6. Just your little bro’, popping in to say “Hello”.

    Each and every time I visit your blog, I am more impressed than the last time – and (each time) couldn’t be prouder of you, or happier for you.

    Love you!

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What Made Godwin Usiayo A Successful Person In The Corporate World

A great number of people in an administration based business get into the company because they need to help other people. They need to have any effect. Numerous don’t view themselves as a sales representative. Frequently, deal is a terrible word leaving a yucky feeling for administration experts.

However, you may be shocked at what makes Godwin Usiayo fruitful at deals. It isn’t the capacity to appeal others. It isn’t having all the right qualifications. What’s more, it isn’t the ability to control others. The qualities of Godwin Usiayo are within. He is about the impression of himself.

There are numerous investigations of what makes Godwin Usiayo competent at deals. Here are the main factors that reliably appear again and again.

Polished methodology

Your prospects anticipate that you will be the master. They came to you for a solution for their test. They need to have trust in you. Polished methodology means coming arranged and on time to the meeting, having the capacity to explain plainly what you offer and how that addresses their difficulties, and being available to the discussion. It doesn’t mean having more instruction or preparing; it means owning the master’s part and expert you are.

Faith in Yourself and Your Service

In case you’re not purchasing, they won’t purchase in. Fruitful business people have confidence in the administration and quality they offer. You need to have faith in yourself as an expert and trust you have something of worth to offer. Something individuals would and ought to burn through cash on to get.

You would be stunned how often I converse with administration suppliers who stroll into a business discussion officially trusting the prospect is going to say “no.” Successful sales representatives walk into the company discussion with an inspirational state of mind. They comprehend a “no” is not about them; it’s not a dismissal.

Administration deals are not one shot and your done thing. It’s about building connections. The individuals who are effective in deals comprehend building connections requires some investment and sustaining. Be open to planting the seeds and set aside the opportunity to support them.

Compassion is the capacity to comprehend the circumstance and sentiments of others. Here is the place the Know/Like/Trust figure indeed comes play. Your prospect must know you for you to stand out for people to notice you. They must like you to tune in. What’s more, they must trust you to purchase. Having compassion, exhibiting you comprehend what He is experiencing forms trust.

Enthusiasm is a compelling, convincing feeling. Individuals can intuitively feel other’s sentiments. Being enthusiasm about what you do, how you can help individuals, why you do what you do can’t be faked. Individuals can identify energy through the tone of your voice, your non-verbal communication, and the vitality you anticipate. Energy offers. Being energetic will attract individuals to you.

In the event that you need a business discussion with the aim of “I need to make this deal,” or “I can’t pay my bills if I don’t sign this customer” your prospects will feel that.


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You got a guy

  • Chicago's #1 Ticket Source
  • 21 Years in Business
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Grant and the Geezers Tickets

Grant and the Geezers Tickets
Grant and the Geezers Tickets Tickets Rated 0.00/5 based on 0 customer reviews 100 0
Grant and the Geezers were a rockabilly/psychobilly/punk band from Phoenix, active from 1981-1983. Regulars at Tony Victor's Mad Garden punk club as well as Tempe's Knights of St. Pythias hall and LA's legendary Cathay De Grande, Grant and the Geezers toured relentlessly with bands like Black Flag, TSOL, Social Distortion and fellow Phoenicians Meat Puppets and JFA, and released a 7" 45 in 1982, “Monster Stomp” b/w ”Space Cruise”. A self-financed tour of the UK followed, England in 1982, and while there, they recorded "Folsom Prison Blues" for the Big Beat Records compilation "Rockabilly Psychosis", an apt description of their unique sound. Despite their popularity, the band split in 1983, but has reunited periodically over the years. Grant Cleaver was later in the Outcrowd and continues to work with Tony Victor in Phoenix; Kevin Daly later joined Hellfire and Flathead among many others. Read more on User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.


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Step Outside the Mainstream – ALTernative Thursdays at @TraitorsGatePub – starts Thurs 8th Oct – Looking for new bands:

ALT Logo 3 - red and blackALT - College poster NEW

Looking for start-up bands, artists, poets and those performers who consider themselves outside of the mainstream to play at a cool new Alternative night at Traitors Gate, starting next Thurs 8th Oct. All acts get travel paid and a free drink so no one has to pay to play. We’re also looking to broadcast this event live on radio – msg me for details and join the page for more info. https://www.facebook.com/alternativelivethursdays?fref=ts

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SALE -39%

Marie Beanie

Calvin Klein Jeans

 229.99 zł 139.99 zł

Product unavailable

Free shipping

Product description

  • 70% acrylic, 30% wool
  • colorway: 001
  • soft elastic along the edge
  • elastic ca.3 cm longer at the front
  • branded detail at the front
  • made of high-quality soft fabric
  • matching scarf
Item codeK60K601371
BrandsCalvin Klein Jeans

We build up the trust of our customers with a close attention to the level of customer service as well as the quality of sold products. We've got more than just word to speak to the prestige of Gomez - Q Quality certificate granted by unassociated web site Opineo, one of the first Polish sites allowing to make purchase decisions based on the views of the online communities. As a company, we abide by the current regulations regarding the law and personal data protection. Information submitted by you is used only for making the order and post-purchase service. Username, password, address or bank account number are strictly protected. Przelewy24 and PayPal guarantee 100% safe payment methods of online transactions made in our store. More details in our Terms&conditions.


text:
SALE -20%

Babylon Wallet

 530.00 zł 419.99 zł

Product unavailable

Free shipping

Product description

Stylish wallet from Italian Furla brand, made of high quality saffiano leather. With zip closure, the interior with 2 banknote compartments, 8 card holders, 2 additional compartments and a zipped coin pocket. The metal detailings in gold color will add elegance and style to your outfits.

Refined in every detail, this wallet will be a perfect supplement to your outfits.

Materialcalf leather
Item codePN07 B30

We build up the trust of our customers with a close attention to the level of customer service as well as the quality of sold products. We've got more than just word to speak to the prestige of Gomez - Q Quality certificate granted by unassociated web site Opineo, one of the first Polish sites allowing to make purchase decisions based on the views of the online communities. As a company, we abide by the current regulations regarding the law and personal data protection. Information submitted by you is used only for making the order and post-purchase service. Username, password, address or bank account number are strictly protected. Przelewy24 and PayPal guarantee 100% safe payment methods of online transactions made in our store. More details in our Terms&conditions.


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Well back in January, a snowstorm hit Buffalo - surprise, surprise. I left work at about 4 p.m. and made it home at 2 a.m. so as I joke that I was stranded longer than I was at work...yeah that became true. Here's the hilarity and insanity that ensued.

Snowbound during #Snowvember

Buffalo is known for quite a lot – chicken wings, Dyngus Day, sponge candy and of course snow.  The latest batch of winter weather has brought a season's worth of snow in less than three days.  Even Buffalonians who are familiar with feet upon feet of snow, this latest storm has brought with it more … Continue reading Snowbound during #Snowvember


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The Etiquette of Entrepreneurship with Jodi R. R. Smith

Etiquette isn’t just about chewing with your mouth closed; it’s about how you make people feel. As an entrepreneur, everything you do speaks to the kind of business you run, and determines who you will work with—and who you’ll put off. This week: Jodi R. R. Smith, founder of Mannersmith, on how she built a career teaching this vital skill set. Plus: How she creates and tests new products and services, and her rules of thumb on networking, social media, and the art of persistence.

Network With Us:
• Subscribe to Whatever It Takes Network
Facebook – Whatever It Takes
Twitter – @TerriT

Listen To Us On Podcast:
• iTunes

About The Author


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2 replies
  1. Dane Ervick
    Dane Ervick says:

    Hi Tinika, I’m Dane, Senior Operations Associate at the Energy Alliance. Thanks for your interest in the program! In some parts of the country some solar installers offer leasing and power purchase agreement (PPA) options that will allow you to see the economic and environmental benefits of solar energy without the high upfront costs. In our Solarize Cincinnati program, incentives and financing are available. Our installers also offer our participating homeowners a discount for signing up through the Energy Alliance. Feel free to contact us directly for more information.

  2. Tinika Billups
    Tinika Billups says:

    I would really love to learn more about solar energy and to find more cost effective ways of obtaining it. If you have any ideas that don’t cost in the ten’s of thousand’s let me know. I am super excited about the tesla home battery but you have to have solar panels installed for that :(.

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One Rotary

One Rotary: What is It?

One Rotary is a concept of integrating work that is familiar to many Rotarians from their professions. Businesses often use a similar approach. The purpose is to increase effectiveness and efficiency of work to improve the outcomes.

Although the concept may be familiar, the term “One Rotary” may not be as well known. One Rotary could be described as:

• A highly-coordinated way to conduct Rotary service and increase effectiveness of clubs

• A more effective and efficient approach to doing Rotary business in all areas of our organization It could also be described as a “holistic” approach to Rotary. The definition of holistic is:

a. Emphasizing the importance of the whole and the interdependence of its parts

b. Concerned with the whole rather than analysis or separation into parts

All components of Rotary already affect each other. One Rotary maximizes the effect already occurring. The RI strategic plan illustrates this interdependency with its circular diagram. One Rotary integrates all aspects of Rotary activity for greater vibrancy, efficiency, effectiveness, and impact.

The benefits of One Rotary are both internal and external. One integrated action or program supports multiple outcomes. In addition to being more efficient and having greater impact, it makes more sense to Rotarians and the outside world to observe one integrated direction. It also supports increases in a club’s membership, visibility, partners, support and service. Bottomline, One Rotary helps build stronger Rotary through more vibrant, efficient and effective clubs.

A question might be, “We already have so much to do. How can we add one more thing?” Good news. One Rotary is not a new process nor an add on. It is a only a new way of looking at what Rotarians already do. A small adaptation that can have a major change on the impact of the outstanding work already happening in Rotary.

One Rotary Project Planning Guide

Membership Plan Template – Club Sample (One Rotary)

Club Three- Year Plan Sample (Edmonton RC)

Vibrant Clubs Assessment (club version)

AG Planning Worksheet (13-14)

One Rotary Webinar PPT Z24W (11.13.14)

One Rotary Webinar PPT (July 31, 2013)

One Rotary Webinar Recording (July 31, 2013)

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Posts Tagged ‘Benjamin Graham’

One of my favorite Benjamin Graham quotes:

Chairman: … One other question and I will desist. When you find a special situation and you decide, just for illustration, that you can buy for 10 and it is worth 30, and you take a position, and then you cannot realise it until a lot of other people  decide it is worth 30, how is that process brought about – by advertising, or what happens? (Rephrasing) What causes a cheap stock to find its value?

Graham: That is one of the mysteries of our business, and it is a mystery to me as well as to everybody else. [But] we know from experience that eventually the market catches up with value.

Benjamin Graham
Testimony to the Committee on Banking and Commerce
Sen. William Fulbright, Chairman
(11 March 1955)

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In March 1976 a Mr. Hartman L. Butler, Jr., C.F.A. sat down for an hour long interview with Benjamin Graham in his home in La Jolla, California. Hartman recorded the discussion on his cassette tape recorder, and transcribed it into the following document. There are many great insights from Graham. Here are several of the best parts:

On the GEICO disaster unfolding at the time:

It makes me shudder to think of the amounts of money they were able to lose in one year. Incredible! It is surprising how many of the large companies have managed to turn in losses of $50 million or $100 million in one year, in these last few years. Something unheard of in the old days. You have to be a genius to lose that much money.

On changes in his investment methodology, a subject we cover in detail in Quantitative Value:

I have lost most of the interest I had in the details of security analysis which I devoted myself to so strenuously for many years. I feel that they are relatively unimportant, which, in a sense, has put me opposed to developments in the whole profession. I think we can do it successfully with a few techniques and simple principles. The main point is to have the right general principles and the character to stick to them.

I have a considerable amount of doubt on the question of how successful analysts can be overall when applying these selectivity approaches. The thing that I have been emphasizing in my own work for the last few years has been the group approach. To try to buy groups of stocks that meet some simple criterion for being undervalued-regardless of the industry and with very little attention to the individual company. My recent article on three simple methods applied to common stocks was published in one of your Seminar Proceedings.

I am just finishing a 50-year study-the application of these simple methods to groups of stocks, actually, to all the stocks in the Moody’s Industrial Stock Group. I found the results were very good for 50 years. They certainly did twice as well as the Dow Jones. And so my enthusiasm has been transferred from the selective to the group approach. What I want is an earnings ratio twice as good as the bond interest ratio typically for most years. One can also apply a dividend criterion or an asset value criterion and get good results. My  research indicates the best results come from simple earnings criterions.

We looked at the performance of Graham’s simple strategy in Quantitative Value. For more see my overview piece, Examining Benjamin Graham’s Record: Skill Or Luck?

In Quantitative Value we identify several problems with Graham’s simple strategy and examine several other strategies that outperform Graham’s simple strategy.

Hat tip to Tim Melvin @timmelvin

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Last week I wrote about the performance of one of Benjamin Graham’s simple quantitative strategies over the 37 years he since he described it (Examining Benjamin Graham’s Record: Skill Or Luck?). In the original article Graham proposed two broad approaches, the second of which we examine in Quantitative Value: A Practitioner’s Guide to Automating Intelligent Investment and Eliminating Behavioral Errors. The first approach Graham detailed in the original 1934 edition of Security Analysis (my favorite edition)—“net current asset value”:

My first, more limited, technique confines itself to the purchase of common stocks at less than their working-capital value, or net-current asset value, giving no weight to the plant and other fixed assets, and deducting all liabilities in full from the current assets. We used this approach extensively in managing investment funds, and over a 30-odd year period we must have earned an average of some 20 per cent per year from this source. For a while, however, after the mid-1950’s, this brand of buying opportunity became very scarce because of the pervasive bull market. But it has returned in quantity since the 1973–74 decline. In January 1976 we counted over 300 such issues in the Standard & Poor’s Stock Guide—about 10 per cent of the total. I consider it a foolproof method of systematic investment—once again, not on the basis of individual results but in terms of the expectable group outcome.

In 2010 I examined the performance of Graham’s net current asset value strategy with Sunil Mohanty and Jeffrey Oxman of the University of St. Thomas. The resulting paper is embedded below:

While Graham found this strategy was “almost unfailingly dependable and satisfactory,” it was “severely limited in its application” because the stocks were too small and infrequently available. This is still the case today. There are several other problems with both of Graham’s strategies. In Quantitative Value: A Practitioner’s Guide to Automating Intelligent Investment and Eliminating Behavioral Errors Wes and I discuss in detail industry and academic research into a variety of improved fundamental value investing methods, and simple quantitative value investment strategies. We independently backtest each method, and strategy, and combine the best into a sample quantitative value investment model.

The book can be ordered from Wiley FinanceAmazon, or Barnes and Noble.

[I am an Amazon Affiliate and receive a small commission for the sale of any book purchased through this site.]

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Two recent articles, Was Benjamin Graham Skillful or Lucky? (WSJ), and Ben Graham’s 60-Year-Old Strategy Still Winning Big (Forbes), have thrown the spotlight back on Benjamin Graham’s investment strategy and his record. In the context of Michael Mauboussin’s new book The Success Equation, Jason Zweig asks in his WSJ Total Return column whether Graham was lucky or skillful, noting that Graham admitted he had his fair share of luck:

We tend to think of the greatest investors – say, Peter Lynch, George Soros, John Templeton, Warren Buffett, Benjamin Graham – as being mostly or entirely skillful.

Graham, of course, was the founder of security analysis as a profession, Buffett’s professor and first boss, and the author of the classic book The Intelligent Investor. He is universally regarded as one of the best investors of the 20th century.

But Graham, who outperformed the stock market by an annual average of at least 2.5 percentage points for more than two decades, coyly admitted that much of his remarkable track record may have been due to luck.

John Reese, in his Forbes’ Intelligent Investing column, notes that Graham’s Defensive Investor strategy has continued to outpace the market over the last decade:

Known as the “Father of Value Investing”—and the mentor of Warren Buffett—Graham’s investment firm posted annualized returns of about 20% from 1936 to 1956, far outpacing the 12.2% average return for the broader market over that time.

But the success of Graham’s approach goes far beyond even that lengthy period. For nearly a decade, I have been tracking a portfolio of stocks picked using my Graham-inspired Guru Strategy, which is based on the “Defensive Investor” criteria that Graham laid out in his 1949 classic, The Intelligent Investor. And, since its inception, the portfolio has returned 224.3% (13.3% annualized) vs. 43.0% (3.9% annualized) for the S&P 500.

Even with all of the fiscal cliff and European debt drama in 2012, the Graham-based portfolio has had a particularly good year. While the S&P 500 has notched a solid 13.7% gain (all performance figures through Dec. 17), the Graham portfolio is up more than twice that, gaining 28.5%.

Reese’s experiment might suggest that Graham is more skillful than lucky.

In our recently released book, Quantitative Value: A Practitioner’s Guide to Automating Intelligent Investment and Eliminating Behavioral Errors, Wes and I examine one of Graham’s simple strategies in the period after he described it to the present day. Graham gave an interview to the Financial Analysts Journal in 1976, some 40 year after the publication of Security Analysis. He was asked whether he still selected stocks by carefully studying individual issues, and responded:

I am no longer an advocate of elaborate techniques of security analysis in order to find superior value opportunities. This was a rewarding activity, say, 40 years ago, when our textbook “Graham and Dodd” was first published; but the situation has changed a great deal since then. In the old days any well-trained security analyst could do a good professional job of selecting undervalued issues through detailed studies; but in the light of the enormous amount of research now being carried on, I doubt whether in most cases such extensive efforts will generate sufficiently superior selections to justify their cost. To that very limited extent I’m on the side of the “efficient market” school of thought now generally accepted by the professors.

Instead, Graham proposed a highly simplified approach that relied for its results on the performance of the portfolio as a whole rather than on the selection of individual issues. Graham believed that such an approach “[combined] the three virtues of sound logic, simplicity of application, and an extraordinarily good performance record.”

Graham said of his simplified value investment strategy:

What’s needed is, first, a definite rule for purchasing which indicates a priori that you’re acquiring stocks for less than they’re worth. Second, you have to operate with a large enough number of stocks to make the approach effective. And finally you need a very definite guideline for selling.

What did Graham believe was the simplest way to select value stocks? He recommended that an investor create a portfolio of a minimum of 30 stocks meeting specific price-to-earnings criteria (below 10) and specific debt-to-equity criteria (below 50 percent) to give the “best odds statistically,” and then hold those stocks until they had returned 50 percent, or, if a stock hadn’t met that return objective by the “end of the second calendar year from the time of purchase, sell it regardless of price.”

Graham said that his research suggested that this formula returned approximately 15 percent per year over the preceding 50 years. He cautioned, however, that an investor should not expect 15 percent every year. The minimum period of time to determine the likely performance of the strategy was five years.

Graham’s simple strategy sounds almost too good to be true. Sure, this approach worked in the 50 years prior to 1976, but how has it performed in the age of the personal computer and the Internet, where computing power is a commodity, and access to comprehensive financial information is as close as the browser? We decided to find out. Like Graham, Wes and I used a price-to-earnings ratio cutoff of 10, and we included only stocks with a debt-to-equity ratio of less than 50 percent. We also apply his trading rules, selling a stock if it returned 50 percent or had been held in the portfolio for two years.

Figure 1.2 below taken from our book shows the cumulative performance of Graham’s simple value strategy plotted against the performance of the S&P 500 for the period 1976 to 2011:

Graham Strategy

Amazingly, Graham’s simple value strategy has continued to outperform.

Table 1.2 presents the results from our study of the simple Graham value strategy:

Graham Chart

Graham’s strategy turns $100 invested on January 1, 1976, into $36,354 by December 31, 2011, which represents an average yearly compound rate of return of 17.80 percent—outperforming even Graham’s estimate of approximately 15 percent per year. This compares favorably with the performance of the S&P 500 over the same period, which would have turned $100 invested on January 1, 1976, into $4,351 by December 31, 2011, an average yearly compound rate of return of 11.05 percent. The performance of the Graham strategy is attended by very high volatility, 23.92 percent versus 15.40 percent for the total return on the S&P 500.

The evidence suggests that Graham’s simplified approach to value investment continues to outperform the market. I think it’s a reasonable argument for skill on the part of Graham.

It’s useful to consider why Graham’s simple strategy continues to outperform. At a superficial level, it’s clear that some proxy for price—like a P/E ratio below 10—combined with some proxy for quality—like a debt-to-equity ratio below 50 percent—is predictive of future returns. But is something else at work here that might provide us with a deeper understanding of the reasons for the strategy’s success? Is there some other reason for its outperformance beyond simple awareness of the strategy? We think so.

Graham’s simple value strategy has concrete rules that have been applied consistently in our study. Even through the years when the strategy underperformed the market  our study assumed that we continued to apply it, regardless of how discouraged or scared we might have felt had we actually used it during the periods when it underperformed the market. Is it possible that the very consistency of the strategy is an important reason for its success? We believe so. A value investment strategy might provide an edge, but some other element is required to fully exploit that advantage.

Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger believe that the missing ingredient is temperament. Says Buffett, “Success in investing doesn’t correlate with IQ once you’re above the level of 125. Once you have ordinary intelligence, what you need is the temperament to control the urges that get other people into trouble in investing.”

Was Graham skillful or lucky? Yes. Does the fact that he was lucky detract from his extraordinary skill? No because he purposefully concentrated on the undervalued tranch of stocks that provide asymmetric outcomes: good luck in the fortunes of his holdings helped his portfolio disproportionately on the upside, and bad luck didn’t hurt his portfolio much on the downside. That, in my opinion, is strong evidence of skill.

For more like this, please see our new book, Quantitative Value: A Practitioner’s Guide to Automating Intelligent Investment and Eliminating Behavioral Errors.

My friends at The Investors Podcast Stig and Preston have asked the same question, and have gone through The Intelligent Investor chapter by chapter to find the answer.

Read Full Post » has a handy Graham / Shiller PE10 chart for the S&P500 that updates on daily basis. Where is the PE10 today? 19.93:

Interested in the mean, median, minimum or the maximum? has those too:

Mean: 16.37
Median: 15.74
Min: 4.78 (Dec 1920)
Max: 44.20 (Dec 1999)?

Read Full Post »

In MarketBeat’s Stocks Too Cheap? Or Earnings Estimates Too Rosy? (subscription required), Matt Phillips has an interesting article on forward price-to-earnings ratios:

The forward-earnings in question are really consensus forward-earnings estimates, churned out by Wall Street’s broker dealers,  the so-called “sell side.” And the “sell-side” as a whole tend to be a bullish bunch.

Phillips takes Oppenheimer Asset Management analysts to task for their Monday report:

With that in mind, we turn to the question of whether stocks are cheap right now, or not. Some look at the numbers and argue, of course they are.  On a price-to-forward-earnings basis, you can make that argument. Oppenheimer Asset Management analysts did so Monday. They write:

The S&P 500’s current forward multiple of 12.9x represents the lowest level for the index since early 1995. According to our analysis, market performance has been relatively strong in all periods following similar forward P/E levels. The S&P 500 averaged a roughly 12% 12-month return in all periods since 1960 when the forward P/E was between 10x and 15x.

In the same note, Oppenheimer says that some clients are starting to wonder whether analyst expectations being too high could be the reason stocks look so cheap. “Based on our client conversations, there appears to be a growing concern that 2010 earnings expectations have become too optimistic and that forward price multiples are thereby understated,” Oppenheimer writes. Oppenheimer analysts counter this concern saying the firm doesn’t “find earnings expectations out of context from a normalized growth perspective,” writing that after a recession as sharp as the one we had, it’s reasonable to expect the earnings growth rate to be a bit higher than usual as the economy recovers.

Phillips points to Robert Shiller’s calculation of Graham’s P/E10 ratio as evidence that stocks are not be as cheap as Oppenheimer’s one-year forward estimates might have us believe:

Prof. Shiller tracks P/E ratios back to the 19th century, smoothing out short-term ups and downs in profits by using a 10-year earnings average. Even after the May declines, his P/E ratio still is almost 20, well above the historical average of about 16.

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Mebane Faber has an interesting analysis of the expected ten-year annualized real returns to investors in the various Shiller / Graham P/E10 deciles:

I’ve discussed the Graham / Shiller PE10 metric before (see my April 9 post Graham’s PE10 ratio). In that article, Doug Short described the PE10 ratio thus:

Legendary economist and value investor Benjamin Graham noticed the same bizarre P/E behavior during the Roaring Twenties and subsequent market crash. Graham collaborated with David Dodd to devise a more accurate way to calculate the market’s value, which they discussed in their 1934 classic book, Security Analysis. They attributed the illogical P/E ratios to temporary and sometimes extreme fluctuations in the business cycle. Their solution was to divide the price by the 10-year average of earnings, which we’ll call the P/E10. In recent years, Yale professor Robert Shiller, the author of Irrational Exuberance, has reintroduced the P/E10 to a wider audience of investors. …  The historic P/E10 average is 16.3.

I assume that the 8th decile – the decile highlighted by Mebane – is the decile in which the market presently sits (although it’s right on the threshold between the 8th and the 9th decile). This would suggest that the median expected annualized real return for the market over the next decade is between 3% and 5%. Not great, but better than it was in April, when Dylan Grice was anticipating returns of 1.7%.

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From one of Greg’s Teachers: Becky Rossof

The pain of learning of Greg’s death is still so sharp; it is hard to realize that it is a year since his death.  During the year I have often thought of sending something to his memorial, but could not address the sadness of doing so.  Now is the time.

Greg stands out amongst all of the Parker students I had the pleasure of teaching for many reasons.  Certainly his intellect and curiosity set him apart from many others.  When many high school students were still finding their identities and sorting out their values, Greg was already such a fabulous human being.  But one of my fondest memories of Greg sprang from his musical talents and knowledge that he shared so generously.  When it was a lab day, Greg of course came prepared for the procedures and worked thoughtfully as he skillfully went about the experiment.   But he also brought his Walkman loaded with some interesting tape.  At some point during the procedure, he would call me over, hand me the headset and I was to guess the artist.  He brought in tapes that varied from Sarah Vaughan to Santana.  Sometimes I could correctly identify them, sometimes I could not.  But I always looked forward to lab days and my music quizzes.  Surely Greg taught us all in ways we shall treasure forever.

With great sympathy and admiration to Greg’s family and dear friends who have spent the year putting one foot in front of the other –

Most sincerely,

Becky Rossof

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Archives For planning

How Do You Plan?

April 30, 2013 — Leave a comment

Hand drawing empty diagram

I have to admit that I am a planner. In fact, it is diffcult for me to operate without a plan. One of the things that really makes my marriage to Monica work is the fact that I am a planner and she is not, so our plans never really compete against one another.

I joke when I say she is not a planner — she does plan, but she is not obsessed like I am. In fact, our nine year-old, Jaana, may be more of a planner than both of us. I have turned her into an obsessive planner, which may be deemed child abuse in some circles but I deem it as I have created a girl who is always ready.

All joking aside I do believe planning is very important and I believe it is something we don’t do a good job of, especially when it comes to our life. I am going to do a series of podcasts on planing your life and the importance of balance, so I thought I would give you a taste of what’s to come.

Why should we plan?

1. Planning prepares us for the unexpected. Many people may say that planning takes away spontaneity. I would argue that planning better prepares us for spontaneity. I know the definition of spontaneous is impulse, but I believe if we have a plan for our life then we are better able to be impulsive in a constructive way. There are impulses that can work in our plan…if we have a plan for our marriage, then we can be impulsive about a date night or writing a note to our spouse. Planning can free up the time to be impulsive.

2. Planning can prevent regrets. We have all had regrets. I think it was Elvis who said, “Regrets, I’ve had a few.” There are too many people walking around in a sea of regret. If they had only had a plan for their life, the regret could have been avoided. For example, it took me 14 years to get my undergraduate degree in college. My plan was not to take 14 years to accomplish this. If I simply had a plan I could have avoided this regret. Oh and by the way for those of you saying, “Yeah, but look what you learned and the lessons you were taught during the process” I will speak to you specifically in some upcoming blogs.

3. Planning is already a part of our life. I know some of you may say, “I don’t know how to plan.” I am going to help you in the coming weeks, but understand one thing — you already plan. I mean, most of us plan when to take in our car for service, or how long we will sleep at night. We plan what route we will take to work, what we will do at work…you get the idea. We were created to plan because our Creator planned to create us and the world. We were born to plan.

This is just the beginning of how we will plan together. Over the next few weeks I will help learn how to develop a plan for your life. Once you have a plan the execution is easy and the results are pure awesomeness!!

Are you ready?!?!


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Grilled goat's cheese with cranberry dressing recipe

The Grilled Recipes kitchen invites you to try Grilled goat's cheese with cranberry dressing Recipe. Enjoy our collection of quick & easy grilled recipes and learn how to make Grilled goat's cheese with cranberry dressing.

A smart veggie starter that will impress even the biggest foodie at your dinner table

Serves 6
Prep 15 mins
Cook 5 mins

2 red-skinned apples
3 tbsp lemon juice
3 x 100g Capricorn goat's cheese , halved horizontally
2 tbsp cranberry jelly
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp clear honey
25g pecans
2 chicory heads, separated into leaves
handful radish sprouts (available from larger supermarkets) or watercress

Quarter, core, then thinly slice the apple into a bowl with the lemon juice and 1 tbsp water. Toss well, as this stops the apples going brown.

Heat grill to high, then line your grill rack with foil. Put the cheeses rind-side down on the foil, then set aside for a moment.

Drain 2 tbsp of the juice from the apple bowl into another small bowl and discard the rest. Add the cranberry sauce, oil and honey with some seasoning, and whisk to form a dressing. Grill the cheeses for 4 mins, then scatter the nuts on and around the cheeses and return to the grill to cook for a few mins more - but take care that the nuts don't burn.

Arrange the apple, chicory and radish sprouts or watercress on 6 plates, then carefully top with the hot melted cheese. Scatter over the nuts, spoon over the dressing and serve straight away.

Nutrition per serving

200 kcalories, protein 8g, carbohydrate 10g, fat 15 g, saturated fat 6g, fibre 1g, sugar 9g, salt 0.61 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, December 2007.

More Grilled Recipes:

Grilled Vegetable, Herb and Goat Cheese Sandwiches
Grilled mushroom & haloumi skewers
Tikka Skewers
Carrot & Sesame Burgers
Stuffed peppers on the barbie
Greek Grilled Cheese

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Raising Roofs

Raising Roofs

Interested in becoming a sponsor? Take a look at our sponsorship guide for 2017.

This year’s Raising Roofs will start on October 28 and end on Friday, November 3.

Through Raising Roofs, the Greensboro Builders Association has built 55 homes with Habitat Greensboro since 2003. The association puts hundreds of volunteer hours into Raising Roofs, generating donations and support and then building the homes. Builders, subcontractors and suppliers generously donate time and materials to make Raising Roofs a success.

Habitat Greensboro partners with the homeowner as they work toward owning their home by completing 350 hours of sweat equity working on their home, as well as working on homes of others in the program, as well as attending critical educational classes related to being a responsible homeowner. To date, 55 families have a safe place to call home that supports a family’s health, education and financial well-being.

Habitat Greensboro, the Greensboro Builders Association and the families appreciate your support!

Thank you to the 2017 builders who partner with Habitat for Humanity.

Pink Team: John Hodgin Construction Co., Inc., SwiftCreek Construction, New Age Builders & Silverstein Construction

Purple Team: Windsor Homes & Gary Jobe Builders

Yellow Team: Ron Foister Custom Homes, LLC, Tradition Homes, Gunter Custom Homes and Design, LLC, & Granville Homes

Blue Team: Disney Construction Company, Lansink Custom Homes, LLC, Naylor Custom Homes, & Michael D. Patrum Custom Homes, Inc.

Green Team: DLM Builders, Inc., JLB Remodeling, Inc., Brickwood Builders, Inc., Millican Construction & Southern Evergreen

And, we would also like to thank the gift-in-kind donors, who have generously provided materials.


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Friday Frolics: Tung Lung Chau, Hong Kong

I cannot lie. Sports is one of my greatest weakness. But early this year I was invited to join a camping trip, which because of the given reasons, I bothered to let my excitement make the judgement call. I was promised the hike would only be thirty minutes (It took 3x as much.), and that the view is worth it. The latter, on the other hand, is an understatement. It was very much worth the one and a half our hike. If you are the type, like the rest of the world, who loves getting more than what you paid for, try Tung Lung Chau. NOW. It is the perfect season!

Since it is my first time camping and had no clue about anything- from the basics as to what needs to be brought, to all the apparently savvy camping equipment nowadays… Tung Lung Chau is not a threat. Like most of Hong Kong, it provides convenience. There are three port-a-potties and basins with fresh water, roasting areas are pre-designated, signages to help you navigate, and of course, a family-owned convenient store half an hour walk down the campsite.

Here are some images from an amazing weekend.

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Serenity, calmness and fresh air.

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It seems like an ocean away, but some of us actually hiked up that direction. I, on the other hand, stayed on this side and consoled myself by taking an image for memory’s sake.

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What would you give to have this view everyday?

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A rare site in Hong Kong. A photographer or not, who won’t be captivated by this stunning beauty.

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We ended the night barbecue-ing and eating the last bit of dinner treat.

To get here, we took the route from Yau Tong and crossed the sea via a charming, quaint ferry. Round trip transportation cost no more than HK$100 and food (thanks to an amazing chef we had with us) was less than HK$100 as well! Now, if we had more places like Tung Lung Chau, us non-sporty, weak chested people would be spoiled!

And if those weren’t enough to entice, I’ve been saving the best for last…

Creation at its best. Simply Breathtaking, is it not?

Creation at its best. Simply Breathtaking, is it not?

Visit flickr for more updated images soon.

heART and Design: At Home in Greece

Fact # 1: Greece has been on top of my Europe (wish list) itinerary, primarily for the wonderful sea view. But when I think about their architecture and interior, I always thought I do not relate to them well, as did I with Greek mythology.

Fact # 2: I have always been a heavy sleeper, and bedrooms gave me the ideal of ultimate privacy and sanctuary. On top of innumerable reasons, bedrooms have always been a favorite place of mine- to lounge in and to design.

Fact # 3: I never expected the aforementioned bits could be even more lovelier… together. In her book “At Home in Greece,” Julia Klimi gives us a deeper appreciation for Greece- the scenery, the architecture and of course, interior design.  Purchase the book here for HK readers, and here for international readers.

These are some of my favorite images (focusing on traditional Greek beds):

habyt_at home in Greece (4)

It is largely part of my immobility once I hit the bed, but I have always wanted a platform bed- this way, I don’t fall off and my items don’t fall too far down. With this U-shaped platform bed (which I think is meant for sharing), I can literally stay in bed all daaaayyy.

habyt_at home in Greece (1)

 With this one, I can even afford to entertain guest in a more “formal” manner.

habyt_at home in Greece (2)

Once in my life, I have been a fan of minimalism. At that point, this would have been more than enough to make it to my bedroom wish list.

habyt_at home in Greece (3)

Although not a platform bed, this bed still captivates me with its ethereal, flowy cocoon.  And with a cool color tone, I’m amused to say this room looks really warm. 😉

Seeing these invigorated my desire to visit Greece, but now that I have discovered another spectacular destination/recreation, I should make a mental note to not sleep in and enjoy what I originally went for. (That said, of course I will scour the internet for a hole-in-the-wall  B&B!)

Ps. Hi Hong Kong, in case you haven’t already known of this site, they sells books at competitive prices, some even almost 50% off. Most books would be shipped from straight from UK. I just recently purchased a book from them. I’ll see how it goes.


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Book Talks: Finnikin of the Rock & Over-dressed

finnikinFinnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta

Finnikin was only a child when the royal family of Lumatere were brutally murdered, and an imposter seized the throne. Now, a curse traps everyone who remains inside the Kingdom’s walls, and all who escaped have been forced to roam the surrounding lands as exiles. Ten years have passed, but still the curse remains ever strong, and the people of Lumatere are lost without a homeland. Finn and his mentor Sir Topher have travelled the land, seeking out their people, and a place that they can call their own. But while aiding refugees, they encounter Evanjalin, a mysterious young women, who claims she can enter people’s dreams, and has learned that Balthazar, the thought dead heir to the throne is alive. This startling news changes everything, but Evanjalin is not what she seems, and the truth will test more than Finnikin’s faith in her alone. . . A deeply compelling, unforgettable young adult novel, Melina Marchetta’s Finnikin of the Rock and its sequels are available to reserve from the Haliburton County Public Library.

over-dressedOver-dressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion by Elizabeth Cline

Until recently, writer Elizabeth Cline was your average Western consumer. She’d grown accustom to shopping at outlet malls, discount stores and chains that spit out fast fashion like Forever 21, Target and H&M. She initially did so with the mindset that she was saving money…but the cheap clothing piled up her closet and her pocketbook wasn’t the better for it. Cline decided to investigate our tendency towards overconsumption, what we are doing with all this cheap clothing and, more importantly, what is it doing to us? In Over-dressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion, Cline sets out to uncover the high cost of discount culture, tracing the rise of budget clothing chains, the death of the middle-market, and the roots of our obsession with deals and steals. She travels to factories in China, follows the fashion industry as it chases even lower costs into Bangladesh, and looks at the impact (both here and abroad) of North America’s drastic increase in imports. She even explores how cheap fashion harms the charity shops and textile recyclers where our masses of clothing castoffs finally come to rest. If you are intrigued by the organic, local food movement, consider Over-dressed another step toward becoming an informed and conscientious consumer. Reserve it today at the Haliburton County Public Library.

*originally aired on 100.9 Canoe FM from April 4– 17, 2013

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Goldblatt lecture examines Jewish-evangelical relations

September 2017

McMaster University’s Department of Religious Studies is delighted to announce another lecture on a fascinating, cutting-edge topic of interest within the Jewish community and beyond. The 2017 Lillian and Marvin Goldblatt Lecture at McMaster University will be given by Dr. Faydra Shapiro on the topic,  “Holy Ambivalence: Jewish-Evangelical Relations and Why They Matter.”

Evangelical-Jewish relations occupy a unique niche within Jewish-Christian relations, and interfaith relations more broadly. Evangelical Christians and Jews have their own quite specific history, interests, limitations and common ground. At the same time, Evangelical-Jewish relations matter outside the theological space of interfaith relations, because of their impact on geo-political realities in the form of Christian Zionist support for Israel. The ambivalence that characterizes Jewish-Evangelical relations is an important and often overlooked aspect for making sense of contemporary Christian Zionism.

Dr. Shapiro received her PhD from the Department of Religious Studies at McMaster in 2000. Shapiro and her family subsequently made their home in Hamilton, where they were deeply immersed in the Adas Israel community. The family made aliyah in the summer of 2008.

A dynamic speaker with extensive experience teaching both Christians about Judaism and Jews about Christianity, Dr. Shapiro is a specialist in contemporary Jewish-Christian relations, with a focus on evangelical Christian-Jewish relations. She has published and presented extensively on the topic of Christian Zionism and evangelical Christian support for Israel. She currently holds the position of executive director of the Israel Center for Jewish-Christian Relations and Associate Fellow at The Philos Project.

The Goldblatt lectures have been held at McMaster University since 2002. In past years, speakers have addressed a range of topics, such as the Vatican and the Holocaust, the life and thought of Abraham Joshua Heschel, the Lubavitch community, and the concept of Holy War in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Last year’s lecture on the creation of a Jewish museum in Poland attracted a standing-room-only crowd.

Due to the Goldblatt lecture’s increasing popularity, we are pleased to announce its move to the David Braley Health Sciences Centre at 100 Main St. W. (corner of Bay St. N.), room 2032 in downtown Hamilton. Please join us on Thursday, Oct. 26 at 7 p.m. Admission is free and kosher refreshments will be served. For more information contact Celia Rothenberg at


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Tag Archives: beach

Guest Spotlight: Handmade Summer Belt + Tutorial from Sew Paint Create

Summer’s official start is not until June 20th, but I’m already feeling the spirit. I was the lucky recipient of a fabulous custom-made summery belt from fellow blogger Pétra of Sew Paint Create!

I was excited even when the up-cycled, bird-stamped, machine-stitched package arrived (completely my style). When I opened it and saw the belt things just got better. It was like pulling a piece of the sea out of the envelope. The fabric is lovely in its aquas, white and sea-toned greens.

The belt is lightweight, perfect for summer, and was made exactly to my size. Even on those days I can’t make it down the shore this summer I can take it with me in my wardrobe. Thank you Pétra!

The best news of all is that Pétra has posted a tutorial today on how to make this belt! Please be sure to visit Sew Paint Create to check out her great tutorial and while you’re there take a look at her quilting and other crafty endeavors.


text:
Moving On

Both of my loyal readers know that I have been in pursuit of a particular dream for some time.

Symbolic of my career.

When I’m not busy being Dad, writing, or trying to whip my broken body into shape; I work at a day job.  What’s funny is that this “day” job is a vocation for me.  It is, as I like to think of it, a pathway along the wider road of God’s plan for me.  For the past eleven years I have been a teacher in a Catholic high school (three of them, to be exact).  Initially I got into teaching because it was a job.  Somewhere along the line I realized I liked it.  Then I realized that I loved it.  Then I began to feel that I was good at it.  Finally I thought that I could be of use to God in a different way.  I got this crazy idea that I could be a pretty decent school administrator.

I went back to school and completed a second Master’s degree.  And then I went on the hunt.

And I got… nowhere.

I explained my frustration to my wife.  “It’s just that before this year, I had never interviewed for a job that I didn’t ultimately get.”  “That’s nothing,” she said, “I’ve never interviewed for a job.”  She pointed out to me that her first job out of college came about through a connection and she more or less advanced from there.

I put the dream aside, trying to convince myself of the words my best friend and brother, a guy I’ve known since our days in the college seminary.  He’s always told me “God’s timing is perfect.”  I used to laugh at him.  Most of the time, though, I’d think of how obnoxious a thing like that is to say to someone who’s trying his heart out and getting nowhere.  Yet somehow he knew.  I put the dream aside and figured I would get comfortable with something I already knew I loved.  I prepared myself to teach forever.

It’s funny to me how God does things like this.  It’s His time.  We’re just passing through it.  I even remarked to my current students that, on the whole, this has been the best group of high school juniors I have ever worked with.  I’ve always had it pretty easy and I’ve certainly had my stand-outs.  But these kids this year have been a real blessing.  They are kind, witty, caring, passionate.  I love each and every one of them.  God knew they’d be my last class as a teacher and He allowed me the grace of going out with the best.  Recently a few of them have met my beginning-of-year challenge.  “If you can find my blog, kids, you can read it.”  For those who are reading right now, first, isn’t this blog amazing?  You’ve never read anything this awesome.  It has changed your life.  Whatever, just lie and say yes.  Second, thanks for being the best.

I think I made it.

I’m really going to miss them when I start my new job in a month as an assistant principal.  Oh, had I forgotten to slip that detail into the story?  Sorry.  Yes, I’m losing my summers and gaining a whole lot of responsibility but it’s everything I’ve wanted and I couldn’t be happier.  Please pray for me that I do a good job.

And what did my current students ask of me as a memento of my time with them?

Apparently I should make them a “mix tape”.  Go figure.  I didn’t even know they would know what a mix tape is.  Perhaps I’ll take them up on the suggestion.  I haven’t made one of those in forever.

2 responses to “Moving On

  1. Congratulations, Harvey! Wonderful news!

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Overtime for Love

Overtime for Love

Book - 2017
Rate this:
Desire is a game without rules

Optimistic and hardworking, Angela Bouler prides herself on getting through life without asking for an assist. School, two jobs, caring for her nephew, Cory--she's keeping it all together...then Isaiah Reynolds bounces into her life. The Jacksonville Gators' star forward is coaching at Cory's summer camp, but guardians and mentors aren't supposed to mix--and certainly not surrender to red-hot kisses...

Isaiah has an image of the perfect partner in his head, and it doesn't quite mesh with Angela's hectic life. Or her evening job serving drinks at a gentlemen's club. But deep down, she's the only woman who sparks a true connection. He's expected to keep his image spotless, but instead he's risking everything on a strong, sexy, complicated woman. Winning her heart won't be easy, but it's becoming the only play that really matters...
Publisher: Harlequin Books 2017
ISBN: 9781335216526

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Soul Rescue

Book - 2016
Rate this:
"After many years of research in the Amazon, Psychologist Victor Furst finally acquired the shamanic ability to detect psychic vampires and retrieve the souls of their victims. As happens with endeavors driven by passion, his discoveries would not come without sacrifice--his wife, Evelyn, grew tired of his absence and left--taking his precious daughter, Miriam, with her. As though commanded by fate, he finds Evelyn again when his old rival at the CIA, Basil Zarkisian, abducts her consciousness, leaving her body lying in limbo as though in a coma; diagnosis--Alzheimer's disease. But Victor knows Evelyn is in no coma and Alzheimer's is just for cover ... Victor is in a race against rebels and time. His hope for Evelyn lies with her eccentric sister and--Miriam. Miriam will be a tough sell when Victor reveals what he will need to help Evelyn ..."--Page [4] cover.
Publisher: [Tempe, AZ] : Cactus Moon Publications, [2016]
Copyright Date: ©2016
ISBN: 9780997536386
Characteristics: 300 pages ; 22 cm
Alternative Title: Soul rescue

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LG Launches New `B7A’ Lower-Priced 4K UHD OLED TV Series

July 30th, 2017 · 4 Comments · 2160p, Amazon, Connected TVs, Dolby Atmos, electronic program guides, HDMI, HDR, LG Electronics, News, object-based audio, OLED, OLED, Surround Sound, Surround Sound Systems, UHD 4K OLED, UHDTV

Effective today, LG Electronics is promoting a new derivative model series for its entry 4K Ultra HD OLED TV line, which will be available through a broader class of authorized retailers.

The new entry 4K Ultra HD OLED TV series, called the B7A, will offer most of the same features of the current B7P series, which is supposed to be sold exclusively by Costco, but will have some minor cosmetic differences and will omit the internal Dolby Atmos decoding found in other LG OLED TV series, an LG spokesman told us.

Like the current B7P series, the new B7A line is comprised of two models in the 55 and 65-inch screen sizes.

To celebrate the launch of the new derivative (B7A) line, LG Electronics is offering a special pricing promotion on the new models (as well as the current 55-inch B7P model available through Costco). The promotion begins today (July 30th) and is slated to run through Sept. 10th, while supplies last.

The launch of the new B7A series comes as a number of, what LG executives called, “unauthorized retailers,” are promoting LG 4K OLED B7P models at prices below the manufacturer’s unilateral pricing policy on various e-commerce sites.

LG said some dealers promoting the B7P models below UPP on Amazon and other e-commerce locations have received models through transhippers, who sell goods acquired in different countries.

An LG spokesperson told us that transhipped products will have invalid warranties.

Costco has an exclusive distribution arrangement for a warehouse club in the United States on the B7P 4K OLED TV series at this time, an LG spokesperson said.

Read more on LG’s new low-priced entry 4K OLED TV series after the jump:

Effective Sunday, Costco is offering the authorized 55-inch LG OLED55B7P 4K OLED TV below UPP for $2,149.99.

LG executives have said that the picture quality benefits of all 2017 4K OLED TV models are the same across all model lines, including the B7Ps and B7As. Earlier in the year we reviewed the LG OLED65W7P Signature Series “wall paper” TV and found it to have the best picture quality we’ve ever tested.

LG executives confirmed for us that the primary differences between model lines are found in cosmetics and styling, stand/wall mounting configurations and built-in audio capability.

Again, picture quality is consistent across all series.

Unlike 2016 B6 models, this year’s entry class uses the same processing chips as step-up models to drive picture performance, brightness and black-level benefits.

So, for example, the main differences between the B7P and step-up C7P series is which retailers have them and the appearance of the bezel (silver vs. black) and the table stand style (metal vs. plastic).

The differences between the new B7A series and Costco’s exclusive B7P are minor costmetic changes and the lack of internal Dolby Atmos decoding in the the B7A models.

4K UHD and HDTVs

Amazon’s Camera, Photo & Video Deals

Amazon Fire TV 4K Ultra HD Set-Top Media Adapter with Alexa

Amazon Fire TV Stick with Alexa Voice Remote

Amazon Echo Voice Controlled Wireless Speaker and Home System Interface

Amazon Echo Dot Voice Controlled Home System Interface

4K Ultra HDTV Specials From Abt

Panasonic  Deals

Best Selling Soundbars and 5.1 Surround Systems

Best Selling Blu-ray Players

Key features of the B7A TVs are the following:

  • Flat UHD 3840 x 2160 OLED panel
  • HDR10, Dolby Vision, HLG HDR compatible
  • Blade slim design
  • Screen mirroring technology
  • Built-In Wi-Fi & Ethernet connectivity
  • webOS 3.5 smart TV platform
  • Access LG content store & apps
  • Full web browser
  • 4 x HDMI 2.0a with HDCP 2.2 / 3 x USB
  • Tru Color Accuracy

Pricing, both regular and discounted, is highlighted below for each LG B7A 4K OLED TV model:

LG 55-inch OLED55B7A, regular UPP price, $2,299.99, available now for $1,997.

LG 65-inch OLED65B7A, regular UPP price $3,299.99, available now for $2,997.

Have a question for the HD Guru? HD GURU|Email

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4 Comments so far ↓

  • Troy

    They’ve offered 77″ models for a couple of years now, didn’t you know? Sony does also…but why pay the 20K fee for that when you can get a 150″+ 4K theatrical experience with a very nice projector for half that?! #hedontknow

  • jerabaub

    not interested.

    come back when you have screen sizes of at least 78 inches.

  • Joe Moma

    Sorry LG, as long as the product has the same USA model number and was sold new, US law states you can not deny warranty claim.

  • Wilson

    Not bad…..if you are planning to use a home theater receiver with your tv anyways then the lack of built-in Dolby Atmos decoding isn’t a big deal.

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text:
listening skills

Why do they want me to see a psychologist – I’m not nuts, I just have pain!

Explaining to someone that seeing a psychologist about chronic pain might be helpful can be a bit like this:

Yup, brick wall – hard object!

I can see it from the person’s point of view – it’s taken a long time (usually) for medical and other people to recognise that this pain isn’t simply going away, and isn’t about the person being ‘pathetic-why-don’t-you-just-pull-yourself-together’, so when someone suggests that psychology might be helpful it’s like saying ‘You’re nuts, you’re just losing it’ – or worse, ‘you’re a hypochondriac’.

I thought it might be helpful to review some ways to introduce the idea of seeing a psychologist (or other allied health person), or using a CBT perspective in pain management. (more…)

…it just hurts!

I was taking a quick wander through some of the headlines on my MedWorm feed this morning, when I stumbled on a headline saying ‘It just hurts’. I had to click on it and here is what I read:

Me: “Hello, so you’re having some chest pain?”

Patient: “It just hurts.”

Me: “When did it start?”

Patient: “It just hurts.”

Me: “Where on your chest?”

Patient: “It just hurts.”

Me: “Anything make it worse?”

Patient: “It just hurts.”

Me: “Ever had this before?”

Patient: “It just hurts.”

Me: “Fine, enough, I’ll just order a bunch of tests.”

Now I know this is in an emergency department setting, so things are a bit different from my chronic pain setting, but my immediate thought was that this patient was so scared he couldn’t find words to say what was happening to him – but all I read in this exchange was a doctor trying to diagnose.

It could be a life and death situation – ‘heart attack’ or something – but at the same time, I wonder what would have happened if someone had spent a moment or two reflecting to the patient that he sounded scared, that all kinds of feelings can take over when you have a pain, and that it can be hard to think straight at those sort of times. Some reassurance that things are under control now and he’s in a safe place.

I also wonder whether explaining why the doctor was asking the questions, and some of the train of thought of the doctor might have helped.  And finally, I do wonder if the patient had been told to breathe out slowly, and take some time to relax his body whether the patient might have been more ready to describe what was going on.

Sometimes in our rush to diagnose and fix, or work on ‘problems’ we can forget that developing rapport by listening and showing that we understand the emotions that happen when people experience pain is possibly the best medicine we can give.

Psychology Today has a self-test for listening skills, the brief results from which are free… fun to try out anyway!

The Motivational Interviewing website has a summary of the OARS acronym – Open ended questions, affirmations, reflections and summarising, it also gives a good description of levels of reflection:

Simple Reflection
One way to reduce resistance is simply to repeat or rephrase what the client has said. This communicates that you have heard the person, and that it is not your intention to get into an argument with the person.

Client: But I can’t quit drinking. I mean, all of my friends drink!
Counselor: Quitting drinking seems nearly impossible because you spend so much time with others who drink.
Client: Right, although maybe I should.
Amplified Reflection

This is similar to a simple reflection, only the counselor amplifies or exaggerates the point to the point where the client may disavow or disagree with it. It is important that the counselor not overdo it, because if the client feels mocked or patronized, he or she is likely to respond with anger.

Client: But I can’t quit using. I mean, all of my friends use!
Counselor: Oh, I see. So you really couldn’t quit using because then you’d be too different to fit in with your friends.
Client: Well, that would make me different from them, although they might not really care as long as I didn’t try to get them to quit.
Double-sided Reflection

With a double-sided reflection, the counselor reflects both the current, resistant statement, and a previous, contradictory statement that the client has made.

Client: But I can’t quit drinking. I mean, all of my friends drink!
Counselor: You can’t imagine how you could not drink with your friends, and at the same time you’re worried about how it’s affecting you.
Client: Yes. I guess I have mixed feelings.
Shifting Focus

Another way to reduce resistance is simply to shift topics. It is often not motivational to address resistant or counter-motivational statements, and counseling goals are better achieved by simply not responding to the resistant statement.

Client: But I can’t quit drinking. I mean, all of my friends drink!
Counselor: You’re getting way ahead of things here. I’m not talking about your quitting drinking here, and I don’t think you should get stuck on that concern right now. Let’s just stay with what we’re doing here – talking through the issues – and later on we can worry about what, if anything, you want to do about it.
Client: Well I just wanted you to know.

This example is from problem drinking, but it applies to many situations – such as when people are trying to explain why they can’t use a pain management strategy!

James T Hardee writes about Empathy in healthcare‘Unfortunately, many physicians were trained in the world of “Find it and Fix it” medicine, a world where empathetic communication was only an afterthought–if this behavior was considered at all. Empathy was known as “bedside manner,” a quality considered innate and impossible to acquire–either you were born with it or you weren’t. More recently, greater emphasis has been placed on empathy as a communication tool of substantial importance in the medical interview, and many experts now agree that empathy and empathetic communication are teachable, learnable skills’.
I think we could add in a number of other health care professionals who may have been taught listening skills early in training, but in the busy-ness of clinical life, might forget the basic skills.

Remember the reasons you decided to start working in healthcare? And the reasons you stay? There are other less demanding ways to earn a living – but we all chose healthcare. This article from Positive Psychology Daily discusses meaningful work. Perhaps one way of reminding ourselves to be empathic, compassionate and human is to remember the meaning in our work.

If you’ve enjoyed the post and want to read more like it – you can subscribe using the RSS feed button above. Or you can bookmark this page and come on back! I love comments and do respond, and if you want to contact me, drop into my ‘About’ page and you’ll find out how. Have a great day!