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Kristyn Burtt is an IAWTV award-winning host, new media producer, and pop culture writer.  She began her hosting career with a children’s dance video teaching the world how to Electric Slide and Hokey Pokey.  Since then, she has moved on to more serious ventures with the pilot episodes of The Arena with Jesse Ventura on MSNBC and host/reporter stints with QVC, ShopNBC, and PAX. She covered the 83rd-86th Annual Academy Awards and the 65th Annual Tony Awards from Nominations to the Red Carpet for Starpulse.  Currently, she is the Entertainment Editor and Video Producer for Lifescript, a celebrity health website. She formerly worked as an entertainment correspondent for SheKnows Entertainment and NBC/Universal's, iVillage.com.  She also is currently co-hosting the So You Think You Can Dance recap show for Maria Menounos' new network, AfterBuzz TV.

For the last five years, she has co-hosted a live show for Toyota around the U.S. and she has interviewed the hottest celebrities on the red carpet for Focus Hollywood, Mingle Media TV's Red Carpet Report, and Dance Channel TV.  In July of 2009, she created the first online entertainment show focusing in on web series, “web celebs”, and new media called The Web Files.  The show was named the Best Original Web Non-Fiction show for 2009 by Clicker.com, Kristyn was nominated for a 2010 Streamy Award for Best Web Series Host, and Kristyn and The Web Files won a 2012 IAWTV Award for Best Host in a Taped Hosted Web Series and Best Hosted Taped Web Series.  Newstex and Fanboy Comics currently syndicates her pop culture blog, Red Carpet Closet

Kristyn is an honors graduate from NYU’s Tisch School of the Art and she is a member of The International Academy of Web Television.

Photo courtesy of Mark Burmeister

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Wednesday, 26 October 2016

Fight Like A Girl

Evening peeps

Well that's the rest of the housework done today, means I have the rest of the week to myself, so I'm off shopping tomorrow.

Tonight I have made another card to take into work for our Tickled Pink month.  The digital stamp is called Cowgirl Bonnie from Art By Miran and it has been coloured using Copics and ProMarkers.

Other materials used are:

White card stock
Kraft card stock
Lattice embossing folder
Presscut Square Nesting die set
Pink ribbon
Crystal Glamour Dust glitter

I am entering this card into the following challenges:

Art By Miran Challenge - Anything Goes
QKR Stampede - Wild West
CASology - Cure
Addicted To Stamps And More - Make Your Mark
Crafty Gals Corner - Anything Goes
CAS-ual Fridays - Fight Like A Girl

That's all for now.

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The Rime of the Ancient Mariner Reflective Essay

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner Reflective Essay

This reflective essay sample was written by one of the Writemyessay4Me writers. They provide custom essay writing help for college and university students on a variety of academic disciplines.

Louise Ammentorp is a PhD candidate in Developmental Psychology, received her BA in Psychology and Art History from Rutgers University. In her dissertation writing project she explored the study of linguistic meditation and children’s understanding of conflict. Follow the updates on her most recent works here.

reflective essay

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (originally The Rime of the Ancyent Marinere) is the longest major poem by the English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, written in 1797–98 and published in 1798.

This ballad has been interpreted in a variety of ways since it was created in 1797. Some have understood it as an expression of violation of nature, some understanding it as a religious text some otherwise. Moreover, a question on symbolization of both the Mariner and albatross arose.

The Ancient Mariner was believed to symbolize four characters; the first one simply being he, the old man. Since he is already old and already experienced a lot during his lifetime, he has the role of imparting what he has learned to the young. The second character he plays is a Christian sinner. We can remember that the Ancient Mariner killed an albatross. Since then, he believed that it was the reason of his misfortune and that it was the reason why he became unhappy. There is also the belief that the Mariner symbolizes a poet. Since he was able to see beyond things that a normal person could, he could communicate it to others through his story. And the last, he was believed to symbolize a mother. The reason for this is the repeated connection to conventionally female things like the sea, motherhood, irrationality, spontaneity and nature.

Various interpretations on the ballad were also proposed. Some said that the killing of the albatross by the Ancient Mariner shows the violation of nature and is criticized. Some, such as Gavin McGann, argue that ballad is a story of our salvation of Christ, whereas others dispute this, believing it to be a metaphor for Original Sin in the Garden of Eden. Religion lies at the heart of the poem, focusing on the trials and tribulations of man, depicting a moving spiritual journey of sin, punishment, repentance and eventual redemption. Aside from these, one writer suggested that the literary piece of Coleridge was an autobiography. It was the loneliness of the Mariner was compared to the loneliness expressed by Coleridge in his journals and letters.

Fathoming a literary piece is difficult because each person has his or her own set of biases and look into things differently. However, the writer of the piece usually leaves a trail for the readers to follow. Coleridge was of no difference. He also leaved symbols for us readers to ponder upon on what they mean and he left it to us to share to others our thoughts and what we think of the piece. As mentioned, each person interpret the story differently which makes us open-minded about another side of the story and also impart new wisdom to other readers.


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Virginia Agricultural Cost-Share Program

2016- 2017 VA Agricultural Cost-Share Program (VACS)

This program provides funds used to help install conservation practices that protect water quality. Funding availability varies by District. The state provides District funds to target areas with known water quality needs. Areas with the greatest need receive the greatest funding.

The cost-share program supports using numerous practices in conservation planning to treat animal waste, cropland, pastureland and forest land. Some are paid for at a straight per acre rate, while others are cost-shared on a percentage basis up to 80%. In some cases, USDA also pays a percentage. In fact, the program’s practices often can be funded by a combination of state, federal, local and even private funds, reducing the landowner’s expense to less than 20% of the total cost.

Demand for cost-share assistance is great, and Districts support the implementation of those BMPs that meet local water quality guidelines. Since all requests cannot be satisfied, priority ranking of practices must be used to make sure that money is distributed and spent wisely.

The most an individual may receive is $50,000. The state cost-share payment, combined with federal payments, will not exceed 75 % of the total eligible costs of the straight per acre rate.

2017 Program Manual with list of all Eligible Practices

This program, which began in 1998, supports the voluntary installation of BMPs that address Virginia’s NPS pollution water quality objectives. Agricultural producers with approved conservation plan can take a credit against the state income tax of 25% for eligible BMP expenses. The tax credit amount cannot exceed $17,500 or the total state income tax obligation for the given tax year, but any excess expenses can be carried over for up to five years.

 Agricultural BMP Tax Credit Program


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Just a few second of quiet, please, Wolf…

Christianity Today’s election blog reminds me of a funny moment from the end of the DNC last might.

I was flipping around the different news channels (comparing and contrasting pundits) after Obama finished and landed on CNN right around the time that megachurch pastor Joel Hunter was starting the benediction. One of the CNN pundits suggested that everyone hush up for a few second because it was, after all, the final benediction.

images7.jpegNot more than two or three second went by before Wolf Blitzer started yapping again. It had the timing of a comedy routine.

I’m assuming that Wolf wasn’t paying attention when his colleague urged just a few moments of quiet for prayer time.

Christianity Today’s Sarah Pulliam also reports that Hunter had a brief chat with Billy Graham, seeking advice for the benediction.

Hunter said of Graham: “He’s so frail, he can’t hear right now, so his assistant was the one who sat down with him. It takes him a while now to communicate. His assistant was the one who was telling me all of this.

“He said he’d be praying for me, and he’ll be watching.”


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Tuesday, May 23, 2017

Texas Legislature Passes Conscience Protections For Adoption, Foster Care, Counseling Services

The Texas legislature yesterday gave final passage to HB 3859 (full text), a bill that prohibits any governmental agency from discriminating or taking adverse action against a child welfare service provider that refuses to provide adoption, foster care, counseling or other services that conflict with the agency's religious beliefs.  The bill, which now goes to the governor for signature, also protects agencies that place children with providers who will give the children a religious education. Where an agency refuses to serve a client, it must refer the client to, or to a listing of, other agencies that can serve them.  AP, reporting on the bill, says:
The private foster care and adoption organizations, which are paid by the state to place children with families, make up about 25 percent of the agencies working in Texas. Those groups say they face a threat of lawsuits for exercising their religious beliefs if they don’t get specific state legal protection.  Many Texas adoption agencies admit they don’t work with adoptive parents who are single, gay or non-Christian, and the bill could keep them from being sued.
[Thanks to Scott Mange for the lead.]

Suit Challenges Ordinance Barring Discrimination On Basis of Reproductive Health Services

In February 2017, the St. Louis (MO) Board of Aldermen enacted Ordinance 70459 which added to the city's existing laws against discrimination in employment and housing a prohibition on discrimination "because of ... reproductive health decisions or pregnancy status (including childbirth or a related medical condition)".  Yesterday suit was filed in a Missouri federal district court challenging the Ordinance which the lawsuit says was represented as barring discrimination against those who have had, or are planning to have, an abortion.  The complaint (full text) in Our Lady's Inn v. City of St. Louis, (ED MO, filed 5/22/2017) contends that in fact the Ordinance is much broader, saying in part:
Ordinance 70459 forbids Plaintiffs and others from making adverse employment, housing or realty decisions based on an individual or entity being an abortion activist, advocate or provider....  Thus, the Ordinance forbids Plaintiffs from refusing to sell or rent real property to individuals and corporate organizations that promote or provide abortions....
The complaint alleges that the Ordinance violates the speech and religion clauses of the 1st Amendment,  the due process and equal protection clauses of the 14th Amendment as well as various provisions of state law.  Thomas More Society issued a press release announcing the filing of the lawsuit.

Monday, May 22, 2017

Texas Governor Signs Bill Protecting Sermons From Subpoena By Government

On Friday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed SB24 (full text).  The new law protects sermons delivered by religious leaders from being subpoenaed by any governmental unit in litigation or in administrative proceedings.  The legislation is a reaction to controversy over the city of Houston's attempt in 2014 to subpoena sermons of 5 members of the clergy as part of the city's defense in a lawsuit challenging its rejection of petitions seeking repeal of the city's Equal Rights Ordinance. (See prior posting.)  Houston Chronicle reports that the governor and lieutenant governor on Sunday preached sermons at a Houston area church before a second signing of the bill.

Recent Articles of Interest

From SSRN:
From SSRN (Islamic Law):
From SmartCILP:
  • Kim Treiger Bar-Am, Copyright and Positive Freedom: Kantian and Jewish Thought on Authorial Rights and Duties, [Abstract], 63 Journal of the Copyright Society of the U.S.A. 551-571 (2016).

Suit By Cannabis Church To Enjoin Prosecution Is Dismissed

In Armstrong v. Kilmartin, (D RI, May 17, 2017), a Rhode Island federal district court dismissed a suit to enjoin a state court criminal prosecution against clergy of the "Healing Church" which uses cannabis in its rituals. Plaintiffs say they are trying to protect a religious cannabis garden from law enforcement officials.  The suit claimed that the state and state officials engaged in religious discrimination and infringed free exercise rights of church leaders. The court dismissed this part of the lawsuit under the Younger abstention doctrine.  The court also refused to exercise ancillary jurisdiction to decide a separate claim against a religious leader over the ownership of a religious painting.

Sunday, May 21, 2017

Full Transcript of President Trump's Speech To Leaders of Muslim Nations

President Donald Trump today delivered a highly-anticipated speech in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to leaders of Mulim nations. Here is the full transcript of the speech in which he said in part:
This is not a battle between different faiths, different sects, or different civilizations. This is a battle between barbaric criminals who seek to obliterate human life, and decent people of all religions who seek to protect it. This is a battle between Good and Evil.
When we see the scenes of destruction in the wake of terror, we see no signs that those murdered were Jewish or Christian, Shia or Sunni. When we look upon the streams of innocent blood soaked into the ancient ground, we cannot see the faith or sect or tribe of the victims – we see only that they were Children of God whose deaths are an insult to all that is holy.
But we can only overcome this evil if the forces of good are united and strong – and if everyone in this room does their fair share and fulfills their part of the burden. Terrorism has spread across the world. But the path to peace begins right here, on this ancient soil, in this sacred land. America is prepared to stand with you – in pursuit of shared interests and common security.
But the nations of the Middle East cannot wait for American power to crush this enemy for them. The nations of the Middle East will have to decide what kind of future they want for themselves, for their countries, and for their children.
It is a choice between two futures – and it is a choice America CANNOT make for you. A better future is only possible if your nations drive out the terrorists and extremists. Drive. Them. Out.
DRIVE THEM OUT of your places of worship. DRIVE THEM OUT of your communities. DRIVE THEM OUT of your holy land, and DRIVE THEM OUT OF THIS EARTH.
Here is the Washington Post's coverage of the speech.

Recent Prisoner Free Exercise Cases

In Ashley-Drake v. Russell, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 73984 (D NJ, May 16, 2017), a New Jersey federal district court dismissed an inmate's complaint that he was prohibited from attending group religious services while in disciplinary detention.

In Brooks v. Corrections Corporation of America, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 74369 (D AZ, May 15, 2017), an Arizona federal district court dismissed an inmate's complaint that he was not permitted to participate in the Ramadan fast when staff should have known he wished to participate.

In Al-Bukhari v. Department of Correction, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 74939 (D CT, May 17, 2017), a Connecticut federal district court allowed an inmate to move ahead with his complaint that his rights under the 1st Amendment and RLUIPA were infringed when he was denied his Qur'an and other religious books.

In Sears v. Thomas, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 75375 (SD FL, May 15, 2017), a Florida federal district court, rejecting a magistrate's recommendation (2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 56953, April 12, 2017), allowed an inmate to move ahead with his claim that a chain and crucifix he possessed were improperly seized because he had prior authorization for them.

In Little v. Guice, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 76593 (WD NC, May 19, 2017), a North Carolina federal district court dismissed, for failure to exhaust administrative remedies, an inmate's claim that he was disciplined for being a gang member because of his identification as "Moorish American."

Oklahoma Supreme Court Rejects Challenge To Driver's License Photo

In Beach v. Oklahoma Department of Public Safety, (OK Sup. Ct., May 16, 2017), the Oklahoma Supreme Court held that under the Oklahoma Religious Freedom Act, plaintiff must make a prima facie showing of a substantial burden on his or her free exercise of religion before the government needs to demonstrate a compelling government interest and least restrictive means.  The court concluded that plaintiff here failed to make a prima facie showing supporting her allegation that her sincere religious beliefs prohibit her, in obtaining a driver's license, from allowing a biometric photo to be taken and placed into a database that is accessible by other countries or international organizations.  The court also concluded that plaintiff's complaint is moot because plaintiff had already submitted biometric photos and fingerprints in the past. Two justices concurred only in the result and one dissented in part, saying that the case is moot.

Civil Rights Suit By Student Alarm-Clock Maker Dismissed

In Mohamed v. Irving Independent School District, (ND TX, May 18, 2017), a Texas federal district court dismissed the civil rights claims brought on behalf of an African-American Muslim high school student who was arrested and suspended from school for 3 days when a home-made clock he brought to school was mistaken by his teachers for a bomb. (See prior posting.) The incident received national attention. Plaintiff (the student's father) alleged violations of the Equal Protection clause, the 4th and 5th Amendments, and Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. WDBO News reports on the decision.

Friday, May 19, 2017

New Study Analyzes Impact of Tax Reform Proposals On Giving To Religious Organizations

The Indiana University Lily Family School of Philanthropy yesterday released a report titled Tax Policy and Charitable Giving Results (full text).  The report attempts to estimate the impact on charitable giving of the proposed 2014 Tax Reform Act.  That bill is similar to the current tax reform proposals by the White House and House of Representatives. The report examines various combinations of 3 proposals-- increase in the standard deduction, decrease in the top marginal tax rate, and universal charitable deduction.  It analyzes the impact of combinations of these on giving to religious congregations and giving to other charities. Religion News Service reports on the data.

Italy's Top Court Upholds Kirpan Ban

Last Monday, Italy's Court of Cassation upheld a fine that had been imposed for carrying a kirpan in public.  According to The Local:
The Italian judges on Monday rejected the appeal of a Sikh who had been fined €2,000 in 2015 for carrying an 18cm-long kirpan in Goito, a town in Lombardy. He argued that the ban was unfair as the kirpan was a religious symbol rather than a weapon, but the court upheld the original sentence.
"Attachment to values which violate the laws of the host country is intolerable, even if they are lawful in the country of origin," the court said, adding that "public safety is an asset to be protected".

$20M Awarded In Sexual Abuse Suit Against Rabbi and His Yeshiva

The New Haven Register reports that yesterday a federal district court jury in Hartford, Connecticut awarded $15 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages to plaintiff for sexual abuse he suffered from 2001 to 2005 while a student at Yeshiva of New Haven, an Orthodox Jewish day school. The jury found both Rabbi Daniel Greer and his Yeshiva liable.  According to the lawsuit, the abuse began when plaintiff was 15 and Greer was in his 60's.

Thursday, May 18, 2017

Justice Alito Speaks On Faith and Religious Freedom

As reported by KYW Newsradio, yesterday U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito received an honorary degree from Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania. Alito spoke to graduates of the Schools of Philosophy and Theology.  A blog on the school's website also published Faith, Family, and Religious Freedom: A Conversation with Justice Samuel Alito conducted in anticipation of his visit.

Bahamas Constitution Protects Muslim Military Officer From Mandatory Christian Prayer

In Commodore Royal Bahamas Defence Force v Laramore, (Privy Council, May 8, 2017), the UK Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (a court of final appeal from Bahamas courts) held it unconstitutional under the Bahamian constitution to require a Muslim member of the Royal Bahamian Defence Force to participate in Christian prayers. At issue are the "ceremonial prayers" in regular weekly colours parades.  From 1993 to 2006, non-Christians could fall out during the prayers. A 2006 Memorandum ended that accommodation. Law & Religion UK has more on the decision.

EEOC Sues Over Refusing To Accommodate Jewish Employee's Holiday Observance

The EEOC announced on Tuesday that it has filed a Title VII lawsuit against XPO Last Mile, Inc., a delivery company, for rescinding a job offer to Tzvi McCloud who refused to report for his first day of work on Rosh Hashanah.  A company vice president allegedly told McCloud that if he gave him a religious accommodation for his Jewish religious beliefs, he would have to extend accommodations to other employees as well.

1st Amendment Requires Dismissal of Some Priest Sexual Abuse Allegations

In Roy v. Norwich Roman Catholic Diocesan Corp., 2017 Conn. Super. LEXIS 774 (CT Super., April 24, 2017), plaintiff sued claiming that from 1990 to 1996 when he served as an altar boy at a Pomfret, Connecticut Catholic church he was sexually assaulted hundreds of times by a now-deceased priest, Fr. Paul Herbert.  While the trial court permitted plaintiff to move ahead on a number of his claims, it dismissed three of them on the ground that these would impermissibly entangle the court in matters of discipline, faith, internal organization, or ecclesiastical rule, custom, or law. The allegations that were dismissed were that the church failed to adequately evaluate the mental fitness of Herbert to serve as a Catholic priest, and the allegation that plaintiff suffered emotional and spiritual loss, substantially affecting his belief in his faith. The court held that plaintiff's other claims, such as the failure to adequately train and supervise Herbert, can be decided by applying neutral principles of law.

Organization Announces Campaign To Promote Graduation Prayer

Liberty Counsel this week announced its annual "Friend or Foe Graduation Prayer Campaign," saying in part:
Liberty Counsel will educate and, if necessary, litigate to ensure that prayer and religious views are not suppressed during graduation ceremonies across the Nation.
Liberty Counsel is making available red prayer wristbands which students can wear as a reminder to pray at graduation and all throughout the school year.... Students have the constitutional right to wear religious jewelry and to pray during noninstructional times while at school. Liberty Counsel also has a free legal memo on graduation prayer.

Wednesday, May 17, 2017

Juror Removed For Religious Statement Made In Deliberations

According to FirstCoast News, in a Jacksonville, Florida federal district courtroom earlier this month, a jury found former Congresswoman Corrine Brown  guilty on 18 counts of fraud and corruption. The jury's decision came a day after the judge removed one of the jurors  (referred to as Juror 13) from the panel. The judge took action against Juror 13 after another juror sent the judge a letter complaining about Juror 13's religious remarks. Near the beginning of deliberations, Juror 13 told the others that the Holy Spirit had told him Congresswoman Brown was not guilty on all charges. The full transcript of the judge's questioning Juror 13 before deciding to remove him from the jury makes interesting reading.

Court Dismisses California Law Challenge To Chabad's Kapparot Ceremony

In United Poultry Concerns v. Chabad of Irvine, (CD CA, May 12, 2017), a California federal district court dismissed a suit by an animal rights organization claiming that the annual Kapparot ceremony conducted by an Orthodox Jewish organization violates California's Unfair Competition Law.  The UCL provides civil remedies for “any unlawful, unfair or fraudulent business act or practice.” The complaint alleges that the ritual as implemented by Chabad of Irvine violates the state's ban on "intentional and malicious killing of animals" other than for use as food (California Penal Code Sec. 597(a), 599c).  Chabad charges $27 to each person for furnishing and disposing of the chicken used in the pre-Yom Kippur ceremony. (See prior posting.)

In dismissing the lawsuit, the court said:
The Court cannot find, and Plaintiff does not cite a single case in which the acceptance of a donation in connection with the performance of religious ritual has been treated as a “business act” under the UCL. Moreover, the Court finds that Defendant Chabad of Irvine does not participate nor compete as a business in the commercial market by performing a religious atonement ritual that involves donations. For these reasons, the Court finds that Plaintiff fails to state a claim against Chabad of Irvine for a violation of the Unfair Competition Law (B.P.C. § 17200 et seq.)
First Liberty Institute issued a press release announcing the decision.  Jewish Press reported on the decision.

Tuesday, May 16, 2017

State Department Implements Expanded "Mexico City Policy"

Yesterday the State Department took steps to implement an earlier Memorandum from President Trump that reinstated the "Mexico-City Policy" that bars U.S. foreign aid dollars from going to nongovernmental organizations that offer abortion counseling or  advocate the right to seek abortions in their home countries.(See prior posting).  In a Fact Sheet and a Background Briefing the State Department elaborated on its new plan called "Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance" which expands on the Mexico City Policy as applied in prior Republican administrations.  According to the briefing:
...[G]lobal health assistance includes funding for international health programs, such as those for HIV/AIDS, maternal and child health, malaria, global health security, family planning, and reproductive health. Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance applies to global health assistance to or implemented by foreign NGOs, including those to which a U.S. NGO makes a sub-award with such assistance funds.
Global health assistance to national or local governments, public international organizations, and other similar multilateral entities is not subject to this policy. Also excluded is humanitarian assistance, including State Department migration and refugee assistance activities, USAID disaster and humanitarian relief activities, and U.S. Department of Defense disaster and humanitarian relief. At any time, in consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Secretary of State may authorize additional case-by-case exemptions to the policy....
Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance applies to approximately $8.8 billion in funds appropriated to the Department of State, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and the Department of Defense. Previously, the policy applied only to family planning assistance provided by USAID and the Department of State.
.... Departments and agencies will reprogram to other organizations any funding they would have awarded to NGOs that do not agree to the terms of Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance.
New York Times reports on the policy expansion. Liberty Counsel issued a press release with additional information on the new policy.

9th Circuit Hears Oral Arguments On Second Trump Travel Ban Executive Order

The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday heard oral arguments (video of full arguments) in State of Hawaii v. Trump, (Docket No. 17-15589).  In the case, a Hawaii federal district court issued a nationwide temporary injunction against enforcement of key portions of  President Trump's second "travel ban" Executive Order. (See prior posting.) As reported by the New York Times, at issue in the arguments are whether the Executive Order can be considered a "Muslim ban" that violates the Establishment Clause.


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How To Fund Your Internet Gambling Account

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Remembering Liza

Help Stop Domestic Violence

This site is for raising funds to support our mission. Our goal is to raise funds to support local programs that empower women who have been impacted by domestic violence.

Debra Darby, our Domestic Violence Advisor and my friend, as well as local business woman has agreed to host this site to help us raise the money needed to support local domestic violence programs provided needed support to women who are rebuilding their lives who have been victimized by the ones they once loved.

If you choose to switch your current brands and purchase at this retail website, not only will you support our Organization's mission, but you will be switching to an elite line of products with a 100% money back guarantee. These products are for people who want to do everything they can to give themselves, and their families every option for a dynamic, healthy life now, so that they can age with style and look to the future with confidence and vitality. That means they can avoid things like unnecessary pain, health complications and dependency on drugs. All products are delivered to your door. So you have nothing to lose and our Organization has the ability to earn 33% on every product purchased. I hope you will join me in switching brands and if you have product related questions call Debra Darby at 518-573-1924.

Martha Lasher-Warner


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Sunday, September 12, 2010

F1 GP Italy 2010 : Alonso on pole at Monza

Ferrari is back in control in Formula 1? In any case, Fernando Alonso made a splash at Monza this afternoon in qualifying in pole position ahead of Jenson Button second. His teammate Felipe Massa lack of a first line Scuderia since 3rd 2 tenth of English.Few fit, Mark Webber still gets the 4th position, leaving Hamilton and Vettel 5th, rather also in 6th place. Small disappointment at Renault,

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text: WELCOME TO BASHLINUX REPOSITORIES ================================= The 3 main repositories are grouped as: * deb: Debian and Ubuntu packages. - Also sources and control files are available. * pkg: Mac OS X packages. - Note that packages are showed as folders on here. PKGs also are available as DMG images for easy distribution. * rpm: Fedora and RedHat EL packages. - Also sources and spec files are available. ----------------------------------------------------------- * sources: Sources from either Bashlinux projects or 3rd party projects with no distro package available. * vendor: Binaries distributed by their respective vendors. ----------------------------------------------------------- * apk: Android apps.


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Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Don't let Bush Trick Us into ANOTHER War.

Don't let Bush Trick Us into ANOTHER War.
See video: Don't let Bush Trick Us into ANOTHER War
"There are experts that are indeed worried that the same playbook that was used to bring this country into the Iraq war is now being used toward Iran. The Administration is pushing suspect intelligence." - Rep. Maxine Waters
Also see:
Why Fallon's Resignation is Frightening
See Video:
Help Support the Campaign to Stop the War President!
Defense Secretary Robert Gates did not have to accept Admiral Fallon's resignation. "The military people think basically that Admiral Fallon was PUSHED OUT" - Mark Thompson Time Magazine National Security Correspondent
Fallon is described as "the one person in the military or Pentagon standing between the White House and war with Iran."

"We come to the floor tonight to resist efforts by this administration to paint war with Iran as a necessary next step in our so-called war on terror. A vast majority of foreign policy and military experts agree that war with Iran would be a colossal error.

... Administration officials this week have been turning up the volume on Iran.

A further sign that the U.S. may be headed for war is Admiral Fallon's resignation. In the aftermath of the disastrous invasion of Iraq, there has been discussion within media and in the military that senior military officers should have resigned when they knew the White House to be heading to a reckless war in Iraq. [a reckless AND illegal war]

Some are speculating that the recent retirement of Admiral Fallon is a direct result of his steadfast opposition to war with Iran. He even made his disagreements with the administration public before his retirement.

In a now-famous profile that Admiral Fallon agreed to do for Esquire magazine, he was characterized as the only man standing between war with Iran.

Let me read an excerpt from that article.

This was Esquire magazine, March 11, 2008. The title is ``The Man Between War and Peace.'' The article goes on to say that if in the dying light of the Bush administration, we go to war with Iran, it will all come down to one man. If we do not go to war with Iran, it will all come down to one, that same man. So while Admiral Fallon's boss, President George W. Bush, regularly trash-talks his way to world war III and his administration casually casts Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as this century's Hitler, a crown it has awarded once before, to deadly effect, it's left to Fallon, and apparently Fallon alone, to argue that, as he told al Jazeera last fall, this constant drumbeat of conflict is not helpful and not useful.

Another sign that the U.S. may be thinking about war is the offensive against the Mahdi Army. Moqtada al Sadr has promised full-scale attacks on America's interests in Iraq in the event of strikes on Iran. As commander of the multinational force in Iraq, General David Petraeus still presides as the commander of the Iraqi security forces as well. Any operation against the Mahdi Army would have been authorized by him. What motivation did the United States have in fueling a violent confrontation with the powerful militia at a time when al Sadr had declared a truce and the progress of the surge was being reported to Congress?

One explanation is that recent operations against al Sadr's militia, the Mahdi Army, may have been meant to neutralize possible resistance inside of Iraq in the event of a strike on Iran." - Rep. Maxine Waters, April 15, 2008

See new video: NBC Makes Mockery of US Constitution & Rule of Law

Tell them you will not stand for another war!

1 comment:

David said...

Fallon's resignation, though it could (probably does) portend war, at least signals us that some U.S. military still have enough brains and spine to resist. Fallon may have many silent supports willing to respond to his leadership in absentia. This will factor into the equation I hope


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Vehicles And Fleet

15 Passenger Van

Ford Clubwagon

vehicle features
Ford Clubwagon
Number of Passengers:15
Luggage Capacity:3
Stereo:AM/FM w/ cassette
Air Conditioning:Dual A / C

Traveling with a group? Everyone gets a good view of this exciting city with a 15 passenger from AAMCAR!

click thumbnail for larger image


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Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Getting settled in

We are almost settled in here in Mississippi at Cypress Hill RV Park for the time being. We have not decided how long we are going to stay in this location so it’s just a month to month thing for us for now.

Finding a Doctor has been the most troublesome obstacle we have encountered thus far. Due to the pain medication we are on these doctors want us to see a pain specialist. Their fear is not weather we need the pain medication or not but rather fear of the DEA for them issuing such medications. The one doctor we found so far insisted we take a urine test to verify that the level of medication issued is in our systems and that we are not selling our pain medications on the black market.

Although we had a few problems with our MH on the trip over from New Mexico, we have not had to do any repairs since we parked it here. The sites are large for such a small RV park. Each of the back in sites have concrete patios and there is plenty of room to park a vehicle between the patio and the next RV site.

Amenities  do not include cable TV. The WiFi is untrusting as it is always getting knocked off line and requires the park manager to go to the center of the park and flip a switch to reset the WiFi . When we are able to connect the strength is “very low” usually one bar. This make surfing the internet a real pain. We are looking into purchasing our own WiFi or MiFi system as well as satellite TV system. This will depend on us making up our minds as to how long we can live without these amenities.

Jim and Dee said...

It's good to see a post again. I love your layout.

Rick and Elaine NB said...

That is nuts just can't take your script to a pharmacy and have it filled for your pain meds?? Just another thing to add to my already growing list of 'things to do' before we take off...I think my will be cooperative and fill me up for 6 mos at a time...hopefully..have enjoyed your calm you both handled the problems so far...I need to learn to "be like that"...I tend to your rig..and the computer setup is awesome...see you some night in RV chat!!!

Me and My Dog said...

I, too, love your layout. With such good office space, how can you live without good connections? That would drive me crazy.


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Duetto/Bistro Transforming Table
Duetto / BistroDuetto / BistroDuetto / BistroDuetto / BistroDuetto / Bistro

The Duetto table is a multifunctional design that converts from coffee to dining height, while the Bistro table transforms from dining to bar height.  The Duetto/Bistro transforming designs feature a solid wood structure and a round or square top available in wood or laminate. SJ14

Lead time: 12-16 weeks

Pricing: Everything is made to order. Call for pricing, or click here to request a quote.

Origin: Made in Italy

Finishes: Click here pdf presentation

Product Dimensions: Click here pdf presentation

Spec Sheet: Click here pdf presentation


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Coming Soon!
Raggamuffin 2011
Andrew McManus Presents is proud to announce the line up for Australia’s largest reggae festival, Raggamuffin 2011, which is in its fourth consecutive year. The stellar 2011 line up includes; Mary J. Blige, Jimmy Cliff, Maxi Priest, Sean Paul, The Original Wailers, Ky-Mani Marley, The Black Seeds & The Red Eyes. Tickets will go on sale on Wednesday 3rd November at 9am via or by phone 136 100.

Promoter, Andrew McManus says, ‘I’m really proud of the 2011 Raggamuffin line up this year. It’s a superstar bill. It’s our fourth year running and the festival continues to grow stronger by the year. We have always had great feedback from this festival and we will continue to grow with the coming years. Reggae Music has really grown to become a worldwide cultural and musical expression – the festival is always a lot of fun and the fans walk away feeling uplifted and inspired.’

Raggamuffin has an outstanding line up for 2011 including international artists, such as, Mary J. Blige who is the recipient of nine Grammy Awards and who has recorded eight muti-platinum albums. Mary J. Blige has sold over 50 million albums and 15 million singles worldwide.

Raggamuffin is proud to also present, Jimmy Cliff for the 2011 line up. Jimmy Cliff has released over 20 albums to date. Jimmy Cliff has always been one of the brightest stars of Jamaica’s thriving musical culture and was among the first to bring reggae to a worldwide audience. Also, joining the bill this year is one of the most successful reggae fusion acts of all-time, Maxi Priest and Grammy Award winning reggae artist, Sean Paul. Bob Marley & the Wailers, together sold more than 400 million albums in the last four decades, and The Wailers helped propel this international success. Today, three legendary Wailers have reformed to create a new, tighter band, The Original Wailers who will also perform at Raggamuffin next year. Ky-Mani Marley will also perform at Raggamuffin in 2011 who has followed in the legacy of his father's footsteps. Ky-Mani Marley continues on with the pop-reggae sound for which his family is famous for and he has also developed a huge following on the reggae charts. NZ band, The Black Seeds who have achieved two double-platinum selling albums and a masterful 8-piece live show also look forward to performing at Raggamuffin in 2011. Melbourne band, The Red Eyes continue to wow audiences with their unique sound, combining masterfully produced beats, soulful, heartfelt lyrics and grooves, with shake the house dub rhythms that have set a benchmark for Australian Dub/Reggae.

Wednesday 26 January 2011 - FREMANTLE OVAL, PERTH (18+)
Friday 28 January 2011 - PARRAMATTA PARK, SYDNEY (18+)
Saturday 29 January 2011 - SHOWGROUNDS, MELBOURNE
Sunday 30 January 2011 - PINE RIVERS PARK, BRISBANE (18+)
Wednesday 2 February 2011 - MEMORIAL DRIVE, ADELAIDE (18+)

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Zimbabwe schools accept goats for tuition fees

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Parents in Zimbabwe who cannot afford school fees can offer livestock such as goats or sheep as payment, a government minister has said.

The country's education minister Lazarus Dokora told the pro-government Sunday Mail newspaperthat schools will have to show flexibility when it comes to demanding tuition fees from parents, and that they should accept not only livestock, but also services and skills. "If there is a builder in the community, he/she must be given that opportunity to work as a form of payment of tuition fees," the paper quoted him as saying.

Some schools are already accepting livestock as payments, the Sunday Mail reports.

A ministry official clarified Dr Dokora's comments: "Parents of the concerned children can pay the fees using livestock. That is mostly for rural areas, but parents in towns and cities can pay through other means; for instance, doing certain work for the school."

It follows a move last week where Zimbabwe allowed people to use their livestock, such as goats, cows and sheep, to back bank loans. Under legislation introduced in parliament this week, borrowers would be allowed to register "movable" assets, including motor vehicles and machinery, as collateral, the BBC's World Business Report said.

According to the Bulawayo24 news portal, Zimbabwe's worsening cash crisis means that people frequently spend hours queueing at banks to withdraw cash. The government says the shortage is due to people taking hard currency out of the country, but critics say it's due to lack of investment and rising unemployment, Bulawayo24 says.

Social media has met the goats-for-fees idea with a mixture of scorn and gallows humour. Zimbabwean novelist Tsitsi Dangarembga tweeted "If we had been told in 1970 'We are fighting to introduce cattle and goats as currency. Please help & die for this' what would we have said?"; while another Twitter user - recognising the fact that not all farm animals are born equal - asked "Can I get a job as a goat evaluator?"

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© 2014-2016 Reuben Abati


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June 20, 2013 – Revolution3 Triathlon series is ready for several of the top professionals in the world to appear on the start line this Sunday in Williamsburg, including all of the series contenders.

Three of the top five men from REV3 Quassy are back on the East Coast in historical Williamsburg for what is sure to be a challenging and fast course. In the women’s field, Kelly Williamson stands out as the favorite on paper, and race day should showcase some younger athletes striving for that coveted podium. With $50,000 prize purse and $5,000 in primes, the pace is sure to be as hot as the temperature.

The swim takes place in the James River, near the historic Jamestown Island. Look for Eric Limkemann to take the control of the swim and initiate a gap early. James Hadley, coming off a podium at Kansas 70.3, should exit the water near Limkemann. Kevin Collington, fresh off a 5th at Quassy, should be near the front onto the bike.

The action will heat up as 2nd place REV3 Quassy finisher and last year series champion Richie Cunningham, and Andrew Starykowicz, dig in on the bike. Both are known for their biking strength, with Starykowicz making a verbal point each race that he wants to be in the lead onto the run.David Thompson should also make his way to the front midway through the bike.  The bike course is an out and back that meanders through the quaint countryside of James City County and finishes on the campus of the College of William and Mary.  The athletes will have points to site what is happening ahead and behind them during the bike. The question is whether or not Limkemann and Starykowicz’s bike lead will be enough to hold off the runners this weekend.

“The course is mostly flat, with a few rolling hills to keep you honest,” said Charlie Patten, founder of Revolution 3. “This course will allow the athletes to show their speed and endurance.”  The run course loops through the City of Williamsburg and back through the college campus.  The run is mostly flat, with a few hills scattered throughout.  Look for the fast feet of Collington and Cunningham to set the run pace early, and this course certainly favors speed. The weather could play a role late in the run, with highs in the 90’s expected.

Athletes will finish in heart of William and Mary and just steps away from some of the most historic sites within the United States. Williamsburg, Virginia is home to the famous Colonial Williamsburg, the nation’s largest living history museum, which introduces visitors to life in 18th century America. The historic Jamestown Island and Yorktown Battlefield are nearby, earning Williamsburg the nickname of the “Historic Triangle.”

“I’m really excited to be racing in such a historical place,” 2012 REV3 Series winner, Cunningham said. “I can’t believe no one else has ever put on a race here. Rev3 is living up to its reputation for putting on great races at great, family-friendly venues.”

The women’s race might just be the Kelly Williamson show. However, Lauren Goss is in the midst of her best season to record and could contend with the middle distance star.  Look for these two women to exit the swim at the front. Both women feature a similar gunning race style, Goss with the short course speed and Williamson with the years of long course experience.

“I actually visited Williamsburg as a kid, one of our family vacations…I was young and don’t remember much but I do recall it being very quaint, cute and historical. This race is unique in that these events don’t often happen in historical towns such as Williamsburg,” Williamson said. “The location also allows a lot of family support; I have family coming from VA and South Carolina, and when you can race and see family it’s always an added bonus.”

Malaika HomoTenille Hoogland, and Jessica Jones are all REV3 veterans and hunting for series points, so the second half of the race should light up while the women chase for podium spots and REV3 series points.

Activities for the whole family start Friday with the race expo, which runs all three days of the event. Families are also encouraged to take part in the Little Rev Family Adventure Race on Saturday. This scavenger hunt sends teams of three searching for clues, solving puzzles and completing obstacles throughout William & Mary Campus.

Rev3 offers an event to the weekend called Rev3 5KGlow which will be a 3.1 mile fun run taking place Friday night just before sunset, running through New Town.  Rev3 invites the media to come and share in the activities offered during this three-day festival. Inquiries and requests should be sent to kelly@mozaikgroup.com.


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09 April 2013

a quilt in process made by friends.

what a beautiful "book stacks" quilt made by casey and nikole.  it's fantastic!  we hand stitched a bit in preparation for it's wonderful completion.  the quilt will receive binding this weekend and will be ready for the big auction it's been made for.  some of the fabrics were hand stamped by a class of 4 & 5 year olds at the preschool my sweet boy attended.  those were three very happy years in his life.  so happy to show love through a few stitches for this work that will benefit the scholarship fund.  love.

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Tag Archives: detectors

The LIGO Scientific Collaboration and the Virgo Collaboration identify a second gravitational wave event from another pair of black holes in the data from Advanced LIGO detectors

Gravitational waves detected from second pair of colliding black holes

The LIGO Scientific Collaboration and the Virgo Collaboration identify a second gravitational wave event in the data from Advanced LIGO detectors

PAPER: http://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.241103

IMAGES & AUDIO: https://caltech.app.box.com/v/LIGO-JuneAAS

On December 26, 2015 at 03:38:53 UTC, scientists observed gravitational waves–ripples in the fabric of spacetime–for the second time.

The gravitational waves were detected by both of the twin Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) detectors, located in Livingston, Louisiana, and Hanford, Washington, USA.

The LIGO Observatories are funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), and were conceived, built, and are operated by Caltech and MIT. The discovery, accepted for publication in the journal Physical Review Letters, was made by the LIGO Scientific Collaboration (which includes the GEO Collaboration and the Australian Consortium for Interferometric Gravitational Astronomy) and the Virgo Collaboration using data from the two LIGO detectors.

Gravitational waves carry information about their origins and about the nature of gravity that cannot otherwise be obtained, and physicists have concluded that these gravitational waves were produced during the final moments of the merger of two black holes–14 and 8 times the mass of the sun–to produce a single, more massive spinning black hole that is 21 times the mass of the sun.

“It is very significant that these black holes were much less massive than those observed in the first detection,” says Gabriela González, LIGO Scientific Collaboration (LSC) spokesperson and professor of physics and astronomy at Louisiana State University. “Because of their lighter masses compared to the first detection, they spent more time–about one second–in the sensitive band of the detectors. It is a promising start to mapping the populations of black holes in our universe.”

During the merger, which occurred approximately 1.4 billion years ago, a quantity of energy roughly equivalent to the mass of the sun was converted into gravitational waves. The detected signal comes from the last 27 orbits of the black holes before their merger. Based on the arrival time of the signals–with the Livingston detector measuring the waves 1.1 milliseconds before the Hanford detector–the position of the source in the sky can be roughly determined.

“In the near future, Virgo, the European interferometer, will join a growing network of gravitational wave detectors, which work together with ground-based telescopes that follow-up on the signals,” notes Fulvio Ricci, the Virgo Collaboration spokesperson, a physicist at Istituto Nazionale di Nucleare (INFN) and professor at Sapienza University of Rome. “The three interferometers together will permit a far better localization in the sky of the signals.”

The first detection of gravitational waves, announced on February 11, 2016, was a milestone in physics and astronomy; it confirmed a major prediction of Albert Einstein’s 1915 general theory of relativity, and marked the beginning of the new field of gravitational-wave astronomy.

The second discovery “has truly put the ‘O’ for Observatory in LIGO,” says Caltech’s Albert Lazzarini, deputy director of the LIGO Laboratory. “With detections of two strong events in the four months of our first observing run, we can begin to make predictions about how often we might be hearing gravitational waves in the future. LIGO is bringing us a new way to observe some of the darkest yet most energetic events in our universe.”

“We are starting to get a glimpse of the kind of new astrophysical information that can only come from gravitational wave detectors,” says MIT’s David Shoemaker, who led the Advanced LIGO detector construction program.

Both discoveries were made possible by the enhanced capabilities of Advanced LIGO, a major upgrade that increases the sensitivity of the instruments compared to the first generation LIGO detectors, enabling a large increase in the volume of the universe probed

“With the advent of Advanced LIGO, we anticipated researchers would eventually succeed at detecting unexpected phenomena, but these two detections thus far have surpassed our expectations,” says NSF Director France A. Córdova. “NSF’s 40-year investment in this foundational research is already yielding new information about the nature of the dark universe.”

Advanced LIGO’s next data-taking run will begin this fall. By then, further improvements in detector sensitivity are expected to allow LIGO to reach as much as 1.5 to 2 times more of the volume of the universe. The Virgo detector is expected to join in the latter half of the upcoming observing run.

LIGO research is carried out by the LIGO Scientific Collaboration (LSC), a group of more than 1,000 scientists from universities around the United States and in 14 other countries. More than 90 universities and research institutes in the LSC develop detector technology and analyze data; approximately 250 students are strong contributing members of the collaboration. The LSC detector network includes the LIGO interferometers and the GEO600 detector.

Virgo research is carried out by the Virgo Collaboration, consisting of more than 250 physicists and engineers belonging to 19 different European research groups: 6 from Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) in France; 8 from the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN) in Italy; 2 in The Netherlands with Nikhef; the MTA Wigner RCP in Hungary; the POLGRAW group in Poland and the European Gravitational Observatory (EGO), the laboratory hosting the Virgo detector near Pisa in Italy.

The NSF leads in financial support for Advanced LIGO. Funding organizations in Germany (Max Planck Society), the U.K. (Science and Technology Facilities Council, STFC) and Australia (Australian Research Council) also have made significant commitments to the project.

Several of the key technologies that made Advanced LIGO so much more sensitive have been developed and tested by the German UK GEO collaboration. Significant computer resources have been contributed by the AEI Hannover Atlas Cluster, the LIGO Laboratory, Syracuse University, the ARCCA cluster at Cardiff University, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and the Open Science Grid. Several universities designed, built, and tested key components and techniques for Advanced LIGO: The Australian National University, the University of Adelaide, the University of Western Australia, the University of Florida, Stanford University, Columbia University in the City of New York, and Louisiana State University. The GEO team includes scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute, AEI), Leibniz Universität Hannover, along with partners at the University of Glasgow, Cardiff University, the University of Birmingham, other universities in the United Kingdom and Germany, and the University of the Balearic Islands in Spain.

For more information and interview requests, please contact:

Kimberly Allen
Director of Media Relations
Deputy Director, MIT News Office
617-253-2702 (office)
617-852-6094 (cell)

Whitney Clavin
Senior Content and Media Strategist
626-390-9601 (cell)

Ivy Kupec
Media Officer
703-292-8796 (Office)
703-225-8216 (Cell)

LIGO Scientific Collaboration
Mimi LaValle
External Relations Manager
Louisiana State University
225-439-5633 (Cell)

EGO-European Gravitational Observatory
Séverine Perus
Media Contact
Tel +39 050752325


text:
Daniel Wilkinson

About the Author Daniel Wilkinson

Daniel Wilkinson specializes in financial market topics. Before joining Review fortune’s Content Solutions Unit (CSU), he worked in a senior editorial role at Wall Street & Technology where he reported on all aspects at the intersection of capital markets, investment management IT. Dan has widespread experience covering big data, data security, mobility, enterprise technology, and the impact of regulations and social media on business strategy. He has also held project management, content marketing, and business development roles at a startup brokerage firm, and regularly reported on the US stock market and trading strategies. Daniel is a graduate of New York University with a dual bachelor’s degree in both economics and finance.


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Get the book here

Friday, April 29, 2016

Accused, Dismayed, Baffled - A Unique Chapter in Bible Quizzing

If you know me even casually, you know that Bible Quizzing ( has been a huge part of the ministry to which the Lord has called me.

I've been involved since 1977...for two decades I directed the quiz program at Family Life Ministries in NY (and PA); and continue to be very much involved since moving to Midland Ministries.

I've often said it's the only thing I can in which I can't lose...I can preach and blow it, counsel and blow it, but facilitating the memorization of God's Word is a win-win...

In all training of volunteers, in all opportunities to promote quizzing I (and others) point out that mere memorization is not the goal...thinking about, chewing on, figuring out how passages apply to our daily walking around life is the goal. And, even if teens shun that part, if they don't receive guidance at home...they are still filling their minds with the holy inspired active Word of God...and "the Word of God does the work of God" is a cliche because it is true.

A few weeks ago I was able to see a couple who I've known for decades. We became friends while I served in NY; they then moved overseas for many years; and came back stateside a few years ago. They were financial supporters (I serve as a home missionary) and often communicated, asking for prayers and offering encouragement.

During our recent face to face we observed and discussed Bible quizzing. Their children had been involved in another form of Bible quizzing, and had a bad experience.

When we had to say "goodbye" the possibility, even probability, was that they were going to send their children to Midland's camp the week I am speaking this summer.

A while later I received an email from the husband that, in part, read:

"I am a layman without formal training who has been fighting institutionalized movements with good intentions but wrong primary or secondary focus. An example of misplaced primary focus is "Focus on the Family" and secondary focus is "The Navigators" with their memorization instead of meditation. Oh, how powerful it would be if someone were to turn the who memorization focus to day&night meditation and teach folks to pray without ceasing, dwell in the house of the Lord all the day long, abide in Jesus,  ... God's Word taken into memory in the heart through meditation is a strongly prescribed method in the Word of God."

He included a copy of an email he sent to his wife:

"I am not weak in either my Bible knowledge or my christian experience. My objection has nothing to do with the Power of God's Word. This is a misdirected rebuttal to my objection to memorization without personal meditation/ application.

It is so sad (not being cynical) to see folks like Jack spending so much energy and time misleading many by promoting memorization - path to the brain/memory, instead of meditation  - path to the heart, which God has prescribed in His Word so clearly. Here are just a handful of popular references that allude to heart both in the positive and the negative effects of the misplaced priority.
Deut 6:1-9, Josh 1:8, Psalm 119:9-11, Matthew 15:7-19, Heb 4:12, ...

Its up to you if we should take this issue up with him or not.  I am tired of warning "so-called" well-meaning believers more than once or twice."

After thinking about it for a while, I responded with this:

"I admit I am a bit shocked to be called a "misleader". If that is your true thought than I think you should obviously quit financially supporting me as that would make you, in effect, a co conspirator. In practices our coaches are instructed and encouraged to devote time to discussing the meaning of the verses (in context) and to dwell on them. They can not be meditated on if they are not memorized. Memorization is a step on the path, not the path itself. Meditation...or memorization...without application is not the end either.
... God's Word should be memorized (Jesus did), God's Word should be chewed upon (meditation), God's Word should be lived, God's Word should be shared.

In view of your statements I would assume your kids will not be coming to our camp; as we do Bible quizzing as part of the program.

I appreciate your honesty, appreciate you all, and am still a little dismayed that you view much of my life and ministry as misleading..."

The final communication I've had is this, from the wife:

"In all the verses that we have studied and discussed through this thread, meditation is the repeated instruction.  Even the devotional that you forwarded had at its core meditating, not memorizing.   I understand that it is hard to test or make a fun way to test meditation.  But what we found from our family's star quizzers was this: Memorizing scripture brought with it a "form of godliness" that was so contrary to God's way.  We saw our children be excited about gaining head knowledge without heart knowledge.  This was the reason we pulled out of quizzing.  I want my children to love God and His word, and I detest the substitutions to true Godliness.

I struggle with the fact that it is ugly and unpleasant to not dwell together in unity.  I sometimes am willing to compromise on God's demands in order to have harmony.  This is my nature and God is teaching me even through this experience to hold Him high beyond my friendships."

The loss of a $100.00 monthly supporter is not a thrill, but not as bad as losing the respect and friendship of this wonderful family.

Apparently their previous experience with quizzing resulted in a child being, at least from their perspective, over-competitive...I am trying not to read between the proverbial lines...

In forty years of involvement in quizzing I've never have seen an argument such as this (there are plenty of objections...wrong translation, how dare you compete over God's Word, etc...but never has someone accused me of misleading people.

Does it hurt?

Sort of. I've got pretty thick skin (right or wrong).

But what really baffles me is how memorization of God's sharper-than-a-two-edged sword is, in and of itself, "bad'?

I don't get it.

But I'll not concentrate on it by His grace; I'll look forward (we are in Colorado Springs for the National Tournament) and instead remember the teens and "alumni" of quizzing who tell me that it was a huge part of their spiritual maturity and how the Word they memorized years ago "pops" up in their minds at the most appropriate time. (or, from their perspective - in "Jack, I was about to do something really dumb when a passage I memorized in quizzing came back to my mind...)

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Crony Fascism Strikes Again

Thursday, March 24, 2011
By Paul Martin

How the Federal Reserve is juicing speculators… again

by David Stockman

Someone has to stop the Fed before it crushes what remains of America’s main street economy. Last Friday morning alone it launched two more financial sector pumping operations which will harm the real economy, even as these actions juice Wall Street’s speculative humors.

First, joining the central banking cartels’ market rigging operation in support of the yen, the Fed helped bail-out carry traders from a savage short-covering squeeze. Then, green lighting the big banks for another go-round of the dividend and share-buyback scam, it handsomely rewarded options traders who had been front-running this announcement for weeks.

Indeed, this sort of action is so blatant that the Fed might as well just look for a financial vein in the vicinity of 200 West St. [Goldman Sachs (GS) headquarters], and proceed straight-away to mainline the trading desks located there. In fact, such an action would amount to a POMO [Permanent Open Market Operations] – so it is already doing just that!

In any event, the yen intervention certainly had nothing to do with the evident distress of the Japanese people. What happened is that one of the potent engines of the global carry-trade – the massive use of the yen as a zero cost funding currency – backfired violently in response to the unexpected disasters in Japan.

Accordingly, this should have been a moment of condign punishment – wiping out years of speculative gains in heavily leveraged commodity and Emerging Markets currency and equity wagers, and putting two-way risk back into the markets for so-called risk assets. Instead, once again, speculators were assured that in the global financial casino operated by the world’s central bankers, the house always has their back – this time with an exchange rate cap on what would otherwise have been a catastrophic surge in their yen funding costs.

Is it any wonder, then, that the global economy is being pummeled by one speculative tsunami after the next? Ever since the latest surge was trigged last summer by the Jackson Hole smoke signals about QE2, the violence of the price action in the risk asset flavor of the week – cotton, met coal, sugar, oil, coffee, copper, rice, corn, heating oil and the rest – has been stunning, with moves of 10% a week or more.

In the face of these ripping commodity index gains, the Fed’s argument that surging food costs are due to emerging market demand growth is just plain lame. Was there a worldwide fasting ritual going on during the months just before the August QE2 signals when food prices were much lower? And haven’t the EM economies been growing at their present pace for about the last 15 years now, not just the last seven months?

Similarly, the supply side has had its floods and droughts – like always. But these don’t explain the price action, either. Take Dr. Copper’s own price chart during the past 12 months: last March the price was $3.60 per pound – after which it plummeted to $2.80 by July, rose to $4.60 by February and revisited $4.10 per pound a few days ago.

The Rest…HERE

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Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Some Thoughts Scanning Through?

I had some projects that I set myself up to do earlier this year and I never got around to doing most of them and the ones I did do failed miserably. What I learned from those experiences is to not tell anyone or make any real mentions of ideas etc with people till most of its done or else peeps are gonna be like so whatever happened to that book thing? or whatever I dunno don't sell something till the product is done and or doesn't suck.

I bought a scanner in late 2008 maybe and It's come to my attention that i still don't quite understand it. Dpi's still kinda confuses me and all I know is that I don't really understand technology. I bring this up because I always lose quality (what quality ... shut up insecure voices) in my scribz when I post'em any ways whatever. It's Summer 2010 sometime has passed and I don't think I've evolved changed or become any better at well anything. So in good faith I can't continue this series of being whack.

The only way I think I could remedy this era of not being awesome is to take some classes at not being so whack. So I guess I'm a gonna get some schooling.

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. community —

Marco Donnarumma Augmented Media Performance @ WRO Biennale 13th May

  • Location:
    The Grotowosky Institute, Wroclaw, Poland, PL

I Cntrl Nature | Audiovisual concert for augmented electric bass guitar, self-designed software and butterfly
I Cntrl Nature (Marco Donnarumma, 2009) is an unambiguous, synesthetic action of audiovisual improvisation.The live act represents the sarcastic celebration of the human instinct finally able to govern the nature. The improvised body gestures of the performer sculpt in real-time the soundscape and the moving images. The living creature on the screen reacts to the movements of the performer on stage in a mutual agreement and attraction.
Work info: http://marcodonnarumma.com/works/i-cntrl-nature/
Author info: http://marcodonnarumma.com
The WRO Biennal is the leading international forum for new media art in Poland and Central Europe.
Other artists performing at WRO2011:
Stelarc, Istvan Kantor, Incite, Noriko Yamaguchi, Cécile Babiole.
Other upcoming events http://marcodonnarumma.com/calendar


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Thursday, May 30, 2013

Me Made May 2013 Catching Up

May is getting away from me. We only have one more day left in May, so I need to do a little catch up.
Day 24
Last Friday we were supposed to do something to depict our home town. I was busy working on projects last Friday and more often than not, this is my uniform when I know that I won't really being seeing anyone. Not very exciting, I know. I did not make the jeans or the white t-shirt. The only thing I'm wearing that I did make is the t-shirt.
T-shirts with logos are usually not made like I would like for them to be made. So what I usually do is buy an x-large t-shirt, cut it apart and then I use this old Stretch & Sew pattern to make a t-shirt that I'll enjoy wearing.
This t-shirt came from what was my favorite airport restaurant, Shannon's Landing. Sadly, the recession did it in and it is no longer open. At least I have the t-shirt and the fun memories.
I should have been a cowgirl! I have owned and loved pink cowgirl boots my entire life. The leather is beginning to split on these so it will be time for a new pair soon. The sad part about it it that these are so comfortable. I just hate to give them up :(
Day 26
On Sunday my husband and I celebrated our 29th wedding anniversary. I was a child bride by the way ;-) We had a lovely day. There's a restaurant that I have been wanting to try since they opened and I wanted to try their brunch. I did not disappoint. If you are ever in Chicago I highly recommend having brunch at Nightwood. Everything was so very good. It was cold on Sunday. Funny since today is as hot as Hades! That's Chicago weather for you. Anyway, I was cold so I decided to dress warmly.
The sleeve on this jacket was done for this Sleeves On Saturday post.
The picture isn't the best as I look a little heavy in the picture with the wide leg pants and the swing jacket. In real life is looks pretty nice together. I lined the jacket with the same fabric that I used for the top. I also have a matching skirt, but I never wear the skirt and top with the jacket as it is a very full skirt.
The top is fun to wear. The front is cut on the bias and the back is on the straight of grain. I need to make the pants in another fabric so that the details show up a little better.
Day 27
I did this top for a Fabulous Free Pattern Friday post. It's the Draped Poet's Blouse. I wear this top quite a bit in the summer as it just floats around the body. I did not make the t-shirt or the leggings.

 You can find the post I did on this top here.
Day 28
I taught a class and it was really warm on Tuesday. I wanted something that I wouldn't melt in so I wore this dress which is one of my patterns. When I originally drafted the pattern, it was intended to have sleeves. I love it with sleeves, but I also enjoy it without sleeves. The neckline drapes in an asymmetrical fashion. One sleeve is a regular set in sleeve and the other side is a drop shoulder sleeve.
Day 29
I had a lot of errands to do on Wednesday, so I just threw on a pair of tights that I did make. They are a stretch denim fabric. The vest is a FFPF piece, just two rectangles. You can find that post here. I also made my necklace and bracelet, although you really can't see them very well. The beads are African beads.
Day 30
Today I was teaching again and I decided to wear my Perfect Travel Dress. So comfortable and easy to wear. I call this mindless dressing as all I have to do is throw on the dress and out the door I go. You can find the post for this dress here.
I need to find the pictures from last Thursday and Saturday, tomorrow :) There's still another day!
Me Made May has been a very interesting experience for me. It's something that I'm very happy to have done.
Until tomorrow!

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  1. You are always sew busy. Love those boots and all your garments.

    1. Thanks Faye. I'm really not so busy. I find plenty of time to sit and veg out in front of the t.v. !!

  2. Happy anniversary! I love your anniversary outfit, and I love it that you got to go to Nightwood! I'll make it there one of these days :-) Also loving your travel dress. That one is on my never-ending to-sew list!

  3. 1. Cowboy Boots! Yes! My favorite pair is over 20 years old, and beat to s**t, but I keep re-soling them, and patching the toe....I just can't give them up because nothing else is as comfortable!
    2. Jeans and a t-shirt - another yes! lol...I really tried to avoid too much of that for mmm, and the truth is I want to make more ordinary, short sleeved tshirts, because it's really my at-home uniform.
    3. So many gorgeous outfits! Actually, ALL of them (including the jeans & t-shirt, because I have such respect for it :)
    4. "Interesting" is an understatement. I'm SO happy that I did this!

  4. P.S. - forgot to say Happy Anniversary! :)

  5. Lovely you had a wonderful anniversary, congratulations. Love all outfits and the fact that you drafted most of them is impressive.

  6. Happy Anniversary. You are so inspirational and elegant.

  7. You never cease to amaze me...Happy anniversary :) My grandmother was a child bride too.

  8. Rhonda,
    Congratulations on 29 years of marriage, what a wonderful accomplishment. Love the clothes, especially the travel dress.
    Ann V

  9. Happy anniv! And I love your outfit on 5/29 :-)

  10. Congratulations on you Anniversary.
    You really are a truly creative sewer. I love how you use simple ideas and beatiful colours and then give back to us all to use.

  11. Qué elegante y alegre vas siempre!!
    Mi favorito: camiseta y leggins día 27, ooooooh!

    Feliz aniversario! Nosotros ya cumplimos 31!!

  12. Congratulations 29 years is wonderful love day 28 dress you are so clever :)


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Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Weighing the Harpy

Originally I toyed with giving this blog post the title 'I'm Sorry I haven't a Clute' as a punning reference to the BBC Radio 4 comedy program, but it would be highly inaccurate, for the simple reason that I do have a Clute. The latest Clute in fact, Pardon This Intrusion, a collection of 47 essays, just published by Beccon Publications.

John Clute (1940-2086?) is perhaps the most significant British critic of science fiction and fantasy. His reviews appeared in the legendary New Worlds magazine among many other places, and he is a multiple Hugo award winner for his outstanding encyclopedias, The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and The Encyclopedia of Fantasy. I think I might be included as an entry in the revised edition of the latter. If so, I'm chuffed, as I'm extremely fond of being an entry in encyclopedias!

Pardon This Intrusion features two essays Clute has written about my books. I'm delighted to report that he has given me permission to replicate one of these essays, which concentrates on my Worming the Harpy book. I am flattered and honoured to do so here. Ready?

[John Clute's essay on Worming the Harpy]

Welcome to the first big room in the house of many mansions of Rhys Hughes, at last. It's about time. An earlier version of Worming the Harpy has of course already appeared – Tartarus Press's handsome but highly limited edition from 1995 – but for most of us that edition can have been little more than a rumour. A few copies were available on the net, it's true; but the cheapest of them – complete with torn dustwrapper — was listed at almost £170, or $300 plus. Undamaged copies were a lot more. Rhys Hughes may have benefited from the intense industriousness of presses like Tartarus, but their niche focus has clearly kept him from most of us.

This cannot have entirely pleased Hughes; and for anyone interested in the literature of the fantastic at the cusp of century change, it has been extremely frustrating not to be able to start at the beginning of an enterprise – a career – so far iterated in what seem to be hundreds of stories, though it is hard to count. Partly this is a practical consequence of their fragmentary publication history over the fifteen or so years of Hughes's active career; more importantly, his avowed goal to write a thousand stories – each one of them somehow linked to all the others, a kind of rat-king whose roots adhere Eden to Jerusalem – turns out to be a good deal more than flamboyance. The echolalia one feels in the heart of a typical Hughes story is generated by at least two motors of referenciality. The first is the hyperlinking of story to story, so that each story reads, in part, like an eddy in the gnarly ocean of the whole.

But there is also the outside world. As with some other creators of works at home surfing the fractal chassis of the exceedingly strange era we are now passing into, Hughes seems to inhabit – to breathe the air of – almost any earlier writer one might think to recognize signalling up through the banyan of the thousand stories as they hit the open air out of their single root; in an introduction to his New Universal History of Infamy (2004), I mentioned echoes and transfigurations I thought I noticed from J B Morton to Italo Calvino, from Franz Kafka to John Sladek, from William Hope Hodgson to Michael Moorcock, from Franz Kafka to Ray Bradbury. I didn't mention E T A Hoffmann then, but would now – the title story, 'Worming the Harpy', plays his slow tunes hurdy-gurdy, hilariously – and I did mention Spike Milligan, and would again, because (I think) in these early stories Hughes exposes himself, rather more than in later work, to our recognition that his similarity to Milligan runs deeper than the occasional shared lurch of phrase, that he writes as though he'd been bloodied in the same wars Milligan fought for eight decades: the same up-yours melancholia about the malice of the absurd – about the absurdness of the world defined not only as an inherent lack of species-friendly grammar in the convulsion of the real, but also a sense that anyone who acts as though he believes what he is told by our Masters will almost necessarily inflict pain on others – that made Puckoon (1963) a very nearly great novel, and that made the five volume War Biography beginning with Adolf Hitler: my Part in his Downfall (1971) one of the funniest demolitions yet published of our cultural narratives. I'm sure I'm not the first one to think of Spike Milligan as a kind of gonzo Beckett; I would also suggest that Rhys Hughes also has what one might call a relationship of noise with Beckett: his response to the irrefutable Beckett mantra – I can't go on I must go on – being precisely that of going on. "You're going the wrong way" says Vladimir in Waiting for Godot (1952). "I need a running start" says Pozzo. "Stand back!"

Even at the beginning of his career, every story Hughes writes is cast into a cruel world; but, as with any writer one really cares about, each story is loved, and its betrayal into an awful world likely to destroy it is modestly similar to the Kabbalistic notion that, in order to get the stories of the universe going, God commits tsimtsum, a kind of harakiri withdrawal from the pleroma that gives the Real room enough to bang. God so loves the story of the world, in other words, that he tears himself into stories: which get devoured in Time. So it is with every writer worth reading, though some of them do continue to think the human world as having been told off from a divine principle. I think Rhys Hughes does not. I think every echo in every story that he tells is a kind of weapon thrown into the fray of a world that has come a long way from God's beginning Word: that Hughes's stories are about the noise of continuing to go on I can't go on I must go on, in a world that offers the pilgrim – the writer – the raw stinko stump of a protagonist whom we find again and again mouthing at us in one of the stories published here – nothing but broken grammars and apparatchik savageries.

This new edition of Worming the Harpy adds ‘The Forest Chapel Bell’, an excellent dies irae fantasy which fits better here. There are 17 tales altogether. Some of the shorter ones I find a bit garish and pun-driven: ‘The Man Who Mistook His Wife's Hat for the Mad Hatter's Wife’, a series of spoof turns on wordplays, derogates from Oliver Sacks's brilliant The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat (1985), about an intensely moving case of visual agnosia, and from Michael Nyman's good opera of the same name. But the longer tales included here (I think Hughes's ideal length is the novella) are as good as some of his best later work: ‘A Carpet Seldom Found’ is an Answered Prayer story which cunningly and inexorably unpacks the fate it has in store for its greedy protagonist (Hughes's heroes are both oral and miserly: always male, usually solitary: collectors); and ‘The Good News Grimoire’ occupies pulp Europe with a jangly surety of touch, and it is also pretty funny. Hughes is in fact funny almost all the time, though it is sometimes easy to miss the sly joke in the rataplan. Here, from the hilarious exercise in taking things literally, ‘Cello I Love You’:

I have never been attractive to women, which is possibly why I mostly form relationships with inanimate objects. I have a single arm and a single leg and my stale green eyes are so close together that I am able to peep through a keyhole with both of them at once. Nor does my beauty lie beneath my skin; I have no skin.

So. Here is the first instalment, back with us at last and available, a first batch of tales tossed into the world machine. I have no idea if Rhys Hughes will ever finish telling his thousand, and to be honest I almost hope he stops counting. What I think I want is that the hurl of tales that begins here does not – short of that which stops us all – ever stop.

Needless to say, I'm overjoyed with this interpretation. The comparison to Milligan is especially pleasing to me... The paperback reprint of Worming the Harpy is available directly from Tartarus Press or from Amazon and many other places... This very morning I decided to weigh the book as an experiment. Back in 1907 the maverick doctor Duncan MacDougall tried to weigh the human soul by placing the beds of dying patients on large weighing scales. He claimed a value of 21 grams for the human soul. Worming the Harpy weighs 360 grams, the equivalent of 17.14286 human souls; almost exactly the number of stories contained in the book! Coincidence? I think not! Bullcrap? Yes, probably.

Anyway, John Clute is appearing tonight (June 21st) at the British Library, London, from 18:30 to 20:00, together with Michael Moorcock, Brian Aldiss and Norman Spinrad. Tickets for this event have probably sold out, but here's the relevant link anyway.

Wow, that's one good bloody review and from no less than the Great Clute himself!
I'd be chuffed to bits to get one like that *goes green with envy*
Nice one, Rhys :)
Hi Bob! Yes, John Clute has been good to me over the years, as have Mike Moorcock, Michael Bishop, Jeff VanderMeer and a handful of others. It's the appreciation of people like those who make it all worthwhile, frankly!

How are things with you? Good I hope!
Hmmm... my comment makes it look like I don't want the appreciation of "ordinary" readers. I didn't mean it that way, at all!

I mean that the support of writers one admires helps to nullify the negative energy radiated by certain small-minded people in the business!
I'm okay, Rhys, ta :)
Hope you're okay too.
Yep nice to have people you admire like your work and of course ordinary readers are appreciated too, after all, it's them we're writing for :)
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