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Monday, 29 April 2013

Some Medieval Bidding Prayers

I came across the following prayers among an assortment of texts published in The Lay Folks Mass Book; or, The manner of hearing mass, with rubrics and devotions for the people, in four texts, and Offices in English according to the use of York, from manuscripts of the Xth to the XVth century, a volume edited for the Early English Text Society in 1879 by Thomas Frederick Simmons. The whole book can be read online here. The Lay Folks' Mass Book is a fascinating fifteenth-century text in rhyming English verse, which guides the lay reader through the form and prayers of the Mass; the prayers I'm posting today aren't part of that text, but were published in the same EETS volume to add some contemporary context. I found little trace of them on the internet, so I thought I'd post and translate them here.

The prayers all originate from York. This one dates to c.1405 (in case your Middle English is a bit rusty, my translation follows):

3e sal mak your prayers specially till our lord god almighti and til his blessyd moder mary and till all the haly court of heuen for the state and the stabilnes of al halykirk. For the pape of Rome and al his cardinals and for the archebishop of York and for al ercebischops and bischops and for al men and women of religion and for the person of this kirke that has your saules to kepe and for all the prestes and clerkes that has serued or serues in this kirk or in any other. And for al prelates and ordiners and al that halykirk reules and gouerns that god len thaim grace so for to reuel the popil and swilk ensaumpil for to tak or scheu thaim and thaim for to do thare-after, that it may be louing unto god and saluacyon of thaire saules.

Also 3e sal pray specially for the gode state of this reume for the kyng and the quene and for al the peris and the lordes of this lande that God send loue and charite thaim omang and gif thaim grace so for to reule it and gouern it in pes that it be louing to God and the comons un-to profet.

Also 3e sal pray specially for tha that lely and trwly payes thare tendes and thair offerandes til God and halykirk and for al that other does that God thaim amende.

Also 3e sal pray specialy for thaim that this kirk first biggid and edefied and al that it up-haldes and for all that thar-in findes boke or chales vestiment lyght or towell, or any other anourment whare-wit godes seruys es sustend and for thaim that halybred gaf to this kirk to day and for thaim that first began and langest haldis on. And for al land tilland and for al see farand and for the wedir and for the fruyt that es on erthe, that the erthe may bring forthe his fruyt cristen men to profet. And for al pilgrymes and palmers and for al that any gode gates has gane or sal ga, and for thaim that brigges and stretes makes and amendes that god grant us parte of thare gode dedes and thaim of oures. Also 3e sal pray for all our parischyns whar-so thai be on land or on water that god saue thaim fra al missaunters and for all wymen that er with chield in this parische or in any other, that God delyuer thaim with joy and gife the child cristendom and thaim purificacion. and for al that er sek and sary that god almighthi conforth thaim and thaim that er in gode lyfe that God hald thaim thare-in. For tham that er in dette or in dedly synne or in prison that God bring tham out thare-of.

For tham and for us and for al cristen folke for charite says a Pater-noster and a aue.

Deus miseratur nostri et cetera.
Gloria Patri.
Kyrie eleyson. Christe eleyson. Kyrie eleyson.
Pater noster.
Et ne nos.
Saluos fac servos tuos, et ancillas tuas, Deus meus.
Esto eis Domine turris fortitudinis.
A facie inimici.
Domine, Deus virtutem.
Et ostende faciem.
Domine exaudi orationem.
Dominus vobiscum.
Ecclesiæ tuæ preces, Domine.
Deus, qui caritatis.
Deus a quo sancta desideria.

Also 3e sal pray specialy til oure lady saynt mary that sche becum oure auoket and at sche pray for hus specially till hir dere son.

And also 3e sal pray specialy for the breder and the sisters of saynt petir minster of york and of sant jon of beuerlay and of saynt wilfryde of rypon and for al that 3e er halden un-to and for al that God wald 3e prayed for says a Pater noster and ave.

Ave regina cælorum.
(In tempore Paschali: Regina cæli, lætare)

Post partum virgo.
Famulorum tuorum.

Also 3e sal pray specialy for our fader saules and our moder saules and for oure god-fader saules and oure god-moder saules and for oure brether saules and oure sister saules and for oure eldir saules and for al the saules of whame the bodis es berid in this kirk or in this kirk-3erde and for al saules that in purgatori godis mercy abydes and for al cristen saules of whame we have had any god of says specialy a Pater-noster and ave.

The manuscript in which this prayer survives is now at Harvard, and there's a description of it here. The language of the prayer is not difficult but there are some phrases which are not quite obvious; by its very nature a prayer like this is repetitive and paratactic, and in the translation which follows, I haven't tried to smooth out those features:

You shall make your prayers especially to our Lord God Almighty and to his blessed mother Mary and to all the holy court of heaven for the state and the stability of all Holy Church. For the Pope of Rome and all his cardinals, and for the Archbishop of York and for all archbishops and bishops, and for all men and women of religion, and for the parson of this church who has the care of your souls, and for all the priests and clerks who have served or serve in this church or in any other. And for all prelates and ordinaries and all who rule and govern Holy Church, that God may grant them grace to rule the people, and to set and show such an example for the people that they may follow it, for the praise of God and the salvation of their souls.

Also you shall pray especially for the good estate of this realm, for the king and the queen, and for all the peers and the lords of this land, that God send love and charity among them and give them grace to rule it and govern it in peace, that it may be for the praise of God and the profit of the commons [i.e. 'benefit of the people'].

Also you shall pray especially for those who loyally and truly pay their tithes and their offerings to God and Holy Church, and for all who do otherwise, that God may bring them amendment.

Also you shall pray especially for those who first built and constructed this church, and all who support it, and for all who provide for it books, chalices, vestments, lights and cloths, or any other ornament whereby God's service is sustained; and for those who gave the holy bread for this church today, and for those who first began this and have the longest maintained it.

And for all tillers of the land and mariners on the sea, and for the weather and the fruit that is on the earth, that the earth may bring forth its fruit for the benefit of all Christians. And for all pilgrims and palmers, and all who have gone on holy journeys or who shall go; and for those who make and maintain bridges and roads, that God may grant us a part in their good deeds, and them in ours. Also you shall pray for all our parishioners, wherever they may be on land or on water, that God may protect them from all misfortune; and for all women who are with child in this parish or in any other, that God may deliver them with joy and give christening to the child and purification to the mother. And for all who are sick and sorrowful, that God Almighty may comfort them, and for those who are in a good state, that God may preserve them in it. For those who are in debt or in mortal sin or in prison, that God bring them out thereof.

For them and for us and for all Christian people, for charity, say a Pater noster and an Ave...

Also you shall pray especially to Our Lady St Mary, that she may become our advocate and that she pray especially for us to her dear Son.

And also you shall pray especially for the brothers and the sisters of St Peter's Minster, York, and of St John of Beverley, and of St Wilfrid of Ripon, and for all to whom you are beholden, and for all for whom God wishes you to pray, say a Pater noster and Ave.

Also you shall pray especially for our fathers' souls, and our mothers' souls, and for our godfathers' souls and our godmothers' souls, and for our brothers' souls and our sisters' souls, and for our ancestors' souls and for all the souls whose bodies are buried in this church or in this churchyard, and for all souls who in Purgatory await God's mercy, and for all Christian souls of whom we have received any good, say especially a Pater noster and an Ave.

Three further prayers can be found here; they're very similar to this one, as you might expect, but with some interesting additional phrases (for instance, the second talks about the 'fair fellowship of heaven'). An illustration of how consistent the form is can be provided by another English prayer, composed almost four hundred years earlier, again in York:
Wutan we gebiddan God ealmitigne, heofena heah cyning, and Sancta Marian, and ealle Godes halgan, þæt we moton Godes ælmihtiges willan gewyrcan þa hwil þe we on þyssan lænan life wunian þæt hy us gehealdan and gescyldan wið ealra feonda costnunga, gesenelicra and ungesenelicra, Pater noster.

Wutan we gebiddan for urne papan on Rome, and for urne cyning, and for [ur]ne arcebisceop and for [ur]ne ealdorman, and for ealle þa þe us gehealdað frið and freondscype on feower healfe into þysse halgan stowe, and for ealle þa þe us fore gebiddað binnan angelcynne and butan angelcynne, Pater noster.

Wutan we gebiddan for ure godsybbas and for ure cumpeðran, and for ure gildan and gildsweostran, and ealles þæs folces gebed þe þas halgan stowe mid ælmesan seceð, mid lihte and mid tigeðinge, and for ealle þa þe we æfre heora ælmessan befonde wæron, ær life and æfter life, Pater [nost]er.

Bidde we...
For Þor[fe]rþes saule bidde we Pater noster, and for micel mere saule, and for ealle þa saula þe fulluht underfengan and on Crist gelyfdan fram Adames dæge to þisum dæge, Pater noster.
A translation:

Let us pray to God Almighty, high king of the heavens, and St Mary, and all saints of God, that we may perform the will of God Almighty as long as we dwell in this fleeting life, that they may protect and shield us from all temptations of the enemy, seen and unseen. Pater noster.

Let us pray for our Pope in Rome, and for our king, and for our archbishop and for our ealdorman, and for all who maintain peace and friendship for us on the four sides of this holy place, and for all who pray for us among the English and outside the English nation. Pater noster.

Let us pray for our sponsors and for our godfathers, and for our guildsmen and guild-sisters, and all the prayers of the people who seek this holy place with alms, with lights and with tithes, and for all from whom we have ever received any good, during life or after our life.

We pray...
We pray a Pater noster for Thorferth's soul, and for many more souls, and for all souls who have received baptism and have believed in Christ from the days of Adam until this day. Pater noster.

This prayer is from the York Gospels (York, Minster Library, Additional 1), a beautiful volume which belonged to the great law-maker and homilist Wulfstan, Archbishop of York, who died in 1023. The book was made in Canterbury c.1000 and went to York in c.1020, probably as a gift to Wulfstan from Cnut and Queen Emma. In York, further texts were added to the gospel-book - some of Wulfstan's own homilies, surveys of lands and other possessions belonging to the archbishop, Cnut's famous 1020 letter to the English people, and these bidding-prayers. Such an assortment of religious, legal and political texts is not at all uncommon in this period; the administrative texts gain greater authority and permanence from being copied into a sacred book.

This point is an interesting one to remember when thinking about bidding prayers, because they are always - even today - the moment in a public religious service where the sacred and the secular meet, or jolt against each other. It's this mixture of the specific and the general which makes bidding prayers like these so fascinating; the form and phrasing is consistent, but the referent is always changing. Both these prayers pray for the king, but 'the kyng' of 1405 is not 'urne cyning' of the Old English prayer (the king most associated with the earlier manuscript is Cnut, and it's fascinating to wonder what might have been the substance of prayers for him, the young Viking Wulfstan was helping to turn into a Christian monarch; but this prayer was probably added a little later in the eleventh century, and so the king here might be a Norman conqueror rather than a Danish one). The meaning of the prayer is therefore context-dependent in a way belied (but also facilitated by) by the non-specific language.

In the prayers quoted here, you can trace the particular concerns of a community at York in much more than the tinge of northern dialect - especially in their petitions for the nearby communities to whom they were bound by mutual obligations of prayer. It was the duty of religious communities to pray for their benefactors, and these prayers take that very seriously. This was one of the aspects of the texts which most struck me, as someone who has (usually in a spirit of patient scepticism) listened to many a bidding prayer - I've never heard anything comparable to the prayers for those who built the church and found for it 'books, chalices, vestments, lights and cloths'. Perhaps we take those things for granted now in a way our medieval forebears could not; but I was at a service of Evensong recently at Binsey (an isolated medieval church near Oxford used only in the summer months) where the visiting vicar scrambled around for candles, one stalwart parishioner had to go in search of hymn-books, and the organist was a newcomer who volunteered on the spur of the moment. It all felt quite impromptu, a strange contrast to the venerable solidity of the 500-year-old words which made up the service. The spirit of this bidding-prayer, that we should be grateful for the people who make such worship possible, seemed very appropriate.

Personally, I never appreciated the importance of remembering benefactors until I came to Oxford, which, like many older educational institutions, recalls its 'founders and benefactors' most enthusiastically. Chaucer's Clerk of Oxford 'bisily gan for the soules preye/Of hem that yaf hym wherwith to scoleye', and so do we today: college graces and chapel prayers include a rota of named benefactors, and their portraits adorn our walls. My school didn't have founders or benefactors (unless you count the British state!), and it was only when I had been exposed to this kind of corporate piety for a few years that I realised there can also be a personal element for people fortunate enough to hold scholarships and prizes. I had never previously thought of myself as having benefactors, either, but in those terms my own (unwitting) patrons include a seventeenth-century lawyer named William Hulme, the medievalist Dorothy Whitelock, and mostly recently an American philanthropist who made his millions in the banking industry; and then there are my 'godsibbas', not to mention the many people who have given me books over the years! I wish I'd realised earlier what a debt of gratitude I owe to such people; education too is something we take for granted in a way our ancestors could not, even just one or two generations ago. Acknowledging the debts we owe our benefactors is a feature of pre-Reformation religion which greatly appeals to me: it's one of the aspects of medieval religion which is often called superstitious, as if it makes too simplistic an equation between monetary gifts and prayer, but when looked at in another light it can promote a profoundly grateful and humble attitude to those who have benefited us by their generosity.

The other feature of this prayer which particularly struck me is the idea of remembering those who are buried in the church where the prayer is being said. In any land which has been continuously occupied for thousands of years, you're never far from someone's grave, whether you can see it or not. A dense and ancient city like York, where churchyards are squeezed in among chainstores, is truly 'bone-littered ground', and every church has its walls crammed to overflowing with monuments to long-dead people who once worshipped there. It's easy not to notice them, to be oblivious; I know I often have been. Whether or not you believe that the souls of such people are in need of prayer, it's good to think upon them once in a while. All this offers a kind of specific, personal, local approach to religion which, as I've increasingly felt over the past few years, can be extremely powerful: it provides roots, stories, explanations for our presence in the places where we live, links us with the ground we walk on and the people who have walked there before us. To belong to one place, to love one little space of earth, does not have to narrow the limits of your mind; it can produce the opposite effect, in enabling you to become part of a community not bounded by time. These prayers pray 'specially' for their own place, their own people, but for everyone, too - for them and us and all. I'm glad to remember that in such communities, formed by the institutions I've been part of in my life, I have benefactors, patrons, predecessors, brothers and sisters - and much to be grateful for.

In that spirit, the pictures in this post are all from the churchyard of the church where I was christened.

Thursday, 25 April 2013

'O man unkind, print in thy mind'

Christ in glory, from BL Harley 2887

1. O man unkyende, pryente in thi myende
The perfecte love of Criste aboue,
And thou shalt fyende, that thou art blyende
Thy myende to move fro that myelde dove
Borne for thy love and thy behove,
And suffred payne and deth also
To bringe thee oute of endeles wo.

2. Beholde and se his woundes fyve
In his handes, his fete and hert
Flowing with bloode and water ryve,
That he suffred for thy desert.
Beholde his deth bitter and smert,
And in thy hert it shall the move
Aboue alle thinge hym for to love.

3. His loue to thee was so feruent,
That he came downe fro heven blisse
Into this wrecched vale present
And of a mayde man become is.
O synfull man, take hede of this:
See the mekenes of god aboue,
That he hath shewed for thy loue.

4. Pryente in thy myende the lowe descence
Of Criste, that is so high in trone,
To suffre dethe for thyne offence,
The whiche offence did neuir none,
But shed his bloode for thee alone
Forto make thee fre, that were bonde,
And bringe thee fro the fendes honde.

5. But loue for loue, nomore of thee
He askith not, that lorde so good,
That suffred deth vppon a tree
And for thy loue shedde his hert bloode
With so myelde chere and so myelde moode;
The whiche graunt vs by his grete grace
In blisse to se hym face to face.

This is a fifteenth-century poem from the collection of James Ryman, the Canterbury Franciscan.  I was first attracted to it by the internal rhyme in the first verse, but the whole thing is really lovely.  It reminded me of this slightly earlier poem, and not only because of the similar beginning, with the appeal to 'ungrateful man'; they also share an emphasis on a popular medieval devotional theme, the straightforward exchange of 'love for love'. See the evidence of Christ's love for you, the poem says, and all he asks in return is your love. Love matches love, chiming together like the poem's rhymes.

Here's a modernised version; bear in mind that 'print' (in pre-printing-press days!) means 'impress, stamp'.

1. O man unkind, print in thy mind
The perfect love of Christ above,
And thou shalt find that thou art blind
Thy mind to move from that mild dove,
Born for thy love and thy behove, [benefit, good]
Who suffered pain and death also
To bring thee out of endless woe.

2. Behold and see his wounds five
In his hands, his feet and heart
Flowing with blood and water ryve, [plentiful]
That he suffered for thy desert.
Behold his death bitter and smart,
And in thy heart it shall thee move
Above all things him for to love.

3. His love to thee was so fervent,
That he came down from heavenly bliss
Into this wretched vale present
And of a maid man become is.
O sinful man, take heed of this:
See the meekness of God above,
That he hath showed for thy love.

4. Print in thy mind the humble descent
Of Christ, who is so high on throne,
To suffer death for thine offence,
He who offence did never none,
But shed his blood for thee alone
To make thee free, who had been bound,
And save thee from the fiend's hands.

5. Except love for love, no more of thee
He asketh not, that lord so good,
Who suffered death upon a tree
And for thy love shed his heart's blood
With so mild chere and so mild mood; [so kindly and so mercifully]
May he grant us, by his great grace,
In bliss to see him face to face.

Sunday, 21 April 2013

A Meditation of St Anselm

(Text from here; it's attributed to Anselm, though its authorship is uncertain.)

My heart’s voice is to Thee, my Lord and eternal King, Christ Jesus. The work of Thy hand dares to address Thee with loving boldness, for it yearns after Thy beauty and longs to hear Thy voice. O Thou, my heart’s desired One, how long must I bear Thy absence; how long must I sigh after Thee, and my eyes drop tears? O Lord, all love, all loveable, where dwellest Thou? Where is the place of Thy rest, where Thou reposest all joyful among Thy favourite ones, and satisfiest them with the revelations of Thy glory? How happy, how bright, how holy, how ardently to be longed for, is that place of perennial joys! My eye has never reached far enough, nor my heart soared high enough, to know the multitude of the sweetnesses which Thou hast stored up in it for Thy children. And yet I am supported by their fragrance, though I am far away from them. The breath of Thy sweetness comes to me from afar; a sweetness which to me exceeds the odour of balsam, and the breath of frankincense and myrrh, and every kind of sweetest smell. It awakes chaste longings in my heart; and delightful, yet scarce tolerable are its flames. For ‘what have I in heaven?’ (Ps. lxxiii. 25.) What is my treasure in that celestial shrine? What is my heritage in the land of the living? Is it not Christ, my Lord, my sole salvation, my total good, my fulness of joy? And how, O Lord, shall I restrain my heart from loving Thee? If I love not Thee, what shall I love? If I transfer my love from Thee, where shall I bestow it worthily? O longed-for Lord, where shall my longings find a rest outside of Thee? If my love stir its wing away from Thee, outside of Thee, it will be soiled; and my longings will be all in vain if they glance aside from Thee. For art not Thou loveable and desirable above all things that can be desired or loved? Whatever worth and beauty all creation has, it has from Thee; and what marvel, since Thou alone excellest all things? Thou hast clothed the sun among the stars with an excellent brightness, and brighter than the sun art Thou. Nay, what is the sun, or what is all created light, in comparison of Thee, but darkness? Thou hast peopled the sky with stars, the empyrean with angels, the air with birds, the waters with fish, the earth with herbs, and plants with flowers. But there is no beauty nor no grace in all of them in comparison of Thee, O Fountain of universal beauty, Lord Jesus. Thou hast stored honey with its sweetness, and sweeter than honey art Thou. Thou hast infused its pleasantness into oil, and pleasanter than oil art Thou. Thou hast shed their odours into all fragrant gums, and sweet and pleasant above all rare spices is Thy fragrance. Thou hast set gold among minerals in rare pre-eminence for worth and beauty; yet what is all of it compared to my priceless Lord, and His fathomless glory, that the angels long to gaze into? Every precious stone and desirable to look upon is the work of Thy hands,—sardius, topaz, jasper, chrysolite, onyx, beryl, amethyst, sapphire, carbuncle, emerald; and yet what are all of them but toys compared with Thee, all-loveable and all-beauteous King? And Thine own handiwork are those precious and immortal jewels with which Thou, O wise Master-builder, didst in the beginning of the ages beautifully embellish the superethereal palace to the praise and glory of the Father.

Through Thee, for the fulfilling of the behests of the eternal Father, thousands of thousands glide in swift flight twixt heaven and earth, like industrious bees that flit to and fro between their hive and the flowers; a busy throng, innocent and stainless, neither laggard nor disobedient. Through Thee a hundred times ten thousand stand ministrant in the sanctuary of the temple of highest heaven, staring on the Face of Majesty with a clear unflinching gaze, and sounding forth their harmonious ceaseless hymn to the glory of the triune undivided Godhead.

Through Thee the Seraphim burn, the Cherubim shine, the Thrones give judgment.

Thou, O Lord, art a fire that burns and consumes not; and, from their immediate nearness to the fires of Thy Godhead, all the sacred choir of the Seraphim are wrapt in coruscating flame, and pour abroad the overflowing of their blissful ardours on the other armies of Thy battling hosts; and of these we in our turn have tasted of the fulness.

Thou, our God, art very Light; and the hills catch Thy glory and shed it on Thy people, when Thou dost largely shower forth Thy hidden treasures of wisdom and knowledge on the eyes of the Cherubim, who fix their nearer gaze on Thee. And from them are lighted in their turn the elect subordinated lamps of Thy marvellous tabernacle, which inextinguishably shine before Thy Face, O Lord...

Thine, O sweet Jesus, are the magnificent Archangels, in whom the benignity of Thy great condescension chiefly works; for, glorious satraps of Thy palace, Thou disdainest not to dispatch them down to this poor world to support and help our lowliness, creatures of clay that we are, and close allied to dust and ashes. Through them, by Thy command, the chiefest interests of our salvation are administered, and the profoundest secrets of Thy supreme purpose are conveyed to us by them; by them come sicknesses and health to the generations of mankind; by them the kingdoms and the empires of the world subsist. And, chief amongst them do we own Thy Michael, the stalwart standard-bearer and the citizen of heaven, who stands in advance of the army of the living God, and brandishing his champion’s blade thunders with terrible voice against the marshalled hosts of the enemy. ‘Who is like God?’

And the blessed Angels, so loveable in their innocence, are they not the choice work of Thy Fingers, O Wisdom of God? For on the day of their creation Thou didst deck them with an incorruptible vestiture for the work of Thy holy service. These are the living stars of the higher heaven, the lilies of the inner paradise, the rose-trees planted by the silent-flowing waters of Siloe, with their roots immovably fixed in Thee. O River of peace, O Breath of the garden of delights, O only Wisdom ranging round about the circling bourne of heaven; by Thee they shine, and burn, and glow in perfect wisdom, in virginal chastity, and in the ardours of a deathless love. Blooming in endless youth, they find in our weakness the sphere of their faithful service; for they lead us by the hand like tender guides, and direct our steps as we travel through this darksome world, and ward off the assaults of the enemy, and whisper to us the secrets of Thy will, and brace up our failing hearts to good, and carry up the incense of our prayers to the altar of gold, and always supplicate the Face of our merciful Father for us.

Thus, merciful Father, Thou hast indeed some care for us, though for a season we are far away from home. And if the tenth drachma which once slipped from Thy bosom and has now been recovered by Thy toils and sorrows have any worth, it is all Thy gift, good Jesus. If there be aught of sweetest sound in this tenth chord strung of yore for the praise of God, it is the persuasive touch of Thy Sovereign Hand that evokes it, when on the ten-stringed psaltery Thou singest the glory of the Father. Sing as Thou singest, O Lord; play Thy sweet music with the swift and changeful modulations of a manifold thanks giving. Strike those nine tuneful heavenly strings, which never yet sounded harsh or sad. And touch that tenth, of lowest note, whose upper part strained and set in tune to Thee sounds joyfully; whilst its lower part, bound as yet awhile to the earth, knows only how to yield dull sounds of sadness and untunefulness.

When, O First-begotten of God, I muse with intensest thought upon all Thy wonderful works, I tremble with amazement; for Thou dost shine forth all-glorious in every way in all of them. And yet, great though they be, and beautiful and very good, they show as emptiness and nothing compared with Thee. Earth and sky and all their bravery subsist by Thee their Creator and Governor, and utter forth Thy power and fulness, Thy wisdom and beauty, Thy goodness and love; and as light excels darkness, so Thou and Thou alone transcendest all of them. And Thou, my God, awaitest me in heaven, the Treasure and the Reward of Thy servant; Giver at once and Gift, Saviour and Salvation. The expected of my soul, ‘what besides Thee has it desired upon earth?’ (Ps. lxxiii. 25.)

Why then should I leave heaven for an atom? What is it in all the earth that I have deemed a greater good than Thee, or a dearer love than Thee, that I should steal my heart from Thee and desire anything in all the universe outside of Thee? Why in all my life have I ever loved any thing or desired anything but Thee, Jesus my God? Why, Jesus, have I delayed, why have I ever for a moment stopped entertaining Thee in my heart, embracing Thee with my whole soul, and delighting all the inward recesses of my being with Thy sweetness? When I was not with Thee, where was I? When my desires rested not on Thee only, whither, whither did they fly?

God of my life, how vainly have my days been spent, how unprofitably have they slipped by! days which Thou gavest me that I might do Thy will in them, and I have not done it. How long the years, how many the hours that I have squandered, living but bringing forth no fruit in Thy sight! And how then shall I stand? How shall I dare to lift my eyes and look in Thy Face at that great reckoning, if Thou shalt bid me give an account of all my sins or of all my opportunities, and shalt demand the issues of all! O let it not be so, most patient Father; nay, let it not be so, but rather let my wasted opportunities—alas, how many!—be buried in forgetfulness. And if, by Thy help, I have husbanded some few of them—their number is small enough, I know—let these be remembered to eternity; and, Father of all love, let at least this my residue of time be fruitful and hallowed by Thy grace, that it may find a place in the days of eternity and be reckoned in my favour in Thy sight.

Now, then, from this moment do you, all my desires, bestir yourselves and fly to your Lord Jesus: fly away; why linger ye? Speed ye to your goal, seek whom ye seek. ‘You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified’ (St. Mark xvi. 6)...

And thou now, my soul, lift up thyself again with all thy best endeavours, and join the thousands of saints who are rejoicing in Jesus their Lord. Fly thither in the chariot of faith and hope, and by the fire of love take there thy dwelling ‘where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God’ (Col. iii. 1). Strain thine eye, and see thou in the light of His countenance. Linger about the marks of His blessed Scars, and kiss them one by one with thankful devotion; Scars whence gushed those rivers of the precious Blood with which the only-begotten Son of God paid for thy salvation, and for thy sanctification to eternal life. O Jesus, he who loves Thee not, let him be anathema; whoso loves Thee not, let him be filled with bitterness. Thy love, O Lord, is chaste and admits of no impurity; the savour of Thy love is pure, and draws aside no soul from rectitude; Thy love is sweet, and no bitterness is in it, for it sweetens the world’s bitters, and turns to bitterness its sweets. It is not cramped by adversities, and no oppression overburdens it; it sinks not under want, and is embittered by no grief; it is even and undisturbed in bodily labours, careless of threats, incorruptible in the midst of blandishments; in tortures it remains invincible, and it lives for ever more in death. As the miser gloats over his hoard, and the mother delights in the love of her only child, even so, sweet Jesus, the soul that loves Thee sips joy and gladness from the treasures of Thy dear love. The sweetness of honey, the softness of milk, wine with its freshening taste, and all delight some things—none, none of them so please the palate of those who taste them as Thy love charms the souls of them that love Thee.

O sweet Jesus, living and all-desirable Bread; sweet Fruit of the vine; Oil of mingled rarities; gentle Lamb; strong Lion; lovely Leopard; guileless Dove; swift Eagle; Star of the morning; Sun of eternity; Angel of peace; fontal Light of the sempiternal lights; let my every sense conspire to praise Thee, and love Thee, delight in Thee, and admire Thee; Thee, the God of my heart and my portion, Christ Jesus. Let my heart die to its will, and my flesh to its desires; do Thou live in me, and let the live coal of Thy love glow in the midst of my soul, and break forth into a consuming fire; let Thy grace foster and nourish it in me, that it burn continually on my heart’s altar; let it glow in my inmost marrow, and rage in all the recesses of my soul; and in the perfect day let it be found perfected in Thee. In the day when Thou shalt see me stripped of this clothing of mortality, which I now carry about with me, let Thy Love enfold me, and be for a garment of beauty to my soul; that it be found not naked, but clothed upon, and have wherewithal to hide its infirmities from thine Eye. And that strange, that other fire, the fire that shall burn Thine adversaries; let the fervour of Thy love keep it far from me, and raise my soul to Thee, her Creator, and plunge her deep in the ocean of Thy Light Divine. Jesus, my Lord, let all who love Thee be filled with Thy benedictions; and coming home to Thee let their names be written in heaven, that they may have peace ‘under the covert of Thy wings’ (Ps. lxii. 8). To Thee therefore, only-begotten of God, be with the Eternal Father, and the Holy Ghost, unceasing praise, inviolable beauty, and Kingdom never to be moved, enduring for ever and for evermore. Amen.

The images are all from eleventh- and twelfth-century Canterbury manuscripts, now in the British Library: Harley 603, Arundel 155, and Arundel 91.

Saturday, 20 April 2013

Medieval People in Modern Art, Rochester Edition

When I wrote this post last year about Rochester Cathedral I hadn't visited it for several years, and was relying on memory and a patchy collection of photographs. Over Easter I went there with my medievalist hat on, and with a new appreciation of Bishop Gundulf - so here's an edition of 'medieval people in modern art' which also features various types of actual medieval art which I had previously overlooked.

Rochester is a lovely old-fashioned place, an oasis in the middle of an area of Kent increasingly spoilt by development. I don't believe the high street (essentially the only street) boasts a single chain store; it's all bookshops and quirky little antique shops, with one of the nicest local history museums you'll ever see. The local council like to pretend Rochester is just one part of 'the city of Medway', but of course it isn't any such thing; it's a city in its own right, and was so even before the Romans came. The history of Rochester ranges from Dutch invasion to Charles Dickens, but we'll concentrate today on the medieval (of course!). Two medieval buildings dominate the town: the castle and the cathedral. The cathedral you see above, and this is the castle:

It was snowing when I went there (which was a bit of a shock, because it was two days after this glorious sunny day in Canterbury), so my outside shots of the town are rather limited.  But this house is where Edwin Drood was murdered (or was he?):

(Note the board for 'Tiny Tim's' sandwich shop - they're proud of their Dickens connection here!)

The snow was a particular inconvenience because the west door of the cathedral is glorious, and I was much too cold to do it justice.  But it looks like this:

This is 'substantially unaltered' since the time of Bishop Ernulf (1115–1124); here's the tympanum:

A close-up - the scene shows Christ in a mandorla, supported by angels and other winged creatures, and with the apostles below:

Flanking the door are two much-eroded statues, which are said to represent Henry I and his queen Matilda:

The king's face is gone, but you can just about see a crown:

And the queen has rather wonderful plaits:

Modern depictions of Saxon women often have them in long plaits, and it's nice to see (apparent) evidence that this isn't just fancy.

Modern statues above the door show two builder-bishops, our friend Gundulf (d.1108):

And Bishop John (1125-1137):

They're both holding (snow-covered) buildings, and, as it will transpire, bishops holding little buildings constitute a large part of Rochester's medieval past.  Bishops of Rochester have done some interesting things apart from building churches, but you wouldn't really know it from looking round the cathedral!

There's also this darling little fellow by the door, but I don't know who (or what) he's supposed to be:

Now very cold, we move inside...

This post is about modern memorials to various people, but when it comes to Gundulf, of whom I was chiefly thinking while I was there, the truth is - 'if you seek his monument, look around you':

This splendid Norman nave is his work, which adds an extra piquancy to the Life of Gundulf's story about him hiding away in a stable to pray in peace.  Of the builder-bishops of Rochester, he was the first and greatest; he also designed the White Tower, the earliest part of the Tower of London, and castles both here in Rochester and at Colchester.  Don't let anyone tell you that eleventh-century monks had no practical skills.

A survey of Rochester's most famous figures is provided by statues in the quire screen.  Here are three pre-Conquest men (King Ethelbert and Bishops Justus and Paulinus):

On the other side, four post-Conquest bishops (Gundulf, William of Hoo - another man holding a little building! - Walter de Merton, and John Fisher):

I talked about these figures in my previous post on Rochester, so we'll move on swiftly to the stained glass.  It's really rather interesting, as Victorian glass goes, and the cathedral very helpfully has a special booklet telling us who designed most of the windows.  This is far more than most churches manage to do, and this blogger is grateful for it.

Let's start with Gundulf in the north quire transept, with a window installed (says the booklet) by Clayton and Bell in 1885:

The architectural motifs, the windows at the bottom and the castellation above his head, seem particularly appropriate, and it's nice to see that he looks, accurately, like an old man.  Several stories in the Life of Gundulf emphasise his age (he was 83 when he died in 1108), which makes his achievements as bishop all the more remarkable.  Below him is a scene of the building of his cathedral:

Holding the plans while the builders break the ground is taking overseeing the work a little far, Gundulf ;)

By the same designers, and on the same wall, is Walter de Merton:

Walter de Merton was Bishop of Rochester two centuries after Gundulf, in the 1270s.  He's another man with a little building, because he founded what is now Merton College, Oxford.  Below his window, he's accompanied by some of his Oxford clerks:

Obviously I was happy to see this!  We don't dress like that any more - well, not often.  The middle scene is a recognisable (if unusually colourful) depiction of Merton College - compare this picture.

Between these two bishops is the only pre-Conquest bishop of Rochester to get much of a look-in here, Paulinus:

Paulinus did his best work far from Rochester, in Northumbria, which is perhaps why he doesn't feature much in the cathedral - but Bede wouldn't be happy if we overlooked him.

For some reason he's surrounded here by a whole host of post-Conquest bishops, with not an Ithamar in sight.  It's true the pre-Conquest bishops of Rochester are an obscure lot; between the seventh century and the eleventh there's not one who played much of a role in history.  They're a bare series of names and dates, and the people behind the names are lost to us.

However, Paulinus is great enough to make up for it; below his window is a scene, partially obscured, of him with a king - Edwin of Northumbria, presumably.

Above Paulinus, and a bad picture because this window is right up in the roof, we have Gregory the Great (mostly because I can't resist a 'Non Angli, sed Angeli' scene):

What brightly-coloured Saxon boys!

The monument obscuring Paulinus and Edwin is the tomb of Walter de Merton:

He lies in state with four panels of glass (Ninian Comper, 1911 - thanks, guidebook) behind him:

One of these is Rochester's pilgrim saint, William of Perth (d. c.1201).  William, with his pilgrim's badge and scrip, looks pensive, as well he might; he is famous for being murdered, while on pilgrimage to Rochester, by his own adopted son - kind of the opposite of what happened to young Edwin Drood (or is it?).

Apparently 'the body was discovered by a mad woman, who plaited a garland of flowers and placed it first on the head of the corpse and then her own, whereupon the madness left her. On learning her tale the monks of Rochester carried the body to the cathedral and there buried it.'  His tomb attracted pilgrims, so many that you can still see the steps worn down by their passing feet; but it's not the most edifying story, even as medieval hagiography goes, and one can't help thinking that the monks of Rochester promoted this saint pretty much only because they didn't have any better ones.

None of the builder-bishops attracted much in the way of a cult (the best efforts of the Life of Gundulf notwithstanding), and I was surprised to see so many of them commemorated in the cathedral - Gundulf, Paulinus and Walter de Merton are not so unexpected, but William of Hoo?  And here, Haymo de Hythe (1317-1352), yet another bishop-with-a-building?:

More familiar to me is Ernulf:

Ernulf, like Gundulf, was a monk of Bec who originally came to England with Lanfranc, to Canterbury; he was made prior of Canterbury in 1096, successor to the Prior Henry whom Osbern (Ælfheah's hagiographer), as a teenage rebel, refused to obey.  Ernulf did some building at Canterbury - he built the existing crypt, and there's a statue of him down there which is one of the ugliest I've ever seen - and some more when he became Bishop of Rochester in 1114.  More exciting than his building work is, however, his role in the compilation of the Textus Roffensis, medieval Rochester's greatest legacy to the study of Anglo-Saxon England.  This manuscript preserves the earliest surviving English law code, dating back to the reign of Ethelbert in the seventh century (and thus the earliest written text in the English language).  I'd like to think the scene below Ernulf (Powell of Whitefriars, c.1917) depicts the copying of the Textus Roffensis.

There are exciting plans afoot to create a permanent display for the Textus Roffensis in the crypt at Rochester, which sounds like an eminently worthy project.

Speaking of Ethelbert, here he is in a Kempe window of 1889:

I like his furs!

I don't know what St Margaret of Scotland is doing down here in Kent, but it's always nice to see her.  She was keeping company with a sort-of medieval but definitely not saintly figure:

King Arthur!  Why?  His thoroughly ridiculous helmet is entertaining, though.

After suffering through all that Victorian glass, here's a reward: some beautiful, though fragmentary, medieval windows down in the crypt.

There's nothing to show who this handsome young bishop was meant to be, but at least he's not carrying a building...

This poor monk has had his head put on a body too small for him, but he looks calm enough about it:

Back outside in the snow:

This was the cloister and chapter-house, and it has some remnants of medieval carving; though the tympanum, which might have been as impressive as the one we began with, is no more:

At least this little angel survives, though; he's probably withstood worse than a bit of April snow in his eight centuries of life:


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Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving!

You know what I'm thankful for? Roy Zimmerman.

And for fans of intelligent design, here's a little bonus:

Happy Thanksgiving!
Lauri in York

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

The failed- and fatal- war on drugs

If you have anything resembling a heart, you can't help but be moved by the death of Philadelphia police officer Sgt. Timothy Simpson. Regardless of how I feel about their lobbying efforts at the state legislature and the tactics of some officers, we all recognize the tragedy that has befallen the city with five officers killed in the line of duty in the last 13 months.

And as a parent, I always well up a bit when some tragedy befalls a family. Sgt. Simpson leaves behind three kids, two in high school and one in the fifth grade.

Sgt. Simpson died last Monday, November 17, when his cruiser was hit by a fleeing suspect. This article from last week lays out the history of the suspect, William Allan Foster.

As I read this article, I couldn't help but think of what an utter failure the war on drugs is. For more than 20 years, Mr. Foster has been in and out of prison for drug and drug-related offenses.
According to court records, Foster had been prosecuted for more than two dozen crimes in Bucks County alone. Most, officials said, were property crimes - burglaries or thefts of tools or merchandise that he could fence for heroin money.

On the fateful day when he hit Sgt. Simpson's cruiser, Foster was fleeing apprehension after a drug buy. He had $30 worth of heroin in his vehicle.

I don't know if anyone ever reached out to Foster to help him or if he ever made efforts to get clean. Maybe he did and failed. What's clear, though, is that our punitive approach to drug use is nothing short of tragic. Our prisons and jails are filled beyond their breaking point, and people are dying because our political leaders fail to approach this with clarity and maturity.

Our communities can't afford the war on drugs. Our state corrections department and county prisons can't handle the results of the war on drugs. And we don't want any more dead police officers, fallen by desperate users looking for that next high.

It's time to end this failed policy.

For more information about the ACLU's drug law reform positions, visit

Andy in Harrisburg

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Monday, November 24, 2008

Don't believe the hype: ACLU goes to bat for Christians

If you're sitting around the Thanksgiving table this week and some turkey says the ACLU hates Christians, tell them to stick this in their pipe and smoke it.

A church in Jefferson County maintains a small shelter for homeless people, which has been in operation for four years. Housing the least of these among us: Could there be a more Christian thing to do?

Well, the local borough didn't like it and ordered the shelter shutdown.

So who stepped in to defend the church? The American Center for Law and Justice? Survey says, "Errr!" The Alliance Defense Fund? Not so much. The Thomas More Law Center? Thanks for playing, and we have some wonderful parting gifts for you.

Nope, nope, and nope, it was the ACLU. Our own Witold "Vic" Walczak, ACLU-PA legal director, told the New York Times
“At the core of this is that it’s difficult for the borough officials to wrap their mind around the concept that church use is more than a Sunday service,” said Witold J. Walczak, the organization’s legal director. “This entire church is set up to help the least fortunate.”

Then there's this quote from the town's attorney:
“I’m a small-town lawyer, and I’m not using that as an excuse, but I had not read those 2007 and 2008 federal decisions on this law,” Mr. French said. “The way I see it, it’s an abuse of federal power to override our zoning laws.” (my bold)

That's right, folks, Mr. French believes that local ordinances should override the Constitution of the United States.

The Pittsburgh Post Gazette gave the love today in an editorial:
Enter the American Civil Liberties Union, often unfairly derided as an enemy of religion. It filed a lawsuit and request for a temporary order arguing that a town cannot use its zoning regulations to prevent a church from engaging in its religious ministry. That's a violation of the church's rights under the Constitution and federal and state law. Further, the ACLU argued that the prohibition shouldn't be applied in this case because the group home classification refers to a "licensed care facility" such as a nursing home.

On the eve of a hearing scheduled for Wednesday, wisdom won the day.

Andy in Harrisburg

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Thursday, November 20, 2008

Net Neutrality: Because If We Don't Know About It, We Can't Fight It

While net neutrality may not seem as urgent a civil liberties issue as, say, torture and illegal detainment, maintaining its existence is essential to freedom of the press.

Even though newspapers have no idea where they're going or how they're going to manage things by the time they get there, the reality is that the future of the press is on the Internet. But big corporations want to limit equal access to content without preferential treatment by ISPs. Telecom companies.meanwhile, want to be able to sell access to those big corporations and be able to limit access to information that it may find objectionable.

Like, perhaps, stories that point out what incredible weinies they are and how they have not one iota of respect for their customers' right to privacy?

As interested as I am on the subject, I wasn't aware (until Andy Hoover pointed it out to me) of the fact that the ACLU has taken a position on net neutrality. Its position paper, No Competition: How Monopoly Control of the Broadband Internet Threatens Free Speech, says:

...the Internet is without doubt the most vital and active such forum around today – a place where citizens can publish their views to be seen by a few close friends, or spread around the world; where citizens can engage with others on thousands of bulletin boards and chat rooms on nearly any topic, create new communities of interest, or communicate anonymously about difficult topics. It is one of our top entertainment mediums. It is the nation's most comprehensive, flexible, and popular reference work. It is the closest thing ever invented to a true "free market" of ideas.

That is why the American Civil Liberties Union has a keen interest in the continued openness and vitality of the Internet as a medium for free expression.

The paper goes on to give a nifty little analogy of how free expression is threatened by control of access and how a net neutrality law would protect it:

...providers can "slow or block access to certain sites on the Internet, such as those without financial arrangements with the cable company's ISP, or those with content considered objectionable for political or competitive reasons," even while they "speed transmission to an affiliated site (or a site that has paid the operator for the privilege of special treatment)." That is like the phone company being allowed to own restaurants and then provide good service and clear signals to customers who call Domino's and frequent busy signals, disconnects and static for those calling Pizza Hut. Outrageous? It would be entirely possible if the telephone system wasn't regulated under the common carrier framework. At a time when many cable providers have assembled far- flung business empires on the premise that cross-promotion and other "synergies" will yield big profits, they will come under strong pressure to do the equivalent. And what can be done in the commercial context could be done just as easily to political content.

Anyway, there has been some good news that an Obama Administration may take the issue of net neutrality seriously. Last week, the Obama-Biden transition team appointed two staunch net-neutrality advocates to be in charge of its Federal Communications Commission review team.

The picks are important because, as the Wired article points out:
"The choice of the duo strongly signals an entirely different approach to the incumbent-friendly telecom policymaking that's characterized most of the past eight-years at the FCC."

One of the appointed is Susan Crawford, a professor at the University of Michigan Law School. In a talk she gave in March, she said she believes that the Internet access is a utility. Crawford said of the right to access in her talk, "This is like water, electricity, sewage systems: Something that each and all Americans need to succeed in the modern era. We're doing very badly, and we're in a dismal state."

As Wired writer Sarah Lai Stirland points out, "This is an observation sure to send shivers down the spines of telecom company executives."

Lauri in York

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Goin' to California with an achin' in my heart

As a straight ally who works for the ACLU, I try to keep in touch with what's going on in the LGBT community. I regularly tune in to OutQ, Sirius Satellite Radio's 24-7 gay channel, and of course, my gay friends give me good perspective.

The reality of what happened last week in California on Prop 8 set in for me over the last few days. Until the final results came in on Thursday, I held out hope that discrimination would be rejected. On my ride home from work on Friday, I tuned in Michelangelo Signorile, and the outrage from his listeners was clear. And it was righteous.

Other anti-LGBT measures passed in Arizona, Florida, and Arkansas, but California clearly touches a nerve. We expect California to be a leader in civil rights. The Cali Supreme Court overturned the state ban on interracial marriage 20 years before the US Supreme Court did it.

Based on the first week's reaction, though, it appears that this could be a galvanizing moment. Protests are popping up throughout California and in other states, and a nationwide action is planned for Saturday. There's even chatter of a march on Washington.

Matt Coles of our LGBT & AIDS Project puts things in perspective, though, giving us all an opportunity to take a deep breath:
Even in famously liberal San Francisco, we had to go through the process of trying to pass a simple domestic partnership law five times, and we lost twice. If you run up an unbroken string of victories in any battle for civil rights, that simply means you waited too long to get to work. Change that matters is never smooth or easy.

Meanwhile, the ACLU has sued, with others, saying that the initiative was passed improperly.

Finally, I found Keith Olbermann's "special comment" last night quite moving. I know his special comment's have fired me up in the past, but I can't recall one nearly moving me to tears. This one did.
If you voted for this Proposition or support those who did or the sentiment they expressed, I have some questions, because, truly, I do not understand. Why does this matter to you? What is it to you? In a time of impermanence and fly-by-night relationships, these people over here want the same chance at permanence and happiness that is your option. They don't want to deny you yours. They don't want to take anything away from you. They want what you want—a chance to be a little less alone in the world.

Andy in Harrisburg

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Monday, November 10, 2008

Then again...

Right after posting the post below, I came across this article.
WASHINGTON -- President-elect Barack Obama is unlikely to radically overhaul controversial Bush administration intelligence policies, advisers say, an approach that is almost certain to create tension within the Democratic Party.

Civil-liberties groups were among those outraged that the White House sanctioned the use of harsh intelligence techniques -- which some consider torture -- by the Central Intelligence Agency, and expanded domestic spy powers. These groups are demanding quick action to reverse these policies.

Mr. Obama is being advised largely by a group of intelligence professionals, including some who have supported Republicans, and centrist former officials in the Clinton administration. They say he is likely to fill key intelligence posts with pragmatists.

Apparently our constitutional rights aren't "pragmatic". Why don't we just be honest and upfront and introduce legislation to repeal the Fourth Amendment?

I promise you that this will not be the last word on this subject.

Andy in Harrisburg

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A Promising Start?

"On Day One, with the stroke of a pen, you can restore America's moral leadership in the World," says the full-page ACLU ad (PDF). The open-letter campaign calls for President-elect Barack Obama to issue an executive order that closes Guantanamo Bay prison on Jan. 20. (Check out our new website,

While Obama said throughout his presidential run that he believes the indefinite imprisonment of the detainees "a sad chapter in American history," and would work to close it (as did his opponent Sen. John McCain) yesterday's news reports indicate that the new administration intends to make it a top and immediate goal.

According to a hopeful article Monday from the Associated Press:
President-elect Obama's advisers are crafting plans to close the Guantanamo Bay prison and prosecute terrorism suspects in the U.S., a plan that the Bush administration said Monday was easier said than done.

Under the plan being crafted inside Obama's camp, some prisoners would be released and others would be charged in U.S. courts, where they would receive constitutional rights and open trials. But, underscoring the difficult decisions Obama must make to fulfill his pledge of shutting down Guantanamo, the plan could require the creation of a new legal system to handle the classified information inherent in some of the most sensitive cases.

The article goes on to say:
Laurence Tribe, a Harvard law professor and Obama legal adviser, said discussions about plans for Guantánamo had been "theoretical" before the election but would quickly become very focused because closing the prison is a top priority.

However, before we permit too much unbridled optimism to cloud our judgment, another breaking story in the Chicago Tribune last night cautioned readers that a lot of work yet remains in closing this international disgrace.
"President-elect Obama said throughout his campaign that the legal framework at Guantanamo has failed to successfully and swiftly prosecute terrorists, and he shares the broad bipartisan belief that Guantanamo should be closed," McDonough said in a statement.

Obama isn't perfect. I'm still irked over his FISA vote. But this, to all the cynics out there, should give us hope that, perhaps, he means business and that the worst abuses of civil liberties over the past eight years may be rectified.

Lauri in York

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Wednesday, November 05, 2008

Will the new president defend the Constitution?

So the clouds have opened and all will be well since the Democrats won, right? Ha! Yeah, right. We've been warning our friends that civil liberties will still need defended at the local, state, and, yes, federal level after the election. Remember Bill Clinton with the Defense of Marriage Act, the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act, the massive ballooning of the prison industrial complex, and the original proposal of the PATRIOT Act?

National is all over what needs to be done by President-elect Obama. Click here for the ACLU's transition plan for the new president. Here's Day One.
Day One: Stop Torture, Close Guantanamo, End Extraordinary Renditions
The next president will have a historic opportunity -- on day one -- to take very important steps to restore the rule of law in the interrogation and detention of detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, Iraq, Afghanistan, and in secret prisons around the globe. Every action taken pursuant to an executive order of President Bush can be reversed by executive order of the next president.

Therefore, on the first day in office, the next president should issue an executive order directing all agencies to modify their policies and practices immediately to:

  • Cease and prohibit the use of torture and abuse, without exception, and direct the Attorney General immediately after his or her confirmation to appoint an outside special counsel to investigate and, if warranted, prosecute any violations of federal criminal laws prohibiting torture and abuse;
  • Close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay and either charge and try detainees under criminal law in federal criminal courts or before military courts-martial or transfer them to countries where they will not be tortured or detained without charge;
  • Cease and prohibit the practice of extraordinary rendition, which is the transfer of persons, outside of the judicial process, to other countries, including countries that torture or abuse prisoners.

Andy in Harrisburg

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Some thoughts from last night

As you know, the ACLU is a non-partisan organization. Both Republicans and Democrats annoy us.

But something struck me last night while watching the election returns. John King of CNN made a comment that the Republicans cannot be a viable national party if the Democrats win 60-plus percent of the Latino vote.

Once again, it became clear that being anti-immigrant just doesn't fly with the electorate. Three different races from the last two election cycles prove it. In northeast PA, Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta lost in his effort to topple incumbent Rep. Paul Kanjorski, after Barletta made a national name for himself with his unconstitutional ordinance on immigration. In the state's attorney general race, Northampton County DA John Morganelli lost to incumbent Tom Corbett, after years of Morganelli stridently supporting anti-immigrant proposals. And, of course, two years ago, Rick Santorum had his hat handed to him by Bob Casey, despite Santorum's claim that Casey supported "amnesty".

Public officials from both parties can try to split hairs over what their anti-immigrant proposals mean. They claim they support immigration and oppose illegal immigration. But the fact is that Latinos see an attack on some of them as an attack on all of them. I know because my wife is Latina and we have numerous Latino friends, and they all feel the same way about what has been going down on immigration the last few years.

Before I knew about Barletta's loss, I thought this might be more of a statewide phenomenon and that candidates might be able to get away with it depending upon their district. But Barletta's defeat proves that may not even be true.

CNN's King also commented, in reference to suburban Philly, that the GOP will continue to lose if the Ds win the suburbs with 60-plus percent of the electorate. When he said that, my thoughts immediately turned to LGBT issues. When we deal with state LGBT initiatives, our swing votes always come from the Philly and Pittsburgh suburbs, and to a lesser extent the suburbs of a few other cities. Being anti-gay doesn't appear to fly either (see: Man-on-Dog Santorum).

Unfortunately, we did take some losses on LGBT rights in Arkansas, Florida, Arizona, and probably in California. These are all stinging defeats. While we know that in the long-term we continue to move closer and closer to LGBT equality, rolling back these constitutional amendments is going to be challenging and is going to require a lot of hardwork, sweat, and tears.

For a rundown on all of the state referendums on civil liberties issues, including victories on drug law reform and reproductive rights, visit national's blog.

Andy in Harrisburg

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BTHABritish Toy and Hobby Association (London, England, UK)
BTHABritish Travel Health Association
References in periodicals archive ?
The BTHA and Play England are asking parents to make a pledge to allocate more of their children's time to playing.
Natasha Crookes, from the BTHA, says: "Most parents understand that play is important for their children's emotional development, but what this research highlights is the time spent with props, either toys or even cardboard boxes, is an easier and more enjoyable way for children to be physically active and meet the minimum guidelines of activity.
She says these days many children aren't given the freedom to find active play opportunities outside, but points out that the BTHA research shows it doesn't matter if children haven't got a lot of space to play in, as long as they have toys that encourage active play.
Every year the BTHA organizes its major toy fair, the British International Toy and Hobby Fair.
In 1990 BTHA members set up the Toy Trust to help children in need.
Christine Nicholls, BTHA chairwoman, admitted 2011 would be tough but said value-for-money toys would still come up trumps.
BTHA chairman Roger Dyson said construction toys, such as Lego, and TV spin-off Ben10 were best sellers.
com was commissioned by the BTHA to look at how the public viewed the importance of play and toys.
The BTHA made no secret on the importance it places on all types of play.
Clive Jones, the Chairman of the BTHA says: "For a long time we have realised how vital the value of play is to children and adults.


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Saturday, January 26, 2008

Kirok on Fan Films - Jan '08

Playing catch-up with Fan Films since my last update in September.

Featured Production

"Star Trek: Beyond" (ST: B)

In Production

Star Trek: Horizon (ST-Ho)
Star Trek: Odyssey (ST-O)
Star Trek: Operation Beta Shield (ST-BS)
Star Trek: The Helena Chronicles(ST-HC)

Star Trek: Gatekeeper (ST-Ga)
Star Trek: The Expedition (ST-Exp)

Looking for Group ...
A new machinima series is hull-down on the horizon! Star Trek: Challenger is to be made using Elite Force I [?], the co-writers have posted a number of screen-shots on the HF forum, they have a Wiki with the bare bones of the info about the project and a forum where they are taking auditions for Voice Actors.
What's this? ? No one knows yet but thanks to JGBR for the heads-up!

Watch out for ...
The next issue of Trekkie Central, a new fanzine focusing on Star Trek fan films which will be featuring interviews with Starship Farragut cast and crew in it's next issue.
The third Excelsior Ball which celebrates 7 years of Hidden Frontier, Odyssey, Helena Chronicles and more on June 6-8th at the Radisson Hotel at Los Angeles Airport.

Therin of Andor said...

Google found me a reference to a cicular you apparently sent out to various Sydney ST groups on Jan 25, including to me! - but I don't recall ever receiving it, and the URL you promoted in your post leads nowhere. I finally backtracked your online profile to here.

Kirok of L'Stok said...

Greetings, Therin of Andor! May your antennae always pickup SBS! I've no idea what the Jan 25 corro was. At that time I would have been winding up the Twelve days of Christmas ...
... and I was sending out notices about it all over the place. I recall I tried to contact you quite a while back just to touch base, perhaps that was it? You were on the first Exeter fan film weren't you? I've never been able to work out which one though! Were you the one who "fell" over the waterfall? Stay in the touch, I'm hoping to get some interest going in getting some Australian Star Trek fan productions going.


WARC-Truncated: length

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Honoring Ashley Okland Through A Safer Work Life for All Real Estate Agents

Reblogger Kathleen Cooper
Real Estate Agent with Kathleen Cooper, Best Option-EXIT Realty Partners, REALTOR® 9084437/Brokers

Safety awareness for REALTORS® has been the buzz the past couple of months with our local Women's Council so this blog hit home with me and I wanted to share it with you.  Ashley was my age and just doing her job at the time of her murder.  Please make sure to be safe while you are showing homes and conducting open houses.  There are measures you can take to help stay out of harm's way.

Original content by Moby

Ashley Okland

Two weeks ago our hearts broke as news came that Ashley Okland, a beautifully spirited Iowa Realtor®, was murdered while she was showing a model townhouse. As many of you are aware Ashley was a very active member of her community, who was not only successful with her Real Estate work, but also a kind hearted woman who volunteered her time with charities.

Ashley’s murder touches a soft spot within all of us, not only was she at the young age of 27, but she was only trying to earn an honest living while she was murdered. Worse of all, although there are no definite leads to the murder case, many news sources are reporting that police may be speculating that the murder was committed by a fellow Real Estate Agent.

We would like to share, and ask that you share via Twitter or Facebook, that police are asking anyone with information about the shooting to contact the local police department, West Des Moines Police Department, at 515-222-3344 or Crime Stoppers at 515-223-1400.

Remembering Our Role As Real Estate Agents

Ashley’s murder is a tragic reminder that as Real Estate Professionals, we are exposing ourselves to dangerous situations on a regular basis. Although there we will never be able to completely ensure that we are never exposed to criminals, we can surely reduce the likelihood of this occurring. Below are a few safety tips that we urge all of you to share with your Real Estate colleagues.

  • Carry a Safety Device With You At All Times

Sometimes safety precautions alone are not enough to protect us from possible crimes. We also need to be prepared to defend ourselves. As our Real Estate Safety Survey revealed, we each have our own comfort levels when it comes to choosing the right self-defense tools:

88% carry a phone
15% carry mace or pepper spray
9% take a dog to work with them
9% carry a baton
9% carry a gun
16% carry nothing.

Our suggestion would be to mix and match your self-defense tools and make sure you are always comfortable using them.Please note that prior to using any self-defense tool, make sure you quickly review the situation and see whether it is safer to just run away instead of fight the criminal.

  • Read As Many Safety Tips As Possible

The key to defending yourself against a criminal is to always be alert and prepared. Having a few safety tips that we can automatically default to in an emergency can save us precious time and help us escape a possible attack. We realize that safety tips are not the most exciting articles to read, but when it comes to our safety we need to ensure we are doing everything possible. Be sure to check out NAR’s Safety Page and Moby’s Safety Blog.

  • Pledge A Safer Work Ethic

Just like we pledge a healthier lifestyle to ensure we are in top shape, we urge our fellow ActiveRainers to take an active step to drastically changing how you practice your safety.We cannot passively think about safety anymore, we need ensure that every time we are out showing a property or hosting an open house we are as safe as we can possibly be. To ensure you stick through with this, share your pledge with a colleague or a family member so you can be accountable if you feel like ‘skipping on a safety precaution’ because of a time crunch.

  • Hold A Safety Meeting At Your Office As Soon As Possible

Holding a safety meeting will not only ensure that you and your colleagues are up to date on the latest safety tips, self-defense moves, but that you are also all committing to a safer work ethic. Holding a safety meeting will reinforce the idea that we are all in this together and we need to watch out for each others’ safety. Moby has created a Safety Seminar complete with facilitator notes, for anyone who would like to jumpstart the safety meeting. Please e-mail us with your request and we will send you a PowerPoint copy.

We would also suggest you look into attending a professional Real Estate safety seminar, such as Realtor® safety guru Andrew Wooten’s national seminars.

Please share your thoughts on how to create a safety movement in the comment section below. We are really hoping to create a momentum where we show everyone that we will not stand idle when it comes to the safety of all real estate professionals.

Take care and be safe everyone!

The Moby Team

Moby's Facebook Page

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Sandi Davidson
Florida's Realty LLC - Lehigh Acres, FL

This is a heartbreaking story and a reminder to do your best to be safe at all times.

Apr 19, 2011 01:54 PM #1
Constina M. Baylor
REMAX Gold Coast Realtors Oxnard - Oxnard, CA
Broker Associate - Oxnard Homes, Oxnard Beach and Marina

Hi Kathleen, I'm thinking about picking up some mace just because you can never be too safe.  I'm more concerned with walking to my car at night but I don't want to take my saftey for granted when doing an open house, either.

Apr 20, 2011 05:08 AM #2
Michele Miller ~ REALTOR®, LMC, HSE, CHS, SRES, CMRS
ERA Key Realty~Worcester County Realty Group - Worcester, MA
'Helping You Make the Best Move"

Very sad Kathleen for her and her family.

We have to be so careful in this business.

Apr 20, 2011 01:21 PM #3
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Ocwen/Altisource is on Fire, Fire, Fire this morning within our Order Central software!

Real Estate Technology with BPO Automation Group & BPO University

BPO Automation Group

Our BPO Company of the Month of August is....Ocwen/Altisource!

I woke up this morning and like most day's I start by opening up our Order Central AutoAccept software to check the Stats and see how the software is performing for our customers.

When I opened up the 'Statistics' tab this morning, I was SHOCKED! I learned that Ocwen/Altisource is on fire this morning! Our OC AutoAccept software already captured 176 out of 196 orders with this company alone and all before 8:30 am. Please see the image below!

As I talk with BPO/REO agents and brokers all over the U.S each month many of them ask about Ocwen/Altisource and I tell them that this is the MOST successful company in our OC AutoAccept software. I try to let people know just how powerful our Stats are because if they use them they would see that Ocwen/Altisource drops the majority of their orders from 3 am to 8 am nationally.

Many of these same fine folks go on to get a good amount of orders with this company and with the other 15 companies that we offer. We are planning on adding 5 more companies to our software in the next month as well. I'll let you know the companies in my next blog posting.

In case you haven't heard, BPO Automation Group's Order Central auto-accept software has been producing record numbers of BPO orders for BPO & REO agents and brokers nationwide in the last 2+ years. We are one of the few remaining companies to provide real estate professionals with needed software to help in capturing more work as it is getting more and more difficult to receive BPO orders.

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Get more BPO orders. Get the RIGHT orders. Order Central, the newest AutoAccepter from the BPO Automation Group, lets you specify which orders are worth accepting by payout & zip code for 16 top national companies. Get the free 1-week trial today at: http://www.bpo-automation.com.

Our network captured over 3,300 verified BPO orders just in the month of July. With faster performance, greater stability, and a ton of new features like address-mapping, remote account-access & detailed capture-logs, Order Central will take that to a whole new level.

Why Order Central? It's replaces the AutoAccepter2, which relied on iMacros and led to an unstable platform with a long list of technical problems and limited features. For some agents it worked great, but not for everyone - so we re-wrote it completely from the ground up. The result is faster, more stable, and 100% our own software.

You can download & activate a free 1-week trial in seconds by clicking here: BPO Automation Group website. Due to high call volume, we encourage you to email us at: sales@bpo-automation.com with questions rather than contact us by phone. We love talking with you, but we don't want to miss your call due to all of the activity!

The price of the software is:

$49.00/month and a 5% per order fee   -OR-

$499.00/one-time fee and a 5% per order fee

Feel free to give us a call with any questions,

Steve Lorimer

Sales Manager | BPO Automation Group
(360) 223-2482 ext 1 | sales@bpo-automation.com

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About BPO Automation: With thousands of clients nationwide, we're  the #1 provider for BPO form-completion and automated order-acceptance software in the United States. Our focus is on quality solutions that save time, boost revenue, and let you focus on growing your business. Learn More »

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BPO Automation BPO University   BPO Companies

BPO Automation Group LLC
PO Box 1325, Ferndale, WA 98248
Tel: (360) 223-2482 | E-mail: sales@bpo-automation.com

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Plastic Bags- the slow decline of nature

Real Estate Broker/Owner with !Daley Real Estate

So, guess what I have been consciously attempting to do....eliminate plastic bags from my life. I received as a gift a re-usable eco-bag to be used instead of plastic grocery bags (which are derived from fossil fuels). Here's the catch though- I ALWAYS FORGET IT!

At home or in the car, I can't seem to get my act together about keeping this dang thing with me (and for those of you who know that I carry a briefcase/duffel/suitcase-sized purse, please continue reading when you catch your breath from laughter). Seriously, the bag eludes me. So I came up with a solution. Because I am always buying perishables, I know that I am headed home post-grocery shopping, so I came up with a new routine at check-out. I simply unload the contents of my buggy (a buggy is a shopping cart if you aren't from the South) onto the conveyor belt, allow them to be scanned and I place the items back into my buggy.

When I get to the parking lot, I open my trunk and put them in, loosey-goosey. After I get home, I grab a laundry basket and load everything on into my kitchen. Easy-Peasy. No bags to recycle, no bags at all....just double check your trunk to be sure that the sour cream made it inside or you may have a pungent mystery emerge from your trunk after your next trip to the store! Ironically, more eggs make it back to my house unharmed, because I can clearly see them.

Plastic bag picture from

Grocery cart picture from

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Ross Quintana
Real E Smarter - Spokane, WA
Real E Smarter Real Estate Coach - 509-362-1966

Spokane Washington Real Estate Expert Funny post. Good job putting it on yourself instead of the environment.

May 13, 2008 07:56 AM #1
Stephanie Edwards-Musa - The Woodlands, TX
knitwit at thred UP

Hmmm.  I have never thought about that.  I forget the bags too.  :)  However, we use the plastic bags all the time and don't waste them...Thanks for the post!

May 15, 2008 12:04 PM #2
Georgie Hunter R(S) 58089
Hawai'i Life Real Estate Brokers - Haiku, HI
Maui Real Estate sales and lifestyle info

Get a really thin bag that will fold up and tuck away in your purse, then you will always have one handy.  Good for you for trying to eliminate plastic bags from your life... don't give up.

May 18, 2008 04:23 PM #3
Kelly Winch
Cascades Sotheby's International Realty - Sunriver, OR
Broker, CDPE

Great post - I have spent at least 2 years trying to get a system in place.  I bring the bags in the house one or two at a time (whatever I can carry) and then put the groceries away - when I go to the car for the 2nd load I take the emptied bags back out with me and put them in the back. It works for me!

May 19, 2008 07:03 AM #4
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i’m with her

Election Day 2016.

Normally I’m not one to talk politics online, but I recently had an unwelcome incident at work. Ironically enough, before my shift I was watching Amazon’s new show Good Girls Revolt, which revolves around a group of female researchers standing up for their rights to “write” at a Time-like magazine. It made me smile seeing these women convene in bathrooms, coffee shops before work, at consciousness-rising meeting after work. They were collectively standing up for themselves and didn’t want to take the sexist behavior exhibited in the office.

Back to why this is ironic. The show is set in 1970. Fast forward to less than a week ago, November 2016, and I had a man treat me in a way that took me back 40 years:

As I passed a tray of appetizers, I felt a strong pull gripping my waist. Turning around, I came face to face with a man who had a sheepish grin. My insides were churning. He had no right to aggressively grab at me. But I was at work, slapping him would not go over well. Instead, I forced a smile and asked if he wanted an hor d’oeuvre. He laughed and made a crude comment about “wanting me”. Are you fucking kidding me?? Needless to say, I was in shock, so I made a semi-funny quip, turned around and walked away. You better believe I heard the group of men snickering.

Later, new apps in hand, crude man made his presence known by calling me “Honey Pot” and asking for another beer. My name’s Natalie I said. Really were we back in the 60s/70s??? He didn’t care, he called me “Honey Pot” again.

At that point, a coworker had seen that interaction and alerted management. They were furious at the man, and promptly told me I didn’t have to walk around the floor anymore. Part of me wanted to stay on the floor- was I succumbing and weak to his words/action that I was just going to avoid him? Or was it ok to stay away? Believe me, there was nothing more I wanted to do than tell him off. But I realized I didn’t have to put myself through more poor treatment to prove I was strong, that I could handle the inappropriate verbal and physical behavoir.

In that scenario, I couldn’t vote him off the island. But you better believe that when I hit the polls today I will not stand for anyone who doesn’t see all humans as one class. Woman, Mexican, Elderly, Black,  Arab, Man, White, Asian–we are all equal. And deserve to be seen and treated as such.

I’m standing with HER because no one deserves to feel less than their worth.

It’s 2016, own your sex and raise your voice! #IMWITHHER

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J.C. Penney expands in Brazil

Published on .

RIO DE JANEIRO--Following the closure of one of Rio de Janeiro's leading retail chains, Mesbla, five of its open spaces in key shopping malls will be filled by Renner Stores, owned by J.C. Penney Co. of Plano, Texas. Renner's goods are mainly clothes aimed at the middle to lower end of the market.

The move is part of Renner's expansion plans in Brazil, including a $20 million investment in four outlets in Sao Paulo in the next two years.

The U.S. retailer entered Brazil in December 1998 through the acquisition of retail chain Renner, founded in Porto Alegre. Renner now has 23 stores, 11 in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, three in Santa Catarina, two in Parana and seven in Sao Paulo.

The local Mesbla chain sold its assets following debts of more than $600 million. The buyer, Sao-Paulo based Mappin, also collapsed, leading to the acquisition by Renner.

Copyright August 1999, Crain Communications Inc.

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Katz Radio Group forms online unit

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Katz Radio Group, New York, formed Internet Marketing Sales to handle business for radio stations and agencies or marketers interested in exploring ad sales with radio sites on the Web. Jeff Hodge, VP-general manager for Katz Hispanic Media, becomes VP-sales for KRG Internet Marketing Services. The unit will sign an Internet service provider partner within the month to help interested radio stations build online sites.

Copyright August 1996 Crain Communications Inc.

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Data: Top magazine advertisers

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Major marketers spend about two-thirds of their multicultural ad dollars on African-American magazines and a third on U.S. Hispanic magazines.

Although Hispanic titles are growing faster in ad revenue, black titles have higher circulations, said Carlos Pelay, president of Media Economics Group. Ebony and Essence are the biggest, at 1.45 million and 1.05 million, respectively, compared with the biggest Hispanic titles, People en Espa¤ol and Latina, at 500,000. The top 100 advertisers in more than 90 Hispanic and black titles surveyed put 64.7% of their multicultural dollars ($267.6 million) into African-American titles and 35.3% ($146.1 million) into Hispanic magazines. The survey didn't measure Asian-American magazines.

PepsiCo devoted 91.6% of its multicultural spending to black magazines, and Coca-Cola Co. 81.7%.

Marketers who spent most of their multicultural print dollars on black magazines included Pfizer, PepsiCo, Nike, Nissan and Coca-Cola Co. The heavy-Hispanic spenders were JC Penney, Diageo, Cingular Wireless and McDonald's Corp.
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Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Welcome to Scotland!!!!

So quite some time ago now Mum and Dad T came to visit us in Sunny (yes, really) Scotland. We're kicking ourselves for taking so long to blog as it's amazing how quickly you can forget little details but here goes....

It had been about 20 months since we'd all last clapped eyes on each other (not counting web cams) so it was really something quite special. On the Thursday they arrived we had to keep reminding ourselves that they had just come out of something like 30 hours travelling when we had just driven an hour to the airport.
Despite their jet lag, upon arrival in Inveraray we all decided to take the hike up Dun na Cuaiche which is kinda strenuous but affords great views over the town. The weather was blustery but clear so it made for a pretty nice walk and helped stretch some of the jet lag out of Mum and Dad's bones (or so we kept telling them).
We ate at the George that night and Mum and Dad stayed up until the admiral time of 9:30ish, I'm sure the combination of jet lag and whisky liqueur helped them have a very good night's sleep.
We were both working during the day on the Friday so Mum and Dad took the car and went for a drive around Glen Coe and a bunch of other places getting a look at some of the beautiful highlands and that evening we headed along to the Inver Cottage restaurant on the other side of the Loch for tea. We had heard good things about this secluded little place and it was a really nice meal, we managed to sight some pheasants and highland cattle on the way around as well.
Saturday was brilliant. We had a wander about town in the morning checking out all the shops and then headed out to nearby Cairndow where our friend Iain was taking us around the oyster and mussel farm he works in.
We were able to see the crates where the oysters are left to filter any nasties before going to the table but the tide was in so we couldn't see the actual oyster beds. We did get to sample an oyster there and then though, fresh!
We then headed out to the mussel farm first seeing the platform that Iain has to work on when he is setting and harvesting the mussel ropes. It is a square punt type thing with loads of equipment on it but not much in the way of shelter. No wonder he looks cold when he comes to the pub after work in winter.
Iain is really knowledgeable and was able to answer all our questions about the farm and it was lovely out on the water if a little cold heading back against the wind. As a parting gift he threw us a bag of oysters for our dinner that night, what a guy!
We stopped by the Loch Fyne Oysters shop on the way home to pick up some local produce for our dinner that night before heading to The George for a lunch of mussels (unfortunately not from Iain's farm).
Although we were pretty knackered we then went for an afternoon wander up and around the town, visiting the wishing well and swinging back by the castle again, getting slightly muddy along the way.
For dinner we had a real spread as the photo attests and followed with our first game of dominos for the holiday. We did head up to The George for a drink afterwards but most of our friends were still working and the music was a bloody awful (in my opinion) country and western guy who we only get in once in a blue moon. It was a bit disappointing not to be able to show Mum and Dad how good a Saturday night can be with a popular band on but oh well.
The following morning it was up early to head of n our Irish voyage....
Photos: Mussel lines, a fairly full mussel rope, Captain Mackay, Mum enjoying the sunshine.

At 8:16 AM, Blogger steve and sue said...

Hanging out for the rest of the story!

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Thursday, March 19, 2009

Rage, Rage against the dying of the sales boost

So the Sun's joined the outrage over the OK! "tribute issue":

Fury as mag kills off battling Jade Goody

Some of the Sun's and its sister paper's front-page headlines over the past three weeks:

“Jade Says Goodbye” – 24 February

“Jack’s bedside confessions as Jade weakens” – 5 March

“Jade battles for baptism – too ill to talk” – 7 March

“Jade: The Last Kiss Goodbye” – News of the World, 8 March

“Jade’s Final Battle” – 11 March

“Going home to die” – 12 March

“Hubby Dashes to Jade bedside” – 14 March

“Jade hours from death” – News of the World, 15 March

“Jade tells youngest son: The Angels are Calling Mummy” – 16 March

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Friday, February 10, 2017

Future Goals/Dreams

I have one major goal, and it starts right after High School. I really want to go to the United States Coast Guard academy. This is a college that you attend for four years, and they will pay for the whole thing. The only catch is you must serve or 5 yeas in the coast guard afterwards. Once you graduate from the college you will be an officer, which is above the highest rank that you can achieve with out gong to college. This just seems like a really good opportunity, and I have always wanted to be in the coast guard anyways.
I want to be part of the Drug Task Force if i get in. You get to travel all over the borders of the united states, and other allies with the United States. The jobs main detail is in the name. They tour the borders in boats waiting for calls saying that there is a boat near by, and needs to be checked out. They will arrive at the boat, and see whats up. Many times it can just be a fisherman , and they check for permits, or licences for that type of fish. If its not a fisher man a lot of the times it can be a drug boat. These boats can be very dangerous, because these people can act very reckless when they don't want to get busted. The Coast Guard gets on the boat and brings the people into incarceration if necessary. Those are the reasons that I want to be in the Coast Guard, and it seems like a very good opportunity.

Image result for us coast guard

Thursday, October 20, 2016

My Favorite Music

I really enjoy listening to rap, hip-hop, and trap music. Lately I have been listening to a lot of music by Chance the Rapper. My favorite song by him is No Problem. It is a very smooth going song and is very pleasant to the ears. The reason I like rap is because it talks about the things that go through many people's lives, that others don't realize. It puts me in a better place, listening, like nobody else is around. That is the reasoning for the music I listen to and love.

Monday, September 19, 2016

Reflection on Place and Culture

I love my home. I live on one of the beautiful places on the world. The great sunsets, the huge redwoods. I love living in a place where on the weekends I can go hunting, or go mountain biking. I love the small town I live in as well. No traffic, lots of true hard working people. One thing that I don't love about my home is the marijuana. People all over seem to abuse the drug. They push to sell to the young who will pay for it, and they don't seem to actually help the people who may need it for medicinal reasons. That's the things I love and not so much about my home.

Sunday, September 18, 2016

About Me

Hello my name is Adam. I am 14 years old, and 15 years soon. I love to play sports. I play three sports, football, wrestling, and golf. I enjoy hunting. this weekend I actually shot a deer. It had one horn, and the other one had broken off. The main thing that I love about hunting is the quietness. How peaceful it is. sitting on a rock on a hillside, trying to see how far you can. looking at the beautiful nature. One thing that has been getting a lot of my focus is looking into colleges. I want to attend a college in the state of Connecticut. It is the united states coast guard academy. That's about me.