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From the front lines: Pre-K works

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – Each school year, across Allegheny County, we welcome thousands of new kindergarten students into our classrooms. Some know colors and shapes. Some can recite numbers and letters. Some have experience with cooperation and taking turns.

Every kindergartener arrives with varying strengths and needs as a result of a wide range of early-learning experiences.

Several studies demonstrate that children who attend high-quality early-learning programs are better prepared — socially, emotionally and cognitively — for kindergarten. As kindergarten teachers from across Allegheny County, we see these results in our classrooms.

Before day one of a child’s school career, 90 percent of his or her brain development has occurred. It’s easy to spot a child who attended a high-quality early-learning program — which is why all young children in Allegheny County deserve to have access to such a program prior to walking into a kindergarten classroom.

As Allegheny County residents head to the voting booth Tuesday, they can support our children by voting yes for the Allegheny County Children’s Fund, which would increase real estate taxes slightly to provide access for all to high-quality early-learning programs, after-school programs and nutritious meals — three services that are proven to yield success for our children.

Currently in Allegheny County, more than half of 3- and 4-year-olds don’t have access to high-quality pre-K. We have to fix this because we know firsthand that pre-K makes a difference.

Children develop critical social and emotional skills in early-learning environments, such as how to share and cooperate with their peers and regulate their emotions. These early social interactions are connected to cognitive skills like language development.

Pre-K also gives children time to work on physical growth, including fine motor skills like how to hold a pencil or scissors. And it helps instill a love for learning. Children enter elementary school more prepared to reach their full academic potential.

As if that’s not enough, it’s been shown that high-quality early-learning programs save families and schools money by improving children’s health and school readiness, while reducing future crime.

This is a defining moment for Allegheny County to make a commitment to our youngest citizens. As teachers, we want our children to feel successful and comfortable when they enter our classrooms. The structure of school — rules, expectations, routines, etc. — take time to learn. Let’s offer our young learners the experiences they need to enter kindergarten feeling excited, prepared and confident on their first day.

Vote yes to create the Allegheny County Children’s Fund.

This op-ed was submitted on behalf of kindergarten and pre-K teachers Chuck Herring (South Fayette); Jaclyn Kean (Avonworth); Tamara Ekis (McKeesport); Erin Sypin (McKeesport); Amanda Galloway (Gateway); Stephanie Forga (Gateway); Sara Podvasnik (Duquense); and Nicole Eiben (Duquesne).

Read the full story here.


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App-O-Rama: 4 New Cards and ~200,000 Points

This site is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. This site does not include all financial companies or all available financial offers. What is written in the article is the editor's opinion.

Also see:

Oh man, looking back on my first AOR 3 years ago is such a stroll down memory lane.

Still the best high I've found

Still the best high I’ve found

I was still newish to points and miles, new to blogging, still finding my voice and figuring out my travel goals.

I mentioned them at the time:

My travel goals for this round of apps are Toronto, Montreal, Boston, Dublin, Seattle, Alaska, and eventually, Australia. I’d also LOVE to fit in Vienna/Prague sometime this summer.

I made it to all of those places with the exception of Prague (which I mentioned recently as a possibility with Hilton points, so it’s still on my radar):

It goes to show the power of setting a goal.

But I should take a little wisdom “Three Years Ago Harlan” because my recent round of applications were rather scattershot. After I get settled in Dallas, I’m gonna need to plan a lot of trips with all the points and miles I’ll earn from this newest AOR.

4 new cards!

This is my biggest AOR yet. I briefly considered going for 5, but then I thought… nah…

Slash what’s your biggest number for an AOR?

And also, I thought AORs were kinda dead but apparently they rage on.

Here’s what I picked up:

In total, I’ll net nearly 200K points/miles after meeting the minimum spending requirements.

Not a bad haul.

The applications

I got nice n schwasted on too much Tito’s vodka and had a thought to apply for the Chase United Explorer card. Chase sent me a targeted mailer – twice – and I heard co-branded cards were exempt from the 5/24 rule.

You want me, Chase?

You want me, Chase?

After being brutally straight-up denied for the Chase Freedom Unlimited, I figured I’d grovel my way back.

Offer landing page

Offer landing page

Considering the public offer is for 30K miles right now, it was worth a spin.

And take me back they did. I got a nice limit, higher than my other Chase cards. I’ll probably add an authorized user for those 5,000 bonus United miles.

Now that I’m heavily into the United Mileage Plus X app, I might as well score some extra miles, increased award availability, and 2 free United Club passes per year. Plus it’s free the 1st year anyway, so why not?

With that squared away, on to Citi.

I went for the Citi ThankYou Premier with a 40K sign-up bonus. To me, that’s worth $640 toward American Airlines flights because I also have the Citi Prestige card.

Although the bonus has been higher, $640 for a hard pull is still worth it to me. I can make use of the expanded 3X travel category which includes gas (now that I’ll be driving again) instead of Citi Prestige’s limited airfare and hotel direct-from-merchant 3X category.

Call required

The app went to a pending state. But I called right away and they pushed it through for me within 5 minutes.

Next, another Bank of America Alaska Airlines Visa.

Easy, fast, 25K Alaska miles

Easy, fast, 25K Alaska miles

Quickest app ever. Immediately approved. 25,000 more Alaska Airlines miles in the ol’ Mileage Plan account.

Then, I decided to push my luck with AMEX again with the Mercedes-Benz Platinum Card.

They needed further review. I used my new Dallas address, and apparently it triggered a fraud alert.

They said they needed a few more days to process the application, but I’m confident I’ll get it.

I’m not worried about the annual fee because I’ll immediately get $200 back in Amazon gift cards, which I’ll use to furnish my new place.

And I’ll cancel my other AMEX Platinum Card (regular version) and keep this one for Centurion Lounge access when I fly out of DFW. And to keep my existing Membership Rewards points alive.

Quick word about gas

About… what? Um, OK.

So this is unrelated, but…

$50 for my gas to Dallas

$50 for my gas to Dallas (or groceries, restaurants, and drugstores)

I got targeted to get a $50 Alaska Airlines flight credit after spending $250 on my Bank of America Alaska Airlines Visa.

That’s a pretty good return on spending (that I will have to make anyway).

A fuel estimator let me know I’m looking at around that price in gas from NYC to Dallas. Plus, I figure, snacks and coffee to make $250.

Now, I could earn 750 Citi ThankYou points with my new Citi ThankYou Premier. But that’s worth $12 (750 x 1.6 toward American Airlines flights thanks to Citi Prestige).

So I come out way ahead with the $50 flight credit. And, I’ll actually use it.

I’m not worried about making the $3,000 minimum spending requirement on the Citi ThankYou Premier because the move will have all sorts of other costs to cover.

Just wanted to include this nugget to show that sometimes targeted offers can be extremely worthwhile.

Bottom line

Pretty soon, I’ll be 190,000 points/miles richer. And I can’t wait to put them to good use.

In fact, I value that many points at $3,800 – an excellent deal in exchange for a drunken AOR!

I’m reaching a point where I have more points and miles than time to spend them. So I need to get my travel goals together. Having the points is more than enough motivation/temptation for me.

I didn’t think AORs (app-o-ramas) were still a “thing,” but they very much are, apparently. And it felt so good to get those approvals in, one after the other.

I’m also keeping more things in mind. Using points and miles for a trip you wouldn’t have taken anyway doesn’t really mean you’re “saving” money. It means you’re going out and spending on food/taxis/incidentals were you otherwise wouldn’t have.

You’re only saving if you were going to take those trips anyway.

I’m mixing personal finance with my travel bug here. It’s an intriguing place to be. I know I’d travel regardless of points and miles. But having them lets me do it in more comfort.

It’s important to constantly question what you’re really “saving.” And 4 new cards in one night – sheesh. That’s more than some peeps have altogether.

We really do have an extremely niche little hobby, and there’s a certain temperament you need to make it worthwhile. Just please, whatever, you do, never pay a dime of interest. Unless it’s really, really worth it.

All that to say, this newest AOR felt so good. (Also, “bottom line” longer than any section. Hell yes, I’ll be a pro blogger soon!)

What about you guys? Any new cards planned

* If you liked this post, consider signing up to receive free blog posts in an RSS reader and you’ll never miss an update! And thanks for using my links to apply for new card offers!

Editorial Note: Opinions expressed here are author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post. The opinions of the commenters are not necessarily the opinions of this site.

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About Harlan

Just a dude living in Dallas.

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  1. Hey Harlan,

    Nice haul! My last few cards were a 2nd Alaska, SPG Bus, and an Ink. I was going to take a break and work the min spend for SPG and Ink and then the AMEX Plat hit. Of course I had to get that. Trying to work the numbers so I spend wisely. What are you plans for hitting the min spends? Will your move cover most of that?

    • Holy crap, you’re on fire! 🙂

      All good scores – all of them. Congrats!

      For min spend, I still have to pay for my move, furniture, and rents/mortgage through Plastiq – plus I have 3 months to complete it all so I’m not too worried about it. No new MS techniques as of yet. I’m hoping to find new, creative ways to earn points down in Texas though!

      I highly recommend Plastiq for bill payments – it will definitely be the biggest piece of meeting the spending requirements for this round.

  2. Hey Harlan, just for a curiosity when was the last time you applied for several cards? I have been a applying for 2 cards every 2-3 months but I think im pushing it? Still getting most of them approved

    • Well I got both AMEX SPG cards in March, and applied for another AMEX Hilton card shortly after, so every 2-3 months sounds about right for me.

      I think I’ll give it a rest for 90 days unless there’s an offer that’s too good to refuse. But every 2-3 months seems to be a good amount of time to wait between a big round (3 or more) of apps.

      • I’m going to give it a rest for awhile as well. I keep telling myself I’m going to only apply for best ever offers, but we shall see if that works out.

        • Lol, ditto. I told myself the same thing.

          I’ve about tapped out AMEX and Chase and Citi at this point, so I’m sort of forced to cool it for a second. Plus, lots of min spending coming up – woof!

          Keep me posted on your adventures, I love hearing about them!

  3. My wife has the same car, but hers is an 03 Forester with 260k miles on it. It’s pretty beat to hell at this point, but it still gets her to and from work, and we bought it with cash, so it’s free and clear.

    • Wow, I love my little Subie! I’m at 141K – hope to make it to 260K! Many good years ahead it sounds like.

      And yeah, that’s all I use my car for, too: scootin’ around town and don’t need anything fancy.

      Free + clear is the only way to be!

Leave a Reply

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The Time Agency

The Time Agency

by Jon Rappoport

November 24, 2015

(To read about Jon’s mega-collection, Exit From The Matrix, click here.)

Note: Before I present this short piece of fiction, I want to remind readers that the purpose of this blog is to stimulate imagination. Why? Because what you decide to do in life flies only at half-mast when imagination is dormant. The possible discoveries that can be made are not made. The potential energy that can be accessed remains quiet. The profound desires that can be uncovered stay buried. You never know what imagination can reveal unless you deploy it. These are not light statements. These are hard truths—and all the mind control in the world exists to keep the individual from living through and by imagination.

Okay. Here we go. Once more, into the breach.

According to records, and who knows whether to trust them, the Time Agency was founded in 2030, in response to a series of fractures in the consensus template.

One public document, The Richard Fan Letters, provides an interesting glimpse into the early days of the Agency. Fan was a reporter for a site called Accidental Clock. Here are a few excerpts from the Letters, written to his wife, Nancy, who later fell (or was pushed) into a temporal sinkhole in the spring of 2041, while vacationing at her family’s ranch in Wyoming:

“Something flutters, perhaps the tail of a bureaucrat’s coat as he disappears around the edge of the puzzle and separates from the centuries-old pressure to move time forward. Grab a hot dog at the last outpost and launch out into the Empty Quarter, where no one knows anything. Another employee gone. The attrition rate is climbing.”

“Eisenhower’s farewell address of January 17, 1961—‘In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex’—backs up like an old truck to the loading dock, where President Marsh’s 2056 plea to ‘knock down the barriers of interspecies intolerance’ is idling, waiting for calendrical reassignment. This is the place where old ideas are redistributed through time.”

“In the middle of Manhattan, Central Park is in 2139, while the Hotel Pierre is in 1965. Crossing over is a serious roll of the dice. You could end up locked in April, 1402, repeating and repeating with no end in sight. You could arrive at the Pierre before it was built. Officers of the Time Agency could arrest you halfway through and move you to a detention center in Hoboken. Or you could make the cross successfully, in which case you’d start a new life, free from whatever problems you had, just as the Vietnam War was heating up…”

“Rumors persist that the novelist HG Wells has turned up in Los Angeles. The Agency has ‘found no credible evidence.’ I am writing from a San Francisco apartment in what I believe is 2031. I have an email on Agency letterhead which informs me that my building has been designated for a preliminary investigation. I assume I am the target, because of my work in exposing temporal fractures. The federal government is doing everything it can to hold the line against reports of sinkholes and shifts. At the moment, a hole has opened up near City Hall. Visibility at the boundaries is poor. There are rumors the 12-block area has dropped back to the 1860s. Agency officers guard the perimeter. They claim they’re establishing a presence on the scene to limit citizen exposure to pernicious efforts on the part of deranged people, who ‘wish they could leave the world of today.’”

“The Agency wants to know whether I specifically claim time has fallen apart. My conviction should be obvious from my work. Formerly a branch of the American Psychiatric Association, the Time Agency maintains (and expands) a list of several hundred Dislocation Disorders, none of which is confirmed by laboratory test. Its DD Manual states, ‘Advocating the notion that some people disappear into other time periods is the main symptom of DDs, which fall into two categories: passive and aggressive advocacy. The latter class of persons is subject to criminal penalties…’”

The Time Agency has been streamlined. It now engages in widespread spaying of nanobots trained to rearrange synaptic responses. However, these efforts appear to be futile. People are still vanishing. Temporal sinkholes continue to open up. Apparently, the whole state of Utah is situated in a period between 1890 and 1905, and Vermont resides in the so-called Golden Age, when the government took over ownership of businesses employing more than 200 people. Outside Las Vegas, a man calling himself Bill Clinton has simultaneously kicked off a Presidential campaign and started building a brothel, which he has named The Foundation.

Contrary to official formulations, time has no signature. Artificial overlays, of course, have been provided, and they serve an organizing function. However, a breakdown and a defection was always a possibility. The chicken have come home to roost.

exit from the matrix

People mistake fiction for fact, and vice versa. Present them a shocking discovery and they’ll call it rank speculation. Offer them a piece of fiction and they’ll respond as if you were reporting the news. This tendency is evidence of a deep psychological dislocation. So why should it be a surprise when the veneer of time wears off?

Originally, calendars were inventions of rulers, imposed to control the lives of populations. You can divide a second into a billion parts, and still the operation carries a whiff of the totalitarian spirit.

Epochs, eras, and periods are all a kind of riffraff of psychological brainwashing. You can program a human to accept the ruse, but when he no longer perceives a payoff for himself, he moves out into unknown territory.

Unfortunately, most people take this opportunity as a license to commit crimes. The preferred position is Overview, from which you can enter and exit various sections of the time-map and carry out a fruitful investigation of deep human conditioning.

Jon Rappoport

The author of three explosive collections, THE MATRIX REVEALED, EXIT FROM THE MATRIX, and POWER OUTSIDE THE MATRIX, Jon was a candidate for a US Congressional seat in the 29th District of California. He maintains a consulting practice for private clients, the purpose of which is the expansion of personal creative power. Nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, he has worked as an investigative reporter for 30 years, writing articles on politics, medicine, and health for CBS Healthwatch, LA Weekly, Spin Magazine, Stern, and other newspapers and magazines in the US and Europe. Jon has delivered lectures and seminars on global politics, health, logic, and creative power to audiences around the world. You can sign up for his free NoMoreFakeNews emails here or his free OutsideTheRealityMachine emails here.

7 comments on “The Time Agency

  1. David Hyskell says:

    Why do adults teach kids that imagination is useless and impractical and all that matters in life is paying the bills?

    Imagine if there were parents and teachers and professors like you who want kids to be free and grow up to be free.
    As soon as you become an adult your whole life shuts down, and now all of a sudden society is beginning to discover that we are screwing with our kids futures? Too late for my generation I guess (I’m 24), maybe we can save the next ones.

    Glad I found your work, Jon.

    I’d like to recommend to everyone your book Lifting the Veil, your interview with David Icke! Very cool.

      • Michael Burns says:

        lol…well done. Thanks for the link.

      • David says:

        Interesting review there!

        A perfect introduction

        By Cathleen M. Walker – VINE VOICE on December 18, 2001

        If you are not familiar with David Icke or Jon Rappoport, do a web search on them. What you will find will either turn you off or light a fire of curiosity that will burn with the intensity of Truth. This book is a good place to glean the basic concepts of Icke’s philosophy, as Rappoport conducts the interview. Rappoport is an impressive author in his own right, which other reviewers didn’t comment on for some reason. At a time when what passes for “journalism” in this country isn’t worth the time it takes to turn on the TV, Rappoport asks the hard questions and does the dirty digging to get to the bottom of issues that we just don’t look at hard enough. His willingness to give Icke credibility says a lot. Yes, Icke does some reaching, but we underestimate the potential of technology and its roots to our own detriment. Approach this book with an open mind, and don’t make it the last one you read on the subject. will refer you to many other similar authors who have been investigating in the same vein. When you decide to stop seeking, it will be because you no longer want to know — not because it isn’t true. It’s not a pretty picture, but it is only by looking at it clearly that we will be able to do anything about it at all.

  2. Michael Burns says:

    There is no time like the present time…time after time…
    In olden times…
    “Your on the clock you know?’
    Time is endless…
    Once upon a time…
    Time is money!
    There is no time, like the present time, if I only had more time!
    Hurry up we’re running out of time.
    Long, long time ago…in a New York minute.
    Time is of the essence.
    How much do you charge per hour?
    “Miles per hour….officer? I don’t know!”
    Oh my Gawd, we’re outta time….
    That was a different time!
    Time is surreal!
    International time.
    Time is the great equalizer.
    Not this time, maybe, next time!
    It’s Christmas time!
    Oh fuck, is it time?
    Time and time again…time stands still.
    Time stood still.
    Time slows down.
    Time seems to be speeding up!
    What time is it?
    Do you have the time.
    Stop wasting my-time.
    What time are you on?
    You, are from another time!
    We never get enough time, do we.
    I’d like to be on your time.
    What, are you keeping banker’s hours?
    Time is precious.
    You only get one lifetime, so use the time wisely.

  3. TBD says:

    Jon, I had to post on this one because it is an excellent piece. Read like a heady sci-fi mystery with the potential to be a fresh unique addition to that genre…that is if they had to categorize it somewhere. Also with pointers to “realities” bonuses. I wonder if there has been any thought to continue or even make this into a book. I would read.

  4. From Québec says:

    Does time really exist?
    Does time really flow?

    What if it was just a fix dimension space?
    And that we are the ones moving through it?
    Did you ever ask yourself this question?

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Buy to let in Cospicua – Malta

If you are looking for a real estate agency that offers you the opportunity to Buy to let in Cospicua - Malta, Overseas Residence is the place you need. Our real estate agency has a large team of real estate agents experts in the sale of properties in Malta.

If you decide to trust our services, you can choose the property that best suits your needs and then offer it to other people. In this way, you will have the possibility of obtaining that economic return that you are trying to acquire.

At Overseas Residence Real Estate we will help you choose the best property for sale in Malta, also according to the tastes of the citizens. In addition, we will provide all the details that encompass Cospicua so you can rent your new home more easily.

Thanks to the qualities offered by our properties for sale in Cospicua, as well as those of the island itself, achieving the objective of renting it, will be much simpler.

How can you take advantage of the opportunity to Buy to let in Cospicua - Malta?

If you decide to have the services of our real estate agency and then Buy to let in Cospicua - Malta, you can benefit from many of the qualities offered by this beautiful city.

  • First of all, the sea is one of the main tourist destinations in Malta. This island is composed of beaches of fine sand and crystal clear water. Some exotic beaches that delight your bathers.
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Wednesday, December 5, 2018

Daniel T. Rodgers's "As a City on a Hill"

Daniel T. Rodgers is the Henry Charles Lea Professor of History Emeritus at Princeton University. His books include Age of Fracture, winner of the Bancroft Prize; Atlantic Crossings; Contested Truths; and The Work Ethic in Industrial America. He lives in Princeton, New Jersey.

Rodgers applied the “Page 99 Test” to his latest book, As a City on a Hill: The Story of America's Most Famous Lay Sermon, and reported the following:
As a City on a Hill: The Story of America’s Most Famous Lay Sermon is a story of the unexpected lives of the sermon that John Winthrop wrote out on the eve of the Puritan settlement of New England. Turn to page 99, and at first you seem far away from his famous phrase. You find yourself immersed a deeply contentious business meeting of the company that sponsored the Massachusetts project. The company was in debt. Some of its leading investors had already lost considerable sums of money; others were about to have the value of their shares radically reduced. Ministers were summoned to try to adjudicate the dispute; votes were retaken. A moral “labyrinth,” Winthrop wrote, “infolded” them all.

In fact, you are at a critical origin point of the “we shall be as a city on a hill” phrase that Winthrop was to write into his “Model of Christian Charity,” though centuries of rereading has scrubbed its anti-market sentiments from it. The ideas at its heart were injunctions to set aside love of self when the greater public good demanded it: pleas to transcend self-interest that Winthrop had first formulated at that heated business meeting. Anxiety that his fellow voyagers might not live up to these values saturated Winthrop’s “city on a hill” phrase: not predictions of a future nation’s greatness or illusion that their own modest and insular settlement would be a beacon to the world.

How that seventeenth-century document was lost, found, and radically remade between John Winthrop’s day and Ronald Reagan’s day and ours is the story of the book. Turn to p. 199 and Harvard’s leading historian is explaining why the New England Puritans were still deeply in disrepute in the 1930s. A half century later, however, they had become the nation’s “founders.” A once obscure and quickly forgotten sermon had been injected into the American past as if it had held, from the first, the nation’s deepest truth. As a City on a Hill is the story of how an invented history was fashioned and a phrase was appropriated for a Cold War and post-Cold War global order. It shows far and widely a Biblical phrase traveled from a dispute over market values to a speechwriters’ cliché. Along the way it tells a story of a radically shifting America as well.
Learn more about As a City on a Hill at the Princeton University Press website.

The Page 99 Test: Age of Fracture.

--Marshal Zeringue


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How to format your references using the Journal of the Economic Science Association citation style

This is a short guide how to format citations and the bibliography in a manuscript for Journal of the Economic Science Association. For a complete guide how to prepare your manuscript refer to the journal's instructions to authors.

Using reference management software

Typically you don't format your citations and bibliography by hand. The easiest way is to use a reference manager:

PaperpileThe citation style is built in and you can choose it in Settings > Citation Style or Paperpile > Citation Style in Google Docs.
EndNoteFind the style here: output styles overview
Mendeley, Zotero, Papers, and othersThe style is either built in or you can download a CSL file that is supported by most references management programs.
BibTeXBibTeX syles are usually part of a LaTeX template. Check the instructions to authors if the publisher offers a LaTeX template for this journal.

Journal articles

Those examples are references to articles in scholarly journals and how they are supposed to appear in your bibliography.

Not all journals organize their published articles in volumes and issues, so these fields are optional. Some electronic journals do not provide a page range, but instead list an article identifier. In a case like this it's safe to use the article identifier instead of the page range.

A journal article with 1 author
Georghiou, L. (2008). Europe’s research system must change. Nature, 452(7190), 935–936.
A journal article with 2 authors
Panian, J., & Wiltschko, D. (2004). Ramp initiation in a thrust wedge. Nature, 427(6975), 624–627.
A journal article with 3 authors
Nuth, J. A., 3rd, Hill, H. G., & Kletetschka, G. (2000). Determining the ages of comets from the fraction of crystalline dust. Nature, 406(6793), 275–276.
A journal article with 8 or more authors
Weigel, L. M., Clewell, D. B., Gill, S. R., Clark, N. C., McDougal, L. K., Flannagan, S. E., et al. (2003). Genetic analysis of a high-level vancomycin-resistant isolate of Staphylococcus aureus. Science (New York, N.Y.), 302(5650), 1569–1571.

Books and book chapters

Here are examples of references for authored and edited books as well as book chapters.

An authored book
Hoffmann, K. (2005). System Integration. Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
An edited book
Das, S. K., Nita-Rotaru, C., & Kantarcioglu, M. (Eds.). (2013). Decision and Game Theory for Security: 4th International Conference, GameSec 2013, Fort Worth, TX, USA, November 11-12, 2013. Proceedings (Vol. 8252). Cham: Springer International Publishing.
A chapter in an edited book
Carating, R. B., Galanta, R. G., & Bacatio, C. D. (2014). The Soils of the Hills and Mountains. In R. G. Galanta & C. D. Bacatio (Eds.), The Soils of the Philippines (pp. 149–186). Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands.

Web sites

Sometimes references to web sites should appear directly in the text rather than in the bibliography. Refer to the Instructions to authors for Journal of the Economic Science Association.

Blog post
Andrew, D. (2016, October 25). Elon Musk Is About To Test The “Trickiest” Part Of His Mars Spaceship — A Giant, Potentially Explosive Black Orb. IFLScience. IFLScience. Accessed 30 October 2018

This example shows the general structure used for government reports, technical reports, and scientific reports. If you can't locate the report number then it might be better to cite the report as a book. For reports it is usually not individual people that are credited as authors, but a governmental department or agency like "U. S. Food and Drug Administration" or "National Cancer Institute".

Government report
Government Accountability Office. (2009). National Airspace System: Regional Airport Planning Could Help Address Congestion If Plans Were Integrated with FAA and Airport Decision Making (No. GAO-10-120). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Theses and dissertations

Theses including Ph.D. dissertations, Master's theses or Bachelor theses follow the basic format outlined below.

Doctoral dissertation
Saxena, M. (2010). Learner analysis framework for globalized e-learning (Doctoral dissertation). Capella University, Minneapolis, MN.

News paper articles

Unlike scholarly journals, news papers do not usually have a volume and issue number. Instead, the full date and page number is required for a correct reference.

New York Times article
Tisserand, M. (2017, May 8). A Racism Harder Than Stone. New York Times, p. A23.

In-text citations

References should be cited in the text by name and year in parentheses:

This sentence cites one reference (Hirschmann 2006).
This sentence cites two references (Anson 2009; Birnbaum 2008).

Here are examples of in-text citations with multiple authors:

  • Two authors: (Panian and Wiltschko 2004)
  • Three or more authors: (Mohamed et al. 2013)

About the journal

Full journal titleJournal of the Economic Science Association
AbbreviationJ. Econ. Sci. Assoc.
ISSN (print)2199-6776
ISSN (online)2199-6784

Other styles


text:
Experts from Extreme Dialogue

  • Lucie Parker

    Lucie Parker

    Lucie is a Research and Policy Associate at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue. Her work focuses on a range of education projects aimed at building online and offline resilience to extremism in young people, including the Extreme Dialogue project.

Articles from Extreme Dialogue

Displaying 1-1 of 1 articles


text:
Virtual Artist’s Dates

Ideal dates can be fascinating and thrilling, but then again submerging yourself in unreality has been a big deal for me. I had thought so many times and time again, that something would be perfect if I just tried, traveling the world, seeing the Eiffel Tower, Stonehenge, Colosseum, Alaskan fishing, hiking mountains, Vegas, beaches, I have done it all. I believe that my ideal date now days would be, dial back to reality, people do not really do things that I do. Maybe this is why I seem so broken lately, I need to stop and be real. How about this, my new artist date is, stay home, take care of my kids I love and make my life a new. This would be ideal, and truthful, because you can only live in a fairy tale for so long. I just need simply real life once again.

Week #4

Practice “scanning”

Shakespeare’s plays are written in blank verse (unrhymed iambic pentameter). Look at the following lines from Macbeth and note any obvious irregularities. Can you see a reason for any of the irregularities?

She should have died hereafter;

There would have been a time for such a word.

To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,

Creeps in this petty pace from day to day

To the last syllable of recorded time,

And all our yesterdays have lighted fools

The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!

Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player

That struts and frets his hour upon the stage

And then is heard no more: it is a tale

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,

Signifying nothing.

I see many reasons why there are irregularities. It seems as if the written word was to express more emotions with them, or to differ from most rhythmical poetry, to stay away from “normal”. It also seems to set the stage for a second rhythmical pattern differing from the first, they seem to be separated by an irregularity and then a rhythmical pattern once more.

Play with rhythm & rhyme

“Write a children’s poem.”

One Little Piglet

One little piglet alone in the stall,

One little piglet he was oh, so small.

Daddy had taken the others away,

I begged to my daddy,

“please, let this one stay!”

And so, he did! My new friend can’t you see.

He’s alone as I am, no brothers for me.

We’re best friends now, no more lonely for us!

But now he’s as huge as a house or maybe a bus!

Bigger and Bigger I don’t care how he gets,

He will always be my little “bacon bits”.

Writing Your Own

Write a long poem with no punctuation and long lines. Then, write the same poem with punctuation. Then, write the same poem with punctuation and varying lengths and stanza breaks.

My heart may not know if one day to the next if it’s going to love or its going to vex time may move on and it may be all bad but I rather try then give up so fast for love isn’t a game and its not to be won just simply a prize that is bestowed upon someone for you never know where your heart may wander but maybe today it doesn’t go yonder so maybe you’ll stay or maybe you’ll go just remember this you are your own gold

My heart may not know if one day to the next, if it’s going to love, or its going to vex. Time may move on and it may be all bad, but I rather try then give up so fast. For love isn’t a game, and it’s not to be won, just simply a prize that is bestowed upon someone. For you never know where your heart may wander, but maybe today it doesn’t go yonder. So maybe you’ll stay, or maybe you’ll go, just remember this you are your own gold.

My heart may not know if one day to the next,

 if it’s going to love, or its going to vex.

 Time may move on and it may be all bad,

but I rather try then give up so fast.

 For love isn’t a game, and it’s not to be won,

 just simply a prize that is bestowed upon someone.

 For you never know where your heart may wander,

 but maybe today it doesn’t go yonder.

 So maybe you’ll stay, or maybe you’ll go,

 just remember this you are your own gold.

  1. Which version of the poem do you like best, and why? The last poem I wrote was my favorite, because it was easier to read, and write. I felt tempted to write and use punctuation, it did not feel right to me when I couldn’t use it.
  2. Which part of the poem did you enjoy writing the most, and why? I enjoyed writing every part of my poetry. Poetry is something that flows from the soul itself, so writing anything is an expression of the soul, and that makes me happy.
  3. Which version of the poem is closest to communicating the feeling and meaning of the poem? Why? The last version creates a more clear and flowing image to dictate the meaning and feeling of my poetry. Poetry seems like a block of words without emotion without using punctuation and spacing.

“Writing to Warm up”

We Real Cool

By Gwendolyn Brooks

The pool players

Seven at the golden shovel

We real cool. We

Left school. We

Lurk late. We

Strike straight. We

Sing sin. We

Thin gin. We

Jazz June. We

Die soon.

What Shall I Give My Children?

By Gwendolyn Brooks

What shall I give my children? who are poor,

Who are adjudged the leastwise of the land,

Who are my sweetest lepers, who demand

No velvet and no velvety velour;

But who have begged me for a brisk contour,

Crying that they are quasi, contraband

Because unfinished, graven by a hand

Less than angelic, admirable or sure.

My hand is stuffed with mode, design, device.

But I lack access to my proper stone

And plenitude of plan shall not suffice

Nor grief nor love shall be enough alone

To ratify my little halves who bear

Across an autumn freezing everywhere.

 Notice how different these two poems are in structure, rhythm, sound, and dictation. One poem is a sonnet, and one is written in couplets, but both are written by the same poet. Gwendolyn Brooks.

  1. Which do you like better? Which is more successful in fulfilling what it tries to do? The sonnet What Shall I Give My Children? Resonated more with me, I enjoyed it. It is also more fulfilling in accomplishment due to the fact it has more imagery, to submerge the reader.
  2. Brooks is quoted in poets and writers magazine as saying that “Poetry is at pains to select.” What does she mean by this? I believe when writing poetry, you select the words before you select the rhythm, I assume this is how she does it as well, making “poetry a pain to select”.
  3. Do you feel that you should study recognized poetry forms? Why or Why not? I do not believe I should necessarily study recognized forms of poetry, because poetry should flow naturally, I think knowing that there is “correct” ways to write poetry takes away the creative edge.
  4. Do you like to write poems within a metrical pattern, or write the lines in varying patters and rhythms? Why? When writing poetry, it usually flows onto the paper without second thought or hesitation. I do write some metrical patterned poetry and some not. It all is determined by the endless possibility of my mind, not by planning.
  5. Ultimately, is a predetermined poetic structure important to you at all? Why or why not? There is not importance to a poetry structure in my own works, I write what happens to flow from my fingertips, no predetermining.

Genre Assignment: Poetry

Hearts are intertwined,

He loves all parts of her mind

She is his savior.

By the Gods Design

As he caresses my neck pure love flowing though my body,

his breath making every moment more intentional.

He tries to calm my fears.

I assumed anxiety would push me to tears.

This time it’s different.

He is sweet, and caring, he inhales every sip of my essence.

I become more in love, knowing he would from now on embrace me,

with every thought and every word.

He is in fact, what I have been looking for.

For he is my savior.

How can I tell the earth that this one human can be so admirable yet, I know all others shall be condemned?

They will never know of my essence, only him.

His embrace sparks a light in me that nobody has ever seen.

The Envy in the Gods, even Odin would see us as a competition.

Stuck together,

Bound by the universe.

Inseparable they are not.

It’s Love.

Everything I feel

Is because he gave me ire,

Everything I see

Is nothing now but light and fire.

He was my every desire.

A heart enflamed with bright desires,

Who can seem to extinguish the fires.

It’s not me that made this mistake

For burning love and wonderful fate.

I cannot seem to put them out

The fires that had started, help?

Letter to the Professor

Dear Professor,

Poetry can be anything from a few simple lines, such as a little haiku, to a larger scale sonnet. There are many variations of poetry, I had never known until recently. My experience with poetry has become more open and vast. I was so unaware of the so many techniques that I would use but never knew what they were.

Poetry as a reader has never been one of my strong suits, I am more of a writer myself, I can understand and see the images other authors crate, but just not as vividly as I can when I write my own. As a writer, I do however think it gives me the advantage to see their creative imagery better than most who were just readers who never wrote.

Week #3

Writing for Ideas and Practice

List the five greatest simple things in life. Think simple be specific: a hot bubble bath, a great meal, salt water fishing.

The smell of fresh cut grass.

A rainbow after a storm.

The cry of a newborn puppy.

A smirk from a crush.

The smell of sulfur after a firework shoots off.

Choose one of the items on your list and paint a word picture of it. In your description, show us the joy that exists in it. Share your picture with others.

A smirk from a crush.

His face so pure in love, pouting lips slightly dampened, that small slight smirk while gazing into my heart filled eyes, felt like static running through my veins.

Think about a specific moment in your life. Now think of something concrete to you associate with that moment. It could be a wedding ring, a baseball glove, or the vinyl upholstery on the back seat of your car. It could be anything, but it must be yours. Describe the experience by using the concrete image as a focal point. Make the reader see and feel at the same time.

Sweating, yet, she looked so beautiful with her red aura. She, I knew surely would be the death of me, but tasted so crisp. She rested alone by the side of the pool, I knew she was waiting for me. Beautiful, I would call her, yet I knew she was bad for me, I went over and had a sip of her bitter sweet body. From there on I knew she in fact, was the most wonderful mistake I would ever make, mind blowing. To this day, she still drives me wild. Budweiser, you beautiful girl.

List ten clichés as quickly as you can. You will find that there are reginal differences in your collective repertoire here. We’ll help you get started. “He’s as busy as a bee”; “She’s as fat as a hog.”

“He’s crazy as a fly’s eyes”

“She’s happy as a squirrel eating”

“Beauty is the Mistress, the Gardener Her Slave.”

“A carrot on a stick.”

“Dropped like a hot potato.”

“For want of a nail the shoe was lost.”

“Free as a bird.”

“In a difficult situation.”

“Happy as a duck in water.”

“Scraping the bottom of the barrel.”

Now rewrite all five of your clichés, so that the comparisons are vivid and original.

“He’s crazy as a fly’s eyes”

Multiple mirrored, hyperactive, buzzing eyes, glistening buzz, buzz the fly is. Glistening he was, with the smell of shine on his breath and the buzz he had going, of course he was hyperactive, seeing multiple mirror visions.

“She’s happy as a squirrel eating”

Bright eyed, bushy brown hair, she sat their nibbling at her food, starring up at me only to let out a little giggle, she knew she was acting like a little animal.

“Free as a bird.”

As she walked through the tall grass in the field, she lifted her arms as the flowing breeze made her white gown levitate, she was beautiful, and for that moment, it’s as though she could have flown away.

“Between a rock and a hard place.”

As the doctor opened the door, he looked at my wife concerned and hopeless. He said “Either you will not survive or the baby.”, you must decide now.

“Happy as a duck in water.”

As they frolicked through the tiny blown up pool, their laughter echoed through the perfectly placed trees of the backyard forest. Like little ducklings taking their first bath, they were utterly content.

(Joy Harjo”I Give You Back”)

I release you, my beautiful and terrible
fear. I release you. You were my beloved
and hated twin, but now, I don’t know you
as myself. I release you with all the
pain I would know at the death of
my children.

You are not my blood anymore.

I give you back to the soldiers
who burned down my home, beheaded my children,
raped and sodomized my brothers and sisters.
I give you back to those who stole the
food from our plates when we were starving.

I release you, fear, because you hold
these scenes in front of me and I was born
with eyes that can never close.

I release you
I release you
I release you
I release you

I am not afraid to be angry.
I am not afraid to rejoice.
I am not afraid to be black.
I am not afraid to be white.
I am not afraid to be hungry.
I am not afraid to be full.
I am not afraid to be hated.
I am not afraid to be loved.

To be loved, to be loved, fear.

Oh, you have choked me, but I gave you the leash.
You have gutted me but I gave you the knife.
You have devoured me, but I laid myself across the fire.

I take myself back, fear.
You are not my shadow any longer.
I won’t hold you in my hands.
You can’t live in my eyes, my ears, my voice
my belly, or in my heart my heart
my heart my heart.

But come here, fear
I am alive and you are so afraid
of dying.

Writing to Warm Up

As you read the poem aloud, what did you notice about the construction of the poem?

The construction of the poem, seemed as if she was writing a song.

Is the speaker referring to the present here? Is she speaking of her immediate life? If not, what is she referring to?

This poem is a combination of past and present. It seems as if the speaker is referring to hardships of her forefathers and mothers before her, and possibly the rough life she had to endure simply because her future was determined by their pasts.

What I have taken from this poem, is that the speaker is…

The speaker seems to be in a way forgiving fear and the despair it had brought to her, releasing it by forgiveness is the strongest of emotion, and it shows through the words like fire on ice.

The speaker uses the second person (you) here to create a mirror image. Is the speaker looking at herself and what is inside her? To most of us, fear is “terrible” and “hated,” but we don’t often call it “beloved.” Have you ever seen your fear as something to be treasured?

I have, in fact, looked fear in the face before, and sought out the beauty in it. He lifted his head to mine, antlers taller than my body alone, he looked as if he wanted to kill me. I took my hand out and offed him a simple gesture, he gazed into my eyes and slowly backed away, he knew then, I meant no harm. I am sure the fear spread through us both. Pain is beauty, and beauty is in everything, so don’t be afraid to be in pain, or to be beautiful.

Write a poem that can be set to music. This could be a blues poem, a pop chorus, a hymn, or even a song for jumping rope.

My Ghost

Say that you need me,

say that you want me,

 say that you are the one thinking of me,

 say that you hear me,

 say that you breath me,

 say that the world would only be empty.

If I weren’t with you,

Would you still miss me

Would you still want to virtually kiss me?

 Say that you will,

say that you are,

Say that you’ll be the ghost in my heart,

I will love you, I will care,

I just hope we always will fare.

Inside this world, dismal and cruel,

You are to me as I am to you.

I am your one you are my only,

Now we will never have to be lonely.

Write a four line stanza employing alliteration.

He calls to me, a savior’s despair.
He morns for love a true spoken repair.
Just love me blind, I’ll love you too.
Say not that you love me, if it is not true.

Week #3 (Discussion)

Inspiration for me, can simply come from a pin drop, a conversation, a crack in the street, about love or sorrow. I have experienced a lot in my short years on this Earth, but I have come to find, I do not need a certain push of inspirational things to guide me. My mind alone is a busy, buzzing bee gathering and rummaging. Lost memories found and words I could not think of remembered. There is no real need for inspiration when your mind is filled with a thousand fantasies, like a door opened to another dimension, I walk through and gather my notes to come back to reality. I’d imagine the key to my infinite mind may suffice.

Poetry Defined

Like the spark between two souls, a passion, ink drops on a solid background. Shameless depictions of flowing thought, a mindless self indulgence. Emotion with unconfined imagination. Truth, sorrow and inexorability of madness. Our true undoubted free form.

Week #2

“Writing on Your Own”

What are you/have you been most afraid of or what have you found most difficult about writing? Are you afraid of grammar? Spelling? That someone else will read your writing and find out your secrets? That someone else will read your writing, period? That you will be graded by a teacher or judged by a peer?

Writing, for me has never been an intimidating subject, though I never been to Hogwarts and had a wizard hold a wand to my face and zap me every time I spelled something wrong. There has never been a time I though “Oh, I don’t think I want to write something, they might find out who and what I am or what I do!” I mean come on, I have a Facebook! I assure you everyone knows a lot about me, and maybe some I didn’t even know about myself, statistically speaking. I am an extremely open and outgoing person. I wear all my failures and triumphs on my sleeves, with not a worry in the world. Honestly, literature, the arts, creating new things or even having failures are not a fear for me. I see failures as attempts, and I will keep attempting things until I succeed, so in the end is a failure really a failure?

What is the worst thing that will happen if you keep writing?

Once upon a time, I kept writing stories, these stories grew to a terrifyingly large size, so monstrous that even the carrier pigeons with talons of a tridactyl couldn’t deliver the paper upon which they were crafted. This was a sad tale for I, the writer, would never feel the blissfulness of a dull mind. Stuck in a land of creation for many years to come.

What is the worst thing that will happen if you stop writing?

It’s a possibility that without writing, I may lose some imagination and become more statistically normal. My imagination likes to breath, and for my mind, I think the breath of fresh air is a piece of paper, and a newly carved pencil. If I cannot seem to find the words at least the pencil still moves and art forms emerge, making the simple white sheet dance with creativity stroke by stroke.

This Is Why I am a Writer.

Writing is not just a form of expressing myself, it is a form of relieving my energy and bringing my dreams, hopes, creations and imagination to life. If I could share the wonders of my erratically profound mind with people and bring them to another place, a bigger brighter or possibly, darker deeper world that they can enjoy, even for just even a moment in time, to skip that portion of reality, a little great escape, then I am accomplishing my goal as a writer.

I was expecting applause, but I guess stunned silence was also appropriate.

“Warming Up”

What kind of writing space do you have?

The space I have when I write is my own, secluded, quiet, peaceful, full of things I love, decoratively speaking. There are two big windows facing my farm animals. They tend to give me a lot of inspiration. I mean, how could you not look at all those cute faces out there! I have a big long desk, and almost everything and anything I need to write, from scratch paper to computer programs. I wouldn’t change a thing about it.

What kind of writing space would you like to have?

The desk and computer I do most of my writing must be clean, without it clean and organized I cannot think straight. My ideal work space is a pristine environment. Though I tend to get a little messy if I am using note paper, I jot down thoughts and ideas like the mad hatter, notes everywhere!

“Writing for Ideas”

What do you do to get your own writing process started? Write a paragraph that describes your work habits.

Personally, I do not have a certain process to get started when I write. I guess, if I did have one, my process starts with getting an urge to write. The rest would come natural, sit down at my computer or, take out my old notebook, grab the keyboard or pen and just start writing! There has never been a time that I could not think of something to write. Perhaps my mind always has something to say, even if I necessarily do no

What thoughts run through your head when you sit down to write, why?

Thoughts, especially about writing, that is something that comes in a natural wave of insight, or more so like a tsunami but repetitive. The beginning thought is always outlandish, followed by small little inspirations, then details and more inexplicable thoughts. I am not sure how these thoughts come to manifest. My brain is just an incomprehensible, beautiful, perplex disaster of imagination. Now, that is a brain full.

“Writing for Ideas”

Ambelina was an immensely bright girl, and always obeyed her parent’s orders. She lived right outside a small town with very strict rules; rules that few towns would have, or even consider. They had one rule in particular that no one shall break, that was never be outside past eight.

Years had passed and Ambelina grew older, more daring, more curious, and full of wanderlust. It was Friday morning, and her parents were off to work in their small town as a baker and a cook. She figured it was time to rebel and break the rules, for once in her life she might be cool. She headed off from her small farm house as if she were going to school, ran down the streets towards it, but took a sharp left and darted for the town square instead. Her friends had noticed her odd behavior and called out to her, “where are you going, what are you doing!”, but Ambelina did not respond, she just kept running.

Finally, she was close to the bell tower, she figured she would open the front door slowly, go inside, sneak past the bell keep, and head up the stairwell without being caught, and so she did.

She was lying there full of adrenaline, out of breath, on the cold cement floor of the bell tower, through small cracks in the stone walls, she could make out the bustling silhouettes of the many towns people and hear all their chatter. Ambelina was there, it seemed forever. Time was blowing by without a clue as to how many minutes or hours had passed, bored, uncomfortable, and cold, she found solace in a wicker basket filled with old books.

Hearing footsteps encroaching upon her, she ran and hid behind an old dusty oil painting of a plump woman holding a small dog. In fact, she was not supposed to be in the bell tower, it was forbidden. The door swung open to the room where she claimed sanctuary. It was the bell keeper, he would surly catch her, and punish her, or so she thought.

She watched on intently as he reached above his head to grab the prickly thick rope attached to the bell top, he pulled the rope to his knees, ringing the bell, he then walked over and sounded the carillon as well. This was the sound Ambelina was familiar with in her everyday life, the bell of seven o’clock. The bell keeper, however, looked as if he was terrified at the site of the big bell and carillons chiming loudly through the town, “I wonder what that was all about?” She thought to herself, he opened the door back up and headed off back down the stairs. She could hear his footsteps dissipate, she put her ear to the cracks of the tower once more. This time, not a peep, not a sound, not a pin drop, the city so still and eerie, but where were the towns people?

It had been pitch black outside for over an hour now, but as the moon slowly danced its way across the sky, it, and its collection of stars lit up the whole town. Ambelina could finally see. The wind was howling and it blew specks of dust between the perfectly placed cobble stone in the roadways. For once in her life Ambelina had felt utterly alone. She fashioned herself a bed from the old books she had found earlier in the wicker basket and let the thoughts pass as she slowly drifted to sleep.

Thwap! Scratch!

Ambelina jolted up from a deep slumber, “Hello! Is someone there?” she screamed out, shaking and heart thumping so hard she can almost feel her eyes pulsing to the beat of it.

Peering through the moon lit hole, she saw it for the first time. The reason, the reason you are not supposed to stay out past eight.

She gasped, covered her mouth with her cold trembling hands, jumped back, pressed her back against the stone wall and thought to herself, “I never should have stayed out, I should have listened!”

The scratching was getting closer, almost as if that THING was climbing the walls of the bell tower! She could soon feel its breath on the nape of her neck through the small crack of the stone wall.

Ambelina felt and knew in her heart that this was in fact, her ending.

 “Writing for Ideas”

The early lilacs became part of this child,

And grass, and white and red morning-glories, and white and red clover, and the song of the phoebe-bird,

And the Third-month lambs, and the sow’s pink-faint litter, and the mare’s foal, and the cow’s calf,

And the noisy brood of the barn-yard, or by the mire of the pond-side,

And the fish suspending themselves so curiously below there—and the beautiful curious liquid,

And the water-plants with their graceful flat heads.

Walt Whitman, from “There Was a Child Went Forth”

The house was more dilapidated than when I was last there, barely a shack, but it was overgrown with

yellow roses, which my family had planted many years ago. The air was heavy and sweet and very peaceful. I felt strange walking through the gate and up the old rickety steps. But the strangeness left me as I caught sight of the long white beard I loved so well flowing down the thin body over the familiar quilt coverlet. Mr. Sweet!

His eyes were closed tight and his hands, crossed over his stomach, were thin and delicate, no longer scratchy. I remembered how always before I had run and jumped up on him just anywhere; now I knew he would not be able to support my weight. I looked around at my parents, and was surprised to see that my father and mother also looked old and frail. My father, his own hair very gray, leaned over the quietly sleeping old man, who, incidentally, smelled still of wine and tobacco…

From “To Hell with Dying”

If in some smothering dreams, you too could pace

Behind the wagon that we flung him in,

And watch the white eyes writhing in his faces,

His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin;

If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood

Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,

Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud

Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues-

From “Dulce Et Decorum Est”

Choose one of the passages and list what was being described with specific sensory detail-smells, sights, sounds, tastes, temperatures, textures.

The passage from To Hell with Dying held the most sensory detail. The house felt as if I may had been there before, the rickety steps and the smell of the heavy yet sweet air, it brought me back to the South. The description of the elderly made it seem to me, as if I was greeting my great grandfather again in his old rocking chair on the porch, and as just how she stated she always jumped into his arms as I had with my grandfather, yet was afraid he couldn’t handle it due to his aging. She had shown how frail people become in old age but their love seemed to never fade, they as well still seemed the same.

Which of the passages are most descriptive, in terms of the details included?

The passage from To Hell with Dying was extremely descriptive. I could feel myself being a part of her world, like I had been there before. I felt I was walking into one of the scenes form my childhood but, we all seemed to be much older than I dreamt, or remembered

Which of the passages creates the strongest image in your mind or feeling for you?

The passage from Dulce Et Decorum Est created a strong image for me. Death felt all too real and the descriptions of seeing his untimely body in ruins made it seem like time had passed slower, as if there was a moment I may have known him myself.


text:
Spring Newsletter

Dear Parkshore Residents,
This weekend marks the time for everyone to spring forward and set their clocks ahead. With the snow this week Mother Nature doesn’t seem to agree. Let’s hope we had our last snow fall this week. As a reminder Orange Township requires all reflectors to be removed by April 1.

Our Easter Egg hunt hosted by the Smith family will be on Sunday March 25th @1pm. Please drop off 1 dozen filled eggs for each participant to 2849 Greeley Court you may leave the eggs by the front door. The HOA will provide cookies and juice boxes.

We have had numerous questions concerning the gas lamp posts as several have fallen down due to heavy winds and rusting at the baseline. If this happens immediately turn off the gas line and have it capped. Several residents have chosen to convert theirs to electric as it is more cost effective. Charm Lite 614-330-1746 sells an LED kit for $89 if you are able to install yourself or you may contact them for complete installation pricing. Speciality Gas House 614-261-0824 carries the replacement mantels. While we continue to see the benefits of having the lamps lit to provide safety and ambience the language written in the bylaws does not specifically require them to be lit or replaced if they become inoperatble or damaged.

Free mailbox stain kits are available please contact any trustee to pick one up. If you have missing or broken pieces please replace the box. Mailboxes can be purchased from Rousch hardware in Westerville or from Cedar Craft (614-759-1600). Uniformity of the mailboxes contributes to the over all aesthetics of the neighborhood .

Our 2018 annual dues have been sent out. If you have not received yours please contact Lisa Bloomer @ Real Property Management 614-766-6500. All dues must be paid by March 31st to avoid late fees. Please mail all payments to Parkshore HOA P.O. Box 431 , Lewis Center ,Ohio 43035 . Thank you if you have already paid.

Our annual HOA meeting will be held on Thursday April 17th @ 7 pm. There will be 3 open trustee positions available for nominations. If you are interested please submit a letter of intent to trustees@parkshorehoa.org if trustee positions are not filled it will require Real Property Mgmt to take on additional duties which will increase our annual dues significantly.

Please remember if you are planning any changes or improvements to the exterior of your property (including painting) all required documents must be submitted to the Design Review Board for approval prior to starting your project . You may access all forms from the Parkshore website .

If you have any questions or concerns please contact any trustee.

Fall Newletter

Dear Parkshore Residents,

It seems like fall is finally here and everyone is enjoying the cooler temperatures.

Parkshore Entrance Lighting
We are in the final stages of getting bids for the repair of the entrance lights. The lights have been a continuous problem shorting out when it rains or overall just not working. The electric was not put in properly many years ago with several lines which were not put in conduit which is not up to code. We are awaiting one final bid to permanently resolve this issue.

Group Rate on Winterization
Hidden Springs will again offer a group rate for Parkshore for irrigation/aeration needs. Our group shut off date is Saturday, October 21st. The price for irrigation shut off is $55 and core aeration is $55 for standard-sized yards of 7500 sq. feet or less.

If you choose to have core aeration done, simply remember to let the tech know you want the aeration service so that your sprinkler heads can be marked during winterization. Dog fences are the owners responsibility to mark so lines are not cut by the aerator.

If you are able to have your system shut down during the week you can avoid the Saturday wait and Hidden Springs will still honor the group pricing. Call Frances at 740-816-1464 to be scheduled for weekday shut-off.

Halloween will be observed on Tuesday, October 31st from 6-8 PM. Please remember with the change of season it is getting darker much earlier. Please drive slowly and watch for children playing and adults walking.

As always if you have any concerns just contact any trustee.

Criminal Activity Reported

Dear Parkshore Residents,
It has been brought to my attention that there was criminal activity reported in the Shores last evening. An unlocked car was ransacked and items were taken. Another resident reported their motion sensor captured a man running through their back yard between 2:30 and 3:13 am. Please report any suspicious activity to the Delaware Sheriff by calling 911. If you have any questions the NON EMERGENCY number for the Sheriff is 740-833-2810.

A reminder that school is again in session so please slow down when driving in the neighborhood . High School and Middle School students catch buses very early while it still maybe dark. Let’s keep Parkshore safe together.

Summer newsletter

Dear Parkshore Residents,
With the Holiday weekend approaching summer must be on its way! I would like to congratulate all the graduates and their families. We wish them the best as they start the next chapter in their life.

To kick off summer we will be starting our Flamingo Friday schedule. We hope to see you the first Friday of each summer month. The schedule will be Westwick June 2, Buckman July 8, Greeley Court August 4.

Our garage sale will be June 2nd and 3rd along with the Shores. We have placed an ad in the paper with the hours of 9-2 but you are welcome to adjust your hours to fit your schedule.

In order to maintain the standards of Parkshore and to keep everyone’s property values up we will be assessing color and conditions of mailboxes. If you have missing or broken pieces please replace the box. Mailboxes can be purchased from Cedar Craft (614-759-1600) or from Rousch hardware in Westerville. If you just need stain you may contact any trustee for a free kit.

If you are planning any home improvement project please remember it must be pre approved by the design review board before work can begin. All the needed forms and information are on the Parkshore website.

Please remember with the nice weather kids will be playing in the streets as well as people walking. The posted speed limit is 25 so please slow down.

As always if you have any concerns please feel free to contact any trustee.

Easter Egg Hunt

Dear Parkshore Residents,
The HOA will sponsor an Easter Egg Hunt on Sunday April 9th @ 1pm. Greg and Stephanie Smith will host this event at their home at 2849 Greeley Court. Please drop off a dozen FILLED eggs for each child participating. You may leave the eggs at the front door. The HOA will provide cookies and juice boxes.

We are still looking for a host for our wine and cheese party. Please let Frances know if you are interested in hosting.

Spring is finally here, I hope, so a reminder that Orange township requires all reflectors be removed by April 1.

I have also been asked to remind all dog owners to clean up after their pets when walking.

We will putting together additional stain kits for your mailboxes. Please evaluate your mailbox. Many need to be repaired or replaced. In addition to this being a required maintenance per the covenants, the uniformity and astetics maintain the beauty and uniqueness of Parkshore.

If you are planning any changes or improvements to the exterior of your property please remember to submit all required documents to the design review board for approval before starting. You may access all forms from the website.

We will be announcing the summer flamingo Friday schedule in the next newsletter.

As always you may contact any trustee with any concerns or questions.

Spring Newsletter

Dear Parkshore Residents,
I thought spring was just around the corner until I saw the snow coming down this evening. Hopefully this is our last time to use the shovels . The department stores already are putting out their swimwear so warmer weather has to be coming soon.

A reminder 2017 annual dues need to be paid by March 15th to avoid late fees. Thank you if you have already paid. Please make sure to send them to P.0 Box 431 Lewis Center 43035.

We have had many questions concerning usage of bendable reflectors to protect damage to lawns. We contacted Orange Township for clarification. Beth Hughs has confirmed the township owns a 30 foot right of way from the center of the road along all properties. As homeowners ,it is our responsibility to maintain this easement . Bendable reflector polls are allowed along the roadway only during the winter months, however , no other obstructions such as rocks ,boulders, metal polls , etc are allowed at anytime and will be removed by the township. This is a township ordinance so please remove all reflectors by April 1 .

We would like to have an Easter Egg hunt this year if anyone is willing to host by allowing the hunt to be in their yard. The HOA will provide tidbits , juice boxes and coffee . All participants would need to drop off 1 dozen filled plastic eggs for each child hunting. Please contact Frances if you are interested . You can pick whatever date works for your schedule.

We would also like to have our annual wine and cheese party if anyone is willing to host the event. The HOA provides the paper products and participants are asked to bring an appetizer and beverage to share. Contact Frances if you are interested.

We will again be partnering with the Shores for the annual garage sale on June 2nd and 3rd. More information will follow along with the Flamingo Friday schedule.

If you have any questions or concerns please contact any trustee.

2017 Parkshore Annual Meeting

Trustees present:
Michael Peirce
Frances Catanese
Donna Tomaro

Meeting opened at 10:05AM

In attendance were 7 Parkshore homeowners (including 3 board members)

Frances opened the meeting by thanking Steve Ginter for handling the Parkshore Financials.

Steve reviewed the financials; detailing the actual to budget expenses for 2016 and provided the 2017 budget. Once again, the board agreed that the current dues are sufficient to maintain the common area property and provide for any unexpected expenses.

Frances discussed the high water bill. She is pursuing the construction company whose truck parked on the HOA common area property breaking the irrigation heads causing a leak.

Frances reviewed and passed out information on local road construction.

Frances made the group aware that there were two positions up for renewal; Michael Peirce and Michael Henn. Both Michael Peirce and Michael Henn expressed an interest to run again for a board position. Andrew Drake expressed an interest to run for one of the open positions. Ballots were cast and tallied. Michael Peirce will continue for another two year term on the board. Welcome Andrew Drake who will assume the other open position.

We would like to extend thanks to Michael Henn for his two year board commitment. Michael has been instrumental in negotiating and securing the 2017 landscaping contracts. Michael will continue to be a big part of the community by providing welcome packets to new residents.

No additional business discussed.

The meeting was adjourned at 10:35AM

Winter News

Dear Parkshore Residents,
It is that time of year to have our annual meeting. The meeting will be held at the Orange Township Hall on Saturday February 18th at 10 am. There will be 2 open Trustee positions and, if you are interested, please email trustees@parkshorehoa.org with a letter of intent.

We will be mailing out the annual dues this week. The dues will again remain at $125.00 . The payment will be due by March 15 to avoid any late fee. Please mail all payments directly to :

P.O Box 431
Lewis Center, OH
We look forward to seeing you at the meeting. If you have any questions or concerns please contact any Trustee.

Regards Frances

Next door Brochure

Dear Parkshore Residents,

We have received several phone calls and emails concerning a mailing about Nextdoor that was sent to some residents of Parkshore from realtor Tracey Hartson.
We wanted to make sure everyone knows that the HOA is not involved with this.
You can Google Nextdoor for reviews and other information about it.

Reminders and updates

Dear Parkshore Residents,

We had a few incidents over the weekend that required assistance from the Delaware Sheriff. The Sheriff  reported other Lewis Center neighborhoods were targeted as well. What may start out as a harmless prank could escalate very quickly to a dangerous situation that could yield unexpected tragic consequences. This is especially true when incidents occur in the late evening or early am hours. Please help us keep everyone safe by reporting any suspicious activity to the Sheriff.

The new directories are being sent to the printer this week and will be mailed out as soon as they are finished.

I wish everyone a very safe and happy Holiday Season.


text:
Code: 10
Very close to Parikia with double view at of the northern and southern part of Paros, is the land 75450m² stretching to the sea and ends at a pebble beach.
75 450 m2 Farmland, Parikia, Paros
70.000 €
Code: 955
Situated just 250 meters from the traditional village of Kostos is the olive grove area with old trees surface 5059m².
5 059 m2 Farmland, Kostos, Paros
Code: 1009
In the southwestern part of Paros with view at the sea and Antiparos is located the land of 7040m² with an old building 30,30m².
7 040 m2 Farmland, Ageria, Paros


text:
Stone house with beautiful view

In a quiet area on a hill, at the southern part of Paros, surrounded by the wonderful natural island scenery and with a stunning view to the Aegean Sea, stone luminous house 150m² with independent guest house in land 1000m².
The house consists of a large sunlit area that hosts a living room with buit in sitting area and fireplace and the fully equipped kitchen, a sunlit master bedroom with double bed, wardrobe and en suite its bathroom. On the same level, 2 more sunlit bedrooms, the one with double bed and the other with 3 single beds and one more bathroom. In the independent guest house, one more bedroom with 4 single beds and a bathroom.
At the exterior area, veranda with wooden pergola, large built in sitting area and dining table offer the necessary shady spot for the hot summer days facing the wonderful sea view. In the large garden with plants and trees, built BBQ and more built in sitting areas for relaxation all day long always overlooking the great view.
The location of the property offers absolute privacy and the necessary tranquility and relaxation while enjoying the natural landscape of the island and the magnificent view to the sea.

1/05/2019-30/06/2019: 200€/Night
1/07/2019-31/07/2019: 280€/Night
1/08/2019-31/08/2019: 400€/Night
1/09/2019-30/09/2019: 280€/Night
1/10/2019-31/10/2019: 200€/Night
Maximum guests 11 - Minimum rental period 7 nights - Pets are welcome
Property registration number 00000145035


text:
Posts tagged platforms

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Using git repositories for platform versioning

This is a guide to my current thoughts on using git to maintain and distribute platform releases for Drupal-based projects.


text:
The Spirit of Adoption – Sermon on Romans 8:12-17 (Trinity B)

May 27, 2018
Watch a video of this sermon here.

We all want to belong. When we are kids, we want to belong to the right group of friends. As we grow older, we look for places where “everybody knows your name,” places where we know we will be accepted, places we can call home. As Robert Frost put it, “home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in.”[1]

The desire to belong is a deeply felt need, and when it isn’t met, the consequences can be devastating. Kids especially need to belong, to know they are loved, to know that they matter.

Children who have been neglected, who don’t have a strong sense of belonging, are statistically more likely to suffer from at least one psychological disorder by the time they reach age 21. According to the Kids At Risk Action Group, “Children who experience child abuse & neglect are about 9 times more likely to become involved in criminal activity.”[2] Feeling like you belong is an important part of growing up whole and healthy.

We all need to belong. The question is, where will we find that need satisfied? The Apostle Paul addresses this question in the 8th chapter of his letter to the church at Rome.

So then, brothers and sisters, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— for if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.

For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, “Abba! Father!” it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him. (Romans 8:12-17)

Where do you satisfy your need to belong? Where do you find your primary identity? Paul offers two choices we can make. One is the sinful world of the flesh, which ends in death. For Paul, the term “flesh” encompasses everything associated with mortality.

This physical body is susceptible to decay, to illness, to sin. Flesh has its limits, and the ultimate limitation is death itself. This body will certainly die. Living “according to the flesh” then, means living with an expiration date always looming over our heads.

For some, that means living to satisfy physical pleasures while it’s still possible to enjoy them. “Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die” is their motto.[3] The problem with this approach to life is that physical pleasure really never satisfies. It fades, and we want more. We stay hungry and thirsty, no matter how much we eat or drink. We become slaves to our desires, and that way leads only to sin and death.

But there is another option. We can be led by the Spirit. Paul writes, “If by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” So living according to the flesh leads to death, but living according to the Spirit leads to life.

Seems like a no-brainer, doesn’t it? Given the choice between life and death, don’t we all want to choose life? And isn’t that what grace is all about, anyway? If we call ourselves Christians, don’t we get an automatic “Get Out of Death Free” card? Not so fast, Paul says.

Paul does not assume that all non-believers live according to the flesh while all Christians live according to the spirit. After all, his audience is “my brothers and sisters” – that means he is talking to us, the church, believers who struggle constantly between living like we’re dying and living abundantly in the Spirit. We all have to deal with this ongoing, day-by-day choice between slavery to our mortal desires and living into our heavenly identity.

And when we claim this heavenly identity, something miraculous happens. We belong. We are not slaves – it isn’t that kind of belonging. And we aren’t suddenly members of some special secret society or club, either. We belong to God in a profoundly intimate way. We become God’s children, deeply loved, always welcome.

We have been adopted.
Not conceived by accident, not born as an afterthought.
Chosen. Brought into the family on purpose.
Beloved children of God.

We become children who can call on our Heavenly Father in familiar terms, just as Jesus did. Since Paul also uses this phrase, “Abba, Father” in his letter to the Galatians (4:6), scholars think it must have been “an established formula in the churches known to Paul.”[4] It was the pattern used for prayer, calling on God specifically as Father, and that makes us brothers and sisters of Christ.

Earlier, we heard the familiar verse from John: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son.” I think sometimes we skip over that word “begotten” because it isn’t part of our common vocabulary anymore. We aren’t sure exactly what it means to be “begotten.”

But you all have been begotten. The simplest way to explain it is to say that you were born, but from your dad’s perspective. Because of your dad’s participation in your conception, you have been sired. You have been fathered. You were brought into this world as a new life formed in your mother, to be sure, but by your father’s doing.

That’s why, back in the Old Testament, all the genealogies listing the fathers’ names use the verb “beget.” Abraham begat Isaac, Isaac begat Jacob and Esau… In other words, Abraham fathered, Isaac, and Isaac fathered Jacob and Esau. Begotten is just another form of the verb ‘beget.’ So Jesus, born of Mary, was begotten of the Father. And Jesus was the only Son that God the Father begat.

Yet we are also God’s children. We have been adopted into God’s family. – “See what love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God – and that is what we are!” (1 John 3:1 NIV)

Paul writes, “For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ” (vv 15-17a).

Your share in the inheritance is the same as Christ’s – it is the Kingdom of God. Your place in God’s kingdom is as a beloved child of God. You have been adopted. You belong. And all this is because of God’s Spirit, living in you, through your faith in Jesus Christ. “For Paul Christians do not become God’s inheritance independently of Christ; that privilege becomes theirs only as a consequence of their belonging to Christ; … as Son of God … his status as son and heir becomes one which can be shared by those who identify with him.”[5]

You belong, not only to God, but to God’s whole family. This is not an individual undertaking, and it isn’t something you do by your own strength or will: “every verb Paul uses in 8:12-17 (to refer to his audience) is plural.”[6] Every time he says “you” he is saying “all of you.” We are all part of this family: brothers and sisters with Christ together, through the Spirit of adoption.

And because we are joint heirs with Christ, we inherit an equal share with Christ of eternal life and glory, just as we inherit our share of his suffering. What does Paul mean by this? It goes back to what he wrote at the beginning of this passage. Our suffering is tied up in the tension between living in our mortal bodies and yearning for our heavenly home.

This tension lies at the heart of living as a Christian in a world that does not call Jesus Lord. Throughout Christian history, people have attempted to separate themselves from the world in order to stay pure, following only the life of the Spirit. Throughout Christian history, those people have learned that “being of this world is an inevitable consequence of being human.”[7] We can’t avoid this tension. We can’t avoid this suffering. Part of being human is living among other humans.

We need to belong. It’s a basic human need. The question for each of us is where that belonging will find its home. We can attempt to find our place in society, dressing like the people we admire, joining the same clubs or groups as the people we want to be like. We can wear the right clothes and drive the right cars and live in the right homes, as symbols of belonging to the right groups. And in the end, all this striving to be like others, to be included in their groups, is just that: striving.

Or we can find our identity in Christ alone, as beloved children of our heavenly Father. When we choose to follow Jesus and live in his Spirit, we belong to God, as his own adopted and dearly loved children. We belong to that eternal community of love that claims God as Father and Christ as brother, and Holy Spirit as the sustainer of life everlasting.

This is Trinity Sunday, when we celebrate the intertwining, constant movement of the Triune God. This mystery has sometimes been described as a relationship among God the Lover, God the Beloved, and Love itself. This profound and unexplainable mystery invites us into its embrace, adopted into God’s own household. See what love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God. And that is what we are! Hear the Good News: in Jesus Christ, you belong.

[1] Robert Frost, Death of the Hired Man,
[3] Luke 12:19; 1 Corinthians 15:32
[4] Word Biblical Commentary-New Testament, vol. 38A, 461.
[5] WBC-NT, vol. 38A, p. 464.
[6] Matthew Rindge, Feasting on the Word, Year B, Volume 3, 43.
[7] J Barney Hawkins IV, Feasting on the Word, Year B, Volume 3, 40.

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text:
Topic: Howdy, Handsome Hometown!

When on vacation, we tend to explore and enjoy all that our holiday destination has to offer and consequently, we often get to know these “exotic” places quite personally. In contrast…

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