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Saturday, February 28, 2015

Shards To A Whole: Chapter 426: Bad Shoot

McGee-centric character study/romance. Want to start at the beginning? Click here.

Chapter 426: Bad Shoot

For a split second, Tony glances at Ziva, shooting her the, I really wish these assholes would stop running look, before they break into a run after their suspect.
Where the hell does moron think he’s going to run? He’s in a tenth floor apartment. What’s he going to do, fly?
Ziva tacks right, through the living room. Tony takes left, into the kitchen.
The perp is cornered in the dining room. Nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide. Two ways in, and each of them has an armed Federal Agent pointing a gun at him standing in the middle of it. He puts his hands behind his neck without being asked and smiles at Tony and Ziva.

It’s automatic. They’ve done this so many times they barely have to think about it. He keeps his gun on the Perp. She lowers hers, grabbing her cuffs, heading (wide) to cuff the perp. They’ll take him to the car, toss him in the back, then down to the Navy Yard, Processing, Holding, and Interrogation.
It’s textbook.
He’s looking at Tony, and something’s wrong. He’s still smiling. He’s looking at Ziva. He’s not acting caught.
Something is wrong. Tony feels it all through him. Something is wrong.
Tony fires before anything other than wrong can form in his head.

“Oh God!” Oh godohgodohgodohgodohgod please, please, please pleasepleasepleaseplease. Tony feels like he’s going to shit his pants, puke, and pass out all at once, and the only thing stopping that is that he’s got to see if the man he just killed has a gun.
He’s never… He’s shot people before, but never… SHIT. Ziva’s just staring at him, stunned, and he can’t move, can’t do anything but stand there, too awash in too much everything to even see if his life is about to end, too.
Bad shoots happen. That’s just part of being a cop. You get twitchy and someone moves wrong and FUCK! He can feel the tears starting. He didn’t wait. He didn’t see. He didn’t say stop, or freeze, or hands where I can see them, or anything. He just fired, three shots, all in the chest.
Ziva finally moves, to the body, not bothering to check if he’s still alive, they can tell by the smell and the puddle of urine to go with the blood that he’s gone. She reaches behind his neck, guessing that’s got to be what Tony saw, and then says to him, “He had a gun. It’s taped up between his shoulder blades.”
Tony nods once, exhales long and shaky, and then his knees go out, and he hits the floor, shaking.

When he’s got control of himself, he notices Ziva’s moved something. Their perp (victim) had been standing behind the dining table in his home. Behind that table was a painting of a woodland scene. Ziva’s moved it, swapped it out. Now there’s a mirror over the table, and he guesses the woodland scene is wherever the mirror was.
She’s calling it in, officer involved shooting, no need for an ambulance. AI will be here soon. He’ll give them his statement. Perp had a gun and went for it. Cut and dried…
“Tell me what happened,” Ziva says, crouching on the floor next to him.
“I don’t know.” Because he doesn’t. Not really. That’s not true, he does know. He knows exactly what happened. Someone made a threatening… something… not exactly a move, but something, toward his wife and child, and he killed the man for it.
“Wrong answer.” Ziva’s cool, and in control right now. She’s in clean up mode, and he wonders, vaguely, how many times she’s done things like this. Made a bad kill look good.
He rubs his forehead, takes a deep breath, lets it out, swallows, and then says, voice calm, “We chased Darner in here. I pulled my gun and told him to stop. He looked around, saw there wasn’t an exit, then turned to face us, hands up. He put his hands behind his neck. I nodded at you, and you holstered your weapon and proceeded to take your cuffs out. I kept my gun on him. You were going through his rights. I…” He doesn’t know. He’s not sure if he saw it, felt it, sensed it, or just knew, but somehow, something, maybe a twitch, maybe his arm tightened slightly, maybe it was a little move (maybe he was just going to scratch an itch, the little, and not very helpful, voice in the back of Tony’s mind says) but whatever it was, Tony read it as a threat, to Ziva, and he open fired without warning. Tony’s eyes flick to the mirror, and what Ziva’s given him with that. “…saw him reach for his gun. I told him to stop. He didn’t. I fired three times.”
Ziva looks at him, eyes steady. “Exactly.”

AI takes hours. Jimmy and Allan have come, taken care of the body, and gone while they’re still talking. Warner’s team has come, cordoned off the building, and processed the scene, and he and Ziva are still talking to AI.
Their stories match, but not perfectly. They know how this works. They’re pros. The main details are all the same, but Ziva remembers him saying ‘Freeze’ he remembers it as, ‘Stop.’ Little details that get muddled when you look at real eye-witness statements are different, instead of rehearsed, prepped statements you get from people who don’t know how to do this.
Ziva claims she saw Darden shift his left hand toward the gun. Tony claims right. Tony was watching in the mirror. Ziva saw it from in front of him. Just little things like that, easily explained by people being people.
It’s not a fun six hours, but when it’s done, it’s done. Tony’s a good cop, with sixteen years at NCIS and a clean record. The wrong guy tried to see if he could get the drop on the wrong cop.

“You gonna yell at me for this, too?” Tony asks Jimmy as he steps into Autopsy. (He’d gotten a text saying, Come down.) “Gonna wake up and find you’ve pulled some cruel shit to go with another bad decision?”
Jimmy raises one eyebrow, and Dr. Allan decides now is a very good time to dematerialize. Two seconds later, he’s vanished, and Jimmy says, “Guy draws on your pregnant wife, you can shoot him as many times as you want and then cut his balls off and wear ‘em for earrings, and I won’t say boo.”
Jimmy takes two steps over and gives Tony a hug. Tony stands there, stiff, not letting himself be comforted. Jimmy sighs, so much for trying that. He steps back.
“I called you down so you can run me through it. If anything doesn’t match your version, it’s not going to make the report.”
“You don’t need to--”
“You’re right, I don’t. But I will. Because you did the right thing, and I see no reason for you or Ziva or your child to suffer for it.”
That gets through where the hug didn’t.
“I don’t know that I did.”
“He’s dead. She’s not. You did the right thing.”
“I shot before he reached for it. I think he was thinking about it, but…” Tony shakes his head, leaning heavily against one of the autopsy tables, staring at Darden, who is lying on the other table. “I didn’t see him move.”
“He was looking at her, and…” Tony’s replaying it, again, trying to find the trigger, what made him move. “It felt bad. Something was wrong, but… I didn’t know about the gun until after he was dead.”
“Ah fuck.” Jimmy bites his lip and says, “All the more reason to make sure everything’s clean then.”
Tony narrows his eyes. “You ream me out for Jeanne but give me a free pass on this one? This one is dead because I fucked up.”
“You’re a good cop. No one has ever doubted that. It felt bad or wrong… So you got him before he went for it? You don’t spend half your life training your gut to scream when something’s wrong to ignore it. You don’t have to let him take a shot at Ziva, not for me.”
Tony’s eyes are narrow, and he’s not looking relaxed or comforted.
“I didn’t ream you out on Jeanne for making a mistake. Jeanne wasn’t a mistake. It was wrong and you knew it and you did it anyway. This, at worst, is a mistake. People make mistakes. It happens. Place a credible threat against Breena, and I’ll attack, too. Tim’d do the same for Abby. Anyone who tries to mess with Abbi Borin better be ready to have so many holes in him he’ll work as a sieve. And that’ll be before Gibbs even gets to him…” Tony flinches. “What?”
“Gibbs’d have to get in line, because Abbi can take care of herself and she’s got all of those years of training and a gut that yells when there’s danger.”
Jimmy nods.
“Ziva didn’t feel it. She was relaxed enough in it that she was looking down and getting her cuffs.”
Jimmy winces, too. “Nothing?”
“After, she looked at me, and she was surprised. That I remember.”
“Then you made a mistake. It happens. And this wasn’t some unarmed, innocent bystander, and it’s not like you were gunning for him because he wasn’t paying taxes or had a joint on him. He’s wanted for…” Jimmy waits, letting Tony fill in the blank, hoping that saying it out loud will help.
“A few bombings, believed to have killed three cops in the UK, mostly he’s a courier. Gets things from point A to point B.”
“So, this,” Jimmy points to him, “was not a good guy. This is not Mr. Wrong Place Wrong Time, and he’s sure as hell not Mr. Even If He Is Guilty of What You’re Saying He Did, That Doesn’t Deserve the Death Penalty. If you brought him in, and he didn’t deal, we’d have fried him.
“And, here… haven’t sent them over to Abby and trace yet, but…” Jimmy grabs the bag that has Darden’s belt in it. It looks like a plain, black leather belt with a silver tip on the tongue. Jimmy tugs on that tip, and out slides an inch long knife. “Razor sharp. Can’t stab with it, but it slashes just fine.” He places Darden’s boots on the table next to Tony, flips one of them over, and turns the heel. There are lock picks in there. “God knows what else he’s got hiding that I haven’t found, yet. What else he may have had in that room. Take me through the shooting.”
Tony shakes his head. “Don’t need to. It’ll all match up right. Everything in the story happened the way it really did. Only difference was I saw him go for the gun in the story and told him to stop.”
“Okay. AI done with you?”
“For now.”

Two days later, his gun is back in his holster, and the case is behind him.

Personally… Not even close.
He can’t talk about it. Not yet. Not to Ziva, not to anyone. He can give the route answers as to “what happened,” but they’re lies.
He fucked up. That’s what happened. Doesn’t matter what he had tucked away. Doesn’t matter that Darden wasn’t a good guy and the world is better off without him. He fucked up. There are procedures. There are steps in play to make sure you take the guy, and all of the information in his head (which was why they wanted him) into custody, alive.
He and Ziva were out there. A man, who he didn’t know was armed, made a move (probably, something had to set his threat sensor off) and he took him out. All of it happened before the part of his brain that actually thinks got into the act.
On a sub-thought level, he knows they were chasing Darden because he was part of a trafficking ring. He ended up on their radar as a link to a link that Bishop pulled out of their data feed. He was, of all covers, pretending to be a Petty Officer working for the Quartermaster out of Norfolk. Not a bad way to get things from here to there. He could find a ship, add an extra box of, something, and whoever else he had in his circle could pick it up later. He was wanted for moving humans, drugs, guns, money, anything that anyone might want, into and out of the country. According to Interpol, ‘he was a person of interest’ in two bombings (thought to have been the guy who got the explosives from point a to point b). He had successfully escaped capture three times, and killed cops twice to do it.
When Tony thinks about that, he feels better about jumping the gun. (Literally.) Obviously this guy had some sort of ace in the hole. (A plastic derringer taped to his back. And lock picks in the heel of his boot. And a tiny knife hidden in his belt. But he didn’t know that until after.) Tony likes to think all of that was processing in the back of his mind, and that, plus that move (that he doesn’t know if he actually saw or not) made his body fired before Darden could get the drop on him.
When he thinks about the fact that there are no good reports on how Darden had killed those cops, (bodies were found burned to skeletons and parts were missing) that there was no way for Tony to have known he had a gun, that he shot on blind panic, that he does not, in fact, remember seeing a move, he feels terrible.

Bad shoots happen. They just do. The cop who’s never screwed up is like the surgeon who’s never lost a patient, one who’s been on the job for such a short time the opportunity just hasn’t arisen.
If you’re lucky, like Tony, you’ve got cover, you guessed right, and the next day you go back, promising to do a better job.
If you’re not, that’s the end of the perp, and it’s the end of you, too.
But the fact that it happens. That everyone has one… That’s not making it easier to deal with the little voices in his head.

It’s been a week. It’s well after midnight, and he’s not sleeping.
He rolls out of bed and grabs his phone. You up?
Five minutes later, when he’s decided that Gibbs probably is sleeping, or might be at Borin’s or something, he gets back. Door’s open.

Gibbs is in his basement, working on Little D’s rocking chair. He’s actually been up all night working on it. After dinner he hit his groove and has been happily crafting away. The only reason it took him so long to respond was he didn’t hear his phone buzz. He’d been sketching out the shapes he wants each piece to be on the wood he’s using and decided his pencil was a bit duller than he likes for this kind of work. When he turned to the bench to sharpen it, he saw the text icon on his phone, and replied.
He knows that Tony killed someone last week. They talked about it a bit at Shabbos, but he blew it off, and Ziva gave them that little headshake that said, ‘Sensitive, don’t poke.’ So they didn’t poke.
But Gibbs knows that look. He’s worn it himself. He’s seen it on Tim. He’s seen it on Fornell. And he’s seen it on Mike. No matter what actually happened, Tony thinks it’s a bad shoot.
And he knew, when he saw Ziva’s headshake, that Tony’d be here, sooner or later, when he’s ready to talk.

By the time Tony gets there, Gibbs has two more slats sketched out, and the bourbon poured.
“She had to move the mirror,” Tony says in lieu of Hello.
Gibbs would have to admit that that’s a tad more cryptic than he’d like, but he can pretty much figure out what Tony has to be saying by it. Only one she he could be talking about, and only a few reasons to move a mirror.
Gibbs hands over the drink, and pretty much puts Tony onto a stool. “Start at the beginning.”
So he does.
Tony gets to the part about seeing or not seeing or whatever it was, and Gibbs interjects, “The gut knows.”
“Try telling IA that.”
Gibbs inclines his head. “I know.” Then he looks at Tony, waiting for the rest of the story. And, finally, the mirror comment makes sense.
“She gave you cover, something you could explain to IA.”
“Yeah. She knew it was a bad shoot—“
“Stop that. Your wife and child are breathing. Any shoot that accomplishes that is a good shoot.”
“Jimmy said that, too, but I didn’t know Gibbs, I panicked.”
“You knew. You knew he was dangerous. You knew he was in his own home. Why run into the room with no exit in his own home? Not like he got lost. You knew he’d killed other cops. You didn’t know how, but you knew he’d done it. He puts his hands behind his neck, not his head, why? Without being told, why? You knew.”
“Felt like panic. I’ve made good shots, besides the first one, I never almost pissed myself or hit the floor. Never didn’t sleep for a week after a good shot.”
“But all of those things did happen the last time you almost lost Ziva.”
“Yeah. That’s why I panicked. That’s why I didn’t say stop. I shot before anything…”
“And it was a good thing you did. He had lock picks in his boot, a hidden knife in his belt. You yell stop. He stops. Ziva grabs the gun, cuffs him, hands behind his back. Into the car you go. Call it in. On the road, he picks the lock, pulls the knife, holds it to Ziva’s throat until you stop the car and let him out. Maybe he takes your gun, too. Maybe he slits her throat before he runs, knowing that calling for help and trying to keep her from bleeding out means you won’t follow. The gut knows. You knew.
“As a husband and father, as the man guarding my daughter and grandchild, you did the right thing. As your father-in-law, friend, mentor, whatever it is we are to each other, I am proud of you. Your family comes first, above and beyond everything else.”
“As your ex-boss, as a cop, you fucked up, and not because of the shot, but because you had the person you’d take a blind shot for on your team. That’s why you were ready to piss yourself, not because it was a bad shoot, but because Ziva was the one next to you. You wouldn’t have taken that shot if Bishop had been there, and knowing how close to FUBAR you could have gotten wouldn’t have hurt so bad if Draga had been in that car with you.
“There are a lot of good reasons for 12, and that’s one of them. I have been exactly where you are, and the only reason I was even around to ever be your Boss is when Jen and I finally got the shit cleaned up, enough people had stopped breathing that no one besides us knew what had happened.
“Jen and I split after that. Lots of reasons, but one of them was I’d made it clear I couldn’t work with her. Same for you. You’re done. You can’t work with Ziva. Since you’re the problem and she isn’t, normally I’d say you need to hand in your badge, but you know she’s planning on leaving soon, and there’s no one else you’d make that mistake for.”
Tony nods, feeling absolved.
“But don’t put that gun back on if you go out with her. Better yet, don’t go out with her. I know it’s early days, but it might be time for her to leave, or go on desk work, or whatever it is she wants to do.”
Tony shrugs. “She’d been talking a bit about working with you on the houses.”
Gibbs smiles at that. He'd like having Ziva working with them.

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"Spotlight on a TrailBlazer"

                                              Spotlight on a Trailblazer

 ONE of My Favorite Features is ::::SPOTLIGHT on a Trailblazer::::It's a Great way to showcase Women who are making moves shaking things up and Blazing a TRAIL!!....But what's equally important is what drives/motivates and inspires these Women!!

If you know a women that you feel is a Trailblazer submit your nomination !!!

"SPOTLIGHT On a TrailBlazer"!!

~Our 1st Trailblazer is a Young lady that I've known for years....She is a SUPER talented Singer who's on the Brink of Turning the Music World Upside down!!
I have had the pleasure of designing many custom pieces for her Powerful/energetic..soulful performances...................... She's Chargrels #1 FLYGIRL

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Vina Mills~
.What's your Nitch? I am an Artist
.What's your Mantra?(words you live by)My mantra is..."No weapon formed against me shall prosper"!

.What makes you a trailblazer? I think what makes me a trailblazer is doing what I genuinely feel....being BOLD in my own right with the way that I live and think, and not apologizing for it! Never being afraid of being me!

.Define your style.. It's often hard for me because I'm constantly growing as a women and as an artist.. I've realized, my style is growing with me.
I guess the best way to describe my style would be, Bold and beautiful, edgy yet glam! I carry the balance of taking risks in fashion but not looking like I've lost my mind lmbo!!!! Its that kind of thing.

.What's the Best advice you've ever received ? The best advice I've heard so far was from Music biz "guru" Jojo Brim, he once told me that, 'Nothing is greater than your own truth"... those words taught me how to be myself. I've lived that way ever since.

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What's Next for you? We're currently working on my brand, the "Vina Mills Brand" we have lots of great projects coming next year...I cant wait to further explain.....really exciting stuff!

.What trail would you like to leave behind? The trail I would like to leave behind is INSPIRATION. To teach people to live like they'll never wake up from their dream. (smiling) And to be fearless in trusting God while doing it.

Dec 2010!!! Vina Performing at the Music Hall In Detroit
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*If you know a women that you feel is a Trailblazer submit your nomination !!!

Next up..............Jimella Johnson! Designer of EarCandy Couture
I ran across her Sparkling Custom creations on Facebook,and was immediately a fan!..

Jimella design's were originally only created for family and friends,But it wasn't long before the word spread. NOW you can catch EarCandyCouture on some of your favorite celebrites such as:Kandi Burruss,Vivica Fox,Lisa raye,Trina,..Just to name a few.EarCandy Couture can also be spotted in magazines and music videos.

Jimella Johnson,
Los Angeles, CA
Whats your Nitch (what do you do ?? Custom Jewelry designed with Swarovski Crystals
Whats your mantra? (words you live by) If I have nothing to lose, then I have already lost.....
Whats the best advice someone has ever given you? If I push just a little bit more than what I push for yesterday then I've set a new goal for myself, and before I know it I'll be successful.
What makes you a trailblazer? I do things the way I want because I'm only one me. This is my life, and this is how God intended me to live it
Define your style? Very trendy and fabulous
What's in the works? My team and I are always coming up with new ideas and products but whichever way God pulls ECC in the directions it'll follow
What Trail would you like to leave behind.??(for the next young person coming up? There is a million ways to make money, and a million and one ways and to take care of yourself, but there is only one way to live your dream. I want to leave a trail that only leads to a persons dream and not a paycheck. The money is just a perk. the reward is within the dream.

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For more information or to purchase Earcandy Couture:

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Sunday, 26 August 2012

Stanley Kubrick's Front Screen Projection Of The Faked Moon Landing (Kubrick's Odyssey)

As if  Universe knows I just got shafted on my Youtube account some random (not me) has uploaded Jay Weidner's recently released secret-spilling documentary "Kubrick's Odyssey" to Youtube. It was only released this year and reveals a film-makers eye on Kubricks exposure to the secrets of the 20th century. This film will probably get pulled so try to watch it  before it goes.

The documentary is twenty times more explosive than the mockumentary CIA number which is confusing. Jay lays it all out for you here. Just hold judgement for a hour (or more) before you make your mind up.

Personal note to Jay: I've plugged your documentary a hundred times with links to your site where people can buy the movie but in light of my recent news I hope you'll be OK with this post.


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What I’ve Learned From Bourbon

What I’ve Learned From Bourbon

The following article served as Ginny Tonic’s farewell to her time as a senior contributor for Bourbon & Banter. The article was originally posted here on March 3, 2017 and is syndicated on our site in the hope that you will visit them and become a regular reader. We love what they continue to build there with their regular and informative updates!

What I’ve Learned From Bourbon
Article by Ginny Tonic

I wrote my first guest column for Bourbon & Banter in 2013. At that time I was an avid follower of the site and a special education teacher who loved bourbon. I had done a lot of reading and even more drinking on the subject. I’d even done a little blogging on a Cincinnati drinks website. But being given a chance to write for Bourbon & Banter was an honor. I felt like I was getting a shot at the big leagues. My work with the site led me to attend my first Whiskey Festival. I interviewed Wes Henderson and learned to understand what real bourbon problems are. I even willingly drank Cleveland Whiskey. All of those changes led to the biggest change of all. Three and half years later I am now employed by two of the distilleries that I have written about, as a Sale Manager for Middle West Spirits and as a part-time tour guide for New Riff Distilling.

The change in career has been the realization of a dream I’d been working towards since I first started writing and podcasting about spirits. I wanted to make my living in the world of whiskey. Now that I have met this goal, I realize that it has come time to rethink my relationship with Bourbon & Banter. For one thing, I now have a bit too much skin in the game to be completely unbiased. It isn’t just about being unable to ethically review the products that I sell. Now that I work for two small distilleries it would be difficult to analyze the bourbon market objectively.

My relationship to writing has also changed. Writing about bourbon used to be a way to creatively recharge my batteries after a long day of teaching. Now that I spend my day talking to people about various whiskeys and spirits all day, I am much less inclined to sit down and write about it all night. So, as much as it has been an honor to be a Senior Contributor for this site, I have to admit that I am no longer in a position to fulfill that commitment. If a topic comes up that I simply can’t resist writing about, you may see my name here again from time to time, but from now on my main role here will once again be being an avid reader and fan of Bourbon & Banter.

Of course, I can’t leave without sharing a few of the most valuable lessons that writing about bourbon has taught me. There have been too many to count but here are a few of the most important ones.

Take Your Time: Bourbon is best enjoyed slowly and thoughtfully. When I first started exploring bourbon, I enjoyed sipping it, but it wasn’t until I started podcasting and writing about it that I realized just how slow you have to go to be able to describe what it is that you are tasting. First of all, bourbon opens up and often improves as it sits after being poured. You have to give it room to breath. Inhale and try to identify the scents in the nose. When you drink the flavors can skip across your tongue so quickly it is easy to miss. To get the best description, I take several sips, each time trying to concentrate on what I am tasting, where in my mouth, and at what point in the swallow. The whole process helped me to appreciate the luxury of taking your time to enjoy something.

Keep an Open Mind: The human mind is a powerful tool, and it can affect your tastebuds to a huge degree. When writing about a product, I tried my best to avoid reviews others had written before I did mine but even knowing the distillery and the label can prejudice your impressions. I spent years thinking I disliked Michter’s. Someone had given me a bottle of their Toasted Barrel from 2014, and I hadn’t even opened it. Then I decided to go ahead and pour a glass one night and realized that I loved it. It occurred to me that what I really disliked was not the product but Michter’s misleading marketing materials and the way they had tried to obscure the fact that they were, at the time, a non-distilling producer. This was a valuable lesson to me on the importance of keeping an open mind, especially with things that I dislike.

Bourbon Brings People Together: I am pretty liberal. Like many Americans, it is easy for me to find myself only talking with people who I agree with politically. The biggest exception to this is my time spent with bourbon lovers. Thanks to my bourbon society and to spending time with other bourbon bloggers at conferences, I have good friends who cut across different levels of income, education, religion, and especially political beliefs. I think that these friendships have been the biggest gift I have gotten from bourbon. Even though we may never see eye to eye on gun control or the role of government in health care, these have been people who have cheered my successes, offered me advice, and even helped me track down a single barrel store pick of Weller Antique when I missed out. I think I am a better and more well-rounded person for getting to know and admire them, and I hope that I do the same for them. It makes me think that maybe our elected officials would be a little more productive and respectful if they could just sit down and enjoy some bourbon together.

So that is it for now. Thank you so much to the other contributors who have stayed the course and who keep putting out the quality content month after month. And of course, thank you so much to Patrick “Pops” Garrett for starting this site and keeping it going. I know you put in an unbelievable amount of work to keep spreading the gospel of bourbon here at Bourbon & Banter. Thank you for giving me the chance to be a part of the team, and I look forward to seeing where you take it.

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Tuesday, 4 August 2015

Paying it forward.

It is wonderful to know nothing goes to waste, when we put our minds to it.  When natural disasters strike, we pitch in and help, not because we have to but we want to.  Japan did not ask for the earthquake to happen, but it did.  Today I received a gift from Glenda in Australia, the part that touched me the most, this clutch:

This clutch bag has been made from vintage silk fukuro Obi (sash) that was worn at ceremonial and celebratory events since 1970.  It is handmade with love and respect.  The fabrics has been sourced from Kyoto, Hiroshima and Tokyo, Japan.  None have been sourced from the Fukushima area.  Ten percent of all profits,  is donated to the Japan Disaster Relief Fund to help families to rebuilt their homes and lives after the devastating evenst of March 2011.
Fabrics from Japan, this is one time I looked at fabric and thought to myself, how can I use them without cutting them to much?  They have a blue back ground.
Pincushions is one of my favourite flowers, it is one plant that hold a very special place in my heart.
They grow in Australia and in the Western Cape, in South Africa.  They look just like a round pincushion with pins on top.
This book, My Dream Quilts by Reiko Kato, is filled with little bags and lots of interesting knick-knacks to make, from small bits of fabric. (ISBN: 978-2-916182-37-7).  It has been with me for a number of years, the attention to detail is amazing.
Have you ever looked at something and decided it needed a new lease on life?  Then repurposed it and created something new?  Making our world a greener place to live in...paying it forward in a very unexpected way.

  1. Oh goodness what a beautiful post. Glenda is such a kind and dedicated person, I'm not surprised to see her beautifully made clutch here, what a great cause.

  2. Those fabrics are gorgeous! Hope you find just the right project for them.


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01 August 2013 @ 12:50 pm
In Theaters: Pacific Rim
I always try to downplay my expectations for upcoming movies, because I hate being disappointed in a film, especially one I was excited about seeing. Luckily, my expectations were met well with Pacific Rim. Guillermo del Toro did more than deliver an exciting mecha vs. kaiju summer action flick. he populated it with solid, atypical characters (if you don't dig Mako Mori, I don't understand you.) (And I am a big fan of Idris Elba, to boot.) His attention to detail and design really add a lot to the movie in subtle ways that will stick with people for a long time. And despite a... disappointing opening weekend, the buzz for the movie has definitely found a following, meaning we're likely to see more. Go see it on the big screen this weekend.


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i went to bed at 10pm last night. i hardly sleep that early there.. it’s usually 3-4am in the morning and waking up 4-5 hours later.

i slept for 9 hours last night. amidst waking up drenched in cool sweat, and feeling super uncomfortable.. i managed to sleep off the temperature.

the tummy’s still feel a little chummy and i am thinking of the fresh oysters that i bought last nite. looks like i won’t be able to eat them with the tummy condition i am in.

i have concluded that i am suffering from stomach flu, and have passed the germs to my uncle, who is down with fever and vomiting non stop too. i feel so guilty. :/

i hope he gets well soon.

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Thursday, August 5, 2010

I'd rather be sewing

"In between times, whenever he could, he would chat to Ella while she was busy sewing. He could always make her laugh, even if her mouth was full of pins."
Ella's Big Chance
Shirley Hughes

 On these hot August days, my hands stay occupied with lovely fabrics of satin batiste and silk dupioni, little threads, needles and thimbles, tiny beads, and little sewing "snip" scissors.

Not on school curriculum at all. Maybe I am in full-fledged denial.

living notebooks

  Nature Study Notebooks   were first introduced to me along with Charlotte Mason and her schoolin g style many moons back, I immediately as...


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Friday, August 3, 2012

look what I found while browsing...

Summer time attire
Loose fitting shifts in colors sewn on cotton fabrics imitating the colors of melons and tomatoes.
        Scooped back
                   Bare feet
Though I would not fancy the hat.

living notebooks

  Nature Study Notebooks   were first introduced to me along with Charlotte Mason and her schoolin g style many moons back, I immediately as...


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Friday, August 1, 2014

the best stories

"Do you know," Peter asked
                 "Why swallows build in the eaves of houses?
                                  It's to listen to their stories."
                                                                                ~J. M. Barrie

No matter how many times I might go out and come in through the doors of my house during the the tennis courts to take Charlotte to tennis lessons... to the pool for swimming... to the grocery store, well we do have to eat... out to meet up with someone for lunch... to drop Charlotte off at dance the store to buy paint, tile or flooring for home redos... to Latin fourth of July celebrations... to dine out with my husband... to church for Bible Study...
Home definitely tells the best stories of all.

Summers automatically write flavored stories of their own. And I like to think my house swallows build their nests with the intent to listen to these, our individual stories.

This was not at home, but when we returned home after a week at the beach,
we certainly had wonderful stories to tell.

Some of our stories do, of course, involve food, either for simple family suppers or a gathering of friends or family.  You might want to try this carrot recipe, it is delicious. Pare boil skinned carrots until they are tender, slice into chunks, toss into a bowl with two whole garlic cloves, salt and pepper, olive oil and a splash of mild vinegar ( I used champagne vinegar). Cover and set for about twenty minutes or so.
 One morning last week I hosted a Biscuit Bar in my home with ten ladies whom share a common friend whose husband works for the American Embassy. This friend has been in Ireland for the past two years and will be leaving to live in D. C. for language study until they leave for China in the spring. I sincerely hoped to take pictures and give all the details of how I hosted this event. But wouldn't you know it I was so busy making biscuits up to the last minute, and timing is the key to this sort of event, that I did not even think about a single photo until everyone had left! But I took good notes if you are interested...

living notebooks

  Nature Study Notebooks   were first introduced to me along with Charlotte Mason and her schoolin g style many moons back, I immediately as...


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Sunday, October 13, 2013

Soldier with a Book and a Tie

When I preach I wear a tie and today was no different. Usually even with many e-books and articles saved in my tablet I will still carry a book and today's choice was Studies in John. I spent the usual 1.5 hours or so in prayer and devotions before setting out at 7:10am. I knew it was going to be a long journey and I had to transfer from bus 67 in the East coast to an MRT station before walking to the church. As it was my 2nd time to this place in 3 years I lost my way a little and had to ask a few people walking by before I found my way to the school when the meeting was held. By the time the meeting started I had spent almost 2 hours on the road and I was feeling a little tired as I stood and worshipped. It was vibrant and lively being among the youths and I felt refreshed as I sang some of my favourite songs. I saw the Lord lifted high, checking on his army in heaven - the Lord is ready to come as we his people are prepared for the Lord's coming - Straighten the crooked paths, fill up the valleys and blow the trumpet in Zion. I was asked to preach quicker than I thought at 9:35am and I preached for 34 minutes until 10:09 and the meeting ended at 10:22 after the collection and song of response. But I felt a sense of disconnect with the congregation today. I could not say what I wanted to say for that would be giving too much solid food when they were only ready for milk. I spoke about dying to self, and ridding ourselves of attachments to the things of the world by dying with Christ - I have been crucified with Christ nevertheless I live but yet not I but Christ lives in me and the life I now live I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself up for me. Unless we die to self, we will be alone, like a kernel of wheat, unfruitful. If we die, saith Scripture, it will bear forth much fruits (John 12). I talked about the glorification of the Son of Man in his death. The world's view of glory is different - wealth, power, prestige and social rank. I quoted the verse in the Lukan temptation account that the devil took Jesus to the corner of the wing of the temple and in a moment showed him the glory of all the kingdoms of the world and offered to give to Jesus all worldly glory if he would worship Satan.

But Jesus retorted "You shall worship the Lord God and serve Him alone!" Worshipping Jesus is serving him and following him. My servant will follow me where I am there my servant will be. I spoke about giving our lives to Jesus. I challenged the young people to give their lives to serve Jesus and not seek worldly glory and wealth. I told of the example of how a Singaporean doctor spent more than 10 years up a mountain village in China treating village folks of their ailments. He left creaturely comforts in Singapore and served the Lord with his talents. I spoke about short term mission trips and not glorifying in them but be prepared to serve for a longer term in the mission field as the Lord may lead. I spoke about having a larger vision beyond our island state, the little red dot while surrounded by 17,000 islands of Indonesia and 300 million people who spoke Bahasa Indonesia or Malay. If anyone serves me, my Father will honour him - no worldly honours perhaps but eternal rewards. I spoke about God choosing the poor of this world to be rich in faith and cited Luke 6:20, Blessed are you poor for yours in the kingdom of God and denounced those who claim otherwise as if it is the rich who are blessed - O how hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God, it is easier for a camel to enter the eye of the needle! It was cold comfort that the congregation gave me a polite response but many sat stone-faced and I was glad that I was not stoned for my sermon like Jesus was when he was ushered out onto the cliff to be thrown down after rebuking his hometown folks (Luke 4). At the end of the service, not a single youth came up to say thanks (not that I was expecting it) but at least one parent said that the sermon was "interesting" and shared a cup of tea with me. I left knowing that I had achieved little. I am a soldier of the Lord, waging war for His kingdom with the power of God's Word - whether they listened or not, they will know that there is a prophet in their midst.

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Recent Research on Revelation

In a crowded field of scholarship, I am delighted to see my name mentioned along with 40 or more scholars by Russell Morton's Recent Res...


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Tuesday, September 29, 2015

My Last Book

The book of Revelation is the last book of the Bible. Craig Koester's commentary on Revelation that I ordered online early September 2014 has finally arrived, after more than 12 months in waiting. I had practically given up hope that the book would ever reach me. I wrote patiently to the online vendor and the person in charge was good most times to reply to my queries. When I bought the book at USD120 plus another 19USD in postage, altogether it cost USD139. One year ago at about 3.1 Ringgit to the Dollar, it was RM430.00. At today's rate, my book is now RM615.00 (4.43RM to the Dollar). The Ringgit has fallen 30% against the USD in just over a year. That's why I called it my last book because at the current exchange rate, it is simply unaffordable to purchase books from the USA.

Monday, September 28, 2015

Weekend Round-Up: Blood Moon & Mooncakes

There is much ado with the moon. The moon, says the Psalmist, is a sign from God who dwells in heaven (Psalm 89). It signifies God's intentions for the world. Jewish and Chinese calendars are lunar calendars. Every major Jewish feast day falls on a full moon. Yesterday was a convergence of several astronomical signs and major festivals. It was the 4th blood moon in 2 years, each of the 4 total lunar eclipses falling on consecutive Passover and Tabernacles (2014 & 2015). For the Chinese, the largest group in the world of some 1.5 billion people, Mooncake or mid-autumn festival was celebrated yesterday. Even a member of my Dusun church in Ranau gave me a box of mooncakes and my kind neighbour in KK as well. But I am more interested in the Feast of Tabernacles or Sukkot, the third and final major Feast in Israel. It is also called the Feast of ingathering, where at the end of the year harvests are brought in and celebrated before the Lord.

Friday, September 25, 2015

I am not Alone

Jesus said that twice in John's Gospel: "I am not alone". It is one of the many paradoxical statements in the fourth Gospel. Jesus as usual is at his ironical self. He knows how lonely he is but asserts he is not alone. Speaking God's Word and seeking God's glory is a lonely job. There is no love lost for many hearers as many more often than not reject the Word of God and the glory that is God's alone.

Thursday, September 24, 2015

Pastors, Elders and Learning of God's Word

The king's heart is like rivers of waters, you turn it at will. This is another verse from the Psalms or is it Proverbs? I have many things planned one day but the next after some reflection it might be just wishful thinking when reality hits, it can draw one away even from one's strongest ideals. I was reading on Nehemiah's reforms this morning and how when it comes to the law he allowed the expert to take over and Ezra it was who gave the rendition of the reading of the Law on the 7th month. As we enter now into the month of Tishri, the 7th month, just a few days before the feast of Tabernacles, it does us good to reflect the way we do church. Does the ministry and learning of God's Word have central place in the life of the congregation? It was to Ezra, the heads of the clans and families came to learn the Law on the 2nd day of the 7th month (Neh 8,13). Moses had enjoined that on the 7th year in the 7th month, on the Feast of Tabernacles, Israelites are to come together in Jerusalem, the place where the Lord would choose and listen to the exposition of the Law. The problem today is this.

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Scrolls, Codices & Bible Knowledge

The Hebrew Bible books were written on papyrus, leather/parchment or copper rolls. Even apostle Paul asked Timothy not to forget to bring the scrolls and parchments to him in prison. Apparently prison was a good place to study and refresh oneself in Scripture before the heat of ministry outside. Today we have tens of thousands tools, books, Internet, apps aplenty but increasing biblical illiteracy. I am astonished but greatly saddeed. No wonder as Ecclesiastes put it, those who have knowledge will grief or mourn more seeing how the ignorant goes on their way without knowledge and truth.

I am excited with what I am doing with young teenagers. You need to start them young.  Once late teens or early twenties, their minds are pretty set and difficult to learn or unlearn anything that hinders true knowledge and wisdom.

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Origins of the Bible

The Bible is the best attested ancient literature in the world. Copies of the Bible date to the time of Christ or 100 years before Christ. The Bible of the early Christians, the Septuagint was written in 280BC under the patronage of Ptolemy of the Seleciud empire. The Qumran or Dead Sea scrolls, mostly in Hebrew and contained fragments of almost every book of the Hebrew Bible (later Christian OT). Scrolls of the book of Isaiah, Deuteronomy and Daniel were intact. When one compares with the Masoretic text of the Leningrad scroll of early 11th century AD, the two most ancient copies of the Hebrew Bibles are almost identical in content though slight variants exist. This is remarkable considering more than 1,000 years separates the DSS and the MT. It tells the incredible precision in copying of the scribes at work making sure the biblical text word by word remains exactly as it is written in the beginning. The Greek New Testament as it was more recent comparatively speaking, is even better attested.

Monday, September 21, 2015

Changing Flags & Governments Down Under

I am relishing my holidays while it lasts. I have some free time to follow my other passions, news from Down Under while at the same time resetting my schedule for the next couple of weeks. After the public holiday on Thursday I shall be back to work. First up, on Saturday two lectures in a Youth Conference on "The Origins of the Bible." I will be preaching on Sunday and next Wednesday. I am chairing a leaders' meeting on Sunday, probably deciding then whether we are taking the next door unit for church expansion. The rent is a bit high but without space, we can't grow any further. This will be followed by an End-time Seminar in Bundu Tuhan (near Kinabalu Parks) on 3rd October. On the next public holiday on 14th October I will lecturing on "The Role and Function of Elders" and "Holy Communion" for a Church Sacrament Seminar held by Ranau District. We are expecting 150 participants, pastors (18), elders (30) and deacons (100) to turn up from all 26 local churches. In the past few days, I have been following news from Down Under. First, Aussie Jason Day becoming World no.1 Golfer. With Lydia Ko, a New Zealander becoming the youngest female major golf winner and youngest ever world no. 1 before going down to no. 2 at present, You can only be amazed at how two small countries (Australia is a big country but small in population of 22 million) can produce world champions.

Sunday, September 20, 2015

Ministry within Ministry

During the All Night Prayer meeting, we had 6 sessions of one hour long prayer with 3 breaks in between. Together with dinner and breakfast we had had 5 breaks during which time I rested not but fielded questions from eager secondary students.

First Sunday Away

I worshipped in my homechurch in KK today. It is my first Sunday away from my Ranau church. I felt a bit distance from everything. I needed time and space for rest and reflection after the intensity of ministry since the June earthquake. I needed breathing space to regather my thoughts for battles ahead.

Saturday, September 19, 2015

Accumulation of Stuff

History sometimes repeats itself. I have accumulated various things in my six years in Singapore. When I had to leave, half my things I had to give away or throw away. Now in my 9th month in Ranau, I fear I am beginning to accumulate stuff again. After six months I bought a microwave. I have a bigger one in KK. I have several kettles in KK but I bought another small kettle the other day for the purpose. Sometimes when my wife goes back to KK, I only need to boil water for one person. Now I have two sets of almost everything. Ironically I am not sure how long I will be staying in Ranau. I can't say the thought of moving back to KK or Singapore has not crossed my mind. What about my things in Ranau?

Friday, September 18, 2015

Blogging as Spiritual Journaling

I guess due to time constraints my blog has evolved into a kind of spiritual journaling.  I don't have much time to write on biblical or theological matters except that I hope my blog posts will always be biblical and theologically grounded and I hope it is helpful to those in leadership and ministry. With two weeks' time in organizing the All Night Prayer Meeting and almost 400 people turning up at 10pm, I reckon it was a qualified success. This morning I read of King Hezekiah's reforms in 2 Chr 29-31. He sent letters of invitation to the north, Ephraim and Manasseh to come to Jerusalem for Passover and his messengers were mocked and ridiculed. Although I did not face a similar fate, I realized getting the 26 churches to work together is a herculean task.

Thursday, September 17, 2015

All Night Prayer on Malaysia Day

It's now 36 hours since we concluded our All Night Prayer Meeting. Those who heeded my call to prayer came. About 100 secondary students from my church came. The hosting church took 9 trips to fetch the students from their hostels. Without them, I would think the prayer meet would be less exciting. It is exciting to see young people focused on prayer. They stayed up whole night until the end. Their voices rose to the heavens and the Lord heard our cries from unfeigned lips. There were a few notable firsts.

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Praying All Night

First time in my life I stayed up all night till morning came. I was struggling with sleepiness by 4.30am and the last 2 hours of an endurance test trying not to doze off and kept praying. I am glad at the end of the all night prayer meeting more than 200 had stayed up and reached the finish line. We stopped praying at 6.40am followed by breakfast.

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Malaysia Day's All Night Prayer

If you live in the vicinity of Ranau, I would like to extend an invitation for you to attend the all night prayer meeting on the eve of Malaysia Day, beginning at sunset today to sunrise tomorrow. It is also the close of the 2-day Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashana (Lev 23:23-25) where trumpets are blown throughout the land. It is poignant that we should blow the trumpet of prayer so that our nation, Malaysia rise up from its present gloom and doom. Ranau residents in particular have much to pray for in the light of the June earthquake and ongoing tremors (about 5 tremors above RS3 in the past fortnight alone) and one strong tremor struck Ranau as recent as three days ago. It's also Malaysia Day, our National Day proper since before 16th September 1963, Malaysia did not yet exist.

Monday, September 14, 2015

From Sunday to Sunday

I was yawning all the way feeling not a little anxious when all the preliminaries be done with and I would get up the pulpit to preach. It was about 9.30pm when the call came and I duly preached a 30 min sermon. It was my 7th sermon in 8 days and praise be to God for it could only be the power of the Holy Spirit that I could still preach after a day which started at 5.30am with no rest the whole day. By the time I reached the church at 7.15 am there were already 50 students gathered at the stairs and by 7.45am the church was filled up. For a second week running all seats were taken and there was no room to move except the small stage which we put 5 chairs last Sunday.  There must be at least 250 people crowded into a 1,000 Sq ft. Space.  I thought there would be less people in the 2nd service as I took out two rows of chairs in front so that I did not have to sit right at the edge of the stage and strained my neck to look up the screen in front. But lo and behold by 10.20 am,  most seats were taken up and we had to put a row of chairs in front and I moved up accordingly. I preached a fairly lengthy message of 45 mins on the theme 100 days after the earthquake and it so happened that last evening was the start of the Jewish new year Rosh Hashana, the first day of Tishri, the 7th month.

Saturday, September 12, 2015

Singapore's General Election: PAP's Masterclass

I woke up at 2am to check on news of the polling results of Singapore's GE. Ten minutes later, a strong tremor hit Ranau and my house shook twice for a few seconds. Political happenings are earth-shattering events. And Singapore's ruling party, PAP experienced a revival from 2011's slumber and crushed the opposition with a 9.8% swing. It was PAP's masterclass in electioneering and winning votes. My earlier predictions in "Electoral Masterstroke" all came true. PAP increased its popular votes (though I was way off the margin as I thought it would increase only by 3%), WP retained most of its seats (6 out 7) and other opposition parties were obliterated. Though in the last couple of days before polling I thought there could be just a chance for WP to wrest a couple more seats and just that slim chance that SDP could cause a major upset in Holland-Bukit Timah GRC. Dr Chee is an accomplished public speaker, the best of all really but it will take time for Singaporeans to forget his past failures and failings (real or otherwise) knowing that Singaporeans are ever so cautious and slow to accept anything or anyone except that the person is spanky clean and useful to them. Why did PAP score such a resounding victory?

Friday, September 11, 2015

Polling Day in Singapore

I can't wait until 10pm when preliminary results will be telecast live. I hope Astro Awani (501) brings the Singapore's GE results live. I have the most basic TV package (Njoi) without Channel News Asia (my favourite channel in Singapore) and other live feeds. I thought since I am out most nights anyway and come back exhausted there is not much time for TV. But tonight will be a different story. I remember well in the 2011's GE, the returning officer was the star of the night with his straight-faced and dead-panned manner as he announced the results one by one as they came in. I wonder why in such a modern IT society like Singapore, all results are still not known by 2am or 3am the next morning.

Thursday, September 10, 2015

Village Churches in Ranau (2)

I didn't realize that last night I had preached my 4th sermon in 4 days. It was the last thing that I wanted to do after a 4-hour trip to 5 villages followed by a joint meeting for the whole night prayer meeting from 5pm to 7pm. I rushed home to take a shower and by 7.45pm I was back in church to start the Wednesday evening service. I am glad that the song leader was anointed last night and it made the difference. I sensed an empowering of the Lord as I worshipped and the word of the Lord that came to me was "The joy of the Lord is our strength" (Nehemiah). I was refreshed in the presence of the Lord. I spoke powerfully for 30 minutes on Unity in Prayer and Leadership based on Acts 1. Our church is in the process of renting a larger space to cater for growth in numbers, but there are times that I felt I was all alone in leading and getting things done, hence the call for leaders to buck up and unite in prayers. My trip to these 5 villages yesterday was a welcome break from the grind of sermon preparation though even while driving it was never far from my mind about what I was going to preach.

Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Village Churches in Ranau

I went on a loop with my fellow pastor to carry letters of invitations to the Whole night prayer meeting next week on Malaysia Day.  I felt a bit like in ancient times when letters of apostles are carried by hand by letter couriers, trusted friends of the apostle-letter writers. If we had sent by post it will be a bit too late as most village churches either have a mailbox in Ranau's post office and often leaders from these villages pick up their letters once a fortnight. So this morning I had a wonder drive on a 4x4, which makes the trip a lot more comfortable than in a sedan or worse in a motorcycle. My fellow pastor who accompanied related to me how he met with 3 accidents on a motorcycle or scooter in the course of ministry. On these village dirt and rocky roads, the most common form of transport for not so well to do pastors is the scooter.

Tuesday, September 8, 2015

I am 4 Minimum Wage

Taking a break from the intensity of ministry for me is reading and following politics, especially those that interest me like Singapore's GE this Friday. One issue that has been raised by several opposition parties is a minimum wage for workers and Workers' Party went as far to suggest that it should be S$1,000.00 per month. I read counter-arguments written by several experts, economists and politicians but I am not convinced that imposition of a minimum wage will put a dampener on a country's economy. I cite this post from Singaporedaily (see here) and I will try to answer his/her arguments against minimum wage.

Sunday, September 6, 2015

Red Chairs & Records

My fellow elder whispered to me that before the church started the 2nd service 2 years ago, the numbers that attended Sunday service once exceeded 300 adults.  Today we broke records and the red chairs which had never been used since I came had to be cleaned to provide seats for those standing at the stairs waiting outside to come in. Twice I was interrupted in my sermon to allow movement of late comers to find seats around me. So my prayer for a larger space took on added urgency and lo and behold as soon as I reached home my phone rang and the church Treasurer told me that the landlord next door was prapared to let us view his shop unit.

Saturday, September 5, 2015

Preaching Cycle

I can't imagine at the start of my pastorate that I would be preaching as much as I am doing now. Ironically, I have sole charge of the pulpit ministry in church. It has been my principle not to preach more than twice a week but more often than not, this plan does not seem to work. So I am adapting to my preaching cycle of rest and preach. Yesterday I got up at 5am after an overnight trip in KK to head back to Ranau by 8.30am. I had a full day of work including planning for a whole night prayer on Malaysia Day, 15th to 16th September.

Friday, September 4, 2015

Managing the House of the Lord

What is the house of the Lord? Obviously in the New Testament it is the people, the believers that make up the church, the body of Christ. But people live in space and time (one of my Masters students did a thesis on this). Early church met in homes of believers. By 4th century basilicas and cathedrals were built. Today most believers meet in buildings designated for worship. Usually when Christians call church, it is the building where we worship the Lord. The church building is normally managed by church leaders. At the church office the head is usually the pastor or senior pastor if he has a few pastors working with him. So the pastor is the manager of the house of the Lord. Most churches have church offices, often in the same building or adjacent to the worship hall. Sometimes, it is some distance away from the church, where the pastor and his staff work in the office when there are no services in church.

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Merdeka Meeting

It was a bleak National Day. It is difficult to feel joyful with so many unresolved political issues and the economy is facing a downturn with the free fall of the Ringgit. National leaders cannot expect blind loyalty from its citizens unless they gain respect by serving the public good. They need to be credible in the eyes of its rakyat and they can't presume on support if they fail to live up to their pledges of integrity and goodwill. I had a Merdeka meeting with University students from my church with two sixth formers turning up as well. I need to encourage this young generation per chance they could also influence the church for good and through the church society at large.

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Chicago Home Sales, Prices Up In March

CHICAGO (CBS) — The Chicago and Illinois housing markets got a vital shot in the arm on Thursday, as March figures revealed existing home sales shot up significantly. Median prices also stabilized, ending a long streak of declines.

As WBBM Newsradio’s Regine Schlesinger reports, the head of the Illinois Association of Realtors says the latest figures suggest the housing market has turned the corner in Chicago and across the state.

“I haven’t seen the real estate business this busy since five years ago, when we started going down,” said association president Loretta Alonzo, a real estate agent in LaGrange Park.

LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio’s Regine Schlesinger reports

Sales of existing single-family homes and condos surged last month – up 12 percent in Chicago, and 21 percent statewide. Home sales statewide totaled 9,575 statewide – the best March performance since 2007, when 11,979 homes where sold.

Alonzo said prices are stabilizing, with the median price up more than 5 percent in Chicago, compared to last march.

Median prices statewide were flat, but still ended 20 straight months of declining prices.

Alonzo had some advice for anyone who’s been on the sidelines, waiting to buy a home.

“Start looking now, because you’re gonna find a decrease in inventory. The good homes are going quickly, and the interest rates are still below 4 percent. So, it’s a very good buyer’s market out there,” she said.

Alonzo said realtors are beginning to see multiple offers on foreclosed properties.

“As many as 15 on one REO (real estate-owned) property, so that’s gonna help push the prices up a little bit, I’m sure,” she said. “When they start doing multiple offers, they start offering more than the list price.”

Alonzo called it encouraging news, no matter what side of a real estate transaction you’re on.

Nationally, sales of existing homes fell in March by 2.6 percent.

More from Regine Schlesinger

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Saturday, November 27, 2010

Movie star Mark Ruffalo is being harassed for his antiwar and progressive acts

Where's that change? I'm not seeing any with President Obama, just a continuation of the Bush II agenda, which means that of the super-rich. In May of this year, Mark Ruffalo (Zodiac, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Last Big Thing, Shutter Island, etc.) and about 1,800 other prominent American liberals (including linguist and intellectual Noam Chomsky) singed a petition that was published as a full-page ad in a very visible New York magazine accusing the new president of war crimes.
In some respects this is worse than Bush. First, because Obama has claimed the right to assassinate American citizens whom he suspects of ‘terrorism,’ merely on the grounds of his own suspicion or that of the CIA, something Bush never claimed publicly.
They're not only factually correct in their assertion, they have a constitutionally protected right to express it without recourse. The new president--like his predecessor--doesn't appear to believe this. Odd for a constitutional scholar.

Ruffalo is generally known as an "indie" actor, but his star has been in ascendancy over the last decade, and along with that, he's been vocal in recent years about his concerns that America is rapidly moving away from its most cherished ideals, away from democracy. With endless capitulations to the corporate sector by both major political parties, endless and pointless wars, very open political corruption, and a host of misdeeds that don't need to be recalled here since we don't have all day to recount simply the ones committed under the Bush II administration, (the one that the new president's resembles more all of the time), it's definitely time to speak your peace.

Indeed, Ruffalo has been doing just that: There was the aforementioned petition, but he's been on the path of several causes, and they're valid ones. His most recent has gotten him on a terror watch list via the Pennsylvania Department of Homeland Security, part of the DHS, a decidedly corrupt institution for a war on a pronoun, so you know it's a joke on the public, and one they approved of initially.

With the ending of the "terror alert" color-coded system that everyone began ignoring after it was abused for openly political reasons, they have good reason to be concerned when a likable guy like Ruffalo starts going around accusing the president and corporations of corruption, of criminal behavior. People are already all ears, and after the BP catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico, it's even money that they're pissed-off. Into this latter fray enters Mr. Ruffalo who has been inviting members of the public to screenings of GasLand, a documentary that covers incredibly dangerous oil-drilling practices such as "fracking" that contaminate drinking water in the areas it's done in, one of them being Pennsylvania.

This was enough for the PDHS to place Ruffalo--a movie star actor--on a terror watch list. Ruffalo thinks "[it's] pretty fuckin' funny," and to some extent it is, but it also isn't. He was brushing-up against Big Oil, maybe even firms like Halliburton. What I want to know is who made the decision here. Were his other progressive activities taken into account? Was the White House a part of any of these decisions? What recourse would an average citizen have had in this case?

Hold-outs: He's not what you think he is. Actions speak louder than words.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

14 down, 36 to go in the push towards legalization of marijuana

But what does this all mean? What does it mean when we're rapidly heading towards a surveillance state, let alone a police state? Will we be able to smoke pot in a police state? Consider that. What does this mean? I have no idea, it just boggles the mind, but you have to realize that many states of existence and social trends can live alongside one another simultaneously. Some things can be true and false all at once.

Is this all Huxley' warning, the phantom of "soma," and a populace that could find itself under some serious illusions of personal freedom while simultaneously narcotizing themselves, and not merely by television and the Internet (the unimaginative misuse of the latter)? I don't know, but it sure looks like it. There are many illusions and conceits in the counterculture and the outlying one these days, too many myths, too little reality.

California nearly passed Proposition 19 this election cycle, which would have all but decriminalized marijuana with a mere fine for up to the personal possession of one ounce of marijuana, similar to Ontario's experiment with decriminalization beginning about (or "aboot") a decade ago thanks to the ruling of an Ontario Superior Court of Justice (like our own higher Federal District circuits). But the fun didn't last long in Ontario and later rulings have pushed back the right to personal possession of marijuana. Tell 'em that in Toronto's Kensington Market, or even parts of Los Angeles and Oakland and the neighborhoods around the University of Toronto.

Local custom often trumps the law, which in the case of marijuana, is fine since it's not someone being lynched. That's what the drug laws are for.

As a criminology professor in college told me, "We never learn in America, because we don't want to." The truth has been plain for ages: Prohibition just empowers cartels and gangs, it doesn't make society a better place to live, and in fact is one of the sources of social disintegration. But it serves narrow interests, some who are in-collusion with drug lords. Without prohibition, there would be almost no potential for bribery and similar forms of corruption, especially with a decentralized model granting private citizens the right to grow set amounts for personal use, never mind medical marijuana dispensaries.

Meanwhile, the executive branch is enjoying the ability to conduct unrestrained surveillance of everyone under the rubic of the war on terror and the war on drugs. The states are moving one way, while the federal government is moving another. There could be no greater example of counter-trends of the democratic versus anti-democratic other than the newfound freedom and ease of communication created by the Internet, but the legalization movement is surely another one when juxtaposed with the ever-widening surveillance state. This isn't simply a states' rights battle, though there is certainly a fear of opening that door. It underscores that there are natural tendencies towards the democratic and anti-democratic in all nation states.

What if we do witness the virtual legalization of marijuana for personal use in the United States? Will it be a blow against anti-democratic trends? That would be a major affirmative. American drug laws were first formulated as race laws and the statistics of who gets sentenced to the most time are implicitly clear: Minorities suffer the most for the same amounts as their Caucasian counterparts, and class is also an issue, the ability to pay adequately for one's own defense at trial. So, yes indeed, this will be a step forward for civil rights across the board for Americans if we can end prohibition of marijuana since it will lead to and end in the case of the other substances to interdiction and the punishment model.

"But who's going to sell it?" is the usual question. In the case of marijuana, it should be nobody. Again, it's a hardy and easily grown plant. Yes, there will still be a market for the "best," there always will be, but any good law decriminalizing the plant will have to include the right of private citizens to grow their own. The other substances? The government should be dispensing them for tracking and statistical purposes, just like Canada does with "The Beer Store," albeit I have no answers as to manufacture, though my preference would be by the government. The money made from these sales could just as easily go to addiction treatment programs.

Would we want corporations to manufacture heroin as a commodity? I don't think so, and believe that that would be the true road to Huxley's Brave New World. Corporations are only capable of being held-accountable through the power of government because nothing else is powerful enough to. Before we knew it, we could all truly be addicts were they to have complete control over the process. But a part of me wonders: Where is this all headed? Will legalizing marijuana make a big difference? I believe that it can, and likely will, offer a "third-path" model, but Americans are going to have a big fight on their hands with--no surprise here--corporations, and the people who service, defend, and have an abiding interest in them.

Will we be smoking pot in a police state? Stay tuned...

Monday, November 08, 2010

An important update on the upcoming DC Madam account...

Late last week, just a few days ago in fact, I had a major breakthrough in my research and analysis in this case, and one that could change everything. I'm not going to spill the beans--you're going to have to be patient on this one--but it has to do with the context of Jeane's suicide. No, there has been no concrete information forthcoming that the DC Madam was murdered, and your weird desire that it was so says more about you than it does about this case or this historical moment we're inhabiting together.

One giveaway, the only one anyone's getting before the publication of the account: I've written about it before, and it has to do with her being suicidal. There is actually someone specific who may be to blame for Palfrey's untimely death, and it has to do with official negligence.

My hope? That I'm right about this recent observation of the primary material, that others look into it further, and that, ultimately, it reopens the case in the form of a congressional investigation, an internal one. That's it. That's all you're getting.