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Save thousands on RV refrigerator replacement

Save thousands on RV refrigerator replacement

By Russ and Tiña De Maris

Of all of the things that can break in your RV, one of the most expensive issues you’ll face is if your refrigerator goes kaput. And sad to say, RV refrigerators don’t have immortality — they do eventually croak. When that happens, what do you do? The standard answer is, “Buy a new refrigerator.”

Screen Shot 2016-04-19 at 10.24.12 AMMany RVers have learned that there may be alternatives. If the refrigerator is in otherwise good shape, replacing the cooling unit – the usual problem when an RV reefer turns up its toes – is a far less expensive proposition than replacing the entire unit. And if you’re a “handy sort of guy or gal” you may be able to save even more by replacing that unit yourself. We know — we’ve done it.

Not too long ago, however, an RV tech who recommends replacing cooling units over replacing refrigerators where possible, ran into an interesting and disturbing situation. The customer brought him an RV with a three-year-old refrigerator that suddenly quit cooling properly. The tech did all the appropriate tests and could only get the reefer down to 50 degrees. He installed a new cooling unit, and low and behold – same problem. A closer investigation revealed that the insulation of the refrigerator was soaked with water. The tech called the manufacturer – Norcold – and says that the company told him that since the refrigerator was “saturated,” the only fix was to toss out the entire unit and buy a new one.

The tech had been trained by a company that specializes in rebuilding cooling units, and trains folks on how to do this. You may have heard of the Ford School. The tech called in his instructor, who got involved. “Just how would a refrigerator get so saturated?” he wondered. He says that Norcold’s explanation is that the fault is an RV “ventilation issue.” And “throw the unit out.” Rather than stopping at this point and condemning the unit, the techs dried out the saturated insulation and took steps to seal the refrigerator. They then put the old cooling unit back in, and sure enough, the refrigerator now works fine.

We did a little research and found a number of RV owners who over the last few years have likewise been told that a “saturated” refrigerator” cabinet is a death sentence. And there seem to be a large number of Norcold 1200 series refrigerators that have this mysterious “ventilation” caused issue. Checking street prices on these units, replacement costs of pushing $4,000 (plus labor for removal and installation) would seem a pretty hefty price to pay if these units can be dried out, sealed, and put back in service.

So here’s one to file away in the back of your mind. Maybe even print out a copy of this story and put it in your documentation file. If you have a Norcold 1200 series reefer, you may be ahead to talk to a Ford School trained technician. Here’s a link to a video from the Ford School that goes into more detail on this topic. And here’s a link to a list of Ford trained technicians.

SHOPPING FOR RV PARTS AND ACCESSORIES: Don’t forget to check’s huge selection.


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Holy Spirit, Come!

Holy Spirit, Come!

holy spirit.png

Congratulations to our 7th grade teacher, Mrs. Desiree Tupou and our music teacher, Mr. Phillip Foster who were confirmed by Fr. Herman on May 1, 2016 at the 7:00am Mass.  We pray that the Lord will always surround them with the fullness of His love, that He will always lead them by the light of his truth, and that He will always bless them with the peace of his presence.

Please visit our bulletins @ ST. ANN CHURCH AND MODEL SCHOOLS
Or visit our website at www.saintannhawaii.org

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Friday, 30 June 2017

Seaguy: Slaves of Mickey Eye Review (Grant Morrison, Cameron Stewart)

This is a review of the second (and, to date, final) Seaguy arc, Slaves of Mickey Eye, but the image is of issue #1 because DC haven’t collected the three issue storyline into a book - and I can see why! In addition to Seaguy being one of Grant Morrison’s more obscure, lowest-selling titles, Slaves of Mickey Eye unfortunately isn’t very good.

Thursday, 29 June 2017

Superman and Batman vs. Aliens and Predator Review (Mark Schultz, Ariel Olivetti)

We had Batman vs. Predator (awful), Batman/Aliens and its sequel (both surprisingly decent), Superman vs. Predator and Superman/Aliens (which I haven’t read) - so obviously now let’s smoosh them all together into one book for no reason! With this many characters in one book, Superman and Batman vs. Aliens and Predator sounds like the hottest of all hot messes… but it’s not bad?!

Wednesday, 28 June 2017

Unfollow, Volume 3: Turn It Off Review (Rob Williams, Mike Dowling)

And so Rob Williams and Michael Dowling’s limited series Unfollow comes to an end in their third and final book, Turn It Off. I’ve enjoyed the title up to this point, and I still liked parts of this one too, but the third book closes out the story in a birruva underwhelming fashion.

Tuesday, 27 June 2017

DIS MEM BER and Other Stories of Mystery and Suspense by Joyce Carol Oates Review

I’ve always wanted to read a Joyce Carol Oates book but never have until now - and I’m not encouraged to read any more! Dis Mem Ber and Other Stories of Mystery and Suspense is a collection of seven horror short stories, none of which are especially good.

Monday, 26 June 2017

Zatanna: Everyday Magic Review (Paul Dini, Rick Mays)

Everyday Magic is the most uninspired Zatanna comic ever. It’s Paul Dini on autopilot as he snoozes his way through a by-the-numbers story. Constantine’s hand is cursed so Zatanna battles a sorceress to fix him. Which she does effortlessly with no tension. The end. Wooow.

There’s a truncated version of Zatanna’s origin included if you haven’t read it before so if you have, like me, it only makes the comic that much more tedious to get through. Also, don’t expect the art inside to be like Brian Bolland’s cover because it’s not. Rick Mays’s kiddie manga-esque art did nothing for me, accompanying Dini’s boring script to make Everyday Magic even more forgettable!

I suppose this run-of-the-mill comic is aptly named: it is very everyday. Pointless, unentertaining rubbish - disappointing given that Dini’s usually a quality writer.

Sunday, 25 June 2017

Infamous Iron Man, Volume 1: Infamous Review (Brian Michael Bendis, Alex Maleev)

The only interesting thing to come out of Secret Wars’ finale was the question of what Doctor Doom would do next: where do you go after being God Emperor Doom of Battleworld? Brian Bendis provides an answer: become Iron Man! And it turns out to be a shit answer as Infamous Iron Man is a disappointingly crummy title.

Saturday, 24 June 2017

Kill Your Boyfriend Review (Grant Morrison, Philip Bond)

A bored schoolgirl falls for a slightly older bad boy townie. Together, they go on a killing spree for shits and giggles! It can only end one way… and in Blackpool?!

Thursday, 22 June 2017

Jessica Jones, Volume 1: Uncaged! Review (Brian Michael Bendis, Michael Gaydos)

So after reading this book I can confidently say I don’t give a fudgey-fudge about Jessica Jones!

JJ’s in prison for some reason! Her marriage to Luke Cage is on the skids and she’s hidden her baby with her ma for some reason! Intrigue? Mystery? Snores!

Tuesday, 20 June 2017

Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton's Doomed Campaign Review (Jonathan Allen, Amie Parnes)

Hindsight is 20/20 so it’s easy now to see the signs that portended Hillary Clinton’s failed presidential bid, but, in the months leading up to Election Night 2016, I don’t remember anyone seriously thinking Trump would win. She’s got this – OF COURSE Hillary’s gonna win. The infamous “grab the pussy” tape, those embarrassing debates Trump clearly lost where he looked like the barely-literate buffoon he is? Come on. It’s a formality. And Trump implying that he would contest the election results, that they’d probably be rigged, days before voting? What a scumbag – he and his racist, misogynistic supporters MUST accept the results to preserve the integrity of the democratic process!

Friday, 16 June 2017

On the Camino by Jason Review

To mark his 50th birthday in 2015, Norwegian cartoonist Jason decided to walk the Camino de Santiago, a 500 mile pilgrimage in north-western Spain. Which he does. And that’s that!

Jason is one of my favourite cartoonists but On the Camino is his weakest book to date. It’s also his first venture into nonfiction which is quite telling because his fictional comics are usually outstanding and fun to read while this autobiographical memoir is very dry, one-note and kinda boring.

Thursday, 15 June 2017

John Flood Review (Justin Jordan, Jorge Coelho)

John Flood is the survivor of a covert experiment to eliminate sleep in the organisation’s operatives. It worked – John hasn’t slept in over a decade! – but the sleep deprivation has made him a bit… strange. Though while he sees things that aren’t there, his permanently altered brain chemistry has also given him a distorted way of thinking and unique world perspective that’s turned him into a brilliant private investigator. So when a psychopathic mass murderer’s on the loose, John knows just how to catch him: he needs to find a missing cat…

Wednesday, 14 June 2017

All-New Wolverine, Volume 3: Enemy of the State II Review (Tom Taylor, Nik Virella)

This is the second book in a row where the main title – “All-New Wolverine” – has been ironically undermined by the subtitle: Civil War II in the last book, Enemy of the State II in this; “All-New” my bum! It’d be nice if Marvel’s writers could come up with original storylines instead of relying on rehashing old classics but that’s just not Marvel’s (or DC’s for that matter) style – unimaginativeness is the watchword!

Tuesday, 13 June 2017

Living the Dream by Lauren Berry Review

Emma and Clem are twentysomething Londoners who want to be writers. And, er, that’s it - Lauren Berry neglected to include a story in her debut novel, Living the Dream!

Emma’s the realist of the two, working an office job to pay the rent and writing in her spare time, while Clem’s the dreamer, going full tilt at the screenwriting lark and being broke and living at home for her efforts. I’d hoped Berry would wring some humour and/or wry observations about juggling artistic aspirations with mundane office work but no such luck; all she’s got is that corporate life is fake and stupid and work is, like, shit, innit? Bah.

Sunday, 11 June 2017

Dark Knight III: The Master Race #9 Review (Frank Miller, Brian Azzarello)

And so we come to the end of Dark Knight III. Quar and the evil Kandorians square off against Batman and co. in a final battle for the fate of Earth. Guess who wins?

Predictability aside, The Master Race #9 isn’t a great conclusion to what was a decidedly average return to Batman for Frank Miller. Batman’s contribution to the fight was plain silly and he felt like a supporting player in his own book.

Saturday, 10 June 2017

Roughneck by Jeff Lemire Review

Derek Ouelette is a has-been hockey goon. Thrown out of professional hockey for allowing his rage to get the better of him, Derek lives in a small Canadian town spending most of his time surly drunk and picking fights with anybody. When his estranged junkie sister Bethy drops by, pregnant and addicted with a shiner from her drug-dealing boyfriend, the two must confront their shared past trauma together to find their future.

Yeah, fucking grim, eh? Roughneck is also Jeff Lemire’s best book in years.

Thursday, 8 June 2017

Officer Downe Review (Joe Casey, Chris Burnham)

Officer Downe is the ultimate cop – an unstoppable killing machine who never rests until all the criminals are dead… or arrested, whatever! But he pisses off some corrupt animal-headed businessmen who are fed up with Downe never staying, er, down, and hire a flamboyant ninja hitman and his army of goons to take him out, once and for all!

Tuesday, 6 June 2017

Batman: Dark Knight Dynasty Review (Mike Barr, Scott Hampton)

For a Mike Barr Batman book, Dark Knight Dynasty surprisingly isn’t bad!

It’s an Elseworlds story (non-canon, What If…?-type tales) split into three parts: Dark Past/Present/Future. The quality is quite high to begin with but unfortunately gets worse as the book goes on.

Monday, 5 June 2017

Ten Dead Comedians by Fred Van Lente Review

In his debut novel, Fred Van Lente does Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None - but with comedians! And it’s not bad.

Many of the characters are thinly-veiled versions of real-life comedians: there’s a Larry the Cable Guy-type, Carrot Top, Ali Wong, George Lopez, and Joan Rivers, to name a few. They’re lured to a private island owned by a famous, rich comic they all have connections to who strangely isn’t there to greet them - and then the comedians start getting killed one by one!

Sunday, 4 June 2017

Justice League vs. Suicide Squad Review (Joshua Williamson, Rob Williams)

This shouldn’t really be a thing. I mean, forget the Justice League, Superman alone could take out the Suicide Squad! In fact, any one member of the League could do it - Wonder Woman, Flash, Batman (most of the SS are Batman rogues anyway). The Green Lantern rings are among the most powerful weapons in the DCU! So yeah, the premise is significantly flawed to begin with.

Thursday, 1 June 2017

Batman Beyond, Volume 1: Escaping the Grave Review (Dan Jurgens, Bernard Chang)

I’m giving Rebirth every chance here. Dan Jurgens has always been a shit writer, Batman Beyond is always a shit title, but maybe - just maybe - the Rebirth version of Dan Jurgens’ Batman Beyond will be good…? Nah.


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Out of the mountain of despair: MLK Memorial

MLK Memorial

This has been on my to-do list for a while, so it only seemed fitting to finally visit Martin Luther King Jr’s Memorial on this sunny but chilly Monday (off). I’ve seen the Memorial from a distance before while driving by but never up close. It opened to the public last August but the official dedication ceremony was delayed until October due to Hurricane Irene. Many visitors have already been there since then. Obviously today it was an especially popular destination with whole families out and about despite the frigid temperature. The visitors span the demographic gamut: kids in colorful hats, couples strolling hand in hand, even a grandma with a walker. Everybody – including me – snapping lots of pictures.

The Memorial sits on the westen edge of the Tidal Basin along the axis linking the Jefferson and Lincoln Memorials. It consists of the three main elements. First, symbolic Mountain of Despair, a massive boulder with a passageway carved right through it, forms the main gate to the Memorial. The centerpiece of the Memorial, a Stone of Hope, rises a few feet beyond that gate, with a monumental relief of Martin Luther King carved as emerging from the far side of the granite mass. On both sides, a two-winged inscription wall shows excerpts from King’s sermons and speeches.

Mountain of Despair

I wasn’t sure if I’d like the memorial. From the pictures I saw MLK’s depiction seemed rather cold, his posture distant and his his face stern, even angry. The monumental proportions of the statue combined with its rigid pose gave it a distinct air of social realism – a feeling hard to shake given that the memorial is the work of Lei Yixin, a Chinese sculptor known for producing the likenesses of Mao Zedong and such. I certainly wasn’t the only one making this association and many critical voices were raised condemning the choice of the sculptor (did we have to outsource even MLK Memorial to China?) and the treatment of the subject matter. I don’t know the details of all the decisions surrounding the Memorial. And artistic tastes are personal. But certainly from a historic, symbolic perspective it seems like a bizarre choice. As Washington Post’s Courtland Milloy put it, “surely, having a black sculptor of a black civil rights icon – working on ground once toiled by black slaves, on the National Mall, designed and surveyed with the help of a black mathematician and astronomer Benjamin Banneker – would have added to the King memorial’s symbolic power.”

Stone of Hope

That said, I liked the memorial more than I thought I would. When you get closer, MLK’s visage looks less menacing and more thoughtful, and thankfully he’s not wearing a Mao suit. But aesthetics aside, what really makes the Memorial work – at least on the day like today – are the people who come to visit. You can see it in the eyes of the older ones in particular: they remember King’s life and struggles first hand and look at the Memorial with pride. Many nod their heads as they read King’s quotes from the inscription wall, saying that those words are still as relevant today as in the 1960s. Watching kids – of all colors – curious about the Memorial is equally heartwarming, part of the dream in fact. The best part? Hearing a Latino father explain who King was and what the civil rights movement was about to his two adorable children in Spanish. E pluribus unum.

"I have a dream"

“We must come to see that the end we seek is a society at peace with itself, a society that can live with its conscience.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

Let me leave you with Kris Funn’s way to memorialize MLK in a musical way:

Read on:

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Religion, Secularism and the French presidential elections

France is proud of its secularism. But religion also influences voters.

In an election that has frustrated that traditional split, religion could end up being a confounding, rather than clarifying, force, according to an article in the Washington Post. Dr Sarah Wolff comments that with debates over the integration of Muslims playing out over matters of public dress and activity, a “typical liberal view of laïcité” [secularism] may leave vulnerable citizens unprotected. She argues that Macron may have to take a more controversial stand. “What is needed is a critical approach to adapt laïcité to current times. Laïcité as equal conditions for all citizens to practice their religion,” she adds.

The full article by Isaac Stanley-Becker is available here

Does France need Change?

Dear followers

To the question asked by Judy Dempsey from Carnegie Europe, my answer regarding Europe and Laïcité is:

Whatever the result on May 7, one thing is certain: the French presidential election will be a game changer for Europe. Far-left candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon and extreme-right contender Marine Le Pen have in common (aside from their pro-Russian stance) that they want to reform current French policies outside the EU treaties. Center-right hopeful François Fillon wants a renewed Europe of nations. Those approaches augur a dangerous protectionist and nationalist change.

Given Britain’s vote to leave the EU and the current political crisis in Europe, this is not the type of change France needs. Instead, the country should reform inside and together with the EU, by committing strongly to the Franco-German relationship and investing in new initiatives that will secure a renewed political consensus in the union.

Societal change is also deeply needed regarding laïcité, one of the key pillars of the French republic. French secularism will remain sustainable as long as it sticks to its tolerance principle and avoids entrenchment. It should not become a nationalist principle that polarizes society and excludes others, but instead should adapt dynamically and enter the era of postsecularism heralded by German sociologist Jürgen Habermas. That is a change being called for by the Socialist candidate Benoît Hamon and, with some nuances, by the front-runner, centrist Emmanuel Macron.

Please read the full publications and other experts’ contributions on Strategic Europe

Immigration, a consensual issue in the French presidential campaign?

Since the end of the 1970s, when labour migration was halted, immigration has been the hot potato of French politics. Ever since its electoral breakthrough in 1982, the Front National has capitalized on the anxieties of the French society towards globalization, the economic and financial crisis as well as the disappointment with the current European project, seen by many as a big liberal market where social safety nets are being dismantled. The French political elite as a whole has been complicit of Front National’s strategy. Identity, citizenship, French suburbs and laïcité are seen by right-wing politicians as republican symbols under threat by immigrants, and this view is increasingly shared by left-wing politicians like ex-Prime Minister Manuel Valls. Immigration is therefore mostly considered as a security issue by French politicians. In the current campaign, the right-wing is copying Marine Le Pen’s programme on immigration, in the hope to attract its electorate. The far-left presents the most humanistic ideas, although outside of EU treaties, while Emmanuel Macron stresses that asylum is a right and migrants are a strength for the economy.

Source Ouest France, 2017

With 74,468 asylum applicants in 2015, France is far from the 722,000 applications received by Germany in 2016. The dismantlement of the Calais camp in October 2016 and the increasing presence of homeless refugees in the streets of Paris have nonetheless led to a renewed debate regarding the oft-cited phrase of belated Socialist Prime Minister Michel Rocard that “France cannot welcome all the misery of the world.” The 2015 Charlie Hebdo and Bataclan attacks have stressed the fracture between French society and the children of foreign-born immigrants, often in rupture with their families.

Although employment remains the first preoccupation of French people, the 2017 presidential elections polls show restrictive trends towards immigration. Accordingly, 61% of the French people are in favour of suspending immigration from Muslim countries, that is above the average of 55% of Europeans. In 2016, 57% of the French thought there were too many immigrants in France and 63% were of the opinion that the majority of refugees will not be able to integrate. While Front National and the right-wing parties follow these public opinion trends, Emmanuel Macron, the leader of En Marche!, offers a more liberal approach, in line with European commitments. Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the far-left candidate, offers the most human policy, but outside of the European Treaties. Overall, in the French presidential campaign immigration is no longer debated as a societal project but rather as a security and identity issue.

The legacy of the Hollande Presidency

Traditionally known for its humanist approach to immigration, the left-wing government of President Hollande has in fact continued the security approach initiated by his predecessor Sarkozy. Hollande’s mandate started with the Leonarda affair, regarding an irregular immigrant Roma schoolgirl arrested during her school trip and returned back to Kosovo where her family had been expulsed to earlier. Later, he dropped his promise to grant foreigners the right to vote in local elections. In spite of a multi-annual residence permit, the 2014 immigration law facilitates the expulsion of irregular migrants and has been denounced by several NGOs. The 2015 asylum law reduces the delays in the treatment of asylum applications, thus aligning it with EU law. According to the OFPRA, the agency that processes asylum-seeker applications, this delay amounted to 205 days in 2014. Furthermore, asylum seekers whose request for asylum has been refused but cannot be returned to their home countries have not being given any status (see here).

Restrictive (extreme)right-wing programmes

François Fillon, ex-Prime Minister of France under President Sarkozy, and now running for president while under formal investigation for misuse of public funds and fake employment of his wife as a parliamentary assistant, offers a restrictive immigration programme, close to the propositions of Front National. With Fillon as president, the French Constitution would be modified to adopt a quota principle, to be defined by law, on how many residency permits could be delivered. Family reunification would be made harder and, borrowing from the extreme-right lexicon, France’s ‘migratory sovereignty’ would be restored through the renegotiation of European directives. Laws granting French citizenship to French ascendants of more than 65 years old would be repealed.

In Fillon’s vision, immigration should no longer be a burden to French society and he plans to provide family and accommodation allowances only to those residing in France for 2 years or more. State medical help for foreigners will be reviewed, and foreigners will be exempted from paying healthcare costs only in the cases of minors, emergencies and infectious disease, and only in some selected hospitals and clinics. Like Macron, Fillon wants to limit the delays in processing asylum requests to 4 months. Administrative detention of irregular migration will be extended from 45 days to 6 months, the maximum authorized by the EU return directive. The Schengen Treaty will be renegotiated to authorize increased controls at internal borders. Citizenship rules will be tightened up with additional conditions such as a minimum 8 years of residency in France and a minimum 5 years of marriage.

Stopping ‘uncontrolled’ immigration is the selling slogan of the extreme-right candidate Marine Le Pen. Like Fillon Le Pen is under investigation; in Le Pen’s case regarding misuse of European Parliament funds to pay her parliamentary assistants. In her programme, the Front National leader will give ‘national preference’ to French people over what she sees as two evils: globalization and Islam. First, legal migration will be reduced from 200,000 to 10,000 entries per year. In the short term, because she wants to renegotiate the EU treaties, this should not apply to European citizens. Family reunification will also stop. Third, she will suppress the jus soli, the right of place of birth. This right grants French citizenship to anyone born on French territory with at least one French parent. Children born from foreign parents on French territory can also choose for French citizenship when they are 18 years old. State medical help would be suppressed. Fourth, internal borders will be re-established, as France will withdraw from ‘Schengen’. The regularization or naturalization of irregular migrants will no longer be possible.

Pro-immigration programmes

Benoît Hamon, the Socialist candidate supported by Europe Environment Les Verts, the Green party, takes a more liberal stance on immigration. He wants foreigners to have a right to vote in local elections and will accelerate the integration of asylum seekers. They will have the right to work after three months on French territory and will gain more opportunities to learn French. At the EU level, Hamon wants to stop the Dublin system that he considers unfair to Italy and Greece, two countries under important budgetary restrictions. Instead, he proposes a fairer sharing of asylum seekers among EU member states based on their hosting capacities.

Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the far-left leader, proposes to regularize irregular migrants and to de-criminalize irregular migration. At EU level, Mélenchon wants to replace the European Border and Coast Guard Agency by an agency that will mainly rescue migrants at sea, revise databases on foreigners and biometrics used on the external EU borders. He wants to pursue Euro-Mediterranean cooperation and co-development with Southern and African neighbours. The OFPRA would be attached to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and no longer to the Interior Ministry, while asylum seekers would be able to work when awaiting their case to be examined. Access to French citizenship would be facilitated.

Emmanuel Macron, the election frontrunner with 26% of voting intentions according to a BVA poll of 25 March 2017, has praised German Chancellor Merkel for her open-door policy. Defending a liberal immigration policy, he considers the welcoming of refugees as a moral duty for France and Europe and has therefore criticized the EU-Turkey deal. His programme develops the following main propositions. First, foreigners’ integration will be improved through offering better facilities for learning the French language and the development of local integration programmes. Second, as Macron considers immigrants as formidable assets for the French and European economies, he wants to speed up the asylum-request process and reduce it to less than 6 months, appeal included.[1] He will introduce ‘talent visas’ to attract the best professionals to France and wants to simplify access to the labour market for all students who have obtained a master’s degree in France. However, Macron does propose an immediate return to the country of origin for those who will not be granted asylum status. At the European level, he proposes to strengthen the European Border Guards Corps, to improve border control in countries of origin and to combat human smuggling, in line with existing commitments.

Looking forward
This campaign has defied any standards about French presidential elections. Notwithstanding the investigations of Marine Le Pen and François Fillon, and the fact that this election takes place under a state of emergency, the two frontrunners include a candidate who claims to be neither left-wing nor right-wing and who until a year ago did not have a party, and an extreme-right candidate whose accession to power no longer shocks anyone. Even if Front National were not to win this election, its presence in the second round would be a strong signal that Marine Le Pen’s propositions are seducing at least one third of the French citizens, and that the threat of the extreme-right is still hanging over France. Given that France is a multicultural society, built on migration, it is disappointing that migration is not regarded as a societal project. Measures to integrate migrants are minimal and it is only very rarely that candidates recall that asylum is a human right. This national disillusionment is also reflected at the European level, where migration is rarely presented as a positive force for European economies in light of the inevitable ageing of populations. This is no good news for immigrants, nor for French and European citizens.

Sarah Wolff @drsarahwolff) is Lecturer at Queen Mary University of London and Senior Associate Research Fellow at the Netherlands Institute for International Relations and. She is an expert on EU immigration policy. Dr. Wolff can be followed on her blog

 This blog was originally posted on EU-forum Clingendael and appeared also on LSE EUROPP Blog

[1] For reference, today the deadline to examine an asylum appeal can run up to a maximum of five months in France according to the European Council on Refugees and Exile (ECRE). See their 2016 report here.

Political Islam in Morocco: a Royal Affair

Political Islam in Morocco: a royal affair

This op-ed was published on 6 April 2017 on Open Democracy

Sarah Wolff, Abelhaziz Hlaoua

Sarah Wolff is a lecturer at Queen Mary University of London, and an expert on the Maghreb and European Union foreign policy

Abelhaziz Hlaoua is a sociologist, and associated member of the IREMAM and the EHESS

The recent events in Morocco prove that Islam, even political, remains the affair of the monarchy which has secured foreign support through an ambitious African and religious diplomacy.

The new Prime Minister Saadeddine Othmani, nominated by the king, just before his Islamist Party executive could decide internally about its leadership, has accomplished his mission. Unlike Abdellilah Benkirane, head of government from 2011 to 2016, victorious in the legislative elections of October 2016 and dismissed by the king in march 2017, Othmani a psychiatrist and former Justice and Development Party (PJD) Foreign Minister, has successfully formed a coalition government with 5 other political parties. In doing so, he yielded to the Palace’s requests to share power with the Socialist Union of the Popular Forces (USFP) that only won 6.19% of the votes. The Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) that came second in the legislative elections and the Istiqlal, that came third in the elections, are however excluded.

A hegemonic monarch and discredited political parties

By taking up the political initiative, the king proves that he remains the master of the political game. It sends a strong signal to the Moroccan political parties especially since the adoption of the 2011 constitution, when the country has evolved from a constitutional monarchy to a parliamentary monarchy.

According to article 47, the head of the government is no longer appointed arbitrarily by the king but within the political party that won the elections for the House of Representatives. The constitution retains the role of arbitration for the king and contributes to weakening and discrediting political parties. Lacking the majority of seats, the PJD had an impossible mission: to form a coalition with parties close to the ‘Makhzen’ (term that designates the king and the Moroccan royal notables and people close to power) such as the National Rally of Independents (RNI), a liberal party, headed by the billionaire and former Minister of Agriculture Aziz Akhannouch.

The decision of the monarch to nominate Othmani, preempting the initiative to the national council of the PJD a few days before their internal meeting, weakens the legitimacy of the institutions and disqualifies the role of political parties already precarious in the eyes of the citizens. As a guarantor of the constitution, the king renews its legitimacy and weakens political parties perceived as unable to form a government. A strategy already well established since Mohammed VI had dismissed the USFP leader Abderrahmane Youssefi in 2002, in favor of a technocratic government.

Thus, despite a semblance of political pluralism, and the reforms initiated since 2011, traditions and religion continue to limit the autonomy of the political field. Benkirane’s deference regarding his dismissal, but also the speed with which his successor Othmani formed a coalition government, confirms the loyalty of the political parties to the monarchy. This allegiance is renewed every year in the Ba’ya ceremony, which celebrates obedience to the monarchy.

The Islamists as indispensable allies

The interference of the king with the internal management of a political party is seen as a risk for the democratic transition (see here). However, the monarchy did not want to reproduce the Egyptian scenario which saw the removal of the Islamists from power. The king excluded this scenario, given the pressure of the Arab uprisings, and the still ongoing demands of civil society as expressed by the 20 February movement.

The Islamists remain indispensable allies since 1.6 million Moroccans voted for the ‘party of the lantern’. Morocco is a two-speed society, with growing inequalities. Neoliberal policies have benefited the richest, and created precarious working conditions. The survival of the regime and the guarantee of social peace therefore depends on respecting the results of the election.

Since its accession to power, the PJD has pursued a pragmatic policy of supporting the monarchy, without calling into question its religious legitimacy, and pursuing incremental reforms. It gave birth to an urban Islamist elite and seduced the middle classes. It is also the only party that attracts the vote of supporters of Salafists and movements such as Al Adl Wa Al Ihssance (Justice and Spirituality), that advocate civil disobedience and challenges the king’s status as Commander of the Faithful.

A strategic kingdom in an unstable region

The monarchy’s interference in domestic politics, occurred a few days after Morocco’s historic accession to the African Union. Armed with an immigration reform that has regularized 21.000 sub-Saharan migrants since 2014, Morocco has been entrusted by its African partners with the migration dossier. Although violence towards migrants continues, as well as restrictions on their access to the labor market, Morocco has acquired the image of a regional leader. The country also remains a strategic player in the global fight against terrorism. It relies for this on an ambitious religious diplomacy that promotes Sufism and a model of moderate Islam through the Institute Mohammed VI for the formation of imams, morchidines and morchidates, created in 2014, and the Mohamed VI Foundation of African Ulema launched in 2016.

The regional stability offered by Morocco in the heart of an unstable Maghreb should however not distract it from the timid democratic reforms initiated. Let’s hope that Moroccan citizens and European partners will remain vigilant and lucid on this subject.

Pour nos lecteurs francophones, voici la version française:

L’Islam politique au Maroc : une affaire royale

Le nouveau vizir Saadeddine Othmani, nommé par le roi, avant même que les cadres du parti Islamiste ne décident en interne de leur leadership, a réussi sa mission. Contrairement à Abdellilah Benkirane chef de gouvernement de 2011 à 2016, victorieux aux législatives d’Octobre 2016 et remercié par le roi en mars 2017,  Othmani psychiatre de formation, ancien ministre PJD des affaires étrangères, a formé un gouvernement de coalition avec 5 autres partis politiques. Pour cela il a cédé aux demandes du Palais de partager le pouvoir avec l’Union Socialiste des Forces Populaires (USFP), qui n’a pourtant remporté que 6,19% des voix. Le Parti Authenticité et Modernité (PAM) arrivé deuxième aux législatives et l’Istiqlal arrivé troisième aux élections, en sont exclus. Cela démontre que l’Islam, même politique, reste l’affaire de la Monarchie qui par ailleurs verrouille ses soutiens à l’étranger au travers de sa diplomatie africaine et religieuse.

Un monarque hégémonique et des partis politiques discrédités

En reprenant l’initiative politique, le roi prouve qu’il reste le maître du jeu politique. Un signe fort depuis l’adoption de la Constitution de 2011, qui a fait évoluer la monarchie constitutionnelle vers une monarchie parlementaire. Selon l’article 47, le chef du gouvernement est nommé par le roi non plus de manière arbitraire mais au sein du parti politique arrivé en tête des élections des membres de la Chambre des représentants. Mais la constitution conserve le rôle d’arbitrage au roi en contribuant à affaiblir voir décrédibiliser les partis politiques y compris ceux arrivant en tête aux élections. En l’absence d’une majorité des sièges le PJD avait une mission impossible: former une coalition avec des partis proche du pouvoir, tels que le Rassemblement National des Indépendants (RNI), parti libéral, avec à sa tête le milliardaire et ancien ministre de l’agriculture Akhannouch.

La décision du monarque affaiblit la légitimité des acquis institutionnels et disqualifie le rôle des partis politiques déjà précaire aux yeux des citoyens. Se posant comme garant de la Constitution, le roi renouvelle sa légitimité face à des partis politiques perçus comme incapables de former un gouvernement. Une stratégie déjà bien rodée puisqu’en 2002 Mohammed VI avait écarté le leader de l’USFP Abderrahmane Youssefi en faveur d’un gouvernement technocrate.

Ainsi malgré un semblant de pluralisme politique, et les réformes initiées depuis 2011, les traditions et la religion continuent de limiter l’autonomie du champ politique. La déférence avec laquelle Benkirane a consenti à son limogeage, mais également la rapidité avec laquelle son successeur Othmani a formé un gouvernement de coalition avec des partis qui n’ont pas remporté beaucoup de votes lors des dernières législatives, confirme la loyauté des partis politiques au monarque.

Une allégeance renouvelée chaque année dans la cérémonie de la Ba’ya, qui célèbre l’obéissance à la monarchie.

Les Islamistes : des alliés indispensables

L’interférence du roi avec la gestion interne d’un parti politique est vue comme un risque pour la transition démocratique (voir ici et ici). Toutefois la monarchie n’a pas souhaité reproduire le scénario égyptien qui a écarté les islamistes du pouvoir. Le roi exclu ce scénario, la pression du printemps arabe oblige.

Les Islamistes restent en effet des alliés essentiels puisque 1,6 million de marocains ont voté pour le ‘parti de la lanterne’. Le Maroc est une société à double vitesse, avec des inégalités grandissantes. Les politiques néolibérales ont bénéficié aux plus riches, et créé une précarisation des conditions de travail au cœur des revendications du mouvement du 20 février. La survie du régime et la garantie de la paix sociale passe donc par le respect du vote des urnes.

Depuis son accession au pouvoir, le PJD a mené une politique pragmatique de soutien à la monarchie, sans remise en cause de sa légitimité religieuse, tout en poursuivant des réformes incrémentales. Il a donné naissance à une élite islamiste urbaine et séduit les classes moyennes. C’est aussi le seul parti qui attire le vote des partisans des salafistes et de mouvements tels qu’Al Adl (Justice et Bienfaisance), qui prônent la désobéissance civile et conteste le statut de Commandeur des Croyants du Roi.

Un pays de plus en plus stratégique au sein d’une région instable

L’ingérence monarchique intervient après l’accession historique du Maroc à l’Union Africaine. Armé d’une réforme de l’immigration qui a régularisé 21,000 migrants sub-sahariens depuis 2014, le Maroc a été chargé par ses partenaires africains du dossier migratoire. Le Maroc se pose en leader régional bien que les refoulements des migrants continuent, et qu’ils ne bénéficient pas d’accès au marché du travail. Le pays reste également un acteur stratégique dans la lutte globale contre le terrorisme. Pour cela, il s’appuie sur une diplomatie religieuse qui promeut le soufisme et un modèle d’Islam du ‘Juste Milieu’ avec par exemple la création en 2014 de l’Institut Mohammed VI pour la formation des imams, des morchidines et morchidates, et la fondation Mohamed VI des oulémas africains en 2016

Il ne faudrait toutefois pas que la stabilité régionale offerte par le Maroc au cœur d’un Maghreb instable ne le détourne des timides réformes démocratiques engagées. Espérons que les citoyens marocains et les partenaires européens sachent rester vigilants et lucides à ce sujet.

Sarah Wolff, Maître de conférence à Queen Mary University of London, spécialiste des relations entre le Maghreb et l’Union Européenne et Abelhaziz Hlaoua, Docteur en sociologie est membre associé à l’IREMAM et à l’ EHESS.

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European Association of Archaeologists conference, 2010

Katherine Cooper-Leckie of the University of Cambridge and I just got fabulous news that our session proposal has been accepted for the upcoming European Association of Archaeologists (EAA) conference in The Hague, Netherlands, 1-5 September 2010.  The call for papers is now open, and I’ve posted our abstract below:

Objects and images in the history of archaeology

Research into the history of archaeology is often an offshoot of the discipline, tucked into the sidelines of everyday practice. As a result, our method and theory can often seem overly presentist, reveling in the apparent novelty of current-day approaches. Arguably, this presentism is especially obvious in visual and object-oriented enquiry in archaeology, whose currency nowadays might imply that such concerns with materiality are a recent addition to the field.

However, even the briefest look at the history of the discipline testifies to the longstanding embroilment of visualisation and materialisation in archaeology’s evolution. What is important is that there are a range of innovative approaches now in use (by historically-minded archaeologists and others) which aim to untangle these relationships, illuminating the place of images and objects in the discipline’s intellectual and material development.

This session aims to begin laying out the case for a rich and deep history of visual and material operation in the archaeological field. We endeavour to demonstrate not only that visualisation and materialisation have been entangled in archaeology from its most embryonic moments, but that this history continues to impact on current practice. The papers in this session seek to examine these entanglements, drawing parallels between different artefact types and their roles in the development of the discipline. We aim to highlight various methodologies, from museum collections analysis to graphic study to historic archival research. Themes that we look to explore include visualisation, the creation of artefacts, and the circulation and categorisation of objects–our aim being to address such questions as:

– What role do objects and images play in archaeology and its historical development?

– How have collecting and exhibiting practices enabled the formalisation of the discipline?

– How is archaeological knowledge made through material and visual culture?

Under the banner of the Visualisation in Archaeology project, Garry Gibbons and Rob Read are also hosting a roundtable on “Visualising Archaeology: Towards a European Perspective on Skills Requirements and Provision” at the EAA meeting, so it looks like it’s going to be an exciting conference!


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sass of style

For the bold and expressive girl.

Having a great time at the beach comes with some rules to optimize your fun. You need all the essentials and all the know-how to keep your beach day perfect. Rule #1  Apply sunscreen every time you go in the water, not just after the first time…every single time. I know I’m pale, but my …

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we both love and share it with you. We specialize in reviewing fun places to go and fun things to do, but we talk a little bit about everything.
We would love to hear your views too.

Monday, November 14, 2016

Hoi Polloi

We were given free tickets to Hoi Polloi for review purposes. Any and all opinions expressed here are our own.

Me- Recently, we saw Hoi Polloi at Musicals Tonight. It was a show by Noel Coward. I never saw anything by Noel Coward before. I had never even heard of him before either. The show was interesting. It was about a sailor and this girl named Pinkie. They met and fell in love at first site. Unlike in most shows, there wasn't much conflict in the show, and the conflict that there was got resolved really easily. The acting was good though. I loved all the English accents. I love accents. Even though the show was a musical, none of the songs were really memorable. There wasn't as much dancing as there usually is in Musicals Tonight's shows either. It was very different than any other show I have seen at Musicals Tonight. It was not my favorite, but it was okay. I always enjoy seeing shows at Musicals Tonight.

Mom - Although Musicals Tonight usually presents revivals of old shows, their most recent show, Hoi Polloi was actually a show that had never been produced on stage before. The show was greatly anticipated because it was written by Noel Coward. However, it definitely wasn't his best work. The characters were interesting. They including Pinkie, a free spirited young girl, and Charlie, an upstanding young sailor as well as Pinkie's quirky family and neighbors. All were well acted by the talented cast. However, the characters were not really put in interesting situations, and the plot was  too simply resolved. The basic plot was about Pinkie and Charlie meeting and instantly falling in love. Of course, that is the basic plot for many great plays, movies, books etc. However, this wasn't one of them. There was not enough interesting storyline in this play. Nothing much really happened. The only real conflict in the play occurred when Pinkie and Charlie had a fight when she wanted to go to a society party they were invited to, and he didn't want to go. However, that conflict was quickly resolved in the next scene when he agreed to go the party. Even in the party scene itself there was no conflict even though it would seem that there would be since the lower class, Pinkie and Charlie, would be completely out of their element among the high society people.  However, everything at the party just went along fine with no conflict at all. The show was a musical although the songs were both unnecessary and unmemorable. They were, however, well sung even by the voice substitute who stood in for one of the actor's who had laryngitis at the performance which we attended. Over all, though despite the tremendous efforts of the cast, this just wasn't a very well written show. While I applaud Musical Tonight's efforts to put on a previously unproduced show by a great playwright, this just wasn't a great play, and I see why it was never previously produced.

And that's our view. Tune in tomorrow for Tips for Tuesday.

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Tag: The Great Bluff

Cholesterol le grand bluff

The Movie “Cholesterol: The Great Bluff” Is an Exercise in Denialism

The movie "Cholesterol: The Great Bluff" claims that we have been lied to: cholesterol doesn't cause heart disease and statins are harmful. It is biased and misleading. The people interviewed in the movie are denialists who don't accept the clear evidence for the role of blood cholesterol levels and the benefits of statins.

/ September 12, 2017


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Time to dive into some mathematics again – today we celebrate the birth of British mathematician Brook Taylor (18 Aug 1685 – 29 Dec 1731).

Taylor is best known for ‘Taylor’s Theorem’ and the ‘Taylor series’, a mathematical method for expanding functions into infinite series. In 1715, he published a groundbreaking work Methodus Incrementorum Directa et Inversa, which introduced a new branch of mathematics that became known as the ‘calculus of finite differences’.

Using finite differences, Taylor was able to mathematically express the movement of a vibrating string, reduced to mechanical principles.

The above work also contained what became known as Taylor’s Theorem – this blog is neither the time or place to even try and go into the details of the theorem, but suffice to say it is a pretty significant mathematical construct. Despite being introduced in his 1715 publication, it wasn’t until almost 60 years later that it’s value was fully recognised – in 1772 the great mathematician Joseph-Louis Lagrange termed it ‘the main foundation of differential calculus’.

Taylor employed the calculus of finite differences to mathematically express the movement of a vibrating string.
(© All Rights Reserved)

Besides being one of the great mathematicians of all time, Brook Taylor was also a keen artist, with one of his particular interests being the principles of perspective – he wrote an essay called “Linear Perspective” on this subject, which also included the first general introduction of the concept of vanishing points.

So to celebrate this day, how about strumming a guitar while staring off into the vanishing distance… or painting perspectives while listening to some soothing guitar (the Majestic Silver Strings, perhaps)… 🙂

Sounds like a good day to me!


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My little DITL…warning, it’s Boring! LOL

February 7, 2011 at 3:08 pm | Posted in Day in the Life | Leave a comment

6:30 woke up, showered, got dressed
7:00 woke Daniel up, got him dressed and ready for school
7:20 waited for the school bus with Daniel and neighbor girl
7:45 bus showed up, late, streets are still messy
7:50 left for Springfield
8:15 decided to stop at Walmart in Aurora for few bargains – they had sweats for $2.50
9:30 arrived in Springfield for appointment
9:35 slipped and slid through the parking lot, it was a sheet of ice
9:40 helped delivery guy open the doors; he had tons of copy paper to deliver to 5th floor
9:42 arrived in psychiatrist’s office, paid my co-pay and sat to wait for him
9:46 hello! back for a nice visit
10:00 set up next appointment, see you in two months
10:20 arrive at Bed, Bath & Beyond to purchase cappucino cup set for hubby
11:00 paid for goodies, time to eat, I hadn’t eaten all morning
11:20 Waffle House! I love breakfast at Waffle House
12:15 time to head home
1:15 arrive at beauty salon – got my hair straightened (!) and cut -LOVE IT!
2:30 over to the library to grab some books
3:00 HOME!

Since then I’ve just been reading and hanging out………..

Tonight Daniel has basketball practice at Upward, then I’m fixing burgers for supper.

Yeah, I’m boring, but that’s OK!

~ Patty

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Last Minute Valentine’s Day Sweets

Friendly Reminder: Valentine’s Day is here! Yes, it’s already that time of year again.

Whether you’re planning a romantic night with your sweetheart or gathering with your closest friends for a dinner party, get ready to wow with these easy, semi-homemade sweet treats.

On the dessert menu – chocolate dipped strawberries, chocolate dipped shortbread cookies and chocolate dipped marshmallows. Notice a trend? CHOCOLATE is the star of this party. You can make these treats ahead or have your S.O. join the fun and make it part of your V-Day celebration. Don’t be afraid to get your hands a little chocolatey.

Okay, it’s time to satisfy that sweet tooth…

Here’s what you’ll need to make these easy Valentine’s Day treats:

  • Fresh strawberries (stem on)
  • Melting chocolate (dark and white)
  • Premade heart-shaped cookies
  • Marshmallows
  • Decorating sugar
  • Food coloring (optional)
  • Cooling rack

Melt the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl or over boiling water on the stove. Dip strawberries into melted chocolate holding by the stem and making sure to coat the strawberry completely. Repeat with dark and white chocolate. Place coated strawberries on cooling rack and let cool for a few minutes before sprinkling with decorating sugar.

Decorating the cookies is easy with one small trick. Hold the cookie by the edges and lightly dip the face of the cookie into the melted chocolate. Let the excess chocolate drip off, and smooth edges if needed. This will coat the front of the cookie just like it would if you were to ice it with frosting. Place cookies on cooling rack and let cool for a few minutes before decorating. Go ahead and get creative! Dip only half of the cookie in chocolate or dip the whole thing. Finish with sprinkles or your favorite Valentine’s inspired decorations.

Last, but not least, chocolate dipped marshmallows! These are easy to overlook when chocolate strawberries are the star of the show, but you don’t want to skip these tasty treats. They make the perfect one-bite dessert. Fluffy, light, chocolatey goodness that will leave you wanting more!

Now that you have your sweet treats all ready to go, have some fun with plating and presentation. Use flowers, candies, and anything that will compliment your Valentine’s Day sweets. Now, grab a strawberry and let Cupid get to work!

More pics…

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Hi there! Welcome to my blog. My name is Jasmina, pronounced (yas-me-nah). I'm a first-generation Serbian American living in Kirkland, WA. I was born and raised around L.A. and moved to the PNW in 2006. I love to try new things and share my new discoveries with those around me. My motto: Life is like a box of chocolates. You've got to take a bite out of each one to find your favorite. Here's to new experiences and trying new things!

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Ocean Explorer

Amazing Animals

  • Aquaria Touch Pool Anemone

    Aquaria Touch Pool

    Remember those tide pool creatures from science class, like leathery sea stars and spiky sea urchins? Get an up-close view of them at Aquaria Touch Pool.

  • Aquaria World of Fishes Clown Fish

    Get an up-close and personal look at the incredible variety of marine life at SeaWorld San Diego

  • Dolphin Point SeaWorld San Diego

    Dolphin Point

    Observe the lyrical movements and playful antics of bottlenose dolphins from just inches away at Dolphin Point.

  • Explorers Reef Touch Pools SeaWorld San Diego

    Explorer's Reef

    Just inside the park entrance, you’ll find your first real amazing opportunity to interact with sea life at Explorer’s Reef, home to several species of reef sharks.

    • See Animals
  • Ocean Explorer Animals

    Ocean Explorer Animals

    Meet some of the sea’s most secretive residents, from the quick-camouflaging giant Pacific octopus to eerie moray eels to the massive Japanese spider crabs — the largest in the sea.

    • See Animals
  • Otters

    Otter Outlook

    Located right next to Dolphin Point, Otter Outlook is home to four playful California sea otters rehabilitated and hand raised by SeaWorld through a cooperative effort with the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Sea Otter Research and Conservation Program.

  • Pacific Point

    Penguin Encounter

    Spend some time with some of our park’s coolest characters.

    • See Animals
  • Sea Lions and Seals SeaWorld San Diego

    Sea Lion Point

    You'll know you're close to Sea Lion Point when you hear the chatter of these social sea lions and seals.

    • See Animals
  • Shark Exhibit SeaWorld San Diego

    Shark Encounter

    Enter into an amazing underwater viewing tunnel and watch as sharks of all shapes, colors, and sizes pass by you.

    • See Animals
  • Turtle Reef SeaWorld San Diego

    Turtle Reef

    View loggerhead, hawksbill and green sea turtles—some more than 50 years old—plus thousands of tropical fish.

  • Wild Arctic

    Wild Arctic

    Get up close to walruses and beluga whales in your journey through the wild Arctic.

    • See Animals


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Sega Masters YouTube Episode 3

Here is Episode 3 of Sega Masters on YouTube:

Sega Masters goes YouTube!

That’s right. After some consideration I’ve decided to start doing video versions of my reviews and posting them on YouTube. Think of it as Sega Masters: The Series. These videos will really allow me to show of the SMS library, including comparisons to original arcade versions or ports on other systems. I can assure you these aren’t going to be straight adaptations of my reviews, many of them will have updated information, smoother flow and the like (especially the earliest ones from 2013).

I hope everyone will enjoy these videos, a new one will come out every two weeks. Here’s the first episode:

I do still plan on posting reviews on the blog for the foreseeable future.


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More updates

Hello everyone,

Well I am thought I was doing better, but yesterday I began to bleed from my rash area. I have been doing so since yesterday. I am going out with my mother today and we are getting some liquid skin to hopefully cover the area. If not, I am going to get some other stuff just in case. Has anyone else had this issue if you had shingles? I’m hoping I feel better soon. Tomorrow I see my dermatologist which makes me very happy. I see her in the morning at 10:40 am. I hate morning appointments, but oh well. I will get a final diagnosis tomorrow. Well I will talk soon. Hope you all are doing better than I am.

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About me

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I am a mother, a new grandmother, and a teacher. But whatever happens in my life, I keep sewing. I have worked as a political communicator and now as a teacher in my formal life. I have also written extensively on sewing. I have been a frequent contributor and contributing editor of Threads magazine and I write a monthly humour/sewing column for the Australian magazine Dressmaking with Stitches. My first book Sew.. the garment-making book of knowledge will be published in May 2018 and is available for pre-order from Amazonhttps://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=barbara+emodi&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Abarbara+emodi

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Saturday, October 4, 2008

The bod

Before I started the pants pattern project I thought it only fair and objective, and in the interests of science, to let you share my fitting issues.

This is something you have to see. So breaking all rules about not posting things on the internet you wouldn't want anyone else to see, here are pictures of my 55 year old bod, taken on my front doorstep for the complete amusement of my very nice and tolerant neighbours.

My challenges are obvious but not unlike many that other women and sewers share.

Feel free to make any comments or give any advice you want. Obviously my interest in sewing is larger than my ego or I wouldn't be doing this.

The best part of these pictures are the dogs in the background who, as usual, have no idea what is going on in this house and are only sure in this experiment that they are on the wrong side of the door.

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About me

My photo
I am a mother, a new grandmother, and a teacher. But whatever happens in my life, I keep sewing. I have worked as a political communicator and now as a teacher in my formal life. I have also written extensively on sewing. I have been a frequent contributor and contributing editor of Threads magazine and I write a monthly humour/sewing column for the Australian magazine Dressmaking with Stitches. My first book Sew.. the garment-making book of knowledge will be published in May 2018 and is available for pre-order from Amazonhttps://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=barbara+emodi&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Abarbara+emodi

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Sunday, May 2, 2010

Sewing bras- why bother? And why bother not

OK this is going to take several posts so bear with me.

We will start with the reasons to sew your own bras:

1. Other sewers are doing it and the results are impressive. No one has said it was too hard to do. There are some great photos on the now closed Pattern Review Lingerie contest.

2. This is one area where you can actually save money sewing and there aren't many left. In a moment of trance-like madness I got a proper bra-fitting last year (worth every penny because I have been two band and cup sized wrong my whole life) and walked out with a $250 bra. Am I insane? Apparently that day yes. Well this bra is now the only one I have that really fits and I'm not paying that again, obviously.  Cheaper right size bras haven't fitted well at all and they are just too structured with too much gear for me.

3. You can get exactly what you want. I often wish I had a supportive cotton stretch bra that had support but didn't look like a runners bra. I don't run except to the fabric sales.

4. These are small things and there is the possibility to get creative and make matching sets with scraps of fabric.

5. You might get more comfort.

Reasons not to sew bras:

1. As Robin points out you don't know if this thing is going to fit until you are done. So by definition these projects have the potential for considerable sewer's rage, throwing wadders across the room, doubting yourself as a capable seamstress, and buyer's remorse over all that cash you spent on supplies for such a Stupid Idea. (I didn't actually experience this, much, but could visualize it as I understand my sewing personality).

2. It would look homemade, like something that got put together in the Depression from feedsacks.

3. Come on you can't make everything and sewers every where need to be careful of exposing themselves too often to those moments where you actually go inside a store and find that the thing you spent so much time and money perfecting with online fabric purchases, plus shipping, 400 hours on online pre-sewing education to fine-tune fit and technique, and 4 different patterns, is on sale in the discount store in exactly the right colour, size and fabric for $15.

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Om Namah Shivaya

Om Namah Shivaya

I'll be grateful if you...

Aug 10, 2015

STILL LIFE: The Other Side...

In the early nineties, I stayed in the middle of a deep forest in Nepal, on my first job as site engineer, making a bridge across a river. Those years, spent in the lap of nature, pushed me towards a fascinating lifelong journey of wildlife appreciation. In that period most of my evenings were spent looking for the birds up on the trees and wild life on the ground and this passion lingered on. So, whenever I am in Delhi, its become a kind of ritual to a take time out from work and visit the bird sanctuary across the Noida Highway from my house in Mayur Vihar and try to spot kingfishers, Duck bills, pond herons and Nilgais etc. On the way back from one such visit, I happen to pass along a small construction labourers settlement on the banks of Yamuna River, as the beautiful Sun prepared to 'set' on the high-rise modern Delhi.

THE OTHER SIDE the story of the joy and hope, these families with little possessions and limited needs, are able to bring into their own life . How the happiness is not a fallout of wealth but about the contentment of being loved by family, friends and community. How the beauty of life is not in the expensive clothes that you wear, the fancy food that you eat in high class restaurants or the villa you live in, but it is all around us, in nature, in the wild flower or in the child that's playing in the dirt, only if we are able to stop for a while and close all the chaos of day to day living and open our minds to see the beauty of being simple and aware.

As we stopped near the settlement, took out my camera to capture the sunset, there was enquiring looks from the families around us. I was surprised to feel that even as total strangers, me and my friend were not looked upon suspiciously by those children and their family...

...but as a welcome break into their life as the kids happily played around and the elders engaged me in a discussion about their ways of life. This is their story and mine as the sun set down to watch over their happiness, with few glasses of hot tea, thrown in.

So here is 'The Other Side' of life.. through some of the images I captured on an evening, exploring happiness.

The cluster of make shift homes, with a community cooking in middle
And the usual life that goes on, in and around the place...

But then if you look closely... you will find beauty all around. This small tributary to Yamuna river, though people call it with different names and has not much respect because of the thousands of sewers that drown its toxic waste in the river. It is hard to believe this river has been loved by Krishna since eons. Just next to this settlement, there's a boat moored among lush green foliage and a tree, that has little altar of goods Durga. The area feels like a little grove of fun, giving simple pleasure to the kids of the settlement.

Such simple joys are hard to come by in the concrete jungle that we live in all the time, mired by the day to day toxic waste of worries, survival and needs...

However, having said that, there are of course challenges to overcome and get out of the poverty line and join in to those shining Delhi Development Authority JJ Colonies etc. But does it really makes a difference to one's life if there are no needs beyond simplicity and within our means and little aspirations?

So why not enjoy what we have and what we can. Share moments of fun with Best Friends Forever, as this girl and the boys requested me to take their picture with their friends.

Because at the end of the day, a beautiful life is not made by needs, desires and daydreams but by togetherness, love and family.

I enjoyed what these hours by being alive to the beauty of life around me, had an amazing sunset, a great time with kids and memories that will last a life time...

...and as the all the kids said in one voice and jumped... Hip, Hip Hurray!

Hope you enjoyed the life on 'The Other Side' as much as I did.... It will be a pleasure to hear your thoughts about it, please do leave me a message.
ॐ नमः शिवाय
Om Namah Shivaya

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Advance Manifest Information for shipments to EU

This is a guest post by Mike Poverello..

It is quite apparent that the mandatory requirement for advance manifest information is gaining momentum. Until now, RSA exporters/carriers have only really had to contend with providing  advanced containerised information to North America – the USA and Canada under the Container Security Initiative arrangement.

The EU, will with effect from 1 January 2011 implement a similar set of requirements for all exporters sending goods to any of the 27 members of the European Union. This requirement no doubt has a significant impact on South African exporters to the EU. It will also place increased strain on our logistics operators and Terminal operators to plan and manage the influx of export containers at container terminals. Details of the initiative are as follows:

With effect of the 1st of January 2011 all European Union (http://ec.europa.eu/ecip/security_amendment/procedures/index_en.htm countries including Norway and Switzerland will implement Commission Regulation (EC) No 1875/2006 better known as the “24 Hour Rule”. The rule, similar to that implemented in the United States some time ago and known as the Cargo Security Initiative (CSI), requires that for all cargo entering the EU Carriers must submit an Entry Summary Declaration (ENS) to the first port of call in the EU; at least 24 hours before cargo is loaded onto the vessel bound for the EU; at the non-EU port of loading. This declaration includes comprehensive information on the cargo, including:

  • Bill of lading number
  • Shipper and Consignee name and address (EORI number, if available)
  • Notify party (Mandatory if Consignee is “To order”; EORI number, if available)
  • Acceptable goods description
  • 4 digit HS commodity code
  • Package type
  • Number of packages
  • Container number
  • Gross mass (kg)
  • UN code for dangerous goods
  • Seal number
  • Transport charges method of payment code (e.g. cash, credit card; to be provided only where available)

Ocean carriers serving the European-Southern African trade route have posted further information on their web sites at the hyper links listed below –

Maersk Linehttp://www.maerskline.com/link/?page=news&path=/news/news20100820

Hapag Lloydhttp://www.hapag-lloyd.com/en/news/news_page_15082.html

MSC: http://www.mscgva.ch/its/library/customer_advisory_eu1875.pdf

About the author : Mike Poverello – has served with South African Customs for 29 years, 20 of these being in unbroken service as a Customs Official, and the remaining 9 as a consultant and adviser to SARS in the policy, legal and information technology areas. He also has 5 years experience in consulting to international IT firms in the Customs and Tax systems space. Currently he is pleased to be part of the Customs Modernisation Programme in SARS. You can visit Mikes Customs Blog on http://mpoverello.wordpress.com/

If you wish to write or post any articles related to shipping, please send me the article to shippinginsouthafrica@manaadiar.com and also send a brief profile about yourself.. Scanned ID photos also welcome.. I only ask that the article be an original one written by you.. If you wish to add information from elsewhere, please ensure to add the necessary credit to the original author, links etc..

Spread the word. Share this post!

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Organic Markets in Africa - CD

This report is based on a survey of eighty-five local market initiatives, case studies of a handful of the initiatives, the market strategies of the National Organic Agriculture Movement (NOAM), the consultants’ experiences and a literature review.

Organic markets in Africa are still in their infancy except in South Africa and Egypt. In most countries exports are much bigger than domestic sales. However there are a number of initiatives, mainly in two categories:
- Organic shops and other outlets operated by private entrepreneurs
- NGO-driven initiatives to link farmers to markets

Key challenges are a lack of reliable supply, lack of demand, deficient supply chains and a lack of business interest. Key strengths are the engaged people and the existence of an organic export sector with good supply capacity. Many African countries don’t have a unified national organic movement. Such a movement can be pivotal for the development of domestic markets, as it provides a neutral platform for the sector to cooperate and communicate with stakeholders, including buyers and consumers.

The role of NGOs in the marketing is not without problems, and NGOs should be careful not to take over the roles of other market actors, be they farmers, traders or retailers. However, where the market is weak and the sector badly developed, NGOs do have a role to play for market information, market links, training of the actors in the value chain, and promotion.

In order to apply 50% member discounts please send a message with membership ID and the items you are interested in to publications@ifoam.bio


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Electricity for HVAC Technicians Series

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The Electricity for HVAC Technicians programming is a three hour series that takes a candidate from an understanding of basic electricity to advanced diagnostics. The series includes 13 programs that are 6 to 20 minutes in length and are available in CD, DVD, or Blu-ray format.

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#1: Energy, Atoms, and Electricity (13:30 Minutes)

  • Electricity fundamentals
  • Voltage and how energy moves

#2: Energy Flow and Current (11:45 Minutes)

  • Polarity, current, and how electricity does work
  • Movement of charge

#3: Magnetism (9:45 Minutes)

  • Magnetism and electricity
  • Creation, control, measurement, and conversion of electricity

#4: Electrical Resistance and Ohm’s Law (12:15 Minutes)

  • Resistance and resistivity
  • Ohm’s Law in planning and troubleshooting

#5: Basic Circuits (18:45 Minutes)

  • Series, parallel, and series/parallel circuit types

#6: Basic Electrical Components (9:45 Minutes)

  • Overview of the design and function of fuses, breakers, low voltage transformers, relays, contactors, and electronic boards

#7: Electrical Power (5:15 Minutes)

  • Measuring electrical power
  • Electrical power vs. electrical energy

#8: Electricity Transmission and Wiring (12:30 Minutes)

  • How voltage is transformed and distributed
  • 3 phase, 2 phase and control voltage circuits

#9: Wiring Diagrams – The Schematic (10:45 Minutes)

  • How to use the field wiring diagram, the pictorial and the schematic diagram

#10: Electric Motors (18 Minutes)

  • Construction, operation and usage of the induction, shaded pole and electronically commutated motor

#11: Electric Meters and Measurements (19 Minutes)

  • Voltage checks, current checks, resistance measurements, continuity checks and capacitor checks

#12: Diagnostics of Electrical Equipment (10 Minutes)

  • Logical method for isolating an electrical problem quickly and accurately

#13: Electrical Safety (16:30 Minutes)

  • Risks of working around electricity
  • How to use electricity safely

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Sometimes Sif is asked to produce high quality tubulars for civil applications such as the legs for the London Eye and steel sections for the Brighton Tower.

The BBC has made video recordings at Sif and Hollandia during the production of Brighton Tower:
Work progress Brighton Tower

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London Eye Brighton Tower


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Sunday, 20 November 2016

3D Peony Wreath

Hi! Bev here with a project that I spotted on the Silhouette store and absolutely fell in love with! It is the 3D Peony Wreath by Jamie Cripps (Jamie Lane Designs).  I have never attempted a wreath papercut design before and as you can tell by the pictures, it isn't a perfect project by me, but it was really enjoyable and I can only get better right?

What you will need:
  • Silhouette Cameo/Portrait
  • Cardstock or Patterned Paper
  • Glue stick
  • Hot Glue Gun or Strong Glue
  • Twine
  • Pencil or straw for rolling the petals
Step One

Choose the patterns of your papers or cardstock sheets and decide which ones you would like to use for which size flowers.  There are two sizes of flower and a leaf design.  I wanted to hang my wreath in my daughters bedroom so I chose lots of pinks and colourful patterns.

Step Two

Import the design into your Silhouette studio and ungroup all of the elements.  You can resize to make smaller or larger flowers, but as this was my first time with a design like this I decided to leave it at the size it imported as.

Working with one group of elements at a time, move the others off of the mat so they do not cut whilst you are working on the first group.  This was very easy to cut, but also a lengthy process, as there were 9 sets of flowers and 1 set of leaves to cut. The great thing about it is that providing you are using the same weight of paper, your cut settings do not change, and you can just unload the paper and reload it one after another.

Cut the flowers, leaves and wreath backing (for this I used thick cardstock and made two of them.  I glued them both together to make a really strong backing for the wreath)

Step Three

Once all of the flowers are cut, you can start to roll the petals in towards the centre of the flower.  Do this using a straw or pencil.  It takes a little time, but once you get into a flow with it, it is actually very theraputic!

Using a glue stick, begin to layer the flower pieces together from smallest to largest, I fanned them out slightly to enhance the effect.

Repeat until all of the peonies are complete.

Step Four

Begin assembling the wreath, and using a hot glue gun, or strong glue, start with the leaves first.  Arrange them on the wreath backing and then do the same with the flowers.

Add some twine to enable it to hang and you are done!

This was a fun and quite relaxing project to complete! You can make them in different colours for different occasions, I plan to make a black and orange one for Halloween and a green and red for Christmas.  You can even theme them to your home decor.  The colour possibilities are endless!

I have really enjoyed sharing with you and look forward to seeing your Peony wreaths and the colours you choose!

Designs Used

3D Peony Wreath by Jamie Lane Designs - Design ID#76911

Light hold cutting mat for Cameo

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You are currently browsing the tag archive for the ‘human nature’ tag.

The personal experience of pain produces a reliable effect on facial behavior in humans and in nonhuman mammals. Why should pain have a face? What is it for? I will attempt to head towards answering this question by invoking a theoretical framework: polyvagal theory (Porges, 2001, 2006).

1 Polyvagal Theory

According to polyvagal theory (Porges, 2001, 2006), evolution of neural control within the autonomic nervous system (ANS) has tracked three stages, each revealing a specific behavior, and a specific function:

In the first stage, the ancient unmyelinated visceral vagus nerve that enables digestion could respond to danger and pain only by reducing metabolic output and producing immobilization behaviors.

In the second stage, the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) made it possible to increase metabolic activity and inhibit the visceral vagus nerve, thus allowing fight/flight behaviors following perceived threat or pain.

The third stage, which is uniquely mammalian, involves a myelinated vagus that can rapidly control cardiac and bronchi output to enable spontaneous interaction (i.e., engagement or disengagement) with the environment. The interaction of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) with the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, nervous and immune systems change to maximize response to stressors such as nociception. During nociception, the ANS operates together with nervous, endocrine and immune systems to produce stress (Chapman et al. 2008; Porges, 2001, 2006). In terms of polyvagal theory, pain facial expression is a dynamic autonomic response caused by noxious signaling. In terms of polyvagal-type identity mechanistic theory pain facial expression is a type of behavior that is identical to a type of neurophysiological mechanism; namely, the phylogenetically recent brain-heart-face mechanism.

The expansion of cortex in the third stage increased innervation and neural control of the mammalian face: upper face innervation is bilateral and arises from the supplementary motor area (M2) and the rostral cingulate motor area (M3). Lower face innervation is contralateral and arises from primary motor cortex (M1), ventral lateral premotor cortex, and the caudal cingulate motor cortex (M4) (Morecraft et al. 2004). Human pain facial movements of the eyebrows and upper lip are type identical with negative emotional aspects of pain and activation of M1, M2, M3, whereas facial movements around the eyes are type identical with somatosensory aspects of pain, and activation of M2 and M3 (Kunz et al. 2011). Thus, evolution of cranial anatomy enabled a highly integrated facial representation of the multidimensional experience of pain.

2 Why Pain Should Have a Face

In clinical and experimental settings, the pain face is observed to rapidly appear following noxious stimulation, and diminish concurrent with cessation of the noxious stimulus, or when analgesics are administered (e.g., Craig & Patrick, 1985). The brain-heart-face mechanism is an integrated system with both a somatomotor part controlling the striated facial muscles and a visceromotor part controlling the heart through a myelinated vagus nerve (Porges, 2001, 2006). When the vagal tone to the cardiac pacemaker is high, the myelinated vagus acts as a brake or restraint limiting heart rate. Rapid inhibition and disinhibition of vagal tone to the heart supports the rapid mobilization of facial muscles and formation of the pain face concurrent with pain onset. In humans and nonhuman mammals, the main vagal inhibitory pathways in the myelinated vagus originate in the nucleus ambiguus.

The vagal brake supports the low-metabolic requirements involved in the rapidly appearing and disappearing pain face. Withdrawal of the vagal brake is strongly correlated with the rapid appearance of the pain face; reinstatement of the vagal brake is strongly correlated with the rapid diminishing of the pain face. These correlations are not unique to pain facial expression; similar relationships hold with regard to the vagal brake and the timing and duration of aversive, but non-noxious emotional facial expressions (e.g., Pu et al. 2010), and positive emotional facial expressions (e.g., Kok & Fredrickson, 2010).

In terms of the function of rapid pain face onset and offset, the vagal brake makes it possible for the individual in pain to quickly disengage from source of wounding and pain, concurrent with the rapid appearance or diminishing of pain facial expression, which may offer temporary access to additional metabolic resources to aid healing, recovery and self-soothing behaviors, with likely involvement from care givers.

Concerning aid from others, the vagal brake reliably maps onto specific interaction types observed in mammalian pain events. In pain events comprising the individual in pain and care givers, mammalian behavior is typed according to interpersonal communication through facial expressions, vocalizations, head and hand gestures (Hadjistavropoulos et al. 2011; Porges, 2001, 2006; Williams, 2002). A relevant feature is the rapid ‘switching’ of temporary engagement to temporary disengagement behaviors between the individual in pain and care givers. This interaction type may involve care givers speaking to the one in pain, and then quickly switching to listening; for the one in pain, looking into the face of the care giver, and then quickly switching to vocalizing (Craig et al. 2011; Hadjistavropoulos et al. 2011; Porges, 2001, 2006; Williams, 2002). The brain-heart-face mechanism thus allows the one in pain and the care giver to get the timing right. Some philosophers and neuroscientists claim that evolutionary neurobehavioral solutions to timing problems such as these are implicated in the origin of empathy and ultimately consciousness itself (Churchland, 2002; Cole, 1998; Engen & Singer, 2012; van Rysewyk, 2011).

However, if pain is severe or chronic and the vagal brake is withdrawn (or dysfunctional), the concurrency of increased pain facial expression, cardiac output, and other mobilization behaviors (i.e., increased SNS and HPA output), means that, if care giving is to succeed in promoting healing and recovery, the care giver’s vagal brake must be dynamically reinstated. By applying their own vagal brake, care givers may regulate their own visceral distress and thereby succeed in allocating valuable metabolic resources to communicate safety to the one in pain (and themselves) through calming facial and head behaviors, eye gaze, and prosodic vocalizations (i.e., increasing the vagal brake decreases SNS and HPA output). Since the vagal brake of the person in pain has been provisionally withdrawn, the care giver is effectively an integrated external brain-heart-face mechanism (cf. Tantam, 2009, the ‘interbrain’).

Thus, the pain facial muscles function as neural timekeepers detecting and expressing features of safety and danger that cue the one in pain to quickly disengage from the source of wounding and pain, simultaneous with the rapid appearance or attenuation of pain facial activity, and also cue others who can help.

Chapman, C. R., Tuckett, R. P., & Song, C. W. (2008). Pain and stress in a systems perspective: reciprocal neural, endocrine, and immune interactions. Journal of Pain, 9(2), 122-145.

Churchland, P. S. (1989). Neurophilosophy: Toward a Unified Science of the Mind-Brain. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.

Cole, J. (1998) About face. Cambridge, Mass.: The MIT Press.

Craig, K. D., & Patrick, C. J. (1985). Facial expression during induced pain. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 48(4), 1080-1091.

Craig, K. D., Prkachin, K. M., & Grunau, R. E. (2011). .The facial expression of pain. In D. C. Turk, & R. Melzack, Handbook of Pain Assessment, 2nd Edition (pp. 117-133). New York: The Guilford Press.

Engen, H. G., & Singer, T. (2012). Empathy circuits. Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 23, 1-8.

Hadjistavropoulos, T., Craig, K. D., Duck, S., Cano, A., Goubert, L., Jackson, P. L., Mogil, J. S., Rainville, P., Sullivan, M. J. L., de C. Williams, Amanda C., Vervoort, T., & Fitzgerald, T. D. (2011). A biopsychosocial formulation of pain communication. Psychological Bulletin, 137(6), 910-939.

Kok, B. E., & Fredrickson, B. L. (2010). Upward spirals of the heart: Autonomic flexibility, as indexed by vagal tone, reciprocally and prospectively predicts positive emotions and social connectedness. Biological Psychology, 85(3), 432-436.

Kunz, M., Lautenbacher, S., LeBlanc, N., & Rainville, P. (2011). Are both the sensory and the affective dimensions of pain encoded in the face? Pain, 153(2), 350-358.

Morecraft, R. J., Stilwell-Morecraft, K. S., & Rossing, W. R. (2004). The Motor Cortex and Facial Expression: New Insights From Neuroscience. The Neurologist, 10(5), 235-249.

Porges, S. W. (2001). The polyvagal theory: phylogenetic substrates of a social nervous system. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 42(2), 123-146.

Porges, S. W. (2006). Emotion: An Evolutionary By‐Product of the Neural Regulation of the Autonomic Nervous System. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 807(1), 62-77.

Pu, J., Schmeichel, B. J., & Demaree, H. A. (2010). Cardiac vagal control predicts spontaneous regulation of negative emotional expression and subsequent cognitive performance. Biological Psychology, 84(3), 531-540.

van Rysewyk, S. (2011). Beyond faces: The relevance of Moebius Syndrome to emotion recognition and empathy. In: A. Freitas-Magalhães (Ed.), ‘Emotional Expression: The Brain and the Face’ (V. III, Second Series), University of Fernando Pessoa Press, Oporto: pp. 75-97.

Williams, A. C. D. C. (2002). Facial expression of pain: an evolutionary account. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 25(4), 439-455.

How do we think about reality in a way that improves upon the old ways?

There is good news here: it is not entirely up to you to improve reality. Your children, and their children will do the job. So, sit back a little. Enjoy the ride!

Human beings have the unique capacity to play life’s ‘ratchet game’. Children learn the best society has to offer, and can improve upon it. And, your children’s children can start where your children left off. And so on.

My kids are already way ahead of me, since they started where I left off long, long ago, and also vastly ahead of cro-magnon humans. By contrast, chimpanzees start where their ancestors left off, and stay there. They don’t move from this place (chimps are still very cute, though).

Thus, humans can produce science and technology, and pass it on to their descendents. This gives human beings the chance to deploy science and AI tech to create increasingly accurate representations of ‘mind’, ‘DNA’, ‘autism’, ‘pain’, ‘happiness’, and so on. The ratchet game takes us beyond the familiar into exciting new territories.

(I wonder: Can academic philosophy play life’s ‘ratchet game’? It seems to me that philosophy is not terribly good at reaching out to other disciplines, and learning from them in the way that children naturally learn from parents.)

Abundance, 2012 – Why You Should Read This Book.

via Abundance, 2012 – Why You Should Read This Book.

I am too honest to be religious. Religion lains waste to honest reflection and questioning.

Many people claim to be religious. How many are pretenders?

There may be good reasons why a person pretends to be religious. A religious son adores his devout mother so much that he could not bare her to learn of his atheism. However, unknown to him and family, the mother is an atheist, and has been for decades. Like the son, she became a religious pretender in order to protect her mother’s feelings, and so on.

How to break this circle of lies? Honest reflection and questioning. And that takes great courage.

John Donne was partly right: A person is an island. But – every island is surrounded by water.

I am half myself, half you.

I am surrounded by your facial expressions. I adopt them as my own.

I cannot predict your every thought and action for the simple reason that most of my own thoughts and actions are completely spontaneous.

I cannot predict what I will do in most instances. I cannot know myself, so I cannot know you. True enough? We are both in the dark, it seems.

That sounds a bit bleak.

Is there any good news?

Yes: A person is not a vacuum. Human thought and action is shared. Shared, copied, modified, suppressed, distilled – we live in each other’s facial expressions.

I wake-up and tell my wife about the dream I had while sleeping. That’s a dream-report.

Dream-reports are given by the dreamer in the first-person present-tense. Even if  I dreamed I had incarnated another person (either a real or imagined person), it is always I (the dreamer) who peers out from the face of the other person during the dream. And that’s what is communicated when I tell my dream to another person.

Why do human beings share dreams?

Sometimes a dream is amazing. Amazing that I could even dream up such an experience. What is important to human beings in this case is that the dream really did impress me. Dream-reports can be spontaneous responses to what we see during sleep. So: that I dreamt such-and-such is amazing and of more interest to other people than what the dream describes. Dream-reports can therefore function more like exclamations or interjections than descriptions of what the dreamer experienced.

However, the dreamer may sometimes become frustrated trying to communicate the dream in a dream-report. We try to describe what happened in the dream using the medium of language (the dream-report), but we cannot. The dream eludes the net of language. At least that’s how we feel. The dreamer is frustrated with language and may think that since the dream cannot be described, it points to something beyond itself. But – why must a dream be capable of being described? After all, can you describe all the experiences of your waking life? Try and do it. Why must dreams be any different? In life, human beings are both the way and the wayfarers.

For some reason, we see dream-reports as descriptions of dreams. We see them as fragments of a story we assume can be told in full. Yet, dreams cannot be described to our satisfaction. Frustrating. Frustration leads to puzzlement. Most of the time we are puzzled by dreams (our own, and those of other people). Why? – are dreams seen as mysterious because dream-reports are assumed to be descriptions of dreams?

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Tag Archives: lover

What’s Love Got To Do With It?

Well, according to Tina Turner it’s a ‘sweet old fashioned notion’. But love is so much more than that. Love is timeless. It never goes out of style. In light of February being the month of “love”, its only right that this month we talk about LOVE! What pops into your mind when you think about love? Your spouse? Your parents? Your friends? That failed relationship that left you thinking you would never love again? Does God immediately pop in your head?

Most people are always so focused on receiving love, they chase after it, demand it and sometimes would do anything for it, but I wonder how many lives would be changed if instead of focusing on receiving love, we focused on giving love. When we truly love one another, we give each other permission to be ourselves, to be vulnerable, to admit our faults and shortcomings without regard of what someone may think, and we are able to do this because perfect love cast out fear! When we truly love someone and we are loved, we feel like we can conquer anything, and even if we make a mistake we know that we are loved beyond our faults and because of that we have no fear with trying again.

We underestimate the power of love, and how the love that has been given to us should be extended to those around us. If you ever wanted to test how much love resides inside of you, take a look at how you treat those around you. In the book of Proverbs chapter 12 it reads

Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers all wrongs.

Some might read this and roll their eyes because what they’ve seen of love has not been beautiful, it has not been uplifting, it has not given them courage. Its important that we don’t shun the notion of love, or never extend love to others, especially if you’re a person of faith. John 15:12 puts its quite simply

My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.

No metaphor, no parable, this is a straightforward command that because He loves us and has shown us how to love, we are to do the same.

Tina Turner kept asking over and over what love had to do with it. And the answer is, it has to do with EVERYTHING! We were made to love and to be loved.

How do you like to share or show love to others? I’d love to hear about it in the comments!

-Kiara Janai

Next Week: Let’s talk about Self Love

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