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One of the comments on the last post, "RC
Not that it matters much, but your Brit Brigadier's approach, the ASCOPE/PMESII matrix, is based on futures research methods. The model is called Cross-Impact Analysis or Event-Impact Matrix Analysis. It is used to figure out what programs one needs to get from an unfortunate present to a desired future. It does fit the nature of the task in your world, doesnt it?
One thing, though. PMESII is a terrifically flawed way to define the operating environment especially for civic aciton. PMESII is designed to be a targeting method for the environment (John Waldron of USAF fame invented the method.) That's why PMESII is associated with EBO (another bozo idea.) A better subsitute for PMESII in your part of the world would be to lay out the environment according to Social, Technological, Economic, Political, Environmental and Military (STEP-EM) factors. This latter approach is used in many non-US military cross-impact efforts similar to what the Brits are doing.
Hope this isn't TMI (too much information.) Stay safe as the mission allows!
The ASCOPE/PMESII crosswalk is a combination of two sets of information that are found in the FM 3-24. The manual doesn't link them per se, but alludes to the linkage. What the Counterinsurgency Training Center – Afghanistan has done is create a crosswalk so that critical elements of information are not ignored when gathering information about the specific area of operations (AO). What this does is spur a commander to learn about the AO in-depth. The purpose is to get to know an area the way that the population… and the enemy… does. When teaching this to Afghans, they get the idea instantly when explained to them as, "You need to get to know your AO the way that you knew the village where you grew up." For Coalition forces, the best way to explain is to compare it to the way that a beat cop gets to know the area where he operates. An Afghan growing up in a village develops this knowledge over the course of many years. A beat cop also takes years to develop this kind of knowledge. We, on the other hand, do not have this kind of time.
Another issue that we've had in Afghanistan is the "experiencing Afghanistan for the first time nine years in a row" effect. What having a detailed ASCOPE/PMESII crosswalk completed for each area does to resolve this cannot be understated. What you are doing is creating a living, breathing document focused on the people, places and things that are important in the daily lives of the people who live in that area. Everything from the Social Structures (meaning things like mosques, schools and clinics, not the family tree) to the Information People (a lot of information is passed by word-of-mouth in Afghanistan). Being a living document, it changes as the people, places and things in an area change. People move, die, or become less relevant, for instance. Things change. For this reason, the document changes with them. But, as a snapshot in time, it can be handed over to the unit arriving on the ground, giving them the "brain dump" in a document and saving the precious time of the Relief in Place (RIP) for doing more important things… like handing over the relationships that drive so much in any human situation.
We like to say that "every Soldier is a sensor," but we rarely tune our sensors. The result is that they pick up white noise or general atmospherics at best. When a commander is conscientiously focused on collecting relevant information for his ASCOPE/PMESII, he is reminded by the document itself of what he does not know. Therefore, he can generate Priority Information Requirements (PIR) and Information Requirements (IR). This then causes NCO's to focus on the real discipline of war; focus on the mission. Instead of focusing on reflective belt wear, they become relentless about their Pre-Combat Checks (PCC's) and Pre-Combat Inspections (PCI's), ensuring that each Soldier can tell him exactly what the commander is looking for. Driven by the ASCOPE/PMESII, this is bound to be population-centric in focus. We no longer find our Soldiers conducting "Presence Patrols" (a term that does not exist in doctrine), but instead they are performing Reconnaissance (which is found in doctrine). We cease to violate our own principles, which we have and continue to violate due to not understanding what our roles should be. Instead of the oft-heard phrase, "We came to a war and garrison broke out," now we are back to fighting a war which relies on information and ideas just as much as it does physical force.
The ASCOPE/PMESII also is the beginning of bigger and better things. From it, as we learn more about an area, we should begin to recognize the three prerequisites for insurgency as they emerge from the human mosaic that we are creating; a vulnerable population, a weak (or perceived to be weak) government, and leadership available for direction (insurgent leaders both military and political). If all politics is local, then insurgency is local and therefore counterinsurgency is local. There is no prescription that works in each area, and so each area must be examined in detail in order for these prerequisites to emerge. Oddly enough, these prerequisites are parallel to the factors of instability, where, for instance, the vulnerability of the population is the grievances they hold that keep them separate from their government. The information gathered in the ASCOPE/PMESII then becomes the basis for the Stability Framework (or District Stability Framework).
Designed at USAID as the District Stability Framework, this is a logical process which drives program design at whatever level it is employed. It can be applied at the village, district and provincial levels. It is often confused with the Tactical Conflict Assessment and Planning Framework (TCAPF) which can be applied as part of the Stability Framework. TCAPF, however, has gotten something of a bad name, as a key part of it is the four questions that have proven problematic in implementation. That could be the subject of a post all its own. Whether the four questions are used or not, local perceptions must be discovered and used during the design process. The intent is to avoid the behavior which has gotten us to where we are after having spent billions of dollars, often without any positive impact on stability. There have been successes, true, but there have also been dismal failures; and they are legion. Our standard answer to any question of development has seemingly been, "build a road, build a school, build a clinic." However, what if the people in a given area do not need a road, cannot staff a school and have no doctor for their clinic? What if the real dissatisfaction with the government in that area has nothing to do with anything that can be addressed by a road, school or clinic? Often enough, this has been the case. We have built schools only to have them burned. We have built roads that only inspired strife over whose property was damaged and the fact that local communities watched workers from other provinces or even other countries make money building them, while their own people suffered unemployment. We have built clinics only to have the doctors intimidated into leaving, or having no practitioners to staff them and few medical supplies. All the while, the real causes of violence and instability in that area may be, for instance, land disputes due to displaced persons returning to find their land occupied by squatters who now refuse to leave their crops. We find people who are disgusted with their inability to gain access to justice unless they can pay the bribes. Meanwhile, our understaffed clinic does nothing to heal the wounds of neighbors coming to blows over squabbles that need to be adjudicated.
The Taliban can offer governance; courts that cannot be bought, justice that is impartial if harsh.
When the enemy offers a competing "product" that is preferred over the government services, you've got a real problem. Insurgency is a competition to govern. All the violence stems from that. Destroy the insurgent's ability to influence and you've rendered him irrelevant, regardless of whether or not you've rendered him inert. There will be violence. If you are successful, the insurgent will become enraged and desperate. Military tactics will have to find ways to prevent the insurgent access to the population in order to prevent widespread intimidation campaigns from succeeding. But all the while, any appeal that the insurgent may have, you are addressing. You have learned about the people, places and things that are important in that community. You have listened to the insurgent explain to you your weaknesses as he pleads his case to the people. You have listened to the people (not just the "leaders") and then analyzed what the systemic cause, rather than the perceptive cause, of the problem is. You've developed a logical program to address these systemic problems along with not only measures of output (which we are good at), but measures of effectiveness (which are more difficult). You are measuring and adjusting as you go.
This works.
All of this starts with learning about the area in which you are assigned the responsibility to operate. You did this by utilizing a simple framework which established a common operational language with your partners (because they're using this, too). This, in turn, helped you to establish a common operational picture, which promoted unity of effort. By using a common framework, all of that is achievable. It is doctrinally sound, based on the principles of FM 3-24. The Stability Framework (or District Stability Framework), developed and used by USAID, is doctrinally sound by FM 3-07 (Stability Operations). They used military doctrine to their own advantage and it works when it is utilized in a holistic, partnered environment. But the first step is actually doing the ASCOPE/PMESII.
Is the ASCOPE/PMESII framework perfect? Simply, no. Nothing is. It is a pretty good tool, though. Pretty good is good enough. We can drive ourselves crazy shopping for the perfect tool that doesn't exist. One problem is the endless series of "X is better," or "we started using X, and we don't want to change." Many units and organizations, prior to being exposed to the ASCOPE/PMESII crosswalk, recognize the tool gap and either search for a tool or create one themselves. Once there is intellectual ownership, particularly among academics, it is difficult to get them to migrate to a standard toolset. However, there is tremendous power in using standardized tools, as discussed above. COMISAF has realized this, and we are expecting a FRAGO to standardize the tools. The benefit of having specific tools to train with and then execute on the ground is that units can share data… on a common framework… prior to actually arriving on the ground. This is not modeling software or simulation stuff. This is real world data about the area in which a unit operates or will operate. This is situational awareness. Most of the big rocks are covered in this framework, and if there is something that overlaps data "fields," then you put it in each area where it could have pertinence. Think outside the box, but write your answer in the box… where you can find it when you need it.
It has been said that Afghanistan is the graveyard not of empires, but of databases. There is so much information out there that has been gathered and then lost in the morass of isolated (unlinked) proprietary databases. You can never find what you need when you need it. We have created the crazy cat lady garage of data, and you can barely find anything amongst all the cat feces and rubbish. The ASCOPE/PMESII can be done in any format, but it is organized. You can use A through E binders with PMESII tabs, or you can use the nifty Excel spreadsheet that the British developed for their Human Terrain Packs. Either way, when you talk about your data elements, all your partners will know what you are talking about and why it's relevant. And, when you want to do an economic project, you will know who the Economic People are and where to find them.
This is the tool that is going to be used. Tool shopping time is over. Now it's time to learn how to use them and then actually apply these principles on the ground.
That's the short answer to a detailed, well-timed comment.


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subset: commoncrawl


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mmmm yummy! looks delicious. thanks for including your coleslaw recipe too, i love coleslaw and mine never came out quite right.
also @ the rhett and link video, i always crack up whenever they pause and ask, "Is Florida a southern state?" and show an outline of California behind it.
Thanks, nako!
For the slaw, I found it really helped to mix the dressing separately and occasionally dip a chunk of cabbage in to test the flavor. Basically, you're using the sugar, vinegar, and mustard to balance out the three sensations: sweet, tang, and spice, to your own liking. Those measurements are what got me to the KFC-ish flavor, but you might want to play with them yourself.
Next week: a fusion street cart food I discovered - Korean tacos!


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Posted on | August 31, 2009 | No Comments
About the Author Jennifer
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A.L. April 2, 1860. [Roxana Chapin Gerdine] to �Dear Sister Em� [Emily McKinstry Chapin]. 4pp. Note: Part of the last page continues onto the front of the first page.)
can not read it myself but it is after eleven at night and every body is in bed. so with a hasty love to all that means yourself & William & regards from the Gen. before he commenced snoring & a kiss from Tom-I will close. tell Nell I will write her soon & many thanks to you both for your interest. I will write father soon too. I think it was the first letter he had written me in nearly two years.)
April 2nd/ 60"
Dear Sister Em-"
I answer your very welcome letter by return mail or that is by ours which is twice in a week. You bad thing you. what business had every body in finding out my confidential letter to mother. has Mr. Clark mentioned it yet from the desk. I am terribly mortified not because you know it as you know I always tell you every thing almost but it was a secret with Lucy and myself. I had said so much about going home to spend the summer that I knew something must be done so I gained courage to write to Mother as she was an old married woman I knew it would not shock her.
Well I have decided to go if nothing prevents but when I have no idea as I shall keep on the look out for company as the Gen. can not possibly


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|Brockton, MA
|High School:
#12 Louis Montes - Career Stats
Career Game-by-Game Stats: 2011-12 | 2010-11
2010-11: Saw action in all 29 games earning six starting assignments as a freshman...Played 20.3 minutes per night...Finished the season averaging 7.2 points and 4.5 rebounds per game...Shot 45.1% (69-153) from the field and 37.7% (23-61) from three...Made 80.3% (49-61) at the free throw line...Led the team with 20 blocks...Ranked 14th in the NEC in blocked shots per game (0.69 pg)...Came on strong at the end of the season, scoring double figures in four of the last six games, all starts...Posted a pair of double doubles...Had a career-high 21 points with 13 rebounds in the season finale win over Monmouth...Scored 12 points and grabbed a career high 14 rebounds against Quinnipiac at home...Scored 19 points, hitting four-of-five from three, to go with five rebounds, two assists, two blocks and a steal at Bryant...Scored 17 points to help beat Holy Cross, giving Coach Bike his 500th career win...Wore #23 his freshman season but will wear #12 starting in 2011-12.
High School: Attended Brockton High School. Played basketball for head coach Ben Boen. He was named All-State as a senior. He was a Boston Herald All-Scholastic pick as a junior and senior. A three-time Brockton Enterprise All-Scholastic and Boston Globe All-Scholastic choice his sophomore through senior seasons.
Personal: His mom is Mona Montes. He has a brother Marvin Montes and a sister Jenny Charles. Born on May 12, 1991. He will major in Business Administration at Sacred Heart. His favorite NBA player is Lebron James. His favorite book is Monster and his favorite movie is Boyz N the Hood. He enjoys watching the TV show Martin. His hobbies include listening to music and his favorite artists are Wale, Wiz Khalifa and J. Cole. His favorite foods are "anything his mom cooks" and he hopes to play basketball professionally overseas after graduation.


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Take a journey into the Orient
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Using fresh, seasonal produce, the menu always offers authentic Cantonese dishes. A varied wine list features a balanced selection of old and new world wines specially selected to match the menu. A wide selection of Chinese teas is also available.
In addition to our main dining area, we have three private dining rooms. Lotus and Jasmine seat up to 12 guests each and can be combined. Bamboo is larger and can seat up to 24 guests.
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Saturday - Sunday & Public Holiday:
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Monday 18th, March 2019 17:01:04: PM, Wedding.
you have spent months planning every meticulous detail for your wedding, but what to do with all those wedding decorations after your reception or wedding weekend is over? It is easy to forget that things may have a second life post-nuptials. In fact, several items can be repurposed in your home or donated to others.
The trick is to think ahead and choose decor for your wedding that you would also like in your living room or on your patio. For some upcycling inspirations, here are some of our favorite ways to give decor life long after your first dance.
Donate Your Wedding Arrangements Since you are jetting off to the honeymoon suite, consider giving your floral arrangements to a local charitable cause, suggests Maya Katz of Alimay Events. Several companies, including Repeat Roses, Random Acts of Flowers, Petals with Purpose, and the Bloom Project, will pick up your wedding flowers and redistribute them to nursing homes, homeless shelters, and hospitals to spread further cheer. You can also reach out to local womens shelters and childrens medical centers to see if they will take your leftover botanicals directly. Something to make you feel a little bit better about that bill, right?
Gift Your Flowers to Guests or Staff Another option for your florals is to give the arrangements to guests or the staff of your venue. The staff, especially, appreciate the perk of fresh blooms for their kitchen tables, which works well for destination affairs where guests wouldnt be able to take the flowers anyway. Just be sure to separate the stems from the vessels if you have rented the glassware from your florist. The company will need the rentals back, and more than a few times a guest has walked off with the rented vase!
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Pagan Studies
Steel is tested and shaped on the anvil. Here, we try every Pagan idea on the anvil of history, hammered by insight and intellect, to forge a Pagan Future.
UPG: an ugly, misguided notion
"Unsubstantiated Personal Gnosis" as a term is dismissive and insulting, but worse it turns us away from the only spiritual reality…experience.
The only point in saying that a person has had a UPG, an Unsubstantiated (sometimes Unverified) Personal Gnosis, is to be dismissive and demeaning to them, and on examination the claim or criticism of UPG has no worthy intellectual basis. The Wikipedia entry is illuminating. I will start by taking the phrase apart, backwards:
'Gnosis' is being used here as a euphemism for knowledge acquired through intuition, insight, or a spiritual event, such as conversation with a Spirit or Deity. In another day this might have been called a revelation. There may be words or symbols involved, but it is not limited to discursive intelligence. Non-discursive communication or knowing (properly called noisis and contrasted with gnosis which means knowledge in the ordinary sense), is also included when people use UPG as a label.
The internal and private nature of this phenomenon leads to the 'Personal' clause in UPG. By not being 'public' or external and visible to all (or some) the 'Gnosis' is reduced to mere interiority without any claim on the public outside of the recipient. "It's just personal" becomes a way of dismissing the insight into irrelevance.
For the third term, I'll start with its inverse by asking what is 'substantiated'. It could mean that the revelation was beheld by a multitude, sometimes called 'shared gnosis', but that would have made the Gnosis public and so out of our scope, although the critique developed below applies. What it usually refers to is that the data provided by the vision can be found in a known source, usually a book, possibly a myth, especially one treated as scripture. When that doesn't happen we get told, "We can't find your insight in a (our) book, therefore it is unsubstantiated." Do you see the problems in this?
For one, the data we have about the past, the ancient cultures and religions from which we draw much of contemporary Paganism, especially the Reconstructionist part, is very poor. Admittedly it takes actually digging into the primary sources to realize how fragmentary it is. Worse, study shows how distorted the secondary sources are, rendering judgements on the basis of the scholar's culture or ignoring data felt irrelevant because it was 'merely' ritual or magic, or women's things. (For one example, take a look at Jonathan Z. Smith's Drudgery Divine, which critiques the issues with Northern European Protestant scholars trying to study the ritualizing cultures of the ancient Mediterranean.)
As if this was not bad enough, there is a massively more important reason why the data that we have is such a small portion of what was. We come from a writing-driven culture; what is important must be recorded. The dominant religions surrounding us are called 'religions of the Book' because of their high valuation of text, and their scriptures in particular. They were given this title because of the peculiarity of this behavior in the ancient world. While most possessed writing, in ancient cultures orality, and with it memory, was esteemed far greater than text. You simply do not write down the important things. The Mysteries were not preserved, to our sad loss, because they were never written down. We know from Aristotle that Plato had unwritten teachings to be received after the written ones. Think of the loss in Ireland when the Judges and Poets died, sole preservers of law and history. The Norse were no different; how many sagas were not written down? The list goes on in all of the ancient peoples. What we have today is a fragment, not even the important part, and so much of it was written down by Christians as the older culture was suppressed. Yet more filtering…
What we are left with is the bias of our culture that privileges text. Because it is 'in a book', it is considered valid. Publication is to us consciously and unconsciously the standard for substantiating all other knowledge. And this is a delusion.
Books are derivative; someone wrote them down. They are not their subject, the thing itself. If they were, reading the recipe would be as nutritious as eating the meal. The thing itself is experience.
All religiosity is derived from someone having an experience. Sometimes in company, but most times alone, someone had an experience and then shared it with others. Most of this is so far back in time that we have no idea about the person so started the cult or religious tradition or lineage of practice, but many times we do know. Never mind the great founder religions like Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, when we examine what record we do have, there is the often mythical tale of the founder of the cult or even the whole culture and usually it is based on them receiving some divine mandate or instruction. If you think about it how else can it be? Even if the God came down and delivered the text literally into the prophets hands, Moses for example, he still had to be there to receive the text. Most of the time in these stories the Deity transmits cult or even technology (agriculture is a favorite), but it is always to a human who then passes it along (usually orally).
Experience is the center of all spiritual and religious life. Text is at best derivative. By creating and using such a term as UPG, "Unsubstantiated Personal Gnosis" we privilege text over experience. (This is a rather Christian move, and those who have been following my writing know how I feel about that. . .) Even more damagingly, by framing someone's experience as a UPG we dissociate ourselves from the primary data of spirituality. We can then bracket and set aside the immediate real, and go back to our books. In the process we may have damaged both the knowledge we could have shared in, but also possibly the recipient of that knowledge, who could have been another culture bringer, but instead was told their experience was of diminished value, or of no value at all, simply because we can't substantiate their insight in a book.
The world is very different today, and so are we. We will NEVER be able to reconstruct the ancient world, and nor should we; there were plenty of problems back then we don't want today: lack of disease control and slavery, for example. How are we to restore the worship of the ancient Gods? How are we to build a Pagan future? I am a historian and a priest. I deeply value the information we do have as a way to understanding the past, however imperfectly. But without recognizing that experience is primary, that one taste of honey is worth more that all the descriptions of it ever written, we will close ourselves off to the immediate and ever present Divine influence that is teaching us today how to find our way to It, and not just to some ink scratched on paper. Let us not chase the Word, but kiss the Speaker.
Wednesday, 10 July 2013
Although I have a much higher opinion of written sources and scholarship than you seem to, you might find one of my previous posts on UPG interesting as well... http://www.witchesandpagans.com/Pagan-Culture-Blogs/upg-sucks.html
Wednesday, 10 July 2013
Thank you Sam. this is a very complex issue to me. For example, I forget whose blog I was reading, but there was something along the lines that those who are experiences in this direct Deity contact don't talk about it, only the newbies do, because it is personal. Yet at what point do we share our experiences if they are receveived without the above mentioned bias? Certainly one of the benefits of something like a group dark of the moon ritual is that by our very collective experience, at least on some level we are sharing each of our personal ones at once. I very much appreciate this writing. Christine· Liza, Sam Webster and Heather Freysdottir likes this comment.
Wednesday, 10 July 2013
I have been mulling over a post along similar lines, actually, because having the U in UPG suggestions that verification is necessary, and I don't agree with that - personal gnosis may be just for you, and your personal path. I've written about it in terms of devotional relationships with Loki, and maybe I'll repost it here just for food for thought.
The thing that gets me is that I don't discard written sources, and if I find a bit of personal experience that is linked to the Lore, I'm tickled to see how that's expressed in the modern day, but if it's not there, well, the Holy Ones grow and change, and much Lore's been lost, so if it's not there, that's not a reason to assume you heard them wrong. In vetting your own gnosis, asking whether it helps you grow in some way is a much better question to ask than "can I verify this somehow?"· Beth Wodandis, Liza and Sam Webster likes this comment.
Wednesday, 10 July 2013
I was grateful for this blog because it made conscious to me my own struggle with acknowledging the reality of my own experience. Granted, I know that outside of the pagan/witch/polytheist community sharing my experience would cause me to be labelled insane at best. But today I realized that there are the same biases within the community. This should have been evident to me every time that meeting another with similar experience felt like such a relief to me. To me the reconstruction movement has been of most value in acknowledging there was a time when direct experience of our Gods was the norm. Certainly the Gods have and are evolving along with humans and the times, but I live for the day when all those who experience and share gnosis are appreciated, be they artists, musicians, poets and/or Priesthood. I am so happy to know that there are many more others doing the work to make this happen than I had realized before.
Wednesday, 10 July 2013
I'm super confused, because I've never seen UPG used in a derrogatory sense. Every book I've read that has ever used that term has been in the context of Pagan faiths operating on revealed wisdom due to close communications with the Gods. The only thing that I feel that the use of UPG demands is that we recognize that our personal revelations may not be universally applicable, which is a guard against hubris.
Wednesday, 10 July 2013
I am not certain what "culture" you are talking about, Sam, but American culture sure as heck isn't biased in favor of written sources. American culture is deeply anti-intellectual.
The real problem with the whole UPG meme is that it is inevitably promulgated by half-witted pseudo-intellectuals who are in fact no more well educated or well-read than those they look down on.
It would actually be quite refreshing if there was more attention paid to the serious study of written sources.
Wednesday, 10 July 2013
"UPG...promulgated by half-witted pseudo-intellectuals who are in fact no more well educated or well-read than those they look down on."
Many scholarly heathens take studying the sources seriously, myself included, because an understanding of the Lore helps one interpret personal gnosis. As I said above, I am quite tickled if it lines up with something in the Lore. I have gnosis that has nothing to do with the Lore, but I still find it useful in understanding why Loki wants certain things or otherwise behaves the way He does. It's a jumping off point, and sometimes a grounding point.
Example: in the Hyndluljoth, there's a story about Loki eating a witch's heart (source http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/poe/poe15.htm):
14. A heart ate Loki;-in the embers it lay,
And half-cooked found he the woman's heart;-
With child from the woman Lopt soon was,
And thence among men came the monsters all.
Personal gnosis: I have offered Loki hearts, cooked on the grill, half-cooked. He adored the offering. Now whenever I do seidhr work, I offer Him hearts.
Note: to my knowledge this has not yielded any monsters, witches, or trolls. Experiment with Himself at your own risk.
Wednesday, 10 July 2013
Sam, I'm in strong agreement with you about the need for experience. I grew up in a fundamentalist Christian environment, and fundamentalist ideas (you're going to hell!) troubled me long after I rejected them intellectually. Once I had a few direct experiences of the old gods and goddesses, those troubling thoughts went away. My experiences remain a source of inspiration and belonging.
But I've come across my share of folks who believe their religious experience is a Message From God/dess and the whole world should therefore recognize them as some sort of supreme prophet. Those are the people for whom the term "Unverified Personal Gnosis" is quite helpful.
Wednesday, 10 July 2013
This topic makes me uneasy because I can see several ways where UPG could be used in an 'us vs them' argument, or to split hairs over who deserves more attention.
I will just have to trust in the goodwill of people in general to make sure that doesn't happen.· Apuleius Platonicus likes this comment.
Wednesday, 10 July 2013
Candi: "... I can see several ways where UPG could be used in an 'us vs them' argument, or to split hairs over who deserves more attention.... "
Although I disagree with the idea that there is a cultural bias in favor of written sources (as I said in another comment), the point that Candi is making is what, at least in my opinion, makes Sam's overall point worthwhile.
The label of UPG is inevitably used in an arbitrary way. That's because we all, without exception, rely on our own intuitions and insights in religious matters. It is only when someone else does it, and, more especially, when their intuitions and insights lead to some conclusion that strikes us as wrong-headed, it is only then that the whole issue of "UPG" raises its ugly head.
Wednesday, 10 July 2013
As one of the misguided Recons referred to in the post, I would like to explain my take on UPG (which I was taught to mean Unverified Personal Gnosis -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unverified_personal_gnosis) . I put a lot of stock in the Hellenic (Greek) ancient sources, scattered as they may be, because while these were the accounts of one man or one woman, they were copied repeatedly, used in religious settings by many, and traveled the whole of Hellas. These weren't documents stuffed away in some guy's drawer that happened to be preserved for 2000 years; these were copied, copied, and copied again, and one of these many copies has survived to the present day (generalizing, of course). Luck of the draw. As such, we can assume that some of the documents (say, for example, the Orphic hymns) were read and repeated by many, and that is what makes them valuable. Homeros was a best-seller of his time, an that is why we still have access to his writings. People must have identified with what they read, or they would not have read it and carried it on.
That said, I take no issue at all with UPG, and that is a sentiment I see reflected in the Hellenistic community quite a lot. What I have an issue with is people passing of UPG as fact. To me, it's wonderful that you have discovered Hermes likes libations of rum, and more power to you for giving it to Him. When you start insisting that I need to give rum libations to Hermes, we have an issue, because I will always take the 'opinion' of the ancient writers over the opinion of a modern practitioner. That is why I am on a Recon path. If I were on a non-Recon path, I might run off to the nearest liquor store in search of rum.
It's not a matter of who is right, or who does it 'better', it's simply that Recon means following the ways of the ancients as much as possible, and even if no one in ancient Hellas would have agreed with the ancient writer whose work has survived to this day, it is still a description of one ancient person's practice--and for me, ancient trumps modern every single time. So that is why at least the Hellenistic community will always ask for sources when you make a statement; they need to be able to differentiate between ancient and modern--not to instantly dismiss the latter, but to make a well-informed decision if they should or should not.
Thursday, 11 July 2013
So . . . in other words, all the voices in your head can be rationalised as "Unverified Personal Gnosis" according to polytheistic reconstructionism, provided you give them the right spin.
One thing we can learn from actual hard science is that if a hypothesis-based experiment can yield repeatedly identical results under controlled conditions, then the hypothesis is true. However, if the results are internalised to a specific set of conditions (ie the inside of one's own head), that kind of gives the lie to any notion of 'true'.
Thursday, 11 July 2013
From the wiki link I posted above:
" Ideally the term is used to label one's own experience as a new and untested hypothesis, although further verification from the spiritual interactions of others may lead to a certain degree of verifiability."
Personally, I try to go from Unvarified Personal Gnosis to Shared Personal Gnosis to Confirmed (Personal) Gnosis. This is why we--in the Hellenistic Community are open to the sharing of UPG (generalizing here), because others may have had the same experience (which lends credibility to the experience) or references to source material with which the UPG can be confirmed. There is a certain degree of science about it, when viewed like this--if viewed as the Holy Word and Ultimate Truth... Well... More power to you, but in the Recon community, it will not get you far.
Thursday, 11 July 2013
The term UPG must be used differently in different communities, for certainly most of my experience with it has not involved it being used dismissively or derisively.
The point of the term, as I understand it, is to distinguish between experience and insight that is specific to an individual, and that which is shared with others and/or congruent with some kind of established historical fact. That in no way implies that personal experience or insight is wrong - just that it's personal.
The reason the term exists is that the pagan community(ies) have spawned an unfortunate number of people who are firmly convinced that their own personal spiritual experience is authoritative - not just for them but for everyone else. People who declare themselves to be the child of $deity* and therefore qualified to tell everyone else that they're doing it wrong. I can't count how many times I've heard people - usually relatively new pagans, but unfortunately not always - get into pointless pissing matches along the lines of:
"$deity told me that s/he likes X better than Y, so clearly you've never really worked with him/her!"
"Oh yeah? Well, $deity told me that s/he likes Y better than X, and that you're an asshole and I don't have to listen to you!"
"Oh yeah? Well, $deity told me that you're both wrong and s/he likes Z better, and furthermore than $culture were all peaceful matriarchal vegetarians, and I shall now edit the Wikipedia pages on both accordingly, because obviously my insight as the real child of $deity trumps all those silly historians!"
It's not always that over-the-top, but the phenomenon of people deciding that their own personal experience or insight is The Way It Is and therefore everyone else is wrong is distressingly common. It's also the basis of tons of popular pagan books wherein material that is, at best, rooted in the author's personal intuition or experience (or at worst, randomly made up in order to crank out yet another title for Llewellyn) is presented as if it were historical fact.
The concept of UPG exists as a way of saying "So, you had a spiritual insight/intuition/experience? Great! But please remember that other people have them too, and that theirs may differ from yours, and that doesn't mean either one of you is right or wrong. Until such time as you've confirmed that what you experienced is shared by anyone else, or consistent with what's historically known about $deity or $culture, whatever you learned through it is specific to you, and while it might be very personally important to you, it is not necessarily binding on anyone else, nor should it be assumed to be objective fact."
* Putting $ in front of something, in computer programming, denotes a variable - something that take any of a variety of values. So in some circles, it's a common shorthand for "insert deity (or whatever variable is being used) of your choice here".· Stephanie Rodriguez likes this comment.
Thursday, 11 July 2013
This is an interesting look at The Cave. I teach the Allegory of the Cave in Freshman English and Composition and I wonder if it would be permissible to use this article in class?· Sam Webster likes this comment.
Thursday, 11 July 2013
I agree with Miss Lynx, and I chuckle at the "$" variable-it could be humorously misconstrued as a Money God argument :P
I have UPG's myself every so often, and there are some experiences I'll keep to myself, and others that I'll fight for. It all depends on how deeply I am affected by it, and what context it has. I once had a UPG in a dream about someone I had just met. That person happened to be 'very important' in their group and when I mentioned the UPG to them, they shrugged it off. Later on, though, my UPG turned out to have some truth to it. The good UPG's don't need to be pushed on anybody. I prefer to just share what can be shared, and leave it at that. I don't push hard unless it's a matter of principle.
Monday, 15 July 2013
My concern is that you're problematizing it without addressing the real question that the term (and others like it) were meant to address: in a world where we *do* take religious experience seriously, how do we distinguish between forms of experience which can be generalized, and those which, for whatever reason, cannot? Chris Richards, above, seems to have the concept of UPG exactly backwards: UPG is a term for an experience for which we *do not* have verification through replication, either by text *or* by independent experiences (in contradiction to your seeming argument that only textual evidence is ever used to generalize UPG). The experience might be an actual contact from a Deity, or it might be a communication from what Raven Kaldera so evocatively terms "the sockpuppets in our heads." If it's an actual contact from a Deity, it might be intended solely as a direction for that practitioner, or it might be more widely applicable as (for example) a general preference for a particular offering for that Deity. Bracketing that experience with the term "UPG" until it is independently verified is a method by which our community negotiates our understanding of this material. Your criticism substantially ignores this actual context of the term's usage.· Miss Lynx and Rachel Lindsay likes this comment.
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Corporate Risk Management Is Only Going Half Way: Survey
Companies are working harder to identify potential risks to their business, but many still fail to incorporate those risks into strategic plans or inform the board of directors.
Fewer than one in five executives say their companies are effective at managing newly identified strategic risks, according to a new survey of almost 100 senior financial executives from large public and private companies with global operations by APQC, a nonprofit business research firm.
"Enterprise risk management at the majority of companies today is inadequate," said Mary Driscoll, leader of the financial management practice at APQC. "Emerging risks are not properly identified, assessed, and quantified in a rigorous manner."
Companies may be "checking the boxes" that say they have processes to monitor strategic risks, but find it more difficult to implement procedures to mitigate risk properly and protect their reputations, Ms. Driscoll said.
Companies often "fail to go back and take another look at the strategic plan" or put risks into quantifiable measures, she said.
Strategic risks can include everything from overaggressive expansion strategy, failure to innovate, regulatory risks, cybersecurity and supply chain interruption.
Two out of three companies polled said they don't have a method to ensure that strategic risks get included in the company's strategic plans and 43% said their company doesn't have a solid process for reporting on risk to the board.
"People want to know what the business is doing to protect the enterprise and what mechanisms you have in place to ensure business strategy won't be interrupted by a major strategic risk," Ms. Driscoll said. "Boards are under pressure from regulators, rating agencies, and institutional investors, such as public pension funds and activist equity investors."
Companies can avoid some of these problems by training board members and executives to speak a common risk language, and enhance their processes for identifying, assessing and reporting business risks, APQC said.
Executives from aerospace and defense electronics group Rockwell Collins said in the report that the company has two types of councils that work to identify business risks each year. One council comes out of the business units, and a broader enterprise risk council reviews those insights collectively to check for consistency in reporting. The results of that process are reported annually to the board, but the firm is also working to broaden business leaders ideas about what constitutes a risk, and considering launching an employee survey to get more input.
Write to Emily Chasan at email@example.com.


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Miranda Lambert + Carrie Underwood's 'Somethin' Bad' Video Is Really, Really Goodby Maggie Malach | PopCrush
Take two hot country blondes, thrown in a "devil may care" attitude and what do you get? Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood's sultry 'Somethin' Bad' video!
As expected, Miranda and Carrie are up to no good in the video, which plays like the preview for a thriller. (That's definitely a movie we would want to see!) The two singers are in disguise, pulling off what looks like a very well-planned heist. As they transition from wigs to glam gowns to smoldering black leather, they definitely give off the vibe that nothing is going to stop them.
We can't overlook that the video keeps cutting to the two women posing for their mugshots — clearly "somethin' really bad" did happen. Even though Miranda and Carrie look like hardened criminals, we can't help but root for them as they drive off on motorcycles.
Will they get away with the crime? Watch Miranda and Carrie's 'Somethin' Bad' video, above to find out!
See Carrie Underwood + More Celebs' Sparkly Engagement Rings


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Making excellence a habit
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News Release 2009-61 | June 8, 2009
Comptroller Dugan Urges More Consumer Protections for Reverse Mortgages
ORLANDO—Comptroller of the Currency John C. Dugan warned today that reverse mortgages pose significant compliance risks and said regulators should get out in front of this issue, before real problems develop, so that these loans are made "in a way that is prudent for both lenders and borrowers."
"While reverse mortgages can provide real benefits, they also have some of the same characteristics as the riskiest types of subprime mortgages – and that should set off alarm bells," Comptroller Dugan said. The experience with subprime mortgages "clearly demonstrates the link between compliance and safety and soundness."
The Comptroller said the regulatory agencies should ensure that interagency guidance being worked on is sufficiently robust to ensure that consumers are adequately protected, and he said the OCC would examine national banks to ensure compliance with the guidance as well as relevant existing regulations. But he said it may turn out that guidance alone is not enough to address the consumer protection issues surrounding this new product.
"In these circumstances, more definitive regulatory standards may need to be adopted, and the OCC is prepared to do that – even if the standards we advocate initially apply only to reverse mortgage lending by national banks," he said in a speech to a regulatory compliance conference sponsored by the American Bankers Association.
Reverse mortgages provide a source of income or line of credit to elderly homeowners by allowing them to tap the equity in their home without having to sell or move out of the home. The underwriting on these loans is nontraditional since no repayment is required until the homeowner dies, permanently moves out of the home, or fails to maintain the property or pay property taxes. If the home is sold to repay the loan, the borrower is not responsible for any loan amount above the value of the home. Any remaining equity above the amount due belongs to the borrower or the borrower's heirs.
While some lenders offer their own proprietary products, 90 percent of all reverse mortgages are insured by the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Federal Housing Administration, and known as "home equity conversion mortgages," or "HECMs."
Mr. Dugan said the ability of consumers to access their home equity through immediate and large lump sum payments can pose substantial risks. For example, lenders may simultaneously and aggressively market investment, insurance, or annuity products or, worse, attempt to condition loan approval on the purchase of such products. Likewise, with access to large lump sums upon closing, elderly borrowers can be particularly vulnerable to coercive sales of annuity and long term care insurance products that are expensive and may not be appropriate to their needs.
"Another risk is that reverse mortgage borrowers, because they have no immediate repayment obligations, may overlook substantial fees that are attached to the loan," Mr. Dugan said. "And consumers who spend their loan proceeds quickly or unwisely may end up short of the funds they need for home maintenance or property taxes, with disastrous consequences: the failure to make those payments can result in foreclosure."
The Comptroller also expressed concern about misleading marketing claims, especially if the product's incentives and fees put more of a premium on making the loan than on ensuring it is appropriate for the borrower.
"Even when consumers are not subject to misleading or deceptive marketing, they still may have a hard time understanding the complex nature and costs associated with reverse mortgages," he said. "If a consumer doesn't fully understand how much the loan will cost, how much can be borrowed, or all the circumstances under which the loan can become due, then the risk increases for a transaction that is not appropriate to the consumer's needs."
The OCC already has regulations in place to deal with deceptive marketing, the Comptroller said, and the OCC "will use this authority to require immediate correction of any potentially misleading marketing claims by a bank in connection with reverse mortgage products."
The OCC will also use existing authority to ensure that national banks do not condition the availability of a reverse mortgage on the borrower's purchase of certain nonbanking products, such as an annuity or life insurance.
Mr. Dugan said one area that deserves particular attention is whether to impose additional requirements with respect to escrows of taxes and insurance. Nonpayment of taxes or insurance can trigger foreclosure. However, the new Federal Reserve Board escrow requirements for "higher-priced" mortgages do not apply to reverse mortgages, and HUD does not require escrows to be established in connection with HECMs.
"Given the predominance of the HECM product in reverse mortgage lending, I think it would be a major step forward for HUD to issue guidelines or requirements addressing the escrow issue for HECMs, and I would like to begin a dialogue with them on the issue," he said. "Once they set the standards for escrows, we would ensure that they are followed by national banks for HECM products, and would ensure – by regulation, if necessary – that comparable standards apply in connection with proprietary reverse mortgages offered by national banks."
In closing, Comptroller Dugan said that while much attention still needs to be focused on dealing with the economic downturn, regulators can't afford to ignore consumer issues. "We need to be on constant alert to emerging risks and vigilant in our regulatory compliance responsibilities," he said.
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College Football's Big-Money, Big-Risk Business Model
The story of college sports in 2012 is the tale of an arranged marriage between two increasingly anxious kingdoms.
On one side are the nation's largest universities, which face sharp declines in public funding. On the other, the cable and broadcast television networks, which are struggling to hold on to viewers and advertisers.
Like dynastic...


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We've all seen x-rays as art before, but this Christmas-themed selection is too good to pass up. Captured by Hugh Turvey, these images show what lurks beneath the wrapping paper you can't wait to tear open.
Turvey is actually artist-in-residence at the British Institute of Radiology, and used the facilities at his disposal to create this latest set of images called "Xograms". If you want to learn more about how Turvey works, head over to his website—but in the meantime, try and work out what lurks within each of these presents. [Hugh Turvey via Faith is Torment via Falvorwire]


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How to Use the Images
Photo 7: The Dam Under Construction
(Bureau of Reclamation; photographer unknown)
Questions for Photos 6 and 7:
1. Study Photos 6 and 7 carefully. Why do you think it was necessary to follow this complicated procedure?
2. Why do you think the blocks were different sizes and shapes? Refer to Illustration 1, if necessary.
3. Buckets like the one shown in Photo 6 carried liquid concrete to the forms. How big do you think the bucket was, based on the size of the men standing near it? Can you find the pulley that carried it? The pulleys ran on a system of cables that spanned the canyon. The system allowed buckets to move up and down as well as from side to side. How many buckets and pulleys can you find in Photo 7?
4. After a bucket was lowered to the form, the bottom opened and the concrete poured out. Workers spread the concrete evenly and worked out air pockets. Examine the photos for evidence of these processes. What do you think the men are doing in Photo 6? Would you feel comfortable standing that close to a bucket of concrete that large?
5. How important do you think a fast and reliable system to deliver concrete was in building the dam? Think about what was involved in preparing concrete and getting it down into the canyon, and the problems that would occur if there were delays. A cable system was the "tired and true" method used on dams for decades. Can you think of other ways Six Companies could have gotten the concrete to where it needed to be without a cable system? If so, compare the strengths and weaknesses of each option.
6. How many workers can you find in the photos (the ones in Photo 7 are hard to see because they are so small)? What kind of protective clothing are they wearing? Based on everything you have learned so far, what do you think working conditions would be like doing this job? What dangers would these workers face?
Click here for a larger version of Photo 6 and Photo 7.


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Fashion HouseRalph Lauren has confirmed that an ad, which sparked uproar online over what appeared to be an abnormally thin model, was indeed an approved photo released by the company.
"For over 42 years we have built a brand based on quality and integrity. After further investigation, we have learned that we are responsible for the poor imaging and retouching that resulted in a very distorted image of a woman's body," a rep for the company said in a statement on Thursday to Access Hollywood.
VIEW THE PHOTOS: Paris Fashion Week, Fall 2009
Click HERE to see the ad.
On Wednesday, the advertisement, which features model Filippa Hamilton, went viral not only because the image featured the model looking like her hips were smaller than her head, but also because the company demanded that culture blog Boing Boing take the image down over claims of copyright infringement.
VIEW THE PHOTOS: New York Fashion Week 2009
According to The Stylelist, the image first came to light after it was sent in to the Photoshop Disasters Web site, from a tipster who spotted it at a Tokyo Mall.
While Access Hollywood hasn't been able to reach the model for comment about the "distorted" image, the rep for Polo Ralph Lauren said in their statement that they will work to avoid altering women's bodies to this degree in the future.
"We have addressed the problem and going forward will take every precaution to ensure that the caliber of our artwork represents our brand appropriately," the statement concluded.
Related Content from AccessHollywood.com:
VIEW THE PHOTOS: Model Mania: Hot Shots Of The World's Catwalkin' Beauties
PLAY IT NOW: Is Miss Australian Pageant Contestant Stephanie Naumoska Too Skinny?
PLAY IT NOW: Hollywood Radar: October 6, 2009
MORE ACCESS ON THESE TOPICS: Style - News - Supermodels


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Spare a thought our lads and lassies out in Afghanistan or other places of conflict around the world. And say a small prayer for those who have been taken from us.
Spare a thought our lads and lassies out in Afghanistan or other places of conflict around the world. And say a small prayer for those who have been taken from us.
For the longest time I didn't know why everyone wore the poppy on this day. I was listening to a poscast yesterday by someone in Canada who recited "Flanders Field" (I think?) and I finally got it! They even played a beautiful song of that poem put to music.
My hat is off to all young men on your side of the pond as well as ours – they fight together and I hope they are taking care of each wherever they serve.
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Invasive Species…..What are they and why are they a problem?
The spread of invasive species is recognized as one of the major factors contributing to ecosystem change and instability throughout the world. An invasive species is "a non-native species whose introduction does, or is likely to cause, economic or environmental harm or harm to human, animal, or plant health" (Executive Order 13112, 1999). Invasive species include all taxa of organisms, ranging from microscopic insects to 100 lb sheep, and can invade any ecosystem, from river beds to lava fields. These species have the ability to displace or eradicate native species, alter fire regimes, damage infrastructure, and threaten human livelihoods. Invasive species are changing the iconic landscapes of our National Parks.
Quick facts on invasive species in National Parks
- Over 6,500 non-native invasive species have been documented on park lands
- 70% of documented invasive species on park lands are invasive plant species
- Around 5% of park lands are dominated by invasive plants
- More than 650 invasive species have been found in marine parks (approximately 10% of all invasive species found in national parks occur in marine environments.)
Invasive Species Management on NPS Lands
The National Park Service is working to manage invasive species on park lands through a suite of national and local programs, each based upon the following strategies: cooperation and collaboration, inventory and monitoring, prevention, early detection and rapid response, treatment and control, and restoration. Click on each strategy to learn more. At the national level, NPS has fostered a successful invasive plant management program with the creation of the Exotic Plant Management Teams (EPMT). These 16 teams provide highly trained mobile assistance in invasive plant management to parks throughout the National Park System. To learn more about the teams, click here. Almost all parks have incorporated invasive species management into long range planning goals for natural and cultural landscapes, as well as day to day operations. For example, Curecanti and Glen Canyon National Recreation Areas have implemented "boat checks" to help visitors make sure their boats are free of zebra and quagga mussels prior to entering the park. To learn more about invasive species in marine parks, click here.
Invasive Species of the Month: Quagga Mussel – Dreissena burgensis
Native to Eastern Europe, these mussels have invaded waterways throughout the United States. Most recently the Quagga mussels have been moving westward and were identified in Lake Mead. These mussels have several significant impacts on the water bodies they invade. The Quagga deplete the plankton levels, reducing food supply for native aquatic organisms. Quagga also attach to and damage infrastructure such as water intake pipes, docks, and boats. Help prevent the spread of Quagga by cleaning your equipment and gear prior to leaving a site. To learn more about these mussels, click here. To learn how to properly clean your gear, click here.


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WALTHAM, Mass. – Thanks to a near triple-double by rookie guard Hannah Cain (Gloucester, Mass./Gloucester) and more than a two-to-one advantage (57-25) on the boards, the Brandeis University women's basketball team defeated visiting Husson University, 77-45, today in Red Auerbach Arena. With the win, the Judges close out the non-conference portion of their schedule with a 7-4 record, while the Eagles fall to 3-5 on the campaign.
Brandeis put three starters in double figures, but it was Cain's all-around excellence that stole the show. She scored 11 points and established game- and career-highs with 12 rebounds and seven assists, falling just three helpers short of a triple-double. The double-double performance was Brandeis's second of the season. Cain helped the Judges to a 39-28 lead in the first half with nine points, seven rebounds and five assists in 17 minutes.
The Judges' leading scorer on the day was senior guard Morgan Kendrew (Cotuit, Mass./Barnstable), who finished with 13 points, a season-high, on 5-of-15 shooting. Backcourt mate and graduate student Diana Cincotta (Plymouth, Mass./W. Boylston) scored all 12 of her points on four first-half 3-pointers. She now has 84 career 3-pointers, tying her for eighth on the Judges' career list.
Brandeis got scoring contributions from 11 different players, while 12 Judges got in on the rebounding act. They were especially outstanding on their own end, grabbing 26 offensive rebounds to 25 total caroms for Husson (seven offensive, 18 defensive). In addition to Cain's big performance, junior center Samantha Anderson (Johnsonville, N.Y./Hoosic Valley) had eight boards to go with eight points, while sophomore Kasey Dean (Southbury, Conn./Pomperaug) had six points and six rebounds off the bench. Junior reserve forward Angie Miller (Sickerville, N.J./Timber Creek) had a productive six minutes off the bench, with six points and four rebounds, including three offensive, all of which were career-highs. The Judges converted their 26-7 edge in offensive rebounds into a whopping 32-3 advantage in second-chance points.
For Husson, senior forward Brianna Hanscom (Mattawamkeag, Maine/Mattanawcook Acad.) led all players with 16 points and had a team-high nine rebounds, four offensive. Hanscom had 12 of her points in the first half, when she hit 5-of-7 from the field and 2-of-4 from the line, but the Judges limited her to just four second-half free throws and 0-for-4 from the floor. Eagle sophomore guard Vanessa Sanderson (Houlton, Maine/Houlton) added eight points off the bench thanks to 3-for-4 shooting and a pair of 3-pointers, but no other Husson player had more than two field goals or five points. After shooting 48 percent (12-25) in the first half to keep the game close, the Eagles were just 4-of-26 in the second half (15.4 percent) in the second.
Brandeis returns to action in the new year when they open up UAA play at rival NYU on January 7 at 2 p.m. Husson plays host to the University of Southern Maine on Tuesday, Jan. 3 at 6 p.m.


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Do you prefer to dine in or go out? There are so many great brunch places in NYC, but sometimes, it's just nice to have a casual affair at home instead.
Recently, I decided to have some friends over for brunch. It was wonderful – no long waits and we could stay and chat as long as we wanted.
I wasn't sure what to make so I checked out President's Picks for inspiration. I can be notoriously indecisive so sometimes I just go to President's Picks and make decisions for what I want to cook based on what's on sale for the week. That particular week had our Wild Patagonian Red Shrimp on sale. I knew our seafood guys had just come back from checking out these shrimp in Patagonia and had mentioned how wonderfully fresh and rich they were so I had to order them. Plus, it helped me decide on serving shrimp and grits (polenta) for a Southern-style brunch….


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Perch season
Yellow Perch
One of the most frequently caught fish in Michigan - and certainly among the top choices as table fare - yellow perch are widespread denizens of both the Great Lakes and inland waters. Perch travel in schools, sometimes very large numbers, and can often be caught all day long without ever moving the boat.
During the summer months, perch are typically associated with deep water, sometimes as deep as 100 feet in the Great Lakes, and are usually caught on the bottom. They are typically associated with rocky or rubble bottoms in deep water, but may be found in and around weed beds in shallower lakes. A typical perch rig for fishing deep water consists of a sinker on the end of the line with a pair of hooks (No. 6 or 8) tied on leaders about a foot apart just above the sinker. All manner of live bait - minnows, wigglers, earthworms, leeches, wax worms or small crayfish - will produce. Perch typically bite all day long, though not at night, and are delicate biters, so watching the rod tip is in order. Typically not targeted by anglers with artificial lures, they are often taken incidentally on small spinners, jigs or plugs intended for other targets.
Perch spawn in the spring, moving into shallower water - sometimes only a few feet deep - and can be caught from piers, breakwalls and in cuts and canals and rivers off of the Great Lakes. Perch are popular with ice fishermen and can be caught at a wide range of depths, often quite shallow toward the end of ice-fishing season. Small tear drops tipped with insect larva (spikes, mousies or wax worms) or plain hooks with minnows are preferred ice-fishing baits.
Although perch tend to run small, with 7 or 8-inch fish considered keepers in many waters, they are capable of reaching twice that length. Good fishing for perch can be found out of numerous Lake Michigan ports, the Les Cheneaux Islands area of northern Lake Huron, Saginaw Bay, Lake St. Clair and Lake Erie. Inland lakes with notable perch fisheries include Gogebic, Independence, Burt, Hubbard, Crystal, Higgins and Elk.
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text: › Athletics » Club Sports » Registration Forms Home Physical Activities Center Hours Membership Facilities Aquatics Fitness Programs Summer Activity Series Guidelines and Policies Meet Our Staff Intramural Sports Registration Rules and Regulations All Sports Trophy Schedule and Results Club Sports Club Sports Listing Registration Forms Outdoors State Parks Water Sports Plan a Visit ›Apply Now ›Give to Furman › Main Content Column 1 To compete with a club team, there are a number of forms that you'll need to complete before hitting the practice field. Be sure to complete each form before submitting to your coach. Team Roster Club Sports Forms Team Travel Form Assumption of Risk.pdf Officer's affidavit form Code of Conduct form [PDF] If you have a question about the registration process, contact Owen McFadden, If you have a question about the registration process, contact Owen McFadden, Director of Campus Recreation, at email@example.com.


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Nick Pfeifer, Fire Commissioner Scoppetta and French filmmaker Naudet
DoYouEverWonder 4 Oct 31 2009, 07:43 AM wrote: I thought the bald guy was Ken Lay
But here he is again.Nick Pfeifer, Fire Commissioner Scoppetta and French filmmaker Naudet
What a happy reunion! You would think these guys could at least pretend to be a little sad. I'd love to know Scoppetta's 9/11 story.
BTW: The priest in the first pic is definitely NOT FJ.
idschmyd 4 Oct 31 2009, 12:44 AM wrote:
But he appears in the Naudet Sisters' hoaxery along with the Gas Sniffing ponce
This might suggest guilt by association, but it seems at least the flesh walked (walks?) the earth under some name or others.
Return to VICSIMS: the simulated victims of 9/11
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Make your website more appealing to all by using accessibility and SEO. Now to be completely clear, SEO and accessibility are two very different things but their values do overlap. Accessibility cares solely about the disabled user and SEO concentrates on user experience, but there are a few things that will do both for your site.
The reason I bring this up now is because of an earlier post called "5 reason why you should never use a flash intro" that talked a little about Flash and Accesibility. It got me thinking about how I haven't mentioned other aspects and the importance of site accessibility. Not only from a legal standpoint, but also from an ethical one, every site owner should think about how they can better the user experience for the disabled. But in doing so, you can also improve your SEO and it also creates a much better, well organized site.
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RN Rotation Team, New Grads
- Employer
- Sentara Healthcare
- Location
- Norfolk, VA
- Posted
- Jun 20, 2018
- Closes
- Aug 20, 2018
- Function
- Nurse
- Industry
- Healthcare
- Career Level
- Experienced (Non-Manager)
- Hours
- Full Time
Sentara Norfolk General is hiring a Registered Nurse for its Rotation Team!
Hours/Shift: 7am -7pm and/or 7pm -7am. Rotating day or night shifts. New hires may select a preferred shift.
Department/Position Overview: This position was designed based on feedback from RN grads! As you begin your nursing career, you said you are seeking an opportunity to work on a variety of units, with a variety of patients and experiences. Candidates selected will orient on Medical-Surgical units and be classified as Adult Health Rotation RNs for the AHEART Team. Rotate 2-3 weeks on Medical-Surgical units to gain maximum experience and exposure to a variety of patient populations.
Click here on the link to see a unit where you will rotate:
Facility Highlights: Serving as a destination medical center in the mid-Atlantic region, Sentara Norfolk General Hospital is a Level 1 trauma center in Norfolk, Virginia, home to the Nightingale Regional Air Ambulance, region's first Magnet® hospital and nationally ranked heart program at Sentara Heart Hospital. Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, on the Eastern Virginia Medical Campus, is a large 525-bed medical center, which serves as the primary teaching institution for the adjacent Eastern Virginia Medical School (EVMS). Our partnership with EVMS combines the latest innovations in technology, research and clinical care, to offer advanced diagnostic and therapeutic services.
If you are a new graduate you will be able to participate in our Nurse Residency Program. Sentara Healthcare Hospitals have joined the Vizient/ACCN Nurse Residency Program™ (NRP) which effectively supports new nurse graduates as they transition into their first professional roles. Built on evidence based curriculum developed by experts from academic medical centers and nursing schools across the country, the program focuses on these critical areas; leadership, patient outcomes and professional role. If you have less than 1 year of experience as a Registered Nurse, you will be automatically enrolled in this year long program. The residency curriculum is designed as monthly 4-hour seminar sessions and is considered paid work time supported by your education and leadership teams.
The Registered Nursing (RN) is responsible to perform a competent level of nursing care as demonstrated by the critical thinking model known as the nursing process. The standards of practice (assessment, diagnosis, outcomes identification, planning, implementation, coordination of care- teaching and health promotion and evaluation) along with the standards of professional performance (ethics, culturally congruent practice, communication, collaboration, leadership, education, evidence- based practice /nursing research, quality, evaluation, resource utilization, and environmental health) encompass the actions and foundation of professional nursing. The RN possesses clinical knowledge and skills to meet standards as required by specific clinical areas.
Education Level
RN-Associate's Degree OR
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None, unless noted in the "Other" section below
Required: Registered Nurse
Preferred: Basic Life Support
None, unless noted in the "Other" section below
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2012 NAIA Men's Soccer Players of the Week - No. 6
By Chad Waller, Director of Communications and Sports Information
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Naissim Ayadi of Mobile (Ala.) has been named the NAIA National Men's Soccer Offensive Player of the Week and Dennis Kramer of Southern Poly (Ga.) has been tabbed National Men's Soccer Defensive Player of the Week, the national office announced Tuesday. Ayadi and Kramer were selected based on their performances from Oct. 1 - 7 and were chosen out of a pool of conference/independent/unaffiliated groupings.
Ayadi, a 5-foot-9 sophomore midfielder from Paris, France, was an integral part in two Southern States Athletic Conference wins last week. He compiled nine points (three goals, three assists) overall. In the 6-2 win against No. 3 Auburn Montgomery (Ala.) on Oct. 3, he went for two goals and assisted on two others. The six-goal output for the Rams was the most allowed by Auburn Montgomery since the 2008 season. Three days later, Ayadi finished with one goal and one assist in Mobile's 6-1 victory over Faulkner (Ala.).
In national statistics, Ayadi ranks 19th in points per game (2.3) and 30th in points (23).
Kramer, a 6-foot-6 senior goalkeeper from Berlin, Germany, posted a shutout and limited the 17th-ranked team to one goal last week. He picked up the complete-game victory in the Hornets' 2-1 win over No. 17 Southern Wesleyan (S.C.) on Oct. 3 by tallying two saves. In the 3-0 win over Truett-McConnell (Ga.) on Oct. 6, he played nearly 78 minutes in combining on a shutout. He finished with one save in the contest.
Kramer ranks eighth in the NAIA in goals against average (0.640).
For a complete listing of all the national statistical leaders, click here.
For the complete player of the week calendar, click here.
Offensive Nominees: Daniel Littler, Friends (Kan.); Keagan Bacchus, Mid-Continent (Ky.); Rafael Ramos, Columbia (Mo.); Graeme Eaglesham, Bellevue (Neb.); Matt Annecchiarico, Point Park (Pa.); Ricardo Diegues, Texas at Brownsville; Lwandiso Gonya, Lindsey Wilson (Ky.); Gerald Ben, Westmont (Calif.); Tyler Fischer, Aquinas (Mich.); Juan Maffey, Mount Mercy (Iowa); Corey Lopez, Indiana Wesleyan; Luke Winter, Tennessee Wesleyan; Jesus Avalos, Calumet (Ind.); Jhonathan Rico, St. Thomas (Fla.); Miguel Jiminez, Missouri Valley; Ryan Smith, Westminster (Utah); Nathan Douglas, Concordia (Neb.); Nick Gorrie, Lubbock Christian (Texas); Jared Brace, Concordia (Ore.); Isaac Sanchez, Embry-Riddle (Ariz.).
Defensive Nominees: Matt Mckenna, Columbia (Mo.); Jhovany Hernandez, Hope International (Calif.); Alex Guyer, Hastings (Neb.); Joe Galbraith, Northwest (Wash.); Matt Schmutzer, Kansas Wesleyan; Henry Moody, Texas at Brownsville; Liam Davies, Northwestern Ohio; David Macsicza, Grand View (Iowa); John Kennedy, Campbellsville (Ky.); Oliver Goddard, Southwestern Christian (Okla.); Patrick O'Neil, Northwood (Fla.); Josh Goepper, Indiana Wesleyan; Fernando Galvan, Benedictine (Kan.); Victor Navarro, Holy Cross (Ind.); Bryan Byars, Science & Arts (Okla.); Christopher Baker, Bethel (Tenn.); Nathan Young, Westminster (Utah); Richard Kirk, Bryan (Tenn.); Kyle Carpenter, Cal Maritime.
2012 Men's Soccer Players of the Week (Offensive; Defensive)
Week 1 (Sept. 4): Will Monsour, Belhaven (Miss.); Henry Moody, Texas at Brownsville
Week 2 (Sept. 11): Brad Lyons, Concordia (Mich.); Andi Hoffer, Thomas (Ga.)
Week 3 (Sept. 18): Will Monsour, Belhaven (Miss.); Milco Risteski, Robert Morris (Ill.)
Week 4 (Sept. 25): Joe Sbarro, Benedictine (Kan.); Luke Baxter, Bellevue (Neb.)
Week 5 (Oct. 2): Richard Isberner, Rio Grande (Ohio); Kyle Breckan, Cornerstone (Mich.)
Week 6 (Oct. 9): Naissim Ayadi, Mobile (Ala.); Dennis Kramer, Southern Poly (Ga.)


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The Matrix Revolutions
Neo, Trinity, and Morpheus -- along with the rest of their battling posse -- continue to come against the machines that have systematically enslaved the human race in the Matrix.
Starring Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Laurence Fishburne... View more >
Genre - SciFi
Directed by Larry Wachowski, Andy Wachowski
Opened in Theaters - Wednesday, November 5th, 2003
9/26/2003 - Official Theatrical Trailer now available! Click on link in sidebar.
See also The Matrix Revolutions: The IMAX Experience
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