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Congo accuses Rwanda of 'kidnapping' soldier
KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — Congolese officials accused Rwandan soldiers of detaining a sergeant from Congo's army near the countries' shared border Sunday, a move they described as a "provocation."
The incident appeared to ratchet up tension in the border region, which was the sight of heavy fighting late last month between the Congolese army and a rebel group allegedly backed by Rwanda.
Sgt. Munanga Kafakana was detained Sunday while trying to visit family in the eastern Congo city of Goma, army spokesman Col. Olivier Hamuli said. Rwandan officials said Kafakana had crossed into Rwandan territory, but Hamuli insisted he had not.
"He had not crossed the border, but he was found in a neutral zone when the Rwandan soldiers kidnapped him," Hamuli said. "We are trying to calm the tension here at the border, because the population that alerted us to this arrest wants to go look for him on the other side of the border."
The arrest was confirmed by Rwandan military spokesman Brig. Gen. Joseph Nzabamwita, who said Kafakana was arrested inside Rwanda not far from where a shell allegedly fired by Congo's army during the fighting in late August killed a Rwandan woman and seriously wounded her 2-month-old baby.
A Rwandan immigration official in the border town of Gisenyi, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to brief the media, said Kafakana crossed into Rwanda at around 1 p.m. but was unable to produce documentation. The official said Kafakana had a machine gun and armor.
Congo's army has engaged in several rounds of heavy fighting in the border region this year with the M23 rebel group, which observers accuse Rwanda of backing despite consistent denials from Rwanda's government. As the most recent bout of fighting escalated last month, a convoy of military vehicles was seen leaving the Rwandan capital, Kigali, for the Congolese border, heightening fears the two nations, which have gone to war twice before, might be heading for another confrontation.
Congolese government spokesman Lambert Mende said Sunday that the arrest of Kafakana was "pure provocation."
"It's clear that we cannot tolerate the Rwandan army kidnapping a Congolese soldier found in the neutral zone," Mende said. "We demand that he be set free immediately and without condition."
Sheik Hassan Barame, mayor of the Rwandan border town of Rubavu, said dozens of Rwandans had been stranded in Congo after a border post was closed in response to the sergeant's arrest.
"We have learnt that dozens of Rwandans are stranded across the border and some have been detained by Congolese authorities as they went about their private affairs," Barame said.
Hamuli, the Congolese military spokesman, said there had been no official decision to close any posts along the border.
Associated Press writer Edmund Kagire contributed to this report from Kigali, Rwanda.
Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.


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Last week, we told you a bit about our in-house designers (aka Nordstrom Product Group, or NPG) and the impeccable sportcoats they've crafted using authentic Harris Tweed.
This week, we have exclusive photos our NPG friends shot while attending Milano Unica—an international textile fair in Italy where Europe's most venerated mills convene to show their wares—and Ideabiella, an invite-only show-within-the-show, reserved for the cream of the fine-fabric crop.
Check out the pics below (courtesy of Erica in NPG)—and shop some Nordstrom-exclusive favorites, featuring fine European fabrics, at the bottom of this post.
Visiting Loro Piana—renowned for fine cashmere for six generations.
Reviewing our JWN tech packs, with lining colors and construction notes.
Ryan, NPG Men's Clothing Design Director, hard at work.
(L): Visiting Lanificio Fratelli Ormezzano, supplier for our JWN linen
and cotton-cashmere corduroy sportcoats.
(R): Vitale Barberis Canonico—one of the best. They've been around since the 1600s.
Erica and Ryan of NPG, reviewing fabrics and trims on-order
(and getting a much-needed break).
Big camo trend in suits and sportcoats at the show.
Team photo at the Milan horse track
(with NPG Clothing and Furnishings Brand Manager, Tom).
Shop John W. Nordstrom 'Signature' series, with fabric made in Italy. From left:
Cashmere Top Coat (fabric from Mill Colombo),
Cashmere Blazer in Navy and Black (fabric from Mill Loro Piana).
[Photos and captions courtesy of Erica Wallis, NPG Men's Clothing Product Merchandiser.]

subset: commoncrawl


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Columnist Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. errs in claiming that the American diplomats taken hostage by Iran were freed in 1979 ("Drawing insults, not fear, from our foes," March 30).
The diplomats were actually taken hostage in November of 1979 — not freed that year. They spent 444 days in captivity before finally being released on Jan. 20, 1981, the day Ronald Reagan was inaugurated as president.
Their release followed complex and lengthy negotiations between the Iranians and the administration of President Jimmy Carter. The Algerian government represented the U.S. during the negotiations because we had no diplomatic relations with Iran at that time.
Thus Mr. Ehrlich's intimation that President Reagan was responsible for the release of our diplomats is not consistent with what actually occurred during that unfortunate episode.
Charles W. Mitchell, Parkton
To respond to this letter, send an email to email@example.com. Please include your name and contact information.


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New York, June 24, 2013--Several journalists were attacked and threatened in Cairo this weekend at a "Say No to Violence" rally organized by supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood to call on opposition groups to ensure nonviolence on June 30, the day of planned demonstrations and strikes across the country.
"These participants apparently thought it was OK to say yes to violence against journalists," said Sherif Mansour, CPJ's Middle East and North Africa coordinator. "The attacks reflect the Muslim Brotherhood's inability to address the problem of anti-press aggression being committed by its supporters, even at a rally that was supposed to be about nonviolence."
Crews belonging to at least three private TV stations were attacked in Nasr City in Cairo on Friday while covering the rally, according to news reports. Protesters accused journalists affiliated with ONTV, CBC, and BBC Arabic of being "corrupted media" that aimed to undermine the "Islamic project." The crews were attacked with sticks and rods, and their cameras were smashed, the reports said. No injuries were reported.
During the rally, Abdul Rahman al-Bar, one of the leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood, accused independent journalists of corruption and of misleading the Egyptian people by spreading false news, according to news reports. Protesters called the media "thieves" and held several banners, one of which called for "purging the media gang" and included pictures of critical TV hosts being hanged with ropes. The pictures included Al-Nahar's Mahmoud Saad, Orbit's Amr Adib, and CBC's Lamis Hadidi, Bassem Youssef, and Khairy Ramadan.
On Saturday, Azza Mustafa, host of the private TV station Sada Al-Balad, received a death threat on air while hosting an opposition leader for a call-in talk show about the protests. The caller, who identified himself as "Mahmoud from Giza," said, "We will come to you and kill all of you by machine guns."
In an unrelated development, Egypt's prosecutor general referred Adel Hammouda, editor-in-chief of the weekly Al-Fajr, to state security on allegations of "conspiring against the Egyptian government," "insulting the president," and "spreading chaos in the country." The complaint was filed by a private lawyer after Al-Fajr published on June 19 stories about the demonstrations and strikes planned for June 30, news reports said.
- For more data and analysis, visit CPJ's Egypt page.


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Peace camp
Aldermaston Women's Peace Camp is held on the second weekend of every month. Visit the events section for dates of forthcoming camps.
All women are welcome to come along at any time - and male visitors are welcome at camp during the day, but not during the evening or at night.
What happens at camp?
Camp is really what we choose to make it: as well as a monthly meeting to plan and develop our activities and campaigns, there are a range of activities depending on what we have planned or feel like doing.
There might be a workshop on a specific subject - from fence-climbing to video techniques. You could get involved in doing a stall in a local town, or in making banners, or in some type of non-violent direct action. Or you could take a long walk around the base or just sit around the fire talking.
We encourage women to join in with non-violent direct action, but it is by no means compulsory and... you do not have to get arrested!
What do I need to bring?
You'll need a tent, a sleeping bag and a sleeping mat (if you don't have these, please let us know as we have spares) and in winter, bring a hot-water bottle!
If you can, please bring food to share (vegan or vegetarian), or some cash to donate towards food during the weekend.
To find out more, please click the visit camp link for a map of the camp's location and how to get there.
There's also a two page leaflet to download (pdf format) which you may find useful to prepare for a first visit.
camp blogs
These are the comments, musings and reflections of individual camp women. This is a space where we can express our personal feelings and concerns. The writings do not necessarily reflect camp as a whole.


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The National Co-Operator (Mineola, Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 11, Ed. 1 Wednesday, March 8, 1905
Description: Weekly newspaper from Mineola, Texas that includes local, state and national news along with advertising.
Date: March 8, 1905
Creator: Pyle, O. P.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Newspaper
Partner: Mineola Memorial Library


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Today I'm "treasuring" a quilt owned by my mom and made by my great-grandmother Maggie Elizabeth McCoy Stevenson. I'll have to ask Mom where Maggie got the suiting material for the quilt, perhaps from a local merchant's sample book.
My mom & sis took several family quilts in 1989 to be photographed for the Louisiana Quilt Documentation Project. You can see four more photos of Maggie's handiwork here; more quilts from across the country can be found at the Quilt Index website.
10/6/2012 UPDATE: Mea culpa. The quilt above is by Maggie, but the pink one previously pictured here apparently is not. Not all the family quilt photos Mom sent me were labeled, and I confused my mom's grandmothers. I've removed the pink quilt's photo until I verify its creator (probably Etta Cotter Pate).
This time I plan to send my mom large printed thumbnails of the photos with questions jotted next to them on the paper instead of attempting to describe the photos over the phone (the hazards of long-distance family history gathering!). I'll post more quilt photos in the future, after I verify the info as much as possible! Genealogy is always a work in progress, yes?
Text copyright © 2012 Liz Hall Morgan, all rights reserved. Photos copyright © 2012 J. Marler, all rights reserved. Read more "Treasure Chest Thursday" posts at Geneabloggers.


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NEW YORK – Multiple Retriever athlete broke career-best marks, including pole vaulters Liam Stott (Carrboro, N.C./Chapel Hill) and Caitlyn Davis (Clarksville, Md./River Hill),while junior Alisha Beeman (Brideport, Conn./Bunnell/Hartford) broke the school record in the pentathlon, as the UMBC track and field teams opened competition at the 2014 America East Indoor Championships, Sunday at the Armory.
After day one, the Retriever men sit in fourth place with 19 points. Albany leads the nine-team standings with 55 points with Binghamton just behind in second (48 pts.). Maine (29 pts.) and New Hampshire (18 pts.) bracket UMBC in third and fifth.
The UMBC women, meanwhile, scored 15 points on the opening day and rank sixth in the standings. Vermont and Albany are tied atop of the nine-team standings with 45 points apiece. Binghamton trails in third with 38 points, while New Hampshire sits fourth (33 pts.) and Maine is fifth (31 pts.)
Competing at his final indoor championships, Stott pushed past his previous best of 4.45m (14'7") three times and finished in sixth place. He cleared 4.65m (15'3") to jump up to a tie for sixth all-time in school history.
In the women's event, Davis topped her previous career-best of 3.15m (10'4") by clearing 3.30m (10'10") to place fourth overall in the competition.
Junior Alisha Beeman (Bridgeport, Conn./Bunnell/Hartford) finished sixth in the pentathlon with school-record 3,324 points. Beeman tied for second in the high jump competition (1.67m; 5'5.75"), while also earning top-ten finishes in the long jump (5.19m; 17'0.5"), shot put (10.00m; 32'9.75"), and 60m hurdles (9.56). Beeman had previously grabbed the school record earlier this year by scoring 3,277 pts. at the Penn State Nationals on Jan. 31-Feb. 1.
The men's distance relay team of senior Andrew Smith (Chadds Ford, Pa./Garnet Valley), junior Charles Bolinger (Bowie, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt), sophomore Nick Johnson (Olney, Md./Sherwood), and senior Jake Albino (Hampton, N.Y./Minisink Valley) grabbed a bronze medal for the Retriever men with an IC4A qualifying time of 9:57.88.
Junior sprinter Mercedes Jackson (Huntingtown, Md./Huntingtown) led the qualifying pack in both the 60m and 200m dash events. Jackson equaled her season-best time of 7.41 to lead the 60m prelims and then posted a top season time of 24.08 in the 200m qualifying round.
Freshman Mercedes Tillman (Waldorf, Md./North Point) will join Jackson in the 60m final after qualifying with a personal-best time of 7.80, the seventh-fastest mark in school history. Tillman also advanced to the finals of the 400m dash with a top personal mark of 57.23. Junior Briana Young (Bowie, Md./Elizabeth Seton) won her qualifying heat with a personal-best and ECAC-qualifying time of 56.87 to advance and move up to fifth in the school record book while classmate Kalane' Abbey (Laurel, Md./Laurel) also won her heat to advance.
For the men, freshman Tyler Ford (White Plains, N.Y./White Plains) recorded the sixth-fastest time of the prelims (7.01) to advance to tomorrow's finals for the 60m dash. Ford also qualified for the 200m dash (22.22) finals on Monday, with an IC4A qualifying time, and will be joined by senior Sean Cooper (Waldorf, Md./North Point/Delaware State) who ran a season-best 22.42 in the prelims.
In the 500m run, three Retrievers moved on to the finals, led by junior Paulette Fogle (Washington, D.C./Bishop McNamara). Senior Deborah Adelola (Lanham, Md./Bladensburg) and sophomore Marie Yuille (Bowie, Md.) also advanced with Yuille recording the third-fastest time (1:14.52) in Retriever program history. All of the athletes met the ECAC standard of 1:16.04.
Fogle also moved on in the 60m hurdle event, posting a career-best time of 9.04 to grab sixth in the school record book.
After the first day of competition, sophomore Vincent Rentzsch (Oranienburg, Germany/Elite Sportschule Potsdam) is tied for the lead in the heptathlon with a score of 2,695 pts. Rentzsch won the shot put event with a personal-best indoor toss of 14.29m (46'10.75") while placing fourth in the long jump, seventh in the 60m dash, and tied for seventh in the high jump.
Senior Dosu Teyibo (Silver Spring, Md./Barrie) and sophomore Justin Glaze (Ellicott City, Md./Mount Hebron) finished fifth and seventh, respectively, in the long jump after each recording career-best leaps. Teyibo upped his best to 6.90m (22'7.75") to tie the fifth-best mark in school history while Glaze recorded a jump of 6.79m (22'3.5").
Senior Kirsten McGovern (Sykesville, Md./Century) registered a career-best time of 17:44.21 in the 5k to place ninth and move up to sixth all-time at UMBC.
The second day of the 2014 America East Championships begins on Monday morning at 10:30 a.m. with the pentathlon's 60m hurdle event.


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Tofu was meant to be scrambled. I think I'll make a t-shirt that says that because it's so darn true. I make many variations on this but this is the one I made this morning. The most important thing is that you get the texture right, you want it to be crumbled but chunky, because as you cook it it will crumble more, so just give it a squeeze and crumble through your fingers right into the pan when you're ready to cook it.
Skillet, I prefer cast iron but use what you've got
Firm wooden spatula
1 lb. extra firm tofu, drained and pressed
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium chopped white onion (about a cup)
2 cups cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
juice of 1/2 a lime
1 carrot (this is optional, I grate it in at the end, mostly for color)
Spice Blend
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon thyme, crushed with your fingers
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon tumeric
1 teaspoon salt
Heat oil in skillet over medium-high. Saute onions 3 minutes, until softened. Add mushrooms, saute 5 minutes more. Add garlic, saute 2 minutes more. Add spice blend and mix it up for 15 seconds or so. Add 1/4 cup water and deglaze the pan, scrapingthe bottom to get all the garlic and spices.
Crumble in tofu and mix well. Don't crush the tofu, just kind of lift it and mix it around. You want it to remain chunky. Let cook for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally and adding splashes of water if necesary to keep it from sticking too much. Lower the heat a bit if you find that it is sticking. Add lime juice. Add nutritional yeast and mix it up. If it seems too dry add splashes of water. The moistness really depends on how much water the tofu was retaining before you added it.
Grate the carrot into it and fold. Serve with guacamole and salsa and potatoes and toast and tempeh bacon. Then rub your tummy till well into the afternoon.


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Today's guest blog post is by Gabriela Vargas-Cetina and Steffan Igor Ayora-Diaz.
The Society for Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology (SLACA) announces its Fourth Spring Conference, to be held at the Autonomous University of Yucatan, in Merida, Mexico, March 20, 21 and 22, 2013. This exciting conference will take place in beautiful Yucatan, under the theme Post-National Transformations: Culture and Politics in the Greater Latin America and the Caribbean. We invite anthropologists in all anthropological sub-disciplines, to submit 500-word abstracts. Registration will take place through the website of the American Anthropological Association in January 2013.
Merida is a beautiful, safe and culturally vibrant city in Eastern Mexico. There are direct flights via Houston, Cancun or Mexico City, and it can also be reached by bus from Cancun's international airport.
Important deadlines: September 31, 2012, submission of abstracts and sessions; November 1, 2012, announcement of the pre-selected abstracts and sessions; November 2, registration for the conference begins, through the AAA site; January 15, deadline to register for the conference; March 1st, 2013, publication of the preliminary program; March 20th, beginning of the Conference in Merida, Mexico.
Further information: Visit the SLACA Meetings webpage.


text: While modders are busily adapting the Eee PC for touchscreen capability, it seems that Asus has been working on an official handwriting recognition add-on. Demoed at last weeks Computex show, the Asus pad accepts English and Chinese (traditional and simplified) characters and simply plugs into the Eee's USB port. It measures 4.3 x 4.4 x 0.7 inches, with the touch pad being a little over 2-inches across. If you're an eager hand-writing fan, you'll have to wait though, as there's no launch date or price info. [Aving via Pocket Lint]


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Dec LG01 CONTROL PANEL, Dec 608240-1.
* We have limited quantity of 608240-1 in stock. Our inventory changes constantly and quantities listed are based on available stock. This item comes with our 100% Money-Back Guarantee.
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Our department needed two discontinued drive modules for our servers. Code Micro delivered on time. ...
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We work together to continually develop and implement sustainable solutions. Through Green Thread, our environmental sustainability platform, we bring innovative and efficient solutions to life. We are passionately focused on reducing the environmental impact within our operations.
Here are just a few ways we work to make our campus more environmentally conscious:
Fryer Oil Recycling
One hundred percent of dining services used fryer oil is recycled.


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The Making of a Duo
- 2003 30 Jun
Marc Byrd
Marc Byrd's story divides easily into two distinct eras. The first happened in El Dorado, the small Arkansas town where he grew up, watched his parents split, fell into drugs, cleaned up, devoted his life to Christ and formed the critically acclaimed rock band Common Children. The second surrounds a certain worship song you may have heard of: "God of Wonders."
The journey from one to the other — via a Nashville burger joint called Cheeseburger Charleys — involves more than distance and time. It's the story of one man's move from darkness into light.
"I'm living out my redemption and reconciliation," says Byrd, 33, just before heading out on the road with his new band, GlassByrd, a duo with his wife, Christine Glass. "I'm stepping into it with open arms."
But let's back up. As a boy in El Dorado, Byrd was weaned on rock 'n' roll classics: U2, The Cure, Pink Floyd. He attended church but grew bitter when what seemed like spiritual renewal in his parents' lives led to divorce. "That really put a seed of doubt in me," he says.
Anger and depression led to drugs. He hit bottom when a close friend died after a night of partying — an episode Byrd chronicles in the companion book to the first "City on a Hill" (Essential) worship album. "That really turned me around," he says. "I swayed away from the drug use and got involved in a ministry and basically began to really hunger for knowledge [about God]."
Leading worship led to Common Children, a hard-rocking outfit with songs veering from lush dreamscapes to chest-pounding bursts of aggression. The band moved to Nashville, recorded two albums and promptly ran out of money.
"It's not fun making your second record while you're sleeping on the floor of a studio with all your belongings in the van," Byrd says. "It was a dark time."
Yet, it was then — with Byrd working occasionally at Cheeseburger Charleys to pay the bills — that friend and producer Steve Hindalong stopped by one day to say he'd landed a worship project and wondered if Byrd had any songs. Why, yes, he did. One was the skeleton of "God of Wonders," which Byrd had written while reading Psalms. The two finished the song on Hindalong's porch, and it went on to fuel "City on a Hill" and become one of the most popular modern worship songs in recent history.
Even more valuable, the time spent recording the first "City on a Hill" album helped cement his reconnection with the body of Christ.
"Meeting [these] artists … putting faces on them, realizing their hearts were really pure and writing these songs, spiritually, for me, was very, very healthy," he says. "I regained a sense of why I do what I do and why I chose to do Christian music."
Christine Glass
The way Glass tells her story, few of her co-workers at Word Records in Nashville had any idea she wrote songs or — better yet — could sing them so well. Boy, were they in for a surprise.
Glass had moved to Nashville in the early '90s after earning a vocal performance degree at Louisiana Tech University. At the invitation of a friend, she took a job as a receptionist at Word, staying for five years and rising through the ranks to the position of art director.
Music resonated most with her, but she resisted the urge to self-promote. "I didn't want to go in and just get a job at a record company and start passing out demos to everybody who worked there," says Glass, 32. "I wanted to feel the place out and get to know people and figure out in which direction I wanted to go."
But talent couldn't stay hidden for long. Glass sang on demos and did backup vocals on projects. She also struck up a friendship with musician Tommy Greer, who, with financial help from Word, helped her produce a four-song demo.
In a scene that would make a good movie script, a Word staffer secretly arranged for a photo shoot and showcase where Glass could sing in front of her colleagues.
"She had all these photos put together on a videotape and played the video for a crowd of Word people, including the president of Word," Glass remembers. "They're watching these photos go by, and they're listening to this demo, and they have no idea it's me. At the end, I walk in and sing one live song. I think they were pretty surprised."
Glass' breathy, alternative style wasn't a fit for Word at the time, but it was for startup Tattoo Records, whose roster included The Choir and Common Children. In 1997, Tattoo released her debut, "Human," but her career promptly hit a wall when the label began cutbacks and released her nine months later.
"The day I found out I got dropped, I sobbed. I was so distraught," she says. "I just felt that it was completely unfair, but that's life. This stuff happens every day."
Even though she went on to record the well-received "Love & Poverty" for Rustproof in 1999, Glass says she learned that success and accolades aren't important. These days, when she reads reviews of her work, it doesn't affect her like it used to. "I care more about my marriage, my friendships and about my relationship with Christ," says Glass. "All that other stuff is just background noise."
Given their artistic temperaments and wealth of life lessons, there's little surprise that a Marc Byrd-Christine Glass collaboration would yield nothing less than one of the year's most compelling albums, "Open Wide This Window" (Word).
As GlassByrd, it's the first full-length melding of their distinct voices — Byrd's melodic rasp and Glass' ethereal chime. But it's not the first time they've worked together.
The two met in the late 1990s during a writing session for Glass' "Human" album. They kept in touch, began dating and married in 2000.
"I remember just feeling a connection with him," Glass says. "We talked about spiritual things — obviously writing lyrics together — and I remember thinking, 'Wow, this is a really cool guy.'"
"I would say there was an immediate attraction," Byrd adds. "She's beautiful, intelligent, creative, talented and not shallow. And, more than anything, she takes her faith very seriously, wrestles with it and is very honest with it. From a spiritual perspective, that means more to me than anything."
Their first collaboration resulted in "Whisper," which Byrd recorded for Common Children's second album, "Delicate Fade" (Benson). Glass contributed background vocals and, listening to the song today, it carries the blueprints for GlassByrd.
"A lot of these [songs] came out of our own private times of worship. And we were also being aware of the audience that bought "City on a Hill" and enjoyed 'God of Wonders,'" Byrd explains. The new album, he says, "is, in a sense, saying, 'Thanks, God, and thanks, all you guys out there. Here's a record that I hope touches you and is, for me, still beautiful and artistic yet at the same time lyrically more accessible, too.'"
"Open Wide This Window" comprises songs the pair worked on over the years. "Tonight (I Want to Live in Your World")" stretches back to a demo Byrd was shopping to labels around the time of the first "City on a Hill" album. Another, ("Everywhere I Turn"), relates to the sense of God's presence Glass had during a retreat. "It was one of those rare experiences when you really see God everywhere," she says.
They write frequently. Their home in a Nashville suburb is a creative place, with a studio, lots of art and a cat named Baghera who keeps a watchful eye. Byrd likes to write outdoors (Glass kiddingly calls him "nature boy"), and so she got him a hammock that hangs on their back porch. Life, for both, seems quite blessed — and tempered by reality.
"I think this is a record of hope," Byrd says. "We are being worshipful, but we're also saying that we're not naïve. We're not just putting on a happy face and going, 'Oh, isn't it great when we worship Jesus?' No, we live in a fallen world. There's tension living in the light of redemption."
Used by permission. CCM Magazine © 2003 Click here to subscribe.


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LAKE PLACID -Renovation to the facade of the Olympic Center's 1932 rink is under way.
The contractors, J.T. Erectors, are restoring the structure to its original appearance in the 1930s. Some of the work includes the installation of windows that have been enclosed by brick since prior to the 1980 Olympic Winter Games.
The revitalization project is being financed through the remaining funds from a grant through Empire State Development, which funded the construction of the newly completed Conference Center at Lake Placid.
Article Photos
Photo provided
J.T. Erectors work to restore the exterior of the Olympic Center's 1932 rink this week in Lake Placid.
When complete, the 1932 facility, along with its conventional use for skating and hockey and akin to the 1980 Herb Brooks Arena, will join the conference center to provide nearly 100,000 square feet of convention space.
The fresh look will complement the conference center, which opened for business May 2011.


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What does Charles Tyrwhitt Shirts LTD sell?
Quality British clothes, both for men and women. For men it's about finest quality formal cotton shirts, silk ties and silver cufflinks, 100% wool suits, cotton cashmere sweaters, raincoats and fine calf leather shoes. For women there are beautiful formal and casual shirts, as well as a stylish range of knitwear.
Why should an affiliate choose Charles Tyrwhitt over other clothing websites?
As far as visitors to your site are concerned there are two reasons - price and quality. Charles Tyrwhitt always has a strong promotional offer for your visitors, on the highest quality product available. On top of that there is our six month full refund or exchange policy.
To enable you to convert customers we have a huge library of banners, HTML and text links plus our super-flexible product feed. The product feed allows you to set up a Charles Tyrwhitt store on your site.
What commission does Charles Tyrwhitt pay?
We pay 10% commission for every sale that was generated through your website and 5% for voucher code sites.
Click here to join through Linkshare.
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No affiliate is permitted to bid on Charles Tyrwhitt brand terms, trademarks and misspellings. Misspellings include but are not limited to the following list: charles-tyrwhitt, charles tyrwitt, Tywhitt, charles tyrwhit, charles thwaite, tc shirts, charles thywitt, charles twyritt, charles tywritt, tyrwitt. Affiliates must not directly link to the ctshirts.com or ctshirts.co.uk website, but rather must land users on the Affiliates' own web sites or landing page. They are not allowed to state 'ctshirts' or 'Tyrwhitt' as the display URL on search engines. Affiliates must include copy in their search engine advertising so that users are clearly advised at all times, from landing on such Affiliates' web pages onward, that all such URLs are run by Affiliates and not Charles Tyrwhitt itself. Charles Tyrwhitt affiliates that fail to comply with the above search engine regulations will be removed from our affiliate program on a temporary or permanent basis and will be denied commission payments for the month that they did not comply.
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I much look forward to working together.
Best wishes


text:
Argentinians are arming and barricading themselves in their homes and stores in fear of looting mobs, as local police strike for higher pay and dessert their posts.
The chaos comes as the nation celebrates 30 years of uninterrupted democracy.
Politicians struggled to assert their authority over security forces even as they agreed to salary increases so steep that many provinces won't be able to pay their debts at month's end, adding stress to an economy already suffering from 25 per cent inflation.
President Cristina Fernandez sought to contain the crisis Tuesday night, charging that anti-democratic elements were trying to undo Argentina's hard-won gains.
"We must condemn the extortion of those who carry arms to defend society,'' she declared.
The speech was her first response to a weeklong series of provincial police strikes. As officers abandoned their posts, and in some cases allegedly encouraged violence to pressure authorities, many of Argentina's 23 provinces have endured long nights of chaos as roving groups smashed through storefronts and fought over the merchandise inside.
Hospital and political authorities said at least seven people have been killed, including a police officer in northern Chaco province who was struck by a bullet below his protective vest on Tuesday and a store owner whose burned body was found last week in his looted and torched market in Buenos Aires province.
The others allegedly died while looting. One young man was electrocuted while stealing from an appliance store in a rainstorm. Another fell off a motorcycle while carting off a television. A third died in a fistfight over stolen goods inside a ruined store.
Hundreds have been injured and thousands of businesses damaged in the scattered violence. While most officers were back at work after securing new deals, police uprisings continued on Tuesday in several cities. Commerce has been shut down in many places, and even some public hospitals have turned away non-emergency patients for fear of being looted.
With consumer prices soaring, Argentinians are accustomed to annual labour protests in which workers threaten chaos if they don't get their way. But strikes by armed police are more ominous in a country where social chaos, police crackdowns and spiralling violence ushered in the 1976 military coup and a world-record debt default in 2001.
"This was executed and planned with surgical precision,'' Fernandez said in her speech marking the end of the last military junta. She claimed many people became unwitting instruments of extortion by police who "liberated'' areas where looting could happen.
"We have promoted the integration of the armed forces into democratic processes, and the same must be done with provincial police, once and for all,'' she said.
To free up cash for the raises, her Cabinet chief, Jorge Capitanich, announced a three-month delay in payments most Argentine provinces owe this month to the federal government on debts refinanced two years ago.
For their part, police complained that their unions aren't legally recognised, leaving them ill-equipped to negotiate for cost of living adjustments.
"There are police who are in extreme poverty,'' said Salvador Barratta, who runs an unofficial union of police and prison guards. "Here we police are second-class citizens.''
Human rights groups warned against giving in too easily to the security forces' demands.
The deal Buenos Aires Governor Daniel Scioli reached with rebellious officers on Monday night includes an amnesty for rule-breaking officers, making them eligible for 14,000 promised promotions this month that will raise salaries far above the base pay he promised.
The deal also lets officers who retired on 90 per cent pay to return to work at twice their old salaries.
"The weapons given to security forces to protect citizens' life and property cannot be used to force decisions by constitutional powers,'' warned the human rights group Center for Legal and Social Studies.
"We think it's urgent that the security forces stop intensifying the violence and feeding incidents that pose very high risks to our society and its institutions.''
Tuesday marked three decades since President Raul Alfonsin's inauguration ended the 1976-1983 dictatorship. Fernandez invited all political parties to assemble on a huge stage in front of the presidential palace for a long night of speeches and music to celebrate democracy's consolidation.
The late president's son, legislator Ricardo Alfonsin, and Buenos Aires Mayor Mauricio Macri both said the party should be called off, given the potential for another night of violence. Alfonsin called for "all political sectors to commit together to defend the democracy and its institutions.''
The event went on as scheduled, however, and shortly after the president spoke, word spread that deals had been struck with police in Tucuman and Santa Fe, two of the last provinces where officers were holding out for higher pay.
Still, even governors who restored calm by agreeing to steep police pay raises days earlier seemed wary of declaring victory. Strikes by public health workers are spreading, and other public employees are clamouring for raises, too.
Governor Jose de la Sota, who effectively doubled police salaries in Cordoba to about $1,915 a month at the official exchange rate, said governors should agree on single national pay scale to avoid more trouble.
Entre Rios Governor Sergio Urribarri accused officers of "sedition, a crime against the democratic system.''


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Published at Thursday, May 02nd, 2019 - 04:20:26 AM. Curtains. By Lacina Fabre.
The carriers normally contain a nylon axle, two free-rolling nylon wheels, a nylon swivel stern that is designed to be tangle-free and steel hooks that are chrome-plated. Nylon materials are used as curtain carriers since they would not easily break or rust and are highly durable. However, the curtain carrier glide could also be made with a nylon swivel, one-piece nylon spool, and steel hook of chrome plating. Another type of curtain carrier is the breakaway carrier, comprised of nylon wheels, hook, and body. The tracking for curtains would vary from one location to another to suit the type of construction of the room.
If you are looking for something trendy or fashionable, you can go for rod pocket curtains for your windows. These curtains/drapes/panels are very popular and extensively employed to give a trendy decor look. These curtains are hung on curtain rods.
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Follow This Company
We support City livability goals by helping to finance infrastructure improvements, and supporting the regulatory efforts of other city bureaus. We use Charter-granted authority to assess property for local improvements, system development charges, and code violations. We maintain the docket of City Liens, which is a public record of all liens assessed by the City. We provide long-term, low-interest financing for improvement assessments, and collect current and delinquent revenues owed to the City.


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The Painted Man by Peter V. Brett
- Numbers -
Air by J.D. Richard
Anastasia's Secret by Susanne Dunlap
An Abundance of Katherines by John Green [Reviewed by Naadir]
Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
Angelfire (ARC) by Courtney Allison Moulton
By the Time You Read This, I'll Be Dead by Julie Anne Peters
Cassidy Jones and the Secret Formula by Elise Stokes
Constantine by John Shirley
Crave (The Clann #1) by Melissa Darnell
Darcy and Fitzwilliam by Karen V. Wasylowski
Dark Life (Dark Life, #1) by Kat Falls
Dark Swan, Storm Born Vol. 1 by Richelle Mead
Dark Swan, Storm Born Vol. 2 by Richelle Mead
FAMOUS CHINESE DIPLOMAT: Through The Ages
FAN LI & XI SHI : Master Strategist and The Beauty
How to Ruin a Summer Vacation by Simone Elkeles
How to Ruin My Teenage Life by Simone Elkeles
How to Ruin Your Boyfriend's Reputation by Simone Elkeles
I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore
I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You by Ally Carter
If I Run by Terri Blackstock
Love Is Hell by Various Authors
Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder
Malaysian Tales: Retold & Remixed by Daphne Lee
May (Daughters of the Sea, #2) by Kathryn Lasky
Monster by C. J. Skuse
Monument 14 (M14 #1) by Emmy Laybourne
My Mom's Last Letter by Chrissy Washburn
Narrative Loserdom: (From Journal One) by Ryan Collins [Reviewed by Lemuel]
Origin by Jessica Khoury
Overnight Sensation by Hal Eisenberg
Overprotected by Jennifer Laurens
Pariah #1 by Aron Warner
Paper Towns by John Green [Reviewed by Naadir]
Reckless by Cornelia Funke
Red Riding Hood by Sarah Blakley-Cartwright
Return the Heart by T.K. Richardson
Rojak: Bite-Sized Stories by Amir Muhammad
Rules of Attraction (Perfect Chemistry #2) by Simone Elkeles
Savage Drift (M14 #3) by Emmy Laybourne
Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman
Shadow Hills by Anastasia Hopcus
Shield the Heart by T.K. Richardson
Shift by Em Bailey
Shine by Lauren Myracle
Sky On Fire (M14 #2) by Emmy Laybourne
Solitary by Alexander Gordon Smith
Starters (Starters #1) by Lissa Price
Storm Glass (Glass, #1) by Maria V. Snyder
Succubus Blues by Richelle Mead
The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff
The Autumn Palace (Ondine #2) by Ebony McKenna
The Art of Racing In The Rain [Reviewed by Koey]
The Blackberry Bush by David Householder
The Complete Horowitz Horror by Anthony Horowitz
The Confessions of Catherine de Medici by C. W. Gortner
The Dulang Washer: An Epic Tale of Love, Courage and Secrets by Paul Callan
The Fault In Our Stars by John Green [Reviewed by Naadir]
The Girl Who Was on Fire (Movie Edition) edited by Leah Wilson
The Goddess Test by Aimée Carter
The Immortal Rules (Blood of Eden #1) by Julie Kagawa [Reviewed by Naadir]
The Poison Diaries (Poison Diaries #1) by Maryrose Wood
The Private Papers of Eastern Jewel by Maureen Lindley
The Secret of Spruce Knoll by Heather McCorkle
The Way of Shadows (The Night Angel Trilogy #1) by Brent Weeks [Reviewed by Naadir]
Three Cups by Tony Townsley
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
Torn by Cat Clarke
Touch of Power (Healer, #1) by Maria V. Snyder
Trust: A New Beginning by Cristiane Serruya


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Great Western Trail
Click here to view a map of this trailClick here to view a map of the horseback riding area
This trail is 14 miles of an abandoned railway from St. Charles to the DeKalb County Line. Bicycling, hiking, and snowmobiling when there is 4" of snow on trail. Shelters and rest areas along trails.
The open space development of the Great Western right-of-way presents a different concept in land enjoyment. The Trail's flora and fauna can also be appreciated close-up; but it is most suitable for viewing it's several thousand acres of scenery during one healthy walk or bike ride.
The Great Western Trail crosses small streams and wetlands where duck, coot and the Great Blue Heron nest and raise their young. Shrubs, including Dogwood, Blackberry and Hazelnut mingle with the few remaining patches of native prairie. It is a place of quiet beauty, a linear wildlife refuge, and truly one of the finer experiences available in Kane County.
The Trail, approximately 17 miles from the trailhead to Sycamore, is limestone and allows a smooth riding surface.
Horseback riding is allowed on the trail adjacent to the Great Western Trail only.
This trail includes a horseback riding area. Most horse trails are natural surface, mowed grass paths. Limestone screenings trails and asphalt bike trails are available in some of the preserves. These are multi-use trails shared with runners, bicyclists, dog walkers etc. Horse riders are required to stay on designated, forest preserve-maintained trails. Trail riding is not allowed in restricted natural areas, Illinois Nature Preserves, picnic areas or in farmed areas. To prevent trail damage during wet weather, trails may be temporarily closed. Individual forest preserves will post a sign at the entrance when horse trails are closed. Call the District at 630-232-5980 to check on trail closings.


text: Video Conferencing Use Cases - Education At Lifesize, we believe in the power of communication. That's why we've developed video conferencing solutions that are about more than just seeing the person on the other side of the screen; they're about building connected relationships irrespective of distance. Following are a few examples of what you could do with a video conferencing solution within the Education industry. How will you put video to work for you?


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Please i need a free/paid template for a shipping or transport website with TRACKING like in DHL or UPS.?
my main concern is the tracking, where i can edit details and give out a number through which a parcel or an item's status can be tracked.
thanks and waiting.
Shipping website template
In this section you can share templates you've created with other users of WYSIWYG Web Builder.
Post Reply
1 post • Page 1 of 1
Post Reply
1 post • Page 1 of 1


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April saw Afghan conflict killing nearly 1,500
April saw Afghan conflict killing nearly 1,500
KABUL (Pajhwok): Around 2,200 people suffered casualties in 130 attacks in Afghanistan in April, showing a five percent decrease in attacks but casualty rate surged by 32 percent, compared to March.
A Pajhwok reports show the insurgents carried out armed attacks in 29 provinces of the country's total 34 in April.
There were 56 face-to-face clashes, 28 targeted attacks, 28 airstrikes, 10 explosions, five suicide attacks and three roadside bombings in April.
Among every 14 people, half were killed and the remaining half wounded in direct engagement, four in airstrikes, two in suicide attacks, and one in targeted attacks and blasts.
Pajhwok reports show 29 or most of the attacks in April occurred in Nangarhar, followed by Kandahar where 10 attacks took place.
There were six attacks each in Faryab, Ghazni, Herat, Kunduz, Paktika and Uruzgan and five each in Helmand, Jawzjan and Takhar province.
Kabul and Sar-i-Pul provinces shared four attacks each while there were three attacks each in Balkh, Laghman, Logar, Parwan and Zabul province. Two attacks each in Badakhshan, Baghlan, Kapisa, Khost, Kunar and Samangan and one each in Badghis, Farah, Ghor, Maidan Wardak and Paktia provinces.
There was no report of violence from Daikundi, Bamyan, Nimroz, Nuristan and Panjsher provinces in April. In March too Badakhshan, Balkh, Bamyan, Daikundi, Ghor, Maidan Wardak, Nuristan, Paktia, Panjsher, Kunar and Parwan provinces had been violence free.
Reports show in total 1,447 people were killed and another 715 were wounded in 130 attacks last month.
The victims included militants, Afghan forces and civilians. Pajhwok does not publish exact casualty figure because different sources provide different accounts.
Most of the attacks took place on April 2, April 8 and April 25, when eight incidents were reported each day but the deadliest day was April 21 when 317 people were killed and wounded.
After Nangarhar and Balkh, Jawzjan, Herat and Uruzgan stood second in witnessing most casualties while least incidents took place in Kapisa, Parwan and Maidan Wardak provinces last month.
Balkh province, which eluded violence in March, emerged second among provinces hit by deadliest attacks after Nangarhar in April. Not a single incident of violence was reported in Balkh in the previous month (March).
On April 21, around 200 people, including the attackers, were killed and 100 others were wounded in a complex attack on the headquarters of the Afghan National Army (ANA) 209 Shaheen Military Corps in Mazar-i-Sharif, the capital of Balkh province.
Deadliest Attacks
Last month's attacks were deadliest compared to the previous month. On average, 12 people were killed or wounded in each attack in March compared to 17 people killed or wounded in each attack in April.
Over 1,600 people were killed and wounded in March's 137 attacks against 2,162 casualties in April's 130 attacks.
The US's GBU-43/B or Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB) attack on a cave complex used by Daesh or so called Islamic State (IS) group in Achin district of Nangarhar proved the second deadliest after the ANA base attack in Balkh.
Officials had said around 200 Daesh fighters including key members of the rebel group were killed and a large amount of ammunition was destroyed when a US aircraft dropped the heaviest non-nuclear bomb on the cave complex in Achin district near the Pakistani border on April 13.
A retired military general, Zalmai Wardak, said average of casualties depended on the nature of attacks.
He said coordinated attacks like the one on the ANA base in Balkh caused more casualties and such deadliest incidents had high casualties compared to the past.
Pajhwok reports show most of casualties last year happened in October, but fatality rate had been on the decline since December. However, casualties again increased after December, 2016.
Gen. Mohammad Radminsh, deputy spokesman of the Ministry of Defense (MoD), acknowledged that casualties rate even did not fall in winter and blamed the phenomenon on some intelligence networks' support with militants.
He cited the Afghan forces effective response to militant attacks another reason behind a high casualty rate.
About the Afghan forces operations, he said: "Currently we have launched 20 operations in 16 provinces and clashes are ongoing. Casualties usually increase when ground operations expand."
Zalmai Wardak said militant attacks would usually decrease in winter in the past but last winter attacks were as high as in summer in some parts of the country that had warm weather. He said that the reason of high attacks in last winter was Taliban's stay inside the country. The militants in the past would usually spend winter in neighboring countries.
Wardak said casualty rate last month was high because weather and environment suited the conflict and militants expanded their war grounds, with the Afghan forces responding.
War, not a solution
War victim families ask all warting sides to stop violence
Ali Ahmad, a resident of Kot district of Nangarhar province, who lost six brothers to Daesh, said war was not a solution because it only offered deaths and miseries.
He asked the international community to support in the peace process in Afghanistan.
Ahmad, who now looks after 42 children of his slain brothers and their six widows, asked the warring parties to stop shedding blood so other families did not meet the fate of his own family.
Abdul Sammad (not real name), a resident of Chak district of Maidan Wardak province, also asked the government and the rebels to stop fighting and support only those who chose peace.
"Two of my cousins who were brothers, one of them joined the Taliban and another the Afghan National Army (ANA), both were killed in battles, so we should stop this nonsense. For how long brothers should kill brothers," he said.
Related Article
Download "Pajhwok" mobile App, on your smartphone to read and access latest news, features, interviews, videos and photos about Afghanistan.


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Green Infrastructure
CUISD is committed to a vision of New York's infrastructure in which resources are used wisely and construction works in harmony with context. To this end, the Institute has been working in collaboration with city agencies and nonprofit groups to improve the sustainability of New York's infrastructure. In 2011, the Institute worked with Fourth Arts Block on a proposal to improve the management of stormwater runoff in the neighborhood surrounding the Cooper Union campus.
The project, called the East 4th Street Cultural District Green Infrastructure Project, was composed of two components: a renovation of surrounding sidewalk and a green roof installation. The first component would ensure a minimization of surface runoff and direct water in a more efficient manner, while the second component would help absorb and filter storm water before it even reaches the pavement.
This project addresses a critical need for better stormwater stewardship. Streets and sidewalks contribute to 26.6% of New York City's Combined Sewer Overflow. The East 4th Street Cultural District Green Infrastructure Project could diminish the frequency of storm water overflow events, and provide a highly visible model project for other communities to study and replicate.
Projects & Links
Fourth Arts Block
Click here to download the Green Infrastructure Grant Proposal


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Hands On Dame Tray 10x16
Hands On Dame Tray 10x16
The One Of A Kind Handcrafted Decoupage Trays feature vintage photographic images of Cities such as New York and Paris, iconic buildings, lavish interiors, and the Grand Dames of the golden age of Hollywood. Hand applied crystals are added to create sparkle and glamour.
They are vintage from the 1950's, and are topped with three layers of a high gloss finish to make smooth and waterproof. Because they are handcrafted using vintage elements, they may have some small imperfections or as I like to say "Perfectly Imperfect".
Use for serving hors d'oeuvres, Bar tray, afternoon tea, perfume Tray, or as a beautiful addition to any interior. Makes a Unique wedding and housewarming gift!
Commission a Tray using your Family photos, Pet, Home, Interior, Favorite City, or Special Event in your life


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Sep. 12, 2011
BPM Microsystems announces that ProEx, a leading worldwide provider of device programming and other value added services, selected a 3800 automated production programmer to accommodate its increasing programming demands for high-density flash memory.
Read More
Q: Is there a charge to process a first article?
A: No. You will only need to provide the sample devices to be processed.
Q: Can ProEx serialize my programmed devices if needed?
A: Yes. We can support simple and complex serialization. We can also provide serialized labels if required.
"In a career of purchasing and supply chain roles at electronics companies in 9 states from CA to NY over a period of decades, I can honestly say that ProEx is - without question - the most responsive, customer - focused business I have had the pleasure of working with."
Mark Babb
Copyright © 2006 - 2013 PROEX, LLC | Customer Survey | Request a Quote


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Why aren't you a member of SGClub.com yet??
» Join 130,000+ other members in chatting. » Make lots of new friends here. » Keep up-to-date with current events. » Participate in Club outings. » Download lots of Free Stuff!
Registration just takes 2mins and is absolutely free so join our community today!
I Want to Choose my Own Personal Nickname Now!
im totally into animes and japdoramas!


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Parkinson's disease is a degenerative nerve disorder. Perhaps you join me in having friends or relatives afflicted with this illness. Likely you know of some of the notable celebrates who suffer from Parkinsonism, such as Billy Graham, Muhammad Ali, and Michael J. Fox.
A common symptom of Parkinson's disease is what one might call a distortion of scale, where the person talks either too fast or too slow, or speaks too loudly or too softly, or exaggerates normal movements, and so on. Sometimes the sufferer might write in a miniature but perfect font requiring a magnifying glass to read; other times he might scribe huge letters, again in perfect form. Sometimes the person might be walking down an aisle at a normal pace, when suddenly his pace quickens and his steps shorten until he freezes in his tracks.
The outside observer of all these deviations from normal patterns might conclude the disease has affected the ability of the person's brain to coordinate with his muscles, or has caused progressive nerve damage to the muscles themselves. Apparently this is not the case. In his book, Awakenings, Dr. Sacks pinpoints the cause to the disease distorting the sufferer's perception of space and time. For example, the above mentioned person who walks faster, faster, faster in ever shortening steps, and then freezes, does so because from his perspective he has run out of space to walk in. He actually maintained the same normal pace and stride throughout the exercise; but from our vantage point, where space remained constant, he appeared to walk faster and then grow paralyzed, as if his muscles spasmed and then cramped up. In his reality, though, he was doing what any of us would do trying to maintain a steady pace in an a constantly decreasing space.
The sufferer of Parkinsonism hasn't lost his understanding of what the sundry metrics of space and time mean, either quantitatively or qualitatively. He fully comprehends as well as any of us what constitutes an inch or a minute. He doesn't lose perspective of space and time because of wrong notions of the metrics. Instead, the disease distorts the space he desperately tries to apply those metrics.
Another issue with Parkinsonism is initiation. Frequently patients will remain mute or stationary unless they receive some stimulus from the outside. If we speak to them, they will answer back. If we play music, they will begin to sing, and so on. It's not that the disease has affected them motorically or somehow confused their thinking, rather it inhibits initiation. They may want to initiate, but can't.
Here's where the plot thickens in a fascinating way. We can override the sufferer's spacial distortions by providing him with a template by which to follow. For example, we draw equally spaced lines on the floor. The person, if he attends, can follow the lines and walk across the floor in a regulated pace; but his movement will appear mechanical. Now, here's the beautiful thing. If one then takes the person's arm and walks with him, he will maintain regulation but also acquire the form, fluidity and grace of the human motion. Similarly, one can speak to the otherwise mute person, and as I said, he will, if he chooses, answer back. If he speaks too loudly or too softly, one can say so, and he can modulate accordingly.
Do you see where I'm going with this?
All of us, because we have rebelled against our God, have afflicted ourselves with a spiritual Parkinsonism. We are no longer able to initiate towards God, and we operate from a distorted perception of real space and time. But because of His great love for us, God first calls us, by His Son, Jesus the Christ, to leave our darkness; and if we choose, we answer back. And He lays out before us a metric (e.g., think ten commandments, here) by which to reorder us from our distorted world. But this is not sufficient to heal us; our actions remain mechanical and cold. So He reaches out His hand--the very hand of Jesus--gently takes us by the arm and, if we let Him, walks beside us. A wondrous thing happens. In time, we find ourselves not only moving in sync with His holiness, but flowing with the warm form and gracefulness of the Divine motion of His Love.
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Spiritual Parkinsonism
Parkinson's disease is a degenerative nerve disorder. Perhaps you join me in having friends or relatives afflicted with this illness. Likely you know of some of the notable celebrates who suffer from Parkinsonism, such as Billy Graham, Muhammad Ali, and Michael J. Fox.
Posted by Bruce Kokko at 3:16 PM 0 comments
Monday, July 23, 2012
To Dream the Impossible Dream
I'm a dreamer. No, not the type who wiles away his life by dreaming instead of working--although, I suppose I've done my fair share of that, too. What I mean is I have an active mind when I'm sleeping. In fact, I would go so far as to say I'm a good sleeper because I so enjoy the many adventures my brain conjures up.
Most often my dreams are plain silly, such as the time in high school I dreamt of being a member of the mission impossible team. After we had accomplished our mission and just before I awoke, I remember climbing into a limo as credits started to roll in the foreground.
Sometimes the plots of my dreams are quite elaborate, and I would swear they last a lot longer than the few seconds to a minute the experts claim. One such dream has me baffled to this day. The dream involved several characters involved two love stories, one tragic and one, well, the kind dreams are made of. As the dream unfolded it became clear to me that my friend's girlfriend was planning to shoot him for money to bail her father out of hock. I arrived late at the scene of the climax to find my friend walking down a dock towards his girlfriend. I started running after him to stop him. Meanwhile, his girlfriend raised her pistol, and pulled the trigger. The instant the shot rang out I awoke to the sound of my mother, in real time, dropping a melmac plate on the floor in the other room. How my mind managed to conceive this long drama and choreograph the finish, which was both logical and fitting to the story, with a real and totally random event defies explanation.
My dreams have also yielded solutions to real-life conundrums. When we moved into our first home the narrow and steep stairway leading upstairs was being renovated, so we were, with some difficulty, able to move a queen-size box-springs to the second floor. Later, when it came time to move, we couldn't fit the box-springs through the finished stairwell. There was no other way out; the second-story windows were too small. It caused me some distress because I hadn't planned on adding a new queen-sized bed to all the other expenses of the move. So I slept on it. And in my dream I imagined I could simply turn the box-springs over, gently cut away the side fabric, saw through the wood on each side, fold the box-springs in half, carry it down stairs, unfold it, and brace it together with metal plates bolted into each side. When I awoke, I ripped the bed clothes off the mattress, flipped over the box-springs, and did exactly as I had dreamed--done and done.
Of course, as with most people I've dreamed really impossible dreams, such as flying, or jumping off buildings without getting injured, or the one I had a few days ago that prompted this posting. I was in a hospital, but not as a patient. The administrator asked me to fill in for the regular physician who would be absent the next day. The point is I knew I was no medical doctor; years ago my three and a half year old daughter dispelled any possible confusion on that account when she told a stranger, "Yea, my daddy's a doctor, but not the kind that does anybody any good." I was sweating in my sleep; why did I agree to such a thing. A group of stern men dropped in my office later that day to ask me if I knew what I was doing because the last substitute had been a total hack. For some reason I assured them they needn't worry. I quickly realized--at least in the time span of a dream--I was in over my head. At first I thought I might fake myself through, but quickly saw my folly. My wife, who has had real medical experience, gave me her stethoscope and told me how to run through all the vital signs. I listened to my own heart so I could figure out what a normal heart sounded like. To make a long story short I managed to make it through the fateful day as a physician, and everybody went away happy before I woke up. How did I succeed in the impossible--even by dream's standards? I delegated.
I got to thinking about this, as I am want to do, and realized that God calls each of us to the impossible task of entering His kingdom. Impossible, because all of us are so far removed from the relationship that such a venture requires. Indeed, we are so corrupted we no longer know how corrupted we are. Don't despair at this reality. Jesus tells us that what is impossible for us is possible for God. God loves us so much that He has made the way back for us. He gives us the means to see our plight, choose His way, and then succeed to achieve the purpose he has created us for in His eternal kingdom. And as in my impossible dream, this achievement will involve delegation.
God never intended a single person to have a relationship with Him. God told the first man, "It's not good for you to be alone." For one thing, God's love wants to expand out into ever enlarging relationships. For another, I'm not even sure we could learn to love as God loves and so calls us to in his kingdom, if our love was confined between us and Him. I think this is what God meant by what He said to Adam. Love would not be completed unless Adam could spread that love to his own kind. In a very real sense, it takes three to tango.
One way this love plays out in God's kingdom is delegation. Not only does our success in realizing our created purpose require grace from God, it also requires the grace God is giving to others. It is as a united community that we achieve our created and eternal purpose. But not in an ant hill commune, where we would operate according to the Borg; nor is it like the communities we find ourselves in this fallen world, where competition is the engine. No, Saint Paul makes it quite clear that in the kingdom everyone works in the kingdom as individuals honored and respected and needed for both his/her individual success and the completion of the kingdom. God's kingdom is a unity of individuals knitted together and empowered by the engine of Love.
In closing, I wonder if we Christians think about delegation, such as I am pondering here, as an aspect of God's love? If not, I'm afraid we might just wake up some day from an impossible dream.
Posted by Bruce Kokko at 4:10 PM 0 comments
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Are You There, God?
A young
widow grieves the loss of her husband—too soon—a life preempted—the vigor of
youth spilled by dispassionate disease.
Now she must cling to a memory, clutch a pillow still warm from her
husband's presence, and cover her ears to the deafening silence. She cries out in her despair: "Why didn't you
spare him, God?"
The disciples of John the Baptist approached Jesus and asked Him:
Posted by Bruce Kokko at 6:43 PM 2 comments
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Vista Experience
The dictionary defines vista as a distant view seen through a passage. I've come to realize my life has been punctuated by what I call vista experiences. Perhaps it was inevitable having grown up in Colorado where vistas abound. I recall, for example, sitting on a ridge looking out over South Park--a thousand square mile high-altitude plain northwest of Colorado Springs--how quickly I lost myself in its vastness. Later, even though I hadn't physically moved an inch, I recovered myself far removed from where I had started. I had had a vista experience.
There is no guarantee natural vistas will engender vista experiences, though. About eleven years ago my son and I climbed a 14150 ft peak in southwest Colorado. Standing atop the world certainly took my breath away and I definitely felt the elation of accomplishment, but despite all that and the awesome spectacle of the panorama spread out about me in all directions, I didn't have a vista experience.
There are those who believe drugs will induce a vista experience. Nonsense. Timothy Leary's mantra of "turn on, tune in, drop out" has proven fatal to our society in terms of, among other things, escalated crime, broken homes, and yes, even slavery. Artificial encounters such as one gets from drugs and alcohol always exact a price--always take something away from a person. But true vista experiences always give the person something--at least when he's open to it--and usually what is imparted will include a liberation.
Now, some of you at this point might be thinking, "He's going to bring the discussion around to religious experiences." Actually, not. I have had very few of what might be called religious experiences in my fifty-two year walk with Christ, and none of them were vista experiences. I should note, however, that God has always been beside me during my vista experiences. Indeed, it is a look, a gesture, or word from Him that provides meaning to the experience. You see, all genuine vista experiences have content; they must, because vista experiences effect a displacement--a movement either towards or away from something--such as I earlier described had happened in my South Park encounter. And motion requires the input of content, be it wisdom, insight, vision, or what have you. In fact, vista experiences involve a sudden focusing of some set of events, impressions, thoughts, and ideas intrinsic to the person that prior to that moment defied coalescence, like Darth Vader vainly trying to lock in on Luke Skywalker's x-wing.
Perhaps, instead, you are thinking, "Oh, wow, man, the dude's getting existential." In a sense, I guess I am. But vista experiences are not leaps into the darkness; they are not hopeless attempts at grasping for meaning that isn't really there. Vista experiences are real precisely because they reveal real things about you. During a vista experience something suddenly resonates deep within you. Often times music, stories, and especially movies can become vista experiences; that's why you tend to gravitate back to them over and over again. Others might hear or see the same thing yet go away indifferent or merely entertained; but it always seems to resonate powerfully with you. And you might not even know why. The point is the resonance is real; meaning that has long eluded you has suddenly been brought to light; quite unexpectedly, you see a distant view of truth through a passage cut by a song, a prose, a poem, a motion-picture, a display of nature, or something else you would have never thought capable. And it behooves you to understand the revelation because it is a key piece to the puzzle of who you truly are.
What I'm relating is the wonder of vista experiences, and the reason all of us will eventually encounter them. I'm convinced vista experiences are those unexpected moments the Holy Spirit calls us.........................................."Take my yoke on you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls."
Posted by Bruce Kokko at 3:58 PM 1 comments
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Follow Me
Recently, I finished reading the powerhouse biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer by E. Metaxas. This should be required reading for everyone, especially those who have forgotten or ignored the recent dark history of our planet. The spiritual and physical lessons to be learned from Bonhoeffer's association with an once civilized society that turned barbaric are invaluable to us who live coincidental to a surprisingly similar world. It would seem that most of humanity has forgotten or worse denied the horrors of only a mere seventy or so years ago. But isn't that just like us? We tend to remember only the pleasant moments in our pasts, and always to everyone's detriment; because lessons forsaken will need to be learned again. The tragedy of this, of course, is the tuition always goes up.
The purpose of this post is not to extol the virtues of Metaxas' magnum opus, but to briefly comment on a frustration Bonhoeffer had expressed to his dear friend, Bethge:
"The more we have known of good things, the more insipid the thin lemonade of later literature becomes, sometimes almost to the point of making us sick. Do you know a work of literature written in the last, say, fifteen years that you think has any lasting quality? I don't. It is partly idle chatter, partly propaganda, partly self-pitying sentimentality, but there is no insight, no ideas, no charity, no substance and almost always the language is bad and constrained." [E. Metaxas, Bonhoeffer Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy: Thomas Nelson, Nashville, 2010, p. 461.]
Hum. I had to laugh because every generation, it seems, sees the contributions of the incoming generation as lackluster and in want of the quality, depth, and prestige of the past. We tend to see the past as a kind of golden era, where if we could just go back, like returning to the idyllic River City, Iowa, life would be happier, more meaningful, less trite, less superficial, more sincere, and therefore much more secure. I'm guilty of this with my own children, as I have for years decried what I see as a fatal decline of the arts--movies, literature, and especially music--in the hands of their incompetent practitioners (although, perhaps I'm not a good example because in my case I'm right, just ask my daughter).
Woody Allen deftly explores this phenomenon of the inviolable golden era in his recent film, Midnight in Paris. Allen channels himself transparently through his main character who longs to be a part of the glory--and, yes, decadent--days of literature and art that burned brightly in the second decade, twentieth century Paris. The hapless protagonist gets his wish and soon learns that there is no end to this romantic reactionism. In the end, he realizes that we are meant to build on the achievements of our forebears and not be paralyzed by them.
We Christians--particularly American Christians--tend to assess the current sad state of affairs through rose-colored lenses of a past golden era. We think if only our society returned to the clear principles established by our fore-fathers of morality, patriotism--the solid line connecting God and country--and clear black and white expectations demanded of everyone, we wouldn't experience the confusion, depravity, and chaos so evident today.
First of all, there has never been such an Eden in this or any country, either in recent or distant past--except the original Eden. Sure, there may have been pockets of our society that experienced approximations of this perceived nirvana--rural homogeneous communities--but they did so by rigorously sweeping under the carpet everything that made them uncomfortable. As with all denials of reality--both good and bad--all that did was create a dysfunction that has now come to roost.
And secondly, we will never effect positive change on the current world by trying to impose on it mores that have died along with the cultural contexts that made them relevant. Our culture has changed from the past; it demands a fresh approach precisely because its context is out of touch with previous ones. The present has its own unique context.
The only way we can help the present world is to continue to address the problem common to all the eons of diverse cultural contexts that came before, because the problem is fundamental to the human condition. And we must do this using the current context with all of its assumptions, perspectives, arts, sciences, and technologies.
The problem of all ages is humanity disenfranchised itself from God. Today, because of the current cultural milieu, this problem may manifest itself it seemingly unheard of ways (I suspect if we really looked into even this we would discover we are mistaken), but the problem is the same as it has always been. The solution is Jesus the Christ.
We will not lead people to Jesus by imposing past mores on them, but by introducing them to Him. They should meet Him in our eyes and lives; they should see Him evidenced by our love practiced in holiness both between each other and everyone else. Unfortunately, one attitude that hides Him is the all too prevalent notion that Jesus is all those things that seemingly comforted us in our past golden days; we have wrongly replaced an unqualified love for Him with a love for artifacts of Him.
Jesus calls us to follow Him. The world contexts may change, but Jesus never does, nor does the kingdom He calls all of us into. We will never lead others there or ourselves remain unless we follow Jesus. He will faithfully show us how to apply and demonstrate the eternal kingdom principles of love and holiness in the changing contexts of each new generation, so all who have and will listen will be gathered into His kingdom on that day when God is all and in all.
Do you accept this? Don't answer until you hear what Jesus says about it:
As they were walking along the road, someone said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." Jesus said to him, "Foxes have dens and the birds in the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." Jesus said to another, "Follow me." But he replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." But Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God." Yet another said, "I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say goodbye to my family." Jesus said to him, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God." [Luke 9:57-62][NET]
Posted by Bruce Kokko at 12:55 PM 0 comments


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Dr Gary Parker's popular Christian family book brilliantly combines a family teaching book about the development of a human being from the DNA upwards (and tasteful sex education) with a very powerful pro-life, pro-creation, pro-family and pro-Christian message. Highly recommended for every Christian family.
Please be aware that such topics as abortion and birth defects are also covered, but in a special way.


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Los Alamos National Laboratory
Supercomputing Challenge: student's algorithm solves real-world problem
- Kathy Keith
- Community Relations & Partnerships
- (505) 665-4400
Jordan Medlock wins supercomputer challenge with his algorithm that automates counting and analyzing of plaques
The winner was Jordon Medlock from Albuquerque's Manzano High School. He won for his computer algorithm that automates the process of counting and analyzing plaques (substances in the blood such as fat and cholesterol) in magnetic resonance images of persons diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. The program vastly speeds up the process of identifying the very small and difficult to see plaques. Cole Kendrick, from Los Alamos Middle School, took second place.
In all, 60 teams representing elementary, middle, and high schools in New Mexico, had an opportunity to take part in tours, talks, and demonstrations with Laboratory scientists and researchers. It took more than 100 LANL employees to help make the Supercomputing Challenge a success
"The mission of the Supercomputing Challenge is to teach students how to use powerful computers to analyze, model, and solve real-world problems," said David Kratzer of the Laboratory's High Performance Computer Systems group and the Supercomputing Challenge coordinator.
The goal of the year-long competition is to increase knowledge of science and computing, introduce students and teachers to computers and applied mathematics, and instill an enthusiasm for science in the students, their families, and the community. The Challenge is project-based learning, geared to teaching participants a wide range of skills, including research, writing, teamwork, time management, oral presentations, and computer programming. Any New Mexico elementary, middle-school, or high-school student is eligible to enter.


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If you're concerned about high pension costs in California, some progress was made in seven of the state's cities on election day.
Ed Mendel, the journalist who most closely follows this issue, has this helpful roundup.
The only defeat for a local ballot measure aimed at reducing taxpayer costs of pensions? San Francisco, where Public Defender Jeff Adachi (pictured) led a high-profile campaign.


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City Life Through a Photographer's Lens
His photographs of Hong Kong's huge apartment blocks transformed Michael Wolf from a photojournalist to an artist. With more than a dozen art books under his belt, Wolf talks about how SARS launched his career and his new book, 'Small Gods, Big City.'
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
... I ... something like two cities it is very critical to my question the ... quality of life is that's ... where we want to go ... he will win I would say they are with our oath ... I'm living in Hong Kong since nineteen ninety four working with the photo correspondent for Star magazine my son came home from school and said you know ... one of my friends of the side of sorrows and that my wife ... I just really ... an active so I said ok we ... went with you and us from the airplanes with this summer's for the fourth ... not going to stay here to my hometown project if it's the last thing I do before we leave ... they've left I went out everyday from morning until night photographing ... I would have the films of the local a scan of the evening I would print all night of ... the house was empty so I could put everything on the floor and figure out how series were ... after six weeks or so I'm ... the prospect of a Hong Kong front or back door came out ... I ... architecture intensity with very successful right ... from the start ... and whenever I went to an opening ... one of the first question was how people live and what's it like to live inside these that ... and inside these monsters housing blocks ... and um ... I wanted to address these questions if you look at what all the rooms have in common with the rice cooker and the aircon in faith and ... the fam rice cooker o'clock ... altars somewhere in the color red ... and the ... Chinese calendar and if you look closely at that all the pictures you'll see that most of them is that the twenty fourth twenty fifth ... twenty seven twenty two for four days I did this so I didn't really have time ... to heat ... I'm surrounded by if he I mean I would say they're at least twenty thousand to forty of eyeballs ... looking on ... and I'm looking out into this new windows every night and I was that was like a dream come true I felt like Alfred Hitchcock and the rear window ... everyone is Dorothea what each of the IPO is expected to see mergers Friday's sex that means these in these crazy stories dramatic stories for beating story ... but ... and I think ... it's always ... the same people come home to tired ... they get themselves the dishes something to eat or they get themselves a styrofoam box ... they take up their feet ... and they turn on the flat screen TV ... for God's ... and which are ubiquitous overhaul of Libor and the ground level and ... the shops ... then all the old housing ... estates in front of the doors ... and for me it's the it's the Arctic which which which interest me I love the way they were often jammed in between I it's ... how they were so typically Hong Kong ... they were jammed into a corner and there's little cackling like if it was just ... it was all know that from the firm ... keep the small that it was yellow ... and and I have the time when ... one of the the red in the paper and caught fire in which ETFs ... if the computer ... everyday I go out ... I still feel excited and I still ... notice things ... and I would say it's not on a hourly basis is on the ... three men that they have been everywhere look I'm always looking up and I'm always thinking on that that isn't that interesting in it just keeps on going ... so you know I I have this umbrella and balance for me another gift and suddenly I realize that all the topics I've been working on ... are comforted by an overall topic which which made me have ... you know we we truly contributed to my success because you know it it's a very important topic melanin content read topic megacities what's going on with the new Goliath ... sought going to let him giving talks and lectures by that thing for me it's been very very fortunate to live with it all happened through


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It is a practice that would not be allowed today ,however it happened a lot in my day i have a few pics all (Photographers are unknown to me). An i guess TNF,ers will have a lot more .
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
..Leo & Frank Catalina Park1963.He ran out of fuel also.
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
...Mech tune up on Paul England Hillclimb special VW.
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
... Lex and Bruce Longford 1963
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
... 1965 Ginther , Ireland & WHO...Poor Honda....Who we now know is Bonnier .
Uploaded with ImageShack.us...Bonner on the back(Thanks Tim Murray)
...Baghetti BRM 1965 SPA,P. Hill & A Pilette ???
Uploaded with ImageShack.us...... Changed to 1964 (thanks to Tim)
Edited by eldougo, 20 August 2011 - 04:08.


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The pictures here begin with Colombo, move south to Galle, north to the high country, farther north to Kandy and its environs, and farther north still to the country's great archaeological sites.
The Lahugala Park was initially declared a sanctuary on 1 st July 1966 and then upgraded to a national park on 1 st October 1980. Although this is one of the smallest national parks in the country, this is a popular location for elephant enthusiasts and bird watchers.
There are 3 tanks within the park. They are, Lahugala (243ha), Kitulana and Sengamuwa. The water from these tanks flow in to the Heda Oya. These tanks are largely silted up and support an abundance of Beru grass, which is a delicacy for elephants. These lakes also support a large variety of birds, local as well as migratory.
Kandy (Ancient Senkadagala) is the last capital of the Sinhala Monarchy the History of which goes back to at least five centuries before the beginning of the Common Era. The city is surrounded by a ring of mountain ranges and Sri Lanka's largest river Mahaweli Ganga.Kandy enjoys a salubrious climate and still breathes the ancient lifestyle of the people.The heritage of Kandy, Architecture, Sculpture, painting, Dance and Music, all such cultural traditions are endemic to Sri Lanka.Kandy remains the home for all denominations of major world religions.
Udawalawe National Park lies on the boundary of Sabaragamuwa and Uva Provinces, in Sri Lanka. The reason for creating the national park was to provide a sanctuary for wild animals displaced by the construction of the Udawalawe reservoir on the Walawe River, as well as to protect the catchment of the reservoir. The reserve covers 30,821 hectares (119.00 sq mi) of land area and was established on 30 June 1972. Before the designation of the national park, the area was used for shifting cultivation (chena farming). The farmers were gradually removed once the national park was declared. The park is 165 kilometres (103 mi) from Colombo. Udawalawe is an important habitat for water birds and Sri Lankan Elephants. It is a popular tourist destination and the third most visited park in the country.
Situated at around 2000m above sea level and surrounded by lush tea plantations. Nuwara Eliya is the main hill resort of Sri Lanka and the heart of the tea industry. This city with an elevation of 6200 meters is the highest in Sri Lanka. Once a pleasure retreats of the European planters the town is still very much an English town with many English style bungalows and buildings.
History says Nuwara Eliya is discovered by a hunting party led by Dr. John Davy in 1818. The British governor at the time, Sir Edward Barnes, was told about this and subsequently decided to take residence there, soon creating a health resort, which soon became internationally renown.
David Behrens Photography
I love photography and I love nature. These albums show some of my adventures in both worlds.
Sri Lanka is one of waterfall paradises of the world. Sri Lanka has many waterfalls. Majority of them include to Nuwaraeliya district and Badulla Districts.


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Legal System
Those who are tasked with serving the public interest — but are protected by legal immunity — are well positioned to serve whatever interests they choose.
Donald Trump's crusade against Iran is being helped along by his love affair with the Saudi Regime — and its army of lobbyists.
Monopoly and Competition
The Fed


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I see that Tony Blair lost the Canadian audience's vote by 2:1 at the close of the Blair/Hitchens debate on religion being a good thing.
Peter Hitchen's played dirty, of course, by being terminally ill with cancer, and Blair was unfairly handicapped by being responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousand, and being obscenely rich as a result of it. You just can't trust these atheists to play fair!
I've had my own little debate as a result of posting the Armstrong & Miller sketch about vampires on the Alpha course on YouTube, now heading for the 9000 views mark.
Here it is – sometimes good-natured, sometimes not, mainly from America, based on Google's analysis …
To TAofMoridura
You sound like you're on the bandwagon, churning out the same rhetoric. I maintain that it is naive to think that a world without religion would be at peace. It is in man's nature to fight over the limited resources around them. Whether you believe a supernatural force said a piece of land belonged to you or you believe it's your ancestral home you will claim that land even if blood is to be spilled. Just today, N Korea are apparently starting on S Korea over some land dispute.
To samut07
The bandwagon is religion's message - I respond to it.
I don't believe that the world would be totally at peace without religion, but it would have an infinitely better chance of peace, because religions are ancient, irrational superstitions that destroy rational thought, and are at the root of most world conflicts.
Mankind will always compete for land and resources, and will tend towards violence, but this would be moderated by reason, negotiation and compromise without religion.
TAofMoridura (reply to an obscene and abusive poster whose post I deleted.)
Atheism is an individual belief, not a creed or political system. Stalinist communism was a dogmatic creed with exactly the same components, minus the supernatural, of a religion - a supreme leader whose word could not be questioned, unchallengeable dogma, silencing of criticism, persecution of unbelievers, and of course, no democracy.
I belong to no creed, no organisation of atheists - I do belong to a democratic political party, and can challenge the party line at any time.
To TAofMoridura
Actually, conflicts on this earth are rooted in land disputes, power struggle, ideological differences...There's a big bandwagon that a lot of people are riding saying religion is at the root of conflict, as if to say that without religion, mankind would be at peace with one other. That's lazy thinking. Funny clip though :
To samut07
Of course not - the Papacy who launched innumerable wars and proroms, the Jews claiming the land that Yahweh gave them and murdering their Palestinian brothers, the Muslims extremists murdering in the name of their God, the fundamentalist Christians in America who urged George W. Bush to destroy Iraq - they are all blameless.
And the omnisicient, omnipotent, omnipresent creator of everything had nothing to do with, and can do nothing about it. Of course it's not religion fault ...
totally amazing best comedy sketch i've seen for ages can't stop laughing
Jesus' sense of humour? I can think of at least two puns: "He who has ears to hear let him hear" while talking about the parable of the sower. (Ears of wheat? Get it?)
And then there's Simon's nickname - Peter = a rock = Rocky; and so you get the famous line, "You are Peter (Rocky) and on this rock I will build my church". I works better in the original and , funnily enough, in French where the equivalent of Peter is "Pierre" - literally "Rock".
Wine at our Alpha, too. But no vampires as yet.
To MorayCCR66
Stretching interpretation a bit Moray, but fair enough. My two first names are Peter Paul, which one might say is Rock Little. Reversed, it give Little Rock, but since I am a Scot with no Arkansas connection, I prefer Little Pebble - I'm not a tall man!
Jesus used humour all of the time. It's like picking up one of these mill stones, dragging it over to the sea, tying it round your neck and chucking yourself in.
Peter, you don't need a bath, you've just had a mikvah bath. (Jesus wasn't washing dirty smelly feet—as most preachers say—they were ceremonially clean.)
Whose head is on this coin? Pay unto Caesar etc… the crowd would have been laughing at this humour.
Jesus had a brilliant sense of humour if you understand it.
To bigapb1
If he had a sense of humour, it would have to be black humour, in the face of the horrors that afflict and have always afflicted our world, from natural disasters to the persecution and torture inflicted by Christians on Christians and non-Christians alike - the burnings, the auto da fes - and the horrors of war, of nuclear bombing of civilians.
Virtually every major conflict afflicting our tortured and confused planet at the moment has religion at its roots. Is Jesus laughing?
To TAofMoridura
you know what americans like you need? you need to go get yourself a house in a Chaldean village in Baghdad and there you will see things holistically and not on your couch laughing at the evils of religion because I have seen enough of what atheism can do to last a milinium... If you think religion is bad, atheist fundamentalists fanatics are no better
To poster removed for obscene and abusive comment
A few corrections - I am not an American, I am a Scot. I don't find fundamentalist religion funny at all. It's millennium, not milinium. I don't have a couch to lie on. I have never met an "atheist fundamentalist fanatic", and neither has anyone else. And what has "a Chaldean village in Bagdhad" got to do with atheists?
To TAofMoridura
You never met an atheist fundamentalist fanatic, or seen one? There are a lot of atheists who say science can't prove God and evolution is automatically against God. Well, those people are in my opinion fundamentalists, as God is not something you can prove OR disprove, and evolution hasn't something to do with
To HubbyMe
An atheist is someone who does not believes in God, the benevolent creator of everything. Atheists take the scientific position that all we know about our Universe is based on hypotheses, subsequently validated by evidence.
For an atheist or scientist, everything we know is forever open to question, and must be re-evaluated against new evidence. The evidence supporting evolution is formidable and growing, but the atheist has an open mind. Religion offers only faith-based assertions
excellent dramatical short, I'll have to watch this again, maybe suggest a showing of it at the alpha course my CU is running :)
To MCTimemaster
I suppose if the Alpha course can convert vampires, then they are really cooking with gas ...
If your Dad was the one to invent farts then you've got to have a sense of humor!
To Tearfund
But if he invented TB, multiple sclerosis, torture, famine, floods, cancer etc. perhaps not so funny. Or does Dad only claim the good things and the minor ones?
I'm curious to know who made this. It's hilarious! Does anyone know who made this video?
To thezahls
The exceptional British comedy team of Armstrong and Miller – BBC
I don't know if they also wrote it, but if not, all credit to the scriptwriter - and to the casting and production values. Best I 've seen in a long time! Makes most British comedy seem like kid's stuff
I run the Alpha Course at my church, and think this is very funny. I have to take point with your comment that Jesus never displayed a sense of humour, I think he had a great sense of humour, many of the parables he told were full of humour. He certainly would have been a good person to have around for a party, after all his first miracle was turning water into wine!
To sbickers1
I admire Armstrong and Miller enormously - fine comedy actors. I never said Jesus didn't have a sense of humour - I just can't find evidence of it. Maybe something got lost - like so many other things in the collection of ancient manuscripts called the Bible (if you are a Chrisitian). Of course, even that begs the question of which version - take your choice form a mind-boggling variety.
I'm a Christian, and I don't find it offensive at all. Very funny actually.
I think that Jesus displayed some wry humour from time to time. Anyway, on point, as a Christian I find this sketch very amusing in the greatest British tradition of the gentle poking of fun. It says something that 'Alpha' is now such a recognised thing that it has become something of an institution to be ribbed.
To jdhchelt
Examples of Jesus' sense of humour? If his father had anything to do with the state of the planet,then he needs a sense of humour.
But it's all mankind's fault - misuse of free will plus a few interventions from tectonic plates, hurricanes, plagues, etc. But the church said the tectonic plates had free will as well ...
I see the Alpha Course as in the same business as the Church of Scientology, but a bit more happy clappy. Of course, the Alpha Course won't come and get me ...
To TAofMoridura
It might...
To jdhchelt
Surely not? I'm old enough to remember Scientology when it was just a pseudo-scientific article in 'Astounding Science Fiction', - Dianetics - a New Science of Mental Health - by a mediocre SF writer called L. Ron Hubbard - that was before it became a cult, then a religion, and big, big money entered the equation.
To TAofMoridura
I'm only joking. After all, this is a comedy video! I find the observational humour in this video - down to the overenthusiastic pretty girls that you don't have a hope with, and the vicar/curate all dressed down and relevant, is so close to reality that it amuses me each time I watch it. So beware because the Alpha police are coming for you! ;-)
To jdhchelt
It's the funniest thing I've seen in a long time, and I have watched it several time - it never palls. Makes the infantile comedy of, say, Michael McIntyre seem - well, infantile. It has edge without being obscene or abusive. But I must remember the great Lenny Bruce, and qualify that ...
We have wine at our Alpha courses.
To PaladinMark
An amusing little Transylvanian red, with a certain fruitiness cloaking its mordant quality perhaps?


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I am having problem with creating a java program for library lending system. Basically i already have about 80% of the codes. The 80% already have functions to display book and quantity on hand, able to check out item, and display the history of books going out.
I am absolutely clueless about what to do, how can i add a class which will do return on book?