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I am going to be making 16 cards for the stationery box I made yesterday. Once I had a "theme" for the cards I figured the best way to go about this project was to do it "assembly line" style. Getting the pieces made as I go along and putting them together in stages.
The stamp set I have chosen is the Tim Holtz Stamper's Anonymous "Holiday Collection" with all the Santa images.
The lighting in my room is pretty bad today and I apologize for the bad lighting. I've used VersaMark on these stamps and applied them to some paper I have had forever. I don't know what the brand is or anything….other than it is off white with some flecks of color in it.
After stamping each image four (4) times I covered the VersaMark images with black embossing powder.
This part of the project took about 45 minutes to an hour. Inking the stamp, aligning it next to (but not on top of) the next image, then applying the black embossing powder. The most difficult part was trying to keep track of invisible. The VersaMark disappears once applied to white paper and it was pretty hard to see.
I would not recommend stamping the image one at a time then applying the embossing powder just to keep track of where you had stamped. That fine powder, even tapped off and blowing the extra off, leaves a residue on the paper that is hard to see and leaves voids when you try to stamp over the fines.
Next was to heat set the embossing powder on the sheets of 8-1/2 x 11 papers. This phase of the work took about 20 minutes. Moving the paper around as the embossing powder melted and trying not to scorch the paper nor burn my fingers.
These are the inks I'm using on this project. VersaMark for the stamping, Fired Brick, Tumbled Glass, and Antique Lace Distress Stains to "color" the images. I'm practicing the Tim Holtz technique of smearing color around and blending it in.
First up is Fired Brick Distress Stain.
Using a makeup sponge I applied the distress stain in semi random places on each of the stamped and embossed images. Buff the sponge and color right over the black embossing to get the color down in the open areas of the embossing.
Next was Tumbled Glass and a different makeup sponge.
Once again, in a semi random placement I sponged on the Tumbled Glass trying not to mix it with the previous application of red. This is starting to look like a Sunday cartoon page 😦
The final bit of inking was with Antique Linen Distress Stain and another sponge.
This color was added into the remaining white areas of the stamped and embossed images.
Yep. I had the same thought. Crapazoid, this looks all messed up! Some of those Santas look almost menacing with the way they are colored. Yikes!
This part of the process took about another 30 minutes to do. Covering each of the images with the three colors – one after another – and adding in more color to some that seemed to have gotten lighter.
Next I sprayed both pages with some Glimmer Mist by Tattered Angels.
This part of the project took about 10 minutes to do. Fussing with where to spray what was the biggest time waster.
Once the pages were sprayed I left them to air dry for about an hour. Go get some breakfast and check on the blogs I read and my email. Multi-tasking 😀
After the Glimmer Mist dried I used scissors to cut the images from the paper then I used a paper trimmer to get the images cut straight.
Once each image was cut out and squared up they didn't look quite as bad as they did right next to each other.
Next was an application of Walnut Stain Distress Ink to the cut edges of the images.
These images are so dark I thought they need to have a white border around them. Using some Whisper White card stock from Stampin' Up! I cut the mattes at 2-3/4″ x 3-3/4″. Adhesive was applied to the image and then stuck down to the Whisper White card stock.
Looking through my stash of papers I needed to find some black card stock. What I found was a couple 12″ x 12″ pieces of Club Scrap card stock with a print on the other side.
I cut this 12″ x 12″ card stock into 3″ x 4″ pieces. The black card stock will be mounted to the back of the white card stock for another matte effect.
Cutting up the Whisper White card stock, adhering it to the back of each of the 16 images took almost an hour to do. Cutting up the black card stock and adhering it to the white card stock took almost another hour to do.
The next part of this assembly line project was to cut and score the card bases. I had to hunt around for eight (8) sheets of 8-1/2″ x 11″ card stock. The first four sheets were a snap to go through. Cut each sheet in half horizontally at 5-1/2″. Then score each of the 8-1/2″ x 5-1/2″ card stock pieces in half at 4-1/4″.
The next set of four sheets of card stock were cut at 4-3/4″ x 6-1/2″ and scored horizontally at 3-1/4″. I now have 16 card bases to go with the stationery kit.
This part of the project took not quite an hour to do. This went pretty quickly. I need to get as much done as I possibly can before Monday arrives and more doctor visits for Joe.
I have envelopes for the standard A2 cards – the 4-1/4″ x 5-1/2″ card bases. I don't have envelopes for the 4-3/4″ x 3-1/4″ card bases. I had to make them. I saw a video on YouTube using the Martha Steward score board to make the envelopes. So I did a "mash up" of my technique and the YouTube video.
First, measure the card base on the diagonal. Measure from the top left corner down to the bottom right corner. Once you get that measurement you will add one (1) inch. This will be 6-3/4″.
I located eight (8) sheets of an off white card stock, similar to what I used to stamp the images on. Each sheet was cut at 6-3/4″ x 6-3/4″.
With a pencil I drew down the 6″ score line of the Martha Steward score board so I would have a point of reference for the two points of the squared up card stock. The points need to be straight up and down for this to work right.
Place your card base as close to be centered on the 6-3/4″ x 6-3/4″ paper. Eyeballing it will get you pretty close to being centered.
With the scoring tool, place it at the right top edge of the paper near the card base end. Run the score tool up to the top to see where it ends up on the measuring scale. Write that increment down on a piece of paper. Score down the paper at that designated score line.
Carefully holding the card base in place do the same with the left side of the envelope paper. Find the score line that is closest to the left edge of the card base. Make sure to go out further one score line. I went right up against the card base and that was way too close.
Turn the envelope paper one quarter turn right or left, doesn't matter. Just get the next point up at the 6″ mark and line up the bottom point with the pencil mark.
Score the paper down the closest line to the card base as you can go without being on top of the card base.
Next score the right side of the envelope paper close to the card base.
Your envelope paper will now look like this with the lines scored through it.
Make sure to write down the score lines you used to create this envelope.
Next you will be dealing with the little triangles that will need to be cut away. By cutting out these triangles you will be removing BULK from the corners of your envelope. This will give you some really smooth and fabulous corners.
Cut on the outer part of the triangle. Remove the creased edge of the triangle.
Once you have finished cutting out the triangles your envelope will look like this.
Align the score mark for the bottom edge of the fold up area with the pencil line on the score board. Decided where you want the point cut off and score that line. Turn the envelope around to the other side and do the same thing. Score the area you want to cut away on the flap. Cut away the score mark and your envelope is just about finished.
Your flat flaps will look like this.
Test fit your card base into the envelope. Close up the envelope around the card base without using adhesive.
Apply adhesive to the side flaps at the bottom edge to the point. Sorry, I don't have any photos in focus of this procedure. Fumble fingers!
Once you have our envelopes all put together then it is time to add an adhesive strip to the closure part of the envelope. It is IMPORTANT to leave the protective paper on the adhesive. You don't want the envelope to stick shut after all this hard work.
A stack of envelopes ready for the cards to be finished.
That is all for today. More than enough for one day. I think it is time to go check on Joe and see if he feels like a "Scrap Widower". The envelope creation of this project took several hours to do, about three hours to be exact.
I may have to pack a basket of supplies to take with me to the doctor appointments with Joe this coming week. Have something to do while he is being examined and getting his stitches removed.
I still have to create the 3″ x 3″ note cards and envelopes and the gift tags for this box of goodies. I think I can keep myself occupied this week 😀 Yes, and I also need to decorate the lid of the box. So much yet to do!
Those of you in the US that are preparing for Thanksgiving this coming Thursday I ask that you take a moment to consider what you are thankful for this year. I have a lot to be thankful for. I will end this post with a bit of gratitude.
I am thankful for the doctors that have taken care of my Joe this year. The care shown by them and the knowledge they have to combat the pulmonary embolisms he suffered through and the appendicitis recently, plus all the other doctors that keep track of him and make sure he is on the way to wellness. I appreciate each of them.


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The order for the MTS used by DCI for training foreign naval forces
PIRIOU registers an order for a Maritime Training Ship (MTS) to be operated by navOcéan, a joint company created by PIRIOU and DCI. This 44-meter ship will be delivered in autumn 2013 and will be named «Almak» («desert lynx») as a star of the constellation of Andromeda.
Construction will be ensured by CHANTIERS PIRIOU, the naval construction branch based in Concarneau (29), and its maintenance by PIRIOU NAVAL SERVICES within the scope of a 10-year In-Service Support (ISS) contract.
A multi-purpose training ship: close collaboration has allowed PIRIOU and DCI to design a new generation maritime training ship prototype, that is sturdy with high maneuevring capabilities, economical in terms of investment and operating costs.
This training ship would be able to embark 7 crew members, 2 passengers and 16 trainees and instructors. A spacious Bridge will offer 360° vision; navigation equipment, notably radar and synthetic cartography, will be equipped with repeaters in the training room; the ship's draft will be optimized for the apprenticeship of navigation and manoeuvres in coastal areas. Its endurance will allow one-week transits at 10 knots without port of call.
The ship will spend 35 to 40 weeks per year at sea.

subset: commoncrawl


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This is a personal blog to let our family and friends know how we get on with the linguistic, cultural and culinary challenges of Asia's world city, Hong Kong. I am currently working as an Educational Assistant at Quarry Bay School, which is also where Joshua & Felix go to school.
Sunday, 11 December 2016
Camping at Treasure Island
A few weeks ago we went camping at Treasure Island, Pui O beach, Lantau. We had an awesome time, the kids adored the activities and the instructors were really kind and engaging. We did kayaking, stand-up paddle boarding, raft building, orienteering and making a shelter.
Gourmet breakfast!
Our luxurious abode
The kids helping themselves to chocolate for breakfast when they thought no one was looking!
BBQ prepared by the kids
Beautiful Pui O sunset
Bevvies for the mummies and daddies
Maverick's for lunch
Posted by Sarah Moore
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New Art Exhibit Seeks to Invoke Memories
The paintings of local artist Lori Anne Boocks will be on display at the 9605 Medical Center Drive building (Building III) from Nov. 15-Jan. 22. Boocks works for the Pediatric Nursing Certification Board, one of the tenants in Building III on the JHU Montgomery County Campus. Lori Anne Boocks is married to Stephen Boocks, who displayed his work on campus last year. Lori Anne's exhibit is called "Seeking." Hopkins Happenings asked Boocks about herself and the exhibit.
Hopkins Happenings: Tell us about yourself.
Boocks: I'm an abstract painter who incorporates text in art. Depicting memories is key to my painting. I live in Germantown and have a bachelor of fine arts degree in studio art and a minor in art history.
Hopkins Happenings: How'd you get into art and decide to become an artist?
Boocks:Kids draw, but some of us never stop as we grow up. When I took my first college level art class as a sophomore, I wasn't an art major. But I changed my major to studio art the next semester. I knew it would be risky and that if I didn't teach art, the job market would be tough. I majored in art anyway because it's what I love.
Hopkins Happenings: What kind of art do you do? What materials do you use?
Boocks: My work has been described as atmospheric. I use acrylic and charcoal to create hazy layers. Color is important. The process is messy, and for the most part I paint with my hands in gloves, not with brushes. Washes of pigment applied at the end of the process aim to give each piece a history of its own, as if I've excavated something long buried and rediscovered.
Hopkins Happenings: What is your approach for creating a work of art? What is your inspiration?
Boocks: A lot of the women in my family have had Alzheimer's or dementia disorders. My goal is to create the feeling of a memory that has made up a part of who I am. Should I alsoend up with such a disorder, my hope is to look at my work and have a connection with my past. Although this rationale may seem self-centered, so far it has translated into something more universal to which people can connect.
Hopkins Happenings: Why is the exhibit called "Seeking?"
Boocks: "Seeking" represents the ever-searching aspect for me personally as I dig up memories, put them on display and invite viewers to search for their own meaning in the work.
Hopkins Happenings: What do you hope viewers of your art experience upon seeing it?
Boocks:I try to give viewers a hint with titles or a legible word here or there on the canvas to launch them into their own memories. I want my work to make a personal connection and resonate on a deep level. Sometimes people are not sure how to process abstract art, but I hope they open up to what they see and let color or curiosity lead them on a deeper journey.
Hopkins Happenings: What is your job for Pediatric Nurses Certification Board? Do you get to use your artistic talents at all?
Boocks:As the director of marketing and communications for the Pediatric Nursing Certification Board, I definitely rely on my artistic eye and background. Part of my job is art design oversight that uses two-dimensional design skills, typography and my undergraduate printmaking expertise.
Hopkins Happenings: Your husband exhibited on campus last year. Tell us a little about how you met and what it's like to be married to a fellow artist.
Boocks:I recently wrote about this at length at http://lorianneboocks.weebly.com/blog/artist-interview-stephen-boocks. I met Stephen Boocks in my first semester of Old Dominion University's painting program. We were good friends for several years. Then we fell in love. Overall, it's great. We get each other. We understand the need for alone time. We support each other and get through the inevitable ruts together. We are each other's cheerleaders, crazy-idea sounding boards, and weakness offsets (he stretches my canvas; I edit his writing). He is my reality check, my toughest critic, my rejection consolation and my acceptance celebrator. Not being married to another artist is difficult for me to imagine.
CATEGORY: The Arts, Tenant News


text: ProProfs Knowledge Base makes it easy for you to create online documentation, user manuals, internal knowledge bases, and customer knowledge bases quickly and efficiently. We have created basic templates to help you get started. You can add your company branding and update the color scheme to fit your own brand. You can use the structure we created or add your own.


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I think I found myself a new favorite color combo...Mint Julep Shadow Ink by Hero Arts, Mojito by WPlus9 (available today!) and Hawaiian Shore by Papertrey. I love it! I stuck pretty close to the sketch this week, this was a fun one to work with! SO many possibilities!
Thanks for stopping by!


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KNPB whets your appetite with a new block of programming featuring chefs and cooking.
Watch Mondays at 1:00 PM, 1:30 PM and 2:00 PM on KNPB Channel 5.1.
A Chef's Life
Emmy-winning series featuring chef Vivian Howard along with her husband Ben Knight as they juggle the pressures of running two restaurants and raising their young twins.
The Mind of a Chef
Narrated by Executive Producer Anthony Bourdain, this series offers a rare and beautiful thing — an intelligent show and a cinematic journey about cooking.
The Great British Baking Show
Follow bakers as they don aprons and head for the tent in the British countryside, hoping to be named Britain's best when challenged by judges Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood.
KNPB | A Chef's Life
When to watch
A Chef's Life
KNPB | The Mind of a Chef
When to watch
The Mind of a Chef
KNPB | The Great British Baking Show


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CEOs Reshaping the Foundry Industry
The World Foundry Organization is delighted to be hosting a World Foundry Summit in New York, USA, on the 18th and 19th of May.
With over 30 member countries from all regions of the world, the World Foundry Organization (WFO) has access to a network of vital foundry knowledge that is gathered and shared on your behalf to enhance the worldwide foundry industry.
The World Foundry Organization is the recognised centre of strategic foundry knowledge, designed to develop, enhance and improve the production of metal castings; through the latest technical and sustainable industry practices.
All the latest important news and reports from the cast metals industry around the world.
Delegates from 27 countries attended the WFO Technical Forum and 59th IFC Portoroz on 18th to 20th September 2019.
Organized by the Slovenian Foundrymen Society, the event attracted over 400 attendees who took part in three days of business...> More
Find out all of the upcoming foundry related events happening around the world.
The WFO is a global network of technical knowledge and resource that is vital to every foundry association, foundry and foundry worker.
If you have a query please fill in the form below and we will come back to you as soon as possible.
© Copyright World Foundry Organisation 2017 | Registered in England No. 6296468 | Site by Verto


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How about hosting Bitcoin wallets and possibly other crypto-currencies?
Likewise, buying, selling, and trading with bitcoins would be great so a member can convert some cash into bitcoins.
I'm really enjoying all the dialogue around this topic - thanks to everyone for sharing your thoughts. I recently listened to an interesting Fresh Air podcast on NPR about understanding Bitcoin, and I thought I'd share it with the group! You can access it here. Happy listening! JohnS
So, a couple of things I'd like to make straight. There's no reason why BECU should change their business agenda to become primarily a host or exhange for Alt/Bitcoin addresses and wallets and certainly shouldn't be forcing all of the members to adopt any type of currency in any capacity whatsoever. It should be a pure opt-in. Might even require a fee just to generate the address or wallet and to make transactions.
Bitcoin/Altcoin wallet and address hosting should be available only as an option to the member just like other options such as credit cards and money market accounts. Yes, the currencies are frought with possible fraud of all types, but so is cash. I'd argue that because it's useful to criminals, it's useful to ordinary users. Do criminals wish to break into these wallets and addresses? Of course they do, but they can't because the blockchains are not cracked. There's a very large incentive to crack them. They are secure. The SSL one uses to connect to BECU's online banking is probably weaker than cryptocurrency blockchains (but don't quote me on this because I have not researched it). Criminals want to break into your bank accounts and steal your money anyways.
There are many advantages to cryptocurrencies such as reduced fees, anonymity, and that its protected from timultuous political environments. Because of the blockchain, it cannot be altered by any entity, even governments.
The strength of the currencies are in the faith people have with the blockchain security. The USD has a lot of faith because it's backed by the American government. It's considered valuable for that reason even though it's fiat.
BECU gains value from the hosting of these addresses and exchange because:
* More value to customers means more customers
* If they spawn up peers for the blockchain, they will earn a small percentage
* May even charge fees on purchasing cryptocurrencies like Coinbase.
The advantage to customers:
* A bartering substance similar to currencies, tradable, but doesn't get taxed
* The ability to transfer wealth quickly and cheaply, this also means smaller transactions (know the $5 minimum credit card purchase limits at small stores?)
* The ability to engage in cryptocurrencie only services and goods
* Any advantages that the currencies uniquely bring such as Etherium's smart contracts.
Are these really just ponsy schemes? Maybe. Maybe not. That's for the user to decide when he or she goes onto the BECU online banking interface, clicks on that obscur tab he or she probably never uses, clicks on that icon for the wallet generation scheme, clicks on the "Yeah, I accept," and the next, "No, really, I accept," buttons, and then pays the fee and viola! Welcome to the 21st century. Then BECU makes sure you get those nice red warnings at the top of the screen to make sure you get the point about how to keep your wallet secure.
Nothing wrong with offering a service that's entirely opt-in, and even charges a fee (maybe to fund a legal team just in case things go wrong).
Remember, buyer beware. You lose your coins, you should have read those annoying red warning banners the BECU Online Banking interface keeps presenting.
I would love to see BECU open a basic Crypto exchange. I personally think Ripple (XRP) is the block chain Bankc sould use as it has been designed from the ground up for this purpose.
I have done a little bit of speculative trading in Crypto but I would love to see it used like actual currency. I would like to:
1) Open an account for a specific crypto currency alongside my checking and savings.
2) Be able to transfere money between the two seemlessly
3) Send crypto currency to other banks that host crypto wallets.
My wife has family in Brazil and the fees to send USD are incredible. If BECU hosted a crypto wallet and we found a bank in Brazil that did the same we can use cryptos for exactly their designed purpose. Personally, I want the banks involved as it brings stability to the currency. Please BECU! Put resources into this! It is not a risk to you or your customers if you simply host the wallets.
I personally do not wish to see BECU get into the crypto space for various reasons, but I would like some assurance that BECU won't arbitrarily block members from using their accounts to fund their cryptocurrency accounts via sites like Coinbase, etc. I've read of other banks and CUs doing just that. So far, I haven't had issues. I did get some phone calls to verify transactions, which is fine and desired to protect my account. As long as I can still do it-- both spending and recieving fiat-- I'm okay with the status quo.
Much to my disappointment I will be switching banks from BECU to one that allows me to invest MY money into crypto. Sadly not allowing customers to transfer THEIR money to an investment account of their choosing is only going to leave BECU out in the cold.
Much to my disappointment I will be switching banks from BECU to one that allows me to invest MY money into crypto. Sadly not allowing customers to transfer THEIR money to an investment account of their choosing is only going to leave BECU out in the cold.
@Kckinwa, to be fair, BECU isn't forbidding transferring money to the account of your choosing. I have in fact transferred money to a couple of investment accounts, including cryptocurrency gateways. BECU did not pose any obstruction. Perhaps there's an account you attempted to use but found something that BECU did that hindered your success? It took a while to get my first transfer with coinbase to work. It was irritating but that's how it works with Know Your Customer laws.
@PeterFA unfortunately you are incorrect, coinbase has removed BECU from the list of banks due to BECU blocking transfers.
Thanks for continuing the conversation @Kckinwa and @PeterFA! With any new or emerging trend, we sometimes have to learn as we go. What we're learning is that many of the exchanges where people buy Bitcoins are based abroad. When setting up Coinbase using your BECU Debit or Credit Card (which is one of the options), our fraud monitoring may identify foreign transactions, and potentially block them for your protection.
Also, with the rise in value of Bitcoins and the anonymity digital currency provides, fraudsters are always looking for new ways to cash in (pun intented), so we're admittedly being extra cautious in this space.
We're balancing your experience with our obligation to protect your accounts and money while we work towards a more robust solution that is beneficial to both. If you'd like to read further about digital currencies and our current stance, check out the blog post here. JohnS


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Gareth Thomas, 6ft 3inches ruby superstar better known as Alfie was honored earlier this year with his own range of sneakers called the Alfie Flats by renowned shoe designer Christian Louboutin. Mr. Thomas is a tyrant on the ruby field winning over 100 caps during his career. Now you are probably wondering how did these two people from different walks of life paired up? This unlikely duo befriended each other after Louboutin learnt of Alfie's "coming out" story and how it destroyed his marriage driving him to nearly committing suicide. Since then the two has forged great bond and friendship. Alfie is clearly a fan of the designer's fashionable footwear. He was once quoted as saying "these days I own more of Louboutin's shoes than I do rugby boots". Today Alfie models in the designer's book, photographed by Philippe Garcia, entitled "Les 20 ans" celebrating Louboutin's 20th Anniversary. The book features some of Christian Louboutin closes friends who has inspired his creations throughout the years and Thomas definitely fell into that category alongside Dita von Tesse, Mika and Rossy de Palam just to name a few.
Here is the behind-the-scenes video of the Les 20 ans photo shoot
Christian Louboutin Les 20 Ans from F.TAPE on Vimeo.
The Alfie Flats
Written by: Curt Greenidge


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Hi guys! Happy New Year! Sorry for the lack of recipes on my blog lately. No real excuse more than being too busy. I promise, it's one of my new year's resolutions to post a recipe once a week. Starting today!
Here's a quick, easy, and convenient dinner option for a busy weeknight. It fits perfectly into the meal plans I have been sharing, and it only requires simple and very few ingredients. It reheats well for lunch the next day, too!
Feel free to double the recipe to make four servings. Note that the nutritionals only factor in half of the marinade since you discard at least half before cooking the chicken.
If you haven't noticed, I have an obsession with spaghetti squash. If you've never worked with it before, fear not! Honestly, it seems time consuming and difficult, but it really isn't. Here are the simple directions to prepare spaghetti squash:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Microwave the whole squash for about 4-5 minutes. This makes it easier to cut in half before baking. Carefully slice off the stem end and set squash on flat end. Slice in half lengthwise, scoop out the seeds, and place cut-side down onto a baking sheet sprayed with nonstick spray. Bake about 30 minutes, until tender. Let cool slightly, scrap out cooked stands, and enjoy!
Ta-da! Easy peasy. In this recipe I spiced up the squash a bit to make it more of an exciting side dish than plain squash, although I will even eat it cold with some salt. (Yes, I am weird.)
The lemon in the marinade gives the chicken a nice zing, but not in an over powering way with the tomato sauce and cheese. It just adds juiciness and tenderness and it's so good! This is the first recipe I have made for my blog in a while (Sorry, guys! I have been super-busy!!) and Jake was really impressed with it! If he approves, you know it's good.
Feel free to use this dish as a dinner in any meal plan, as it's well rounded and packs protein! Hope you enjoy!
Low Carb Grilled Chicken Parm with Garlic Spaghetti Squash
2 servings
per serving: 355 calories, 11.5g fat, 735mg sodium, 24.5g carbs, 5g fiber, 9.5g sugars, 39g protein
Juice from one lemon (about 2 tbsp.)
1 tbsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. water
1/2 tsp. chopped garlic
1/4 tsp. Italian seasoning
1/8 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. onion powder
3 dashes black pepper, or more to taste
Two 5-oz. raw boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/4 cup low-fat marinara or jarred pizza sauce
1/4 cup part-skim mozzarella cheese
4 cups cooked spaghetti squash strands (about ½ of squash)
1 tbsp. light butter (Brummel & Brown is a favorite of ours!)
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/8 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. black pepper
Whisk lemon juice through black pepper in a medium bowl. Place chicken breasts in a sealable plastic bag, add marinade and knead into meat for a moment. Let marinate overnight, if possible. I would suggest at least 1 hour.
In a large microwave-safe bowl, combine all squash ingredients and microwave until butter melts, about 1 minute. Mix well.
Bring a skillet sprayed with nonstick spray to medium heat. Cook chicken until cooked through, about 6 minutes per side. Reduce heat to medium-low, top chicken breasts evenly with sauce and cheese. Cover and cook until cheese melts, 1 – 2 minutes.
Reheat squash, if needed. Top squash with chicken and eat up!


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Grandma Dot's BBQ chicken thighs
This is a versatile family recipe. Can be prepared in the morning and then popped into the oven for an hour in the evening and you have the tastiest chicken dish to serve with crunchy coleslaw and creamy mashed potato. It is also gluten free. Would suit many busy families. Don't be put off by the long list of ingredients it is true comfort food.
|8 pieces
|Chicken thighs
|1 large
|Onion, sliced
|1 clove
|Garlic, crushed
|½ cup
|Button mushrooms, sliced
|1 Tbsp
|Brown sugar
|2 Tbsp
|Rice flour
|½ tsp
|Curry powder
|1 tsp
|Dried thyme
|1 tsp
|Ground sage
|1 tsp
|Soy sauce
|1 Tbsp
|Plum sauce
|1 Tbsp
|Red wine, (optional)
|½ cup
|Tomato sauce
|1 cup
- Grease a casserole dish and place chicken in. Sprinkle over the onion, garlic and mushrooms. (Sometimes I leave the mushrooms out in I haven't got any)
- Mix together the brown sugar, flour, curry powder, thyme, sage in a bowl
- Add the soy sauce, Plum sauce, wine, Tomato sauce and water. (Can add another half cup of water if you like more gravey) to the dry ingredients.
- Pour the sauce mixture over the chicken and veges and cover tightly with tinfoil. This can either be baked straightaway or put in the fridge till you are ready to cook it.
- Bake 200 degree for approx. 1 - 1 half hours.


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We've got 20+ pages of Free Star Wars Printables your kids(or you) can work on this weekend. The Free Star Wars Activity sheets includes coloring sheets, mazes, memory games and more. Just a little something to get you more excited as Star Wars: The Force Awakens hits theaters in just 2 more weeks. You can also use them as an activity at your kids' Star Wars Birthday Party.
Love Free Printables? Check these other Disney Free Printables:
- Free Printable Cars Coloring Pages
- Disney Cars Free Printable Activity Sheets
- Free Printable Moana Coloring Sheets
- Finding Dory Free Printables
- Free Printable Zootopia Coloring Sheets
Check out all the awesome Star Wars Free Activity Sheets below. Make sure to download the pdf format on the link we've provided so the Star Wars Activity Sheets would be much clearer and sharper. We love the Star Wars Coloring Pages so much.
Free Star Wars Printables: Star Wars Coloring Sheets
Free Star Wars Printables: Star Wars Maze
Free Star Wars Printables: Star Wars Memory Game
Free Star Wars Craft: Star Wars Door Hanger
Free Star Wars Party Printable: Console Panel
Star Wars Free Printable: Corner Bookmark
- Star Wars SOLO Free Printable Activity Sheets
- Star Wars Celebration: My fun experience at the biggest Star Wars Convention
- 5 Star Wars Products to Geek About
- Star Wars BB-8 Jet Arrives at LAX and Meeting BB-8


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'sup Ballers,
Our trip to Vegas is going to make the Hangover look like the Hangunder! But, dudes, if you're going to be a high-broller, you gotta nail some ground rules.
Electronics, aka "Bro and Tell":
· What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.
· Except Facebook statuses, tweets, Instagrams, Snapchats, Foursquare check-ins, LinkedIn recommendations, and Yelp reviews.
· Tina can't find out any details
· Everyone swaps out his work blackberry for a pre-paid cellie this weekend.
· You're all code names from Top Gun.
· Chuck, sorry dude, but you're Charlie. Not everyone can be Maverick. Just be glad you didn't get Goose.
Alcohol, aka "End Brohibition":
· When I walk into the suite, there better be a champagne fountain flowing. I'm talking 6 levels, Waterford crystal, 36-inch base diameter, with a current pressure of at least 102 mbar, and a single strawberry floating on top of it.
· First one to eat the strawberry gets a free lap dance.
· No Moët, or Veuve. I want champagne that's brewed by monks in some pastoral-as-fuck mountaintop. If the grapes weren't stomped on by nubile eunichs, singing Épernay ballads from the 14th century, I don't want that mainstream shit touching my lips.
· Don't forget to mix in protein powder.
· Scooter, you get a 3 level club soda fountain. Congrats on your 6th month chip, buddy!
The stripper, aka "Bromance":
· I want a girl with a backstory. Maybe she's trying to pay off grad school. Or maybe she's a struggling artist. Or maybe she has, like, a troubled past and just needs a guy to get her straightened out? I want something deep and thought provoking as shit.
· She also needs to have massive tits. Just like, huge bazookas.
· I expect to have a stack in my hand at all times, to make it rain non-stop
· No tens or twenties. Tina and I are paying for the wedding ourselves.
Attire, aka "Tuxedos and Bro-ties":
· You should be wearing a minimum of 3 polos at all times, collars popped.
· No lilac. If it wasn't the color of one of my highlighters from 9th grade, you can take your sorry-ass-pastel self home.
· Look, if you're having trouble just envision a peacock. A majestic, neon-colored peacock.
· The hotel has a pool and you're goddamn right we're going to be in it. Sammie, don't even think about bringing your water wings. Not unless you can find a pair that say "Suns out, guns out" spelled out in skulls, and designed by Ed Hardy.
Guys, this night is a celebration of my life before I enter into a deep emotional commitment in front of my family, fiancée, and God. You bronads better be ready to rage.


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Top Five Twitter Analytical Tools
What kind of footprint have you made in the Twitterverse? Do you know your Twitter ROI, your Twitter influence or stats that determine your Twitter psychographics? In the social media world, this data is becoming easier and easier to access as new analytical tools become available... and now you can track it.
Becoming more and more significant, social networking analytics will be used by companies to determine what type of consumer you are, and by prospective employees to consider you for hire. As a modernized version of the Kevin Bacon paradigm, social media has reduced our 'connectivity to others' from 6 to 3 degrees.
Most Twitter users are seeking exposure. Whether that reach is to sell a product or oneself, it's up to the user. How they perform on Twitter to meet that goal will determine brand advocacy. The ones that work to perfect relationships and loyalty will thrive, while those that fall short of this goal tend to lose interest and drop off. One needs to know the value of the Twitter resource and the investment of time that is required to become a successful member of the Twitterverse.
Similar to our every day lives, if one focuses on creating value, building transparency and becoming authentic, the greater chance one has in making an impact on Twitter. I relate these personality traits to our newly elected president Barack Obama. He embodies these characteristics and could be the reason he was elected to highest office in the land (also see previous blog that discusses Obama's use of social networking)
So social networking analytics are the tools to both qualify and quantify our worth. Here, I have selected what I feel are the top five analytical tools that are available to us today. They will help us determine various aspects of our Twitter make-ups. Not totally perfected and some are still in beta format, I suggest you explore these tools to best analyze your brand and the value and reach of your tweets.
1) TwitterAnalyzer
TwitterAnalyzer is one of the most comprehensive Twitter analyzer tools out there. It tracks followers who are online when you are, number of readers that have been exposed to your message, your tweet habits, who is retweeting your updates, twitter follow statistics, growth rates, conversations being made about you, the size of your audience and your followers' demographics. It will let you research the way your fellow tweeps behave. It will surface which messages they answer and which ones they paid attention to, drilling down to their occupations and which users and are in your line of work.
2) TwInfluence
TwInfluence is a tool for measuring the combined influence of your Twitter account and followers, and then assessing your reach through the quality of your followers. Since all users and all followers are not created equal, this analysis will determine the "horizon of communication" that extends beyond your own direct contacts. This is demonstrated whenever somebody "retweets" your message and its influence begins to create ripple effect throughout the Twitterverse. TwInfluence uncovers one's reach, velocity and social capital, and its worth the time to spend with this tool to learn how these components interact.
3) TweetStats
TweetStats will graph your total tweets by the month, by the day, and by the hour. It also tells you your number of @replies and which interface you used to Twitter your tweets. By calculating the volume of your tweets and retweets it quantifies your tweet density. Most people who say they get no value from Twitter should first look at their usage and consistency to realistically evaluate what they have invested in Twitter before they consider the results. This tool also allows you to spy on others or those that have amassed Twitterati fame, as long as you know their Twitter handle.
4) Twitter Grader
Twitter Grader is another third party app which calculates a grade for a particular twitter on a scale of 0-100. It will show you your ranking in your city, state, and country. It will also show you active and influential Twitter users that you may want to follow. The Tweet Cloud indicates the frequent user words in your Tweets with the most commonly used in larger print. This is very beneficial because its a quick overview of your content.In addition to the TwitterGrader, Hubspot also has a Facebook Grader, Website Grader and Press Release Grader that you should check out as well, if those stats are important to you.
5) TweetPsych
Still in Beta, TweetPsych is a work in progress. Its purpose is to build a psychological profile of a person based on the content of their Tweets. It compares the content of a user's Tweets to a baseline reading that was built by analyzing an ever-expanding group of over 1.5 million random Tweets, and then highlighting areas where the user stands out. Dan Zarella,the developer behind TweetsPsych continues to expand his set of psychological definitions, while also refining the system and its algorithm to better analyze Twitter-specific content.
Dan feels TweetPsych has great potential in matching like-minded users to identifying users that exhibit certain useful or desirable traits. He is asking users to provide him with feedback to improve the system and the technology and take TweetPsych to the next level. Check it out and report back to Dan.
Since all of these tools are free, I suggest taking them all out for a test drive to determine which ones work the best for you. In helping you qualify and quantify your Twitter efforts you can better define your goals. Sometimes, we get so caught up in what we are getting out of something that we often forget to look at we are putting into it. Are you worth following, do you create value for your Twitter followers? Are you an observer or an active participant that is part of a collaborative community? All these questions and more can be better assessed with the assistance of some or all of these tools.
If you honestly look at what you are investing in Twitter and continue to apply an analytical eye, you will slowly begin to benefit from the output and the fruits of your labor.
Now,if you would be so kind, and if you've had a chance to review these tools, I would like to find out from you which Twitter Tool you feel is the best. Please take our quick survey here. And if we missed one of consequence, please note that tool and its URL in the comment section below.
by Anonymous
Thanks for this article. I wasn't aware of all these tools but I'll definitely check them out. What I'm still wondering though is whether there is a way to connect a dollar amount to any of this. In business, when you're trying to convince the checkbook owner that spending resources on a new tool is worth it, the ROI often needs to be expressed in dollars and cents.
Janie Graziani


text: Writer. Photographer. Nerd. Traveler ( & Minimalist in Training) What's new or exciting? (Pro-Tip: Click a picture to go there) As of yet unnamed podcast page Rebecca and Trä chat about Mexico and stuff Skype-Sult It's like a 30 minute free consultation, only with made up words and such Write-y Stuff Musings and to be used as proof of an insanity defense if the need should ever arise You have come to the end of the home page


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This from Transnational Crime In The Developing World: A February 2011 Report from Global Financial Integrity. The detailed report is here.
Roughly organized in terms of overall cash flow here is their list of goods illicitly traded across borders (the ordering depends not only on highly unreliable estimates, but on how the categories are aggregated...).
- Drugs
- Human trafficking
- Illicit wildlife
- Counterfeit goods and currency ("If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, counterfeiting is the criminal form.")
- Human organs (my worries about data sources are compounded by noting that their figures for legal US transplants come from a 2008 article in the Economist, rather than e.g. from UNOS/OPTN data, which is easily available on the web)
- Small arms
- Diamonds
- Oil
- Timber
- Fish
- Art and artifacts
- Gold
"This report analyzes the scale, flow, profit distribution, and impact of 12 different types of illicit trade: drugs, humans, wildlife, counterfeit goods and currency, human organs, small arms, diamonds and colored gemstones, oil, timber, fish, art and cultural property, and gold. Though the specific characteristics of each market vary, in general it can be said that these profitable and complex criminal operations originate primarily in developing countries, thrive in the space created by poverty, inequality, and state weakness, and contribute to forestalling economic prosperity for billions of people in countries across the world.
"The global illicit flow of goods, guns, people, and natural resources is estimated at approximately $650 billion. Though data is scarce and experts are constantly debating the relative merits and weaknesses of every new study, it is generally accepted that illicit drug trafficking and counterfeiting are the two most valuable markets. This report finds the illicit drug trade to be worth roughly $320 billion and counterfeiting $250 billion. These numbers reflect the potential for huge profits which is
the fundamental driver of criminal trade."
HT: Bettina Klaus


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A social media guide has been launched to help concerned parents understand what their kids are talking about in online chat rooms.
The dictionary translates "popular teen chat acronyms", including get naked on cam (GNOC) and age, sex, location (ASL) often used by children using anonymous chat rooms to disclose their personal details.
The tool will help eagle-eyed parents spot when their child issues a P999, also known as a parent alert, or a CD9 (Code 9), to make their online friends aware their parents are around.
Many of the terms deal with the issue of online sexual relationships online, including examples such as IWSN (I want sex now), and LMIRL (let's meet in real life).
Other definitions include zerg (to gang up on someone), POS (parents over shoulder) and 420 (marijuana).
The guide is part of Parent Info, an online service announced today by the Department for Education, which aims to provide tips on navigating teenage life and give adults the confidence to talk about sensitive topics with their children.
Secretary of State for Education and Minister for Women and Equalities Nicky Morgan said it was crucial that parents were educated on how to keep their children safe online.
She said: "The internet is an incredibly powerful tool, which is changing the way our children learn and stay in touch. But we must also make sure we do everything we can to help them stay safe online.
"As a parent myself, I understand how important it is to know your child is safe and that's why this new online service is so important. I hope all schools take advantage of this new resource, which addresses fundamental issues like cyber bullying and body confidence - so that they can help protect their children in this digital age.
"Cyber bullying, which is now more common than face-to-face bullying, is just one of the areas that Parent Info tackles."
The website has been developed by the National Crime Agency's Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) and The Parent Zone, founded in 2005 to provide support to parents.
Its newsfeed, including regular articles, will be integrated into school websites, and can also be accessed at www.parentinfo.org.
Here are some terms from the new Government guide into social media speak, and what they mean:
ASL - age, sex, location (could mean your child is using an anonymous chat room)
CD9 - Code 9 (meaning parents are around)
GNOC - get naked on camera
KPC - keep parents clueless
IRL - in real life. See also:
MIRL - meeting in real life
LMIRL - let's meet in real life (fine if it's their friends)
IWSN - I want sex now
MOOS - member of the opposite sex
P911/P999 - parent alert
PAW - parents are watching
POS/MOS - parents over shoulder/mum over shoulder
RU/18 - are you over 18?
WYRN - what's your real name?
Zerg - to gang up on someone
420 - marijuana


text:
Determines Vitamin A levels.
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The signs and symptoms of vitamin A deficiency include:
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Testing may be done periodically when a person has a disease that is associated with malabsorption of nutrients to monitor vitamin A status and ensure that the person is getting sufficient vitamin A. Some diseases that are associated with inadequate vitamin A absorption include:
Shop all Tests


text:
Former Apple executive expresses misgivings about how iPhone monopolizes attention
The iPod Godfather Tony Fadell fears Apple and other technology firms have become too good at manipulating people into "another dopamine hit."
The iPod Godfather Tony Fadell fears Apple and other technology firms have become too good at manipulating people into "another dopamine hit."
Original iPhone team members Scott Forstall, Tony Fadell and Greg Christie recount the arduous process of turning Apple's "Project Purple" into the best-selling device of our time.
Tony Fadell is stepping down as CEO of Nest, he announced in a blog post on Friday. The former Apple engineer and founder of the smart thermostat/device company, which was purchased by Google in 2014 for $3 billion, says he's moving into an "advisor" role to Alphabet and CEO Larry Page.
Despite recent reports of turmoil within the company, Fadell insists that the move is amicable and the transition has been in progress since late last year. He says he's leaving the company to new CEO Marwan Fawaz, who was previously CTO of cable company Charter, with a two-year roadmap in place.
It was The Wall Street Journal technology columnist Walt Mossberg, one of Steve Jobs's favorite reviewers, of all people who has finally managed to persuade then Apple CEO to expand the addressable market for iPods by bringing iTunes to Windows PCs.
Jobs, Nest founder Tony Fadell and then Apple executive charged with iPod and iPhone development recalls, long insisted that the iPod be used as a vehicle to increase Mac sales. "Steve, the iPod is $399. But really it's not. Because you have to buy a Mac!" We had to give people a taste," Fadell recalls telling Jobs, to no avail.
He eventually relented and agreed that Apple should bring iTunes to Windows, under one condition: the software was to be tested by journalist Walt Mossberg. "We're going to build these and run it by Mossberg," Jobs reportedly said. "And if Mossberg says it's good enough to ship, then we'll ship it."
Walt reportedly said, "Not bad. I'd ship it," and the rest is history.
According to the famous iPod creator, former Apple engineer and Nest founder Tony Fadell, Steve Jobs did consider an idea of Apple building a car as far back as 2008, but ultimately decided not to move forward because he had other projects on his mind.
In a video interview with Bloomberg, Fadell said that Jobs and himself discussed how a hypothetical Apple car would we build, what features it would have, what a dashboard would be like and so forth.
Following the shut down of the Google Glass Explorer program and the reorganization of the Google Glass team, some theorized Google Glass may be dead. However Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Google, says the Google Glass technology is too fundamental for Google to end the project.
Nick Bilton of the New York Times is out with a fantastic piece detailing why Google Glass as we know it has been killed off by the Mountain View based company. Born out of the futuristic Google X lab, the headset was not only plagued by problems, but it was receiving attention from the mass-market that Google just wasn't ready for.
Phil Schiller, Apple Senior Vice President of Marketing, didn't have kind words to share when emailed about Google Glass, the search giant's experimental wearable that's about to be mass produced for consumers in 2015.
The iPod Godfather and Nest Labs co-founder and CEO, Tony Fadell, sat down with Bloomberg at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland to talk specifics of the recently announced $3.2 billion Google deal, why he sold to the search monster, Nest's relationship with Apple, the future of controlling household products and a few other topics of interests, here are your soundbites…
Remember last month when we told you that Jony Ive's one-of-a-kind Mac Pro sold for nearly $1 million at his Product (RED) auction? And do you remember thinking who in the world would pay that much money for a computer? Well it looks like the answer is Tony Faddell.
Photographer Kevin Abosch posted a handful of tweets this afternoon with photos of the 'father of the iPod' and Nest founder posing next to the (RED) Mac Pro, as well as the solid gold EarPods from the same auction. The two items combined sold for close to $1.5 million…
Tony Fadell, the brains behind the popular Nest thermostat, used to work at Apple where he'd helped engineer the iPod music player, earning him a nickname of the iPod Godfather. He also led the development of the first eighteen iterations of the original iPhone. In a recent interview, the famous engineer revealed that Apple in the past had experimented with the idea of a virtual reality headset and has actually built a few prototypes of a Google Glass-style device.
"The craziest thing we talked about was something like Google glass," says former Senior VP of iPod division…
Tony Fadell needs no introduction. The brains behind the Nest thermostat, this former Apple engineer also helped engineer the iPod music player and led the development of the first eighteen iterations of the iPhone. He recently talked Apple, Steve Jobs and secrecy inside the walls of Apple's Cupertino HQ.
He also commented on Forstall's departure in an interview with BBC and told Bloomberg that he is "not that dumb" to compete directly with his former employer. And now, Fadell at the Bloomberg Design conference this week once more tried to explain Apple's secret sauce which results in the sexy gadgets people lust after. He also explained the difference between designing products at Apple and Phillips, here are some highlights…


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Steady and Transient Analysis of Flow and Heat Transfer in SPND Assembly
MetadataShow full item record
The first scenario that was studied was for the system under normal operating conditions. For this case, the maximum temperature for a detector was determined to be 603.4 K, which is within the proper range of operation. It was also important to determine the maximum temperature of the fluid within the SPND assembly in order to ascertain that boiling does not occur within the system during normal operation. The maximum fluid temperature was found to be 613.7 K, which is below the boiling temperature of water (618.05 K) at an operating pressure of 2250 psi.
The second scenario involved an increase in the power of the reactorâ s core by a factor of 17% in a 30 second period. The results of the unsteady calculation indicated that the maximum temperature for a detector was 608.5 K. The results also indicate that no boiling occurs inside of the SPND system.
The third scenario involved a loss of coolant flow in the SPND system. This reduction in flow rate caused the maximum temperature of the detectors to reach 619.6 K. For this case, boiling occurs within the guide tube and protection tube.
- Masters Theses [19416]


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Mr Ainsworth will tell MPs that the independent investigation will seek to establish whether the Army committed war crimes after the gunfight in 2004.
Families of the Iraqis claim that some of men survived the exchange of fire only to be tortured and killed afterwards at Camp Abu Naji, a British base.
The Ministry of Defence denies the allegations, but earlier this year Mr Ainsworth accepted the need for a new inquiry after High Court judges said they did not have enough information to assess the Iraqis' claims.
In a 20-day hearing, lawyers for the Iraqis presented evidence that they said supported their contentions that captives were taken to base, where they were killed and their bodies mutilated.
Five of the six applicants say they were themselves mistreated by British forces after being caught up in the fire fight and detained.
They say they were punched, threatened with violence, thrown violently against a wall, hit by guards if they fell asleep, denied water and subjected to other forms of mistreatment.
The Army has always maintained that bodies were only removed from the battlefield for identification, and were returned to the families with no evidence of torture.
An investigation by the Royal Military Police rejected the claims made by the Iraqis, and the MoD had been reluctant to reopen the case.


text:
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Small business loans are available from a variety of sources. There are banks, savings and loans and lending companies in the private sector that make loans to small businesses. There are also some public entities that are involved in financing for small businesses. One such source is the Small Business Administration (SBA). The SBA is an independent federal agency that assists small businesses in various areas. One area of assistance is financial and as such it is a source of loan funds for small businesses. There are three different SBA loan programs geared toward different kinds of small businesses. Each functions in a different way but each provides a means of financial assistance for small businesses.
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text:
I laugh so much while watching it that I can't help but be in a good mood. And I generally watch it at 4:00 in the morning. It makes my day!
I try so many of their recipes and we have loved them all. I will admit that I don't usually try Daphne's although she has had one or two that looked good. And I wish her the very best as she moves back home. If I had to tell her anything, it would be focus on the goal and you can get through anything.
Here's my latest addition from The Chew:
You can find Clinton's recipe by clicking on the link above. We didn't have any corn, which is absolutely unbelievable in this house but what can I say. I can image how good it will be with the added crunch and sweetness of the corn.
This dish comes together to fast and is so good. I even ate some for breakfast yesterday.
We made sandwiches too. A little different than the one Clinton made. Although I do plan on making his. Mango chutney sounds so awesome. Our sandwich was a mix of a panini and a club. Once again we used artichoke pesto and cesar dressing on the bread. A mix of ham, turkey, bacon and swiss cheese topped with tomato and onion. Press it into a press and Yum. Coupled with Clinton's potato salad and you have yourself a meal. It was scrumptious.
Try it today. You will love it!
And try watching The Chew. You will love it too.
Live, Laugh, Love,
Karen and Charlie


text:
Circa has formally requested that the Trump administration declassify records showing how often government officials have searched National Security Agency intercepts for intelligence on U.S. presidential candidates, members of Congress, journalists, clergy, lawyers, federal judges and doctors and how often such Americans had their identities unmasked by the intelligence community after Barack Obama made it easier to do so in 2011.
The request follows anexclusive Circa report on Wednesday that revealed that the Obama administration conducted more than 35,000 searches on NSA intercepts seeking information about Americans during the divisive 2016 election year.
"The law makes President Trump the ultimate declassifying authority, and we believe the president can answer many troubling questions by declassifying this information, including how often First Amendment protected professionals had their privacy impacted by NSA intercepts and
why some of Trump's own aides were unmasked in NSA data by the prior White House," said John Solomon, the chief operating officer of Circa and the author of Wednesday's story.
The NSA is allowed under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to spy on foreign powers without a court warrant but the law prohibits the targeting of Americans for such surveillance. If the NSA accidentally intercepts Americans or information about them overseas, it is supposed to legally put the information in a virtual lock box.
But starting in 2011, former President Obama made it easier to access that information, essentially creating keys for intelligence professionals and even his own political aides to unlock the NSA's lock box to consume surveillance on Americans.
Circa reported Wednesday that since those changes, the number of requests to search NSA records for Americans' information tripled under the former administration.
Circa's declassification request was delivered to the White House and the Directorate of National Intelligence. Ironically, it cites an executive order that Obama himself issued allowing Americans to make declassification requests and get an answer within a year.
Circa request aggregate numbers by year for searches on the names of or requests to unmasks Americans who worked as presidential candidates, members of Congress, congressional staff, federal judges, journalists, clergy, lawyers, and doctors.
"We believe these aggregate numbers by year and category pose no risk to national security and will provide significant illumination to the public about the frequency of unmasked or searched U.S. person identities who were either intercepted or the subject of intercepted conversations," Circa wrote.
"Such transparency is particularly valuable given the changes to unmasking rules that former President Barack Obama began implementing in 2011 and the special recognition the 2014 revision of minimization rules gave these categories of Americans."
The American Civil Liberties Union and influential senators like Rand Paul, R-Ky., Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., have for years raised concerns about how often and why the U.S. government accesses surveillance data on Americans without getting a court warrant.
The ODNI data made public this week in the Circa story provides the most detailed accounting to date of how often the NSA data is being tapped for intelligence on Americans. But civil liberty experts believe far more transparency is needed to guard against abuses.
"When we think about our constitution, the right to privacy and a right to be free from surveillance is very much a part of that," said Neema Singh Guliani, the ACLU's legislative counsel. "It the right for people to feel like they can speak freely without a government agent peering over their shoulder."


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Macron heads to Saint-Martin as government criticised for Hurricane Irma reaction
Issued on: Modified:
French President Emmanuel Macron was to fly to the storm-ravaged island of Saint-Martin on Monday evening as the authorities came under fire for alleged lack of preparation for Hurrican Irma hitting the French West Indian territory.
Macron was to fly out accompanied by Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer and Health Minister Agnès Buzyn.
The government hopes to avoid a situation where all teachers and other civil servants leave the island, Interior Minister Gérard Collomb said on Monday, adding that "reinforcements" to the teaching staff would be sent.
The island's hospital was "operational" and there was no shortage of medicines, according to Buzyn.
The death toll from Hurricane Irma was put at 30 on Sunday evening, with 14 in the French island of Saint-Barts and on Saint-Martin, which is divided between France and the Netherlands.
A first estimate from insurers pus the cost at 1.2 billion euros.
Saint-Martin's airport suffered only limited damage and should reopen during the week, the company that manages it said.
A military plane carrying 278 evacuees, including about 20 babies and 50-70 children, was expected to land at Paris Charles De Gaulle airport as the president headed in the other direction.
About 85 tonnes of food, a million litres of water and 2,200 kilos of medical supplies have been sent to the island, officials say.
Poor preparation alleged
But, with looting and chaos reported on Saint-Martin, the government's handling of the storm has come under fire.
Hard-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon has demanded a parliamentary commission to look into an alleged lack of preparation, a call that has backed up mainstream-right parliamentary leader Eric Ciotti, while Florian Philippot of the far-right National Front claimed local people had been abandoned to "violence and looters".
Socialist former overseas territories minister, Victorin Lurel, who lives in Guadeloupe, told RFI that the government had been far too slow to react, comparing it unfavourably to the Dutch response.
"We can't understand that on two small islands with a total of 50-60,000 inhabitants, sick people weren't evacuated ahead of time, that three or four days after the catastrophe there wasn't a hospital boat, or that more forces weren't sent," he said. "And then there's a glaring lack of communication. Local officials were excluded, local people weren't informed, charities that have formed a human chain here in Guadeloupe to provide relief aid haven't had the necessary logistics support. And when aid is delivered, there's no guarantee it will be distributed. And the neighbourhoods weren't made safe."
Collomb and Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said they would welcome an inquiry, while complaining about "political polemics" by people who "home in on suffering".
"We made the right decisions," was Collomb's response. "We had 1,100 persons on the island before the [anticipated] arrival of Hurricane Jose. Today we will have 1,500 and in the next two days we'll have 2,000. You see we had taken precautions."
Local police say that 23 arrests have been made in the last five days, while making a distinction between "thefts that we could almost describe as of necessity ... of food" and looting of electrical goods.
"Now it's time to rebuild and if Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Eric Ciotti want to launch a big appeal to help local officials on the island, we welcome that," Collomb commented. "And, concerning the parliamentary commission, we're in favour of evaluation so we willingly accept a parliamentary commission. They will see the extent to which the teams are mobilised."
Irma, which has been downgraded to a tropical storm, hit Florida on Sunday, claiming three lives in car accidents.
US President Donald Trump declared a state of natural catastrophe and said he would visit the area.


text:
This story was updated at 6:10 p.m. ET.
As few as 0.1 percent of mortgage modifications initiated under the Obama administration's signature foreclosure prevention program involve reductions of principal, according to a federal report released Wednesday.
Research by state regulators, academics, and by the Federal Reserve shows that principal reductions lead to more sustainable loan modifications. In other words, they're the best way to ensure that troubled borrowers don't lose their homes.
But of the nearly 121,000 troubled loans that have been modified by large banks and thrifts under the administration's Home Affordable Modification Program through March, just 120 of them involved a cut in principal, according to the report by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and Office of Thrift Supervision.
The Treasury Department has consistently said that the share of modified mortgages that incorporate a permanent reduction in principal is "under 10 percent." Phyllis Caldwell, chief of Treasury's Homeownership Preservation Office, reiterated that figure Wednesday on a conference call with reporters, acknowledging that the figure fluctuates as more trial modifications convert to five-year plans.
The low number reported by the federal bank regulators -- less than 0.1 percent -- calls into question the administration's entire approach to modifying the mortgages of distressed borrowers suffering from negative equity, a stagnating economy, and near-10 percent unemployment.
On Tuesday, members of the Congressional Oversight Panel sharply criticized the administration's approach during a hearing with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. Damon Silvers, a member of the bailout watchdog, told Geithner that the administration's $75 billion Making Home Affordable program doesn't sufficiently address the problem posed by unemployed homeowners.
"The scale of the resources simply isn't adequate," Silvers said.
Nearly 15 million workers are unemployed. More than 45 percent of them have been unemployed for at least six months.
"The inescapable reality is that the economic problems facing our country [are] exacerbating the foreclosure problem, and until we have economic policies that enable and foster private sector job creation, efforts like HAMP will continue to fail and ultimately hurt those who need help the most," Rep. Darrell Issa, the top Republican on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, said Monday.
The administration announced Wednesday that five states can begin to use $1.5 billion in federal bailout money for their own local programs to help struggling homeowners avert foreclosure.
Caldwell told reporters that the state agencies estimate that as many as 90,000 homeowners could be helped.
About three million homes will receive foreclosure notices this year, estimates real estate research firm RealtyTrac. More than one million of them will be repossessed by lenders.
Through March, the largest banks reported nearly 1.2 million foreclosures in process, federal bank regulators said. In the first three months of the year those servicers, which represent more than 64 percent of all outstanding first-lien home mortgages, initiated nearly 371,000 new foreclosures, a jump of 19 percent from the previous quarter. They completed nearly 153,000 during the same period, the OCC/OTS report shows, also a 19 percent increase.
HAMP is part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). It's scheduled to end in October.
"We only have three months left with hundreds of thousands of families facing foreclosure," Congressional Oversight Panel Chairman Elizabeth Warren told Geithner on Tuesday. "Is it time to rethink whether or not a mortgage foreclosure prevention program that is based on a group of servicers whom you describe as having done a 'terrible job' is a program that perhaps should be redesigned?"
More than 11.2 million homeowners with a mortgage, or 24 percent, owe more on their mortgage than the home is worth, according to real estate research firm CoreLogic. The firm estimates that the typical "underwater" homeowner won't return to positive equity until late 2015 to early 2016.
"In some depressed markets, the typical borrower in negative equity may not experience
positive equity until 2020 or later," the firm cautions.
A January report by the State Foreclosure Prevention Working Group noted that principal reduction is the best way to stem the foreclosure crisis.
"Given the correlation between negative equity and likelihood of default, the failure to write down principal in connection with loan modifications is a glaring flaw in current efforts," the state regulators noted in their report. With so many homeowners underwater, "doing 'business as usual' only adds to the likelihood of ultimate default."
In a bright spot, though, Wednesday's report by the federal bank regulators showed that homeowners who modified their mortgage under the administration's plan stayed current on their new mortgage at a higher rate than others. Three months after their loans were modified, nearly 17 percent of HAMP homeowners were at least 30 days delinquent on their new mortgage versus 25 percent of all modified home loans. Less than eight percent of HAMP homeowners were at least 60 days late compared to 11 percent of all homeowners with modified mortgages, data through March shows.
"These lower early post-modification delinquency rates may reflect HAMP's emphasis on the affordability of monthly payments and the requirements to verify income and complete a successful trial period," the report noted.
About four-fifths of homeowners with modified loans under HAMP saw their monthly payments decrease by at least 20 percent, data from the OCC/OTS report shows. Treasury data through May shows that homeowners in HAMP saw their median monthly payment drop by about 41 percent, meaning that half the homeowners saw a bigger drop than 41 percent while half experienced a smaller decrease.
Treasury officials stressed that the Wednesday report by federal bank regulators relied on a different set of data, so the 0.1 percent figure may be misleading. That report, which looked at data through March, reported 120,659 five-year HAMP modifications. Through March, Treasury reported 227,922 active five-year modifications.
The OCC/OTS report uses data from the largest banks and thrifts. Those firms represent roughly 70 percent of the mortgages eligible for HAMP, according to Treasury data.
On Monday, the Huffington Post requested from Treasury the total number of permanent modifications utilizing reductions in principal through May. At the time of publication, Treasury had yet to provide that number.
Treasury officials hope to see an increase in the number of HAMP modifications that incorporate reductions of principal. While the administration has ramped up the incentives it provides for principal reductions, it still relies on voluntary participation by servicers.
The low number of modified mortgages that include principal cuts may reflect the efficacy of Treasury's incentives.
More than 16 months after President Barack Obama announced his plan to help struggling homeowners, HAMP is stalling. Nearly 436,000 borrowers have been kicked out of the program while just 340,000 have received permanent relief through May.
Last month, about 155,000 homeowners were bounced from the program; just 30,000 entered the program with new temporary trial plans.
"Our current efforts to end this crisis, including the administration's initiative, have fallen woefully short," Rep. Maxine Waters, a California Democrat, said Tuesday. "[HAMP], a voluntary program with little enforcement from Treasury, remains challenged and has failed to put a dent in the epic numbers of foreclosures sweeping our country."
Herbert M. Allison, Jr., Treasury's assistant secretary for financial stability, reiterated Wednesday the administration's commitment to struggling homeowners.
"While we've made important progress stabilizing the housing market and keeping responsible families in their homes, the Obama administration will continue to do everything it can to help those who are struggling the most during this difficult time," Allison said in a statement.
Congressional criticism of the administration's approach is growing.
"Voluntary programs don't work," Waters said Tuesday. "I'm going to speak honestly: HAMP was written by the Treasury and the servicers. They're not doing anything in that program that they don't want to do. And that's why the program isn't working."


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Has anyone seen one of these. A seller on ebay has them. 2001 Fleer Premium Green Foil blank back. Where these a prototype? None of the other Fleer Premium have green foil. Thought it was cool so I picked it up.
Here is the card I got in today. Never mind it is not letting paste a scan from the Juangone site. I have never had this problem before!
Just click the link to see the card.


text:
Signs Of The Future.1
2015-05-24 by Jeremy Clarke
Preacher: Alan Kreider
24th May 2015
Readings: Romans 8.18-28; Matthew 8.5-13; Isaiah 11.1-9
(referenced/quoted later in sermon)
Today is Pentecost. It is the day when we celebrate the pouring out of the Holy Spirit on the new church in Jerusalem, in which the believers spoke in new tongues and shared their possessions. And it is the day when we deepen our understanding of what it means to live in light of Pentecost. We have just read three bible passages: Paul in Romans 8, Jesus in Matthew 8, and passage chapter 11 from the Old Testament prophet Isaiah.
Romans 8.18-28 (NIV)
18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.
19 The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.
20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope
21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.
22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.
23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has?
25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.
27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Paul is writing to a small church in Rome, a community of Jews and Gentiles. Most of them are poor people. And they are a people who have experienced Pentecost: the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
In v 23 Paul writes: you have experienced the "first fruits of the Spirit." You recall the fruits: love, joy, peace, patience, and the rest (Gal 5.22). Probably also the gifts of the spirit: prophecy, service, teaching, encouragement (Romans 12.6f). According to Paul, his addressees are people who know that they are God's adopted Sons and Daughters. They really matter to God. They are beloved!
But Paul knows that it's not easy: he refers to their sufferings. We don't know in what specific ways they were suffering. Probably they were in conflict with each other; likely some of them suffered from poverty; in any Roman community many people had to cope with food insecurity; the early believers often knew the hostility of their neighbours. These "sufferings" are painful. Paul uses the term that connotes labour pains. Paul was convinced a "new creation" was being born. The Roman believers are a part of this, but the new creation is only partly achieved. Something new is coming into being, but it is only in process. The result is pain. It hurts, and the people "groan". They sigh. But they also look forward. They anticipate completeness. Things are incomplete, but the Holy Spirit that fills them and gives them hope. Spirit-filled people live in hope. Even when things are incomplete. Paul uses a strong word that for the early Christians connoted a non-manipulative, trusting, faithful way to live – "patience." It's going to be out of their control. It's going to be painful a little longer. So the Christians must be trustingly patient (8.25).
Paul again refers to the Spirit in verse 26. In the in-between time the Spirit helps the Christians. They need to pray. But how should they pray? Probably Paul assumed that they prayed the Lord's Prayer, "Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven." Certainly Paul also assumed that the Roman Christians would pray using other forms of verbal prayer. He knew that this is right. But by themselves verbal praying is incomplete. Groaning is necessary. It expresses gut feelings; our bodies and souls cry out, wordlessly. The Holy Spirit takes these wordless prayers and combines them with the Spirit's own prayers. The Holy Spirit is praying for us, deeply, passionately, "with sighs too deep for words." God listens to the Spirit, who knows our groans as well as our words – and who knows God's heart.
What then happens? Paul does not provide details, but clearly God is affected and responds by working in new ways. Verse 28 is a much loved text: "All things work together for good for those who love God." This reflects one Greek manuscript tradition of Romans. But there is another manuscript tradition for verse 28 that gives a different reading that indicates how God works:
"In all things God works for good together with those who love God."
How does God work? The God who has heard "Your kingdom come," who has heard our groans, who has heard the Spirit's sighs, works with the people! He works with the people who pray to bring God's kingdom. He is constantly working, together with humans who pray to him and are willing to be his collaborators, his synergists. Let us repeat verse 28: "In all things God works for good together with those who love God."
Matthew 8.5-13 (NIV)
5 When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help.
6 "Lord," he said, "my servant lies at home paralysed and in terrible suffering."
7 Jesus said to him, "I will go and heal him."
8 The centurion replied, "Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.
9 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and that one, 'Come,' and he comes. I say to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it."
10 When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him, "I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.
11 I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.
12 But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go! It will be done just as you believed it would." And his servant was healed at that very hour.
This is a story about Jesus. Jesus was a Pentecostal man. He was the man of Pentecost. He was the Spirit-filled person. He in his baptism had seen the Holy Spirit descending like a dove. Had heard the voice of God, "You are my beloved Son, whom I love" (Matt 3.17).
You remember the story. Jesus is walking along when a centurion comes up to him and pleads with him for help: "please heal my servant who is paralysed." Where is the Holy Spirit in this story? Throughout the entire story! The Spirit is already at work before the story begins – moving in the Roman barracks, the headquarters of the occupation army. What an improbable place for the Spirit to be at work – among our enemies, among people who threaten us.
Jesus is drawn by the centurion and is impelled to help him. Moved by the Spirit, Jesus says, "I will go and cure him." This is amazing. Jesus the Jew is willing to go into the Roman barracks, into a world that is poison to a Jew – un-kosher, unclean, and threatening. The centurion responds: "You don't need to come to my house. You don't need to touch my servant, or even see him. Just say the word, and my servant will be well." Jesus is not only impressed by this faith: he is dumbfounded! This foreigner, this gentile, this occupation soldier, has greater faith than anyone Jesus had seen in Israel.
In what follows, it's clear that the Holy Spirit is moving Jesus. And Jesus sees the significance of the centurion. A passage of Old Testament prophecy, from Isaiah chapter 25, springs to Jesus' mind. He quotes the text:
Many will come from east and west and will sit at table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of God. (Is 25.6-8)
This centurion is only one man. But he embodies the promise of the banquet, the banquet to which "many" will come. Gentiles will be there as well as Jews; together they will eat in the Kingdom of God. Of course the centurion is only one man; he is statistically insignificant, small, and isolated. Nobody needed to respond to his request. But Jesus does. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, Jesus sees that you don't need to be complete to be significant – and Jesus was full of joy. Jesus knows that this centurion is not insignificant; he is an anticipation of the future. The centurion coming to Jesus shows where history is going – a banquet in which outsiders and insiders eat together in reconciliation.
Isaiah 11.1-9 (NIV)
1 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
2 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him– the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD–
3 and he will delight in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears;
4 but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.
5 Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist.
6 The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them.
7 The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
8 The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper's nest.
9 They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.
This is an Old Testament passage to which Jesus did not refer, but a later prophet did. And who is this prophet? The prophet is the nineteenth-century American artist Edward Hicks who interpreted Isaiah in a way that enabled his contemporaries to take on board the true meaning of Isaiah's prophecy. And what was that true meaning? It was that something that is apparently insignificant can in fact be very important. Hicks was a Quaker, and a rather eccentric one: he was an itinerating preacher, who also was a sign painter. And he was fascinated by Isaiah's prophecy of the peaceable kingdom. Not only fascinated; he was obsessed. Read verses 6-9.
Why was Hicks so obsessed by this passage?
Hicks was a Quaker painter at a time when the Quakers in the US were facing a major split, to use our language between progressives and conservatives. Hicks opposes the split. Why? Because it goes against the reconciled future that God has promised. If wolves and lambs can live together, can't progressives and conservatives? Hicks wants everyone to share this vision; he wants to burn the vision of comprehensive reconciliation into the inner lives of all people. So, inspired (I believe) by the Holy Spirit, he painted the vision of the Peaceable Kingdom no fewer than 100 times, and of these 62 have survived. These depictions vary somewhat, but let's consider a sample of his mature style.
[Look carefully at the painting at this point.]
As you looked at the painting, I wonder what details you notice? And did you notice that the whole scene depicts a reconciliation that is impossible?
Wolves with lambs: it can't happen! Wolves eat lambs!
Children playing near the snake's nest: it's impossible! Snakes bite children!
Jesus seeing faith in the centurion: it's impossible! Centurions can't have faith. His disciples know that they are unclean outsiders and won't be admitted to the banquet.
Conservative and progressive Quakers in the same community: according to many of Hick's contemporaries, it's impossible!
But Hicks said, No, you're wrong. Reconciliation is possible. And here's why!
The corner insert: Did you notice the little scene on the left side of the painting? The depiction of people in smaller scale than the painting's main scene, in much larger scale, that depicts reconciled animals and people? In a lot of his paintings Hicks does this. He inserts into the left corner a little picture, a little story that anticipates the big story. Most frequently he chooses an impossible story from Quaker history to show that reconciliation is possible. In this case he depicts his favorite – William Penn and other English Quakers in 1680s making just peace agreements with Algonquin Indians of Pennsylvania. The Algonquins were native Americans whom many English settlers viewed as enemies, Penn had a different perspective. He viewed the Algonquins and the English as people who can live side by side. They are signing agreements – agreements that Penn wants to keep.
These Quakers and Indians are small; statistically insignificant; the world goes on apparently unchanged by their covenant-making activities. But Hicks in his paintings says, These people are not insignificant. As they make and keep agreements they are a sign of the future. They anticipate the final reconciliation in history. They are forerunners of the peaceable kingdom. And they give us faith that God is at work – and can work with us to make us signs of the Kingdom. Like the 18th-century Quakers and Algonquins we're weak; we're statistically insignificant; no one is writing books about us! We've got differences with each other. We're tempted to be discouraged. We're tempted to groan.
I think that Paul – and Edward Hicks – would urge us to take our groans seriously and to see what they mean. Our groans don't mean that we're despairing. In the light of God's revelation, our groans are signs of labor pains. They are birth pains of the new creation that is being born. At their best this new creation is beautiful. Do you recall the farewell party four years ago just before Lesley Misrahi died? Remember the sharing, the loving speech, the praying? They way God was making sense of her life and encouraging us all lie her to live in hope? I've never been in a service in which it was clearer that the Holy Spirit was at work; and I sensed that this was a way that God was showing you in the WGMC that you are a sign of God's loving future.
Of course, I continue to lament Lesley's death. You and I together groan as we grieve. But the Holy Spirit takes our groans and groans with us, communicating our groans to God as our prayers, as our intercessions.
So we pray: Your kingdom come.
We pray: may your new creation be born.
We pray: may our church be a sign to the world that your determination is to bring reconciliation to the world.
When we pray like this, something happens. The Holy Spirit gives us a proper view of ourselves. A view of our own dignity, of our own importance. The Holy Spirit can help us see ourselves, not as the whole picture, but as a corner insert in the painting that gives a clue about what the rest of the picture means.
And the Holy Spirit can also help us get a proper view of other people as well as of ourselves, and to see clearly what's going on in the world. For example, this past week, in the Tuesday (May 19) evening news at 10, there was a video of Prince Charles in Ireland meeting Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams. And they shook hands. It was amazing. And it occurred to me, I think this is a corner insert. This is something that for decades seemed impossible but is happening now. And this little reconciliation points to a much greater reconciliation in the future.
So on this Pentecost Day, let us celebrate the work of the Holy Spirit. Let's be alert to the work of the Holy Spirit in the world but especially in our own life as a congregation. In the church that I belong to in Indiana [Prairie Street Mennonite Church, Elkhart, IN], we need to be grow in confidence that we are significant, that the hard work of our life and witness is worth it. You may struggle with this too.
I believe that the Holy Spirit is at work both in my church in Indiana and in yours in London. And God is working through us even though we are weak.
Remember Romans 8.28: "In all things God works for good together with those who love God."
In all things, God is working for good together with you. You are God's coworkers; you are God's beloved coworkers. Your are beloved. God loves you. And you have responded by loving God. You are weak. But God is working together with you for good. God is using you. God is using your birth pangs to bring new creation; to help you to show the world, in advance, what the future will be like. God wants to show this to your friends, the people who you know, who watch you.
In the Bible – Isaiah says this, Jesus says this, Paul says this – God has promised that the future will marked not by destruction but by reconciliation. I say this again: the future will be characterized not by destruction but by reconciliation. And God is faithful to his promise. It's hard to believe this, but it's true: already God is using you to be a sign of what God is determined to do – to reconcile all things in Christ. And what God has begun, God will not stop doing. I believe this. Amen.
One thought on "Signs Of The Future."
[…] The Peaceable Kingdom by nineteenth-century American artist Edward Hicks Can we have our final three verses please? Deuteronomy 25:4 Proverbs 12:10 Luke 6:3 […]


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@ The Nest | 8pm | all ages
-Fond Han (NJ)
-Options (Chicago, IL)
-Shady Bug (tape release)
The Nest might as well be called "Exploding in Sound House" with all the bands from that label that have played there recently. And Shady Bug's debut release tbh idk sounds like it would fit right in with the roster. It's a masterclass in finely tuned rock songs all night.
@ Dotzack | 9pm | $10-$20
New Music Circle presents:
-Peter Evans Septet (NY)
That's seven free-jazz musicians led by trumpeter Peter Evans for a night that features Jeff of Endless Planets as guest DJ and an installation by Elizabeth Moore, Chad Eivins, Stan Chisholm and many more visual artists from throughout the region.
@ CBGB | 9pm | $5-$7 | 21+
-Behavior (Los Angeles, CA)
-Little Big Bangs
-Mike Herr
Behavior makes slow-burning punk songs that carry influence from guitar-based kraut rock while exercising a bit of self restraint. These bass riffs could go for days, but the band is made all the better because they don't. A varied lineup of solo percussion, hardcore and more makes up the local support for this show.
@ The Nest | 9pm | $5 | all ages
-Trauma Harness (release show)
-Newt Patrol
-The Funs
If you went to (or even knew about) the not-so-secret show at the Way Out Club last month with Negative Approach, Sentridoh and members of Dinosaur Jr. covering the Stooges, you might recall Trauma Harness closing out the night. If you stayed long enough, you might have seen Lou Barlow grinning from ear to ear throughout the whole set. This is St. Louis (formerly Belleville) post-punk that impresses people who have pretty much seen it all.
@ Foam | 9pm | $7 | all ages
-Arrington de Dionyso (Olympia, WA)
-The Rats and People Motion Picture Orchestra
-The Union Electric
Last year, artist and musician Arrington de Dionyso was targeted as a result of of the growing Pizzagate conspiracy theory, which led to the Comet Ping Pong shooting on December 6, 2016. On this tour Dionyso plays under the moniker "This Saxophone Kills Facists" as a reaction to the recently-debunked fake news story once pushed by alt-right media outlets. Read more about the project in this recent interview.
@ Non Profit Basement Organization | 8pm | $5 | all ages
-C.H.E.W. (Chicago, IL)
-Mark Plant Solo Noise Project
-Timmy B
-Newt Patrol
Mark Plant (and his Solo Noise Project) hosts a show for Chicago's C.H.E.W., a fierce hardcore outfit that blends weird, angular riffs with harsh and metallic chords. This is the second of two shows this weekend for Newt Patrol, a band featuring members of Lumpy and the Dumpers and Sundowning.
These are just some highlights. Check the sidebar for more!


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Complaint against constable on duty with Koli
Ghaziabad: Police constables on duty with Nithari murder accused Surender Koli have landed in trouble with SSP Ghaziabad Raghubir Lal complaining against them for allowing the life term convict to roam free in the court complex on January 11. The SSP complained against police persons on duty with Koli to IGP Meerut range.
The constables allegedly allowed Koli to make purchases from shops in the court campus on January 11, when he was being brought to court from jail. Koli was seen buying items from shops openly without being handcuffed. Apparently, Noida policemen were deputed to escort Koli from jail to court.


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I attended UTI (Houston) right out of high school. I graduated in 1987 with the associate's degree in Auto and Diesel Technology.
Even with their placement help, it took about nine months to find a job at the time, as in Beaumont, TX the market was flooded. I was able to get a job working for the local Toyota dealer finally, and it was uphill from there. I worked for multiple car lines for a total of 15 years and then left the industry to take a position with an Oil and Gas company as a maintenance tech. My training and experience have propelled me within this company, all the way to the corporate office and am currently a business analyst in the Maintenance and Reliability group.
A much better position than I could have achieved without my training that stimulated my thought process and spurred me to be a successful technician. I left the auto industry with 4 Master level awards from Toyota, Mitsubishi, Hyundai, and finally BMW.
The abilities I developed based on the UTI training is has placed me in a position that I am in demand by all the company field personnel for help with their issues on a daily basis. I have recently decided to go back to school to achieve a bachelor's degree and found that the associate's degree from UTI is not suitable for transfer of any credits to a traditional university, but I would not trade anything for the experience I had while there.
Product or Service Mentioned: Universal Technical Institute Automotive Program.
Reason of review: Good quality.