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The answers we get depend on the questions we ask. Our job is not to give people answers but to help them ask the right questions. – John Stott
Monthly Archives: August 2010
Prayer For The Week – Maya Angelou
Father, Mother, God,
Thank you for your presence
during the hard and mean days.
For then we have you to lean upon.
Thank you for your presence
during the bright and sunny days,
for then we can share that which we have
with those who have less.
And thank you for your presence
during the Holy Days, for then we are able
to celebrate you and our families
and our friends.
For those who have no voice,
we ask you to speak.
For those who feel unworthy,
we ask you to pour your love out
in waterfalls of tenderness.
For those who live in pain,
we ask you to bathe them
in the river of your healing.
For those who are lonely, we ask
you to keep them company.
For those who are depressed,
we ask you to shower upon them
the light of hope.
Dear Creator, You, the borderless
sea of substance, we ask you to give to all the
world that which we need most—Peace.
– Maya Angelou
Back To School Week – It sure sounds like a squirrel
A number of folks are blogging about the spiritual formation of children and youth this week – for info, see Brian McLaren's blog for information on the "Back To School Week" synchroblog.
I have two sons who have grown up going to church … Sunday School, Vacation Bible School, Choir, Mission Trips, Church Camps, Weekend Retreats, Youth Groups, Bible Studies, Concerts and so on. All in all it was a positive experience. They made some good friends, received the support of a large community, and learned to serve others. They were taught a lot about God, Jesus and how a good Christian should live. But, to be honest, I have some concerns about the spiritual education my sons received through the church.
Before I continue I should share a couple of things. First, I want to say that I have never expected the church to be solely responsible for giving my children a spiritual education. I believe that Christian parents are mainly responsible for the spiritual education of their children, and my husband and I have been committed to that. We also believe that there is much that our children can and should learn in a larger community of Christians and believe that the church is in a position to offer much to children and youth when it comes to their spiritual education/formation. Second, I should share that our family has been going through some sort of spiritual transition the last 4 or 5 years. We began to question some of the things that were being taught and some of the things that were happening. We didn't write the church off, but we began to take a serious look at "stuff" – what we believed, why we believed those things and how it all fit or didn't fit with what we knew about God. In some ways, we tried to start over. This process has left us with a more distant relationship with the church, and yet we still have love, respect and hope for the church as we continue our quest to be followers of the way of Jesus Christ.
As I look back on the spiritual education that my sons received from the church and, at the same time, look forward through the lense of what I have learned over the years about children, youth, God, Jesus and the world that we inhabit, today I offer just one thing that I believe would improve the spiritual education that the church offers to children and youth.
I believe that the church should be less concerned with attempting to teach children and youth what to believe and more concerned with teaching them how to seek for themselves. They should be encouraged to be inquisitive, to ask tough questions, to listen to opposing views.
We all know the joke about the Sunday School teacher who was teaching a lesson about being prepared and working diligently….
A Sunday School teacher wanted to use squirrels as an example of prepared workers. She started the lesson by saying, "I'm going to describe something, and I want you to raise your hand when you know what it is." The children were excited to show her what they knew and leaned forward eagerly. "I'm thinking of something that lives in trees and eats nuts …" No hands went up. "It can be gray or brown and it has a long bushy tail …" The children looked around the room at each other, but still no one raised a hand. "It chatters and somtimes it flips its tail when it's excited …" Finally one little boy shyly raised his hand. The teacher breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Okay, Michael. What do you think it is?" "Well," said the boy, "it sure sounds like a squirrel, but I guess the answer's supposed to be Jesus."
Jokes are often funny when they offer a sense of exaggerated reality – but I'm not sure that this joke is that exaggerated.
Children and youth (and a lot of adults) quickly learn that there are expected and acceptable answers at church. They quickly learn that they are not supposed to bring up things that don't make sense to them – like why a loving God would insist on his son dying a brutal death because he was so angry about other people's sin, or why a loving God would want people to kill other people, or why women can teach children and youth but not men – and if they do bring up such things, their questions will be quickly explained away, or they will be labeled a troublemaker, or worse … their belief in Jesus might be doubted and maybe their eternal salvation will be in question. Church has not typically been a place where children and youth are encouraged to ask honest questions, to bring their doubts, to share what they really are really thinking.
I believe the church should teach children and youth that not only is it okay to ask tough questions, to notice and bring up conflicts in scripture and belief systems, to have doubts, to share honestly, but that it is the mark of a person who is serious about following the way of Jesus. The church should teach children that spiritual growth leads to asking hard questions and although we may not always find concrete answers there is value in seeking the answers and sometimes the answer we find might be different than we expect, or different from what someone else believes. They should be taught that there is a possibility that a person's beliefs may change over time and therefore, it is important for them to remain humble about what they believe and how remaining aware of the fact that they could be wrong about what they believe will help them maintain a more teachable spirit – being able to learn more from God, others and life itself.
In addition to teaching children and youth such things, we should also model these things. Adults, teachers, leaders and pastors should share their own questions, that they don't have answers for all of their questions, how they and someone else have different views about a specific interpretation of scripture, how they once believed one thing and now believe something different, that their belief is based on their interpretation but another person might interpret differently.
Finally, children and youth should be taught about living in the tension of having conviction about their beliefs in the midst of uncertainty and doubt and about the idea of seeking the heart of God even when there is not a specific, black and white answer to their question.
The bottom line is that the church needs to stop spoon feeding answers to our children and youth.
After all, if it sounds like a squirrel – it just may be a squirrel.
What do you think would improve the spiritual education that the church offers to children and youth?
Here are some other contributions (send me your link if I don't have it here):
BACK TO SCHOOL WEEK: We plant seeds that one day will grow
BACK TO SCHOOL WEEK: The Coolest Adults
BACK TO SCHOOL: A New Way To Frame Science
BACK TO SCHOOL WEEK: High School and Doubts
BACK TO SCHOOL WEEK: School of Love
BACK TO SCHOOL WEEK: Intergenerational Classes
BACK TO SCHOOL WEEK: Key Questions
Quotes Worth Repeating – The Beginning Of Love
Prayer For The Week – Blessings Worth Praying For
Franciscan prayer of blessing
May God bless us with discomfort at easy answers,
half-truths and superficial relationships,
so that we will live deeply in our hearts.
May God bless us with anger at injustice, oppression
and exploitation of people and the earth,
so that we will work for justice, equity and peace.
May God bless us with tears to shed for those who suffer,
so that we will reach out our hands
to comfort them and change their pain to joy.
And may God bless us with the foolishness to think that
we can make a difference in our world,
so that we will do the things which others say cannot be done.
Quotes Worth Repeating – We will remember
Prayer For The Week – Breath Prayer
Breathe in: Lover of my soul,
Breathe out: help me overflow with love.
The following are exerpts from the Spiritual Disciplines Handbook by Adele Ahlberg Calhoun. (This is one of the best books I have come across on spiritual disciplines. The book contains a depth of perspective and spirituality and yet remains accessible.)
Breathing is an uncounscious thing. And breath prayer reminds us that just as we can't live on one breath of air, we can't live on one breath of God. God is the oxygen of our soul, and we need to breathe him in all day long. After all, it is in him that "we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28). Breath prayer reminds us that each breath we are given is God's gift and that God's Spirit is nearer to us than our own breath.
Breath prayer or "prayer of the heart" has been practiced in the church for millennia. The Eastern Orthodox Church in particular has seen breath prayer as a way of living out Paul's instruction to "pray without ceasing."
To practice breath prayer, ponder the nearness of God. Settle deeply into the truth that Christ is in you. Deeply breathe in, repeating any name of God that is dear to you. As you exhale, voice a deep desire of your heart. When you exhale, offer up the desire of your heart. The brevity of the prayer allows it to be repeated over and over throughout the day.
Examples of breath prayers are
- breathe in "Abba," breathe out "I belong to you."
- breathe in "Healer," breathe out "speak the word and I shall be healed."
- breathe in "Shepherd," breathe out "bring home my lost son."
- breathe in "Holy One," breathe out "keep me true."
- breathe in "Lord," breathe out "here I am."
- breathe in "Jesus," breathe out "have mercy on me."
Lover of my soul, help me overflow with love.
Lover of my soul, help me overflow with love.
Lover of my soul, help me overflow with love.


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Parchment Check Butter Box
Additional Information
Why we love it
Cheerful and sunny, yet deliberately soft and simple. Parchment Check is elegant, with added functionality and practicality for everyday use. Each piece features a hand-painted blend of parchment, taupe, gold, and an irrepressible touch of aqua, woven by an artisan's brush through the glossy, hand-painted checks.
5" wide, 9" long, 4" tall
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Care and Use
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subset: commoncrawl


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Penjab, from scratch to the top
It is impossible to summarize in this article all I had the privilege to live, film and share during my stay in Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Patiala, Kalka and Amritsar.
Agriculture is the main industry of Punjab, it is the largest wheat producer in India.
Punjab is a state in northwest India part of the Punjab region. The state capital is Chandigarh, the new city designed by renowned French architect Le Corbusier.
A considerable number of Punjabis have emigrated in many countries, particularly the United Kingdom, Canada, the US and Australia.
The history of Freemasonry in Punjab is exciting. There are beautiful ancient masonic temples.
The Lodges organize here an incredible number of philanthropic actions: polyclinics, schools. The list of examples is long. Why ? Because there is no health care program, and without this commitment… there will be nothing.
During this filming, we discovered by luck the first Lodge of Amritsar. The exact place of this temple was forgotten, until our visit with Bro Dct Santoc. This discovery is very important. This lodge had its meetings in first floor of the palace of the Maharaja.
What is also remarkable is the way young masons talk about their commitment. They are already open to the world and they imagine a masonry more open, proud and happy to give to the community.
In this prosperous state, there is a natural alliance between Sikhism and masonry. These two ways of living and thinking match in fact perfectly.
Thank you to all brethen of Punjab for their extraordinary welcome and their example.
There is still a lot to say and discover but you have to wait to see the movie Terra Masonica.


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Sew Noel released on October 24. It is stitched 1*2 on 55ct white linen with AVAS Soie Surfine 2492 (red) and 458 (green).
You will receive a pdf file of the chart with a colour picture/frontsheet
Price: US$4
I aim to send charts out as soon as your payment is received but please bear in mind any time difference as I live in the UK. If you do not hear from me within 24 hours, please contact me. My email address can be found on my profile.
Labels: Sew Noel


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By John Lee.
Australian construction group Leighton Holdings has sacked a senior manager, whom it did not name, as part of its probe into allegations of bribery related to its $1.3 billion of oil contracts in Iraq.
The company said "its internal review of the Iraq projects undertaken by its subsidiary, Leighton Offshore Pte Limited, has identified instances of failures to meet governance standards in respect of the proper documentation of contractual arrangements. As a consequence, a senior manager has been dismissed."
Leighton Holdings' Chief Executive Officer, Hamish Tyrwhitt, said:
"Leighton's values are integral to Leighton's approach to business. No deviation from those values will be tolerated and appropriate disciplinary action will be taken if necessary."
The internal review followed the announcement in February that the company had made a voluntary referral to the Australian Federal Police (AFP). Leighton is continuing to cooperate with the ongoing AFP investigation.
Leighton was working on the new floating Single Point Mooring (SPM) platforms in the Gulf.


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It was terrific seeing Dylan's story on the front page of the Sunday, 3/29, Corvallis Gazette-Times. Do you think we can garner some help for this wonderful family? Dylan's upcoming treatment is very expensive. See Dylan's Journey here.
Photo by Casey Campbell/Gazette-Times
Dylan Cain, 4, uses a towel bar attached to a massage table to help him stand while his father, Mark, is ready to assist. Dylan, who has cerebral palsy, is set to receive stem cell treatment at Duke University. Story by Alex Paul follows.
By Alex Paul
Corvallis Gazette-Times
Wearing a New York Yankees T-shirt, 4-year-old Dylan Cain hurls a rubber ball across the living room of his parents' Corvallis home with amazing punch for a 52-pound lefty.
If stem cell infusion at the Duke University School of Medicine in coming weeks is successful, it's possible that Dylan, who has cerebral palsy, will someday be able to show off his pitching prowess on a real baseball diamond.
That scenario is well beyond the dreams of his parents, Mark and Jinger Cain. They will be ecstatic if the stem cell project — which will use stem cells collected from Dylan's umbilical cord at birth — provides him with better sight and — miracle of miracles — the ability to walk.
Dylan was oxygen-deprived at birth and later was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. Although he has some peripheral vision, he is legally blind, cannot walk on his own and has a vocabulary of fewer than a dozen words.
But what Dylan lacks in physical ability, he makes up for with a beaming smile and deep belly laugh that would warm the coldest heart. He also has the support of two loving parents who have been devoted to improving their son's life since his birth on Dec. 16, 2004.
The living room of their duplex is filled with tables where they and volunteers work with Dylan every day, training his brain to remember tasks and stimulating learning. A recent cause to celebrate was the day Dylan used a towel bar his father attached to the side of a massage table to pull himself to his feet and grab some toys. It was, his mother said, a major breakthrough in a world filled with progress that is measured in tiny increments.
A decision made at Dylan's birth may be a major turning point for the family, Jinger Cain said.
"We decided to bank Dylan's umbilical cord blood," she said. "The stem cells from that blood now have the potential to change Dylan's life or, potentially, even for one of us down the road."
Jinger was working at Hewlett-Packard when she and her husband decided to spend the $2,000. She now sells real estate, and Mark works part-time at Linn-Benton Community College. Medical costs have hit their financial resources hard, but they continue to seek the best for their son, often with the help of community fundraising projects.
"We had heard about banking cord blood, and we saw it as an insurance policy," Mark said. "We were willing to take the chance."
Dylan's blood was stored with a company called ViaCord, based in Cambridge, Mass. In January, the family received a letter from ViaCord informing them that Duke University was willing to consider Dylan as part of its pediatric study based on stem cells.
"We almost put it in the shredder. It came in a plain envelope," Jinger said. "I read it about 1 a.m. and cried. We had been looking into taking Dylan to China, where they have had tremendous success with stem cell cases."
Jinger said because the stem cells come from Dylan's own umbilical cord blood, they will be an exact match. There have been numerous stories worldwide of improvements in medical conditions even from partially matched cell infusions.
Jinger emphasized that the stem cells that will be used to treat Dylan are not embryonic; they are his own. No embryos were destroyed to collect the stem cells. In Germany, there have been successful tests using stem cells taken from bone marrow, Jinger said.
"The stem cells know where to go to attach themselves to damaged cells," Jinger said. "Some people report seeing improvement in just days or a few weeks. There are stories about children who could not see when they went for treatment but could see lights when they flew home."
Beike Biotechnology in China claims it has completed more than 13,000 stem cell transplants since 2001, with nearly 80 percent of its patients showing signs of improvement — some of them making remarkable progress.
The Cains haven't been given an official timeline for their trip to North Carolina, but they expect it will be in late April or early May. They will travel on a weekend. Dylan will receive an evaluation on Monday and a cell infusion — which takes about one hour — on Tuesday. He will meet with a neurologist on Wednesday, and the family will return to Oregon.
At home, they will continue Dylan's intense physical therapy and a wholesome, all-natural nutrition program in hopes of boosting the stem cell healing process.
The cost of their travel, the stem cell infusion and follow-up meetings is estimated to be about $19,000, which they don't have, Jinger said. Over the past four years, they have spent every dime they had trying to help their son.
The Cains are realistic about their expectations and hopes for Dylan.
"We will take anything, no matter how little," Jinger said. "Our hope is that he will get better vision, better body and muscle control. We would take any or all three. I originally thought his toughest challenge was going to be his blindness, but now I think it may be his inability to walk."
Jinger has started a blog where she can share information with other parents of children with special medical needs.
"This isn't just our journey," Jinger said. "Other parents can gain from our experiences."
To learn more about Dylan, or to donate, see www.help4dylan.com.
Alex Paul can be reached at email@example.com or by calling 758-9526.
Monday, March 30, 2009
GT: Banking on stem cells
Posted by Brainchild on 3/30/2009
Labels: cerebral palsy, Dylan Cain, help, Local
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George was launched in 1990 when George Davies spotted a niche opportunity that no one else could see; for quality, value clothing ranges in supermarkets. George joined forces with ASDA and the rest, as they say, is history. George is a brand with a great heritage and an even better future.


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We tend to take many things for granted: the people around us or the opportunities with which we are presented, all because we truly don't realize what we have until they're gone.
This rings true for our education as well. Despite all we do to complain, there are many people who really do look back on high school as the "best four years of their lives." We are told to cherish these years while we still can, as the "real world" is a much scarier place than the small community we are used to.
From grade 9, all the way up until grade 12, high school provides us with many experiences that influence who we become. Not only do we grow as people, but we also mature into entirely different people. I know I'm not the same grade 9 student who walked through the Hazel Street doors on the first day of Grade 9.
The change you experience throughout high school is inevitable, but I still wanted to know more. I decided to ask ten grade 12 students about their lives in grade 9, and more specifically, to answer the following question: "If you could speak to your grade 9 self, what would you say?" What follows is a variety of different answers, all of which I found enlightening.
Jenn M.:
"I would tell myself to participate in more sports and clubs early on. Grade 9 and 10 are easy academically so I definitely wish I had gotten involved more."
Paul T.:
" I would advise myself to get my act together and focus on my school work. You think it doesn't matter now, but it will in the long run."
Ritu S.:
"I would say to my grade 9 self to never be afraid to speak my mind, or be intimidated into silence. I would also remind myself to not stress over the things that seem so small and unimportant now."
Kanan G.:
"To be honest, I never took school seriously in grade 9 and 10, so I would probably tell myself to develop better habits for the future."
Lea S.:
"I'd probably say that the stress you feel now is nothing compared to the stress in grade 12. Also, don't be scared to audition for Concept in grade 9… being in the show is better than being an usher."
Sam D.:
"I should have gone to more events like Fast for Freedom and Relay for Life. School spirit never really mattered to me until I became a senior and began to get more involved."
Jayde G.:
"I wish I got more into the arts and ABCD and was more interactive with the school other than sports and volunteering. I also wish I did more university courses to put me on the greater path for my future."
Adam T.:
"I wish I'd made the push to be on ABCD… I wish I'd done more stuff within the school so that I could have an impact on the high school experiences of others."
Adeolu B.:
"I think I would tell my Grade 9 self to go talk to new people! For most of Grade 9, I stuck with my senior school friends all the time, so I didn't get to really meet and get to know all of the awesome people from other schools that I now do!"
Mike D.:
"I really wish that I had started football in Grade 9. At the time I didn't realize how much sports meant to me, but now that I play on so many teams I have realized."
It was fascinating to see how students change over time, and how their interests at the beginning of high school may be completely different by the end.
Although each answer was unique in its own way, there was one thing all responses had in common: involvement. Whether it be academics, the arts or athletics, getting involved in what you are passionate about is guaranteed to make high school a better experience. If you love helping others, why not join Relay for Life to raise money for the Cancer Society, or fast for a day to raise money for refugees.
After all, there needs to be something to keep students sane through the academic pressures of the year!


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-Added two new blogs to the Blogroll this week. Both old friends from college just starting out in the grand adventure called blogging. (And yes, I am defining the word "adventure" down. It's not like we're crossing the Sahara barefoot here. We type words into a computer for eff-sakes! Personally, I consider what I do just a notch below Data Entry.)
The first is Kim Rhodes who just started her blog "Rhodeside Attractions" a few days ago. And she already seems determined to carve out her niche as a cross between your favorite dotty aunt and Erma Bombeck with a nailbat. Here's a quick sample from her first post, "God Bless Women over Thirty".
I live in the land of the perpetually young and beautiful. Twenty-three year old nymphs with boobs that defy gravity and asses you could bounce a quarter off of. They may have any hair color, but their teeth are always pearly white and their skin smoother than Botox can ever buy me. They eat in front of me, they join my workout classes, they shop at my grocery stores, and they jog through my park. Sometimes without a bra. How is it that I have not become homicidal, you ask? I remember one very important thing… my orgasms are better than theirs.
(Okay, okay, first apology and it's only the second real paragraph. If by chance you are one of the aforementioned nymphs and happen to now be offended, please know I don't mean YOU. You are some of my favorite people in real life. I have lots of you as friends and coworkers. I killed a spider for one of you just yesterday. I would never actually wish a mediocre climax on you, it's what you represent in my head that I'm talking about. Someday, you will understand. For now, just appreciate your boobs and Georgia-peach butt and trust that your orgasms will get better.
She is well on her way to turning into a great broad in the Frank Sinarta sense of the word.
The other is Jessica Zodrow who just started her blog "That Quirky Lady". And Jess…Jess is an unabashed optimist. A quality I find teeth grindingly annoying in most people. But damn it, she seems it make work for her.
I must say, to be clear, I mean to find the positive action in whatever the emotion may be. Action to change yourself, your life and your surroundings not hurting others-animals or the planet in the process. HIPPY ALERT. But they did get music and peaceful hearts right!
Really this quirky mind of mine as decided that nothing is black and white. That maybe if we were okay with the sliding scale less action would be taken out of pure and blind LOVE or HATE and more action could be taken out of finding out why we feel the way we do?!
I have been accused over and over in my life of being "too passionate" however I think that what is really true is that I am in tune with my own scale. And yes there have been times, god and some of you good readers know, when I have tipped my scale this way or that. Overall though those were learning moments…so I present to the world my idea. The great scale the wonderous array of human emotions that could be put to use, be put into action. Fuck apathy ( oh yes I can cuss like a sailor too or as my Mother once said " Jessica Autumn you sound like a pirate")!!
Welcome both these ladies to the Internet. But be warned, first asshole who lives a picture of their privates in their comments sections may find them seriously bruised by end of business day.
-After weeks of avoiding them, I finally watched my first GOP debate in weeks.
Apparently, I had decided that I hadn't suffered enough for my sins.
Mitt Romney responded to Santorum's near win in Iowa by saying he'd start a trade war with China and that contraceptives are awesome!
Rick Santorum responded to questions about his abilities to be commander in chief by saying he'd bomb Iran.
Newt Gingrich responded to being called a chicken hawk by Ron Paul by reminding everyone he was an Army Brat, (Protip to Newt, Avoid future answers involving the word brat.) and that he got a deferment because he had a wife and kid. (To which Ron Paul replied that he had a wife and two kids and still went in the service.)
Ron Paul responded to his racist newsletter flap by calling Martin Luther King a libertarian.
Rick Perry responded to the voices in his head by saying he'd send troops back into Iraq!
And Jon Huntsman responded to the notion that he was the only electable candidate on stage by speaking Chinese.
Diane Sawyer responded by asking all the candidates how they all usually spend their Saturday nights.
I responded by punching myself in the balls.
New rule. No more debates until the general elections.
if only because I really like my balls.
-Brief commercial announcement. If you look in the upper left hand corner, you will find a link to my Dwolla Tip Jar. If anything you've read here has made you laugh or made you think, please feel free to feed the kitty. Think of it as providing positive re-enforcement.
If you don't like what I throw down…keep it to yourself. I get enough negative re-enforcement from life as it is.
More later.


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Thursday afternoon, the Twitter universe cried out for a Tumblr collection of charts from the Senate floor. Perhaps not surprisingly, a C-SPAN employee delivered.
Bill Gray, a producer at the cable network, was tracking traffic on Twitter and saw the response after a reporter Tweeted a screenshot of the Senate floor featuring Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill., appearing next to a chart of a giant bottle of the 5-Hour Energy drink.
Then, Elise Foley, a reporter for the Huffington Post, called out for the creation of a floor chart Tumblr. Gray, who had a collection of screenshots of charts already on his computer, happily obliged with senatecharts.tumblr.com.
"It's not an active exercise to go combing for every chart possible in the archives at this point," Gray told HOH. He has picked out some of his favorites, including the debt and deficit dragon from Iowa Republican Sen. Charles E. Grassley.
Grassley also made the list for his chart of actor and comedian Bill Murray in the movie "Groundhog Day."
While not an official C-SPAN effort, spokesman Howard Mortman said it does highlight the depth of the company's video library.
"People can on their own go through and find their own charts ... through their own searching in the archives," Mortman said. "The serious side of this would be showing, you know, the breadth of resources in the video library."
Asked why the site name says Senate but the collection includes a number of gems from the House, Gray noted that it started in response to events on the Senate floor. While it still has Senate in the URL, the Tumblr is now called "Floor Charts."


text:
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Don't laugh...
Back when I worked 2 or 3 crappy jobs to try to piece together the income of one mediocre job, one of those jobs was delivering newspapers. And I had the route from hell, too. The three golden retrievers who roamed the neighborhood early, early in the morning, grabbing up other people's papers to take home with them, were the least of it.
4 comments:
- Unknown said...
Daniel Bruno Sanz would like to share his Huffington Post essay with you;
Please post it on your website and send your link to us for inclusion at DanielBrunoSanz.com
Follow us on Twitter at Twitter.com/DanielBrunoSanz
Here are the keyords in the essay:
13th Amendment, 14th Amendment, 2012 Election, B.E.T., Barack Hussein Obama, Booker T. Washington, Bryant Park, Cipriani's, Colin Powell, Criminal Industrial Complex, Deb Slott, Do The Right Thing, Heidi Klum, Hip-Hop, Mark Penn, Melting Pot, Pink Elephant, Racism, Reconstruction, Robert Johnson, Seal, Segregation, Shelby Steele, Sidney Poiter, Sonia Sotomayor, Spike Lee, Tavis Smiley, Terrence Yang, The Dance Flick, To Kill a Mocking Bird, Virginia Davies, W.E.B. Dubois, Zero Mostel, Politics
Prologue to Obama 2012
We approach the future walking backwards, our gaze forever fixated on the past. Predicting the future is not a passive exercise; we invent it every day with our actions.
I began the sketches for what would ultimately become Obama 2012 in March 2007, a month after Barack Obama declared his candidacy. I had spent much of the previous 18 months living abroad as an entrepreneur and statesman of sorts, and I was slightly out of touch with the pulse of life on the street in the United States. I learnt about Sen. Barack Obama's Springfield, IL speech formally declaring his candidacy for president of the United States through one of the international cable news channels and thought how great it would be to have a fresh start after years of mediocrity in Washington and a plummeting reputation around the world.
By September, after what seemed like raising a six-month-old child, my sketches had turned into Why the Democrats Will Win in 2008 the Road to an Obama White House. It was my answer to the burning question everyone had back in March: Can he really win? Actually, not everyone thought it was a question. For many people, including Mark Penn, director of the Clinton campaign, the answer was an easy "no way." This strategic blunder made it that much easier for the Clinton campaign to be defeated. Then there were Black pundits like Shelby Steele, a fellow at the Hoover Institution, who came out with a 2007 book entitled A Bound Man, Why Obama Can't Win.
Being Black did seem to be an automatic disqualification, but then why did someone need to write an entire book arguing what should have been patently obvious? Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Colin Powell came to my mind and I remembered that he could have run for president in 1992 as a war hero. But Colin Powell was Ronald Reagan's protégé and got a special pass on the race question. Black conservatives like Justice Thomas, Condoleezza Rice and Colin Powell were careful to disassociate themselves from liberal thinkers and activists like Jesse Jackson, who lost, as expected, the 1984 and 1988 Democratic primaries. Ultimately, Colin Powell, in spite of all his honors, declined to run for president. His wife Alma feared for his safety. Common sense said that a candidate like Obama, for numerous insurmountable reasons, didn't stand a chance of winning the Democratic primary, let alone a general election in which 10% of the electorate is African American and Republicans controlled the White House for 20 of the preceding 28 years. But I decided that Obama's chances merited a closer examination. In it, I would bring to bear my gambling skills.
- Saturday, July 25, 2009 12:32:00 PM
- hipparchia said...
- Saturday, July 25, 2009 2:29:00 PM
- Unknown said...
On the 64th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, essayist Daniel Bruno Sanz has written a unique piece about the nuclear arms race and the Black experience on film:
You may post it on your website and follow us at Twitter.com/DanielBrunoSanz
Here are the Keywords:
5ive, Adolf Hitler, African-American Poetry, Al-Queda, Albert Einstein, Arch Oboler, Carl Sagan, Charles Bronson, Charles Lampkin, Cosmos, Douglass Macarthur, Elizabeth Montgomery, Emperor Hirohito, Enrico Fermi, Fahrenhei 451, Fat Man, Five, Francois Truffaut, Frank Lloyd Wright, Genesis, Gyokuon-Hoso, H.G. Welles, Harry Truman, Hiroshima, James Anderson, James Weldon Johnson, Julius Rosenberg, Klaus Fuchs, Lavrentii Beria, Leo Szilard, Lord Of The Flies, Los Ultimos Cinco, Manchuria, Manhattan Project, Mao Tse-Tung, Martini Movies, Mokusatsu, Mulholland Highway, Nagasaki, Nietzsche, North Korea, Nuclear Holocaust, On The Beach, Orson Welles, Pearl Harbor, Potsdam Declaration, Reagan, Red Army, Rod Serling, Schopenhauer, Semipalatinsk, Stalin, Stepin Fetchit, Suzuki Kantaro, Taliban, The Day After, The Day The World Ended, Twilight Zone, Uranium Fission, Variety Magazine, Will Smith, Wille Zur Macht, William Golding, William Phipps, Living News
- Thursday, August 06, 2009 1:52:00 AM
- Unknown said...
New essay "The Gates Affair:Why We Care" yours to publish
Dear readers and webmasters,
Author Daniel Bruno Sanz has written an essay about Gatesgate. We encourage its publication and distribution.
Navas S.
"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."
- 4th Amendment to the The Constitution of the United States of America
- Thursday, August 20, 2009 11:25:00 PM


text:
A few suggestions from veteran Vatican watcher John Thavis, in USA TODAY:
There's an appetite for change even inside the Vatican, particularly when it comes to the way the pope manages his bureaucratic apparatus, the Roman Curia.
Based on ideas that Vatican officials have floated in conversations over the last two weeks, here are seven relatively simple steps the next pope could take to streamline and improve governance at the heart of the church:
- Bring in his own team. Newly elected popes habitually leave the Roman Curia heads in place for years, in part because they don't want to be seen as "rocking the boat." But this only makes it more difficult to change policies and challenge entrenched attitudes. The next pope should thank the existing team of Vatican officials for their service, and then send them home.
- Limit terms for Roman Curia officials to no more than five years. Cardinals and other prelates should be informed that their Vatican appointments will last no more than five years. This would ensure that they understand their shift at the Vatican is truly a time of service to the church, not an opportunity for career-building. Term limits would also bring younger people to the Vatican. At present, heads of major Vatican offices often come into their jobs at an older age and serve until retirement. Curia appointments should not be seen as a life sentence.
- Initiate weekly Cabinet-style meetings among Vatican department heads. Rather incredibly, such meetings are rarely held today, and that fact helps explain why Roman Curia officials often give the impression they're not on the same page. Cross-communication between Vatican agencies is practically non-existent, and this would be a first step toward fixing that.
- Flip the proportion of Italians in the Curia. Italians still dominate almost every Vatican office, and Pope Benedict actually "re-Italianized" some sections of the Roman Curia. If Italians make up 60% of the Curia today, for example, reducing them to 40% would create a space for real internationalization. It would also help reduce the Vatican's excessive focus on Italian political and social affairs.
- Bring more women to Vatican positions, across the entire Curia and at the executive level. Women scratched the Vatican's "glass ceiling" years ago, but have not been able to break through to the decision-making level. The explanation has been that the power to make binding decisions in the Roman Curia is linked to the priesthood. That seems to be an excessively clerical vision of the role of the Curia, and a pope could easily change it. He needs to have women's input, and he needs to show he trusts their judgment.


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Chi Chi Rodriguez
Full Name
5 ft, 7 in
170 cm
150 lbs
68 kg
October 23, 1935
Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico
Dorado, Puerto Rico; Palm City, Florida
Wife, Iwalani; Donnette (4/6/62)
Turned Pro
Hall of Fame
Exempt status
PGA TOUR Victories (8)
PGA TOUR Champions Victories (22)
Additional Victories (4)
Special Interests
Career Highlights
2015 Season
2007 Season
2003 Season
Played in just nine official events.
2000 Season
1998 Season
Year came to a halt after a mild heart attack in mid-October. Scheduled to play in Sacramento at the Raley's Gold Rush Classic, but was forced to withdraw after having an angioplasty performed.
1996 Season
1994 Season
Became a member of the World Humanitarian Sports Hall of Fame in 1994.
1993 Season
Received the Herb Graffis Award in 1993 from the PGA of America.
1992 Season
Inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1992.
1991 Season
Won all four of his events within seven weeks early in the season and finished the year fourth on the final money list.
1990 Season
Won three events and was among the top three in nine events overall.
1989 Season
Received the Bob Jones Award in 1989, the highest honor bestowed by the USGA.
1988 Season
Received the 1988 Fred Raphael Award for his service to the game, and was honored by the Golf Course Superintendents Association with the Old Tom Morris Award.
1987 Season
Became the first Champions Tour player to surpass the half-million dollar mark in single-season earnings and earned his second consecutive Byron Nelson Award for the lowest scoring average on the circuit. Won a career-high seven times, including three in a row and a Champions Tour-record four consecutive events that he entered. Honored by former President Ronald Reagan with the National Puerto Rican Coalition Life Achievement Award in 1987.
1986 Season
Had an outstanding rookie year, winning three tournaments and finishing second seven times. Received the Card Walker Award in 1986 from the PGA TOUR for his contributions to junior golf.
1985 Season
1981 Season
Recipient of the Ambassador of Golf Award in 1981.
1979 Season
1973 Season
1972 Season
Most productive year on TOUR was 1972, with $113,503 in official earnings.
1963 Season
Do Not Sell My Personal Information
© 2020 PGA TOUR, Inc | All Rights Reserved.
PGA TOUR, PGA TOUR Champions, and the Swinging Golfer design are registered trademarks.
The Korn Ferry trademark is also a registered trademark, and is used in the Korn Ferry Tour logo with permission.


text:
SCOTTY'S JUNCTION, Nev.
NEIGHBORS are few out here in the high desert of Nevada, where Fabrizio Rondolino, an Italian journalist, built his dream home. There was a fellow one lot over who, after reportedly hearing instructions from above, built a chapel. But possibly the voice subsequently hollered down, "Just kidding!" for while the chapel remains, the owner's trailer is gone. There is also the Shady Lady Ranch, a bordello (legal in these parts) about seven miles down the road. Being an outgoing and friendly sort, Mr. Rondolino took his wife and two daughters, both under 21 at the time, to say hello, soon after they bought their land a few years ago.
"I was locking the car, and my wife and two girls ring the bell," Mr. Rondolino remembers. "And the guy opened the door, and they saw two girls and a lady." The man seemed to think they were looking for a job, and he told them several times that no under-age girls were allowed in the house. Then Mr. Rondolino arrived and informed him they were the new neighbors. The man wasn't very friendly, Mr. Rondolino recalls. He said, "Good luck," and that was that.
But bordellos and mystics are not the first thing an Easterner wants to know about after arriving on this stretch of land 150 miles north of Las Vegas, not far from Death Valley, on a scorching summer day. The first thing one wants to know is whether there are rattlesnakes. The answer, from Peter Strzebniok, the architect who built this house and is also visiting on this day: no, it is too hot. Rattlesnakes prefer the shade.
The next question — the big one — is for the owner: Why would he build a house in the middle of the scorching nowhere?
It is not an unexpected question. Mr. Rondolino, who arrived earlier the same day from his home in Rome, with his wife, Simona Ercolani; their daughters, Francesca, 23, and Bianca, 17; and his parents, Gianni and Lina Rondolino, cheerfully interrupts, as it is one he has heard countless times.
"Why, why, why, why, why?" he asks, his face full of happiness, like a man who has been reunited with a true love after a long time apart. "It all started with 'Zabriskie Point,' " he says, referring to the Antonioni film about 1960s counterculture. "Simona's father worked on that movie — he was chief electrician back in 1969. 'Zabriskie Point' was kind of a mythical occasion for him. It is set in Death Valley; part of it was shot at Zabriskie Point."
"Anyway, we came here for the first time 17, 18 years ago, and we fell deeply in love with Death Valley, so we keep coming," continues Mr. Rondolino, who is 51 and speaks English fluently. "And then we decided, why not build?"
"My father has the Alzheimer's for 13 years," says Ms. Ercolani, who is 47 and speaks English less fluently than her husband. "When he died, the last words he remembered was 'Zabriskie Point.' Not me, not my daughters, not my mother. Only 'Zabriskie Point.' "
She adds: "When my father died, we take the airplane here to honor my father and just walk, and he" — meaning Mr. Rondolino — "says, 'It's a beautiful place, we can build something.' And joking, I say, 'Sure.' "
Speaking of her husband, we have just noticed he has a small blue "S" tattooed on his hand in the tender tissue between thumb and forefinger. What's that about?
"We had a small troubled period," Ms. Ercolani says. "So after we build the house, I marked my husband."
Does the desert attract those with interesting stories? Or is it just that in the desert one has time to listen to them?
Nye County, where Mr. Rondolino and Ms. Ercolani built their house, is so wide open that driving along Highway 95 from Las Vegas one can easily find oneself doing 90 miles an hour. In Beatty, some 30 miles away, there are a number of intriguing characters: a cowboy re-enactor at the Sourdough Saloon who will tell you about his favorite hat and the days he really did cowboy (that's a verb in these parts); the auto engineers and drivers testing prototype vehicles in Death Valley, which are often covered in plastic camouflage to hide their design from snooping photographers; the owners of the Shady Lady Ranch, who brought in a man for their female customers, after successfully challenging the Nevada law forbidding male prostitution (the man, who gave an interview to The New York Post in which he compared himself to Rosa Parks and Mahatma Gandhi, is no longer there).
Then there is the story of Mr. Rondolino and Ms. Ercolani, aficionados of the American desert. On this summer afternoon, they are playing Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan, and welcoming guests, as the temperature in their house, which has no air-conditioning, tops out at 94 degrees.
Mr. Rondolino, whose father is a cinema professor, is a novelist and press agent as well as a journalist, and was once a spokesman for the former Italian Prime Minister Massimo D'Alema. Ms. Ercolani is a television producer.
The couple, who have both been married before, have visited many deserts over the years: the Simpson in Australia, the Gobi in Mongolia, the Atacama in South America. But about 10 years ago, when they were going through a rough patch romantically, the desert played a major role in their lives. Mr. Rondolino had had an affair and moved out of the house, and there were, he says, a lot of tears on both sides. During this "crisis" in their marriage, they spent a few weeks in Death Valley.
"We had a kind of emotional breakdown in a place ironically called Last Chance Mountain," Mr. Rondolino says. "But luckily, this was not our last chance. We came back to Italy, and after a couple of months we were together again. And we decided to celebrate with a week at Furnace Creek Ranch."
In 2005, the couple bought 40 acres here, for $70,000. A year later, when they brought their daughters to see the land, Ms. Ercolani buried her wedding ring under some rocks on the property.
Why? Ms. Ercolani explains in Italian, and one of her daughters translates: "She buried her wedding ring under the rocks because we are locked in this place, because they lost themselves here and found themselves here. It's a symbol of their love. When she buried the ring, she buried the sad part."
Mr. Rondolino came across the work of Peter Strzebniok (pronounced Cheb-nee-ah), a young German architect living in San Francisco, whose firm, nottoscale, had created an affordable prefabricated house.
Architect and client never met or even spoke on the phone during the planning, construction and furnishing of the desert home — all the planning was done by e-mail. (They met for the first time on the day the architect and his wife, Deborah Wong, traveled out to the house with this reporter.) Mr. Rondolino and Ms. Ercolani visited the site only once during construction, when the interiors were not yet finished.
Now, sitting in one of the bedrooms, the couple acknowledge that this is unusual, but they say they had no fears. The architect was European, and they had a shared sensibility.
The notion of a totally prefabricated home was considered but rejected — it would have been too expensive to transport. Instead, sections of the house were manufactured five hours away, in Reno, and brought to the site.
The original estimate of $250,000 for the approximately 1,200-square-foot, three-bedroom, two-bathroom house, with an office and a spring-fed hot tub on the deck, proved to be too low. The final cost was $290,000. (Much of the reason had to do with problems with a series of contractors, one of whom spent time digging for gold instead of working.)
Color is used sparingly here, as accents: green bathroom tiles that recall the surrounding sagebrush, touches of red from the bar stools to suggest the heat of the desert. Mr. Strzebniok furnished the house down to the salt shakers, relying heavily on Ikea in the bedrooms and on CB2 (the table) and Design Within Reach (the chairs) in the dining room. When he was quoted $6,000 for furniture delivery, he rented a U-Haul and made two trips himself, picking the furniture up in San Francisco. And before Mr. Rondolino and Ms. Ercolani visited the finished house for the first time last Christmas, Mr. Strzebniok stocked it with food, as well as with bottles of Campari and Pernod.
"He is the perfect husband, the opposite of me," Mr. Rondolino teases. "I'm not a practical man, but I appreciate practical men."
To the reporter from the East, there is one thing that seems to be missing. The tub set into the deck is deliciously cooling, but why didn't they build a full-size pool?
"You can't have a pool in the middle of the desert," Mr. Rondolino says.
But Palm Springs is full of pools.
"Palm Springs is for Hollywood stars," he says. "There is air-conditioning also in the main street. I don't like this kind of too-nice, civilized desert. To me, there is not enough desert."
They spent a week in the house over Christmas. Was it everything they hoped?
"When you stay here in the night, you can see the stars move," Ms. Ercolani says, referring to the experience of sleeping in a bedroom with a floor-to-ceiling glass corner and a skylight.
Her husband adds: "I had the sensation of being on a spaceship. This winter, we had a really strong wind one night — the house was almost shaking. And there were millions, billions of stars from everywhere, you were completely surrounded by the stars down to the horizon, which in the cities or countryside you are not. Normally you see the stars above you, not around you. Yes, it was like a spaceship."


text:
I saw this tag over on A Great Read and I knew I had to do it for the Christmas season! I'll be taking a break from the blog over the holidays so I thought it perfect that I leave it off with a festive post.
"All I Want For Christmas Is You"
Favorite Bookish Couple
I am re-reading this series now that I've finished Kingdom Of Ash, so of course I had to go with Rowan and Aelin. I just love those two so much... individually they are great but together they are just a powerhouse.
"I'll Be Home For Christmas"
Name a book where a character is away from home (school, vacation, etc.)
The book that immediately came to mind here was Vampire Academy.
"Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas"
Name your favorite "little" book (children's book, short story, novella, etc.)
Decided to pick a Christmas novella here since it is the season. This is definitely one of my favorite Christmas novellas. So good, so fun.
"Santa Claus Is Coming To Town"
What book(s) do you hope Santa brings you this year?
That History of Magic books looks phenomenal and I need those dragons!
"Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer"
Which book turned your nose red (made you cry)?
Which book turned your nose red (made you cry)?
I haven't read this book in years, but it was still the first book that came to mind. DEVASTATING.
"The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year"
Your favorite book/kind of book to read during the holidays
I love Christmas novellas this time of year, so here are some more of my favorites.
"We Three Kings"
Your favorite trilogy
I mean... are there any characters who own my heart the way Will and Jem and Tessa do? Its debatable. I love these three so much and I will always adore this trilogy.
"Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow"
A character you would love to be snowed in with
Since I featured Rowan already in this tag, I'm going with Rhysand here. I wouldn't mind being snowed in that cabin with Rhys... nope would not mind at all.
"Last Christmas"
A book that seriously let you down
"White Christmas"
An upcoming release you're dreaming about
The first books in these series took me by surprised and I adored them so I am dying to get my hands on the sequels.
And now I tag anyone else who wants to play!


text:
The proponents of an AI-augmented future seem to have a vision of a machine-led utopia. However there is not enough discussion on the ethics of pushing human society into such a utopia. Is the expectation of ethical behaviour an all-or-nothing proposition? What are the legal consequences of unethical behaviour by a machine-augmented human being? Do a machine's ethical duties towards humanity supersede individual human rights?
The School of Computer Science, UCD invites you to a keynote address by Dr. Joanna Goodey, Head of Research & Data Unit, European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights. Her talk is entitled - AI and fundamental rights: Not only a question of ethics.
Free and all are welcome to attend. Please use the link provided to register your attendance.
Click here to register your attendance.
Attendance at this event should be recorded as it can be counted as part of your overall CPD hours for the year.
Recording your CPD is now really easy - visit My CPD to get started.
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text:
Amber Mitchell is the author of Garden of Thorns, which is to be released March 6, 2017. She
On your site you mention that you love movies. Which are your favorites?
I think my favorite recent movie release has to be Zootopia. It was adorable! I can always watch Clueless, the Harry Potter movies and pretty much anything with Ryan Reynolds (loved Deadpool). However, I think the best movie I've ever seen is The Princess Bride. I can pretty much quote every word of it. I saw it when I was about 8 and it inspired my love of fantasy.
How have these movies influenced your writing?
I'm not sure how much the movies I watch influence my writing. I enjoy that they have such concise plots (which is something I struggle with in my own writing). Anything with a fantasy setting always captures my interest since I admire how movie makers (and game developers) create even the tiniest details that many people won't even see for the backgrounds and sets.
You also call yourself a papercrafter. Tell us more about that.
Sure! My husband and I began a small business a few years ago crafting all manner of nerdy subject matter out of card stock. We take the shapes and layer them in a shadowbox frame using foam adhesive dots. It creates a 3D picture. We can make pretty much anything and it's a great way to relax.
Here is a link to our Etsy shop: A Paper Place by ThePaperPonyPlace
You seem to really be inspired by fairy tales. Which are your favorites? Have you based any of your writing on them?
There are three fairy tales that I've loved since I was a kid: Beauty and the Beast, Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland. I was so excited to see Belle from Beauty and the Beast because of her adventurous spirit and her love of reading. I felt like I was looking at myself! The thing that stuck with me as an adult was how so many fairy tales were originally much darker than the tales I got as a child. I feel really inspired by that blend of childlike innocence and darkness. I think it's also the thing that draws me toward stories where magic has a cost, a darker side.
As far as basing writing off them, I'd been searching for something that would be a good twist on the fairy tales I love but nothing ever seemed to be original enough. I finally came up with an idea I like for an Alice in Wonderland inspired story which I am writing right now. Alice's theme of identity makes for a really good young adult novel and I'll take any chance I can get to ship Alice with the Mad Hatter!
You've said that the characters are your favorite part of a novel. Who are your favorite characters and why?
I tend to fall for a different character in every book I read! A few of my favorites:
- Tris from the Divergent series by Veronica Roth because I really admired her blend of toughness but also her vulnerability.
- Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter series by JK Rowling because she was allowed to be clever and bossy but those are the things that made her endearing.
- Yelena from the Study series by Maria V Snyder because of her unwavering strength
I recently finished Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo and fell in love with the Darkling!
Any tips on creating awesome characters?
Creating characters is something I still strive to achieve. When I was a newer writer, I worried too much about what they looked like and spent a lot less time trying to understand the world from their view. I've found that the best thing I can do in when writing a scene is to look at that scene from every character's perspective. I do a lot of writing in first person perspective which I enjoy but it also gets me stuck in one perspective. Pulling myself out of the main character's head and figuring out how the other characters in the scene would react (even if it goes against how you originally saw the scene or plotted it) makes for a more exciting and real character!
One other tip is to give each character a few ticks or mannerisms. Even if they never get revealed in the book, I think it goes a long way to helping understand who they are.
You used to be a 911 dispatcher, how has that position inspired your writing?
Being a dispatcher definitely gave me insight into the different ways people react to stressful situations. I also got much better at reading between the lines of what people said versus what they actually meant. I haven't had a chance to write an officer into a story yet but I'm also very well versed in police procedures and investigative techniques. Many nights, I would question whichever police officer that walked into dispatch about what it feels like to hold a gun or what they saw on a regular basis.
On your website you write about facing your writing fears. What have been some of the biggest writing fears you've faced?
I believe the greatest fear most writers have is that nagging question: am I good enough? Am I good enough to write this book, am I good enough to get an agent, to get a publisher and when all that happens, will people like my book? We spend all this time putting words to paper, having our character face things we'd never face in real life, and infusing our books with things we might not even want to admit to ourselves just to turn around and put it out in the world and let people judge it.
The ugly truth is that failure is part of every step of the writing process and something every writer faces daily. I'm not sure I have a good answer on how to face this yet. I just remember that we can only grow by trying.
As you've traveled along the path to publishing your novel, what has surprised you about the publishing industry?
I'm a firm believer in doing research to prepare myself in whatever I do so I gathered as much knowledge as I could before going through the publishing process. Still, there have been a few surprises along the way. I'm in the very early stages of the process but the biggest two surprises have been how long each step of the process takes and my reaction to waiting. I've always considered myself a patient person but the publishing process has shown me that I'm clearly not. I'd always read stories of other writers constantly checking their email and thought that I'd be okay with just waiting for my phone to alert me if anything was going on but I was totally the opposite! Some days, all I could do was stare at my screen and wish for something to happen!
Your first novel, Garden of Thorns, comes out next year. Tell us more about it!
Garden of Thorns is a young adult novel that takes place in an Asian inspired fantasy setting. It follows 17-year-old Rose who escapes from the Garden, a burlesque troupe of slave girls, and joins a rebellion against the current Emperor. There she meets the handsome rebellion leader, Rayce, and tries to convince him to aid her in her quest to end the cruelty of the Garden and free the other dancers still held captive. But she harbors a secret that she fears might force the rebellion to use her as a pawn and she's not sure who she can trust. There is lots of adventure and kissing and even a bit of science-inspired magic!
My book will be published by Entangled Publishing (who are amazing) March 6, 2017.
I'm so excited to share my YA fantasy novel Garden of Thorns with everyone! The main characters, Rose and Rayce, have been such a big part of my life for a long time and it has been so surreal to talk with actual people from within the industry who know and care for them as much as I do!
To keep up with Amber check out her website and follow her on Twitter @Amberinblunderl


text:
Our kids were young when we got our first and only dog. My friend Sherry from work was trying to find a good home for her dog Beau and asked if we were interested. Our kids had been begging to get a dog for years but I always said no because of my allergies but listening to Sherry describe Beau I thought this Miniature Schnauzer might be a great fit for our family. This may sound cruel but three months of having Beau and listening to our kids' empty promises about picking up dog poop in our backyard were too much for me. Beau was a good dog but our lives were too busy to have him so I resorted to bribery. I told our kids I would pay each of them twenty dollars if we could find a new home for Beau. It took me a while before our kids agreed to my plea but they finally did. We found a perfect home for Beau at Mark's Aunt Lila and Uncle Jean's house. Beau and Uncle Jean bonded like best friends and our kids still were able to see their short-lived childhood dog when they wanted to. Everyone was happy, especially me, because I was prepared to go as high as fifty dollars.
7 thoughts on "I Bribed Our Kids"
Soo funny! It was a win win for everyone!
All that is going on for you, and you continue to have a fabulous sense of humor. Oh, how I love you!
OK, I'll tell you this story if you promise NOT to tell anyone else. My sister-in-law, who is one of the best people I know, allowed her kids to have a goldfish. No dogs, cats or gerbils, but she would let them have a goldfish. Then came time for a big family vacation and they could not find anyone to leave the fish with. So, when the kids were at school, she put some bleach in the fish tank. The kids had a big funeral for the fish and the family went to Florida unencumbered. For years the kids wondered why "Goldie" had turned silver just before she died!.
Now I am not advocating this behavior, but I wanted you to know there are worse ways to get rid of a pet than bribing your kids to find him the perfect home.
lololololololol to your last line. i really needed this laugh today – thank you.
This is my favorite lambert story! So good to see you last week!
Love- megan
Dog poops bad…
especially after winter…
Too funny Rosemary
…Good thing the kids didn't get horses…
Jean (PaPa) and Lila loved Beau… and all of the animals that came into their home. When we moved in for a short time after coming to Michigan for Joel's teaching job in October of 1984, PaPa bonded immediately with our precious first baby, Princess. They would play catch together (she was one smart cat!) and they took many naps together. I lost all of my photos from those years in Hurricane Ike but I can still see the one I took of him sleeping with her on his chest in his chair in their living room on Elmwood. I miss Jean every day and his unconditional love for everyone he met. He was a great man. Thank you for mentioning him.
Rosemary, I pray for you to find comfort every day in a body that is failing and I love reading all of your posts. I can't even imagine what you are going through. You and your courage are an inspiration to me and I am so glad you can still "talk" to the rest of the world and remind us how very lucky we are all to have you in our lives. {{{hugs}}}


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We LOVE Halloween — delicious candy, fun costumes, and celebrations with friends. Not all pets feel the same way, however. In the time leading up to Halloween, take a few minutes to plan how you'll handle the day (and the weekend) to minimize stress and risk to your furry family members in NYC.
1. Pet Costumes — we can certainly appreciate a good pet costume (see the Uptown Vets Facebook page to enter your pets in our annual contest!), but they should be used with caution. Not all pets are comfortable wearing them. If this applies to your dog or cat, it's probably best to skip the outfit. Make sure any you do use fit properly, don't have any pieces that your pet may ingest, and are only used when you can directly supervise your pet. Never leave a pet in a costume unattended!
2. Human Costumes — some costumes are similar to normal clothing, but some may significantly change the way we look, or appear to move (think of a child in a spider costume, or a big box on a person), or even the way we sound (e.g. crinkly pieces and funny shoes). All these changes can be scary for a dog (and cats!). Just imagine if you lived in a world and suddenly all of its inhabitants were replace by a strange assortment of oddly shaped monsters! Plan to walk your dog well before prime costume time. This is especially true for any pets who already have anxiety about new people, places, or things.
(If your pet suffers severe anxiety, please consider bringing him or her in for us to discuss anti-anxiety medications that may be helpful. We may need to do a trial run a few days early to make sure your pet does well on any medications, so be sure to make your appointment well in advance of Halloween, or other stressful events.)
3. Parties — if you are planning to host a party, create a pet "safe space" where Fido and Fluffy can escape, if needed. A quiet room or corner, with favorite toys or treats, and a warning for guests to leave stressed pets alone in this area will help your pets interact with guests when they are comfortable. Make sure cats have high up places to go, where they can observe the action without feeling threatened. Make sure any human treats are well out of your pets' reach, too!
If you're going out for the night, make sure your pet has a safe, comfortable place to spend the evening. Consider leaving the TV or a radio on with conversation to help mask unusual noises from neighboring homes and the street.
4. Candy — toxic ingestion of food and candy is common around any holiday, especially Halloween. Remember that dogs cannot eat chocolate, raisins (even one raisin can be deadly!), grapes, coffee, or sugar free gums and candies. Cats should not eat most of the same things, and are also at risk of ingesting flowers and plants that may be toxic. Marijuana and other drugs and human medications can be deadly to pets. If your pet has ingested any of the above, please call ASPCA Poison Control immediately (they will inform you if a trip to the vet is necessary, and tell you what to do in the first few minutes at home), and then contact us at Uptown Vets, or the closest emergency veterinary service.
Halloween falls on a Friday this year, so be sure to plan ahead for the full weekend. If you have any questions or concerns about your pet, don't hesitate to contact us, and don't forget to enter our Halloween costume contest!


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LONG BEACH (AP) — A California death row inmate has pleaded guilty to the 1989 strangulation of a 15-year-old Long Beach teenager.
Los Angeles County prosecutor Carol Rose says 50-year-old Royal Clark Jr. entered the plea Wednesday for the first-degree murder of high school sophomore Danielle Marie Haddon.
Rose says Clark will be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole when he's sentenced April 26.
Haddon was alone in the apartment she shared with her grandmother in 1989 when she told a friend on the telephone that she had to answer a knock on the door. Her body was found the next morning.
A DNA hit led to the filing of charges against Clark in December.
Clark is on San Quentin's death row for strangling a 14-year-old Fresno girl in 1995.
(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)


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Link to the article: Mohammad Azeemullah
War has its own language to speak. It has its own story to narrate. Death and destruction are its essential features whereas chaos and confusion are its obligatory constituents.
When civil war in Libya erupted on 17th February, 2011, there was a scene of choas and confusion both among the natives and immigrants alike. While natives had their folks behind, the immigrants had hopelessness to live with.
The magnitude of revolt was so extraordinary both in its class and character that immigrants all across Libya were caught in a state of utmost trauma and anxiety. They did not know how to respond to the fast moving events.
While Arab speaking immigrants from neighbouring countries such as Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Iraq had all sorts of means, by road or air, to flee in a large group, the Asian migrants had no options but to wait and watch helplessly.
48 hours had passed by. There was no let down in violence. The regime's ruthlessness in crushing the rebellion had also increased. The cities appeared to be the dwelling of the ghosts and the terror seemed to be the only language of the moment. Unpredictability ruled the hours and uncertainty characterized the event.
In that state of insecurity and vagueness, many Chinese, Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Philippines and other Asian workers precipitously decided to leave as the threat to life was increasing at alarming rate each second.
To some of the migrants, it was a hard choice as they had been staying in Libya for years. There were even individuals who had been in this north African country for more than twenty five or thirty years. Libya was like a home country to them. To move so hastily and rashly was abnormal to their comprehension.
But the hard choices had to be made. Farewell was undoubtedly painful as they had to desert whatever belongings they had, which they had managed in due course of their stay in years by parsimonious way of managing the economy.
The most expensive items to part with were car, television, air-conditioner apart from other valuable electronic items such as oven, fridge, wi-max device for internet. The luxurious sofa, bed, carpet and utensils were other prized possessions to abandon.
The first few days of evacuations were those of utter chaos and confusion at the Embassies of their respective countries in Tripoli. The refugees had thronged the places in the capital and were jostling to get their names registered for an early flight to flee the imminent threat.
Though women and children were given preferences, the number of refugees exceeded the number of seats in the airplane despite the availability of flights twice or thrice a day.
Those who were on their way to airport or were escaping Tunisia by road were under strict vigilance by the army who had, by that time, taken full control of the situation in the entire west of Libya except Misurata, the place where rebellion had started.
In many cases of incidents, valuable items such as laptop, mobile and camera were snatched by Qaddafi army from immigrants in the name of security. Many poor immigrants had just their clothes on to run away from the vulnerability.
The reports of boats having capsized in the Mediterranean sea also resurfaced in the news when African migrants were trying to flee to Italy. The disastrous incidents left many children shattered.
Many women from other nationalities even had to deliver babies on their way to respective countries and had weeks of stay on the Libyan-Tunisian border to be airlifted. Some refugees had also managed to escape Libya through Egypt.
All seemed to be on the run helter-skelter, not knowing where to go and how to travel. That was like a doomsday…Qayamat when everybody will be in obsession of their own exit from misfortunes.
Definitely, Libya looked destined for major bloodshed. In that background of disorder and turmoil, those who decided to stay back had rumours of all sorts with families in their birth countries to live with. The relatives in China, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Philippine had all apprehensions about those staying back in Libya.
A Tamil newspaper Daily Thanthi in India on 25th February, 2011 had carried out a piece of news with a photograph about a missing family.
The report of three other persons gone missing in Libya was also published in Pakistan. The facts were very difficult to verify.
The cases of physical harassments with families of immigrants were also reported in some of the Bangladeshi newspapers.
Rumours or incidents as such played havoc among the families in Asian countries as well as among those immigrants who had decided to stay back.
Truly, the unpredictable events in Libya granted legitimacy to all sorts of improbabilities and impossibilities to happen.
The armed conflicts always provide fertile ground for exploitation of both natives and non-natives alike. The immigrants were not exception.
War is not only about death and destruction. Well! while death and destruction have the capacity to terminate the sufferings and misfortunes, chaos and confusion that war yields traumatize the individuals the whole of their life and make them feel depressed endlessly. There is no going back from eternal misery. There is no greater torment than getting caught in storm of chaos and conflict.
****** ****** ******
Categories: Civil War, Libya, Mohammad Azeemullah


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Rat Out My Client?
Season 1 • Episode 1
A high-end escort with an offer from an online tabloid to expose celebrities on her client list sees a way out of escorting and a path to safety in the public eye. But naming names puts her life at risk from powerful men, who want to keep her quiet.
21 min|TV-14|Premiered 08/23/2015


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Professional FencingInstallation and Repair Work
Matney Fence offers professional installation and repair services to residential and commercial customers in Pelham, New Hampshire, and the surrounding areas. Whether you're looking for a custom privacy fence for your home or a security fence for the perimeter of an industrial complex, our company is here to serve you. Contact us today for more information and to get a free estimate on our services.
Established in 2002, Matney Fence is one of only a few owner-operated fencing contractors in the local area that specializes in custom designs and installation work. We're dedicated to our customers and make sure that everyone that we work with is completely satisfied with our services. Our fencing company stands behind all of our labor and the materials that we use. All of our services come with our professional guarantee and up to a two-year warranty.
Thank you for your interest. We look forward to hearing from you soon.
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Matney Fence Co.


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The importance of digital skills and practices to support students' employability has been established. Bathmaker et al (2015) identified that students' digital identity and the online networks and connections were one of the things that had an impact on a graduate's outcomes. These networks represent a form of social and cultural capital (Bourdieu, 1986) that can support and facilitate the graduate's transition to employment. However a challenge remains in relation to the importance that academic staff place on developing students' digital identity and online presence. Indeed this is a challenge that learning technologists have been grappling with for many years (UCISA, 2015).
This case study provides a model for a curriculum planning workshop which helps to embed employability, with a particular focus on digital skills, into the curriculum. It illustrates how Appreciative Inquiry (Fifolt & Lander, 2013) can be used to frame the workshop. The case study will present some resources to support course planning based on Jisc's Viewpoints (2014) cards. This short paper will explain the workshop's philosophy and design and will introduce materials and resources.
The paper will be of particular interest to learning technologists who want to find ways to engage academic staff in issues of digital skills, to academics who want ideas for embedding employability in the curriculum and to senior managers who are interested in promoting the employability agenda within their HEI.
Bathmaker, A.-M., Ingram, N., & Abrahams, J. (2015). The labour market transitions of recent graduates: narratives of classed experiences. Paper presented at the Converging Concepts in Global Higher Education Research: Local, national and international perspective, Celtic Manor, Newport. https://www.srhe.ac.uk/conference2015/abstracts/0184.pdf
Bourdieu, P. (1986). The forms of capital. In Richardson, J. (ed) Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education. New York: Greenwood.
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (2015), TEF Green Paper: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/474266/BIS-15-623-fulfilling-our-potential-teaching-excellence-social-mobility-and-student-choice-accessible.pdf
Fifolt, M. and Lander, L. (2013). Cultivating Change Using Appreciative Inquiry. New Directions for Student Services, 19–30. doi: 10.1002/ss.20056
Higher Education Academy. (2016). Embedding Employability. Retrieved from Higher Education Academy: https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/sites/default/files/downloads/embedding-employability-in-he.pdf
Jackson, D. (2013). Student perceptions of the importance of employability skill provision in business undergraduate programs. Journal of Education for Business, 88(5), 271.
Jisc (2014). ViewPoints Toolkit, http://jiscdesignstudio.pbworks.com/w/page/29473453/Viewpoints%20Workshop%20Toolkit


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Deku Likes are huge but semi rare enemies from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. They appear to be a combination of a Deku Baba and a Like Like. Deku Likes do not actively attack Link, but if he jumps above one, it will suck him inside its body and spit him back out, causing him to lose some of his hearts.
The only way to defeat a Deku Like is to drop a Bomb, Water Bomb, or Bombling into it from above, causing it to explode. Deku Likes serve as physical obstacles more than they do enemies, often involving puzzles that require finding a way to drop bombs into them, allowing Link to proceed. Deku Likes appear before Bombs are obtainable, so Bomblings must be used as substitutes. Some Deku Likes appear with Big Babas attached to them, making them much more effective as enemies.


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In our local post office yesterday I noticed a new set of stamps on display, to be issued tomorrow. They commemorate 10 "Britons of Distinction" and include Delius, Kathleen Ferrier Pugin, the architect Sir Basil Spence and Odette Hallowes.
Not everyone today will have heard of the last-named, but as a postwar child I had read her biography along with the exploits of other war heroes such as Leonard Cheshire VC, Guy Gibson and Douglas Bader. Married with three daughters, Odette volunteered to work for Special Operations during the war, liaising with the French underground. Captured and tortured by the Gestapo – I recall being sickened by reading that they put a red-hot iron on her back and pulled out all her toe-nails – she refused to give them any information. Scheduled for execution, she was sent to Ravensbruck concentration camp but managed to survive the war. Rightly honoured for her courage by being awarded the rare distinction of the George Cross, she died in 1995.
Checking the names of all the people commemorated on British stamps, including a list of "Eminent Britons" issued in 2009 (which mentions worthy citizens like Donald Campbell, Fred Perry and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle), I see that among the usual suspects, such as scientists, soldiers and statesmen, there are no native Catholic saints or holy people. The only saint included is St George, traditionally thought to have been a Roman soldier and Christian, born in Palestine and martyred on April 23 in AD 303. I have no doubt he existed and died bravely but quite why he is linked to England remains a mystery.
Odette certainly deserves to be commemorated on stamps – but surely, so does St Margaret Clitherow. Like Odette, she had three young children and like Odette she fought in a war: not a war against a foreign enemy but a kind of underground civil war fought in Elizabethan England between those who wanted to wipe out the ancient Catholic faith and put the new Protestant religion in its place, and those who died to keep it alive.
If many of this generation have never heard of Odette, all Catholics in this country should know about St Margaret Clitherow. Accused of harbouring priests by the punitive Elizabethan laws of the time, she deliberately refused to plead in court, to protect her children from being called for cross-examination. The penalty for refusing to plead was to be crushed to death by heavy stones. The details of Margaret's slow martyrdom are harrowing. She died for her faith on Good Friday 1586, aged just 30 and probably pregnant with her fourth child.
There are other great English Catholics, such as St Thomas More, Bishop Challoner and Blessed John Henry Newman; they too deserve commemoration on our stamps if the whole story of this country is to be acknowledged and remembered. But in the age of feminism, sexual equality and equal opportunities and when the faces of the feminist, Mary Wollstonecraft, and the Bronte sisters are included in commemorative collections alongside Odette, it is a pity that a woman of shining virtue and surpassing courage, St Margaret Clitherow, is not among them.


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Monthly Archives: May 2014
The Reality of Being A Hobbit Height Rider / Groom
- Having to teach yourself to mount up using a block / fence / gate / anything available as there is little hope of you making it from the ground.
- People thinking your horse is way bigger than it is. "Oh my god she must be 18 hands!". Eh, no, I'm just really short.
Enjoying Cross Country and Home Cooked Cuisine at Crossogue
Ever thought 'no one ever wins those competitions on Facebook'? I used to think that too. I was wrong. People win – I won! Most recently I won a fantastic prize of a two day trip to Crossogue Equestrian near Thurles in Co. Tipperary in Ireland. My trip included two nights stay, meals and four lessons. Having ridden at Crossogue many years ago I was delighted to get an opportunity to head back and even more delighted when my friend Dani decided to book in to come with me.
Things That Always Fascinated Me About The Saddle Club Books
Crazy Lady Mrs Reg
This old lady seemed to live out her days waiting for students to wander into the tack room. She was especially attracted to those wrestling with their conscience, going through an emotional time or struggling to make a decision. Rather than just getting to the point or giving advice she always had a long drawn out vague fable that was someone how meant to point them in the right direction. Get to the frickin point Mrs R.


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Olly yesterday obliterated the previous qualifying lap record at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, formerly known as Mosport, but was edged out of pole position for the GT grid by his Corvette Racing team mate Jan Magnussen. The two yellow and black Corvette C6.Rs therefore locked out the front row for the Mobil 1 presents the Grand Prix of Mosport, the fifth round of the ALMS.
Having shown good competitive speed and performance in the final practice session before qualifying, Olly approached the 15-minutes of intense action with some confidence but a gamble on set up didn't ultimately pay off in terms of pole-setting, outright pace. Olly's best time of 1:15.782 was three tenths of a second behind Magnussen's new qualifying lap record, and the result marked Corvette's first pole since August 2010.
The Northamptonshire-based driver enjoyed a 0.229-second advantage over the third placed qualifier, the No. 55 BMW. "It was a great qualifying session for Corvette Racing and a fantastic lap by Jan – he absolutely nailed it," he said. "The entire team has been working very hard, and it's great that we got a one-two in qualifying.
"I think a call I made with the set up toward the end of practice bit me in qualifying," he revealed. "I'm a little disappointed in myself for making that call. The Corvette C6.R really is spectacular here; the way it drives and feels, it's a joy to drive. The team has done an excellent job over the last few races, and I hope it continues tomorrow."
After three runner-up finishes in the last four ALMS races, Jan and his co-driver Antonio Garcia are Olly and Tommy Milner's nearest rivals in the points standings and the rivalry between the two cars is likely to be fierce but fair. All four Corvette drivers know that a strong finish is vital to stay ahead of the remainder of the GT field and the competition is so intense there is no room for mistakes. Nipping at their heels are BMW, Ferrari and Porsche in quick succession. Another great GT battle is expected!
The two-hour, 45-minute Mobil 1 presents the Grand Prix of Mosport will start at 12 noon ET on Sunday, 22nd July and will be broadcast the same day on ESPN2 at 1 pm ET. Live coverage is available starting at 11:45 am ET on ESPN3 and will be streamed live for international viewers on www.alms.com.
With thanks to Rick Voegelin at Corvette Racing.


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Pampiro, Franco and Giua, Maria and Farris, Giovanni Antonio (2008) La Qualità dei tappi di sughero. In: Alla ricerca della qualità nella filiera sughero-vino: [atti del convegno], 12 maggio 2006, Oristano, Italia. Oristano, Università degli studi di Sassari, Dipartimento di Economia e sistemi arborei. p. 59-74. Conference or Workshop Item.
The performances of a cork stopper depend from manifold tied up factors both to the characteristics of the product and to the formalities of employment of the same. The success of a corking, therefore, asks for professionalism and realization of good practices of workmanship from numerous subjects. The level of quality of a cork can be valued through the control of some parameters able to furnish an estimate of the performances of the product. National and international standardization organisms are busy in the publication of reference methods. Other methods of test are contained in technical papers (Disciplinare sulla produzione ed utilizzo del tappo di sughero in enologia, Charte des bouchonniers liègeurs, Guide de qualité champagne du bouchon liège, Codiliège, Cork sensory quality control manual) formulated by Associations of producers and inter professional Committees operating in the cork and wine industry and in the food sector. Controls requirement from the industry is evident from the ever-increasing number of tests demanded by cork factories and wine cellars to the laboratories. Referring to the activity of the laboratory of the Stazione Sperimentale del Sughero, the controls able to mostly influence the quality of the wine are analysed. Analysis shows that the controls more frequently demanded on the corks concern the sensory analysis for the determination of migration of mouldy odours, the determination of physical parameters (dimensions, degree of humidity, strength of extraction), the transfer of oxidizing substances and the microbiological tests. The results of the tests show that the measured parameters assume values that commonly respect the approved limits. Since the greatest problem attributed to the employment of the cork stoppers is the migration of mouldy tastes and odours, the connected aspects to determination of 2,4,6-trichloroanisol (TCA) are analysed; TCA, in fact, is the substance mostly implicated in the phenomenon. An ISO TC 87 group is preparing a method of test to determine the quantities of TCA releasable from the cork stoppers under conditions of use.
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Here's another summer ticket deal from Live Nation. Starting at 12:01 a.m. tonight/tomorrow morning (technically Wednesday, July 21) and running until 11:59 p.m. Wednesday night, you can score $10 tickets for a handful of South Florida shows.
- Crowded House, July 29
- Comedians of Chelsea Lately, October 8
If you like this story, consider signing up for our email newsletters.
You have successfully signed up for your selected newsletter(s) - please keep an eye on your mailbox, we're movin' in!
- Robert Plant and the Band of Joy, July 31
- Goo Goo Dolls, August 14
- Maroon 5, August 19
- Creed. August 31
- Jonas Brothers with Demi Lovato, September 7


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Book Study off campus
Monday Evening Book Study: 5:30 - 6:30 at Paradise Bakery near Kohl's. This small group meets weekly to discuss books by various authors such as Rob Bell and Liz Curtis Higgs. We read about 5 books a year. This fall the group is working on Rob Bell's new book How to be Here and then plan to discuss Patterson's Woman of God which we read this summer. Contact Cathy Sherry, though the church office, at 480-948-0529 if you would like more information about this group.
Book Study Venue
Paradise Bakery
14884 N Pima Rd, Suite 101
Scottsdale, AZ 85260


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Spanish Olympic team Announced
By ITU Admin on 20/06/08 at 12:00 am
This week the Spanish triathlon federation (Federación Española de Triatlón) have announced their nomination team to the Spanish Olympic Committee (Comité Olímpico Español). At the conclusion of ITU's Olympic qualifying period, Spain earned a total of four Olympic spots: two men and two women. The federation has nominated Javier Gomez, Ivan Rana, Ana Burgos, and Ainhoa Murua.
Widely considered to be the gold medal favourite in Beijing, Gomez was a lock to make the Spanish team. Since winning his first world cup in Madrid in June 2006, Gomez has quickly climbed the all-time wins list, already at number four with ten titles. He has been making nearly weekly appearances on the podium. In 2007 he won his first European title and followed that up with silver at the world championships in Hamburg, Germany. Last month in Vancouver, Canada he ran away with his first world championship with a dominating performance on the run.
Joining him on the men's team is friend and training mate Ivan Rana. The 2002 world champion will be heading to his third Olympic Games, finishing fifth in Sydney and 23rd in Athens. Rana is a proven performer on the big stage with three world championship medals and two elite European championship titles.
On the women's team, the irrepressible Ana Burgos will be four months shy of her 41st birthday when she toes the start line in Beijing for her second Olympic appearance. Regardless of age, the former European champion is still the most dangerous woman on the Spanish team. Burgos finished seventh at the 2004 Athens Olympics. This year Burgos hasn't raced much but was victorious at the Chania ITU Triathlon European Cup in Greece in April. Joining her in Beijing will be Ainhoa Murua who was nominated to her second Olympics after finishing 24th in Athens. This year she was the top Spanish woman at the first three world cups in Mooloolaba, New Plymouth and Ishigaki.
Click here to find out other athletes who have been nominated to their National Olympic Committees
Click here for the final Olympic rankings
Click here for the ITU's Official Olympic website
Click here for more on the Federación Española de Triatlón
Javier Gomez celebrates his first world championship earlier this month
Find more details about this event - 2008 Beijing Olympic Games