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text: When an infection threatens the health of your tooth, Dayton Dental Specialties can offer specialized treatment, including root canals. Our endodontist works to keep every mouth healthy. When you visit our practice, Dr. Sheenu Goel will determine the severity of your dental decay or infection and help you know if a root canal is right for you. If you have any concerns or questions about receiving root canals in Beavercreek, Ohio, from our dental specialist, call 937-802-0901 and speak with a member of our dental team.

subset: commoncrawl


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Welcome to Présence, the only fanlisting listed at The Fanlistings Network for the French actor Lino Ventura.
Owner : Cliodhna
Opened : June 12th, 2005
Part of : Daffodil Lament
Fanlisting statistics
Script used: Enthusiast
Last updated: 13th January 2020
Member count: 4, from 3 countries
Pending members: 0
"A fanlisting is a place for all fans of a particular show, movie, actor/actress, singer, etc. to come together and build the biggest listing of people from all around the world who are fans of that subject." - TFL.org


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The secret about Bethlehem's rural play spot is out.
Between Memorial Day and Labor Day, out-of-towners pack Saucon Park, the green oasis on the city's southern outskirts, to picnic, play Frisbee and wade in a swimming hole in Saucon Creek.
They arrive in buses and vehicles with out-of-state license plates, many of which trickle out of the park and into the rural neighborhoods climbing South Mountain. Located just off Interstate 78, the use is more akin to a state park than a city park, city officials lament.
Yet Bethlehem, with its tight budgets, is spending more resources in cleaning up graffiti and wear and tear on the park as its popularity has grown over the last five years. Neighbors complain about noise and trash.
"We're at a point where we can't let this continue," Mayor Robert Donchez said, saying he wants a plan in place to address the issues by Memorial Day.
His comments came Thursday during a neighborhood meeting of about 40 people at the Forte Building in south Bethlehem. The mayor said he wanted to gather residents' input on the plan city officials are working on.
The city proposal tries to limit access to the park — taking away parking — and enforce city ordinances.
At least two police officers would be assigned to patrol the park on weekends, informing those unfamiliar with park ordinances on littering, noise and parking.
Parking would be banned on grass and buses wouldn't be allowed to park at the park. Residents would be encouraged to park their cars along the street, and patrons discouraged from taking up spots outside the park.
Ralph Carp, city parks and public property director said the use of the park would be "self-limited,"if parking is reduced.
Parking fines might temporarily be raised in that section of the city on weekends — similar to what the city does during Musikfest. That would require City Council's approval.
Signs listing park rules would be installed, and the grass and undergrowth leading to the swimming hole will be allowed to grow wild, discouraging people from cooling off there. There have been complaints of some visitors' setting up illegal open-pit campfires along the creek, causing concern about environmental damage to the waterway prized for its trout.
Residents who attended the meeting panned the administration's suggestion of making Fire Lane one way on weekends to limit access to the park. The mayor said he would nix that idea.
Some suggested the city charge admission. Others said enforcement should start before Memorial Day.
Danny Essig, who lives nearby, said having police officers in the park during the weekend would be the best decision the city could make.
"And what about the mounted officers?" Essig said. "Having them once or twice a month there would show we mean business."
The cost of these initiatives could be offset by the closing of little-used Saucon Pool, one of six in the city, Donchez said in an interview earlier Thursday. The city plans to close it this year and eventually come up with another use, possibly basketball courts.


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Say bye to the Hugo Hotel, and all the crazy furniture stuck sideways in its walls; say hello to affordable housing.
A jury sided with the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency in its eminent domain suit against the owners, who turns out are a California family that owned the site through an Oregon-based corporation.
The family gets $4.6 million for the property, the very same amount that a developer had offered (and the family had asked) in 2005, though a transaction never happened for lack of motivation on the owners' part.
Perhaps a far cry from the profit that would have come had the property been zoned for a high-rise, but a far cry also from the $400,000 the family purchased the property for back in 1964. Notes the SF Appeal: the owners were paying only a $7,000 tax bill on the hotel, and so could more or less wait forever to sell.
A building owners association guy says: "Finally. No responsible property owner is going to let their building become a blight on the neighborhood, and — I'm sorry to say it — that's exactly what [the Hugo] was."


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The Nokia 8 is now up for sale in Europe and India. The render comes by way of OnLeaks, and given the leaker's track record, it's fair to assume this is what the Nokia 9 will end up looking like.
The smartphone sports a sleek design and is likely to ditch the headphone jack, like other smartphone makers. The phone is expected to come with a thin bezel and dual cameras at the back. This is the second smartphone from the Nokia stable which comes with a dual camera, the other one being the Nokia 8.
Specs for this haven't been revealed just yet, but we can expect a 12- or 13-megapixel lens which will almost certainly feature Zeiss optics. It is said to include the Snapdragon 835 processor, 4GB of RAM and 64/128GB on-board storage options.
Nokia 9 has been speculated for a long, even before the launch of the Nokia 8 in August. The phone is said to come with a bigger 5.7-inch display that will be almost bezel-less. The smartphone will be powered by Snapdragon 835 processor, 4GB RAM, either 64GB/128GB storage, and a dual-camera setup on the back.
As per the info shared by OnLeaks, the phone's dimensions are roughly: 140.9 mm (l) x 72.9 mm (w) x 7.5 mm (d). While it is mostly thin, the camera bump peaks the thickness at 8.9 mm.
Nokia 9 is rumoured to launch sometime soon. However, HMD Global - as of yet - has not revealed any details about the Nokia 9 launch.


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for you...
Whether you are a new T1D Family, a TrialNet participant, a healthcare provider, or a researcher — you'll find resources here.
We're here to help you after a new T1D diagnosis. Get answers to frequently asked questions and learn about clinical studies testing ways to maintain insulin production.
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Healthcare Professionals
Your T1D families are important to you. Learn how easy it is to connect your patients with world-class T1D research.
Dear TrialNet Family,
TrialNet has been investigating the role of oral insulin in T1D for nearly 20 years. Most recently, we completed the Oral Insulin Prevention Study—the largest study of its kind, conducted over 10 years with 560 relatives of people with T1D.
As we announce the study findings, I want to take this opportunity to recognize this incredible accomplishment and thank everyone involved.
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To the TrialNet nurses and healthcare providers who took such great care of participating families and upheld the highest research standards, we greatly appreciate your hard work and dedication.
To fellow researchers and scientists in and out of TrialNet, let this be a reminder that our time and efforts are impactful.
We would also like to thank the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), the American Diabetes Association and JDRF for their continued support. We also thank Congress for funding the Special Diabetes Program, an important program that provides critical funding for NIH T1D research.
I look forward to sharing more accomplishments as we work toward our ultimate goal: a future without T1D.
Sincerely,Carla Greenbaum, M.D.
Topline results of this 10-year TrialNet study were shared at the American Diabetes Association's 77th Scientific Sessions on June 12, 2017. Now, we share them with you.
This study is an important step toward determining oral insulin's role in delaying disease progression. TrialNet is considering conducting new trials using oral insulin to delay disease progression; but more work needs to be done.
Stay tuned:
Results of another important study, Exploring Immune Effects of Oral Insulin in Relatives at Risk for T1D, are expected later this year. This study is looking at how different doses and regimens of oral insulin effect immune response
In addition, two other prevention studies currently underway are testing the drugs Abatacept and Teplizumab to see if they can delay or prevent disease progression prior to diagnosis. TrialNet will also be launching new type 1 diabetes prevention trials and encourages all family members to get screened through the Pathway to Prevention study.
A big thank you to our amazing participants who made this research possible!
Oral Insulin study participant resources are available here.
If you are a current participant in the Immune Effects of Oral Insulin study and have questions about your study or the Oral Insulin study results, please contact your study team or firstname.lastname@example.com.
I am a current TrialNet Participant
I am a member of the Media
I am a Health Care Provider
I am a Researcher and would like to use samples


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I think I've found my Screenplay Specialists, as a matter of fact, I know I've found the specialist. This person has received great feedback around the world wide web, and we seem to somewhat click back and forth during our email corresponding. Another thing, but not the most important, the rates are within my price range.
This screenwriting is more technical than I could've ever imagined, but I'm not backing down because I have way too many stories to tell. I think once I receive my feedback, and possibly rewrite and or polish, hopefully It'll be an ah ha moment.
I'm also seriously thinking of taking the ProSeries Professional Screenwriting Program, but lack of funding has been holding me back. Sure, the internet is full of useful information, but taking a class may be more beneficial for any self-taught, struggling screenwriter.
We have four months until 2014, and I want to start it off with a screenplay that has a Recommend or a Consider. My next post I will divulge the name and website of my Script Analysis/Consultant.


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The tall lady in the family. The Sky high clogs with the 9,5 cm heel (3.7 inches) and 1.2. inch platform front is longing for a night out
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30198Encuesta sobre Comercio Internacional de Servicios y otras Operaciones Internacionales
Important information about cookies
This website uses its own and third party cookies in order to provide a better service. These cookies are not used to collect personal information. If you continue browsing you are considered to accept their use.


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Issue Alert - New DHHS Policy for treating Hepatitis C
Document Actions
Aug 05, 2016
|Program Area:
|Issue Summary:
Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) has a new policy of covering new direct-acting antiviral (DAA) treatment that cures hepatitis C. Patients and advocates should be aware of the new policy, and refer patients denied DAA treatment to the Center for Civil Justice or another legal services program for assistance.
|Persons Affected:
Individuals receiving Medicaid with a hepatitis C virus infection
|For More Information:
Marie DeFer Center for Civil Justice 436 S. Saginaw St., Suite 400 Flint, MI 48502 (810) 244-8044 firstname.lastname@example.com
New direct-acting antiviral (DAA) treatment can cure hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) has a new policy of covering DAA treatment for certain Medicaid patients with HCV infections.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued guidance that warns against state Medicaid restrictive DAA treatment policies. According to CMS and some federal district courts, restrictive treatment criteria includes but is not limited to: limiting DAA treatment to individuals with Metavir scores less than F3 or F4, requiring a period of abstinence from drug and alcohol abuse, and requiring that prescriptions for DAA treatment be prescribed by specialist physicians. CMS warned state Medicaid agencies that policies should not unreasonably restrict coverage of effective treatment using new DAA drugs to treat and cure HCV.
The Center for Civil Justice believes MDHHS policy unfairly restricts access to DAA treatment and violates federal law.
What's Happening?
Effective March 2016, MDHHS will cover DAA treatment approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treatment of chronic HCV infected patients in certain situations. MDHHS requires patients to use a prior authorization to gain access to DAA treatment. A prior authorization (sometimes also called a prior approval or precertification) is an individualized process where MDHHS determines whether a patient's health care services are medically necessary before each patient receives the requested services. Once MDHHS determines the service is medically necessary, MDHHS will approve coverage of the service. Patients and their physicians should work together to submit the prior authorization application to MDHHS.
With the assistance of a physician, patients must meet specific criteria for MDHHS to approve the prior authorization for DAA treatment. MDHHS's prior authorization requirements can be found at the following link: https://michigan.fhsc.com/Downloads/HepC_PAFax_MMA_201605a.pdf
Further Information
For additional information on MDHHS's new policy, please review the following external links and information.
What Should Advocates Do?
What Should Clients Do?
Finding Help
|Most legal aid and legal services offices handle these types of cases, and they do not charge a fee. You can locate various sources of legal and related services, including the free legal aid office that serves your county, at MichiganLegalAid.org. You can also look in the yellow pages under "attorneys" or call the toll-free lawyer referral number, (800) 968-0738.


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Bemidbar: Covering the SacredMay 24, 2017 at 7:43 pm | Posted in Bemidbar | 4 Comments
Tags: altar, argaman, ark of the covenant, holy of holies, incense altar, menorah, shani, show-bread, tachash, techeilet, Torah commentary, torah portion
When you have a portable sanctuary, you need a procedure for packing up the holy items when it's time to move on. And if unauthorized contact with a holy object results in death, the correct procedure is critical. This week's Torah portion, Bemidbar ("In a wilderness"), specifies that only the priests may wrap up the holy items. Then Levites can carry them, once they are completely concealed.
They may not come in and see the holy even for a moment, or they will die. (Numbers 4:20)
The first holy item the priests cover is the ark itself. The ark is usually hidden even from them, behind the partition-curtain in the Tent of Meeting that screens off the Holy of Holies.
Aharon and his sons shall come, when the camp is pulling out, and they shall take down the partition-curtain, and they shall cover the Ark of the Testimony with it. Then they shall place over it a covering of tachash leather, and they shall spread a cloth of perfect tekheilet over that, then put its poles in place. (Numbers/Bemidbar 4:5-6)
tachash (תָּחַשׁ) = An unknown Hebrew word for either a treatment for leather, or the animal providing the skin.1
tekheilet (תְּכֵלֶת) = Blue dye made from a Mediterranean murex sea snail.2
Next Aaron and his sons Elazar and Itamar cover up the holy items they use regularly inside the Tent of Meeting.
Then they shall spread over the Table of the Presence a cloth of tekheilet, and they will place upon it the bowls, ladles, offering-bowls, libation jars for libations, and [that week's] perpetual bread. And they shall spread out over them a cloth of tolat shani, and then cover it with a covering of tachash leather, and they shall put its poles in place. (Numbers/Bemidbar 4:7-8)
tola-at shani (תּוֹלַעַת שָׁנִי) = A vivid red or scarlet dye made from the unhatched eggs of shield-lice living on oak bark.
Although the table also has three coverings, the utensils—and that week's bread!—are stored on top of the first tablecloth, then covered by the second cloth and the leather.
Next they shall take a cloth of tekheilet, and they shall cover the lampstand (menorah) of the lighting and its lamps and its wick-cutters and its ash-pans and all the utensils for its oil that they use to attend to it. And they shall put it and all its utensils into a covering of tachash leather, and they shall place it on the carrying-frame. (Numbers 4:9-10)
The priests cover the incense altar the same way, first in tekheilet cloth, then in tachash leather.3
Finally, the priests must prepare the altar used for animal sacrifices, which is stationed in front of the Tent of Meeting for burning offerings of animals and grain products. Even though everyone can see this altar, the priests cover it before the Levites move it.
And they shall remove ashes from the altar, and they shall spread over it a cloth of argaman. And they shall place on it all the serving utensils which they use to attend to it—the ash pans, the meat forks, the scrapers, and the sprinkling basins—all the utensils of the altar. And they shall spread over it [the altar and its utensils] a covering of tachash leather, and they shall put its poles in place. (Numbers 4:13-14)
argaman (אַרְגָּמָן) = purple dye made from a Mediterranean murex sea snail.
The various coverings of the holy objects are made out of wool dyed in the three most vivid colors available, and a type of leather that is only used for the Tent of Meeting and its holy objects. Clearly the holy items must be honored with the best possible But why are different colors, in a different order, assigned to each item?
Later in the book of Numbers the Israelites are told to wear fringes on the corners of their own garments, with a thread of tekheilet in each fringe, so that the sight of the fringe will remind them of everything God has commanded them to do.4 (See my post Shelach Lekha: Glimpses of Blue.) Why is turquoise the best color for the reminder? Perhaps because it is the color of the sky, which is "the heavens", the place God descends from.
Tekheilet is not used to cover the animal-offering altar, which stands outside the Tent of Meeting and is less holy. But it is used for the innermost wrapping of the three holy objects placed inside the Tent, and for the outermost wrapping of the ark behind the partition.
God's voice comes from the empty space above the lid of the ark, and the ark is sometimes called God's throne. The Bible also pictures God's throne in the heavens. And the pavement on which God's feet appear in the vision on Mount Sinai is sapphire, "like the heavens for purity".5 (See my post Mishpatim: After the Vision, Eat Something.) Sky blue is the color most directly associated with God.6 So surrounding the wrapped ark with techeilet cloth is like surrounding it with the sky.7
A cloth of tekheilet is the innermost cover touching the table, the lampstand, and the incense altar, the three holy objects that the priests tend constantly inside the Tent of Meeting. Although God does not speak or sit above these objects, they are still imbued with a residue of the heavens.
Tola-at shani
Scarlet is the color of fresh blood. In the Torah, blood represents the soul that animates the body, and therefore the Israelites are forbidden to eat or drink it.8 (See my post Reih: Don't Be a Soul-Eater.)
Later the book of Numbers describes how a perfect red cow is slaughtered, then burned with other red objects: cedar wood, hyssop, and shani tola-at. The ashes are mixed with water and sprinkled on anyone who has touched a corpse, in order to make them ritually pure again.9 (See my post Chukkat: Blood and Ash.)
The table in the Tent of Meeting is spread first with a cloth of techeilet, the color of the heavens. Then its utensils and the usual twelve loaves of bread are set out on the blue tablecloth. Even while the table is being carried through the wilderness, the "perpetual bread" is there as a human offering to God. But the grain to make the bread is God's offering to humans. Our bodies cannot live without the food that God provides, so the priests add a cloth of tola-at shani, the color of life-blood.
A combination of blue (tekheilet), scarlet (tola-at shani), and purple (argaman) yarns are used to weave or embroider all the cloth walls and door-curtains of the Tent of Meeting, as well as the sashes of all the priests, and several items in the high priest's costume.
The innermost cover over the ark is the partition-curtain that screens off the Holy of Holies when the Tent of Meeting is assembled. This curtain is woven out of tekheilet, tola-at shani, and argaman. Thus all three colors of holiness are touching the ark while it is being carried.
Cloth woven of only argaman wool, which the priests use to cover the outside altar, appears elsewhere in the Bible as a sign of wealth and royalty. Kings of Midian wear purple robes10, King Solomon sits on purple wool11, and the proverbial "woman of valor" dresses in purple.12
Why is the copper altar used to burn animal parts covered with the argaman of wealth? Perhaps turning the fat parts of cattle, sheep, and goats, or sometimes entire animals, into smoke for God is an expression of gratitude for the abundance that makes this offering possible.
The word tachash occurs in the Bible only as a type of skin or leather. In this week's Torah portion, tachash leather is the middle layer of wrapping for the ark, and the outer layer covering the table, lampstand, and both altars when these holy objects are carried to a new campsite. Tachash leather is also the top layer of the roof of the Tent of Meeting.13
The only other appearance of tachash leather in the Bible is a description of God dressing Jerusalem in embroidered garments, fine linen, silk, jewelry, and sandals of tachash. (Ezekiel 16:10) The analogy makes Jerusalem not only God's bride, but also a holy place.
While tachash leather separates Jerusalem from the earth in Ezekiel, it separates the Tent of Meeting from the heavens in Exodus. When God wants the Israelites to remain encamped, a pillar of cloud and fire rests over the Tent of Meeting, above the tachash leather roof. When God wants the Israelites to move on, the pillar ascends, and the priests must cover the holy objects with tachash leather so they can be safely transported. The Levites carry these carefully wrapped items above the earth and below the heavens.
Today we move not only to new geographical locations, but to new positions in our interior lives. When we reach a new insight, or enter a new stage of life, it helps to remember the beliefs in our old lives that helped us to be grateful or ethical. Even as we outgrow some old beliefs, we can reframe the ideas that still inspire us, and carry them into our new lives.
When Jews today finish reading from a Torah scroll, we cover it with a garment that both protects the hand-lettered parchment, and prevents us from taking the scroll for granted. Similarly, we can wrap our own sacred ideas and imperatives in garments that preserve them and prevent us from treating them too familiarly.
What colors do you need to cover your own sacred ideas? Sky blue, to remind you of everything beyond your horizon? Scarlet, to remind you that you owe your own life to living things you did not create? Purple, to remind you of an abundance you may not have noticed? Or the unknown color of tachash, the skin separating heaven and earth through a divine mystery?
(An earlier version of this essay was published in May 2010.)
1 Those who guess tachash is a treatment for leather translate it variously as tanned, blackened, dyed blue, and dyed ochre. Those who guess tachash is the name of the animal providing the skin translate it variously as badger, ermine, wild goat, wild ram, sea cow, narwhal, dolphin, or seal.
2 Although the hue varies according to the amount of exposure to sunlight during the process, modern dye from the same species of murex used for the fringes on prayer shawls, is turquoise.
3 (Numbers 4:11-12)
4 Numbers 15:38.
5 Exodus 24:10.
6 19th-century rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch wrote that "תכלת, 'sky-blue,' is the color that points to the limits (תִּכְלָה) of our horizon, to what lies beyond our field of vision—i.e., to the hidden to the Divine." (Samson Raphael Hirsch, the Hirsch Chumash: Sefer Shemos, English translation by Daniel Haberman, Feldheim Publishers, Jerusalem, 2005, p. 542 on Exodus 26:14.)
7 20th-century Rabbi Elie Munk, The Call of the Torah: Bamidbar, English translation by E.S. Mazer, Mesorah Publications, New York, 1993, p. 29.
8 Deuteronomy 12:23-25.
9 Numbers 19:3-6, 19:11-22. A similar mixture of cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet dye is mixed with blood from a slaughtered bird and sprinkled on someone who has recovered from skin disease in order to return them to ritual purity. (Leviticus/Vayikra 14:6, 14:51-52)
10 Judges 8:26.
11 Song of Songs 3:10.
12 Proverbs 31:22.
13 The top of the Tent of Meeting is covered with tanned rams' skins, and then over that goes a layer of tachash leather. (Exodus/Shemot 26:14, 36:19, 39:34; Numbers 4:25.)
Behar: Owning LandMay 18, 2017 at 11:47 am | Posted in Behar | 4 Comments
Tags: landowner, Shabbat, shmittah, Torah commentary, torah portion, yoveil jubilee
Is owning land like owning a bowl or a blanket? Do human beings have the right to buy and sell land, inherit it, give it away, use it any way they like, destroy it?
This week's Torah portion, Behar ("on a mountain"), lays out rules for land ownership in ancient Israel and Judah. The first rule is about farmland:
The seventh year will be a time of the most restful rest for the land, a time of rest for God. You shall not sow your field and you shall not prune your vineyard. (Leviticus/Vayikra 25:4)
Every seventh year, the Torah explains, everyone can eat what grows wild on your land:
It shall be … for yourself and for your male servant and for your female servant and for your hired laborer and for your toshav, the geirim with you; and for your cattle and for the wild beasts that are in your land; all may come to it to eat. (Leviticus 25:6-7)
toshav (תּוֹשָׁב) = resident alien, foreigner living in a citizen's household. Plural = toshavim (תּוֹשָׁבִים).
geir (גֵּר) = resident alien, immigrant; non-citizen who moved from another land. Plural = geirim (גֵּירִים).
The implication is that although you own the land, you only own its produce six years out of seven. Every seventh year you must let it lie fallow,1 giving the land a year of rest (shabbat, שַׁבָּת), just as every seventh day you give everyone in your household a day of rest (shabbat, שַׁבָּת). During your land's year of rest, whatever it produces is ownerless, and can be eaten by anyone, even wild animals. Additionally, landowners may neither sell nor hoard the produce during that year; like everyone else, they may pick up only what they can eat.
The next rule in the Torah portion Behar lays out what happens to land every 50th year. After the 49th year (which is a year of rest for the land, as above), all the land gets an additional year of rest, and during that year ownership of each parcel of land reverts to the family that owned it 50 years before—the descendants of the family that owned that land 50 years before that, and so on, all the way back to the original assignment of land in the book of Joshua.2
In this year of the yoveil, each of you shall return to his holding. (Leviticus 25:13)
yoveil (יוֹבֵל) = ram, ram's horn, shofar; year of blowing the ram's horn. (English "jubilee".)
That means a plot of land may not be sold in the sense we sell land today. Instead, someone pays up-front to lease the land for however many years are left before the next yoveil. During those years, he3 may plant and harvest as he likes—but then he has to return the land.
According to the count of years since the yoveil, you shall purchase it from your fellow; … since he is selling you the number of harvests. (Leviticus 25:15, 16.)
Does that mean that the only true owners are the "original" families that were given land when the Israelites conquered Canaan, and get the same lands back every 50 years? No. The Torah says that all land belongs to God.
You may not forfeit the right to reacquire the land, because the land is Mine; for you are geirim and toshavim with Me. (Leviticus/Vayikra 25:23)
God is the true landowner of the land; even the Israelites who inherit land, or get it back in a yoveil year, are resident aliens from God's point of view.
If everyone who "owns" land is actually borrowing it from God, everyone must obey God's rules about the use of the land. Besides letting the ground rest every seven years, they must leave some of the harvest in the field for poor people and geirim to glean.4
Of course if a victorious enemy simply seizes land, there is nothing the Israelites can do but wait and hope God will return it to them eventually.
In modern nations today, our own governments can seize private land by eminent domain, often (depending on the nation) compensating the owners for their loss. In general, people can buy, sell, inherit, and give away land, but there are limits—set by government rather than God—on how they can use the land. We have zoning laws, laws protecting wetlands, laws requiring large developers to set aside some land for public parks or green spaces.
But we could do better, if our governments were truly dedicated to the public good. For example, we could have laws banning the use, on farms and on homeowners' lawns, of any pesticides, herbicides, or fertilizers that poison the environment. We could have laws severely limiting carbon dioxide emissions, and all forms of air and water pollution.
After all, does anyone have the right to degrade our God-given earth?
All human beings are merely temporary residents, geirim and toshavim, on God's land. We live here on sufferance. We depend on nature, which some people call God's creation—because it certainly isn't ours. If only we could remember that we are all gleaners, harvesting our food from land that does not really belong to us!
We need to wake up and hear the ram's horn!
(An earlier version of this essay was published in May 2010.)
1 The seventh year is called the year of shmittah (שְׁמִטָּה), "release", in Deuteronomy 15:1-14, where it is described as the year for remission of debts and the freeing of Hebrew slaves.
2 Joshua 13:8-33 confirms Moses' assignment of land east of the Jordan River to the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and half of the tribe of Menashe, divided by their clans. Joshua 15:1-17:18 confirms the assignment of land the tribes of Judah, Efrayim, and the other half of Menashe have already taken by conquest west of the Jordan, divided by their clans. Joshua 18:1-19:48 describes the assignment of land by lottery (which was presumed to be the will of God) to the remaining seven tribes and their clans. (The Levites, who serve at the temple instead of farming, are given land only in towns, with small attached pastures.) In the next few books of the Bible, the tribes do not conquer all of these assigned lands, and the tribe of Dan moves to another area.
3 Society in the ancient kingdoms of Israel and Judah was patriarchal, giving the male head of household authority over everyone else. According to current scholarship, the book of Leviticus was written sometime after the Assyrian Empire captured the northern kingdom of Israel in 721 B.C.E., but the patriarchal system continued in Judah. Women could inherit land only when their fathers died without a son, as in Numbers 27:1-11, and even then strings were attached (Numbers 36:2-12).
4 Leviticus 19:9-10, 23:22; Deuteronomy 24:19-21.
Emor: Flawed WorshipMay 10, 2017 at 10:17 pm | Posted in Emor | Leave a comment
Tags: animal sacrifice, prayer, priests, Torah commentary, torah portion
And God spoke to Moses, saying: "Speak to Aaron, saying: Anyone from your descendants through your generations who has a moom may not approach to offer the food of his god." (Leviticus 21:16-17)
moom (מוּם) = blemish, flaw. (Plural: moomim, מוּמִים.)
In the book of Leviticus/Vayikra, the word moom is used only for physical blemishes in humans or sacrificial animals. Moom appears 20 times in the Hebrew Bible, but only three of those instances refer to a character flaw, rather than a physical flaw.1
This week's Torah portion, Emor ("Say") lays out rules for priests, including this statement that no priest with a moom may serve at the altar. As in other ancient Near Eastern religions, there are many offerings in which select parts of the animals are burned up into smoke for God, while the remaining meat is roasted and eaten by the priests and their households (including their wives, children, and slaves). Priesthood is hereditary; any adult son of a priest gets his share of the food, even if he cannot officiate because he has a moom.
He may eat the food of his god, from the holiest and from the holy [offerings]. However, he may not come behind the curtain [into the Tent of Meeting] and he may not approach the altar, because there is a moom in him… (Leviticus 21:22-23)
After giving a few more rules about eating from offerings, the Torah portion states that the animals brought to the altar must also be unblemished.
Anyone from the house of Israel or from the resident alien in Israel who offers their offering … from the herd or from the flock, it must be flawless to be accepted; no moom may be in it. (Leviticus 22:19, 21)
This week's portion helpfully provides both a list of disqualifying blemishes for priests (Leviticus 21:18-20), and a list of disqualifying moomim for sacrificial animals (Leviticus 22:22-24).2
Why must both the priests who make the offerings and the animals that are offered must be physically flawless? Rashi3, citing the book of Malachi4, answered that it would be disrespectful to offer God a defective gift or use a defective emissary.
Maimonides5, citing the Talmud6, wrote that people were more likely to think of the temple with awe and reverence if its officiating priests were not only dressed in beautiful garments, but also looked like perfect physical specimens.
Other commentators, including S.R. Hirsch, claimed that the physical perfection of the officiating priests was necessary to symbolize their psychological perfection.7 A man with a moom would be a symbol of a broken and incomplete life; the Israelites were supposed to offer God their whole, complete selves through the rituals at the altar.
We no longer give the lives of our animals to God to express our devotion or gratitude; instead we give God our prayers and blessings. And for almost two millennia8 Jews have not used priests as intermediaries; although we have clergy, any adult can lead a group in prayer9. Physical flaws do not matter in prayer, only the state of one's heart or mind.10
Do the Levitical lists of unacceptable moomim for priests have any relevance today?
Some psychological, rather than physical, flaws can harden our hearts and impede the act of praying. Does the Torah's list of moomim that disqualify priests from ritual service address this problem?
Let's look again at the list of moomim in priests. Some of the words carry more than one meaning. Some come from the same three-letter root as other Hebrew words. And many concrete words are used metaphorically in Biblical Hebrew, as in English.
This yields an alternate translation of verses 21:18-20:
Because anyone who has a moom must not present an offering: anyone who is stirred up, or has been skipped over, or split off from ordinary life, or stretched (too far); (Leviticus 21:18)
Or anyone who is having a breakdown and is unable to walk forward or act; (21:19)
Or who hunches over (with insecurity), or who is stingy, or who has clouded vision, or who has problems that fester and don't heal, or whose libido is crushed or crushes others. (21:20)
We all have some psychological "flaws" or limitations. And like priests with moomim, we can all absorb some nourishment from praying and blessing. But it is a bad idea to lead prayer, or to offer spiritual insights to others, when one is in the grip of a psychological moom on the list above. Only after you have understood and repaired (or at least set aside) your own moom can you step forward to lead with an open heart.
(An earlier version of this essay was published in April 2010.)
1 Deuteronomy 32:5, Proverbs 9:7, and Job 11:14-15.
2 There were disagreements about what some of the Hebrew words meant even when Talmudic rabbis discussed them in the third century C.E. My translations follow modern translations in William L. Holladay, A Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, William B. Eerdmans Publishing, Grand Rapids, Mich., 1988; Robert Alter, The Five Book of Moses, W.W. Norton & Co., New York, 2004; and The Jewish Publication Society translation of 1999.
3 Rashi (11th-century rabbi Shlomoh Yitzchaki), commentary on Leviticus.
4 When you bring up a blind one for sacrificial slaughter, there is nothing wrong? And when you bring up a lame or a sick one, there is nothing wrong? Offer it, please, to your governor! Will he accept you or favor you? (Malachi 1:8)
5 Maimonides (12th-century rabbi Moses ben Maimon), The Guide for the Perplexed, Chapter 45.
6 The Babylonian Talmud, Berachot 43b, states that hereditary priests were also disqualified from serving at the altar if their heads were too square or too bald in the back.
7 Samson Raphael Hirsch (19th-century rabbi), The Hirsch Chumash: Sefer Vayikra—Part 2, trans. by Daniel Haberman, Feldheim Publishers, Jerusalem, p. 723.
8 Since the fall of the second temple in Jerusalem in 70 C.E.
9 However, many Orthodox Jewish congregations still prohibit women from leading parts of the service. The other branches (denominations) of Judaism accept women both as lay leaders and as rabbis and cantors.
10 Texts emphasizing the importance of kavvanah (intention, direction) in prayer go back to the Talmud (about 300-500 C.E.). Talmud Bavli, Berakhot 30b says one should not stand up to pray except in a sincere and serious frame of mind; Berakhot 31a adds that when a man prays, he should direct his heart to heaven.
Kedoshim: Reciprocal HolinessMay 5, 2017 at 2:31 pm | Posted in Kedoshim, Shemini | 2 Comments
Tags: anthropomorphic God, holiness, imitating God, kosher, Prophet Isaiah, Torah commentary, torah portion
The Torah portion named Kedoshim ("holy") begins:
And God spoke to Moses, saying: "Speak to the whole community of the Children of Israel, and you shall say to them: Kedoshim you shall be, because kadosh am I, God, your God." (Leviticus/Vayikra 19:1-2)
kedoshim (קְדֺשִׁים) = plural of kadosh.
kadosh (קָדוֹשׁ) = (As an adjective:) holy, sacred; set apart for religious use; dedicated to God. (As a noun:) something that is holy. (Kodesh, קֺדֶשׁ, has a similar meaning, and is also used in the Torah both as an adjective and as a noun.)
An object (such as a priest's vestments, a tool for the altar, an animal offering) is kadosh in the Hebrew Bible when it is for religious use only. A place is (such as Mount Sinai, the temple, Jerusalem) is kadosh when God is present there, either manifesting as a fire or a voice, or simply known to dwell there. (See my posts Chayyei Sarah: A Holy Place and Terumah & Psalm 74: Second Home.) The day of Shabbat is kadosh because it is dedicated to abstaining from ordinary activities in order to spend time in contemplation or worship of God.
God's reputation is also called kadosh. Later in the Torah portion Kedoshim, God warns that anyone who gives a child to the Molekh, an alien idol, profanes the reputation of God's kodesh.1
A priest is kadosh because he is formally dedicated to God and leads a different life from non-priests. He must serve God at the temple and instruct the people on ritual matters; and he depends on the whole community for support, owning no farmland of his own.
But what does it mean for God to be kadosh? And what does it mean for human beings who are not priests to be kedoshim?
Here are the three passages in the Hebrew Bible in which God orders people to be kedoshim because God is kadosh:
Holiness as ritual purity
The first two times God declares that the Israelites shall be kedoshim because God is kadosh happen in the Torah portion Shemini, earlier in the book of Leviticus. Right after a list of which animals are and are not kosher for eating, the Torah says:
Because I, God, am your god, vehitkadishtem, and you will be kedoshim, because kadosh am I; and you shall you shall not make yourselves impure through any of the tiny teeming animals swarming over the earth. Because I am God, the one who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your god; and you shall be kedoshim because kadosh am I. This is the teaching of the land-animals and the flying-animals, and for all living beings teeming in the water and for all swarming animals on the earth: to distinguish between the impure and the pure, and between the edible living things and the living things that you may not eat. (Leviticus 11:44-47)
vehitkadishtem (וְהִתְקַדִּשְׁתֶּם) = you shall make yourselves kedoshim, you shall consecrate yourselves.
Animals that the Israelites are forbidden to eat cause temporary ritual impurity in any person or thing that touches their dead carcasses. The mammals and birds that are acceptable sacrificial offerings to God (cattle, sheep, goats, and two kinds of birds) are all from the kosher list.
The Torah includes many other laws about ritual observance. Transgressing one of these laws means being less obedient to God, and therefore no longer kadosh—until one has made atonement with the appropriate sacrifice.
The Torah portion Kedoshim reinforces this idea:
Vehitkadishtem, and you will be kedoshim, because I, God, am your god. And you shall observe My decrees and do them. I, God, am mekadishkhem. (Leviticus 20:7-8)
mekadishkhem (מְקַדִּשְׁכֶם) = the one who makes you kedoshim, the one who consecrates you, the one who transfers holiness to you.
For a human, in other words, being kadosh is a condition like ritual purity. People who follow all the rules of the Israelite religion are kedoshim—because God puts them in a kadosh state. Maybe for God, being kadosh means being mekadishkhem.
Holiness as moral virtue
The Torah portion Kedoshim begins with "Kedoshim you shall be, because kadosh am I" (Leviticus 19:2). Right before this divine direction, in the previous portion, Acharey Mot, is a list of forbidden sexual partners.2 Right after it is a list of 20 commandments, starting with "Everyone shall revere his mother and his father" and concluding with "You shall love your neighbor as yourself". While two or three of these commandments are about religious ritual3, the rest lay out ethical standards for human interactions.
For the last millennium, many commentators have concluded that God is asking us to become kedoshim by behaving ethically toward other people. In the 11th century C.E. three great rabbis, Rashi in France4, Maimonides in Egypt5, and Bachya ibn Pakudah in Spain6, all responded to Kedoshim by writing that human beings become kedoshim by exercising self-restraint over their passions and appetites, especially their sexual appetites. Besides avoiding the immoral deeds specifically mentioned in Acharey Mot and Kedoshim, humans must fully dedicate themselves to holiness by acting moderately and responsibly even when they are doing what is permitted.
More recently, Rabbi Adin Even Israel Steinsaltz has pointed out: "Bringing a korban [an offering to the altar] every once in a while is simple. But to fulfill all the various major and minor requirements listed in Parashat Kedoshim every day is quite another story. Not for naught does the Torah say, 'Everyone shall revere his mother and his father' (Lev. 19:3). Anyone who has any experience in this knows how difficult it is. It is something that we are faced with every day, and it can be especially challenging when one's father and mother are themselves not exceptionally holy people.
"This struggle is the fundamental struggle for holiness. Parashat Kedoshim presents a long list of minor requirements, none of which is extraordinary on its own, but each one recurs day after day. The very requirement to maintain this routine without succumbing to jadedness and despair—that itself creates the highest levels of holiness."7
For a human, in other words, being kadosh means continuously striving to act ethically in the world. Most commentators who argue for this meaning of kadosh assume that God is kadosh because God is morally perfect, and we become kedoshim to the extent that we imitate God.
Yet the anthropomorphic God portrayed in much of the Torah often seems to act immorally. The "God" in the first five books of the Torah or Bible frequently bursts into anger and kills thousands of people without discriminating between the truly evil ringleaders (if any) and those who are merely weak or imperfect, or happen to be part of a wrong-doer's family.
However, in the book of Exodus God claims to be compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, kind, truthful, and forgiving.8 Some people claim that what looks to us like God's bad behavior, both in the Torah and when bad things happen to good people today, is really part of God's larger plan for ultimate justice and mercy for everyone. We humans can't see the big picture, but this is the best of all possible worlds, and God is kodesh after all.
Holiness as exclusive possession
Sometimes the Torah calls the Israelites kadosh because they are set apart by God, and God is kadosh through the distinction of being the only god the Israelites worship.9 This concept of holiness as segregation appears near the end of this week's Torah portion.
And you shall be kedoshim for Me, because kadosh am I, God, and I have separated you from the [other] peoples to be Mine. (Leviticus 20:26)
The exclusivity of this arrangement between God and the Israelites leads to rules that discriminate against non-Israelites. For example, in the book of Deuteronomy/Devarim, Moses warns the people that when they conquer their "promised land' in Canaan and defeat the seven tribes already living there, they must not make any treaties with these tribes; they must not intermarry with them; and they must destroy all their religious items.
For you are a kadosh people to God, your god; God, your god, chose you to belong to It as a treasured possession, out of all the peoples on the face of the earth. (Deuteronomy/Devarim 7:6)
Sifra, a collection of commentary on Leviticus that was probably compiled in the third century C.E., rephrases God's direction at the beginning of the Torah portion Kedoshim this way: "As I, God, am set apart, so you must be set apart." The same condition of being "set apart"—from other peoples or from other gods—defines how both the Israelite people and God are kadosh.
All of the passages in the Torah that include some version of "Kedoshim you shall be, because kadosh am I" concern activities in the physical world: obeying or decreeing ritual rules; behaving ethically; and excluding other people and other gods. None of these passages mention spiritual transcendence.
Later in the Hebrew Bible, the prophets sometimes use the word kadosh to indicate that God is an awesome and overpowering mystery.10 In the 16th century C.E., the Maharal of Prague wrote that a person or act is kadosh when it is transcendent in its essence—like God.11 And in the 18th century, Hassidic rabbis defined holiness as an intense and continuous attachment and devotion to God. This deep mental connection let God's holiness flow into a person.12
But in the book of Leviticus, kadosh describes something in the physical world: an object, a place, a day, a priest—or an ordinary Israelite's actions in the world, or God's actions in the world.
What it means to say God's actions are kadosh depends on how you define "God"—and that determines what human beings do to become kadosh.
The "God" of ritual purity
Some people think of "God" as the anthropomorphic biblical character who makes all the rules. They strive to follow whatever rules their current human leaders have selected from the Bible in a literal way, eschewing symbolism. (It would be impossible to follow all the rules in the Bible; some contradict each other, and some cannot be performed in the modern world.)
To the extent that literal-minded religious people achieve this, they consider themselves holy. But all too often this definition of God leads people to denounce those who they believe are not following their chosen biblical rules.
The "God" of moral virtue
Some people think of "God" not as an anthropomorphic being, but as a theological abstraction of perfection: omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent. Others think of "God" as the force of goodness in the world. Either way, "God" is perfectly virtuous by definition, and the bible should not always be taken literally.
When people think of "God" as an ethical ideal (from the original 13 attributes to modern variations on "God is love"), and they try to become holy, they strive to act with more forethought or kindness or compassion toward others—thus imitating their God.
The "God" of exclusive possession
Some Jews consider themselves the "chosen people", descendants of the Israelites with whom "God" has a special and exclusive relationship in the Hebrew Bible. Some Christians consider themselves the "chosen people", with whom "God" made a new covenant in the Christian Bible.
Defining God in terms of the in-group usually results in disparaging the out-group. People imitate the "God" who singles out one "chosen people" by discriminating against all other groups of people, who they assume are inferior and/or threatening.
If you want to become kadosh, be careful how you think about God!
1 Leviticus 20:3. The Torah portion does not say whether sacrificing a child to the alien god Molekh profanes God's reputation for separating the Israelites from people with other religions, or God's reputation for the ethical act of banning child sacrifice.
2 Leviticus 18:1-30.
3 Seventeen of the twenty commandments in 19:3-18 are definitely about behavior toward other people, i.e. ethics. The other three are:
* Observe Shabbat. (Leviticus 19:5)
* Do not worship idols. (19:4)
* Eat a wholeness-offering (שְׁלָמִים) in the first two days. (19:5-8) This appears to be an instruction about ritual, but some commentators point out that the wholeness-offering is the only offering in which some of the roasted meat and grain is shared with guests. In order to make sure this large offering is eaten in two days, the person making the offering must invite multiple guests, so this commandment may also address the ethical virtue of generosity.
4 Rashi (Rabbi Shlomoh Yitzchaki), commentary on Leviticus 19:2.
5 Maimonides (Rabbi Moses ben Maimon), Guide for the Perplexed.
6 Rabbi Bachya ben Yosef ibn Pakudah, Kad HaKemach.
7 Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz, Talks on the Parasha, Koren Publishers, Jerusalem, 2015.
8 This is a summary of the "13 attributes" God proclaims to Moses in Exodus 34:6-7. However, 34:7 ends by saying that God punishes not only wrongdoers, but their children and children's children, to the fourth generation.
9 God is called kedosh Israel, "the holy one of Israel", twelve times in the first book of Isaiah and fourteen times in the second book of Isaiah, as well as in 2 Kings 19:22; Jeremiah 50:29 and 51:5; Ezekiel 39:7; and Psalms 71:22, 78:41, and 89:19.
10 One example is a vision of the first Isaiah: In the year of the death of the king Uzziyahu, I beheld my lord sitting on a high and elevated throne, and [God's] skirts were filling the palace. Serafim were standing over [God], six wings, six wings to each … And they would call, one to another, and say: "Kadosh! Kadosh! Kadosh! God of hosts! [God's] glory fills the earth!" (Isaiah 6:1-3)
11 Rabbi Yehudah Loew ben Betzaleil, a.k.a. the Maharal of Prague, Tiferet Yisrael 37.
12 Arthur Green, Speaking Torah, Vol. 1, Jewish Lights Publishing, Woodstock, Vermont, 2013, pp. 292, 295.
Ki Tissa: Heard and Not SeenMarch 2, 2015 at 6:01 pm | Posted in Ki Tissa | 3 Comments
Tags: ark of the covenant, Exodus, Golden Calf, idols, religion, Torah commentary, torah portion
by Melissa Carpenter, maggidah
For 40 days at the top of Mount Sinai, Moses listens to God's instructions on ordaining priests and making a sanctuary for the new religion. The holiest object in the sanctuary will be the ark—a gold-plated box covered by a solid gold lid.
And you will make two keruvim of gold; you will make them hammered out of the two ends …
keruvim (כְרוּבִים) = winged hybrid beasts, usually with human heads and animal bodies.
While God finishes giving Moses instructions at the beginning of this week's Torah portion, Ki Tissa ("When you bring up"), the Israelites at the foot of Mount Sinai conclude that Moses is never coming back.
And the people saw that Moses took too long to come down from the mountain, and the people gathered against Aaron, and they said to him: "Get up! Make for us elohim that will go in front of us, because this man Moses who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we don't know what happened to him! (Exodus/Shemot 32:1)
elohim (אֱלוֹהִים) = gods (the plural of eloha, אֱלוֹהַּ.); a god, God.
Moses is gone, and God's pillar of cloud and fire, which led them from Egypt to Mount Sinai, has disappeared. Who or what can lead them through the wilderness now? When the Israelites ask Aaron to make elohim, they want idols, images of gods that carry some divine power or magic.
Aaron said to them: Pull off the gold rings that are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me. And all the people pulled off the gold rings in their ears, and they brought them to Aaron. He took [the gold] from their hand, and he shaped it in the mold, and he made it a calf of cast metal. And they said: This is your elohim, Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt! (Exodus 32:2-4)
There is only one gold statue, yet the people use the plural "these". Modern commentator Robert Alter wrote that the Golden Calf was not intended to be inhabited by a deity, but rather to serve as the throne for one or more gods. The Phoenician storm god Hadad was pictured standing on a bull.
The ark with its keruvim is not a throne. Later in the Bible, God acquires the title "Who Sits [Above] the Keruvim", but the only descriptions of God sitting above keruvim refer to angelic creatures in the heavens, not to the solid keruvim in the sanctuary.
Later in the Bible, King Jereboam, the first ruler of the northern kingdom of Israel, sets up a golden calf in each of his two temples, one at Bethel and one in Dan. The Torah denounces these golden calves as sinful (reflecting the viewpoint of the southern kingdom of Judah, which retains two keruvim in the temple at Jerusalem).
Why are two gold keruvim acceptable to God, while a golden calf is not?
Hammered, not cast or carved
One line of commentary argues that God objects to cast-metal images, but not to images hammered out of a lump of gold. God does say "Cast-metal gods you shall not make for yourselves. (Exodus 34:17)"—but only later in this week's Torah portion, after Moses has ground up the Golden Calf and climbed Mount Sinai for a second 40-day conference with God.
Imaginary, not actual
In one of the Ten Commandments, which come before the Golden Calf episode in the Torah, God declares: "You shall not make for yourself a carved idol, or any image of what is in the heavens above or what is on the earth below or what is in the waters underneath. (Exodus 20:4)" One could argue that the Golden Calf is an image of an animal that lives on the earth, while the keruvim do not represent any known animal.
Commanded, not volunteered
In his book Kuzari, 12th-century commentator Judah Halevi argues that images were psychologically necessary for people in that era. Until they reached Mount Sinai, the Israelites followed a visible pillar of cloud and fire. After the pillar disappeared, they waited for Moses to come down from Mount Sinai with some other visible item. Only after they concluded Moses would never return did they make an unauthorized image. Halevi wrote: "They should have waited and not made an image by themselves."
The difference between the keruvim and the Golden Calf, according to Halevi and subsequent commentary by Ibn Ezra and Abarbanel, is that God ordered the keruvim. God does not want people to use anything that God Itself has not authorized.
Heard, not seen
I think the underlying problem is that in the Torah, God is heard and not seen. Later in this week's Torah portion, God explains to Moses:
You will not be able to see My face, because humankind may not see Me and live. (Exodus 33:20)
Even the pillar of cloud and fire is called God's messenger, not God Itself. Only God's creations can be seen. But God's voice is heard by all the people in the revelation at Mount Sinai. And throughout the Bible, God speaks to select human beings.
The Israelites err in expecting God to manifest as a visible shape, sitting astride the calf or standing on its back. They want the reassurance of something they can see. But God only manifests as a voice; God wants people to listen for God's words.
If God's voice came from the Golden Calf, it would seem as though the words issued from the calf's mouth—a clear case of idolatry. This is not a problem with the two keruvim at the ends of the ark. The Torah says that after the Holy of Holies is finished, God will speak from the empty space above the cover of the ark, between the wings of the keruvim.
In the Torah, God does not speak from the solid and visible Golden Calf, but from an invisible empty space.
In our lives today, God does not speak from visible and mundane things such as gold jewelry or expensive cars. God speaks to us from out of nowhere—if we make empty spaces in our lives, and listen.
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With the markets so volatile, many investors might be tempted to head for the exits. But in these nervous times, there are smart moves you can make to protect your portfolio.
CNBC.com asked the experts what they would buy--and sell--in this type of environment. Here's what they're telling us.
Buy: Consumer Electronics
Marc Pado, chief market strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald, says technology-related industries such as software and consumer electronics should do well as corporate spending usually picks up in the fourth quarter. He also believes retailers could be set for a rebound.
"I think we'll test the lows in the next few days," Pado says. "But the two key areas that do well in the fourth quarter are technology and consumer-sensitive areas like retail, which has been badly beaten because everyone has been worried about the consumer."
Consumer electronics play on both of these themes and should garner investor attention.
"In the fourth quarter you get (corporate) spending and the holiday shopping season and despite the pessimism, it only provides us with a buying opportunity," said Pado. "I think we're coming off such a low point here that these stocks should outperform on a relative basis."
Consumer electronics retailer Best Buy is scheduled to report quarterly earnings on Sept. 18 and recently reiterated fiscal 2008 earnings guidance of $2.95 to $3.15 a share. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial currently expect earnings of $3.05 a share.
"The expectations are near their lows and therefore manufacturers of game consoles, flat panel TVs and MP3 players will be good this year," Pado says.
Pado also likes Apple , whose shares have declined more than 16% since hitting an all-time high on July 26 but remain up more than 40% for the year.
The strategist also said makers of video games should also see investor interest but declined to provide specific stocks. Shares of the industry's largest company, Electronic Arts, are up 2.4% year to date, while rival Activision has gained 5.5%.
Buy: Pharmacy Benefit Managers
Robert Doll, global chief investment officer of equities at BlackRock, likes pharmacy benefit managers such as Express Scripts.
"We just think the aging population and so many drugs going generic, the mail-order intent of the company, and its improvement of operating margins, all make this stock somewhat independent of the economy and it has excellent fundamentals."
Express Scripts competes with companies such as CVS Caremark , MedcoHealth Solutions and Healthextras .


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If you like beer, you must visit Germany! As one of the top beer-consuming countries in the world, they have a lot to offer! Especially in Bavaria and certainly in Munich's Oktoberfest, there is a beer to fit everyone's taste- whether you want dark beer or light, high alcohol or low. Once you find your beer, it can be like finding your soul mate.
With all the choices of what to drink come just ask many choices of where to drink it. Of course, beer can easily be found in restaurants and bars, but in Germany you can also buy it at any corner shop or market and enjoy it while walking down the street. Most shops even have a bottle opener behind the counter and can pop it open for you. Of course, public intoxication is looked down upon, but nothing is thought of someone enjoying an afternoon beer on a sidewalk bench, main square or park.
Ok, so I'm not a huge drinker by any means (even though I may sound like an alcoholic while going on about different brews), but I do enjoy a good beer! I'm not claiming to be an expert by any means and I don't know all the technical words to describe beer, but I know what I like. So, pull up a barstool, grab your Maß (1 liter mug- see picture below) and read on about three of my favorite beers I found in Germany.
- Weißbier
Weißbier, also known as Weissbier (directly translated as 'white beer') or Weizenbier (the more correct translation of 'wheat beer'), is my hands down favorite Bavarian beer. A hefeweizen is an example of a Weißbier. The Franziskaner Weißbier was my typical order on nights out in Munich and apparently I ordered it so much that I was able to do it with a German accent!!!
- Helles
A Hell beer is a typical lager and another basic German beer. 'Hell' means 'light' in German and 'helles' translates to 'the light one'. Of course, this is Germany, so it doesn't mean 'light' as in lower in calories or less alcohol, like in the States. 'Helles' refers to the light color of the beer. I like Augustiner's Hell beer and it was my next choice if Augustiner's Weißbier wasn't available.
- Radler
If I was in the mood for a sweet drink or wanted to go easy on the alcohol, a Radler beer was my solution. Also called a Shandy outside of Germany, a Radler (German for cyclist) is half beer and half lemon-lime soda. Note that in Europe, lemon-lime soda is called lemonade. While this may sound disgusting to some people and seem like a sin to beer purists, I absolutely fell in love with Radlers. It's a great thirst-quencher on hot days and the lemon-lime soda satisfies any sweet cravings you might have.
Sampling the variety of beers in Germany is something that cannot be missed. You don't need to go on a brewery tour or be in Munich for Oktoberfest to try them. Just order a different beer with each meal until you find the one that suits you. Just like trying on shoes, some will fit and some will not. Keep searching until you find what's best for you!
For my recommendations on Irish beers, check out my post There's More To Ireland Than Guinness.


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Meeting Monkeys, Sleeping With Nuns, and Finding Love in China
I schedule the narrative travel stories in Perceptive Travel according to what writers have turned in as the year goes by, but sometimes we end up with themes emerging in an issue without even trying. In this one we've got three stories from Asia. Two of the three inolve primates.
One article involves an actual hunt for them, orangutans in this case, in one of the creatures' depressingly few remaining wild habitats. It can be trouble though when you use the voice of an alpha male to get close to them. See Orangutan Warfare in Borneo.
Things get weird enough when a writer seeks out Laotian moonshine distiller in the jungle and sees how the snake whiskey is made and bottled. But then "Mr. Tojo" shows up, ready to issue a challenge. See Moonshine With a Monkey on the Mekong.
The third Asia story is devoid of hairy beasts. Instead it looks at the human complexities of traveling the world to find solitude but finding deep companionship instead. See Walkabout Love in China by newcomer Dustin Grinnell.
We head over to Europe and land in Rome, where men "touch iron" upon seeing a nun on the street to keep from getting cursed. Susan Van Allen instead dives into her 60s-inspired nun obsession and books a stay at a convent. See Get Me to a Nunnery in Rome.
Susan Griffith reviews three new travel books. Two dive into the dark side of tourism and travel, with stories that often hit what doesn't make it into the glossy "everything is wonderful" magazines. The third is from female survivalist Megan Hine. See the August travel book reviews.
A New Travel Bag That Thieves Will Hate
Each issue Perceptive Travel partners up with a gear company to give away a prize to one of our readers. In most months, most people don't enter, so those who do stand pretty good odds. Our latest champ is Jerry H. of Oregon. He's got a new Transit 40 convertible backpack from Deuter coming his way for the next adventure.
In August we're giving away a different kind of travel bag. You get your choice of city bag or daypack from the Active line at Travelon Bags. These look stylish and are quite functional too, but there's a secret weapon built in: lots of anti-theft features.
There are two ways to enter. The best is to get on the travelers newsletter list so you'll get details landing in your inbox once per month. The back-up, but less reliable way is to follow Perceptive Travel on Facebook and hope that the "we know what's good for you" social media network actually lets the contest notifications into your feed. (Hint: if you choose "most recent" for your feed when you open Facebook, then you get to choose what to read instead of leaving it to them.)
That's it for now. Enjoy!
Clicked straight to the Moonshine with a Monkey link! (Great title) Lol. Walkabout Love has a pretty catchy intro too
Trying to find wild Orangatan's in Borneo (Where all my life I had been told that Borneo was a rainforest of wonder), was next to impossible.
Finally, after a very long drive I saw three of them at Gontamong caves, finally at peace. They seemed fairly comfortable with people, which made me consider that perhaps they had been raised on a sanctuary.
I have not et been to China, and I err on whether to travel a country with zero animal welfare laws, or whether to explore it while beauty still exists in some places.
Wherever there will be too many tourists, ultimately you will not find that peace and harmony. Hire a car and o where others dare to go.


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Colgate® Total® Toothpaste
One of the most extensively tested and researched toothpastes in the world
Active ingredients
Sodium Fluoride 0.32% w/w – Anti-cavity, Triclosan 0.3% w/w – Anti-gingivitis
Water, Hydrated Silica, Glycerin, Sorbitol, PVM/MA Copolymer, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Flavor, Cellulose Gum, Sodium Hydroxide, Propylene Glycol, Carrageenan, Sodium Fluoride, Sodium Saccharin, Triclosan, CI 77891.
Mode of Action
Unlike ordinary toothpastes* Colgate Total® adheres to hard and soft tissue for whole mouth protection†. Ordinary anticavity toothpastes only protect the hard tissue, which is 20% of the mouth1. 80% of the mouth is soft tissue1. Bacteria develop on soft tissue surfaces, and can act as a reservoir to start recolonizing teeth and gums right after toothbrushing.
* Defined as non-antibacterial fluoride toothpaste.
† Defined as fluoride for cavity protection, plus 12-hour antibacterial protection against gingivitis.
1. Amornchat C, Kraivaphan P, Triratana T. Mahidol Dent J. 2004:24:103-111.
Proof of Efficacy
Whole mouth antimicrobial effects after oral hygiene: comparison of three dentifrice formulations.
Fine DH, Sreenivasan PK, McKiernan M, Tischio-Bereski D, Furgang D.
For all 4 oral sites and 6 organisms evaluated in each site, the TCN/C demonstrated significant reductions (49%-83%) as compared with the other treatments (p < 0.01). The SnF (2)/SHMP group showed significant reductions of 14%-43% for 14 of 24 outcomes as compared with the NaF group (p < 0.01), with no differences in 10 outcomes.
CONCLUSIONS: The TCN/C dentifrice formulation consistently demonstrated significant reductions for a range of microorganisms in diverse oral sites in comparison with the NaF, or the SnF(2)/SHMP dentifrice formulations as seen 12 h after brushing.
Other Variants
- Colgate® Sensitive Pro-Relief™ Repair & Prevent Toothpaste
- Colgate® Sensitive Pro-Relief™ Enamel Repair Toothpaste
- Colgate® Sensitive Pro-Relief™ Gum Care Toothpaste
- Colgate® Sensitive Pro-Relief™ +Whitening Toothpaste
- Colgate® Sensitive Pro-Relief™ Multi-Protection Toothpaste


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Taiwanese Paid Survey Sites
Taiwanese Online Paid Survey Sites
GlobalTestMarket Taiwan
OpinionWorld Taiwan
Valued Opinions Taiwan
Become a member, you will be invited to participate in many different types of market research questionnaire related to your interest.
Every time you complete a survey questionnaire you will be rewarded within 28 days.
Rewards Mate Taiwan
Rewards Mate is an online community where you can give your opinion and be paid for it. Rewards Mate is open to residents of Taiwan who are at least 15 years old. Surveys at Rewards Mate typically take anywhere for 1 to 25 minutes and you will earn points for each survey completed.


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Painting, decorating and home improvement tips blog
Lining paper, what is it?
Posted by admin
April 30th, 2019
Lining paper, what is it?
Lining paper has been traditionally used to produce a good, sound, smooth surface for wallpapering over, however it is now more popular to hang lining paper and emulsion over it.
Lining paper is used to remove any small imperfections on a wall or ceiling, it is not however a miracle cure, so preparation should always be done before hanging lining paper. It isn't a substitute for plastering either.
Once all the holes and cracks have been filled, the walls or ceiling should be properly rubbed down and any filler should be sanded smooth and level. One this is done dust down the walls to remove any loose debris. You can seal any filler by either using a 'size' such as watered down wallpaper paste, or you can emulsion over the filler to help seal it off.
What thickness lining paper
Lining paper comes in different thicknesses, guages or grades, this refers to their weight. they start at 800 guage and go up to 2000 guage, it all depends on how thick you want it to be. Lining paper does offer some insulation qualities but there are also specialist papers for this.
A good mid-range lining paper to go for is 1200 or 1400 gauge, they aren't too thin and not to thick to be hard to work with.
Can I paint lining paper
As mentioned above, lining paper is meant to produce a smooth background for wallpapering over, but yes you can paint over the lining paper once it is fully dried.
Cross lining, what's that?
Cross-lining is where the lining paper is hung horizontally rather the vertically like traditional wallpapers, normally if you are going to be emulsioning over the lining paper you could hang it as you would wallpaper, vertically.
Once you have hung the lining paper you need to allow it to fully dry before you emulsion over it, this will take normally between 12 – 24 hours depending on drying conditions.
How to measure for lining paper
Before you buy lining paper or order wallpaper you need to know how much to buy, I have written an article on how to measure a room for wallpaper that explains how you need to do it. I have also written a wallpaper calculator so you can work out how many rolls of wallpaper you need to buy.
Cost of lining paper
With everyone having to tighten their belts these days, cost is a real factor when it comes to decorating, wallpaper can be very expensive if you plan to wallpaper the entire room, a way around this is to only do one wall, or a feature wall as it is known.
If however you wish to change the look of a room every couple of years, or you have pets or children that makes wallpaper not a viable option, lining paper and emulsion maybe the answer.
Once lining paper has been put up it can painted over and over again, saving costs in the long run as all that is required is a fresh new coat of emulsion. Also, if you then decide to wallpaper at a later date, you can do so over the emulsioned lining paper.
Tags: Cross lining, Emulsion, Feature Wall, Lining Paper, Paint, Wallpaper
Posted in Decorating Tips, Home Improvements, Resources | 1 Comment »
One Response to "Lining paper, what is it?"
Date posted : June 25th, 2019 at 8:18 am
I really appreciate this bolg. I've been looking all over for this!thanks


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Hotel Café Royal - The Leading Hotels of the World - London
- Free WiFi
- Collect nights
Hotel Café Royal - The Leading Hotels of the World - London
More Info: 6823 2342from S$753
- Junior Suite
- Grand Deluxe room
- Two bedroom Tudor Suite
- Westminster Suite
- Grand Superior room
- Deluxe Room
- Superior Room
- Regent Suite
- Oscar Suite
- Deluxe Suite
- Grand Junior Suite
- Two bedroom Royal Suite
- Celestine Suite
- Club Suite
- Three bedroom Dome Penthouse
- The Loft Suite
More great choices
What's around Hotel Café Royal - The Leading Hotels of the World - London
Top spots nearby
Recommended by this property
- Piccadilly Circus (1-minute walk)
- Trafalgar Square (6-minute walk)
- Oxford Circus (7-minute walk)
- Buckingham Palace (9-minute walk)
- Green Park (12-minute walk)
- Big Ben (13-minute walk)
- Coca-Cola London Eye (14-minute walk)
- Harrods (21-minute walk)
- Natural History Museum (30-minute walk)
Getting around
- London (LHR-Heathrow) - 43 min drive
- London (LCY-London City) - 41 min drive
- London (LGW-Gatwick) - 90 min drive
- London Charing Cross Station - 12 min walk
- London Victoria Rail Station - 24 min walk
- London Waterloo Station - 26 min walk
- Piccadilly Circus Underground Station - 2 min walk
- Leicester Square Underground Station - 7 min walk
- Green Park Underground Station - 8 min walk
At a glance
Key facts
Hotel size
- This hotel has 160 rooms
- This hotel is arranged over 7 floors
- Check-in time starts at 3 PM
- Check-out time is noon
- Express check-in/out
Required at check-in
- Credit card, debit card, or cash deposit required for incidental charges
- Government-issued photo ID required
Travelling with others
- No cribs (infant beds)
- Babysitting/childcare *
- Pets stay free
- Up to 26 lbs
- Free WiFi in public areas
- Free WiFi and wired Internet access in rooms
- Valet parking *
Payment types at the property
Other information
- Smoke-free property
In the hotel
- In-room childcare (surcharge)
- Cooked-to-order breakfast daily (surcharge)
- 3 restaurants
- 2 bars/lounges
- 24-hour room service
- Indoor pool
- Fitness facilities
- Full-service spa
- Spa treatment room(s)
- Fitness classes on site
- Yoga classes/instruction on site
- Health club
- Steam room
- Sauna
- 24-hour business center
- Conference space
- Meeting rooms
- Conference space size (feet) - 8640
- Conference space size (meters) - 803
- Conference center
- Computer station
- 24-hour front desk
- Concierge services
- Tours/ticket assistance
- Dry cleaning/laundry service
- Laundry facilities
- Free newspapers in lobby
- Luggage storage
- Wedding services
- Multilingual staff
- Porter/bellhop
- Number of buildings/towers - 1
- Year Built - 2012
- Elevator
- Safe-deposit box at front desk
- Accessible bathroom
- In-room accessibility
- Roll-in shower
- Wheelchair-accessible path of travel
- Wheelchair-accessible parking
- Assistive listening devices available
- Chinese
- Dutch
- Filipino
- French
- Hebrew
- Hindi
- Indonesian
- Italian
- Japanese
- Khmer
- Korean
- Lao
- Latvian
- Norwegian
- Polish
- Portuguese
- Romanian
- Russian
- Serbian
- Slovak
- Slovenian
- Swedish
- Thai
- Turkish
- Ukrainian
- Vietnamese
In the room
- In-room climate control (air conditioning)
- Air conditioning
- Minibar
- Coffee/tea maker
- Bathrobes
- Slippers
- Iron/ironing board (on request)
- Pillow menu
- Blackout drapes/curtains
- Soundproofed rooms
- Turndown service
- Premium bedding
- Individually decorated
- Individually furnished
- Separate bathtub and shower
- Rainfall showerhead
- Designer toiletries
- Hair dryer
- Flat-screen TV
- Pay movies
- Premium TV channels
- Free newspaper
- Free WiFi
- Free local calls
- Refrigerator
- Free bottled water
- Daily housekeeping
- In-room safe
- Connecting/adjoining rooms available
- Access via exterior corridors
Recommended hotels
Special features
Akasha Holistic Wellbeing has 9 treatment rooms including rooms for couples. Services include deep-tissue massages, hot stone massages, sports massages, and Swedish massages. A variety of treatment therapies are provided, including aromatherapy, Ayurvedic, and hydrotherapy. The spa is equipped with a sauna, a spa tub, a steam room, and Turkish bath/hammam.
The spa is open daily. Children under 16 years old are not allowed in the spa without adult supervision. Guests under 5 years old are not allowed in the spa.
DiningLaurent at Cafe Royal - This restaurant specializes in Modern European cuisine and serves breakfast, lunch, dinner, and light fare. Guests can enjoy drinks at the bar. A children's menu is available.
Afternoon Tea - This fine-dining restaurant specializes in British cuisine. Open daily.
Cakes and Bubbles - Onsite restaurant. Open daily.
Green Bar - Onsite cocktail bar. Open daily.
Ziggy's Cocktail Bar - Onsite cocktail bar. Open daily.
Awards and affiliations
- The property is a member of the Leading Hotels of the World.
Hotel Café Royal - The Leading Hotels of the World - London's small print
Also known as
- Cafe Hotel
- Royal Hotel Cafe
- Hotel Cafe Royal London, England
- Hotel Café Royal London
- Hotel Café Royal
- Café Royal London
- Hotel Café Royal Leading Hotels World
- Café Royal Leading Hotels World London
- Café Royal Leading Hotels World
- Hotel Café Royal Leading Hotels World London
- Cafe Hotel Royal
- Hotel Hotel Café Royal - The Leading Hotels of the World London
- London Hotel Café Royal - The Leading Hotels of the World Hotel
- Hotel Hotel Café Royal - The Leading Hotels of the World
- Hotel Café Royal - The Leading Hotels of the World London
- Hotel Café Royal
- Cafe Royal Hotel
- Hotel Café Royal - The Leading Hotels of the World Hotel
- Hotel Café Royal - The Leading Hotels of the World London
- Hotel Café Royal - The Leading Hotels of the World Hotel London
- Cafe Royal
- Cafe Royal Hotel
- Cafe Royal Hotel London
- Cafe Royal London
- Hotel Cafe Royal
- Hotel Royal Cafe
- Royal Cafe Hotel
Children 5-16 years old are allowed in the pool from 10 AM to 11:30 AM and from 2 PM to 3:30 PM and must be accompanied by an adult. For more details, please contact the property using the information on the reservation confirmation received after booking.
The property has connecting/adjoining rooms, which are subject to availability and can be requested by contacting the property using the number on the booking confirmation.
Some facilities may have restricted access. Guests can contact the property for details using the contact information on the booking confirmation.
Guests under 16 years old are not allowed in the fitness facility.
Children under 16 years old are not allowed in the spa without adult supervision.
Guests under 5 years old are not allowed in the spa.Please note that cultural norms and guest policies may differ by country and by property. The policies listed are provided by the property.
Reservations are required for massage services and spa treatments and can be made by contacting the property before arrival at the number on the booking confirmation.
The name on the credit card used at check-in to pay for incidentals must be the primary name on the guestroom reservation.
Optional extras
Valet parking costs GBP 65 per night
Rollaway beds are available for GBP 80.0 per night
Breakfast costs between GBP 11 and GBP 36 per person (approximately)
Babysitting/childcare is available for an extra charge
We have included all charges provided to us by this property. However, charges can vary, for example, based on length of stay or the unit you book.
Recent reviews
Exceptional 9.4 From 176 reviews
excellent - really enjoyed our stay, staff brilliant, location excellent
Friendly staff and excellent location. Interesting food and impressive Queen High Tea served so you don't even have to go out at all!
Excellent service ,staffs are friendly and supreme location .
The stay was trully amazing and the entire staff made it even better. The hotel was very clean, the entire staff made it a point to learn about us and get to know our names. They catered to our kids constantly. The spa was also amazing and allowed us to go there with the kiddos during kid hours. They also delivered and picked up our rental car for us. We will be back in October.
The staff is wonderful, very helpful and they have renovated most rooms so it is bright, great Hotel to stay in London
Is the description of this property not correct? Tell us


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But new evidence is helping local forces 'start to understand some of the things we are really taking for granted and have been taking for granted in the wrong way in the past'.
A regional police chief with responsibility for stamping out rural crime has admitted the problem has been 'ignored' in the past.
At NFU council in Stoneleigh this week, Lincolnshire Police deputy chief constable (DCC) Craig Naylor said new evidence had revealed criminals carrying out 'low-level' offences which carry jail sentences of less than two years were actually involved in wider organised crime.
DCC Naylor said: "More than two years is the definition of serious crime.
"But a lot of the crimes which happen in the rural environment are less than that in their own right.
"The reason we have ignored it is we have not seen the link between the person who has committed the low-level crime and what they do with the rest of their time."
DCC Naylor added the National Police Chiefs' Council was taking steps to improve policing in rural communities with its first ever Rural Affairs and Wildlife Crime Strategies, which have helped local forces 'start to understand some of the things we are really taking for granted and have been taking for granted in the wrong way in the past'.
North Yorkshire police and crime commissioner Julia Mulligan said there would also be a need to push for more funding from Government.
"The noise out of government at the moment is very urban focused and I am concerned about that for us," she said.
Her call follows concerns raised by farmers and others over an unfair distribution of policing resources, too much focus on urban areas and a lack of adequate policing response.
Ms Mulligan said: "I have been a victim of rural crime myself and I was determined when I came into office to try and make the rural people heard because I think we receive a bit of a raw deal at the moment.
"One of the big challenges we have got is around serious and organised crime. There is an enormous gap there, not just in understanding what the criminals do but understanding the impact it has on you.
"That is underestimated hugely at the moment and it is really important we get to grips with it."


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Pool Filters
Keep your pool water clear and free of debris.
Keep your pool water clear and free of debris.
Water passes through the filtration system capturing the smallest of dirt particles.
Over time, the D-E becomes dirty and requires a backwash or thorough cleaning. This includes removing the old D-E and replacing it. The valve provides multi-functions.
This D-E filter works with a bumping motion to release dirt off the fingers.
The cartridge does the work of pulling the dirt from the water. To clean periodically, remove the cartridge and hose it off; then, it is ready to get back to work. Replace the cartridge every few years, depending on use.
With so many replacement filters on the market, let us find the right one for your system. We make it easy!
Pool filters are essential to the reliable operation of your pool. There are three major types of pool filter. These are sand filters, DE (diatomaceous earth) filters and cartridge filters. Although they operate differently, they all perform the same function–maintaining your pool and keeping it clear of algae and other impure particles. The experts in our retail store can inform you about how each filter works, and determine which would be best for you.


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Cooperative farms operating in North Korea's northernmost provinces are facing increasing difficulties in obtaining fertilizers, seed, and equipment, with the most successful among them helped only by investments from China, sources say.
Nearly 35 percent of the collective farms operating in the country's North Hamgyong province have now entered cooperative arrangements with Chinese companies, a source in the province told RFA's Korean Service.
"Most of the North Korean farms have no funds to buy fertilizers, pesticides, or equipment," RFA's source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"Chinese firms first provide them with these things, and the farms pay them back with crops in the fall," he said.
Many farms cultivate crops requested by their Chinese investors as a first priority, "but they also have to grow other crops in order to meet the production requirements set by the North Korean government," the source said.
"To do this, they use materials and equipment purchased with Chinese money," he said.
Crops of red beans are particularly desired by Chinese investors, since these can be sold at a profit in China, RFA's source said.
"Red beans can be sold at high prices in the fall, so the Chinese investors will probably make profits of about three times the amount of money they invested," he said.
Many seek help
Collaboration between the North Korean Gwanmobong firm and the Chinese firm Tianxiazhiben has been especially productive, the source said, adding, "There are other Chinese agricultural centers and companies in Yenji, Shenyang, and Beijing investing in North Korean farms in similar ways."
Many farms in North Hamgyong's Hoeryong city and Musan county are now actively seeking investments from China, a second source in the province said, also speaking on condition he not be named.
"The key to success in a year's farming is to secure investment from China," the source said.
"The Chinese company Tianxiazhiben not only provides seeds, fertilizer, and equipment for the farming, but also instant noodles for the farmers," he said.
"Farms that have already acquired investment from China are set to go."
Reported by Jieun Kim for RFA's Korean Service. Translated by Hee Jung Yang. Written in English by Richard Finney.