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Top 10 Myths About Islam From
Huda, Islam is a widely-misunderstood religion. Those who are unfamiliar with the faith often have misunderstandings about its teachings and practices. Common misconceptions include that Muslims worship a moon-god, that Islam is oppressive against women, or that Islam is a faith that promotes violence. Here we bust these myths and expose the true teachings of Islam. Some non-Muslims mistakenly believe that Allah is an "Arab god," a "moon god," or some sort of idol. Allah is the proper name of the One True God, in the Arabic language. The most fundamental belief that a Muslim has is that "There is only One God," the Creator, the Sustainer -- known in the Arabic language and by Muslims as Allah. Arabic-speaking Christians use the same word for the Almighty. 2. Muslims don't believe in Jesus In the Qur'an, stories about the life and teachings of Jesus Christ (called 'Isa in Arabic) are abundant. The Qur'an recalls his miraculous birth, his teachings, and the miracles he performed by God's permission. There is even a chapter of the Qur'an named after his mother, Mary (Miriam in Arabic). However, Muslims believe that Jesus was a fully human prophet and not in any way divine himself. While Islam is often associated with Arabs, they make up only 15% of the world's Muslim population. The country with the largest population of Muslims is Indonesia. Muslims make up 1/5 of the world's population, with large numbers found in Asia (69%), Africa (27%), Europe (3%) and other parts of the world. More: Population of the Muslim world Most of the ill-treatment that women receive in the Muslim world is based on local culture and traditions, without any basis in the faith of Islam. In fact, practices such as forced marriage, spousal abuse, and restricted movement directly contradict Islamic law governing family behavior and personal freedom. http://islam.about.com/od/women/ 5. Muslims are violent, terrorist extremists Terrorism cannot be justified under any valid interpretation of the Islamic faith. The entire Qur'an, taken as a complete text, gives a message of hope, faith, and peace to a faith community of one billion people. The overwhelming message is that peace is to be found through faith in God, and justice among fellow human beings. Muslim leaders and scholars do speak out against terrorism in all its forms, and offer explanations of misinterpreted or twisted teachings. 6. Islam is intolerant of other faiths Throughout the Qur'an, Muslims are reminded that they are not the only ones who worship God. Jews and Christians are called "People of the Book," meaning people who have received previous revelations from the One Almighty God that we all worship. The Qur'an also commands Muslims to protect from harm not only mosques, but also monasteries, synagogues, and churches -- because "God is worshipped therein." http://islam.about.com/cs/jesus/f/christians.htm 7. Islam promotes "jihad" to spread Islam by the sword and kill all unbelievers The word Jihad stems from an Arabic word which means "to strive." Other related words include "effort," "labor," and "fatigue." Essentially Jihad is an effort to practice religion in the face of oppression and persecution. The effort may come in fighting the evil in your own heart, or in standing up to a dictator. Military effort is included as an option, but as a last resort and not "to spread Islam by the sword." 8. The Quran was written by Muhammad and copied from Christian and Jewish sources The Qur'an was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad over a period of two decades, calling people to worship One Almighty God and to live their lives according to this faith. The Qur'an contains stories of Biblical prophets, because these prophets also preached the message of God. Stories are not merely copied, but the oral traditions are referred to in a way that focuses on the examples and teachings that we can learn from them. 9. Islamic prayer is just a ritualized performance with no heartfelt meaning Prayer is a time to stand before God and express faith, give thanks for blessings, and seek guidance and forgiveness. During Islamic prayer, one is modest, submissive and respectful to God. By bowing and prostrating ourselves to the ground, we express our utmost humility before the Almighty. 10. The crescent moon is a universal symbol of Islam The early Muslim community did not really have a symbol. During the time of the Prophet Muhammad, Islamic caravans and armies flew simple solid-colored flags (generally black, green, or white) for identification purposes. The crescent moon and star symbol actually pre-dates Islam by several thousand years, and wasn't affiliated with Islam at all until the Ottoman Empire placed it on their flag. More: Crescent Moon: A symbol of Islam? Source: http://islam.about.com/od/commonmisconceptions/tp/myths.htm |
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Reserve Today
I've been to a lot of good restaurants & I must say this one is right up there w the best of them food wise. The steak was delicious! Can't wait to go back!
My husband John and I ate here on our honeymoon, 20 years ago and LOVED IT!!! We have been back many times since and are now returning for our 20 year anniversary!! Thanks for the delicious memories EL GAUCHO!!!! Can't wait to see you in April!
My wife and I visited El Gaucho while on our Honeymoon in June 2001. The steak was so delicious is almost melted in my mouth. To this day, I have never had a steak come close to being as good. Can not wait to return.

subset: commoncrawl


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Deadly Outlaw Rekka Takashi Miike DVD cover illustration
Hi, Ive been sitting on this one for about a month now waiting to post it, its the new illustration for Arrow Videos Deadly Outlaw Rekka directed by Takashi Miike.
DOR is more adult (and violent) film than Jaguar Lives, so it needed a darker vibe plus its also a more modern title (2002) so i couldn't have the same cheesy layout as JL obviously. But i still wanted to keep that classic looking VHS artwork style.So the first thing i did was to create the film title. I new i wanted the cover dark this time but with a vibrant title, so i immediately thought back to films like The Warriors, Repro man, Maniac with there splattered spray paint esque logos, which look great against a plain black background. Plus this film is all about bloody revenge so it was a bit of a no brainier what needed doing.
For the illustration itself i have always loved those dark to white style paintings so this would be a great opportunity to play about with that, having all the characters coming out and merging with the darkness would really set the right tone. As the painting was quite dark though i needed to give it that extra kick (so i wouldn't get lost on the shelf), so offset the black with big bold bloody red strokes and splatter it allowed me highlight the characters and incorporate the logo style into the illustration more.
There were not many assets to work with for this one. Particularly of the main character Riki Takeuchi, (he is one crazy mother! Just google him) but he has an awesome expressive face so i based him on a mixture of elements and the same goes for Yûya Uchida (the old dude) he has an amazing white main of hair, i had to drop him in on the cover (even though he doesn't last long on the film, he's quite central to the story and very iconic) his hair actually proved to be one of the most awkward bits to do. The only real image i had from the film was of the severed hand strangle (a brilliant scene!) but it was very dark (literally) with not much detail, so quite a bit of work went on for that one too.
All in all I'm really happy with how its come out, love the bright red contrasting with the black (i did use a similar effect on the Cronos which i did after rekka... but i just couldn't help myself!!). Well Hope everyone else likes it too.
These cards mean buisness...
I've been meaning to get around to it for a while so finally here is my design/illustration for the Dude designs business card. You can get wrapped up doing graphic design trying to say (and sell) everything about yourself (i used to work for a small design firm in Shoreditch that never actually got around to designing there own website as they just couldn't decide on what the perfect design was). So an ethos im slowly building with allot of the dude designs work... is 'f*ck it man!' im just going to do what feels right and fun! don't take yourself to seriously and some great things do come out!! (if you limit yourself being to uptight nothings going to happen).
Anyway i wanted something that would say a bit about the site and my style of work so this is it, you may recognise the photo i based the illustration on below with the cannon stuff, i was going for the gentle man designer vibe!
This is just the front obviously. I've done a similar style for the back but just with my contact details on but thought i'd just stick the illustrtation money shot on here.
Midnight Movies, Cronos Intorduced by Guillermo del Toro
Here's another poster design I've just created for a Midnight Night Movies Guillermo del Toro special, there screening Cronos and Guillermo is going be there in person to present it! (maybe even sign a few posters... if all goes well!!).
So I've done an illustration of him presenting the Cronos Scarab... enticing you in!!
I then need something else to tie the poster together. So i worked up a sinister old clock work cog logo, which relates back to the workings of the Cronos device from the film (I was going to re draw the logo by hand but after getting quarter of the way through it just wasn't working and didn't really add anything to the design). Well I haven't done a illustration for the Curzon flyers yet and i thought this would be a good opportunity to do it in honour of del Toro, so i hope he likes it !!!
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Buffalo, NY (SportsNetwork.com) - Tyler Myers tallied a goal and two assists as the Buffalo Sabres defeated the San Jose Sharks, 4-2, on the same night that Ryan Miller and captain Steve Ott were shipped off to St. Louis.
The former Vezina Trophy winner and Ott were sent to the Blues in a blockbuster, five-player trade. The Sabres received goaltender Jaroslav Halak, forward Chris Stewart, prospect William Carrier, St. Louis' first-rounder in 2015 and a conditional third-round selection in 2016.
Cody Hodgson lit the lamp on the power play, while Brian Flynn and Matt Moulson supplied Buffalo's other two goals. Jhonas Enroth made 36 saves in Buffalo's third straight win.
"We swept San Jose this year, which is a very tough thing to say for some teams. They are a heck of a hockey team. We played smart in the second period. They were good in the second period. They came at us pretty hard and in the third we kind of got back at them," said Marcus Foligno.
The Sabres have won six straight against San Jose and hold a 15-1-0 record at home in the all-time matchup.
James Sheppard and Patrick Marleau notched San Jose's two goals and Antti Niemi allowed three goals on 19 shots. The Sharks have not won in Buffalo since Dec 2, 2005.
Hodgson skated in from the boards and wristed a shot from the left circle to beat Niemi short side to give the Sabres an early 1-0 lead on the power play at the 10:59 mark of the first.
Sheppard put the Sharks on the board two minutes later. Marc-Edouard Vlasic ripped a shot off the boards and Sheppard was present in front of the net to sneak a shot through the pads of Enroth off a lively bounce from the boards.
"It's a game, they were going to come out and play. They got a little shake up. They lost a couple of really good players. They were going to come out and play hard," Joe Pavelski said.
Zemgus Girgensons won the faceoff back to Flynn, who grabbed the puck and snapped a quick shot to beat Niemi for his sixth of the season 4:33 into the final stanza.
Moulson added to the lead just over three minutes later. Myers kept the puck in at the point and made a nice move past a defender. He shuffled a pass over to Moulson in the slot, who wristed the puck past Niemi.
The Sharks pulled the goalie in the waning minutes of the third. Dan Boyle skated in from the blue line and sent the puck along the boards down below the goal line. Joe Thornton retrieved the puck and dished a pass to Marleau in the slot, who tipped the puck past Enroth with 1:15 to play.
Myers added an empty-net goal with 21 seconds left to account for the final score.
Game Notes
Sheppard's goal was his first in 35 games ... Desperate for a backup goaltender after the trade, Buffalo dressed Ryan Vinz. The 28-year-old is currently the Director of Hockey Technology at HarborCenter and was formerly a video scout for the franchise ... Moulson extended his point streak to five games ... San Jose outshot Buffalo 18-5 in the second.


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Participating Organization(s) |
National Institutes of Health (NIH) |
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) |
Funding Opportunity Title |
Development of a Vestibular Neural Prosthesis (R01) |
Activity Code |
R01 Research Project Grant |
Announcement Type |
New |
Related Notices |
Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) Number |
Companion Funding Opportunity |
None |
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number(s) |
93.173 |
Funding Opportunity Purpose |
The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) solicits grant applications that advance the development of a vestibular neural prosthesis towards studies in human subjects. Responsive applications must employ electrical stimulation of the vestibular nerve to diminish sensory impairments arising from damage or disease to the vestibular endorgans. |
Posted Date |
April 3, 2012 |
Open Date (Earliest Submission Date) |
September 4, 2012 |
Letter of Intent Due Date |
September 4, 2012; January 4 2013; May 4, 2013; September 4, 2013 |
Application Due Date(s) |
October 4, 2012; February 4 2013; June 4, 2013; (Extended to November 1, 2013 per NOT-OD-14-003), Originally October 4, 2013, by 5:00 PM local time of applicant organization. |
AIDS Application Due Date(s) |
Not Applicable |
Scientific Merit Review |
Standard dates apply |
Advisory Council Review |
Standard dates apply |
Earliest Start Date(s) |
Standard dates apply |
Expiration Date |
(Extended to November 2, 2013 per NOT-OD-14-003), Originally October 5, 2013 |
Due Dates for E.O. 12372 |
Not Applicable |
Required Application Instructions
It is critical that applicants follow the instructions in the SF 424 (R&R) Application Guide, except where instructed to do otherwise (in this FOA or in a Notice from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts). Conformance to all requirements (both in the Application Guide and the FOA) is required and strictly enforced. Applicants must read and follow all application instructions in the Application Guide as well as any program-specific instructions noted in Section IV. When the program-specific instructions deviate from those in the Application Guide, follow the program-specific instructions. Applications that do not comply with these instructions may be delayed or not accepted for review.
Part 1. Overview Information
Part 2. Full Text of the Announcement
Section I. Funding Opportunity Description
Section II. Award Information
Section III. Eligibility Information
Section IV. Application and Submission
Section V. Application Review Information
Section VI. Award Administration Information
Section VII. Agency Contacts
Section VIII. Other Information
A vestibular prosthesis is needed as a treatment option for patients affected by severe damage or disease to the vestibular sensory endorgans. Fluctuating, impaired, or complete loss of the vestibular sensory output can make activities of daily living a challenge. For example, episodes of disabling vertigo can result from transient attacks of Meniere's disease. Major disturbances of vision can result from minor head movements when the vestibular ocular reflex (VOR) has been rendered ineffective by bilateral peripheral vestibular dysfunction. In extreme cases, vestibular dysfunction can cause falls that result in substantial injuries. Currently, there is not an FDA-approved neural prosthesis for the treatment of severe vestibular dysfunction.
An artificial sense of hearing can be restored to patients with severe to profound hearing loss resulting from damage to the cochlea, through the use of a cochlear implant. This treatment option was first approved by the FDA for use in adults with profound hearing loss in 1984; advances in design and other means of achieving gains in user performance continue to be an active area of research. Over time, the range of indications appropriate for use of a cochlear implant has expanded, after efficacy has become clear during use with existing patient populations. NIDCD has supported research studies on the use of this device in children as young as 1 year of age, in patients with substantial amounts of residual hearing, and binaural use to provide auditory cues simultaneously in both ears.
NIDCD has also encouraged research towards development of a vestibular prosthesis analogous to the cochlear implant. A workshop on electrical stimulation of the vestibular nerve was held in 2004. In the past 6 years, a research and development contract as well as multiple grants have been awarded to provide basic research data that investigate this approach. These studies have provided encouraging results from a number of animal models, which demonstrate that electrical stimulation of the vestibular nerve can be applied to safely drive 8th nerve activity to mimic normal function subsequent to damage of the vestibular endorgans.
In 2011, a number of advances towards development of a vestibular prosthesis were announced by researchers in this field. The first successful surgical placement of a vestibular implant in a patient has been described, with the goal of using this device to stabilize nerve activity during attacks of Meniere's disease. The European consortium Closed Loop Neural prosthesis for vestibular disorderS (CLONS) has announced plans to test a device that mimics activity driven by the semicircular canals in human subjects. Other investigators have described results from chronic studies of animal models, which could be used to provide safety and efficacy data supporting use of similar devices in humans.
Purpose / Research Objectives
With this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), NIDCD seeks applications for multiple approaches from different research labs that design, prototype, and ultimately test vestibular prostheses that apply electrical stimulation to the vestibular nerve and/or endorgans. Project activities should include plans to submit an Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) either during the award period or immediately after its completion, unless this approval has already been obtained.
Specific Areas of Research Interest
This FOA encourages milestone-driven projects that demonstrate the safety and efficacy of neural prosthesis designs that modulate vestibular nerve activity. The overarching goal should be to translate existing knowledge of safe and effective stimulation of the 8th nerve into a device suitable for use in investigative studies with human subjects. Achieving this milestone will require FDA approval of an IDE. Applications should include plans that clearly outline the relevance of proposed activities towards that goal.
Research and development plans may include construction of novel prototypes intended for use in humans. Fabrication of novel electrode designs that facilitate safe surgical placement into or close to the balance endorgans may also be included. Projects may propose the integration of novel components into existing cochlear implant designs to allow integration of the vestibular prosthesis with that device.
Bench top testing of implant prototypes may be included to establish reliable function and estimate product reliability after implantation, if the results from these tests will be required to support a submission to the FDA for approval of use with human subjects.
Animal studies may be proposed that provide safety and efficacy data needed to support an IDE application, but applications that are focused solely on basic research goals are outside the scope of this RFA.
Projects should include a description of the intended patient population and descriptions of the impairments that impact their daily activities to an extent that justifies the potential surgical risks and financial costs of this implant.
Projects can include pilot clinical studies with the device in three to five human subjects. If a substantial portion of the proposed studies are to be done with human subjects, most of the activities related to obtaining FDA approval for this study should be completed at the time of application submission. Studies that implement a phase I clinical trial with the device should utilize the NIDCD Phase I/II/III Clinical Trials in Communication Disorders funding opportunity PAR-12-123.
Funding Instrument |
Grant |
Application Types Allowed |
New The OER Glossary and the SF 424 (R&R) Application Guide provide details on these application types. |
Funds Available and Anticipated Number of Awards |
NIDCD intends to commit $1M to make 1-2 awards in FY2013. NIDCD anticipates making 1-2 awards FY2014, contingent on future year funding. |
Award Budget |
Application budgets are not limited, but need to reflect actual needs of the proposed project. |
Award Project Period |
Scope of the proposed project should determine the project period. The maximum period is 5 years. |
NIH grants policies as described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement will apply to the applications submitted and awards made in response to this FOA.
Higher Education Institutions
The following types of Higher Education Institutions are always encouraged to apply for NIH support as Public or Private Institutions of Higher Education:
Nonprofits Other Than Institutions of Higher Education
For-Profit Organizations
Non-domestic (non-U.S.) Entities (Foreign Institutions) are
not eligible to apply.
Non-domestic (non-U.S.) components of U.S. Organizations are not eligible to apply.
Foreign components, as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement, are allowed.
Applicant organizations must complete the following registrations
as described in the SF 424 (R&R) Application Guide to be eligible to apply
for or receive an award. Applicants must have a valid Dun and Bradstreet
Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number in order to begin each of the following
All Program Directors/Principal Investigators (PD(s)/PI(s))
must also work with their institutional officials to register with the eRA
Commons or ensure their existing eRA Commons account is affiliated with the eRA
Commons account of the applicant organization.
All registrations must be completed by the application due date. Applicant
organizations are strongly encouraged to start the registration process at
least 4-6 weeks prior to the application due date.
Any individual(s) with the skills, knowledge, and resources
necessary to carry out the proposed research as the Program Director(s)/Principal
Investigator(s) (PD(s)/PI(s)) is invited to work with his/her organization to
develop an application for support. Individuals from underrepresented racial
and ethnic groups as well as individuals with disabilities are always
encouraged to apply for NIH support.
For institutions/organizations proposing multiple PD(s)/PI(s), visit the Multiple
Program Director(s)/Principal Investigator(s) Policy and submission details in
the Senior/Key Person Profile (Expanded) Component of the SF 424 (R&R)
Application Guide.
This FOA does not require cost sharing as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.
Applicant organizations may submit more than one application, provided that each application is scientifically distinct.
NIH will not accept any application in response to this FOA that is essentially the same as one currently pending initial peer review unless the applicant withdraws the pending application. NIH will not accept any application that is essentially the same as one already reviewed. Resubmission applications may be submitted, according to the NIH Policy on Resubmission Applications from the SF 424 (R&R) Application Guide.
Applicants must download the SF424 (R&R) application package associated with this funding opportunity using the Apply for Grant Electronically button in this FOA or following the directions provided at Grants.gov.
It is critical that applicants follow the instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide, except where instructed in this funding opportunity announcement to do otherwise. Conformance to the requirements in the Application Guide is required and strictly enforced. Applications that are out of compliance with these instructions may be delayed or not accepted for review.
For information on Application Submission and Receipt, visit Frequently Asked Questions Application Guide, Electronic Submission of Grant Applications.
Although a letter of intent is not required, is not binding, and does not enter into the review of a subsequent application, the information that it contains allows IC staff to estimate the potential review workload and plan the review.
By the date listed in Part 1. Overview Information, prospective applicants are asked to submit a letter of intent that includes the following information:
The letter of intent should be sent to:
Roger L. Miller, Ph.D.
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)
6120 Executive Boulevard, MSC 7180
Bethesda, MD 20892-7180
Rockville, MD 20852 (FEDEX)
Telephone: 301-402-3458
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
The forms package associated with this FOA includes all applicable components, mandatory and optional. Please note that some components marked optional in the application package are required for submission of applications for this FOA. Follow all instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide to ensure you complete all appropriate optional components.
All page limitations described in the SF424 Application Guide and the Table of Page Limits must be followed.
All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed, with the following additional instructions:
Resource Sharing Plan
Individuals are required to comply with the instructions for the Resource Sharing Plans (Data Sharing Plan, Sharing Model Organisms, and Genome Wide Association Studies (GWAS)) as provided in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide, with the following modification:
Do not use the Appendix to circumvent page limits. Follow all instructions for the Appendix as described in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide.
Part I. Overview Information contains information about Key Dates. Applicants are encouraged to submit in advance of the deadline to ensure they have time to make any application corrections that might be necessary for successful submission.
Organizations must submit applications via Grants.gov, the online portal to find and apply for grants across all Federal agencies. Applicants must then complete the submission process by tracking the status of the application in the eRA Commons, NIH's electronic system for grants administration.
Applicants are responsible for viewing their application in the eRA Commons to ensure accurate and successful submission.
Information on the submission process and a definition of on-time submission are provided in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide.
This initiative is not subject to intergovernmental review.
All NIH awards are subject to the terms and conditions, cost principles, and other considerations described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.
Pre-award costs are allowable only as described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.
Applications must be submitted electronically following the instructions described in the SF 424 (R&R) Application Guide. Paper applications will not be accepted.
Applicants must complete all required registrations before the application due date. Section III. Eligibility Information contains information about registration.
For assistance with your electronic application or for more information on the electronic submission process, visit Applying Electronically.
All PD(s)/PI(s) must include their eRA Commons ID in the
Credential field of the Senior/Key Person Profile Component of the SF
424(R&R) Application Package. Failure to register in the Commons and
to include a valid PD/PI Commons ID in the credential field will prevent the
successful submission of an electronic application to NIH.
The applicant organization must ensure that the DUNS number it provides on the
application is the same number used in the organization's profile in the eRA
Commons and for the Central Contractor Registration (CCR). Additional
information may be found in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide.
See more
tips for avoiding common errors.
Upon receipt, applications will be evaluated for completeness by the Center for Scientific Review and responsiveness by components of participating organizations, NIH. Applications that are incomplete and/or nonresponsive will not be reviewed.
Applicants are required to follow the instructions for post-submission materials, as described in NOT-OD-10-115
Only the review criteria described below will be considered in the review process. As part of the NIH mission, all applications submitted to the NIH in support of biomedical and behavioral research are evaluated for scientific and technical merit through the NIH peer review system.
Reviewers will provide an overall impact/priority score to reflect their assessment of the likelihood for the project to exert a sustained, powerful influence on the research field(s) involved, in consideration of the following review criteria and additional review criteria (as applicable for the project proposed).
Reviewers will consider each of the review criteria below in the determination of scientific merit, and give a separate score for each. An application does not need to be strong in all categories to be judged likely to have major scientific impact. For example, a project that by its nature is not innovative may be essential to advance a field.
Does the project address an important problem or a critical barrier to progress in the field? If the aims of the project are achieved, how will scientific knowledge, technical capability, and/or clinical practice be improved? How will successful completion of the aims change the concepts, methods, technologies, treatments, services, or preventative interventions that drive this field?
Are the PD(s)/PI(s), collaborators, and other researchers well suited to the project? If Early Stage Investigators or New Investigators, or in the early stages of independent careers, do they have appropriate experience and training? If established, have they demonstrated an ongoing record of accomplishments that have advanced their field(s)? If the project is collaborative or multi-PD(s)/PI(s), do the investigators have complementary and integrated expertise; are their leadership approach, governance and organizational structure appropriate for the project?
Does the application challenge and seek to shift current research or clinical practice paradigms by utilizing novel theoretical concepts, approaches or methodologies, instrumentation, or interventions? Are the concepts, approaches or methodologies, instrumentation, or interventions novel to one field of research or novel in a broad sense? Is a refinement, improvement, or new application of theoretical concepts, approaches or methodologies, instrumentation, or interventions proposed?
Are the overall strategy, methodology, and analyses
well-reasoned and appropriate to accomplish the specific aims of the project?
Are potential problems, alternative strategies, and benchmarks for success
presented? If the project is in the early stages of development, will the
strategy establish feasibility and will particularly risky aspects be managed?
If the project involves clinical research, are the plans for 1) protection of
human subjects from research risks, and 2) inclusion of minorities and members
of both sexes/genders, as well as the inclusion of children, justified in terms
of the scientific goals and research strategy proposed?
Will the scientific environment in which the work will be done contribute to the probability of success? Are the institutional support, equipment and other physical resources available to the investigators adequate for the project proposed? Will the project benefit from unique features of the scientific environment, subject populations, or collaborative arrangements?
As applicable for the project proposed, reviewers will evaluate the following additional items while determining scientific and technical merit, and in providing an overall impact/priority score, but will not give separate scores for these items.
Protections for Human Subjects
For research that involves human subjects but does
not involve one of the six categories of research that are exempt under 45 CFR
Part 46, the committee will evaluate the justification for involvement of human
subjects and the proposed protections from research risk relating to their
participation according to the following five review criteria: 1) risk to
subjects, 2) adequacy of protection against risks, 3) potential benefits to the
subjects and others, 4) importance of the knowledge to be gained, and 5) data
and safety monitoring for clinical trials.
For research that involves human subjects and meets the criteria for one or
more of the six categories of research that are exempt under 45 CFR Part 46,
the committee will evaluate: 1) the justification for the exemption, 2) human
subjects involvement and characteristics, and 3) sources of materials. For
additional information on review of the Human Subjects section, please refer to
the Human
Subjects Protection and Inclusion Guidelines.
Inclusion of Women, Minorities, and Children
When the proposed project involves clinical research, the committee will evaluate the proposed plans for inclusion of minorities and members of both genders, as well as the inclusion of children. For additional information on review of the Inclusion section, please refer to the Human Subjects Protection and Inclusion Guidelines.
Vertebrate Animals
The committee will evaluate the involvement of live vertebrate animals as part of the scientific assessment according to the following five points: 1) proposed use of the animals, and species, strains, ages, sex, and numbers to be used; 2) justifications for the use of animals and for the appropriateness of the species and numbers proposed; 3) adequacy of veterinary care; 4) procedures for limiting discomfort, distress, pain and injury to that which is unavoidable in the conduct of scientifically sound research including the use of analgesic, anesthetic, and tranquilizing drugs and/or comfortable restraining devices; and 5) methods of euthanasia and reason for selection if not consistent with the AVMA Guidelines on Euthanasia. For additional information on review of the Vertebrate Animals section, please refer to the Worksheet for Review of the Vertebrate Animal Section.
Reviewers will assess whether materials or procedures proposed are potentially hazardous to research personnel and/or the environment, and if needed, determine whether adequate protection is proposed.
For Resubmissions, the committee will evaluate the application as now presented, taking into consideration the responses to comments from the previous scientific review group and changes made to the project.
For Renewals, the committee will consider the progress made in the last funding period.
Not Applicable.
As applicable for the project proposed, reviewers will consider each of the following items, but will not give scores for these items, and should not consider them in providing an overall impact/priority score.
Applications from Foreign Organizations
Not Applicable.
Select Agent Research
Reviewers will assess the information provided in this section of the application, including 1) the Select Agent(s) to be used in the proposed research, 2) the registration status of all entities where Select Agent(s) will be used, 3) the procedures that will be used to monitor possession use and transfer of Select Agent(s), and 4) plans for appropriate biosafety, biocontainment, and security of the Select Agent(s).
Resource Sharing Plans
Reviewers will comment on whether the following Resource Sharing Plans, or the rationale for not sharing the following types of resources, are reasonable: 1) Data Sharing Plan; 2) Sharing Model Organisms; and 3) Genome Wide Association Studies (GWAS).
Budget and Period of Support
Reviewers will consider whether the budget and the requested period of support are fully justified and reasonable in relation to the proposed research.
Applications will be evaluated for scientific and technical merit by (an) appropriate Scientific Review Group(s) convened by the NIDCD,, in accordance with NIH peer review policy and procedures, using the stated review criteria. Review assignments will be shown in the eRA Commons.
As part of the scientific peer review, all applications:
Appeals of initial peer review will not be accepted for applications submitted in response to this FOA.
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See Your Dreams Come True
- Whitney Hopler Live It Editor
- Published Jun 16, 2005
What do you dream about? How would you like God to bless your life? Whatever your dreams are, you can be sure that God is rooting for you. He has placed desires within you, and His dreams for your life are even bigger than any you can dream yourself.
But what can you do when your dreams aren't yet fulfilled? How can you arrive at the destiny God has prepared for you?
Here are 10 tests we all must go through to see our dreams come true. Once you pass them, you can follow God into your destiny!
1. The pride test.
Ask God to reveal pride that's holding you back. Understand that your true identity is in Christ - not in what you accomplish. Recognize that your worth comes from the fact that you're one of God's beloved children and remember that without Him, you can't do anything. Ask God to give you the confidence you need to be secure in who you are, no matter what your current circumstances. Don't brag about your dreams; when you discuss them with others, keep the focus on God rather than yourself. Spend time with God in prayer every day and let your time in His presence humble you and remind you of His unconditional love for you. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you discern which of your dreams are from God and which are not. Let go of dreams that are not from God so you can free up time and energy to pursue the ones that are from Him. Then, rather than focusing mainly on a specific dream, pursue the One who has given you that dream - God Himself.
2. The pit test.
Know that all of us sometimes go through situations that feel like "the pits" - times of suffering that surprise us. Recognize that "pits" are a natural part of life in our fallen world. If you've played some part in causing yourself to fall into a pit, acknowledge your own responsibility. If other people's actions have put you in a pit, don't waste time blaming them. However you came to be in a pit, know that you can trust God to get you out if you call upon Him for help. Rather than focusing on your circumstances, focus on God's faithfulness. Remember that nothing is too hard for God. Know that, no matter how big your pit is, God is big enough to get you out of it. Don't complain; instead, humbly call out to God for help.
3. The palace test.
Realize that God is watching to see whether or not you can be trusted with little things before He decides to give you bigger things. Show God that you're a faithful steward of all the resources He has entrusted to you. Be honest, even when no other person is looking. Work hard at all you do, even when it seems like no reward awaits you for doing so. Know that God really does want you to prosper in all aspects of your life - your family, your job, your health, etc. Understand that the key to experiencing success is God's presence in your life, the key to His presence is your obedience to Him, the key to obedience is faith to believe what God has said, and the key to faith is hearing the Word of God. So get to know the Bible and watch your faith increase. Then, as faith comes, obedience will follow. When you obey God, God will honor you with His presence. Then He will pour out His blessings into your life.
4. The purity test.
Understand that sexual morality has everything to do with character. Know that sexual impurity will affect everything else in your life, because it opens the door to a host of other sins. Don't compromise in this area of your life if you want God to bless you. Realize that sexual sin will powerfully damage your relationship with God, to the point where your prayers will not be effective. Repent and seek forgiveness for ways you've sinned sexually. Resist sexual temptation by refusing to look at things that bring impurity into your mind (pornography, explicit movies and television shows, etc.). Be honest with God, yourself, and your spouse, about your struggles to stay sexually pure. Ask your spouse and a trusted friend to help hold you accountable. Rely on God's strength day by day to resist sexual temptation and live a pure and healthy life.
5. The prison test.
When you do the right thing, yet end up in the midst of a long and difficult trial, you may feel like you're in prison. Understand that, in our fallen world, the storms of life hit both the righteous and the unrighteous. Don't ask how to avoid suffering. Instead, ask whether you will allow it to do the work God intends it to accomplish in your life. Don't allow the injustice of your situation to stop God's work in your life. Allow God to use you now, whatever your circumstances may be, and trust in Him for the final outcome. Know that God will never forget you. Allow your suffering to produce perseverance in you. Keep fighting the good fight of faith as you wait for God to deliver you. Know that, as you allow God to develop His character in your life, you'll start to do the right thing. You'll also begin to see things from His perspective, which will cause you to have hope. And that hope will motivate you to embrace opportunities to minister to others, carrying you to a divine appointment with your destiny.
6. The prophetic test.
Realize that God has a great plan for everyone He has created. Know that God has already spoken a specific, prophetic word over your life, releasing the power to carry you toward your destiny. Get to know and love God's Word to everyone - the Bible - by reading and studying it often. Let it test your character and build your faith. When you're trying to discern whether or not a specific prophecy you hear is truly from God, remember that God never says anything contrary to what He has said in the Bible. Keep in mind that God still speaks today through His Holy Spirit. But remember that any prophecy you may receive is just a part of what God is saying. God gives prophetic words to encourage us and cause us to seek him. But we should put prophetic words together with Scripture to come up with a more complete picture of what God is saying. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you discern which part of a prophecy is purely from God, and which part is coming from your own personality or issues. Judge prophecy by the Bible, the Spirit's inward witness in your heart, and your knowledge of God's love and mercy. When God says something prophetic to you, hold on to it! Never stop believing in the words God has spoken. As you wait for your destiny to be fulfilled, remember that the only one you need to please is God. Remember that, as long as you serve Him, no one else can stop what He has planned for you.
7. The power test.
Understand that power isn't a bad thing in itself. God created us to have power and intends us to use it the way He does - to do good, help people, and make life on Earth better. Try to be a good steward of the authority and responsibility God has given you. Remember that it's what you do with God-given power and blessings that is the true test of your character. If you want God to give you power, first humble yourself before Him. Determine that you will use your God-given power to serve people however you can. Know that doing so moves you closer to your destiny.
8. The prosperity test.
Rely on the fact that God will give you everything you need to carry out His plans for your life. But He wants you to handle your money wisely instead of squandering it through foolish spending. Know that God will test you in how well you handle your finances. Control your money; don't let is control you. Make sure that God - not money - has first place in your heart. Give to God's work on Earth from the first part of each paycheck. Honor God with your money as a way of thanking Him for giving you everything. Avoid get-rich-quick schemes. Wait until you can afford to pay cash for purchases rather than buying them on credit and accruing debt. Live below your means so you can save, give, and invest regularly without the burden of debt. Make a detailed budget and stick to it. Ask God to help you be content, no matter what the current state of your finances. Enjoy the financial freedom that enables you to spend your time in the ways God leads you, which will move you closer to your God-given destiny.
9. The pardon test.
If other people have hurt you, rely on God's help to forgive them and move on. Realize that refusing to forgive will damage your relationship with God, poison your heart with bitterness, and block you from moving forward into your destiny. With God's help, release people from all the charges against them. Don't pursue punishment or revenge. Remember that this is how God forgives you - completely. If you haven't fully received God's forgiveness for your own mistakes, embrace it. Believe that, because of Christ's sacrifice on the cross, God totally releases you from the penalty of your sin when you confess and repent.
10. The purpose test.
Believe that you have a God-given purpose in life. Ask Him to show you your talents and spiritual gifts. Think and pray about what you're good at doing, and what you most enjoy doing - those things are probably related to your talents and gifts. Begin to do those things more and more, and God will reveal more of your purpose to you. Rest in the knowledge that because God is good, He is working for good in every situation in your life. Trust Him as He works in your life. Keep on moving in the direction in which your talents and gifts lead, even though you can't see the specifics of your future. Know that your faithfulness will move you closer to the destiny God has planned for you. Stay faithful, and you will ultimately fulfill your destiny.
Adapted from From Dream to Destiny, copyright 2005 by Robert Morris. Published by Regal Books, Ventura, Ca., 1-800-4-GOSPEL, www.regalbooks.com.
Robert Morris is the senior pastor of Gateway Church in Southlake, Texas. He is a gifted communicator with more than 20 years of experience imparting biblical principles on prosperity and personal growth. Pastor Robert is the author of The Blessed Life, a book that helps readers achieve financial breakthrough. He resides in Texas with his wife and three children.


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The trial is over; Jamaican dancehall artiste Vybz Kartel has been convicted and sentenced. One blogger, who has been following the entire affair with great interest, today posted an in-depth analysis of the courtroom drama, the enigma of Vybz Kartel and his music and the interesting ways in which his conviction provides an insight into Jamaican society, its judicial system and its politics.
Active Voice began by admitting that the whole thing at times seemed larger than life:
Often in the course of his prolonged trial I found myself wondering if the rollercoaster life of Adidja Palmer aka Vybz Kartel was scripted by someone inspired by Breaking Bad, the wildly popular American TV series about the rise and fall of a chemistry teacher turned meth dealer. By the time the trial ended I knew it was nothing of the sort, just another wildly original Jamaican libretto.
For those not familiar with Kartel or his meteoric rise in the music world, she explained:
Described by some as the country's pre-eminent lyricist, for more than a decade Kartel ruled the roost in Jamaica as its reigning dancehall deejay ('a genre that is to the roots reggae of Bob Marley as hip-hop is to R&B'), his street cred extending far beyond Kingston, into the nooks and crannies of ghettoes all over the Caribbean, into urban America and as far away as Africa where his Gaza Empire has spawned copycats.
Like most compelling stories, though, after the rise came the fall:
By late 2013 Vybz Kartel, 38, was being portrayed by the police and the justice system as Public Enemy No. 1. His fame and fortune notwithstanding, on April 3, 2014, Adidja Palmer was sentenced to life in prison with no parole possible before 35 years, after the court gave itself an extra week to determine whether the embattled DJ should be allowed to make music while incarcerated. He had been found guilty almost 3 weeks earlier, along with three others, of the murder of one Clive 'Lizard' Williams, a dancer and foot soldier in the small army of roughly 30 men that constituted Vybz Kartel's entourage. These men ensured that Kartel''s interests were looked after and his bidding done at all times.
The post also explored the nuances of Kartel's "dramatic" trial, which she said were full of "twists and turns that kept the nation in suspense till the very end":
As the Prosecution laid it out, Lizard [the victim, whose real name is Clive Williams] ran afoul of the popular deejay because he and Chow, another member of the entourage, were given two of Kartel's (illegal) guns, then failed to produce them when asked for their return. After several futile attempts to get the guns back, Lizard and Chow were summoned to Kartel's house where there was a confrontation between them and Kartel's cronies. Chow managed to get away, later becoming the Prosecution's star witness, but Lizard was bludgeoned to death.
Although Williams' body has not yet been found, Vybz Kartel has been in police custody since September 2011 and was never granted bail on the argument that he would attempt to skip the country. The post continued:
Rumours were rife that the reason for this unprecedented incarceration was that the police had incontrovertible evidence, including video footage taken from the deejay's phone, that incriminated Adidja Palmer and his co-accused.
The swirling rumours proved to be true. The trial was prosecuted largely on circumstantial evidence— involving sensational Blackberry messages, video footage and voice notes downloaded from the deejay's cellphone in which Kartel's voice could be heard making threats about what he would do if the guns, coded as 'shoes' weren't returned.
Active Voice went on to explain the approach of Kartel's defence team:
The Defence…did not dispute that the voice heard in the notes was Kartel's. Instead their strategy was to prove that the cellphones in question had not been properly secured by the police, who were careless about maintaining the chain of custody, making it possible for the notes to have been tampered with or manipulated.
The blogger, Annie Paul, revisited how the trial ended, with one juror being charged for attempted bribery of the foreman, which put the entire court process dangerously close to a mistrial. Instead, the jury delivered a ten to one guilty verdict. Paul also offered insight into "the legal doctrine to be used in deciding Vybz Kartel's guilt — that of common design":
There was no direct evidence to prove that the deejay himself had participated in the murder. As Judge Campbell explained '…The scope was to kill Clive Lloyd Williams for the loss of a firearm. The law of Common Design is – as long as you participate knowing that was the ultimate end it doesn't matter that you didn't pull the trigger; it doesn't matter that you didn't wield the knife; it doesn't matter that you didn't administer the poison. Common Design can encompass a person at a gate as look out man for the police. As long as he's there to look out, he can be charged for murder.'
The post noted that the high-security response from the authorities surrounding the case was indicative of its importance, but in an interesting juxtaposition, local support – from both fellow musicians and fans – dwindled when the reality of the situation became apparent:
During the final days of the trial American rapper Busta Rhymes attended court in a show of support for Vybz Kartel. Notably absent was anyone from the local music fraternity among whose ranks there did not appear to be much sympathy for the embattled DJ or sorrow over his fate. Although a large crowd had appeared outside the courtroom shouting 'No Teacha, No school' on the day of the verdict (a reference to Kartel 's nickname–'The Teacher') …on sentencing day there was only a modest crowd in attendance outside. The elaborate preparations made by the Police seemed like overkill.
So was Vybz Kartel DJ or Don? The post attempted to answer that burning question:
Opinions about Vybz Kartel vary depending on the demographic of the person you're speaking to. Nicknamed World Boss and Addi the Teacher or 'Teacha' by his adoring fans his phenomenal popularity made him the envy of politicians though he didn't kowtow to their demands. On the other hand Kartel was known to hobnob with top dons or gang leaders like…Christopher 'Dudus' Coke whose sensational arrest and extradition to the United States occupied international news for weeks in 2010. [Read more about Global Voices' coverage of that story, here.]
According to ethnomusicologist Dennis Howard the nexus between political dons and musicians in Jamaica goes back to the very roots of Reggae and Dancehall. It was a symbiotic relationship, the musician needed the support of the don who often demanded a 'big up' while the don fed off the popularity of the singer. The globally celebrated singer Bob Marley himself was friends with a number of dons/gang leaders across the political divide so Kartel's association with gang leaders and the underworld was by no means unprecedented. The problem was that with Kartel there no longer appeared to be a distinction between the two.
Paul rehashed the infamous feud between Kartel's "Gaza" crew and rival DJ Movado's "Gully" supporters, explaining that while the latter appeared to reform himself, Kartel "thumb[ed] his nose at the police and Jamaican society while continuing to parlay his carefully cultivated notoriety into profits":
He now diversified into other products such as a line of clothing, bleaching soap and his own rum. Perhaps the last straw for the police was the much hyped launch of Kartel's own show, Teacha's Pet, 'a reality TV dating show surrounding the love life and career of the Artiste Vybz Kartel.' Within a few weeks of the airing of the show Kartel was arrested and the show discontinued.
Then came one of the questions that has been hotly debated in the blogosphere; the post offered an interesting perspective:
Why were the Jamaican police so single-minded in their determination to put Vybz Kartel behind bars? Stories abound. The Minister of Justice…had been touring Montego Bay, center of the vicious Lotto Scam conglomerate, which preys on elderly American citizens, scamming them out of thousands of dollars of their savings each year. The Minister was under pressure from the Americans to smash the criminal enterprise [but] was told by residents that he should go easy on the scammers because what they were doing was, after all, merely a form of reparation – collecting monies due the citizens of Jamaica for the years of free labour provided during the era of plantation slavery.
When the astonished Minister enquired further into the source of such unorthodox views he was referred to a song by Kartel called 'Reparation' with the catchy refrain 'Dem call it scam, Mi call it reparation'.
Although Kartel's lyrics were never explicitly used against him in the trial, they would have been on virtually constant rotation in the minds of the Judge, Jury and Prosecution. In addition to the song about Reparations there were any number of gangster lyrics issuing from the prolific hit machine known as Vybz Kartel.
Paul suggested that the performer's appearance – and notorious skin bleaching – may have got under some people's skin:
Perhaps the thing that most cemented Kartel's image as a demonic creature who had to be contained for the safety of the public was his unconventional appearance, aided by the increasingly visible tattoos embellishing his bleached skin. This more than anything literally marked Kartel as a devil-worshipper in the eyes of fundamentalist Christian Jamaica.
In interviews Kartel would often refer to himself in the third person, drawing a distinction between himself, Adidja Palmer, the responsible father and citizen and his more reckless deejay persona, Vybz Kartel.
She also referred to Kartel's recent book, titled "The Voice of the Jamaican Ghetto":
Some think the book was published because Palmer knew he had to lay the groundwork to shift public perception of himself as a common criminal. That may be so but in the process he managed to harness a cynicism about the system — coded as Babylon in Jamaican parlance — that has great currency. Though his music is viewed as having no explicit political message his concept of 'Gaza' has the resonance that rival DJ Mavado's 'Gully' never had though both are metaphors for the underclass that spawned both musicians.
Perhaps the best way to understand Gaza is to see it as a new identity – underpinned by a Ghetto pride ideology. Although Kartel intended Gaza as a response to the lopsided landscape of opportunity in Jamaica that renders the poor socially invisible, the concept rapidly grew legs and migrated all over the world, an indication both of his talent and the globalization of inequality that disproportionately affects ghetto-dwellers worldwide.
Another point Paul made – which many netizens expressed via social media – is the widespread perception of a double standard of justice for different classes in Jamaica. She referred to the recent acquittal of politician Kern Spenser on corruption charges and suggested that the continued imbalance could eventually lead to public unrest:
The Director of Public Prosecutions herself expressed shock at the verdict saying that the evidence against him had been overwhelming. But for most people the Kern Spencer verdict was par for the course. You can count on the fingers of one hand the number of politicians, police and big businessmen who have ever been convicted of any crime in Jamaica.
Jamaican Police and the country's legal system now have to prove to cynical Jamaicans that they not only have the will and drive to successfully bring rogue DJs to book but also the numerous rogue policemen, politicians and businessmen still at large. If not, as Kartel's song 'Sup'm a go happen' warns Jamaica could be on the brink, like Egypt, like Tunisia before it, of 'something happening'.
Does all of this mean that Vybz Kartel has been left with no options? Apparently not. His legal team is already prepared to appeal both the verdict and the sentence:
For them what was unique about this trial was the unprecedented use of digital evidence by the Prosecution. The irony of course is that had Kartel simply used a code to lock his phone the Police could never have got into it to find the incriminating evidence they did. The deejay's lead attorney Tom Tavares-Finson told me days before the sentencing that he expected Kartel to be sentenced to 35 years. Tavares-Finson is hopeful that since he has been requesting and receiving transcripts of the court's proceedings on a daily basis, he has about 80% of what will be needed to mount the appeal in hand already. He thinks Adidja Palmer stands a good chance of having the guilty verdict overturned by the higher court and his client is of the same mind.
His Twitter account echoed that confidence with this tweet:
GazaArmy. we nuh deh pon nuh mourning ting .Addi said "Justice how ever long it takes will prevail,a so Haile Selassie sey."so we a move fwd
— Adidja A. Palmer (@iamthekartel) April 3, 2014
The rest of the "Jamaican libretto" remains to be written.
Top World Stories
6 comments
[…] By Janine Mendes-Franco […]
My message to vybz kartel is to be positive and be strong no matter what happens this is a politcal system we living into, one day you will be a free man to be there for your children justice will prevail accordinly in jesus name.
[…] websites assumed Warner would soon be doing musical collaborations with the likes of Jamaica's Vybz Kartel, there was also this meme, which was widely […]
[…] assumed Warner would soon be doing musical collaborations with the likes of Jamaica's Vybz Kartel, there was also this meme, which was widely […]
[…] I've tried to develop, there are small revelations — not all Jamaicans sound like Vybz Kartel, not all old West Indians go to church. People assume that all young single mothers are women who […]
[…] characters I've tried to develop, there are small revelations — not all Jamaicans sound like Vybz Kartel, not all old West Indians go to church. People assume that all young single mothers are women who […]


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Monday, November 8, 2010
Stop Making Sense
A case in point is the Animal Kings. I invented them on the spur of the moment in order to deal with Brother Candor's clever use speak with animals, an often overlooked spell. The Cat King proved popular enough that, over time, I elaborated on the idea, establishing the existence of other Animal Kings, such as the Dog King (whose name will, of course, be "Rex") and the Rat Boss. Within the context of the overall setting, there's still no explanation for the existence of the Animal Kings; they simply are. Their origins, their relationship with the gods (if any), and so forth have no answers and won't have any until such time as it becomes necessary to have them and, even then, I may well punt and keep things uncertain, because, frankly, that's more fun.
In the past, assuming I'd ever even come up with something like the Animal Kings, I'd have worked out an extensive backstory for them in advance and made sure that it fit with everything else established about the setting. Nowadays, I just don't care. Making "sense" is a very minor consideration for me. Indeed, I've come to see such concerns to be the hallmarks of bad setting design. I mean, the real world doesn't make a lot of sense most of the time, so why should a fictitious one, especially one where magic is a reality? I'm reminded of the way that most constructed languages are much too regular in their grammar to ever be mistaken for natural languages. I feel much the same way about most imaginary settings.
On the blog, I've occasionally caught flak for not knowing things as simple as "What's the name of your campaign's world?" From my perspective, unless the characters are regularly traveling to other worlds -- which they might well do someday -- it's not really something I need to worry about. That's why I can't tell you the location of every major city on the continent where the PCs are adventuring or whether the gods are real or innumerable other little questions that a lot of gamers seem to think are absolutely vital to running a successful campaign. To each his own, of course, but I'm here to tell you that, after nearly two years of weekly/biweekly play, I simply haven't found a need to answer questions like that.
Honestly, I think that's the secret of the campaign's longevity: there are still questions to be answered and they're not persnickety, esoteric tidbits of the sort you'd find in the six volumes of Postage Stamps of Flanaess or whatnot. I fully understand the appeal of that kind of detail; I used to be addicted to it in my early days. But no more. Give me a sketchy, hodgepodge setting with lots of holes and unmapped areas and incoherence and I'll give you a campaign to remember.
26 comments:
I was just trying to explain this philosophy to my game group yesterday during our regular bi-monthly session.
One player in particular, who is also a DM, just didn't get it. He DM'd a game for us a few years ago (his first attempt at being a DM) that lasted for precisely 13 sessions because he had decided before we started playing that that was how long it was going to last. He had "chapters" and we accomplished the stuff during our session that he wanted us to accomplish.
So, during a particular session, if we opted to do something that he hadn't expected, he would just declare that it wouldn't work: "The Duke does not want to speak with you again" or "Well, your characters would know that they wouldn't do that because it's not consistent with how people act in this world."
Toward the end, we'd basically just show up and halfway expect him to tell us what our characters had done.
It was sad, really, because he was very excited about the game and his world was, to be fair, quite imaginative. But, I really don't remember much about the actual game at all. There weren't any things that stood out that I remember all these years later.Regarding the Animal Kings, if the Dog King is Rex, I hope that you're going to introduce Sredni Vashtar as the Weasel King.
There is nothing unusual in your style. This is generally the way worlds are made. Tolkien's notes and drafts show that he made up Middle-earth as he went along (heck, in the earliest drafts of "Lord of the Rings" the ranger that would become Aragorn was a hobbit). Having followed "RuneQuest" for 30 years I know this was how Glorantha evolved, and suspect the same is true of the "Forgotten Realms." I think the problem with a lot of game masters is that by the time they see worlds like this, they are already filled in and solidified, leaving the impression that before you set out you have to have every last detail codified. This is fine, of course, but having been a game master for nearly three decades I can't imagine doing that to my players. It is "their world too" and I think the details of it should be filled in as a kind of dance between player and GM. Anything else seems a tad one-sided to me.I love your attitude about DMing your game. I have been seriously examining my own DMing style over the past few months and have realized that being more loose and less prepared is something I need to start doing again. When I was a kid, I spent 20 minutes or so getting ready for a DnD game. The game I have been running for the last few months has taken up way too much of my time to prep for... it was becoming a chore. I also feel that from the hip DMing will give me the freedom that I need to keep my players happy. I want to gauge their interest in what is going on as the session unfolds. I am returning to the style of DMing and DnD play that I enjoyed as a kid. It's deadlier for PCs, more fun to DM, and much more creative. James, thanks for your continued activity here on Grognardia.
ReplyDeleteIf necessity is the mother of invention, then the last minute idea is the father of spontaneous enjoyable creativity. The more planned and detailed and canonized things are, the more boring it can get for everyone involved.
Man, it's like the definition of keeping up a good prolonged sex life...I think its funny. I see the games That I've run in the past start as sparsely documented, but as they ran along, they became increasingly complex. I started with a map and a few names, and went from there. That seems to be the experience with most people I know. The others use published settings where they don't have to sweat the small stuff, cause its already there. Develop as you go along, the other stuff will come. Then people will want to see it again and again. Though, to be honest, I love the idea of the animal kings. Yoink! It has now been stolen!
ReplyDeleteDamn good advice. All too often I've painted myself into a corner, creatively speaking, by predefining aspects of my world that I didn't need to know; decisions I later regretted. Every time you set something in stone you close a door - why shut those doors before you need to?
I also really love the whole Animal Kings stuff, it really adds to the unique mythology of your campaign.I absolutely love the way you design your world. Oh, and I could not do that in a million years.
As a matter of fact, in order to add things on a regular basis I need to know how things work. That is to say, I need the name and nature of the world, the origin of it and its gods, how magic works, etc. before I can add in the next level of detail such as the names of towns or why you don't see orcs very often or whathaveyou.
I disagree that this doesn't leave room for mystery. Rather I think it enhances it. For example, the origin of the Elves of my main milieu is well known and there were only a set number of original 'settlers'. We can trace back the various lines (High, Wood, Grey, Sea, etc.) as descending from these first visitors from Arcadia.
So, after a number of months playing the campaign, the PCs were in an artic wilderness and they encountered an Elf who claimed to be from a land of 'Snow' Elves in the South Pole region. According to the story of the Elves' arrival on my world, there are no Snow Elves. None of those who came to this plane were 'Snow' connected or related. So who are these people and how did they get there?
As in Asimov's 3 robotic laws, I created the rules so, every so often, I can break them to tell a good story.I think the problem with a lot of game masters is that by the time they see worlds like this, they are already filled in and solidified, leaving the impression that before you set out you have to have every last detail codified.
I think the situation is made worse by the fact that game companies like to sell these monstrous setting tomes and that further reinforces the notion that a setting has to be this elaborate, highly detailed thing that arises fully-formed, like Athena from the head of Zeus.The other way is sort of more of a god-game way to go about things, where world-building is a game in itself.
Yep. It's a lot of fun to do when you're not actually playing a campaign with others, but experience has taught me that it's often not the best way to go when you're involved in regular play with others, some of whom might just happen to have ideas of their own.I think the situation is made worse by the fact that game companies like to sell these monstrous setting tomes and that further reinforces the notion that a setting has to be this elaborate, highly detailed thing that arises fully-formed, like Athena from the head of Zeus.
I totally agree with this. I've tried to build my own worlds or use pre-built worlds, and always the DM ADD set in and I would ditch it after a few months for something new. For the past year (almost) I've tried it your way, defining things only at the last possible minute, and you've made a believer of me. I just realized that the kingdom my players have been trying to save for the past ten months doesn't even have a name. As the time passes I get more excited for each session, not less.I was just thinking of posting about "just in time DMing" based on my last few sessions experience. But I'll let your excellent post stand in for mine.
This can be a little scary because you have to be confident enough that you can a) come up with cool/funny stuff on the spot and b) cobble together all those impromptu ideas into some reasonably explainable framework. But what a rush when you pull it off. And double rush when you are riffing off of ideas your players are throwing at you.- AnonymousNovember 8, 2010 at 10:00 PM
That's totally the way to do it. I get sickened by fantasy cosmologies that are all neat and clean and squared away with a "right answer" to things. DMing is like moviemaking; if it's not in frame then it doesn't exist.
ReplyDelete I think the key is to have something make just enough sense to get by. In my campaign, a horse is pretty much like one from the real world. This is not because I'm concerned with "realism", but because I don't have time on my hands to invent entirely new fauna and flora and environments.
Large parts of my campaign map are blank with things like "Aztec-ish Kingdom/Jungle" and "Babylon/Brick City" scribbled here and there. The point is, instead of "world-building", most campaigns would be better served with building small kingdoms, with only sketchy details about the outside world....persnickety, esoteric tidbits of the sort you'd find in the six volumes of Postage Stamps of Flanaess or whatnot. I fully understand the appeal of that kind of detail; I used to be addicted to it in my early days...
I don't know if it's ever been discussed around here, James, but once the elaborate prestige-hardcover AD&D books arrived on the scene, RPGs suddenly made 'worldbuilding' available as a separate game for solitary players...like me. I lived in the boonies in high school and spent hours rolling up characters, playing solo combats, worldbuilding, narrating stories to myself - lost in a kind of happy, familiar melancholy. I couldn't play but I could be immersed in the fantasy worlds through the books alone (not AD&D as such: MERP and GURPS for me, plus large-scale hex wargames).
OD&D is useless for this kind of solo play; the books aren't interesting enough on their own. But Gygax's 1e DMG kicks off a tradition of D&D books meant primarily for solitary reading, which doesn't end until 4e's purely instrumental approach. (Not coincidentally, 4e is closer in spirit to OD&D than to AD&D, while 3e was very much an AD&D-line game.)
The Middle-Earth Role Playing books are wonderful solo reads, as are so many of the idiosyncratic GURPS 2e/3e books. (The 4e toolkits are mostly devoid of weird SJ Games flavour, alas.)
Consider how important D&D was in bringing tribes of geeks together out of their loneliness and shame, it's weird/sad/vital to recognize how RPG books play into geek fantasies just as books, away from the gaming table. A real lifeline they can be.
ps. You a Talking Heads fan, or just liked the title?One of the major problems with creating an elaborate campaign background is this: the DM becomes so enamored with his creation (in many cases understandably so) that he can't resist sharing it with his players. All of it. So instead of being like the actual inhabitants of the medieval world - most of whom knew almost nothing about history and geography, with most of what they thought they did know being ridiculously wrong - the characters are walking atlases and encyclopedias. Elves the mysterious and perhaps sinister inhabitants of a shadowy world next to our own? Nah, here's a color map showing their migration patterns and all major settlements, and a thousand word essay on their reproductive habits. Everybody - farm boys turned fighters, street urchins raised to be pickpockets, dwarven miners who have never before seen sunlight, halflings who haven't set foot outside of the shire in their lives - knows this stuff.
That strikes me as more than a little ridiculous, unless the campaign world in question has near modern levels of literacy and education. Actually, considering the invincible modern ignorance of history and geography, it would still strike me as ridiculous. Do you think Britney Spears can hold forth on the migrations of the ancient Bantu? That's no more ridiculous than a pseudo medieval bar wench turned adventuring thief knowing some elaborate history of elvish settlement in a fantasy world. I mean, at least Britney can read (probably). And if the characters wouldn't know something, why should the players? And if the players don't know something, and may never know it, why bother to work it out in detail ahead of time? Once you create some beautifully written history of the elvish kingdoms, you won't be able to resist sharing it with your players - and the next thing you know, their characters are Encyclopedia Brown, Gazetteer Jones, and Silmarillion Smith. It becomes a bit absurd.
All of which is to say that I agree with James, and I have always created my campaign worlds along these lines - with, I might add, never a complaint in thirty years about a lack of detail or a request for more information than the players actually learned in the course of their adventures. I sincerely believe that many DM's have a drastically inflated idea of the amount of detail that most players need, or want for that matter. "It's a fantasy world. It's sort of medieval or something. It has monsters and dragons. They have treasure. Go!"I sort of approach the "World of D&D" as I figure comic book writers have to work with the settings of iconic characters. Sure, Metropolis might be set up in a specific way in some old issue of DC Comics Presents, but if it needs to be changed for a modern story, that's fine...as long as it's kept internally consistent. Similarly, I might snag some details from Greyhawk or Mystara, but if I don't have everything perfect, I have to hope that folks are cool with the retcon.
ReplyDeleteJames, I thought this post was extremely apt. I too have gone from detailed worldbuilding to more of a piecemeal approach over time. But I feel like there is some paradox in your posts on this topic, because you also advocate exploration-based play, and I recall reading something about playing the rooms as written -- not modifying them on the fly to, for example, make things easier on the players. So it seems like you do have some things decided in advance, if there is anything pre-existing to explore. Are you moving away from that? Or do you like to have some specifics pre-set before game time, while you develop others? This would seem to be to be the tough set of choices.
ReplyDeleteI find a lot of merit in James' holistic (or should I say organic?) style of DMing and worldbuilding. Especially since the geography of the setting is so immediate and limited, it creates a deep sense of mystery regarding everything that is beyond the edges of the map.
However, I find a lot of merit in playing out fully designed and heavily detailed worlds such as The Forgotten Realms. First, it gives the players OPTIONS. While in a more organic game, the players (and DM) may appear to have limitless options, they have fewer concrete tools with which to work. An established setting can permit the DM and players to use the tools presented to develop characters, themes, and setting to a more detailed and perhaps meaningful level.
Second, it can emphasize the overland exploration angle. With all of the blank spaces of the map filled in, the DM has one big gigantic playground with which to mess around, while the players have the opportunity to try to visit and experience every place there. For some DMs, this is overwhelming, but for others, its a lot like Conan's wanderings through Hyboria. As a player, I know that a heavily defined world intensifies my wanderlust, and as a DM, I feel like I have a huge toolkit with which to challenge the players.
Thirdly, while a lot of the WORLDBUILDING is finished, a lot of the locales are open-ended. In other words, not every village, cave, den of monsters, dungeon, ruined tower, or crumbling keep is going to be listed, no matter how detailed the map is. The big, big details are there, but the smaller details are up to me, and that's what I like.
DMing style is a lot about personal choice and preference, but also mood of the moment. I've found the "Old School" style is great for borderlands, rural, and wilderness gaming, but I need maps and mountains of detail before I run a city campaign.I like the concept of the Just in Time DMing, and I'd say that's an apt and in fact quite clever label for the way that I most often run games. However, the idea that stuff should purposefully not make sense sits quite oddly with me.
I'm fine with leaving mysteries open-ended, and I understand the idea that because in real life there are a lot of unsolved (and even unsolveable) mysteries that it should be true for our campaigns too, but I disagree with it. Campaigns are not real life, nor are they really meant to be a good simulation of it. Mysteries in RPGs serve a similar purpose that they do in literature, not that they do in real life. That is, they're either red herrings, potential hooks for players to attempt to follow if they want to, or things that they're supposed to find out eventually. I don't see a lot of value in presenting unsolveable mysteries to players just because there's unsolveable mysteries in real life too.
If the players really decide that deciphering the relationships of the Animal Kings (pretty cool idea, by the way) is what they're most interested in of all the things going on in your campaign, are you going to arbitrarily block them and tell them no just because you don't want them pursuing that line of inquiry?
I realize that the distinction I'm making may well be moot, because most likely those unsolved mysteries *don't* really catch the PCs attention enough to be followed up on and they get left behind, simply serving as richness and robustness and the suggestion that there's more going on in the campaign than they can possibly uncover, which is all well and good. But I also think philosophically there's a big difference between saying, "I have absolutely no intention of filling in this detail no matter how interesting my PCs may or may not find it" and saying "I'm not filling in this detail until my PCs decide that they want to pursue it."


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Chris Dombrowski's new book, Earth Again, is extraordinarily powerful and graceful.
— Jim Harrison
The second full-length collection from award-winning poet Chris Dombrowski, Earth Again transports readers to an imaginative world where identity is explored and expanded. With a mixture of long poems and shorter pieces, Dombrowski probes birth, death, sex, memory, and our blessed but treacherous engagement with the natural world. While he writes from a number of points of view and employs both male and female speakers, much of the collection's singular insight centers around masculine identity and being a husband and a father. Readers come away transformed, "like the land / gasping as it does each late winter evening when / the sky at tree line, nearly sapphiric, goes black," as these poems prove Dombrowski to be a truly original American voice.
Comprised of three sectionseach of which concludes with a long poemEarth Again presents a range of narrative and emotions in dexterous rhythms, unexpected shifts, and unforgettable metaphors. Dombrowksi introduces readers to arresting images like "the parataxis of her ass," "cerulean, alchemical light," "Molly with the sun in her mouth," and "labyrinthine, lanky-stemmed, dew-magnified" leaves. These details combine with Dombrowski's note-perfect language, which alternates between the most colloquial and the most elevated of diction. Readers will be challenged to consider spirituality alongside Scooby-Doo Band-aids, and to meditate on death after the mower has chewed up a plastic dinosaur, as Dombrowski revels in exploring our connection to the environment and one another.
Fans of Dombrowski's previous collection, By Cold Water (which was noted as a contemporary poetry bestseller by the Poetry Foundation in 2009), along with other poets and poetry lovers will appreciate the attention to detail and the imaginative intensity of the poems in Earth Again.
Missoula has a well-earned reputation for its high density of successful prose writers, but it's not too shabby in the per-capita poet department, either. That certainly has something to do with our thriving arts culture, and perhaps also the fact that most careers in this town are as difficult to monetize as that of the poet elsewhere–so there comes a built-in, community-wide wellspring of empathy. Still, and with apologies to the many fine working local poets, past and present, it can be argued that Missoula hasn't had a transcendent poet of place since the immortal Richard Hugo passed away in 1982.
That may be changing. Chris Dombrowski, a Michigan-born poet who fell in love with Missoula upon moving here in 1999, has just released Earth Again, his second full-length book of poetry. It's a stunning work, rife with gorgeous images of Western lives and landscapes, imbued with a hardscrabble perception that will be instantly recognized by those who have committed their lives and families to this most demanding of paradises.
– Nick Davis, Missoula Independent
Chris Dombrowski's second full-length collection, Earth Again, is difficult to summarize, but startlingly familiar. In it, the earth—our known world—is described both as a physical place where our often-banal lives play out, and also a dream-like world we may have collectively imagined into existence. The collection contains both short and long poems, all of which seem to explicitly or implicitly ask the reader to consider nature and humanity; just how separate are we from the world in which we live?
– Kay Cosgrove, Green Mountains Review
Not just for nature lovers, Earth Again is one of the most beautiful books of poetry I have read in years. Musically, deftly, sharply, it deals with birth, sex, death, and so much in between, with a light touch that includes comedy, fantasy, satire, somehow magically in the service of deep meaning, deep feeling. Dombrowski is heir to Galway Kinnell, writing of the everyday--unforgettably.
– Alicia Ostriker
Earth Again is an arresting, beautiful collection of poems. Chris Dombrowski is musical and intellectual in equal measure, and the poems here are memorable in every way—surprising and strange, moving and alarming, delightful and frightening. This is important new work.
– Laura Kasischke
Memory should not be called knowledge, Keats wrote, and yet in Chris Dombrowski's patient hands, the memory of the natural world is knowledge indeed. This poet knows how to witness snow galloping headlong in grains, and lets us, readers, see vividly how the geese peel off the sewage treatment settling pond like strewn clutch of change. Who knows this? The one mind of woods. What is the knowledge? It is what lets us see buff-colored moth, tracings of wingscales on pane, ledger of its last minutes. Why is it important? Because we had to stop what we were doing / to see what we had done. This is a generous, clear-eyed, lyricism. The wisdom of one who sees a flying object and says it could be a helicopter or archangel. Beautiful poems.
– Ilya Kaminsky
I admire these clear and exquisite images drawn from the landscape, their fusion of intelligence and feeling. Chris Dombrowski descends from the best of our nature poets: John Haines, Jeffers and Wordsworth. Earth Again is a lovely, lovely book.
– Dorianne Laux
I read and reread these urgent, burning poems, I found myself underlining and starring and scribbling down not only kneebuckling images and turns of phrase, but commandments and questions to live by. I wept reading this book. I was wrecked reading this book.
– Joe Wilkins, Orion
An anonymous, Middle-English lyric from the early 14th century goes, in one modern English version, like this: Earth took of earth earth with ill; / Earth other earth gave earth with a will. / Earth laid earth in the earth stock-still: / Then earth in earth had of earth its fill. Chris Dombrowski's Earth Again calls to mind the elemental (and existential) mouthful contained in this early, four-line lyric. What we might make of earth (again and again—materially and imaginatively) is set in ultimate relation to what earth will make of us. Composition and decomposition are not opposites; together they constitute our most mysterious singularity. This is our vale of soul-making, as Keats, a presiding spirit in this collection, called it. Dombrowski's own vale is as ample as it is precise, as wide-reaching as it is achingly, lovingly intimate. Like a photographer whose chosen depth of field comprehends the 'first poppy . . . in the backyard's palm'—as sharply as the peak on the looming horizon—Dombrowski apprentices himself, again and again, to feeling the earth precisely, whether glorying or grieving, or caught in their impassable coincidence. I am wowed by his courage and his care. Nothing escapes his scrutiny, least of all the medium of his own imperfect heart. EARTH AGAIN. We are here to be schooled, to be shaken from our grossest, and even our smallest forms of negligence. Dombrowski is a poet of conscience. A river-guide in every sense. A psalmist overcoming a cynic. We are fortunate, I think, to have this kind of poet still among us.
– Sarah Gridley
Chris Dombrowski's new book, Earth Again, is extraordinarily powerful and graceful.
– Jim Harrison
In Earth Again, Chris Dombrowski taps into our collective fears about the future of the planet and the ways in which we can and cannot connect as humans with the natural world. The magnificence of Earth Again is that every poem seems to emerge from the very dirt, the very ground on which Dombrowski walks. Unlike many collections these days, which muse on nature and ecology from a great remove, this book gives us a speaker unafraid to sing to us from the middle of the woods, his hands covered in the stuff of this world he loves.
– James Crews, Prairie Schooner
2014 Independent Publisher's Book Award - Result: Tied for Bronze Medal in the category of Poetry
2014 ForeWord Book of the Year Award - Result: Winner of the Silver Medal in the category of Poetry


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President Hugo Chavez announced that Venezuela would provide Haiti with all the gasoline and diesel that it needs.
[Global: Americas]
In response to severe gasoline shortages that have plagued Haiti in the wake of the devastating earthquake that struck the island nation on January 12, President Hugo Chavez announced that Venezuela would provide Haiti with all the gasoline and diesel that it needs.
He made the announcement on his weekly talk show, Alo Presidente, on Sunday, January 17.
A shipment of 225,000 barrels of gasoline and diesel from PDVSA, Venezuela's state owned oil company, will be received on Thursday by the Refineria Dominicana de Petroleo, S.A. (Refidomsa) refinery in the Dominican Republic for use in Haiti. The shipment will include gasoline and other oil products for the generation of electricity and for vehicles, including airplanes.
Prior to the earthquake, Haiti consumed 11,000 barrels of oil products per day.
Since the earthquake struck, Haiti has suffered gas shortages that have hampered search-and-rescue operations, the delivery of aid and basic reconstruction efforts.
On January 13 Venezuela sent a C-130 transport plane to Port-au-Prince with supplies, tools, food, doctors and a specialized humanitarian team. A second flight carried needed medicines, sanitation equipment, water and a variety of food products. Since the earthquake struck, Venezuela has sent over 5,000 metric tons of foodstuffs for use in Haiti.
A sixth shipment of humanitarian assistance took place on Monday, January 18, with two cargo ships bearing 125 soldiers and humanitarian workers, 616 tons of foodstuffs and 116 tons of machinery for reconstruction.
On Monday two additional shipments from the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA, in Spanish) left the coastal state of Carabobo with 4,761 tons of foodstuffs.
Venezuela's links to Haiti are historic. Venezuela's first flag was created in 1806 by independence hero Francisco de Miranda while in Haiti.
Additionally, one of Simon Bolivar's most important expeditions for Venezuela's independence in 1816 was support by Haiti's then president, Alexandre Petion, who asked in return that Bolivar free slaves held in Venezuela.
Since 2007, Haiti has been part of Venezuela's PetroCaribe initiative, through which it has received its oil at preferential financing rates and benefited from the direct commercialization of hydrocarbon products without intermediaries.
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