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A few years back, I dropped cable television service and haven't gone to the trouble to figure out non-cable television options. For that reason, I sometimes miss the visuals that make it into our national news cycle.
I hadn't seen the video of Eric Garner's killing until of the day of the grand jury decision not to indict his killer, police officer Daniel Pantaleo. My Facebook feed filled up with reactions from friends and acquaintances near and far. I watched in utter horror at the sight of a completely non-combative man being surrounded by police and choked to death on a city street in broad daylight.
What could be more terrifying than being attacked by the very people one should be able to call for protection from such violence? And then to know that there would be no deeper investigation as to how such a thing could happen?
I couldn't think. Unlike Eric, I could breathe, but the air around me seemed very thin. And I could feel: my heart racing, my throat going dry, the tears spilling onto my cheeks. I couldn't write, but I shared a picture of myself from those moments on Facebook, as I changed my cover photo to one of Eric just before he was wrestled to the sidewalk, in the last seconds of his life.
As my ministerial colleagues have written and preached, I have struggled to find words to compose that capture even a fraction of what I feel. This is my first attempt.
Like Eric, I have literally been in the cross-hairs of the police, my life at risk simply because I was a black man at the wrong place at the wrong time. One night in the late 1980s, as I was waiting for a bus on Georgia Avenue in Washington, DC, a car pulled up toward me slowly. The next think I knew, the lights of the car were shining on me, and a police was leaning out of the car with a firearm pointed at me. "Get your hands up, mother-f**ker!" he shouted. I did as I was told. In moments, I was surrounded by police cars.
One of the officers pushed me onto the trunk of one of the cars. I was frisked and searched. I was asked what I was doing, why I was standing there. I told them the truth: I had just gotten out of church choir rehearsal and was trying to get home. The searched my coin purse, presumably for drugs. After they were done, I asked why they had chosen me. One of the officers said that they were looking for someone in a black jacket and blue jeans who was carrying a concealed weapon. When one car rear-ended another and fled on the opposite side of the street, they all sped away in pursuit.
I cried that night too ... Grateful to still be alive, that I hadn't made a false move, and that the cops had not been trigger-happy.
After the non-indictment in the Michael Brown case, I wondered what an appropriate response would be, one that might make a difference. I'm unsure of the efficacy of tactics used in the past. I understand boycotts and public protests, but I wonder if those of us today have the fortitude of the Montgomery bus boycotters, who forewent public transport for a year until their demands for equality were met. While I appreciate the commitment to keep these urgent concerns in the public eye, I have difficulty seeing what it will matter over the long-term.
I do believe that younger generations -- as Dr. King and his contemporaries were in the 50s and 60s -- hold keys to progress and need to be empowered by those of us who are older to lead. And I do believe that, as during the civil rights era, change will come as a result of the persistent efforts of courageous people working over a variety of fronts over time. I believe in the power of partnership and relationship -- as we say in one of our mottoes for the Southern Region, "We are better together."
With that in mind, I am co-facilitating a Region-wide conversation with Elandria Williams, a member of the Education Team of the Highlander Research and Education Center in Tennessee. It was there that Rosa Parks received her training before becoming the catalyst for the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Elandria is a lifelong Unitarian Universalist and a passionate activist. I am grateful to have her as a colleague in justice work.
Directions for joining that conversation will be posted in the next Southern Region newsletter, and on the Southern Region Facebook page. We look forward to being on that call with you.
Also, in conjunction with our congregations in East Tennessee, I will lead a weekend workshop on Marshall Rosenberg's approach to Nonviolent Communication, also known as Compassionate Communication, January 30-31. I believe that compassion for all people is going to make a difference in this present confusion. You can learn more and register for that event by clicking here.
My prayer is that love will guide us through this long, hard night in our nation's history. May we be willing to be saviors to each other, now and always.
God bless us, every one.


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Tree Removal
Whenever possible, we preserve trees via thoughtful pruning and treatment. We value healthy trees as living legacies and we never enjoy removing trees. However, we often come across situations when a tree must be removed.
Common Reasons to Remove Trees from Your Property
There are many reasons for tree removals, including:
- Diseased, insect-infested, and dead trees pose a serious physical risk to people and property
- Storms sometimes damage a tree beyond repair
- Trees sometimes grow too large for a given space, resulting in crowding
- Messy trees can cause on-going marital conflicts (cottonwood mess, anyone?)
- Ill-fitting trees in your landscape create practical problems, ex. shading out a lawn
- Healthy trees sometime lean dangerously over a house, barn, children's play area, driveway, etc.
- Invasive species are often best removed and replaced with natives species
- Some trees cause allergies for their owners
Tree Removal Should Meet Specific, Planned objectives
At Mallon Tree Service, we specialize in identifying customers' liabilities. Our arborists will discuss with you your options when it comes to hazardous trees. We will work with you to develop a plan for removal that both identifies the problem and provides a safe and economical solution, striving for complete satisfaction every time.
Safety of Staff and Property are Paramount
Due to the inherent danger of tree removals, Mallon Tree Service places the utmost importance on safety. We have developed a culture of safety on the job through core strength and awareness training. Our employees are well-rehearsed in safety procedure and the use of our equipment. We follow proper Personal Protective Equipment guidelines for the safety of our employees on the job. Our arboriculture professionals will treat your property as their own with respect to nearby fences, gutters, garden sheds, perennials and the general goings on of your neighborhood. We are fully insured with extensive liability insurance.

subset: commoncrawl


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(Mobile Journalist) Precise, concise, authoritative, witty, factual, and out of the box entertainment and lifestyle reportage.
Wednesday, 7 November 2012
Ludacris premiers video
MTV also announced today that Ludacris will make a special appearance during the main show, and that reality star and socialite Kim Kardashian; GRAMMY® nominated musicians/actors Nick, Kevin and Joe Jonas; Brett Davern of MTV's popular scripted show "Awkward"; the cast of "Geordie Shore" (MTV UK's #1 show of all time); and supermodels Anne Vand Isabeli Fontana are all confirmed to present.
Additionally, producer/DJ Madeon will be playing a special role at the "2012 MTV EMA", as the French music prodigy will be dropping his one-of-a-kind mixes throughout the evening for the entire audience to enjoy. Meanwhile, actor David Hasselhoffwill be reporting from backstage via social media – giving his thoughts on the performances, interacting with other stars and generally showing the world the 2012 MTV EMA from the Hoff's-eye-view.
Hosted by supermodel, entrepreneur and hometown girl Heidi Klum, the 19th annual MTV EMA will broadcast live from Frankfurt's historic Festhalle on Sunday 11 November at 10 PM CAT on MTV channels around the world. The "2012 MTV EMA" will feature incredible performances by Taylor Swift, Muse, No Doubt, Carly Rae Jepsen, fun., Rita Ora, Alicia Keys, Pitbull, The Killers and Psy.
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Job Description: Perform work involving the skills of two or more maintenance or craft occupations to keep machines, mechanical equipment, or the structure of an establishment in repair. Duties may involve pipe fitting; boiler making; insulating; welding; machining; carpentry; repairing electrical or mechanical equipment; installing, aligning, and balancing new equipment; and repairing buildings, floors, or stairs.
Is Maintenance and Repair Workers, General the right career path for you?
Take the MyMajors Quiz and find out if it fits one of your top recommended majors!
|Repairing - Repairing machines or systems using the needed tools.
|Equipment Maintenance - Performing routine maintenance on equipment and determining when and what kind of maintenance is needed.
|Troubleshooting - Determining causes of operating errors and deciding what to do about it.
|Equipment Selection - Determining the kind of tools and equipment needed to do a job.
|Operation Monitoring - Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
|Operation and Control - Controlling operations of equipment or systems.
|Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
|Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
|Coordination - Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
|Complex Problem Solving - Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
|Active Learning - Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
|Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
|Installation - Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or programs to meet specifications.
|Quality Control Analysis - Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance.
|Judgment and Decision Making - Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
|Time Management - Managing one's own time and the time of others.
|Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
|Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
|Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
|Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
|Mechanical - Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
|Building and Construction - Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
|Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
|Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
|English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
|Engineering and Technology - Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
|Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
|Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
|Chemistry - Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
|Integrity - Job requires being honest and ethical.
|Attention to Detail - Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.
|Cooperation - Job requires being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude.
|Dependability - Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.
|Self Control - Job requires maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations.
|Independence - Job requires developing one's own ways of doing things, guiding oneself with little or no supervision, and depending on oneself to get things done.
|Concern for Others - Job requires being sensitive to others' needs and feelings and being understanding and helpful on the job.
|Adaptability/Flexibility - Job requires being open to change (positive or negative) and to considerable variety in the workplace.
|Analytical Thinking - Job requires analyzing information and using logic to address work-related issues and problems.
|Initiative - Job requires a willingness to take on responsibilities and challenges.
|Persistence - Job requires persistence in the face of obstacles.
|Innovation - Job requires creativity and alternative thinking to develop new ideas for and answers to work-related problems.
|Stress Tolerance - Job requires accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high stress situations.
|Achievement/Effort - Job requires establishing and maintaining personally challenging achievement goals and exerting effort toward mastering tasks.
|Leadership - Job requires a willingness to lead, take charge, and offer opinions and direction.
|Social Orientation - Job requires preferring to work with others rather than alone, and being personally connected with others on the job.


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Hello sunshine!
Spring is a great time to revamp your wardrobe and start to wear the new season styles we've all be looking at for months.
Here at QVC we've got so much to tell you about what's coming up this month in fashion. Our main fashion event during March is a Spotlight on Spring Style on Friday 13th March.
All day our experts and fashion insiders will highlight key looks for the season from some of our most stylish brands. The event will include a variety of pieces from across fashion, accessories, footwear and jewellery, which will be put together to create full looks to inspire you and help you decide which trends you'll be wearing from now through to summer.
We'll showcase top-to-toe outfits, and demonstrate how to pull looks together by layering pieces and working prints into your style; giving you the choice between reinventing your whole wardrobe or just updating with a few select pieces.
Today's Special Value on the day is a set of two Liz Claiborne New York 3/4 sleeve tops, and other featured brands include: Lulu Guinness, Tiana B, The Sak bags, plus a Spotlight on Jewellery show featuring Links of London.
Other TSVs this month include Antthony Designs on the 11th, Dennis Basso on the 18th and Women with Control leggings on Monday 30th March.
We've also launched our online Style List to showcase current trends and your go-to designers.
So tune in all month for inspirational fashion events and exciting special offers from big name fashion and accessories brands. Plus, check out our Fashion and Shoes & Handbag departments now.


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Let us do your weekly lunches, business meetings, office parties, or whenever you get a craving for delicious Vietnamese or Thai food.
We do all the work so you don't have to. You have enough to do already!
Call 773 383 8828 or fill out a brief form below and we will contact you.
Catering Menu


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Behind "Mask," Afghan Women Speak of Abuse
A new television show in Afghanistan features women anonymously telling their stories of abuse after being forced into marriages arranged by their families.
The show provides the women anonymity by covering their faces with a half-blue, half-white mask, hence its name of "Niqab", or "The Mask", according to a CNN report published Monday. (Video below)
The mask's pale blue side is intended to be the same color as the "chaudari", or burqa, Muslim women wear and represents the country's oppression of women while the white represents innocence, CNN reported.
On the show, a woman named Saraya told her story of being married off at the age of 15 to a 58-year-old known rapist.
"I had so many dreams for my life, but when I saw him, they just disappeared," Saraya said. "I told my father I didn't want to marry him: 'Why are you doing this to me?' ... My father said, 'You are of an age to be married, and this is my decision, not yours.'"
She eventually ran away from the man with her three children, fearing he would kill them all if he ever found them.
The show's creator, Sami Mahdi, 28, told CNN that the mask is essential for "Niqab".
"In Afghanistan, it's very difficult for women to talk about their difficulties and their problems and the violence they are facing in their home," Mahdi told CNN.
He also said he hopes to bring about a positive change for the lives of women in Afghanistan by broadcasting their stories.
"Maybe there are a lot of mothers, thousands of mothers, who are living in the same situation," Mahdi told CNN. "They don't have a tongue. They don't have a voice to talk about what they are suffering."


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Tuesday, March 29, 2016
Brian Roberts, 2001 Donruss The Rookies #R70
I met Brian Roberts. Incidentally, Roberts is returning to the Orioles this season...in a manner of speaking. The Sunday before last, the longtime Baltimore second baseman joined MASN for the network's telecast of the O's-Rays Grapefruit League game. He will also be in the broadcast booth for an unspecified regular season game in May. I'm glad he was able to find a hobby in retirement.
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Clamshell Boxes
A clamshell box is a protective box with a hinged lid connected to its base. Both the lid and bottom sections of the box have three fixed side sections. The lid is slightly larger than so that the side pieces 'nest' when the case is closed. The fourth spine side has a hinge to join the top and bottom of the box: the flexible joint allows the box to lay flat when opened. Its interior may be lined with paper or suedel, especially if made for a book.


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ONTD Halloween Original™: 10 Dream-Themed Movies
Slumber © 2017 Vertical Entertainment
"No one ever really gets used to nightmares."
- Mark Z. Danielewski, House of Leaves
It's not uncommon for someone to tell you they don't dream. What they really mean is they don't remember their dreams. Without dreaming, some say we can't function physically, emotionally, or mentally.But then there are times when you want to avoid going to sleep altogether. For entering the REM cycle may be a death sentence.
Here are ten horror and suspense movies with a theme of dreams.
When you think slashers, you might think of A Nightmare on Elm Street. You recall Freddy Krueger's disfigured face and those signature bladed gloves, which Wes Craven created after being inspired by his cat. The basic plot of the original Elm Street movie was loosely based on news stories of Khmer refugees who were reported as being too scared to sleep. A few even died, which led to doctors calling the phenomenon "Asian Death Syndrome." The remainder of the Elm franchise kept the dream motif in tact, especially in the earlier entries. The Elm Street mythology ties into the idea that if we die in our dreams, we will die in reality. As many of us already know based on experience, that isn't true. If anything, most of us are jolted awake once we die in our dreams.
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Do you believe in dream interpretation?
This is also a FREE FOR ALL!
No porn, nudes, pic spamming, fighting, advertising, rudeness, huge browser slowing comments.
Put multiple images/tweets, etc. under a spoiler cut (code is below):
What do you dream about?
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This Month's Barbell WOD Chapter Highlight:
Stone Wall Barbell Club located in Larose, Louisiana.
Follow Gavin & Stone Wall Barbell Club on Instagram @stonewallcrossfit and if you are looking for a place to train Barbell WOD, visit them at: http://www.stonewallcrossfit.com/
Gavin grew up in Grand Isle, Louisiana and served with the US Army beginning in 2003 with a deployment in Iraq and two in Afghanistan. His military background has helped to develop a love for fitness and shortly after his final deployment, Gavin was first introduced to Olympic weightlifting through as many so often are, a local CrossFit. After training with River Parish CrossFit for some time, he decided to pursue his CF-L1 Certification and partnered with some friends to open what is today Stone Wall CrossFit. Gavin remains driven to not only solve some of his own aches and pains using fitness, but expresses that same passion onto anyone who comes into the gym.
According to Gavin, the best part about being a coach and owning a gym is seeing the clients before and after pictures. Whether it's having a parent come back and tell you how they can now keep up with their kids, hearing positive results from our athletes, or working with clients who struggle with high blood pressure and to have their doctors telling them to keep on doing what they are doing; it is clear that the work done at Stone Wall Barbell Club is focused on serving the greater good.
"When coaching the Olympic lifts, and watching an athlete land that first Snatch and seeing the fire light in their eyes, makes it all worthwhile!"
Q. Why did you decide to become an official Barbell WOD Chapter?
"One of my coaches, Luke Guidry turned me onto it and so I started doing the Barbell WOD training on my own. I was seeing progress, but was not as consistent with the training as I should have been so I started recruiting a few members that were interested in weightlifting to join me and this kept us accountable to each other.
From there I got a call from Scott telling me about how we could become a Barbell WOD Chapter. One phone call and we were all about it. Now our banner is up on the wall and three times a week we attack the weights like there is no tomorrow!"
Q. What has been the most valuable part of being a Barbell WOD Chapter?
"The programming and support, the program has produced strength and technique improvements across the board here at Stone Wall Barbell Club. As well, anytime we need advice or feedback it's just one email or phone call away and boom… The Barbell WOD team is all over it! Not to mention the countless pointers one can receive through the Barbell WOD Feed."


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It is rare good news for poor women in India. A new report has found a significant drop in the rate at which women across the world die as a result of childbirth – with one of the most dramatic falls in India.
Maternal deaths in India decreased from 677 per 100,000 live births in 1980 to 254 in 2008, according to a study published in the Lancet, a leading British medical journal, in April.
This contributed to a global fall of 35 percent to 251 per 100,000 live births, found a research team led by Christopher Murray at the University of Washington.
"The overall message, for the first time in a generation, is one of persistent and welcome progress," wrote the Lancet's editor, Richard Horton.
The reasons for the drop in India are broadly the same as those worldwide: improved prenatal care and the presence, during labor, of skilled medical professionals. Improved access to education – which makes women more likely to know how to care for themselves and their children – has also made a difference.
IN PICTURES: Best and worst places to be a mother
Surprised by progress
Many health-care workers in India are surprised that such an improvement occurred here. Despite a booming economy that has grown at a heady 9 percent in recent years, social inequalities are growing and a skeletal health-care system remains woefully inadequate for the needs of a billion-plus, still largely rural, population.
The study's authors point out in the report that researching maternal mortality rates in India is complicated by the country's numerous – sometimes conflicting – data sources. But they conclude that the most reliable sources did suggest "a substantial decrease in maternal mortality."
Medical professionals cite as particularly beneficial a government scheme designed to supplement a network of doctors and medical centers that is patchy at best and in many areas nonexistent. The Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) encourages women to go into clinics and hospitals to give birth.
The central government says more than nine million women joined the JSY scheme in 2009, up from a little over 700,000 in 2006.
Still a high rate
Still, India has a long, long way to go.
The Lancet report found that more than half of all maternal deaths took place in a mere six countries: India, Nigeria, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Earlier this week, Save the Children, an NGO, published a new State of the World's Mothers report, which showed that India ranked first among 12 countries that account for two-thirds of under-five and maternal deaths in the world.
IN PICTURES: Best and worst places to be a mother
It added that the JSY scheme had "not been able to make the desired impact especially in the States with high maternal and child mortality rates and has been bogged down in irregularities…"
Indeed, India's long-term shortage of poor or nonexistent medical care has led to a mistrust of doctors and hospitals, even in its big cities.
Take Sunita, who, like most women in her remote village in Madhya Pradesh, central India, gave birth at home.
Each of her four children arrived so suddenly she had no time to call a midwife – a term in rural India that tends to describe a woman from a low caste, with no medical training, who uses centuries-old customs to help women in labor.
Even if a doctor or hospital midwife had been available, Sunita would have refused their care, she says. "I have never been to a hospital and I will never go to a hospital," says mother, who today works as a road builder in the capital, New Delhi.
She adds that if she fell pregnant in Delhi she would give birth in her one-room tarpaulin shack beneath a busy highway ramp.
Related stories:


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Inspire Party#3
A friend of mine was having a party and she asked me to make her a Llama pinata with lots of colours, so here are two photos of it. All I did different was extend the neck and add a little pompom on top. Here are the Pom pom instructions I used: https://www.100directions.com/easy-patriotic-pom-pom-decor-with-crepe-paper-streamers/ Advertisements


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Kitesurfer Ian Young has left Perth Western Australia today on an epic downwinder of more than 1,300km — From Perth to Exmouth in Western Australia, across some of the most inhospitable and inaccessible coastline in the world.
You can follow Ian's progress in real time at http://nano.sjy.id.au
Here's information from Ian and his team in Perth:
Ian Young is a veteran of more than 22 years service in the Australian Army and has set himself a personal goal of kitesurfing from Perth to the North-West Cape, more than 1300km.
There are many veterans who suffer a variety of health issues and we would like to use this adventure to increase the awareness of these problems.
Many of us suffer from "donor fatigue" these days with so many "good" causes that need to be tackled, however can I please ask you to consider donating to help those veterans who put their lives on the line to serve their country and now need your help. Once you have donated you will receive a tax receipt straight away to your email address. All donations made from this link will go straight to Soldier On.
So, please help me help Soldier On by giving what you can to this great cause. https://soldieron.giveeasy.org/campaigns/kitesurfing-perth-to-the-north-west-cape/
You can also "share" my page with your friends or leave a comment or "like it". It all helps!
We plan to connect with Ian as he approaches Geraldton in the next few days and ride with him on at least part of the journey–hopefully on Saturday — Contact me if you're interested in joining us!
More information about Ian and the project:
Thanks for the opportunity to help raise awareness of the good work http://Soldieron.org.au do to help service men and women that are suffering as a result of their duty for their country.
Some of the background links you might find useful:
- fastwave.com.au who provided the tracker and satellite phone critical to my safety
- The Soldier On donation page https://soldieron.giveeasy.org/campaigns/kitesurfing-perth-to-the-north-west-cape/
- My kitesurfing background http://www.ianyoung.net.au/home/kitesurfing/about-ian-young
Wish Ian well for a safe and successful journey!
Ian leaving Perth on Friday morning (below)


text: Sojourn's Student and Family Ministry is offering class for children and their parents called "Ask Class: For Kids & Parents with Questions about Salvation & Baptism." The goal is to answer the questions of kids and their parents who are seeking to understand the gospel, salvation, baptism, and assurance. We want to partner with parents, who have been commanded to teach their kids about God. The class will be led by Pastors Jared Kennedy and Gary Almon. Our hope is that this class will be a catalyst for more gospel conversations between parents and their children. The two-week class is on March 21st & 28th during the 11:00 AM service at the Midtown Campus, The 930 Art Center, on the third floor. The first session will cover issues related to Jesus and salvation. The second session will cover issues related to baptism and assurance.


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4 Jul 2010
100 Arms
Some thumbnails for a challenge I was doing with some friends. I've gotten a bit rusty in that department, so those were really useful to remind me where I have to improve. I even got a couple not half as bad as the rest :P.
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Brunswick Georgia Children's Photographer | Meet Mr. L
This family from Waycross, Georgia contacted me about doing a beach birthday session for their little boy who had just recently turned 3 years old. Of course right away I thought about Driftwood Beach on Jekyll Island! Where else to take an adventerous young man! They requested a few posed images, but asked that the rest be more of a lifestyle type session. Right.Up.My.Alley! I am really loving the lifestyle sessions lately. It's the best of both worlds, really. Not only do I get to capture a few posed shots, but I also get to capture family member interactions, children interacting with each other and children interaction with their environment. The sole focus of this birthday session was to capture Lucas doing what he does best: exploring and checking things out! I followed him everywhere. Man, did he have so much energy! He was so enraptured by everything he saw; so inquisitive, looking above and below everything he came across. Want to know what the best part of the session was? He sang to me! Yep. He sang to me! Old MacDonald Had a Farm. Over and over again. It was so cute and made for some great images. Here's just a few of my favorites:
And my personal favorite: a memory image of all his favorite things right now. How great will this be to look back on years from now and re-read all about his favorite things??


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February 27, 2011
SO TODAY IS BEING CALLED THE TWO-YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THE TEA PARTY. The ramp-up was more a process than an event, beginning a couple of weeks earlier. But here's a post from two years ago exactly. Here's one from Feb. 21st, and here's another, plus an Insta-Poll. Here's a post from Denver on Feb. 17, and here are pics from Seattle on Feb. 16. Plus, getting in Obama's face in Mesa, Arizona that weekend.
Plus, my early look at the movement from April 15, 2009. And give InstaPundit reader Donald Gately credit for prescience. On December 27, 2008 he wrote:
You say that A.N.S.W.E.R. would love to see Icelandic-type protests here. But what if folks under 30 or 40 or 50 started staging large public protests about the Ponzi-scheme that is Social Security? What if taxpayers started staging massive protests about public pensions that let government employees (many of whom don't have to participate in Social Security) retire at 50 with 90% pay – even while common taxpayers have to ratchet back their own retirement dates? What if financial and real-estate workers started staging protests about their jobs disappearing while the Democrats in congress do everything in their power to preserve cushy UAW deals? What if parents in neighborhoods with failing schools started actively protesting the stranglehold that the teachers unions have over their childrens' education?
Those types of protests would likely un-nerve the left, and might actually lead to Change that the rest of us can believe in.
Pretty much how it's worked out. . . .
UPDATE: A reader points out the importance of the March 15 Cincinnati Tea Party. Yeah, I think that overhead shot of the crowd by Russell Sayre actually did a lot to convince people that these events were getting big.


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"Midnight's Gate: Essays"By Bei Dao New Directions 255 pgs.
If Italo Calvino did not say, "Beware of saying to them that sometimes cities follow one another on the same site and under the same name, born and dying without knowing one another, without communicating among themselves," Bei Dao would have.
The poets who live in exile, who float from city to city, whose only true country is the country in their hearts, who traverse the man-made borders of men as frequently as they cross the eternal borders of life and death, write the most potent and powerful poems of our time. Descendants of the original visionaries who built the civilizations that begot them, they are today's seers who not only play the roles of keepers of the ancient wisdom, spirit, and hope, but also leave for the ones who succeed them, pieces to form the vision of the world that is possible, the world to come.
Old Snow, Forms of Distance, Unlock, At the Sky's Edge ... the title of Bei Dao's most recent book of essays, Midnight's Gate, as well as what lies behind Midnight's Gate live up to the heart of his work: the poetry. Here he takes the role of a casual and at times masterful storyteller as Bei Dao: exile, wanderer of nations, true inhabitant of the world, shows us a spectrum of cities: Ramallah, Beijing, Paris, Prague, New York, Aarhus; and introduces us to an array of people: the eccentric Jiakai, a defiant Jose Saramago, the hospitable Poul Borum, passionate and profound Uncle Liu, a stately Arafat, and a man nicknamed Mustard, among others.
Knowledge of death is the only key that can open midnight's gate.
The title essay begins with the above line. Within Bei Dao's journeys from east to west, past to present, there is a cool darkness felt in all of the pieces that make up this book, and that darkness is death. Uncle Liu rescues a girl during a Japanese bombing raid and moments after they swear their love to each other she dies before his eyes when another bomb falls as she goes to check on her father. In Vienna, Bei Dao and a friend visit the graves of "Beethoven, Mozart, and Schubert, listening carefully to the music of silence. The cemetery is a culture unto itself, a meeting place of history, religion, architecture, and language." His friend Poul Borum dies without a greeting or a goodbye. In Palestine, he witnesses the darkness of the cycle of human vengeance, where victims of the past are today's tyrants. "And the writer is the traveler who passes through this darkness," he says.
How else have poets, and human beings, for that matter, throughout the ages coped with the dark knowledge of death but with alcohol? Whether he is in Denmark, New York, Paris, Inner Mongolia, or California Bei Dao drinks, and it is in intoxication and drunkenness where the poet ascends and descends to heaven and hell, where Bei Dao and his companions find immortality and tell immortal stories, where the light of humor burns away pain and sorrow.
Wine is just as much of a character throughout these essays as the people are, and creates a balance between the thousand chambers of suffering and the thousand chambers of joy.
As a concrete mixer and iron worker, Bei Dao in his reading would forget about work, which probably contributed to him never attaining the status of shifu (master or teacher). His shifu, Yan Shifu would say something like: "Reading books ... hmpf ... What's the fucking use of reading books? Don't take the time to learn a skill, then you may as well go drink the northwest wind ... " But in fact, Bei Dao has reached the heights of shifu: a master of language, which is clear in his poetry and in Midnight's Gate. A woman pointed out to him that when he speaks English, he makes no clear distinction between "word" and "world." Of course he says in defense: "word and world are in fact the same thing." Only a master can say that.


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Tmesis (Greek, "a cutting") is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is inserted into another word, often for humorous effect.
Tmesian Magic is a small school that deals almost entirely with scrolls and spellbooks. It is the art of booby-trapping spells by writting a second spell into the body of a larger spell. While this practice is uncommon with scrolls, as those have a tendancy to be sold or bartered, it is much more common in the case of spellbooks. This might seem to be an odd thing, since there are plenty of spells to ward said books, and even spells that in themselves are traps, such as spells that when read are activated, often exploding on the reader of the book.
Would an ancient culture really leave such virulent traps for those centuries later to find? I would guess probably not. A more pressing concern is going to be their peers and rivals mages. What mage has not thought of purloining another of his peer's spellbooks for access to his spells and spell research? There would be an unwritten but understood code of honor to see spellbooks returned to their owners should they be lost or stolen, entrusted to their next of kin. The threat of finding one of these spells carefully placed into a spellbook could be enough of a deterent to keep some of the slighty unscrupulous from abusing or purchasing a stolen grimoire. For those who would not even think twice, their fate is a bit more messy.
The trick behind the Tmesis style of scribery is that the writting mage knows the section of the spell that is the tmesis element, and can invoke the spell without using that portion. Those the mage instructs in the style are also able to use the texts without undo harm. Some mages could be consistant, with Emberwyld the pyromancer making the third verse of every spell incantation his tmesian trap. The mage could also change things around, just to keep a canny apprentice or magic reading thief from figuring out his system.
Generally, not every spell in a grimoire is going to be so booby-trapped, and in all likelyhoods, fewer than 10% of the spells present are going to be treated so. Doing more than this takes up valuable room in the text, as well as time writting the spell. Also, the spell being booby-trapped must be larger than the trap itself, otherwise the tmesian element becomes rather obvious. First or very low level spells are not going to be trapped, while mid to high level spells are much more likely to be. And as a rule, the effect of the tmesis aspect can mimic a spell of two ranks lower, or alter the way the spell itself functions.
A canny mage can attempt to check a spellbook for such spells, but first the mage must actually know of the tmesian school first, and must be familiar with the spell being cast in question. For example: Baldur the Unwise has gained a stolen spellbook, and has been afflicted with the Nocuon tmesis. He reads carefully through the book, checking the spells he is familiar. After checking each spell (A spellcraft, magery, or similar mundane skill) he decides that the two fire spells are safe, since he knows both of them. A third fire spell has a tmesis in it, an dhe will avoid it as he doesnt recognize what sort of tmesis it is. The three other spells are a different matter, two are from a school he is not very familiar with, so he cannot be sure if the spells are safe or not.
Thus presented for the approval the citadel, the Scroll of Tmesian Magic.
Additional Ideas (6)
The tautologos is a very devious trap found in higher level spells. When the caster of this spell invokes the arcane forms and energies his spell is cast without incident. However the next time the mage attempts to cast a spell, even if it is a cantrip, the tautologos spell will activate, and he will try to cast the same high level spell again.
Thus Barnabus the Barmy casts a powerful Summon Planar Demon from the pilfered spellbook of an evil cultist, makes a deal with the demon and then is on his merry way. Two days later he decides to cast a Charm Person spell on a comely young tavern lass, and instead invokes the Three headed Lord of the Fifth Pit, He Who Revels in Disemboweled Foes. Mayhem ensues.
Of course, if the mage doesnt have the spell components to cast the spell, he looses XP equal to the GP value of the spell components, if such are used. If the mage doesnt have the ability to cast a spell of this magnitude again, he takes one large die of damage per difference in spell level. In the above mentioned example, assuming the demon summoning a 6th magnitude power and Barnabus only has a slot left to cast a 3rd magnitude power spell, he is going to take 3 dice of Strain damage from trying to cast beyond his means.
Tautology - needless repetition of an idea, statement, or word
This is also a fairly insidious tmesian trap spell. Most often placed in dangerous summoning spells, potent scrying spells and elementally aspected spells. This is a smaller spell that can be placed in mid level spells without being noticed. It's effect is fairly simple, as it inverses some aspect of the spell it entraps.
For example, Tamur the Great has stolen a spellbook from Angia the Summoner and decides he is going to use the previously mentioned spell, Summon Planar Demon. This spell has an evil/unholy descriptor and he is ready to start wheeling and dealing with a demon of death and decapitation. Much to his surprise, he ends up summoning Radia, Angelic Defender of Children and Light. Seeing the vile and contemptable owuld be diabolist, the confrontation is sudden and violent.
Other less dramatic examples include altering fire spells to ice spells, turning poison cloud spells into happy cloud spells, and curses into boons.
Enantiodromia - the changing of something into its opposite
This is the most straightforward and potentially lethal of all of the tmesian spells. All spells involve the concentration of magical energies in a safe manner. The Nocuon actually draws in these magics in a very hazardous manner, channeling them through the vulnerable flesh and bones of the caster causing magical burns. The more powerful the spell, the more signifigant the damage inflicted.
Going back to the 6th magnitude Summon Planar Demon, Luchilde the Insolent decides to cast the spell from a stolen book of a slain rival. He performs the various gestures as dictated by the book and as he invokes the spell after several minutes of chanting he is filled with immeasurable pain. AS the spell is of the 6th magnitude, Luchilde the Insolent takes 6 dice of damage, and with a mage, often weak in health/hit points, this could very well kill him on the spot before the spell is completely cast.
nocuous - harmful
Render unethical mages blind, deaf, and dumb.
Cataractia - the spell causes the mage in question to become magically blinded.
Tinnitism - the spell causes the mage's ears to be filled with a constant ringing. While the sound is eventually adjusted to, the mage is left effectively deaf.
Dysphonion - The last word of the spell robs the mage of the ability to speak, rendering him mute.
Less sensitive material might be guarded with more innocuous magics woven into the text: Casting causes a wizardly mark to be placed on the caster, but visible only to those of the correct magical tradition: a warning that he cannot be trusted. Such would normally be used to identify disobedient apprentices that have experimented with material they are not yet approved to study.
graphein - to write
The spell includes another magic that is as nearly opposite in effect as possible or otherwise tends to cancel it out. For example, an illusion spell might be linked to a spell generating a cloud of fog.
alexein - ward off
The secondary magic is one that knocks the caster unconscious the third or fourth time that the main spell is cast. Because it takes several castings for the secondary effect to manifest, casters are likely to conclude that the spell is safe for use and then be caught by surprise.
amnesia - oblivion
Incurion is a particularly devious tmiesis, in that its effects, by definition, go completely unnoticed by the individual- very often, the object is one not found in the spell the tmiesis is hidden in; rather, the feeling that something isn't right will only begin to dawn on the caster slowly. Spells will fail or misfire; the enchanter will get odd looks in conversation as he skips syllables in his speech- minor annoyances at first, but enough to unnerve or madden the victim.
Must be removed by a second party, as the victim, even if somehow aware of the enchantment's effect, is completely incapable of determining what, precisely, the object is, and what words it's found in. Easily detected by asking the victim to say a word containing the object- useful in the case of wayward apprentices.
incuria - carelessness


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Arrive Delhi on arrival Garlanding with a traditional Indian welcome and transferred to the Hotel. Afternoon city tour of Old and New Delhi offers a stunning contrast between the ancient and modern.
After a morning at leisure, late afternoon transfer to airport time to board flight for Hyderabad, now the capital of Andhra Pradesh, on arrival transfer to the hotel. O/N at Hotel.
Morning visit fort of Golconda is the former capital of the Qutub Shahi dynasty. Afternoon visit of the city. O/N at hotel.
Morning transfer to the airport time to board flight for Bangalore, one of the most beautiful cities of India. On arrival take to the city tour Then straight drive to Mysore, wending along through verdant and hilly countryside. On arrival check in at the hotel. O/N at the Hotel.
Morning Sightseeing of the Mysore (city of stately palaces, gardens, parks and museums ). Afternoon is at leisure. This evening, enjoy the beautiful and exquisitely illuminated Brindavan Gardens, sprawling amid gorgeous cascading fountains. O/N at Hotel.
Morning Drive to Belur en'route Stop at Shravanabelagola..Arrive Belur, on the banks of the Yagachi River, was the capital of the Hoysala Empire over 800 years ago. then proceed to Halebid an outstanding example of Indian temple architecture is found in Halebid, Drive Continue on to Chikmagalur. O/N at Hotel.
Transfer to the airport time to board flight for Cochin in the state of Kerala. On arrival transfer to the Hotel. Later proceed for the sightseeing tour of Cochin. At night enjoy a special presentation of the colorfully costumed Kathakali dance drama. O/N at Hotel.
Depart this morning for Kumarakom on arrival check in at Hotel. Afternoon is at leisure O/N at Hotel.
Morning enjoy a boat ride through the series of canals and lagoons snaking their way through several tiny villages and tropical vegetation. O/N at Hotel.
Take a boat ride this morning on Vembanad Lake to the Kumarakom Bird Sanctuary. Afterwards, return to Cochin and fly to Chennai (formerly Madras), on arrival transfer to the hotel. O/N at Hotel.
Morning Drive to Kanchipuram, (02Hrs). One of the seven sacred cities of India, served as a capital for several dynasties, Kanchipuram is also renowned for its silk, a traditional cottage industry. Then proceed to Mahabalipuram. O/N at hotel.
Morning tour of Chennai. Afternoon free. Late evening transfer to the Intl Airport time to board flight for onward destination.
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Nu-Lite Entertainment is a well rounded promotion and entertainment company with interests in event planning and artist management. We organized our own event such as Academy of Heroes concert and The Beat Down Hip Hop Dance competition, both of which have been very successful and well received. Many businesses and organizations also turn to us to help them put together the entertainment portion to compete their event.
We also act as booking manager for artists such as J.Reyez, Tommy C., Lydia Peak, Jordan Lorenzo, Audrey Lyn, and DJ Mista Ho.


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High School Soccer
Meridian Trojans girls' soccer preview
Coach: Terry Tigert
Last year: 17-5-2 overall, NWC 7-3-2 (fourth place). Scored 75 goals against just 23 allowed, rolling through both the Class 1A district and tri-district tournaments before finishing 1-1 at state. Earned big wins against Northwest and University Prep in the tri-district tournament, adding a first-round 3-0 victory over Elma at state.
Players to watch: Payton Lunde (So., M); Janessa Murphy (Sr., F), Sydney Gospodinovich (So., GK).
Outlook: Tigert is in her first season at the helm of the Trojans' girls' soccer team, a program that has had some state playoff success over the past few years. She gets a stead of strong returners, including several strong sophomores in keeper Gospodinovich, and midfielders Ryley Zapien and Payton Lunde. "I must say, coming in as a new coach, I think I got pretty lucky with the number of girls we have," Tigert said in a phone interview. "I have confidence in our starting 11." Senior midfielder Murphy pairs together a strong group for Tigert, who is looking to play a more controlled, steady brand of soccer to manufacture goals.


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A trip to MoMA PS1 yesterday for the opening of this Summer's Warm-UP Series included an exciting surprise: the work of winner of this year's Young Architect Program, New York firm The Living. They have created a beautiful structure in the center of the courtyard. What's even more beautiful is the building materials were made from components that combine corn stalks with mycelium, a root material in fungus that grows into mushrooms. Yes, mushrooms! Both ingredients will be mixed inside rectangular forms and grow and solidify into bricks.
This is a very successful example of Number 6 of Ted's Ten: Design that looks at models from Nature and History, what many in the field of design also call Biomimicry. A tenet of sustainability that has been adopted by industrial designers and architects perhaps a little more readily than fashion designers.
The installation will occupy the courtyard at MoMA/P.S.1 throughout the summer and provide a backdrop for the museum's weekend series of Warm-Up parties. The towers are designed to cast shade for revelers and to offer a refuge from the summer heat, using the stack effect created by the chimney-like forms to cool the interior. But even more amazingly:
"It is the first sizable structure to claim near-zero carbon emissions in its construction process and, beyond recycling, it presents itself as being 100% compostable."
I highly recommend going to check out the towers before the end of the summer when they will be reclaimed by the earth, in a perfect example of thoughtful design.


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Former President
Conserving America Corporation
Conserving America Corp. is a leader in energy engineering, recommending and implementing energy reduction strategies for multi-national corporations.
Conserving America Corp. is a leader in energy engineering, recommending and implementing energy reduction strategies for multi-national corporations.
A senior management executive with a proven track record of success, John Ossenmacher has a history of achieving revenue, business growth, and profit objectives for both established and start-up businesses. Mr. Ossenmacher possesses expertise in product development and product line expansion, as well as developing key partnerships to drive profits. He has participated in company IPOs, built and motivated teams all over the world, and managed profit and loss for business divisions with revenues of more than $400 million. In his work to grow and expand companies, John Ossenmacher has remained focused on customer satisfaction and created strong customer allegiances. As President of AWE Technologies from 2003 to 2009, John Ossenmacher led the company in its study and development of online interactive services, green energy conversion and controls, and wireless platforms. Prior to joining AWE, John Ossenmacher acquired a broad base of experience through his work with a diverse range of companies and a long list of high-profile clients. He began his career at Parker Hannifin Corporation in Irvine, California, as Director of Marketing and Communications. A decade later, Mr. Ossenmacher transitioned to Pacific Scientific Energetic Materials Company, where he served as President and Corporate Executive Vice President of Marketing for the company's Energy Products Group. Four years later, John Ossenmacher relocated to Boston to assume the position of President of Electronic and Conservation Products for Sylvania Lighting International. He later returned to California to join Conserving America Corporation as President. In that role, Mr. Ossenmacher landed clients including Kaiser Permanente, Caterpillar, Coca-Cola, Nestle, and AutoNation. John Ossenmacher attended MichiganStateUniversity, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Electromechanical Engineering and a Bachelor of Arts in Marketing. He completed coursework at the University of California, Irvine's Master of Business Administration program and has received certification as an International Project Manager. John Ossenmacher continues to take courses in professional training and development and is awaiting Professional Program Management certification. He presently lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he engages in charitable work with organizations that benefit cancer research, children in impoverished countries, and orphans.
Green Technology, GreenBuilding, Philanthropy, Education, Community, Family, Country


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LONDON, June 14 (UPI) -- House prices will have to fall significantly before the average young Briton can afford to buy a new home in some parts of England and Wales, a study says.
Even though prices have slid about 8 percent since August, the decline is not enough to make homes affordable to many young families, the Daily Mail reported Saturday.
"Our analysis suggest that in almost three out of four local authorities, the price of an average house remains out of reach for people on average earnings living in the area," said John Ward, managing economist at the Center for Economics and Business Research, who carried out the research.
Researchers examined house prices in England and Wales.
The study found that in Westminster, the most expensive part of England, prices would have to fall 63 percent before homes there would be affordable to many first-time buyers.
Researchers say homes are already affordable in places such as Bradford, Coventry, Liverpool, Swindon, Milton Keynes, Plymouth, Somerset, Birmingham, Barnsley and Lancashire.
In cities deemed affordable, interest payments on a mortgage would be 25 percent or less of the buyer's gross income.


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Welcome to Holiday Tralee On-Line, the Internet magazine of all that is happening in Tralee and the surrounding area. You may also order the Holiday Tralee brochure by clicking on the following link - order the Holiday Tralee Brochure or call the Brochure Hotline on 1890 545 345.
Tralee sits in the shelter of Tralee bay, with a panorama of sea and mountains stretching into the west. Located in the heart of Kerry, the coast, lakes and mountains of the Kingdom are all within arms reach.
Tralee town is the capital of county Kerry, the hub of its affairs and home to the internationally known Rose of Tralee Festival. It offers modern facilities like the Aqua Dome and gives renewed joy in old ones - some of the world's top golf courses lie on its doorstep. In all, Tralee is the home of a great holiday. Take time to take it all in. Details of the surrounding area may be found on www.discoverkerry.com
To access the new Holiday Tralee website, please click on the link below:
Holiday Tralee


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Music and Lyrics by Mel Leven and Randy Rogel and Richard Gibbs and Brian Smith and Martin Lee Fuller and Dan Root
Book adapted by Marcy Heisler
Additional lyrics by Marcy Heisler
Music adapted by Bryan Louiselle
Music arranged by Bryan Louiselle
Based on the Screenplay by Bill Peet and the novel The Hundred and One Dalmatians by Dodie Smith
1 Act, Book Musical, Rated G
KIDS Collection Version
Based on the classic animated film, Disney's 101 Dalmation KIDS is a fur-raising adventure featuring Cruella De Vil, Disney's most outrageous villain, and 101 of the most adorable heroes to set their paws onstage.
Artistically-inclined pet owners Robert and Anita live happily in London with Dalmatian parents Pongo and Perdita, stalwart dogs devoted to raising their puppies. Everything is quiet until the monstrous Cruella De Vil, Anita's former classmate, plots to steal the puppies for her new fur coat! Join all the dogs of London as they daringly rescue the puppies from Cruella and her bumbling henchmen.


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This meeting is for all NVL network members from Finland.
Venue: SIninen huone, Venetsian talo, 2 krs, Lapinlahden entinen
Webinar with Jonas Andreasen Lysgaard
10th of September at 14 (DK, SE, NO) at 15 in Finland, at 13 (Iceland, Faroe
in initial and functional literacy for adults with non-Nordic mother tongues
By invitation only
Workshop in Reykjavik on the Future of Education for all.
October 10, 2019
A conversation with Anna Kahlson in Berlin, right after the third VPL-Biennale in May 2019.
A conversation with Ernesto Villalba in Berlin, right after the third VPL-Biennale in May 2019.
This page presents the key results and links to further material from Biennale.
Join online 7th of May
This project, based on a research study of good cases on inclusion from the Nordic countries, tries to answer the question: What is
4.4. kl 8.00-9.00 CET
Professor Bonny Norton, The University of British Columbia
Nordic conference 3 - 4 June 2019 in Copenhagen
– Connecting People and Policies
Network on Competence development in and for the workplace organizes a workshop on recognition of skills and competence at the workplace.
The VPL Biennale is calling for examples of best practice in three categories: products, procedures, policies.
The purpose of this overview is to contribute to the formation of a common language and understanding of the concept ofprior learning and
Extended deadlines for papers and abstracts. For more information see the conference page.
In this webinar, you will meet refugees and teachers who will share their experience of online learning
The 2018 VET reform is the most extensive education reform in decades in the country.
The 2030 Agenda at local level
Results from a survey among counsellors in the prison education system
Dear network, firends and partners, we invite you to our annual network meeting in Copenhagen!
Results from a research project about a Nordic quality model for validation. The model helps to identify and set focus on strategically import elements and phases in the validation process.
Place and date:
ETSC, Skipholti 50b, Friday 31st of August, from 9:30 – 11:30.
Guests /
On this seminar recent findings on education as support for rural development were presented and reflections made on what makes a silent
October 16-18, 2018
When: 19 June 2018, 1300-1400 CETS
A new law, in force since the beginning of 2018, assigns Finnish folkbildning the task of literacy and basic language education for immigrants. The new law creates a model intended to capitalize on the strengths of folkbildning: flexibility and versatility in delivery, methods and course duration. The Finnish folkbildning field delights in the more dependable, long-term resources accompanying the model but worries about the effects of the model on the freedom of folkbildning. This article takes a closer look at these hopes and anticipations and sheds light on the new integration training law and model.
Learn how to make adult education relevant and visible in mainstream media.
After Rotterdam (2015) and Aarhus (2017), the 3rd Biennale on the Validation of Prior Learning (VPL) will take place in Berlin, Germany, on May 7 and 8, 2019. Early registration starts in September.
A NVL-Distans Seminar
This interactive webinar discussed how distance learning has influenced life in rural areas. Watch how and why educational projects have had an effect on the development of rural development.
- Is there life after the end of educational projects?
The TLC model proves to be an innovative way of organising further training for adult education professionals and shows results that promote entrepreneurship.
One day workshop in Copenhagen to improve your writing skills.
We explored if online learning activities can be organized so that it would make silent learners feel more comfortable and included.
Stories from the New Nordic Education for Sustainability
"The To-Do methodology has put all local stakeholders at the heart of the development work."
Invitation to seminar - Scandic Hotel Ørnen
How do we bring about the best competence development for Nordic adult educators? What competences are needed?
25 October 2017
This report maps the perceived competence development needs of adult educators and access to common Nordic initiatives within competence development.
In our series Nordic Profiles we meet Taru Kekkonen from Finland.
Report from a Nordplus Adult Collaboration Project 2013-2015.
This Cedefop study provides a comprehensive and robust evidence base in relation to low-skilled adults in the European Union and analyses trends in low skills among adults as well as characteristics, determinants and risks of being low skilled.
for inclusion of adults in worklife and civic society
In what ways can adult education and learning contribute to better inclusion in society and to labour market integration?
Career Management Skills – What – Why – How?. Malmö, November 23-24 2017.
Nordic seminar for practitioners
Jens Bjornavold and Ernesto Villalba talks validation with Johanni Larjanko at the 2nd VPL-Biennale.
Hvordan skaber vi den bedste kompetenceudvikling for nordiske voksenlærere? Hvilke kompetencer er der brug for?
30.5.2017. Building skills among HE students and supporting refugees.
Invitation to a Discussion Forum
- for integration and inclusion of adults in work-life and civic society
9 May 2017 9.30-10.30 CET. This webinar is part of the LEK-project, where NVL is a partner.
2nd of May 2017, 14:00 (Brussels Time)
Webinar Wednesday 19 April 2017, 15.00-16.00 CET
4 May, Jönköping Sweden.
From 12 – 14th of September 2016 a Nordic conference was held at the Grand-Hotel in Reykjavik Iceland on behalf of NVL (Nordisk nätverk för vuxnas lärande).
Have the courage to speak softly, to be yourself a silent learner. Diversity matters.
This paper presents the key findings of the evaluation as well as related input for reflection and recommendations for potential ways forward.
The Nordic project Empowerment by employment is presented.
The 2017 AEDL Nordic Conference, 18-19 May 2017 Copenhagen
The October theme issue, Education and Gender, is out now!
A week full of webinars, starting 7 November 2016
Presentation of a Nordplus project on seniors and ICT.
7th Nordic Conference on Adult Education and Learning 3-5 May 2017
Jönköping University, Sweden
This is for invited participants only
This report draws on monitoring surveys completed by 139 UNESCO Member States.
Nordic seminar on Basic Skills and PIAAC.
The aim of this report and the accompanying recommendations is to improve validation methods in non-formal adult education.
On September 16 2016 the NVL DISTANS network organised a webinar with Tryggvi Thayer who has led a group of university teachers and practitioners in a very successful project to support Icelandic teachers use of ICT in their teaching.
Validation of non-formal and informal learning makes our labour markets more resilient and contributes to the integration of migrants and refugees by valuing the prior knowledge and experiences of people.
Kontakteminarium för Nordplus
..we will hear inspirational results of projects that promote sustainable development that have been carried out in a Nordic
adulteducation in education for sustainable development.
This report presents the outcomes of research, conducted between May 2014 and November 2015, into emerging practices in assessment,
"Interaction with others who are working towards the same goals but with different perspectives is probably the greatest source of new ideas I ever experience."
Caitlin Wilson - Sustainable Development Network.
- Skills of a Detective Required?
The webinar took place on 18 May at 14:00 CET.
There are most often both active and silent learners in every classroom. Online learning doesn't make an exception. Anyway, when talking about silent learners online the situation is quite much different from face to face.
"I think that now is the time to learn more together with other networks and from them."
Taru Kekkonen - Distans Network.
Publikationen præsenterer gode eksempler på nordisk og baltisk uddannelsessamarbejde inden for voksenområdet og giver et indblik i nye
A silent white coat of snow fell on Oslo as almost 50 adult education professionals from all over Europe met at the AVA expert seminar on validation at the beginning of February. The goal: an action-plan to make validation of non-formal education a reality.
Education and vocational training of prisoners in the Nordic countries.
Conference organised by The Nordic network for education in prison, Reykjavik 12/9 – 15/9 – 2016.
Join the free online course to learn more about adult learning in the 21st century. The course is free of charge and organized by EAEA.
Detta ska nätverket Entreprenøriel læring og Innovation göra 2016.
How can you prove that you have a skill? Can you grade democratic competencies? Validation in non-formal adult learning has been a thorny issue for decades. Now, we might be close to a solution. At least, that seemed to be the implicit message when more than 45 experts from all over Europe met in Oslo for a two-day expert seminar on validation.
This report looks at what role Folkbildning has in providing key competences and how this can be validated.
Finally, it is here. This second edition of the European guidelines is the result of a two-year process involving a wide range of stakeholders active in validation at European, national and/or sectoral levels.
The validation network of NVL has compiled the report "Validation and the Value of Competences. Road Map 2018". The report provides a wide overview on current validation issues.
How can competences acquired in non-formal adult education and by informal learning be measured? Is it possible to make recommendations and an action plan for validation that would be useful in all EU countries?
This publication is the product of the Nordic PIAAC Network, consisting of members from all five countries.
Fokus på nyanlända som en viktig resurs för Bornholm.
We learn everyday, all the time. We can't help ourselves, it is in our nature. In adult education we separate between formal, non-formal and informal learning. All of us use all three forms. For some reason the learning that takes place in a formal setting has come to be seen as the "best" form of learning. It is institutionalised and provides the learner with grades or other credentials/certifications at the end of the learning period.
Can you imagine a future in which machines can learn? What could it look like? Are machines going to learn with us, are they going to teach us, will they even need us?
European study on Open Educational Resources (OER) in adult education.
The purpose of the report is to establish a common ground for discussing and developing guidance in validation.
New opportunities for self-motivated and hobby-based learning are being developed for asylum seekers and native Finns in the Learning Spaces project launched by University of Eastern Finland.
Can you imagine a future in which machines can learn?
What has NVL done for validation in the Nordic countries?
Nordic Competence Profiles of Validation Practitioners and Competence Development.
Estonian participation in the PIAAC programme put to the test the expertise of the survey's conductors and the competence of its analysts.
Discussion Forum based on the results of work carried out by an NVL task-force
Has become a key competence in our daily life in the Nordic countries. And it is more than that. Digital competence can open roads to more democracy and makes new arenas for active citizenship. In a Nordplus project, Dldact, we have selected many good examples of how people in different countries have taken opportunities of digital tools to involve people in social activities and democratic processes. It is amazing how digital competence generates active citizenship.
Webinar 8 May on digital competences and democracy.
An Interview with Knud Illeris, Danish scientist and Professor in Lifelong Learning
Liberal Denmark has come into the media's focus in recent years at least twice, most recently after the terror attack in mid-February. The image of an open, inclusive and exemplary multicultural society is crumbling. What has happened? How do you, as a researcher in Adult Learning, see this latest change?
KI: I think that most people in Denmark experience the change you are mentioning, and as I see it, it is a consequence of a superior change from Denmark being a welfare state in the direction of what has been termed a competition state, i.e. that the final reason for political, organizational and administrative decisions and changes is what is supposed to be of benefit to the national economic competitiveness.
Since we last published a Newsletter (February 3), the European Adult Education InfoNet met for a Milestone Conference in Lisboa, Portugal. The conference took stock of the activities of InfoNet, not only during the preceding year, but since the beginning 10 years ago.
Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Norway, and Sweden participated in the first round of the International Survey of Adults' Skills. The survey is a product of the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) led by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The survey assessed the proficiency in literacy, numeracy, and problem-solving in technology-rich environments of adults aged 16–65. This publication is the product of the Nordic PIAAC Network, consisting of members from all five countries.
Since the end of the 1990s, participation in transnational projects as part of EU funding programmes has become an indispensable element of adult education. This kind of project work creates new research results and pedagogical findings, shapes innovative educational concepts and learning products, and organises exchanges of information and the mobility of teachers and learners. By this means, cross-border cooperation plays a role in improving the quality of education.
Adult Education and Training in Europe: Widening Access to Learning Opportunities
Adult Education and the Planetary Condition
"I wish I came here sooner", says 75-year-old Marko, who recently discovered the benefits of a library for the first time. Now he is no longer merely a retired merchant sitting at home and waiting for something to happen. He uses the library for reading papers, for computer courses and for meeting other people of his own age.
While the OECD statistics in Education at a Glance describe Ireland as having a promising outlook in that we invest more in education per student than most OECD countries, and that 93% of young people are expected to graduate from upper secondary education in their lifetimes we still have the fifth highest rate of unemployment among the OECD countries. The data show that the lower the levels of educational attainment the higher the risk there is of being unemployed.
A MOOC is a good way to offer further training for basic skills' teachers in the Nordic countries. This report explains how and why.
"Money spent on awareness is much cheaper and less painful than cure." This is philosophy behind campaigns on sexual health promotion in Malta. "We want to transmit a healthy message across the community to promote healthy lifestyle and sexual health. We use various media…" says The Director of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, Dr Charmaine. She describes the sexual health campaign in this interview.
Even though Danish feminist, Janice Foerde, was critical and sceptical towards the Millennium Development Goals from the beginning, her overall balance sheet of the process and result is not purely negative. Exactly the pragmatism and lack of ambition was probably the reason that the goals gathered such wide a backing, she thinks.
The online portal for adult education that the European Commission initiated in 2014 under the name "EPALE" (Electronic Platform for Adult Learning in Europe, http://ec.europa.eu/epale/) became accessible in several countries at the end of last year. It is planned to gradually set up this kind of national platform in each country of the European Union. To do so, the adult education department, which has been assigned to the Directorate General for Employment since the restructuring under Juncker, has provided a total of 8.3 million euros throughout Europe according to this year's annual plan. On 15 April 2015 EPALE is to be officially launched in Brussels.
Representatives of international, European and national umbrella associations, along with other experts, have met in Lisbon to instigate the development of a new online magazine on adult education. The new magazine is mainly designed to issue high-quality articles, and is to be aimed at European and international specialists. The portal is to be dedicated to a certain topic every quarter, after which a corresponding magazine-like dossier with these articles and other information will be published.
Work-based learning in continuing vocational education and training: policies and practices in Europe
Link to page
How to upgrade democracy for the Internet era, with Pia ManciniWednesday February 18th at 16.30 CET - 17.30 CET
"Educational investments and returns throughout life" was the topic of a forum that took place in Bonn in October 2014, attended by top-class individuals. In a broader sense, this event is embedded in the context of discussions on the reform of the education system in the Federal Republic of Germany, which has been part of the agenda since the mid-1990s and which has been in the public eye with great intensity since the turn of the millennium. The impulse came from the results of international comparative studies and large scale assessments (TIMS, PISA, PIACC), which exposed the weaknesses and performance gaps in the German education system. The results of the first PISA study (2001) shocked the German public.
Last week, Aarhus University hosted the international conference 'Learning Unlimited'.
This issue of InfoNet Newsletter announces the recently published issue of the LLinE web magazine about Blended Learning. The issue carries articles on good blended learning practices and initiatives of European educators. Other articles deal with research about blended learning.
On 10 October 2014 the project and network Norden for peace? hosted a seminar on Iceland.
Hjälpmedel för lärare i den virtuella djungeln
Teachers in adult primary and secondary education want further professional development and education.
To challenge something means to doubt it just as well as to dare it. "Challenging the European Area of Lifelong Learning" is the title of a Collection of articles from 37 authors, representing sort of an academic community in the field of european adult education, edited by Maria N. Gravani and George K. Zarifis. The book bases on the "Memorandum of Lifelong Learning", therefore it is organised into five parts that quasi trail the structure of the Memorandum. These five aspects represents also "the core issues that Europe faces today in relation to the idea of making a 'European Area of Lifelong Learning' a reality", so the editors voice.
The current programme of the Austrian government for adult education focuses on funding basic education and compulsory education for adults. Thanks to co-funding from the ESF, twice as many funds are available as of 2015.
Portuguese social educators want to be the main protagonists in the country's social action and education system. Their aim is to develop multi-disciplinary action in the social field to favour local community progress. At a National Meeting in Bragança, they focused on a core task for future success: knowing how to anticipate and cope with risk situations.
It was worth combining in a single publication the wide range of informal learning experiences achieved in recent years in the Portuguese Alentejo region because the publication of the book entitled Educações no Alentejo helps to stress the importance of new learning spaces and decentralisation of schools as exclusive knowledge and learning spaces.
What adult educators learn and experience in one part of Europe may inspire adult educators in other countries and help them improve the quality of their own offers. In InfoNet we consider it as one of our central tasks to facilitate this process of transnational exchange. In this issue community learning, motivating adults with low reading skills and intergenerational training are among the topics covered.
What happens to our past knowledge when we change our career profile and requalifiy ourselves for a new one? Can we use it to the benefit for ourselves and other people? The maker's movement may be the answer.
We live in an environment where most of us are trying to be experts at least one thing. We develop our knowledge day after day. It may look as a virtue thing - to push ourselves through course after course, with aim to build our well honed expertise. Truth is, that our inner motivation often plays a minor role as a trigger for such efforts.
A Nordic network is piloting a post-qualifying course for adult educators, focusing on sustainability education. The pilot emphasises learning combined with practical action.
The objective for this concept note is to contribute to a shared Nordic frame of understanding for career competences which can be used in the ongoing development of guidance in the Nordic countries.
An old adage dear to me says that we must always have old memories and young hopes. I think it is the perfect context to speak about adult education and intergenerational learning.In this context of intergenerational learning, young hopes are represented by young people, and old memories are represented by old people.
Adults with low reading and writing skills rarely take the step to attend a course. They have often managed to get through life without any continuing education courses and are ashamed to speak out about their need to make changes and learn. A confidant, such as a doctor, can support them in taking the step to take part in educational offers.
The analysis suggests that adult learning is even more important for innovation performance than higher education.
A research study in nineteen selected European and non-European countries[1] shows that the returns to adult learning are substantial and accrue to the economy, individuals and society. The analysis suggests that adult learning is even more important for innovation performance than higher education. This is explained with the fact that for example learning in the workplace through task complexity is the most important driver for innovation performance.
Effective adult learning policies can lead to a number of positive outcomes including:
Investing in low-qualified employees pays off. Even short training courses taken directly at work can give them motivation, make them more open to changes and promote efficiency. The GO model provides information on the necessary educational measures and how knowledge learnt is incorporated into daily working life.
There is a gap between generations in many European countries.
Older people don't always feel comfortable nearby youngsters in several places in Europe. At the same time young people are increasingly disoriented in society and in the labour market. A possible solution is "intergenerational education". However, vulnerable youth and seniors are, despite their differences, "in the same boat" as both groups risk marginalization in society.
In Italy and The Netherlands adult learning professionals have developed new initiatives to create cooperation and exchange between people from these two generations. This shared knowledge benefits not only individuals but also the community.
Few countries have laws that guarantee its citizens the right to lifelong learning. Sweden is one of them. This gives certain stability to our adult education. Long processes are needed to change the law, and this is not easily done, says Britten Månsson-Wallin, general secretary of the The Swedish National Council of Adult Education. Still non-formal adult education needs to be defended as an important part of lifelong learning.
To rehabilitate more offenders it is necessary to improve prison education. Understanding the special situations of prisoners and prison officers are some of the core competencies that prison teachers need according to the partners of project European Induction Support for Adult Learning Professionals.
EAEA Grundtvig Award 2014 to Book of Plans, Hopes and Dreams and Vygonoshtchi Fortress projects.
All citizens of Turkey have the right to ask for an adult education course to be opened, if they can bring together 12 people. The courses are offered free of charge by around 1.000 Public Education Centres all over the country.
This issue of InfoNet Newsletter announces the recently published issue of the LLinE web magazine about the global Millennium Development Goals (MDG) and process of defining post-2015 targets.
Master- and Doctorate-Students in Adult Education from all over Europe met for a summer academy in Brno (Czech Republic) to exchange research project ideas, learn from each other and professors from different countries and to develop their research work and research expertise. New doctorate plans were created, to research in a comparative way on adult education in Europe, common projects for the master students in different countries were developed. It is a new innovative approach to improve the research on adult education in Europe. All this was part of the European project ESRALE, and will be followed by a next in September 2015 in Belgrad (Serbia).
Writing is a skill which anybody with at least a trace of talent could practice. This common misconception creates all kinds of challenges to the adult educator in creative writing. In this article I will explain how I deal with these problems in my job teaching creative writing at the Third Age University in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
A lot of specialists in education seems to have a significant contribution in order to strengthen adult education processes. One of them is Jack Mezirow, emeritus professor of adult and continuing education at Teachers College, Columbia University in New York, researcher and author of numerous books. He has an interesting vision due to the fact that his theory makes it possible for adults to create their own learning process, which can be constructive for each situation. The strength of his "transformative learning" embraces the power of reflection. Question is which elements of this vision can contribute to a more powerful learning process in adult education.
The social, individual and religious changes and transformations have called for the revision of religious education in the 21st century. This is the subject of the important publication by Bergold/ Boschki.
The Evangelical and Catholic Church are the main providers of religious education in Germany. Since the 1970s, many local and regional religious educational institutions financed by public funding have been essential. They provide programmes not just for members of the churches, but also for the public and are generally accessible. The programmes offer a wide spectrum of topics but focus on religious education based on values and ethics.
Interview with OECD expert and PIAAC coordinator
The value of formal qualifications throughout our lifetime has not been stable for a long time. The changing employment market requires each individual to have the appropriate skills. Formal qualifications only illustrate part of what we know, what we can do and how we use cognitive, emotional and social skills - in short "competences". The OECD has therefore developed PIAAC (Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies) as a tool to measure the competencies of adults. In an interview with Andreas Schleicher, the PIAAC coordinator at the OECD, the German-language online journal "Magazin erwachsenenbildung.at" explores why the results of PIAAC have generated so little response as regards education policy in some countries like Austria for example. The full interview will be published in German on 22 October at www.erwachsenenbildung.at/magazin. The questions were compiled by Elke Gruber, Professor for Adult and Vocational Education at the University of Klagenfurt in Austria.
Folk high schools play an important role in many Swedish initiatives aimed at preventing youth marginalisation. Among the Nordic countries, Sweden has the highest proportion of unemployed and socially excluded young people.
Rapport om implementering av EQF (European Qualifications Network) och NQF (National Qualifications Network) i de nordiska länderna. Nordiska Ministerrådet, 2014
Something's happening in the beds and borders. Vegetables are beginning to compete with flowers in Swedish towns and cities. Municipal gardening projects are on the increase and there are more and more places to enjoy fresh air and meet people in busy urban environments. Growing is a part of the tradition of the Swedish popular movement that is deeply rooted in Swedish society. Now many young people want to learn more about organic cultivation and sustainability.
The first Biennale about Validation took place in Rotterdam, April 2014.The VPL Biennale is a two yearly event...
The seminar was held in Salmia Training and Development Centre, in Jyväskylä.
Experiences from Biophilia (creativity as a research method), have been tested in Iceland and are being discussed on a Nordic scale at different levels during the Icelandic presidency in 2014.
Professor Jyri Manninen explains the results of the BELL-project (Benefits of Lifelong Learning), May 2014, interviewed by Johanni Larjanko.
The Council of the European Union recommendation from 20 December 2012 urges the EU member states to have in place the necessary arrangements for validation by the year 2018. The question is how well the universities are prepared for validation of non-formal and informal learning?


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Spring Welcome Nights coming to a dorm near you!
This Spring, we will be having our Welcome Nights in the dorms! Join us for a night of good food, a thought-provoking message, and fun games!
Here are a list of the different Welcome Nights we will be having!
Thursday, January 31 at 6:30 pm "Spring Welcome Night" Location: Jester West Piano Lounge (2nd Floor)
Friday, February 1 at 6:30 pm "Discover" Location: Jester East Legends Lounge
"Koinonia Welcome Night at the Honors Quad" Location: Carothers Lobby
"Koinonia Fellowship Creekside (KFC)" Location: Creekside TV Lounge
"Your Life, Unedited" Location: Kinsolving North Lounge
Friday, February 1 at 9:00 pm "Spring Welcome Night at Dobie" Location: Dobie Dining Hall


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On Samos, Aesop's Fabled isle, a Mix of Greeks, Migrants, and Tourists. New York Times, 14 November 2018
On a Greek Island, Refugees' Hopes Are Put on Hold, Guernica, 31 August 2018
In Trouble, but Not Alone, Slate, 25 June 2018
Snapshots of Hate and Resistance: Charlottesville, VA, August, 2017, War, Literature and the Arts Journal, March 2018
How to make #MeToo stick this time, CNN, 21 November 2017
The Best Contemporary Iraqi Writing about War, Literary Hub, 12 October 2017
Why I Write About Iraqis: Novelist Helen Benedict on the obligations of fiction, Read Her Like an Open Book, 11 October 2017
"Why Imagination Matters", Powell's Book Blog, 10 October 2017
"The Mnemonic Library: A Reading Experiment", Blog posted on The Quivering Pen, David Abram's literary site, 8 May 2014
"Reporting on Afghanistan in the Shadow of the 'I'", Los Angeles Review of Books, 1 February 2014
"Why Argument Belongs in Fiction", The Brooklyn Quarterly, Fall 2013
"How do we cover wrongdoing in the military when soldiers don't want to be labeled victims?", Columbia Journalism Review, 25 January 2013
"Research in Fiction -- Necessary but Dangerous", The Center for Fiction/Writers on Writing
"Covering Rape Responsibly", Women's Media Center, 1 February 2013
"Why I Wrote a War Novel", The Cafe at On the Issues Magazine, August 2011
"The Frightened Muse", Originally posted on Featurewell.com in 2001 and revised in 2006
"Fiction vs. Nonfiction: Wherein Lies the Truth", Poets & Writers Magazine,November / December 2001
"The Military Has a Man Problem", Politico, August 2015
"The Moral Confusion of Post-War America", Guernica, May 2014
"Military Women's Long March to Equality," Philadelphia Inquirer Op-Ed, 26 January 2013
"The hidden side of women's military service: sexual assault", Columbia Journalism Review, January 2013
"A Call for Change: Helen Benedict on The Lonely Soldier and The Invisible War", Signature, July 2012
"New Act Could Fix the Military's Fatally Flawed Handling of Sexual Assault", Ms. Magazine blog. 17 November 2011
"War: A Love Story", On the Issues Magazine, February 2011
"The Private War of Women Serving in Iraq", Dart Center, Jan 2011
"Women at War," a series of blogs for PBS, POV for PBS, 17 February 2010
"The Scandal of Military Rape", Ms. Magazine, 2008 *Winner of EMMA, Exception Merit in Media Award, from the National Women's Political Caucus
"Drowning in the Garden of Eden: an op ed on global warming", The Washington Post, 22 November 2009
"The Plight of Women Soldiers", The Nation, 18 May 2009
"When Johnny Comes Marching In", The New York Times, 10 April 2009
"Betrayal in the Field: An excerpt from The Lonely Soldier", Columbia Magazine, April 2009
"Women at War Face Sexual Violence", BBC News, 17 April 2009
"How to Lie With Statistics", Huffington Post, 20 March 2009
"Violent Veterans: The Big Picture", Huffington Post, 14 January 2009
"For Women Warriors, Deep Wounds, Little Care", The New York Times Op-Ed, 16 May 2008
"Why Soldiers Rape", In These Times, 13 August 2008
"The Private War of Women Soldiers", Salon.com, 2007 *Winner of James Aronson Award for Social Justice Journalism, 2007
Radio essay on military sexual abuse, Academic Minute broadcast, WAMC
"Tone Deaf: Learning to Listen to the Music in Prose", Poets & Writers Magazine, Nov/Dec 2001


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Once you add the photos you want to a Dropbox folder on your desktop, use this method to quickly upload them to Instagram on your iOS device!
If you'd like to attend a free webinar going into more detail about how to do this, just leave a comment below. Thanks!


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Over the past two week in SojournKids, we've studied Luke 1:26-38 and Luke 2:4-20. On December 19th, we learned about how Jesus' birth was foretold. We learned that:
- God chose the young virgin, Mary, to be Jesus' mother.
- Mary humbly obeyed God and praised Him.
- Jesus is the Son of God.
Then, on December 26th, we studied Jesus' birth in Bethlehem. We learned that:
- Jesus was born in a stable, because there was no room in the Inn.
- Mary wrapped Jesus in cloth and laid him in a manger.
- Angel warriors announced his birth to poor shepherds.
If you didn't get a chance to grab the SojournKids "at home" sheets, you can download them here.