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Those who knew civil rights activist MarShaw McCarrel are struggling to reconcile his suicide on Monday night with the inspirational life he led.
The young community leader, who was known for his Black Lives Matter advocacy and community activism efforts, shocked the Columbus community on Monday night when he was found dead outside the Ohio State House, with an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound.
While his loved ones say Mr. McCarrel's death came as a surprise, a cryptic Facebook status posted hours before his death suggested that he may have been struggling with depression or other mental health issues. "My demons won today. I'm sorry," it read.
That update was an anomaly on McCarrel's usually uplifting and motivating page.
"We waste so much time not loving each other," he wrote Saturday.
"Hey Everybody!! These past few weeks have produced some of the most incredible, nerve wrecking, stressful, eye opening, times of my life," McCarrel posted on Jan. 21.
Just last week McCarrel attended the NAACP's Image Awards after being recognized as a 'Hometown Champion' by Radio One for his work in the community. His work with the homeless and in the Black Lives Matter movement earned him local recognition as a community leader.
"Shawn made an incredible impact and was such a light for literally thousands of people," Molly Shack, an organizer with the Ohio Student Association, told The Columbus Dispatch. "The ripples around him go very far."
Police are not ready to draw any conclusions about why McCarrel killed himself or why he chose to do so in front of the State House, but some activists who knew him well have suggested that he had intended his death to be a final gesture of political activism.
"The Statehouse was no accident," Molly Shack, an organizer with the Ohio Student Association, told The Dispatch. "We've been working so hard, and yet the conditions for the people in our community and the people that he loved and cared about are still so hard. I have to imagine that that burden weighed a lot on him."
Another OSA organizer, James Hayes, told the Ohio paper that McCarrel made his motives as obvious as possible.
"He didn't want any mysteries," he said. "That's why he went where he went."
Still others say McCarrel's death had nothing to do with his activism efforts.
"People commit suicide in public for lots of reasons, sometimes you can decipher what the message was and sometimes you can't," Jason Hershberger, chair of the Department of Psychiatry at Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center, told USA Today. "Sometimes there is a hope that someone could intervene and may have nothing to do with the politics."
Regardless of motivation, relatives and peers mourn the leader's death.
"In 27 years, I've never had a student who I was more proud of than MarShawn," his high school teacher Steve Shapiro told The Dispatch. Mr. Shapiro regularly asked McCarrel back to speak with current students. "I saw him as a shining star in the future of civil rights."
"He just wanted to serve people," said MarShawn's twin brother, MarQuan.


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Cover: $20 // Show: 8:00pm
Trumpeter Duane Eubanks has performed everywhere from the Hollywood Bowl to Carnegie Hall to the Kennedy Center, in addition to touring throughout Europe and Japan. He is a member of Dave Holland's two time GRAMMY Award winning big band and the late Mulgrew Miller's band, Wingspan. His highly successful musical family: his mother is pianist Vera Eubanks, Kenny Barron's first piano teacher and a professional church pianist; and his brothers — renowned trombonist Robin Eubanks and guitarist Kevin Eubanks, former bandleader of the "Tonight Show with Jay Leno"; as well as his uncle, the late legendary pianist Ray Bryant—saw his potential at a young age and persuaded him to pursue music. He has worked with a long list of major jazz artists including notably Elvin Jones, Mulgrew Miller, Dave Holland and with contemporary artists such as Rhonda Ross, Kirk Franklin, Alicia Keys, and Talib Kweli. His recent album releases, the critically acclaimed,Things of that Particular Nature and DE3: Live at Maxwell's have been well received by Jazz affectionados all over the world. Duane is currently on faculty at Brooklyn Music School.

subset: commoncrawl


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2014 Besty Ross Winner featured in Newspaper Article/
Flag dealer flies high as Betsy Ross winner
Kerry McCoy has draped herself in success as the founder and owner of Arkansas Flag and Banner. Her 40 years in the flag-distribution and repair business recently earned her the highest honor in the industry, the Betsy Ross Award, from the Chicago-based National Independent Flag Dealers Association.
When asked what it was like to be lauded by her peers, McCoy said: "Frankly, I should have gotten it a long time ago."
"I have been on the cutting edge of this stinkin' industry for the last 20 years," she said, laughing.
McCoy, who will turn 60 this year, talks candidly about her personal life and business struggles.
Annual revenue at Arkansas Flag and Banner — more commonly known by its Web domain name, flagandbanner.com — has been stagnant around $3 million for the past five years, Mc-Coy said. What the industry needs is another patriotic event, she said.
In the 1970s, flag sales were driven by the nation's bicentennial; in the 1980s, they were affected by the release of Bruce Springsteen's iconic tune "Born in the U.S.A."; in the 1990s, Operation Desert Storm prompted American flag sales; and in the 2000s, flag receipts were bolstered by the tragedy surrounding the 9/11 terrorist at- tacks.
"About once a decade — and I'm waiting on this decade — something happens, and patriotism surges," Mc-Coy said.
The Internet was a gamechanger for flag distributors after 9/11, she said. Flagandbanner.com makes and sells flags and banners, mostly custom corporate banners such as the ones seen at the Clinton Presidential Center, Main Street and the River Market. Most American flags are made by a well-established, multigenerational company, Roseland, N.J.-based Annin Flagmakers.
Flagandbanner.com does, however, repair flags, such as the giant ones flying high over car dealerships and at large office buildings. Those cost about $5,000 each and last about only three months, McCoy said.
"We keep cutting the ends off and cutting the ends off and repairing them, repairing them and repairing them … until they turn pink and purple or get caught in a really bad storm and ripped beyond repair," she said.
McCoy has a degree in fashion merchandising and enjoys sewing. She started the company at age 20 with door-to-door sales of flags, then added the sewing department, all in a North Little Rock location.
McCoy's initial investment was $400. She had other jobs, such as being a cocktail waitress for nine years, until the company made enough to pay the bills. She moved the company to a historical building at 800 W. Ninth St. in Little Rock in the early 1990s and now has about two dozen employees.
Creating a presence on the Internet in 1995 did not go as smoothly as she had hoped.
"Nobody knew what they were doing," she said. "We just kept throwing money at it, and everything was wrong. Consumers weren't prepared to do it yet. It was like a hole where all my money went."
The company suffered another setback around 2012, when flagandbanner.com upgraded its old technology and Web presence.
"I did it completely wrong," she said.
She blames the company she hired to do the work. She said she lost 18 years of search engine optimization, which meant flagandbanner. com lost its top spot on Internet search engines.
Sales dropped $600,000 that year, she said. McCoy was paying more out to try to fix the problem, and the move nearly bankrupted the company.
"My expenses went through the roof. My expenses went through the floor," she added.
It took two full years to recover financially.
The group that gave Mc-Coy the Betsy Ross Award was formed by her and a handful of other flag dealers about 20 years ago as a collective voice with Annin and two other major U.S. flag manufacturers — Detra Flag Co. and Valley Forge Flags.
Membership numbers ebb and rise, but it now has about 70 members, said President Kim Griebling of Custom Flag Co. Inc. of Westminster, Colo. The Betsy Ross Award is considered the most valuable player in the industry, she said.
"She is very dedicated to our industry and is very helpful to our other flag dealers, which is what our association is all about," Griebling said. "It's about being a source to each other."
McCoy has four adult children, none of whom are expected to follow her in the business. Her oldest daughter went to work at the company, and it was a mistake, she said.
"She worked here all her life, and we ruined her," the mother said. "There was never that division between parent and employer."
Now momma McCoy and her husband have made an edict: None of the kids can work at flagandbanner.com until they're 30 — regardless of the circumstances.
"You have to let somebody else teach your kids how to be a good employee," McCoy said.
"You can't do that."


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I love what I do, which is taking photos, still mainly surf related. Then applying them to uses, whether it is making books, selling the images via the Galleries, working for a contest organiser or the more obvious; direct contracting to a brand. Over the last few years Copious has become one of my best clients, we do a shoot a season. The founding owner of Copious, Cale, is a good mate. We've known each other for 20 years. Sometimes it is hard to figure out which part of the shoot is work and what is play. We make sure the shoots are fun, and because Copious is based in board culture what we are shooting is what we love anyway.
We have been trying to work a season shoot around the concept of an Island mission, an old school Island day. The walk along the beach, hanging in the dunes between surfs, surfs, the trudge home. Spring didn't work out- alternate shoot, Summer, well we all know how bad summer was for waves... but Autumn...now we are getting east groundswells.. So with a nice wee swell running Saturday was the day. Team riders, Lee Ririnui, Shaun Boucher and Harper Mcbride organised, Phil Josephs very kindly providing the boat. 5am alarm set.
Here's a visual account of the day, minus the clothing shoots, you'll have to go over to Copious.co.nz to see those.
On The Telly
Just being a complete nerd... and squealling like a little girl- here's 800 Words take 2... The loosely Piha based TV hit airs both here and in Aussie. Last night's episode [season 2, ep 11] featured this scene, and yep that would be the CP print again. The conversation kind of went like this 'Hey we're shooting on location and we love your print on the wall, are you ok with it being in shot?" - 'Farrrk yes I AM! Go for it that would be cool as! '
Just click on the image if you want to see more detail...and of course- purchasing options
This image from another Island session was added to the waves Gallery last year... big things are happening with it, but I can't tell you until June. And yes that happens to be Cale in the foreground. Simply click on the image to view it larger and of course purchasing options


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Running time : 27:22 min
Actors : Samuel O'Toole, Duke Ryder
Samuel O'Toole has an ATV sitting around in his garage just collecting dust, so he's decided to sell it on the internet. Duke Ryder has answered the ad, come over to take a look, and is now fighting the hard-on he has in his pants for the damn thing. It's sweeter in person than the pics suggested, and Duke has got stars in his eyes now that he's sitting in the driver's seat. Only one problem: He's about $500 short of Sammy's asking price. Now $500 is a decent amount of bread that Sammy cannot just overlook or pardon. However, Sammy is a man of opportunity, and he realizes that sometimes opportunity is hiding and needs to be unearthed, sometimes opportunity needs to be seized, and sometimes opportunity is $500 short with a really nice ass.Considering the parameters, Sammy has a pretty good idea of how Duke can square up and make the deal. And Duke knows it, so he hits his knees and begins to take Sammy's massive cock into his mouth. Slobbering on Sammy's knob for a while, Sammy is convinced this is a negotiation where everyone will win, so he bends Duke over and begins to fuck him up against the Quad. Now when Duke was straddling the ATV, he thought to himself, �Wow, all this power between my legs...� but needless to say, once Sammy enters his back door he realizes that the real machine between his legs isn't a yellow off-road quad.Give him the full throttle Sammy, and get your money's worth!Enjoy!


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MARTIN O'Neill will leave the door open for Mark Delaney to win himself a new contract at the club, making it clear that the Welsh international will be given all the assistance he needs to make a comeback.
The 30-year-old full-back underwent knee surgery in the United States last month and will be out for at least the next three months.
He is due back in America to see surgeon Richard Steadman next week for a check-up, when he will be hoping to get the all-clear to begin his recuperation.
Delaney is out of contract at the end of the season and is concerned that his eight-year stint at the club could be nearing its conclusion.
Just as in Chris Sutton's case, O'Neill will give both players the best opportunity to win new deals.
He said: "I will rule absolutely nothing out because I am not in the position to do so. I would prefer to see what happens.
"In terms of his rehabilitation I would like to think that, even if it goes beyond his contract, that we would be pretty receptive to anything Mark wants to do here.
"I wouldn't want the issue to be a major concern to him at this moment - this rushing to get fit because your contract ends on the June 30, or whatever.
"He is in a position, he knows himself, that he falls within that strange time element where probably he will be fit by the time his contract expires. I have told Mark not to worry too much about trying to break deadlines and then we'll see where we are."
O'Neill has got a lot of time for Delaney and he also has a great empathy with the defender.
He, himself, had to retire from the game early in February 1985 when he was advised not to have an operation on his knee in a bid to make it to the 1986 World Cup.
But he saw it buckle after a short stint at Chesterfield while playing in a testimonial against Manchester United for Cambridge.
"Mark is still on crutches but he's pretty pleased with the way things have gone," added O'Neill. "All the signs are positive and he is in a very positive frame of mind."
Delaney was on the bench against Newcastle in August but has ultimately paid the price for a ligament injury he picked up against Manchester City in the FA Cup exactly a year ago tonight. O'Neill can understand Delaney's fears about his future.
"I have been there myself as a player with an injury and a contract running out," he said. "He has his own frustrations at the injuries which are debilitating.
"They are the worst thing in the world for a professional player."


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Virtual Live Reading of "Path of Three Hundred: Volume 1" - The Entire Book/
Who wants to have a true story of self-discovery and Adventure read to them?
Think of this as a way to bring Positive Energy into your life for a couple hours each week with your Facebook feed offline, no TV News channels blasting negativity into your world unsolicited, etc...basically a lesson on how to maintain Your Peace while a storm is swirling around you. Current events will not be discussed directly, but this story is about how to deal with massive challenges in life and come out of any situation with a smile on your face and peace in your heart.
One of my favorite quotes is on a coffee cup given to me, which is part of the story:
Two days a week, Tuesdays and Thursdays at 8pm EST/5pm PST, every week until the book is completed, I will be reading my book, "Path of Three Hundred: Volume 1," from beginning to end. Each reading will be about 45 minutes with about 15 minutes of Q&A following the reading, for a total of about 1 hour. If we go longer, that's cool with me.
The first reading, Day One, will begin on Tuesday, January 31, 2017. Day Two will be Thursday, February 2, 2017. This will repeat each week until we finish the book...about four weeks. I will update the event times each week in order to keep this event live until we finish.
Call this number Conference Line: 1-712-770-8041 and enter the conference Code: 879568 at 8pm EST/5pm PST Tuesday, January 31, 2017 and let's have some fun.
I will record each session and post a link in the Facebook Event discussion feed in case anyone misses a live reading. Click HERE for the Facebook Event if you want to keep track that way. Know that I will create links to the recordings under the "Books" tab on this website also.
You do not have to purchase a copy of the book, you can just sit where you are, put the call on speaker or whatever, and listen by yourself or with your fellows.


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This article needs additional citations for verification. (November 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)
This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. (October 2018)
|Total population
|15,000 (2014 census)
|Regions with significant populations
|Pankisi Gorge, Khevsureti, Tusheti and Kakheti (Georgia)
|5,700 (2014)[1]
|Chechen, Georgian
|Sunni Islam, animistic folk religion, Christianity
|Related ethnic groups
|Chechens, Ingush, and Bats and other Northeast Caucasian peoples
The Kists (Georgian: ქისტები kist'ebi, Ingush, Chechen: Kistoj, Kisti) are a Nakh ethnic group in Georgia. They primarily live in the Pankisi Gorge, in the eastern Georgian region of Kakheti, where there are approximately 9,000 Kist people. The Kists are not to be confused with the historical "Kists", an ethnonym which was used by many Greek and Georgian chroniclers to mainly refer to the Ingush.
The Kist people's origins can be traced back to their ancestral land in lower Chechnya. In the 1830s and 1870s they migrated to the eastern Georgian Pankisi Gorge and some adjoining lands of the provinces of Tusheti and Kakheti. Named "Kists" (ქისტები) in Georgian, they are closely related culturally, linguistically and ethnically to other Nakh-speaking peoples such as Ingushes and Chechens, but their customs and traditions share many similarities also with the eastern Georgian mountaineers.
Around the same region of Georgia, there is also a related but still different community of Nakh origin called Bats.
In 1886, a total of 2,314 Kists were recorded as living in Georgia. In the Russian Imperial Census of 1897, there were 2,502 Chechens living in Georgia, of which 2,397 lived in the Tionetskiy District (which included the Pankisi Valley). In the Soviet Census of 1939, the number of Chechens living in Georgia was recorded at 2,533 people.[3]
Geographic distribution
Currently there are six Kist villages in Pankisi: Duisi, Dzibakhevi, Jokolo, Shua Khalatsani, Omalo (different from the village of Omalo in Tusheti), and Birkiani. The Kist community remains quite small and are scattered across northeast Georgia, but in the past decade the number of residents in the Pankisi area has at least doubled due to an influx of refugees from the neighboring Chechnya.
In 1989, it was calculated that Pankisi was about 43% Kist, 29% Georgian and 28% Ossetian, but many of the Ossetians later fled as a result of the more hostile situation due to the Georgian-Ossetian conflict.[4]
Relationships between the local Ossetians and Georgians and between the Kists and Ossetians have become tense, but remains largely peaceful as of today. The Ossetian inhabitants are sympathetic to the Chechen refugees, whom they see as protecting them against oppression by the Kists. The Ossetians feel pressured by the Kists and have been leaving their villages in the Pankisi Gorge to resettle in Northern Ossetia. Because they often cannot sell their properties, they leave behind cultivated lands and houses built over many generations. Kists and Chechen refugees have settled in these abandoned houses. In this manner, the Ossetian villages of Dumasturi, Kvemo Khalatsani, and Tsinubani were vacated from 1998 to 2002.[citation needed]
The early history of the Kist people is not well known and there are few sources mentioning their traditions, culture and history. The only historical sources available about the ethnic Kists in the area of Pankisi are found in the Georgian press, dated in the 1880s by E.Gugushvili, Zakaria Gulisashvili, Ivane Bukurauli, and Mate Albutashvili (ethnic Kist).
One of the greatest Georgian poets Vazha-Pshavela dedicated his epic Aluda Ketelauri and The Host and the Guest to the story of Kist-Khevsur conflict which occurred in the 18th and 19th centuries. Based on religious and cultural difference, both Caucasian peoples were engaged in fierce fighting. Vazha-Pshavela celebrates heroism of both peoples and underlines the senselessness of their conflict.
During the Second World War, the Kists were the only Chechens in the Soviet Union who were not deported by Stalin in 1944.[5]
During the Second Chechen War, the Kists gave shelter to about 7,000 refugees from Chechnya.[citation needed]
The majority of Kists adhere to religion made up of syncretized Sunni Muslim beliefs with animistic folk religion religion.[citation needed] Small pockets of Christian Kists still remain in Pankisi, Tusheti and Kakheti. To this day, the Kists worship the Khevsur sacred places (jvari) and make sacrifices to the Anatori jvari near the Khevsureti village of Shatili, which is located at the Georgian-Chechen border. The Anatori jvari was also considered sacred by Chechens in Maisti and Melkhisti. Highlanders from both the northern Caucasus and Georgia participated together in religious celebrations until the borders were closed. Although today the Kists pray in the mosque in the village of Duisi, they also pray at the sites of old, now-ruined Christian sanctuaries. The Christians among them and some Folk followers pray in Saint George church in the village of Joqolo and attend the religious celebration Alaverdoba in the Alaverdi Monastery of Kakheti. Additionally, Kists celebrate Tetri Giorgoba, a local variation of St George's Day.
When the Kists first arrived in the valley in the early 19th century from Chechnya and Ingushetia, their religious practices included both Islam and their original Nakh religion, with some overlap with the indigenous beliefs of their highland Georgian neighbors. There were also Christian influences. In the latter half of the 19th century, the Russian government pressured the Kists to convert to Orthodox Christianity, and there were various episodes of mass baptisms and church construction. In 1902, Kists who had remained Muslim constructed a mosque in Duisi, but the Russian government refused to recognize it. The Duisi mosque was forcefully closed, along with other religious structures after the Bolshevik revolution, and not reopened until 1960. Sanikidze notes that many Kists, regardless of their designation, have a mix of Muslim, Christian and indigenous religious practices.[6]
The position of Islam strengthened among the Kists in the Soviet period, in part because "wandering" mullahs continued to proselytize and managed to persuade many to convert to Islam, a process that continued into the 1970s. In sum, over the years considerable numbers of Kists became Christian, but most of those who did later reconverted to Islam. Even so, until around 1970, a considerable part of the villagers of Jokolo, Omalo, and Birkiani were Christian, and a Christian chapel was built in Omalo in the 1960s. In the 1970s, however, many Christians in Jokolo and Omalo returned to the Islamic faith. Only Birkiani has a majority Christian population today. There is also a small community of Kists in Kakheti (a region of Georgia bordering on the Gorge), mainly in the city of Telavi, who consider themselves Orthodox Christians.[7]
The Kists remained faithful to their family traditions and customs. To this day, they identify themselves as Chechen, and for official purposes declare themselves of Georgian nationality. They are typically bilingual in Chechen and Georgian.
The Kists represent the majority of the population in all Kist villages of the Pankisi Gorge, with the exception of a few Georgian families. In the Northern Caucasus, the Chechens and to a certain extent the Ingush officially registered father's names as family names. The Kists did not follow this practice. Instead, after migrating to Georgia, the Kists started adding the Georgian endings to their patrimonial names, particularly suffix -shvili (meaning "child" in Georgian), or sometimes suffix -dze (which means "son" in Georgian), or still other times the Georgian suffix -uli (indicating "belonging to" or "descended from"). In this manner, Kist family names were established.
A family's guest was treated with great respect. Men, usually the eldest man of the family, would greet the guest. The guest would then be seated in the most honorable place. The guest was not simply the guest of one particular family, but of the whole village and, in some cases, the whole canyon. Even today, this tradition is strictly maintained.
See also
- ^ [1]
- ^ Russian Census 2010: Population by ethnicity Archived April 24, 2012, at the Wayback Machine (in Russian)
- ^ http://www.ethno-kavkaz.narod.ru/rngeorgia.html
- ^ George Sanikidze. "Islamic Resurgence in the Modern Caucasian Region: "Global" and "Local" Islam in the Pankisi Gorge" (PDF). Src-h.slav.hokudai.ac.jp. p. 264. Retrieved 2013-11-24.
- ^ http://www.kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/257841/
- ^ Sanikidze. Islamic Resurgence in the Modern Caucasian Region: "Global" and "Local" Islam in the Pankisi Gorge. Page 266-270.
- ^ George Sanikidze. "Islamic Resurgence in the Modern Caucasian Region: "Global" and "Local" Islam in the Pankisi Gorge" (PDF). Src-h.slav.hokudai.ac.jp. Retrieved 2013-11-24.
- Shorena Kurtsikidze & Vakhtang Chikovani, Ethnography and Folklore of the Georgia-Chechnya Border: Images, Customs, Myths & Folk Tales of the Peripheries, Munich: Lincom Europa, 2008.
External links
- Georgia's Pankisi Gorge: An Ethnographic Survey
- Ethnic Groups in Georgia #5 - Kists. The Georgian Times. April 11, 2008.


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2 Hour Course
Show Course ID: 0
Approved By: Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control
This course will fulfill 2 of your required hours for Delaware water operators.
This course will provide a basic understanding of electrical concepts a water operator may need in the course of their career. Students who take this course will learn about:


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An analytics case study by In Marketing We Trust
Effective data tracking is the key to leverage our client's strengths. A better understanding of visitor behaviours leads to an efficient inbound marketing strategy and relevant redesigns. To reduce the discrepancy between analytics data and the client's system sales data, and to amplify the client's visibility, we configured the Analytics property and updated the GTM container.
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As I said in the last post, the end is in near! My time here at the MATD program in Reading is quickly (and unfortunately) approaching its end. I have just submitted my typeface to the department head, Gerry Leonidas. Now, all I have left to do is finish designing an awesome specimen book and write a short "Reflection on Practice" paper. Once I have done these two things, I will get on a long flight back to ATX. So, on July 25th I will be leaving the rainy, old, beautiful land of Britain to go back to Texas. Really excited for this, but it's honestly quite bittersweet. The program, travels, friends, and even the food will be greatly missed. The amazing libraries and reading rooms where I have had access to unbelievably old, priceless, beautiful manuscripts & books will now only be able to be visited through memories, photographs, and scans. The professors who have encouraged me to create (in my opinion) one of the best piece of design I have ever done will never be forgotten and can probably never be properly thanked. There have been many difficulties, and many more to come, but I believe my time (and money) here has been well spent. Cheers to the MATD!
I will go back to Waco and hang around with my girlfriend, family, and friends for a couple of weeks then I'm off again to start a new chapter of my life. Some time in August I will be moving to New York City to start a career in the Typographic Arts! I have always wanted to move to NYC, but never felt really prepared until now. Thankfully I have some ridiculously awesome friends up in the five boroughs that have helped my find a place to live and have even give me leads to jobs. Huge shout out to my bros Corey Hale, Jeff Rogers, and Ryan Feerer.
As they say in England, massive thanks to these top lads. Could not be where I am today if it wasn't for their help!


text: > The following packages have unmet dependencies: > lxde: Depends: lxde-core (>= 0.3.2.1+svn20080509-6) but it is not > going to be installed > E: Broken packages if you append lxde-core to the list of packages to install, another package will turn up, "not going to be installed" (it would be nice, if apt could show at _once_ what package is at the root of that dependency tree instead of making the user add package to package to find out by himself). the package missing indeed is lxmenu-data. searching for that name, you will find there's a package (somehow) called lxmenu-data_0.1-1_all.deb and that name in turn leads to > http://people.linux.org.tw/~andrew/debian/lxde/lxmenu-data/lxmenu-data_0.1-1_all.deb if someone with more knowledge of the debian internal cann explain, why a package so crucial (it is impossible to install debian lxde without) and yet so simple (judging from the contents) could be missing, i'll be gratefull.


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Whenever I post a recipe for something less healthy, I usually feel the need to include a disclaimer about my diet normally involving vibrant, healthy, whole foods. Well not today! Yesterday was the second annual International Vegan Junk Food Day, an in its honour here is my unapologetically unhealthy sausage roll recipe.
Sausage rolls were the first thing I ever cooked for Mr Veg, so they hold a particularly special place in my heart. Delicious food and with no animals harmed, I think that's a pretty good start to a new relationship.
It is entirely serendipitous that one sheet of puff pastry is exactly the right amount for one packet of sausage mix. It's like the universe wants it to happen. If you wanted to make sausage rolls from other ingredients, roughly equal weights of pastry and filling would normally be a good place to start.
Recipe (makes 16 small or 8 large sausage rolls):
- 1 sheet ready-rolled puff pastry (375g) – store-bought puff pastry is usually vegan, but please check the ingredients first
- 1 packet of veggie sausage mix (150g dry weight)
- Herbs and spices (optional)
- A small amount of oil, for greasing the baking sheet
- A small amount of non-dairy milk, for brushing
- Preheat the oven to 200˚C. Lightly grease a large baking sheet.
- Make up the sausage mix according to the packet instructions. I like to jazz it up with extra herbs and spices, but this is optional.
- Unroll the pastry sheet. Leaving it on the backing paper for now, and cut it in half lengthwise.
- Spread half of the sausage mix lengthwise along the middle third of each pastry rectangle. This is the only slightly fiddly bit, I find it easiest to put small spoonfuls of the mixture along the pastry, and then spread it out with my fingers.
- Brush a small amount of non-dairy milk along one of the edges of the pastry; this will help the pastry stick together.
- Carefully take the edge of the pastry that you didn't brush with milk, and fold it over the sausage mix.
- Continue rolling, so the edge you rolled onto the sausage mix now goes onto the edge you brushed with milk. This double layer of pastry (the seam) should stay underneath.
- Using a sharp knife, cut the rolls to your preferred size.
- Keeping the seam underneath, transfer the sausage rolls from the backing paper to the greased baking sheet. Prick each sausage roll with a fork to allow any steam to escape.
- To help the sausage rolls brown, brush each one lightly with more non-dairy milk.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the pastry is cooked through and golden. Enjoy hot or cold.


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Singer Sheryl Crow's sons know her hits and have also taken the liberty to change up the words to them.
In an interview with Us Weekly, Crow said her sons, Wyatt and Levi, are "really into music" and taking piano lessons. When asked if they know mom's songs, Crow mentioned the boys gave one of her hits, "All I Wanna Do," a makeover.
"They write their own lyrics to my music," she said. "It's always potty stuff. Like, 'All I wanna do is poop on you.'"
In addition to rewriting their mother's songs and attending music lessons, the boys also like karaoke and Disney Channel's "Phineas and Ferb." Crow said Levi also just learned to ride a bike without training wheels.
Crow adopted Wyatt in 2007 and Levi in 2010. In April, she told People that adopting them was "the biggest everlasting event that has informed everything."
She also described herself as a "super geeky mom" who likes singing the pop music her kids enjoy in the car.
"We listen to the radio on the way to school, and I'm constantly bopping along to The Chainsmokers," she told People. "The kids are like, 'Mom, quit dancing!' They think I'm the biggest goofball on the planet."


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7 experts share the secrets to the best sex of your life.
What happens when you ask the foremost love, relationship and sex experts in the world for their favorite tips, tricks and sex positions? You get a lot of useful information. It was hard picking just a few favorites, but here's what we thought was the cream of the crop.
1. Focus On Self-Pleasure
"Try making solo sex a priority for a month. Make a goal to grow your solo sex repertoire. Learn to orgasm on your own. Learn what your body is hungry for."
2. Learn to Touch
"The foundation of sex is touch, but most of us never learn how to use our hands to give pleasure. Take the time to master the skills of massage and erotic touch and you'll unlock way more pleasure. The hand is the best sex toy ever invented — and you never need to change the batteries!"
3. Take Notes
"Being great in bed is learned through practice, guidance, paying attention to the guys' sounds and moves and books. Not sure if you're good? Ask questions like, 'What did you most like?' or 'Do you like it better when I use my hands, too, or just my mouth?' But don't ask him how you did during or even immediately after sex. Instead, ask a few hours later, in a place where you both feel relaxed, open, and interested in communicating."
4. Say Yes
"Instead of thinking up excuses for why you don't want to have sex with your partner, coming up with reasons why you don't want to attempt something new like role play or light bondage, and denying your own fantasies, what if you just said yes and allowed yourself to be open to the experience? Opening yourself up to the possibilities allows you to connect more deeply with your partner — and your own desires."
5. Ladies First
"We recommend always bringing her to orgasm before penetration. This strategy takes the pressure off of his performance, makes intercourse way more pleasurable and guarantees both of you feel satisfied every time!"
6. Connect On Multiple Levels
"Great sex is much more than a physical act. When you and your partner are connected on multiple levels, such as mentally, emotionally and spiritually, your sex life will be even better than you could have imagined."
7. Use Your Mouth
"Dirty talk. It will instantly change your sex life. More than you talking, you've got to get your guy to start talking. In fact, the guy should do 95 percent of the talking. How do you get him to open his mouth? Be the example. You first. Adding dirty talking to your sexual routine will allow you to orgasm longer, harder and more!"
8. Focus on Feeling
"All too often, women are anxious about what they look like in bed. We recommend focusing on your sensations. Close your eyes, go inside and pay attention to sensation. Once you realize how much pleasure your body is capable of feeling, your self-esteem will shoot through the roof!"
9. Arouse All 5 Senses
Touch: satin sheets, smooth skin. Smell: candles, oils. Taste: chocolate-covered strawberries, champagne. Sight: you in sexy lingerie. Sound: relaxing, sexy music." - Lora Andersen
10. Enthusiasm. Enthusiasm. Enthusiasm!
"Nothing is hotter for your man than a partner who is enthusiastic and eager to try out new things in the bedroom. So talk dirty, take the lead every once in a while, initiate sex, and be the first to suggest a new position."


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The innovative cooler that keeps your fruit and vegetables fresher for up to 4x longer, without using electricity.
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In the extra-large VitaFresh plus drawer for fruit and vegetables, the ideal humidity can be easily set via a slider control.
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Armpit Sponge
We are all familiar with the epically horrible experience that is sweaty armpits. This awfulness can strike at anytime from particularly hot days, to grocery shopping, or Zeus forbid a public speaking engagement sweaty armpit attacks know no boundaries.
But it is more than just uncomfortable, it leaves embarrassing marks on your clothing, and requires constant washing of your sweat logged shirts. Now as of currently, their are a few "solutions" to this problem. One method to deal with armpit perspiration is to wear an undershirt. This method first came on my radar in high school, I wanted to wear the same two bad-ass Under Armour shirts everyday, but my daily adolescent sweat levels were way to high. I soon found that if I wore a shirt underneath my shirt, it could act as a sweat shield for my top shirt. Plus I got to have the double-collar-multiple-color look which was an automatic +3 cool points.
Perhaps the most popular tactic in the war on sweat is to smear chalky chemicals all over the bodily areas that manufacture the most liquid stink. This is effective, but after a while your forehead skin starts to get irritated. Plus often times this method requires multiple daily applications, who's got time for that, having to roll up your pant leg to rub smelly white stuff in your leg-pits every 3 and half hours? Obnoxious.
The point is whether your a stage fright ridden public speaker, a generally sweaty person, or just an advocate for single layered gray t-shirts....we all are trying to slay the same dragon, with the same dull sword...
Which is why the world needs ------> Armpit Sponge
The all-in-one sweat absorbing, deodorizing sponge that easily attaches on the inside of your favorite shirts. During the day this microbial resistant and highly absorbent sponge collects all of your sweat, safely storing it until the end of the day when you can wring it out and toss it in the washing machine. Leaving your favorite shirt sweat free, your self esteem intact, and your audience less grossed out
Potential slogans
"Life's tough... don't sweat it"
This section is full of the various ideas, brainstorms, and potential inventions that keep me up at night.
Feel free to steal them, create them, or sell them (I keep the ones I want to pursue a secret).
If you want to team up and get the ball rolling on one of these gold mines I am only an email away!


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A new xenial kernel has been uploaded into proposed. Note the ABI bump. The full changelog about all bug fixes contained in this upload can be found at:
https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/xenial/+source/linux-kvm/4.4.0-1055.62 -- This message was created by an automated script, maintained by the Ubuntu Kernel Team. -- Ubuntu-installer mailing list email@example.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-installer


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I think it's safe to say that I am a furniture geek. And a texture geek. And when great furniture meets great texture -- well, there may be squealing involved on my end of the PC. I don't even remember at this point how I found NOTsoBAD (henceforth known as NsB) - but I'm damn glad I did.
According to the latest NsB group notice, the design team behind the brand is Reda Bertolucci, Emilie Freund, and farahattah Shabazz. I love them all. NsB really doesn't have a huge inventory, especially not compared to a lot of my favorite places -- but what they do have really packs a punch! Without further ado...
Dinara Bed - most of what you'll find at NsB comes in many color options, and it's all amazingly lush. "Lush" is absolutely the first adjective that came to mind when I first saw the shop. I'm not sure I have any other words -- so just behold the gorgeousness:
Chabba - So exotic - and did I mention lush?
You can see the board with the color options over to the left of each piece -- in the shop, you can rez each color, too, to see it up close. You'll also notice that both of these pieces are sexbeds -- so, those of you who need the high style AND the options for gettin' freaky (and you know who you are), then NsB delivers. Take a peek at the primary animation menu -- we won't even get into the sub-menus. ;)
Leon Antique Office - I just love this, absolutely love it. The desk is gorgeous, all on its own -- but the details make this awesome beyond description.
It makes me smile everytime I look at the pics -- not that I condone any of those vices, but still -- it's just so cool! There's also a Scarface edition of the desk, complete with briefcase full of cash. :)
You know I love a great build, and NsB is gorgeous, very classical, with lots of light and shadows. They have amazing drapes (which are available for purchase) on all the windows, and I love their little shop desk, complete with sewing machine and bolts of fabric. I swoon for details like that.
Be sure to check out the DJ turntable and record collection, too. :)
I joined the NsB group when I was there, and yesterday I received a notice of several new releases. I haven't been to the shop to see them in person yet, but I like the looks of them from the preview pics in the notice! Here are two of the new releases:
When you go to visit NOTsoBAD, be sure to grab the freebie just outside the entrance. Post-it notes (pack of 10). How adorable!!


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(Written in 2009)
A Nation in search of a State
For the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the armed conflict in Mindanao has never been an insurgency as the Philippine government keeps on insisting.
Instead, the MILF sees its 28-year old fight as a just war for independence to establish the "Bangsamoro" homeland against an occupying enemy state, the Republic of the Philippines.
The MILF perceives itself as "freedom fighters" spearheading the four centuries-old war for independence by the Bangsamoro people, a struggle described by the website, Islam Online, as ". . . the longest and most enduring war in the history of the world."
The MILF holds fast to its basic belief the Philippines is an Occupying Power and its armed forces in Mindanao and Sulu, an Army of Occupation. The humiliating Military Occupation of the Bangsamoro homeland, therefore, has reduced the Bangsamoro Nation to the status of a colonized people.
Hence, the reason for being of the MILF, and the "jihad" by its "mujahideen" to liberate the Bangsamoro from the Philippines' military occupation through diplomatic and military action.
A problem begun by the U.S.
In the MILF's worldview, the independence granted the Philippines on July 4, 1946 by the United States had the effect of depriving the Moro Nation of its "inalienable right to self-determination."
"Were it not for the outbreak of the Pacific War, the Moro Nation would have been granted trust territory status like any of the Pacific islands states who are now independent or in free association with the United States of America," explained Ustaz Hashim Salamat, late founder and Chairman of the MILF, in a letter to former U.S. President George Bush in 2003.
The U.S. policy of considering the Philippines an "unincorporated territory of the United States" resulted in the U.S. administering the affairs in the Moro territories "under a separate political form of governance under the Moro Province from the rest of the Philippine Islands."
He claims the U.S. treated the Moro Nation and the Philippines as two separate entities. The U.S.' error was granting independence to the Philippines in 1946 without holding a referendum that would have determined whether the Moro Nation wanted to remain a territory administered by the U. S., or granted separate independence 50 years from the grant of Philippine independence.
Had this aborted referendum chosen independence as was likely, Bangsamoro would have become a separate State by 1996, at the earliest.
He appealed to the United States to rectify this error "that continues to negate and derogate the Bangsamoro People's fundamental right to seek decolonization under the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 1514 (XV) of 1960. For this purpose, we are amenable to inviting and giving you the opportunity to assist in resolving this predicament of the Bangsamoro People."
Bush did not reply to the letter.
The Bangsamoro remains a Nation in search of a State.
No other solution
"I am very sure that the (Bangsamoro) people will not accept any solution to the (Moro) problem other than independence," Salamat told a foreign Muslim journalist in 2001.
His view was seconded in subsequent years by his peers in the Central Committee, the MILF equivalent of a "General Staff."
MILF Central Committee member and vice-chairman for political affairs Ghazali Jaafar said in Aug. 2008 that the referendum provided in the aborted Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MoA-AD) was a way of asking the Bangsamoro people once and for all if they wanted freedom from the Philippines.
Jaafar felt this referendum among Muslims in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) would have resulted in a separate republic for the Bangsamoro—and victory for the MILF.
This has not come to pass, however, since the Philippine Supreme Court declared the MoA-AD unconstitutional on Oct. 14, 2008.
MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu has always said the MILF wants independence.
"That is the only real solution that this region should have in order to end this long conflict. I think there should be nothing less than independence, and this is what we are going to ask for in the upcoming negotiations."
Kabalu made these remarks in 2001, and the MILF's subsequent actions have shown the organization's commitment to its goal of independence for the Bangsamoro, especially through diplomacy.
Peace talks between the Philippines and the MILF resulted in the "Tripoli Agreement on Peace of 2001" that defined the guiding principles of the peace negotiations (including its mechanisms and talking points).
These subsequently became the bases for the MoA-AD.
A triumph for MILF diplomacy
The 10-year long talks that led to both the MILF and the Philippine government initialing the final draft of the controversial MoA-AD on July 27, 2008 in Malaysia is a triumph for MILF diplomacy.
The initialing, which former Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Hermogenes Esperon described as a "breakthrough," was to have led to the signing of the MoA-AD on Aug. 5 in Kuala Lumpur. Although the Philippine Supreme Court on Oct. 3 ruled the MoA-AD as unconstitutional and therefore, void, the agreement was the closest the MILF has gotten to its ultimate aim of independence for the Bangsamoro.
The MILF's preference for diplomacy and negotiation over unrelenting military action (as in the case of Taliban insurgents, for example) reflects a reality accepted by the Central Committee.
This reality is that the MILF's army, the "Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces" (BIAF), cannot by itself wrest independence through military force alone. BIAF neither has the manpower nor resources to prevail on the battlefield.
|MILF fighters
Its fighting strength, variously estimated at anywhere from 7,500 to 12,000 men of whom about two-thirds are armed, is inferior to that of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). The Philippine Army has some 30-40 battalions (each of 500 men) in Mindanao, most of whom are positioned against the MILF in the ARMM.
In addition, there are 10 battalions from the Philippines Marines in the Mindanao area, but these units are confined to the islands of Basilan and Sulu, and face both the MILF and the bandit Abu Sayyaf Group.
These government troops have been heavily reinforced in the months since Aug. 2008 following punitive attacks by "rogue" MILF troops in reaction to a temporary restraining order against the MoA-AD issued by the Supreme Court on Aug 4.
The high court issued the TRO after officials of North Cotabato and Zamboanga City filed petitions against the MoA-AD. The officials said they had not been consulted about the provisions that would include their territories in the expanded ARMM to be created under the agreement.
"A done deal"
The MILF initially described the TRO as a setback. On Aug. 5, the MILF said the MoA-AD was "a done deal" that became binding when it was initialed on July 27, and that the aborted ceremony in Malaysia of Aug. 5 was merely a formality.
Jaafar said the MILF's official position is that the MoA-AD has been signed, so it's a done deal. He dismissed as "purely an internal problem of the government" the Supreme Court's TRO.
"We are not bound by that order," Jaafar said. "It's an internal process in the government. What was committed by the government cannot be taken back."
MILF chief peace negotiator Mohaqher Iqbal said the act of initialing the agreed text of MoA-AD by the parties "constitutes a signature of the Philippine government and MILF. Initialing was in fact done with a credible third-party witness, the Malaysian government as facilitator of the talks since 2001."
Iqbal re-stated the MILF line that the MoA-AD was a "done deal" and that there was nothing to re-negotiate.
"We will not agree to any renegotiation," Iqbal said.
As it will not renegotiate the MoA-AD, the MILF was ready for war, said Iqbal. Peace talks can only re-start with the signing of the MoA-AD.
With the Supreme Court decision finally ruling the MoA-AD unconstitutional, however, the MILF reluctantly accepted that its best chance at independence had fallen short thanks to the "treachery" of the government and the complicity of the Supreme Court.
By a vote of 8-7 on Oct. 14, the Supreme Court declared the MoA-AD contrary to law and the Constitution and against the Tripoli Agreement of 2001. The 89-page decision said Esperon ". . . committed grave abuse of discretion when he failed to carry out the pertinent consultation process, as mandated by EO No. 3, RA 7160 and RA 8371.
|Philippine Army soldiers
"The furtive process by which the MOA-AD was designed and crafted runs contrary to and in excess of the legal authority, and amounts to a whimsical, capricious, oppressive, arbitrary and despotic exercise thereof. It illustrates a gross evasion of positive duty and a virtual refusal to perform the duty enjoined."
The MILF vented its anger in a sarcastic "Letter to the Supreme Court" on its website (www.luwaran.net).
"Your decision vindicated what they have always believed from the very beginning -- that this government will never be sincere in talking peace with the Bangsamoro people. Now we are faced with the world's longest running armed conflict that sees no resolution in sight. Thank you for condemning Mindanao as the next Afghanistan or Darfur in Asia."
It also "thanked" the Supreme Court for ". . . making us understand that the minority definitely has no place in this country."
BJE: a step closer to independence?
The anger of the MILF at the demise of the MoA-AD is understandable.
The MoA-AD would have paved the way for the creation of the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJE), which would have expanded the current ARMM (consisting of Sulu, Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Tawi-Tawi, Basilan and Marawi City) to include more than 700 villages in the provinces of Sultan Kudarat, Lanao del Norte and North Cotabato, but subject to a plebiscite.
The MoA-AD would have granted the BJE its own internal security force, a system of banking and finance, civil service, education and legislative institutions, full authority to develop and dispose of minerals and natural resources.
|Al Haj Murad Ebrahim
In 2005, MILF Chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim told thousands of supporters gathered in Maguindanao for a three-day consultative assembly that a "just, honorable and lasting peace is partly at hand," obviously referring to negotiations leading to the MoA-AD.
Critics, however, feared the MoA could have led to an independent Bangsamoro state.
Former Senate president Franklin Drilon said the MoA-AD clearly violated the 1987 Constitution because it granted the BJE the status of belligerency, which is a step closer to granting it international recognition as a separate and independent state.
North Cotabato Vice-Gov. Emmanuel Piñol said that if the government had signed the MoA-AD, it would allow the MILF to claim that they "have already established a state."
Fr. Eliseo Mercado, a former member of the government negotiating panel with the MILF, said with the MoA-AD one has all the elements of a state.
"That entitles the Bangsamoro to a self-declaration (of independence). Because it's all there: you've been recognized, you have territory, you have self-determination, your ancestral domain is your birthright, it's not part of the public domain."
To avoid a situation that would push the MILF to declare independence, Mercado said the Arroyo administration must implement the next steps of the accord, particularly the plebiscite that would expand the ARMM.
Fr. Joaquin Bernas, dean emeritus of the Ateneo Law School, however, said the MoA-AD "doesn't mean anything" until Congress acted on it and a plebiscite was held.
"But legally, there is nothing to it," he said. "There is nothing to implement. (The negotiating parties) cannot move without Congress."
"It's just a piece of paper. There's nothing to worry about," he said.
A return to negotiations
Since the start of 2009, however, both sides have publicly indicated a willingness to resume the peace talks derailed by the political controversy and military action stemming from the non-signing of the MoA-AD.
In January, the MILF agreed to resume the stalled peace talks with the government if an international party of sovereign states ensures that both the government and MILF complied with the agreements they signed.
Murad said the MILF is open to resume the "collapsed or stalled" peace talks.
"To show that the MILF is committed to the peace talks, the MILF peace panel has not been disbanded despite the hasty exit of the GRP peace panel," Murad said.
He said that the MILF continues observing the ceasefire despite the sustained, massive offensive by the military against the three rogue MILF commanders, widening the war in Mindanao and triggering a massive "humanitarian crisis."
In March, Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Avelino Razon Jr. said the government ". . . is ready (to resume the peace negotiations). We will never give up on peace…I know there will be obstacles along the way, but I am confident that we can resolve our differences," he added.
Razon asked the MILF to "bury animosity for the sake of our children and our children's children." He said this is only possible if both parties work together toward a "lasting and genuine" peace in Mindanao.
Despite the renewed calls for peace talks, the MILF remains highly suspicious of the government.
Khaled Musa, deputy chairman of the MILF committee on information, said it is very easy to resume the stalled peace talks with Philippine government ". . . but are we going to solve anything or fall prey to the fooling around scheme of the Arroyo administration"?
Musa said that as long as men like Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita and Secretary Ronaldo Puno of the Department of the Interior and Local Government have a hand in directing the peace process, nothing can be expected from the exercise.
"See what happened to MNLF Chairman Nur Misuari? He is a protégé of the government short of puppetry," he stated.
Misuari was one of the founders of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) that sought the independence of the Bangsamoro in Mindanao, Sulu and Palawan.
The MNLF fought a war against the Philippines from 1972 to 1976 with Misuari as Chairman. Fighting came to a halt as a result of the Tripoli Agreement of 1976.
The agreement provided for the creation of an Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao, which was officially inaugurated in 1990 in Cotabato City. Misuari subsequently became Governor of the ARMM.
It was the MNLF's abandonment of the armed struggle for independence in favor of autonomy that caused the creation of the MILF in 1981. Led by Salamat, disgruntled MNLF leaders broke away from the MNLF and formed the MILF to continue the fight for complete independence for the Bangsamoro.
No, to autonomy
Besides its commitment to independence, the MILF has always taken the view that the autonomy gained by the MNLF is a mistake and remains a failed exercise.
"Obviously, the present formula — autonomy — is not working," Kabalu said in 2005 during a.consultative assembly at an MILF base camp in Maguindanao.
Here, the MILF again pushed for independence, saying they wanted more than autonomy in exchange for ending three decades of conflict.
In an interview in 2001, Kabalu said under three successive Philippine Presidents (Corazon Aquino, Fidel Ramos and Joseph Estrada) ". . . the Bangsamoro people had experienced what autonomy means."
"Our people suffered tremendously under the formula that did not work. It tested the autonomy, and the autonomy formula has failed," Kabalu said.
"This is not a solution to the problems in Mindanao. The Bangsamoro people are showing increased signs of mistrust and showing reserves about autonomy.
"There are no solutions to this conflict but independence, and the majority of the Bangsamoro people supports our initiatives."
While the Philippine government has remained resolute in denying independence to the Bangsamoro, it has, nevertheless, taken steps to meet the Muslim desire for a Bangsamoro homeland halfway.
The latest of these is the proposed creation of a federal state for the Bangsamoro people. This was envisioned in the suspended peace talks between the government and the MILF and is one of the objectives of the Charter Change movement, according to Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita.
Any talk of Charter Change, however, is being violently opposed by political foes of Pres. Gloria Arroyo who contend it will become a means for retaining her in office beyond 2010.
One of these critics, the National Union of People's Lawyers, on Aug. 12 said the Constitutional amendments Pres. Arroyo advocates allegedly to bring peace to Mindanao were "insincere" and a "ploy" to perpetuate her in power.
Despite widespread criticism, Pres. Arroyo is determined to set in place a federal form of government through Charter Change before the end of her term in 2010, according to Ermita.
"Hopefully, yes," Ermita said when asked whether the administration wants Charter Change before 2010.
Time, however, is not on the side of the administration since there is only a year left before the Presidential elections in May 2009.
A murderous message
The immediate effect of the Supreme Court's TRO against the MoA-AD on Aug. 4 was felt the next day by civilians and government soldiers in Mindanao. MILF fighters belonging to two base commands attacked Philippine Army positions around Midsayap, North Cotabato with mortar fire and occupied the town's outskirts in violation of the 2003 ceasefire accord.
That force of 300 was later increased to some 800 men who occupied the towns of Aleosan, Libungan and Midsayap, burning homes, murdering civilians and forcing residents to flee.
News reports said Umbra Kato, commander of the MILF's 105th Base Command, ordered the attacks in an angry response to the Supreme Court TRO.
On Aug. 7, the Army began operations to evict the MILF's 105th Base Command, which it described as a bandit group, from the 15 towns it occupied. On Aug. 13, the MILF force began withdrawing from the occupied towns pursued by the Army.
The MILF command took pains to say the 105th Base Command is not a lost command or a renegade unit. Kabalu said Kato is a legitimate MILF leader, and thus the attack on the North Cotabato villages was directed by the MILF Central Committee.
The week-long military engagement resulted in military casualties on both sides and displaced some 160,000 persons, according to the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC).
On Aug. 22, the AFP drove out Moro rebels from one of their camps in Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao province supported by intense aerial attacks, and fighting raged in other locations. Some 30 rebels and one soldier have been killed since Aug. 20 and more than 70,000 villagers have fled their homes, government officials said.
The MILF has refused to surrender Kato and Abdurahman Macapaar alias Bravo (each initially with a bounty of P5 million) and clashes continued despite appeals from politicians, and Christian, Muslim and civil society groups for an end to the fighting.
Murad said the MILF's position is that Bravo and Kato are "revolutionaries" and, as such, are outside the coverage of existing Philippine laws.
By December, the Philippine Army had five brigades involved in the hunt for MILF renegade commanders Kato in Central Mindanao; Bravo and Aleem Sulaiman Pangalian in the two Lanao provinces and in Sarangani province. All three have not been caught.
While MILF casualties can only be guessed at, the AFP has admitted to losing 40 men killed and over 150 wounded in action against the MILF from Aug. to Dec. 2008. In addition, the AFP spent over P500 million in this military operation.
Throughout the campaign against these three MILF commanders and their men, the MILF claimed their men avoided attacking government soldiers.
"It's our forces that are being chased by soldiers in areas where these hostilities are happening, not MILF forces attacking the military," Jaafar said.
He added that thousands of MILF fighters in Central Mindanao, Zamboanga, Sulu and in Basilan remain confined in their camps during the clashes with the AFP.
As of April 2009, the hunt for the three rogue MILF leaders continues, but its intensity is apparently waning.
Intensified combat
The rise in casualties for both the AFP and the MILF is an extraordinary reversal of the routine "live and let live" attitude adopted by both sides in "calmer" times.
The MILF's partiality towards negotiation and its apparent respect for the ceasefire has meant that violent incidents against the government are the exception and not the rule. As in previous cases of punitive government campaigns against the MILF (the attack on the Buliok complex in 2003 and the "All out war" against the MILF in 2000, for example), a tapering off in hostilities is to be expected in the present case.
What is unique about the military actions sparked by the MoA-AD, however, is the intensity and length of the fighting.
Records from the "International Monitoring Team" supervising the ceasefire between the MILF and the government show a marked increase in fighting. Whereas only seven violent incidents were recorded from Jan. to July. 2008, 77 were noted in August and 39 in September. Clashes continued into the remaining months of the year and spread to Basilan and Sulu. The number of armed encounters is on the decline, however.
Monitors in the IMT (there have been four batches since 2004) have come mostly from Malaysia, Brunei and Libya.
A dangerous time
The MILF remains stoutly committed to independence for the Bangsamoro people. Despite the recent surge in violence, it apparently also remains committed to using negotiation as the primary means to achieve this end.
Patience, however, has its limits. And so do the lives of leaders.
The MILF Central Committee is a gerontocracy dominated by old men, some in their 60s. While these men have shown a surprising degree of collective patience over the past three decades, time is not on their side.
The failure of the MoA-AD, which would have put the MILF within a hairsbreadth of independence, was undoubtedly a bitter blow to the Central Committee.
Its failure means a return to Square One on the negotiating table, or failing this, a return to the battlefield to "fast track" independence.
The attacks by Kato, Bravo and Pangalian initially led the government to brand these leaders as "rogue" commanders who staged the bloody attacks in August 2008 without the foreknowledge of the Central Committee. To distinguish these "rogue" commanders from the rest of the MILF, the government described them as "Lawless MILF Elements" (LMEs).
This perception led the Philippine Army to claim renewed factionalism among the MILF leadership, and that the impulsive Kato had plotted to overthrow Murad in October to protest Murad's not taking tougher action against the Supreme Court's decision nullifying the MoA-AD.
The MILF, naturally, denied these claims, saying Kato and the other LME commanders remained true to the leadership of Murad.
A clear indication of the Central Committee's thinking will come when a definite date is set for the resumption of the aborted peace talks.
The MILF's unyielding push for independence through diplomacy will mean that another long and perilous road lies ahead. In time and with new and younger leaders, that devotion to independence above all else may be modified to accept the limits of the possible within the confines of diplomacy.
If not, then another full scale war is in the making.


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Star Wars Conquest is a Mount&Blade; module which transforms a medieval world into the far, far away galaxy... with the same premises than the original game, this module offers an open sandbox where the player can do anything he wants. Based on a Galactic map and hundreds of planets.
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ANGUS SMITH, Fleet Air Arm
Angus the Laundry
Last address in Lewis: 9 North Street, Sandwick
Service unit: Fleet Air Arm, HMS Hermes
Service number: 10249B
Date of death: 9 April 1942
Lost on ship in Indian Ocean
Lieutenant Colonel IAIN O'BRIEN MACGREGOR
Last address in Lewis: 13 North Street, Sandwick
Son of Colonel John MacGregor, Indian Army, and Mabel MacGregor; husband of Diana Evelyn MacGregor, of Camberley, Surrey.
Service: Royal Artillery, 154 (The Leicestershire Yeomanry) Field Regt.
Service number: 18220
Date of death: 16 June 1944 at the age of 45
Died of wounds at Monte Cassino. Was a doctor
Interred: Cassino War Cemetery, grave XVIII. D. 10
2nd Officer DONALD CHAPMAN
Last address in Lewis: 15 North Street, Sandwick
Husband of Annie Lorraine Chapman, of Plymouth.
Service: Merchant Navy, SS Sauternes
Date of death: 7 December 1941 at the age of 52
Lost in gale off Faeroes
Memorial: Tower Hill, panel 93
View tribute here
Fourth Engineer Officer MALCOLM MACKENZIE
Last address in Lewis: 15 North Street, Sandwick
Son of Malcolm Mackenzie, and of Jessie Ann Mackenzie, of Possilpark, Glasgow.
Service: Merchant Navy, SS Radhurst
Date of death: 21 February 1943 at the age of 24
Lost on ship sunk by U-525
Memorial: Tower Hill, panel 86
View tribute here
Carpenter ALLAN MORRISON
Last address in Lewis: 31 North Street, Sandwick
Service: Merchant Navy
Date of death: 6 November 1939 at the age of 51
Killed by bus shortly after arriving from Montreal
Corporal DUNCAN ALEX MACAULAY
Last address in Lewis: 7 East Street, Sandwick
Service: 7th Cameron Highlanders
Service number: 3249793
Date of death: 19 January 1945 at the age of 27
Killed in action near Sittard, Holland.
Took out machinegun post alone, but was shot by sniper
Mentioned on family gravestones in the cemeteries at Eye and Sandwick, Lewis
Local memorial: Lewis War Memorial
View tribute here
Last address in Lewis: 23 East Street, Sandwick
Service: Merchant Navy
Date of death: 1945
Drowned at St Malo
View tribute here
Pilot Officer JAMES DOUGLAS MORRISON
Last address in Lewis: 13 East Street, Sandwick
Service: 37 Sqdn Royal Air Force
Service number: 41096
Date of death: 1 May 1940 at the age of 23
Killed in action in a Wellington over Germany, 37 Sq
Interred: Runnymede Memorial, panel 9
Able Seaman RODERICK MACKINNON
Last address in Lewis: 15 East Street, Sandwick
Service: Royal Naval Reserve, HMS Penelope
Service number: P/JX276358
Date of death: 18 February 1944 at the age of 30
Lost on ship sunk by U-410
Memorial: Portsmouth Naval, panel 82, column 3
Local memorial: Lewis War Memorial
View tribute here
Last address in Lewis: Sandwick
Service: Merchant Navy
Date of death: 22 February 1944
Died of natural causes


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There's no doubt that technology is changing the way we handle our history. Now conversations — once ephemeral — can be preserved forever, if no one holds down the erase button. Nowhere is this change more evident than in the world of presidential politics. In recent years, recordings from the Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon administrations have become available to the public.
Historians have been quick to make a new sub-genre out of interpreting these tapes. Columbia University's Alan Brinkley finds them an incomparable source: "No collection of manuscripts, no after-the-fact oral history, no contemporary account by a journalist will ever have the immediacy or the revelatory power of these conversations." But the tapes themselves make fascinating listening for anyone and many are available to you now online.
This week Bill Moyers reflects on a conversation between Lyndon Johnson and his national security adviser, McGeorge Bundy, that took place in 1964.


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Curious to try improv but not ready to commit to a full class? Improv Cincinnati offers two-hour Intro to Improv workshops on select days each month. An introductory workshop will provide an opportunity to experience an Improv Cincinnati class without committing to a full course. We'll explore basic concepts like "yes, and", playfulness, and listening. Our #1 goal is to make sure you have as much fun as possible - all in a safe and comfortable setting.
Space is limited, so grab a buddy and sign up now to secure your spot!
Why try improv in the first place?
It's ridiculously fun
Try something new and different
Stretch your comfort zone
Make new friends with similar interests
Build confidence
Learn to feel more comfortable in front of a crowd
Cultivate your creative side
Give yourself a burst of positivity
Exercise your brain
Can't make the next workshop but like to attend one in the future? Fill out the form below and we'll make sure you'll be the first to know when a new workshop is scheduled. And to receive free ticket opportunities and news about upcoming shows/events, click here to sign up for our weekly Newsletter.


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European shares closed lower on Tuesday as markets await the outcome of a critical vote in Cyprus to tax bank deposits.
The FTSEurofirst 300 Index was provisionally closed down 0.4 percent.
The Cypriot government was scheduled to debate the controversial plan to tax bank deposits on Tuesday afternoon before voting on the plan later in the day. Ratifying the vote is crucial to Cyprus receiving a 10 billion euro bailout from the European Union and International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The international lenders now want Cypriot banks to scrap plans to tax smaller savings accounts and instead impose a 15.6 percent tax on deposits over 100,000 euros. The move is likely to limit the impact on Cypriot bank account holders but would hit foreign depositors.
Banks in Cyprus will remain shut on Tuesday and Wednesday as a precautionary measure.
An initial proposal sparked concerns about the stability of euro zone financial institutions and sent jitters across global markets on Monday.
Banks were sharply lower again on Tuesday with Societe Generale down 1.57 percent, Mediobanca down 1.46 percent, Deutsche Bank down 1.18 percent and Lloyds down 1.33 percent. Stocks in Greece took a tumble with the National Bank of Greece lower by 7.87 percent, Bank of Piraeus down 8.42 percent and Alpha Bank shares sinking 5.73 percent.
"The euro crisis is gaining momentum again," Tobias Blattner, European economist at Daiwa Capital said in a morning note.
"With 2 (year) Bund yields re-approaching negative territory at fast pace. Indeed, lots of uncertainty surrounding the situation in Cyprus continues to persist. Most pressingly, of course, there currently seems no majority in parliament to pass the crucial vote on the country's bailout package this afternoon."
In what will be seen as a test of investor nervousness over the euro zone, Spain is hoping to sell up to 4 billion euros in 3 and 6-month paper early on Tuesday – a precursor to a longer-term bond auction on Thursday. The Spanish IBEX was lower by 0.34 percent in morning trade on Tuesday.
In Asia, markets recovered ground after the previous day's sell-off on hopes that Cyprus's vote on the bank deposit levy will pass through parliament.
U.K. monthly inflation figures were released on Tuesday showing a slight increase to 2.8 percent form 2.7 percent. Sterling traded slightly higher on the news. German ZEW, an indicator of economic sentiment, was released later on Tuesday showing a rise to 48.5 points in March from 48.2 points in Febuary. The figures meant it had reached a fresh 3 year high and European stocks rose on the news before falling back lower.
In stocks news, J Sainsbury released a fourth-quarter trading statement showing that sales beat expectations; shares of the U.K.'s third biggest supermarket climbed 2.49 percent.
New car registrations for the EU fell to a new low in February, data released on Tuesday showed. Shares of Fiat fell 1.9 percent, BMW (who released earnings on Tuesday) were down 0.84 percent and Daimler down 0.67 percent.
Goldman Sachs cut its price target for miner Rio Tinto on Tuesday and reduced it to a "sell" rating, shares in the London-listed firm fell 3.17 percent.
CEO Warren East will retire from Arm Holdings, a chip maker for Samsung and Apple, it was announced on Tuesday. Shares of the firm traded 1.41 percent lower.


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On Monday 21 December, the Consultants for the Downtown Master Plan will be making a presentation on their progress. The project is almost complete. There is just one more request for public input and then the final report will be delivered. The Downtown Master plan is supposed to be the overall plan that combines the Heritage Master Plan, the 3D Model/Virtual Tour, the Tourism Asset Feasibility Study (which recommended we seriously look at other uses of the Trailer Park), Heritage Building Asset Inventory, the Community Improvement Venture Initiative (CIVI) and the Community Improvement Plan (CIP).
An earlier post on this blog described the overall plan – the only additional information that I can see in Monday's presentation is an indication of timelines. Items are grouped by short-term (0-3 years), medium-term (4-7 years) and long term (8+ years).
They are described as "sample items" and grouped in the presentation as follows:
Short term (0 to 3 years):
- Establish the Community Improvement Venture Initiative (CIVI) as an arm's length development and marketing body to co-ordinate and facilitate downtown revitalization and improvement (It also provides financing)
- Actively promote and implement the Community Improvement Plan (CIP) and associated Incentives [see list below] as a stimulus for downtown revitalization (also an Ongoing Action Item)
- Implement downtown Wayfinding and Directional signage (GSP Group), finalize designs, placement and costing
- Revisit and implement the Victoria Square Plan to create a convertible & accessible landscaped public square and gathering space for community events, the Farmer's Market and parking, and include the conversion of Second Street into a "Flex Street" concept in accordance with this Master Plan.
Medium term (4 to 7 years):
- Implement the First Street Pedestrian Path in concert with abutting development in accordance with this Master Plan
- Implement recommendations of the Streetscape and Landscape Design Study, including landscaping, street trees, pathways, accessibility enhancements, signage, furniture and other features
- Implement downtown Gateway signage (GSP Group), finalize designs, placement and costing
- Complete the installation of heritage streetlights and signs
- Re-develop the Park Theatre building as a key cultural/entertainment destination in the downtown, with potential to incorporate a cohesive mixed use development in the College-McGill block, with public plaza/arcade use in accordance with this Master Plan
- Examine the future use of the CDCI West sports field site.
Long term (8+ years):
- Implement the Rotary Waterfront Park Pedestrian Path to Third Street, with parking lot enhancements and landscaping
- Implement the Third Street – Hibernia Street Pedestrian Path in concert with abutting development in accordance with this Master Plan
- Re-examine the need & timing for a structured parking facility on the Covert Street parking lot.
As mentioned earlier, these plans have no actual power (not like officials Plans, Zoning and by-Laws) - they are used to guide decision making by planners, other staff and councillors. Therefore, incentives as enabled by the Community Improvement Plan are a useful tool.
Incentive programs include:
- Study Grant Program
- Facade Improvement Grant/Loan Program
- Building Improvement Grant/ Loan Program
- Residential Grant / Loan Program
- Vitalization Tax Increment Grant Program
- Brownfields Tax Assistance Program
- Vitalization Development Charge Grant Program
- Fees Grant Program
Download the full presentation made to Council here.
And now (Dec 22, 2015), download the full "draft" plan here. 15MB 114 pages pdf


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Spring Outdoor Wish List4:00:00 AM
Happy April everyone! I am totally loving the warm weather we have had in Nashville the past week. It makes me want to spend a good amount of the day basking in the sunlight and throwing the windows open. Since Spring has really sprung around my house, I have the desire to spruce up my backyard patio area. It's such a blank slate that calls for some great punchy colors and fun fabrics. Here is my wish list for my backyard! I'm totally noticing a theme when it comes to my loves for this season..lots of pink, blue, white, and gold! Why not have fun with the colors!? What is on your wish list?
1. Navy Chair | This beauty not only has a fabulous color, but it also has a really fantastic pattern! The sturdy material of the chair makes it perfect for a garden tea party.
2. Pink Pillow | I do love a good pink and this color really makes me smile. I love the small white pattern on the pillow. It really draws the eye to the simple beauty of it. Plus, the material is perfect for the harsh conditions that Spring brings weather wise.
3. Pineapple Wine Glass | This pineapple wine glass instantly screams let's have a party! I love how pineapples have really made their comeback this season and I'm totally ok with keeping the trend going. This one is super cute and under $15!
4. Coral Chair | This chair is a total mate to the navy chair. They are from the same garden collection and just look spectacular paired together. PS there are 2 other styles and 2 other colors available in this collection! And they are just as gorge.
5. Pineapple Ice Bucket | Gold and pineapples are a girl's new best friend. A Spring bar cart needs a pineapple ice bucket! How else will you be able to keep your guest's drinks cold??
6. Bamboo Planter | This Spring one of my goals is to plant and grow some flowers. The only part of my house that sees any sunlight is the back patio. These planters will make it much easier for me to plan some flowers, since I don't have to worry about sunlight or forgetting I planted them. I tend to forget my flowers in the front yard...oops!
7. Blue Greek Key Pillow | Ahh, blue and white. My favorite combo! This combo not only has a stunning blue color, but it also has a fun pattern. Greek key is one of the prettiest and most sophisticated patterns I know. My dark patio chairs will love these beauties.
8. Margaritaville Linen Coasters | One this that always gets my attention is cutesy coasters and tassels. This set comes in 4 different colors and pays tribute to my husband's favorite Jimmy Buffet songs. So this set is a total win/win in my family! Another win, they are under $20 and on sale!
This wish list really makes me want to throw a party. Anyone wanna come over?
Happy Monday & Happy April!!


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Queen star Adam Lambert latest single New Eyes – WATCH and listen HERE
QUEEN collaborator Adam Lambert has released his latest single New Eyes, ahead of new album Velvet. Watch the music video here and have a listen.
He may be touring with Queen this year following the success of Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, but Adam Lambert also has his very own new album on the way. Announced last week, New Eyes is the next single from his fourth record Velvet. Fans can watch the music video that was launched last night here. A departure from his previous work, Lambert's New Eyes is certainly a homage to the classic rock of the 1970s – perhaps inspired by taking on Mercury's songs with Queen.
According to Official Charts, Adam revealed, he's "definitely way into [his] seventies rock star fantasy right now".
Speaking of New Eyes, he said it's "very rock'n'roll, decadent seventies".
The new single, which is released today, was co-written by Lambert and Paris Carney.
Commenting on the video, one fan said: "Both the song and video are gorgeous! It's always fantastic to see something new from Adam Lambert!"
Queen star Adam Lambert latest single New Eyes – WATCH and listen HERE
While another added: "LOVE you Adam Lambert, LOVE your new song and 150% LOVE LOVE LOVE your new style, especially your hair-YUM fvckin YUM!!!!!
And one said: "Adam! This is such a killer hit! And the visuals of this MV!!! Your singing's DIVINE and you look gorgeous!!!"
Lambert recently took part in a new documentary film called The Show Must Go On: The Queen + Adam Lambert Story, which aired on ABC in the US.
In one scene Lambert responds to fans who complain he's not Freddie Mercury.
On stage, he tells an audience: "I know some of you out there are thinking, 'He's no Freddie Mercury, though.'
"No sh**. There will only be, for all of time, one rock god, Freddie Mercury.
"Thank you for giving me a chance."
A UK release date for the documentary is yet to be announced.


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Growing up, my father was the king of saying what no one else said. When we would leave each other for a trip, or even just a day of school, he would often say something like, You never know what can happen in life. Basically, he would tell us that if something happened to him or us, we'd see each other in Heaven. He wasn't afraid to say what's true: we never know how many moments we're going to be given on this earth. I always took comfort in knowing that he loved me and I loved him. He was the first person to talk openly in my life about the fact that we are all going to die.
Typing that makes me wince. It feels like a morbid statement, doesn't it? But it's true. I've heard two Christian pastors say that same thing, and it's always stuck in my mind. My pastor, whom I talked about in Just Show Up, said this in a sermon many years before his ALS diagnosis: The stats are in—one out of every one people die.
When I got to talk to Pastor Leon on The LEON Show, he also mentioned the fact that we are all, at some point, going to leave this earth.
Did you see how I rewrote that? Talking about dying isn't even something I want to type over and over again.
When Kara's diagnosis became terminal, I struggled. I wanted to avoid conversations about her dying and a future without her. They were not easy for me, and I lived in denial for quite a while. But there came a moment when I realized denying meant I was missing out on conversations that Kara wanted to happen. How could I do that? And so I changed. I accepted that barring a miracle, Kara was going to pass away from cancer. I stopped hiding.
What do we do in a world and culture that doesn't want to talk about dying? I think we need to be gentle with each other. Not everyone is Kara. Not everyone is that open. Someone recently asked me how to be there for someone who is dying if they don't want to talk about it. I remember saying maybe they do want to talk about it but they're just afraid no one wants to talk to them or listen. We don't really know someone's heart until we ask them. And we can be gentle in our asking. We can give them an out if they don't want to talk about something, but we can also offer to listen when it's quite possible no one else wants to have that conversation with them.
I have noticed a trend in the Mundane Faithfulness Community. There are a number of suffering people in that group who are willing to talk about things that many people aren't. There is a safety in that community. Recently one woman went from fighting cancer to hospice care. She made the announcement in the group was met with such gentleness that it brought me to tears. There was no judging. There was no panic. There was only love and support and prayer that her journey from her earthly home to her heavenly one would be peaceful. And that is beautiful.
I do not like to talk about death. I do not like conversations about dying because it makes it too real. It reminds me that the stats are in and we're all going at some point. I don't know what I would do with that thought if I didn't have the hope of Heaven. Sometimes I think about my faith. The fact that I believe in a God who has always existed. Who created this earth. Who loves us so much that He gave up His own son to atone for our sins. Sometimes that story sounds crazy. But then, I know I know I know in my heart that it is true. That HE is true.
I grew up a Christian. I don't remember a moment of not knowing Jesus. I don't say that in a bragging way. Actually, sometimes it makes me hesitant to share my faith, like maybe because I don't know what life is like without Him, I don't realize how many people would like to know Him. The culture tells me that to talk about Him means I'm pushing God on someone. Culture tells me to sit quietly with my faith. To not talk about dying.
But I'm done with culture. I'm done with being politically correct.
I imagine that out of the thousands of eyes that read this blog, there is at least one person who wants to know who this God is. The God who Kara claimed was good even when the world says He's not. The God who shows up, day after day, in our suffering. The God who reminds us that this shattered, broken earth was never His plan. He created us for more than this.
God so loved the world, that He gave His only son. HIS ONLY SON died on a cross, took our sins upon His back, and suffered for them. And then the story changes. Then He rose up. He conquered. The price was paid for me and you. We can't earn that kind of love. That's grace. Completely undeserved grace. And now, if we believe, we have victory.
It is that simple. He is that true.
If you've never believed before, if you've scoffed and wondered, if you have a hole in your heart that nothing fills, I invite you to whisper three words. Okay, I believe. I'm going to try this faith thing. If you're wondering if He can be real, then ask Him to show you that He is. Don't be afraid of dying or talking about it because you have an option to really live. You have the chance at forever. Take it.
Jill Lynn Buteyn is a co-author of Just Show Up with Kara Tippetts, and the author of the inspirational romance novel, Falling for Texas (as Jill Lynn). She is a guest contributor at MundaneFaithfulness.com and can also be found online at Jill-Lynn.com.


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Rock Steady Farm & Flowers turns four this week -- four months old that is! As a PFP alum it feels particularly special to share the news of my new farm with all of you!
I apprenticed at PFP, under farmers Asher and Wendy, for two transformative seasons in 2010 and 2011. I moved on to manage Huguenot Street Farm for a few years, a 12 acre vegetable CSA in New Paltz. In need of some inspiration and a new challenge, I accepted the flower grower position at Sol Flower Farm in Millerton and built their cut flower operation from the ground up. Sol Flower decided to shift focus last fall, and the veggie grower and I were presented with the opportunity to purchase the equipment and CSA membership list. Not able to pass up the opportunity, I teamed up with two amazing human beings and highly skilled farmers, Maggie Cheney and D. Rooney, to start Rock Steady Farm & Flowers in Millerton!
Rock Steady Farm & Flowers is a vegetable and professional cut flower farm with a growing CSA membership, that sells to farmer's markets, wholesale accounts locally and in NYC, and direct to brides and grooms who want DIY wedding flowers. We are a small farm with a big vision! We are deeply rooted in social justice and have a strong commitment to making sure all of our community members have access to the food we grow. In addition, we hope to create a cooperatively owned business that empowers its workers, provides stable employment and a living wage.
Part of what inspired me to take the big leap and start a farm was our ever expanding community of support, both here in Poughkeepsie (where my partner and I still live) and in Millerton. Getting Rock Steady Farm & Flowers off the ground isn't just about us three owners working our tails off and pouring over budgets until wee hours of the night. It's also about the people and organizations that have stepped in and stepped up because they believe in what we are trying to do in the community.
This winter and spring our CSA members stepped up in true 'Community Supported Agriculture' style. They stuck with us through the farm transition and their commitment allowed us to purchase our first seeds, to buy the first tank of propane for the greenhouse, and pay the electric bills. They helped bridge that gap, which literally made all the difference. Although I've been working on, and managing, CSA farms for many years, it's been in the last few months that the power of a committed CSA has actually started to settle in.
As a start up farm, I'm particularly proud of the fact that Rock Steady has been able to launch our low income CSA share program in our first year, with the goal of serving 88 families in 2016. This was possible through two important non-profit partnerships. The first, started three years ago, and is sponsored by the North East Community Center. Through this partnership we will provide vegetable boxes to 70 families in the Millerton area. We are also actively fundraising with Neighbors Helping Neighbors and The Watershed Center, to expand our program to reach an additional 18 families in Ancramdale. Our goal is to raise $12K by May 1st. Learn more about our low income CSA program and how to donate here!
The Watershed Center (WC), is a social and environmental justice retreat center, that shares the farm property with us. The energy and community around the WC were a big draw in choosing to farm in Millerton. The founders and staff have been working with us from day one and we are excited to expand our impact through integrated programming. They introduced us to The Working World, a non-extractive investment fund that supports worker owned businesses, which provided Rock Steady with the financing needed to purchase equipment, infrastructure, supplies, and the working capital to run the farm. We're proud to be the first business to receive a loan through their new "local community fund" that's developing!!
With all of this community support, starting Rock Steady has been both an empowering and humbling experience. It calls me back to my time at the PFP as an apprentice - having so much to learn, relying so heavily on my mentors (yes, Asher is still on speed dial) and impatiently looking forward to the first harvest! What I learned at PFP, both in the fields and through my involvement with the sponsored share program, informs my work every single day. It's grounding to carry forward the work of PFP, and I'm thrilled to have Rock Steady join the local network of individuals, organizations, and businesses that are committed to social and economic justice.
Follow Rock Steady's adventures this season by following us on Instagram and Facebook, and visit our website to learn more about the farm and contribute to our low income CSA program!!
With much gratitude,
Angela Defelice


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1. Who wrote the words on the tables of stone for the 10 Commandments?
2. God told Abraham that his children would be as numerous as what two things?
3. Which prophet saw God give life to a pile of dry bones?
Scroll down to find the answers.
1. God. Exodus 31:18, 34:1
2. The stars and sand. Genesis 22:17
3. Ezekiel. Ezekiel 37