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Re-Imagining the American Dream
The early settlers who risked life and limb to come to this land—a land strange and unknown, but full of promise—these early settlers had a dream. That dream included freedom to worship as they wished; it included the opportunity to prosper, if they were willing to work hard; it included the possibility of owning their own land, plowing their own field, not being the landless servant or serf they would have been in the Old Country, where class systems were rigidly enforced, and your life was absolutely locked into place by your rank and by your birth order.
Although this dream promised much to the individual, it was also a dream grounded in holy covenant, with God and with one another. Hear the words of Governor Winthrop, given even before his people disembarked from their ship to set foot in this Promised Land: he said, "We are entered into Covenant with for this worke. Wee haue taken out a commission." And he continues a bit later: " . . . wee must be knit together, in this worke, as one man. Wee must entertaine each other in brotherly affection. We must be willing to abridge ourselves of our superfluities, for the supply of other's necessities." And then he moves to the responsibility of this new settlement to the larger world: "For wee must consider that wee shall be as a city upon a hill. The eies of all people are uppon us." A statement of manifest destiny: we shall be a shining example to the rest of the world, a moral light that will guide others into ways of mercy and justice. The date was 1630.
This was an amazing dream, the political piece of which was further articulated and refined in a document which came some 140 years late, a document which made a heretofore unimaginable claim: "All men are created equal, they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights." All people have precisely the same rights? Unheard of! This was the American dream.
Granted, all people did not fall under the purview of the dream at that time—women did not, slaves did not, men who did not own property did not. Native Americans did not exactly get a fair shake. But the ideal remained, and through the centuries we have worked to enlarge the scope of that dream. We have had some successes, of which we are rightly proud—but the essence of that dream has been shaken and changed. What has happened to the sacred covenant, of ourselves with our God and ourselves with one another? What has happened to that noble experiment, to the country that was to be as "a city upon a hill," leading other nations to righteousness and to justice?
We are a nation where freedom has now been interpreted to mean that the strong don't have to care for the weak. We are a nation that stinks from corruption at the top, a nation which dresses itself in God-language while pandering unashamedly to the rich and ignoring the poor; we are a nation hated and reviled by many other nations and grudgingly tolerated by those who would count us as friends. We are far from that "city upon a hill," that moral compass for other nations—rather, we have decided to build empire, that a few might flourish at the expense of the many.
Now, with our economy in shambles, with greed and corruption so apparent to all, we have finally awakened to the hard truth that easy money helped us avoid for so long: the economic system that we thought was sound, that could always be fixed, turned out to be a house of cards—a chimera based on false premises and inflated profit sheets. The good news is that we have come to a point of reckoning; we have had forced upon us a time of reflection that carries with it the possibility of radical change... I say "radical change" because radical means "from the root," and no amount of shifting or tweaking will do when there is no solid core. Our problems turn out to be rooted not so much in economic malfeasance as in spiritual decadence.
We have come to understand that the story we've been living by, the cultural narrative, is defunct. I refer to the cultural story of the nation—ostensibly about bringing freedom and democracy to all the world; in truth, about building empire. But I am also referring to the cultural story for the individual, that which defines middle-class goals and aspirations. It's all about competition and "getting mine." It goes something like this: you work on your resume, starting about age 2 or 3, get into a good elementary school, get into a good high school, get into a good university where you will make the right connections, graduate, get a good job, or a series of them, get married, buy a nice house, have 2.3 children, work hard and consume a lot (i.e., buy a lot of toys), get old, and die.
This is not a dream worthy of our lives. This will not render a life that will model anything worthy for our children. The emptiness of it will become apparent, as these young people reach out for meaning in a society in which the parents serve an economic system that no longer serves them, a system no longer grounded in communal and spiritual values. There is no bailing out a system that is ungrounded in relationship, bereft of moral principle. We have to build from the bottom up, on new ground, new premises.
Economics, as I see it, is fundamentally a moral discipline. Economics defines our material relationships with one another—that is, who gets what, of the resources of a society; and economics defines our relationship with the natural environment—what are we exacting or extracting, from Mother Earth, and for what purposes? When we tell our children, starting in their very first year, we say, "Now, Johnny, you have to learn to share," that's economics. Or we say to our two-year-old, "Let's recycle that juice box." That's economics.
The problem with economics as it is treated academically and in the business world is that ethical and moral issues are often left out of the conversation. After all, economics is a science, they tell us. (Was it John Kenneth Galbraith who said that if you put all the economists in the world end to end, that would be a good thing?) We use formulas, we measure, we predict, and moral issues cannot easily be figured into the equation. Maybe not, but we should consider that the most important things in this world are the things that do not yield easily to the scientific method.
The movement of socialist and communist systems toward free markets is correct. They need feedback, because complex systems cannot function well without various dependable feedback loops. But a major error of neoclassical economics is its over-reliance on only one form of feedback—it looks at prices and markets and little else. Social and environmental costs are excluded. But unemployment and underemployment are feedback. Global warming is feedback. An economy seized-up by fear—that's feedback, too.
Economists have taught us to reify "the economy"—or make it seem like a system of rules and regulations that are real and tangible, a system delivered from on high, a system that just is, like air or water, and is not amenable to change. But the system has been imagined by human beings, on assumptions made by human beings, and it can be changed by human beings.
So let's take a look at the values that run the country's economy—and our lives—at the moment. I think we'd have to use words like profit, production, efficiency, consumption, creation of capital. Now let me make myself clear: there is nothing wrong with these words. It's just that they are not ends in themselves. They should exist to serve values larger than themselves—human values. They should exist to serve the common good, to serve human health and well-being, to ensure the care and sustainability of our earth.
There are important questions we need to ask: does our economic system exist to serve families—or does our family structure exist to serve the economic structure? Why should both parents have to work out of the home? Why do we have so little interaction with family members, not even eating together in many cases? Are social structures arranged to bring generations together, or to pull them apart? Do work structures exist to support parenting, the building of community, the work of citizen-activists—or for the efficiency of the economic machine?
This economic melt-down will help us begin to ask the right questions. And so will the peaking of fossil fuel, which is upon us. When oil is no longer cheap—and that time will come again, and soon—our economic life will shift dramatically. We will be more and more focused locally. We will eat more local food, trade with small businesses close at hand, find ways to work that are more amenable to family life instead of commuting miles each day. We will walk and bike and use transit instead of drive. We will not fly thousands of miles away from home to meetings or to vacation three and four times a year. We will live closer together, and we will share more of ourselves, more of the time. We will mend instead of buying new. Some of us urban dwellers will weave and knit and plant and grow. Change is already happening, and more will come.
This is one of those rare openings in which the scales have fallen from the national eyes, and it is clear to almost everyone that the emperor has no clothes. The good news is that we will now have the opportunity to re-imagine the kind of economy we want, the kind of life we want to live. We need to take advantage of the moment, to re-imagine, to re-form the American Dream.
It's not that people don't understand that we have a problem—it's that people have had their imaginations drained out of them by the constant barrage of messages they receive about consuming, and they have had their energies drained by jobs that have longer and longer hours and less and less meaning. But the people need leadership....
You know, I think of that old Chinese blessing: "May you live in interesting times." Our generation has a mission, a clear and evident one. We have a compelling moral purpose which can direct our lives and our energies—literally, we are about saving the world.
So what is our part? The place to begin is at home—that is, with ourselves. Notice what is life-denying and resist it—just say "no" for your sake and your children's sake. Live with the moral authority that comes from compassion and non-violence. Form communities of people who will sustain you in living as you wish to live, whether they are study groups or alternative living arrangements or socially responsible, sustainable businesses. Our churches should be central gathering places for such community. Now we structure our lives to serve the economy—what would an economy look like that was structured to serve the people? How would you like to live? Make it happen.
You and I belong to a group of people that Paul Ray and Sherry Anderson refer to as the "cultural creatives," a growing segment of the U.S. population—already over 25—who embrace a new culture that values diversity, stewardship of the environment, economic justice, and civil rights for all. They say that roughly half this number combine these beliefs with some form of spiritual practice. They call these people the "Core Cultural Creatives." It is from these folks—folks like you and me, folks that populate Unitarian Universalist churches—that the new story, the new cultural narrative, will emerge. I'm not sure of the exact words you will choose or how you will put them together for your story, but some of those words might be love, service, kindness, joy, presence, peace, integrity, stewardship, covenant. These are religious concepts, and this is the Beloved Community that we are building.
I was intrigued by these words of an East German dissident, Rudolf Behro: he said, "When the forms of an old culture are dying, the new culture is created by a few people who are not afraid to be insecure." I started thinking about us as Unitarian Universalists: this is who we are—we are not afraid to be insecure. We are not afraid to search, to go deeper, to find the truth, even when the truth is unpalatable. We are seekers who want to live out of that truth, not some kind of made-up world that might be more momentarily comfortable to live in.
Unitarian Universalists, though small in number, can be the yeast in the loaf. Let us, however, be wary of the usual distractions and follies of our movement. It's grown-up time now. We no longer have time for petty quarrels about how "religious" our language should be, no time for conflict between the humanists and the more spiritually inclined, no more time for squabbles about who is in charge here. The mission of the church is not about meeting our needs; the mission of the church is about healing our world. It is about giving ourselves to something larger than ourselves. Ironically, when we give ourselves in this way, we find that our deepest needs will, in fact, be met.
The idealism that caused John Winthrop to say that we have a special destiny, and that destiny is to be as "the city upon the hill," is not dead in this country. I see it in certain young people, who are quietly living in a way respectful of our earth; I see it in many creative people who have a vision way beyond the popular mind. I know that wherever the human spirit is willing to join with that larger Spirit that new dreams can be dreamed and whole nations can be moved. Whoever thought the Berlin Wall would come crashing down? But when the time was right, it came down. Whoever thought that Nelson Mandela would get out of prison after 28 years, and lead his nation, but in time it happened. I grew up in North Louisana in the 1950s in a small, totally segregated town. I literally never saw a black man in a dress shirt. Who would have guessed that I would see an African American President in my lifetime? An African American President, with a cabinet replete with women and people of color. The time is ripe for a great turning once again.
I am convinced that what is life-denying, what is repressive and false, will be known as such and people, who are basically good, will follow a new way. Let us be some of those who step out and lead, who dare to once again be the Light that blesses the world.


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If there's one thing for sure regarding the industry's move into mandatory country of origin labeling, it's that nothing's for sure.
And that, sources tell BEEF magazine, creates uncertainty that has the marketing chain from retailers on down nervously waiting to see what develops.
Some retailers are not fully compliant yet, a retail source tells BEEF, because they're not sure how to be. "The problem is we're not just waiting on one shoe to drop. There are probably several shoes yet to fall." The questions include: How different will the final rule be from the interim rule? How will USDA enforce COOL once they get past the six-month "informed compliance" period?
Answers may soon be forthcoming. USDA's Craig Morris, speaking at BEEF magazine's BEEF Quality Summit (BQS) in Colorado Springs earlier this month, said USDA in mid-November began circulating a draft of the final rule within USDA. Morris, deputy administrator of USDA's Ag Marketing Service, told cattlemen that USDA is aiming to send the final rule to the Federal Register on Dec. 24.
Whether that makes for a merry Christmas remains to be seen, but retailers aren't holding their breath. "It's extremely difficult for us to manage COOL," says Kelly Mortensen, corporate meat, deli and seafood director with Associated Food Stores in Salt Lake City, UT. Mortensen, who spoke on a BQS retail panel, says they handle nine different beef lines, including several branded programs. He's concerned that COOL will add more categories to the retail line-up.
COOL dictates four categories – Category A, which is beef born, raised and slaughtered in the U.S.; category B, multiple countries of origin for beef from cattle raised elsewhere but fed and slaughtered here; category C, cattle imported to the U.S. for immediate slaughter; and category D, which is imported meat.
"If we have to add more categories, like A, B, C or D, one of those (existing) categories will have to go. Or two or three, in order for us to keep our coolers from overflowing." That means COOL-labeled meat could become a competitor to existing branded-beef lines, if for no other reason than allocating a limited amount of shelf space. "We could have three categories (of COOL) in our meat cases in our stores," he says. "And you can't commingle those categories. They have to be in a separate section."
A brief history. COOL was first dictated in the 2002 farm bill. Through a series of legislative maneuvers, the program for most of the covered commodities was set aside. COOL for fish and shellfish was implemented in 2005 and USDA has been enforcing that program for three years.
The 2008 farm bill changed things, and COOL for a number of commodities, including beef, became effective Sept. 30. Adding the other commodities, each with its own unique supply chains, complicated the issue. So USDA declared the first six months a period of "informed compliance." Beginning April 1, 2009, USDA will begin enforcing COOL, which can result in fines up to $1,000/violation.
That enforcement will be through retail and supplier audits, Morris says. This fiscal year, USDA will conduct around 2,000 retail audits on fish and shellfish. With the additional commodities, USDA has made a budget request to increase audits to 5,000/year. "For all the retail reviews we do, we do tracebacks on approximately 2% of those," which means USDA will be asking packers to prove the origin of the products sold at retail.
What this means to cattlemen. So will a USDA inspector show up at your door, asking you to prove the statements you made on the affidavit when you sold your calves? No, Morris says.
"I don't regulate you, I regulate packers," he told the BQS crowd. "We cannot, under this law, ever assess a penalty on a beef producer." So, if an audit reveals a producer falsified the affidavit on a set of cattle, the packer is on his own to resolve the problem.
But cattlemen still have COOL obligations. While industry-wide affidavits have simplified the requirements, documentation is still needed.
"Additional to the universal affidavit, there has to be information that is unique to the transaction," says Marty O'Connor, chief of the Ag Marketing Service's Standardization Branch. "So those normal business documents that are communicated still have to contain COOL information that can be traced back through the supply chain." Normal business documents are acceptable. "Bills of lading, invoices or whatever else is used as long as it can tie that product and that shipment uniquely from that seller to the next person in the supply chain."
Then there's cost. How much of the additional costs that retailers and packers will assume will be passed back to cattlemen? Nobody knows. However, industry sources speculate it could ultimately downsize fed-cattle prices by $3 to $4/cwt.
Whether that will happen, and whether it will affect feeder-cattle and calf prices, are big unknowns. The legislation is, however, affecting the price of Mexican and Canadian cattle coming into the U.S.
Earlier, Tyson indicated it would pay $60/head less for Mexican cattle fed in U.S. feedlots, which put a scare into the border market. Some 2,000 Mexican steers and spayed heifers crossed at the Santa Teresa, NM pens the last few days of October. The 300-lb. steers brought $1 to $1.05/cwt and the 3-weight spayed heifers brought 80¢. That same week, 3-4 weight steers at Oklahoma City returned $1.19 to $1.22 and 3-4 weight heifers brought $98 to $1.14.
Those discounts are prompting Mexican cattlemen to rumble about retaliation, saying their response to the drop in the value of their calves will be to stop the flow of U.S. beef to Mexico, currently the No.-1 export market for U.S. beef. Canadian cattlemen are contemplating action under NAFTA. One U.S. cattle feeder, Cody Easterday of Easterday Ranches at Pasco, WA, has sued USDA over the program, claiming commercial buyers are paying as much as $30/head less for Canadian and Mexican cattle, while there is no premium for U.S. cattle.
In spite of all the uncertainty, COOL is upon us and retailers will stay in compliance, sources tell BEEF. "We're not hearing any outcry (from consumers) for it at the retail level," sources say. "It hasn't increased sales. Has it cost sales? I haven't talked to anybody (who says) it drove (consumers) away from protein. But it may have driven them from one end of the meat case to the other. We're happy that the penalties for failure are less now than they were originally. But we're not happy with the prospect that this will be a profit opportunity."
For complete information, go to www.ams.usda.gov/cool.

subset: commoncrawl


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SANDY, Utah — David Ferreira's clinical blast in the 94th minute gave FC Dallas a 2-1 win over Real Salt Lake on Saturday night at Rio Tinto Stadium.
An FC Dallas goal in the 61st minute from a Fabián Castillo and Ferreira give-and-go looked like it just may give the visitors three points, but Real Salt Lake's Álvaro Saborío headed in a goal in the 76th minute off a corner from Javier Morales to draw even.
Dallas struck first against the run of play when Castillo took a ball down the left wing. After getting to the attacking third, he made a simple pass in to Ferreira, who knocked it one-time back to his fellow Colombian just inside the penalty area. With Tony Beltran trailing, Castillo took a tough-angle shot that hit the back-right corner of the net.
Real began throwing numbers forward, and it finally paid off on the team's seventh corner of the night. Morales hit the ball toward the back post, and like he has done many times in his career, Saborío jumped high to get his head on the ball and send it into the back corner.
Perhaps it was a tactical mistake, but RSL proceeded to throw huge numbers forward looking to capture the full three points in a game in which they dominated possesion. The result was a counterattack that saw Brek Shea and Ferreira on a two-on-one break against defender Nat Borchers. Shea drew Borchers close and hit the ball to the middle to Ferreira, who took a couple of controlling touches before firing a blast to the top-right corner past a helpless Nick Rimando.
The game had a definite intensity to it, and began to get a bit chippy at about the quarter-hour mark. First, RSL's Beltran was shown a yellow for a dangerous tackle. Five minutes later, Kwame Watson-Siriboe was given the caution for a challenge in the air. A couple of more fouls going both ways gave the game an atmosphere of contention. Fabián Espíndola picked up a yellow during a stoppage of play in the 25th minute for dissent.
Real Salt Lake have now dropped four straight matches in all competitions and three consecutive in MLS play — their last win came at home against Vancouver on July 27 — and will look to break that streak on August 21 when they play host to Tauro FC in CONCACAF Champions League play. Their next league game is on the road at Philadelphia three days later.
FC Dallas have now taken full points in their last three matches and sit just five points outside the fifth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. They visit the LA Galaxy — the current fifth-place team in the West — on August 26 (6 p.m. CT on NBC Sports Network).
MLSsoccer.com Men of the Match
|What We Saw
|David Ferreira
|It's no coincidence that FC Dallas have turned things around since his return. Game-winner and assist tonight stole the show.
|Kevin Hartman
|If not for a great header from Alvaro Saborio, FC Dallas goalkeeper should have had a shutout. Stood on his head multiple times.
|Javier Morales
|RSL playmaker whipped a tremendous ball to the back post for Saborio's goal, and was involved on both sides of the pitch all game long.


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"That's how fast things have gone," Will Carroll, of SI.com, said on the Danny Mac Show. "I'm 40 years old and in my senior year of high school I had an appendectomy. I missed six days of school at the tail end of my senior year, which wasn't fun. I still have a three-inch scar from it. Today you have it laparoscopically, which is the abdominal equivalent of an arthroscope. They put in two small holes, that you won't even see 10 days from now, you don't have to have any stitches. They don't have to tear any muscle, they can actually push it aside. They've just made this so minimally invasive that it's almost nothing.
You go in there and you snip the appendix out and you go back. There's very little trauma to it, and it's just amazing that we have this technology. The amazing thing here is that they're talking about five days. Now a week to 10 days, I think, is more reasonable," Carroll said. "I know that Dunn doesn't have to play the field, but he still has to have that hard twist. It's not like his swing doesn't have a lot of torque to it. So I think five [games] is a little optimistic, but the White Sox know their stuff."
Dunn says A.J. rubbed some dirt on it and he's ready to go (via Reifert):
"One thing I definitely don't want to do is miss Opening Day at home. I'm going home tonight and planning on playing tomorrow and we'll go from there. If it's really sore and if I'm feeling like this tomorrow, we might have some problems. I'm anticipating it getting better. I'm a quick healer, like Wolverine. I asked the doctor yesterday how long these things take and he gave me a general answer for the public. I'm subtracting 15 days off it. If I can tolerate [the pain], then I want to play. I don't mind playing when I'm not 100 percent."
All in baby! Ozzie had a different response though:
"He said he wants to be out there tomorrow but I don't want to take the risk,'' Guillen said. "He said he can pinch-hit today, but that's crazy. Will you see him tomorrow? I try to stay away from him because that's the best for him and the ballclub and to me the player is more important than the club,'' Guillen said. "When we get back to Chicago the doctor will check him again and we'll make a decision if he can play this weekend or wait till the next series.''
BTW, here's video of Ozzie's response.


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Liberty Living Boarding Hostel:
If you are traveling through Lusaka or staying for a long time Liberty Hostel is an ideal place to stay. You have a budget option of how to spend money for an ideal accommodation in the heart of Lusaka, Zambia. Liberty Living Boarding Hostel is the place to be it [is located 10 minutes' walk to reach the new multimillion dollar development, the Arcades shopping Mall, and encompasses all the amenities needed for a hassle-free and cheap comfortable shopping experience.
Liberty Living Boarding Hostel pays particular attention to providing quality and cheap accommodation in Lusaka for budget travelers. Built in accordance with environmentally friendly principles in a serene environment of Kalundu.
The Liberty boarding Hostels has 150 bed spaces styled with contemporary en-suite showers. The accommodation options include Dorms, Double and Twin Rooms.
Our facilities and Services include:
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-The hot water is always bubbling here for your complimentary tea and coffee and the huge fridge keeps your groceries cold.
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Liberty Hostel Helps a number charities with our Local communities which also benefits from these donations.
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Just hand your laundry in at our reception and if you are in time for the collection, you can pick it up 6 hours later we have two collections and deliveries per day.
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Our team is your service to help you with your booking issues or answer any related questions


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Bill Halter may or may not win the Democratic nomination to be the next governor of Arkansas, but the central idea in his campaign should be a subject for major debate in the 2014 gubernatorial election.
Halter calls his idea "The Arkansas Promise," obviously modeled after "The El Dorado Promise" and other programs designed to help young people obtain a college education. The difference is that Halter believes the state should make the guarantee.
"Simply stated, if you go to high school in Arkansas, qualify for a lottery scholarship, maintain a 2.5 GPA and plan to attend college in the state, we promise to pay your college tuition," the former lieutenant governor says in a letter on his campaign website. "The overall scholarship level would be set at the tuition level of the highest cost four-year public university in Arkansas."
Halter was the primary author and advocate of the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery, which since its inception in 2009 has funded almost 100,000 scholarships worth some $300 million. Setting aside the issue of whether gambling should pay for such things, that's much more than the state had been doing.
Now Halter wants to build on the program. His Arkansas Promise would combine the Lottery Scholarship program with federal grant aid, philanthropic support and additional Arkansas scholarship funds — all without additional taxes.
That last source is the most controversial. Halter estimates that an additional $50 million to $75 million would be needed to fund the program fully. The math on that is a bit difficult, but the basis apparently would be the amount of tuition and fees to attend the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, currently about $7,500.
One likely Democratic opponent, former 4th District Congressman Mike Ross, is among the doubters.
"Money doesn't grow on trees, and this isn't Washington. We can't print money, and we can't spend more than we take in," Ross told an Arkansas News Bureau reporter at the Delta Grassroots Caucus Conference in Little Rock last week. "… he says he's not going to cut teacher pay and he's not going to raise taxes, so you all are talking to the wrong guy. He's the one that needs to show you all the math."
Ross pointed out that the Arkansas General Assembly recently cut taxes by $140 million over the next three years.
That's exactly why the issue of helping more young Arkansans to get a college education should be a major issue. The Legislature did next to nothing this year toward that end.
While our lawmakers spent a lot of time and energy on passing a bill to allow colleges and universities to open their campuses to people carrying concealed weapons, the only significant legislation dealing with higher education was a bill dropping the amounts students will receive from lottery scholarships.
That's because lottery revenue has been falling short of projections. While it was expected to raise at least $100 million a year for scholarships, that number will be closer to $90 million for fiscal 2013.
Therefore, the Legislature adopted a tiered approach to awarding lottery scholarships for attending four-year colleges — giving $2,000 to freshmen, $3,000 to sophomores, $4,000 to juniors and $5,000 to seniors. Those attending two-year colleges will get $2,000 each year.
The original grants were $2,500 for students attending two-year colleges and $5,000 for those attending four-year institutions.
That's quite a difference and will put a much greater burden on students from middle-class and lower-class families.
Instead of cutting taxes, the Legislature could have channeled that $140 million or so into college scholarships. If Halter's numbers are right, that might have been almost enough to fund the Arkansas Promise.
The reason certainly isn't to make Halter or any other politician look good. But investing in the education of our young people will ensure greater economic prosperity for Arkansas in the future. Cutting taxes, in theory, gives "job creators" more money to grow the economy and consumers more money to spend. Unfortunately, it does nothing to help attract the kind of high-tech, high-wage jobs we'd like to have.
And a poorly educated populace can't fill such jobs anyway.
Arkansas ranks 49th out of 50 states in the percentage of our work force with college degrees — behind Mississippi and ahead of only West Virginia.
We need to produce more college graduates, and it's shameful to think that the only meaningful source of financial aid for that mission is the lottery.
Postscript to last week's column: Act 746, which is being interpreted by some as allowing open carry of handguns in Arkansas, was passed by the state House of Representatives by a vote of 82-1. I credited Rep. John Baine, D-El Dorado, as perhaps "smelling a rat" because he was the only lawmaker voting against the bill.
However, he wrote to say that he voted no because the bill imposed restrictions on a "journey" as being within a county. "My home of Union County can have individuals drive over 40 miles, within the county, to hunt at the Felsenthal National Refuge. I think that actually restricts the rights of gun owners," he said.
So, never mind.
Roy Ockert is editor emeritus of The Jonesboro Sun. He may be reached by e-mail at email@example.com.


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Tutorial | Using the JBI JavaEE Service Engine
Doc Contributed by James Lorenzen
In a previous article I wrote about how to use the JBI JavaEE Service Engine to increase performance when orchestrating EJB Services created in Glassfish with the BPEL Service Engine in OpenESB. That was almost 8 months ago and Netbeans and OpenESB have changed a lot and consequently I needed to update it.
So I would like to provide an update using the latest Netbeans (20080402).
Again, if you haven't already, go ahead and download and install OpenESB which includes Netbeans v6.1 and Glassfish v2.
Lets Start
- Create an EJB Module
- File > New Project > Category Enterprise > Projects EJB Module
- Create a new Web Service
- Right click on your EJB Module project
- Choose New > Web Service
- Add a new Operation
- Create a new BPEL Module
- File > New Project > Category SOA > Projects BPEL Module
- Create a new BPEL Process
- Right click on your BPEL Module project
- Choose New > BPEL Process
- Create a new SOAP WSDL
- Right click on your BPEL Module project
- Choose New > WSDL Document
- Go through the wizard and for the Binding Type make sure its SOAP
- Configure your BPEL Process by dragging the SOAP WSDL onto the left side of the BPEL Process.
- Add the standard "buttons" to the BPEL Process Sequence
- Receive
- Assign
- Invoke
- Assign
- Reply
- Utilize the EJB Web Service in the BPEL Process (this is where things are different than in past versions)
- Right click on the Web Service under the EJB Module and select Generate and Copy WSDL
- Uncheck Do no copy if it is checked.
- Expand your BPEL Module and copy the WSDL into the BPEL Module's src directory.
- Now you should have a copy of the Web Service's WSDL in your BPEL Module.
- Drag this new WSDL onto the right side of the BPEL Process so that we can tie the Invoke call to it.
- Create a Composite Application
- File > New Project > Category SOA > Projects Composite Application
- Right click on the new Composite Application and select Add JBI Module
- Add both your BPEL Module and EJB Module
- Clean and build the Composite Application (Right click > Clean and Build)
- View your CASA file by double clicking on the Service Assembly file under your Composite Application.
- Your CASA file should look something like this
- Now you should be able to start Glassfish and deploy your Composite Application. Now your BPEL Process will utilize the Java EE Service Engine. FYI, do not deploy the EJB Module separately since its included in the Composite Application.
Version Compatability
Works with NetBeans 6.1 FCS


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Takayama appointed Director of Communications at UH ManoaUniversity of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Gregg Takayama, (808) 382-3212
Director of Communications
Director of Communications
Posted: Apr 24, 2007Gregg Takayama has been appointed Director of Communications in the Office of the Chancellor at UH Manoa.
Takayama moves to his new position from the John A. Burns School of Medicine where he has served as Director of Public Relations since August, 2005.
"We are pleased that someone with Gregg's broad experience in media and public affairs can continue his communications work with UH Manoa," said interim Chancellor Denise Konan. "Manoa's community outreach, marketing and communications efforts are important as the campus serves our state, our students and alumni."
While attending UH Manoa, Takayama was a reporter for the Honolulu Star Bulletin. Following graduation in 1978, he served for thirteen years as press secretary to U.S. Senator Daniel K. Inouye in Washington, D.C. From 1992-1997, he was spokesman for the State of Hawaiʻi Department of Public Safety and for Lt. Governor Ben Cayetano.
Before joining the medical school, Takayama was a reporter for KHON2 News for eight years.
"As a graduate of UH Manoa, I am excited and honored at the chance to tell people what a tremendous asset we have in our Manoa campus," Takayama said.
His appointment is effective May 1, 2007.


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More of the Easy Worship Fake Book is a second volume of over 100 contemporary worship favorites! All songs are in the key of C and include lyrics, a...Click To Read More About This Product
Over 100 Songs In The Key Of C to show your love of G-O-D.
More of the Easy Worship Fake Book is a second volume of over 100 contemporary worship favorites! All songs are in the key of C and include lyrics, and chords which have been simplified, but remain true to each tune. All songs are presented in easy-to-read notation.
Song list:
"All The Earth Will Sing Your Praises"
"All Who Are Thirsty"
"Ancient Words"
"At The Cross"
"Awesome Is The Lord Most High"
"Be Glorified"
"Beautiful One"
"Before The Throne Of God Above"
"Came To My Rescue"
"Come Thou Fount, Come Thou King"
"Consuming Fire"
"Counting On God"
"Desert Song"
"Did You Feel The Mountains Tremble?"
"Famous One"
"For All You've Done"
"For Who You Are"
"Forever Reign"
"Friend Of God"
"From The Inside Out"
"Give Us Clean Hands"
"Glory In The Highest"
"Glory To God Forever"
"God Is Great"
"God Of This City"
"Grace Flows Down"
"Happy Day"
"Hear Us From Heaven"
"Here In Your Presence"
"Hosanna (Praise Is Rising)"
"How Can I Keep From Singing"
"How Deep The Father's Love For Us"
"How Great Is Our God"
"How He Loves"
"I Am Free"
"I Will Boast"
"Jesus Messiah"
"Jesus Saves"
"Lead Me To The Cross"
"Let Everything That Has Breath"
"Let God Arise"
"Let It Rise"
"Let My Words Be Few (I'll Stand In Awe Of You)"
"Let The Praises Ring"
"The Lord Reigns"
"Love The Lord"
"Made Me Glad"
"Made To Worship"
"Majesty (Here I Am)"
"Marvelous Light"
"Mighty To Save"
"My Savior Lives"
"New Doxology"
"A New Hallelujah"
"No Sweeter Name"
"None But Jesus"
"Not To Us"
"Nothing But The Blood"
"O Praise Him (All This For A King)"
"One Way"
"Our God"
"Our God Saves"
"The Power Of The Cross (Oh To See The Dawn)"
"Praise Adonai"
"Revelation Song"
"Salvation Is Here"
"Sing, Sing, Sing"
"Sing To The King"
"Speak O Lord"
"The Stand"
"Take It All"
"Take My Life"
"Thank You, Lord"
"The Time Has Come"
"Today Is The Day"
"We Want To See Jesus Lifted High"
"Wonderful Maker"
"Wonderful, Merciful Savior"
"You Alone"
"You Are God Alone (Not A God)"
"You Are Good"
"You Are Holy (Prince Of Peace)"
"You Never Let Go"
"You, You Are God"
"You'll Come"
"Your Grace Is Enough"
"Your Love Oh Lord"
"Your Name"
Here's more than 100 ways to praise God in song. Order this songbook today!
Our product catalog varies by country due to manufacturer restrictions. If you change the Ship-To country, some or all of the items in your cart may not ship to the new destination.


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- Home »
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Rems Pressing Tong Heads Geberit Mapress fitting
Barcode: 4039976055826
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Rems Pressing Tong Heads Geberit Mapress fitting
REMS pressing tongs
High compression pressing tongs in forged and specially hardened steel. Pressing contours of REMS pressing tongs are system-specific and correspond with the respective pressfitting system. Thus perfect system-conformity, safe press jointing. Pressing jaws of pressing tongs manufactured on CNC production centres ensure high-precision machining of pressing contour. Hence far closer tolerances compared to as cast pressing contour.
Drive through all REMS radial presses (except REMS Mini-Press ACC) and suitable radial presses of other makes. All pressing tongs marked with * have an optional connection(Patent EP 1 223 008, Patent US 6,739,172) for manual drive through the radial press REMS Eco-Press. Read and follow the installation and assembly instructions of the system provider/manufacturer.
Traceability according to EN 1775:2007
REMS pressing tongs with pressing contour M, V, SA, B, RN and UP have worked a specific marking into the pressing contour which leaves a lasting impression on the pressed fitting after the pressing process. This enables the user to check again whether the most suitable pressing tongs or the suitable pressing ring have been used to make the pressfit connection even after the pressing process.
With this tracability REMS fulfills the recommendations of the European standard EN 1775:2007 for the installation of pressfitting systems for gas.
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56 Cheap and Easy Front Yard Curb Appeal Landscaping IdeasPosted on
architeworks.com are really concern to Provide Home Design and Decor Ideas. We are Gathering and Collecting photos from lot of source on internet. If some of them are yours, please don't be shy to contact us immediately, we are so pleased to add some credit to them.


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British Go Journal No. 55. March 1982. Page 26.
Solution to problem on page 7.
Solution 1
White A is the only play. Now whatever cunning combination of throw-ins Black tries he will be unable to put the seven white stones in atari.
Solution to problem on page 9.
Solution 2
Black 1 lives unconditionally. If he plays 1' at 3 White replies at 1 and the best Black can get is a ko with 5.
Solution to problem on page 14b.
Solution 3a
Solution 3b
Black 1 in Solution 3a is the way to start, and now the whole white group dies. If White plays below 2 with his next stone, then Black can play below 1, leaving White no way to put him in atari.
Solution 3b shows another way [for white] to fail.
Solution to problems on page 20.
Solution 4
Black 1 is the move, now after 3 white A is no good because he is short of liberties. If Black starts at 3 then white 1 threatens either A followed by a ko or else to make a second eye on the side.
Solution 5
6 connects at .
White 1 and 3 reduce Black to a horrible dango and make a few points in the corner.


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Technology Teaching and Learning Group
ICIT's Technology Teaching and Learning Group (TTLG) endeavors to enrich the educational experience of students at Hunter College by encouraging the thoughtful integration of technology into the curriculum. The TTLG works to achieve this goal by empowering faculty to adopt technology in effective and innovative ways. The TTLG's educational technologists guide, support, and collaborate with faculty to help them incorporate technology that meets their teaching and learning goals. Through programs like FITT and Tech Thursdays, we create opportunities for faculty to share ideas, form networks and communities, and learn from one another.
Our team of educational technologists will work with you to effectively incorporate technology in your classes. We can help you articulate your teaching and learning goals, select appropriate tools to achieve these goals, design learner-centered activities incorporating these tools, and collect evidence of the impact of these innovations.
Visits to your department
The Technology Teaching and Learning Group can tailor presentations to the needs of faculty in your department. Please email firstname.lastname@example.com to schedule a visit.
Tech Thursdays
Tech Thursdays is a weekly seminar in which faculty share their experiences using technology for teaching and learning.
Faculty Innovations in Teaching with Technology (FITT)
The FITT program, launched by President Raab in 2008, offers Hunter faculty stipends and support from an educational technologist to work on new ways of incorporating technology in their classes. The FITT call for proposals goes out in the spring semester and work on the projects takes place during the summer months.
Guided Explorations
In these workshop series, faculty are introduced to a new pedagogical approach or to a complex tool that could potentially fill many pedagogical needs. Faculty explore scenarios in which this tool or approach might be used and begin to apply these ideas to their own teaching. Topics have included hybrid course design, ePortfolio pedagogy, and strategies for teaching with online meeting tools. Many of these series are co-facilitated by an educational technologist and a faculty member. Guided explorations are organized in collaboration with the Academic Center for Excellence in Research and Teaching (ACERT).
Teaching Scholarship Circles
These biweekly seminars, organized around specific topics, offer faculty an intensive and ongoing opportunity to enhance their pedagogy. Faculty participants read scholarly articles and share their teaching experiences with colleagues. Many of these series are co-facilitated by an educational technologist and a faculty member. Teaching Scholarship Circles are organized in collaboration with the Academic Center for Excellence in Research and Teaching (ACERT).
Visit the TTLG website for in-depth and up-to-date information on their programs.
Gina Cherry, Ph.D., Program Manager | Co-Director, ACERT
Dermot Foley, Educational Technologies Assistant
Nancy Guerrero, Educational Technologist
Shiao-Chuan Kung, Ed.D., Educational Technologist


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6 Stocking Stuffers for Yarncrafters
December 10th, 2010 by Jess
It's getting very close to the holidays. If you're like me, then you've purchased all of your large gifts, but you still have to pick up a few stocking stuffers and small gifts. Here are 6 easy ideas that you can pick up almost anywhere.
1. Tape measure. Crafters can never have too many measuring devices. Tailor's tape or a retractable, flexible tape measure can be purchased up at craft, art, and department stores.
2. Scissors. Small, portable scissors are a must-have for any crafter on the go. For a special gift, select embroidery scissors come with an ornate design. Another great option is a pair of folding scissors. Find a pair at your favorite craft or department store.
3. Highlighter tape. This is handy for marking a pattern without leaving anything permanently. Pick up a roll or two at any craft, department, or office supply store.
4. Hand lotion. Cold weather can dry out the skin. It's especially important for knitters and crocheters to keep their hands moisturized.
5. Special yarn. Every yarncrafter has a special yarn that she or he really desires. A few skeins of alpaca, cashmere, or sparkling yarn make the perfect indulgence. Be sure to buy enough to make a small project.
6. Gift certificates. These are the perfect gifts for the crafter who has everything. Check out our gift certificates here.
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This entry was posted on Friday, December 10th, 2010 at 9:00 am and is filed under Community, Crafting, Crocheting, Knitting, Tips & How To .
To visit the blog click here.


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You will need a miniature tart tray, each indent 4.5cm/1¾in diameter, a 5.5cm/2¼in round fluted biscuit cutter and a 4cm/1½in star-shaped pastry cutter.
Friday, 19 December 2008
Star-Topped Mince Pies
You will need a miniature tart tray, each indent 4.5cm/1¾in diameter, a 5.5cm/2¼in round fluted biscuit cutter and a 4cm/1½in star-shaped pastry cutter.
14 comments:
- Rhyleysgranny said...
These look lovely. I'm hoping to make some this week end.
- 19 December 2008 at 19:18
- Semlan said...
They look adorable, but they are simply not for me and my lack of patience te he! Complicated things only get made once, if ever...
- 19 December 2008 at 19:23
- Reeni said...
These are positively gorgeous, Maria!
- 19 December 2008 at 20:56
- Sally said...
Very pretty Maria.
Merry Christmas to you and the family.
- 19 December 2008 at 21:10
- Beth (jamandcream) said...
I love then too!
- 19 December 2008 at 22:44
- Kelly-Jane said...
I'm hoping to do mine in the next couple of days.
They look lovely - how's the pastry?
- 20 December 2008 at 10:21
- Maria♥ said...
Thanks everyone for the lovely comments!
Kelly, the pastry is a dream and really easy to work with. This pastry is definitely one I will use again and again! (Of course my new Magimix 5200 came into her own here!)
- 20 December 2008 at 10:32
- Nickki said...
They look brilliant Maria, I just adore mince pies. It's true you either love them or hate them, and I definitely fall into the love category! I'm making these later today, can't wait :)
- 20 December 2008 at 14:35
- Sherry Trifle - Lovely Cats said...
These look wonderful! We used to have mince pies every Christmas in S. Africa.
- 20 December 2008 at 20:02
- Nic said...
They look most attractive Maria. Last year, I tried topping mine with pastry in the shape of snowflakes, but you had to look close to see what it was!
Don't you love all the lights that she had, I'm putting some up in my kitchen this year!
- 20 December 2008 at 21:35
- Maria♥ said...
Nickki, you will love these mince pies!
Nicisme, I have twinkle lights in my kitchen! You definitely need them too ;-)
- 20 December 2008 at 22:01
- Gigi said...
very cute! I love all the mini desserts that are popping up everywhere. Happy Holidays!
- 21 December 2008 at 06:58
- Abigail (aka Mamatouille) said...
Oh, we were JUST talking about mince pies at a Christmas party here in Japan today and telling everyone how much we love and miss them. Mmmmm, those look SO good!
- 21 December 2008 at 12:32
- Kelly-Jane said...
Thanks for your feedback Maria - that's just what I was hoping for!
- 21 December 2008 at 15:11


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Speak live to an addiction specialist! (866) 272-7830
The assistance that you need in order to successfully overcome your addiction is available, and you can take the first step toward reaching your recovery goals right now. Fortunately, the friendly and well-trained experts we have on staff at our Summerside, OH substance abuse treatment clinic are prepared to extend the support you need when you contact us. We are aware that addiction can make it difficult to know where you will be capable of overcoming substance abuse, or what that might take, but when you enroll in our quality addiction recovery program, you will get the opportunity to defeat substance abuse with the support of our expert staff. Contact us now to begin your recovery journey.


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NZ companies and cloud solutions
Frost & Sullivan: 40% of New Zealand companies spend 10% of
IT budget on
cloud solutions; 57% intend to increase cloud based budgets
Ability to lower
overall IT costs is the leading driver for adoption
of cloud computing; security the top criteria for selecting a cloud vendor
Auckland, 26 November 2012 – Interest
in cloud computing has grown
substantially over the past couple of years. Enterprises in New Zealand are
constantly evaluating adoption of cloud computing to improve business
agility, increase standardisation of IT infrastructure and lower cost of
delivering IT services.
Frost & Sullivan's
research, State of Cloud Computing New Zealand
reports that of the organisations in New Zealand that currently use cloud
computing services, 40% spend more than 10% of their total IT budget on
cloud solutions or services, while 20% spend more than 20% of their total
IT budget. Larger organisations generally spend significantly more on cloud
computing services than smaller ones.
Phil Harpur, Senior Research Manager,
Australia & New Zealand ICT Practice,
Frost & Sullivan says that 57% of organisations in New Zealand that are
currently using cloud solutions plan to increase their cloud-based
solutions budget significantly over the next 12 months, reflecting a market
very much in a growth phase.
Security was cited as the most important
criteria when selecting a cloud
vendor, followed by trust, reliable services and support, hosting
capabilities in NZ, company reputation, value added services, price and
ROI. "Vendors must also have sufficient SLAs, a good product roadmap, offer
sufficient product scalability and demonstrate strong channel partner
capabilities" Harpur added.
Compared to
Australia, where 70% of organisations plan to increase
spending on cloud services, New Zealand's tempered growth is largely due to
data sovereignty and latency issues. "Local providers guarantee data
remains in New Zealand but are more expensive than multinationals hosting
data offshore, thus the value proposition is not as strong" Harpur
Benefits of moving to the cloud
ability to lower overall IT costs is the leading
driver for the
adoption of cloud computing. Andre Clarke, Country Manager, New Zealand,
Frost & Sullivan says "Moving to the cloud enables organsiations to reduce
CAPEX, and provides a great deal of flexibility and agility allowing
organisations to add scalable computing resources very quickly and at
relatively low cost. This in turn greatly reduces some of the risk
associated with developing new products which in the medium to long term
will help stimulate market innovation."
It also allows
organisations to free up key resources previously
to more traditional IT services and focus on other aspects of operations
while providing flexibility to meet business demand via
real-time /on-demand computing.
Cloud deployments of most New Zealand
organisations are fully deployed
rather than in pilot phase. HRM and Unified Communications are the slowest
applications to move out of pilot phase, whereas storage & computing
solutions have the highest rate of full deployment.
"Key challenges include integrating
"shadow IT" cloud purchases into a
corporate framework, ensuring effective SLAs and security measures are in
place, and managing the increased level of complexity that comes with
combining multiple clouds with on-premise resources" Clarke mentions.
Potential for share of pie in the cloud
Software as a Service (SaaS) is the most
commonly used delivery model in
the cloud offering several benefits over on-premise software such as lower
upfront costs, standardisation and ease of upgrade, ubiquitous access and
seamless integration with in-house infrastructure. Adoption rates of SaaS
applications are positively correlated with the size of the organisation.
Larger organisations are more likely to be using software applications
accessed via the cloud, especially for office productivity applications,
CRM, HRM and ERP.
Data sovereignty is a prominent issue in New
Zealand, particularly in the
public sector, where the government's cloud strategy mandates that in
certain scenarios data remain in New Zealand; thus limiting the number of
potential suppliers. Those with NZ data centres are advantaged, while
others have and will forge partnerships to meet this requirement.
E-mail and storage
& computing resources (ie.IaaS) are commonly accessed
via the cloud with 53% of New Zealand organisations accessing e-mail via
the cloud, and 44% accessing storage & computing resources via the cloud.
Office productivity applications, web security and e-mail security are also
commonly accessed via the cloud.
Frost &
Sullivan's State of Cloud Computing New Zealand 2012 report
part of the Frost & Sullivan New Zealand Enterprise Communications program.
All research services included in this subscription provide detailed market
opportunities and industry trends evaluated following extensive interviews
with market participants. Interviews with the press are available. If you
are interested in more information on this study, please send an e-mail
with your contact details to Donna Jeremiah, Corporate Communications, at
About Frost & Sullivan
Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership
Company, works in collaboration
with clients to leverage visionary innovation that addresses the global
challenges and related growth opportunities that will make or break today's
market participants.
"Growth Partnership" supports clients by addressing
these opportunities
and incorporating two key elements driving visionary innovation: The
Integrated Value Proposition and The Partnership Infrastructure.
· The Integrated Value Proposition
provides support to our clients
throughout all phases of their journey to visionary innovation including:
research, analysis, strategy, vision, innovation and implementation.
· The Partnership
Infrastructure is entirely unique as it constructs
the foundation upon which visionary innovation becomes possible. This
includes our 360 degree research, comprehensive industry coverage, career
best practices as well as our global footprint of more than 40 offices.
For more than
50 years, we have been developing growth strategies for
global 1000, emerging businesses, the public sector and the investment
community. Is your organization prepared for the next profound wave of
industry convergence, disruptive technologies, increasing competitive
intensity, Mega Trends, breakthrough best practices, changing customer
dynamics and emerging economies?


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I seem to have a way of not getting things done. I guess it is the procrastinator in me. I had promised by brother in law and sister in law that I would get some pictures of him scanned from his mothers album that I found in a box when I cleaned the basement.
The three boys circa1951
Charles Hawthorn Coleman and Martha Hauser Coleman, Verona PA, 1934
This is a never seen before picture of my husbands grandparents.
Charles Michael Coleman and Lois Elizabeth Coleman Sperl c. 1924
Lois Coleman Sperl, age13, that would be about 1938.


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Day Two: I'm sitting in a high seat, it's dawn and cool, but above freezing. I'm waiting for a deer, not just any deer but a Fallow; Briton's only deer with palmated antlers. But that's not where the story begins...
I know a couple of other outdoor bloggers, not very well because we don't spend a great deal of time together, but when we do it's always fun. The last time I was at chez Bambi Basher - I did a few little jobs for him, making his drains flow a little smoother (perils of dog breeding init) and getting a sink or two to drain a little faster. Mrs Bambi Basher AKA The Tea Lady said 'you'll be back' but you know how things are, one thing led to another and, before you know it months of passed and I'd forgotten all about the mixer tap in the kitchen and the dogs outside tap leaking.
Then I received an email the gist of which was - 'Have things that go bang, a new hunting ground and leaking taps, when are you coming down?' Being gainlessly underemployed that week I dressed for deer huntin', packed for leak stoppin' and headed for the milds of East Sussex.
If you don't know what East Sussex looks like think Virginia with smaller mountains (in fact no mountains just hills) it's farmland, and ancient woodland and very pretty. Very mild.
Where there is woodland there are deer, where there are grain farms and orchards there are deer.
Fallow a herding deer who are considered both a native and introduced species. Hunted to extinction in pre-history and then re introduced twice, by the Romans and the Normans. Due to reduced hunting pressure and changes to framing practice there are now more deer in England (particularly the south) than at any time since the Norman invasion of 1066. Some fawns are killed by Foxes in the spring but apart from that the most common cause of death for deer is the Road Traffic Accident. Farming and orchards both offer the kind of smash-and-grab feeding opportunity that the Fallow prefers, breaking from the cover of the forest to graze the pasture at dawn and dusk. With so much ground turned over to food production the land can support quite a lot of deer, although it can't support the numbers the herd has grown to. As deer in the UK don't belong to anyone they're considered wild animals, deer management falls to the landowners and farmers whose crops they're eating. The cull period for Fallow Bucks is Aug 1st - April 30th and Fallow Does Nov 1st - March 31st.
Fallow stand in height between the big red deer and the little roe deer, with the bucks measuring just over 3 feet at the shoulder and weighing a little over 200 lbs. The doe is only a bit shorter, but is more lightly built.
Meanwhile: on the edge of the woods:
Still. It's as thought the wind only works weekends and didn't know it was coming in that morning. What sounds like four different woodpeckers sound as though they're winning a head-butting competition with the local hardwoods. Owl's announce the end if their shift. I keep glassing (not attacking people with a pint glass - in the country it means using binoculars) at the tree line nothing sizeable moves, I say nothing moves but as I've now been so still for so long the mumbling creaking organism that is the forest has swallowed me whole. The bobbing of the tree next to my high seat announces the day shift has begun for the Blue Tits. Dawn breaking casts deer-like shadows.
My ears ache for the crack or scuff of a Fallow's approaching footsteps. The rifle sits cold but not inert in my hands. I know there's 'one in the pipe' I put it there myself. When a Fallow comes, if a Fallow comes, it is my intention to kill it. Firing once. The bullet will clip the top of its heart and puncture both lungs deflating them, the loss of pressure rapidly draining the blood from the Fallow's brain. The bullet will have killed the deer before the sound of the bullet arrives at the deer. No sort-of, no it'll-be-ok, no Hail-Mary shots. Just a bullet placed within a 4 inch circle centred behind the deer's front legs, or no shot at all. This is not the frenetic action of the Battue, there will be no pressured 'snap shots' at a deer on the run. I must sit still until I can hear my own heart beat, ignoring any thoughts of bragging rites and racks on walls.
I keep my thoughts corralled in a sombre place. Waiting. If it's possible waiting without anticipation. Just when I think I may be developing mammalian dive response, (the blood has retreated from my extremities, my heart has slowed), and I'm almost tempted to test if I can actually move my limbs for when the time comes, but don't want to break the spell, the radio beeps and I look down to see The Bambi Basher waving to me. Time for a change of tactics.
Day One - It's about velocity:
As previously reported I have a lot of trouble leaving town, getting to the station is like wading though porridge towing a dead donkey. Clients email, buses break down, trains are re-routed via Hades and I make it to our meeting place two hours after my intended arrival time. TBB meets me at the station eyes twinkling with enthusiasm. "Feeling accurate?"
Bambi Bashers Paradise: his rifle range.
We bounce the little 4WD down the lane and into the coppice, where we set up the shooting bench and TBB breaks out the rifles.
The flinch: Veritably it doth suck
I thought I'd gotten on top of it, but after cracking my skull last summer I've developed a flinch, my eye closes and my head jerks away from the cheek-piece. I can get 3 inch groups together, but it's proper stressful and very frustrating. No more 'where two holes meet' action for the foreseeable. Bah!
More in Pt4
Your Pal
Deer Hunting In The UK Pt1
Deer Hunting In The UK Pt2


text: The Pima Air and Space Museum is quite an awesome place. There are hundreds of airplanes here, resting in the hot Tucson sun. There are all kinds of military airplanes and helicopters, and a few old passenger planes too. website: www.pimaair.org - address: 6000 East Valencia Road, Tucson, AZ 85756-9403


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The question every investor wants to know is:
How well am I doing?
Although some people are satisfied with simply watching the dollars grow, most investors want that translated into a performance figure.
Bragging rights aside, there is a good reason to determine your own portfolio's performance: Measuring the performance of your total portfolio is useful to see if the long-term terminal value that you hope to achieve with your investment program is realistic.
In general, you should be examining the return on your portfolio to make sure it is within the target range you expected, based on the investment mix you have settled upon. If it isn't, you may need to make some adjustments, switching out of underperforming (relative to peers) segments of your portfolio, or you may need to make changes in your future projections—for instance, you may have to increase your savings rate, you may have to take on more risk to achieve the target that you set, or you may simply have to adjust your target value downward, settling for less in the future.
There are two ways you can calculate the return of your portfolio; both are illustrated in Table 1, which provides an example of the calculations.
The Sum of the Parts
The first method is a sum of the individual parts: First, the return for each holding is multiplied by the percentage of the total portfolio market value that the holding represented at the beginning of the period; these "weighted" returns are then added together for the total portfolio return.
The information needed for this calculation method is relatively easy to obtain—if you are monitoring the individual holdings in your portfolio (as you should be), this information should be right at your fingertips.
The market values for your holdings at the beginning and ending of the period are on mutual fund and brokerage account statements.
For the returns of mutual fund holdings, you can use one of the many publications that provide information on mutual fund performance, including AAII's annual Individual Investor's Guide to the Top Mutual Funds. If you are investing in stocks on your own, you can use the equations shown in the accompanying box for your own stock portfolio return, using the beginning and ending market values for the period on your brokerage account statements. The approximation equation (described more fully in the next section) should be used if you have made additions or withdrawals to your stock portfolio. If you have not made additions or withdrawals, the return equation is your actual return rather than an approximation. Of course, if you have a computer, investment software is available that can perform precise calculations.
Table 1 illustrates the sum-of-the-parts calculation. The first part of the table presents a listing of this investor's total portfolio holdings during the first quarter. The market value of each holding at the start and end of the period is indicated, along with the percentage of the total portfolio that each holding represents.
The period return column indicates the return over the time period for each portfolio. For the mutual fund holdings, the returns indicated in the table are simply examples. For the individual stock portfolio, the return was calculated using the approximation method because of the net addition to the stock portfolio.
The equation labeled Return Calculation #1 shows how the portfolio return was determined:
- For each holding, the portfolio percentages at the beginning of the period were multiplied by the period returns, and
- The results for each holding were added together, providing a portfolio return for the period of 4.5%.
The second method uses an approximation equation that compares the total market value of all holdings at the end of the period to the total market value of all holdings at the beginning; it also adjusts for the impact of net additions or withdrawals to the overall portfolio.
The Beginning vs. the End
The approximation equation is shown in the accompanying box. [Note that if there are no additions or withdrawals, there is no need to use an "approximation" equation; you would simply use the first return equation, which is your actual return.]
Adjusting for the impact of any net additions or withdrawals is important because money added to the original investment is not part of the investment's return, but anything the addition earns is part of the return. Also, the timing of the addition or withdrawal can make a difference. For example, if you add $1,000 to a portfolio at the beginning of the year, it works for you (or against you if the investment sours) for a longer time than if you were to put it in at the end of the year, yet in both situations you have added the same amount—$1,000—to the same original portfolio value.
In the approximation equation, the adjustment for additions or withdrawals is made by decreasing the ending value and increasing the beginning value by 50% of the net additions or withdrawals. This method creates a midpoint average for the cash flows no matter when they were actually made. However, the equation is more accurate when additions and withdrawals are relatively periodic, and are not large (greater than 10%) relative to the total portfolio value.
The calculation is illustrated in Table 1 (Return Calculation #2) using the same portfolio as in Calculation #1.
In the example shown here, you can see that there were several withdrawals and additions to individual holdings. However, the overall portfolio had a net withdrawal of $4,000, as this investor apparently decided to use some savings for consumption.
Here's how Calculation #2 was made:
- The portfolio was valued at $167,926.00 at the beginning of the period, and it was valued at $171,460.73 at the end of the period.
- The adjusted ending value is $173,460.73 [$171,460.73 – (50% × –$4,000)]; note that subtracting a negative figure is the same as adding a positive number;
- The adjusted beginning value is $165,926.00 [$167,926.00 + (50% × –4,000)]; note that adding a negative figure is the same as subtracting a positive figure.
- Dividing the adjusted ending value by the adjusted beginning value indicates the change in value for the period ($173,460.73 / $165,926.00); in this example the ending value is 1.045 times the beginning value.
- Subtracting 1.00 eliminates the beginning value, so the answer is in the form of an increase in value—the return—which in this example is a gain of 0.045, or 4.5% for the period. The result is the same as the return determined by the first method.
Of course, the resulting answers using the approximation method will not always be precise; in fact, the longer the time period covered, the less precise the approximation. However, it will be close enough for an individual to make informed decisions.
If the ending value after adjusting for net withdrawals or additions is less than the beginning value, the division will produce a figure that is less than 1.00 (for example 0.80); subtracting 1.00 then produces a negative figure [0.80 – 1.00 = –0.20, or –20%], and the return represents a loss.
Performance Comparisons
Measuring the performance of your total portfolio helps you assess the accuracy of the long-term return assumptions you made when determining your asset allocation mix.
While you can compare your portfolio's actual performance to your assumptions, you should also compare the assumptions and your portfolio performance to an index. Of course, indexes exist for asset classes, not entire portfolios, so you need to "create" your own index. You can do this following the method used in the first return calculation:
- First, determine the percentage of your portfolio that is allocated to each asset class, and multiply the percentage by the total return for the appropriate index (be sure the return reflects price changes and any income generated);
- The sum of these weighted returns is an appropriate index return that you can use to judge your portfolio's actual return.
You should also compare this customized index return with the long-term return assumptions you used when you determined your asset allocation mix. If they are close, but your own portfolio returns are off, the individual holdings should be reviewed.
On the other hand, if your long-term assumptions are different than the customized index return, you may want to rethink your original assumptions.
Keep the Outlook Long Term
Taking stock of your total portfolio is necessary to make sure that you will meet your long-term goal.
How often should this be done?
The equations shown here can be used for any length of time—weekly, quarterly or annually. However, portfolio measurement does not need to be done frequently—once a year is sufficient for most individuals.
If you do measure your portfolio's performance more frequently—for instance, quarterly—you can determine the annual return by:
- Adding 1.00 to each quarterly return figure (in decimal form),
- Multiplying the four numbers, and
- Subtracting 1.00 from the final figure. The result is the annual return in decimal form.
For instance, if the period returns in Table 1 were quarterly, and the prior three quarters were 3%, 1.2%, and 0.2%, the annual return would be: [1.03 × 1.012 × 1.002 × 1.045] – 1.00 = 0.091, or 9.1%.
However, if you measure portfolio performance frequently, don't make hasty decisions based on short-term results. Use the short-term results to satisfy your curiosity and as a possible warning signal.
But keep in mind that you are assessing a long-term strategy.
This article originally appeared in the August 2008 issue of the AAII Journal.


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The Law of Resonance and Attraction
The importance of Self-love as a lasting foundation for a successful love relationship cannot be overstated. Without true love of self, you have nothing to share with another but your own poverty of spirit.
According to the great ancient law of resonance and attraction, like attracts like.
To attract a great love in your life, you must have great love to share and that love must first of all be true Self-love, not egoistic love.
If you have not yet attained Self-love, by that same law of resonance and attraction, you will
attract an egoistic lover who, like yourself, must work to overcome social and cultural conditioning, egotistical self-centered behavior, character flaws, mental misconceptions, emotional wounds, energy attachments and karmic limitations.
Self-love is the necessary prerequisite for all successful sexual relations.
Self-love is the first step up the ladder of love for any individual.
The second step is love for another individual human being, a spouse, a lover, or an intimate friend, a teacher, a brother or sister or child.
The third step is love for humanity, manifest as compassionate actions in the world.
The fourth step is a universal love that is beyond description, a mystical Unity with the Source of all creation.
This universal love allows us to be One with Mother nature, plants, animals, and humans, the greater Universe around us, and with sentient beings dwelling in the spiritual world, including the hierarchy of angels, Guides and teachers, great Saints, Ascended beings such as Buddhas, gods and goddesses, Devas and nature spirits.
We become consciously one with the source of creation -- the Zero-Point field of energy that lies behind and sustains all that exists.
So if you wish to learn to love others, and to love God fully, first love yourself. Love is giving. By giving love to yourself, you give yourself permission to love others, and to be loved.
Western religious traditions tend to emphasize the sinful nature of the human personality, the human ego, and so most of us growing up in the West did not receive many teachings on the importance of self-love.
In the West self-love tends to be equated with pride, vanity and selfishness.
Photo by J.Sherry
These are characteristics of self-love as experienced by the undeveloped personality or egoistic self, disconnected from the Higher Self.
The Higher Self is often called Christ Consciousness by Western mystics or Krishna Consciousness or Buddha mind in the East. Self-love as experienced by the Higher Self is Nirvana.
For the Christ within us to become the dominant aspect of our identity, the egoistic self must be subordinated to the Higher Self, according to mystical traditions of both East and West.
Only then can the Higher Self come to life. Only then will Christ be born within our hearts and minds. Only then will we see clearly, open our hearts and become one with Buddha mind in perceiving the true nature of reality.
It is equally important to strengthen our identification with the Higher Self, with Christ Consciousness, with Buddha mind. In loving that essential part of yourself that transcends the ego, you put yourself more fully in touch with the beauty of Nature that surrounds you on Earth and the sublime harmonies of the stars above.
The Higher Self is the doorway to all that is Divine, and love is the key that opens the door. In the next article in this series, Meditations on Self Love, you'll learn a meditation designed to help you release the ego's grip and bring you into closer contact with your Higher Self and all its Divine qualities.
The Divine Lovers
Love your body, love your mind, love your Higher Self and Divine spirit. And be mindful. Remember, you are a child of the Divine Father/Mother Source, fashioned in the Divine image and likeness.
Twenty-first century science teaches that Nature is composed of two fundamental principles.
|by J.Sherry
"Nature as it is currently portrayed in science consists of energy, which can take any form, and fields, which are the formative principle in all realms of Nature," explains visionary scientist Rupert Sheldrake.
But the notion of these two animating and organizing principles as fundamental powers creating and sustaining the Universe is anything but new to mystics in both Eastern and Western traditions.
The polarity between Father Sky and Mother Earth is ancient and widespread. Native American traditions emphasize humanity's primal connection to Father Sky and Mother Earth and it is through these connections that we come to know and walk our path of Spirit.
The marriage between these Divine Lovers is indeed eternal, and we and our universe are their offspring.
from "The Tantric Way" by Mookerjee/Khanna
In Hindu Tantra, the Divine Mother is Shakti, the energy that infuses and sustains all the many forms of creation. The Divine Father is Shiva, the Logos, the forms of Nature, fields that act as receptacles for the divine energy of creation.
For Christianity, God the Father represents the active Will that transcends and sustains all of Creation, operating simultaneously beyond the forms of Nature, and within all that exists in Nature. God the Son, Jesus Christ, represents the Logos, the forms within nature. God the Holy Spirit represents the energy that sustains the myriad forms of Creation found in Nature.
|stock photo
In the Book of Genesis, God calls forth plants and animals from the Earth. "God doesn't bring them forth," says Rupert Sheldrake. "Earth is the mother. Here we have an image of creation through interrelationship.
Adam and Eve are born into the Garden of Eden, partaking of a preternatural love, a love that elevates them above the angels, triggering the animosity of Lucifer, the brightest angel, who refuses God's request that all the angels bow down before the Divine Lovers in their Earthly garden.
These Divine Lovers are our original parents, and their original sin is the sin of pride, which triggers their act of disobedient desire in the primal garden, an act of egotistical over-reaching, when they eat the apple of the forbidden tree of the knowledge of good and evil in order to become like gods. This act elevates their egoistic personalities above their God-given Divine nature, their Higher Self, and plunges them into the dualistic world of pain and suffering when they are exiled from the Garden as a result of their sin.
Now, here in the West, we are treading an ancient path back to the Garden of Eden, back to the Unity of the Divine Lovers.
The Illusory Ego
Gautama Buddha achieved his liberation from the bondage of the egoistic personality by meditating deeply upon the true nature of human existence. These meditations led Buddha to understand that the perception of the egoistic self as an individuated being, separate from and at war with the rest of the world around us, is simply an illusion.
Human procreation is a microcosmic version of universal creation. The Father is both separate from the Mother, yet united with her in the moment of conception. Then the child lives an intensely interdependent existence for nine months within the Mother, and is born physically connected to her. The child inherits qualities of both Father and Mother, and remains connected to the parents by blood ties, through spiritual links and via karmic connections that transcend time and space and affect parents and child on the physical, emotional, mental and auric levels.
|Tree Yoni by J.Sherry
We are born as wholly interdependent beings, and we live an interdependent existence. Nowhere in our conception, birth, or life is there to be found a permanent, separate self, isolated from the rest of creation. The child instinctively understands the interdependent nature of human existence and joyfully participates in the dance of life, at one with the Universe, at home in the true Garden of Eden.
In this we are greatly blessed, for we are truly children of the Divine Father/Mother Source and we inherit the Divine qualities of our Heavenly Father, Source of Universal Life Force Energy and of Mother Nature, who connects us to the web of life and sustains us through a myriad of interrelationships necessary for our continued existence.
But as we grow up, as we forget our true origins and begin to focus upon our egoistic personalities, and eventually to assume that the ego is the center of the universe and the sum total of our true nature, we exile ourselves from that blissful Garden of Eden which is our birthright. In our everyday lives, we normally act as though we are isolated, alone, separate from one another and from nature, alienated from the world around us. This everyday consciousness is very destructive, engenders fear, and denies love. This everyday consciousness we can call the illusory self, the egoistic self, or the ego.
Gautama Buddha explored the illusory nature of the egoistic self 2400 years ago and achieved liberation. Buddha found the way back into the Garden of Eden.
Stock Photo
Buddha's explorations of the nature of the self were an extension of the traditional Hindu practices of jnana yoga, the yoga of understanding and knowledge.
By understanding what the self is, and especially, what the Self is not, practitioners of jnana yoga seek to obtain liberation from the illusion of the separate self and attain Self-realization.
To understand the true nature of the Self, Buddha determined to seek the origin of the separate self in the physical, emotional and mental realms.
As we all know, the body reconstitutes itself continuously. Our cells die and new cells take their place. We are literally not the same person today we were last month or last year. Buddha meditated upon this fact of life.
|Ficus Roots Photo by J.Sherry
Thich Nhat Hanh in his brilliant biography of the Buddha, Old Path White Clouds explains that, "Beneath the pippala tree, the hermit Gautama focused all of his formidable powers ofconcentration to look deeply at his body. He saw that each cell of his body was like a drop of water in an endlessly flowing river of birth, existence and death, and he could not find anything in the body that remained unchanged or that could be said to contain a separate self. Intermingled with the river of his body was the river of his feelings, in which every feeling was a drop of water. These drops also jostled with one another in a process of birth, existence and death. Some feelings were pleasant, some unpleasant, and some neutral, but all of his feelings were impermanent: they appeared and disappeared just like the cells of his body."
Buddha discovered that nowhere in his emotions did anything remain unchanged, and there was nothing that could be said to contain a separate self.
Buddha examined his thoughts and found that although both positive and negative mental states appeared and disappeared like leaves in the wind, none of these mental states persist over time, none are permanent, and nothing within the mind could be discovered that constitutes a separate self. In his meditations, Buddha also discovered that although mental states such as fear, anger, greed, hatred, jealousy, and ignorance are the sources of our suffering, the mind is incapable of penetrating to the heart of reality and removing these sources of suffering.
"Mindful awareness blazed in him like a bright sun, and he used that sun of awareness to illuminate the nature of all these negative mental states," Thich Nhat Hahn recounts.
The Watcher
When mindful awareness blazed in the Buddha like a bright sun, Buddha achieved enlightenment. Buddha had used a certain aspect of his egoistic mind to transcend the ego altogether. We can call this aspect the "watcher" and it is the source of mindful awareness. Mindfulness is a keystone of Buddhist practice, and of ancient Hindu wisdom.
The Bhagavad Gita discusses the "watcher" in great detail. The Bhagavad Gita is an ancient Hindu poem and the most prominent sacred text in the Hindu tradition. Thousands of years old, the Gita recounts a series of battles between two opposing groups of royal relatives in India, warring over control of a precious kingdom.
|Krishna Painted Stock Photo
The central character is a Prince named Arjuna, who is very ambivalent about taking part in the battle. Although he is a peerless warrior of great renown, Arjuna does not want to fight his relatives, and he asks his mentor, Krishna, the Hindu version of Christ, for advice.
The entire poem is a metaphor of course. Arjuna is the typical human being. The battle is being waged within his person, which is the precious kingdom. The opposing forces are the warriors under control of the King of the Mind, who represents the illusory self, the egocentric personality, and the warriors under the command of the Higher Self. These virtuous Princes are allied directly with Krishna.
Krishna advises Arjuna to take part in the battle, and of course, Arjuna, Krishna and the forces of the Higher Self ultimately emerge victorious. The poem is told as a report to the King of the Mind, given by one of the Ego Mind's servants, named Sanjay, who is the watcher. Sanjay is totally objective, and he can always be counted on to give an accurate report of anything that happens.
Om & Snake Clip Art
Sanjay, the watcher, is that aspect of us that is detached, that observes. He is our undiluted consciousness, uncontaminated by the egoistic personality and its roiling emotional states. When we can merely observe ourselves without attachment or consideration, as in meditation, Sanjay comes to the forefront. This is why many meditation practices focus on simply observing the breath and banishing other thoughts. Observing what happens in the body. Observing the play of our emotions.
Because the more we identify with Sanjay, with pure consciousness, with the watcher within, the more we can detach from our own ego, our own karma, our own mental considerations, desires, and negative emotions.
Because the more we identify with Sanjay, with the consciousness, with the watcher within, the more we can detach from our own ego, our own karma, our own mental attachments, sense attachments, and negative emotions.
We can utilize this tool of the mind to achieve liberation if we have an extremely highly developed watcher within. This is very difficult for most people, but it is at the heart of yogic and Buddhist practice. Buddha demonstrated very clearly that this path, the path originally called jnana yoga, is one clear path to total liberation of the mind.
Upon achieving liberation through mindful observance as brilliant as the noonday sun, according to Thich Nhat Hanh, "[Buddha realized] People were caught in endless suffering because of their erroneous perceptions: they believed that which is impermanent is permanent, that which is without self contains self, that which has no birth and death has birth and death, and they divided that which is inseparable into parts," explains Thich Nhat Hahn. "He saw that they all arose due to ignorance."
Our egoistic illusions that we are separate from the rest of the world, in conflict with our environment and all those living within it, and alienated from the subtle energies of the world of spirit can all be overcome through spiritual practice. The mindfulness of Buddha, the love of Christ and the will of Arjuna must all be employed to achieve union with the Higher Self, and subordination of the egoistic self to its rightful role as watcher.
Krishna and Arjuna
When we have won that spiritual war within ourselves, we will become fonts of love, and we will have so much love to share that we will attract love from all quarters of the world and even from subtle spiritual sources of love beyond our present comprehension.
We will have the power to relieve suffering through the clarity of our consciousness, the diamond bright insights afforded us through penetrating discernment, and the warmth of our compassionate love.
Then we will have completed the preparations required to tread the Ascension Path in this world and in subtle realms beyond the reach of our present powers of vision.
READ NEXT CHAPTER: Chapter 4: Meditations on Self-Love


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Looking for something to do this Thanksgiving weekend? Follow the link to check out our suggestions. Do you have any ideas? Know of anything happening locally? Please share!
Here are five things to do this Thanksgiving weekend.
1. The big movies opening at theaters this week are "The Muppets," rated PG; "Hugo," PG, based on the book "The Invention of Hugo Cabret"; "Arthur Christmas," PG; and "A Dangerous Method," an R movie about Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud.
2. On Thanksgiving, don't forget to tune in to the unofficial kickoff to the holiday season – the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. It steps off at 9 p.m. local time on NBC.
3. Thanksgiving also is all about football, and there are three Thanksgiving Day matchups in the NFL. There also is college football action on Saturday and more NFL on Sunday.
4. Shop till you drop this Black Friday – there are expected to be some great deals this year to help spur holiday sales. Check the paper for listings of deals and times when stores will open.
5. To top off the weekend, make sure to welcome the Christmas season by getting your decorations all set. It's also a good time to go tree shopping – check the paper for information on tree farms in your area.
GateHouse News Service