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Yep, split pea. It makes a great protein-rich treat that's a great dessert or after school snack.
By Lail Hossain
Split Pea Fudge
Prep Time
Cook Time
Total Time
Yep, split pea. It makes a great protein-rich treat that's a great dessert or after school snack.
Author: Lail Hossain
Recipe Type: Dessert
- 2 cups split peas
- 6 cups milk
- 1 cup powdered milk
- 1 cup water
- 1¾ cups sugar
- 2-3 cardamom
- 3-4 cinnamon, each about an inch
- ½ cup butter or ghee
- Pinch of saffron (optional)
- Cashews, raisins for garnish (optional)
- Soak split peas in water for at least 2 hours.
- Wash and boil split peas starting with 4 cups of milk. Add the remaining milk as needed to soften the split peas. You may not need all the milk or may need slightly more, depending on split pea quality.
- In a food processor, puree the cooked split peas to a silky smooth paste. If too dry, you may need to add some milk.
- In a thick-bottomed or nonstick pan, make syrup with sugar and water over medium heat.
- Add split pea puree and saffron.
- Cook over low heat, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom of the pan.
- Cook until the mixture is sticky and a mass pulls away from the bottom and sides of the pan.
- Remove from heat and spread in a serving platter, let cool.
- Add cardamom and cinnamon to the syrup.
- Add butter or ghee.
- Cut into diamond-shaped barfi (or any shape) and garnish with cashews and/or raisins.


text: Preparation time: 10 minCooking time: 20 minServes: 12Muffins 750 ml (3 c) flour 15 ml (1 T) baking powder 2,5 ml (½ t) baking soda a pinch of salt 125 ml (½ c) butter, softened 250 ml (1 c) sugar 2 large eggs zest of 1 lemon 375 ml (1½ c) plain yoghurt 15 ml (1 T) flour 375 ml (1½ c) frozen berries, defrosted 12 ice-cream conesFrosting 2 egg whites 15 ml (1 T) lemon juice 500 ml (2 c) icing sugar pink food colouringDo this:Muffins:Preheat the oven to 180°C. Mix together all the dry ingredients.In a bowl mix together the butter and sugar until pale and smooth. Add eggs to the mixture, then the lemon zest.Mix together the dry ingredients and butter mixture. Mix in the yoghurt until smooth, but be careful not to overmix. Sprinkle flour over the drained berries and fold into the mixture.Place 12 ice-cream cones in a muffin pan. Distribute the dough equally among the cones.Place in the oven and bake for 20 minutes, then carefully remove from the pan.Frosting:Whisk the egg whites and lemon juice together until stiff peaks form. Sift the icing sugar over and beat until stiff. Halve the mixture into two bowls and colour one with pink food colouring.Spoon into a piping bag and pipe onto the cooled muffins- Hope Malau

subset: commoncrawl


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When one of my very best friends, Kortney, said she was semi-eloping to Historic Downtown Savannah I said "I'm there with my camera in hand!" I'm not sure that's how elopements work but never-the-less this sweet, intimate celebration included a handful of close family and a friend or two (or three, really, including the self-invited me plus my camera). :) I hit the road with my trusty side-kick mom to enjoy a weekend in this charming city celebrating my long-time friend who said "I do" beneath the ancient oaks of historic Pulaski Square. What a true delight! Congrats Kortney and Jimmie! And thanks for letting me capture the joyous day!
xoxo, Caroline


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- Average
- Main course: £12
- Food spend: £25
- Opening hours
- Monday to Saturday: 09:00 - 23:00 Sunday: 09:00 - 22:30
Great atmosphere playing ub40 music as we were eating we went for a pre concert meal .service was great my friend had the steak and I had the lasagne red wine and a cocktail and the delicious tiramasu vey nice meal enjoyed by us both .
12 June 2017
from Llanelie
A family-friendly restaurant at the Pemberton Retail Park, Frankie & Benny's Llanelli showcases contemporary American and Italian cuisine. Freshly-stirred cocktails are served at the bar and diners can unwind in the breezy outdoor area during summer months.
Offering big flavours and massive choice, the Frankie & Benny's menu is filled with New York and Italian classics. Renowned as a place for families looking for a fun, comforting dining experience, the menu spans from a juicy stateside chicken burger, to classic pasta with succulent Italian meatballs.
There is plenty of choice for vegetarian diners and those looking for lighter, healthier dishes, along with an impressive gluten-free menu. From the bar, enjoy a chilled beer, or a piled-high 'freakshake' for an indulgent treat.
Frankie & Benny's in Llanelli is a 6-minute drive from Bynea House Rail Station.
Frankie & Benny's - Llanelli
Unit 14, Pemberton Retail Park, Dyfed, Llanelli, SA14 9UZ
See all Frankie & Benny's Restaurants
See all restaurants in Llanelli
Customer reviews for Frankie & Benny's - Llanelli
- Food
- Value
- Ambience
- Location
- Service
- Drinks
((((* 23 February 2018 by Chris from Swansea
Excellent food, but the constant loud music was certainly not practical to a person wearing hearing aids and made it very difficult for me to converse with my wife across the table. Shame as it was her birthday. More like a disco than a restaurant. The service was excellent and the staff were all very attentive.
(**** 9 October 2017 by Anonymous from Llanelli
When ordering apple pie for desert, had to enquire about custard when it said the apple pie came with 'warm custard and vanilla ice cream'. Also, for drinks ordered a Diet Pepsi and normal Pepsi, when the drinks arrived thy were both Diet.
((((( 19 August 2017 by Diane from Llanelli
Very pleasant evening with the family. It's a general theme of F&B everywhere that service isn't the fastest but overall really pleased, certainly much better than the previous branch we've visited. Particularly impressed with the quality and presentation of the kids meal - in fact the 11 year-old who decided he was an adult was jealous!
((*** 25 July 2017 by Diane from RCT
Not as good as others I have been to, food was not as good
((((( 12 June 2017 by Lynda from Llanelie
Great atmosphere playing ub40 music as we were eating we went for a pre concert meal .service was great my friend had the steak and I had the lasagne red wine and a cocktail and the delicious tiramasu vey nice meal enjoyed by us both .
(((** 9 June 2017 by Ann from Llanelli
Very disappointed with dining experience. We ordered drinks which didn't arrive until after the starters came and that was because i asked the waitress for them. I ordered a dessert and 2 coffees. The coffees came and the dessert was delivered to a different table by the waitress i ordered it with. At this time there were only 3 tables occupied. The dessert was the returned to the pass and ignored until i had to once again ask for my dessert. At this late time i decided that i did not want my dessert and the waitress was visably annoyed and tried to tell me that the dessert was available. She did not get that i was disappointed with her incompetance. I have been a weekly customer at this establishment but i will not be rushing to visit again. Very disappointing experience.
((((* 21 April 2017 by Dean from Dudley
Very nice food, friendly staff, nice atmosphere... All good !
((((( 27 March 2017 by Julian from Llanelli Rural
Booked for Mothers Day lunch...Great staff, great food, great atmosphere!
(((** 1 January 2017 by Avril from Llanelli
Great for birthday if you want the cake surprise element with music and food to suit all ages.
((((( 20 December 2016 by Adele from Llanelli
Great service and tasty food.
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Hire CAA Auctioneers
5321 E Colorado Ave Denver Colorado 80222
1826 Mehaftey Bridge Rd Solon Iowa 52333 United States of America
PO Box 623 Weldona Colorado 80653
Michael WhitfieldAuction Manager Peak Auto Auctions
Hi There! I'm Whit, and I'm proud to be an auctioneer and personal property appraiser with the Schur Success Group Team. I have lived on the Front Range of Colorado for over five years. Although I'm not a Colorado native, I got here as quick as I could. The best part of Colorado for me is the bright, sunny afternoons with amazing views of snow-capped mountains.
I was born and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas. I earned a BSBA in Organizational Leadership from the University of Arkansas in 1998. After college, I lived in Lincoln, Nebraska for 8 years working in a variety of sales and marketing professions, including transportation sales, retail management, and non-profit membership development.
While living in Nebraska, I began to attend government surplus property auctions to purchase inventory for a small business I owned. I instantly became fascinated with the auction method as an effective form of commerce. I started going to as many auctions that I could to watch them make the magic happen.
In 2014, I made the commitment to follow my passion and completed auction school. As an auctioneer, I have marketed a variety of residential, commercial and industrial assets in both live and on-line auction settings. In 2015, I began the process to become a personal property appraiser. I enjoy the research part of appraisals, and the constant learning I do as I look at all the many assets I get to appraise. I am proud to have earned the Certified Auctioneer's Institute (CAI), Graduate Personal Property Appraiser (GPPA), and Certified Estate Specialist (CES) designations.
As a GPPA, I will develop a professional valuation and report of your assets that will meet the Uniform Standards for Professional Appraisal Practice, or USPAP. I can appraise almost any tangible asset of value, however, as a self-proclaimed "tech geek", my favorite items to appraise are computer and scientific equipment. My favorite part of the appraisal process is utilizing my research skills to understand the history of an asset, to analyze the factors affecting value, and to develop a specific value under a unique set of conditions.
As a Certified Estate Specialist (CES), I help trusts, estates, and families experiencing a relocation or life change sell personal property that is no longer needed or too difficult to relocate. I am always happy to provide a consultation to assess the items, your needs and goals.
Appraisals of personal and business property are needed for a myriad of reasons, including insurance replacement, estate tax, and charitable donation. If you have an appraisal need, please give me a call and I'll walk you through the process.
Of course, there's no obligation ever. I'm looking forward to meeting you.
5126 Brighton Blvd Denver Colorado 80216 United States of America
David P. Whitley CAI CESAuctioneer Rocky Mountain Estate Brokers Inc.
Auctions are our business.
Rocky Mountain Estate Brokers Inc. is a professional auction marketing company conducting quality auctions, liquidations and estate sales in Fort Collins, Greeley, Denver, Boulder, Cheyenne and throughout Colorado, Wyoming and the Rocky Mountain region. Lead auctioneer David P. Whitley, a Colorado Champion Auctioneer, and our staff with over one hundred and ten years of combined auction experience plan, promote, conduct and settle your auction in a professional manner. We blend innovative technology with time proven auction techniques to maximize your auction results. Auctioneers David Whitley and Casey Giddings are graduates of the Certified Auctioneer Institute and maintain their CAI designations.
Auctioneers sell it fast.
RMEB auctioneers conduct commercial liquidation auctions, industrial auctions, heavy equipment auctions, real estate auctions, business auctions, estate auctions, antique auctions, art auctions, firearms auctions, tool auctions, government surplus auctions, fund raising & charity auctions and consignment auctions both on site and at our Eaton Auction Center. Most of our auctions feature online bidding at our regional internet auction marketplace. We promote all of our auctions here at http://www.whitleyauction.com and in other media including our award winning color brochures. People attend our live and online auctions from this region and the entire world.
Auctions create quick results.
We specialize in turnkey solutions for you. Whether it is an estate in Fort Collins that needs to be removed today, a home in Boulder that must be sold in 30 days or a Greeley business liquidation in 60 days, we make it happen. We can conduct your auction on site or in our over 20,000 square foot Eaton Auction Center. Our experience, facilities, equipment and staff turn your problems into solutions. If you have one piece or a warehouse full, contact us now for a personalized auction-marketing plan.
24 Oak Ave Eaton Auction Center Eaton Colorado 80615 United States of America
720 Arbor Ave #13 Fort Collins Colorado 80521 United States of America
9751 E 113th Ave Henderson Colorado 80640 United States of America
Paul WowkNoCo Equipment Sales Limited
3406 Stover Street Ft Collins Colorado 80525
Colorado Auctioneers Association
PO Box 1133
Rifle, CO 81650
Cissy Tabor – Executive Secretary
Phone: 303-729-1195
Email: email@example.com
Colorado Auctioneers Association exists to educate auction professionals, to promote CAA members and to monitor legislation in Colorado for the auction industry.
Our vision to have all Colorado auction professionals desire to be members of the Colorado Auctioneers Association.


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The Answers You've Been Looking for, All in One Place
Over the past couple of weeks, I have been focusing on the growing issue between passive investing and bloated ETFs… and I've gotten some great questions from readers who want to know more.
When this crash comes, whether it's a 'flash crash' or far more serious, I want my readers to be prepared to rake in serious profits while everyone else is in freefall. And I'm happy to take the time to address your specific questions if that means you will all be ready.
Here's exactly what you want to know about the coming ETF crisis, mutual funds, IPOs, and more…
If the coming crisis with ETFs is so obvious, why doesn't anyone else seem to see it? –Anish
Good question! There are reasons hardly anyone is focusing on these very serious issues. Firstly, "out of sight out of mind"-people foolishly tend to believe that if it's out of sight, it must have been fixed.
It's frightening, but we never got an answer as to what caused the May 2010 flash crash. We recovered, and there was a lot of hand-wringing for a short while… then nothing. It's like it never happened, or since we bounced right back it must not have been a big problem, or it was addressed and we don't have to worry about it. This is just not true.
The same faulty logic applies to the August 24, 2015 market opening and then total flameout. Some stocks didn't open, lots of ETFs couldn't be priced, prices fell through cracks in floors no one knew existed, and stop orders got ripped through and filled substantially lower than investors expected. Was that all fixed? Heck no. But because it hasn't happened again, people think it was figured out and fixed. NOT so. At all. It was just swept under the rug. So, if out of sight is out of mind, then why worry about something that's thought to have been fixed?
Secondly, the growth of ETFs is so good for business, no one is willing to stop that train or stand in front of it. That includes ETF regulators. But putting your head in the sand can only last so long. Eventually you suffocate, and when you come up to see what the landscape looks like you may not recognize it. That's what we're going to see, one day soon.
Are there any ETFs that seem safer than the ones you mentioned, like SPY? Is there a way to passively invest without contributing to the crash you see coming? — Carol
No. None of them are safer than any others. As my dear mother used to say, "They're all tarred with the same brush."
The nature of ETFs – being derivatives of underlying stocks, which are often glued together as indexes – guarantees that any strong selling of the underlying issues will cause the derivatives to react. And it's faster to sell the derivatives than all those individual underlying stocks, futures, or physicals. Selling ETFs themselves will be the principal weight initiating those feared negative feedback loops.
As a passive investor using ETFs, it's impossible to avoid the trap. However, that does NOT mean you should stay away from ETFs altogether. All you have to do is understand what can happen and how to protect yourself. Play the game, play it to win. Understand how other players (the authorized participants, market-makers, and specialists) are playing the game and what they'll do to profit from circuitous selling. Then get out of the way, or play the selloff to win big yourself.
Again, don't sit on the sidelines because you're afraid. Get in on the game now that you know the parameters. The money's out there for the taking. Don't let these professional ringers ring your neck – wink at them and beat them at their own game.
Does the same logic you used for what will happen with passively investing in ETFs apply to passively investing in mutual funds? — Steve B
Yes, unfortunately, the same logic applies. Mutual funds can't sidestep a selloff or crash, it's just not possible. The reason I'll always have my hand in ETFs is because I can sell them throughout the day, pre-open, and even after the close sometimes. You'll never be able to do that with mutual funds. If I see an ugly selloff coming, I'll want out immediately.
The more money you save on the way down, the more money you have to invest after the dust settles.
Thank you for the useful insights in your email "The Perfect Portfolio Strategy for These Markets". You covered the topic of put selling. What's the best strategy to sell put options? Would you sell puts when the stock is in the oversold condition to sell the put or sell the put when the stock is in the overbought condition? If you sell in the overbought condition you get less premium so that doesn't seem to be a good strategy… And then, if you sell the put in the oversold condition, you get higher premium but you could just buy the stock outright. Would appreciate some guidance here! — John B
These are all excellent questions. However, to answer them for you would take a whole lot of explanation about options pricing in terms of time, interest rates, and volatility, and about oversold and overbought conditions, how to determine what's what there… That's a LOT to address here.
My favorite book on options is still the first book on options I ever read, Options as a Strategic Investment by Lawrence McMillan. You'll find most of the answers you're looking for in there.
How soon after an IPO launches can you short it or buy puts? I know they have to offer options, but is there a general rule of when it happens? — Patrick
According to NASDAQ , "Options on a stock may be listed, at the earliest, seven business days following the IPO. Once an IPO is listed on a national market, stock options may be listed, provided that the IPO meets certain standards."
These standards include:
- A stock float greater than 7 million
- More than 2,000 shareholders
- Five consecutive days during which the closing price is at least $3.00 on the primary listed market
You can use some of the information in an IPO's prospectus to determine whether a stock will likely meet options-listing requirements. The prospectus will list financial information for the company, facts about the deal, and the risks of investing in the company, among other details.
As far as shorting an IPO, technically, you can short an IPO on the opening day. The problem with shorting an IPO is you have to be able to locate shares you can borrow to "deliver" to the buyer you are shorting/selling to. If you can't locate and borrow shares, you can't deliver them to the buyer on settlement date, and that's a no-no. Underwriters are forbidden from lending out shares for 30 days. However, retail investors and institutional investors who own shares have them, and the brokerages that hold their shares can technically lend them out to facilitate short-sellers.
That should do it, and thank you to everyone who wrote in. I always look forward to hearing from you, and you can continue to get in touch through the comments section or my Facebook and Twitter.


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Wondering where you can bring your family this Halloween weekend? Here are some of the events that you can participate in within the Poplar Bluff area this year (2016).
If you have an event you like added to the list, please fill out the form below!
Saturday, October 29, 2016
Train Depot
4 Annual Fall Festival
Hosted by Black River Heritage Artisans Iron Mountain Market
Goodies, games, Costume contests, pony rides, and bounce houses
9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Second Baptist Church
Trunk or Treat
Candy, Bounce Houses, Free Food, and more
4 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Sunday, October 30, 2016
First United Methodist Church Poplar Bluff
Trunk or Treat
5 p.m. - 8 p.m.
Black River Coliseum
Trunk or Treat
5 p.m. - 7 p.m.
Fellowship General Baptist Church
Trunk or Treat
6 p.m. - 8 p.m.
Monday, October 31, 2016
First Church of God
Games, Prizes, Candy, Food, and More
6 p.m. - 8 p.m.
Qulin Lions Club
Trunk or Treat, Games, and more
5 p.m. - 9 p.m.


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Say hello to Bugatti! Enjoy the ride with this kitty!
She is a 5 month old kitten who was recently rescued from a life on the street along with her mom and 4 siblings. This little girl will add love and sweetness to any household! She really needs a home to call her own!
Bugatti will be spayed, microchipped, is negative for FIV/FELV and will be up to date on all vaccines upon adoption.
You can now meet this gorgeous kitten at our Atlas location, 80-36 Cooper Ave., Glendale.
Thank you for your interest in Bugatti!
Age: 5 months (as of 9/2018)
Breed: DSH
Color: white and gray tabby
Hair Length: short
Size: medium (when full grown)


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Easy Ways to Make Your Home More Welcoming for Holiday Guests
You might not have days to get your home looking like new for your holiday guests. But that doesn't mean that you can't have guests over to celebrate. By making some simple fix-ups, your home will be welcoming without major changes.
Enter As Your Guests Would
Walk outside your home by the front door all the way to the sidewalk or the street, turn around, and look back at your house. What would you see first? Scraggly plants, brown grass, snow-covered sidewalk, house light bulb burned out? Not very welcoming! If you need to, sweep the sidewalk, shovel the show, use a broom to clear off spider webs or major dust, and clean off the front porch. Replace burned light bulbs. Clean off the "Welcome" door mat so that your guests really feel welcome.
Freshen Up the Planters
Get rid of the droopy fall mums and replace with fresh poinsettias or sprays of holiday greenery. For color, add big red bows if you have time.
Open the Door
What is the first thing you see? Jackets and mittens strewn around the entry? Get a big trash or shopping bag and collect all the family things that you use every day. Stash the things away until your guests leave.
Make Room for Guests' Coats
If there's room, push your coats and jackets to one side of your coat closet to make room for what your guests will be wearing. If your closet is too small, move some of your own coats into bedroom closets temporarily. Clear room on the closet floor if you'll be collecting boots or overshoes. Or use a big bucket for umbrellas.
Find Chairs for Everyone
You may be having more guests than you have chairs around your living room. Forget the perfect furniture arrangement and collect what chairs you'll need and arrange them around the room. Everyone will be able to talk to each other and no one will be left out or feel uncomfortable. You might have to move some of them to the table when it's time to eat. No problem. Enlist everyone's help.
Forget the Total Cleaning
Don't try to have your home spic-and-span. A quick wipe will be fine and no one will know the difference once they're all there visiting. Use a towel to wipe down the bathroom sink and countertop, flush the toilet, fill the toilet paper, fluff the pillows, sweep the kitchen floor, and enjoy the day. You can clean tomorrow.
Turn Down the Heat
Once you get the oven going, candles burning, fireplace lit, and room filled with guests and happy conversation, you'll be amazed how warm your home will feel. Save energy by turning down the thermostat! Who knew?
Set the Mood
Even if you don't have time to put Christmas decorations around the house, you can really set the mood for a holiday party with candles everywhere. Keep them safely out of traffic, but light the coffee table, side tables, dining table, with pillars, votives, and pillar candles. Don't forget the powder room. Wherever you can't use candles, create atmosphere by simply dimming the lights.
If you use some of these tips, you'll be ready in minutes to welcome holiday guests and not spend hours getting ready. Enjoy!
courtesy of: interiordec.about.com


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Whitehall departments are at odds over plans to raise the public sector pay cap after No 10 offered a clear hint that it would be lifted.
The Cabinet Office and the Treasury disagree over the details of proposals to relax restrictions covering the salaries of nurses, doctors, teachers, armed personnel and others, sources have said.
The prime minister's official spokeswoman fuelled speculation that the cap would be lifted when she said on Monday that May recognised the sacrifice made by public sector workers during seven years of wage restraint.
"We know a number of people in the public and private sectors feel like they are just about managing, and we recognise the sacrifice they are making," she said. "But there is a process in place and I can't pre-empt the process."
An informed source said Treasury officials were willing to relax pay for a select number of civil servants but suspected that the Cabinet Office had tried to bounce the government into leaking a story on pay restraint to the Sun.
The Sun claimed an announcement of an end to the seven-year cap was expected to form the centrepiece of the chancellor Philip Hammond's autumn budget.
The Treasury is due to send out letters within weeks setting out the remit for public sector pay review bodies for next year's pay round.
"The leak looked as if it has been timed to put pressure upon the Treasury," the source said. "Remit letters are overdue so they need to make some kind of decision.
All agree that any lifting of the cap should be on a case-by-case basis, not general. But the details have not been agreed and the Treasury, as ever, is urging caution."
Under one plan being considered, the lowest-paid public sector workers, along with groups with the biggest retention problems such as nurses and senior civil servants, could be granted a pay rise at least in line with inflation next April, with restraint for others lifted in 2019.
The prime minister's spokeswoman said the government was listening to the experts. One pay review body has warned that the ability to fill some public sector jobs could "deteriorate rapidly" if the cap continues.
The Senior Salaries Review Body, which makes recommendations for some NHS managers, military officers and top civil servants, suggested it was difficult to act effectively with its hands tied. "In the current context, it is difficult for the SSRB to operate effectively," it said.
The FDA, the senior civil servants union, welcomed the reports but added that departments must be free to pay market rates if they were not going to lose staff to big business. "While lifting the pay cap would be a great start, we hope these reports can lead to a more open dialogue about pay reform that gives departments greater freedom to pay market rates for the skills our civil service needs," said the FDA general secretary, Dave Penman.
Janet Davies, the chief executive and general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, said that if reports of the pay cap being lifted were true it would mark significant progress and show the government was listening to nurses' campaigning.
"But any offer from the PM or Treasury needs to not only scrap the pay cap for future years but go some way towards making up for lost earnings," she said, warning that industrial action was on the table if May and Hammond failed to scrap the cap. "Nursing pay has fallen by 14% in real terms since 2010, now worth £3,000 each year," she said.
Nurses will demonstrate outside parliament on Wednesday over the issue, which was a central theme in the election after May was confronted by a nurse who had suffered as a result of the pay cap.
Many Tory MPs have admitted that the inability to attract public sector workers hampered their efforts during the election, in which the party lost its majority.
Rehana Azam, the GMB national secretary, said: "The artificial cap on pay was always a political choice by the Conservative government. This damaging policy has seen thousands pinched from public sector workers over seven years."
She said it would be a victory for the union's campaign if the cap was lifted, but "the devil will be in the detail".
"All public sector workers must receive proper pay rises – including those not covered by pay review bodies, such as school support staff, council workers and police staff," she said. "The prime minister will not be able to get away with a sleight of hand on this one – we're watching very closely."


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What is the strongest predictor of success in business? According to one of the most comprehensive studies of business management ever conducted, the answer is a clearly stated, focused business strategy.
Viewing entries in
Positioning Strategy
What is the strongest predictor of success in business? According to one of the most comprehensive studies of business management ever conducted, the answer is a clearly stated, focused business strategy…
If you have a hard-working team that seems to be working longer hours by the day, it's likely because you don't have a hard-working business strategy.
Do the executives on the front lines of your firm have a clear, unequivocal understanding of the principles that guide your commercial decisions?
In the age of disintermediation, no firm that plays on a national stage can claim to be a monolithic stand-alone resource for its clients. Rather, the best professional service firms are part of an increasingly complex and interdependent ecosystem of specialized solutions providers.
Do you stumble when trying to describe your firm's "elevator pitch?" Most business executives do. The unfortunate truth is that most of us don't have a very thorough understanding of how our companies create value.
Can the same kind of "feature fatigue" made famous by over-engineered electronic devices apply just as well to a professional services firm? Absolutely it can, and it produces largely the same effects.
Since the turn of this century, the "Agency of Record (AOR)" concept has died a not-so-slow death. With new channels and technologies born every day, marketers no longer have the expectation that any one agency can stay up with it all. Instead, they assign a federation of "best-in-class" resources not only to help solve marketing problems, but more importantly, to identify new opportunities.
If you were looking for a person to spend the rest of your life with, is it more likely you'd find him or her at a bar (where you're likely to find a little bit of everything) or on one of the new matchmaking sites designed to pair interests and personalities? The bar hopping approach might yield the desired result – eventually – but using eHarmony or OK Cupid will get you there a lot faster, and arguably with a much better match.
What's the logical way to grow your business this coming year? Expand, right? Add more lines, serve more markets? Seems like common sense. But for the most part, business strategy is not common sense.
How are cosmetics able to command such premium pricing? It's not that the ingredients are expensive; their actual cost is quite minimal. Cosmetics are perhaps the ultimate example of the power of selling outcomes, because women aren't buying the chemical compounds that comprise a powder, rouge or lipstick. They're buying the promise of looking young and beautiful. As Revlon magnate Charles Revson once said, "We sell hope."
What makes a great restaurant? The things that are not on the menu. The world's most mediocre restaurants famously have virtually everything on their menus, making them average at everything and excellent at nothing.
Quick, what's the top reason marketers search for a new advertising agency? If you guessed "creative differences," "cost" or "poor service," you'd be citing some of the reasons that do in fact show up on top 10 lists. But the key driver today in agency searches is the desire marketers have to work with "best-in-class specialists."
Advertising agencies are facing competition from every dimension and direction. Upstream, they now complete with marketing consultancies and brand strategy firms who seek to provide planning and strategy services to marketers. Downstream are production companies, independent freelancers, and even media companies who now aim to not just sell media but produce content.
Is growth always a good thing? The answer is not as obvious as it seems. While growth usually looks good on an income statement, growth also creates complexity. As your firm continues to expand and add services, your business model becomes more complex, and services become more expensive to deliver consistently.


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Whale Beat Albany, Extend Division Lead To Seven Points
Connecticut Whale 3, Albany Devils 2
Hartford, CT, December 27, 2011 – The Connecticut Whale defeated the Albany Devils, 3-2, Tuesday night before a crowd of 7,123 at the XL Center in Hartford. The Whale received two goals from Andre Deveaux, as he earned first-star honors, while Kris Newbury scored and added two assists for Connecticut.
The Whale had leapt out to a 3-0 lead by the middle of the second period, and held on to beat the Devils for the second time this season. Eric Gelinas scored and added an assist for Albany.
The win enabled the Whale (18-9-1-3, 40 pts.) to move seven points ahead of Devils for first place in the Northeast Division standings.
"It was an all-around good effort by everyone tonight," said Whale goaltender Cam Talbot. "A great effort by our big guys."
The Whale took the early lead on the power-play at 2:20 of the first, as Deveaux tipped a Jonathan Audy-Marchessault pass past Albany goaltender Keith Kinkaid (23 saves). Audy-Marchessault sent a hard feed across the slot to the waiting Deveaux, who redirected the puck around the left pad of Kinkaid. Newbury also assisted on the goal.
Newbury would extend the Whale lead to 2-0 with just 54 seconds remaining in the first, as his wrist shot from the slot beat Kinkaid. Aaron Voros' shot had deflected off the glass to Newbury in the high slot, allowing him to corral the puck and bury his tenth of the season.
Deveaux would push the Connecticut lead to 3-0 with his second goal of the night at 6:08 of the second period, again on the power-play. The set-up was nearly the same as Deveaux's first, as Newbury fed Audy-Marchessault, whose shot was redirected through Kinkaid.
Albany's power-play took over later in the period, as Gelinas' blast from the right point beat Talbot (34 saves) to get the Devils on the board at 8:19. Brandon Burlon and Steve Zalewski assisted on the goal.
The Devils struck again on the power-play at 16:52, as Albany benefited from an extended five-on-three situation. Stephane Veilleux tipped a Gelinas shot past Talbot to get Albany within 3-2.
Talbot helped the Whale to preserve their 3-2 lead and withstood Devils' pressure throughout the night, in a game in which Connecticut was outshot by a 36-26 margin.
"We were able to maintain our lead and we got our win tonight," said Whale head coach Ken Gernander.
After a visit to Worcester on Friday, the Whale return to home-ice action on New Year's Eve, this Saturday, December 31, taking on Springfield. That game has a special holiday start time of 5:00, and all upper-level tickets are discounted to $5 each. Also, in celebration of New Year's Eve, the Hartford Parking Authority is offering free parking at the Morgan Street garage and $2 parking at both the Church Street and MAT garages.
Albany Devils 2 at Connecticut Whale 3
Tuesday, December 27, 2011 – XL Center Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Albany 0 2 0 – 2
Connecticut 2 1 0 – 3
1st Period-1, Connecticut, Deveaux 9 (Audy-Marchessault, Newbury), 2:20 (PP). 2, Connecticut, Newbury 10 (Voros), 19:06. Penalties-Gelinas Alb (interference), 1:52; Harrold Alb (elbowing), 10:52; Corrente Alb (roughing), 13:11; Thuresson Ct (roughing), 13:11.
2nd Period-3, Connecticut, Deveaux 10 (Audy-Marchessault, Newbury), 6:08 (PP). 4, Albany, Gelinas 5 (Burlon, Zalewski), 8:19 (PP). 5, Albany, Veilleux 4 (Gelinas, Anderson), 16:52 (PP). Penalties-Mills Alb (tripping), 5:09; Baldwin Ct (hooking), 6:35; Owens Ct (major – boarding), 13:17; Nightingale Ct (cross-checking, unsportsmanlike conduct), 15:49.
3rd Period- No Scoring. Penalties-No Penalties
Shots on Goal-Albany 12-11-14-37. Connecticut 6-8-13-27.
Power Play Opportunities-Albany 2 / 4; Connecticut 2 / 3.
Goalies-Albany, Kinkaid 8-8-0 (27 shots-24 saves). Connecticut, Talbot 8-5-0 (37 shots-35 saves).
Referees-T.J. Luxmore (47), Geno Binda (22).
Linesmen-Kevin Redding (16), Jim Briggs (83).


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Bethesda Announces DOOM And WOLFENSTEIN II For Nintendo Switch
Third party support is coming on the Switch console, and Bethesda is leading the charge. It was announced that the new DOOM would make its way to the console, and about everyone was floored when it was followed up with the news that Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus would be coming as well!
Sadly, If you want to play Wolfenstein II on Switch you will have to wait until 2018 as the game will not be ready for launch next month. Doom is expected to be out this holiday season.
Check out the game trailers below:


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Posts from the Crypt
I am pulling this link up from the distant past (last August), to share with you an interview between two of my favorite bloggers. Seth Godin answers questions for Hugh McLeod of Gaping Void. (Yes, two posts in a row with links. I spent a lot of today reading the archives, so sue me.)
Anyway, the first question and answer:
1. QUESTION: Your latest book, "Small Is The New Big", is not a narrative or a thesis in any sense, but a collection of your favorite writings from your blog and your old Fast Company column. A collection of synapse-firings, the way I see it. Is it important to you to have your work "immortalized" on paper? Do you find the internet and magazines just too ephemeral, and wanted to created something more "lasting"? Or was it just simply because, as you say, you wanted your ideas to reach beyond the blogosphere?Read the whole interview. Then get ahold of the book, it is fantastic.
ANSWER: It's important not to underestimate the totem value of a book. The same way a white lab coat makes a placebo more likely to be effective (or a witch doctor's hat for that matter), a book delivers an impact that a blog can't.
While there's certainly some ego in wanting your thousands of posts not to disappear, there's also a real desire on my part to give my existing readers the ability to taunt their co-workers by handing them a book instead of emailing them a link. If my job is to make change, I need to use the best tools that are available.
It's also hard to read a blog at the beach.
I want to be clear about something I just discovered though--that there IS a theme. The title really captures what the book is about. I've been amazed that reviewers (professional and pro-am) have seemed to find something that I didn't when I was busy writing it... that acting small, treating people like people, changing like an individual, not an organization... these are attributes that are essential now, and they're on every page of the book. I think I picked the right riff for the title.


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Working on addition in kindergarten requires a lot of hands-on learning. The students need concrete objects when working on this concept so that they truly understand what it means to add things together.
Here are two centers that worked great with our class:
- Build It!
This a free download from Thank God it's First Grade. It is a great center to use with snap cubes. The kindies needed a little guidance to begin with, but now they are able to do it on their own.
2. Adding with beads
This is not only a great addition center, it works on their fine motor skills too. They pick two numbers (or roll two dice) and add the numbers together. To find the sum, they can string beads onto a pipe cleaner. A simple and fun idea that works great with your loose parts center. I used a chalk board pen and some rocks I had in the classroom to create the addition and equal signs.
There you have it, two new addition centers to add to your rotation!


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Anchorman - The Legend of Ron Burgundy
Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2011 6:57 pm
Christina Applegate stars not only in my all-time favorite show, she also stars in my all-time favorite comedy movie, Anchorman - The Legend of Ron Burgundy. Of course, much of that has to do with the fact that it's made by my favorite comedian, Will Ferrell, and his writing partner/director Adam McKay who've done four awesome movies together (Anchorman, Talladega Nights, Step Brothers & The Other Guys.) There were so much improvisation made in this movie that Applegate was the only one of the main castmembers who needed a script, the rest of the Channel 4 team just winged it. The movie is pure genius, IMO.
Any fans of this classic comedy here on the forum?
Any fans of this classic comedy here on the forum?


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By Bree Aylwin
5 Tips for Collaborating with Social Media Influencers
When it comes to collaborating with bloggers and social media influencers, there are a few key elements to nurturing a positive and lucrative relationship. Today we are excited to be sharing these 5 key tips for collaborating with social media influencers. Scroll through to learn more!
Don't be Blinded by Numbers
When you're searching for bloggers to work with - focus on engagement more than the actual following numbers. Engagement is a better indication of influencer reach and interest. Followers, on the other hand, can be bought or can be fake follows. The key here is to remember to look for authentic bloggers.
Get to Know their Brand
Before reaching out to an influencer, spend some time getting to know their brand. Read their posts, listen to their podcast, and review their social feeds to determine whether or not they suit your project and brand voice. The best way to create a great campaign is to work with those who naturally reflect your brand.
Request their Social Media Kit
Typically, influencers will have a social media kit available for brands to review. These kits hold key details about the influencers market, audience, and social reach. These often will also include rates for specific types of projects.
Get Creative
If you're looking for something outside the box, then host a creative brainstorming session with the blogger. This way you'll get to know one another well, build a relationship, and also come out with a one-of-a-kind collaboration. Remember, creativity breeds creativity!
Respect Influencer Boundaries
Every influencer wants control over their content. While businesses want to provide guidance and points on a blog or social post, in the end, a business needs to simply trust the influencer to create great content. You don't want your opinions and points to alter the influencer's voice since that is the reason you chose to collaborate with them in the first place.
Would you like to work with influencers? We can help! Contact us to learn more.


text: Hi Loves! One of the basic step to choose freedom and live the life YOU want is to establish healthy boundaries. In this short video I define what boundaries are, which ones are the healthy ones and WHY they are so fundamental for a conscious life :-) I hope you enjoy it and don't forget to subscribe! xo


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Coming Up from Fredericksburg/
Union soldiers filled the streets of Alexandria in 1862. Camps encircled the town. Regiments found places to shelter wherever they could. Hospitals operated in churches, schools, and private homes.
Given that backdrop, things were relatively quiet in December 1862--until, that is, a few days after the Battle of Fredericksburg (December 11 to 15).
In fact, they were probably quieter than usual, since the regiments had gone south under the command of General Ambrose Burnside. His ill-conceived plan was to get to Richmond via Fredericksburg and the Rappahannock River.
The Union casualties were triple the number of the Confederates, overwhelming the limited facilities in nearby Falmouth. Boats brought thousands of wounded to Alexandria and Washington.
Alexandria Observations
On December 19, 1862, four days after the battle, Julia Wilbur wrote:
...on looking down Duke St. I saw ever so many soldiers coming. I soon found that these were the slightly wounded coming from the landing, 2 boats having arrived, & these were going to hospitals.
Then I looked over to the Bap. Ch. [Baptist Church, turned into a hospital]. Ambulances were standing there & they were carrying in the wounded. A corpse lay in the porch, right opposite the door, & 8 men have died in this hos. in 2 days. .... I went on to the Washington St. Hos. What numbers they were taking in here....A nurse asked me to go into her ward. There were but 2 men in it & these men were nearly well. I was there an hour & saw the beds nearly all filled up. One with an arm off, another with a leg off, one shattered with bullets & so on. —All day long the ambulances have been busy bringing them to the hospitals. Some were removed from F.[Fredericksburg] Saturday night & others Monday morning....
Mary Phinney von Olnhausen, the nurse at Mansion Street Hospital, also described the scene in her post-war memoir:
The whole street (Fairfax Street) was full of ambulances and the sick lay outside on the sidewalks from nine in the morning till five in the evening. Of course places were found for some; but already the house was full; so most had to be packed back again and taken off to Fairfax Seminary, two miles out. I have been so indignant all day. - not a thing done for them, not a wound dressed...They reached town last evening, lay in the cars all night without blankets or food, were chucked into ambulances, lay about here all day, and to-night were put back into ambulances and carted off again...
As for several other "Civil War celebrities":
The Battle of Fredericksburg brought Walt Whitman to Washington. He came in search of his brother, whom he incorrectly thought had died. His brother was fine, but Whitman stayed on as a friend and comfort to patients, while writing some of his most famous poetry.
Whitman found his brother at Lacy House, a home-turned-hospital in Falmouth. Clara Barton was also at Lacy House--she had come as the military prepared for battle and remained several weeks in the aftermath.
And, it was the Fredericksburg wounded that gave Louisa May Alcott her first and most vivid experiences as a nurse in a hospital in Georgetown. Untrained, she had three days' experience before "all was hurry and confusion" and she had responsibility for a ward of 40 patients.


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Monticello Drive / Fort Worth, TX
Refining the heart of a home
A large home of mediterranean influence on a charming corner lot in one of Fort Worth's most desirable neighborhoods. With more than adequate square footage, hardwood floors, tall ceilings, and numerous windows, the homeowners were in love with almost everything about their newly purchased home... Everything except for the builder-grade cabinets and design finishes.
These days, if you are lucky enough to get your hands on a home with the perfect layout in a fabulous neighborhood, you can always enhance a basic interior. The homeowners at Monticello Drive called on the Morrissey team for the interior redesign and remodel of their kitchen and Butler's pantry. Self-described "foodies", our new clients wanted a perfect kitchen to call their own.
My client previously assembled a blend of carefully curated antiques and custom upholstered pieces, so inspiration for the new kitchen wasn't hard to come by. One of the home's standout pieces is a distressed wood table with a unique iron base, salvaged by Fort Worth's Simple Things out of a San Francisco fish market. It would serve as a dine-in table for our new kitchen.
Having the fish market table as our inspiration, we established that we would incorporate its elements in the new finishes. The custom white shaker cabinets were begging for a nod to rustic vintage. I asked my cabinet builder to trim the base of the new vent hood in cedar. Our team bleached the raw cedar until we got the patina to match the vintage fish table. I sourced matte black hardware for the cabinet knobs and drawer pulls. The exposed details and curved backplate on the hardware give the cabinets a refined vintage appeal. Working together with my client on a quest for unique countertops, we discovered a Caesarstone product with the characteristics of un-oiled soapstone-- perfect for our refined vintage vibe.
We perused through hundreds of catalogue pages until we landed on the perfect pendants to hang above the kitchen table. Pewter shades with decorative chains provide the perfect touch of classic elegance.
Details, details, details:
If there is one concept that is always at the forefront of my mind when I am designing remodels, it is cohesiveness. One of the most common mistakes people make in remodeling is designing new spaces that don't relate to anything else in the home. I am not a rule follower when it comes to interior design, but there should always be a common thread tying the various parts together. --SM


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"You can just delete that email from (Name Withheld)" he said as we passed in the hall.
"Okay" was my response.
Because I hadn't seen the email from this particular person.
But I was suddenly very curious to see what it was about.
From time to time there are things at work that require me sending out an email to the masses to kind of nudge them in the right direction. Nothing bad, nothing earth-shaking, just one of those things that makes life a whole lot easier all along the river, so to speak.
Today was one of those times.
For reasons unknown to me, several people where I work don't quite grasp the difference between the subject of an email and the body of an email.
They type their whole message in the subject line. Which, I'm sure, is just great on AOL. However, it doesn't work well in other places.
Where I work is one of those places.
So me being the proactive forward-thinker that I am, I send out the following email, hoping to explain to the confused masses that email subjects and email bodies have different purposes, and sometimes emails aren't read by people but by other computers, and sometimes the results are not quite what the sender had in mind.
And me being the over-explainer that I am, I do more than just say "Hey guys, learn how to use the fucking tab key after you type a BRIEF subject and put all the important shit in the body, m'kay?"
Besides, spell-check at work hates the word fuck. Weird.
So here's the email I sent to the masses:
Hello all.
When you're sending email to the Help Desk to initiate a support request, please DO NOT put your entire problem in the subject.
Put a five to seven word description as your subject, such as:
Warehouse Barcode printer not working
Bill Gates is unable to log on to SAP
Steve Jobs can't log in to Windows
Maximo doesn't work
The software used at the Help Desk has a limited number of characters in the title of ticket. The title of the ticket as seen by the support staff is automatically generated from the subject line of your email.
You can put the rest of the information into body of the email, such as
The barcode printer in the warehouse is not printing labels. There is an error message on the front that says #411 framing.
Bill's SAP account is locked out. Please reset his password.
Steve can't get into the computer in Bldg 62 because it says his password is wrong.
Maximo doesn't work. When I try to run my work order tracking report nothing prints.
This allows the technician who is responsible for responding to issues quickly assign your ticket to the responsible party or contact you if additional information is needed.
If you have questions about this, please ask.
Pretty well written, if I do say so myself. And pretty well explained.
And pretty much to the point of not blaming anyone, because neither Bill Gates nor Steve Jobs works with me, I just pulled some names out of the air to populate the messages.
So I sit back and await the questions.
The first was from Maria ... who said, "You seriously had to explain this?"
Um, yeah. I did.
Because of people like the second responder:
MR. ERIC BROZ :This was the email I was advised to delete.
UNIT CHAIR LOCAL xxxx.xx
But me being the reactionary wordsmith I am immediately hit reply to start jousting with this blowhard. Then I realized that I'd be wasting my time, for many reasons:
- Words are my friend. He has trouble 'handleing' words, as obviously shown by his email.
- I have no real idea what the fuck problem he's referring to, unless his tab key is broken, because I've been out of the office for three days.
- Um, color me confused, but I do believe I was attempting to remedy the problem as I saw it by explaining to people that typing a big-ass paragraph as the subject is stupid when the ticketing software's title field is limited to 255 characters.
- Engaging in a battle of words with him would be like deer hunting with an AK-47. You'd end up with deer jerky in noun and verb form. (Thanks, Will Durst, for the joke)
- I'm dealing with a union rep.
I'm a product of organized labor. I grew up in the Warren, Ohio, area. The last remaining stronghold of unionized life. Slowly dying a unionized death.
My dad worked for GM for a long time. He's now involved in the contract dispute at Delphi and I wish him and his union brothers and sisters well. He's close to retirement age. I know GM/Delphi is broke. And I know that canceling contracts is a bad thing and the unions have a right to be upset, but seriously, sometimes unions lose sight of the big picture trying to protect themselves. Because the primary goal of a labor union these days is not to protect workers, but to protect the union oligarchy and ensure that the flow of dues up to the top remains intact.
After all, how long did you hear the unions crying about the illegal aliens taking jobs from union workers by working for a dollar a day in cash ... only to see them totally turn the tables and offer union membership to illegal aliens when they realized that they were the last hope to keep the numbers up.
And sometimes union members stop using their own brain matter and let the union think for them, because, after all, the union's looking out for them, right?
Case in point:
In 1992, when I was a radio reporter in
Okay, so I took a couple of college math and business classes that I can use here:
- Union says, "We want raises."
- Company says "We don't have money for raises. We can keep paying you what we're paying you on the old contract."
- Union says "You should pay us more."
- Company says, "Um, perhaps you missed the first point: we got no fucking money."
- Union says, "Fine. Then you got no fucking workforce. STRIKE."
See, that whole big picture thing I mentioned earlier. Screw the health of the company long-term, get what we can get short-term and worry about tomorrow later.
And they went on strike.
And after being on strike for four months, the 250-man union membership had decreased by about half as guys left to find jobs to support their families because what they were making in strike pay from the union wasn't anywhere close to what they were making while working for the company (even under the terms of the old contract that the union said wasn't good enough to work under) and they had mouths to feed, bills to pay and lives to lead.
As the strike rolled into the fifth month, the company came in one day with a whole lot of big fucking flatbed trucks and mechanics and removed all the machines from the plant, trucked them about 60 miles down the road, and added about 100 more unionized jobs to a different plant. Unionized jobs, by the way, that paid LESS than the guys in Warren had been making under their old contract.
And guess what?
The same Steelworkers Union, in a press release, praised the company for adding jobs to the other plant, never once mentioning that the work was coming from the Warren plant where the union was not letting more guys work the same jobs that paid MORE MONEY.
Because that would be the union admitting that 100 people could do the work that 250 were doing elsewhere. Because that would prove the union was only concerned about keeping its own numbers up even though it was bankrupting the company where those people were working.
See, again, that whole big picture thing I mentioned.
So as the strike went into the ninth month, the company closed the factory, transferring the non-union administrative jobs to the plant where the machines were transferred to.
Okay, so now we have about fifty guys left out of 250 still on strike in front of a factory that has no machines and no jobs and locks on the gates because nobody works there.
In fact, the name of the company has been removed from the building and the street signs leading to the loading docks that said "(Company Name)" Way had been removed and replaced with generic city street names.
So we had 250 people working there. So what happened to the other 200? Well, they got other jobs. We found out later in a series of articles in 2002 looking back on the "last great strike" as it was called, that most of the jobs taken by union members were making less than they were making under the terms of their expired contract. Most of them were NOT union jobs. Most of them did NOT have the same benefit package. And most of them lost all the seniority they had built up.
All because their union told them they deserved more.
But back to 1993 ... and as the strike reached the one year point, the 40 guys that were left received letters from the Steelworkers Union telling them that since there were no jobs left at the plant they used to work at, and since there were no machines left for them to work on, and since the company had in fact closed that plant, that particular local was being disbanded, the strike was over, and the union was no longer paying strike pay.
Basically, take down the pickets, go home. You're no longer in the union that's no longer on strike against a place that no longer exists.
So me being the smart ass that I am did a series of radio spots that ran during my talk show (I used to have a daily talk show on AM Radio. Scary, isn't it? Then again, the station was 5000 watts. Basically it got about halfway across town. Then faded out.) that basically said this:
"Hi. My name is Steve. And I've been on strike against (Company Name) because my union told me I deserved better. The company offered me the same amount of money I was making, with the same benefit package I was making under the old contract if I'd continue working. But my union told me I deserved better. My union told me not to worry.So after about 50 angry phone calls from the last remaining stronghold of union life in America, I was put on notice by the radio station that I was close to losing my job because they were afraid of being boycotted by unions.
"And I love my union.
"And my union card.
"The one day, after we had been on strike for a while, and my wife had to get a job, and we had to sell one of our cars, and we had to stop the music lessons for the girls, and cancel the cable television and stop going out and turn the heat in the house down because the strike pay was only about a third of what I had been making, the company took the machines I used to work on out of the plant I used to work at and moved them 60 miles down the road, and gave them to other union workers represented by my union.
"And I love my union.
"And my union card.
"Then, about four months after that, the company then took down all the signs and closed the plant I worked at.
"My union told me not to worry.
"And I love my union.
"And my union card.
"Then about three months after that, about a year after the union told me I deserved better, the union told me I had no machines to work on, no plant to work at and no company to be on strike from, so I wasn't a union member anymore.
"And I loved my union.
"And my union card.
"In fact, my wife and kids each found the our small piece of my union card was pretty tasty if you dipped it in ketchup."
I was fired a month later for making fun of the mayor of the city for being incompetent.
By the way ... the mayor of the city is now in jail.
For being incompetent.
And those guys who worked at the plant that doesn't exist anymore?
Most of the, according to the newspaper reports, don't even live in the city. And most of them said they'd never join another union.
Because the union cares about the union.


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Josef Marchet
Josef MARCHET (Giuseppe Marchetti), clergyman, teacher, linguist, historian, literary man, art historian and critic (Glemone/Gemona 1902 - Udin/Udine 1966).
After gaining a degree in theology, he graduated in Classical and Modern Literature at Milan Università Cattolica. He later taught Humanities at Udine Seminary and at the local Classical Lyceum and Teacher's Training College. In 1944, he was sent to a forced place of residence as an opposer of the Fascist regime. After the war, he was the inspiration behind Friulian-language poetry group Risultive.
For many years, he was the editor of militant Friulian-language weekly Patrie dal Friûl, a supporter of Regional autonomy and the only periodical written entirely in Friulian. From 1961 to his death, he edited the literary revue Sot la nape.
He is the author of a Friulian historical grammar which remains a standard work in this field. He re-discovered Friulian wood sculpture and gave an idiosyncratic reading of Friulian regional history which showed little conditioning or nationalistic prejudice. Although he wasn't a creative writer as such, his written Friulian was exemplary: nobody before or after him mastered the language like he did.
His works include:


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NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- Perhaps it was inevitable considering the shellacking they took over the last several sessions, but telecommunications stocks turned higher Friday, outpacing the broader market.
After a tumultuous week of selling in the sector, the North American Telecommunications XTC, +2.38% rose by 2.5 percent and the Nasdaq Telecommunications Index $IXTC was to the better by 2.4 percent.
With little corporate news to move the sector, investors turned their attention to what will be the sector's first quarterly earnings reports due out next week.
Sprint Corp. FON and its wireless arm PCS will kick the reporting season on Monday, with BellSouth BLS expected to report results next Thursday and AT&T T, -0.29% slated to issue its report on April 19.
Sprint shares gained 4.6 percent to $14.25, while Sprint PCS plowed ahead by nearly 8 percent to $9.96. BellSouth shares extended early gains, rising 2 percent to $32.08, and AT&T advanced 2.5 percent to $13.60.
Ma Bell's gain was a reversal from Thursday's weakness, precipitated by the company's disclosure of plans for a reverse stock split.
Among the other Baby Bells, Qwest Communications International Q rose 8.7 percent to $6.90, Verizon Communications VZ, -0.55% won back more than 1 percent to $42.34 and SBC Communications SBC squeezed out a 0.7 percent gain to $34.
San Antonio-based SBC, a Dow Jones Industrials component stock, touched a 52-week low on Thursday. Merrill Lynch downgraded SBC's shares to "near-term neutral" from a "near-term buy" rating early Friday, reflecting "continued deterioration in the outlook" for U.S. local-exchange carriers.
Along with Sprint and AT&T, hard-hit long-distance carrier MCI Group MCIT gained, moving up 15 percent to $4.72. WorldCom WCOM, MCI's parent, rose 5 percent to $5.01.
In the wireless segment, Bank of America Securities sees a slowdown in store for subscriber growth in the U.S. market. But analyst Steve Yanis, in a research report, is more sanguine about the domestic wireless market's longer-term prospects.
AT&T Wireless AWE remained higher after a string of losing sessions, higher by more than 7 percent to $8.18 as the company works through a $3 billion bond issue it hopes to close on Monday.
Nextel Communications NXTL reversed early weakness to recover to $4.38, up 4 cents on the session, as Moody's Investors Service warned of a possible downgrade.
On the equipment side, several stocks staged a reversal from significant selling pressure seen earlier this week.
Lucent Technologies LU rose 3 cents to $3.95 while Nortel Networks NT gained 13 cents to $3.49. Motorola MOT, which reports quarterly results after Monday's close, dropped 16 cents to $13.44.
Among European equipment suppliers, U.S.-traded shares of Nokia NOK, Ericsson ERICY, and Alcatel ALA gained ground.


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(hīd′ă-tĭd )
[Gr. hydatis, watery vesicle]
1. A cyst formed in the tissues, esp. the liver, from the development of the larval stage of Echinococcus granulosus (one of the species of the dog tapeworm). The cyst develops slowly, forming a hollow bladder from the inner surface of which hollow brood capsules are formed. These may be attached to the mother cyst by slender stalks or may fall free into the fluid-filled cavity of the mother cyst. Scolices form on the inner surface of the older brood capsules. Older cysts have a granular deposit of brood capsules and scolices called hydatid sand. Hydatids may grow for years, sometimes to an enormous size. lbendazole, mebendazole, and praziquantel have been used to treat the disease. The cyst should be removed surgically or percutaneously drained.
HYDATID CYST (orig. mag. ×500); SEE: echinococcosis
2. A small cystic remnant of an embryonic structure.
SEE: choriocarcinoma; SEE: hydatid mole
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01206 823903
If you have any questions about A & K Home Improvements products or services and how they can improve your home, then contact us using the methods below and we will be happy to help.
Because we are an independent company we are not tied to a single manufacturer, which means we can offer a choice of almost every component available, advising you of the current best buys to meet your particular requirements. .
A & K Home Improvements Ltd
A&K House, Main Road, Alresford
Colchester, CO7 8DB
01206 823903
Windows, doors and conservatories are the mainstay of our business. We've always been an independent company which means we are not tied to a single manufacturer and can offer a choice of almost every component available.


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Dr NSANGOU Issofa
Born on 7 June 1964 in Foumban, NSANGOU Issofa hails from the Noun Division in the West Region of the Republic of Cameroon.
He studied at the State University of Moldavia in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), where he obtained a Master's of Science Degree in Theoretical Physics in 1991. In 2011, he obtained a PhD in Physics, specialising in «Condensed Matters" in the University of Dschang, Cameroon.
Prior to his appointment on 7 July 2011 as member of the Electoral Board, this lecturer had held the following positions:
- Tutor at the Physics Department in the University of Yaounde, Cameroon, from 1992 to 1993;
- Assistant lecturer at the Physics Department, University of Dschang – Cameroun, from 1994;
- Coordinator and Acting Head of the Physics Department in the University of Dschang, from 1994 to 1998;
- Lecturer, Physics Department, University of Dschang, Cameroon, since 2005.
Dr NSANGOU Issofa is author of several publications in the field of physics:
- L.C FAI, I NSANGOU, R TCHITNGA, D.TCHASSEM: "POLARON IN QUASI 1D QUANTUM WIRE"; International Summer School for Young Researchers on Quantum Transport in Mesoscopic Scale & Low Dimensions (ISSP INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP), August 13-21, 2003;
- L.C. FAI, I. NSANGOU, V.B MBORONG: "MAGNETOPOLARON IN A CYLINDRICAL NANOCRISTAL "Revue de l'Académie des Sciences du Cameroun, Vol.4 No.3(2004).
Dr NSANGOU Issofa took oath on 21 July 2011 before the Supreme Court, seating as the Constitutional Council: "I swear to fully and faithfully discharge my duties and to exercise my office without fear or favour in accordance with the Constitution and laws in force, to ensure the confidentiality of proceedings and votes, to abstain from taking public positions and to decline any consultation on matters falling under the purview of Elections Cameroon"


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tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3827662270255450219.post3313920748376906690..comments2019-08-29T04:06:23.403-04:00Comments on Quibids Strategies, Quibids Review and Penny Auctions: Quibids Strategy - 1: The Volunteer's DilemmaSid Kalhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-3827662270255450219.post-8375010464613763722017-07-16T17:06:36.460-04:002017-07-16T17:06:36.460-04:00QUANTUM BINARY SIGNALS Professional trading signa...QUANTUM BINARY SIGNALS

Professional trading signals sent to your mobile phone every day.

Start following our signals today & make up to 270% daily.Bloggerhttps://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-3827662270255450219.post-58979473387730836992017-07-11T23:58:48.241-04:002017-07-11T23:58:48.241-04:00If you want your ex-girlfriend or ex-boyfriend to ...If you want your ex-girlfriend or ex-boyfriend to come crawling back to you on their knees (even if they're dating somebody else now) you need to watch this video
right away...

(VIDEO) Why your ex will NEVER get back...Bloggerhttps://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-3827662270255450219.post-55908798572615174062013-05-09T13:21:49.436-04:002013-05-09T13:21:49.436-04:00Yeah One thing in my few days of looking around is...Yeah One thing in my few days of looking around is to always wait out for bid o matics to stop/drop off or your more then likely wasting your time most bid o matics will end at some point and you will see same user do single bid this is the time they are waiting to see if they need to redo their bid o matic. For those matter some auctions don't even use bid o matic though this seems to be mostly if not only small ticket items these are keen spots for this type of email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-3827662270255450219.post-41573907374973105712013-01-03T06:19:41.969-05:002013-01-03T06:19:41.969-05:00Hey Cat - there is a good chance that not everyone...Hey Cat - there is a good chance that not everyone you meet online or elsewhere speaks English as their first language. I think that is possibly the case here with boricua, and it doesn't matter anyway. You may have been trying to be funny, but it comes across as bullying behavior. Just think it through next time and be kind....our world needs firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-3827662270255450219.post-14960944525296442932012-12-31T07:54:16.415-05:002012-12-31T07:54:16.415-05:00What prevents one of the bidders from jumping in w...What prevents one of the bidders from jumping in with a bid from a different account, thus confusing the other bidder? If the bidder with two accounts is willing to spend a few bids against himself to convince the other that there is a true 3rd bidder, he will eventually win. Perhaps there is a way to track this, but bidders should be aware of the email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-3827662270255450219.post-69665570910359261582012-11-28T20:08:07.800-05:002012-11-28T20:08:07.800-05:00New to this please help. How is jumping different ...New to this please help. How is jumping different from firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-3827662270255450219.post-90974024293224349722012-11-18T04:32:45.865-05:002012-11-18T04:32:45.865-05:00Pod Cat, I think you missed the point. A lot of p...Pod Cat, I think you missed the point. A lot of people take short cuts in texting. Your personal attack was inappropriate, unnecessary, contributes nothing to the forum. It was just downright mean. Boricua, what you describe yourself doing is referred to in auction world as "jumping" in bidding terminology. People who do this earn a bad reputation and end up being retaliated against by power bidders. I'm glad you won a necktie, but I assure you, if you keep that kind of practice up and end up going head to head with an expert, you will find that the skills that you "learned in days" will not serve you well if you have any intention of continuing on as a legitimate bidder. Thank you for the information about the best time of day/week to bid - I was staying up at night for nothing. Everyone should feel free to continue to share without being personally attacked. Think about what you say before you say it. If you have something relevant to offer do so, it not - skip over the post and move in - just like you'd do in an auction. firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-3827662270255450219.post-10200825848507053592012-10-27T14:19:17.379-04:002012-10-27T14:19:17.379-04:00You write like a hyperactive 12-year-old, and have...You write like a hyperactive 12-year-old, and have about as much credibility.
Hard to believe? Not really!!

Get some grammar and an editor. Most of your words are empty drivel.
We could do without most of them, and so could you.Pod Cathttps://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-3827662270255450219.post-75199854979795357212011-12-21T13:12:03.390-05:002011-12-21T13:12:03.390-05:00well i have to say that i learn in days how to che...well i have to say that i learn in days how to cheat time and confuse bidders i got a gold neckles i bid twice he thought i Wasent i let time drop and got bid in got my item i look at the bidders if theirs to many im out il wait my turn Maibe the next day will be mine u just never know when it will happend check monday mornings and late afternoon no night little chances for you:)Good email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-3827662270255450219.post-37165209358496727472011-09-11T13:45:52.826-04:002011-09-11T13:45:52.826-04:00Thanks. Very usefulThanks. Very usefultotatchamphttps://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-3827662270255450219.post-91865128943038186092011-05-20T20:51:41.495-04:002011-05-20T20:51:41.495-04:00That's because a bidder using bidomatic will n...That's because a bidder using bidomatic will not suffer from the volunteer's dilemma while he will create it for others. Think about it - 3 people bidding against a bidomatic, and at the last minute, everyone thinks the other should place the bid (volunteer's dilemma) and no one does. This is common especially among newbies but even among very experienced bidders. It is only human, after all.Sid Kalhttps://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-3827662270255450219.post-10233386710978972002011-05-20T20:27:39.896-04:002011-05-20T20:27:39.896-04:00can you explain why the Bid-o-matic is a powerful ...can you explain why the Bid-o-matic is a powerful tool to use?Community Of the Dayhttps://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-3827662270255450219.post-72160309182923156992011-05-10T14:29:05.341-04:002011-05-10T14:29:05.341-04:00Well, the volunteer's dilemma is very real and...Well, the volunteer's dilemma is very real and very relevant to many situations in life. It is really the rule rather than the exception, so it should be expected. This is one of the reasons why the Bid-o-matic is a powerful tool to use. You might also consider reading the Wikipedia article on volunteer's dilemma, which gives some very good examples.Sid Kalhttps://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-3827662270255450219.post-46965770003551710602011-05-09T10:44:01.617-04:002011-05-09T10:44:01.617-04:00lmao i seen that happen so many times!!! i have ne...lmao i seen that happen so many times!!! i have never even bid just been watching and learning for days now but that is so funny.hydroshockerhttps://firstname.lastname@example.com


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Allotment Committee
Home > Committees > Allotment Committee
The Allotment Committee meets bimonthly throughout the year at the Town Hall.
The purpose of the Allotment Committee is to ensure the efficient and effective management of the Town Council's allotment gardens and to encourage plot holders to obtain the maximum advantage from their plot whilst adhering to the rules laid down by the Council and the plot holders tenancy agreements.
Members of the Allotment committee will serve on that committee for a period of one year commencing in May. Each member who remains a member of the council shall be eligible to serve on that committee following their year of serving on that committee if they wish.
The 2019 -2020 Allotment Committee
Cllr Wallace Burke
Cllr Gerald Luxton
Cllr Michael Turner
Cllr Irene Hill
Cllr Claudette Harrower


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Politics & Government
Texas Legislature sends $3 billion college bond package to governor
After years of trying, Texas lawmakers finally passed a $3 billion bond package to help colleges statewide with desperately needed construction projects.
The package, which includes more than $550 million for higher education facilities in North Texas, now heads to Gov. Greg Abbott for consideration.
"We haven't passed any bond packages in so long," said state Rep. Charlie Geren, R-Fort Worth, who said he has been told the governor will sign off on the proposal. "It's something that's really needed.
"It's going to be great."
Similar proposals have wound their way through the Legislature every session for most of the last decade, only to die in the waning days and leave Texas' public universities without money needed to add buildings and keep up with the continually growing number of students.
If approved by Abbott, this funding — which includes money for the University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth, the University of Texas at Arlington and Tarleton State University's new local campus — will be the first state bond package for Texas universities since 2006.
The proposal again came down to the last few days of the session, but this year was different: Lawmakers hammered out differences in the House and Senate versions, even over the objections of some, such as Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, who were opposed to adding debt and believed the state should simply fund new buildings outright.
The bill lets bonds be sold for construction. The Legislature usually uses general revenue to pay off the bonds.
Local needs
The proposal dedicates more than $550 million to North Texas campuses.
That includes $80 million for the health science center to help build a four-story interdisciplinary research building at the northeast corner of Camp Bowie Boulevard and Clifton Street.
The total cost of the building — with 150,000 square feet of research and teaching labs, classrooms, study rooms, multimedia learning areas, and faculty and administrative offices — is estimated at $121 million, health science center officials have said.
The measure also allocates $70 million for UT Arlington to help construct a science and education innovation and research building.
UTA asked for funding to help with a 210,000-square-foot building for "collaborative science and engineering research programs with specific focus on Bioengineering, Architectural Engineering, Engineering Management, Biology, Chemistry, Resource Engineering, and Health Science," according to an online legislative request.
The total cost of the building is estimated at $190 million, according to the document.
"This is a very positive development for UTA," said state Rep. Chris Turner, D-Grand Prairie, whose district includes the college. "UTA is growing rapidly, and it is poised to become a leading research university.
"It's critical the Legislature provide resources for universities to grow and serve their students in the best way possible," he said. "This is long overdue."
The bill also earmarks $39.6 million to help establish a new campus in Fort Worth — a southwest Metroplex building for Tarleton State University.
Tarleton officials said last year that they plan to build a campus along the new Chisholm Trail Parkway in south Tarrant County on land donated by the Walton Group, a Canada-based developer.
"Once the governor signs the bill, it will be the last major step Tarleton State needs to bring an outstanding public university campus to Fort Worth, and the economic benefit to our city and region will be astonishing," said state Rep. Craig Goldman, R-Fort Worth, whose district includes the future Tarleton campus.
The campus is geared to help serve the thousands of Tarleton students who already come from Tarrant County. The college's main campus is in Stephenville.
Other area projects
The compromise also includes $80 million to build and renovate a vivarium and academic and laboratory facilities at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas and $70 million for an engineering building at the University of Texas at Dallas.
Other Metroplex earmarks in the Senate bill:
▪ $56 million to renovate law buildings in the University of North Texas System.
▪ $70 million to build a college of visual arts and design facilities at the UNT campus in Denton.
▪ $63 million to build a student learning and success center at the UNT campus in Dallas.
▪ Nearly $38 million for a laboratory building at Texas Woman's University's Denton campus.
Anna Tinsley, 817-390-7610


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16-18 My counsel is this: Live freely, animated and motivated by God's Spirit. Then you won't feed the compulsions of selfishness. For there is a root of sinful self-interest in us that is at odds with a free spirit, just as the free spirit is incompatible with selfishness. These two ways of life are antithetical, so that you cannot live at times one way and at times another way according to how you feel on any given day. Why don't you choose to be led by the Spirit and so escape the erratic compulsions of a law-dominated existence?
22-23 But what happens when we live God's way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely. –Galatians 5:16-23 The Message
A ninety-year-old was asked recently as to the secret of his living so well and for so long. The wise old man smiled at the question and replied, "Clean thoughts."
Clean or good thoughts might be another way of talking about the "fruits of the Spirit" that have shaped our worship life in these past months as part of our "Year of the Spirit" theme.
"…love, joy, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, and self-control." Paul suggests; live in God's Spirit, and these things will flow through our lives. During the month of June we're on "self-control" and so I briefly thought about focusing upon that, but my preaching professor always urged us to have a mastery of the subject matter of our sermon before preaching on it. Thus I had to go in another direction. So "fruits of the Spirit."
First of all we must remind ourselves that Paul is giving this beautiful teaching as part of a larger, reasoned argument to those Galatian Christians. Paul speaks about the "works of the flesh" first of all—listing all the bad things that come from that life-stance (I didn't have that part of the Scripture read—didn't want to give anyone ideas). Suffice it to say that living in the flesh leads to all kinds of heartbreak and destruction in our lives. Then he contrasts the works of the flesh with the "fruits of the Spirit," urging the Galatians to center their lives in God's Spirit. That's where that whole list comes in…love, joy, patience, kindness and so forth.
I'd like to say that Paul's metaphor or word choice was…unfortunate. He used the terms flesh and spirit in this dichotomy. The term "flesh" was a unfortunate choice because ever since we've taken his metaphor literally, misunderstood it as referring to our physical bodies, and this has led to an unhealthy relationship to our bodies, our sexuality, and by extension, the whole creation—seeing it all as evil or opposed to God's Spirit. This misreading of Paul has been costly; twisting our sexuality and harming the earth. After all, if the spiritual is the only thing that is good, why not waste the earth's creatures, resources, and environment and neglect the health of ourselves and poor people?
That was not Paul's intention; flesh and Spirit are not opposites. Eugene Peterson, in seeking another—better way of putting this teaching, translated it "sinful self-interest." There is an opposition going on, Paul says, between our destructive selfishness and the operation of God's Spirit within us.
In each moment of our being, we either operate out of one base-camp or the other. On our better days we can pull it off—we can have "clean thoughts." When we have our Maslow-ian hierarchy of needs met, we can operate from a higher platform and live generous, peaceful lives. With our cups full it is easier to be gracious, kind, faithful, joyous and patient. We live with a sense of abundance.
But then we stub our toe…feel threatened in some way…experience a loss or crisis…we are confronted with something unfamiliar—skin color, religion, culture or tradition and what happens? We crawl back into our lesser selves. We regress into our reptilian brains that think in binary categories of good and evil, fight or flight, left and right, us and them. We lock up and build walls around our consciousness, our hearts, and the ever narrowing clan or tribe we belong to that we think will protect us. We seek short-term gains that are short-sighted and unsustainable (often at the expense of others). We live with a sense of scarcity—there is only so much to go around and we've got to get ours before it is gone. In short…we revert to our "sinful self-interest" selves. This leads, Paul says, to destruction. As Jesus said, "Those who seek to save their lives lose it." So we're left with a choice between our sinful self-interest and our better nature—which is rooted in God's Spirit. It's the devil self on one shoulder and an angel self on the other, each whispering. Who do we listen to?
Paul urges the Galatian Christians and us to "live by the Spirit" (NRSV). In our text today he says, "My counsel is this: Live freely, animated and motivated by God's Spirit. Then you won't feed the compulsions of selfishness." My question is how? He says in another translation, "those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh [that is our selfishness] with its desires and passions." Easier said than done. Once again, how? Where do we find a firm foundation to operate from love and spirit…have clean thoughts?
It must be said that it can't be done without the grace of God…but our consent, our willingness, our openness or trust (or faith) seem to be key in unlocking this transformation Paul is talking about. As the saints have continually told us, we must rely on God for everything—but work as though it were up to us…and in the end, give thanks to God for it all. But today I'm going to offer two brief avenues to spiritual growth away from our selfish selves, and it may surprise you (at least it does me) to find that one of them is a belief or doctrine, namely, the incarnation. I believe we have to go back to the beginning and remember that God created out of love and pronounced it good. God's been investing God's self into creation from the Big Bang onward. The created order is God's self, outwardly manifested and infused. God is not, as we so often crudely think, a being out there…distant, but as medieval scholar Duns Scotus said, "God is being." Let me say that again; God is not a being…God is being. And as much as we may like the old song, "From A Distance", Bette Midler was wrong. The music might be pretty but the theology is atrocious. God is not distant—God is deeply within each molecule of creation forging an evolution into ever deepening consciousness, complexity, diversity, and connection (or communion).
We must let our hearts be transformed by this realization; God is within us, seeking to be expressed in love, justice, grace, life.
The other bit of teaching comes once again from Duns Scotus. One of his most helpful teachings was that we need to seek "a harmony of goodness." This means that we need to harmonize and balance necessary self-care with the constant expansion of our hearts beyond ourselves. We have to care for and love ourselves—otherwise we will lose what we have to give. But at the same time—in a balanced harmony—we must continually expand the scope of our love to the world. Jesus commands us to love our neighbors as ourselves. Perhaps he meant this balancing & blending, but I think he also meant something deeper. If God is being, then we are all connected, united, one. There is diversity—but there is also unity. To love another as yourself is to recognize the other as yourself—or at least something you are part of. First responders on 911 ran toward danger not because they knew those people in need—not because they were family or part of their clan. Deep down they knew a connection—a life connection—they were one.
Somewhere I heard an old Jewish story of a boy playing in the street of his village after a rainfall. The mud and clay of the street were pliable and he began to form figures to play with. From the wet clay, he created two battling armies for his imagination. As he finished the building of these figures and letting the play begin he suddenly realized that the clay that gave one army form and life, was the same—indeed, connected to the very same clay that gave life to the other army. He saw that they were the same substance—being—just a different expression, like leaves upon another branch of the same tree. He no longer could have those "armies" do battle after realizing this.
When we have our hearts transformed by this, we can love our neighbors as ourselves in "love, joy, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, and self-control."
Not long ago I read of an incident that I believe exemplifies this "living in the Spirit" we're talking about. I borrow these words.
We made a trip to the grocery store to pick up a few items for a small family gathering on Thanksgiving Day. As usual, we divided the list and I took the cart and headed in one direction, my wife, in another. We agreed to meet at the fresh veggies. I found my items and started over to meet my wife. At the head of the aisle I saw two shoppers (I presumed mother and daughter), obviously Muslim, as their dress seemed to indicate…very nice in appearance. I nodded with a smile as I moved toward the end of the aisle, then I stopped. I turned directly toward the woman, and then, a bit hesitatingly, spoke softly but directly to her, "I just want you to know we love you, both my wife and I, and we are glad you are here." Then, more quietly, I said, "We are so saddened by all of the hatred which is being spewed forth during these months, especially during and after the election. Perhaps you have noticed it, too." Our eyes connected it, and now there was a subtle smile in that look, as she responded quietly, "Yes, we, too, have sensed that hatred." I said, "Well, we just want you to know we care", and our eyes met again and she said, "Thank you."
I headed toward the fresh veggies. I caught up with my wife and she asked if I'd gotten lost. I told her of the conversation I'd had, and she said, "Good. Good for you." We picked up the carrots, and found the fresh cranberries. As she put them in the cart, out of the corner of my eye, I saw the woman I had just spoken with coming towards us, carrying a beautiful poinsettia plant. She came directly to us, stopped, gave the plant to me, and with a broad smile said, "Thank you! The sales slip is right here so you won't have a problem going through the check out." My wife moved closer to her and said, "You didn't have to do that." Her response was to say that they wanted to say thanks in some way. My wife moved closer to her and they embraced—two strangers, somehow joined in an expression of understanding and caring. My wife said, "I hope we will see you again." She nodded, saying "Yes!" As they walked away, they both turned and looked at us again. We smiled and waved to them; they waved back with broad, happy smiles.
There was no one else around. The two of us stood in silence in that powerful moment and wiped our eyes. We looked at the plant in our cart and then at each other. I said, "So this is what a little love can do." 1
When they got home, they placed that poinsettia in the place where their Christmas tree normally went and used it as a symbol of God's Spirit, incarnating into creation once again. So be it. Amen
1-Story by Rev. David Schneider, adapted from the Christmas Greetings publication of retired clergy of the Minnesota Annual Conference, 2016.


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Lezyne Road Drive Hand Pump
Lezyne Road Drive Hand Pump
Compact, efficient and meticulously designed, the Road Drive is a hand pump in a class of its own.
Lezyne constructs the entire pump from aluminum, custom CNC-machining all critical components for precise and lightweight operation. Despite its small stature, the Road Drive makes an ideal frame pump replacement, using HP technology to inflate tires to riding pressure with 20% fewer stokes.


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Claire Geary
Manager, Corporate Services
Claire Geary, Manager, Corporate Services and GML Director, has worked in both public and private sector operations and management. She has been part of the GML management team for more than a decade, providing administrative, operational and strategic planning support, research and advice to the CEO and the GML Board. Claire manages GML's corporate functions including operations, HR, IT, risk and compliance, quality and governance. She is also closely involved in GML project management and contracting. Claire has an MBA and a Graduate Diploma in Corporate Governance. Prior to joining GML Claire held senior roles in local government and the not-for-profit sector. She has far-reaching volunteer experience, including on not-for-profit boards, Council management committees, youth leadership and sports coaching.
Behind every great company is an established and effective set of processes and systems, and a culture with a shared commitment to achieving the best outcomes for clients. We work hard and we do it well.
Graduate, Australian Institute of Company Directors
Graduate Diploma (Applied Corporate Governance), Governance Institute of Australia
Master of Business Administration, University of Technology, Sydney
Business Management Certificate, Australian Institute of Management
Bachelor of Arts (Honours), University of Technology, Sydney
Australian Institute of Management
Governance Institute of Australia
Australian Institute of Company Directors