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You're reading an older article from ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR. Some information, such as code-related information, may be outdated. Find the most up-to-date content in our latest issues.
Wireless technology is certainly getting attention these days. We've covered the extensive range of new home automation and security products and systems often here in the pages of ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR. Given the ink (and electrons) spent describing these offerings, one might conclude the days of wired connections between sensors and controls are waning, but wires aren't disappearing anytime soon, especially in many commercial and high-end residential applications. And hardwired lighting control, in particular, is drawing new interest among consumers and manufacturers alike, thanks, in part, to the forecasted growth of light-emitting diodes (LEDs).
A structured approach
Now coming to market are systems that could be considered structured wiring for lighting. Structured wiring has been a common approach for distributing entertainment and security data and control for years. With these designs, cable boxes and media servers can live in a centralized location, with Category 5 cable running out to multiple televisions, speakers and other end-use devices. This eliminates the clutter of multiple devices next to every TV. The plug-and-play aspect of such systems also makes it easier to upgrade either the central "brains" or an individual TV or security camera.
New lighting plans see similar advantages in centralizing not just control, but also power delivery for low-wattage LED lighting fixtures. Today's 8-watt (W) LED lamps can produce the equivalent illumination of a 60W incandescent, which means designers and contractors can begin re-evaluating the need for line-voltage alternating-current (AC) wiring. LEDs may only now be beginning to hit both performance and price targets that make them an attractive option for residential and commercial building owners, but tech entrepreneurs already are seeing opportunities in rethinking current practices in the face of a coming lighting revolution.
"The light bulb is now an electronic device that requires a 'wall wart' at each device," said Derek Cowburn, founder and chief technology officer of Indianapolis-based startup Lumen Cache, referring to the power-regulating drivers required by LED lamps.
His company has developed a system that centralizes drivers (among other components) in a panel or closet. Cat 5 cable connects drivers to individual fixtures, with two pairs of the cable's wires delivering low-voltage direct current (DC) power, leaving remaining wires available for sensor data. No AC wiring is required. Luminaires are connected to the system using an RJ-45 connection that delivers both electricity and control functionality.
"The product is not a lighting product, per se. Really, it is what we call a 'microgrid platform,'" Cowburn said. "It's a solution for the last 1,000 feet" of power distribution.
The gateway into this "microgrid platform" is an AC-to-DC power-management module supplied by an AC power converter and charger (the charger keeps connected batteries on the ready, so lights stay on for up to several hours during outages). This unit can supply power to up to six power-distribution modules, which, in turn, can each support up to 16 "pucks" that may serve as LED drivers or switches. In development is a puck that will enable Internet-based lighting control over any web-enabled device, such as a PC, smartphone or utility control system.
Not surprisingly, Cowburn is bullish on incorporating DC power distribution into a building's electrical plans. Even beyond lighting applications, he sees the possibility of incorporating DC-supplied RJ-45 connections next to standard AC outlets "for all the things that are DC in the home."
Going commercial
Fremont, Calif.-based Redwood Systems has developed a sophisticated structured approach for large-scale commercial and institutional applications, including offices, schools and data centers. The company's system makes full use of the communications capacity of those wires in a Cat 5 cable not being used for power. The company has developed a series of sensors and controllers to monitor occupancy, available daylight and temperature; it also has hardware and software to connect with existing building management systems.
Such communications provide capabilities including dimming overhead lighting based on ambient daylight conditions and turning on illumination in underused hallways only when a worker is passing through. These strategies are becoming common in top-performing buildings. However, with the Redwood Systems approach, this responsiveness is being delivered with a single run of Cat 5 cable instead of expensive Romex or conduit-clad copper.
Interest in responsiveness and control will grow significantly as California's latest Title 24 energy codes take effect Jan. 1, 2014. Among the updates are provisions requiring adaptive lighting—which automatically dims or shuts off when it is not needed—and daylight-based operation in much smaller buildings than were previously covered. The new requirements will kick in whenever more than 10 percent of lighting is being changed out or more than 40 ballasts are being replaced. Daylight-based controls will be required in all day-lit interior spaces with more than 120W of installed lighting power.
California's regulations often become a model for national and local energy codes across the United States. Derek Anderson, Redwood Systems' senior marketing director, sees the updated Title 24 as a major boost for equipment such as his company's offerings.
"We feel it will have a hugely positive impact on structured lighting systems, as the new standards codify the type of control that companies such as ours provide to our customers," he said. "We think all vendors should be doing this. We've seen a lot of similar standards being put in place around the world."
Catching on?
Big names in the lighting-controls industry are starting to track this new DC distribution approach.
"From a technical standpoint, we're interested by it. It seems like it should make a lot of sense," said Doug Jacobson, Crestron's vertical market manager for lighting and energy markets. "Why run line voltage through a building if your lights want low-voltage DC?"
However, he added, there are still reasons for skepticism. For one thing, any given run of cable can support a limited number of LED fixtures, so the need to install multiple homeruns of cable could negate some of the savings. More important, though, the industry has yet to develop universal standards. So, building owners could be looking at a VHS-versus-Betamax-style standoff down the road, and if the cable in their facility isn't compatible with future advances, they're looking at a major renovation project, Jacobson said.
So, for now, Crestron is advocating a combined system—power through standard AC wire and communications using a wired Ethernet connection.
"If you have a hybrid approach, you could certainly use structured wiring to communicate with room and area controllers," he said. "But we're delivering information, not power."
Another controls-market leader, WattStopper, has moved halfway between building-wide DC power distribution and fully duplicative power and fiber wiring. With this company's digital lighting management system, AC power is wired to the room level, feeding room-level controllers, which step that power down to 24 volts for distribution to Cat 5e-connected sensors, switches and other devices. Cat 5e cable also connects the controller to a network bridge, which is then linked back to a building automation system using a standard twisted-pair data line.
The system is designed for easy installation. The Cat 5e cables are preterminated, for example, and devices within a room can be connected to one another in any way that's most convenient.
"There's no wrong way to do it," said Eric Fournier, a director of product marketing for WattStopper, who added that this capability was specifically designed to speed up installation. "Ultimately, contractors are seeking solutions that are easy to use and safe to use. We want to design our products for the apprentice contractor."
What kind of contractor?
An electrical contractor seeing all this enthusiasm for low-voltage power distribution now might be wondering, "What's in it for me?" Both startup manufacturers and industry stalwarts say opportunities are strong for ECs who are open to growing their businesses by learning new skills. Lumen Cache's Cowburn has gotten mixed reactions from electrical pros when telling them about his system.
"Half the electrical contractors I talk to are thrilled," he said, with the cost-cutting potential and a built-in LED dimming solution, while others see the technology as a threat, and he's anxious to allay their fears. "This isn't something to be afraid of. It's just a slightly new trade."
Redwood System's Anderson is even more bullish on the opportunities for electrical contractors in this burgeoning field.
"There is a huge opportunity for ECs to take advantage of the multibillion-dollar lighting market," he said. "In particular, by installing systems that go beyond lighting to also include building performance capabilities, they can really differentiate their service offerings. It also helps them exponentially grow their project portfolios."
About The Author
ROSS has covered building and energy technologies and electric-utility business issues for more than 25 years. Contact him at [email protected].


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LOO - Ra Session #99
LOO - Ra Session #99
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Notice: The session audio has been digitized from the original analog cassette tapes, and has not been altered in any way. The sessions were recorded between 1981 – 1984 using tie–pin microphones for our three, inexpensive tape recorders (Carla was well known for breaking recording equipment, so we were redundant). You can see the mics attached to the bed sheet covering Carla in the photographs of The Law of One: Book I. Because of this and the current condition of the analog tapes which have oxidized considerably over the past 30 years, the audio is not what you would call "studio quality". Please keep this in mind while listening. |
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Encoding Quality: 128kbps
If you would like to see the text transcript of this session, click here.
Important! Before purchasing, please download and read this PDF file by clicking here.

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MOORPARK, Calif.MOORPARK, Calif.— More than two decades ago, two water distributors came up with a tantalizing idea to increase reserves in parched Southern California: Create an underground lake so vast it could hold enough to blanket Los Angeles – all 469 square miles – under a foot of water.
The reservoir deep within the earth would be injected with water imported from the snowy Sierra Mountains and other distant sources, which could be pumped back to the surface when needed to soak avocado and lemon groves and keep drinking fountains, espresso machines and toilets gurgling.
Officials boasted the subterranean vault would become a model for preserving scarce supplies and combatting droughts, not just in California but globally. Instead, clusters of wells and skeletal metal piping stand as a cautionary and costly reminder that the promise of water, the fuel of California's economy and growth, can be as permanent as a mirage.
"They had a great vision," said Reddy Pakala, who as Ventura County's water director was expecting to benefit from the 18-mile-long trough running below orchards, tree farms and ranches. "It doesn't work the way they told us it would work."
The Las Posas Basin Aquifer Storage and Recovery Project, about 50 miles northwest of Los Angeles, illustrates the risks of what's known as groundwater banking – warehousing water below ground in aquifers to pump out during dry spells or emergencies.
Imagine a bathtub beneath the earth. If geologic conditions are right, water can be added to such a basin, supplementing naturally occurring groundwater and creating a reserve for future use, much like a water tank.
But at Las Posas, water instead disappeared.
The project, now owned solely by wholesaler Calleguas Municipal Water District in Ventura County, promised to raise local groundwater levels up to 300 feet. Yet groundwater levels dropped steeply when the system went into operation, potentially threatening supplies for nearby residents, ranches and businesses that also draw water from the basin.
"The teacup appears to have a leak in it," said Robert Eranio, general manager of the nearby Crestview Mutual Water Co., a Calleguas buyer that pipes water to homes.
An Associated Press review of government documents, along with dozens of interviews, found that the venture was marred by insufficient research, poor judgment and hollow assurances – all with a hefty price tag for ratepayers. The cost, estimated in 1995 at $47 million, has gradually tripled to about $150 million. More than $56 million in long-term debt remains.
Calleguas touted the project in the fall of 2010 as a "resounding success" that raised groundwater levels. And yet a year earlier, the company knew the aquifer wasn't working properly. Not long after the declaration of "success," the primary financial backer pulled out after Calleguas didn't deliver promised water.
Where once officials projected the basin could hold nearly 100 billion gallons – ready for distribution with the flip of a pump switch – the reserve is now only about one-tenth of that, according to officials.
"What was known about the basin wasn't the whole picture," said Calleguas general manager Susan Mulligan. "It doesn't work for a drought. The basin doesn't store it."
The project was announced formally in 1991 with the promise that the reservoir could hold enough for a roughly three-year supply for the more than 600,000 people who use Calleguas' water, which is sold to cities, local agencies and companies that in turn provide water for residents, ranches and businesses.
According to company documents, Calleguas boasted that the project would "virtually drought-proof" its service area. The basin also was meant to resolve a vulnerability for the company: Almost all of Calleguas' water is imported through a single pipeline, meaning customers could be left dry if an earthquake or other disaster caused serious damage.
"Groundwater storage would significantly improve the region's water supply reliability … ," concluded a 1994 memo.
Early signs were encouraging. Technical studies beginning in the late 1980s and a later pilot project concluded Las Posas could hold huge amounts of water. However, documents show, researchers also found unusual fluctuations in water levels. During one injection test, levels first increased – then dropped – in monitoring wells.
Researchers later discounted those findings. And it was only after most of the project had been built that serious problems began to appear.
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, a giant wholesaler that provides drinking water to nearly 19 million people, provided much of the project's early funding. But the agency pulled out and was paid $54 million to cover its costs after Calleguas failed to deliver promised water from the aquifer – first in 2009 as drought gripped the state and then again in 2010, when Calleguas came up nearly 2 billion gallons short.
Calleguas officials say their battery of pumps can be used for short periods and longer in an emergency, but at a price. Some fluctuation in groundwater levels is expected. But internal documents state that if Calleguas pumps at a heavy clip for an extended period "water levels will drop by hundreds of feet."
"Many of the geological assumptions and groundwater modeling criteria related to the facility's operation were in error," a draft report prepared by Calleguas officials concluded last year.
Some speculate Calleguas never injected enough water into the basin before making withdrawals, while others suspect ranchers and other local pumpers sucked off the surplus created by the company, knowingly or not.
The project is now relegated to limited use, including during brief, annual maintenance outages when Metropolitan briefly cuts its supply. However, Calleguas must pump water into the wells before any water is withdrawn, as a hedge against possible water drops.
Mulligan acknowledged that more testing was needed early on but said the project was still a worthwhile venture. The company continues to study the basin, and has hired a groundwater manager to assess the problems.
Home to 38 million people, California wouldn't exist without a vast array of reservoirs, aqueducts, canals, pipelines and pumping plants that distribute water.
Much of Southern California is a desert-like climate. Snowfall can top 500 inches in the craggy Sierras on the state's eastern edge, but only about 15 inches of rain fall in the Los Angeles area in an average season – and that can drop to single digits in dry ones.
This year, the state recorded its driest January through March since record-keeping began in the mid-1890s, portending another year of shortages.
Underground storage has worked before. As far back as the 1950s, water imported from the Colorado River was stashed in local groundwater basins. There are dozens of the hidden chambers in California. The Metropolitan district has withdrawn over 234 billion gallons from Kern County water banks since 2001, according to one estimate.
As for the Las Posas project: "It's a shame … no question about it," said Ellen Hanak, senior policy fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California, which has closely studied water banking. "It's true in water that sometimes you try stuff, and it's not going to work out."
David Schwabauer, who tends avocados and lemons on a 750-acre ranch a short drive from the Las Posas pumps, was bullish on underground storage, seeing it as a way to guarantee water whenever supplies got tight.
For years he's watched groundwater levels retreat with higher demand from encroaching development, forcing ranchers and farmers to sink piping deeper into the earth or drill expensive, new wells for irrigation. In the heat of summer, he pumps 3,000 gallons a minute for his thirsty trees.
Once hopeful for a safeguard against Mother Nature, Schwabauer is frustrated knowing so much was spent for so little.
"There's not an hour that goes by that I'm not thinking about water," said Schwabauer, who served on a local agency that supported Las Posas. But underground storage is "much more complex, we know today, than we did in the beginning."


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In this chapter we have, I. Jeremiah imprisoned for foretelling the destruction of Jerusalem and the captivity of king Zedekiah, ver. 1-5. II. We have him buying land, by divine appointment, as an assurance that in due time a happy end should be put to the present troubles, ver. 6-15. III. We have his prayer, which he offered up to God upon that occasion, ver. 16-25. IV. We have a message which God thereupon entrusted him to deliver to the people. 1. He must foretel the utter destruction of Judah and Jerusalem for their sins, ver. 26-35. But, 2. At the same time he must assure them that, though the destruction was total, it should not be final, but that at length their posterity should recover the peaceable possession of their own land, ver. 36-44. The predictions of this chapter, both threatenings and promises, are much the same with what we have already met with again and again, but here are some circumstances that are very particular and remarkable.
Judgments Predicted; Jeremiah Imprisoned.
1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar. 2 For then the king of Babylon's army besieged Jerusalem: and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the prison, which was in the king of Judah's house. 3 For Zedekiah king of Judah had shut him up, saying, Wherefore dost thou prophesy, and say, Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it; 4 And Zedekiah king of Judah shall not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, but shall surely be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, and shall speak with him mouth to mouth, and his eyes shall behold his eyes; 5 And he shall lead Zedekiah to Babylon, and there shall he be until I visit him, saith the Lord: though ye fight with the Chaldeans, ye shall not prosper. 6 And Jeremiah said, The word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 7 Behold, Hanameel the son of Shallum thine uncle shall come unto thee, saying, Buy thee my field that is in Anathoth: for the right of redemption is thine to buy it. 8 So Hanameel mine uncle's son came to me in the court of the prison according to the word of the Lord, and said unto me, Buy my field, I pray thee, that is in Anathoth, which is in the country of Benjamin: for the right of inheritance is thine, and the redemption is thine; buy it for thyself. Then I knew that this was the word of the Lord. 9 And I bought the field of Hanameel my uncle's son, that was in Anathoth, and weighed him the money, even seventeen shekels of silver. 10 And I subscribed the evidence, and sealed it, and took witnesses, and weighed him the money in the balances. 11 So I took the evidence of the purchase, both that which was sealed according to the law and custom, and that which was open: 12 And I gave the evidence of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, in the sight of Hanameel mine uncle's son, and in the presence of the witnesses that subscribed the book of the purchase, before all the Jews that sat in the court of the prison. 13 And I charged Baruch before them, saying, 14 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Take these evidences, this evidence of the purchase, both which is sealed, and this evidence which is open; and put them in an earthen vessel, that they may continue many days. 15 For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Houses and fields and vineyards shall be possessed again in this land.
It appears by the date of this chapter that we are now coming very nigh to that fatal year which completed the desolations of Judah and Jerusalem by the Chaldeans. God's judgments came gradually upon them, but, they not meeting him by repentance in the way of his judgments, he proceeded in his controversy till all was laid waste, which was in the eleventh year of Zedekiah; now what is here recorded happened in the tenth. The king of Babylon's army had now invested Jerusalem and was carrying on the siege with vigour, not doubting but in a little time to make themselves masters of it, while the besieged had taken up a desperate resolution not to surrender, but to hold out to the last extremity. Now,
I. Jeremiah prophesies that both the city and the court shall fall into the hands of the king of Babylon. He tells them expressly that the besiegers shall take the city as a prize, for God, whose city it was in a peculiar manner, will give it into their hands and put it out of his protection (v. 3),-- that, though Zedekiah attempt to make his escape, he shall be overtaken, and shall be delivered a prisoner into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, shall be brought into his presence, to his great confusion and terror, he having made himself so obnoxious by breaking his faith with him, he shall hear the king of Babylon pronounce his doom, and see with what fury and indignation he will look upon him (His eyes shall behold his eyes, v. 4),-- that Zedekiah shall be carried to Babylon, and continue a miserable captive there, until God visit him, that is, till God put an end to his life by a natural death, as Nebuchadnezzar had long before put an end to his days by putting out his eyes. Note, Those that live in misery may be truly said to be visited in mercy when God by death takes them home to himself. And, lastly, he foretels that all their attempts to force the besiegers from their trenches shall be ineffectual: Though you fight with the Chaldeans, you shall not prosper; how should they, when God did not fight for them? v. 5. See ch. xxxiv. 2, 3.
II. For prophesying thus he is imprisoned, not in the common gaol, but in the more creditable prison that was within the verge of the palace, in the king of Judah's house, and there not closely confined, but in custodia libera--in the court of the prison, where he might have good company, good air, and good intelligence brought him, and would be sheltered from the abuses of the mob; but, however, it was a prison, and Zedekiah shut him up in it for prophesying as he did, v. 2, 3. So far was he from humbling himself before Jeremiah, as he ought to have done (2 Chron. xxxvi. 12), that he hardened himself against him. Though he had formerly so far owned him to be a prophet as to desire him to enquire of the Lord for them (ch. xxi. 2), yet now he chides him for prophesying (v. 3), and shuts him up in prison, perhaps not with design to punish him any further, but only to restrain him from prophesying any further, which was crime enough. Silencing God's prophets, though it is not so bad as mocking and killing them, is yet a great affront to the God of heaven. See how wretchedly the hearts of sinners are hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. Persecution was one of the sins for which God was now contending with them, and yet Zedekiah persists in it even now that he was in the depth of distress. No providences, no afflictions, will of themselves part between men and their sins, unless the grace of God work with them. Nay, some are made worse by those very judgments that should make them better.
III. Being in prison, he purchases from a near relation of his a piece of ground that lay in Anathoth, v. 6, 7, &c.
1. One would not have expected, (1.) That a prophet should concern himself so far in the business of this world; but why not? Though ministers must not entangle themselves, yet they may concern themselves in the affairs of this life. (2.) That one who had neither wife nor children should buy land. We find (ch. xvi. 2) that he had no family of his own; yet he may purchase for his own use while he lives, and leave it to the children of his relations when he dies. (3.) One would little have thought that a prisoner should be a purchaser; how should he get money beforehand to buy land with? It is probably that he lived frugally, and saved something out of what belonged to him as a priest, which is no blemish at all to his character; but we have no reason to think that the people were kind, or that his being beforehand was owing to their generosity. Nay, (4.) It was most strange of all that he should buy a piece of land when he himself knew that the whole land was now to be laid waste and fall into the hands of the Chaldeans, and then what good would this do him? But it was the will of God that he should buy it, and he submitted, though the money seemed to be thrown away. His kinsman came to offer it to him; it was not of his own seeking; he coveted not to lay house to house and field to field, but Providence brought it to him, and it was probably a good bargain; besides, the right of redemption belonged to him (v. 8), and if he refused he would not do the kinsman's part. It is true he might lawfully refuse, but, being a prophet, in a thing of this nature he must do that which would be for the honour of his profession. It became him to fulfil all righteousness. It was land that lay within the suburbs of a priests' city, and, if he should refuse it, there was danger lest, in these times of disorder, it might be sold to one of another tribe, which was contrary to the law, to prevent which it was convenient for him to buy it. It would likewise be a kindness to his kinsman, who probably was at this time in great want of money. Jeremiah had but a little, but what he had he was willing to lay out in such a manner as might tend most to the honour of God and the good of his friends and country, which he preferred before his own private interests.
2. Two things may be observed concerning this purchase:--
(1.) How fairly the bargain was made. When Jeremiah knew by Hanameel's coming to him, as God had foretold he would, that it was the word of the Lord, that it was his mind that he should make this purchase, he made no more difficulty of it, but bought the field. And, [1.] He was very honest and exact in paying the money. He weighted him the money, did not press him to take it upon his report, though he was his near kinsman, but weighed it to him, current money. It was seventeen shekels of silver, amounting to about forty shillings of our money. The land was probably but a little field and of small yearly value, when the purchase was so low; besides, the right of inheritance was in Jeremiah, so that he had only to buy out his kinsman's life, the reversion being his already. Some think this was only the earnest of a greater sum; but we shall not wonder at the smallness of the price if we consider what scarcity there was of money at this time and how little lands were counted upon. [2.] He was very prudent and discreet in preserving the writings. They were subscribed before witnesses. One copy was sealed up, the other was open. One was the original, the other the counterpart; or perhaps that which was sealed up was for his own private use, the other that was open was to be laid up in the public register of conveyances, for any person concerned to consult. Due care and caution in things of this nature might prevent a great deal of injustice and contention. The deeds of purchase were lodged in the hands of Baruch, before witnesses, and he was ordered to lay them up in an earthen vessel (an emblem of the nature of all the securities this world can pretend to give us, brittle things and soon broken), that they might continue many days, for the use of Jeremiah's heirs, after the return out of captivity; for they might then have the benefit of this purchase. Purchasing reversions may be a kindness to those that come after us, and a good man thus lays up an inheritance for his children's children.
(2.) What was the design of having this bargain made. It was to signify that though Jerusalem was now besieged, and the whole country was likely to be laid waste, yet the time should come when houses, and fields, and vineyards should be again possessed in this land, v. 15. As God appointed Jeremiah to confirm his predictions of the approaching destruction of Jerusalem by his own practice in living unmarried, so he now appointed him to confirm his predictions of the future restoration of Jerusalem by his own practice in purchasing this field. Note, It concerns ministers to make it to appear in their whole conversation that they do themselves believe that which they preach to others; and that they may do so, and impress it the more deeply upon their hearers, they must many a time deny themselves, as Jeremiah did in both these instances. God having promised that this land should again come into the possession of his people, Jeremiah will, on behalf of his heirs, put in for a share. Note, It is good to manage even our worldly affairs in faith, and to do common business with an eye to the providence and promise of God. Lucius Florus relates it as a great instance of the bravery of the Roman citizens that in the time of the second Punic war, when Hannibal besieged Rome and was very near making himself master of it, a field on which part of his army lay, being offered to sale at that time, was immediately purchased, in a firm belief that the Roman valour would raise the siege, lib. ii. cap. 6. And have not we much more reason to venture our all upon the word of God, and to embark in Zion's interests, which will undoubtedly be the prevailing interests at last? Non si male nunc et olim sic erit--Though now we suffer, we shall not suffer always.
Jeremiah's Prayer.
16 Now when I had delivered the evidence of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed unto the Lord, saying, 17 Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee: 18 Thou shewest lovingkindness unto thousands, and recompensest the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them: the Great, the Mighty God, the Lord of hosts, is his name, 19 Great in counsel, and mighty in work: for thine eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men: to give every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings: 20 Which hast set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, even unto this day, and in Israel, and among other men; and hast made thee a name, as at this day; 21 And hast brought forth thy people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs, and with wonders, and with a strong hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with great terror; 22 And hast given them this land, which thou didst swear to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey; 23 And they came in, and possessed it; but they obeyed not thy voice, neither walked in thy law; they have done nothing of all that thou commandedst them to do: therefore thou hast caused all this evil to come upon them: 24 Behold the mounts, they are come unto the city to take it; and the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans, that fight against it, because of the sword, and of the famine, and of the pestilence: and what thou hast spoken is come to pass; and, behold, thou seest it. 25 And thou hast said unto me, O Lord GOD, Buy thee the field for money, and take witnesses; for the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.
We have here Jeremiah's prayer to God upon occasion of the discoveries God had made to him of his purposes concerning this nation, to pull it down, and in process of time to build it up again, which puzzled the prophet himself, who, though he delivered his messages faithfully, yet, in reflecting upon them, was greatly at a loss within himself how to reconcile them; in that perplexity he poured out his soul before God in prayer, and so gave himself ease. That which disturbed him was not the bad bargain he seemed to have made for himself in purchasing a field that he was likely to have no good of, but the case of his people, for whom he was still a kind and faithful intercessor, and he was willing to hope that, if God had so much mercy in store for them hereafter as he had promised, he would not proceed with so much severity against them now as he had threatened. Before Jeremiah went to prayer he delivered the deeds that concerned his new purchase to Baruch, which may intimate to us that when we are going to worship God we should get our minds as clear as may be from the cares and incumbrances of this world. Jeremiah was in prison, in distress, in the dark about the meaning of God's providences, and then he prays. Note, Prayer is a salve for every sore. Whatever is a burden to us, we may by prayer cast it upon the Lord and then be easy.
In this prayer, or meditation,
I. Jeremiah adores God and his infinite perfections, and gives him the glory due to his name as the Creator, upholder, and benefactor, of the whole creation, thereby owning his irresistible power, that he can do what he will, and his incontestable sovereignty, that he may do what he will, v. 17-19. Note, When at any time we are perplexed about the particular methods and dispensations of Providence it is good for us to have recourse to our first principles, and to satisfy ourselves with the general doctrines of God's wisdom, power, and goodness. Let us consider, as Jeremiah does here, 1. That God is the fountain of all being, power, life, motion, and perfection: He made the heaven and the earth with his outstretched arm; and therefore who can control him? Who dares contend with him? 2. That with him nothing is impossible, no difficulty insuperable: Nothing is too hard for thee. When human skill and power are quite nonplussed, with God are strength and wisdom sufficient to master all the opposition. 3. That he is a God of boundless bottomless mercy; mercy is his darling attribute; it is his goodness that is his glory: "Thou not only art kind, but thou showest lovingkindness, not to a few, to here and there one, but to thousands, thousands of persons, thousands of generations." 4. That he is a God of impartial and inflexible justice. His reprieves are not pardons, but if in mercy he spares the parents, that they may be led to repentance, yet such a hatred has he to sin, and such a displeasure against sinners, that he recompenses their iniquity into the bosom of their children, and yet does them no wrong; so hateful is the unrighteousness of man, and so jealous of its own honour is the righteousness of God. 5. That he is a God of universal dominion and command: He is the great God, for he is the mighty God, and might among men makes them great. He is the Lord of hosts, of all hosts, that is his name, and he answers to his name, for all the hosts of heaven and earth, of men and angels, are at his beck. 6. That he contrives every thing for the best, and effects every thing as he contrived it: He is great in counsel, so vast are the reaches and so deep are the designs of his wisdom; and he is mighty in doing, according to the counsel of his will. Now such a God as this is not to be quarrelled with. His service is to be constantly adhered to and all his disposals cheerfully acquiesced in.
II. He acknowledges the universal cognizance God takes of all the actions of the children of men and the unerring judgment he passes upon them (v. 19): Thy eyes are open upon all the sons of men, wherever they are, beholding the evil and the good, and upon all their ways, both the course they take and every step they take, not as an unconcerned spectator, but as an observing judge, to give every one according to his ways and according to his deserts, which are the fruit of his doings; for men shall find God as they are found of him.
III. He recounts the great things God had done for his people Israel formerly. 1. He brought them out of Egypt, that house of bondage, with signs and wonders, which remain, if not in the marks of them, yet in the memorials of them, even unto this day; for it would never be forgotten, not only in Israel, who were reminded of it every year by the ordinance of the passover, but among other men: all the neighbouring nations spoke of it, as that which redounded exceedingly to the glory of the God of Israel, and made him a name as at this day. This is repeated (v. 21), that God brought them forth, not only with comforts and joys to them, but with glory to himself, with signs and wonders (witness the ten plagues), with a strong hand, too strong for the Egyptians themselves, and with a stretched-out arm, that reached Pharaoh, proud as he was, and with great terror to them and all about them. This seems to refer to Deut. iv. 34. 2. He brought them into Canaan, that good land, that land flowing with milk and honey. He swore to their fathers to give it them, and, because he would perform his oath, he did give it to the children (v. 22) and they came in and possessed it. Jeremiah mentions this both as an aggravation of their sin and disobedience and also as a plea with God to work deliverance for them. Note, It is good for us often to reflect upon the great things that God did for his church formerly, especially in the first erecting of it, that work of wonder.
IV. He bewails the rebellions they had been guilty of against God, and the judgments God had brought upon them for these rebellions. It is a sad account he here gives of the ungrateful conduct of that people towards God. He had done every thing that he had promised to do (they had acknowledged it, 1 Kings viii. 56), but they had done nothing of all that he commanded them to do (v. 23); they made no conscience of any of his laws; they walked not in them, paid no respect to any of his calls by his prophets, for they obeyed not his voice. And therefore he owns that God was righteous in causing all this evil to come upon them. The city is besieged, is attacked by the sword without, is weakened and wasted by the famine and pestilence within, so that it is ready to fall into the hands of the Chaldeans that fight against it (v. 24); it is given into their hands, v. 25. Now, 1. He compares the present state of Jerusalem with the divine predictions, and finds that what God has spoken has come to pass. God had given them fair warning of it before; and, if they had regarded this, the ruin would have been prevented; but, if they will not do what God has commanded, they can expect no other than that he should do what he had threatened. 2. He commits the present state of Jerusalem to the divine consideration and compassion (v. 24): Behold the mounts, or ramparts, or the engines which they make use of to batter the city and beat down the wall of it. And again, "Behold thou seest it, and takest cognizance of it. Is this the city that thou has chosen to put thy name there? And shall it be thus abandoned?" He neither complains of God for what he had done nor prescribes to God what he should do, but desires he would behold their case, and is pleased to think that he does behold it. Whatever trouble we are in, upon a personal or public account, we may comfort ourselves with this, that God sees it and sees how to remedy it.
V. He seems desirous to be let further into the meaning of the order God had now given him to purchase his kinsman's field (v. 25): "Though the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and no man is likely to enjoy what he has, yet thou hast said unto me, Buy thou the field." As soon as he understood that it was the mind of God he did it, and made no objections, was not disobedient to the heavenly vision; but, when he had done it, he desired better to understand why God had ordered him to do it, because the thing looked strange and unaccountable. Note, Though we are bound to follow God with an implicit obedience, yet we should endeavour that it may be more and more an intelligent obedience. We must never dispute God's statutes and judgments, but we may and must enquire, What mean these statutes and judgments? Deut. vi. 20.
Judgments Predicted; Restoration of the Jews; Encouraging Promises.
26 Then came the word of the Lord unto Jeremiah, saying, 27 Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me? 28 Therefore thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and he shall take it: 29 And the Chaldeans, that fight against this city, shall come and set fire on this city, and burn it with the houses, upon whose roofs they have offered incense unto Baal, and poured out drink offerings unto other gods, to provoke me to anger. 30 For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have only done evil before me from their youth: for the children of Israel have only provoked me to anger with the work of their hands, saith the Lord. 31 For this city hath been to me as a provocation of mine anger and of my fury from the day that they built it even unto this day; that I should remove it from before my face, 32 Because of all the evil of the children of Israel and of the children of Judah, which they have done to provoke me to anger, they, their kings, their princes, their priests, and their prophets, and the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 33 And they have turned unto me the back, and not the face: though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not hearkened to receive instruction. 34 But they set their abominations in the house, which is called by my name, to defile it. 35 And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin. 36 And now therefore thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning this city, whereof ye say, It shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence; 37 Behold, I will gather them out of all countries, whither I have driven them in mine anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath; and I will bring them again unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely: 38 And they shall be my people, and I will be their God: 39 And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them: 40 And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me. 41 Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul. 42 For thus saith the Lord; Like as I have brought all this great evil upon this people, so will I bring upon them all the good that I have promised them. 43 And fields shall be bought in this land, whereof ye say, It is desolate without man or beast; it is given into the hand of the Chaldeans. 44 Men shall buy fields for money, and subscribe evidences, and seal them, and take witnesses in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, and in the cities of the mountains, and in the cities of the valley, and in the cities of the south: for I will cause their captivity to return, saith the Lord.
We have here God's answer to Jeremiah's prayer, designed to quiet his mind and make him easy; and it is a full discovery of the purposes of God's wrath against the present generation and the purposes of his grace concerning the future generations. Jeremiah knew not how to sing both of mercy and judgment, but God here teaches to sing unto him of both. When we know not how to reconcile one word of God with another we may yet be sure that both are true, both are pure, both shall be made good, and not one iota or tittle of either shall fall to the ground. When Jeremiah was ordered to buy the field in Anathoth he was willing to hope that God was about to revoke the sentence of his wrath and to order the Chaldeans to raise the siege. "No," says God, "the execution of the sentence shall go on; Jerusalem shall be laid in ruins." Note, Assurances of future mercy must not be interpreted as securities from present troubles. But, lest Jeremiah should think that his being ordered to buy this field intimated that all the mercy God had in store for his people, after their return, was only that they should have the possession of their own land again, he further informs him that that was but a type and figure of those spiritual blessings which should then be abundantly bestowed upon them, unspeakably more valuable than fields and vineyards; so that in this word of the Lord, which came to Jeremiah, we have first as dreadful threatenings and then as precious promises as perhaps any we have in the Old Testament; life and death, good and evil, are here set before us; let us consider and choose wisely.
I. The ruin of Judah and Jerusalem is here pronounced. The decree has gone forth, and shall not be recalled. 1. God here asserts his own sovereignty and power (v. 27): Behold, I am Jehovah, a self-existent self-sufficient being; I am that I am; I am the God of all flesh, that is, of all mankind, here called flesh because weak and unable to contend with God (Ps. lvi. 4), and because wicked and corrupt and unapt to comply with God. God is the Creator of all, and makes what use he pleases of all. He that is the God of Israel is the God of all flesh and of the spirits of all flesh, and, if Israel were cast off, could raise up a people to his name out of some other nation. If he be the God of all flesh, he may well ask, Is any thing too hard for me? What cannot he do from whom all the powers of men are derived, on whom they depend, and by whom all their actions are directed and governed? Whatever he designs to do, whether in wrath or in mercy, nothing can hinder him nor defeat his designs. 2. He abides by that he had often said of the destruction of Jerusalem by the king of Babylon (v. 28): I will give this city into his hand, now that he is grasping at it, and he shall take it and make a prey of it, v. 29. The Chaldeans shall come and set fire to it, shall burn it and all the houses in it, God's house not excepted, nor the king's neither. 3. He assigns the reason for these severe proceedings against the city that had been so much in his favour. It is sin, it is that and nothing else, that ruins it. (1.) They were impudent and daring in sin. They offered incense to Baal, not in corners, as men ashamed or afraid of being discovered, but upon the tops of their houses (v. 29), in defiance of God's justice. (2.) They designed an affront to God herein. They did it to provoke me to anger, v. 29. They have only provoked me to anger with the works of their hands, v. 30. They could not promise themselves any pleasure, profit, or honour out of it, but did it on purpose to offend God. And again (v. 32), All the evil which they have done was to provoke me to anger. They knew he was a jealous God in the matters of his worship, and there they resolved to try his jealousy and dare him to his face. "Jerusalem has been to me a provocation of my anger and fury," v. 31. Their conduct in every thing was provoking. (3.) They began betimes, and had continued all along provoking to God: "They have done evil before me from their youth, ever since they were first formed into a people (v. 30), witness their murmurings and rebellions in the wilderness." And as for Jerusalem, though it was the holy city, it has been a provocation to the holy God from the day that they built it, even to this day, v. 31. O what reason have we to lament the little honour God has from this world, and the great dishonour that is done him, when even in Judah, where he is known and his name is great, and in Salem where his tabernacle is, there was always that found that was a provocation to him! (4.) All orders and degrees of men contributed to the common guilt, and therefore were justly involved in the common ruin. Not only the children of Israel, that had revolted from the temple, but the children of Judah too, that still adhered to it--not only the common people, the men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, but those that should have reproved and restrained sin in others were themselves ringleaders in it, their kings and princes, their priests and prophets. (5.) God had again and again called them to repentance, but they turned a deaf ear to his calls, and rudely turned their back on him that called them, though he was their master, to whom they were bound in duty, and their benefactor, to whom they were bound in gratitude and interest, v. 33. "I taught them better manners, with as much care as ever any tender parent taught a child, rising up early, in teaching them, studying to adapt the teaching to their capacities, taking them betimes, when they might have been most pliable, but all in vain; they turned not the face to me, would not so much as look upon me, nay, they turned the back upon me," an expression of the highest contempt. As he called them, like froward children, so they went from him, Hos. xi. 2. They have not hearkened to receive instruction; they regarded not a word that was said to them, though it was designed for their own good. (6.) There was in their idolatries an impious contempt of God; for (v. 34) they set their abominations (their idols, which they knew to be in the highest degree abominable to God) in the house which is called by my name, to defile it. They had their idols not only in their high places and groves, but even in God's temple. (7.) They were guilty of the most unnatural cruelty to their own children; for they sacrificed them to Moloch, v. 35. Thus because they liked not to retain God in their knowledge, but changed his glory into shame, they were justly given up to vile affections and stripped of natural ones, and their glory was turned into shame. And, (8.) What was the consequence of all this? [1.] They caused Judah to sin, v. 35. The whole country was infected with the contagious idolatries and iniquities of Jerusalem. [2.] They brought ruin upon themselves. It was as if they had done it on purpose that God should remove them from before his face (v. 31); they would throw themselves out of his favour.
II. The restoration of Judah and Jerusalem is here promised, v. 36, &c. God will in judgment remember mercy, and there will a time come, a set time, to favour Zion. Observe, 1. The despair to which this people were now at length brought. When the judgment was threatened at a distance they had no fear; when it attacked them they had no hope. They said concerning the city (v. 36), It shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, not by any cowardice or ill conduct of ours, but by the sword, famine, and pestilence. Concerning the country they said, with vexation (v. 43), It is desolate, without man or beast; there is no relief, there is no remedy. It is given into the hand of the Chaldeans. Note, Deep security commonly ends in deep despair; whereas those that keep up a holy fear at all times have a good hope to support them in the worst of times. 2. The hope that God gives them of mercy which he had in store for them hereafter. Though their carcases must fall in captivity, yet their children after them shall again see this good land and the goodness of God in it. (1.) They shall be brought up from their captivity and shall come and settle again in this land, v. 37. They had been under God's anger and fury, and great wrath; but now they shall partake of his grace, and love, and great favour. He had dispersed them, and driven them into all countries. Those that fled dispersed themselves; those that fell into the enemies; hands were dispersed by them, in policy, to prevent combinations among them. God's hand was in both. But now God will find them out, and gather them out of all the countries whither they were driven, as he promised in the law (Deut. xxx. 3, 4) and the saints had prayed, Ps. cvi. 47; Neh. i. 9. He had banished them, but he will bring them again to this place, which they could not but have an affection for. For many years past, while they were in their own land, they were continually exposed, and terrified with the alarms of war; but now I will cause them to dwell safely. Being reformed, and having returned to God, neither their own consciences within nor their enemies without shall be a terror to them. He promises (v. 41): I will plant them in this land assuredly; not only I will certainly do it, but they shall here enjoy a holy a security and repose, and they shall take root here, shall be planted in stability, and not again be unfixed and shaken. (2.) God will renew his covenant with them, a covenant of grace, the blessings of which are spiritual, and such as will work good things in them, to qualify them for the great things God intended to do for them. It is called an everlasting covenant (v. 40), not only because God will be for ever faithful to it, but because the consequences of it will be everlasting. For, doubtless, here the promises look further than to Israel according to the flesh, and are sure to all believers, to every Israelite indeed. Good Christians may apply them to themselves and plead them with God, may claim the benefit of them and take the comfort of them. [1.] God will own them for his, and make over himself to them to be theirs (v. 38): They shall be my people. He will make them his by working in them all the characters and dispositions of his people, and then he will protect, and guide, and govern them as his people. "And, to make them truly, completely, and eternally happy, I will be their God." They shall serve and worship God as theirs and cleave to him only, and he will approve himself theirs. All he is, all he has, shall be engaged and employed for their good. [2.] God will give them a heart to fear him, v. 39. That which he requires of those whom he takes into covenant with him as his people is that they fear him, that they reverence his majesty, dread his wrath, stand in awe of his authority, pay homage to him, and give him the glory due unto his name. Now what God requires of them he here promises to work in them, pursuant to his choice of them as his people. Note, As it is God's prerogative to fashion men's hearts, so it is his promise to his people to fashion theirs aright; and a heart to fear God is indeed a good heart, and well fashioned. It is repeated (v. 40): I will put my fear in their hearts, that is, work in them gracious principles and dispositions, that shall influence and govern their whole conversation. Teachers may put good things into our heads, but it is God only that can put them into our hearts, that can work in us both to will and to do. [3.] He will give them one heart and one way. In order to their walking in one way, he will give them one heart: as the heart is, so will the way be, and both shall be one; that is First, They shall be each of them one with themselves. One heart is the same with a new heart, Ezek. xi. 19. The heart is then one when it is fully determined for God and entirely devoted to God. When the eye is single and God's glory alone aimed at, when our hearts are fixed, trusting in God, and we are uniform and universal in our obedience to him, then the heart is one and way one; and, unless the heart be thus steady, the goings will not be stedfast. From this promise we may take direction and encouragement to pray, with David (Ps. lxxxvi. 11), Unite my heart to fear thy name; for God says, I will give them one heart, that they may fear me. Secondly, They shall be all of them one with each other. All good Christians shall be incorporated into one body; Jews and Gentiles shall become one sheep-fold; and they shall all, as far as they are sanctified, have a disposition to love one another, the gospel they profess having in it the strongest inducements to mutual love, and the Spirit that dwells in them being the Spirit of love. Though they may have different apprehensions about minor things, they shall be all one in the great things of God, being renewed after the same image. Though they may have many paths, they have but one way, that of serious godliness. [4.] He will effectually provide for their perseverance in grace and the perpetuating of the covenant between himself and them. They would have been happy when there were first planted in Canaan, like Adam in paradise, if they had not departed from God. And therefore, now that they are restored to their happiness, they shall be confirmed in it by the preventing of their departures from God, and this will complete their bliss. First, God will never leave nor forsake them: I will not turn away from them to do them good. Earthly princes are fickle, and their greatest favourites have fallen under their frowns; but God's mercy endures for ever. Whom he loves he loves to the end. God may seem to turn from this people (Isa. liv. 8), but even then he does not turn from doing and designing them good. Secondly, They shall never leave nor forsake him; that is the thing we are in danger of. We have no reason to distrust God's fidelity and constancy, but our own; and therefore it is here promised that God will give them a heart to fear him for ever, all days, to be in his fear every day and all the day long (Prov. xxiii. 17), and to continue so to the end of their days. He will put such a principle into their hearts that they shall not depart from him. Even those who have given up their names to God, if they be left to themselves, will depart from him; but the fear of God ruling in the heart, will prevent their departure. That, and nothing else, will do it. If we continue close and faithful to God, it is owing purely to his almighty grace and not to any strength or resolution of our own. [5.] He will entail a blessing upon their seed, will give them grace to fear him, for the good of them and of their children after them. As their departures from God had been to the prejudice of their children, so their adherence to God should be to the advantage of their children. We cannot better consult the good of posterity than by setting up, and keeping up, the fear and worship of God in our families. [6.] He will take a pleasure in their prosperity and will do every thing to advance it (v. 41): I will rejoice over them to do them good. God will certainly do them good because he rejoices over them. They are dear to him; he makes his boast of them, and therefore will not only do them good, but will delight in doing them good. When he punishes them it is with reluctance. How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? But, when he restores them, it is with satisfaction; he rejoices in doing them good. We ought therefore to serve him with pleasure and to rejoice in all opportunities of serving him. He is himself a cheerful giver, and therefore loves a cheerful servant. I will plant them (says God) with my whole heart and with my whole soul. He will be intent upon it, and take delight in it; he will make it the business of his providence to settle them again in Canaan, and the various dispensations of providence shall concur to it. All things shall appear at last so to have been working for the good of the church that it will be said, The governor of the world is entirely taken up with the care of his church. [7.] These promises shall as surely be performed as the foregoing threatenings were; and the accomplishment of those, notwithstanding the security of the people, might confirm their expectation of the performance of these, notwithstanding their present despair (v. 42): As I have brought all this great evil upon them, pursuant to the threatenings, and for the glory of divine justice, so I will bring upon them all this good, pursuant to the promise, and for the glory of divine mercy. He that is faithful to his threatenings will much more be so to his promises; and he will comfort his people according to the time that he has afflicted them. The churches shall have rest after the days of adversity. [8.] As an earnest of all this, houses and lands shall again fetch a good price in Judah and Jerusalem, and, though now they are a drug, there shall again be a sufficient number of purchasers (v. 43, 44): Fields shall be bought in this land, and people will covet to have lands here rather than any where else. Lands, wherever they lie, will go off, not only in the places about Jerusalem, but in the cities of Judah and of Israel, too, whether they lie on mountains, or in valleys, or in the south, in all parts of the country, men shall buy fields, and subscribe evidences. Trade shall revive, for they shall have money enough to buy land with. Husbandry shall revive, for those that have money shall covet to lay it out upon lands. Laws shall again have their due course, for they shall subscribe evidences and seal them. This is mentioned to reconcile Jeremiah to his new purchase. Though he had bought a piece of ground and could not go to see it, yet he must believe that this was the pledge of many a purchase, and those but faint resemblances of the purchased possessions in the heavenly Canaan, reserved for all those who have God's fear in their hearts and do not depart from him.


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By Judith Sunderland
September 23, 2012
As alien as it may seem to some Europeans, veiling can be a choice, in the same way that other convictions or conduct that have been shaped by societal, family or religious influences are experienced by the individual as an expression of their identity.
On April 11, 2011, Kenza Drider, a 32-year-old mother of four, broke the law in Paris: she wore the niqab in public. She had traveled by train from her home in Avignon to protest a new law banning the full-face Muslim veil in all public spaces throughout France.
In June 2010, 25-year-old Louiza (not her real name) was shot at close range with a paintball gun as she walked down the street in Grozny because she wasn't wearing a headscarf. That summer many women in the Russian republic of Chechnya fell victim to attacks and harassment during a "virtue campaign" to force women to cover themselves.
What these two incidents have in common is interference--sometimes brutal, always wrong--with the fundamental human rights of women in the name of religion, tradition or misguided protectionism.
In Indonesia's Aceh province, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Afghanistan under the Taliban, as well as parts of Somalia, Gaza and Chechnya, women are forced to cover up. At the same time, local and national governments in Europe have moved to prohibit women and girls from wearing the veil in schools and public service. In April 2011, France enacted a national law banning the wearing of full-face veils anywhere in public; Belgium enacted a similar law in July 2011, and comparable nationwide bans have been proposed in a number of other European countries. Several cities in Belgium, Spain and Italy already have local bans in place.
A Sad Irony
The sad irony is that whether they are being forced to cover up or to uncover, these women are being discriminated against. Banned from wearing the hijab--a traditional Muslim headscarf--or forced to veil themselves, women around the world are being stripped of their basic rights to personal autonomy; to freedom of expression; and to freedom of religion, thought and conscience.
Though men are also subject to religious and traditional practices, including dress codes that impinge on their freedoms, women around the world are far more likely to see their decisions dictated, their options curtailed, even their physical integrity and lives threatened, by official and societal norms about propriety.
Women's rights activists, both within and outside Muslim communities, have long argued that veiling, and full veiling of the face and body in particular, is a powerful symbol of the oppression and subjugation of women. The burka, a full face and body covering, is commonly associated with the Taliban, who systematically violate the fundamental rights and freedoms of women in Afghanistan, a country with the lowest life expectancy in the region and some of the highest rates of maternal death.
The Right to Choose
Given the evidence that forced veiling constitutes a serious women's rights issue in so many parts of the world, it is perhaps not surprising that proponents of bans on veils in Europe see them as a way to liberate women and protect women and girls from societal pressure to veil themselves. Bans on students and teachers wearing headscarves in schools, on civil servants wearing any kind of religious symbol and on full-face coverings are also variously justified by the need to ensure secularism in state institutions, as well as on security grounds. Though some (but not all) bans are crafted in neutral terms, the political debate around them in Europe is infused with discomfort with an increasingly visible Muslim minority population, and concerns about integrating newer Europeans while preserving so-called European values.
Pro-ban arguments relating to women's rights have the greatest resonance. Yet denying women the right to cover themselves is as wrong as forcing them to do so. Muslim women, like all women, should have the right to dress as they choose and to make decisions about their lives and how to express their faith, identity and moral values. And they should not be forced to choose between their beliefs and their chosen profession.
Generalizations about women's oppression do a disservice to one of the basic tenets of gender equality: the right to self-determination and autonomy, the right a woman has to make decisions about her life and her body without interference from the state or others. There are undoubtedly women who are forced to wear the veil or feel tremendous pressure to do so against their own convictions. But there are also Muslim women in Europe, some of them converts, who have spoken out to say that veiling was their own decision, citing motivations such as an expression of their faith and a desire to assert their identity.
As alien as it may seem to some Europeans, veiling can be a choice, in the same way that other convictions or conduct that have been shaped by societal, family or religious influences are experienced by the individual as an expression of their identity.
Judith Sunderland is the senior Western Europe researcher with the Europe and Central Asia division at Human Rights Watch. She works on issues related to discrimination and intolerance, migration and asylum policy and counterterrorism.
Source: http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/09/23/banning-muslim-veil-denies-women-choice-too
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/banning-muslim-veil-denies-women/d/8830


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Around the world, 25 million unsafe abortions (45% of all abortions) happened each year around 2010 and 2014, as indicated by another investigation by WHO and the Guttmacher Institute. The major part of these risky abortions, or 97%, happened in developing nations in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
"Increased efforts are needed, especially in developing regions, to ensure access to contraception and safe abortion" says Dr Bela Ganatra, lead author of the study and a researcher in the WHO Department of Reproductive Health and Research.
"When women and girls cannot access effective contraception and safe abortion services, there are serious consequences for their own health and that of their families. This should not happen. But despite recent advances in technology and evidence, too many unsafe abortions still occur, and too many women continue to suffer and die."
Classifying abortion safety
The new Lancet study gives estimates on protected safe and dangerous abortions worldwide. For the first time, it includes sub-classifications within the unsafe abortion category as less safe or least safe. The distinction allows for a more nuanced understanding of the different circumstances of abortions among women who are unable to access safe abortions from a trained provider.
When abortions are performed in accordance with WHO guidelines and standards, the risk of severe complications or death is negligible. Approximately 55% of all abortions from 2010 to 2014 were conducted safely, which means they were performed by a trained health worker using a WHO-recommended method appropriate to the pregnancy duration.
Almost one-third (31%) of abortions were "less safe," meaning they were either performed by a trained provider using an unsafe or outdated method such as "sharp curettage", or by an untrained person albeit using a safe method like misoprostol, a drug that can be used for many medical purposes, including to induce an abortion.
About 14% were "least safe" abortions provided by untrained persons using dangerous methods, such as introduction of foreign objects and use of herbal concoctions. Deaths from complications of unsafe abortion were high in regions where most abortions happened in the least safe circumstances. Complications from "least-safe" abortions can include incomplete abortion (failure to remove all of the pregnancy tissue from the uterus), haemorrhage, vaginal, cervical and uterine injury, and infections.
Prohibitive Laws Related With High Rates of Unsafe Abortions
The study also looks at the contexts that commonly result in women seeking unsafe abortions, including countries' laws and policies on abortion, the financial cost of accessing safe abortion services, the availability of safe abortion services and trained health providers, and societal attitudes toward abortion and gender equality.
In countries where abortion is completely banned or permitted only to save the woman's life or preserve her physical health, only 1 in 4 abortions were safe; whereas, in countries where abortion is legal on broader grounds, nearly 9 in 10 abortions were done safely. Restricting access to abortions does not reduce the number of abortions.
Most abortions that take place in Western and Northern Europe and North America are safe. These regions also have some of the lowest abortion rates. Most countries in these regions also have relatively permissive laws on abortion; high levels of contraceptive use, economic development, and gender equality; as well as high-quality health services – all factors that contribute to making abortion safer.
"Like many other common medical procedures, abortion is very safe when done in accordance with recommended medical guidelines and that is important to bear in mind," says Dr Gilda Sedgh, co-author of the study and principal research scientist, Guttmacher Institute.
"In the high-income countries of North America and Western and Northern Europe, where abortion is broadly legal and health systems are strong, the incidence of unsafe abortions is the lowest globally."
Among developing regions, the proportion of abortions that were safe in Eastern Asia (including China) was similar to developed regions. In South-Central Asia, however, less than 1 in 2 abortions were safe. Outside of Southern Africa, less than 1 in 4 abortions in Africa were safe. Of those unsafe abortions, the majority were characterized as "least safe."
In Latin America, only 1 in 4 abortions were safe, though the majority were categorized as "less safe," as it is increasingly common for women in the region to obtain and self-administer medicines like misoprostol outside of formal health systems. This has meant that this region has seen fewer deaths and fewer severe complications from unsafe abortions. Nevertheless, this type of informal self-use of medication abortion that women have to resort to secretly does not meet WHO's safe abortion standards.
Preventing Unsafe Abortions
Unsafe abortion occurs when a pregnancy is terminated either by persons lacking the necessary skills/information or in an environment that does not conform to minimal medical standards, or both.
To prevent unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortions, countries must make supportive policies and financial commitments to provide comprehensive sexuality education; a wide range of contraceptive methods, including emergency contraception; accurate family planning counselling; and access to safe, legal abortion.
Provision of safe, legal abortion is essential to fulfilling the global commitment to the Sustainable Development Goal of universal access to sexual and reproductive health (target 3.7). WHO provides global technical and policy guidance on the use of contraception to prevent unintended pregnancy, on safe abortion, and the treatment of complications from unsafe abortion.
Earlier this year, WHO and the Population Division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs launched a new, open-access database of laws, policies and health standards on abortion in countries worldwide. The database aims to promote greater transparency of abortion laws and policies, as well as to improve countries' accountability for the protection of women and girls' health and human rights.
Source: WHO


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ForumsQuestionsWe want an official Android app !!!
We want an official Android app !!!
Author | Message |
robdac |
I use dgt gtd on my android phone and I love it!
chipwreck |
I can only second the post above:
DGT GTD is IMHO very close to the perfect Android app. The features are great, UI is excellent - and even it's labelled "alpha" I didn't have a single problem until now. And there are frequent updates. |
k7ki |
I third the praise for DGT-GTD. It is very good AND actively being developed.
Mark_1348239968 |
It has been 7 months since the TD team post about a possible android app, is there any news on this?
I now have an android tablet and am shifting 80% of my work over to this device. Tasks is up in the top 3 apps I use all the time so something tightly integrated with Toodledo or made by you folks would be great. |
Jake Toodledo Founder |
The iPhone app took a year to build. We are working on an Android app, but we don't have an ETA.
andy_pfeiffer |
Ultimate To Do List works extremely well as an unofficial Toodledo app for android.
Stefan777 |
I myself also tried DGT-GTD and Ultimate To Do List and both are really good in functionality in my oppinion, with different approaches to user interfaces.
Now I am using UTDL and I am very satisfied with this combo |
fmonteiro |
Posted by Stefan777:
I myself also tried DGT-GTD and Ultimate To Do List and both are really good in functionality in my oppinion, with different approaches to user interfaces. Now I am using UTDL and I am very satisfied with this combo UTDL is awful and inexpensive ($5). I've both phone and tablet versions anda I work more with UTDL on tablet than the web version. |
fmonteiro |
Posted by sconstand:
I have been using Appigo's Todo iPhone native app, with Toodledo as the backend for over a year now. The combination is exactly what I need. I am paying Pro customer btw. However I now also have an Android device, as well as my iPhone/iPad and I desperately need a cross-platform solution. I also am dissapointed with Toodledo's response to our demand for a native Android app, which after all isn't that difficult to do these days. All the suggested Android apps and a joke. So, my friends, I will probably be leaving Toodledo in the next few months, to another service, probably RTM or Wunderlist or something. Goodbye and thanks for all the fish. Toodledo is far better than RTM. There's a huge chance to see you back here. =^) |
cadelarge |
I add my request to those already here for a Toodledo Android App. In the meantime, a mobile optimized version of the toodledo web interface would not be bad either.
I had been using DueToday as a TD client but I think it has become buggy duplicating some of my todos by multiples of hundreds. Thanks for tip of DGT GTD. I will try that. |
Purveyor |
Posted by cadelarge:
In the meantime, a mobile optimized version of the toodledo web interface would not be bad either. There's this: http://www.toodledo.com/slimAnd even more basic: http://www.toodledo.com/html |
ben |
For simple task entry "inbox capture" you cannot beat ToodleTask. It's in the market.
-Ben |
nathanchittyorlando |
I use these which are great interfaces to Toodledo from David Allen's work. You need to install both.
New update 0.1.0 beta DGT GTD Toodledo [Beta] · Edit review (282), 10,000-50,000 downloads 22 hours ago · Like · Comment · Share New update 0.0.53 alpha DGT GTD & ToDo [Alpha] · Add review (940), 10,000-50,000 downloads |
codesmith |
Posted by Toodledo:
Each week we get dozens of requests for an official Android app. We hear you all loud and clear, but we can't magically produce one over night. It took us 2+ years of continuous work to get the iOS app where it is today and it will take a significant investment from us to get an Android app out the door. We have a plan that has been put in motion, but in the meantime there are 7 third party Android apps that work with Toodledo and they are getting better with each update. http://www.toodledo.com/tools/directory.php Any word on the status of the Android app? I'd gladly pay for it. I just want something that is first party and supported. It's all well and good to list third party apps, but since those are all unsupported... I'd rather wait. Are you guys still working on this app? |
Jake Toodledo Founder |
Yes, we are. In the meantime, please check out our mobile website which is android compatible and works offline.
http://m.toodledo.com |
piyush_soni |
I used one of these 3rd party directory and one (or more) of my important tasks were lost. I can't depend on third party apps anymore.
How's the app development going on for Android? This is not something that you should put on a back burner I'd say. :( Android more than 50% of the world's smart phones! I don't agree to it that if iOS app development took 1 year this should take 1 year too. A lot of code would be reused and you wouldn't have those first timer problems anymore. Since last December, it should have already been released ... |
dm55343 |
I am too waiting for Android App since I switched from iPhone for a larger screen.
The website http://www.toodledo.com/slim is pretty basic and does not work offline. |
Jake Toodledo Founder |
Use http://m.toodledo.com It works offline and has much more capability.
MikZ |
Honestly, I don't see the point of a Toodledo Android app, when UTDL works perfectly well. I'm a TODO power user—I have all the features turned on in UTDL and Toodledo, and use them. I can think of one feature that the Toodledo site does that UTDL doesn't (making a TODO list based on available time and context—and it's pretty rudimentary) but I can also think of a couple of things UTDL does that Toodledo doesn't (e.g. setting nag reminders by time). But for the most part, they're very compatible.
I would much rather see Toodledo developers focus on the Toodledo web site, and not waste its resources reinventing the wheel on Android. If you find UTDL lacking, tell the UTDL people what you miss—they're not the friendliest bunch, but I've found them responsive to bug reports and I've managed to get them to implement a feature I wanted by getting a few friends to gang up with me. (I've been meaning to do that again for widgets to directly access existing views, including notes—anybody want to join me to campaign for that?) P.S. I hear DGT GTD is very good too. This message was edited May 31, 2012. |
piyush_soni |
I did try Ultimate To-do list but Firstly, it was ugly, and second, there are high chances that this was the offending app that made me lose my tasks. So I'm not going back to it again. I've already started using a temporary Android app as a totally different task management system : "Any.do" which is simple, quick, tasks are kept only on mobile (no sync etc.) and have reduced coming on Toodledo a lot. Also did not renew my pro membership for the same reason.
Will be fully back to it when an official Android app is released. |
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Botanical Design Wallpaper Wall Covering Self Adhesive Peel And Stick
Our Wallcoverings are superbly printed on self-adhesive (peel & stick) paper material. The wallpaper comes in various sizes you can choose from the slider above – Height(In) (Min 24″ Max 144″) and Width(In) (Min 24″ Max 240″). If you need sizes outside these ranges please contact us we may be able to do a custom size.
Where are the best places to Install / Hang our wallpapers?
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You don't need to be a professional to install my wallpaper the peel and stick technology (Self Adhesive) is easy to install / Hang, repositionable, and does not leave a residue when removed. But we do recommend two people.
Just Remember: The wall must be dry, light, smooth, clean, and free of dust. I strongly recommend installing the wallpaper three weeks after painting. Peel and stick wallpaper material may not stick to textured, newly painted, painted with acrylic paint wall.
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I make wallpapers for exact dimensions. When you're not sure of your walls are perfectly straight, I recommend adding some inches extra if you don't mind cutting the wallpaper on your own.
For the Best Results: Follow the instructions. At least 2 people should apply the sticker. A sticker can be applied only on clean, dry, and flat surfaces (without rough surfaces, textured plasters, wallpapers, and other elements affecting the flatness of the wall surface). Notes: Weaker adhesion to latex paints. It is necessary to prepare the wall. Light creases on the sheet do not have a negative effect on the final visual effect.
Please Note Do Not Apply On Textured Or Slightly Textured Walls


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Job Opportunities
This is a travel Physical Therapist assignment in White Plains, MD, working days. Don't miss this exciting travel PT job opportunity! At Epic Travel Staffing, you'll never second-guess your value. With competitive salary and a wide range of benefits options, our recruiters provide concierge-level guidance to find positions that suit your personal and career goals. Come experience #OnlyAtEmerald for yourself! Requirements:1 years of experienceBenefits:For job inquires, please call Epic Travel Staffing.
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It's a fact. Almost everywhere in the world, women live longer than men. It's also a fact that older women are more likely than men to be coping with ongoing health challenges.
Statistics tell the story: 49% of women have three or more chronic health conditions compared with 38% of men (see box).
"The reasons are many," says Neeta Nayak, MD, CMD, a Board-certified geriatrician and physician also trained in hospice and palliative medicine. She has served on StoneGate's Medical Advisory Council for over a decade. "Probably the biggest reason is that women typically are nurturers, always taking care of someone else. They have less time to take care of their own needs and often neglect their health."
A second major reason for the health discrepancy between men and women is a decrease in the female hormone estrogen after menopause. "Without the protective effects of estrogen, women face an increased risk of a host of health challenges," Dr. Nayak says. Conditions can range from heart disease and increased risk of stroke to high blood pressure, osteoporosis, breast cancer, insulin resistance, and a rise in LDL ("bad") cholesterol and the blood fat triglycerides. Women are also more likely than men to show signs of depression and anxiety.
Stopping Heart Disease, the No. 1 Killer of Women
The deadliest of all conditions affecting women is heart disease. It's the leading killer of men and women alike, but women are more likely to die after a heart attack than men are. According to the National Heart, Blood, and Lung Institute, one in eight women over the age of 65 has some form of heart disease.
"Women typically develop heart disease 10 years later than men," Dr. Nayak says. "Up until menopause, they're protected, since their bodies regularly produce estrogen, which helps keep arteries strong and flexible. After menopause, their risk grows exponentially."
Heart attack symptoms can differ in men and women. "Men usually feel classic symptoms such as chest pain. While women may have chest pain during a heart attack, they may also have other symptoms such as intense fatigue, shortness of breath, nausea, and belly pain. It's easy to mistake these symptoms as other ailments, and women may not realize their heart muscle has weakened until the damage is discovered and it's too late to help them."
Staying Healthy: Tips for Senior Women
Wherever senior women are living – at home or in a senior care community, nursing home, skilled nursing facility (SNF), memory care, assisted living, or rehabilitation center – they can improve their prospects for good health. Dr. Nayak offers these tips:
- Take care of yourself. See your health care provider regularly. "Even if you feel healthy, you should have a checkup at least once a year," Dr. Nayak says. "Take the same interest in looking after yourself as you've taken in looking after your family."'
- Get screened and keep up with immunizations. Certain screening tests can help pinpoint health problems early. Ask your health care provider which tests are right for you. Johns Hopkins offers a convenient chart of the screening tests and immunizations that most women age 65 and older need.
- Be heart smart. If you smoke, stop. If you drink alcohol, limit your intake to one drink a day. Keep your blood pressure and cholesterol/triglyceride levels under control.
- Stay active. A body in motion stays in motion, and exercise can help you prevent or control illness. Engage in some type of physical activity every day – anything you enjoy that improves strength, balance, and flexibility and promotes heart health.
- Eat a healthy diet. Combined with physical activity, eating nutritious foods in the right amounts can help keep you healthy. Many illnesses, such as heart disease, obesity, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, and osteoporosis, can be prevented or controlled with dietary changes combined with exercise. Refrain from saturated and trans fat, and limit sugar and salt intake. Help prevent osteoporosis with calcium and vitamin D supplements.
- Maintain your target weight. Excess weight increases your risk for heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure. Use the Kaiser Permanente BMI (body mass index) calculator to find out the target weight for your height. Get to your healthy weight and maintain it by eating right and staying active.
- Be kind to your mind. Depression is a widespread problem in senior women. It can affect every part of your life, from appetite and sleep to interest in activities and relationships. Combat depression by staying engaged, making connections with others, and participating in supportive counseling.
Seeking the Right Community
"Senior women can beat the odds of developing, or worsening, chronic diseases," Nayak says. "If you're searching for a senior living community for you or your loved one, look for a wellness-focused provider. Find a community whose overall care program includes integrated services not only for 'sick care' but also for 'well care' – optimized health in body, mind, and spirit."


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© SQUARE ENIX FINAL FANTASY, SQUARE ENIX, and the SQUARE ENIX logo are registered trademarks of Square Enix Holdings Co., Ltd. Vana'diel , Tetra Master, PLAYONLINE, the PLAYONLINE logo, Rise of the Zilart, Chains of Promathia, Treasures of Aht Urhgan, and Wings of the Goddess are registered trademarks of Square Enix Co., Ltd. The rating icon is a registered trademark of the Entertainment Software Association. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Online play requires internet connection. |


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The horror!! The horror!!
Boris Jabes (MSFT) has just revealed in a VC++ blog post (in the comments no less; I wonder when we'd have found this out if Sunil Joshi had not asked about it) that Visual Studio 2010 Intellisense, you know, that incredibly fast and reliable rearchitecture of Intellisense that we've all been waiting for, will not support C++/CLI!
This is stunning to me. Boris's statement is effectively that "we don't think you spend all that much of your time in C++/CLI anyway!" Puh!
If you are at all invested in C++/CLI, please head over to that blog post and add a comment indicating your displeasure with this disturbing turn of events.


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QuARRy Home
Essay Rubric
Assessment Tool
Erin Hughes, an Instructor from CSU Stanislaus, provides a rubric to grade written essays and set clear grading standards/expectations for students. The point values can easily be added based on each writing assignment. The use of this rubric streamlines the grading process and allows for more comprehensive feedback on specific points addressed in the rubric.
QLT Objectives Met
QLT Section 2: Assessment of Student Learning
- Objective: 2.4 The assessment instruments (e.g., rubrics, grading sheets) are detailed and appropriate to the student work and respective outcomes being assessed. This includes assessing modes of online participation and contributions.
Additional Information
- Material Type: Assessment Tool
- Author: Erin Hughes, Instructor
- Institution: California State University, Stanislaus
- Date Created: 2021-07-25
- Course Format: Online
QM Standard Equivalents
- QM General Standard 3: Assessment and Measurement
- Standard: 3.1 The assessments measure the achievement of the stated learning objectives.
- Standard: 3.3 Specific and descriptive criteria are provided for the evaluation of learners' work, and their connection to the course grading policy is clearly explained.
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Travelling to Apple Tree Guest House
We are situated in a superb quiet location only 5 minutes level walk from the centre of Bath. There is undercover parking plus 24 hours CCTV at the Cricket Club which is only two minutes walk from us at Bath Cricket Ground. We are close to the Kennet and Avon canal which offers leisurely walks and boat hire.
Apple Tree Guest House
7 Pulteney Gardens
Telephone: +44 (0)1225 337642
By Rail
The train takes 75 minutes from London Paddington to Bath Spa station, every 30 minutes during weekdays.
The train takes 15 minutes from Bristol Temple Meads to Bath Spa station.
From Bath Spa Railway Station
Walk out of the station onto Manvers Street, which becomes Pierrepont Street. At the second traffic light turn right onto North Parade. Cross over the bridge, pass the cricket ground to the next traffic light. Cross over and turn right into Pulteney Road and Pulteney Gardens is the second turning on your left.
By Car
From London & the North
Leave the M4 at Junction 18 and follow the A46 for 8 miles south towards Bath to join the A4 into the city centre. Follow the signposts for the A36 and pass over Celeveland bridge onto Bathwick street. At the second traffic light make a right turn to follow the A36 towards Bristol. Continue straight over the next roundabout and after the second traffic light under the railway bridge, take the second turn to the left into Pulteney Gardens.
From Bristol & the West
At the end of the dual carriageway take the right fork - A36 Lower Bristol Road and continue on this road for a few miles.
Just before the railway bridge, take a right turn into Pulteney Gardens.
From the South West
From the A367 coming into Bath, at the large roundabout turn right under railway bridge onto A36 signposted Warminster.
Continue straight ahead and turn right into Pulteney Gardens just before the railway bridge.
By Air
Bristol International airport (15 miles) has regular regional / European flights and flights to New York. Take a taxi or bus directly to Bath.
Heathrow International Airport (90 miles). Take a train to London Paddington and then a train to Bath Spa, or the RailAir bus from Heathrow airport to Reading and then a train to Bath Spa.
Gatwick Airport (120 miles). Take a train to Bath Spa.