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Wyschogrod, Michael. "Israel, the Church, and Election." In Brothers in Hope, 79–87. New York: Herder and Herder, 1970.
[p. 79] IN THE [Second Vatican] Council's "Declaration on the Relationship of the Church to Non-Christian Religions," the Catholic Church addresses and instructs her faithful. In this document, the non-Christian religions are spoken about, not spoken to. In a strict sense, therefore, it is not a document that requires a response from those thus spoken of. But those about whom we speak can also speak about us; indeed, it is to be expected that they will do so. In this age of instantaneous communication, we must be aware that he about whom we are talking hears us and that we are therefore talking to him as well as about him. Yet, the distinction between being talked about and being talked to is not thereby obliterated. To overhear a conversation about oneself remains not an altogether painless experience. Parallel talks about each other may, however, be the prelude to the truly reconciling act of one addressing the other. It is in this spirit that I wish my comments understood.
THE people of Israel pursues its course in history in the faith that it is the people of God. Because God loved Abraham, He chose him and his seed as the people of His Covenant. Because this people is a human family with all the frailties and failings of man, the people of Israel has never ceased to prove unworthy of its election, rebelling against the mission laid upon it by God, more often than is seemly to say. God, in His infinite mercy, nevertheless continues to love this people above all others. To it, He has given His name so that He is known to all the families of the earth as the God of Israel.
Although God is both the creator and ruler of the universe, He [p. 80] reveals Himself to man, not as the conclusion of the cosmological or teleological proofs, but as the God of Abraham who took the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt and whose people this nation remains to the end of time. He thus remains inaccessible to all those who wish to reach Him and, at the same time, to circumvent this people. Because He said: "I will bless those who bless you, and curse him that curses you; in you shall all the families of the earth be blessed" (Gen 12:3), He has tied His saving and redemptive concern for the welfare of all men to His love for the people of Israel. Only those who love the people of Israel can love the God of Israel. Israel is thus God's first-born, most precious in His eyes.
From this, two great dangers follow, both of which have come to pass. The first is Israel's vain pride in its own election and the second is the nations' jealousy at that same election. This twofold drama is prefigured in the tale of Joseph and his brothers, but so is the reconciliation that awaits us at the end of time.
Many times, Israel has found it hard to believe that its election is not the fruit of its virtue, that the endless love God bestows on this people is not richly deserved. Uncannily expert in the failings of the nations, often remembering only its faithfulness and rarely its unfaithfulness, turned inward by the hostility of the peoples among whom it lives, Israel tends to forget that its election is for service, that it is a sign of the infinite and unwarranted gift of God rather than any inherent superiority of the people.
Hated on all sides by those who contest its election, Israel looks at times with contempt at a humanity that is not only unwilling to grant its claims but insists on expressing hatred for the God of Israel through the crucifixion of Israel's body. Thus the two reinforce each other: The more Israel is hated, the less it lives up to its divine calling; the less it lives up to its divine calling, the more ludicrous and offensive its claims of divine election become. All this is not to say that had Israel proved more worthy of its election it would not have incurred the hatred of those whom God did not elect. Israel must, nevertheless, come to terms with its failure, with the misuse to which it has put its election. While the role assigned by God to Israel, that of the favorite son, was indeed a difficult one, it could have been fulfilled because election—God's favor—is not a temptation at which man must fail.
[p. 81] THE unfaithfulness of Israel is, however, only part of the truth, though it is the part Israel likes to forget and the nations like to remember. The other part of the truth is Israel's faithfulness:
I remember the affection of your youth.
Your bridal love:
How you followed me through the wilderness,
Through a land unsown. (Jer 2:2)
If it is true that Israel is not worthy of its election, it is also true that God's election is not in vain. Not only has He transformed Israel's resistance into an occasion for the glorification of His name, but He has also chosen a people that, side by side with its resistance, acts as the willing servant of God, traversing a wilderness populated by those not willing to acquiesce in the exercise of sovereignty that is God's election of Israel. The prophet tells us:
Israel is the Lord's hallowed portion,
His first fruit of the harvest;
All that devour him shall be held guilty.
Evil shall come upon them,
Says the Lord. (Jer 2:3)
Israel's record is thus not all negative. Starting with Abraham's love for his God which was so great that he was willing to sacrifice his only son, and not ending with those Jews who, holding their children by their hands, walked into Hitler's gas chambers, grateful for the opportunity to sanctify God's name, Israel has shown that obedience is also a human possibility, that the image of God in man makes man not only the descendant of Cain but also of Abel.
Just as Israel's record is mixed, so is that of the nations. Instead of accepting Israel's election with humility, they rail against it, mocking the God of the Jews, gleefully pointing out the shortcomings of the people He chose, and crucifying it whenever an opportunity [p. 82] presents itself. Israel's presence is a constant reminder to them that they were not chosen but that this people was, and that this people remains in their midst as a thorn in the flesh. Minute by minute, the existence of Israel mocks the pagan gods, the divine beings who rise out of the consciousness of all peoples but which are gentile gods because they are deifications of man and the forces of nature rather than the true, living God of Abraham.
The pagan mind knows very well that the God of Israel demands compassion for the lowly and the suffering, and that this attitude is incompatible with the honor of the warrior and the pleasure of victory, the stuff of which gentile history is made. The eros of the gentiles is threatened by the existence of Israel because this people, living in exile and lacking all the outward manifestations of the state, the normal instrument of national existence, survives the mightiest nation states, many of which have long disappeared from history, while Israel, against all human calculation, endures. Israel is thus a living witness that the God who chose it is the Lord of history and that His purpose will be achieved. Refusing to cherish gratefully the blessing that is promised to all nations through the election of Israel, a blessing which according to the divine word is the purpose of Israel's election, the nations rise with the full anger of their uncircumcision against the God of the Covenant and the people of the Covenant.
GRADUALLY something emerges which is to have the profoundest effect: the Church. The Church transcends national boundaries, substituting a community of faith for one based on language and soil. In the Church, the vocabulary of Israel is used—covenant, election, suffering servant, and redemption—and the book that Israel hears as the word of God is for the first time heard by a people that is not of the seed of Abraham. Can anything but joy fill the heart of Israel as it observes the mysterious way in which the God of Israel begins to be heard by the nations? Is it not the faith of Israel that, in the fullness of time, the God of the patriarchs will become the God of all peoples and, if this is not just an idle dream, must Israel not be ready to perceive signs of this even in the travail of history?
[p. 83] Maimonides pointed out that Christianity and Islam "served to clear the way for King Messiah to prepare the whole world to worship God with one accord," since through them "the messianic hope, the Torah, and the commandments have become familiar topics—topics of conversation (among the inhabitants) of the far isles and many peoples, uncircumcized of heart and flesh." [1] There is, then, at least, a segment of the nations that collaborates with Israel in its mission.
But the Church claims to be the new people of God, Abraham's sons according to faith. Where the old Israel was an elected community, according to the flesh, the new Israel is a community of faith open to all men, whatever their ancestry. From the point of view of the Church, it appears, the election of Israel is thus superseded in God's plan by a new election. Does this mean that the old Israel, the sons of Abraham according to the flesh, ought to disappear from the stage of history? This is not clear. It would seem that the answer is "Yes" because the Church, with the exception perhaps of the very first decades, did not insist that Jews who embraced Christianity retain their identity as Abraham's offspring. Instead, Jews who entered the Church intermarried and their descendants quickly lost knowledge of their origins.
HAD the Church believed that it was God's will that the seed of Abraham not disappear from the world, she would have insisted on Jews retaining their separateness, even in the Church. The fact that Paul asserts that in Christ "there is neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor freeman, neither male nor female" (Gal 3:28) does not rule out such a special role for the children of ancient Israel in the Church, just as the abolition in Christ of the difference between man and woman does not prevent Paul from insisting that women remain silent in the assembly. Even in Christ, men are men and women are women; only in an ultimate, perhaps eschatological, sense are they one. The Church could have asserted the same of the difference between Jew and Gentile. Since the Church did not assign to the Jew [p. 84] who became a Christian such special status, it can be inferred that—quotations from Paul (Rom 11:28-29) to the effect that God does not repent of the gifts He makes notwithstanding—the Church seriously holds that its election superseded that of the old Israel. The existence of the Jewish people as the seed of Abraham seems, therefore, to her no longer a demand of God.
Israel must, of course, reject this view. All attempts to transform its election into a universal election of all men in faith can be interpreted by Israel only as the beginning of that movement toward the universal which, fully developed, culminates in the universal truth of a philosophy antithetical to the concreteness of the God of Abraham. The philosophical component in Christianity, its deep involvement with Platonic and Aristotelian philosophy and the myriad problems brought about by this involvement, is thus not merely an accident of intellectual history, but rooted in the Christian kerygma itself.
The substitution of a universal election of faith for the national election of the seed of Abraham lays the groundwork for a universalization that must, in due course, look to philosophy with its even more universal structures. In a sense, the Christian doctrine of election is a demythologization of the Jewish doctrine of election, which Christianity interprets as the concrete symbol of a possibility open to all men. For this reason, the Christian mind was driven to an ever greater concern with philosophy, a tendency that, while not totally absent in the history of Judaism, never reaches the proportions it does in Christianity.
THE Church's claim of being the new people of God—a claim the Vatican II Declaration under discussion specifically reiterates—is, from the Jewish point of view, another example of the nations' protest against the election of the stock of Abraham. Just as Joseph's brothers rebelled against the favor shown by their father toward this one child of his, so the nations refuse to accept the election of Israel. And just as Joseph was not guiltless in the matter in that he did not accept his election as he should have, in humility, in fear and trembling, so Israel has not often made it easy for the nations to accept [p. 85] its election. Just as Joseph suffered for his deeds, so has Israel; just as Joseph retained the election, proving worthy of it, so has Israel. The question that remains is this: What is Israel to make of the Church's claim that it is the new people of God?
We have already dealt with the negative moment of the answer to this question: Israel cannot fail to see in this claim an act of rebellion against the word of God, however much guilt Israel shares in this rebellion. But that is not all Israel must see. To be envious of the election of Israel, the Church must seek the God of Israel, the Church must love that God. This, from the Jewish viewpoint, is the overwhelming significance of the Church's claim to be the new people of God. The nations, as represented by the Church, seek the God of Abraham. This is a fact that has never impressed itself into the Jewish consciousness. Persecuted throughout its history, surrounded by paganism on all sides, a paganism that had nothing but contempt for the God of Abraham, Israel has never grasped that there is a segment of the gentile world into which the word of the God of Abraham has penetrated.
Because the Christian is a human being and, like the Jew, not sinless, he often falls short of that ultimate humility which accepts the will of God in love even where God's will is the election of someone other than himself. Short of that ultimate perfection, a perfection that almost surpasses the human, the Christian is addressed by the God of Jesus who is the God of Abraham. This God is a God of covenant: He relates Himself to a people through a covenant that makes that people His people and Him their God. Access to this God is only through a covenant by means of which a people becomes the people of God; once this is perceived, the Church arises as the people of a new covenant. Christianity, therefore, expresses the longing of those not included in the Covenant with Israel for election by the God of Israel.
HENCE Israel must ask itself how it envisages the relation of the nations to its God. Traditionally, this has been answered in terms of the Noachide laws. They, in turn, were sometimes interpreted in [p. 86] terms of natural law: All that is required of the nations is that they obey the moral law as dictated by human reason. If this is all that is required of the nations (though, from another point of view, this is more than man is capable of when not aided by God), it would follow that God's relationship is only with Israel and that the nations cannot have their own covenant with Him. This, however, is a biblical theology altogether unacceptable: It ignores the promise to Abraham that through his election the nations, too, will be blessed; it further ignores the covenant with Noah which is not natural law but a covenant in its own right. Maimonides insists that non-Jews fulfill their obligations under the Noachide laws only when they receive them as commanded by God. To be commanded by God is to be addressed by Him, and it is therefore incumbent upon Israel to welcome the covenant of the nations with the God of Israel.
From the human point of view, it is not difficult to understand why a people as uniquely related to God as Israel is, cherishing its election in spite of, or because of, the suffering this election has entailed, is reluctant to entertain the possibility that God may be willing to address other nations and be their Father as well. Because the relation between Israel and God has been so concrete, the mechanisms of human jealousy come into play. God's faithfulness to Israel is thus often thought to imply unconcern with other peoples. But God's willingness to address others and to love them in no way diminishes His love for Israel. Israel must therefore work, hope, and expect the day when many peoples shall go and say:
Come! Let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
To the house of the God of Jacob,
That He may teach us His ways
And that we may walk in His paths. (Is 2:3)
FOR their part, the nations who seek the God of Israel must meditate on the mystery of their non-election. Surely non-election does not equal rejection. Ishmael and Esau, the sons of non-election, are suffused [p. 87] in the divine word with a compassion in some respects more powerful than the love of the sons of election. Is it not possible that those who love God so much that, even in their non-election, they submit with love and serenity to the destiny chosen for them by God, are very dear to Him indeed? Not to be the favorite son of a human father is a painful experience but the non-election of God is never a finality, only one way of being touched by the finger of God. If, in the election of Israel, there is also chastisement of a sinful Israel, in the non-election of the nations there is also the father's love for all of his children. In the end of days, there will be a reconciliation of all the families of the earth without division. To foreshadow that day, the Jew must speak humbly of his election, the Gentile with love of his non-election, both waiting together for the final redemption of creation.
Michael Wyschogrod (September 28, 1928 – December 17, 2015) was a Jewish German-American philosopher of religion, Jewish theologian, and activist for Jewish-Christian interfaith dialog. During his academic career he taught in philosophy and religion departments of several universities in the United States, Europe and Israel.
[1] The Code of Maimonides: The Book of Judges, tr. Abraham M. Hershman (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1949), p. xxiii.


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2016 July SAP Official New Released C_GRCAC_10 Q&As in GreatExam.com!
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Your customer wants to adapt their rule set to include custom programs from their SAP ERP production system. How do you ensure that the custom programs can be maintained properly in the rule set? (Choose three)
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C. Synchronize SU24 data for use in Access Control Function maintenance using transaction
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SU24 in the SAP ERP system.
E. Create a custom transaction code for each customer program using transaction SE93 in the SAP
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Which auto-provisioning options are available in the global provisioning configuration? (Choose three)
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Which tasks must you perform to enable a user to begin a central Firefighter session? (Choose three)
A. Create a user ID for the Firefighter in the target system.
B. Assign an owner to the Firefighter.
C. Maintain Firefighter ID owners in Access Control owners.
D. Maintain reason codes in Superuser Maintenance.
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What data is synchronized when you run the GRAC_REPOSITORY_OBJECT_SYNC report? (Choose three)
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You create a BRFplus initiator rule for the Access Request approval workflow. Which standard request attribute that is listed as a header data object, as well as a line item data object, can you insert into a condition column?
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Why would you generate a new MSMP workflow version?
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You want to synchronize the Access Control repository with data from various clients. In which sequence do you execute the synchronization jobs?
A. 1. Repository Object Sync (profile, role, user)
2. PFCG Authorization Sync
3. Action Usage Sync
4. Role Usage Sync
B. 1. PFCG Authorization Sync
2. Action Usage Sync
3. Role Usage Sync
4. Repository Object Sync (profile, role, user)
C. 1. Repository Object Sync (profile, role, user)
2. Action Usage Sync
3. PFCG Authorization Sync
4. Role Usage Sync
D. 1. PFCG Authorization Sync
2. Repository Object Sync (profile, role, user)
3. Action Usage Sync
4. Role Usage Sync
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Which task is mandatory for the successful generation of a workflow?
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Who approves the review of the periodic segregation of duties?
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You have updated authorization data for your roles in the target system using PFCG. You now want to synchronize the authorization data in Business Role Management without changing the existing role attributes. How do you accomplish this?
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B. Use the Role Mass Update function.
C. Use the Role Mining function.
D. Use the Mass Role Generation function.
Answer: C
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Just a couple quick notes to wrap up a busy and exhausting day.
First up, a comment from Renee Andreassen sends word that Christine Dahab, the allegedly drunk and distracted driver who plowed into 13 bicyclists on a late night ride in Culver City in 2011, will be sentenced on Friday.
Christine Dahab, who hit 13 bicyclists June 2011 will be sentenced Friday July 26, 2013 at West District Airport Courthouse, 11701 South La Cienega Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90045 Dept D
I hope all of the victims will come to give their victim impact statements. I would appreciate any assistance this website can get out to those impacted by this horrible event
Dahab pleaded no contest to all charges last April, apparently including DUI causing injury and DWI with a BAC over .08 causing injury.
She was sentenced to a 90-day evaluation period in state prison pending final sentencing. So she's already spent more time behind bars than most drivers do even in fatal collisions. And could face a lot more.
I have other obligations Friday, so if anyone attends the sentencing, please let us know how it turns out.
Hit-and-run rears its ugly head once again in L.A. But this time, they may actually do something about it.
From the blog of the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition:
The Public Safety Committee will hear the LAPD report on Friday, July 26th at 8:30 AM in City Hall Room 1010. Please join LACBC in requesting that the City take a leadership role to fix state law to increase penalties for hit-and-run. You can also write the committee members at firstname.lastname@example.com, firstname.lastname@example.com, email@example.com, and firstname.lastname@example.com.
No matter how you parse the numbers — and the LAPD has been roundly criticized for attempting to put the best face on a dismal record — the city ranks at or near the top among major cities for cowardly drivers refusing to take responsibility for their actions behind the wheel.
Fortunately, the department appears to be taking the problem seriously. And they seem to have been listening to me, with recommendations including:
- Automatic license consequences — hopefully including revocation
- Possible hold or forfeiture of the vehicle used in the crime
- More significant consequences, including tougher penalty enhancements
- Limit civil compromises
- Extend the statute of limitations for hit-and-runs that result in death or serious injury
Not surprisingly, Gardena police are being sued for civil rights violations and excessive force in the shooting death of Ricardo Diaz-Zeferino, who was killed by police while trying to help recover his brother's stolen bicycle.
Diaz-Zeferino reportedly ran up to police as they held guns on two of his friends, shouting in English that they weren't the thieves, but were trying to help find the bike.
And that's when they shot him eight times, including twice in the back. As well as hitting one of his friends, resulting in permanent injuries.
Not that they overreacted or anything.
Finally, the arraignment for Gonzalo Aranguiz Salazar, the driver accused in the death of Cal Poly Pomona bike rider Ivan Aguilar, has been postponed until September.
Salazar faces a single misdemeanor count of vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence. The relatively light charge may reflect the fact that was reportedly Aguilar riding against traffic, as many students do in that location, due to a lack of safe bicycling infrastructure.
Meanwhile, discussions are underway to make much-needed bike and pedestrian safety improvements on campus.
Hopefully before someone else gets killed.


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← Back to Squawk list
Germanwings Intentionally Crashed? Cockpit Door Locked Out One Pilot
The New York Times is reporting the cockpit voice recorder indicates one pilot refused to allow the other back into the cockpit as he crashed the plane intentionally. (www.nytimes.com) More...Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
A probable hare-brained idea: in a situation like this the pilot kept outised the cockpit agains his will will be allowed to send a message to the airline HQ which in turn will reléase the locking mechanism open.
Hello Onstar ....
The technology is there but we can regulate something to death. Couple of things here: Who is going to pay for it and #2. Most of us did not find out until the 214 crash that there was a different standard for Airlines coming in here. I think that if they fly into our airspace, they should adhere to our standards under part 121. Seem to me they are under part 192, but not sure on that number, but some of the standards are different.
Also, any technology might be used in an unintended way to down an aircraft, as the bullet-proof doors now show.
I think there is a communication system that allows flight attendants to do this. I seem to recall that on 9/11, flight attendants were communicating with their airlines as to what was taking place on at least one of the flights.
If they can do this for your car when you lock the keys out, I would imagine it would be possible to do it with an airliner.
If they can do this for your car when you lock the keys out, I would imagine it would be possible to do it with an airliner.
It is probably doable but not in place. The communication on 9 1 1, I think, was by cell or sat phone
cell phones don't work above 2000 msl.
On 9 11, they weren't much above that and were still over NYC. They didn't have a problem. I'm a thinkin' that there was only 1 that did and she was on the AA, and I think Todd called his wife over in PA on flight 97 but it was low too.


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CEOs and their top managers have massive incentives to focus most of their attentions on the expectations market, rather than the real job of running the company producing real products and services.
The "real market," Martin explains, is the world in which factories are built, products are designed and produced, real products and services are bought and sold, revenues are earned, expenses are paid, and real dollars of profit show up on the bottom line. That is the world that executives control—at least to some extent.
The expectations market is the world in which shares in companies are traded between investors—in other words, the stock market. In this market, investors assess the real market activities of a company today and, on the basis of that assessment, form expectations as to how the company is likely to perform in the future. The consensus view of all investors and potential investors as to expectations of future performance shapes the stock price of the company.
"What would lead [a CEO]," asks Martin, "to do the hard, long-term work of substantially improving real-market performance when she can choose to work on simply raising expectations instead? Even if she has a performance bonus tied to real-market metrics, the size of that bonus now typically pales in comparison with the size of her stock-based incentives. Expectations are where the money is. And of course, improving real-market performance is the hardest and slowest way to increase expectations from the existing level."
Interesting stuff. Sometimes somebody has to state the obvious to make us really see deep changes. And this sheds light on a vexing economic mystery: why are the folks at the top of the economy so eager to suppress the middle class, when that's the worst possible move for commerce and economic growth? Harming commerce and growth ought to harm the rich. After all, a thriving middle class was the engine that enriched America's upper class in the first place.
But commerce, I suppose, is just so very last millennium. At this point it's all about the side bets: a few thousand tycoons betting against each other in an arena as untethered from the real economy as those junk mortgage derivatives they so love to swap around.
Hand me my hacky sack; I'm heading down to Wall Street....


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- Gold Hits New Highs
- Inflation pressure, retail sales and gas prices are up
- Get Ready For The "Miracle" Of Compound Inflation
Of course, there are those who believe the opposite is true, such as Mish and Vijay Boyapati. The argument pro deflation is that the government won't have the political will to allow rampant inflation and their means to trickle down newly-printed money within the economy is limited, barring political suicide.
The truth is that no one on the deflation camp believes the dollar is getting any stronger nor that inflation will not return in the future.
Inflation is the tried and true method that works to reduce government debt. It's what's been going on for decades ever since we've had fiat money. And it will continue in the future, in spite of short periods of deflation.
Becoming Inflation Agnostic
Regardless of what will happen in the next six months or a year, the fact is that investing is about the long term. And long term we will have inflation, like we've always had, plus more, given the increasing deficit this country is running.
So, what's the best way to protect hard-earned money?
There are many ways of doing this, and they all have pros and cons. Here are the ones I know of. I'll break them down into smaller categories, even though everything eventually rolls up as either "cash-flow positive assets", "limited supply entities" or "mixed".
- Business Interests (stocks, private businesses)
- Precious Metals (gold, silver)
- Commodities (gas, oil and agriculturals such as corn, wheat and cotton)
- Collectibles ex-precious metals (art in general, rare objects)
- Real Estate (land, houses)
- Paper Instruments/Derivatives (TIPS, bonds, futures)
- Other income-producing assets (patents, royalties)
For simplicity, I will ignore the bottom two classes. I'll just say this about TIPS: while an interesting asset to have some exposure to, its inflation-protection comes from the people creating inflation (i.e. government), so in the long run TIPS are unlikely to offer much real purchasing-power protection.
Business Interests
I believe this is the best way to generate wealth. Having businesses generating income for me is the most scalable way to attract money. After all, I can't have ten day jobs to generate 10x my income. But by owning businesses (or their stock) not only is this realistically achieved, but even more is possible.
And having multiple sources of income is, in my mind, the best way to offset inflation. After all, profitable businesses want to stay profitable, so they increase prices with inflation when they can (unless they are airlines, in which case just don't invest in them, like I did and regret).
But stocks are unpredictable in the short-run and they can be at times grossly over-valued.
The other way is to create businesses from scratch or invest in them privately (private equity) or very early (angel investing). I've tried my hand at all of these. Results will vary and these are hard things to do well. So, if you're not in this camp yet, start to learn or move on to the next one.
Precious Metals
There is no way to value precious metals. And they don't pay a dividend either.
Nonetheless, precious metals have historically more or less retained purchasing power relative to fiat currencies. They can be especially useful in times of crisis when a race to the bottom in currency debasement is in effect, like it is right now.
I would advise people to have some small amount of physical gold or silver with them, such as 5% of their net worth. Timing the purchase of these metals is tricky. I wouldn't hurry to buy right now that they've gone up by record amounts. If you haven't exhausted other alternatives yet, hold off on buying metals until no one is talking about them again. However, if you buy as a contingency reserve and never sell otherwise, then almost any time is a good time to buy.
With commodities I see roughly two classes that mostly only exist in theory: those that should go down in price over time, such as agriculturals, and those that should go up, such as oil and gas.
The reason why agriculturals should go down in price over time (all else equal) is because agriculture is becoming more efficient and mechanized -- we produce more food per acre than we've ever did in the past. Oil and gas, on the other hand, are being depleted and we'll eventually run out of them.
However, theory and practice are very different. While oil is going up in price due to depletion (and also instability and speculation), reserves of natural gas are a lot bigger. Natural gas prices have been all over the place and can remain like that for a long time, depending only on supply and demand, both variables which I cannot predict.
Meanwhile, agriculturals have gone up in price, mostly because oil has gone up and the dollar is losing value.
So, what's an investor to do? I believe a diversified portfolio needs some exposure to commodities. However, the vehicles for that exposure are complex and time-consuming. Pure commodities ETFs and ETNs such as OIL, USO and DBA, are not ideal. In fact, they are harmful, because traders take advantage of them in ways I don't want to delve into right now.
My recommendation: if you have the inclination, time and stomach to use futures, go for it. Setup a small account and keep rolling some exposure to grains.
If you don't want to go into the futures market, then get some exposure to the agricultural commodities sector by buying stock in companies such as ADM. Or, for a more diversified (and more expensive) exposure to agribusinesses, try MOO or PAGG.
The disadvantage of having stock in agribusiness companies is that it increases one's exposure to stock market and hence this may offset some of the benefit of being invested in commodities.
As for oil and gas, I believe it's best to own exploration and pipeline companies instead of futures. The reason is that owning oil futures or oil in the ground is very similar: the stock price of companies like XOM should go up as oil goes up (with agriculturals, the wheat and corn are not there all the time, they must be grown, so owning the business is not a great proxy for owning the commodity). So for oil and gas, there's no need to forfeit getting the juicy dividends these companies pay just to offset the stock market risk. But again, if you have the inclination to do futures, that's a fine option too.
Owning a Picasso painting or a Rodin sculpture is a great way to store wealth. It seems to be a trick the rich know and that the poor don't usually understand -- many people think buying art is squandering money, a vain waste of resources. But the value of these rare objects should go up over time. So it serves a dual purpose of decorating the home and storing wealth.
However, the drawbacks are obvious: they are illiquid, non-fungible and extremely hard to deal with.
During times of extreme distress (wars), good luck trading your Rembrandt for food at a decent exchange rate. You may have better luck with a Patek Phillippe, but you first need to find an original item and a qualified buyer.
Finally, this leads us into another category.
Real Estate
Real estate was the darling of the easy-money policy era. Until 2007.
And then it became taboo to even talk about a "recovery" in real estate prices.
Real estate cooled in America and became hot in other parts of the world such as China, Australia and Brazil. In fact, the last two seem to be nearing bubbly conditions, though the make up of these conditions are very different than those in the go-go years of free-houses-to-everyone-with-a-pulse in America.
That's exactly why real estate is now the right place to invest -- because no one is talking about it other than saying how bad it is and how slow it will be for a long time.
What most are missing though is that price appreciation is only part of the equation. Income is the other. Even though prices can continue to tumble into the near future, they must eventually find a floor on rents. Especially in desirable and growing areas.
It is now possible to own real estate essentially for free in many desirable zip codes across America. Right now. For example, in Silicon Valley, companies are hiring, builders have slowed down and yet there are houses on the market that after a down payment can generate enough rent to cover mortgage, closing costs, insurance, taxes and even HOA fees (in case of condos).
Now, depending on the terms, it might even be possible to generate a 6% annual return on investment. Plus any future price appreciation. And that with almost full immunity to inflation, since rents will keep pace with inflation. Add to this equation a fixed-rate mortgage and I see not better inflation protection right now than a cash-flow positive rental property.
Of course, there are drawbacks: the market is not very liquid, tenants are not all the same and managing rentals can be a time-consuming and headache-prone activity. If you're not up for it, the alternative is to go the ETF route, such as RWR or IYR.
Final Thoughts
When fighting inflation there is no silver bullet. It's important to be broadly diversified. And that doesn't mean having many mutual funds. One needs to think in terms of assets that tend to retain value. My favorites are those in the category of income-generating assets, especially business ownership and real estate rentals.
I think now is a good time to buy real estate in America, particularly in areas with positive job growth. Prices may continue to slide, but timing purchases perfectly is tricky. Plan on buying properties that can generate enough income to at least pay for the mortgage. In 2-3 years they will likely turn cash-flow positive and in 5-10 years you'll get price appreciation on top of that.
In the end, you get inflation protection, income and price appreciation. It doesn't get any better than this.
Disclosures: I own RWR at the time of writing.


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Now available in paperback
Read the new postscript
"Elegantly accessible… This fair and fascinating account should delight."
"A terrific history of blogging and a convincing case for its enduring significance."
"Certain to be a classic."
Blogs are everywhere. They have exposed truths and spread rumors. Made and lost fortunes. Brought couples together and torn them apart. Toppled cabinet members and sparked grassroots movements. Immediate, intimate, and influential, they have put the power of personal publishing into everyone's hands. Regularly dismissed as trivial and ephemeral, they have proved that they are here to stay.
Say Everything chronicles blogging's unplanned rise and improbable triumph, tracing its impact on politics, business, the media, and our personal lives. The book offers closeups of innovators such as Blogger founder Evan Williams, investigative journalist Josh Marshall, exhibitionist diarist Justin Hall, software visionary Dave Winer, "mommyblogger" Heather Armstrong, and many others.
These blogging pioneers were the first to face new dilemmas that have become common in the era of Google and Facebook, and their stories offer vital insights and warnings as we navigate the future. How much of our lives should we reveal on the Web? Is anonymity a boon or a curse? Which voices can we trust? What does authenticity look like on a stage where millions are fighting for attention, yet most only write for a handful? And what happens to our culture now that everyone can say everything?
Before blogs, it was easy to believe that the Web would grow up to be a clickable TV -- slick, passive, mass-market. Instead, blogging brought the Web's native character into focus -- convivial, expressive, democratic. Far from being pajama-clad loners, bloggers have become the curators of our collective experience, testing out their ideas in front of a crowd and linking people in ways that broadcasts can't match.
Blogs have created a new kind of public sphere -- one in which we can think out loud together. And now that we have begun, it is impossible to imagine us stopping.
@ @ @
Thanks for visiting this book's website. A good first stop is the book's table of contents and introduction (and, if you like that, the first chapter, too). You can read a little more about me here, or read my brief answers to some frequent questions about SAY EVERYTHING (like, why didn't I just blog the whole thing?). I'll be updating the reviews page as they come in, and listing new events as they get planned. Do email me directly if you want to get in touch. And if you like what you see here, go ahead and order the book!
-- Scott Rosenberg


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The Maryland Commission on Judicial Disabilities ("Commission") is an independent body with the power to investigate complaints against Maryland judges and justices and, when warranted, conduct hearings concerning such complaints and take certain actions or make recommendations for other actions to the Supreme Court of Maryland. Through the exercise of its powers, the Commission plays an important role in promoting public confidence in, and preserving, the integrity and independence of the judiciary.
This web site contains the procedures concerning the filing of a complaint, its investigation and resolution, and other information about the Commission.
Learn more about the Commission:
Video (English) | PDF (English)
Video (Spanish) | PDF (Spanish)


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Fill out the form below or call (888) 466-7849 for a free, no-obligation estimate.
Daddy Long legs or Daddy Long legs Spider?
Daddy Long legs, or harvestmen, are not actually spiders. Daddy long legs are not poisonous, have long legs and a large bulbous-looking body. They feed on insects, which makes them helpful around the garden. They are especially active at the time of harvest, toward the end of summer and beginning of fall. To keep daddy long legs away, vacuum carpet, upholstery, and curtains frequently to remove spider webs, adult spiders, and egg sacs. Be sure to dispose of the vacuum bag. Tightly seal the trash bag to make sure eggs can't hatch and crawl out of the bag.
Tip for preventing daddy long legs: Pour 1 cup white vinegar and 1/3 cup vanilla extract into a spray bottle and shake. Spray areas where the daddy long legs have been spotted indoors and out. The smell will repel the insects.
Daddy Long legs Spiders, or cellar spiders, although venomous, are not known to be harmful to humans. Their fangs are short and they do not have enough muscle to be able to penetrate human skin. Daddy long legs spiders are very fragile and delicate. They are usually brown or gray in color, cylindrical in shape and their legs are very long and thin. Daddy long legs spiders survive on others species of spiders, or on occasion they will invade other spiders' webs and consume the host, their egg, and any prey caught in the web. They hang upside down on their webs, which they create in dark, damp places like home cellars, caves or abandoned animal burrows.
Tip for preventing daddy long leg spiders: To keep daddy long legs spiders away you will need caulk, a vacuum cleaner, a duster, boric acid/Borax, and spider traps. Caulk cracks in your walls, foundation, and loose window frames. With a vacuum cleaner attachment, suck up spiders and their webs at wall corners, undersides of furniture, floors beneath appliances, crevices along the baseboards and around windows and curtains. Insects attract daddy long legs spiders so dust frequently and repair leaking pipes and faucets both inside and out. Sprinkle boric acid under doorways, around window sills, along baseboards, and under appliances. Boric acid is a common ingredient in household cleaning products and is not harmful to humans and pets. Place spider traps in areas where spiders are usually seen.
Barry Teubert
Northwest Exterminating
Savannah Service Center
[email protected]


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Sports Betting Analysis: Colts Over Broncos And Bears Over 49Ers
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My Account
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During the holidays, it's tempting to throw your workouts by the wayside with the promise to start again after the New Year. Research shows that when regular exercise stops, de-training occurs within a few weeks. It's better to shift to maintenance workouts than to stop altogether and lose what you've worked so hard to gain. Even if you need to reduce the time of each session or cut back one workout a week, maintaining the momentum of your regular exercise routine is much easier than stopping and trying to re-establish it again later.
Exercise can also be a valuable tool to get you through the challenges of the holiday season. Here are 4 reasons why you should give yourself the gift of regular exercise.
The holidays are a high-risk time for gaining weight. Exercise can combat this risk by burning calories, and by maintaining muscle mass which sustains metabolic rate.
Shopping, increased food preparation, frequent visitors, and managing finances all lead to increased stress. Exercise promotes the release of hormones that improve mood and reduce feelings of anxiety. See 4 Ways Exercise Reduces Stress and Improves Mood.
As we approach the winter solstice, the season chips away at our daylight hours. For many people, this can lead to varying degrees of seasonal depression. Exercise can reduce symptoms of depression and elevate mood. Performing an outdoor workout during the daylight hours provides additional benefits by increasing sunlight exposure.
One of the main culprits associated with stress, depression, and weight gain is a reduction in structure within daily routines. Maintaining your exercise schedule provides structure to your day. The routine will help you stay on track with food intake, aid in maintenance of sleep schedules, and provide a framework so you can prioritize the demands of the holiday season.


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So how should Republicans respond to the president's aggressive approach?
The very first thing to do is to accept the basic political fact that a party that holds only a (reduced) majority in one house of Congress can't impose its own agenda. Philip Klein argued this point well a couple of weeks ago:
Conservatives should recognize that even though they can block key items of the liberal agenda with control of the House, they cannot advance the conservative agenda with Obama as president and Harry Reid as Senate Majority Leader.
Just this one first step would be a giant break-through. Republicans engaged in large and dangerous self-delusion after the 2010 elections. They thought they had regained their governing majority of the 1980s, based on a big win in a small electorate. As some of us spent two years warning - not very effectively I'm sad to say - the 2012 electorate was bound to look very different from the 2010 electorate, and success in the off-year no way guaranteed success in the presidential year. My next guess: accelerating economic recovery over the next 24 means will mean that the 2014 electorate will be less angry than the 2010 electorate. Conservatives are a political minority, and are likely to remain one for some time to come.
Second, Republicans need to recognize a hard political fact, the same hard fact on which the president built his address: the party's brand identity is badly damaged. The president dared upbraid Republicans in the terms in which he did because he felt confident his criticisms would resonate with the public. The congressional party has allowed itself to behave in ways that seem frightening, extreme, and provocative to many people - with every act of overstatement amplified and repeated not only by hostile media (nothing to be done about that) but, worse, by an over-enthusiastic conservative media with an agenda and interests of its own.
The congressional GOP needs to commence a detoxification process aimed at rebranding itself as a responsible, reasonable, governing force - one that seeks to represent more than just the ultra-conservatives, a force that can be trusted by moderate-minded Americans.
Third, Republicans should fight for small wins on process issues. Keith Hennessy offered a smart post yesterday underscoring the value of pushing Congress to return to a more regular budget process. Such achievements are both significant in themselves as moves to reform, better governance, and spending restraint. They also check Democratic momentum and solidify Republican identity in ways that can appeal to the widest range of Republicans. What not to do? Repeat the record of the House Republicans in the 112th Congress, who held more than 10 votes to ban or restrict abortion rights - none of which made the slightest difference to the actual abortion law of the United States.
Fourth, Republicans should reconcile themselves to lesser-evilism. For example: most Republicans disagree with me that a carbon tax would be a good idea. But almost all Republicans will likely agree that a carbon tax is a better idea than EPA rule-making to reduce carbon emissions by regulatory process. Preventing things from being worse is a political victory too, and oftentimes the most important political victory, especially if it keeps open the possibility of living to fight another day.
When you don't have muscle, you need brains.


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Software updates enhance the functionality of the Traverse GPS watches through new features and improvements. If updates are available, you are notified through Moveslink on your computer. We encourage you to install updates as soon as they are available.
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You can change the compass display information from the options menu under GENERAL » Formats » Compass unit, and select the primary value in the center of the compass display according to your need. Choose from degrees, Mils or cardinals.


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BIO-INSPIRED MEMS DIRECTION FINDING ACOUSTIC SENSOR - Video Portal
Parminder Riarh, LT, Canada
Bio-inspired microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) - based sensors are designed to operate at their resonant frequency for applications that find the direction of sound. In prior research, an open-back MEMS sensor encountered left-right ambiguity in sound direction. This ambiguity was resolved using two open-back sensors. This research investigates whether a single closed-back sensor can find the direction of sound without right-left ambiguity. The MEMS sensor configuration employed in this research provides two resonant modes: rocking and bending. The use of closed-back sensors to determine the direction requires coupling of the rocking and bending modes. First, to optimize the sensor design, the source of coupling was determined using COMSOL Multiphysics software. Tests revealed that decreasing the size of the comb finger gap increases the damping. However, wing size is the main source of damping. Based on the test results, optimized sensors were designed and fabricated. The back of the sensor was closed to prevent sound coupling from the back. Measurement of the directional response of the sensor showed that the two wings oscillated with different amplitudes when operated in rocking mode. It was found that the ratio of the sum over the difference of the amplitudes has a sine dependence as opposed to ambiguous cosine dependence. Thus, sine dependence resolved the left-right ambiguity.


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Keeping your customers safe
As a small business owner, you play a crucial role in ensuring the products you sell are safe for consumers to use.
As a small business owner, you play a crucial role in ensuring the products you sell are safe for consumers to use.
Find out whether you need to file and what recent changes may affect how you complete your income tax return for the tax year ended 31 March 2024.
With a mentor's help, you could reach more customers, work more efficiently, and grow faster in the digital world. Find out more.
Some terms used to describe food, alcohol and other goods now have restrictions on their use. Find out what the changes mean for your business.
Most New Zealand goods entering the EU will have tariffs removed entirely from 1 May, 2024.
Make sure your claims – from product descriptions to stock levels and delivery timeframes – are clear, accurate and substantiated.
If you have unmanageable debt, support is available, whether you are a director, partner or sole trader.
Find collections of standards to help you build an efficient and safe environment for your business and customers.
A new government means some changes to laws. We've summarised some of the important updates for small businesses.
New regulations for building product information requirements start from 11 December, 2023.
If you are using e-commerce platforms to sell goods online, you have to make sure your claims are truthful and accurate. Check your apps now.
Wellington fashion store Sully's has used Docket, the sustainable supply chain toolbox, to learn more about sustainability and reducing carbon emissions.
When you have customer contracts, they must be fair under the law. Now's a good time to review yours.
Cyber Smart Week is back and will be held from 30 October to 5 November.
Co-funding is available to support businesses with upgrading to off-the shelf, energy-efficient and low emission equipment.
Having an electric vehicle (EV) charger installed at your business is good for your customers and your staff.
Use these simple tools to help you set your business up for success.
The Climate Action Toolbox makes it easy to measure your carbon footprint and identify the most relevant action to help your business cut emissions.
It's now easier than ever for businesses to apply to join Customs' Secure Exports Scheme, which helps exporters save time and money at the border.
When two business people wanted to promote Māori fashion, they knew they had to protect their intellectual property from the outset. Find out how they did it.


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Why data has never been more important to India's malls
India's malls have learnt the hard way that it's not always a case of 'build and it and they [consumers] will come'.
India's malls have learnt the hard way that it's not always a case of 'build and it and they [consumers] will come'.
In the past, developers often constructed malls without a solid understanding of the needs and behavior of local shoppers. As a result, a number of malls failed.
This approach is now changing fast as developers undertake detailed analysis of catchment areas to understand the prospective footfall of malls yet to open their doors. And data use doesn't stop there; malls around the country are increasingly getting smarter about monitoring and analyzing their visitors amid increasing competition in the country's booming retail space.
"There is a growing recognition of the need to collect more information on customer interactions and in-store performance to have the possibility of making strategic analysis for long term improvements in malls," says Ramesh Nair, CEO and Country Head, JLL India. "And mall owners are now investing heavily on such analytics to have a real time view on experience across their property."
The analysis of the data is providing malls with valuable insights. "When opening our recent mall in one of the districts of Delhi, we realized that potential buyers in that region are keen to visit the mall during the weekdays instead of going over the weekends," says Abhishek Bansal, Executive Director, Pacific Development Corporation Ltd, a company that owns a number of malls some key cities of India including Delhi-NCR. "And we knew that a small mall will also do well in such a catchment area."
Getting the right mix
Data is increasingly helping mall operators to get the right tenants in to meet changing customer tastes as India's retail sector continues its transition from small mom-and-pop stores and bustling markets to larger chains, run by both foreign and domestic companies. Although 93 percent of India's $670 billion retail market is driven by small outlets, the likes of H&M, Uniqlo and D-Mart are fast building their presence in the market.
"With entrance of foreign players and introduction of new domestic brands, competition is growing in Indian retail sector," says Rohan Sarda, Director and CEO – India, FollowUp Customer Experience, a company that works in the area of retail analytics. "Retailers need to sell more, be aggressive with sales strategy and add efficiencies to operations to survive. Hence, we are witnessing much larger interest from companies looking to leverage analytics in their day-to-day operations. They are ready to invest in high quality solutions with a long term view."
And it's not just the malls in the big metropolitan areas; those in the second tier cities like Thane, Palava, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Lucknow and Jaipur are also using data to position themselves for success, according to JLL research.
Take Korum Mall in Thane that was located a kilometer from a new competitor, Viviana Mall, when it launched in 2013. After analyzing the visitor trend, Korum improved its tenant mix by adding more food and beverage options from brands such as Starbucks, Burger King and themed restaurants like Copper Pan, Woking Mama and Panchvati Gaurav. Fast forward to 2018 and the move has paid off with both malls continuing to draw in the crowds.
Ushering in a new retail era
As India's retail sector matures, understanding consumers and meeting their needs is only going to become more important.
"Poor quality malls struggle to survive whereas malls of superior quality continue to attract demand from prominent retailers in both domestic and international category, and successfully draw people in," says Nair. "Today's malls are about providing a good customer experience, from sufficient parking to good store design and the right mix of tenants, all of which can be improved using insights from data gathered on both a local and national level."
Between 2018 and 2022, about 90 mall projects are set to open for business, according to JLL's Stepping up the Game report. Of the total supply, almost 62 percent of malls will be of superior quality.
"Developers have now learnt from their past mistakes and only experienced players are continuing to build malls," concludes Nair. "As a result, the percentage of future supply which is expected to be of superior quality is greater than in the existing stock."
That's not to say that mall developers and operators have to stick to tried and tested formulas. India's retail scene is changing rapidly as stores experiment with new formats and technology with a growing focus on experiential retail to ward off the challenges posed by e-commerce.
Yet when it comes to understanding the basics like the size and income of the local catchment area, along with accessibility and visibility of the malls themselves, data-driven insights are key to success.


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Since manually saving drafts via shortcut keys was removed, I think it's appropriate to request a manual save button or other option now.
There really should be some option to force the save. I really don't want to have to wait until it decides to autosave my draft if I must close the browser now or otherwise navigate away from the page.
From my comments below:
The use case I'm talking about is when I'm trying to write a long and detailed answer to a question. Usually right when I finish, I want to refresh the page so I can account for any updates to the question or existing answers. That means refreshing the page and without being able to save immediately, I would have to wait for it. To work around this, I finish, copy my answer, refresh, and paste again. If I didn't wait long enough or forgot, I potentially lost part of my answer and might have trouble filling what's missing.
Also, in some circumstances, I will add a significant amount of text well within the autosave period (I'm a pretty fast typist) well after it has [first] saved. The counter starts again the moment I start typing. Doing the above will loose all of that and is a pain to recreate, particularly when the first version is explaining a difficult subject or was worded perfectly [as I intended]. If there's a save feature, let us use it. Only I know when it's appropriate to save, not the system.


text: Welcome to the Lyceum of the Philippines University Culinary Institute With the increasing of hospitality management, culinary schools and short-course offerings have sprouted left and right , cultivated by the steady on rush of professionals with culinary degrees and program certificates. The Lyceum of the Philippines University paves the way to the industry's continued succes, given its reputable track record of six decades of academic excellence free joomla image slider Real Job Opportunities By studying at the LPU Culinary Institute, you will be immersed in internationally recognized academic material recognized academic developed by our expert professional educators and select international industry partners and based on the latest research. As the curriculum is an exciting blend of theoretical knowledge and practical skills development, our graduates have enjoyed an increased probability of immediate employment in such an increasingly competitive job market. free joomla slider module LPU-Quality Education and Heritage The Lyceum of the Philippines University brand has come to embrace the philosophy of "Taking the Lead". A testament to his quest includes exceptional rating and recognition for its facilities and programs from both the Commission on higher Education (CHED) and the Technical Skills Development Authority (Tesda). LPU's international certification includes the ISO 9001 Quality Management System Standard by the Societe Generate de Surveillance, for its academic and administrative services, recognation by the World Association of the Chef Societies (WACS), and Full International Accreditation by the International Center of Excellence for Tourism and Hospitality Education (THE-ICE). free joomla image slider Excellence Value for Money The LPU has always been honored for its contribution to society and country. Structuring its tuition and other fees in ways that eliminate financial hardship as a hindrance to both the passion to learn and the privilege of learning from the best. free joomla image slider 1:15 Chef Instructor-Student Ratio All LPU Culinary Instittute programs have been designed with a component of work-based learning though its fully hands-on approach to education. Complemented by focused education with a small instructor-student ratio, this real and clinical education you will receive is engaging, contemporary, and of the highest quality. joomla slideshow with caption Real Industry Practitioners with Strong Academic Experience as Teachers The most important ingredient of any college's recipe for success is its faculty. With over 40 full-time chef faculty in our roster, the LPU Culinary Institute is peeless in the breadth and depth of knowlegde offered by our teaching team who are at the top of both hold bachelor's degree on top of a Diploma in Culinary Arts, with at least 3 years industry experience that comes from a wide variety of culinary backgrounds, and all of them bring those experiences to our classrooms. free joomla image slider The Latest and the Best Equipment and Facilities From the culinary arena to our students' inividual work stations, LPU Culinary Institute's advanced facilitities serve to enhance and motivate the students' learning. responsive slider joomla free We're Always in Good Company The best local and international affiliations and accreditations keep the Culinary Institute - and, therefore, its students - constantly at the best free joomla image slider An Impressive Address With a campus inside the historic walled city of intramuros in the heart of the Manila, the LPU has a rich campus life, vibrant and immersed in culture. Where else would it be ideal to learn about aromas and flavors, influence and aesthetics than in this melting pot of a city-a true feast for the senses!. responsive jquery slider joomla


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The Catholic Church celebrates today the birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary on its traditional fixed date of September 8, nine months after the December 8 celebration of her Immaculate Conception as the child of Saints Joachim and Anne.
The circumstances of the Virgin Mary's infancy and early life are not directly recorded in the Bible, but other documents and traditions describing the circumstances of her birth are cited by some of the earliest Christian writers from the first centuries of the Church.
These accounts, although not considered authoritative in the same manner as the Bible, outline some of the Church's traditional beliefs about the birth of Mary.
The "Protoevangelium of James," which was probably put into its final written form in the early second century, describes Mary's father Joachim as a wealthy member of one of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. Joachim was deeply grieved, along with his wife Anne, by their childlessness. "He called to mind Abraham," the early Christian writing says, "that in the last day God gave him a son Isaac."
Joachim and Anne began to devote themselves extensively and rigorously to prayer and fasting, initially wondering whether their inability to conceive a child might signify God's displeasure with them.
As it turned out, however, the couple were to be blessed even more abundantly than Abraham and Sarah, as an angel revealed to Anne when he appeared to her and prophesied that all generations would honor their future child: "The Lord has heard your prayer, and you shall conceive, and shall bring forth, and your seed shall be spoken of in all the world."
After Mary's birth, according to the Protoevangelium of James, Anne "made a sanctuary" in the infant girl's room, and "allowed nothing common or unclean" on account of the special holiness of the child. The same writing records that when she was one year old, her father "made a great feast, and invited the priests, and the scribes, and the elders, and all the people of Israel."
"And Joachim brought the child to the priests," the account continues, "and they blessed her, saying: 'O God of our fathers, bless this child, and give her an everlasting name to be named in all generations' . . . And he brought her to the chief priests, and they blessed her, saying: 'O God most high, look upon this child, and bless her with the utmost blessing, which shall be for ever.'"
The protoevangelium goes on to describe how Mary's parents, along with the temple priests, subsequently decided that she would be offered to God as a consecrated Virgin for the rest of her life, and enter a chaste marriage with the carpenter Joseph.
Saint Augustine described the birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary as an event of cosmic and historic significance, and an appropriate prelude to the birth of Jesus Christ. "She is the flower of the field from whom bloomed the precious lily of the valley," he said.
The fourth-century bishop, whose theology profoundly shaped the Western Church's understanding of sin and human nature, affirmed that "through her birth, the nature inherited from our first parents is changed."
Source: https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/the-birth-of-the-blessed-virgin-mary-357


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His Baby, Her Billionaire
Sloan Storm
(Her Billionaire Series, #1)
Publication date: May 15th 2020
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
He has billions of secrets. Me? I only have one, my baby bump, and it's starting to show.
Dalton "The Destroyer" Maxwell.
That's what they call him.
He's the sexy older man, the distinguished battle-hardened SEAL turned brooding, introspective professor. There isn't a red-blooded female in five hundred miles that wouldn't kill to trade places with me.
It was only a fling – just a chance encounter in a faraway place. I wasn't looking for a fairy tale ending beneath those starry skies.
But what should've stayed a memory didn't. It chased me home, leading me right where it shouldn't – his arms.
Now the consequence has me feeling like I'm cramming for an exam that I'll never pass. The truth is, everything about us is forbidden. Nothing good can come of it.
There's only one problem. Dalton disagrees and won't take "no" for answer.
When he promises he'll give it all up for me and his baby, that's when his ten-figure truth leaves me with an impossible choice.
What have I done?
She turned her head but didn't speak as her blonde hair fluttered in the gentle breeze of the oceanfront spray. I was close enough to catch her scent. A faint hint of lilac and sweet jasmine blended with the surf-churned air, capturing my focus and pulling me closer to the source.I knew she heard me.
I also knew what she was probably thinking.
Couldn't stay away huh?
Subtlety isn't a strength of mine, on the battlefield or in the war of love.
In my hands, an arsenal of alcohol, one bottle I'd half-emptied, guzzling it down on the stroll. I hit the beer again, taking a quick pull and attempting to draw her out of her guarded silence.
"Guess that's a no."
It's not like I gave a damn about the game. I doubted she did either. Then, she turned and my jaw clenched.
Only it fucking wouldn't be.
The chick was an absolute knockout. She'd be right at the top of any man's trophy shelf. And if my plan panned out, I'd be adding her to my collection long before the sun crested over the distant capri-blue swells.
Maybe it was those early years, being shipped off to military school like a dog chained up in the yard after it'd pissed the floor one too many times. Whatever the cause, the effect had a way of heightening my interest in the fairer sex long before it otherwise might have.
Point is, for as long as I could remember, only the most beautiful of women were worth the pursuit. After all, you only live once. Tales from the rocking chair are always better when you landed the big fish, not when it disappeared back to the murky depths.
Even so, I never breathed a word of my conquests over the years.
Outside the small circle of my SEAL brothers, my appetites were strictly confidential. Sometimes I wondered if my blue-blooded parents thought I might not even be straight but instead playing for the same team like my sister, Shelley.
But whatever, fuck them.
I thought for certain I'd bedded the best, had more than my fair share of beauties from one far flung part of the planet to the other.
That is, until now.
My breathing slowed. I blinked even slower and tightened my grip on the bottlenecks so hard, it felt like they might crackle into shards between my fingers.
Sunlight flared in the depths of her hazel green eyes. Lightly tanned skin and high cheekbones drew my gaze toward a set of supple, silk-smooth lips. She didn't bother trying to contain the renegade, wind-whipped strands of her mane as they lashed about, tickling her sun-kissed complexion.
Instead of giving me the results of the game, she fixed a little smirk on her lips and came right back at me.
That was all the opening I needed. I took a step her direction, the sea-dampened sand giving way under my feet.
"Better luck next time." I lifted the bottle. "How 'bout a consolation prize?"
She wrinkled her nose. "Thanks, but no. I'm not much of a beer drinker."
The condensation on the neck dripped from my fingertips as I offered her the bottle once more.
"No strings." I wiggled it. "Why waste this beautiful sunset sober?"
Just then, a wave hammered the shoreline behind her, surf thundering as it roared our direction. It was on us in no time, swirling around our legs and tugging at them like a deep sea vacuum. A shriek escaped from her lips. It didn't sound like fear though, more like a melodic blend of whimsy and surprise.
She hadn't meant to do it.
Or maybe she had.
I steadied myself, flexing my legs and core while she clung to me. But almost as soon as it came, the rushing current receded, leaving only her fear-filled fingers clutched tight around my biceps.
"Sorry." She sputtered out a reedy breath and snatched her hands away, forming two white-knuckled fists.
The doe-eyed beauty stood there frozen stiff, in a defensive position with her hands partially blocking her tits. I imagined those same delicate fingers curled into the meat of my hips while I claimed her wet silk, taking her under the stars in a secluded seaside hidey hole.
Author Bio:
Sloan Storm pens imaginative yarns based on dominant men and the women who challenge them. As such, power plays and passion are the heart of each and every story.
The writer's creative tendencies may drift as the mood strikes, but the essence of all tales told wind up back at the same place... the polarizing difference between the sexes.
After all, what else is there in life?
When not glued to a keyboard creating tales of whimsy, Sloan loves to talk to fans! If you want to connect, you can do it in any number of ways:


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Grassroots Crisis Intervention Center Executive Director Ayesha Holmes has announced a week-long social media campaign to raise awareness and increase acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community.
"During PRIDE month, we want to remind everyone that Grassroots is a Safe Space, and our counselors are dedicated to serving people who are struggling with issues of self-identify, especially those with mental health concerns," Holmes noted. "We don't want people to feel they are alone. We are ready to be of help," she added.
Grassroots, a Howard County-based non-profit, provides 24-hour crisis intervention, suicide prevention, and support to individuals and families with a mental health, substance use or homelessness crisis. The organization recognized the need for increased understanding, acceptance and support of the LGBTQ+ community and created a Safe Space program three years ago.
In addition to support for individuals, Grassroots is providing a competency training for professionals and community members on the subject of LGBTQ+ and Suicide. The aim is to reduce the incidence of suicidality within the LGBTQ+ community by moving society from tolerance to acceptance of it.
Safe Space training discusses how to better support LGBTQ+ individuals and their loved ones in accessing care and treatment, differences in acceptance and tolerance, the history and evolution of language in the LGBTQ+ community, sexuality issues and gender specific issues, and their impacts on mental health.
Grassroots counselors recognize the special needs of Black, indigenous and people of color who are members of the LGBTQ+ community and are prepared to support them.
Grassroots has seen an increase in calls to its hotline since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and callers indicate their mental and emotional health has been affected by fear and uncertainty. This situation is worsened for people who are struggling with other issues, such as their self-identity and acceptance.
"We want LGBTQ+ people to know that, through the isolation they may be experiencing, the questions about identity they may be exploring, and potential low support they may be met with, Grassroots is here for you," said Maggie McCleary, LGBTQ Programming Consultant. "You have a safe space with us."
Grassroots' PRIDE social media series will include personal stories and Safe Space training information for members of the LGBTQ+ community as well as the general public. See the Friends of Grassroots Crisis Intervention Facebook Page and @friendsofgrassroots on Instagram.


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John Henning Schumann
John Henning Schumann, M.D., is an internal medicine physician and writer (http://glasshospital.com). He has contributedto Slate,The Atlantic,Marketplace, and National Public Radio's health blog,Shots.
Schumann serves as guest host forStudio Tulsa on health-related themes. You can hear his segment Medical Monday every Monday at 11:30 a.m. on KWGS.
Dr. Schumann is the President of OU-Tulsa. You can find him on twitter@GlassHospital.
In his new book, former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb lays out what it will take for the U.S. to be ready to face future health crises.
Keeping U.S. markets filled with a dazzling array of choices relies on an army of farmers, suppliers, truckers and retail workers. What's gained and lost as all that food makes its way to the shelves?
Our canine buddies can do more than play fetch. Turns out dogs' incredible sense of smell is a secret weapon in medicine.
There's more to being a good doctor than providing medical care to your patients, physicians learn early in their training. And sometimes that lesson comes at the darkest time of year.
Your friends want to help you out when there's a family health crisis. But it can be overwhelming to manage the offers of support. Here's advice to help friends help you.
While there's been progress in lowering the death rate from prescription opioids in Oklahoma, the number of opioid prescriptions written in the state outpaces the national average.
Drugs like Valium, Xanax and Ativan are more popular than ever. Frequently used to treat anxiety, the medicines can be risky, especially when mixed with alcohol or opioids.
What health goals will you reach for in 2018? And which, if any, will you discuss with your doctor?
AIDS has been transformed from a death sentence into a manageable chronic disease. The holistic approach to care that helped make that possible could transform health care for us all.
Americans' stress levels rose significantly over the past year, according to the American Psychological Association. A doctor tries float therapy to see if it can help him feel less stressed out.


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About Us |
City Tobacco Company is not just another Tobacco Shop. Listed below are just some of the features you will find at our store:
At City Tobacco Company our first responsibility is to customer satisfaction. In meeting the needs of our customers, we will continually strive towards a standard that will provide the very best product at the fairest prices. Our staff is proud of and committed to, our quality of service and our products. It is our goal to continually build long term relationships and dependable service. Store Hours:Monday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.Tuesday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. |


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I bought a sewing machine at the beginning of 2010 on a whim, and slowly began gathering fabrics. What for? I didn't really know right away. I started reading everything I could about sewing, and started some small sewing projects here and there, like some simple flannel blankets, burp cloths, and even a simple sling bag.
I picked up Amy Karol's Bend-the-Rules Sewing book at the library and I found a super simple strip quilt pattern, and I felt compelled to try it. I had no idea what I was doing, barely knew how to measure and cut fabric, it's amazing the quilt was even a rectangle. I used store-bought binding, which I haven't done since, and totally fudged my way through mitering the corners. So, like I said, it's a little shoddy, but it's my first quilt, and it made me a quilter. This little quilt stoked a fire in me that has kept me quilting for the last year.
It's kind of hard to believe I've only been doing this for a year, I feel like it'e been a part of my life forever now. I feel so lucky to have found a hobby that I enjoy so much that brings such joy to me. Happy quiltaversary to me, I'm so glad I found quilting and then found all of you wonderful people to share it with. Your comments and feedback really make my day and it's so nice to find others who share my passion. I hope you all have a wonderful day! :)