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John Owen
Congregational theologian
Born at Stadhampton, Oxfordshire, Owen was educated at Queen's College, Oxford, where he studied classics and theology and was ordained. Because of the "high-church" innovations introduced by Archbishop William Laud, he left the university to be a chaplain to the family of a noble lord. His first parish was at Fordham in Essex, to which he went while the nation was involved in civil war. Here he became convinced that the Congregational way was the scriptural form of church government. In his next charge, the parish of Coggeshall. in Essex, he acted both as the pastor of a gathered church and as the minister of the parish. This was possible because the parliament, at war with the king, had removed bishops. In practice, this meant that the parishes could go their own way in worship and organization.
Oliver Cromwell liked Owen and took him as his chaplain on his expeditions both to Ireland and Scotland (1649-1651). Owen's fame was at its height from 1651 to 1660 when he played a prominent part in the religious, political, and academic life of the nation. Appointed dean of Christ Church, Oxford, in 1651, he became also vice-chancellor of the university in 1652, a post he held for five years with great distinction and with a marked impartiality not often found in Puritan divines. This led him also to disagreement, even with Cromwell, over the latter's assumption of the protectorship. Owen retained his deanery until 1659. Shortly after the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660, he moved to London, where he was active in preaching and writing until his death. He declined invitations to the ministry in Boston (1663) and the presidency of Harvard (1670) and chided New England Congregationalists for intolerance. He turned aside also from high preferment when his influence was acknowledged by governmental attempts to persuade him to relinquish Nonconformity in favor of the established church.
His numerous works include The Display of Arminianism (1642); Eshcol, or Rules of Direction for the Walking of the Saints in Fellowship (1648), an exposition of Congregational principles; Saius Electorum, Sanguis Jesu (1648), another anti-Arminian polemic; Diatriba de Divina Justitia (1658), an attack on Socinianism; Of the Divine Original Authority of the Scriptures (1659); Theologoumena Pantodapa (1661), a history from creation to Reformation; Animadversions to Fiat Lux (1662), replying to a Roman Catholic treatise; Doctrine of Justification by Faith (1677); and Exercitationes on the Epistle to the Hebrews (1668-1684).
Works by John Owen
In this focused and enlightening treatise, John Owen defends the truth and coherency of the doctrine of the Trinity. Owen responds most explicitly to the heresy of "Socinianism." Socinianism holds that Christ did not pre-exist before being a man. Working with both Scripture and tradition, Owen vigorously argues for a traditional account of the Trinity. Owen doesn't just defend this doctrine, however; he also calls for faith in it as well. To indicate the importance of the Trinity, Owen ends his treatise with an explanation of the satisfaction of Christ. For without the Trinity, Owen argues, there can be no doctrine of satisfaction of sins through Christ. Unlike some of Owen's other work, Brief Declaration and Vindication of the Doctrine of the Trinity is highly focused, lacking long treatments of secondary points. This tightly argued work will remind readers of the importance and power of the doctrine of the Trinity.
In A Brief Instruction in the Worship of God, which came to be known as The Independents' Catechism, Owen outlines the constitution and ordinances of a Christian Church, and explains the duties of office-bearers and members. Scarcely fifty questions, this short catechism gives insight into one of the greatest Puritan theologians and provides rich spiritual nourishment.
John Owen, Christologia The object of John Owen in this treatise is to illustrate the mystery of divine grace in the person of Christ. It bears the title Christologia, but it differs considerably from many works of the same title. Owen is not occupied with a formal proof from Scripture of the Godhood of Christ. Instead, he assumes the truth of this doctrine, and applies all his efforts and resources to show its bearing on Christian duty and experience. The Christology of Owen has always been highly valued, and will be useful to members of the church of all ages together with its continuation, Meditations of the Glory of Christ. Christologia is considered one of the most important post-Reformation works beside Calvin's Institutes.
The Death of Death in the Death of Christ is John Owen's definitive work on the extent of the atonement. As J.I. Packer has written, it is a "polemical work," designed to show among other things that "the doctrine of universal redemption is unscriptural and destructive of the gospel." It was called forth by the progress in England of Arminianism and the half-way house of Amyraldianism adopted by Baxter, Davenant and Usher. But the book is more than a polemic work. It has, at its center, a love of Christ and a conviction that Christ's work on the cross actually saved people from the deadly nature of sin. Anyone interested in the atonement should examine this work carefully--it will not disappoint!
Evangelical Love, Church Peace and Unity was written at a time when John Owen found it necessary to speak of a sinful decay of love among professors of the gospel in this nation. It deals with the importance of these virtues at all levels of church life. Owen believed the Church needed more love, because without it, more and more arguments and schisms would occur and unity would be dissolved. Schisms were almost impossible to overcome, Owen said, because neither side was willing to sacrifice its pride. Disunity in the church also created more dissenters and nonconformists. The lessons Owen teaches here also need to be heard in the modern church, and this book will offer several strategies for remedying broken churches today.
This pamphlet contains the judgment of Owen author in regard to measures which gave rise to most important events in the ecclesiastical history of England. It is an argument against the liturgy, the imposition of which obliged nearly two thousand clergy of the Church of England to resign their livings rather than sacrifice a good conscience.
In March 1642 John Owen's first literary production was published; it dealt with the atonement, a subject to which he was to return in several of his later works. This first treatise, entitled A Display of Arminianism, is a simple comparison of the tenets of that system with the teaching of Scripture. This was by no means an academic task for when Owen wrote the Reformed character of the English church was seriously in jeopardy through the activity of Laud.
In A Dissertation on Divine Justice, John Owen provides his refutation of the teaching that God could pardon sin by a mere act of will, and without any satisfaction to his justice, that is, without any atonement. Owen has written extensively on the atonement before and, once again, his keen intellect and impressive argumentation can be seen here. Although A Dissertation on Divine Justice was originally a response to a theological movement called "Socinianism," it remains interesting today for its fascinating treatment of divine justice and the atonement.
Owen's book, Doctrine of Justification by Faith, is a Puritan account of the doctrine of justification. Owen relies on biblical teaching and historical dialogue to expound the doctrine of justification. This volume opens with a comprehensive look at the historical status of the doctrine of justification stemming back to the early church. In the following sections of the book, Owen explores the nature, object, and causes of faith. This provides the foundations for his later discussion on the important role faith plays in justification. Owen argues for the imputation of Christ's righteousness as the ground of justification and refutes objections to his position. Finally, Owen draws upon several passages from the Bible which support his interpretation of justification. Owen's exposition on the topic of justification is unique in that his pastoral experience is evident in his treatment of the text; as a result, his style of presentation is appreciated by a wide variety of readers, not just scholars in the field.
Written to answer Redemption Redeemed by the Arminian, John Goodwin, this book is a refutation of Goodwin's views. Owen believes the more Calvinist view of perseverance of the saints, that once an individual is saved, he or she will always be saved -- that is, cannot regress back into unbelief. Some readers find Owen's arguing with Goodwin distracting -- in the words of Andrew Thompson, the book would "be almost as complete were every part of it that refers Goodwin expunged, and undeniably forms the most masterly vindication of the perseverance of the saints in the English tongue." But the work is a proficient explanation and argument for perseverance of the saints, and readers interested in the issue would do well to read Goodwin's Redemption Redeemed as well.
The design of this tractate is to describe the means to be used by the people of God, distinct from church officers, to increase divine knowledge in themselves and others, and to show how the sacred calling to the ministry may retain its ancient dignity, whilst not depriving the people of God of their Christian liberty.
No description available.
What role does faith play in our relationship with God? How does genuine faith influence a Christian's life? John Owen dedicates this collection of treatises to the study of faith--its nature and effects. The central focus of Owen's treatises is the "Trial of Faith," by which Owen understands genuine faith to imply four things. First, genuine faith implies that God saves us from sin. Second, genuine faith implies that the Christian accepts God's command for holiness and obedience. Third, genuine faith is preserved through worship and devotion. And finally, genuine faith incites repentance and other spiritual habits in the Christian. Owen relies on the Word of the Lord to guide his exploration of faith, citing numerous Bible passages on the subject. Owen challenges Christians to examine their faith and offers them tangible tools to strengthen their faith in places it might be lacking.
Thomas Chalmers wrote that Owen's book on Spiritual-Mindedness holds 'a distinguished rank among the voluminous writings of this celebrated author.' For him three features made it very special: the force with which it applies truth to the conscience; the way Owen plumbs the depths of Christian experience as a skilful physician of the soul; the uncovering of the secrets of the mind and heart so that the true spiritual state of the reader is discovered. This book began life as a collection of meditations on Romans viii. 6, which were written for the author's own benefit during a time of illness. Alarmed by the subtle power the world exercises over the mind, Owen shows us how to really live by raising our thoughts above all earthly objects and setting them on 'things above, where Christ is.' A favorite book of William Wilberforce, it contains some passages which are not surpassed in all of Owen's writings. It comes from the pen of a tender-hearted pastor whose only purpose is to encourage the believer in the ongoing battle against sin.
The Inquiry Concerning Evangelical Churches displays Owen's erudition and his practical concern to establish the work of God in a truly biblical manner. Here he argues for a form of congregationalism, and answers some criticisms of nonconformity, defending the Puritans against the charge of schism.
Meditations and Discourses on the Glory of Christ is a collection of discourses in which John Owen proclaims the glory of the Lord as it is revealed in Scripture. Owen states that because we are human, Christ's glory is, in a sense, incomprehensible to us--we can never fully grasp it. Fortunately, the Bible provides us with ample information to help us appreciate the glory of Christ and to guide us in our worship. Owen uses these discourses to expound upon the different types of glory that Christ exhibits: the glory of His love, the glory of His mystery, His glory as mediator, His glory in the church, and the glory of His eternal being. It is through Christ that our lowly nature is sanctified and our relationship with God is ultimately secured. Owen teaches Christians that nothing they do has any meaning outside of that which Christ anoints with His glory.
Few subjects have received less attention from contemporary Christian writers than that of apostasy. The idea that professing Christians may prove not to be true Christians is, in many respects, too serious a prospect for our facile age. But, for John Owen, such avoidance of the issue was itself a pressing reason for writing on it at length and in great depth of spiritual analysis. His exposition is a masterpiece of penetration and discernment.
John Owen was essentially a pastoral theologian, and in his best writings, his pastoral concern and acute doctrinal instinct are inseparable. Indwelling Sin is based on Romans vii. 21. Owen unravels the deceitfulness of the nature of sin, especially in the mind and affections, and traces its terrible power through conception, birth and growth.
In 1657, John Owen produced one of his finest devotional treatises, probably the substance of a series of sermons. He examines the Christian's communion with God as it relates to all three members of the Holy Trinity. Owen directs Christians towards green pastures and still waters, and lays open the exhaustless springs of the Christian's hidden life with God. Yet, twenty years after its publication, Of Communion with God provoked the heavy criticism from another theologian. This work brings together not only Owen's original work, but also his response to this heavy criticism. In his reply, Owen vindicates himself from the various mystical sentiments that were ascribed to him. This wonderful book illustrates health Christian dialogue, and is a wonder to read.
The charge of schism was repeatedly brought against those who sought to reform the Church according to Scripture. Owen refrains from all recrimination, and instead examines the scriptural import of the term 'schism', proving that it denotes, not a rupture of ecclesiastical communion, but causeless divisions with the pale of the church.
"Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak" (Matt. 26:41). These words, which Jesus spoke to his disciples in the garden of Gethsemane, serve as the foundation for John Owen's treatise Of Temptation. Owen preached on the subject of temptation frequently during his many years of service as the dean and vice chancellor of Christ Church in Oxford--Of Temptation is the culmination of his discourses on the subject. In his treatise, Owen addresses the nature and power of temptation, the risk of entering into it, and the means of avoiding its danger. Owen defines temptation as anything with the ability to entice the Christian's mind or heart away from obedience to God and redirect it towards sin. Owen warns us that our power is not strong enough to protect us from temptation; rather, it is by God's power of preservation that we are saved. As Christians, we can guard ourselves against temptation in part by praying for God's power to help us resist it. His treatise teaches Christians how to recognize the threat of temptation and protect themselves against it.
John Owen was essentially a pastoral theologian, and in his best work, his pastoral concern and acute doctrinal instinct are inseparable. Of the Mortification of Sin is such a work. In this work--the substance of which is a series of addresses on Romans 8--Owen provides teaching in a vital but neglected aspect of Christianity. Owen takes up many of the questions that occur to every believer in the battle against sin. All of his direction is directly grounded in various Biblical passages. He provides keen exegesis and sound advice. This classic work has been reprinted countless times--a testimony to its lasting power!
Pneumatologia--or, 'Owen on the Holy Spirit,' as the work has generally been called--is perhaps one of the best known, and most highly esteemed of John Owen's treatises. Pneumatologia is divided into five parts. The first part contains a general and preliminary account of the Holy Spirit. The second part addresses the operations of the Holy Spirit in the Old and New Testaments. The third part discusses the doctrine of regeneration. The fourth part addresses the doctrine of sanctification, and the role of the Holy Spirit in it. The final part contains arguments extolling the reader to holiness. This is a beloved treatise, as John Newton once wrote to a correspondent: "We are favoured with many excellent books in our tongue, but I with you agree in assigning one of the first places as a teacher to Dr. Owen. I have just finished his discourse on the Holy Spirit which is an epitome, if not the masterpiece of his writings."
A poem in Latin dedicated to Oliver Cromwell on the occasion of his concluding peace with the Dutch in 1654.
Owen's massive Exposition of Psalm 130, contains some two hundred pages devoted to forgiveness and assurance. He writes here as one who, himself, has longed to know these privileges. This section is, in the words of one of his biographers, 'As full of Christian experience as of rich theology … to a great extent the unconscious transcript of his personal wanderings and perplexities, and final deliverance.' Possibly no better work exists on this area of Christian experience.
Towards the end of his life, the Dutch jurist Hugo Grotius wrote and published annotations on the Bible. John Owen in his Vindiciæ Evangelicæ traced the correspondance between the Socinians and Grotius, in their exegesis of passages of scripture relating to person of Christ. Henry Hammond defended Grotius; Owen continues the debate here.
John Owen believed that many Christians during his time failed to benefit from the sacrament of communion because they misunderstood the nature of the special union with Christ. Often, Christians have a tendency to become preoccupied with novelties while practicing the sacrament. It was Owen's aim to help reorient Christians towards the Bible as the standard of truth. Through communion, we as Christians are called to first represent Christ to ourselves and then to profess his greatness to others. Owen offers advice for Christians on how to prepare for communion highlighting the importance of confession and self-examination. He also considers the practical concerns of both the individual and the church institution with regards to the act of communion itself. The series of discourses is intended to be used by Christians of all denominations in meditation as they approach the Lord's Table.
As a preacher, the value of John Owen--the renowned Puritan theologian--has not been appreciated to a sufficient degree. Well respected in his day for his preaching, Owen's renown has dwindled since then. (Perhaps the importance of his other impressive works has diverted attention away from his Sermons.) Nevertheless, this is a shame since Owen's Sermons are wonderfully crafted and quite powerful. Further, the style of his sermons provides a nice complement to his many theological treatises. They clearly display the ability Owen had to capture the attention of an audience in order to teach them the great truths of the gospel. This particular volume brings together not only sermons Owen delivered during his life, but a series of posthumously published sermons as well. John Owen's Sermons should reestablish Owen as an impressive preacher; they will not disappoint!
Several Practical Cases of Conscience Resolved is a series of discourses answering questions about sin, grace, faith, prayer, God's providence, and the preparation for Christ's second coming. Published in 1721, this series of short discourses was included amongst a collection of John Owen's sermons. This style of discourse falls under the category of study called casuistry, a system of resolving specific cases of morality by appealing to general principles. For centuries casuistry was considered a controversial area of study, and in the 15th and 16th centuries it was denounced as "the art of quibbling with God." Owen was admittedly aware of the dangers of casuistic thought. But he encourages his readers not to devalue the practice of asking questions about the duties we face as Christians. Indeed, though casuistry remains a questionable method of inquiry, the questions Owen raises are central to the Christian faith.
This treatise by John Owen is founded on Romans 6:14. Owen, an English Congregationalist, assumes three facts are true before the writing of his piece. First, that sin dwells in believers; second, that it seeks to renew its dominion over them; and third, that it endeavors to accomplish its goal by deceit and force. He then explores the nature of sin's power over humanity, explains how to tell when sin is in one's life, and then assures believers that sin does not have the ultimate power in their lives. Owen's work is a perfect blend of recognition of sin and the influence it has on all humans, and comforting assurance that it does not have the last word. It reiterates the basic knowledge Christians find in the Bible about sin, but Owen's sharp mind is able to glean implied meanings and give more body to the information found in Scripture. Readers who want an honest yet hopeful account of sin need look no further than Owen's Treatise.
In his "Discourse of Ecclesiastical Polity" Samuel Parker decried religious toleration as unfriendly to social order, and attempted to blacken the character of the Nonconformists. Owen was chosen to reply to Parker, which he did in one of the noblest controversial treatises that were ever penned by him. The mind of Owen seems to have been whetted by his deep sense of wrong, and he writes with a remarkable clearness and force of argument; while he indulges at times in a style of irony that is perhaps justified by the baseness and wickedness of Parker's sentiments.
These two catechisms function as two levels of explanation of the theology John Owen taught to his church. The lesser catechism is intended for the children of his congregation. It is in a question and answer format, with questions ranging from "Is there but one God?" to "What is the Lord's Supper?" The greater catechism is also in Q and A form, but goes into much more depth on a larger range of topics. Owen discusses the Trinity, incarnation of Christ, justification, vocation, the sacraments, and many other doctrines, all with extensive Scripture references. Owen, a product of the nonconformist, Congregationalist movement of England, was a staunch professor of faith and a proponent of tolerance and sincerity. These catechisms are the foundation of his theology and are a wonderful source for study.
In the 1650s, historic Christianity in England was challenged by Socinianism. This heretical system was to a large extent based on Arianism, which had plagued the ancient church. Owen wrote his Vindiciæ Evangelicæ after being commissioned by the Council of State to refute Socinianism. In it he deals with the writings of John Biddle, 'the father of English Socinianism,' Hugo Grotius, the famous Dutch statesman and philosopher (who was not an avowed Socinian) and the Racovian Catechism, which was associated with Socinus himself.
Popularity is calculated by comparing this book's number of views to our most commonly read book. Popularity is calculated by comparing this book's number of editions to the book with the largest number of editions.


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|Induction Class of 2013
|Previous College:
|Boston State College '78
|Lacrosse, Assistant Lacrosse Coach
Named a Colonial League All-Star in his senior season, Dan Hayes '78 led Boston State to three Colonial League titles and three ECAC Championship Tournament appearances in 1976, 1976, and 1978. Named a co-captain in 1978, Hayes was selected for the All-New England East/West All-Star game at the end of his senior campaign.
By the end of his college career, Hayes ranked fourth all-time in program history amongst midfielders in points with 63 (43 goals, 20 assists). He would also leave Boston State third all-time in goals scored by a midfielder in a single season with 19.
A defensive specialist, Hayes was the go-to player on the Warriors penalty kill all four seasons. Following his graduation from Boston State, Hayes stayed involved with the program by establishing the Boston State College/UMass Boston Lacrosse Alumni Association in 1980, while also serving as an assistant coach. He would later earn his Master's Degree in Education from Cambridge College.

subset: commoncrawl


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It's official: "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "Superman II" are major hits. Variety, the show-business newspaper, calls them "true champions" which jointly collected more than 25 percent of the total June box office.
Hollywood is cheering, as well Hollywood should. Last month marked a sharp turnaround for filmgoing, which has been in recession for 2 1/2 years. In fact, June registered the two most lucrative weeks in movie history -- though though that's measured in dollars, not the number of admissions.
But should the rest of us be cheering? True, the new superhits are fast, colorful, packed with action, and reasonably clean. Still, they're also . . . childish. There's hardly a scene, word, or gesture to provoke a thought or stir an emotion in the grown-ups (regardless of age) in the audience.
And that's the problem with today's Hollywood "product." It's all aimed at the 15-to-22-year-old crowd who see their favorite films again and again, pouring their disposable dollars through the ticket window, the candy counter, and the Asteroids "videogame" in the lobby. Is it any wonder that the movie on the screen now tastes like the candy and looks like the Asteroids game? Sweet, dazzling, and empty.
Oh, fun is fine. But there's such a thing as freshm fun. "Star WArs" was fresh. We'd never seen anything like it, even though its inspiration came from old space operas and romances. "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" was fresh, with a starry-eyed optimism that was childlikem in the best sense.
"Raiders of the Lost Ark" is the brain child of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, who directed those earlier films, respectively. You can see the same formulas running right through it, from the lightweight "Star Wars" imagery to the canny "Close Encounters" finale here given a dark and dangerous twist. And "Superman II" -- which registered the most profitable opening weekend ever -- is a clone of the original "Superman," still taking most of its ideas from a venerable comic strip and adding little of its own except some welcome comedy.
Of course, we expect Hollywood to repeat its successes. But imitations used to be regarded as minor, secondary films. Titles like "Son of . . ." and ". . . Rides Again" were universal jokes.Obviously, times have changed. Today, when the hype is as noisy as the hit, the moguls expect us to accept the pastiche of "Raiders" as bold new stuff, charged with Lucas and Spielberg "genius."
The promoters of "Raiders" had a lot to work with, given the past credits of Mr. L. and Mr. S., stretching back to "American graffiti" and "Jaws." Yet not everyone automatically played the press agent's game. Shortly before its release, "Raiders" was considered a "dubious summer release" with "scant awareness" among the public, according to industry analyst Stuart Byron, writing in the Village Voice.
So what transformed "Raiders" into a must-see blockbuster? Rave writeups in Time and Newsweek, Byron theorizes. The movie became a media event, and people rushed to see what the fuss was all about. By now, almost everyone seems to feel "Raiders" is the one to catch this season, forgetting that all the critics didn't play the promoters' game, either: Byron lists the Voice, The New Yorker, the SoHo News, Us, Inquiry, and The Chicago Reader as publications printing mixed or negative reviews by members of the Raiders Resistance League.
Backlash is as dangerous as unanimity, though. Like most things, "Raiders" is neither as good as its fan(atics) allege nor as bad as self-consciously "mature" pundits fear. The first 20 minutes are breathtakingly exciting, the next hour is rousing entertainment. Only in the second half does Spielberg lapse into stale ideas and overlong set pieces, like the endless fisfight on an airplane, which should have been left on the cutting room floor.
It's harder to tell why "Superman II" has gone through the roof. There's little here that wasn't developed or at least introduced in the first "Superman, " and director Richard Lester keeps the action flowing with the same comic-strip momentum used by Richard Donner in the original. Indeed, Lester's own visual imagination seems largely subordinated to the demands of the story and the precedents of the project.
But then, it's always hard to pick the hits. Perhaps the new "Superman" is succeeding so well precisely because it fellows all the rules -- unlike, say, the sequel to the superhit "Exorcist," a superior film that failed because it violated every audience expectation. And maybe "Raiders" is cleaning up because of its cheerful willingness to treat the oldest cliches with a sigh, a smirk, and a smile -- a very respectful smile -- all at the same time. At least, we might say, the new hits are high in style, if not in substance.
Yet near-stylistics aren't enough, as any veteran of the style-vs.-substance wars will tell you. Unfortunately, today's most influential criticism often tends to value "form" over "content." It locates the "real meaning" of a film in its method rather than its manners or mentality. Thus first- rate technicians and imaginative craftspeople find their work elevated to the status of major art , despite their shaky grasp on deeper and subtler facets of their work.
Spielberg, Lucas, and Lester are masters of technique, structure, and some aspects of movie language. But there's less in their philosophy than Horatio ever dreamed of -- or at least it doesn't show in their films. That's OK, as long as we recognize "Raiders" and "Superman II" as the teenage ticktocks they are. Or should we refuse to leave it at that? Is there a trace of real cynicism lurking in these movies -- a hint that the filmmakers don't fully share their audiences' values, but usem the fashionable thirst for thrills, to their own manipulative ends?
There are such hints. Even though Spielberg, Lucas, and Lester plainly love movies, they also love to manhandle the minds of their spectators, and they will stoop pretty low to accomplish this. Thus in "Raiders" there's the willingness to expand the film after its ideas have expired, and the reduction of awesome concepts -- involving the biblical Ark of the Covenant contested between the forces of good and evil -- to the level of gruesome effects recalling less the Old Testament than "House of Wax" and "X: the Unknown."
Meanwhile, in "Superman II" there's the contentment with being merely a sequel, just another rehash of old gimmicks -- which would be more effective if they weren't spiced up with boorish crowd-pleasers, like Clark Kent beating up a bully. Superman is still a charming character, but that sort of junk went out with the old serials.
And if that isn't enough, consider the moments when both movies cheat. That's right, cheat -- openly and shamelessly, as if the whole worldwide audience didn't have a single brain in its credulous head. In "Raiders" we seem the heroine hide in a basket, and we seem it loaded on a truck, and we seem the truck go up in flames. And there's no waym in terms of the plot she could have escaped -- until she pops up a few scenes later, and the hero mutters something about "They musta switched . . . ."
"Superman II" is just as egregious. In our presence, with a long buildup, the hero is told that he willm lose his powers (forever!) if he does certain things. He goes ahead and loses his powers and that's it -- until the plot begins to drag, and suddenly he's as powerful as ever, as if the filmmakers could cancel half the story (in retrospect, yet) anytime they felt like it. Also, the movie exaggerates some flaws in the Superman myth, through second-rate storytelling. One minute, he's strong enough to move the whole planet. The next minute, a supervillain gives him a good wallop and we're supposed to believe he's down for the count. Sorry, but it just doesn't work.
None of this matters very much, of course; these are just rip-roaring summer entertainments and what's a plothole between friends? Anyway, there's some mumbo jumbo about a crystal in "Superman II' that might explain the shell game with our hero's powers. But it's neither clear nor convincing.
As for "Raiders," it seems to think it can get away with anything (including a deliberately wishy-washy finale, if there's enough energy behind it). But when storytelling is your entire stock in trade (especiallym in a light summer yarn), the storytelling can at least be honest. When it isn't, even for a little while, we have every reason to suspect the integrity -- or, at a minimum, the high standards -- of the storytellers.
And let's not pin the whole rap on the moviemakers, who are obviously -- look at their success! -- giving the public exactly what it wants. By accepting the con games as well as the occasional glories of these films, audiences share the blame. Without millions of customers, after all, media events and superhits and must-see movies simply couldn't exist.
Do people enjoy being conned like this, by movies that suck us in with real excellence in some areas, then think nothing of choking us with a red herring? Perhaps that's the basic problem. In the July issue of Scientific American, reviewer Philip Morrison discusses a new book on two popular "mentalists," one of whom -- Uri Geller -- claims to have true psychic powers. Observed by careful outsiders, Geller's methods soon became plain, almost embarrassingly: While some of his ruses are clever, he gets some of his effects by simply peeking around his hand or past the edges of his blindfold!
How have countless people been taken in by such nonsense, bolstered by Geller's references to "the wizards on the spaceship Spectra"? The answer must involve the wish for something more exciting and more engaging than our everyday lives -- the same wish that takes us to empty- headed blockbusters and carries us thoughtlessly past lapses in logic and credibility.
Perhaps too much of our current entertainment-seeking is guided by a Roman epigraph Morrison cites in his review: "Populus vult decipi" (People want to be deceived).


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- Page 1 LG BH5320F Review
- Page 2 Features and Operation Review
- Page 3 Performance and Verdict Review
- Crisp sound quality
- Good feature count
- Gorgeous design
- Some problems with DLNA
- Couldn't access LG Apps
- A little shouty at loud volumes
- No HDMI inputs
Key Specifications
- Review Price: £355.00
- 3D Blu-ray playback
- Distinctive 'floating' design
- Built-in Wi-Fi
- DLNA media streaming
- LG Smart TV internet portal
Nowadays it's not enough for home cinema systems to simply sound great – they also have to look the part in order to blend in with your living room décor. That's something LG has taken on board with the BH5320F, an incredibly stylish 2.1-channel Blu-ray system with a 'floating' design that will really turn heads.
But of course there's much more to this system than just style. It's equipped with a wide range of cutting-edge features, such as built-in web apps and network support, and naturally it plays 3D Blu-ray discs, DVDs, CDs and USB devices too.
But let's get back to that delicious design. The main unit, which houses the Blu-ray player and 400W amplifier, is a thick rectangular block with an open section on the left-hand side. The black front panel is flat, with a panel of illuminated touch-sensitive controls embedded into it, while further right is a dot matrix display panel showing the selected input, elapsed time and other pertinent information. Around the edge is a silver frame that juxtaposes nicely with the black front panel, with a disc slot located discreetly on the right hand side.
The speakers mimic the main unit's design, with the same blocky shape, silver frame and open section at the bottom. They're fairly large but not imposing, with a black mesh on the front keeping them tidy and minimal. Placed together, the system looks stunning, a refreshing break from the black-box norm. Even the subwoofer gets in on the act, sporting the same black and silver colour scheme and a sumptuous glossy front panel. It's compact too, which makes installation a cinch.
The unconventional design of the main unit means connections aren't as plentiful as a normal system, and they're dotted around awkwardly on the back. On a sideways-facing panel is an HDMI 1.4 output (but no inputs), composite video out, two optical digital audio inputs and an Ethernet port, plus springclip speaker terminals and an input for the FM radio aerial. On the opposite site you'll find a USB port, which supports flash drives, external HDDs and direct connection of Apple devices, and a 3.5mm minijack input for other types of MP3 player.
Unlike other sites, we thoroughly test every product we review. We use industry standard tests in order to compare features properly. We'll always tell you what we find. We never, ever accept money to review a product. Tell us what you think - send your emails to the Editor.


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The need for commitment and moral development was the special motto of this first scientific event. The use of creative presentation in the provision of top graduate research abstracts, creating scientific and research dynamics and an interactive, collaborative atmosphere among students to transfer knowledge and top research topics to newly-admitted students, strengthening the spirit of constructive competition among students and encouraging the students' associations to play a more active role in applied scientific and research activities, introducing the applied aspects of researches for establishing a rapprochement between the university and community and industrial sector, creating incentives for paving the way for the implementation of the top research ideas, stressing the importance and necessity of scientific ethics in the presentation of research achievements were some of the objectives of this round of competition.
The initial idea of this completion was taken from Queensland University of Australia in 2008 called "3 MT", a completion which has been held in 18 other countries since 2013. With a special attention to the needs of the academic community, particularly the need for the establishment of relationship between the university, the community and industrial sector in an attempt to promote entrepreneurship of knowledge-based researches, the first "3MT" completion was held at TMU.
Dr. Akbar A'lemi, TMU faculty member and a TV presenter acted as the honorary judge for the rhetoric and presentation skills of the contestants. He presented the factors effective in a successful presentation to the audience during the program. The awards of the competition were offered in four different categories including: Special jury award, students' section award and favorite poster award. The students present in the auditorium elected the winners of the Students" Award. There was also an innovative section in this round of competition called "Standup Idea Innovation" or "the spontaneous presentation of an idea in three minutes" which was performed by 9 participants.
The winners were selected by a jury consisting of Dr. ShahrouzShariati, TMU's Students Cultural Planning Manager, Dr. Mostafa Mohammadian, Research and Laboratories Manager, Dr. Mohammad Reza Kalbasi, Academic Affairs Manager, Seyed Esmaeel Musavi Nasab, Dr. Akbar A'lami, the honorary judge, and Mr. RasoulRajaee, the secretary of Coordinating Council of Students' Scientific Associations.
The winners of the first "3MT" Competition were:
Special Jury Award:
Mr. Mohsen Rezaeean, Mohammad Roustami, Mrs. SoudehMo'alemian, Mr. Reza Jadidi
Students' Award:
Mrs. FereshtehOsmani, Mr. Ali MashayekhiSalehi,
Poster Award:
Mr. Saleh Salehi,
Standup Idea Innovation Award:
Mrs. NasrinTorabi, Mrs. MahdiehTabatabaee,


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Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and George Washington are on a sinking ship.
As the boat sinks, George Washington shouts, "Save the women!"
George W. Bush hollers, "Screw the women!"
Bill Clinton asks excitedly, "Do we have time?"
© 2019 Comedy Partners. All Rights Reserved. Comedy Central and all related titles, logos and characters are trademarks of comedy partners.


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At CanvasPop, we love our customers. No really, we do. We're so committed to creating a world-class experience, that we'll do everything we can to make sure you're completely happy.
These core values run deep throughout CanvasPop, and one of the ways our web development team ensures a great experience is with the help of super accurate, real-time web monitoring services. Our team uses New Relic to help ensure an amazing customer experience 100% of the time by letting us focus on things like speed, reliability, and order accuracy (just to name a few!)
This is why we're incredibly … Read more


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Dual Drive is loaded with interactivity and instant feedback.
For example, if you lose your cool and focus on the racetrack, your visibility decreases and your gas tank starts to empty. Once you regain your poise, the fog clears, your gas tank begins to fill and you are back racing at 100%.
To get the most fun and benefit from Dual Drive, you'll first want to learn basic emotion self-regulation skills and practice with the emWave2 games – all included with the emWave2 software. The Dual Drive program runs on your computer in conjunction with the emWave2 for PC software. (It is not available for Mac operating systems.)
emWave2—On the Go, or at Your Computer In addition to connecting to your PC to play Dual Drive and other interactive games and activities, the emWave2 is portable and provides you with input via lights and sound. You can use it on the go, at home or work: Just plug into your computer to download and review previous sessions, run a new session with the real-time heart-rhythm display, or play Dual Drive or one of the other coherence-building games or activities.
How emWave2 WorksThe emWave2 is an advanced heart-rate monitor, able to measure subtle changes in your heart rhythms. This type of measurement is known as heart-rate variability analysis or HRV. The analysis of HRV is a noninvasive measurement that reflects heart-brain interaction and autonomic nervous-system dynamics, which are particularly sensitive to changes in your emotional state.
Heart Rhythms and Coherence When you experience stressful emotions such as impatience, anxiety, irritation or anger, your heart-rhythm pattern becomes irregular and incoherent, negatively affecting your health, brain function, performance and sense of well-being. When you experience positive emotions such as appreciation, care, joy and love, your heart-rhythm pattern is more ordered and coherent.
Ordered and harmonious heart rhythms are an indicator of your "coherence level." High coherence is a state associated with positive emotional attitudes, which send signals to the brain that reduce reactions to stress and improve cognitive function, hormonal balance, immune response, coordination and reaction times, and your overall sense of well-being.
Playing Dual Drive Pro and practicing HeartMath techniques can:
emWave2 Unit Specifications:
Certificate of Networthiness, CERT-201109460.
Note: Dual Drive® Pro was developed by Somatic Vision Inc., under license from Quantum Intech Inc.
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A military helicopter has reportedly crashed near Yenegoa in Bayelsa State, this Saturday evening.
Governor Patrick Yakowa of Kaduna State, former national security adviser, NSA, General Owoeye Azazi were said to be in the naval aircraft at the time of the crash.
Others in the ill-fated crash include a top politician from Kaduna state Dudas Tsoho, Azazi's orderly, the pilot and his co-pilot.
The victims were returning to Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, from the funeral of the father of Douglas Oronto, Special Adviser to the President on Research and Documentation at Nembe area of Bayelsa, when the helicopter crashed into the creeks. The helicopter was said to have burst into flames immediately.
The victims of the ill-fated chopper according to a former youth president of Okoroba community, Hitler Adumion who spoke to Vanguard from the scene of the crash, were burnt beyond recognition.
The former youth president said, "we became suspicious when we noticed a thick smoke coming from the forest and we organized a search party to trace the source and stumbled on the crash scene. Though we don't know the identities of the victims but the helicopter was still burning with bodies burnt beyond recognition. As I am speaking with you the machine is still burning."
Efforts to get reactions from naval authorities, the Joint Task Force, JTF, and the Air Force on the tragedy proved abortive as they all refused to disclose the identities of the victims.
However, one of the officials, specifically told Vanguard that there are normal channels to follow when such tragic incident occur – notifying the families of the deceased first before going public.
Culled from: Vanguard NG


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DataStax Announces "Next Great Data Developer Contest"
Finalists To Present Their Projects At Bay Area Cassandra Summit In June.
SAN MATEO, Calif. – February 5, 2013 – DataStax, the company that powers the big data apps that transform business, today issued a call for participation in the "Next Great Data Developer Contest". DataStax will offer two undergraduate or graduate-level computer science students, including at least one female student, a scholarship of $10,000 each for developing an application on Apache™ Cassandra. DataStax will award the scholarships at OSCON 2013, which takes place July 22-26 in Portland, Oregon. Apply now at https://www.datastax.com/the-next-great-data-developer.
What: Each contestant must build an application on Apache Cassandra and document their experience using tools such as:
- An active blog
- Video recordings
- A business case presentation
- A working prototype of the program posted to Github
A judges' panel will evaluate the students based on their working prototype and ability to document the development process. The panel will review each application and monitor the participants' progress on an ongoing basis. Judges will review how well participants communicate their development process to the community via blog, Twitter, video, demos and other tools.
Who: Participation is limited to students currently enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate computer science program at a North American college or university. DataStax is committed to championing women in technology, and will reserve one scholarship for a female developer. Big data developers Kelly Sommers, who is also a DataStax MVP, and Gwen Shapira will judge the apps. Christian Hasker, DataStax Senior Director of Product Marketing, will judge community engagement.
When: By May 15, 2013, the judges will create a shortlist of 8-10 applicants and invite them to the Bay Area Cassandra Summit taking place June 11-12 where they will present their projects. Summit attendees can watch the presentations and participate in a question and answer session. DataStax will announce the winners at OSCON 2013, which takes place July 22-26 in Portland; Apache Cassandra Project Chair, Jonathan Ellis, will present the awards at the show.
Apply: To apply for "The Next Great Data Developer Contest", please visit https://www.datastax.com/the-next-great-data-developer.
About DataStax
DataStax powers the big data apps that transform business for more than 200 customers, including startups and 20 of the Fortune 100. DataStax delivers a massively scalable, flexible and continuously available big data platform built on Apache Cassandra™. DataStax integrates enterprise-ready Cassandra, Apache Hadoop™ for analytics and Apache Solr™ for search across multi-datacenters and in the cloud.
Companies such as Adobe, Healthcare Anytime, eBay and Netflix rely on DataStax to transform their businesses. Based in San Mateo, Calif., DataStax is backed by industry-leading investors: Lightspeed Venture Partners, Crosslink Capital and Meritech Capital Partners. For more information, visit DataStax or follow us @DataStax.


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U2U CAML query builder is a great tool for SharePoint developer. I've used this tool frequently with SharePoint 2007 development. However, I've got into trouble with using the tool with SharePoint 2010. The tool is not updated for SharePoint 2010 yet. Though you can use U2U CAML builder with SharePoint 2010 (shown later in this post), you want to use new features of CAML (say join lists) and such new features are not supported in CAML builder. In this post I'll show how you can generate CAML query for SharePoint 2010 using few tools and Linq query. First let's discuss on how you can still use CAML builder to generate CAML for SharePoint 2010.
Use CAML Builder with SharePoint 2010 (I'll not recommend)
Till now the CAML builder doesn't support SharePoint 2010. However, you can make the tool working by using connecting via web service as shown below:
Figure 1: Use CAML builder with SharePoint 2010
However, you are not saved. As I mentioned already till the date I'm writing this post, the CAML builder is not updated to support SharePoint 2010. So new CAML features (like list joins) will not work in this old CAML builder.
Generate CAML from Linq-to-SharePoint (Better approach)
Though you can use old CAML builder with SharePoint 2010, since the CAML builder is not updated yet, you will not get the CAML new features when you will use CAML builder. Worried? Please don't. There's an way out. Let me explain
- Download CKS Visual Studio Extension: There's an useful and handy Visual Studio Extension for SharePoint developers known as Community Kit for SharePoint (CKS): Development tool edition. You can download the extension for SharePoint Server or for SharePoint Foundation.
- Generate Entity classes from SharePoint site: Once you have installed the Community Kit for SharePoint, you can generate entity classes from Server Explorer. First open a SharePoint project in Visual Studio and then connect to the SharePoint server from Server Explorer ==> SharePoint Connections. Then right click on your web and click "Generate entity classes" as shown below. This will generate the entity classes in the current selected project of Visual Studio.
Figure 2: Generate entity class from SharePoint site/web
- Write Linq using Linq-to-SharePoint against generated entity classes: Once you have generated the entity classes as described on step2, you can use Linq to SharePoint to write your logic that you want to achieve through CAML. Once you write the Linq, you can run the code and log the CAML generated from the Linq. For example I have two lists Orders and Product. I want to join two lists to get order title and product name. The Linq will look like as shown below:
using (var dataContext = new MySiteDataContext(siteUrl)) { TextWriter textWriter = new StreamWriter(@"c:\caml.txt",false); dataContext.Log = textWriter; var result = from o in dataContext.Orders join p in dataContext.Product on o.Product.Id equals p.Id select new {OrderName = o.Title, p.ProductName}; foreach (var v in result) { System.Console.WriteLine("{0}----{1}",v.OrderName,v.ProductName); } } Code snippet 1: Linq query using Linq to SharePoint
As shown in the code snippet above, I have used the data context generated at step 2 and I have run a Linq query against two lists of the data context. The most import thing to notice in above code snippet is marked with yellow. I have instantiated a text writer (initialize with file stream) and then I had set it as the Log property of the datacontext. This will ensure that any CAML generated from the Linq query will be written in the writer. Once the query gets executed the CAML is dumped in the file (in my case C:\Caml.txt).
So for generating any complex CAML query you can first write its equivalent Linq query and then get the CAML from log.
- Get the CAML from the Linq query: After running the Linq to SharePoint query, you have got the CAML query in the log file as shown in step 3. However, you need to work a bit to make the CAML usable in SPQuery. The CAML generated from code snippet 1 is shown below:
<View> <Query> <Where> <And> <BeginsWith> <FieldRef Name="ContentTypeId" /> <Value Type="ContentTypeId">0x0100</Value> </BeginsWith> <BeginsWith> <FieldRef Name="ProductContentTypeId" /> <Value Type="Lookup">0x0100</Value> </BeginsWith> </And> </Where> <OrderBy Override="TRUE" /> </Query> <ViewFields> <FieldRef Name="Title" /> <FieldRef Name="ProductProductName" /> </ViewFields> <ProjectedFields> <Field Name="ProductProductName" Type="Lookup" List="Product" ShowField="ProductName" /> <Field Name="ProductContentTypeId" Type="Lookup" List="Product" ShowField="ContentTypeId" /> </ProjectedFields> <Joins> <Join Type="INNER" ListAlias="Product"> <Eq> <FieldRef Name="Product" RefType="ID" /> <FieldRef List="Product" Name="ID" /> </Eq> </Join> </Joins> <RowLimit Paged="TRUE">2147483647</RowLimit> </View>Code snippet 2: CAML generated from Linq query of Code Snippet 1
In the above code snippet, the lines marked with yellow can be modified if you want. Specially the content type in where part is put in the CAML to ensure only list items are selected. FYI, Content type 0x0100 means list item type.
- Use CAML query in SPQuery: Now you have got the CAML and you want to use the CAML in SPQuery. The following code snippet shows how I've used the CAML(from code snippet 2) in SPQuery:
SPQuery query = new SPQuery(); query.Query = @"<Where> <And> <BeginsWith> <FieldRef Name='ContentTypeId' /> <Value Type='ContentTypeId'>0x0100</Value> </BeginsWith> <BeginsWith> <FieldRef Name='ProductContentTypeId' /> <Value Type='Lookup'>0x0100</Value> </BeginsWith> </And> </Where> <OrderBy Override='TRUE' />"; query.ViewFields = @"<FieldRef Name='Title' /> <FieldRef Name='ProductProductName' />"; query.ProjectedFields = @"<Field Name='ProductProductName' Type='Lookup' List='Product' ShowField='ProductName' /> <Field Name='ProductContentTypeId' Type='Lookup' List='Product' ShowField='ContentTypeId' />"; query.Joins = @"<Join Type='INNER' ListAlias='Product'> <Eq> <FieldRef Name='Product' RefType='ID' /> <FieldRef List='Product' Name='ID' /> </Eq> </Join>"; query.RowLimit = 2147483647; var list = web.Lists["Orders"]; var items = list.GetItems(query); foreach (SPListItem item in items) { System.Console.WriteLine("{0}--{1}", item["Title"], item["ProductProductName"]); }Code Snippet 3: Using generated CAML in SPQuery
Integrating the Test Code in your Visual Studio Soltuion
You may need to generate the CAML from time to time in your development life cycle. My personal preference is to keep a devtest project in the Visual Studio solution to do work like this CAML generation. I keep a dev-test project (used for RnD like task), mainly console app, in the solution. So you can keep the dev-test project in your solution and in that project you can write the Linq to SharePoint query and generate the CAML. Since the project will always be in your Visual Studio solution, if you need to get the CAML anytime you can just write the Linq query in the dev-test project and run the project to get the CAML.
So here's the summary on how to generate CAML query using the method described in this post:
- Install Visual Studio extension - CKS for SharePoint Server or for SharePoint Foundation.
- Generate entity classes from SharePoint site using the CKS feature
- Write Linq to SharePoint query and log the CAML in a file/Console
- Use the CAML in SPQuery
Though you can use Linq to SharePoint instead of CAML, but sometimes CAML is needed for raw query and this method will help you find out the CAML.


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Critical Mass: Transport, Environment and Society in the 21st Century
Pluto Press, 20 sept. 1997 - 251 pages
Despite demanding enormous resources, transport policies (once put into practice) are still incapable of resolving basic problems of safety, health, welfare and congestion. Yet how can we resolve these problems whilst we are so dependent on the car? John Whitelegg argues that such dilemmas are universal: they are shared throughout Europe, Asia and North America, and can only be solved globally by a shared recognition of communality. At the center of the argument is the theory that transport is inextricably linked with consumerism and the lifestyles that car ownership has created.
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Table des matières
Perranporth and China
A Faustian Bargain
Droits d'auteur
18 autres sections non affichées
Autres éditions - Tout afficher
Critical Mass: Transport, Environment and Society in the 21st Century
John Whitelegg
Affichage d'extraits - 1997
Critical mass: transport, environment and society in the twenty-first century
John Whitelegg,World Wildlife Fund
Affichage d'extraits - 1997
Expressions et termes fréquents
achieve activities Agenda 21 air pollution air quality airport associated aviation benefits car ownership car parking catalytic converter cent centres cities CO2 emissions congestion consumption damage dB(A demand for transport developed world developing countries effects energy environment environmental impact Europe European example exposure external costs freight transport fuel global warming greenhouse gases groups Heathrow impact of transport important improve increase journey kilometres land large number levels lifestyle lorry methanol million mobility modes of transport motor vehicles motorised transport motorway noise organisation ozone particulate passenger population prisoners dilemma problems production public transport rail reduce result road freight road pricing road traffic accidents road transport significant social society solutions Source space speed strategy sustainable development sustainable transport targets tonnes tourist trans-European road network transport planning transport policy transport sector transport systems trips urban areas walking and cycling whilst women


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I have the honor as your elected prosecutor of leading an outstanding and dedicated staff of thirty-five attorneys and fourty-five support staff members. To assist in managing the daily operations, I have appointed a chief assistant prosecutor and an office manager.
In 2011, Todd was promoted to Chief Assistant by Dan Patterson. In this capacity, he is responsible for supervising the daily operations of the office in addition to handling homicide cases. This promotion was a natural progression for Todd as a career prosecutor. Todd began his career as an Assistant City Prosecutor in Wichita, Kansas. In Wichita, Todd primarily prosecuted DUI offenses. When he joined the Greene County Prosecutor's Office in January 1999, Todd was assigned Greene County's DWI cases. During the time Todd was the primary attorney handling DWI cases, Mother's Against Drunk Drivers recognized the Greene County Prosecutor's Office for having the highest DWI conviction rate in the state. In 2001, Todd was promoted to the position of Senior Assistant in the Major Crimes Unit. In 2005, as part of the federal program, Project Safe Neighborhoods, Todd was designated a Special Assistant United States Attorney to handle federal firearms violations in Greene County. In 2008, Todd was promoted to the position of First Assistant in the Major Crime Unit. During his time in the Major Crimes Unit, Todd tried numerous jury trials including some of Greene County's highest profile cases.These trials included homicides, manslaughters, assaults, robberies, and other dangerous offenses. Also in 2008, Todd was given the additional responsibility of being the Acting Chief Assistant while Dan Patterson was deployed on active duty.
Todd graduated Magna Cum Laude from Evangel College (now University) in May 1994 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Government. Todd received his law degree from the University of Kansas in 1997. While in law school Todd was the Publications Editor of the Journal of Law and Public Policy. Todd is currently a member of the DWI Task Force, the Drug Endangered Children Task Force, and a member of the Gang and Youth Violence Task Force. In 2010, Todd was a member of the Springfield Public Safety Commission. Also in 2010, Todd was named an "Up & Coming Attorney" by Missouri Lawyers Weekly which recognized the top attorneys under 40 in the State.
In addition to his official duties Todd has been an adjunct professor at Evangel University and is a certified instructor at the Springfield Police Academy and the Missouri POST certified law enforcement officer certification classes.
Rhonda joined the Prosecutor's Office as a File Secretary in March, 1996. Before coming to Greene County, she spent five years working for the Clerk's Office of Harbor Justice Center in Orange County, California. In 1999, Rhonda was promoted to the Felony Person's Unit Secretary where she was responsible for calendaring and subpoenaing all of the felony persons' cases. In March of 2001, Rhonda was given the additional responsibility of Assistant Office Manager. As the Assistant Office Manager, Rhonda assisted in supervising the entire clerical staff. In November of 2010, with almost twenty years of legal clerical experience, Rhonda was promoted to Office Manager.


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Nearly all of us understand the federal government spends too much money. Most of us believe the skyrocketing deficit is propelling us toward some sort of day of reckoning. Few of us want our taxes to increase.
If we want to shrink the deficit and maintain constant revenue, then the only way to reach those goals is to reduce federal spending. For Fiscal 2013, federal spending was nearly $3.5 trillion, while revenue was around $2.8 trillion. The projected FY 2013 budget deficit is $642 billion.
To bring the budget into a balance, we must reduce spending, raise revenue, or use a combination of both. When the economy finally improves, the revenue will go up. However, revenue will not increase enough to fund the current level of spending.
Most people I heard pontificate about the budget situation says we could reduce much federal spending if we just eliminated government waste. A significant amount of spending probably does result from waste, but I doubt the figure of collective government waste comes close to $642 billion.
Waste is a problem, and I favor watchdogs for all federal programs � beginning with defense and ending with any sort of entitlement. We could save money if we reduced fraud in Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, TANF, SNAP, WIC, and the host of other programs � as well as fraud in defense.
Still, even if we saved half of $642 billion, the other $321 billion must come from something other than waste.
Before we can reasonably discuss the issue, we need to know how the federal government currently spends our money.
According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 2012 spending broke down in this way:
19 percent � Defense and National Security.
22 percent � Social Security
21 percent � Medicare, Medicaid and CHIP (Children�s Health Insurance Program)
12 percent � Safety net programs (other than health insurance and Social Security benefits) such as Earned Income Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit, SNAP (new term for the old food stamp program), Supplemental Security Income for the poor and disabled, unemployment insurance, school meals, low-income housing assistance, child care assistance, home energy assistance, and programs that aid abused and neglected children.
6 percent � Interest payments on the national debt.
So far, we have accounted for 80 percent of federal spending in 2012. The remaining 20 percent pays for benefits for federal retirees and veterans (7 percent), transportation infrastructure (3 percent), education ( 2 percent), science and medical research (2 percent), non-security international expenses (1 percent), and all other programs (5 percent).
If you had the budget scalpel, where would you begin to make cuts? Talking about slashing federal spending is easy, but finding areas of compromise to actually get those cuts through Congress is an entirely different story.
Most of us operate with a NIMBY mindset � Not In My Back Yard. We want to cut programs we do not value. Do we all agree on where the budget should, or even could, be cut?
Perhaps we could cut 18 percent across the board. After all, 18 percent of 3.5 trillion would give us $642 billion in reduction. Do we want to cut defense 18 percent? Or cut Social Security by 18 percent? Or safety net programs? Or transportation?
Could we even cut the interest on the debt by 18 percent, or would we have to find the cuts for that 6 percent of the budget in other places?
And if we could find and cut $321 billion in waste, then we would only need across-the-board cuts of 9 percent.
My only point is too many of us rely on federal spending. Few of us want to see cuts in the area of federal spending that feeds what we perceive to be our �needs� or squares with our notions of good and necessary.
No wonder coming to consensus is tough.
Remember: Any plan you develop must garner the support of 218 members of the U.S. House and 51 U.S. Senators to be enacted in the real world.
Mike Parker is a columnist for The Free Press. You can reach him at email@example.com or in care of this newspaper.


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Jo-Ann Chase Campaign Kickoff Signals Start Of "Money vs Volunteers" Nomination Contest
Jo-Ann Chase, candidate for the Republican nomination for the 87th District seat in the House of Delegates, held a very successful campaign kickoff event several weeks ago, with over 100 people in attendance including a wide variety of local volunteers and candidates for office. It was not your typical campaign event, and the 87th nomination race may not be a typical campaign. (Hover your cursor over images for partial listing of who is in each, and click for larger versions of photos).
Prominent Chase campaign supporters on hand included keynote speaker Delegate Bob Marshall, Virginia Senate candidates Tito "the Builder" Munoz and former Delegate Dick Black, and Genaro Pedroarias of the Republican National Hispanic Assembly.
Instead of the standard-format political event in which a speaker or succession of speakers introduce the candidate, who then gives a speech, then closes the official ceremony; Ms. Chase's campaign kickoff was more like a grassroots rally.
Randy Minchew gave the invocation; and Bob Marshall gave a brief speech. Then, after some initial words of thanks, Ms. Chase immediately invited her campaign team to join her in front of the room, about 20 people in all, introduced them, then gave her speech, and then said "Well, we have a microphone here, does anyone else have anything?"
Following was a series of announcements and comments from attendees, just as you might see at a local Tea Party meeting, which is appropriate because in one sense the Republican race for the nomination is shaping up as possibly the only local contest where the "Tea Party vs Republican Establishment" theme fits. Ms. Chase had a much larger turnout than her opponent, David Ramadan, saw at his campaign opener, though fewer at Ms. Chase's were party officials. Both Ron Wilcox and John Grigsby, leaders of two of the Loudoun-area Tea Party groups, were present, and Ms. Chase herself is a leader of the third.
In addition, Mr. Ramadan appears to be the candidate investing a much larger share of personal wealth in the contest, and the topic of money came up repeatedly in remarks from the podium.
Bob Marshall:
I am proud to endorse Jo-Ann Chase tonight. In 20 years in office I've made very few endorsements, and when I do make them I do it with caution, and with consideration, and with conviction in this those people that I put my name next to.
Jo-Ann and I share core values, but you have to have something beyond the core values, and that's why I think Jo-Ann should be the choice for this district to represent you in the Virginia General Assembly. When Randy was talking about a "prayer for boldess" I was thinking, well that is not what this young lady needs. She needs a prayer for restraint. But I'm glad that she's bold and aggressive because she will be bold and aggressive for you. She is candid, upfront, she is not afraid, and she works, and she works, and she works…
This is a primary race. When I first ran, I did not have the endorsements of the insiders. I didn't care. I had the least money, but I had the most volunteers. And I won in a 4-way race. And I've been winning that way. I've always been outspent…
You will make the difference in this campaign: the manpower, the womanpower, the dedication, the voters who see you at the door – you in a sense are more influential than Jo-Ann because when you go to someone's door or make a phone call it shows you are not going to get anything personally out of this, you're not going to get any money out of this, but you believe in what Jo-Ann's going to do for you and for them.
You will be an advertisement for a young woman that we need down in Richmond.
Mr. Marshall encouraged attendees to make a donation and make a commitment to phone calls, going door to door, signs and bumper stickers, etc.
Ms. Chase thanked "Bob Marshall, my mentor" and said:
The importance of any election is about giving the people a voice to be represented by an individual, whether it's a woman or a man, we need to make sure in this race and in every other race that the individual we elect is someone that espouses our principles, our morals, our values. Someone that is grounded and understands that it's not the money, it's not the title, it's not the glory, it's not the deals behind the scenes, it's not the special interests: It's the needs of the people. We're supposed to be servants of the people…
I'm a conservative, I'm 100% pro-life, I'm 100% for the Second Amendment, I'm fiscally conservative, I want to cut spending, I want to protect our homeland security and national security. I think that is a very important issue that is not being dealt with by our representatives at the local level, at the state level and at the federal level…
If I were to be elected, I will promise you that I will protect our Constitution and our liberties. I'm not going to make deals. I'm going to follow the lead of my mentor, Bob Marshall.
My take on the campaign for the 87th District nomination:
From what one can glean from their respective Web sites, campaign literature and from cursory conversations with the candidates, it appears the Republican party will be well-represented in the November elections in this race, no matter who wins the nomination. Mr. Ramadan and Ms. Chase appear to share a number of general policy positions regarding scaling back the role of government and removing government obstacles to economic development.
The respective campaigns, however, could not be more dissimilar.
Mr. Ramadan has been an extraordinarily generous contributor to Republican candidates for many years, including in the current election cycle. For his campaign, he has contracted the services of local activists as well as the consulting consortium representing most Loudoun County Republican candidates this year, yielding a substantial team of endorsers and supporters. Comparing the campaign kickoff events, Ms. Chase had nearly triple the number of attendees and if you subtract out those who were "paid to be there" in some sense at Mr. Ramadan's event, Ms. Chase's advantage probably would be 5-1.
Yet the contest for the 87th District is a strange one in many respects, appropriate for a precinct-slicing district that will surprise many voters on the boundaries come election time and might have some wishing they had thrown their hat in the ring. Ms. Chase's featured speaker was Bob Marshall, one of the most respected public figures among local conservatives, whereas Mr. Ramadan's was Grover Norquist, one of the most reviled.
And like Mr. Norquist's kindergarten-level policy platform that "the government spends and taxes too much," Mr. Ramadan is running on stances that should be considered the bare minimum qualifications for elected office at any level. But somehow Mr. Ramadan enjoys the support of the majority of prominent Loudoun Republicans, either through outright endorsements or the de facto support of so many people who have declared neutrality but otherwise might have been considered solid supporters of the Chase campaign – and who certainly appear to have surprised the Chase campaign by their absence.
So on one level it is tempting to frame the nomination campaign as a battle between the grassroots and the establishment or between manpower and money, but either interpretation runs the risk of downplaying the inescapable centrality of …. money.
Just last week Mr. Ramadan sent his first campaign mail piece and while it said little specifically about what he would do as a delegate, it definitely cost a fortune. Eight pages, four-color, wide distribution: With design services and postage, that's probably a $30,000 job at the minimum. If Mr. Ramadan is willing to spend that kind of cash to say, basically, "Don't let my name scare you," he is going to be hard to beat if he continues to spend that kind of money once he comes up with an actual platform to run on.
The Chase campaign has its work cut out for it, and it will need to make the best use of its strength in volunteer numbers.