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|Release title
|Total tracks
|Type of release is
|Imprint date
9th September 1978 - 30th September 2000
MC Kendo was a very talented person. He came to prominence as a resident MC for the Renegade Hardware events but he was more than this. Before becoming a resident for renegade Hardware, MC Kendo fine tuned his
skills on the pirate airwaves stations with Reload, Flex FM & Rude FM in the late 90s.
From this he became a resident MC (alongside [a=Stevie Hyper D.]) at the Eclectic multi-themed events which were held in London & various locations around the UK. He also had a resident MC role at Fourplay at the old Paradise Club Venue in London.
MC Kendo also went on to guest MC at the Movement events at Bar Rumba & Mass, which led onto his biggest break came in mid 1999 with an appearance on the T.O.V float at the Notting Hill Carnival, therefore gaining a residency for the Renegade Hardware & T.O.V Events.
In just seven appearances between 1999 & 2000 MC Kendo attained a good following from the renegade crowd and he was receiving more bookings from other promoters, which means his persistence on the pirates was paying off and his career was leading onto bigger & better things.
Just as his career was taking off, in April 1999 MC Kendo was Diagnosed with cancer. Throughout this period which would be testing for anyone, MC Kendo still carried on MCing to the best of his ability and that feat alone should serve as inspiration for anyone who he has left behind.
As the disease took hold, he was worried more about everyone else around him rather than himself. He also carried on MCing regardless and hardly telling anyone apart from his close circle of friends of his condition.
As anyone in his position would, Barrie tried to beat this condition. Aged just 22, on the 30th September 2000 after a year long battle to fight the disease, MC Kendo past away. After this tragic event, tributes flowed from all sectors of Drum & Bass Fraternity into all the major magazines & forums at the time.
As mark of respect there were two memorial events at The End & Bar Rumba in London, held in his honour which were busy & well received events. Mace also did a graffiti piece in memory of MC Kendo which was left untouched for seven years.


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The enabling legislation, the Mark Twain Commemorative Coin Act, Public Law 112-201, authorizes the production and sale, in Proof and Uncirculated versions combined, of up to 100,000 gold $5 coins and up to 350,000 silver dollars.
The purchase price of each gold coin will include a $35 surcharge and each silver dollar a $10 surcharge. The net surcharges, after the US Mint has recouped its production and related costs, will be distributed equally to four beneficiaries: The Mark Twain House and Museum in Hartford, University of California, Berkeley, CA (for the benefit of the Mark Twain Project at the Bancroft Library);Elmira College in New York (Center for Mark Twain Studies); and the Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum in Hannibal, MO.
The funds received by The Mark Twain House and Museum will support the continued restoration of the house and grounds and ensure continuing growth and innovation in museum programming to research, promote, and educate the public on the legacy of Mark Twain.
Additional information will be announced prior to the coins' release in early 2016.
Additional information will be announced prior to the coins' release in early 2016.

subset: commoncrawl


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Orson Bean Net Worth
Orson Bean made money by Actors niche. For all time, at the moment, 2018 year, Orson Bean earned $4 Million. Exact sum is $4120000.
Short biography, height, weight, dates:
Birth date: July 22, 1928
Birth place: Burlington, Vermont, United States
Profession: Actor, TV Personality, Author, Voice Actor
Nationality: United States of America
Spouse: Alley Mills (m. 1993), Carolyn Maxwell (m. 1965Р 1981), Jacqueline de Sibour (m. 1956Р 1962)
Children: Susannah Bean, Max Bean, Michele Bean, Ezekiel Bean
Parents: Marian Ainsworth, George Frederick Burrows
Books: Me and the Orgone, Too Much is Not Enough
Wikipedia Source: Orson Bean


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If you are a bride who wants to have a fun and creative entrance for your wedding reception, Superstar Runway can provide just that! With all the elegant glitz and glamour of a celebrity, you and your wedding party can now emerge from the limousine into the reception as if on a "Red Carpet Premiere." With the flashbulbs erupting from your photographer's camera, imagine striking a glamorous pose with your husband in front of a giant backdrop celebrating your wedding day.
Superstar Runway can provide just that! Custom made backdrops featuring your newly wed name and wedding date can be assembled at your reception for fantastic photo opportunities throughout the night. Everything from your grand entrance to memorable couple shots of the night will be enhanced with this thoughtful backdrop. It makes for lasting memories and is always a clever, fun way to celebrate your wedding day in photos.
Working closely with you, Superstar Runway will create the perfect custom graphics and lettering for your backdrop and will gladly do all the setup and placement on your wedding day. And the best part is you can keep the backdrop when its all over as a memorable token the day you tied the knot with your love!!!!
For further information visit http://www.superstarrunway.com to get more information on their custom made backdrops!


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Jersey Mortgage Company – Provides residential mortgage financing.
Jersey Mortgage Company
- Provides residential mortgage financing.
Phone Number
(908) 276-2442
Fax Number
(908) 276-6803
Street Address
20 Commerce Drive Suite 340
Zip Code
Toll-Free Number
(800) 342-6597
Notify me of follow-up comments by email.
Notify me of new posts by email.
© 2018 American Mortgage Directory. Americanmortgagedirectory.com is an independently owned and operated Real Estate Advertising Service Company for Mortgage firms, Mortgage Brokers and Insurance companies. Americanmortgagedirectory.com does not work directly with any mortgage brokers or lending agents.


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Its Pepper Dem Gang Season- Olamide Releases New Video
The King of the street has set the tone for summer anthem with the release of a fresh video to the leading track on his recently released album. Pepper Dem Gang is the fan favorite and most streamed track on the best album of the year so far. The well anticipated visual have not disappointed his core fan but credit must be given to the video director for his clear strategy to deliver a wider audience for the number one rapper out of Nigeria. Mr. Moe Musa, the director of the video is no stranger to top videos as he has worked with the top acts in the business.
To get a taste of the buzz for your self, click on the vevo channel here:
To get a taste of the buzz for your self, click on the vevo channel here:


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Importance Of Unexpected emergency Dental Services
Unexpected emergencies understand no timing and also in the dental arenas, these unexpected emergencies birth the extra worry of agonizing discomfort. For instance, your teeth, gum or mouth frameworks may remain in serious discomfort which can not get ready for the regular orthodontic office hrs. The pain might result from knocked out teeth, fractures or loosened teeth along with cuts in gums or lips which are just few among the various incidents commonly referred to as dental unexpected emergencies. Urgency is vital in such dental emergencies as half an hour suffices to identify whether you will certainly become toothless or not.
Should You Wait?
Owed to the sharp surge in major dental emergencies as well as the casualties pinned to them, orthodontic experts have actually been triggered to offer their services night and day. You should consistently remember that postponing dental issues or preventing them boost the opportunities of irreversible damage considerably thus making it a more expensive event as time progresses. It would certainly therefore be in your benefit to consistently have an unexpected emergency dental expert's number on rate dial just in case.
What To Do
During orthodontic emergencies, it is constantly suggested to first call a qualified dental expert to inform you on the steps and also measures to take immediately. In alarming situations, the specialist will instantly reserve a visit to suppress the scenario however if the injuries could wait, you need to be reserved for regular office hours. You might also be equipped with vital D.I.Y pointers to aid ease the normally irritating pain or get prescription over the phone.
Lessen The Harm
Contrary to typical idea cleaning a knocked senseless tooth using water after an injury is not recommended. As a matter of fact, you are encouraged to draw it as well as position it in your cheeks or hold it in its outlet until you get to the dental professional's facility for conservation purposes. Likewise utilize salted water to rinse your mouth in case a tooth breaks and no pain is felt. This goes a long way in sanitizing the area prior to medical interest is released. In case of swelling, utilize ice cubes or packs to alleviate the impacts.
Avoid Emergencies
As the common mantra look at here now goes, avoidance is constantly much better that treat. It is for this reason of extremely important essence to not just remain aware of the importance of oral hygiene, however to likewise take the needed actions to stop versus injuries and oral related problems. Visiting your dental expert periodically for example will certainly maintain your teeth in excellent condition at all times hence avoiding unwanted future problems. Also call your dental expert promptly you determine a problem within your mouth. Waiting until the problem leaves hand not just extend the quantity of damage but additionally makes it more costly in regards to treatment. Those involved in risky sporting activities would probably intend to wear safety helmets or mouth guards in any way times.
It is necessary to keep in mind that any sort of uncommon discomfort experienced in the mouth needs to be carried as a dental emergency. The thing concerning tooth or gum injuries is that even the tiniest damages has the prospective to thoroughly ruin your nerves which at some point leads to tooth loss. Reserve a visit today and visit your regional dental expert for a much needed examination and while at it, keep in mind to ask if he/she is among the after-hours dentists in case of any future unexpected emergency.


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NAMDET is committed to sharing best practice across the medical device network. In this section you can find various resources that will help you in your trainer role.
Education & Training Resources
Look in this section if you want quality assured training packages or competency documents (site under development)
Look in this section if you want to find publications relevant to medical devices
Documents Library
Look in this section if you want to find any reports or documents relevant to medical devices
Useful Links
Look in this section for links to some of our stakeholders
Medical Device Trainer Role
Looking to recruit to a medical device role, look in this section to access new Jobs. NAMDET have been requested to help with recruitment, including providing draft Job Descriptions, Person Specifications or being part of the interviewing panel.


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The apartment is located in Bar ( Susanj ), only 50m from the sea and the promenade. Apartment with sea view and terrace. Apartment next room contains a fully equipped kitchen, two separate bedrooms with 5 beds and a bathroom. It is equipped with : TV and high speed internet (wireless ), secured parking. The apartment is situated 50m from the beach, 10m from shops, 20 m from the bakery, bookmakers and restaurants, the best part of Bara.Takodje rent a smaller apartment with 4 beds with no balcony but cheaper. Prices are much cheaper in low season. For further information, please contact your email address, and phone numbers offered .
Source: Read more and browse Montenegro travel ads


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Sterling Earheart of Mt Juilet TN writes ;
This is Jeb he will be 7 months next week. He is a Buckley feist out of Bigun and Bunny. He has been timbering and treeing a little bit so I thought I would take him on a hunt with my Sam dog to see what he would do. Sam was having a hard time finding a sq but finally treed a layup. Jeb couldn't smell it so he kept hunting on his own. I found Sam's sq just fixing to shoot it when Jeb started treeing about 60 yds away in a cedar thicket I looked and the sq started timbering Jeb right with him barking every breath. The sq timbered about 40 yds by me I had to shoot. Getting the sq away from him took awhile.


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Expedia Verified Reviews
Don't miss out on a lower price on this hotel
Get an overview of this hotelHotel in London with free breakfast and indoor pool
Popular property highlights
Situated in a rural location, this hotel is 4.4 mi (7.2 km) from Levi Jackson Wilderness Road State Park and 11.7 mi (18.8 km) from London Dragway. The Arena at SE KY Agricultural and Expo Complex and Camp Wildcat Battlefield are also within 20 mi (32 km).
Hotel Features
Along with an indoor pool, this hotel has a fitness center and coffee/tea in a common area. Free buffet breakfast, free WiFi in public areas, and free self parking are also provided. Additionally, a business center, a meeting room, and laundry facilities are onsite.
Room Amenities
All 65 rooms provide conveniences like refrigerators and microwaves, plus free WiFi and flat-screen TVs with cable channels. Guests will also find coffee makers, free newspapers, and free local calls.Information missing or incorrect? Tell us! Opens in a new window.
Holiday Inn Express And Suites London
Hotel Amenities
Hotel Amenities
Holiday Inn Express And Suites London features an indoor pool and a fitness center. Public areas are equipped with complimentary wireless Internet access. Business-related amenities consist of a business center and a meeting room. Guests can enjoy a complimentary breakfast. This business-friendly hotel also offers coffee/tea in a common area, complimentary newspapers in the lobby, and laundry facilities. Complimentary self parking is available on site.
- Safe-deposit box at front desk
- Coffee/tea in common areas
- Elevator/lift
- Fitness facilities
- Indoor pool
- 24-hour front desk
- Business center
- Laundry facilities
- Free breakfast
- Total number of rooms - 65
- One meeting room
- Free self parking
- Number of floors - 3
- Free WiFi
- Free newspapers in lobby
Family Friendly Amenities
- Family Hotel
- Indoor pool
- Free Wi-Fi
- Laundry facilities
- Refrigerator
- Microwave
Available in all rooms: Free WiFi
Available in some public areas: Free WiFi
Free self parking
Room Amenities
- Premium TV channels
- Free newspaper
- Air conditioning
- In-room climate control (air conditioning)
- Phone
- Free local calls
- Microwave
- Refrigerator
- Coffee/tea maker
- Daily housekeeping
- Private bathroom
- Hair dryer
- Shower/tub combination
- Desk
- Iron/ironing board
- Cable TV service
- Flat-panel TV
- Free WiFi
- Number of bathrooms -
Where to Eat
Guests are offered a complimentary hot/cold buffet breakfast.
Nearby Things to Do
Recreational amenities at the hotel include an indoor pool and a fitness center.
If you have requests for specific accessibility needs, please note them at check-out when you book your room.
- Accessible bathroom
- Roll-in shower
- In-room accessibility
Hotel Policies
Check-in time starts at 3 PM
Check-in time ends at 3 PM
Check-out time is 11 AM
Payment types
Children and extra beds
- Children are welcome.
- Rollaway/extra beds are not available.
- Cribs (infant beds) are not available.
- Pets not allowed
You need to know
Extra-person charges may apply and vary depending on property policy.
Hotel Name
- Holiday Inn Express Hotel London
- Holiday Inn Express London
- London Holiday Inn Express
- Holiday Inn Express London Hotel


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As you well know we have come to the conclusion of our first topic – GROWING. Below please find a resume of all that we discussed with regards to this topic as well as what was covered during core work. Hope it is of help so that you can continue with consolidation and reinforcement at home.
Topic subjects: This is me, My pets, My body, My senses, My family, Growth of a plant.
Science: Who am I?, The face, Body parts, Looking after our World, Living/non living, Which sense?, Hygiene, Parts of a plant, What helps plants to grow.
Religion: The creation, Sign of the cross, Adam and Eve, St Francis of Assisi, God made me Special, Cube of love, David, Hail Mary, Morning prayer, Lunch prayer, All souls and all saints, Moses in the Rushes.
Malti: Il-kuluri – ahmar = red, ahdar = green, isfar = yellow, iswed = black, orangjo = orange, blu = blue, vjola = violet, roza = pink, kannella = brown, griz = grey.
- Il-Gisem – ghajn = eye, widna = ear, wicc = face, xaghar = hair, halq = mouth, imnieher = nose, id = hand, idejn = hands, sieq = foot, saqajn = feet, geddum = chin.
- Il-familja – missier = daddy, omm = mother, tifel = boy, tifla =girl, hija = brother, ohti = sister, ahwa = siblings, tarbija = baby, nanna = grandma, nannu = grandpa, zija = aunty, ziju = uncle, kugin = cousin (boy), kugina = cousin (girl), kugini = cousins.
- L-alfabett: i, l, o (look for their vocabulary and their stories on the Maltese section on this blog). Tepp and Tipa help the children on their Stilel book to learn the alfabett in Maltese.
English: letters : s, a, t, i, p, n, c, k, e, h, r, m,d,g,o,u (each letter has a story and a song – will post these later on)
- letter blends to start reading 3 and 4 letter words,
- regular words studied: sat, sit, pin, ant, tap, cat, rat, hen, ten, kid, dog, dig, mud, hand, sand, big, us, bus, must, frog.
- tricky words studied: I, the, he, she
- sound segmentation: how many letters in ….. ex. big = 3 b,i,g
- initial, medial and final sounds in words
- reading simple text which incorporates words above, also start Red Jolly phonics Book 1 – MUD.
Maths: Number recognition 1 -30
- Number ordering 1 – 30 (in sequence)
- Number ordering 1 – 30 (random)
- Number before, number after
- Number in between
- Addition with props, with pictures and with number line.
- Subtraction with props, with pictures and with number line.
Although we have finished from this topic of GROWING, we hope that you continue to expand and interest the children with other interesting activities. Such activities could be a trip to Buskett where they can see the change in the trees and plants -now that Autumn is in full swing, collection of leaves – seeing the different colours of Autumn, doing some planting of your own at home or maybe join the 34u (tree for you) and plant a tree in one of Malta's future 'forests', a visit to Ghar Dalam would be of interest – the children can see lots of skeletons of animals past. A visit to a baker when s/he is working with the 'growing' dough and making bread.
If you have other ideas or do other inventing activities which link with Growing leave a comment on this blog.
Thank you and hope this was of interest.


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CGM: 55 <-- do you see what I mean about a working transmitter and decent freaking trends? LOL :D I think I'm lucky because my trending is so even keel. Except for the occasional spike or dip, my BGs roll, meaning even when I rise, I usually take some time to do it. When I go low, same thing... That helps the CGM readings stay closer to BG levels. Anyhoo. I'm eating too much at bedtime. I need to eat too much, I should say. Not sure how to mess with my doses, just yet, but for sure, I'll be lowering some dinner time basals.
I wanted to touch on my Bolus Delivery. I love my pump, you know that. It has three different delivery types for whenever I eat. A normal gives me my entire dose at one time. A square gives me the dose over a period of X minutes. And the dual delivers both--normal and square. I've learned to LOVE this feature. High fat foots do not allow sugars to be absorbed as easily, so I know eating a steak or a couple peices of pizza are going to give me more of a spike later. And wahlah! now I can take a square bolus and get insulin coverage for a longer period of time.
I'll have to do some research and questioning when I see my MM rep next Friday, because I was thinking tonight... if I use a square bolus for my bagel, will that allow me to cover my food without going too much lower than I already am? Do you see what I mean? I don't want to eat an entire bagel adn NOT bolus, but when my sugar gets this low, I hate to bolus at all until I feel better.
I'm tired though. and ready for bed... and I know that I ate enough, because not only did I eat that bagel that I square bolused for, I drank a glass of orange juice[<--the other reason I dont' want to go to bed without bolusing. High alert in another hour!!] Well, thanks for listenign to be ramble tonight.
Have a great day tomorrow.
With Love,


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Grosgrain, Little Red Roost, Presser Foot has one coming up) and they're so simple you don't even really need one!
Freshly Picked skirt tutorial to make mine (I wanted pockets). I also added a lining, made the same as the skirt without the pockets. Then it was just a quick two steps to attach the skirt to the elastic and the elastic to the shirt! I used this great top from Target that I got last weekend (can't find in online). Most of the other dresses I've seen in this style have been made from tank tops but I prefer real tops especially since I'm looking to add these to my work rotation.
too poofy so I used much less fabric than I should have. On top of that I lowered the pockets (for absolutely no reason) so I ended up with a too tight skirt with pockets hitting at my upper thigh! Needless to say I spent a lot of time with the seam ripper, cursing my love of French seams. Once everything was apart I just added an extra panel to each side, and with the busy pattern you don't even notice the extra seams!
This is definitely a quick and easy way to get a new dress, and even redo an old shirt you don't wear much anymore. For the next one I want to do something like this (although with a lower waist). I looked at it at the store and there is (small width) elastic only on the back where the skirt and shirt meet, and the tie is only sewn in on the front.
Friday, May 7, 2010
Easy As Pie Dress
Posted by Laurel at Friday, May 07, 2010
Labels: dress
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With the temperature in New York City in the teens today, I thought I'd feature a documentary about the Nomads of Mongolia by Brandon Li, a talented peripatetic movie maker.
The Mongolian pastoral herders are one of the world's last remaining nomadic cultures. For over 3000 years, they have lived on the steppes, grazing their livestock on its grasslands, and move in the search of better pastures and campsites. They live by and for their livestock, including their horses.
About half of Mongolia's population is still roaming the vast plains living in the traditional ger, and moving their campings several times a year. Nomadic life may seem to us to be extraordinarily hard, but Mongolians have developed, over the centuries, strength and resilience that are essential for survival in this harsh nature.
However, modernity, bringing a new economic system, opportunities in mining, and the effects of overgrazing and climate change are pushing this ancient nomadic culture to adopt a more urban, settled lifestyle. Many Mongolian herders believe their traditional way of life is over, and some have already broken the ancient tradition of passing down the family herd to the youngest child.


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Research And Religion Can Be A Difficult Mix
Among those honored are researchers in Japan, Italy and the Netherlands, a country with a population of just 16-million. Yet the list does not include a single noteworthy breakthrough in any of the world's 56 Muslim nations, encompassing more than 1-billion people.
Dr. Essam Heggy has a reason.
"We don't live in an environment where we value science," says Heggy, a Muslim astronomer who left his native Libya and is working in Houston on NASA's Mars exploration program. "Science and intellectual presence have been seen as a real threat to governments that have no serious plans for democratic rule."
Why the dearth of scientific achievement in the modern Muslim world? Like Heggy, many critics blame authoritarian regimes that stifle independent thinking and limit contacts with the outside world. Most schools and universities in Muslim countries emphasize rote learning over debate and analysis. Defense budgets -- especially in the bellicose Middle East -- consume billions of dollars that might otherwise go to research.
And just as Christian conservatism in America has led to curbs on genetic research and pressure to teach alternatives to evolution, the rise of Islamic fundamentalism has turned many Muslims away from science and toward religion as a way to view and explain the world.
"Religious fundamentalism is always bad news for science," Pervez Amirali Hoodbhoy, a Pakistani Muslim physicist, recently wrote in an article on Islam and science for Physics Today.
"Scientific progress constantly demands that facts and hypotheses be checked. But there lies the problem: The scientific method is alien to traditional, unreformed religious thought."
While the reasons are many and often controversial, there is no doubt that the Muslim world lags far behind in scientific achievement and research:
* Muslim countries contribute less than 2 percent of the world's scientific literature. Spain alone produces almost as many scientific papers.
* In countries with substantial Muslim populations, the average number of scientists, engineers and technicians per 1,000 people is 8.5. The world average is 40.
* Muslim countries get so few patents that they don't even register on a bar graph comparison with other countries. Of the more than 3-million foreign inventions patented in the United States between 1977 and 2004, only 1,500 were developed in Muslim nations.
* In a survey by the Times of London, just two Muslim universities -- both in cosmopolitan Malaysia -- ranked among the top 200 universities worldwide.
Two Muslim scientists have won Nobel Prizes, but both did their groundbreaking work at Western institutions. Pakistan's Abdus Salam, who won the 1979 physics prize while in Britain, was barred from speaking at any university in his own country. Why? Salam belonged to what the Pakistani government had declared a heretical sect.
Vanguard of learning
Despite a popular myth, people in the Muslim world are not resistant to new technology. Even the poorest have cell phones, some with global positioning features that show the exact direction in which to pray to Mecca. Prayer rugs now contain computer chips that count the number of bend-downs. And as al-Qaida's frequent messages show, the Internet has been a valuable tool in spreading threats against the West.
But it is a far cry from Islam's early days when the prophet Mohammed said "the ink of the scholar is more sacred than the blood of martyrs."
As Islam spread from its birthplace on the Arabian Peninsula, Muslim scientists expanded on the knowledge gained from the Romans, Greeks and other cultures. The Golden Age of Islam, spanning the 8th through 13th centuries, saw major advances in mathematics, optics, chemistry, astronomy and medicine while Europe slept through centuries of intellectual darkness.
Over time, though, tensions grew between liberal Muslims, who had a flexible interpretation of Islam, and fundamentalists, who believed in predestination with all its chilling implications for learning and discovery. As reason bowed to faith, "science in the Islamic world essentially collapsed," Hoodbhoy writes. "No major invention or discovery has emerged from the Muslim world for well over seven centuries now."
Today, many of the brightest scientific minds leave their countries to study in Western universities like Virginia Tech and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, both of which have sizeable Muslim student associations. By some estimates, more than half of the science students from Arab countries never return home to work.
"Science has now been replaced by religious thinking," says Heggy, 32, the NASA researcher who got his doctorate in France. "Logic unfortunately is a smaller and smaller part of society."
Muslim scientists who do work in their native countries often find themselves embracing -- publicly at least -- so-called "Islamic science." Popularized in the '80s as an alternative to Western science and its perceived lack of moral values, the Islamic version tries to mesh religion and science with curious results.
"Some scholars calculated the temperature of Hell, others the chemical composition of heavenly djinn spirits," Hoodbhoy writes. "None produced a new machine or instrument, conducted an experiment or even formulated a single testable hypothesis."
Instead, fundamentalists typically view science only of value in giving more proof of God or showing the truth of the Koran. One oft-visited Internet site reveals this "astounding scientific fact" -- the Koran anticipated black holes and genes.
'Silent note-takers'
While critical of fellow Muslims, Hoodbhoy thinks the United States is partly to blame for the dismal record of scientific achievement. Western support for unpopular secular governments in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and other Muslim countries has fueled a rise in fundamentalism that in turn discourages academic and cultural freedom.
At Hoodbhoy's own university in Islamabad, Pakistan, almost all female students now wear veils and have become "silent note-takers" who are increasingly timid and afraid to ask questions, he says. Movies, dramas and music are shunned as un-Islamic. The campus has three mosques, but no bookstore.
The picture is not entirely bleak. Saudi Arabia, though home to one of the most intolerant strains of Islam, is building a world-class research university in collaboration with Cape Cod's prestigious Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
Turkey -- whose founder, Kemal Ataturk, wanted to Westernize his country -- has more than tripled its science funding since 2003 while under a religiously conservative prime minister. Tunisia, another secular Muslim nation, has largely rejected "Islamic science" in favor of practical research. The number of laboratories there grew to 139 from 55 in six years.
But far more needs to be done, says Hoodbhoy, who argues that arrested scientific development in the Muslim world is contributing to the "marginalization" of Muslims and their growing sense of injustice and victimhood. Muslim countries will continue to stagnate scientifically -- and in other ways as well.
"The struggle to usher in science," Hoodbhoy writes, "will have to go side-by-side with a much wider campaign to elbow out rigid orthodoxy and bring in modern thought, arts, philosophy, democracy and pluralism." (By SUSAN TAYLOR MARTIN, St. Petersburg Times)
Image - Source
Labels: Religion. Science


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Nathaniel Woodhull Elementary School recently hosted more than 20 published authors and illustrators for Author/Illustrator Night, in which students, parents and staff had the opportunity to meet and interact with published authors and illustrators, ask questions about their books and the writing process, as well as get their autograph on a special passport containing their biographies. The Nathaniel Woodhull Parent Involvement Committee was instrumental in organizing the event, and the PTO also pitched in and provided dinner for the special guests.
"The evening gave our students a great opportunity to meet and talk with published authors and illustrators who brought their writing to life, which is a wonderful motivator for our students," said Monica Corona, Principal, Nathaniel Woodhull Elementary School.
This event was held the same day as an in-school visit by children's author Douglas Florian, which was co-sponsored by the Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library. Mr. Florian wrote such books as Dinothesaurus, which was named to many best-of-the-year lists; Comets, Stars, the Moon, and Mars, a "Kirkus Reviews" Best Book of the Year and Horn Book Fanfare List selection; and Bowwow Meow Meow, winner of the Gryphon Award and a Parents Magazine Best Book of the Year. Mr. Florian met with all Nathaniel Woodhull students during three assemblies throughout the day. He also paid a visit to students at William Floyd Elementary School.
See more photos in the album below!


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COVENTRY City manager Mark Robins has said his side is not fit enough after suffering another defeat, this time to Milton Keynes Dons.
The Sky Blues put in an improved performance, though they left Buckinghamshire pointless after Stuart O'Keefe struck a top corner strike shortly after the half-time break.
Robins said his side must address things for future games.
He added: "We have to address some things and we need to create an identity and a way of playing the game rather than just hoping for the best.
"We're not fit enough and at times it cost us.
"It's very sad where we are. Today I thought we started off okay and ended up getting close to their box. I get the ironic cheers but we played better today, though there's still room for improvement.
"We're not creating many chances. The young players we have could potentially be with us next season and they've trying to inject some spark into the game, but we're just not fit enough – because they haven't worked hard enough.
"The players have a responsibility to be fit. They've got to work. They have young heads on young shoulders.
"We spoke in the week about the other side of our game which is being physical.
"MK Dons were more savvy today and were better at heading – we allowed that to happen.
"We need to let our opposition know we're around them. At throw ins we were getting nudged off and dispossessed. It annoyed me.
"The more we can get into a team the better."
Robins added Stuart Beavon was missing from today's line-up due to fatigue, though he should be okay for Tuesday's home game against Port Vale.


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My First Love (Valentine's Day Special Part 3)
Valentine's Day is almost here! Are you excited? You're not? Okay…
Seriously though, there's nothing wrong in being alone during that fateful day. What's wrong is if you value the idea of a WORKING holiday more than the actual essence of it. It's not about being with someone just for the sake of it or how many dates you have on the 14th; it's how you should be appreciative and welcoming of being given the opportunity of falling in love! Okay this is what happens when you marathon 3 films of Hugh Grant in one day… With that creepy detail out in the way, here is Part 3 of My First Love Story. Enjoy!
(Names were changed for practical reasons)
It wasn't particularly warm that afternoon but I intensely feel heat throughout my body. My hands started sweating, my mouth felt dry and my heart started beating faster. [To be honest, I always feel like that. Hmm. I wonder what's different. Is it something I ate? Do…we…have…any Pringles?]
All the jokes aside, what I'm feeling at that moment was very foreign to me. There's nothing quite like it. You're about to say something important but all the while you're thinking overall failure. Why am I feeling this? It's because the girl that I'm in love with for the past five years is with me right now asking comfort after her boyfriend, my 2nd best friend broke her heart.
Nothing's wrong with you, you're perfect, I said. You really meant that, did you? Why? She replied. Now, Cristine, the love of my life is looking at me intently. It seems she already knows the answer but somehow continues to doubt the whole thing.
Cristine moved her head closer to me; I held my breath for what it feels like forever. Nothing can ruin this moment. I thought to myself. The swings beside us occasionally squeak and the kids playing volleyball continued to maintain an impressive rally. I exhaled slowly. [Dear gods of cosmos I hope she didn't smell the Ranch house Barbecue flavored Piatos I munched on earlier this day.]
Cristine spoke quietly making one syllable word feel like heaven, "Kim?"
"Uhh, thhfft kung… Hehe. Kasi. Ahay! Argh," I articulated. In my mind I thought I said, "Cristine, I've been meaning to tell you this for quite some time now."
She chuckled. "What was that?"
I wiped the sweat from my hands onto my pants then looked at Cristine. "Ever since—" before I could finish my sentence the only thing I heard after that was, "Hey Mister! Ball!"
First of all since when saying, "Hey Mister, ball!" ever actually helped someone evade an incoming ball to their face? They should have said, "Hey Mister! Holy shit, there's a ball coming right at your ugly face—approximately 1.9 seconds from now you need to duck!" If they have said that instead, the following events never should have happened.
The stray volleyball hit me right on the nose. I don't know about you but if you started crying in front of the girl you like, that's not going to set out well for you. Fortunately, it wasn't some girl—it was my best friend Cristine. After the ball hit me, I started openly weeping after seeing a little bit of blood coming out from my nose.
"Oh my gosh! Are you okay?" I sensed genuine concert in her voice.
Getting a bit cross-eyed, my voice started to sound like I inhaled helium, "Number 1!"
"Huh?" She replied. "Number…waht?" Confused, she picked up the volleyball and directed an intimidating stare at the kids.
"I think you owe us an apology?" Cristine demanded.
"That ball auntie, that's ours," said the kid while scratching his flake filled head.
Cristine's eyebrows raised, she turns around and pulled up her sleeves and throws the volleyball outside the park.
"Hala! You're crazy old auntie!" said the dandruff king kid. Three kids began running towards their ball for what it seemed like at least two blocks away from the park.
The kids started whispering to one another when Cristine said, "What? I can't hear your cowardly whispers?"
"You're a witch!" replied one of them as they sprinted away from us.
"You sons of bitches!" Cristine said violently.
"Hey, let them go," I managed to stop her. "They're just kids, you know."
She was making sure if the kids who went after their ball are coming back, they didn't. She went back to sit beside me and started wiping the blood which is now dripping down to my lips.
"I was also a kid then but I have values," Cristine declared. She asked my permission if she can wipe the blood with her handkerchief. "My tears are kind of on my handkerchief. Don't worry, I'll fold it the other way?" I told her it was okay.
Realizing we need more things to stop the bleeding, she decided to take me home. "Don't cry Kim. I'm right here, you're safe," she said while smiling.
I don't know if it's because I just lost a fair amount of blood or the fact that I cried in front of the girl I like but I was really feeling good about being there with Cristine. If this was the cost to be with her, then I would gladly offer my face to those kids as their regular unpaid intern hitting buddy. It was totally worth it…
So, yes, I wasn't able to seal the deal and the more I thought about it, the more time quickly passed and here we were on our junior year.
My moderator talked to me after homeroom and told me I should sign up for a club or else I wouldn't graduate. She told me it was a requirement. How I managed not to have one for the past two years is beyond her but she was telling it to me now that I need to sign up for something…or else.
Coincidentally that day, the department was holding a club fair for the whole morning. They said classes will resume in the afternoon but they never actually did. So I started taking a stroll around the different booths. The only thing in my mind is to sign up for "Basketball Club". Their agenda was so simple; they let you play freaking basketball for a whole entire hour once a week. I mean, how easier can it get? I walked around a bit more. I saw the glee club on stage serenading students with a cool rendition of Sean Kingston's Beautiful Girl. Their smiles whilst performing are endearing but I sensed in their eyes the emptiness of being there to recruit desperate saps like me to have an extracurricular activity.
You're way too beautiful girl, that's why it will never work…
I nodded along rhythmically as I passed by student council station where they help freshmen to choose the clubs they want. Surprisingly there were a lot of people there, it's just an information booth, I thought to myself. Then it hit me that of course, the young ones were there to see the most gorgeous student in the campus and this year's student council secretary, Ms. Cristine Elmiro. It's as if my chances are not already slim, she ran for office last year and "shockingly", no one ran against her. Not to mention, Cristine is with this new guy, who for the purpose of this story I will call, "Juicy Fruit". How can I say this, he's really feminine? I will get a glimpse of them together and I see him pulling Cristine's hair or always put on powder and lip gloss to himself. I don't know? In addition, school ordered slacks aren't suppose to be skinny but hell, his was like leather pants waiting to happen. [How can his thing breathe in there?] Maybe I'm just letting my genuine concern and undying love for Cristine cloud my judgment.
I can still hear the glee club from afar nevertheless, I continued on my path to bitterness by looking at other booths present. Most of the clubs had a line except this one. Audio Visual Club, I read. I went over there and see this girl signing up her name. The moderator at the desk who looks like a freaking miniature Gundam welcomed me with a smile and said, "Hijo! Have you registered into a club yet? Register here!" His tone reminded me of the voice actor of Hercule from Dragon Ball Z.
"Our air conditioning is open the whole day. You can even hang out with your friends," he continued.
All he needed to say was the aircon part and I saw myself grabbing the pen by the desk while I quickly listed my name below the girl who came before me. To my surprise after checking the list, it was a good 20-30 people who registered. I guess it's not that bad.
I attended my club's first meeting. I arrived a little over 10 minutes than scheduled. The room where we stayed at was bigger than I thought it would be. It had 3 partitions. The first on the left are filled with shelves and bookcases, inside them were cassette tapes, movies, books and bundles of subscription educational magazines. At the middle were 30-40 armchairs and at the front is huge TV and behind it, a whiteboard. The far right contained cabinets with some electrical cables coming out of one of the doors.
Despite being late on my first day, Mr. Hercule—I mean, Sir Santos welcomed me with a nod while extending both his arms as if saying, Welcome To My World. I found myself a seat beside a girl whom I think is the one I saw signing up for AV Club earlier this morning. She looked distracted so I started listening to Mr. Santos.
"…okay, if ever problems arise during school meetings like: flag ceremonies presentations in the auditorium and other electrical related issue, that's our cue help whoever is in charge," he discussed. He paced slowly across the room when a student raised his hand:
"Sir, what if there aren't any activities yet in our school that requires our assistance?" he ventured. Sensing he should've asked his question and started putting down his hand nervously.
"That's easy," Mr. Santos [Hercule] paused. I felt everyone in the room held their breath. Because of the full attention so focused on the next series of words Mr. Santos were about to say, I heard gulps, stomach churnings and I think one had a moist fart, other than that, it was total silence.
"Then we'll just stay and hang out here!" The class cheered.
The girl beside me offered me a high five. She put her glasses on her armchair and started clapping cheerfully.
"Does he remind you of someone?" the ice was broken as she spoke to me for the first time.
I eased myself from the happy cheering and said, "Yeah. He totally looks like—"
"Hercule!" we said in unison. We were both shocked with our chorus response. Her eyes beamed at me, I never realized how pretty she was without her glasses. Her hair was medium length but really wavy and curly. The pin holding the strands by her fringe is barely holding the line.
"Jinx!" she pointed at me. "Although how can I fix you since I don't even know your name?."
I was looking at her, realizing the brilliance of her timing, I bowed and mouthed, "K-I-M". She squinted as she tries her best to read my lips after she give up entirely she said, "I'm Kristel by the way."
"I'm a senior," she persisted talking. She directed her gaze at my lips again while I desperately mouth everything clearer this time.
"KIM!" she exclaimed. The class looked at us with a stern expression. She opened her notebook and pretended to take notes but everybody in the room knows Mr. Santos wasn't saying anything worthy to be jotted down.
"This is your fault," she whispered but audible enough for me to hear. "You should have just written down your name, you know?."
"That's also not allowed when you're jinxed," I replied. "Besides, who jinxes someone they don't even know?"
The whole duration of the class, we exchanged notes to avoid any attention to us. The last note went something like this:
She passed the paper to me. "Number?" it read. I wrote, "ID Number? 07-2344D5856"
Kristel held her laugh then preceded writing on the paper. She handed it back to me. "Shut up! Cell phone number!" it says. I got my pen and started writing, "Cellphone: 09163113724. Pager: 555-Jumbo. Walkie Taklie: Channel 1. Codec: 141.18. Fax: Shit! I forgot my fax!" After that, I gave the paper back to her.
She brought out a small purple notepad from her back which I assumed she used to copy the numbers I wrote. Expecting our paper relay is done, she handed the paper back to me. "You should include the landline since you made the trouble of listing almost everything." it says. I looked up front to see what the class is doing. The TV was on and the VCR was lit and they were watching The Lion King. The scene displayed was the iconic raising of Simba near the cliff. I wrote, "4379145". I tapped her arm and gave the paper back. She smiled at me and kept the paper inside her pocket.
Later that night, I was watching a late night cartoon on TV [not the internet! I'm not visiting the famous Naruto site, honest!], when our phone rang. My mother was already asleep so, I picked up the receiver as soon as it rang for the second time.
"Hello?" I spoke.
"Hello?" said the person on the other line.
"Who is this?" I asked. Seeing it's safe to assume it, I said, "Cristine?"
"Jinx! Wait, what? You were expecting someone else" said the caller which I now figured out was Kristel.
"Yes?" I wasn't exactly sure to be honest.
"Who is Cristine?" Kristel questioned me?
After that it seems the interrogator in Kristel brought out everything within me. I told her almost everything about myself especially the ones that deal with Cristine. We kept talking into the night which feels so familiar yet so different in my mind and in my heart. It was already 4:23 am.
"So, you're in love with this Cristine for 6 years and she doesn't even know it?" Kristel said.
My eyes were getting heavy and I was starting to lose my voice but I still managed to say, "Pretty much, yeah."
"Let me get this straight," she continued. I hear the electric fan close to her but I was so sleepy to ask her to move away from it. "You're in love with Cristine. The Cristine Elmiro who is, captain of the swimming varsity team, member of glee club, contributor to the school paper and secretary of the student council?"
Before I could say anything she cut me off and said, "Plus, she once dated your best friend for two years—"
"Second best friend," I interrupted.
"Fine! 'second best friend' and now she has this new boyfriend who you accused of being gay?" she sighed. "It seems to me that you really need to move on, bro."
There was just silence on my end realizing there were some truths in her words.
"She used to treat my wound when we were kids," I whined.
"Is she treating the wound she's giving you for the past 6 years?" Kristel shot back.
The sound of the wind getting into my end of the receiver is now more constant. I think she even moved closer to the electric fan. "What would you have me do?" I replied.
Kristel exhaled. "Cristine perhaps knows what you feel. But she also probably knows that when someone loves you; it doesn't mean you have to love them back."
Once more, I can only respond with silence. It was just dead air for awhile until she broke it and started speaking again.
"You probably don't want to hear this but have you considered to give your love to someone else?" her concern really got to me.
However, I remained stubborn. "I never once even considered that idea."
Our phone call ended around 5:30 in the morning. I said I still need to make breakfast for my mother. "See you later mama's boy," she said then the line went dead.
Even with the ending to our very first real conversation, the next phone calls were always meaningful, funny and insightful. Some even longer than usual, we would start around 8 in the evening until 8 in the morning. We did that a number of times and I only fell asleep on her 7 times! She would often make fun of me for being an extension of my mother. She will often say, "You don't need to get a manicure! Just admit it that you also enjoy it"
If you want the truth, I'm really getting attached to Kristel. However, the thought of being with Cristine still has never eluded me…
A few months passed and the moment which juniors feared or loved finally came! It's the Junior-Senior Promenade. I chose not to go but my mother forcefully insisted. I think her exact words were, "There are only a few moments in your life when I can make you extremely pretty, at least give me this one!"
It took the whole day for my mom to make me look half-decent. My hair was perfectly coiffed, I was bathed in men's cologne and I had more makeup than I had originally requested. As I looked at myself in the mirror—I feel like a reject on a B-rated Twilight Movie. Should I be this white? I said to myself. But to be honest, I really do look good. Mom picked the right tux for me. The only missing was my date—okay, I didn't have one! Obviously, Cristine will go with Juicy Fruit. And Kristel asked me, I think? I'm not entirely sure, you be the judge:
"Kim! Do you have a date for prom?"
"None, why?"
"Do you have any plans to ask out someone?"
"I don't, why?"
"Did you already ask if I already have a date?" Kristel asked.
"Not yet, why?" I paused for awhile. "Do you have a date?"
"I don't, why?" she replied.
"No reason."
The night was going so well. Supper is treating everyone nicely. My friends were getting in line for their 3rd round to the buffets. I stood up to go the bathroom when someone called for me from behind.
"Kim," a sweet familiar voice said. I turned around and saw Cristine in an elegant black and white gown. It was puffy and I can't see her feet. She was wearing a white sleeved glove; seeing her with makeup, my breathing lost its rhythm. I never knew it was possible for her to even look more beautiful. We were almost the same height.
She fixed my bowtie and messed around my hair for a bit. "Will you be my first dance?" there was a hint of joking in her tone.
I was taken aback. "Shouldn't Juicy Fruit be your first?"
"He's acting up a couple of months ago. Actually he has always been like that." She replied while greeting people coming up to her. "Besides, I miss my best friend. What have you been up to these days? It seems like we barely even get the chance to talk anymore."
"I really don't know," I replied. I was enduring icy stares from guys who think I was putting on the moves on Cristine.
"Hmm," she looked away for a bit and said, "Anyway, will you wait for me at the middle of the dance floor later?"
"Of course," I replied with a smile. She pinched my cheek then she walked away.
The formalities were over and the DJ started playing some dance mixes. I entered the warzone of unending fist pumps, bouncing bodies and the not-so-frequent, frequent dance circles where one guy challenges another with a bunch of taunting, pointing and boasting they had bigger genitals than the other. When someone challenged me, I just walked away and told him, okay you're penis is bigger you can stop with the unnecessary pricking now.
After what it feels like 3 whole hours of party songs, the strobe lights started to settle and the overall lighting got dimmer. There was a couple seconds of silence then a somewhat subtle song started playing. My table is somewhere far back so I had to make my way to the dance floor where I approximately measure where the middle is. Students started pairing up, I made my way through some of them walking faster every time I bumped into one. I begin to make something of the song it has this sweet melody that made everything elegant.
Good times for a change…See, the luck I've had can make a good man turn bad.
I was stopped in my tracks when I saw Cristine, although she was already with someone. Time seemed to stop and the only thing that connects me to my reality is the song which seems to be going on a loop.
So please, please, please…Let me, let me, let me…Let me, get what I want this time.
My body froze and the only image I see is Cristine dancing with Jojo. What's happening? I thought to myself. Before I could do anything more, I felt someone held my hand. I directed my gaze and saw it was Kristel. I can't see clearly but her eyes were solely focused on me. Her wavy hair was straightened and her black and red dress fitted her perfectly. She started swaying me along with the music.
So, for once in my life let me get what I want. Lord knows it would be the first time. The song continues.
Kristel slightly bowed as she rested her head on my chest. My gaze isn't faltering. The feeling I have at that moment is like the dozens of time I tripped when I was kid, the scratched knees, the scathed elbows and that one time my nose bled after getting hit by a volleyball—take all that and multiply it by 10.
"Kim," Kristel spoke. "I may not be your childhood sweetheart, captain of the varsity team nor won the secretary position of the student government—I'm just the girl from the AV Club," she sighed. "But I know—I will and I can take care of you."
#End of Part 3
Featured photo is from listofimages.com
Kimani S. Franco copyright 2014-02-12


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Over 300 entrepreneurs were enthralled as best-selling author and TV talk-show host, Justin Cohen, kicked off the Johannesburg round of the ENGEN Pitch & Polish programme by telling them that "build it – and they will come" is a lie!
"The truth," said Cohen emphatically, "is build it, pitch it, and – maybe – they will come!"
Now on its eighth national tour, the ENGEN Pitch & Polish workshop and competition is designed to teach entrepreneurs the vital art of pitching their business or business idea. This year's facilitator, Justin Cohen, is a leading expert on the topic of pitching for business. And if the response of the audience in Johannesburg is anything to go by, this year's programme promises to bring even greater learning and guidance than ever before.
ENGEN Pitch & Polish is a collaboration between Engen Petroleum, Nedbank, and Raizcorp, and is supported by media partner Caxton Local Media.
Justin's philosophy of pitching to win was dramatically underscored when he told the audience that big pharmaceutical companies spend more money marketing and pitching life-saving drugs than they do on actually developing the drugs!
"Just because you have a product that you think will change the world does not mean you do not have to find a way to communicate with and educate the public," explained Cohen.
The ENGEN Pitch & Polish workshop is designed to underscore the belief that pitching is not selling – pitching is educating and communicating.
The rapport, created by Justin's engaging style, set the tone for a safe environment in which contestants could pitch, receive constructive and honest feedback, learn from it, and re-pitch.
Key pitching lessons were:
• Tune in: Are you addressing your customer's needs?
• Be optimistic: Become a rejection specialist and, when rejected, ask yourself: "How can I make this better?"
• Solve problems: Bring value to the world and focus on the customers' needs.
• Cultivate presence: The number one advantage, when pitching your business, is energy and enthusiasm.
• Find your purpose: Being an entrepreneur is not a job or a career; it is a calling! Treat it as such.
• Be of service: To sell is to give. Entrepreneurs create something wonderful and serve people with it. Pitching is the art of communicating this!
Over 150 applications were received to compete in the 2017 ENGEN Pitch & Polish event in Johannesburg. Four contestants were carefully pre-selected by a panel while a fifth contestant was chosen, on the day, to give the delegates a further opportunity to have their voices heard.
Meet the Johannesburg Contestants:
Noughty Maluleke – Chicken supplier
Nkosinathi Hadebe – Shoe designer and manufacturer
Masego Mohajane – Medical engineering products
Hloniphile Manana – Chocolate-making in the shape of body parts (business idea)
Lebohang Molapo – Online tutorial platform
Throughout the day, pitches were sharpened and polished – thanks to clear guidance from Justin, combined with inquiring questions from the delegates. By pushing the contestants to improve, learn, define the problem, and present the solution, the inspired delegates were simultaneously applying the principles to their own businesses and ideas!
The programme culminated in the competition segment, where the five contestants could pitch their business or business idea to the judges. The judging panel was made up of Mntu Nduvane from Engen Petroleum, Regina Gounden from Nedbank and Dave Mills from Raizcorp. This year, the judges' questions and feedback were explained to all present, and used as a learning platform, with Justin guiding the way. The ENGEN Pitch & Polish programme continues to grow thanks to Engen Petroleum, Nedbank and Raizcorp along with Caxton Local Media.
The winner of the Johannesburg event, who proceeds to Round 2, is Masego Mohajane with her medical engineering business.
Congratulations to all for attending – and taking action, as this is the secret to building your business!
For more information visit www.pitchandpolish.com.
Do you perhaps have more information pertaining to this story? Email us at firstname.lastname@example.com (remember to include your contact details) or phone us on 011 955 1130.
For free daily local news on the West Rand, also visit our sister newspaper websites


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We arrived to a house of bustling activity. Nurses, home health visitors etc, so we headed into the garden. It wasn't that cold and it is such a haven..
|I just love the silhouette of this tree, so gnarly and stubby
|Chinese lanterns...not seen them for ever.
|flowers, no really they are, I'm clever like this
|another twisty tree
|your highness
|garden pretties
|Mr. Crankipants
|Chinese Lanterns in the kitchen
|homemade pumpkin bread
|hah, I have this saying everywhere
|how he does Christmas with his WWII tinsel and baubles
|pretty...he hates that word
|he has a knack
|tis a shame one cant just steal windows.
|we found this swan who was more than happy to show off for us
|my brothers house is one street back from here.
|Not very good with pictures but he will learn
|utterly baffled that the camera is facing us.
|laughing at his baffled-ness
|finally poked him in the side to make him laugh
|is this not gorgeous?
|it's like a scene from Alfred Hitchcock
|a lovely time of night and perfectly frigid
|I really should have photo shopped that woman out of there
|Good night St.Ives


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Not much Mor Lam, as a matter of fact not a lot of smiling and dancing at the Mukdahan Birthday celebration Friday evening. Shower shoes and plastic buckets got the place of honor while ASEAN and local exhibits are down in the mud. I understand there is no way, during the rainy season, that the the Provincial officers could have predicted rain, but rain it did. I will do a photo post of the state of affairs during the day today, when the CFLs are off. There were enough family members families and school mates of the actors (schoolkids) in the seats to cause a stranger to think there was an interest in the performance, but the whole site seemed empty except for teachers and government officers. The new stage is a total disater! When are they going to learn that a stage 2 meters above ground level just doesn't work and the lighting is so bad that i videoed the big screen that was showing their camera shots. The one thing that worked to fine was the audio volume. I am sure everyone got a little thrill as their chairs vibrated to the music.
Their does seem to be this effort to get everyone into an ASEAN state of mind and with that in mind here is the presentation "ASEAN ruam jai" ASEAN share heart.


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Good morning all!
Today's scripture:
2 Corinthians 4:16-5:5 (NRSV)
16 So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. 17 For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure, 18 because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.
5 For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this tent we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling— 3 if indeed, when we have taken it off we will not be found naked. 4 For while we are still in this tent, we groan under our burden, because we wish not to be unclothed but to be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.
When I opened the daily scripture this morning, this one was the one that immediately jumped out at me. I didn't even need to look at the others. There are times when something just pops out at you, aren't there and you have to listen to that?
I needed this scripture today for a couple of different parts of it….
So we do not lose heart….
There is some really really hard stuff going on at the church that I serve at right now. There has been confrontation and accusations. There has been he said and she said and emails and texts and more meetings today. There is hurtful stuff said and some supportive stuff but of course the hurtful stuff sounds louder and sticks more to my skin and to my dreaming world on a nightly basis. There are questions and rightfully so and conversations that I thought would happen and totally different conversations come out. And I can't give details but I needed someone to say to my soul….so we do not lose heart…
The decisions were made and are being made because of mission and where God is calling us….if we lose heart, we have lost sight of God. If we give up having the hard conversations and just give up the community, we have lost sight of God. If we just walk away, we are losing sight of where God can work so tremendously. "The weight of glory beyond all measure…"
For we know that if the earthly tent we live in…
An earthly tent. Lately I have been thinking a lot about my own body (being on this Whole30 thing), losing people (other earthly tents) and our world (a larger earthly tent). What interesting imagery! We are here but there is more to come and this is temporary. This situation. This moment. This thing that holds us and seems like it is everything. So there are two ways we can think about it. 1. we can just manage and get through because there is more to come or/and 2. We must enjoy the camping experience to its fullest because this is one grand adventure chalked full of God and small miracles. Paul writes to a church in turmoil that in this tent we groan but I think maybe we should look at each other intentionally and wade through the adventure for today.
He who has prepared us for this very thing is God…
God surrounds me/us. God has prepared me for such a time as this with capacity and resiliency and the narrative of love and mission. We have to keep that narrative up even in times of discontent and disagreement. Amen.


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Download EBOOK Siege: Dark Avengers PDF for free
Category: Fiction
The author of the book: Brian Michael Bendis
Format files: PDF, EPUB, TXT, DOCX
The size of the: 15.85 MB
Language: English
Edition: Marvel Comics
Date of issue: 26 January 2011
Description of the book "Siege: Dark Avengers":After years of mystery, the secrets of the Sentry are revealed! How deep is his madness and who is really in control of him? What is the limit of his power, if any? And what deadly mystery surrounds him causing mortals and gods to tremble in fear? Plus: In the middle of SIEGE, Ms. Marvel and Hawkeye take center stage in a sick twisted battle, and launch their own agenda, revealing their true relationship, and their personal plans for Norman Osborn.Collecting: Dark Avengers #13-16, 2009 Annual
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We asked DJ, writer, and artist Juliana Huxtable to be a part of the What's Underneath Project due . . .
A wide-open lover of life, Elisa Jimenez never shows up without armfuls of gifts that she has made . . .
As her warrior dreads and trifecta of nose rings state, Shine Blackhawk is a woman who is ferociously . . .
Nina tells the story of her outfit. For more Nina, watch United States in Style: Portland.
Forever 21 hat, vintage sweater, shirt from a thrift store. "My mother and grandmother are two of my . . .
1) What did Athena inspire you to buy? The Row tank tops as a great idea to wear . . .
Lyfe's regal bone structure that mirrors how royal she looks in tribal prints, comes from an enviable mix . . .
Thank God for heroes like Kim Hastreiter, whose lives are committed to opening the door for new talent . . .
Angelica and Ben, real as they are beautiful, are the kind of couple that movies are made of . . .
Could somebody please take a stand towards the return of connosseurship to fashion by bringing back Lauren's "Behind . . .


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The Wells County Purdue Extension Service is looking to celebrate the Smith-Lever Act throughout this year.
The act created the Cooperative Extension Service, "a unique educational partnership between the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the nation's land-grant universities that extends research-based knowledge through a state-by-state network of extension educators," the Wells County service's annual report reads.
"For 100 years, the Smith-Lever Act has stimulated innovative research and vital educational programs for youth and adults through progressive information delivery systems that improved lives and shaped a nation," the report continues.
In addition to the 4-H program, feeding hungry kids, teaching nutrition classes, and providing safe cribs for infants, the Wells County Purdue Extension Service also:
• Organizes the Bluffton Farmer's Market
• Promotes conservation of natural resources and job readiness for youth
• Participates in various community engagement opportunities, from Citizens Against Drug Abuse to the Wells County Leadership Academy and Wells County Teen Court.
For more information on the national celebration, click here.
Learn more on the Wells County Purdue Extension Service's annual report in the Thursday, Feb. 13, News-Banner.


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Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Tuesday, July 10 - Homecoming
After a six-hour wait on the tarmac, we finally departed Beijing yesterday, arriving in San Jose three hours ago. Home at last!
Monday, July 9, 2012
Monday, July 9
Our last night in Beijing: It's been quite a journey from that initial transcontinental flight to this point. Following our final week of class we commenced upon a four-day weekend of travels, both in and outside of Beijing. Now everyone is back together (including one student who battled some unexpected visa delays in Hong Kong) and we're just about done with class.
Students delivered their final presentations this morning, demonstrating their mastery over a rich tapestry of theories, arguments, and insights about contemporary urban culture. Then we celebrated with Peking Duck experience at Dadong Restaurant, savoring the fanciest meal we've had this entire trip. [Of course a few of us gathered once more at "The Italian Place" later in the evening.] A gentle rain is falling now and we're all settling in for some much needed rest.
We just have to pack and prepare for one more bus ride to the airport tomorrow afternoon, our last one in China before we head home. It's been a quite an adventure, one filled with unforgettable sights, sounds (and, yes, a few memorable smells and tastes). China is now part of the personal narrative for each one of these SJSU students. No doubt, many will be returning soon. Even after three weeks, there is still so much to learn and do.
Friday, July 6, 2012
Friday, July 6
PS: I'm sorry if you're comments aren't showing up. Updating this blog from China can be tricky - causing basic functionality to run poorly (or not at all). Rest assured, though, that I have seen your comments, and I'm happy to learn that you've enjoyed these messages.
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Wednesday, July 4
Independence Day in China! Many of us enjoyed the rare opportunity to sleep in, meeting at 2 for a trip to the Temple of Heaven and a late afternoon "Kung Fu Experience." A few students woke earlier, though, and finally discovered the location of the much-sought-after "Grandma's Kitchen" restaurant. So tomorrow most of us will be gathering for some American home cooking - launching our final long weekend with stacks of pancakes...
Tuesday, July 3
Another blue-sky day in Beijing and it's beginning to sink in for many students that we're winding down our class, that soon we'll be saying goodbye to China. All of us miss friends and loved ones back home, yet each participant in this program can relate to the frustration that we'll be leaving this place just as we've begun to master some of its intricacies!
For some students it's the confidence that comes from learning to navigate the buses and metros of this sprawling city. For others its about learning to haggle with increasing success with street vendors - getting better bargains for souvenirs and gifts to bring back to the States. Every participant has found some special place to call their own: a favorite piece of artwork at the 798 District, an amazing view from the Great Wall, a memory of that Dragon Boat ride at the Summer Palace...
Still, many of us end up congregating at least once per day at "The Italian Place," a spot offering Western-style meals located near our hotel. the SJSU crew isn't necessarily homesick, but all of us understand that even this adventure cannot last forever. So today we had our final discussion section, anticipating tomorrow's excursions and the four-day weekend to come. Afterward comes the final project - student presentations - packing, and then home.
Monday, July 2, 2012
Monday, July 2
Today opened up with the clearest, bluest skies we've yet seen in Beijing - making the beginning of our third week in China. SJSU students have clearly become confident in their mastery of the complexities of big city transportation - even as they've survived their wanderings through some dense course material. Today's class began with student summaries of their weekend activities, including stories shared by our two nomads who spent the last two days in Shanghai.
Of course everyone had stories about their weekend discoveries, some at the 798 Arts District, others in Hutong neighborhoods, and still others in Beijing's many shopping opportunities. After our initial weekend "show and tell," we spent some time summarizing key ideas related to panopticism and the flaneur gaze, applying those abstract theoretical lenses upon the applied practicalities of life in Beijing. The conversation got thick mighty quick, particularly when we considered whether premodern, modern, and postmodern culture might reside simultaneously in China. We could have spent another hour in class, but the day was simply too nice. Those blue skies called us all to hit the metros in search of new experiences.
The rest of the week will feature a visit to the Temple of Heaven (followed by an early Wednesday evening Kung Fu show) followed by the launch of our long-anticipated four day weekend! No doubt, students will use some of that time to prepare for their final presentations (7-10 minute explorations of topics related to Chinese culture, augmented by classroom concepts and personal investigations). But something tells me that the SJSU crew will also make the most out of this final opportunity to experience China before we begin packing for our flight home.
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Sunday, July 1
Sorry for the delay in updating. After nearly two weeks of almost flawless online access, our hotel is now having problems connecting us to the net. Even so, we're managing a balance of intellectual productivity and touristic adventure. All of us are exhausted, yet we continue to see as much of this place as possible. Two students have been so bold as to fly to Shanghai for the weekend (leaving many of us amazed at their confidence to pack so much into a short time!). Others are still planning to visit Hong Kong next weekend (making sure to leave me detailed itineraries before they depart). And all of us are bonding over shared excursions and late night conversations. It seems that every participant in this trip has something to offer. Some take amazing photos, others use their haggling skills to get us great deals, while others play live music at our gatherings. It's an amazing thing to see this group become such a family.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Thursday, June 28
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Wednesday, June 27
Students are also buzzing about forthcoming plans. Believe it or not, a few are even planning to spend the weekend in Hong Kong. And some are hoping to dedicate our upcoming four-day weekend (July 5-8) to a Shanghai excursion. It's an amazing thing, isn't it?... how a place as seemingly distant as China can become open and inviting once folks take that all-important first step. "Getting there" is half the struggle. Cross that frontier and then just about anything seems possible.
Tomorrow we're taking some time away from classroom study, traveling together to hike a section of the Great Wall. So far the weather prediction calls for rain, but we're hoping for a little luck. None of us have seen more than a smidgen of blue sky during this entire trip, yet we've all managed to find lots of time to explore this amazing place, despite overcast and drizzling days. We are therefore cautiously optimistic about tomorrow. After our Great Wall morning, we're visiting the Summer Palace in the afternoon before spending our evening at the Peking Opera.
What's the most common reaction to this trip so far? Here it is: "Our class is going by so fast!"
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Tuesday, June 26
Yesterday, we began our classroom exploration of Walter Benjamin's flaneur gaze, and students departed with informal assignments to practice this form of writing that drifts between contemplation and distraction. Today, students presented their results, reading brief essays aloud. It's a fascinating thing indeed to hear Beijing conveyed through such varied bits and pieces of experience and perception.
Balancing intellectually challenging classroom conversations with physically demanding city exploration, this course has thus far proven to be both exciting and exhausting. Many of us celebrated getting this far yesterday with a long lunch at our group's new favorite restaurant - an Italian place near our hotel called "I do." There we chatted and laughed about our adventures, and we looked forward to what happens next.
Friday, June 22, 2012
Friday, June 22
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Thursday, June 21
Of course we also enjoyed a more lighthearted entertainment when we traveled to see an awesome acrobatics show. As usual, getting there proved to be half the fun. Fortunately, SJSU students are becoming masters of the Beijing metro; we even arrived early enough to grab some Starbucks before the show! We're all enjoying the complex and varied Chinese diet, but it's nice to return to the comforts of "home" too. The show was terrific, with astounding feats of physical strength and dexterity balanced by goofy humor and audience interaction.
Finally we made our way back in some of the most crowded subway cars we've ever seen, only to discover that it'd started to rain. Walking (sometimes running) through the downpour, we made our way back to the hotel. Some of us chatted for about an hour about forthcoming assignments until, at last, we could celebrate the end of another fine day in China.
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Wednesday, June 20
Wifi problems mean that this blog may not be frequently updated, but SJSU is having a great time in China. Today we took a tour of campus before exploring the Beijing subway. We're all massively jet lagged, but spirits remain high. Tomorrow we'll have our first class!
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Safe Arrival! June 19
Monday, June 18, 2012
Heading to Beijing! June 18
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Preparing for Beijing 2012
Tomorrow we're flying to Beijing to begin a three-week Communication and Culture course. Over the next few weeks we will examine culture as a constellation of ideas, texts, objects, performances, and environments that reflect practices of power. Our primary perspective on culture is modernity, with China comprising our central site of analysis. Assuming a power-as-hegemonic approach, but also keenly aware of the potential for resistance and pleasure in even the most totalizing environments, we'll study modern Chinese culture – paying particular attention to urban life in Beijing – as a site of communication through which the modern project is affirmed, challenged, and transformed.
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Monday, Aug. 4, 2014
RAPID CITY, SD – Art Night Downtown continues this Friday, August 8, 5 to 8 p.m., in Downtown Rapid City. Art Night Downtown is held every second Friday night this summer, through September, and brings businesses and artists together to create lively, interactive experiences throughout downtown.
Visitors will discover surprises in more than 25 participating businesses, as well as on sidewalks, in the street and at Main Street Square. Meet artists, browse their work, listen to music, enjoy refreshments and create your own five-minute masterpiece at Pop-up Drawing.
Get a glimpse into the mind of a graphic designer with AAF-Black Hills' live still-life lessons, where you'll learn about perspective, composition and layout – foundations for any future advertising career. Watch the artists at work and then delve into your own five-minute masterpiece with help from the masters of the trade. This month's pop-up is located at the corner of Main and Sixth streets, in front of Gunderson, Palmer, Nelson, & Ashmore, LLP.
Art Night Downtown is a collaboration among local organizations and businesses. Primary partners behind Art Night Downtown are the Rapid City Downtown Association and Arts Rapid City. Find out more at www.artnightdowntownrc.com or find us on Facebook.
For additional information, contact Jessica Miller, Arts Rapid City, 605-716-7979, firstname.lastname@example.com
Participating businesses: AJ's Wicked Salon, Alex Johnson Mercantile, Alternative Fuel Coffee House, Art Alley, At Home Design, Barefoot Dance Studio, Celtic Connection, Dahl Arts Center (Info Hub), Firehouse Wine Cellars, Ifrit's Hookah Lounge, Karma Boutique, Lasting Memories Studio, Main Street Square (Info Hub), Murphy's Pub and Grill, Perfect Hanging Gallery, Performing Arts Center of Rapid City, Prairie Edge, Rapid River Gallery, Reflections of South Dakota Fine Art Gallery & Specialties, Rimrock Exchange, Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, Shaman Gallery at James Van Nuys Gallery, Shaviq Studio and Gallery, Silver Lining Creamery, Suzie Cappa Arts Center (Info Hub), The Sculpture Project: Passage of Wind and Water, United Tribes Technical College - Black Hills Learning Center, Untamed Accessories & Clothing and Wyss Associates Inc.
For more news, click here.
What's Happening Live?
Don't miss one minute of the [FUN]²! See what's happening in Main Street Square and Downtown Rapid City.


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This is so funny! Like the trend of today, before a wedding in Nigeria comes a pre-wedding photo shoot; now this couple has taken it to a whole new level.
See Also: Checkout this LASTMA officer's lovely Pre-wedding photos
In one of the photos, they posed inside a toilet with the man acting like he was taking a dump while his wife looked on covering her nose. Well nice concept, I like the part of my ATM, My Cook. LOLL
See more of their photos below:
See Also: Check out these unique pre-wedding photos


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Friday, December 7, 2007
An Orthodox Understanding of The Immaculate Conception
Dear Parish Faithful,
On December 9 - this coming Sunday in 2007 - we commemorate The Conception by the Righteous Anna of the Most Holy Theotokos. Joachim and Anna, the parents of Miriam of Nazareth, were aged and despondent due to their childlessness. After intense prayer, the Lord responded to their entreaties and revealed to them separately that Anna will conceive and give birth to a girl that would be destined to serve God in a marvelous and unique manner. (This is why Joachim and Anna brought their child to the Temple when she was only three years old). The Virgin Mary was conceived as all human persons are conceived, thus revealing the potential sanctity of marriage and conjugal relationships based on love and purity of heart.
For the Roman Catholic Church, this commemoration became not only a major feast, but was dogmatized as the Immaculate Conception in 1854 by Pope Pius IX (hence the many Roman Catholic churches named "The Immaculate Conception"). In his "apostolic constitution," Ineffabilis Deus, the pope declared: "The doctrine which holds that the Blessed Virgin Mary was preserved from all stain of original sin in the first instant of her Conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God, in consideration of the merits of Jesus Christ, savior of the human race, has been revealed by God and must, therefore, firmly and constantly be believed by all the faithful."
This dogma presupposes a particular understanding of "original sin," one that permeated all of Western theology, but which never entered the theology of the Christian East, except for the recent centuries, when Orthodoxy was subject to strong Roman Catholic or "Western" influence. The Orthodox Church has never accepted this very late dogma, because it severs the Virgin Mary from the rest of humanity, making her the "great exception," rather than the "great example" as Fr. Alexander Schmemann once said. For the sake of clarity and simplicity, I would like to simply record two paragraphs written by contemporary Orthodox theologians explaining why there is no need for such a dogma, and how it distorts our understanding of the Theotokos and human sexuality; and beyond that to our understanding of "original sin."
From a footnote in The Synaxarion (Lives of Saints) under December 9, we read the following (I believe from the book's contemporary editor, Hieromonk Macarius, of Simonas Petra monastery on Mt. Athos):
The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception proclaimed by the Roman Catholics in 1854 is rejected by the Orthodox Church, but without in any way detracting from the dignity of the Mother of God. In fact, according the Fathers, the inheritance from Adam consists not in a personal responsibility of all men for original sin, but simply in the inheritance of the consequences of that sin: death, corruption and the passions ... Hence the Orthodox have no difficulty in recognizing that the Mother of God was heir, like us, of the consequences of Adam's sin - Christ alone was exempt -but at the same time pure and without personal sin, for she freely kept herself from all attraction for the world and for the passions, and she voluntarily co-operated in God's purpose by obeying His will with docility: "Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word," she replied to the Angel Gabriel (LK. 1:38). (The Synaxarion, Vol. II, p. 361)
From a somewhat different perspective, including our understanding of human sexuality and sexual intercourse, Fr. Thomas Hopko writes the following:
The Orthodox Church affirms original sin. Orthodox theology teaches that all human beings, including the Virgin Mary who is a "mere human" like the rest of us - unlike her Son Jesus who is a "real human" but not a "mere human" because He is the Incarnate Son and Word of God - are born into a fallen, death-bound, demon-riddled world whose "form is passing away" (I COR. 7:31). We are all born mortal and tending toward sin. But we are not born guilty of any personal sin, certainly not one allegedly committed "in Adam." Nor are we born stained because of the manner in which we are conceived by the sexual union of our parents. If sexual union in marriage is in any sense sinful, or the cause in itself of any sinfulness or stain, even in the conditions of the "fallen world," then as even the rigorous Saint John Chrysostom has taught, God is the sinner because He made us this way, male and female, from the very beginning. (The Winter Pascha, pp. 42-43)
This is an excellent example of how various "dogmas" are interconnected with others, or at least with the basic presuppositions of a particular Church's teaching. As Orthodox, we believe that there are major misleading elements embedded in the Roman Catholic and Protestant understanding of "original sin," including the teaching "that the transmission of the stain of original sin is by way of the manner of human reproduction through sexual intercourse." (The Winter Pascha, p. 42, note 3) Thus, a faulty notion of one key teaching can "logically" lead to the development of a faulty dogma. The Virgin Mary and Theotokos was conceived like we all are, and she died as we all die, and she was saved through Her Son's Death and Resurrection as we all are. Once more, from Fr. Thomas Hopko:
Mary is conceived by her parents as we are all conceived. But in her case it is a pure act of faith and love, in obedience to God's will, as an answer to prayer. In this sense her conception is truly "immaculate." And its fruit is the woman who remains forever the most pure Virgin and Mother of God. (The Winter Pascha, p. 43)
To become "more honorable than the cherubim and more glorious beyond compare than the seraphim," the Theotokos did have not to be specially "preserved" or "exempt" from being like us in her human origins. It was a matter of hearing the Word of God and keeping it in her heart, to be pondered and practiced with the intensity that comes through great faith and trust in God's mercy, providential care, presence. and love.
Fr. Steven
Posted by Fr. Steven Kostoff... at 4:20 PM
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