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I spoke in my college's student-led chapel this morning. Yes, my college has chapel. Yes, I do go to a Christian university. Yes, I did receive beef jerky from my mother for Valentine's Day. Yes, I did eat in on Valentine's Day. Yes, I was thinking about how awesome I was the entire time. Any more questions?
I spoke about the story of Rahab and how God used her and how God uses us and our stories and turns them into something greater. But. Here's the thing. If you know about the story of Rahab, you know that one of the highlights is how she was part of the lineage of Jesus. She was included in the genealogy listed in the beginning of Matthew. That's obviously a huge deal, right? God used a prostitute and she became part of the family that led to Jesus. That's huge. So, obviously you are guessing that of course I included it in my sermon. And you would be right.
Only, catch this: While up there I was all like "I have totally ingrained this message—it has been fused into my very being, so who needs notes?" So I barely looked at my notes at all. And you know what that means?
Yes. I forgot to actually say the part about Rahab being included in the genealogy.
No big deal? Right, no big deal. Except, oh, yeah. It actually was a big deal. That's a pretty key part to the story.
But I forgot to say anything about it.
Silly me. Trix are for kids!
This brings me back to another time, a time much like this time, only instead it was in North Dakota and not in Kansas and I was speaking for my graduation and not for student-led chapel. I was doing the opening introduction and prayer. So, during the graduation rehearsal, my principal told me that the only thing I had to do was to tell everyone to sit down. I only had one task. One. Pray and tell everyone to sit. So, I guess maybe actually that's two things: pray and tell people to sit. But still. I only had two things to remember.
And what did I forget to do?
That's right. When it came to the actual graduation morning and I was all decked out in a cap and gown, I prayed and said amen and starting walking off the stage. I forgot to tell everyone to sit down.
One of my friends in the front row was trying to motion to me that I forgot to say the one thing that I was supposed to not forget to say, so I caught on to her motions and I noticed the dirty look I was getting from my principal, so then I did this little hop-walk back to behind the podium and was like, "And you may be seated." But at that point, I'd already made a fool of myself.
So, here's the point: sometimes in life you forget to say things, even important things. But in all the times we mess up and forget things, there is one thing we must never forget:
If we have people in our lives that we love, we should tell me. And tell them. We should probably tell them so much that they get sick of hearing it. Except, who really gets sick of being told they are loved? Probably no one. It is important to let people know you love and appreciate them.
Then, as we approach our last days, we don't have to wonder or question or include it as a P.S. because it will be on the forefront of our thoughts and the first thing out of our mouths. There won't be anything to smooth out or get off our chests. We will know that we are loved and those we love will know that we love them.
Never forget to tell people you love them.


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Friday, July 31, 2015
Cry out to the Lord
Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble; He saved them out of their distresses. He sent His word and healed them, And delivered them from their destruction's. Let them give thanks to the Lord for His lovingkindness, And for His wonders to the sons of men!
O - The psalmist likely is telling of God's faithfulness to the people Israel, perhaps about release from their captivity in Egypt. The words of the psalm affirm our belief that God is with us, He listens to our every cry, and he delivers His people just by His word. It is because of this we His people need to give thank to the Lord, and glorify his name.
A - The application for me is to understand that God hears my cries, He gives me His word, and is healing me. I must continue to seek God's face, cry out to Him in these seasons of depression. I will continue to give Him thanks for the things he has done,and is doing in my life.
P - Dear heavenly Father, thank you for your love and kindness. Thank you for your word, thank you for your spirit in me. I pray Lord today for a complete removal and protection from word that is not from you , and complete removal of this spirit of depression that resides in me. I pray all this in Jesus name.
Thursday, July 30, 2015
Jesus, the light and life within me.
In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
O - In this first chapter from John, we come to understand that Jesus was there in the beginning, and that He is the life and light of all men. From creation He was with Father and when God created us in His image, he breathed the breath of life and light into us which is spirit of God. Through years of seperation after the fall , the light was harder to see in us, but through Christ sacrifice on the cross the fullness of God's light is restored in each and everyone of us.
A - This scripture was a reminder to me that Jesus is the light in my darkness, and I must understand and embrace that . I must remember that through dark times His light shines bright, I must seek it within me, and really embrace the understanding that Christ in me , is the life within me.
P - Lord, thank you for today's word, may it be sealed to my heart. Lord I am struggling in my own internal darkness, and perhaps even the darkness of my circumstances. I pray your light we light up my life, and reveal the untruths and your spirit in me would rebuke and reject the untruths and darkness in me. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.
Wednesday, July 29, 2015
God's spirit eternally with us
Therefore justice is far from us, And righteousness does not overtake us; We hope for light, but behold, darkness, For brightness, but we walk in gloom. We grope along the wall like blind men, We grope like those who have no eyes; We stumble at midday as in the twilight, Among those who are vigorous we are like dead men. "As for Me, this is My covenant with them," says the Lord : "My Spirit which is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your offspring, nor from the mouth of your offspring's offspring," says the Lord , "from now and forever."
O - The prophet Isaiah describes the lost and how they (we ... me) stumble along at times, groping for and seeking God our circumstances. But then the Lord reminds them of His promise, and covenant, for His spirit to always be with us, His word still stands true, and now and through generations to come.
A - As I feel I am stumbling in the darkness in this season, I am encouraged by God's truth and promise, that His spirit is always upon me, and words of truth He has spoken to me will stand firm in y life.
P - Dear heavenly Father, thank you for your word today, may it be sealed to my heart.
Tuesday, July 28, 2015
Faith and trust in the Lords wisdom and loving kindness
"For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake, But My lovingkindness will not be removed from you, And My covenant of peace will not be shaken," Says the Lord who has compassion on you.
S -isa.55.8-9.nasb "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways," declares the Lord . "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.
O - The Lord continues the speak to the people of Israel who are being exiled to Bablyon. In these chapters His words are words of truth and encouragement, so that the people of Israel won't be exasperated by their circumstances. The message is one of a constant and loving God, who is not shaken or changed by circumstances but is steadfast and true. These words are delivered to instill a faith and trust into the people, and for us today to reveal the character of God.
A - The application for me is to embrace the fact that God's loving kindness will never be removed from me. It is a reminder how ultimate wisdom comes from the Lord and that my circumstances do not indicate a separation from God, but rather a path that is His path, and His ways are truly greater than my ways.
P - Dear heavenly father, thank you for today's lesson may it be sealed to my heart. Lrd I pray that your will be done in my life. I pray that your truth, love, and mercy would penetrate the deepest part f my soul and drive out all untruth's that cause me to doubt and despair. Lord I place my life in your hands and trust your plans for me according to your wisdom. Thank you Lord for your saving me through the sacrifice Jesus made for my sins, I am grateful.
Monday, July 27, 2015
5Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in yourmoral excellence, knowledge, 6and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in yourperseverance, godliness, 7and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. 8For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
O - Peter here speaks of the progressive measure of growth in our faith and fruitfulness in our growth in Christ. This is a path Peter describes to edify us and increase our faith .
A - The application for me today is to remember the Lord has been working in me in these progressive ways to help me grow and to walk in His ways.
P - Lord I pay you would rescue me from this depression, and restore in me the confidence, joy, and peace. I am clinging to you and your word Lord, help me to know again your presence and transformative power.
Sunday, July 26, 2015
Hang on , God is my deliverer
A - This feels exactly like the truth of my circumstances today. I am in a valley season, in the land in between , fearful of the exile ahead from a life I once knew, or a way I once traveled But God has delivered me the message to hang on and stay close, despite what my circumstances and feelings are telling me. I have been born again through Christ, who now is my Lord and savior. His promises are true.
P - The truth of my circumstances is found in you Lord, I thank you for bringing me back to you in the dry and weary season. I put my trust in you for my future, and only ask that you lift me up when I can no longer lift myself up. Help me to love my wife like you love her, help me raise my kids to grow up and know your love and your ways, help me to make a difference in the kingdom here on earth, until we once again unite in heaven/
Thursday, July 23, 2015
Glorify God
S -http://bible.com/100/1pe.2.11-12.nasb
Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul. Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation.
O - we must remember we are always witnesses. Can be either of how bad and unfair life's is or how merciful and good our good is.
A - at work for me today I must continue told a witness of good m good and v grace in my life. I must continue to witness of good graces and mercy.
P - Lord I can't do any of this without you, thank you for your grace and mercy, please use me in whatever way you need and know best.
Wednesday, July 22, 2015
Rejoice in the Lord, through various trials
Tuesday, July 21, 2015
wait patiently on the lord, strengthen my heart
Monday, July 20, 2015
Pray with the correct motives
You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.
O - Our motives can easily reveal our sin. Our sin ultimately leads us further from God, if not completely separated. A lself focused person may even seek God but ultimately focuses on what they need. But God is calling us to lean on him and seek his will, with the right motives.
A - The application for me is to be self reflective on my own posture and attitude. I trust in the Lord, even when He doesn't answer my prayers. Now I may not be praying with the correct motives. In this season of transition and trial, I am praying for alot of relief from depressing thoughts, and clarity on my future in Hawaii. My motives have been self centered, and when I pray I thinking about my problems, and not what God is doing all around.
P - Dear heavenly Father, thank you for your patience with me. I pray Lord your will be done in me, and that you would transform my mind so that I may hear your voice, focus on you and what you are doing.
Sunday, July 19, 2015
Discernment of wisdom from above
Friday, July 17, 2015
Growing faith during trials
Thursday, July 16, 2015
Rejoicing in the Lord
A - The application for me is not to let my soul grow weary, but rather rejoice and refill my sole with the realization that my redeemer lives. I sit here now and wait patiently on Him in this season in my life, and He has been good and faithful to restore my soul and my communion with Him. I will follow His word to me to rest in Him, to lay in green pastures, and wait on Him patiently while my soul is slowly restored.
P - Dear heavenly Father, thank you for today's devotion may it be sealed to my heart. I truly am grateful for you Grace, and your strength you give me through rest and your spirit in me.
Wednesday, July 15, 2015
focusing on Jesus - the author of our faith
Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
O- This is a reminder that I do have so many witnesses of what God can do in and through people whom call Him Lord. I need to lay aside all the distraction that get in my way of running the race with endurance. The only way to have endurance to keep my eyes fixed on Jesus.
A - I have ran the race more like a sprinter , my entire life. I run to win, but not to endure the long race. I often get distracted by circumstances in life and forget to focus on what is most important, looking toward Jesus in everything so that I can untangle the distractions that draw me away from his purpose. Today I am struggling to discern what are my distractions, and there fore struggling to run in a way that is lasting. In this season, I need to fill my tank with the holy spirit, and his word, and look to Jesus the author and perfecter of my faith
P - Dear heavenly Father thank you for this devotion this morning. I pray that you continue to remove the cloud of distraction and doubt from my head, heart, and soul. I place my trust in your promises and ask that each day you strengthen me to walk in such a way to win the race.
Tuesday, July 14, 2015
The truth about faith
1Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.6And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.11By faith even Sarah herself received ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered Him faithful who had promised.
O - In this chapter in Hebrew the author extols the truth about what faith is. It is an assurance of things God has promised but not yet seen, and we believe because not only is our creator, but He is reliable, true, and able to deliver on His promises.
A - The application for me is to put my trust in the Lord and His promises to me. I must lean on my faith in this season of doubt and waiting. God's truth trumps my feelings, God's promises trumps my thoughts, God's power trumps my strength.
P- Dear heavenly Father, thank you for your promises. I pray for strength to lay down in the green pastures you have set me in, and the peace to wait on you. I pray also that your spirit in me would clear my heart and mind of all worries so we can continue to love on people and lift them up. At work with Nate, at Home with Abby, and in ministry with Rod.
Monday, July 13, 2015
God's laws written in my heart
And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us; for after saying, "This is the covenant that I will make with them After those days , says the Lord : I will put My laws upon their heart , And on their mind I will write them ," He then says, "And their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more ."
O - The holy spirit is reminding me how much God has taken out of my hands and put in the hands of Christ, and in the Holy Spirit which lives in me now. Under the old covenant, we had to learn the commandments, and discipline our bodies to be obedient to them. Despite even the most disciplined of persons, sin still existed, and sacrifices by priest was not sufficient for full restoration with the Father. But in Christ's perfect sacrifice we have a high priest who has paid the full price, sits on the throne next to God and represents us, and has sent the holy spirit to keep us on track with a life living for and connected to God.
A - The application to me is recognize that my own self discipline is only able to get me so far. I at times lean on my own understanding and own strength, and forget about the battle that has already been won for my soul. I should walk in confidence and not condemnation for the victory Christ has had in me.
P - My prayer God is that your Holy Spirit would guard my mind from thoughts are not true and instead remind me of the truths and laws that you have written on my heart.
Sunday, July 12, 2015
Trust in God's strength and not be afraid
"Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; For the Lord God is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation." Therefore you will joyously draw water From the springs of salvation. And in that day you will say, "Give thanks to the Lord , call on His name. Make known His deeds among the peoples; Make them remember that His name is exalted."
O - There is power in the God's word and the name of Jesus. I admit that I need words of encouragement and words of devotion from God, and Isaiah here provides my need for today, a reminder that though I have things I must do, and things I want to accomplish, only God is my salvation, and allowing Him to be sufficient in all things is the calling in this season. I need to continue to draw near him and draw my strength from His living water.
A - The application for me today, is to just ascertain my soul that my hope is in Christ, my rescue is from God, and my restoration is from His living water. I must come daily to the well to be filled, and trust in His ways and timing , and not fear for my future, but live today in His will.
P- Lord, I know you are sufficient, and I reaffirm you are Lord of my life. So as I walk this walk of faith, not by what is in my sight, or mind, but in faith of your promises, I ask that you transform my mind to be your mind, and may what I see, I see it through your eyes. I pray all this in Christ name, Amen.
Saturday, July 11, 2015
Rely on the Lord
Now in that day the remnant of Israel, and those of the house of Jacob who have escaped, will never again rely on the one who struck them, but will truly rely on the Lord , the Holy One of Israel.
O - The Lord would have me see that even though there was a breaking down of the nation of Israel and and correction, there will be a freeing of them as they re-learn to rely on the Lord alone. It is in their growing independence of God that they went astray and corrections purpose is often simply to correct us back to God.
A - The application for me is to understand that I am being corrected back to God. My season of exile when complete will leave me once again dependent on Him and in a place peace.
P - Dear heavenly Father thank you for your wisdom and grace. I am desperately awaiting to emerge from exile in this season, as I just cling on to you. I pray Lord that you would restore my heart and mind to you and that my feelings of joy, peace, and confidence in who you are in me would be once again ruling my life.
Thursday, July 9, 2015
My Hope in Christ
This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
O - Hope is so important. As I recently was reminded, that "faith, hope, and love" are needed. I have Faith in Christ, I love God, and endeavoring to love others. But it is hope that fuels me to press on. Hope in the covering and grace of Christ. Hope for His promises. Hope that He has good plans for me, for my good, and not my destruction.
A - The application for me is to know that my Hope is in Christ alone. He is unchanging and consistent in my life . As I struggle through this season of uncertainty and transition, I must put my hope in Him, and His plans for me.
P - Lord I cry out to you know to take away the feelings of despair, and restore my confidence and hope in you.
Wednesday, July 8, 2015
Seek the Lord in my calling
And no one takes the honor to himself, but receives it when he is called by God, even as Aaron was. So also Christ did not glorify Himself so as to become a high priest, but He who said to Him, "Y ou are M y S on , Today I have begotten You ";
In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety. Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered.
O - This is a reminder by Paul to both be humble in your calling and follow Christ example, in serving in that calling. We are to not strive for the honor we can receive, but allow God to be glorified by our actions, and allow God to give us the calling when and where He knows best. Christ then exampled the how to walk out the calling in a crying out to God and seeking His ways.
A - The application for me is to trust in God's way, especially as revealed today in His word. I am no longer to seek position and authority on my own, but rather seek God and show me the calling. In this season I need to continue to cry out to him , even in tears of pain and seek His ways.
P -Lord this is the cry of my heart, that you revealing your calling to me today, and in the near future, that you show me the when, where and how I am to serve you. Today Lord I ask that you guide my words and actions, and renew in me a spirit of your love, your joy and your peace. I pray all this in Jesus name, Amen.
Tuesday, July 7, 2015
Draw near to God
Surely You set them in slippery places; You cast them down to destruction. But as for me, the nearness of God is my good; I have made the Lord God my refuge, That I may tell of all Your works.
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
O - I know the word of God is ministering to me very specifically as I seek my way out of the darkness of the season in my head and heart. Today I am reminded that nearness of God will be my good, I must continue to find refuge in His word, His spirit, and His ways.
A- The psalmist and the author of Hebrews draws the same conclusion, that I need to understand and live. That Jesus, who represents me to God, who enables me to draw near to God, understands how feel, understands my struggle, and as I draw near to him,seeking his grace and forgiveness for any straying from His path and His ways that I have done, and leaning on not my own understanding, but trusting in His ways to heal and restore me.
P - Dear heavenly Father, Jesus, and your Holy Spirit, my prayer is that you move in me in a mighty way, and I repent of any of the my mistakes that have brought me here, and that I pray for rest and restoration in you in this season.
Monday, July 6, 2015
Hearing his voice.
Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, "Today if you hear His voice , Do not harden your hearts as when they provoked Me , As in the day of trial in the wilderness , Where your fathers tried Me by testing Me, And saw My works for forty years.
O - This was a warning to the early church that just like the early church, it would be possible to forget the acts of God that had led to salvation. In the forgetting the and hardening of peoples hearts the holy spirits still small voice gets harder to hear.
A- This warning is to me to be sure I remember the acts of deep love and restoration the lord has given to me. Despite my feelings and circumstances to acknowledge his salvation in my life through his son Jesus Christ. To recognize the precious gift of life and family he has given me, and to recognize how I might stay in tune with the Holy Spirit.
P - Lord this is my prayer that despite my feelings, your spirit would break through and fill my head, heart , mind, and soul,
Sunday, July 5, 2015
Pay close attention to what you have heard from the Lord
Thursday, July 2, 2015
Trust in the Lord not in idols of the world
... O Israel, trust in the Lord ; He is their help and their shield. O house of Aaron, trust in the L ord ; He is their help and their shield. You who fear the Lord , trust in the Lord ; He is their help and their shield. The Lord has been mindful of us; He will bless us; He will bless the house of Israel; He will bless the house of Aaron.
O - The reminder of the psalmist that those who trust in idols and the work of man will lifeless just like the idols are lifeless. But as people of God we are to place our trust in the Lord; He is our source and our strength.
A - The application for me today is to stop ... turn towards God and turn away from the idol in my life my work , my position, my title Navy CDR and put it toward the title child of God, humble servant of the one true God, humble husband of Abby, father of Ashlyn and Chloe.
P - Lord, hear my prayer, as I fight to recover from the season past , where I may have put too much of myself into work, and made it an idol in my life. Lord I do repent, and I will wait patiently on you as you restore my soul. I pray all this in Jesus name, Amen.
Wednesday, July 1, 2015
Serving all with God's love, through his transformation and renewing of the Holy Spirit
Remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good deed, to malign no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing every consideration for all men. For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
O - Paul writes this because he knows that as those are saved and born again by Christ, there will come a freedom and strength that they had not had before. There service of one another and love of one another will be evident. The harder task though will be to continue in their roles in the world, with their vocations, and daily interactions in life, but now they must live differently, as the new creation, even though quite likely their environment hasn't changed. The temptation will be rebel against the things of the world, or re-succumb to the culture and the temptations. Paul here exhorts them to be renewed by the Holy Spirit and move forward in Christ.
A - The application for me is to recognize that I have been renewed, and reborn. I have become zealous for God, and shed myself of many old habits and beliefs; however, I am still called to live in he world and testify to God's love and trans-formative power. I must remember that I am not to rebel against the authorities and leaders that are over me but rather be live with love and gentleness and righteousness.
P - Dear heavenly Father, thank you for your witness to my soul through your word, may this be planted deeply in my heart so that I might love and serve those you have put in front of me.

subset: commoncrawl


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Our manufacturing facility is led by a dedicated team with decades of OEM equipment experience. We can manufacture just about anything, but will always explore the most cost-effective solution for our customers. Our manufacturing capabilities and unrivaled response time enables us to meet all your wellhead and surface equipment requirements.


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WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. -- Gov. Andrew Cuomo endorsed New Rochelle Mayor Noam Bramson for Westchester County Executive at a recent rally in White Plains.
"I'm proud to endorse Noam Bramson to be my next County Executive," Cuomo said in a statement. "Government works best when it puts people, not politics, first. We have to deliver real results, and that's what Noam Bramson will do."
This week, Bramson was also endorsed by former President Bill Clinton, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Sen. Chuck Schumer, the Journal News and members of the Westchester state legislative delegation.
"Governor Cuomo has shown what we can accomplish when Democrats are in charge," Bramson said in the statement. "From his strong commitment to fiscal responsibility, to Marriage Equality, to women's equality, and to the New York SAFE Act, Governor Cuomo has made sure New York is going in the right direction. And Rob Astorino has been opposing the Governor every step of the way. I look forward to partnering with Governor Cuomo to solve the important issues facing Westchester County and New York State in the years ahead."
Bramson and current County Executive Rob Astorino face off on Election Day, Nov. 5.
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I was browsing my (annoyingly huge) pile of Google alerts on fiber* issues when I spotted this article: Telecom sues Monticello over city's plan to build its own high-speed network.
In summary, TDS Telecom, the chief phone and cable provider of Monticello sued the city over its planned fiber access network. For almost a year, both parties have been fiercely deploying FTTH and the city, of roughly 11,000 inhabitants, is about to become one of a few, if not a unique locale (at least as of present day), where public and private sector are competing so directly over paying subscribers.
In the law sue, TDS questions whether Monticello can use revenue bonds to create fiber-optic networks, something that the city did to finance network deployment. Essentially, TDS questions the compliance of a public project's financing rules with the project's objectives and social necessity.
What's important in the story is that publicly funded fiber projects are very susceptible to interpretations of their funding mandates. In Europe (i.e. Greece, Ireland, Spain) many municipal broadband networks are financed by EU Structural Funds under rules for fairness, openness and other principles. Cities might want to be cautious when crafting business models and strategy since failure to comply with these rules may result in unpleasant arrangements especially if competing interests emerge in their locale.


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Official US Trailer Arrives for Taika Waititi's 'Hunt for the Wilderpeople'
by Alex Billington
April 27, 2016
Source: Apple
"So what do we do now?" "We run." The Orchard has unleashed the official US trailer for Taika Waititi's new comedy Hunt for the Wilderpeople, which is another one of our favorite films from Sundance this year (Captain Fantastic being another). Newcomer Julian Dennison plays Ricky Baker, a troublemaker kid from the city who ends up with a foster care family in a rural part of the country, with his new parents, Aunt Bella and Uncle Hec, played by Rima Te Wiata and Sam Neill. Eventually Ricky and Uncle Hec go on the run out in the New Zealand bush. This film is hilarious, heartfelt, and so much fun to watch. We've already featured two trailers from Australia, but one more to convince everyone it's worth seeing won't hurt.
Here's the official US trailer for Taika Waititi's Hunt for the Wilderpeople, in high def from Apple:
You can still watch the full Australian trailer for Hunt for the Wilderpeople here, for even more footage.
Description from the Sundance guide: "Raised on hip-hop and foster care, defiant city kid Ricky gets a fresh start in the New Zealand countryside. He quickly finds himself at home with his new foster family: the loving Aunt Bella, the cantankerous Uncle Hec, and dog Tupac. When a tragedy strikes that threatens to ship Ricky to another home, both he and Hec go on the run in the bush. As a national manhunt ensues, the newly branded outlaws must face their options: go out in a blaze of glory or overcome their differences and survive as a family." Hunt for the Wilderpeople is written & directed by New Zealand filmmaker Taika Waititi, of Eagle vs Shark, Boy and What We Do in the Shadows previously. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival (read my review) and was acquired by The Orchard. Wilderpeople opens starting June 24th.
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Friday, February 28, 2014
Flashback Friday
Posted by Jay Unidos at 2:10 PM No comments:
Labels: 2006, 924 Gilman, 924Gilman, Berkeley, Crust, East Bay, Hardcore, Metal, Pop Punk, Punk, Rock, Rocknroll, UGZ Magazine
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
1984 - CRUCIFIX 30TH Anniversary, which took place last Saturday in Oakland, California. 1984 performed the "Dehumanization" album in it's entirety.
Posted by Jay Unidos at 9:35 AM No comments:
Labels: 1984, California, Crass, Crucifix, Crust, Dehumanization, Hardcore, Oakland, Punk, Records, Sothira
Friday, February 21, 2014
Sbitch from Austin, Texas, by way of El Paso, at Burnt Ramen in 2001. Rampaging Insane Depravity Fest. Photo by Sam Bortnick
Posted by Jay Unidos at 10:27 AM No comments:
Labels: 2001, Austin, Burnt Ramen, Crust, Ear2TheGround Punx, Female Fronted, Hardcore, Latino, Punk, RID Fest, Sbitch, Texas, UGZ Presents
Friday, February 14, 2014
Reagan SS set from the 2002 Rampaging Insane Depravity Fest. The 2002 R.I.D. Fest took place at various venues throughout the Bay Area and Southern California. This set in particular is from day two of the fest, which took place at both Warm Water Cove in San Francisco during the day and 924 Gilman in Berkeley at night. Reagan SS played the Gilman show in the Bay Area and a house party in Long Beach when the fest moved south the following weekend.
Posted by Jay Unidos at 11:59 AM No comments:
Labels: 2002, 924 Gilman, Berkeley, California, Hardcore, Long Beach, Matt Average, Punk, San Francisco, Thrash, Thrashead, UGZ Presents, Urban Guerrilla Zine
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Putting the "Fun" in "Dysfunctional"
I came home Saturday night. By Tuesday night I was fighting with my parents. That's a record. It usually takes less than 48 hours. It started with my latest bank statement. Apparently, I'm about $2,000 in debt. My parents immediately proceed to give me a 30 minute lecture about responsibility. I've been throwing money away and living beyond my means.
Funny story: Turns out it's all their fault because they haven't paid any of my bills in at least two months. Hypocrites. Needless to say they apologized. Twice.
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
A Grey Christmas
at 9:23 PM
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In a world where the human body has been augmented and all but replaced by technology, does the possession of a soul serve as the criterion by which one is judged to be human? And if so, what constitutes a soul? These are the primary questions posed in the near-future society of Mamoru Oshii's groundbreaking 1995 anime Ghost in the Shell, an adaptation of Masamune Shirow's highly successful manga of the same name, in which the barriers between man and machine have blurred to the point of becoming indistinguishable. When not fitted with robotic or cybernetic implants, many humans now live as cyberbrains (the "ghosts" of the title) inside specially created cyborg bodies ("shells") and hooked up to a vast interconnected global network of information exchange.
With these new prospects come new dangers, as skilled hackers and cybercriminals find fertile online ground to exploit, and necessary new means of police protection, in the form of Public Security Section 9, led by series protagonist Major Motoko Kusanagi. One of the most successful and influential anime productions of all time, with its lasting impression seen most visibly in the story and visual design of the Wachowskis' Matrix series (whose 'digital rain' effects it directly inspired), and beautifully animated, it went on to spawn not only a film sequel, subtitled Innocence, but two separate TV reboots, namely the Kenji Kamayama-directed Stand Alone Complex and the more recent Arise. A live-action remake, the subject of fevered discussion in recent months over its controversial casting of Scarlett Johannsen as Kusanagi, is due for release next year.
Both Shirow's manga and Oshii's film can be read as attempts to understand, navigate and, in some respects, anticipate the brave new world heralded in real life by the dawning of the internet age only a few years prior, of which the fictional world depicted in Ghost in the Shell can be seen as a logical extension of the increasing interconnectedness between both human societies and human bodies. (It was, for example, the first anime film released simultaneously in Japan, the United States and the United Kingdom.) While the manga clearly outlines that its setting, the purpose-built New Port City, is in Japan, this is less explicit in the film, presenting the sprawling megalopolis (never mind metropolis) as a teeming, heaving melting pot of both regional and international influences. The visual influence of Ridley Scott's Blade Runner is evident in the mixture of English, Japanese and Chinese script in the myriad neon signs that dominate the cityscape, as is the look and architecture of real-life cities such as Hong Kong, from which Oshii drew extensively in his conception of the city. It is not only different cultures, however, that live side-by-side, but both rich and poor and old and new, with tumbledown shanty huts providing both a stark contrast to the progress and technological miracles seen elsewhere in the city and a vivid reminder of those that they leave behind, as true of real-life, modern-day metropoles from Manhattan to Mumbai as of fictional, futuristic ones.
This sense of temporal and cultural synthesis is mirrored in numerous ways by Kenji Kawai's minimalist but fantastically effective soundtrack, which offers an eclectic mix of traditional and modern instrumentation and itself evinces a panoply of influences not only from East and West, but from film-scoring and pop music conventions as well (Kawai enjoyed some moderate success as a rock musician before transitioning into composing). The liberal use of synthesisers, particularly synthesised strings, not only aptly matches the film's futuristic setting, but also draws comparisons with (and bears the influence of) other forward-looking film composers whose style is similarly predominantly defined by synthesised sounds. One might think of John Carpenter's early electronic scores for his own films, Wendy Carlos' work for Stanley Kubrick or, perhaps most fittingly of all, Vangelis' immediately distinctive soundtrack to Blade Runner.
At the same time, however, while acoustic instruments feature frequently alongside electronic ones, it is somewhat telling that those that do are often the most identifiably Japanese; alongside three singers, the few fellow musicians credited on Kawai's soundtrack are percussionists, playing a set-up of traditional taiko drums, bells and gongs. The atmospheric "Nightstalker", for instance, combines synthesised strings with the distinctive tone of the Japanese koto, creating a ruminative quality that would not be out of place in a neo-noir film. Indeed, coupled with the film's pan-Asian stylisation, the concurrent sounds of the expansive free-time strings and koto's rubato phrasing draws more than a passing comparison with Blade Runner's famous "Love Theme".
Rather than merely referencing this at certain points, however, Kawai sets this tone from the very start with what is essentially the film's opening title, "Making of a Cyborg", accompanying a sequence in which Kusanagi (or at least her cyborg "shell") is, as the title suggests, "made", in the sense of being literally assembled (see below). The first of three similar "Chants" interspersed throughout the soundtrack, Kawai describes in the accompanying featurette Production Report included on the film's DVD release how the composition of this piece comprises a mixture of different musical traditions, with Japanese vocalists singing words in the ancient Yamato dialect to notes taken from Japanese scales and harmonised using techniques borrowed from Bulgarian folk music. The added presence of traditional Japanese bells and drums, providing unobtrusive and solemn background accompaniment, lends this number a further air of mystery, its evocation of ancient customs in strong juxtaposition to the futuristic images seen on screen.
The combination, however, of singing styles and percussive sounds heavily redolent of Buddhist religious music with words from a wedding incantation intended to banish evil spirits also takes on a strongly devotional aspect that is significant for the context of the film in more ways than one. Seen in the sense of the obvious implication that technology has become a new dominant religion to which the majority of the world's population now subscribes in some way, it comes to resemble something of a purification ritual that keeps the "temple" of technology clean, safe and unsullied. Consequently, in a society where biological reproduction has been rendered almost obsolete through the widespread manufacture of cyborg bodies, the otherwise sterile isolation chamber in which Kusanagi's "shell" is created comes essentially to represent a "womb of the future", complete with amniotic fluid of sorts that protects and supports the shell as it develops. Particularly given the presence of entities such as the film's antagonist the "Puppet Master" that are capable of hacking into, controlling, and thus violating cybernetic bodies, "Making of a Cyborg" also gives the impression of a prayer for the wellbeing of the "unborn child" Kusanagi and others like her whose shells are made in this way.
As if to emphasise and even uphold this ritualistic relationship with technology, similar motifs and combinations of sonorous metallic and membranophonic sounds form the basis for a large portion of the score that follows. "Ghosthack", for example, is accompanied by ominous low synth tones, gongs and scraped cymbal effects more commonly heard in suspense or horror films. "Access" and "Ghostdive", meanwhile, almost variations on the same theme, both revolve around the tintinnabulous sounds of tuned gongs and tubular bells, occasionally interspersed with digital or digitally treated percussion. The "Puppet Master"'s main theme is almost a slowed-down version of this same idea, with the transfigured sense of pace and the microtonal differences in tuning between the various gongs drawing as much of a comparison with Aphex Twin's early ambient work as traditional Japanese music.
The chant first heard in "Making of a Cyborg" also recurs on two further occasions, each with slightly varied instrumentation. Furthermore, the final chant plays over the closing credits, book-ending the film along with the first, and offers the first real semblance of a full orchestration, adding not only extra instrumental voices but extra instrumental textures, with a string melody and accompanimental dulcimer quaver figurations now clearly discernible amongst the held string chords and sparse percussion from before. This is doubly significant coming shortly after the film's climax, in which Kusanagi agrees to the Puppet Master's request to merge souls with her, creating a being that is neither one nor the other, but a combination of both in a symbolic act of reproduction. (As if to make this analogy inescapable for the viewer, Kusanagi's new "shell", her old one having been destroyed in the aftermath of the battle, is a smaller one bearing strong resemblance both to a doll and to a child.) Furthermore, the musical transformation and the "fleshing out" of the instrumentation heard, coupled with the subtitle "Reincarnation", mirror the sense that, in her new persona, Kusanagi, and indeed the Puppet Master, are now somehow more complete through their act of union, having seemingly found answers to at least some of their initial questions.
While the film and manga certainly offer glimpses at the possibilities for human evolution through the continuous process of mechanisation, and furthermore hint at their inevitability, there is little disguising the sense of ambivalence that comes with it, particularly the implication that even the emotional connections we make with the world around us and the experiences that arguably form the concept of a soul can be digitally replicated, leading to the gradual erosion and erasure of the qualities that we take for granted as being innately human. It is telling, for example, that the climactic battle and "meeting of minds" between Kusanagi and the Puppet Master takes place in a museum, and furthermore one showing signs of its obvious age and decrepitude. As further emphasised by the prominent wall mural of an evolutionary chain leading up through various species of fish to "hominis" at the top, the suggestion is abundantly clear that humankind, having previously been at the apex of this process, is fated instead to be merely another stage in it that will (and, it is implied, must) be bypassed by the advent of modern technology and reduced to an artefact, a forgotten and abandoned relic.
Kawai's instrumentation here, in the appropriately titled "Floating Museum" (drawing immediate associations with Debussy's piano piece "The Sunken Cathedral"), illustrates this implication in a way that is both beautiful and unnerving. Perhaps the most overtly modern selection on the soundtrack, its sound defined primarily by electronic effects and soft synthesiser lines that steadily build in mood and intensity, the chanting vocals heard at the film's opening in "Making of a Cyborg" are heard again, but this time in sampled, synthesised form, creating the eery impression not so much of echoes as of vestiges of the original human source. In many senses, however, this hybridisation of organic and synthetic sounds, as well as being the defining feature of Kawai's soundtrack, also defines its overall effect within the film. Although its electronic elements are very much prominent, they are in roughly equal proportion to their acoustic counterparts, which linger and persist despite all best efforts, very much musical "ghosts" – not just of the spirit, but of the past – within the soundtrack's digital "shell". Indeed, by limiting his acoustic ensemble to such primal instruments as percussion and the human voice, and furthermore by demonstrating how these can be manipulated and even substituted with digital versions, it is almost as if Kawai challenges the viewer to consider what the caveats are that come with the kind of modernisation presented in Ghost in the Shell, and furthermore whether we are happy or prepared to accept them.


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March 4, 2010
DONNA TSITSOULAS, PLAINTIFF-RESPONDENT,v.LAZAROS TSITSOULAS, DEFENDANT-APPELLANT.
On appeal from the Superior Court of New Jersey, Chancery Division, Family Part, Morris County, Docket No. FM-14-260-96.
Per curiam.
Submitted November 30, 2009
Before Judges Lisa and Alvarez.
Defendant Lazaros Tsitsoulas appeals from a January 16, 2009 order denying his application for enforcement of litigant's rights related to visitation with his children and denying relief as to certain financial issues. We hereby reverse and remand.
Some history is necessary to understand this appeal. Plaintiff Donna Tsitsoulas and defendant divorced on June 8, 2000, however, a final amended dual judgment of divorce was not entered until August 29, 2001. The parties were awarded joint legal custody of their two sons, although plaintiff has always been the children's primary caretaker.
Subsequent to the entry of the amended dual judgment of divorce, dozens of motions and cross-motions were filed, mainly by defendant, related to visitation. Suffice it to say that on May 1, 2006, an order was entered requiring defendant to attend a minimum of ten counseling sessions with a psychologist. The order further directed that the psychologist issue a written report for the court's consideration, including an evaluation of defendant's relationship with his sons and analysis of the effect that his conduct was having upon them. The 2006 order is not entirely clear as to the purpose of the report; it is clear that the court anticipated that father and sons would benefit from treatment.
The younger son, born in 1994, has refused to see his father since September 2004. The older child, born in 1992, had expressed some willingness to visit with defendant, but has not done so in approximately two years.
The most significant provision in the 2006 order was that defendant was barred from making "any application to the [c]court relating to resumption of parenting time visits with [the younger child] until after the [c]court receives the psychologist's report...." Defendant was granted limited visitation with the older son, whom he was required to pick up and return curbside at plaintiff's home.
The 2006 order was appealed by defendant on the grounds a plenary hearing should have been conducted prior to this major change in parenting time. We affirmed the 2006 order on December 7, 2007. Tsitsoulas v. Tsitsoulas, No. A-1823-06 (App. Div. Dec. 7, 2007). The appeal focused exclusively on visitation.
According to the certification defendant filed in support of the application resulting in the January 16, 2009 order now being appealed, plaintiff never cooperated with the evaluation process. The psychologist defendant contacted after entry of the 2006 order, wrote a letter advising him that it would cost between $8,000 and $10,000 to perform the necessary work, including the court-mandated review of prior court orders, letters, and extensive transcripts. The psychologist opined that it would be in the best interests of the children if he worked with the family as a therapist instead of an expert witness preparing a report. As he put it, he wanted to focus "on re-unification" immediately because it would be "easier on the children and much less costly" than the preparation and submission of the evaluation and report mandated by the 2006 order. The psychologist also opined that the inherent conflict between the role of therapist and expert witness made compliance with the order impossible. As a result, defendant returned to the psychologist he and plaintiff had consulted for treatment in prior years, and he continued in therapy intermittently until as recently as 2008. Neither the children nor plaintiff, of course, were involved in the treatment. Defendant perceived himself to be stymied in his compliance with the order.
Defendant has not seen his younger child in almost six years and has not seen his older son in about two years. Although the children have defendant's phone number, they do not call him. He claims he does not have a number to call them, although plaintiff claims in her undated and uncertified letter sent in opposition to his motion that defendant knows the children's phone number and merely chooses not to call. The older boy will be eighteen this fall. The younger will be sixteen this spring.
While defendant's appeal of the 2006 visitation order was pending, on June 29, 2007, the Morris County Probation Department created a fund in court "to secure" defendant's child support obligations. In 2007, as now, defendant paid $106.55 in weekly child support. He was not noticed in advance of the entry of the 2007 "sua sponte order" that created the account. Defendant had previously accumulated arrears of as much as $4000 on his child support account, although we cannot ascertain if he was in arrears when the "sua sponte" order was issued. There are no arrears at present. The fund ...
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text: Mobile Upload TV is a 24 / 7 broadcasting channel featuring user inspired content generated from community based talent and ideas submitted by young people and teens from around the globe via Cell phones and mobile connected devices. This real life programming allows viewers to gain a true perspective of the culture and issues facing young people of all communities. Mupload TV showcases unique content depicting real life stories to initiate real life solutions using music videos, TV shows, films, dramas, sports and entertainment to impact, influence, and activate young people and teens worldwide.


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Its official name is Cafe by the Ruins Dua ("dua" to mean "two" in Iluko). And it opens Nov. 29 on upper Session Road.
The Baguio institution on Chuntug street is, at long last, branching out. It is 26 years old, after all, outlasting flash-in-the-pan cafes, luncheonettes and similar eating spots. It has made a name for fully using what's in season, what's available in the nearby public market and what can be sourced from neighboring provinces, including children's clay palayok with which to serve the new lamb kebabs with yogurt and peanut sauce. (The lambs are raised in a farm in Tarlac.)
It is not out of whimsy that the menu changes three times a year--it adapts to what the market has in abundance. The slow movers are removed from the line-up, some favorites that had been deleted make a comeback, and if you don't find something that you liked from a past visit in the current menu, the cook can accommodate your craving.
To hear two of the cafe partners, Adelaida Lim and Baboo Mondoñedo, and the second-generation managers, Tann Arvisu and Feliz "Fifi" Perez, tell it, Dua doesn't mean more of the same. Laida says the expansion is overdue what with the saucepans, pots and kitchen staff bumping into one another at peak hours.
Even the idea of a peak season (summer, specifically Holy Week, and December) no longer holds, if climate change should even be thanked for it at all. During its early years the cafe would be closed for renovations and repairs in August. This year, however, August was not too full of gusts of wind and rain. Baguio experienced a deluge of long weekenders who came up for just two good reasons: to eat and to sleep.
Fifi remembers a customer making a reservation for 20 people. No problem there. But when the next request came, it became complicated: "Can we all be sitting together?" Those familiar with the main cafe know that one of its distinctive qualities is its heterogeneous floor layout; last year a mezzanine was even added. Customers are never turned away; some willingly wait for as long as two hours to be seated. Thanks to SMS, too, they can go elsewhere, then return when a text reminds them that their table is available.
Dua will remedy the situation further. It will have space for big groups or for functions (meetings, seminars and workshops), a larger kitchen area to meet the demand for the cafe's baked products and for a deli-pasalubong corner that also includes take-out food ideal for condo residents or working couples who just need to reheat it. A proper gallery, too, now that the main cafe, through constant renovations, has lost many walls that used to have changeable exhibitions.
What to watch out for in that deli: the bottled beetroot atchara that packs a wallop. During a tastings session, Baboo suggested that the smoked lamb sausages be paired with something pickled instead of a sawsawan of vinegar. Laida called forth the beetroot atchara from the kitchen. Fifi and Tann opined that the sausages were a bit dry and have to be juicier for kids to relish them. Laida's solution: add beef fat.
Trial, error, perfection: a recipe for something that lasts. A heartfelt welcome indeed to what promises to be Dua's feast for the senses.


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Kirby Corps $40,000,000 and Counting Nathan E Stewart Adventure
by Ingmar Lee - 10,000 Ton Tanker
November 3, 2016
I've been browsing the Kirby Corp website (believe me, environmental activism isn't all about fame, fortune and glamour as it is for some...) and although there's a whole lot of bravado about being America's biggest water-borne petroleum distributor, which specializes in such deliveries as heavy fuel oil, black oil, crude oil, bunker fuels, petrochemicals, as well as ethanol, gasoline, diesel and agricultural chemicals, there's no mention of the Kirby Corps $40,000,000-and-counting Nathan E Stewart adventure.
Kirby's website is loudly emblazoned with its motto, -"Putting America's Waterways to Work,"- as well as considerable blather about "safety" and its commitment to "environmental excellence," but there is not a single mention, nothing whatsoever, on the currently unfolding shipwreck story and subsequent petroleum slick disaster that Kirby Corp is responsible for.
And, I guess not surprisingly, there is utterly no mention of the Kirby Corps other recent massive oil spill into Galveston Bay, which polluted 200 miles of Texas shoreline, and for which Kirby Corp was found guilty of in court.
Instead, the Kirby Corp website is focused on advertising its presentations at a whole line-up of upcoming investor conventions as well as detailed analysis of its stock market values, profits and expansion plans. (pure glamour, all this, eh?) Come to think of it, perhaps Kirby Corp investors might, in fact have second thoughts if the corporation was honest about the environmental, economic and social disasters the Kirby Corp leaves in its wake.
And you know me, - being very concerned about the bottom line of business investments being wagered by the rich-piggiest one-percenters oil-business investors, I took it upon myself to search out the Texas news media to see how Kirby Corps Nathan E Stewart disaster was playing out in the Texas media.
Well I must say that I am shocked, SHOCKED, -just like the Kirby Corp website, not a single mention! Anywhere! Just imagine, one of Texas' biggest corporations, currently spending, -I'm told- more than $40,000,000 on sopping up its Public Relations credibility, and its poor, downtrodden pitiful investors none the wiser....
So I gave the Houston Chronicle a call today, and they took off after the story like a dog after a bone.. Somebody had to let the cat out of the bag...


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|Golden Pavilion in Kyoto (Kinkakuji)
Click on this link to get the scoop on our trip.
In the late 1980's, my husband, baby girl, and I moved to Yokohama for four years. Needless to say, after so much time passing, I don't remember much of the "survival" Japanese that I learned to speak while we lived there. I do recall some of the most important expressions like where's the bathroom, where's the train station, and I'm so sorry. Most often the replies to my broken Japanese queries came in lovely, well-spoken English. I also remember how to hail a cab and show the driver a piece of paper with my destination written out. Works wonders for a lost traveler to make her way back home to the hotel.
Glenna and I will begin our trip by traveling to Seattle. We'll meet up with Kathy who lives nearby and all fly to Kyoto together. After 10 days in Kyoto, we'll take the bullet train to Tokyo where we will stay for a couple of days before flying back to Seattle together.
Plans for our day-to-day activities are coming together nicely. I'll post those another time. Now, I've got to hurry to yoga class so I can be flexible enough to sit on the floor!


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This is a delayed post because I've been distracted by Lisa See's "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan." Definitely a good read.
Went into the hives on Sunday, here are the results.
- Set-up: 10 frame Deep brood box
- Number of frames being worked: 5? Can't really remember
- Queen spotted: Yes
- Frames of brood:2.5 frames with large areas
- Type of brood identified: eggs, larvae and capped
- Food: Quart jar of 1:1 sugar syrup with HBH added, 1/4 used. Left on.
Overall Impression: Improving, clearly more bees are present. In the picture below you'll see every single empty cell, which used to be capped brood, is now filled with eggs! They really have no stores. I was really glad to see the queen was okay, I was fretting all week that I had ruined her or the workers "took her out."
Plan: Feed until the cows come home. Make it 2:1 sugar syrup.
- Set-up: 10 frame Deep brood chamber
- Number of frames being worked: 8.5
- Queen spotted: Yes and marked white
- Frames of brood: 5+
- Type of brood identified: capped and larvae
- Food: Switched to hive top feeder, added about 1/2 gallon.
Overall Impression: Doing very well, expanding. Using the 5.1mm foundation I added. It's neat to see the capped honey around the brood–they just started working this frame a couple of weeks ago. Impressive little bees. They have not expanded into the 2nd deep I added on July 19th.
Plan: Check the feeder to make sure no bees drown. Figure out a way to add pollen patties.
I marked the queen in this hive, made a much better job of it this time 🙂
Here is the 5.1mm foundation in Demeter:
Another update this weekend! To my hive checklist, I'm going to add "number of frames covered by bees" to help me gauge population. I need to figure out a way to take notes.


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The show of some dozen works by the artist, known for his manipulations of paper to create formalist and intriguing sculptural forms, includes two new site-specific installations created especially for Ronewa's Berlin gallery. The Zurich-based artist, spent a week on location creating museum-scale wall pieces that are boldly painted in highly saturated primary colors with enamel paint on paper. Creases and folds of the subtly shaped and hung works create animated surfaces and contours - the artist's use of paper becomes highly sculptural and monumental.
Tashi Brauen was born in 1980, and lives and works in Zurich. His artwork has been shown in galleries and museums in Switzerland, France, Thailand and the United States, including the Museum of Fine Art Bern, Fabrique culture Hégenheim/F, Stadtgalerie Bern, Centre Pasquart Biel, Museum Bärengasse Zürich, Union gallery in New York and Serindia Gallery in Bangkok.
Gallery hours are Monday through Friday 14:00 to 18:00, Saturdays 12:00 to 17:00 and Sundays by appointment only. Tel.+49 (0) 30 915 511 88. Email: email@example.com


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In Shaanxi Province, Chinese police have discovered 22 tons of pork that was sold as certified halal beef.
Muslims are forbidden from eating pork.
This case, once again, demonstrates the lack of seriousness of the halal industry in China.
The authorities already reported that two tons of the pork products were sold in the market marked as halal.
Camouflage methods used by criminals in this regard include usage of paraffin wax and industrial salts.
The conclusion remains the same from Paris to Beijing: the halal market does not reassure consumers.


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Reading Not Required — Thank God for Small Favors
Review of The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2005, edited by Dave Eggers.
Reading Dave Egger's ingratiating and irritatingly self-flattering Foreword to this volume (why is it, even when he's talking about others, that Dave Eggers is always talking about himself?), one hopes desperately that he is being ironic when he says that the pieces in the anthology were selected by a group of high-school students. Unfortunately, he appears to have been telling the truth. This is arguably the worst of the Best American Nonrequired Reading series, though the competition is pretty stiff. Maybe 2005 was just a lousy year for writing. Maybe we shouldn't be expected to pay full price to read stories and essays that appealed to high-school students. Maybe Dave Eggers really can't tell decent writing from drivel. Or maybe all three.
I would save exactly two pieces from this book: Aimee Bender's "Tiger Mending" and Stephanie Dickinson's "A Lynching in Stereoscope," both of which are marvelous. The rest of the book ranges from decidedly not marvelous to aggravating, self-referential, and banal. When you get to the last four pieces (Jonathan Tel's "The Myth of the Frequent Flier," Douglas Trevor's "Girls I Know," William T. Vollman's "They Came Out Like Ants," and Lauren Weedman's "Diary of a Journal Reader"), you realize you're deep in the Swamp of Complacencies that is the province of graduate-writing programs and of writers like Eggers and the McSweeney crowd: too clever by half, damn impressed with themselves and, at base, utterly uninterested in readers. Writing, for them, is an essentially masturbatory act that precludes an other.
I'd put Beck's Introduction, as superficial and trivial a piece of writing as you'll ever find, into the same category. It is apparently included in BANR 2005 solely for the "cool factor" bona fides that someone like Beck could provide in 2005 and not because Beck has a single intelligent or interesting observation to make about writing. Plus, Beck was about to feature Eggers on his next album, so hey: One hand washes the other, high up there in the Hiposphere. And that seems to be Eggers all over: so doggone determined to be "alternative" that he becomes, numbingly, the same as everything else.
Posted on 7 January 2009, in Book Reviews & Literaria. Bookmark the permalink. Leave a comment.


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I dislike corn season. I mean, I like fresh corn as much as anyone, but I dislike being a checker during corn season. People don't like you to count corn. They have a cart full of the shit (and sometimes, this is literal) and they want to tell you something like, "I have one hundred", and they don't want you to count it. They get PISSED. Don't even think about the fact that counting out what you're buying is part of a cashier's job - just automatically jump to the conclusion that the cashier is accusing you of being dishonest. If I ran a business that sold items in quantity, I would want my employees to verify the quantity the customer had. But maybe that's just me; maybe the rest of the world wouldn't care if their employees were not doing their job to the fullest of their capabilities and the entire extent of their job description. Maybe a half-assed work ethic has become the new hot commodity in retail.
I also dislike customers who are douche bags. Full on, rude, I-have-no-respect-for-anyone-but-myself douchery. Fantastic. There is nothing like telling a customer that you're sorry, but you don't have any tape at your checkstand, and having that customer respond, "Do you even know what tape is?" Hmmmmmm. Maybe I don't know what tape is. Maybe, somehow, in my thirty-two years of life, I have managed to completely avoid all contact with tape. Or maybe you need to realize that this is a checkstand, and not the package counter at the post office, and that even if we did have tape, it would probably just be plain old scotch tape and not the packaging tape required to hold your freaking big-ass box shut. That's not exactly a donut box, dude. Or maybe I just don't know what tape is, and really, I have a full drawer full of packing tape.
Banana peels; you do realize that when you hand me a banana peel at the point of checkout, you are now digesting the heaviest part of that fruit, and I can't correctly charge you. Same with apple cores, peach pits, and so-on and so-forth. I really dislike this. What am I supposed to do? Heimlich the rest of the fruit out of you and try to get the weight? Really, what am I supposed to do here? Just be like, oh well, you just stole from my company, and let it go? No big deal. It's just fruit. Maybe, if you were the only person doing that garbage. Do you really think you are the only person? Why is it, that when people want a snack, and they just can't wait until the shopping is done, why do they tend to choose the items that are sold by weight?
To add to this list of things that I dislike; let's go with not being able to breath. Men! You don't need the whole bottle of Axe poured over your body. That's not sexy. Women are not passing out because of your inconceivable hotness; they are passing out because your cologne has defeated all the area's oxygen. And your poor, poor checker; that person can't even run away. That person has to try and hold their breath until you've moved on. Seriously, can't breath here. Maybe you don't need so much. Maybe, if you are buying cologne in bulk, that's a sign. Maybe, if you come through my line with five bottles of the shit, I'm going to grace you with Marie's-Ultra-Special-Glare-Of-Death - you know, on behalf of all of the people who have suffered. Maybe too much cologne should be considered chemical warfare.
Maybe I'm kinda grumpy today. I dislike being grumpy, but hey, I'm human. Grumpiness comes to all of us. Probably, I shouldn't have gotten out of bed this morning, but I have responsibilities. I have things that need to get done. But maybe, after I'm done baking this box of Betty Crocker's cookie brownie that I just happened to find in the cabinet (how did that get there, I wonder?), maybe I should manage to refrain from eating the whole damn thing, because even though I like to eat my feelings, I know it isn't healthy. Or maybe I should eat the whole thing. We only live once, and maybe this brownie is the only thing standing between me and happiness.


text:
Reminder: the persons of Japanese ancestry enduring civil rights violations in the 1940s are mostly American citizens. This wasn't the first time, and won't be the last, that civil liberties were violated under the justification of national security during a time of war.
Step 1. Watch this video – click here – and answer the 2 questions below. Source: This film was produced by the U.S. government's Office of War Information (propaganda) to put a happy face on the treatment of Japanese-Americans (JAs) living and working on the west coast. This was created before television was in widespread use.
1. What reasons are given for the necessity of relocating JAs? (list 2+)
2. How does the film show the U.S. government "helping" the JAs "relocating"? (List 3+)
Step 2. Read "The Munson Report" Source: In 1941 Pres. Roosevelt ordered the State Department to investigate the loyalty of Japanese Americans. The investigation was carried out in October-November of 1941. State Department employee Curtis Munson presented the "Munson Report" to the President on November 7, 1941 – exactly one month before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, HI.
There is no Japanese 'problem' on the [West] Coast. There will be no armed uprising of Japanese. There will undoubtedly be some sabotage financed by Japan and executed largely by imported agents… In each Naval District there are about 250 to 300 suspects under surveillance. Privately, [the U.S. Intelligence Services] believe that only 50 to 60 in each district can be classed as really dangerous. The Japanese are hampered as saboteurs because of their easily recognizable physical appearance. It will be hard for them to get near anything to blow up if it is guarded. There is far more danger from Communists…than there is from Japanese. There Japanese here is almost exclusively a farmer, fisherman or small businessman."
3. What is the only possible justification given by the Munson Report for the "internment program"?
Step 3. Read "Americans in Concentration Camps" Source: This is an excerpt of an editorial that appeared in "The Crisis" in September 1942. "The Crisis" is one fo the oldest black periodicals in America dedicated to promoting civil rights.
"Along the eastern coast of the United States, where the numbers of Americans of Japanese Ancestry is comparatively small, no concentration camps have been established. From a military point of view, the only danger on this coast is from Germany and Italy… But the American government has not taken any such high-handed action against Germans and Italians – and their American-born descendants – on the East Coast, as has been taken against Japanese and their American-born descendants on the West Coast. Germans and Italians are "white". Color seems to be the only possible reason why thousands of American citizens of Japanese ancestry are in concentration camps."
4. What double standard is recognized by the editorial?
Step 4. Read: Supreme Court Ruling "Korematsu v. United States" Source: In 1944, a JA convicted of evading internment, brought his case to the Supreme Court. In a controversial ruling, the Court decided that national security outweighted Korematsu's individual rights and upheld the constitutionality of Executive Order 9066. The excerpt below (edited for clarity) is from the Court's majority opinion written by Chief Justice Hugo Black.
"We uphold the order… In doing so, we are [mindful] of the hardships imposed by it upon a large group of American citizens… But hardships are part of war, and war is an aggregation of hardships. All citizens alike, both in and out of uniform, feel the impact of war. Citizenship has its responsibilities, as well as its privileges, and in the time of war, the burden is always heavier. Compulsory exclusion of large groups of citizens from their homes…is inconsistent with our basic governmental institutions. But when our shores are threatened by hostile forces, the power to protect must be commensurate with the threatened danger.
To cast this case into outlines of racial prejudice merely confuses the issue. Korematsu was not excluded from the Military Area (the West Coast) because of hostility to him or his race. He was excluded because we are at war with the Japanese Empire, because the properly constituted military authorities feared an invasion of our West Coast and felt constrained to take proper security measures, because they decided that the military urgency of the situation demanded that all citizens of Japanese ancestry be segregated from the West Coast temporarily, and finally, because Congress reposing its confidence in this time of war in our military leaders… determined that they should have the power to do just this."
5. What reasons are given in the Court's majority opinion in upholding the "internment" as legal?
6. Imagine you are writing a dissenting opinion. Under what constitutional basis would you argue this is not legal. (e.g. – which amendments are being violated by the "internment" program?)
Step 5. "Personal Justice Denied" Source: In 1980, Congress established the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians to investigate the detention program and the constitutionality of Executive Order 9066. Their report was released on February 24, 1983.
"The Commission held 20 days of hearings in cities across the country, particularly on the West Coast, hearing testimony from more than 750 witnesses: evacuees, former government officials, public figures, interested citizens, and historians… An extensive effort was made to locate and review the records of government action and to analyze other sources of information including contemporary writings, personal accounts and historical analyses…
…Executive Order 9066 was not justified by military necessity, and the decisions which followed from it – detention, ending detention and ending exclusion – were not driven by analysis of military conditions. The broad historical causes which shaped these decisions were race prejudice, war hysteria and a failure of political leadership. Widespread ignorance of Japanese-Americans contributed to a policy conceived in haste and executed in an atmosphere of fear and anger at Japan. A grave injustice was done to American citizens and resident aliens of Japanese ancestry who, without individual review or any… evidence against them, were excluded, removed and detained by the United States during World War II."
7. What factors did the commission blame for the illegal detainment of JAs?
8. What compensation do you think would be fair to victims of "internment"?
9. In 100+ words, write a letter to your member of Congress, explaining why you believe (or don't believe) that JAs are entitled to compensation for their "internment" and loss of their property?


text:
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Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division
July 11, 2013
STATE OF NEW JERSEY, Plaintiff-Respondent,v.JOSHUA JONES, Defendant-Appellant.
Submitted July 3, 2013
On appeal from the Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division, Union County, Indictment Nos. 03-12-1303, 04-06-0609, and 04-07-0701.
Joseph E. Krakora, Public Defender, attorney for appellant (Gregory P. Jordan, Designated Counsel, on the brief).
Grace H. Park, Acting Union County Prosecutor, attorney for respondent (Stacey Zyriek, Special Deputy Attorney General/ Acting Assistant Prosecutor, of counsel and on the brief).
Before Judges Axelrad and Fuentes.
Defendant Joshua Jones appeals from the March 4, 2011 order of the Law Division denying his petition for post-conviction relief (PCR) without an evidentiary hearing. Defendant had argued ineffective assistance of trial counsel, in part, in failing to advise him of the consequences of parole ineligibility and the "real time" penal consequences of his plea. We affirm.
In May 2005, defendant pled guilty to two counts of third-degree possession of heroin with intent to distribute within a school zone, N.J.S.A. 2C:35-7 (count three of Union County Indictment No. 03-12-1303 and count four of Union County Indictment No. 04-06-0609), and third-degree possession of heroin with intent to distribute, N.J.S.A. 2C:35-5(a)(1) and -5(b)(3) (count two of Union County Indictment No. 04-07-0701). In September 2005, defendant was sentenced to the negotiated term of five years imprisonment with a two-year parole disqualifier on each indictment. The sentences were to run consecutive to each other and concurrent to defendant's sentences in Middlesex and Somerset counties. The State dismissed the remaining charges.
Defendant appealed his sentence, which we affirmed on an ESOA calendar, R. 2:9-11, by order of February 6, 2007. On May 21, 2009, the Supreme Court denied certification. State v. Jones, 199 N.J. 518 (2009).
In November 2009, defendant filed a pro se PCR petition, supplemented by counsel, asserting ineffective assistance of trial counsel in failing to advise him that the six-year period of parole ineligibility would not begin until he was actually sentenced on the charges rather than as of the time of his arrest in Somerset County in July 2004, and in failing to advise him in "real time" of the penal consequences of his plea. He also asserted ineffective assistance of trial and appellate counsel in failing to argue that maximum consecutive sentences are excessive and disfavored in New Jersey.
Following oral argument on February 18, 2011, Judge Robert J. Mega denied defendant's PCR petition in a letter opinion and order. This appeal ensued.
On appeal, defendant argues that trial counsel's representation of him "was deficient in that he failed to advise him properly regarding his parole ineligibility period upon entering his guilty plea[, ]" which "deficiency resulted in a loss of [his] constitutional rights." Defendant further argues that trial counsel was ineffective in failing to explain the penal consequences of his plea, particularly that the approximate one year he spent in state prison on out-of-county charges would not apply to his parole disqualifier on these charges. Finally, defendant asserts error by the court in not granting him an evidentiary hearing on these issues.
Based on our review of the record and applicable law, we are not persuaded by any of defendant's arguments. We affirm substantially for the reasons articulated by Judge Mega in his comprehensive ...
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text:
Of oulines and opening scenes
I haven't had an extremely productive week as far as my word count is concerned, but I feel like I've made a decent amount of progress this week nonetheless. I was supposed to finish up the first draft of The Story of Em in February, but that clearly didn't happen. My new goal is to finish that this month. That wouldn't have been a problem before I got my Nook, but now I've been spending a lot of my free time playing with my new apps and reading that Coffeehouse Mysteries series and less time actually writing like I'm supposed to be doing.
The good news is that I've actually managed to come up with an outline for Em. Yesterday I took notes on the parts of the story I had written so far and realized I had made a huge error in time. I just kept throwing around phrases like "two weeks later" and "a month later," and it wasn't until yesterday that I realized Emelyn would be graduating already, and she should have a lot more time left at school since she's only just started dating the man she'll eventually marry. I spent a while yesterday working out the timeline, and I've finally got it so that she starts dating David in October, which gives her plenty of time to get to know him and meet his family and still decide to move in with him after she graduates in May. They'll only have been dating for seven months when they move in together, but that's much more believable than a couple of weeks. I was going to go back and edit what I have so far, but I'm really just shifting the timeline back a little, so I think I'll be all right. I'm just going to have to try to remember that it's November now instead of late spring.
I've also been playing with a new app I got on my Nook called My Writing Spot, which lets you write on your Nook and then sync those files with your Internet account so that you can have those files on your computer, as well. It'll be great during NaNo when I want to write when I'm away from my computer. Yesterday I had a lot of down time at work (most people hadn't realized that they had to bring the money with them if they wanted to buy the pictures, so I basically just sat there for hours entertaining myself), so I did a little bit of writing. I should have been working on Em or, at the very least, taking notes for my Script Frenzy idea, but instead, I wrote this:
The house had been boarded up for years. In the ten years I had lived in this neighborhood, I had never once seen it lived in. All i saw were the boarded up windows, the door with the broken handle, the cracked driveway and the yard that was so overgrown with weeds that it would take a landscaping crew months to fix.
The house was in the back of the neighborhood, at the end of a dead end. Most of the other streets ended in cul de sacs. This one ended at that house. If you accidentally drove down the wrong street and had to turn around, you had no choice but to pull into the large, arching driveway and head back out the other way. Though there were two more houses on that road, one on either side of the boarded up one, their driveways were on the main road. It wad as if the builders had known what that house would become and didn't want it to infect any of the other houses.
I don't really know why that was what was dying to come out, but I had to write something, and that was the image that had been in my head for a few days. I have no idea what the story is behind the house, nor do I know where it's going to go, but I had to write the image down where I could. That's probably the most description I've ever written. I just hope I can figure out why that house is so important.
Posted on March 14, 2012, in outlining, Planning, The Story of Em, Writing. Bookmark the permalink. Leave a comment.


text:
Beauty in the Ordinary
Sunday, December 23, 2012
From Our Home to Yours...
14 comments:
Beautiful Jacqueline...have a wonderful, magical Christmas.ReplyDelete
With my love,
Beauty is everywhere Catherine, isn't it? You just have to look with loving eyes...Happy Christmas!Delete
And from ours to yours J - Happy Christmas xxxxReplyDeleteReplies
not that I would wish this on anyone Molly, but it is so comforting to know we tread this path together...wishing you all God's love this Christmas...Delete
Have a wonderful Christmas,you are in our thoughts and prayers.ReplyDeleteReplies
thank you carole...it means the world...happy christmas...Delete
dear heart!!!ReplyDelete
Love you too sweet man! Happy Christmas!ReplyDelete
May your time together this Christmas be filled with love and hope.ReplyDelete
Have a very merry Christmas Jacqueline.ReplyDelete
Dearest Jacqueline, love is the most important part of the meaning of Christmas.....wishing you every loving thing, happiness and most of all, the warmth and caring of family and friends....with affection, N.xoxoReplyDelete
Merry Christmas, Jacqueline! I hope your 2013 will be wonderful.ReplyDelete
Beautiful post! Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas!ReplyDelete
Merry Christmas Jacqueline...so happy you're spending it with your wonderful family. Thoughts and prayers are with you for the New Year, may it be filled with many blessings and many dreams fulfilled.ReplyDelete
xo J~