text:
Pluto! (Image Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI).
You just never know what might be lurking in old data, awaiting discovery.
Or perhaps pre-discovery. As we approach the eve of New Horizons historic fly-by of Pluto and its moons tomorrow, we thought wed turn your attention to a recent amazing find from the Carnegie Observatories' archive. The collection includes more than 200,000 glass plates of the night sky going all the way back to 1892 from three separate observatories.
Now, as we know from the news this past weekend leading up to the flyby, Pluto was discovered by American astronomer Clyde Tombaugh in 1930 while working at the Lowell Observatory. It was a bit startling for an archivist then to come across an envelope marked PLUTO from 1925:
Just how did this plate get in the collection from five years prior to the discovery? Dr. Cynthia Hunt of Carnegie Observatories uncovered the find during inventory. The plate covered a large swath of the sky, and contained a cluster of markings, along with the initials UM. After a bit of detective work, Hunt discovered a paper from 1931 which mentions the analysis of plates taken from Mount Wilson observatory in 1925 comparing the pre-discovery position of Pluto in an early attempt to refine its orbit. And UM? That was astronomer Nicholas U. Mayall, also cited on the paper.
Turns out Pluto was sitting there awaiting discovery, all those years prior. What a great story of astronomical detective work. This also highlights a prime reason to keep those old plates around you never know what sorts of tales are waiting to be told.
Congrats to the Carnegie team on finding Pluto 90 years before New Horizons is set to make the first historic pass of the brave new world tomorrow.


text:
Clearwater Apartments
Review for Clearwater Apartments
Seattle, WA
It was a cool place to live
I lived at Clearwater for over a year while my home was being renovated. It was a nice, clean and mostly quiet place to live. I wanted to live nearby my house and this apt was the most affordable place with washer/dryer in unit and garage parking. Management was the Best, they went beyond the call of duty to accomodate my stay after my lease ended due to the countless delays of my house being done. I had alot of things to be stressed about but living here made it bearable.Thank Ladies.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
David Epstein's new book
"The Sports Gene"made headlines last week because it contains a chapter that challenges Malcolm Gladwell's 10,000-hour rule.
But the book goes way beyond that, and has an incredible number of tidbits about everything from lung size in Kenyan runners to superhuman eye sight among MLB players.
It's a fantastic read about just how meaningful of a role gene play in determining who becomes a world-class athlete.
We picked out our 16 favourite nuggets from the dozens in the book.
Speed is partially determined by the proportion of slow- and fast-twitch muscle fibres in the body.
Fast-twitch muscles give you more speed while slow-twitch muscles give you more endurance.
It's possible to train fast-twitch muscles to have more endurance, but you can't get slow-twitch muscles to act like fast-twitch muscles.
Therefore slow people cannot become fast.
Source: The Sports Gene
2. Redheads have a higher tolerance for certain types of pain. The same gene mutation is responsible for both phenomena
The human eye can't physically track an MLB fastball in the hitting zone and tell the muscles where to move.
Instead our brains recognise the ball as it leaves the pitcher's hand and predicts where the ball will go based on visual information. Eye sight is the most important genetic aspect of hitting, and 58% of MLB players have 'superior' depth perception compared to 18% of nonathletes.
Albert Pujols is only in the 66th percentile of reaction time compared to college students.
Source: The Sports Gene
4. 10% of people with European ancestry have a gene mutation that allows them to inject testosterone and never test positive in a PED test
5. Paula Radcliffe, the best women's marathoner ever, struggled to win in the hot weather because she was too tall
Marathoners are short because having high surface area relative to volume allows the body to cool faster.
Radcliffe is 5'8' -- nearly a foot taller than many female marathoners -- and lost in both the 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics (on hot days) despite holding the world record.
When the body gets to 104-degrees, it automatically slows down its processes. For short, thin people, it's harder to hit that internal temperature.
Source: The Sports Gene
6. Not all Kenyans are good distance runners. Descendants of the Kalenjin (a tribe in Kenya's Rift Valley) make up 12% of the population but account for the vast majority of the country's distance runners
7. The Kalenjin (Kenyans) are genetically made for distance running because they have proportionally long legs, light limbs, and have evolved larger lungs from living at high altitude for centuries
There are genetic factors that contribute to Jamaicans being the world's best short distance runners. They typically have long limbs and narrow hips, and nearly all of them have the ACTN3 'sprint gene' variant.
But there's also an environmental factor -- it's nearly impossible to be a talented sprinter in Jamaica and not get 1) discovered, 2) funneled into track instead of other sports.
Usain Bolt wanted to play cricket or soccer. If he grew up anywhere else on Earth he wouldn't have been a sprinter.
Source: The Sports Gene
The Kalenjin gene pool that accounts for most of the champion Kenyan distance runners also exists in southern Sudan.
But unlike Kenya, Sudan has a lack of stability and infrastructure that has so far prevented a running system or culture from ever developing. Theoretically though, it's likely to be a hot bed of potential marathoners.
Source: The Sports Gene
11. The new trend in dog sledding is to breed for work ethic, not speed. Scientists believe 'will' in sports is heavily influenced by genes
Scientists have found that leg volume is a huge factor in a person's endurance ability.
Putting four pounds of weight around a runner's ankle makes the runner burn energy 24% faster.
Source: The Sports Gene
Scientists identified 23 different gene variants that make someone a better natural endurance runner. When they ran the odds that a human would have all 23 variants, they found the odds were 1 in 1 quadrillion.
It's likely that no one on Earth has more than 15 of the 23 genes.
Source: The Sports Gene
Scientists have found that practice isn't created equally for everyone.
Different people can do the same exercises for the same amount of time and their improvement over time will be totally different. For instance some people's aerobic capacity won't get better even with deliberate training.
That's part of the reason why it will take some people 3,000 hours of practice to achieve mastery, and others 10,000.
Source: The Sports Gene
15. Only two players in the NBA in 2010-11 didn't have unusually large wingspans. Humans typically have a height to wingspan ratio of 1:1, it's 1:1.063 among NBA players
Business Insider Emails & Alerts
Site highlights each day to your inbox.
Follow Business Insider Australia on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.


text:
About Us
Welcome to letstalkaboutyourinsurance.com, part of the network and your number one source for all things Insurance. We're dedicated to providing you the best information on all things Insurance, with a focus on dependability, customer service, and Insurance related information.
We're working to turn our passion for providing informative and educational insurance information into a a community of informative websites/blogs. We hope you enjoy our website as much as we enjoy providing the content for you.


text:
Luke has decided to have a growth spurt, as well as getting into a fair bit of mischief around home. As you can see in the video, he has worked out how the hose works, and loves to squirt the dog, his siblings, and his mother, especially in the backside as she tries to turn the tap off ;)
He is pretty pleased with himself!
Luke also embraces his feminine side when playing with Emily. He's getting good at tucking the baby in for her buggy ride...
...and following his big sister around...
...but 'buggy wars' are a purely Luke invention- and I'm not sure Em approves!
We started swimming lessons this week, as he insists on getting into the bath clothed all the time. Don't worry, the plug is well out of reach. He liked all the bits in the lesson where he didn't have to do as he was told, whinged and complained through all the bits where he did have to follow instructions (and I thought all children with DS were soooo happy!) and was generally stared at by all the other mothers. He also managed to pull the halter neck of my togs undone, luckily I realised before I gave an x-rated swimming performance in the toddlers' pool. I came home feeling a bit deflated, and realised that I find it hard going to new situations- I never remember in time that we are a little different and find it tricky to be stared at. No-one said anything though, and I can't decide if that is better or worse than having people make stupid comments or asking the same old questions. Having a child with DS is just like having a child without it at this point in time, except with the others, no-one stared constantly! But maybe they were just staring at my tog malfunction...
Here is Luke after another bath. This time with Ben after swimming. He loved the sound his boots made full of water, and proudly squelched around the lawn.
Then he and Ben stood in dog poo. Ben proceded to wipe it all over the patio, so I took him down to the hose to wash it off. (At this point I didn't realise Luke had it on his shoes.) Then I went to clean the water off the new carpet and found Luke inside with it all over his shoes, and poo prints all round the new lounge carpet. So I was on my hands and knees, with the three kids locked out, crying and banging on the glass, wanting to come in as I scraped poo off the carpet. Fun. And ironic considering it was poo from the same dog whose vomit necessitated the new carpet in the first place. Loving her right now.
Anyway, here are some of the things I like about spring. This is the first flower on the magnolia I planted last spring.
And the daffodils and tulips I also planted last spring.
We also found a nest in our wood shed, which now has 4 large baby birds in it. One of which Ben 'helped' out yesterday, so I had to go and find it and return it to its nest last night, in the dusk.
We had the concrete guys and truck to concrete around our magnolia at the back of the garden, which we have been meaning to get done for the past 21 months we have been living here.
Luke and Neil mowed the lawn. Neil has a thing about the lawn. Luke does not.
Dad and his helper.
So lovely to think that last summer Luke wasn't walking, and now he's running everywhere and just as capable as other kids his age- once he started there was no stopping him.


text:
Fall/Winter 2019 Inspiration
Thomas, a London based fashion photographer and the subject character of my favorite movie, Blow Up, is a man who expresses his curiosity through his medium- in this case, photography.
His personality is a juxtaposition of vain pragmatism, (the first scene of the movie captures Thomas waking up in a tenement and leaving in his convertible Silver Cloud), his everyday documented with camera in hand. Despite his jaded attitude, he displays through his photographs a youthful optimism and restrained amount of bravado.
As mere non-fiction mortals, how do we express our curiosities with the same cool aplomb?
For me, "Collection" is this medium, a seasonal opportunity to renew my passion and bring new ideas to life.
For Fall/ Winter 2019, "Blow Up" and the visuals seen through the unabashed lens of its hero serve as an inspiration to indulge our sartorial curiosities. Drawing on textures and colors found on the sets of his photo shoots, I look forward to presenting the launch of our newest collection next week, as well as the details of each of the eight looks.


text:
Article Full Details
Title : PPC Business Builder Plan
Category : Web Design
Hi Everyone In working with other small to mid-size companies, one of the key issues they're struggling with is generating new business. This past year we helped numerous startup and "local brick and mortar" companies to increase sales with highly targeted Google Ad Campaigns that generate quality leads for their business. To continue this success we've created an introductory Business Starter Plan. It's perfect for smaller marketing budgets to build your online presence and get you on page one of Google. If this is something you're challenged with too, let's book a time to chat! Or you may click on the link below. Simply fill in a few questions and one of our sales associates will reply within a day. All the best, Brad Latham JBL Consulting Digital Marketing | SEO | Google Adwords https://www.jblconsultinginc.com/ppcstarter
Das ist der großartige Blog! Ich möchte gerne dazu beitragen, weil ich mir des Online Glücksspiels bewusst bin und über visa casino und andere interessante Dinge schreiben kann, die diesem Thema ähnlich sind.
Can you give me some useful advice for http://www.colourlovers.com/lover/Drudrat? I understand that SEO policy is very important on especially at the initial stages of business promotion. Thank for post


text: ophogh 2 / 1 Sep 25, 2010 #1I would be so grateful if you do me a favor and correct my essaySome people believe that families should not have more than two children. Others believe that they can have as many children as they wish. Which opinion do you support? Use specific reasons and examples to support your opinion.I subscribe to this view that people should avoid having more than two children since insufficient natural resources, limited facilities and inadequate parents' time and energy to allocate each kid.From one side, giving birth to more than two children in every family undoubtedly leads deficiency in many natural resources. World's natural resources are not good enough for the giant population who their life is completely dependent on them. For instance, nowadays we are witnessing energy crisis in whole of the world; fossil fuels that almost every person uses for transport are running out. Likewise, renewing these valuable resources takes many times; thus, neglecting explosion population would become more likely a catastrophe in future.Furthermore, before inviting new kids to this world, we should think about their requiredfacilities. If the infrastructure of cities does not grow at the same rate of rising population, the result will impose some strains on this innocent generation. Such as, lack of education facilities, health services and housing problems.Ultimately, people should not have more than two children, as it costs them too much effort and time; since, for nurturing proper children, parents should have adequate time and energy to give each child. For example, unfortunately in many populated families, parents abandon their children and do not care about their upbringing due to lack of ability and time to concentrate on their education. Most of crowded families are too lenient because parents could not track behavior of each child and focus on trend of his education.To sum up, I stand behind supporters of having maximum two children. In this way, wecan save our world from energy crisis; in addition, we do not need cost a lot to fulfill requirements of that over population. In the end, it is crystal clear that parents have limited effort; hence, they cannot be successful in upbringing five or six children like one or two children. Having lower children more probably beneficial to both parents and kids.thanks for your attention


text:
Sally Quinn Cosplay
To Sally Quinn Cosplay, artist no longer means one thing, it's a broad term that covers an envelope of millions of opportunities and creations. Conquering immersive cosplays for over 4 years, Rachael has expanded from just cosplay building alone to SFX makeup, body painting, and game streaming. Being a multi-award winning published cosplayer, she finds nothing is more challenging than creating a 3D piece of art to transform your body. "Every day I try to bend all the rules, defy gravity, fathom what can't be done, and push the envelope. Fine Arts has my heart, Graphic Design expands my mind, but bodypainting and cosplaying will always feed my soul."


text:
In the second Spring Statement, we expect the Chancellor to update the country on the state of the economy and whether the Chancellor's claim of 'austerity coming to an end' is in sight.
It's expected Mr Hammond will revise predictions on the direction of the UK economy over the coming critical years, and given Britain's exit from the EU on March 29 is fast approaching, we are expecting this to be a focus on shaping the Chancellor's speech.
He will deliver his Spring Statement to the House of Commons on Wednesday 13 March. It's anticipated the Chancellor will begin at 12:30pm and last 20 minutes however the entire debate is expected to last around two hours.
What to expect
Mr Hammond will respond to the new financial predictions set out by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).
We don't expect any significant tax or spending rises but some of the obvious topics we anticipate to be addressed is GDP growth and borrowing for the UK government. Following the Chancellor's view that the economy was being 'overshadowed' by Brexit uncertainty we expect Brexit to play a big part of the Statement.
People are preparing themselves for figures to show Britain's finances in a black hole.
In addition to touching on a few longer term policies we also expect the Chancellor to use the Spring Statement to update MPs on overall progress since the last budget.
Watch our Twitter feed on 13 March for live Spring Statement updates and highlights.


text:
Valley View Retirement Community
2018 OurHealth Senior Living Highlights
Needs Change…Life Continues at Valley View
Award winning community 5 years in a row.
2014-2018 Gold
About Us
For 30 years, seniors from the Lynchburg community and surrounding area have delighted in Valley View Retirement Community's gracious amenities and home-like atmosphere. Valley View provides a unique blend of independent and assisted living, offering each resident the flexibility to make their living arrangement feel like home. Across Valley View's community, residents enjoy luscious, mature trees,walking trails, and raised gardening beds, and each apartment offers a private balcony, allowing residents to further enjoy the natural beauty surrounding each home. In this quiet, park-like community, Valley View also offers dining,housekeeping, and a wellness center, each maintained by an outstanding,experienced staff.
Services and Amenities
With two full-time activity coordinators, Valley View looks forward to entertaining residents with a variety of social events. Valley View prides itself on hosting a rich calendar of social activities, including fitness classes, outdoor activities,crafts, outings, games, volunteer opportunities, and more.In addition, the community's free transportation service provides each resident with access to his or her favorite medical facilities, shopping, and entertainment in the Lynchburg area. Valley View encourages family and friends to visit. We offer access to a private dining room and catering services are available for special occasions.
Independent Living
For two generations, seniors from the Lynchburg community and across the country have been delighted with Valley View's worry-free lifestyle, gracious amenities and truly joyful atmosphere.
We're staffed 24 hours a day so whenever you need assistance of any kind, you can count on an immediate response from well-trained staff who genuinely care about their jobs – and about you.
Feel free to get involved in the social activities or relax in the comfort of your own apartment, or in our cozy lounge. We can take care of all your transportation and cooking. But, if you love to cook, your apartment has a full kitchen and you're welcome to bring your car. Pets are allowed, too. In fact, Valley View is your home, so we give you the flexibility to make it just the way you want it to be.
Assisted Living
As a licensed home for adults, Valley View can provide services from medication management to hands-on care 24-hours a day. Plus, our full-staffing model means our employees have the time to do a good job and to listen to each resident's needs and their stories.
Unlike other assisted living communities that offer rooms or suites, Valley View offers residents the space and privacy of their own apartment homes. Each has a private balcony or patio so it's easy to enjoy sunlight, fresh air and the beautiful views.
Home-like Apartment Living
Both independent and assisted living residents enjoy the privacy and homey feel of living in their own apartment rather than a room or suite. Every Valley View apartment features a private balcony or patio for plenty of sunlight and fresh air.
Valley View simply feels like home! Here's what our residents say:
"The private balconies for every apartment are wonderful. We enjoy the view and the fresh air."
"Staff cares about us like we're family. They do a great job and want us to be glad to be here."
"The activities stand-out, fun exercises, programs, games, activities, outings…"
"Everyone is nice and cooperative, and we have such a good time."
"People wait too long to come to Valley View! They miss out enjoying everything it has to offer!"
"I am very satisfied! If you want entertainment, you have it. If you want privacy, you have it."
What Sets Us Apart
While residents can look forward to experiencing the independence and freedom they want, family and friends are put at ease knowing the community is staffed by 24-hour personnel, and monthly rental fees include emergency pull cord and response system services for an added level of security. Because Valley View offers both independent and assisted living care, residents can stay on site as needs change; residents interested in moving to a higher level of care can do so without losing contact with the staff and fellow residents they have come to know well and value as family.Month-to-month leases are available for flexibility without long-term commitment, entrance fee, and buy-in expense, providing excellent senior living value.
Valley View Retirement Community & Assisted Living
1213 Long Meadows Drive, Lynchburg, Virginia 24502


text:
Cooties are real. Apparently, "cootie" comes from the Malay word "kutu," meaning "dog tick." Fortunately, you can easily make a cootie catcher wit the added benefit that the device doubles as a fortune teller, chatterbox, whirlybird, salt cellar, etc.
From Mental Floss:
The 1928 book Fun with Paper Folding contained the "salt cellar," which, when inverted from how we're used to seeing it today, was meant to invoke a container that could hold and pour salt. The points of a cootie catcher become legs and the spaces for fingers open up to hold the salt.
The exact lineage and timeline for the introduction of the cootie catcher around the world is somewhat murky. Most sources suggest it's possible that it appeared in Europe as early as the 17th century. It's safe to say though that by the 1950s, cootie catchers had started to appear in England and the United States, and propagated from there.
"A Brief History of Cootie Catchers"
(GIF via Hello Giggles)


text:
Hyperkin has stepped up to meeting gamers' demands for more realistic first-person-shooter gameplay by releasing the AK Striker: Original Edition, a Playstation Move control attachment designed to replicate an AK-47.
The AK Striker capitalizes gives gamers the ability to play shooting games with the realistic feel of wielding the world's most popular gun. The tentative release date for the AK Striker: Original Edition is April 1st.
The AK Striker: Original Edition features a retractable rear stock, a collapsible navigation controller cradle, the full complement of buttons on a standard PS3 DualShock controller, and a firing mode selector. Players can wield the AK Striker like a full rifle with the shoulder attachment on or a submachine gun with the shoulder attachment off.
- Retractable and removable shoulder stock.
- Fully functional housing for both the PS3 Move and Navigation controllers.
- Trigger/ Reload reverse switch
- 3 firing modes (Single Shot, Burst, and Automatic).
- Face Buttons on the gun handle.
- Attachable Shoulder Strap


text:
Berroco 372 Lucerne PDF
This beautiful circular shawl is knit in the round from the center out and has an easy to remember stitch pattern. Lucerne is created using Berroco Folio which provides wonderful drape and softness.
This pattern is available as a PDF download.
Skill level: Intermediate
Finished measurements: approximately 52" across (after blocking)
Yarn: 8 balls Berroco Folio (50 grs)
Needles: 1 set (4) double pointed knitting needles, size US 5 (3.75mm) 16" and 32" length circular knitting needles, size US 5 (3.75mm)
Gauge: 22 sts and 32 rnds = 4" in St st
This pattern is also available in Berroco 372 - Fiora + Folio


text:
Serving all of SE Wisconsin including Cambridge, Whitewater, Johnson Creek and Milton
You can rely on our licensed electricians for your residential, commercial or industrial electrical requirements. With more than 50 years of experience, we offer a wide range of electrical services including parking lot lighting and breaker replacement.
Ready Electric Inc
643 W Hilltop Trail
Fort Atkinson, WI 53538
Business Hours:
Monday - Friday - 6:30 AM to 4:30 PM
Extended Hours:
Emergency service available
Service Area:
Serving all of SE Wisconsin
Licensed, Bonded, and Insured


text:
« PreviousContinue »
Woman he callda pretty thing,'--
Good Mr. Pringle !—you must sce Your arguments are light with me; They buzz like feeble flies around me, But leave me firm, as first they found me. Silence your logic! burn your pen! The Poet says "we all are men;" And all " condemn'd alike to groan !" You with a wife, and I with none. Well !—yours may be a happier lot, But it is one I envy not; And you'll allow me, Sir, to pray, That, at some near-approaching day, You may not have to wince and whine, And find some cause to envy mine!
What, what is Marriage ? Harris, Priscian,
"Pshaw!" says a modern modish wife,
An aged bachelor, whose life
'Tis worse a mile than rope or tree,
Our friends turn out,--our wife's are clapped in;
" Why, marriage," says an exquisite,
Hymen, who hears the blockheads groan,
"O frivolous of heart and head!
At the last hour of Fannia's rout, When Dukes walked in, and lamps went out, Fair Chloe sat: a sighing crowd Of high adorers round her bowed, And ever Flattery's incense rose To lull the Idol to repose. Sudden some Gnome, that stood unseen, Or lurked disguised in mortal mien, Whispered in Beauty's trembling ear The word of bondage and of fear,— "Marriage:"/her lips their silence broke, And smiled on Vapid as they spoke"I hate a drunkard, or a lout, I hate the sullens and the gout ; If e'er I wed—let danglers know it,I wed with no one—but a poet."
And who but feels a Poet's fire When Chloe's smiles, as now, inspire ? Who can the bidden verse refuse When Chloe is his theme and Muse ?


text:
Multiple Teams · Watch: Ava Nicole opens SEC Tournament with National Anthem
White House Middle School seventh grader Ava Nicole, 12 years old, sang the national anthem Wednesday night at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville for the opening session of the 2019 Southeastern Conference Men's Basketball Tournament. Ava was a member of the 2018-19 Lady Devils basketball team and also runs cross country for the middle school. She


text:
Preowned»Switch»Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2
Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2
Original PriceUS$39.83 (HK$299 / RMB¥276.58)
Game Description:
- Switch specific controls and functionality, for example perform the Kamehameha and Spirit Bomb with the Joy Con Motion Controls
- 6 player local play mode (additional Nintendo Switch units are required)
- Use individual Joy-Con controllers to play the game with a friend locally
- Relive the Dragon Ball story by time traveling and protecting historic moments in the Dragon Ball Universe
- More in-depth Avatar creation system and battle adjustments compared to DRAGON BALL XENOVERSE
Average User Rating: 0
Lasting Appeal:
Release Date: 2017-09-22
Compatibility: NTSC JNTSC U/EAPAL
Language: Voice (English/ Japanese) / Subtitle (English/ Japanese)
Stock Status: Only 1 Available
Origin: Japan
Genre: Action
No. of Player: Online (5) / Offline (2)
Product No.: 31534
Reference Website: http://dbx.bn-ent.net/
Youtube Link:
Ratings & Reviews


text:
Last week, the Pew Forum released the results of its "Mormons in America" study, the broadest survey of Mormon attitudes ever conducted by an outside organization. The results made headlines, in large part due to the Republican front-runner status of Mitt Romney, a devout and life-long member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Many accounts led with Mormons' surprising perceptions of anti-Mormon prejudice: A whopping 46% of respondents said that Mormons face "a lot of discrimination" in modern America. Fewer Mormons said the same thing about discrimination against African-Americans (31%) and atheists (13%).
Comments and feedback can be sent to firstname.lastname@example.com


text:
Peter Murtagh's big regret? Not hacking away instead of finishing college
How to be a Man: A young hack's chat with the tánaiste in Lisbon is overtaken by de Valera's death
Éamon de Valera: his death in 1975 made a potential overseas journalism scoop with then tánaiste Michael O'Leary look puny. Photograph: Colman Doyle
How to be a Man is a series exploring masculinity and the challenges facing men in Ireland today
I don't do regret – life's far too short – but if forced to rummage through my memories, I always come back to 1975, to Lisbon, Portugal.
I wanted to be a journalist. I'd have killed to be a journalist.
I went to college (Trinity) in 1972 and plunged myself into Trinity News, the main student newspaper at the time. That was when the penny dropped as to what life held for me and every Christmas and summer holiday thereafter, I tried to get jobs that were even vaguely related to newspapers. They included a stint in the London office of the Irish Independent, being a copyboy at the Associated Press wire agency also in London and being a lounge boy in the King and Keys pub on Fleet Street, haunt of hacks disreputable and inspiring from neighbouring newspapers the Daily Telegraph and Daily Express.
In the summer of 1975, I went to Portugal where, a year earlier, the military had overthrown the country's dictatorship. The streets of Lisbon were alive with revolution.
Amateur photographer
The Associated Press had to have a photo record of each demo but, as several took place simultaneously each night and they only had two photographers, there was an opportunity for amateur me and my Praktica. And so I snapped away, face-on shots of the head of marches the others weren't covering but needed, and got, as I recall, something like $20 per pic accepted.
It was enough to keep me in a dingy hotel, plus enough beer, cigarettes, bread, hardboiled eggs, vegetable soup and beans – usually eaten in dingy joints underneath some arches in the centre of the city – to keep me going.
I was in hack heaven.
On August 29th, Michael O'Leary, then tánaiste, stopped off on his way back to Dublin from holidays in the Algarve. I met him in the foyer of his Lisbon hotel and got a few words. I telephoned the Irish Independent breathlessly to tell them that the tánaiste had spoken – to me! – and how many words would they like? There was, briefly, silence at the other end before a voice pronounced.
"Dev's just died," and the line went dead.
All news is local and there's always a bigger story. Lesson learned. My regret? Instead of coming back to finish college, I should have stayed and taken my chances.
If you would like to add your voice to this series, email email@example.com


text:
Care packages ordered as part of any of the following scheduled events will be available according to the following schedule:
|Online Deadline
|Packages Available to Students
|Aug 22
|Sep 9
|Oct 19
|Oct 31
|Fall Finals
|Nov 22
|Dec 4
|Feb 1
|Feb 11
|Out Of Nowhere
|Mar 6
|Mar 19
|Spring Finals
|Apr 13
|Apr 30
Students will be notified by text that they have a care package waiting for pickup in the Parent & Family Office in Crosby, Rm 017, between the hours of 9 am and 4 pm.
This store is sponsored by the Gonzaga University Parent & Family Relations Office. Please direct any questions about this website or our care package program to 800-929-8184 or email us at email@example.com.
Thank you for your support Amy Swank - Director, Parent and Family Relations


text:
Branden Sipes is an up-and-coming artist from Colorado. This singer-songwriter, who also is a classically trained guitarist, just recently released a new album entitled "That Side of Me," which he's been promoting since. Stay posted for a full review, but in the meantime, check out the title track to Branden's latest creation:
Kyle C. Stilley | Marketing Strategist | @stillz | Music Without Labels & Beat-Play, LLC | firstname.lastname@example.com


text:
About Common Unity Social Enterprise
Background to Common Unity
We are a Health and Social Care organisation working in mental health and well-being with communities traditionally seen as 'hard to reach.' However, we don't necessarily feel that communities are hard to reach, but we do believe that to engage with all communities we have to work smarter and in places where the communities are. Through this approach, we have developed excellent partnerships with a range of communities across Birmingham and wider and continue to work tirelessly to make a real difference at a grassroots level with communities.
Having recognised the urgent need to provide health and wellbeing programmes that have communities at heart, we have delivered a wide range of social media and face to face wellbeing programmes which focus on upstream approaches to the health and social care landscape. By "upstream," we mean programmes of work that helps people help themselves before life gets too difficult to cope with.
We help individuals, communities and service providers overcome perceived barriers to communication and the fulfilment of potential, ensuring that services are both accessible and relevant.
Our portfolio to date has included The Waiting Room, The Birmingham Barbershop Project, the Urbrum social media community platform, the Community Cohesion Programme, Suicide Prevention Training, Peer Support Programmes and the Connecting Community Networks Programme.
How we work
Common Unity believes that if you want to relate across communities, then you have to start to work more effectively with communities from where they are at. Since the start of us delivering innovative services in Birmingham, we have recognised that only through meaningful grassroots dialogue where the agenda is equally owned can the real issues for communities be recognised and prioritised accordingly.
The top down approach of seeing challenges and difficulties being homogeneously relevant to all sectors of our community with the same solutions being deemed applicable is a mistaken one. Yet, at the same time there are many opportunities for different communities to incorporate assets that work within other communities.
To ensure that this richly diverse city achieves all it is capable of achieving, there is a need for decision makers to be in a position where their decisions are based on real local intelligence including real local solutions. Common Unity have a clear and vital specialist conduit role in ensuring this happens.
Our Associates
No single organisation can be all things for all people. Common Unity is no exception to this rule. We recognise that to achieve the greatest impact and the highest level of knowledge in respect of our communities to best inform decision makers, partnership is key to success. Just as our city is diverse in nature, we recognise that our approach needs to be diverse incorporating the best specialist associates to achieve the best results.
To date, Common Unity have worked with a range of local specialist associate agencies to ensure success in design and delivery has been optimised. These agencies, known as Grassroots Associates, have helped us realise much of the visioning behind this paper and implementation against this vision equally requires the continuation of this partnership arrangement into the future.
Founder and Director of Common-Unity Social Enterprise:
Caron works alongside agencies and organisations, developing and delivering a range of mental well-being projects.
Caron has worked in the Health and Social Care sector for over twenty years and has gained knowledge and experience in working with individuals of all ages living in a range of care and support setting.
Caron has managed housing support services, support & care staff teams and contracts on behalf of the NHS and Local Authorities across the West Midlands.
Common Unity works to further the cause of mental health and wellbeing through:
Engagement: using elements of an Assets Based Community Development Approach to establish the most relevant forms of communication with individuals and communities, particularly BME and 'hard to reach' communities, then using this as a basis for working with them to address issues and fulfil potential. This will often take the form of 'cultural brokerage', when formal agencies are struggling to achieve effective communication.
Access: using 1to1 and group work, and utilizing an innovative range of media, so as to ensure that people from what are often termed 'hard to reach' communities have information about services and opportunities available to them, and about any assistance they need in gaining access to them.
Skills: working on our own skills, and those of the partners, individuals and communities we come into contact with. This is done directly by ourselves or through linking to training providers. It is about ensuring quality, and about fulfilling potential through the building of confidence and a sense of agency.
Culture: across all our projects, and every form of media in which we engage, seeking to build a positive and de-stigmatizing culture, in order to counteract the isolation and low self-esteem often experienced by people with mental health problems.
Collaboration: carrying out our work in partnership with a range of agencies in the voluntary, public and private sectors. The delivery of projects is aided by our established network of personal, professional and creative contacts.
Statement of Intent
Common Unity looks to promote mental wellbeing in disadvantaged communities through effective communication and the development of holistic services.
"Too often strategic documents seem to bombard people with facts and figures – these are important but I think too much emphasis on facts and figures misses the key point of how people feel about issues. If things or situations make emotional sense, we're far more inclined to carry them out. We tend to communicate and respond emotionally far more than we're aware of." Caron Thompson
Common Unity Social Enterprise is a Health and Social Care organisation specialising in health and wellbeing
prevention and intervention programmes within 'hard to reach' communities. It was established in 2009 by community activists from BME communities who were also mental health professionals, and who had grown up in the inner city areas of the West Midlands.
Our personal and professional experiences have formed our instincts about, and specific insights into, what works in communication with a wide range of audiences. We help individuals, communities and service providers to overcome barriers to communication and the fulfilment of potential, ensuring that services are both accessible and relevant.
Common Unity has been commissioned by the Local Authority, NHS Primary Care Trust and a number of Third Sector organisations in Birmingham and Sandwell, to support them in
research and consultation with specific communities.
For more information on common unity please download our brochure : CU Brochure Web Version


text:
The Israeli air force launched four air raids early Saturday on locations in the Gaza Strip, which reportedly belong to Hamas.
AFP quoted an anonymous Palestinian source who said: "F-16 planes carried out a new air raid on locations of the resistance in Gaza, Beit Hanon, and Rafah."
No causalities have been reported so far.
The Israeli army said in a statement that its fighters targeted "two military locations related to Hamas".
It also said that it considers Hamas responsible for all attacks originating from the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli army targeted the Qassam Brigade's Badr military site in northern Gaza.
Another missile targeted the Gaza international airport, which was destroyed by Israel several years ago.
The Israeli raids come a few hours after two missiles were launched from Gaza targeting the south of the occupied territories.
On late Thursday, five missiles were launched from Gaza Strip, but three fell back inside the strip.
Rocket sirens went off in communities near the Gaza border. The Israeli army said it is searching the area.
Earlier on Friday, two Palestinians were injured by Israeli fire near the border, according to both the Israeli army and Palestinian medical sources.
Since the Israeli invasion of the Gaza strip in 2014, 30 rockets have been launched from strip, according to the Israeli army.


text: Vastavam web: Victoria Beckham has ruled out the possibility of a Spice Girls reunion tour.The fashion designer trashed the speculations that the band, which announced its reunion recently, will be playing live.Spice Girls members — Beckham, Emma Bunton, Geri Horner, Mel Brown and Melanie Chisholm — had met at Ginger Spice's Hertfordshire residence, where they were accompanied by former manager Simon Fuller."There's something so strong in the message of what the Spice Girls stood for. What is that in the future? What does that look like? We were just bouncing ideas around.


text:
Tested at 2500ms in the winter Sierra Nevada, this ultra lightweight shelter performed surprisingly well given it was operating well beyond its 3 season remit. It's a very minimal, inner first design with 2 doors and 2 roomy porches. It achieves its crazy lightweight by using poles made from carbon, no door zips and by having a very low profile, which seems to help in higher winds. The inner is all mesh apart from a bathtub floor, which means it's a little draughty (especially at -9deg C!), and the doors use hook and eye and Velcro to hold them together. The floorplan is big enough for 2, but headroom is an issue. Despite the wafer thin components, the shelter stood up well to high winds. The poles look terrifically flimsy but once erected the shelter felt very secure. Popular with dry weather bikepackers because of that inner first, mesh design and barely there weight, I think this would be a squeeze for 2 for longer than a weekend at a time, and is less than suitable for UK backpacking, where porches need to be more water repellent and bathtub floors need to be deeper. Weight 990g
Review by David Lintern @selfpwrd


text:
Serving Yuba, Sutter, and Butte Counties and the Surrounding Areas
Whether you are a contractor, municipality, or property manager, Sanders Pump & Irrigation will provide you with the best products and service to meet your irrigation needs.
We have the highest quality products, from the manufacturers you know and trust. For your repairs, maintenance and new installations Sanders Pump & Irrigation has what you need. Need an irrigation design? Our design team can provide you a custom design, specific to your needs. You can be assured your design will be efficient and cost effective.
City of Yuba City, City of Marysville, City of Colusa
Yuba City Unified School District, Sutter Union High School
Yuba-Sutter Youth Soccer League, Sutter Cemetery
Feather Water District, Tudor Water District, Butte Water District
Call today to schedule your appointment.
We are a locally owned business.


text:
My Cousin Vinny
Two New York students travelling through Alabama think they have been arrested for shoplifting so admit their guilt - only to find they have in fact been charged with murder. Fortunately, one of the pair has a cousin who is a lawyer - but his ineptitude and inexperience could do more harm than good.
Previous Broadcasts
- 3 23:00:00 -6 April 2015
- 5 00:45:00 -28 December 2015


text:
Christopher LaGrassa
925 L Street
Sacramento, California 95814
Office: (916) 341-8119
Christopher LaGrassa is a deputy legislative counsel. He joined the office in 2018.
Mr. LaGrassa is assigned to a branch of the office that handles laws relating to alcoholic beverage control, business, civil law, financial institutions, healing arts, housing and community development, land use, local government, private employment, professions and vocations, public contracts, public employment, retirement, state government, taxation and unemployment insurance.
Prior to joining the office, Mr. LaGrassa worked as an associate attorney at Churchwell White, where he practiced municipal and political law. Prior to that, he served as a law clerk at the City of Elk Grove City Attorney's Office, the Fair Political Practices Commission, and Kronick, Moskovitz, Tiedemann, and Girard.
Mr. LaGrassa received his J.D. from the University of California, Davis, King Hall School of Law. He earned his undergraduate degree in Political Science from University California, Irvine.
Mr. LaGrassa is a member of the California State Bar.


text:
Hardship was something that Carmen Manuel Sanchez was no stranger to. She'd spent her whole life in the projects, first in Brooklyn, then in Jamaica, and finally, Spanish Harlem, where she lived now. Even with her nursing license, the inner city was her destiny. There were too many bills to pay, and she was the only one to do it. Her husband had been laid off for years since his heart attack, and his disability barely covered his medicine and their food. They had six children together, and two of them were in college; Joseph and Paul ,two were at home, Luisa and Carmen and the other two, were grown and had their own families, and tried to help out when they could, but it was still tight for her, especially with her husband Carlos' medical bills. She'd worked her whole life, since she was twelve. Her first job was at a clerk in an all night deli by the ghetto; she'd taken the job with its lousy hours because they gave her cash. She could still remember the sound of gunshots when she was walking home, and the hobos as she passed as she made her way home. Images of TV commercials of young girls playing with Barbie dolls punctuated her world of violence and poverty. It seemed far away from where she lived.
She'd had a best friend, two if you counted the girl who suddenly disappeared with her family when Carmen was nine, but the one that was her sister for life was Lupe. They met when Carmen moved to Spanish Harlem with her family at the age of nine. Lupe Rosario loved in the projects across the street. The fist time they met had been in the streets. There had been a game of stickball going on. Carmen had just been standing by and watching the boys playing, the role that she always played. But not Lupe. Lupe was a wild child, one of the boys. Lupe went where the boys went, whether it was to smoke cigarettes in the corner of the schoolyard, play basketball in the streets or climbing trees in the park by St. Mary's Church. Carmen had seen her around, but was intimidated by her tomboy ways. She'd seemed so tough with her jeans and her baseball cap. She was big and scary looking; Carmen was afraid that Lupe would beat her up. She had a feeling that it would be a good idea to be on Lupe's good side. She was someone that could be leaned on, a protector. Carmen was always afraid on the streets, and she wanted to have as much protection as possible.
She'd figured that she would impress Lupe by playing the stickball like she did, but all she did was miss the ball and trip over her saddle shoes, and she was mortified, especially when the boys laughed at her. But not Lupe. She told the boys to cut it out, and amazingly, they listened. Carmen decided then and there that Lupe was her best friend for life.
So that was the beginning of their friendship, and it had been a lasting one, all through the years. Through all the hardships, violence, indigence, and terror, their friendship came second only to her relationship with the Lord as the sustaining force in her life. Together they stood strong in the times that might have destroyed them if they were alone. They leaned on each other when no one else was there in a cold, dark world. Not that when she was growing up was Carmen ever mistreated. It was just that her family was too concerned with survival to tend to the insecurities of a young girl. It was through Lupe that she found laughter in her soul. They shared everything in their hearts: their secrets, pain, their dreams. Carmen was the youngest of six sisters, always being the brunt of their jokes. With Lupe, Carmen knew she would never be laughed at. Her secrets would not get around the whole neighborhood like it did with the other girls. The other girls were good for sharing clothes and costume jewelry. It took a long time for Carmen to learn that it wasn't the same as sharing her heart. That was what Lupe was for.
Carmen became interested in boys first. Lupe was still playing basketball with the boys when Carmen excitedly came to her with the news that she'd received her first kiss from the head of the bike gang, Jose. Lupe reacted with disgust, the first time she overtly showed disapproval for anything Carmen did. Kissing was gross, was twelve year old Lupe's opinion, sharing spit and tongue touching. At first Carmen felt the shame that she always did when her mother called her a worthless wench and when her sisters and brothers made fun of her. She began to cry, even more to her shame. Lupe came over to her and tried to make a joke out f the whole thing, which made Carmen feel better. Lupe never apologized. To some, that made her seem arrogant, but Carmen knew she wasn't. She acted sorry, which was better than her family, who said they were sorry but then did the same things over and over. Carmen had accepted this about Lupe as a young child, understanding more deeply as she matured into an adult. She knew that Lupe was sorry as she took her hand and led Carmen to a stack of women's magazines that her mom stashed away. They looked at the fashion section so Carmen could get pointers so she could attract more boys to get more gross kisses; what else were friends for but to help each other? Lupe reasoned to Carmen, with her indifferent shrug.
Lupe didn't get involved with boys until two years later, but when she did it was with such intensity that even flirtatious Carmen was terrified that Lupe would run away and get married. She didn't date a lot of boys the way Carmen and the other girls did. There was only one man for her, and he was the envy of all the girls. An older man, not a high school boy. He was nineteen, the most gorgeous man that Carmen ever saw. A boy with a motorcycle and a cigarette hanging out of his mouth, but not a gangster. He was a man onto his own, dark and mysterious, a Latino James Dean. He was so smart that he went to the university, where he was a junior. It was nearly unheard of for a Latino to go to college; it was lucky that any finished high school; so many had to drop out to help support their families, or had to get married at ages that Carmen found ridiculously young now. But Raul Valesquez had no family; and he was not from the neighborhood. Lupe said that his family had been killed when he was fifteen in a shooting incident in Puerto Rico. Then he moved to the States, and he traveled for a year around the country, searching for a home, until he settled in New York, where he found his cousins, the Sanchezes. He was very patriotic; had a great love for the Puerto Rican community. He was going to school to be a counselor to help gangsters to get off the streets because of what happened to his family. Carmen was impressed, as well as everyone else. Raul Valesquez escaped the trap that had been laid out for him. Instead of falling into the violence, he fought it. That bought nothing but admiration from the community he settled into.
Raul had always been a devout Catholic. He went to church almost every day, bringing his guitar with him . No one dared comment about his gangster apparel as he went into the sacristy and as he led the folk group in song. Carmen would spy on him when he thought no one else was looking, when he knelt in the vestibule. He would seem almost regal in his pose; a core of inner peace emanating from him that was awesome to behold. It seemed as though nothing could destroy him. He seemed invincible.
When she was eighteen, Carmen married one of the Sanchezes, Carlos. Carlos was Raul's sidekick, and wherever Raul and Lupe were, Carmen found herself with Carlos, and they were drawn to each other, mostly, Carmen recalled, out of convenience. They spent countless nights on the backseat of a Buick while Lupe and Raul sat and talked, the two intellectuals. Carmen remembered the first time she actually felt jealous of Lupe- jealous of her mind, for being able to attract a man for her mind; Carlos never talked to her about anything; he just wanted to get her clothes off. It was one of those times in the backseat that she felt the pang and actually slapped Carlos to keep him off of her. Raul and Lupe were talking about Vietnam. Raul was saying that he was glad that he was in college, to avoid the draft. He would rather better his mind than fight a cause that wasn't his. Now Carlos–he regarded flippantly with his hand– was too thick to get into college. He would have to get married if he wanted to keep his precious balls intact. A week later Carmen got a marriage proposal, two weeks before graduation. Carmen swore, looking back, that Raul intended to save her honor. He thought men who slept with women who weren't their wives were pigs. Carmen didn't know whether to be comforted or ashamed by that realization.
So while Lupe was getting ready to go to secretarial school, Carmen was preparing to get married. Carmen had to admit that to some extent she was relieved; for the last tow months, she'd missed her period, though no one but Lupe knew, and she had her first child exactly seven months later, in January of 1964. Lupe and Raul didn't marry until three years later, in a big June wedding. Lupe had just graduated from secretarial school, which she'd attended nights while working as a receptionist in a doctor's office. By the time they got married, Carmen was pregnant with her fourth child, and going to work in a bodega while her husband slept after his night shift as a janitor in the airport. With their busy schedules, they saw much less of each other; their outing restricted to the holiday get-togethers and the occasional phone call. For a while they recaptured their high school camaraderie as they prepared for Lupe's wedding, with Carmen being matron of honor, but after Lupe got married, the rush of everyday life returned, and they went days without speaking to one another. Sometimes, the loss hit Carmen, when she was dealing with unpleasant things such as her husband's drinking or the endless mess of seven children with not enough money to feed them, and she would remember the bond they shared, and wondered why life impeded on something as special as her sisterhood with Lupe. She hardly had time to be sad about it, and in a way, that itself was even sadder.
Raulita was Lupe's first child; she was named after her father because she looked just like him, from birth to her early years. She had the same intense, piercing, black eyes and raven black hair. Later on, when she reached school age, her face softened into delicate slopes that more resembled Lupe. She was a beautiful girl, with a smile that could light up the room, but her innocence was not of naivetÉ. It was a marvel to have her watch you, made you wonder how much of that innocence was a mask to cover her inner thoughts, and how deep did they run.
Then both women got pregnant again at the exact same time; their due dates were in mid-March. They were so excited for each other, so bonded by their mutual experience that when Carlos was laid off from his job, Carmen was strangely undaunted. Raul and Lupe generously opened their home to the Sanchezes, and the women were back together, bonded as though they were back in high school together. They went shopping for their future children together, each understood the other one's fears and hopes, because the other had the same thoughts. For six blissful months, Carmen felt like the families had been blessed once more. Carlos even began to stop drinking and stay home more; Carmen's children accepted Raulita as though she was their sister. The five room apartment was crowded, money was still tight, but amidst all the love in the family, Carmen barely noticed these things.
It was at the Valesquez home that Carmen learned the true meaning of God in her life. She learned from watching Raul. He spent much of his free time writing songs about his love for God, and the family spent many nights singing the songs he had written. Raul worked at a youth project trying to get young people off the streets, off drugs and out of the gangs. He opened his home to them, and many nights they listened to Raul talking about how wonderful and loving God was if you only sought him out; he was always looking for you to rely on Him. Instead of reciting meaningless prayers over and over again, Carmen began going to churches when there was no service and sit in the presence of quiet. In this stillness, she began to find God. She felt Him within her, a steady, quiet presence. She accepted him just in time, for she would need His power sooner than she could ever imagine.
It began three days before Christmas, in 1972; Raulita was five years old then, still believing in Santa Claus. still believing in magic. Lupe had been standing on a ladder, decorating the tree with Raulita putting homemade popcorn garland on it, trying to reach the higher branches when she suddenly collapsed. At first the family thought she fell, and Carmen chastised herself for not being firmer with her about working so strenuously; Lupe had always been stubborn. But in the hospital, the doctors said that something had gone horribly wrong with her pregnancy; they were forced to do a premature Cesarean just to save Lupe; she nearly bled to death getting to the hospital, and after the operation, remained unconscious for days. Little Pablo Valesquez came into the world two and a half months too early; totally ill-equipped to handle the challenge of life outside of his mother. He spent the duration of his brief life in an incubator; never knowing the touch of his mother's arms, never seeing her face. Raul watched as his baby son kicked and scream, collapse from lack of oxygen; he anguished at the inevitable fact that this blue-faced baby would soon die, and his mother would not be able to be there for him. The screaming and kicking trickled away into whimpers and fidgets that soon became silence. Pablo died in his sleep, sucking his fingers in a last ditch effort to regain his mother's security. He died four days after he came into the world.
Lupe wasn't quite the same feisty woman after that. It was as though a part of her died with Pablo, some part had to be with the son that she never met. In the last six year's of Lupe's life, there seemed to be little joy in her heart. Nothing seemed to bring her to life- not Carmen, not Raul, not Carmen's children, not her work, not the songs of joy she used to sing, not even Raulita. She would just sit on her fire escape looking out into nowhere, as though somehow in the fog that surrounded her, she found a secret world which gave her comfort. She no longer slept with her husband at night, preferring to sleep in a chair by the window. Raul had Carmen and Carlos move to his bedroom so he could stay on the couch and keep watch over his wife. And Raulita would watch her parents. Carmen caught her once at night, feeling those dark eyes turn upon her, full of fear, fear so intense that Carmen could still feel it now in her memory. Carmen hugged the child, wishing to take the pain from her, but not knowing how. She wept with Raulita in her helplessness.
Raul, Carlos and she spent much of the time they had been singing in silent prayer now. Raulita was the most silent of them all. Carmen was heartbroken at the child who once used to spend her days laughing and singing. Instead of playing with her little girlfriends here, she spent more and more of her days solitary, preferring instead to spend her time alone reading, playing with her dolls, or staring into space. She would even shy away from her cousins when they tried to play with her or share their dolls. At the tender age of seven Raulita had become a recluse. The atmosphere became so dark that Carlos insisted on moving their family elsewhere. Their children were getting depressed, and as far as Carlos was concerned, they would get enough of their share later on. They moved in with an uncle who lived in the South Bronx. Raul understood, but as Carmen walked out the door and saw Raulita watching her, she knew the child had been hurt all the more, and it killed her to this day when she remembered that face in tears.
They still kept in touch with Raul. He convinced Carmen to go back to school to become a nurse. Carmen had always wanted to go to college, but she never though she was intelligent enough, or had enough drive to finish; besides she had kids so young and there had been bills to pay. But her oldest child was nearly thirteen now; the kids would soon be gone, and she would have her whole life in front of her. Raul told her she was intelligent, that in the long run, she would be better off with a career than running into the dead end jobs she had. Five years later, she had her career, the best move she ever made. It was too bad Lupe never saw her at her best. If she only knew how. There was little encouragement from anyone to leave her husband and start a career. She was a Catholic and a housewife; the domestic role was sacred; she should be grateful for the role that God gave her and not spit in his face by trying to destroy what He made in the first place in the Garden of Eden. Besides, she was a Latina, and one nearing thirty at that. What kind of career could she start? In that way, Carmen found herself knocked down before she even started. She couldn't even answer the questions. She felt shame for even asking them and put them away in a remote place in her mind where she hoped she'd misplace them.
But Raul didn't let her forget. He would ask about her plans every so often, just enough not to let her forget. It irritated her more than anything else, though she found herself going to Raul even more for guidance, despite the fact that her drunken husband began vehemently accusing her of having an affair by going over there all the time. His accusations would propel her more to go where she was accepted. Sometimes she cursed t he existence of her children, much as she loved them; because without them she could have just walked out, Catholic or no Catholic. She couldn't say she felt shame when she thought like that, especially when her quiet lovely children developed into free-thinking teenagers. Adolescence appeared to early in her children. When her oldest turned nine, she found cigarette butts in her room. She started smelling alcohol on the twins' breath when they were twelve. Carmen found herself discontinuing cleaning their rooms, afraid of what she would find there. She berated herself for her weakness and at her lack of strength to fight for the lives of her children, which were slowly being ebbed away into a world of violence and mayhem, where to be straightlaced could cost them their lives, but so could being on the dark side of the street as well. She would see the pushers on the corners of the streets, ;lurking, waiting. These were the people her children faced when they walked the streets. And she felt powerless to do anything to stop them.
Many times when she visited Raul, there were people from his church there. They encouraged her to come to their church every time she visited. Even though she'd long ago put her trust in God, Carmen had not set foot in a church since her youngest's baptism. She always felt lesser than and judged in the presence of churchgoers, including to some extent, Raul, because he seemed holy in times when all she could do was rage; he seemed purer than humanly possible. Her life, even now, was less than reputable. She felt judged for not being joyous enough, pious enough, for being angry at all. Even here in the inner city, they expected people to be absolutely pure, after all, Jesus and Mary remained pure in violent times. The priests seemed just as macho as the lay men in the real world, but everyone knew that the nuns were in charge. The women, they knew better how to take care of things, and how to hide in meekness when the source of power was with them.
So the first few times when Carmen saw the church men over, she ignored them, especially those that sported gold chains like trophies around their necks; she knew those types. They reminded her of her husbandthere would be hardly enough money for food, yet he had to buy his gold chains to look like a real stud to all the muchachas that he wanted to seduce. If she came over and they were there, she all but ignored Raul and went to Lupe on the fire escape. Machismo was what she escaped when she came over here. She didn't need it in her haven.
Lupe hardly ever talked now. Gone was the wild child free spirit, gone was the tomboy who would take on the world. Raulita herself was equally quiet, sitting on Carmen's lap, her big oval eyes always on her mother. Lupe only spoke when spoken to, with as little words as possible to answer the question. Even when Raul came over to give her affection, she would hardly respond. Carmen had to admire Raul—if Carlos spent day after day sitting on a fire escape, ignoring her, not taking care of the children, she wasn't sure if she wouldn't have had an affair herself. At least Carlos was a good father, actually what that meant was, he was no worse than she was. How good parents could they have been if their oldest boy was in a gang? But he tried as hard as she did; trying to instill religion, discipline, lecturing them when they were wrong. When they were younger, they used to both hit the kids, like the time when she caught David with drugs. But the oldest ones were bigger than she now, and their anger scared her. They could easily hurt her if they wanted to, even though at their worst, they never had the audacity to hit their mother. She couldn't take the chances Carlos could still afford to take. Yes, as a father, he still was not the worst.
Sometimes in the silences among the female Velasquezes she would sit and think of this, dreaming of times better than these. Sometimes she would listen to the noise coming from the streets seventeen below, a world of violence that seemed closed within on itself. Sometimes she would listen to the male voices from inside the dwelling, and the laughter she would soak into like a hot bath, indulging in the sound of a rare jewel that hardly could be found anymore. Mostly, in these silences, she would find herself there, in the men's prayers. All of the men, she came to know over time; they were ex-gangsters, coming together weekly to support their transition from a life of crime to a life with some semblance of hope. They prayed for those they had left behind in the gang, that they would find the light of God in their lives. Their conversations were about their pain and suffering rather than litanies in which they lamented over the damnation of all the other misbegotten souls who refused to see the light that they had seen and which had made them oh-so-perfect. They sounded like sinners who loved Jesus in not so perfect ways, much like herself. Gradually, Carmen found herself warming to the group, first managing to say hello to them, then eventually sitting down and "rapping" with them, as they put it. Raul had already mentioned Carlos to them; he was worried about his prodigal cousin. One of the men, Pedro Santiago, informed her of another group they had for their wives and girlfriends, the one who were choosing to stick it out with them, which in her better days, had been a brainchild of Lupe's. They supported each other while their men tried to get out of a street lifestyle. They needed each other; often their men went back to the streets out of pressure, habit or boredom; sometimes, the women were alone in their journey to freedom, because most of their men never got out in the first place. So they met together in secret, to evade the threats that were lobbed their way; threats were common, the gangs didn't like anything that threatened their solidarity, and it was a threat for some of the women to go, Raul said. Carmen marveled at how Raul could get along with these thugs, given their reputation. But he was not afraid to speak, he was not afraid to care.
Eventually, after some time, Carmen got up the nerve to go to the women's group. Unlike the men's group, which was mostly Latino, there were a mix of all races there: Caucasian, Black, Latina, Native America and Asian. She heard of the death threats to these women, making her life with philandering Carlos seem tame. They laughed off any comment on their courage. To them, this was survival, and courage was beyond the point when basic survival was on the line. Besides, one African woman pointed out, it was just as much a threat to stay home idly hoping that the drive-by or house raid or revenge killing could happen. If they were going to be in danger no matter where they went, they may as well get killed trying to get stronger.
Carmen found herself becoming close with one woman. Her name was Abdullah MacNamara, a black women who had briefly become a Black Muslim around the time of her daughter's birth and soon after discovered the hidden wonders of Haitian voodoo. Abdullah had been exposed to many cultures with her mother's varying interests. It was like going to school without dealing with white oppression, she explained.
She was about six months pregnant at the time Carmen met her, a beautiful ebony woman with high cheek bones and a tall graceful figure; her pregnancy only enhanced her beauty. Abdullah hoped for a girl, then she would call her Epiphany, because once she knew she was pregnant, she knew that she had to start over, end her life of sin, and she said she had come to know Jesus through the conception of her baby. The baby's father was a drug lord who had just gotten out of jail for possession, and even though she knew it was wrong, they lived together; she felt safer with him there than not, she said as she played with a garnet ring on her left finger. She never said why she stayed with him, and Carmen somehow felt as she saw the eyes drift into a lost world she couldn't enter, it would be better if she didn't ask. Carmen presumed pregnancy was the reason, the reason why many women she knew relied on the unreliable, including herself. Where else would an unwed Black woman go? The homes were all for white people and rich blacks like the Supremes. The sixties had brought liberation for white women and black men, but black women were far behind.
Apparently Abdullah's man had been an upstanding citizen for the briefest of times. He had stopped drugs and even begun an outreach program for youths on the streets. He'd gone back to get his GED so he could become a youth counselor. There had been times when their apartment had been littered with runaways who had sought refuge with them, eerily similar to Raul, and she felt a chill go up her spine when Abdullah said that, she didn't know why at the time. Abdullah remembered this experience as exhausting and defeating, the tone which marked their first five years together. They even planned to get married; Abdullah finally found herself comfortable enough not to be terrified of himhe'd never hit her, at least, Abdullah denied it, but the hashish, heroin, and everything else had turned him into another person. Abdullah never knew what she was coming to. But for tow years, there had been peace. Abdullah said it was the first time in her life that she had been truly happy. Carmen looked at this young beautiful, intelligent creature and felt a stab of anger. How could society allow a person like her to be oppressed and suppressed? Carmen was angered by the injustice. And this was a free country?
Her anger motivated herself personally. Her long ago dream of going to school uprooted itself with full force. She saw the women, the pain they were in, and the contempt that they were regarded with. She had been so involved with Lupe and Raul and her own family's needs to see the pain of those about her. The women in the group reminded her of the pain that surrounded her, that there was a world that didn't worry about survival and who enjoyed all who enjoyed all the simple luxuries of life. She forgot about the times when medical care was denied, she realized the one time a black pregnant women named Jackie came in bruised and battered with a broken arm from a gang bang. She'd been thrown out of the emergency room an hour after she'd been admitted, after being ignored for nearly five hours while she waited, while all the rich boys and girls with Blue Cross were waved right through. Her contractions had been a half-hour apart, which abated into an hour, Abdullah said, she was with Jackie There had been no reason to kick out a pregnant woman like that. She'd tried to raise protest in her friend's behalf, to no avail. She had heard one of the orderlies calling them stupid niggers to another black orderly, who concurred. There was always an Uncle Tom around to kiss ass, Abdullah had yelled. After that, Carmen knew what direction her career would be taking, though it would be a good three years before she got the financial backing she needed. She didn't care. Nothing would sway her now. In the meantime, she could prepare herself for her defiant choice. No married woman had ever sought a career on her own, and all the women had been married, except some poor souls on her mother's side who were the brunt of most of the jokes when they thought they couldn't hear. Eventually she would surpass the man who was supposed to protect her, she who was supposed to be dependent on him, and now, she was the one who protected him, he the one dependent on her. She knew then that she needed strength for what lay ahead. She would never have dreamed how much.
Lupe's condition was rapidly deteriorating. She sunk in her cheeks, bearing no resemblance to the husky girl playing stickball twenty-five years earlier. She was a shell, a pale colored shadow, very much like the ghost that had attacked her many years ago; the spirits had finally done their work. No longer did she speak, no longer did she travel the road of the living, through her heart betrayed her by continuing to beat without her consent. Carmen tried to get into a tough love mode, telling her she was a baby, that she was evil for allowing her daughter, husband and friends to suffer with her in her morbidity; every trick she could think of that she used on her stubborn, drug using kids, oh yes, she could handle a soul sister that would cry with her every pain, she was convinced; surely she was softer than those that were destined to grow to defy her, but she sat stone silent, she never heard- that was what hurt the most, that she would never care. Finally one day, Carmen told the vacant eyes in hollow sockets that Raul and Raulita were too good to deserve a loca mala bitch like her. The eyes, they never moved, they were the eyes of a dead ghost. Carmen walked out, mustering every fiber of righteous anger within her, convinced that she had made the right choice, but haunted nonetheless, her demons pushing her so hard that she drove off for days, not calling anyone; hoping that the long drive would expel her demons. Because of that costly decision, she never saw Lupe or Raulita alive again. For Lupe died the next day, and she was not even home to take the phone call. They were holding over the funeral for her, but only four days after Lupe died, a gunman attacked Raul and Raulita as they came home from dinner together. Raul himself was in a coma. He was not expected to survive. He'd sustained two shots to his head, one in which the bullet couldn't be removed. Raulita had also been shot. Carmen saw Lupe briefly at the hospital, despite all protests from the staff. She wished she hadn't. Lupe didn't look like Lupe; Carmen longed for even the ghost that she had seen only a week earlier. Lupe was nothing more than a bluish purple pulp. Carmen's mind would be forever seared, the final image of her soul sister that of brutality than the towering rock she was. After that, Carmen didn't even want to see Raulita; if Lupe was so badly marred even after all that happened to her in life, what had become of the quiet beauty of her goddaughter?
The funeral, and the waiting at the hospital; all these things she waited for and went through like a zombie. She was surrounded, as she always was, by her aunts, Carlos' family, her one uncle from Puerto Rico. Even Lupe's family had always surrounded her and influenced her in the loss of their only daughter and sister. But Carmen felt nothing. She remembered her last words to Lupe and wondered in some superstitious way if she was responsible for sending Lupe and her daughter to her death. All she could feel for the duration of the services was intense guilt. There was nothing to appease it. In some way she felt as evil as the killers themselves. Lupe was her best friend, her soul sister, they were spiritually related through Raulita. Lupe must have connected with her words in some way. She wondered if somehow through her words, she made Lupe lose her last ounce of hope. The doctors, they had almost saved her, thought she was going to live, but somehow, she slipped through their hands like gold disappearing into the depths of the sea, maybe like the death of hope which she callously slammed into Lupe's face.
The hospital seemed like an eerie scene that could only be in movies. The Valesquezes, Rosarios, and Sanchezes all spent their time by Raul's side now, praying for the last thread that remained from the glorious quilt that once was. She remembered old Tia Anna rocking herself in the corner of the room over and over like some bewitched apparition, her rosary beads clutched in one hand as she repeated the Sorrowful Mysteries of the rosary over and over. Most times, she was the only voice that spoke. All were locked in their own silent prayer, fears unspoken but shouting in the air so loud it did not have to speak to be known. Carmen remained as they did. She felt unworthy to say any words of comfort, for she had cursed her only friend as parting words, incarnating the devil to curse the only friends she ever had. She was responsible for shattering the shield that had protected Lupe for so long, to cause her death.
Pedro Santiago came to visit Raul very often, almost every day. All of the group that had been at Raul's house sat by his bedside at some point, but Pedro was the most frequent visitor by far. She and Pedro would talk sometimes out in the corridor, where the silence seemed less ominous and where it was out of the range of Carlos' jealous eye (he thought all men just wanted to ball her, maybe if he kept his pants zipped up he'd think a little more with the small brain he had left). Pedro had heard a rumor that the murders were vigilante, something to do with a Hispanic gang stealing drug money from a Black gang and the Black guy taking out the wrong manobviously. Pedro knew for a fact that the Blacks' target had moved to Miami. In her numbness, Carmen did not want to know how Pedro had come up with this information. Rage, a desire for revenge were her reactions to his announcement. She wanted to find whoever it was and give them a Colombian necktie. Pedro must have suspected as much, because he wouldn't tell her who his source was, even when Carmen screamed at him full force in his face. She wound up belting him across his head before Carlos and his brother managed to answer her screaming. The rage she felt was tremendousat the system, at the men who had destroyed who in turn destroyed those even more helpless than them. She sat rocking, twitching for days afterward as she went through the days, sitting by Raul's bedside and going to work and trying to control her children. No one spoke to her then. At work, where they were used to harassing her and abusing her, they said nothing. Even her delinquent children dared not cross her. She said nothing, yet she was molten fire ready to explode. If it ever happened to bet that she found Lupe's murderer, she would kill, slowly so that there was much pain inflicted. There would be no turning the cheek on this one. Forgiveness was forgotten, not the crime this time.
She had been in her angry contemplation when she woke up from a nap sitting by Raul's bedside. Lupe's brother and Carlos' aunt Anna had been with her too, but were still asleep. Something about the room was different, she psychologically observed in her physical haze. It took her awhile for her to realize what the change was. When she did, shock waves rumbled through her with a force greater than even her venom possessed.
Raul was missing.
No one seemed to know what happened, not the nurses, none of the family, anybody. One minutes he was lying comatose by death's door, the next, he was gone. Vanished. Raul's cousin Pablo went storming up and down the corridor, insistent that someone kidnapped Raul and the hospital was covering up. You couldn't blame him, given all the insanity that had gone on in the last two weeks, but Pablo, he was getting insane himself. He sauntered in and out of every closet and cranny in the hospital, accusing anyone that got in his path of kidnapping his cousin, the only cousin that ever listened to him. He did this until security was forced to remove him, family tragedy or no family tragedy. But he only expressed what the rest of them wanted to but couldn't. They had experienced too much destruction to know what sanity meant anymore.
Raul remained gone. An exhaustive search was conducted throughout the hospital to no avail. He was gone, as though he had never existed. Lupe and Raulita dying so young made her enraged. Raul's death, which is what it seemed like, even though there was no body, left her hollow. Lupe and Raulita were a stormy seascape painted in dark shadows, while Raul's ending was merely a skeleton of a sketch. He would be an apparition which would haunt her from that moment on till the present day.
Carmen, the present Carmen, thought of this as she rode the subway home to cook for her invalid Carlos, the Carlos that she swore to leave, but the one whom she could only die for, and the three teenagers, the last of them. The twins, who both went to Pace University, might also be there, but she wasn't sure. The reality of the life she was heading towards on the speeding train seemed remote as she thought of the past. Many times she brooded upon it, but today the memories were stronger. She couldn't quite explain why. An image of the homeless man that had left the hospital flashed through her mind. It was awhile before it left.
When she got of the subway, she passed the usual bums in the station, all ready to sleep the night. Many others were afraid of them. Carmen was not. They seemed no more dangerous than the random shooting done by faceless enemies in the dead of the night or the drug dealers willing to rob just to get money to pay off their debts. Some of the bums made their makeshift homes here, but most didn't. Those who lived here were relatively benign alcoholics, maybe a schizophrenic or two in the bunchnothing that could be worse than a psycho with a gun. Sometimes Carmen would gives them extra change if she had it. She didn't care if they spent it on booze or drugs. If it gave them some peace of mind, Carmen had no objection.
She wondered if the man from the hospital was among the transients. She found herself staring at them a little harder than usual amongst them to get a good look at their faces. Old, young, black white, male female, female with children, andshe had to look away, the ones who were only children. A microcosm of society, a microcosm of throwaways. It humbled her, made her feel vulnerable at the realization that any of those there could have been her. She walked away feeling lucky even though she hadn't found who she was looking for. She felt lucky every time she passed through here. IF she ever forgot, she could comer here and remember that she had much indeed.
But the image of the nameless man in the hospital remained. He would be searching for his wife and daughter tonight. Carmen hoped that he found them.


text:
Billy Garrett Jr.
- School
- Position
- Guard
- Major
- Finance
Billy Garrett Jr. is a three-time member of BIG EAST All-Academic Team and was a member of NABC Honors Court.
Garrett is a four-year starter for the men's basketball team and has represented DePaul at BIG EAST and NCAA events. These events have included the 2014 BIG EAST Conference Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) meeting and the 2016 elite student-athlete symposium put on by the NCAA Leadership Development program.
As a high-level athlete with Sickle Cell Disease he works with kids who have sickle cell and has served as a guest speaker at conventions. Additionally, Garrett works with a variety of annual community service events with the men's basketball team. Those have included Vincentian Service Days and Misiericordia Candy Days.
Garrett entered his senior season ranked among DePaul's all-time leaders in free throw percentage (4th), free throws (8th), assists (15th), three-pointers (19th) and points (34th). He was named the 2014 BIG EAST Rookie of the Year to become just the third player in school history to earn a conference freshman of the year honor. Entering his senior season, he had started 87 of 93 career games while averaging 12.4 points and 3.5 assists per game with 64 career games in double-figures.


text:
Sun, 7 January 2018
A 2014 study by Harvard University listed the happiest cities in America. The results surprised many and were broadcast widely. The five happiest cities in America were all in the same state—Louisiana! These cities included our own Baton Rouge along with Lafayette, Houma, Shreveport-Bossier City, and Alexandria.
In 2017 National Geographic produced a new list. There was not one Louisiana city in the top 25! Boulder, Colorado topped the list. I was curious as to why there was this radical change in the rankings. After a little bit of digging, I discovered the reason. They changed the criteria for how happiness is measured!
In the 2014 survey, researchers asked the people the following question: "In general, how satisfied are you with your life?" Responders could choose from the following answers: very satisfied, satisfied, dissatisfied, and very dissatisfied. Louisiana folk were more satisfied than most with their lives.
In the 2017 the researchers did not ask people to self-assess. Instead, the researchers themselves determined the kinds of things that they believe make people happy—things like eating healthy, exercising regularly, financial security, vacation time, and even dental checkups. On those grounds, we here in Louisiana didn't fare so well!
That raises the question: What are the criteria for happiness? What truly does make a person happy? What gives deep, abiding, unquenchable joy?
The good news is that we don't have to be in doubt about that. Jesus tells us. Better than that, Jesus shows us. Please open your Bible to John 13:1-17. In these verses Jesus leads us down what I'm going to call "The Highway to Happiness." He will show us how to have happiness and joy that is inexplicable and full.
The Final Word
"The Highway to Happiness"
John 13:1-17
Direct download: IBC_20170107.mp3
Category:The Final Word -- posted at: 12:00pm EDT


text:
Perfect for parties! These dessert bowls are constructed of hard, frosted plastic and are disposable, but you won't want to throw them away. Wash them up and store them for later use - they are sturdy.
A tulip shaped bowl, approximately 2.75" top diameter, 2" height and 1.5" bottom diameter - 4 ounce capacity. Base pack size is 12 cups.
Check out the plastic spoons and striped bags for a color themed party!


text:
Most of the kids have been told about unicorns at a young age; therefore, every single child wants to immerse themselves into the world of magic. You want to satisfy your children and keep them believe in unicorns? Right here, you can make it real and continue nurturing their dream by decorating the rooms with these unicorn-styled decoration ideas we listed below.
What does the world of unicorns look like?
What will people think about immediately if mentioning to unicorns? It must be something bright and magical like rainbows, sparkles and glitter and unicorns, of course! In addition, there was rainbow anywhere: in the sky or even in the unicorns' horn and tail. In the world of unicorns, everything is filled with bright, shiny and adorable color as pink, white and gold might be core colors.
Besides, every creature in this magical world is friendly and cute too as they can be your buddy instantly right after you become a part of this place.
Top 10 unicorn-styled decoration ideas that you will fall in love with
Magical Unicorn Decorative Sticker
This beautiful sticker design will add a special touch to your place, especially for girls' rooms or nursery rooms. Let's lead your little one to a magical garden in the fairy tales! Made of PVC, this kind of unicorn-styled decoration is easy and convenient to use. It's removable and waterproof either.
3D Illusion Unicorn Lamp
What a beautiful item that you need to add to your unicorn-styled decoration collection. Let's add a new vibe to your bedroom and put you at ease with its soft light.
Unicorn Head Night Led Light For Children
Nightlight Unicorn attached to the wall led light sensor is ideal for children or other rooms! It's so convenient as you don't have to think of light it or turn it off. Perfect unicorn stuff for kids!
Novelty LED Unicorn Rainbow Night Light
Latest arrival of our unicorn-styled decoration collection is this brand new rainbow unicorn lamp. This unique design lamp will emit lights and lighten up any room with a beautiful rainbow.
Pink Flower Unicorn Bedding Set
Cute unicorn bedding set features cartoon unicorn pattern and flowers on pink background. With good quality and cute design, you'll definitely fall in love with this unicorn bedding set. Best unicorn gifts ever!
Unicorns Pattern Toss Cushion Cover
This unicorn cushion cover is made from durable linen-cotton with adorable unicorns printed on. This is a great way to lighten up any room! Toss this lovely one on your couch to make your house feel like a home!
Luminous Unicorn Decals
This is a must-have unicorn decoration for your place! Those unicorns will glow automatically in the darkness as if it absorbs light enough from lamp or sun lights. Just sticking the Luminous Unicorn Decals on the wall and then dream about magical rainbows!
Hanging 3D Unicorn Head
Made of cloth with PP cotton filled in plus unique design, this lovely unicorn decoration will bring a brand new look to your place! Because its head has a hole in the back, it's easily hung on the wall. Now available in pink and white!
Red Unicorn Bedding Set
Adorable red unicorns will follow you into your sweetest dream with their cuteness and softness. Beautiful bedding sheets promise to not only light up your bedroom but also bring you peaceful sleep.
24pcs Unicorn Birthday Party Cake Decoration
These unicorn toppers are so adorable! They are ideal for any foods decoration as they are non-toxic and eco-friendly. Let's make your cake more stunning and add a new vibe to unicorn lovers' birthday.
Wanna exploring more unicorn tips? Check out our website at https://unicorn-lovers.com/


text:
Get a photo magnet for 50% off through Seehere when you use the code magnet-14 at checkout. This will make the 3×4 magnets only $2.49 shipped! This offer is available through 4/14. To get this deal:
::: Sign up or login to your Seehere account
:::Click on photo gifts and choose photo magnets
::Design your photo magnet. Head to checkout and choose standard shipping to get it free.
:::Use the code magnet-14 to get 50% off your magnet
I think this would make a lovely small present for mom or grandma. Plus you can use the magnet to hold up your kid's art on the fridge.
Thanks She Saved!


text:
Never turn back and never believe that an hour you remember is a better hour because it is dead. Passed years seem safe ones, vanquished ones, while the future lives in a cloud, formidable from a distance.
Beryl Markham
This week, millions across the globe will be commemorating Vesak. It is one of the most sacred days of the year for Buddhists, many Hindus, and a number of esoteric practitioners, as it celebrates the birth, enlightenment, and death of Gautama Buddha. Others will be celebrating Lunar Beltane on this week's Full Flower Moon. So what guidance are we offered for this profound time? This week let us welcome the Six of Swords.
As you probably know, Swords are the suit associated with the element of Air and rule thought, intellect, perception, communication, and our stories. And Sixes are the cards that show how the conflicts of the Fives may be resolved. They usually indicate restoration of balance, and support given or received.
Tarot legend Rachel Pollack notes that in the Waite-Smith deck, this Six is a classic example of how illustrator Pamela Colman Smith's images could illuminate, and even surpass, Arthur Waite's own interpretations.
Waite was rather literal in his explanation, calling this card a journey by water and pretty much leaving it at that.
But Smith has given it a mythic depth that hints of Charon, the ferryman who crosses the River Styx, carrying the shrouded figures as they depart the land of mortal life. Or he could be guiding the woman and child to the Isle of Avalon.
Letting Go and Looking Forward
There is a sense in this card of sorrow and even resignation, of "quiet passage through long difficulty," as Rachel notes. But there is also a deep peacefulness here. As they glide towards the lands in the distance, they float lightly, not weighed down despite their cargo.
And, she points out, although the swords are stuck through the bottom of the vessel, the passengers do not appear to be in danger of sinking, hinting at how we may eventually adapt to even the most perilous or painful circumstances.
Notice that the cloaked figure is bent over, like there is a weight on his or her shoulders. It is a demeanor of despair and even defeat. The Swords would naturally indicate memories, perceptions, and thoughts. Perhaps the past lies heavy upon this person.
Also, Tarot expert Paul Quinn notes that the oar's position can be seen as a dividing line that unites the child and ferryman, isolating the hooded figure. Both the child and boatman are similar to one another — they are more upright, less burdened, and gazing forward.
Who Do You See Here
In the Swords suit, only the Five and Six clearly depict more than one person. But unlike the Five (shown above), there is no conflict here and we are not alone in this transition.
In fact, as is the case with all cards that feature multiple figures, we may choose which of these most closely resembles us. Who is the helper in a current situation that keeps the balance as he or she steers the boat?
Who is the one who looks ahead?
Who is the shrouded person, burdened with care? Could this be last month's grief-stricken figure in the Five of Cups, now moving forward in a lighter cloak, crossing the river?
This card is one that shows a period of transition, of long-term change. Perhaps this is literal travel, or a time of spiritual movement.
Although Swords address the airy realms of the mind, perception and communication, the boatman poles the vessel through the waters of dreams and the unconscious. And it may well be that the ferryman's pole is the wand of magic and creativity.
So we have the Swords of Air, Wands (Fire), and Cups (Water) combining to help us make this voyage. But the land ahead (Earthy Pentacles) is only barely differentiated from the water. Its solidity, as well as the outcome of this crossing, remains uncertain.
Thus we are betwixt and between what has been, and what still awaits. The only choice is to be present during this transition, and keep moving forward.
Between the Worlds
Like during the last visit from the Six of Swords, the southern United States is again dealing with record-breaking floods. Of course, Hurricane Harvey was much, much worse, but I can't help but see this card now and think of our waterlogged friends on the Gulf Coast of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.
And then I think of how our world is transforming. Global climate change is real, and just about everything else we may focus on could be compared to rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.
For better or worse, we have left the shoreline of what was, and nothing will ever be the same. Not for us, not for future generations. There is no turning back.
But there is still time for us to make good decisions. The Swords remind us that our great skill as a species seems to be our ability to imagine, including the visualization of better routes forward.
Staying Afloat During Change
This quiet, somewhat melancholy card of change urges us to be thoughtful and calm as we approach unknown outcomes. It is time to let go of the attitudes and baggage of the past, and face prospects as yet unclear.
This week, you and I may transit waters of not knowing. Our journey may be borne of grief and loss, but we are not forsaken. While the past can seem safer and more peaceful because it is over, look more closely. The truth is that we are leaving the turbulence behind.
Let us therefore move forward with grace, bearing both our uncertainty, and our hope.