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Psalm 74
Psalm 74
This psalm does so particularly describe the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, by Nebuchadnezzar and the army of the Chaldeans, and can so ill be applied to any other event we meet with in the Jewish history, that interpreters incline to think that either it was penned by David, or Asaph in David's time, with a prophetical reference to that sad event (which yet is not so probable), or that it was penned by another Asaph, who lived at the time of the captivity, or by Jeremiah (for it is of a piece with his Lamentations,) or some other prophet, and, after the return out of captivity, was delivered to the sons of Asaph, who were called by his name, for the public service of the church. That was the most eminent family of the singers in Ezra's time. See Ezra 2 41; 3 10; Neh 11 17, 22; 12 35, 46. The deplorable case of the people of God at that time is here spread before the Lord, and left with him. The prophet, in the name of the church I. Puts in complaining pleas of the miseries they suffered, for the quickening of their desires in prayer, ver 1-11. II. He puts in comfortable pleas for the encouraging of their faith in prayer, ver 12-17. III. He concludes with divers petitions to God for deliverances, ver 18-23. In singing it we must be affected with the former desolations of the church, for we are members of the same body, and may apply it to any present distresses or desolations of any part of the Christian church.
Mournful Complaints.
Maschil of Asaph.
1 O God, why hast thou cast us off for ever? why doth thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture? 2 Remember thy congregation, which thou hast purchased of old; the rod of thine inheritance, which thou hast redeemed; this mount Zion, wherein thou hast dwelt. 3 Lift up thy feet unto the perpetual desolations; even all that the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary. 4 Thine enemies roar in the midst of thy congregations; they set up their ensigns for signs. 5 A man was famous according as he had lifted up axes upon the thick trees. 6 But now they break down the carved work thereof at once with axes and hammers. 7 They have cast fire into thy sanctuary, they have defiled by casting down the dwelling place of thy name to the ground. 8 They said in their hearts, Let us destroy them together: they have burned up all the synagogues of God in the land. 9 We see not our signs: there is no more any prophet: neither is there among us any that knoweth how long. 10 O God, how long shall the adversary reproach? shall the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever? 11 Why withdrawest thou thy hand, even thy right hand? pluck it out of thy bosom.
This psalm is entitled Maschil—a psalm to give instruction, for it was penned in a day of affliction, which is intended for instruction; and this instruction in general it gives us, That when we are, upon any account, in distress, it is our wisdom and duty to apply to God by faithful and fervent prayer, and we shall not find it in vain to do so. Three things the people of God here complain of:—
I. The displeasure of God against them, as that which was the cause and bitterness of all their calamities. They look above the instruments of their trouble, who, they knew, could have no power against them unless it were given them from above, and keep their eye upon God, by whose determined counsel they were delivered up into the hands of wicked and unreasonable men. Observe the liberty they take to expostulate with God (v. 1), we hope not too great a liberty, for Christ himself, upon the cross, cried out, My God my God, why hast thou forsaken me? So the church here, O God! why hast thou forsaken us for ever? Here they speak according to their present dark and melancholy apprehensions; for otherwise, Has God cast away his people? God forbid, Rom 11 1. The people of God must not think that because they are cast down they are therefore cast off, that because men cast them off therefore God does, and that because he seems to cast them off for a time therefore they are really cast off for ever: yet this expostulation intimates that they dreaded God's casting them off more than any thing, that they desired to be owned of him, whatever they suffered from men, and were desirous to know wherefore he thus contended with them: Why does thy anger smoke? that is, why does it rise up to such a degree that all about us take notice of it, and ask, What means the heat of this great anger? Deut 29 24. Compare v. 20, where the anger of the Lord and his jealousy are said to smoke against sinners. Observe what they plead with God, now that they lay under the tokens and apprehensions of his wrath. 1. They plead their relation to him: "We are the sheep of thy pasture, the sheep wherewith thou hast been pleased to stock the pasture, thy peculiar people whom thou art pleased to set apart for thyself and design for thy own glory. That the wolves worry the sheep is not strange; but was ever any shepherd thus displeased at his own sheep? Remember, we are thy congregation (v. 2), incorporated by thee and for thee, and devoted to thy praise; we are the rod, or tribe, of thy inheritance, whom thou hast been pleased to claim a special property in above other people ( Deut 32 9), and from whom thou hast received the rents and issues of praise and worship more than from the neighbouring nations. Nay, a man's inheritance may lie at a great distance, but we are pleading for Mount Zion, wherein thou hast dwelt, which has been the place of thy peculiar delight and residence, thy demesne and mansion." 2. They plead the great things God had done for them and the vast expense he had been at upon them: "It is thy congregation, which thou hast not only made with a word's speaking, but purchased of old by many miracles of mercy when they were first formed into a people; it is thy inheritance, which thou hast redeemed when they were sold into servitude." God gave Egypt to ruin for their ransom, gave men for them, and people for their life, Isa 43 3, 4. "Now, Lord, wilt thou now abandon a people that cost thee so dear, and has been so dear to thee?" And, if the redemption of Israel out of Egypt was an encouragement to hope that he would not cast them off, much more reason have we to hope that God will not cast off any whom Christ has redeemed with his own blood; but the people of his purchase shall be for ever the people of his praise. 3. They plead the calamitous state that they were in (v. 3): "Lift up thy feet; that is, come with speed to repair the desolations that are made in thy sanctuary, which otherwise will be perpetual an irreparable." It has been sometimes said that the divine vengeance strikes with iron hands, yet it comes with leaden feet; and then those who wait for the day of the Lord, cry, Lord, lift up thy feet; exalt thy steps; magnify thyself in the outgoing of thy providence. When the desolations of the sanctuary have continued long we are tempted to think they will be perpetual; but it is a temptation; for God will avenge his own elect, will avenge them speedily, though he bear long with their oppressors and persecutors.
II. They complain of the outrage and cruelty of their enemies, not so much, no, not at all, of what they had done to the prejudice of their secular interests; here are no complaints of the burning of their cities and ravaging of their country, but only what they had done against the sanctuary and the synagogue. The concerns of religion should lie nearer our hearts and affect us more than any worldly concern whatsoever. The desolation of God's house should grieve us more than the desolation of our own houses; for the matter is not great what becomes of us and our families in this world provided God's name may be sanctified, his kingdom may come, and his will be done.
1. The psalmist complains of the desolations of the sanctuary, as Daniel, ch. 9 17. The temple at Jerusalem was the dwelling-place of God's name, and therefore the sanctuary, or holy place, v. 7. In this the enemies did wickedly (v. 3), for they destroyed it in downright contempt of God and affront to him. (1.) They roared in the midst of God's congregations, v. 4. There where God's faithful people attended on him with a humble reverent silence, or softly speaking, they roared in a riotous revelling manner, being elated with having made themselves masters of that sanctuary of which they had sometimes heard formidable things. (2.) They set up their ensigns for signs. The banners of their army they set up in the temple (Israel's strongest castle, as long as they kept closely to God) as trophies of their victory. There, where the signs of God's presence used to be, now the enemy had set up their ensigns. This daring defiance of God and his power touched his people in a tender part. (3.) They took a pride in destroying the carved work of the temple. As much as formerly men thought it an honour to lend a hand to the building of the temple, and he was thought famous that helped to fell timber for that work, so much now they valued themselves upon their agency in destroying it, v. 5, 6. Thus, as formerly those were celebrated for wise men that did service to religion, so now those are applauded as wits that help to run it down. Some read it thus: They show themselves, as one that lifts up axes on high in a thicket of trees, for so do they break down the carved work of the temple they make no more scruple of breaking down the rich wainscot of the temple than woodcutters do of hewing trees in the forest; such indignation have they at the sanctuary that the most curious carving that ever was seen is beaten down by the common soldiers without any regard had to it, either as a dedicated thing or as a piece of exquisite art. (4.) They set fire to it, and so violated or destroyed it to the ground, v. 7. The Chaldeans burnt the house of God, that stately costly fabric, 2 Chron 36 19. And the Romans left not there one stone upon another (Matt 24 2), rasing it, rasing it, even to the foundations, till Zion, the holy mountain, was, by Titus Vespasian, ploughed as a field.
2. He complains of the desolations of the synagogues, or schools of the prophets, which, before the captivity, were in use, though much more afterwards. There God's word was read and expounded, and his name praised and called upon, without altars or sacrifices. These also they had a spite to (v. 8): Let us destroy them together; not only the temple, but all the places of religious worship and the worshippers with them. Let us destroy them together; let them be consumed in the same flame. Pursuant to this impious resolve they burnt up all the synagogues of God in the land and laid them all waste. So great was their rage against religion that the religious houses, because religious, were all levelled with the ground, that God's worshippers might not glorify God, and edify one another, by meeting in solemn assemblies.
III. The great aggravation of all these calamities was that they had no prospect at all of relief, nor could they foresee an end of them (v. 9): "We see our enemy's sign set up in the sanctuary, but we see not our signs, none of the tokens of God's presence, no hopeful indications of approaching deliverance. There is no more any prophet to tell us how long the trouble will last and when things concerning us shall have an end, that the hope of an issue at last may support us under our troubles." In the captivity in Babylon they had prophets, and had been told how long the captivity should continue, but the day was cloudy and dark (Ezek 34 12), and they had not as yet the comfort of these gracious discoveries. God spoke once, yea, twice, good words and comfortable words, but they perceived them not. Observe, They do not complain, "We see not our armies; there are no men of war to command our forces, nor any to go forth with our hosts;" but, "no prophets, none to tell us how long." This puts them upon expostulating with God, as delaying, 1. To assert his honour (v. 10): How long shall the adversary reproach and blaspheme thy name? In the desolations of the sanctuary our chief concern should be for the glory of God, that it may not be injured by the blasphemies of those who persecute his people for his sake, because they are his; and therefore our enquiry should be, not "How long shall we be troubled?" but "How long shall God be blasphemed?" 2. To exert his power (v. 11): "Why withdrawest thou thy hand, and dost not stretch it out, to deliver thy people and destroy thy enemies? Pluck it out of thy bosom, and be not as a man astonished, as a mighty man that cannot save, or will not," Jer 14 9. When the power of enemies is most threatening it is comfortable to fly to the power of God.
Acknowledgments of Divine Power.
12 For God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth. 13 Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters. 14 Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness. 15 Thou didst cleave the fountain and the flood: thou driedst up mighty rivers. 16 The day is thine, the night also is thine: thou hast prepared the light and the sun. 17 Thou hast set all the borders of the earth: thou hast made summer and winter.
The lamenting church fastens upon something here which she calls to mind, and therefore hath she hope (as Lam 3 21), with which she encourages herself and silences her own complaints. Two things quiet the minds of those that are here sorrowing for the solemn assembly:—
I. That God is the God of Israel, a God in covenant with his people (v. 12): God is my King of old. This comes in both as a plea in prayer to God (Ps 44 4, thou art my King, O God!) and as a prop to their own faith and hope, to encourage themselves to expect deliverance, considering the days of old, Ps 77 5. The church speaks as a complex body, the same in every age, and therefore calls God, "My King, my King of old," or, "from antiquity;" he of old put himself into that relation to them and appeared and acted for them in that relation. As Israel's King, he wrought salvation in the midst of the nations of the earth; for what he did, in the government of the world, tended towards the salvation of his church. Several things are here mentioned which God had done for his people as their King of old, which encouraged them to commit themselves to him and depend upon him.
1. He had divided the sea before them when they came out of Egypt, not by the strength of Moses or his rod, but by his own strength; and he that could do that could do any thing.
2. He had destroyed Pharaoh and the Egyptians. Pharaoh was the leviathan; the Egyptians were the dragons, fierce and cruel. Observe, (1.) The victory obtained over these enemies. God broke their heads, baffled their politics, as when Israel, the more they were afflicted by them, multiplied the more. God crushed their powers, though complicated, ruined their country by ten plagues, and at last drowned them all in the Red Sea. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, Ezek 31 18. It was the Lord's doing; none besides could do it, and he did it with a strong hand and an outstretched arm. This was typical of Christ's victory over Satan and his kingdom, pursuant to the first promise, that the seed of the woman should break the serpent's head. (2.) The improvement of this victory for the encouragement of the church: Thou gavest him to be meat to the people of Israel, now going to inhabit the wilderness. The spoil of the Egyptians enriched them; they stripped their slain, and so got the Egyptians' arms and weapons, as before they had got their jewels. Or, rather, this providence was meat to their faith and hope, to support and encourage them in reference to the other difficulties they were likely to meet with in the wilderness. It was part of the spiritual meat which they were all made to eat of. Note, The breaking of the heads of the church's enemies is the joy and strength of the hearts of the church's friends. Thus the companions make a banquet even of leviathan, Job 41 6.
3. God had both ways altered the course of nature, both in fetching streams out of the rock and turning streams into rock, v. 15. (1.) He had dissolved the rock into waters: Thou didst bring out the fountain and the flood (so some read it); and every one knows whence it was brought, out of the rock, out of the flinty rock. Let this never be forgotten, but let it especially be remembered that the rock was Christ, and the waters out of it were spiritual drink. (2.) He had congealed the waters into rock: Thou driedst up mighty rapid rivers, Jordan particularly at the time when it overflowed all its banks. He that did these things could now deliver his oppressed people, and break the yoke of the oppressors, as he had done formerly; nay, he would do it, for his justice and goodness, his wisdom and truth, are still the same, as well as his power.
II. That the God of Israel is the God of nature, v. 16, 17. It is he that orders the regular successions and revolutions, 1. Of day and night. He is the Lord of all time. The evening and the morning are of his ordaining. It is he that opens the eyelids of the morning light, and draws the curtains of the evening shadow. He has prepared the moon and the sun (so some read it), the two great lights, to rule by day and by night alternately. The preparing of them denotes their constant readiness and exact observance of their time, which they never miss a moment. 2. Of summer and winter: "Thou hast appointed all the bounds of the earth, and the different climates of its several regions, for thou hast made summer and winter, the frigid and the torrid zones; or, rather, the constant revolutions of the year and its several seasons." Herein we are to acknowledge God, from whom all the laws and powers of nature are derived; but how does this come in here? (1.) He that had power at first to settle, and still to preserve, this course of nature by the diurnal and annual motions of the heavenly bodies, has certainly all power both to save and to destroy, and with him nothing is impossible, nor are any difficulties or oppositions insuperable. (2.) He that is faithful to his covenant with the day and with the night, and preserves the ordinances of heaven inviolable will certainly make good his promise to his people and never cast off those whom he has chosen, Jer 31 35, 36; 33 20, 21. His covenant with Abraham and his seed is as firm as that with Noah and his sons, Gen 8 21. (3.) Day and night, summer and winter, being counterchanged in the course of nature, throughout all the borders of the earth, we can expect no other than that trouble and peace, prosperity and adversity, should be, in like manner, counterchanged in all the borders of the church. We have as much reason to expect affliction as to expect night and winter. But we have then no more reason to despair of the return of comfort than we have to despair of day and summer.
Earnest Supplications; Pleading with God.
18 Remember this, that the enemy hath reproached, O Lord, and that the foolish people have blasphemed thy name. 19 O deliver not the soul of thy turtledove unto the multitude of the wicked: forget not the congregation of thy poor for ever. 20 Have respect unto the covenant: for the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty. 21 O let not the oppressed return ashamed: let the poor and needy praise thy name. 22 Arise, O God, plead thine own cause: remember how the foolish man reproacheth thee daily. 23 Forget not the voice of thine enemies: the tumult of those that rise up against thee increaseth continually.
The psalmist here, in the name of the church, most earnestly begs that God would appear fro them against their enemies, and put an end to their present troubles. To encourage his own faith, he interests God in this matter (v. 22): Arise, O God! plead thy own cause. This we may be sure he will do, for he is jealous for his own honour; whatever is his own cause he will plead it with a strong hand, will appear against those that oppose it and with and for those that cordially espouse it. He will arise and plead it, though for a time he seems to neglect it; he will stir up himself, will manifest himself, will do his own work in his own time. Note, The cause of religion is God's own cause and he will certainly plead it. Now, to make it out that the cause is God's, he pleads,
I. That the persecutors are God's sworn enemies: "Lord, they have not only abused us, but they have been, and are, abusive to thee; what is done against us, for thy sake, does, by consequence, reflect upon thee. But that is not all; they have directly and immediately reproached thee, and blasphemed thy name," v. 18. This was that which they roared in the sanctuary; they triumphed as if they had now got the mastery of the God is Israel, of whom they had heard such great things. As nothing grieves the saints more than to hear God's name blasphemed, so nothing encourages them more to hope that God will appear against their enemies than when they have arrived at such a pitch of wickedness as to reproach God himself; this fills the measure of their sins apace and hastens their ruin. The psalmist insists much upon this: "We dare not answer their reproaches; Lord, do thou answer them. Remember that the foolish people have blasphemed thy name (v. 18) and that still the foolish man reproaches thee daily." Observe the character of those that reproach God; they are foolish. As atheism is folly (Ps 14 1), profaneness and blasphemy are no less so. Perhaps those are cried up as the wits of the age that ridicule religion and sacred things; but really they are the greatest fools, and will shortly be made to appear so before all the world. And yet see their malice—They reproach God daily, as constantly as his faithful worshippers pray to him and praise him; see their impudence—They do not hide their blasphemous thoughts in their own bosoms, but proclaim them with a loud voice (forget not the voice of thy enemies, v. 23), and this with a daring defiance of divine justice; they rise up against thee, and by their blasphemies even wage war with heaven and take up arms against the Almighty. Their noise and tumult ascend continually (so some), as the cry of Sodom came up before God, calling for vengeance, Gen 18 21. It increases continually (so we read it); they grow worse and worse, and are hardened in their impieties by their successes. Now, Lord, remember this; do not forget it. God needs not to be put in remembrance by us of what he has to do, but thus we must show our concern for his honour and believe that he will vindicate us.
II. That the persecuted are his covenant-people. 1. See what distress they are in. They have fallen into the hands of the multitude of the wicked, v. 19. How are those increased that trouble them! There is no standing before an enraged multitude, especially like these, armed with power; and, as they are numerous, so they are barbarous: The dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty. The land of the Chaldeans, where there was none of the light of the knowledge of the true God (though otherwise it was famed for learning and arts), was indeed a dark place; the inhabitants of it were alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that was in them, and therefore they were cruel: where there was no true divinity there was scarcely to be found common humanity. They were especially cruel to the people of God; certainly those have no knowledge who eat them up, Ps 14 4. They are oppressed (v. 21) because they are poor and unable to help themselves; they are oppressed, and so impoverished and made poor. 2. See what reason they had to hope that God would appear for their relief and not suffer them to be always thus trampled upon. Observe how the psalmist pleads with God for them. (1.) "It is thy turtle-dove that is ready to be swallowed up by the multitude of the wicked," v. 19. The church is a dove for harmlessness and mildness, innocency and inoffensiveness, purity and fruitfulness, a dove for mournfulness in a day of distress, a turtle-dove for fidelity and the constancy of love: turtle-doves and pigeons were the only fowls that were offered in sacrifice to God. "Shall thy turtle-dove, that is true to thee and devoted to thy honour, be delivered, its life and soul and all, into the hand of the multitude of the wicked, to whom it will soon become an easy and acceptable prey? Lord, it will be thy honour to help the weak, especially to help thy own." (2.) "It is the congregation of thy poor, and they are not the less thine for their being poor (for God has chosen the poor of this world, Jam 2 5), but they have the more reason to expect thou wilt appear for them because they are many: it is the congregation of thy poor; let them not be abandoned and forgotten for ever." (3.) "They are in covenant with thee; and wilt thou not have respect unto the covenant? v. 20. Wilt thou not perform the promises thou hast, in thy covenant, made to them? Wilt thou not own those whom thou hast brought into the bond of the covenant?" When God delivers his people it is in remembrance of his covenant, Lev 26 42. "Lord, though we are unworthy to be respected, yet have respect to the covenant." (4.) "They trust in thee, and boast of their relation to thee and expectations from thee. O let not them return ashamed of their hope (v. 21), as they will be if they be disappointed." (5.) "If thou deliver them, they will praise thy name and give thee the glory of their deliverance. Appear, Lord, for those that will praise thy name, against those that blaspheme it."


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In his memoir, Total Recall, Arnold Schwarzenegger lays it all on the table. The actor, former California governor, and former bodybuilding champion takes a cold, hard look at the mind-set that brought him from a small town in Austria to the top of three careers and ultimately the scandalous affair that destroyed his marriage. His publishers call it "the greatest immigrant success story of our time." We'll let you decide.
1. Daddy IssuesAware of his father's previous involvement with the Nazi Party from a young age, Schwarzenegger describes him as "angry … frightened" and "bitter." He writes that his father would come home drunk once a week and begin yelling at his wife before sometimes coming after young Arnold with a belt. Although never excusing his actions, Schwarzenegger does sympathize in some ways: "Think about it: you are promised you will be a citizen of a great new empire … Instead, you come home to a land in ruins, there's very little money, food is scarce, everything needs to be rebuilt. The occupying forces are there, so you're not even in charge of your country anymore."
2. Workout WarriorIf the thought of Arnold Schwarzenegger in a tank isn't scary enough, imagine walking into an army latrine to find him practicing his poses. Such was the case in the early 1960s, when Schwarzenegger's bodybuilding ambitions overlapped with his military service. Joining as a tank driver because he loved "big things," he writes that he would often sneak to the bathroom to refine his poses and even set up a workout room in the barracks. After his drill sergeant refused to excuse him from basic training to compete in the Junior Mr. Europe competition, Schwarzenegger said "fuck it" and decided to go anyway. The stunt earned him 24 hours in military detention, but when officers discovered he had won, they duly released him.
3. Political AwakeningSchwarzenegger's political commentary is weaved throughout the book, but it's first introduced upon his arrival in America. He describes watching the 1968 election with Artie Zeller, "a die-hard Democrat, liberal, and total atheist." During the debate, Vice President Hubert Humphrey kept talking about welfare and government programs, which Schwarzenegger thought was "too Austrian." Then he cast his eyes toward Richard Nixon, who sounded very "American," he writes: "'What is his party called again?' I asked Artie. 'Republican.' 'Then I'm a Republican,' I said."
4. Meeting Ms. Perfect Having risen to the top of the bodybuilding world, Schwarzenegger met Maria Shriver, his dream girl and "a force to be reckoned with." He says Shriver was "the first girlfriend I ever had who didn't treat my ambitions as an annoyance." He cared for her so much that he even drove around with Teddy Kennedy stickers on his car, though secretly he "was hoping that Ronald Reagan would be elected president, but no one was asking my opinion."
5. The Playgirl Shoot That Never WasIn 1978 Schwarzenegger agreed to pose for a photo essay to appear in Playgirl magazine. The setup was his idea: "It would be a traditional beer hall, but instead of hefty German woman serving the beer steins … it would be young sexy girls with bare tits." Shriver, whom he had had just started dating, hated the idea and convinced him to pay $7,000 to have the story killed.
6. Becoming the TerminatorWith his acting career beginning to take off after the success of Conan the Barbarian, Schwarzenegger was offered the role of a lifetime—although that's not what he thought at first. He was hesitant to play a villain so early on, fearing it was "career suicide" and that his dearth of lines in the script would make people think he was avoiding speaking roles. But he couldn't stop envisioning the character, and with a little convincing from director James Cameron, he finally came around: "The Terminator felt right. Here was a project that would get me out of a loincloth and into real clothes! The selling point would be the action, not just me ripping off my shirt."
7. Affairs, AffairsLong before his devastating affair with Mildred Baena, then employed as the family housekeeper, Schwarzenegger says he had a fling with Red Sonja costar Brigitte Nielsen, despite being in a long-term relationship with Shriver. Nielsen had a "personality filled with laughter and fun," he writes. After a "hot affair" on set, they set off together for a romp around Europe. Schwarzenegger assumed the affair over when he returned to Los Angeles, but Nielsen had other ideas. He refused her advances, and she settled down with Sylvester Stallone, a relationship Schwarzenegger says was "love at first sight."
8. A Broken HeartLiterally. After discovering Schwarzenegger had the same heart problem as his mother, doctors told him that he would need surgery in the future. That was in 1997, when Shriver was pregnant and he was busy promoting Batman and Robin. When the time came to replace the valve—which doctors said had about a 30 percent chance of failure—he scheduled the surgery for immediately after the tour, all part of a plan not to tell his wife: "'I will tell my family that I'm going to Mexico," I said. 'I'll say I need a little vacation for a week. And then we do the heart surgery.'"
9. Candidate SchwarzeneggerHeart surgery wasn't the only thing Schwarzenegger sprung on his wife. With rumors swirling about his potential bid for governor of California, Schwarzenegger already knew he was going to run, and he told Shriver of his plans while they relaxed in a Jacuzzi. Shriver didn't take the news too well: "'She said, 'No, no, come on, please tell me that you're not serious.' Then she added, 'Don't do this to me' … As I rattled on, I was astonished to see my wife start to tremble."
10. The Self-Described Visionary Not shy of touting his own achievements in office, Schwarzenegger reserves particular praise for his ultimately unsuccessful attempts to reform California's health-care system. He writes that although his advisers didn't want him to take on the issue as soon as he did, his proposition to strengthen the individual mandate and focus on prevention has since been studied across the country. He said these measures addressed the "perceived weaknesses" in Mitt Romney's Massachusetts plan, adding: "Our health-care reform became America's, and California led the way."
11. Coming CleanThe second-to-last chapter of the book is ominously titled "The Secret." And for good reason. Schwarzenegger describes his last days as governor and the tense meeting with his and his wife's marriage counselor when he finally told of his secret life. Writing of the affair with the housekeeper that produced a child out of wedlock, he writes: "'It's true.' Then I turned to Maria. 'It's my child,' I said. 'It happened 14 years ago. I didn't know about him at first, but I've known it now for several years." Schwarzenegger said the affair happened while the kids were away on vacation and he was finishing Batman and Robin. Schwarzenegger said he learned the truth while he was governor, when Baena showed him pictures proving the child's resemblance to him.

subset: commoncrawl


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The Queen of Sheba's Praise of Solomon
1Now when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came to test him with hard questions. 2She came to Jerusalem with a very great [a]retinue, with camels that bore spices, very much gold, and precious stones; and when she came to Solomon, she spoke with him about all that was in her heart. 3So Solomon answered all her questions; there was nothing [b]so difficult for the king that he could not explain it to her. 4And when the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, 5the food on his table, the seating of his servants, the service of his waiters and their apparel, his cupbearers, and his entryway by which he went up to the house of the Lord, there was no more spirit in her. 6Then she said to the king: "It was a true report which I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom. 7However I did not believe the words until I came and saw with my own eyes; and indeed the half was not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity exceed the fame of which I heard. 8Happy are your men and happy are these your servants, who stand continually before you and hear your wisdom! 9Blessed be the Lord your God, who delighted in you, setting you on the throne of Israel! Because the Lord has loved Israel forever, therefore He made you king, to do justice and righteousness."
10Then she gave the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold, spices in great quantity, and precious stones. There never again came such abundance of spices as the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon. 11Also, the ships of Hiram, which brought gold from Ophir, brought great quantities of [c]almug wood and precious stones from Ophir. 12And the king made [d]steps of the almug wood for the house of the Lord and for the king's house, also harps and stringed instruments for singers. There never again came such almug wood, nor has the like been seen to this day.
13Now King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all she desired, whatever she asked, besides what Solomon had given her according to the royal generosity. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants.
Solomon's Great Wealth
14The weight of gold that came to Solomon yearly was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold, 15besides that from the traveling merchants, from the income of traders, from all the kings of Arabia, and from the governors of the country.
16And King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold; six hundred shekels of gold went into each shield. 17He also made three hundred shields of hammered gold; three minas of gold went into each shield. The king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon.
18Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with pure gold. 19The throne had six steps, and the top of the throne was round at the back; there were armrests on either side of the place of the seat, and two lions stood beside the armrests. 20Twelve lions stood there, one on each side of the six steps; nothing like this had been made for any other kingdom.
21All King Solomon's drinking vessels were gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Not one was silver, for this was accounted as nothing in the days of Solomon. 22For the king had merchant[e] ships at sea with the fleet of Hiram. Once every three years the merchant ships came bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and [f]monkeys. 23So King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom.
24Now all the earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart. 25Each man brought his present: articles of silver and gold, garments, armor, spices, horses, and mules, at a set rate year by year.
26And Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen; he had one thousand four hundred chariots and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he [g]stationed in the chariot cities and with the king at Jerusalem. 27The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedar trees as abundant as the sycamores which are in the lowland.
28Also Solomon had horses imported from Egypt and Keveh; the king's merchants bought them in Keveh at the current price. 29Now a chariot that was imported from Egypt cost six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse one hundred and fifty; and [h]thus, through their agents, they exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Syria.
The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
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Because we want to deliver the best products to you, we have decided to close down our company and to restructure it. We will spend all our time making it more efficient and better in every way.
We want to reach our full pontential. We trully believe that deadlines can be easily met, that design must lead not follow and that development must be done with all regards and in the best and fastest way possible.
We thank you for sticking by us and hope to see you soon.
PS: If you have more questions, if you also believe in our cause or if you just want to say "hi" don't hesitate to contact us via email at firstname.lastname@example.com


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of Walk-In Baths
Access Montana Vision Walk-in Bath with Glass Door and Powered Lift Seat
This is a UK Walk in bath. British made with a British warranty.
Also known as the Buckingham Plus Bath and the Jersey Bath (Sling Seat)
High quality walk in bath which is made in the UK. The Montana Walk-in Power Bath gently lowers and smoothly lifts to create a comfortable and secure Bathing experience.
There are no hidden charges in this bath, just good value for money. So do not pay £1000s more from other companies for the same bath. Rest assured that once you pay for this bath it will be delivered in the specified time on this page and no extra costs will be added at any time. Just good value for money from the company you can trust.
Bathroom supplies online recommends the use of a pump on all gravity fed systems. This is to aid the fast filling of these walk in baths.
Our range includes the only walk-in baths with BioCote antimicrobial protection built-in. This world-leading technology eliminates 99.9% of nasty superbugs such as E.coli, Salmonella and MRSA.
BioCote is a premium silver-based antimicrobial technology that provides built-in, around the clock protection for the lifetime of our products. It is effective against a wide range of microbes, including harmful bacteria that may cause illness and reduces the risk of cross contamination. Choose an Access bath and you have assured protection 24/7.
Our range of Access walk-in baths are delivered with a complimentary 2 man white-glove service. The delivery date will be scheduled with you in advance and will be carried out on a timed AM service. To give you extra peace of mind, we will lift the bath into the room of your choice, unpacked, and fully inspect ready for your installation.
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Delivery Charges are estimated in the basket - we have 3 main UK delivery charges;
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We use many forms of delivery services dependant on postcode and product. We may deliver larger items on a pallet service, this can be kerbside and the customer will be responsible for the disposal of any pallets and packaging.
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If you require your goods by a certain date please call us on 01482 795165 and we will work with you to expedite the delivery time when possible. In some cases we can deliver goods the following morning. We can never guarantee any delivery times but we will always work as hard as possible to meet your deadlines.
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Please Note - Customers are responsible for all return collection costs. These are estimated at £20 - £30 for small items (accessories, taps, showers etc) and £60 - £80 for large items (toilets, basins, baths, shower enclosures etc) but are dependent on the collection location and product. Alternatively, products can be returned via your chosen courier at your cost back to our address. Please note if you are returning the products with your own delivery company please take the necessary insurance with them as damaged items can not be refunded.
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After Sunday's devastating destruction of a popular Bay Area camp just outside of Yosemite, firefighters have been making steady progress on battling the Rim Fire just outside the national park.
Increasingly confident fire officials said they expect to fully surround the blaze in three weeks, although it will burn for much longer than that.
"We continue to get line around this fire," Cal Fire spokesman Daniel Berlant said. "It's not nearly as active as it was last week."
On Thursday, Cal Fire reported they had contained 32 percent of the fire, which had grown to 199,237 acres - or 311 square miles - becoming the state's 6th largest fire in state history. Four people have been injured, and the price tag is now at $47 million spent on fighting the wildfire.
MORE: Rim Fire Incident Command Page
Fire commanders from Cal Fire and the U.S. Forest service have been using a Predator drone to give them early views of any new flare-ups across in the remote and rugged landscape.
The California National Guard drone deployed Wednesday was being remotely piloted hundreds of miles away, allowing ground commanders to keep an eye out for new fires they otherwise wouldn't have immediately seen.
"The drone is providing data directly back to the incident commander, allowing him to make quick decisions about which resources to deploy and where," Berlant said.
Previously, officials relied on helicopters that needed to refuel every two hours.
While unmanned aircraft have mapped past fires, use of the Predator will be the longest sustained mission by a drone in California to broadcast information to firefighters in real time.
The plane, the size of a small Cessna, will remain over the burn zone for up to 22 hours at a time, allowing fire commanders to monitor fire activity, determine the fire's direction of movement, the extent of containment and confirm new fires ignited by lightning or flying embers.
The drone is being flown by the 163rd Wing of the California National Guard at March Air Reserve Base in Riverside and is operating from Victorville Airport, both in Southern California. It generally flew over unpopulated areas on its 300-mile flight to the Rim Fire. Outside the fire area, it will be escorted by a manned aircraft.
Officials were careful to point out the images are being used only to aid in the effort to contain the fire.
Click here to see a time lapse video of the Rim Fire by Yosemite National Park:
In 2009 a NASA Predator equipped with an infrared imaging sensor helped the U.S. Forest Service assess damage from a fire in Angeles National Forest. In 2008, a drone capable of detecting hot spots helped firefighters assess movement of a series of wildfires stretching from Southern California's Lake Arrowhead to San Diego.
The Rim Fire had been the 7th largest fire in history, until it edged out the Klamath Theater Complex fire in Sikiyou County, which burned 192,038 acres in June 2008 when lightning struck, according to a Cal Fire chart.
The Rim Fire fire has been raging in the heart of the Stanislaus National Forest since Aug. 17, and investigators still haven't announced what sparked it.
A total of 5,500 structures still remained threatened, and so far, 111 buildings were damaged - 11 of them were homes, despite earlier reports that 31 homes had burned. Nearly 5,000 firefighters have now been called in to battle the blaze.
The biggest loss was the complete destruction of Berkeley Tuolumne Camp, a family camp run by the city of Berkeley since 1922. Friends of the camp set up a Facebook page to collect old photos of good times at the camp. As of Thursday, the Berkeley Tuolumne Family Camp Photo Memorial had 1,732 friends.
The other camps in the area, including San Jose Family Camp, San Francisco's Camp Mather and Camp Tawonga were evacuated safely shortly after the fire broke out.
- San Jose State Research Team Collects Fire Weather Data
- Rim Fire Prompts Unhealthy Warnings in Nevada
Associated Press writers Brian Skoloff, Tracie Cone and Scott Sonner contributed to this report.


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Google and Palm are rolling out updates to their mobile operating systems. Android 1.6, codenamed donut, introduces CDMA support. WebOS 1.2 brings some enhancements to Palm's Synergy synchronization service.
This is a bright week for smartphone users who don't own iPhones. Google and Palm are rolling out some nice improvements in new point releases of their respective platforms. Windows Mobile users also have something to look forward to, as Microsoft prepares to launch Windows Mobile 6.5 in a matter of days.
Android 1.6, which is codenamed Donut, has been rolled out to unlocked developer handsets and is coming soon to the G1 and possibly other carrier-supported phones. This version includes some compelling improvements for both users and developers. One of the most significant advancements is the introduction of CDMA support in the telephony stack which will open the door for Android phones to launch on Verizon and Sprint.
Sprint is planning to launch the HTC Hero later this month, making it the first CDMA carrier with a confirmed Android handset. Verizon's first Android phone will likely be the Motorola Tao, which was previously codenamed Sholes. Rumored to have a WVGA display and an OMAP 3430 processor, the Tao could break the pattern of lackluster specs that has afflicted virtually all previous Android offerings in North America. Android 1.6 introduced expanded support for screen resolutions, which makes WVGA seem pretty likely. Some blurry shots of the device have recently surfaced and are attracting interest on gadget blogs.
Under the hood, Android's Linux kernel got a boost from version 2.6.27 to version 2.6.29. The kernel has undergone a lot of significant changes between those versions. The most important smartphone-related change is the introduction of Intel's open source WiMAX stack and drivers in the mainline kernel for version 2.6.29. Some reports indicate that Sprint is interested in launching dual-band Android devices in 2010 with both WiMAX and 3G support.
New development frameworks introduced in 1.6 bring intriguing new capabilities to the platform, such as support for implementing gesture-based user interfaces and text-to-speech functionality. For more details about developer features, you can refer to the SDK release notes.
Android 1.6 also offers a bunch of nice improvements for end users, such as new camera software with significantly better performance. The platform has also introduced a new universal search and indexing system. Through a search box on the home screen, users will be able to input a query and see results from many different sources of content, including bookmarks and contacts. The search box offers AwesomeBar-like smart completion and will remember your most frequently picked items.
Palm has also released a new update, version 1.2 of WebOS. One of the most noteworthy improvements in this update is support for LinkedIn in the Palm Synergy synchronization service. Palm has also added the ability for users to input a credit card number in the App Catalog program, indicating that commercial software could be available soon. Palm announced the release in an entry on the company's official blog. A more detailed overview of the changes can be found in the release notes.
Source: ars technica


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Analysis: Another LIFO Victim
LIFO stands for "last in, first out" and describes how nearly all Michigan school districts choose which teachers to lay off when downsizing becomes a necessity. The Michigan Education Association union bargains for LIFO in school employee contracts, yet ironically, it profiled a Jackson teacher who fell victim to the practice in the latest edition of its monthly magazine, the "MEA Voice."
Sarah Cunningham is an English and history teacher in Jackson. The MEA Voice praises her accomplishments of earning an M.A. from Concordia University, writing two books and contributing to many others. It includes an excerpt from one of her books, a personal story that demonstrates Cunningham's concern for her students and commitment to be a positive role model.
The profile also mentioned that Cunningham writes a blog. Not covered in the union's article but described on her blog, the Jackson teacher received a pink slip from her school district. Cunningham expressed surprise, yet this is not the first time she has been impacted by seniority-based staffing decisions. In each of the past three years, she has found herself shuffled into a new teaching slots, purely on the basis of seniority.
As declining enrollments and rising labor costs force many districts into downsizing in Michigan schools, such disruptions are all too common. Young teachers in particular may feel helpless when forced to endure seniority-based staffing decisions.
The problem is that the practice completely disregards classroom performance and the best interest of students. School boards are forbidden by union contracts from considering a teacher's performance, work ethic, parental satisfaction or any other factor except for the individual's time on the job.
Proponents of seniority-based staffing might argue that boiling staffing decisions down to a simple numbers game is the only way to ensure equal treatment. Yet how fair is it really to treat teachers who provide more value to students, parents and the community no differently from ones who provide less value?
Our public school system does not exist to serve teachers. Taxpayers fund the system at extraordinarily generous levels to maximize the opportunities for the community's children, not the comfort and convenience of school employees. LIFO serves the latter at the expense of the former.
Michigan Capitol Confidential is the news source produced by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Michigan Capitol Confidential reports with a free-market news perspective.


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Got a chance to talk about my research into Distributed Denial of Service attacks in activism at the Media Lab's annual Member Week. We even had an instance of LOIC running on a closed network so people could see how the tool worked.
Highlights included making a Space Invader out of gaff tape on the floor of the Media Lab. I love this fucking place.


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North Korean Dams
There isn't much high res imagery in North Korea but in the thin slice that is visible there is a wacking great river. I've counted no less than three hulking dams on this river. They certainly seem to like their hydro electricity. There was also that big explosion in North Korea last year that was blamed on them blasting half a mountain away, to build another dam.


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The high cost of skepticism: here's what happened to two scientists who believed that tenure and the First Amendment would protect their rights to free inquiry
Carol Tavris
In the olden days, perhaps twenty or thirty years ago, academic debates were marked by sweet discourse and the harmonious if impassioned hum of debate. (Also by sarcasm.) The rule used to be that if you disagreed with someone's opinion or interpretations of data, you did the civilized thing–you called the person a knucklehead or an incompetent fool. Or you wrote a devastating reply explaining why the knucklehead was terminally wrong, misguided, or drunk.
That was then. Just as noise trumps silence and rage trumps courtesy, the cudgel of lawsuits to silence or cower the opposition trumps free debate. In universities across the country, lawsuits, even spurious and unsuccessful ones, have weakened the once-sacrosanct guarantees to scholars of free speech and association. Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) and Human Subjects Committees have proliferated, to protect human subjects from harm caused by unethical scientists- and to protect universities from any lawsuits that might ensue.
Of course some scientists have conducted dangerous and/or unethical research. I do not disapprove of efforts to assure the safety of subjects any more than I do of lawsuits to punish those who plagiarize, commit libel or fraud, or maliciously destroy reputations. But all institutionalized efforts to correct one problem will inevitably create other problems. Today, many of the IRBs originally established to protect subjects have instituted so many byzantine restrictions and rules that even good scientists cannot do their work. Some have become fiefdoms of power-free to make decisions based on caprice, personal vendettas, or self-interest, and free to strangle research that might prove too provocative, controversial, or politically sensitive.
The growing power of IRBs in academia, along with the increasing number of restrictions on free speech in the politically correct name of "speech codes" and "conduct codes" (described so well by Alan Kors and Harvey Silverglate in The Shadow University), is perilous for independent scientific inquiry. For years, the skeptical movement, which had its birth in the domain of philosophy and the study of logic, has tended to regard failures of skeptical and scientific thinking as failures of reasoning–something amiss in human cognition. The underlying assumption has been that if we can only get people to think straight, junk their cognitive biases, and understand the basic principles and methods of science, pseudoscientific reasoning will become as vestigial to the mind as the appendix is to the body.
Perhaps, but the skeptical movement needs also to focus its energies on the growing institutional barriers to free inquiry, and the efforts to silence those whose inquiries make waves. The story of what happened to Elizabeth Loftus and Mel Guyer when they set out to investigate the case of Jane Doe is itself a case study of the high cost of skepticism. (1) The two demonstrated exactly the kind of open-minded spirit of discovery that is at the heart of the skeptical movement. For their pains, they found themselves in an Orwellian nightmare.
The irony is that if Loftus and Guyer were journalists, they would have done precisely the same investigation unhampered and fully supported by their employer. But because they are university professors, they were subjected to a secret, shadowy investigation of their legal right to do what good reporters do every day. And their respective universities, far from supporting their intellectual inquiries and their tenured (indeed American) right to free speech, obstructed and harassed them. Some of these obstructionist efforts linger in the articles they wrote in this magazine ["Who Abused Jane Doe?" May/June and July/August 2002]. If a writer for, say, The New Yorker or
The Atlantic had conducted such an investigation, you would know the city and state of all of the individuals interviewed, their names (unless they requested anonymity), the data bases the investigators used to gather information-in short, you would know the details. But Loftus feels she is still not at liberty to provide these details in print, and that her university is still looking over her shoulder.
Who Abused Loftus and Guyer?
After reading David Corwin's account of Jane Doe in the journal Child Maltreatment in 1997, Loftus and Guyer decided to examine his alleged evidence of a recovered memory of sexual abuse. The stakes were high for their work as scholars, teachers, and expert witnesses, because the case was already being used in court as evidence that recovered memories of sexual abuse in childhood are reliable.
They began by looking into documents in the public record. They found a public court case of "Jane Doe" who fir the description in Corwin's article, but the court records differed from Corwin's account in significant ways. They eventually met Jane Doe's mother, and became convinced that she had been falsely accused many years before, leading to the loss of custody of her daughter. They decided that this was a story worth pursuing and publishing, ideally in a popular magazine.
In the spring of 1998, Guyer contacted the administrator of the University of Michigan's IRB to make sure the committee shared his view that he did not need their approval because he was not doing "research" but rather "intellectual criticism, commentary on a forensic issue, and an historical/journalistic endeavor." The administrator and the then-chair of the IRB, Sumer Pek, agreed; Guyer's investigation would be exempt from IRB oversight.
A month later Guyer received a letter, with no intervening warning that anything was amiss, telling him that his project was not exempt; in fact, that it was assigned a "disapproval" status; and that the IRB was recommending to the Office of the Vice President of Research that he, personally, be reprimanded.
The Catholic Church has given up limbo, but not, apparently, university IRBs. Appeals, protests, and exchanges ensued for nearly a year. In March 1999, Guyer received a letter from the new chair of the IRB, Stephen Gebarski, telling him that his work was indeed exempt from IRB consideration because it was not "human subjects research." The OVP Research office concluded that there was no basis for a recommendation of "reprimand." Guyer was given no explanation of the year-long delay, although Gebarski did apologize for any "misunderstandings" that might have occurred that year. He added that he was personally "[looking] forward to seeing your interesting historical journalistic work published in the appropriate forum."
Encouraged by the green light given to Guyer at Michigan, the two pursued their investigation. Then the University of Washington received an e-mail from Jane Doe, complaining that her privacy was being violated. Considering that David Corwin had published his account of her life and was traveling around the country showing videotapes of Jane at six and seventeen, and considering that no one was making her story public (and hence violating her "privacy") except Jane herself and Corwin, this complaint should have been recognized as a cry from a troubled and vulnerable young woman, and set aside. Instead, it was enough to set in motion a series of endlessly shifting charges against Elizabeth Loftus, a scientist of international stature who had brought luster and prestige to her university for more than twenty-five years. The "investigation" against her lasted more than twenty-one months, in spite of the University's own statute of limitations–thirty days for the selection of a committee and ninety days for its deliberations–for bringing all such investigations to a conclusion.
On September 30, 1999, having given Loftus fifteen minutes' advance notice by telephone, John Slattery of the University of Washington's "Office of Scientific Integrity" arrived in Loftus's office, along with the chair of the psychology department, and seized her files. She asked Slattery what the charges against her were. It took him five weeks to respond, and when he did he had transformed Jane Doe's "privacy" complaint into an investigation of "possible violations of human subjects research." Loftus later learned that lawyers in another state, who had retained Corwin as their defense expert, were trying to subpoena her personnel file in hopes of finding something there to discredit her as an expert witness for the plaintiffs. Because the University, in the face of her objection, was going forward in complying with this improper subpoena, she was forced to retain her own lawyer to stop them. (Because it was from out of state, it had no force of law or validity in Washington.)
In February 2000, Loftus and her lawyer dislodged some documents from the University's investigation, and found among them a "Confidential Memo" written by Stanley Berent, a neuropsychologist who was on the IRB at the University of Michigan –Guyer's IRB. This memo had played a crucial role in the decision to reprimand Guyer and deny him the right to continue his work, yet Guyer was never even told it existed. Berent's memo, Guyer says, "was the harshest document, filled with false innuendo, malicious insinuations, and outright falsities. Keeping it secret from me denied me the opportunity to correct its mischaracterizations." To this day Guyer has been unable to get his own university to provide him with a copy of this memo, even after repeated requests under the Freedom of Information Act. Yet a University of Michigan lawyer was happy to send it directly to the investigating committee at the University of Washington, to be used against Loftus. This was the modus operandi at both universities: keep the charg es secret, keep changing the charges, keep the meetings secret, keep the accused in the dark.
In the spring of 2001, the three-member investigating committee, consisting of two clinicians and one sociologist, concluded that Loftus was not guilty of the charge of "scholarly misconduct." But the two clinicians recommended to the dean, David Hodge, that she nonetheless be reprimanded and subjected to a program of remedial education on professional ethics. They instructed Loftus not to publish data obtained by methods they regarded as inconsistent with the "ethical principals" [sic] of psychologists–that is, the methods of a journalistic investigation.
On July 3, 2001, one year and nine months after the University of Washington seized her files, and one month after Loftus won the prestigious William James award from the American Psychological Society for her decades of scientific research [see SKEPTICAL INQUIRER, November/December 20011, Dean Hodge wrote Loftus a letter of exoneration. Her work, he said, "does not constitute research involving human subjects." She did not commit ethical violations or deviate from accepted research practices. She was not guilty of any misconduct. She would not have to undergo remedial education on how to conduct research.
But, oh, one more thing: She was not to contact Jane Doe's mother again or interview anyone else involved in the case without advance approval. Such meetings, he said, would constitute "human subjects research requiring Human Subjects Committee approval."
The Enemy Within
And there it stands: Loftus and Guyer won; their investigation was published in these pages; but at tremendous cosr. Lofrus still feels bitter at the dean's restrictions, which she and Guyer regard as blatant violations of her First Amendment rights. Guyer is still outraged by Stanley Berent's peculiar and devious memo, not knowing to whom else it was improperly sent or who might next use its innuendos and lies against him.
Of course, their investigation of Corwin's claims was bound to enflame passions: those of Jane Doe herself, an unhappy young woman whose life has been filled with conflict and loss; those of David Corwin, who has publicly promoted his case study as a personal vindication and a prototype of how recovered memories should be studied; and those of the many clinicians who still cling to the discredited concept of repressed memories. Loftus and Guyer knew they had enemies. They hadn't known that some of them were at their own universities, and that the shields of tenure and the First Amendment would not be sufficient protection.
"I don't see how you can write anything of value," the great anthropologist Marvin Harris told me years ago, "if you don't offend someone." Skeptical inquiry is endangered when those who are offended or threatened by knowledge are able to silence those who have something valuable to say. The lawsuit path is crowded because those who take it face no negative consequences: The worst that can happen to them is nothing at all–their target doesn't budge. But often the targets of these threats, weary of being harassed, unable to pay the costs of self-defense, frightened at the prospect of losing their reputations, and unsupported by their publisher or university, do back down. The offending passage is deleted, funny but sarcastic remarks toned down, safer topics chosen, documented evidence of the target's malfeasance removed.
That is why we must be all the more grateful for the courage, persistence, and integrity of those skeptical inquirers who are still willing to "offend" in the pursuit of truth and justice, heroes like Elizabeth Loftus and Mel Guyer.
Institutional Review Boards misuse their power not only when they impose excessive and unnecessary restrictions on free speech in the name of protecting subjects; but also when financial interests influence their approval of research that is potentially harmful to subjects. Consider this irony: Stanley Berent's confidential memo excoriated Mel Guyer for his alleged scientific and ethical lapses–among them, failing to get Jane Doe's consent to call her mother, who was eager to tell them her side of the story; failing to enlist the "ongoing cooperation" of Corwin(!), as if Corwin would have granted it; and failing to consider whether this "research" might have "a negative effect upon the dignity and welfare of the participant." Yet at the very same time, Berent got permission from his own IRB (of which he was a member) to conduct research with, in my view, far graver implications for the dignity and welfare of his subjects.
The Michigan IRB had granted approval for Berent and his associate James Albers to retrieve medical records of railroad workers who had been exposed to dangerous solvents. The workers were suing their employer, CSX Transportation Inc., and Dow Chemical, claiming that exposure had caused brain damage and other medical problems. Berent and Albers, hired by CSX and Dow, examined the medical records–without the workers' knowledge or consent–and concluded that there was no connection between the workers' medical problems and their exposure to solvents.
An investigation conducted by the University of Michigan found no conflict of interest in Berent and Albers' behavior and no need to obtain the workers' informed consent, because Berent and Albers' conclusions about the workers were based on "existing non-research data." (Just the kind of data Loftus and Guyer used.) However, the Office of Human Research Protections at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is continuing its investigation of Berent and Albers' potential conflict of interest. Berent has taken early retirement.
(1.) In the interests of full disclosure, I am a friend of both Loftus and Guyer, and I write this essay as a concerned observer, not as a disinterested reporter. Their experiences described here are accurate, but I did not interview administrators or investigators to get "their side."
Carol Tavris, Ph.D., is a social psychologist, writer, and lecturer. She is author of a recent collection of book reviews and essays, Psychobabble and Biobunk, and coauthor of three introductory psychology textbooks.
COPYRIGHT 2002 Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal
COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group


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Themes List
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X Bliss
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Pandas, Show Us The DIY Projects That You're Most Proud Of!
You've probably seen those Do It Yourself projects that turned out horribly wrong. Sure they are fun to laugh at, but what about those crafty pandas that are actually good at making stuff? Great DIY projects should be appreciated too, so if you made a cool thing with your own two hands go ahead and share it with us! The best ones will be featured later in a separate post that will be shared on our Facebook pages, so give yourself the chance to show the Internet how crafty you are!
This post may include affiliate links.
Penny Floor. About $130 In Pennies
Our Cats Climbing Wall. Made It To Get His Food Up And Away From The Dog.
Aw, I love its steampunk style! This should be higher up :D
I Made A Hobbit Garden Gate From An Old Tabletop.
I Made An Iron Throne Phone Charger
I Spilled Coffee On My Sneakers, So I Painted Them.
I think these painted shoes look awesome, but I'm too shy to wear something so attention grabbing.
A Knit Blanket I Designed Myself. Took About 4 Months And 3500 Yd Of Yarn
My Rock Collection In A Honeycomb Universe Made From Popsicle Sticks, Paint, And Print-Outs.
A Magic Mirror Powered By A Raspberry Pi. Best Christmas Present I've Ever Put Together
Woah just think about it in 20 years that's how big phones could be
Check Out What My Boyfriend Made Me!
Now that's a really simple and easy thing anyone can make that is also really useful.
Got Tired Of Making New Jack-O-Lanterns Each Year That Just Rot And Get Thrown Away. Made One Out Of Wood This Year
Air Plant Wall Hanging. We Had A Bare Wall In Our Sun Room And Wanted Something That Would Take Advantage Of The Light
My Sister Works For The Pokémon Company So I Just Had To Make This For Her.
I Crocheted A Picnic Set For My Niece And Nephew. Needless To Say, They Love It!
Second Hand Bound, Hard Covered, Leather Book I Made
A Felted Plushie I Did For A Person At Work :)
I Made This On A Snow Day
Made A Bristle Arch Out Of Bottle Brushes For My Cat To Groom Herself
Yes, can we get a shipment of 100,000,000 units of these to PetCo?
I Had To Add This One. Not Sure It Counts As A Diy Though. Pyrography Art
We Made A Cat Climber That Is Pretty And Functional (The Plant Is Non Toxic To Cats).
It's Not The Best... But I Made It Completely By Myself And I'm Really Proud Of It! My Favorite Place At Home
I've always wanted a nice place to chill on the balcony but I couldn't find the right furniture for it. I wanted it to be wide and long enough to be comfortable, high enough to enjoy the view, and with the possibility to store some things inside. After weeks of looking, I decided that it would be the best just to make it myself. On the second day I broke my electrical screwdriver so the process became much more difficult since I had to do everything with my own hands, but after three weeks or so I had it! Never again, though :D
I Enjoy Making Tiny Fimo Animals
Thanks for the nice comments :) I'll have to try dong a squirrel and maybe one day I'll pop them on Etsy! But would be happy to do commissions :)
Picture Frame I Made Out Of Corrugated Cardboard Then Spray Painted Gold
I Made A Shield From Cement Board And Tin Tiles, And A Base Form Plywood, Slate Tiles And Leftover Stained Glass For My New Wood Stove (Which We Call Lars, As It's A Black Metal Norwegian Stove). I Had No Experience In Tiling, Using And Painting Tin Tiles, Etc., But I'm Pretty Happy With The Result...
Antique Teacup Fairy Gardens. My Daughter And I Made These By Felting Wool!
My Boyfriend Built This Awesome Herb Planter For Our Garden
Wow I really love it! I have never seen anything like this before. Well done! Very clever and looks amazing too. I wish I had a garden, I would love to have something like this. :)
Zoo Blanket For My Nephews - Double-Faced Knitting Using 4,800 M Of Fingering Yarn, Finished Size: 106 Cm X 130 Cm
A Panda I Made Fro. Beads And Buttons
Gandalf Costume I Made For My Husband
I Crochet... My Last Four Projects
My First Attempt At Making Cement Planters
Also The Ludo Game I Made, Again A Present To My Sister (I Could Honestly Go On For Ages)
Coffee Table My Husband Made Out Of Old Palettes
This Family Tree I Made On Our Wall
I Couldn't Decide Between These Two
I Made This As A Birthday Present For My Sister In Law, Her Patronus Is A Fox
No I used a needle and thread and it took two weeks to do this one
Fence For The Garden To Make The Drop Safer For My Kids. Made From Recycled Pallets
My Attempt At A "Muppet" Style Puppet For The Kids I Work With
Teacup Waterfall. Not Very Impressive Or Hard But It Was My First Successful Diy Project
Boba Fett Armor
One That I Am Currently Trying To Finish
Portable Whiskey Bar . Made From An Old Trumpet, Some Old Flooring And A 1950s Optic.
This is all kinds of Steam Punky, boozy, awesome goodness!!!
Made A Spirit Bomb Lamp For My Boyfriend
Custom Made Headboard, Including Buttons I Made
Fairy Garden
Omg! I absolutely love it!!! This brings me back childhood memories when we used to build houses for elves in woods. I am touched by this work. Beautiful!
Me And My Father Made This Suitcase-Bed For His Fluffy Princess... She Approved It 😻
No "?" supposed to be there in the end.. she was honestly very appreciative :)
I Made Myself A Pair Of 10ft Wings And Some Armor Out Of Craft Foam And Thermoplastics.
Faux Brick Accent Wall - Joint Compound And About 20hrs Of My Life
I Made A Carpet From Old Clothes
A Unicorn That I Made Out Of Thousands Of Beads
No just beading thread and beading needles :)
Found Old Boring Orange Coat In Attic And Made It Alive
You need to add a close up so we can see the finer details 😊
I Turn An Old Book Into The Spellbook From Hokas Pokas For My Mom
I Had A Lot Of Seashells From My Trip To New Brunswick. I Made Those Christmas Gifts With Them, For My Whole Family Three Years Ago. Designed And Crafted All By Myself. Pretty Proud
Hand Embroidered And Needle Felted Donkey On 7" Hoop. My First Ever Sale On My New Etsy Store!
I love this! Adorable! Great job, and congrats on your first sale!


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Chris Bonner and his wife Marelle live on a farm in the beautiful Scenic Rim of South East Queensland where Chris uses his camera to showcase the scenery and wildlife of the area. Besides wider Australian travels, he has also produced a portfolio of pictures from across the world including the wildlife of Africa to e magic of the Amazon to the history and beauty of Europe. While Chris' primary motivation is to share his experiences, photos are available for sale in digital or print format.
All profits from photo sales go to a Cambodian charity www.newhopecambodia.com. Non-profit organisations may apply to receive free photos for Promotion or Fundraising.


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By Joseph O'Leary
BOSTON, July 30 (Reuters) - Anyone who has felt sluggish at work after a sleepless night or who has struggled with jet lag after a long flight can take comfort in knowing he or she is not alone.
A study on biological sleep clocks by researchers at Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital, published in the July 26 edition of The Journal of Vision, found that the longer someone is awake while they are sleep-deprived, the slower their work production becomes.
The study had participants under conditions of sleep deprivation tested on activities such as finding information quickly and accurately on computer monitors, to determine how the lack of sleep affected their response time.
As participants were awake longer and their level of deprivation grew, their ability to find the information slowed, the researchers said.
Declining ability was also noticeable during biological night time, from midnight to 6 a.m, although study participants had no knowledge of time of day.
"The longer someone is awake, the more the ability to perform a task, in this case a visual search, is hindered, and this impact of being awake is even stronger at night," said Jeanne Duffy, an associate neuroscientist at Brigham and Women's and senior author on the study.
Researchers collected and analyzed data from 12 participants whose sleep was reduced over a month-long period.
For three weeks, participants were placed on 28-hour days with six hours of sleep, which gave them an average of 5.6 hours of sleep per night and mirrored the effects of chronic jet lag.
Another important finding, Duffy said, was that getting low amounts of sleep regularly creates a progressively negative change in performance over time.
The study's researched showed that during the first week of sleep deprivation, test speed only slowed about a second; by the third week of deprivation, it slowed by twice that.
The study did not find that accuracy declined with less sleep, but Duffy said prior studies had found time of day influences it; the later it gets, the more mistakes.
Duffy said that most Americans don't get enough sleep regularly. "Recognizing the important role that sufficient sleep quality and quantity play in health, safety, and performance could not only improve worker production, but also worker health and safety," she added. (Reporting By Joseph O'Leary; editing by Ros Krasny)


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You arrive on a ancient sacrificial pillar in the sky where you pick up a magical sword and make a vow to become the only one thus unleashing a horde of enemies bent on overthrowing your place
Defeat your enemies by combat or take the easy way out and push them to their deaths down below. Gain powers and strength with a wide variety of abilities and upgrades. Fight over 70 waves and 7 bosses to ultimately become the only one left standing!
Game by @ErnestSzoka
Music by Jimecide
(James Cox and Neil Aguilan)
Physics based combat with parry and blocking game mechanics
Push your opponents off the pillar for easy kills or
strike them where they stand to get their loot
Insanely cool special abilites
Push and Freeze
Whirlwind and Dart
Upgrade your character over time with better stats and abilities
70 levels of soldiers, slimes, archers, wizards, loot gnomes, berserkers and mini bosses
Push your opponents off the pillar for easy kills and more points or strike them where they stand to get their loot
Ladder based levelling with checkpoints every 10 levels, score resets each time you die
Game controller support (currently Android only)
Leaderboards (currently iOS only)
Only One Soundtrack by JimeCide
Privacy Policy


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On St. Patrick's Day, Ty and Dan play a trivia game and pay homage to some of the most notable Pats and Patricks who have become part of college football lore.
October 1, 2023
The LSU-Ole Miss Shootout, Georgia's Tester at Auburn, Notre Dame's heroics at Duke & College Football Week 5 Reaction
Ty and Dan talk through an exciting Week 5 of college football, that featured a little something for every type of fan, whether you're into high-scoring shootouts, defensive slugfests or underdog stories. In this college football podcast episode, we recap Ole Miss's big home win over LSU, Georgia's sudden vulnerability as a rushing defense, Sam Hartman's clutch scramble to keep the Irish alive at Duke, USC's defensive questions, and more. Plus, Oregon State's win over Utah on Friday night, Penn State's sluggish offense, Texas and Oklahoma's collision course in Week 6, Baylor's miraculous comeback, Texas A&M's domination and Clemson's taking-care-of-business showing at Syracuse. Finally, Verballer Reverbs.
September 27, 2023
Ranked Teams on the Road for Su Casa Saturday + College Football Week 5 Picks
Ty and Dan take a look at college football's Week 5, featuring an overabundance of ranked teams playing on the road in key matchups. What does Notre Dame-Duke look like a week after the Irish suffered a heartbreaking loss to Ohio State? Can the Jayhawks pull a road upset against the Longhorns? Will Ole Miss deliver in a big game? Do the Buffaloes have a chance in USC-Colorado? Plus, Ty's Alt Rock Parlay, your Verballer Weather Forecast and much more to get your ready for the weekend ahead.
September 25, 2023
Was Lou Holtz right about Ohio State? + Verballer Top 12 Reactions [BURNING QUESTIONS PREVIEW]
Ty and Dan react to the latest Verballer Top 12 Poll, recap USC's closer-than-expected win over Arizona State, and dive into the Verballerhood's burning questions after Week 4. Notably, was Lou Holtz right about Ohio State losing to more physical teams? Plus, what are the odds that nobody finished unbeaten, which teams have definitively answered the critics, and who is donezo after four weeks?


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- This event has passed.
Animal Flow Level 1 ONLINE WORKSHOP (India Time Zone)
May 21, 2022 - May 22, 2022
Join us for the Animal Flow® Level 1 Workshop, taught online via video remote (through Zoom). The workshop will be taught live by Master Instructor Devrath Vijay.
Participation is limited to 25 individuals, so that we can still ensure students will have an appropriate amount of interaction with each other and with Dev. It is 6.5 hours each day, beginning at 10am GMT+5:30 (India time). You must be present for the full time on both days – if this workshop time is not convenient for your time zone, please register for a different workshop.
TO REGISTER contact Kezban Klein on WhatsApp +91-98453-94872.
We will be offering this in different time zones on different days. (See list of other online workshops HERE.)
This course will be taught utilizing the Zoom video conference platform. This is not a webinar livestream, but rather an interactive workshop where participants will be able to see and interact with the Instructor, and the Instructor will in turn be able to view all the participants. A maximum of 25 students will be admitted, to ensure the Instructor is able to see everybody clearly and to facilitate a smooth experience for everyone.
You will need to set up your laptop/webcam in an area where you have space to practice the Animal Flow movements. A living room area is sufficient, but you may want to move your furniture aside, if possible, for the duration of the workshop.
You will need to have access to WiFi that is strong enough to stream video for the full 6.5 hours each day. We will not be able to help you if your WiFi connection is poor. If you know you do not have access to a good WiFi signal, we do not recommend attempting to complete this course online.
We will utilize the Zoom platform for the workshop. You will be able to download the Zoom app to your computer for free. We recommend stream the video from your laptop to a larger screen – such as a large tv in your living room – if you have that option. That will allow you to see and hear the Instructor and the other students clearly, while also being able to practice the moves in your space. It is possible to participate using only a laptop, but you will need to be prepared to move back and forth quite a bit as you view what is being demonstrated on the screen, and then work on the move in your space. You should NOT plan on doing the entire workshop on a Smartphone – you will not be able to see the Instructor and other students well enough on a tiny screen.
We will provide time for short breaks during the workshop, as well as a 30 minute lunch break each day.
You must be present for the entire Workshop. You will receive the PDF of the Student Manual on the day of the Workshop (in the morning) and access to all Level 1 tutorials via email immediately after the registration (payment), but you will NOT have ongoing access to the Workshop itself after it is completed.
The L1 online course will cover the identical curriculum as the live workshop. The Instructor will provide the same lecture materials, and will teach the exact same movements. You will also have the opportunity to engage with the other participants in small group work, just as you would in the live workshop.
L1 is an intensive two-day workshop (13 hours total) where you'll learn all 30 Level 1 moves, including regressions, progressions, and variations for all skill levels. You'll explore how and when to use each movement individually, as well as how to link them together into flows of your own design.
The workshop is open to fitness professionals and non-professionals, as we welcome everyone interested in becoming a better mover. Fitness professionals are eligible to become Certified AF Instructors, who are allowed to teach AF in personal training, group fitness classes, or other fitness programs. Becoming certified requires completing the test process after the workshop. Non-professionals all welcome to take the course for their own benefit, but are not authorized to teach it without first attaining an appropriate fitness credential. You can find the details on the certification process and benefits HERE.
You'll cover all 6 components of Animal Flow, including the Traveling Forms (the "ABCs" of animal movements); Switches and Transitions; Wrist Mobility; Activations; Form Specific Stretches, and, of course, Flows.
The workshop starts with base positions, which systematically build in difficulty and complexity over the two days. Movements are taught within the context of scientifically-based concepts relevant to anyone working in health and fitness industries. By the end of the second day, the entire class will be performing a sequence known as the Beast flow which integrates a large majority of the movements from the workshop. This becomes a structure from which they may begin their own creative practice.
Find more details about the Level 1 Workshop here, including the specific movements covered in the workshop, the course objectives, and the test-out process.
Your registration includes:
- Complimentary access the full library of instructional videos for all Level 1 movements
- PDF of the new Student Manual
- Access to the private AF Instructors Facebook group.
- Access to Mike Fitch's tutorial series reviewing the Call Out language used in AF
- Certificate of Completion, including proof of participation for Continuing Education credits.
- Discounted Instructor Rate for subscribing to the Animal Flow On Demand channel
The workshop is open to persons of all skill levels. You should be physically fit enough to support your own bodyweight in quadrupedal position and be medically cleared to participate in physical activities. Attendees must be at least 18 years old.
Upon registration, you will receive access to a welcome video, access to the Level 1 tutorials, and other pre-workshop information.
The Level 1 course is approved to provide continuing education credits from: ACE 1.1 CEUs; National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) 1.1 CEUs; Athletics and Fitness Association of America (AFAA) 11 CEUs; UK Registered Exercice Professioanla (REPS) from PD:Approval 10 CPD; New Zealand Registered Exercise Professionals (REPs) 13.75 5 CPDs; UAE REPS; Canfitpro – 4 canfitpro CECs (4 PTS; 4 FIS); Fitness Australia – 9 CECs PENDING; Physical Activity Australia 3 PDPs.
This workshop will be taught by Master Instructor Devrath Vijay.
We are conducting this online version of the Level 1 workshop at a special price for India residents. Contact Kez Klein to register
Contact Kezban Klein on WhatsApp +91-98453-94872 to register and pay via transfer, or other local payment options.
Due to the worldwide pandemic, if we postpone the event or if you have to cancel due to covid-19 illness, you will have the option to transfer into another future online event. Thank you for understanding as we all try to move forward under these difficult circumstances.


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The new education standards called Common Core won't make U.S. kids any smarter. The overall Common Core strategy is to raise middle-scoring students a point or two but do nothing to motivate or help the smarter kids or the dumber kids. CC's goal is to achieve a result like Lake Wobegon, the fictional Minnesota town where "all kids are above average."
Professor Sandra Stotsky, a member of the CC validation committee, refused to approve the standards finally published and explained: "Common Core has carefully disguised its road to equally low outcomes for all demographic groups, and many state boards of education may quickly follow up their unexamined adoption of Common Core's K-12 standards … by lowering their high school graduation requirements in the name of alignment…."
CC advocates continue to say that CC standards are not a curriculum but are merely standards. But it's clear that the curriculum must be aligned with the CC tests, so teachers will be compelled to teach to the test.
A report by the UCLA-based National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards and Student Testing concluded that "educators will align curriculum and teaching to what is tested, and what is not assessed largely will be ignored." Bill Gates, the largest individual financial contributor to Common Core, told the National Conference of State Legislators, "We'll know we've succeeded when the curriculum and the tests are aligned to these standards."
The CC English standards replace about half of the readings in literature classics with "informational" materials, which CC advocates say are supposed to promote analytical thinking by students. In a report released by the Pioneer Institute, Professor Stotsky gave an example of her grandson's experience.
The students were assigned to read selections on the fate of the Taino Indians and from a diary supposedly written by Christopher Columbus's cabin boy, and then were told to write to a state official opining on whether Columbus should be honored by a state holiday. Every student's letter said Columbus should not be so honored. That's how "informational" reading morphs into liberal propaganda.
Common Core gives leftist educators a backdoor for bringing leftwing activism into the classroom. NPR reported that one veteran teacher, Melinda Bundy, replaced her popular unit about King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table with one about President John F. Kennedy and the 1960s because, she said, she "adored JFK."
Comic books and graphic novels were formerly considered useful primarily for underachieving students and poor readers, as a means to get them interested in books. But now Common Core is bringing picture books into the mainstream of education.
At a National Teachers of English conference, the teachers of a senior Advanced Placement honors course presented an argument against having students read Beowulf and substituting a comic book based on Beowulf. No doubt parents will be told that CC includes classic literature such as Beowulf.
The outgoing president of the Missouri branch of the NEA said CC will "prepare our kids for a global community, a global society. These are going to exactly take us there."
The new science standards, called "Next Generation Science Standards," were examined by nine scientists and mathematicians for content, rigor and clarity, after which the Fordham Institute gave them a grade of "C." They criticized the "ceiling on the content and skills that will be measured at each grade," the excluding of content that more advanced students can learn, the failure "to include essential math content that is critical to science learning" in physics and chemistry, and the "confusing" wording of the standards.
The Fordham Institute studied the science standards and concluded that they are inferior to existing standards in 12 states, superior in only 16 states, and the standards of 22 states are too close to call. It would be better if states used their own revised and improved version of standards already successfully piloted in 12 states.
Proponents of evolution and manmade climate change are ecstatic about the new science standards. Education Week reports: "The standards make clear that evolution is fundamental to understanding the life sciences.
It is misleading to claim that CC standards will make students "college-ready." They will not be ready to major in STEM subjects at a four-year university.
Always a friend of parents' rights, Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) is leading an effort to persuade Senate appropriators to restore state-level decision-making about academic content in public schools in order to counter the way federal incentives have forced states to adopt the Common Core standards. He wants the Senate "to restore state decision-making and accountability with respect to state academic content standards" because "parents ought to have a straight line of accountability to those who are making such decisions."


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Welcome to The OU Club of Houston
We are a non-profit organization dedicated to serving Houston-area friends and alumni of the University of Oklahoma who wish to support the Oklahoma Sooners.
We have something for everyone, whether you are a graduate, current student, parent, friend or supporter. Since 1963 the OU Club of Houston has been your link to stay connected with the OU community.
Upcoming events
No pictures to show
OU/Texas Weekend!!!


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Nice roundup. I enjoyed the rent negotiating one.
I think many people sometimes forget that just about everything is negotiable if you can get out of your comfort zone to ask for it!!!
Welcome to Wise Bread's Best Money Tips Roundup! Today we found some awesome articles on negotiating rent payments, free stuff for your birthday, and making your commute suck less.
How to Negotiate Your Rent Payment — To negotiate your rent payment, pay your rent early and propose a longer lease term. [Money Smart Life]
Free Stuff On Your Birthday — Did you know you can get a free Grand Slam at Denny's on your birthday? [Generation X Finance]
7 Ideas to Make Your Commute Suck Less — If you want to make your commute suck less, carpool or eat your breakfast in the car. [NarrowBridge Finance]
How to have a great wedding on a small budget — Have a great wedding without breaking the bank by opting for simple invitations and choosing a non-traditional venue. [Living On The Cheap]
Helping Others Without Spending Money — Volunteering or sharing your expertise with others can enable you to help others without spending money. [TheDollarStretcher.com]
30 Signs You Grew Up In A Frugal Family — Chances are you grew up in a frugal family if you rarely went out to eat or got takeout. [Boomer & Echo]
The Essential Rules for 9-to-5 Attire — When dressing for work, always aim for a polished, professional look. [PopSugar Smart Living]
5 Personal Finance Tenets That Aren't as Smart as They Used to Be — Instead of taking advantage of tax deductions through a 401k account, only max out your 401k to the limits that your employer will match your contributions. [Len Penzo dot Com]
Health Reimbursement Account Benefits - What You Need to Know — Health Reimbursement Accounts are not tax deductible for employees. [Cash Money Life]
9 Whole Foods to Feed Your Baby When She's Ready for Solids — Consider feeding your baby brown rice and pears when she is ready for solid food. [Parenting Squad]
Disclaimer: The links and mentions on this site may be affiliate links. But they do not affect the actual opinions and recommendations of the authors.
Wise Bread is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
Nice roundup. I enjoyed the rent negotiating one.
I think many people sometimes forget that just about everything is negotiable if you can get out of your comfort zone to ask for it!!!
Nice tips. I've negotiated for rent 3 times, and got what I wanted twice so it's definitely always worth a try!