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Michael roared towards the Florida panhandle as a Category 4 hurricane this morning, hours before it was projected to make landfall and with long-range forecasts predicting its remnants will eventually pass south of Nova Scotia.
The unexpected brute has grown swiftly into what could be one of the panhandle's worst hurricanes in memory, with destructive wind, up to 30 centimetres of rain and a storm surge of up to four metres.
At 5 a.m., observation planes were reporting top sustained winds up to almost 225 kilometres per hour with higher gusts, with tropical-storm force winds extending 295 kilometres from the centre already battering the coast.
Florida officials say roughly 375,000 people up and down the Gulf Coast had been urged or ordered to evacuate, including all non-essential personnel at Tyndall Air Force Base east of Panama City.
According to Environment Canada, the storm is expected to weaken into a tropical storm after making landfall in Florida and is forecast to track south of Nova Scotia on Friday.
The forecaster's long-range models are calling for the possibility of heavy rainfall in Nova Scotia, depending on how close the remnants of the storm come to the province.
The Canadian Press


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I finished two more 9-patches as leaders-enders while I was sewing my last bee block today, and I have the fabric picked out for the last two.
I'm linking up at Sew & Tell Friday again; go see what everyone's been making this week!
Wow! You've been really productive this week...very inspiring. Thanks for sharing. Happy Sewing! :o)
I like every single one of your blocks! And that backing--swoon!
You got a lot done this week. I really like the Drunk Love blocks! You're right about the orange. The colors you picked are wonderful!
Don't you love it when you can be so productive in one week?! Love all that you have done! Once your done with your 9 patch quilt, you won't even notice the stripes any more. Enjoy your weekend!
Love the green and navy Drunk Love block!
Call me crazy, but the nine patch with the stripe is my favorite:)
Thanks for sharing!
Wow! The back for your circle quilt is really nice. I like the pieced section in it! I like pieced backs when they are simple like that.
Your Drunk Love blocks are really nice. My favorite is the one at the top. I love the little accent pieces in the sashings.
And that disappearing nine-patch is really pretty! I'm inspired to get back to one I started and then got stumped on.
Also, I have really enjoyed watching your nine-patch blocks appear. I'm definitely going to have to do a scrappy nine-patch!
Thanks so much for sharing. I always enjoy your blog so much!
xo -E
Hi - hi. Natalie/beebeautifulquilt here. email me about the konacrush at firstname.lastname@example.com if your own quilt shop doesn't carry it...
Beautiful blocks, and I really love the green and white Drunken Love block! Those colors just really speak to me!
You are making some great things.
I love pieced backs. They're so "outside-the-box"! Your drunk love blocks are really cute. I've never seen those before. The blue/green is my favorite.

subset: commoncrawl


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This new video from Guttridge Ltd shows the detailed effort applied at every stage of a recent, highly successful project to provide tea handling and storage equipment for a global leader in the market.
The footage delivers insight into the rigorous work processes that Guttridge apply, from receipt of order to finished equipment testing. These steps ensure the achievement of the standards required for companies targeting the highest levels of safe, hygienic, and efficient bulk material handling.
Guttridge Ltd, a leading UK manufacturer of bulk materials handling equipment, routinely tackles diverse applications across a number of industries, from animal feeds, biomass, and cereals, to food, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals. Completing all project design and development within the Guttridge facility ensures control over every aspect of the project and enables the company to precisely tailor equipment to meet customer needs.
The new video shows engineering design, production planning, production programming, laser cutting, and construction. It also includes shots of the in-house design engineers working with state-of-the-art CAD systems to create the 3D model from which production is planned, as well as footage of the manufacturing process itself.
The customer needed equipment to manage their intake system, handling two types of decaffeinated tea. Guttridge specified a bucket elevator, which is an efficient transport system for handling both free-flowing materials and semi-free flowing materials, to meet throughput requirements in an energy efficient manner. The finished system allows incoming bulk bags containing tea to be loaded onto the standard Guttridge bulk bag discharger via the integrated hoist. The bag is then opened and discharged into the bucket elevator which transports the tea into the silos. Finally, tea is drawn out of the silos by suction lances and fed to the bagging machines, completing the handling process.
For more news, equipmenr reviews, and articles, visit our Material Handling Equipment Zone


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Rhode Island High School Sports
Welcome, Rhode Island high school sports fans, to your guide for historical information on standings, team won/loss records, postseason results, All State & All Division Teams, and champions' lists!
Click on the sport of your choice (organized top to bottom by fall, winter, and spring seasons) to view the sport's RIIL history through past postseason results, standings, and lists of state champions!
Directories of State Championships Organized by School & Year (incl. New England, National, and Pre-RIIL Championships)
More Information on RI High Schools
Click here for historical information on Slow-Pitch Softball
feel free to email questions, corrections, and comments
NOTE: This web site is not associated with the Rhode Island Interscholastic League or any school; If you have any questions outside the content of this site, please direct them to the appropriate contact on the RIIL web site
Total number of visitors since March 16, 2002:


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This demo shows the standard bar series type that displays rectangular bars side by side. The side by side bar series help you compare values across different categories. Follow the steps below to create and configure the bar chart:
In this demo, series is bound to data directly. See the Bind Series to Data article for information. The "state" field name is assigned to the argumentField property of the commonSeriesSettings object since the bar chart contains series with the same argument field.
To configure settings for all series in the chart, use the commonSeriesSettings object.
You can configure the following series settings:
Use the verticalAlignment and horizontalAlignment properties of the legend object to specify the legend position in the chart.
You can also handle a series point selection in the pointClick event.
To allow a user to export your bar chart into the PNG, JPEG, and SVG file or print the chart, set the export.enabled property to true. In this demo, the exporting is enabled and you can click the "Exporting/Printing" button in the side by side bar chart. This button invokes a drop-down menu with export and print commands.


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Home made yogurt
My mom made fresh yogurt for many years, I thought I'd post how it's done (I make yogurt for my Std. Poodle puppy)
You can use any live culture yogurt for your starter--if it's got fruit and sugar, it doesn't make any difference, the fruit and sugar are going to get dilutedd anyhow. I use Mountain High Fat Free and I like to use non fat dried milk.
To make a quart of yogurt, bring to a light boil (rolling boil is not necessary) 1 quart of tap water--boiling kills any yeasts, bad bacteria, and evaporates chlorine out of the water. When it's cool enough to touch, pour all but a cup into a clean quart jar (I use cleaned spagetti jars--some are even canning jars.)
Add about 1 1/2 cup dried milk and stir or shake it til it's dissolved. You can use more milk powder if you like. Add a cup of live culture yogurt and stir or shake to get it evenly distributed.
Now the tough part. In the pan you used to boil the water, put the jar (lid loosely closed) and fill the pan with WARM water--no hotter than 120F. Let the jar sit in the warm water--you need to baby sit the water and keep it between about 100 and 120 degrees (110 is optimal) So changing the water occasionally with warm water is necessary. The yogurt culture usually makes the milk solidify in about 3 hours, but it can take up to about 6 hours--this is a good activity for an evening or Saturday afternoon.
The yogurt isn't as silky smooth as the store brand, but it tastes exactly the same--it's nonfat, and you can taste the difference from the powdered milk--all the milky sweetness is gone. It costs about 1/3 the price of the storebought stuff & if you can't find plain yogurt, use any flavored live culture for starter.
Once it's set up like pudding, be sure to keep it refrigerated and tightly covered
With a little sugar, honey, or artificial sweetener and some vanilla or fruit, you have yogurt for yourself.
You can use the last cup of this stuff to start your next batch. My mom would get fresh store bought starter yogurt about every two months.
My 25# puppy gets a large tablespoon full every morning (but separate from her food.)
God topic! I make fresh yogourt about once a week with my food dehydrator ( I love you Ronco!) and start with a powdered culture (yogourmet, available at your local grocery store), which has no fruit or sugar. It tastes waaay better than any yogurt you buy in a store, and with the food dehydrator, the temperature is automatically set at optimal.
Specializing in Organic cakes for dogs
I am opening an organic cake bakery for dogs in Texas specializing only in cakes and was wondering if I could get anyones feedback.
I'm not really sure what is better for the dogs at this point. There is so many organic ingredients, but not sure if organic cream cheese lowfat is good for dogs. Also does anyone know of a good recipe for organic yogurt frosting, some what of a thick consistency one.
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On 31 May 2006, the OECD held a workshop on increasing the access to public sector information (PSI, e.g., geographical and meteorological data, libraries, archives, museums). The public sector is a large producer of content with major potential for digitisation and new commercial and non-commercial applications and value-added services. But wider use of public sector information may require changes in policy approaches and reorganisation of public information. This workshop explored economic and distributional aspects of different PSI access, cost, pricing and distribution models. It took stock of OECD work to explore possible next steps on the basis of: i) available economic analysis and metrics of public sector information, ii) industry examples, and iii) different government approaches.
The Workshop built on the completed OECD study.
The agenda and presentations are available below:
• Welcome and introduction by the Chair: Jean-Jacques Sahel (UK)
• Secretariat presentation of the main work items from the OECD PSI study: Graham Vickery, OECD Secretariat
Commercial re-use of PSI - economic analysis and metrics of public sector information
Questions addressed include: What are the rationale, advantages, disadvantages and effects of different access, cost, pricing, charging and distribution models.
• Paul Uhlir, Director, Office of International S&T Information Programs, The National Academies (United States)
• Robbin Te Velde, Senior researcher, Dialogic Innovation & Interaction (Netherlands)
• Philippe Pierre, PwC Advisory Services (Luxembourg)
• Norbert Paquel, Groupement Français de l'Industrie de l'Information (GFII) (France)
• Gerhard Wagner, (and recommendations) Secretary General, Austrian Federation for the Information Industry (VIW) (Austria)
Industry and business case examples: opportunities and challenges
Questions addressed include: Who is generating commercial value-added products and services based on public sector information? And how? Are there bottlenecks for development of the use of PSI? Are there special issues relating to data access at international level, with access/pricing fragmented at national level?
• Jennifer Campbell, Member of the PRIMET Board, Managing Director of Meteo Consult B.V.
• Francesco Saverio Nucci, European Project Co-ordinator, Engineering SpA - R&D Lab (Italy)
• Alain Kervicic, Manager of Data Products, Teleatlas
• Christopher Corbin, European Geospatial Information Policy and Public Affairs Director
Info-Dynamics Research Associates Limited (UK)
• Prof. Juan Carlos De Martin, Politecnico di Torino, Dipartimento di Automatica e Informatica (Italy)
• Sabine Enjalbert, Director Business Development, Mappy SA
Government approaches: state of play and new models
How far have governments developed PSI access and use in practice? What is the experience with different models? What kind of information is required to clarify and improve policy?
• Mr. Cheol-Hoon Chung, Senior Researcher, Korea Agency for Digital Opportunity and Promotion KADO (Korea)
• Yvo Volman and Meri Rantala, European Commission
• Mr. Laszlo Majtenyi, (the Hungarian Model) Director of Eotvos Karoly Institute (Hungary)
• Jim Wretham, Head of Information Policy, Office of Public Sector Information (UK)
• Eivind Lorentzen Ministry of Trade and Industry (Norway)
• Brief circulated by the Australian delegation
Further analytical work and moving towards an international recommendation
• Herbert Burkert, University of St. Gallen (Switzerland)
• Mr. Cheol-Hoon Chung, Senior Researcher, KADO (Korea)
• Rob Davies, MDR partners (UK)
• Paul Uhlir (United States)
• Other participants
For further information, contact graham.vickery @oecd.org.
Related Documents


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Fiona Maazel's ambitious second novel, "Woke Up Lonely," is largely about the kind of loneliness experienced by the sort of person so fundamentally damaged and/or unappealing that he or she cannot help but alienate almost everyone in sight. Set at the turn of the millennium, it also evokes the disaffection felt by many on the Left when George W. Bush was elected for the second time. In spite of its dour subject matter, the book is not a total downer; bountiful jokes, a strong sense of absurdism, and the manic energy of Maazel's prose prevent it. "Woke Up Lonely" is a comic and cerebral novel about one of life's worst feelings, and a uniformly entertaining novel at that.
At its center is one Thurlow Dan, a guru under federal suspicion for amassing a stockpile of weapons and traveling to North Korea to meet with its leader, Kim Jong-il. When the novel opens in the early 2000s, the group Thurlow founded, the Helix, is attracting acolytes in record numbers thanks to the "galvanizing and inexhaustible resource" of American loneliness spurred by the divisive political climate. Thurlow thinks of the Helix as a therapeutic movement, but some — like the US government — believe it to be a dangerous cult.
Maazel leaves most of the Helix's history and inner workings to the imagination, teasing the reader with evocative and amusing details that satirize self-help. Thurlow's marathon-length speeches to robust, enraptured crowds in remote warehouses provide some of the novel's best jokes. His insights sound like a cross between pop sociology and Oprah b-roll: Americans are "crying out for each other" because they are "more interconnected than ever but lonelier than ever;" "loneliness is changing our DNA" and "making us ill." These bromides seem to attract self-involved types who feel sad in spite of their relative comfort. "I like cheese sticks and corn in a can," cries one, addressing her absent husband, "and when no one's looking I wet my finger and dip it in the rainbow sprinkles at the back of the cupboard, and you love these things about me, you know me, and why can't I be reached?" Oh, the humanity!
In addition to his followers, Thurlow Dan has an estranged ex-wife named Esmé who left him because of his infidelities. She now works as a government spy, keeping tabs on her former husband, often in elaborate disguise. A complicated plot maneuver has Esmé hiring a group of ne'er-do-wells to work for the Department of the Interior and infiltrate the Helix. In writing about these characters — a self-conscious virgin, a beleaguered suburban husband, a trust-funder who masturbates in a Star Wars costume — Maazel evinces both scorn and sympathy, demonstrating considerable gifts as a gentle ironist.
These feats amply prove Maazel to be a very interesting and promising writer with incredible energy and an amazing sense of humor — qualities also on display in her first novel, "Last Last Chance." This is not to say "Woke Up Lonely" is a perfect book: the plot's Byzantine twists can be wearying, at times coming across as self-consciously virtuosic, and the wordy chapter headings ("In which some women bat their eyes, others sit down and write. Guided by voices. The inconsolable child," is one) are too precious by half. Still, Maazel has written a more-than-worthwhile novel that should appeal to readers with a high tolerance for whimsy and pyrotechnics. It's thrilling to imagine what she might do next.
Eugenia Williamson, a writer and editor living in Somerville, can be reached at


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Find Movers in Palmetto Estates, FL
Whether you're looking for just the right Palmetto Estates apartment movers, moving help, or ways to cut the cost of moving, Green Movers Florida is working hard to connect you with the best moving companies serving Palmetto Estates, we are here to make your move as easy as possible.
With Green Movers Palmetto Estates you'll be amazed how quickly and easily everything falls into place. We can give you information on professional movers serving Palmetto Estates. No matter how big or small your move, we can handle the task of finding a moving company for you. There are so many tasks to take care of when moving; our aim is to take the stress out of it for you by providing you with as much information as possible all in one place.
Our website has moving tips, insurance information and more.
Let the experts search for the right moving company for you. We'll work with your budget and time frame as we match you with several Palmetto Estates movers. If you're making an apartment-size move for one person or have a large family to move in the Palmetto Estates area, we can send you several moving quotes that will be right for you. Enjoy the power of choice as we lay all of your options out before you. Start today by filling out the form below and we'll send you a moving quote to help you on your way.
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Despite the recent release of a major upgrade to the platform, Java is losing popularity based on the latest monthly assessment of programming languages by Tiobe Software.
The October edition of the Tiobe Programming Community Index, released Sunday, Oct. 9, found that Java lost popularity in September, with an estimated 17.9 percent of developers using it as opposed to 18.8 percent in the previous month's index. Java still finished as the top language, but if the downward trend continues, the C language, ranked second with 17.7 percent of users, will be No.1 next month, Tiobe said.
[ Oracle showed JavaFX running on iOS and Android last week. | Subscribe to InfoWorld's Enterprise Java newsletter for the latest Java news. ]
Java has been tops in the index from 2001 until now with a few exceptions between mid-2004 and mid-2005 and couple of months last year, when C took over, said Paul Jansen, managing director at Tiobe. He anticipates Java facing a long-term slide based on what he sees happening in the field. "This downward trend is probably caused by the fact that the Java language evolves too slowly compared to other languages, such as C#," Jansen said.
In July, Oracle released Java SE (Standard Edition 7) the first major update in more than five years. The release features accommodations for multicore processors and dynamic languages. Java SE 8 is due in 2013, featuring the planned Nashorn JavaScript engine.
Rounding out the top 10 languages in Tiobe's index were C++, PHP, C#, Objective-C, Visual Basic, Python, Perl, and JavaScript. Objective-C and Transact-SQL scored all-time highs, with usage rates of 6.25 percent and 0.91 percent respectively, while Assembly re-entered the top 20 by claiming the 19th spot. Visual Basic.Net jumped to the 25th spot after ranking 39th last month, while F# dropped from 23rd to 46th.
Tiobe's index is based on the number of skilled engineers worldwide, course and third-party vendors, with search engines including Google, Bing, and Yahoo, as well Wikipedia used to calculate ratings.
This article, "Survey: Java losing popularity among developers," was originally published at InfoWorld.com. Follow the latest developments in business technology news and get a digest of the key stories each day in the InfoWorld Daily newsletter. For the latest developments in business technology news, follow InfoWorld.com on Twitter.


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Offering some of the best retail and wholesale prices for Taper Candles, Votive Candles, Tealight Candles, Pillar Candles and Candle Holders, we also carry a line of Natural Décor (under Floral Supplies) and Essential Oils & Incense to create an ambiance for any occasion.
Make your wedding a day to remember with our beautifully Hand Crafted Unity Candles and Customized Wedding Favors. Send your guests home with a memento of a candle to symbolize the eternal flame of your love for each other.
As one of the most popular suppliers of Church and Vigil candles, we ship to thousands of churches all across the nation.
We have special discounts for any business looking to purchase our products such as Restaurants, Hotels, Churches, Event & WeddingPlanners, Florists, Spas, Salons and RetailsStores. For Information on how to become a Wholesale or Drop Shipping Account member, please click on the following link:
Drop Shipping & Wholesale Accounts
We want our customers to be completely satisfied and offer quality products, fast shipping, dependable service and a 100% money back guarantee.
Candles 4 Less ships with UPS, FEDEX and USPS
Once your order has been fulfilled you will receive a confirmation email with a copy of your order and an order number. When your packages have been shipped, you will receive a 2nd email with a UPS tracking number to track your package at www.ups.com.
Meeting high demands we ship Next Day Air, Second Day Air, 3 Day Select and Ground, Monday through Friday, for orders before 12pm pacific coast time. Any orders placed after 12 noon, will ship out the following business day.
For More information on our Return & Shipping Policies please see the following link:
Return Policy | Shipping Policy
Should you require any further information or have questions concerning products or orders please contact our Customer Service Representatives at:
Email: email@example.com
Toll Free: (877) 766-5328
Direct: (619) 295-2263 Ext. 1
Fax: (516) 977-4150
Let our qualified and friendly staff serve you and all your candle and decorative needs!


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Whirlpool Cooker & Oven ACH985BR/01 Spares
Whirlpool ACH985BR/01 (852098515020) : 1 - 12 of 67
Whirlpool ACH985BR/01 25W T25 SES (E14) 300º Pygmy Oven Lamp
Genuine spare part
25 watts Cap: SES(E14) Type: T25 230-240 volts 172 Lumens 300º Long Life: 1,000 Hours on average Colour: Warm White If the bulb has blown in your... More information
Whirlpool ACH985BR/01 Grill Pan Grid : 378x340mm
Genuine spare part
Size: 378 x 340 mm This Grill Pan Griddle is great for grilling meat. Designed with a wire grid that can be used as a cooling rack, this Grill Pan... More information
Whirlpool ACH985BR/01 Grill Pan Handle
Genuine spare part
It's easy to misplace your grill pan handle, especially if you're moving home but don't worry; you won't need to buy a whole new pan with this great... More information
Whirlpool ACH985BR/01 Oven Door Hinge
Genuine spare part
Main Oven If your oven door is no longer opening or closing as smoothly as usual, then you may have a fault with the door hinge. Hinges can become... More information


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Plastic Cylinder Bottle Mock-UpEasy to mock-up edit, easy navigation, flexible configuration, friendly pdf help file. Has everything you need for high-quality realistic presentation of your project. Layered PSD mockup with well described layers. Guarantee perfect look for your design.
- 6 Photorealistic presentations
- Photoshop CS or higher compatible PSD files
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- Changeable background
- Individual layers – transparent/shadow/reflected/light
- PDF Help Document
- Photorealistic Result
Showcase your design with this Plastic Cylinder Bottle Mock-Up. Create a realistic presentation in few seconds.


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I have a couple of hours to grab a nap after getting off from work until I have to start collecting the munchkins from pre-school and school. I hung between the kiddos' play fort and a tree in the back yard for my 40 winks this morning. It was a little on the cool side when I started, but perfect under my poncho liner.
The sun woke me up about half way through my nap and I had to swap out to shorts and take care of a call of nature. After laying back down, I only woke once more when my hat shifted and I got a face full of sunlight. Looks like hanging the tarp may be a necessity just for shade purposes.
Already looking for tomorrow (even if they are calling for high chance of rain).
1st time trying to post an image straight from my phone, I hope it shows correctly.


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Lisbon Morning Journal
Thursday, April 4, 2013
COLUMBIANA – Jewel C. Furney, 86, died at 9:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 3, 2013, at Whispering Pines Village, Columbiana.
Jewel was born August 10, 1926 in Salem, the daughter of the late Wilmer and Mildred Martin Chamberlain.
She was a lifetime resident and had graduated from Columbiana High School in 1944. Jewel worked as a secretary in the banking industry and retired from the former Franklin Furniture of Columbiana.
She was a member of First Presbyterian Church in Columbiana and was a longtime member of Columbiana Women's Club.
Jewel enjoyed crafts, including knitting and needlework, and had belonged to a local hobby club. She enjoyed spending her time with her lady friends, affectionately known as the "Birthday Girls," but mostly she enjoyed spending time with her husband Bill. As past president of AAA, Bill was able to take Jewel to many different countries. The couple loved traveling and also enjoyed spending the winter months in Florida.
She is survived by her husband, Charles W. "Bill" Furney. She was a loving aunt to her two nephews, Lee and Keith Chamberlain; three nieces, Dawn Brown, Marcy Chidester and Christine Vogel; and 16 great nieces and nephews.
A brother, Roger L. Chamberlain preceded her in death and three nephews, Bruce, Tom and Craig Chamberlain.
Funeral services will be held at Warrick-Kummer-Rettig Funeral Home, Columbiana, at 11 a.m. Saturday, April 6, 2013, with Southern Care Hospice Chaplain Elly Krokenberger officiating. Burial will follow in Columbiana Cemetery. Friends may call one hour prior to the service at the funeral home.
Material tributes may be made to Southern Care Hospice, 5401 Ashley Circle, Austintown, Ohio 44515.
Sign the guest register and send condolences to the family at http://www.familycareservices.com.
Contributed by Jackson Edward Wilson


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Tiger Mistress: Divorce Won't Erase Elin's Humiliation
Despite her newly found marital freedom, Elin Nordegren will never live down the "pubic humiliation" ... this according to Tiger Woods mistress number 9ish Jaimee Grubbs.
TMZ spoke to Jaimee, who says Tiger is an "a**hole" and "deserves to be hated" for "treating all these woman, including myself, like rag dolls" -- but says deep down inside she still "feels sorry for the guy."
Jaimee also said she believes Elin's decision to dump Tiger is "totally legit" -- and says "regardless of how much money she settles on, it isn't going to erase her public humiliation from his choices."
And Jaimee knows a thing or two about public humiliation ... she was recently arrested for driving on a suspended license ... and photographed without a front tooth.


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Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. Here's what you do...
- Grab your current read
- flip to a random page
- select a few sentences from anywhere on the page
- try not to include any SPOILERS!
- make sure you tell the name of book and the author so we can add the book to our TBR pile!
Please feel free to add your link below so it's easy for others to check out your posts!
Jake is Reading...
Blood Ninja by Nick Lake page 29
The wicked barbed steel of a shuriken whined through the air past Taro's head, nicking his ear. He fired an arrow that went wide, just as the good Ninja's blade struck in front of him, as quick and lethal as a snake, gutting a man who had been about to stab him with a dagger. Taro felt that the world and the air surrounding him had grown sharp edges, and waited only for him to fall on them.
Gregory is Reading...
The Faceless Ones by Derek Landy page 221
Alyssa is reading...
Ice by Sarah Beth Durst page 223
The vines had absorbed her pack, mukluks and all, like an amoeba. She wasn't likely to forget that. How was she supposed to escape from a living prison when a magical being was the jailer and she had no equipment and no supplies?


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By Natalia Melikova of the Constructivist Project
The Shukhov Tower on Shabolovka Street in Moscow made its first radio broadcast on March 19, 1922 and its first television broadcast on March 10, 1939. The first and largest of Vladimir Shukhov's hyperboloid towers, it is recognized as an engineering marvel and a masterpiece of constructivist architecture. In its 92 years of existence, it has come to be a symbol of progress, industrialization, and mass communication. With threats of dismantlement coming in just the last eight weeks, the Russian and international community have rallied behind its preservation.
Image (left): Shukhov tower in its current location. Credit: Natalia Melikova.
The Ministry of Communications announced on February 4, 2014 that their property, the famous but neglected Shukhov Tower, is in a dangerous state. They feared that due to the tower's advanced deterioration, the tower posed a serious threat of collapsing onto the surrounding neighborhood. Though discussion of the tower's critical condition and need for restoration has being ongoing for many years, according to the Ministry of Communications, there was now only one way to avoid disaster and "save" the tower, and that was by promptly taking it apart and considering a new more visible location for the reconstructed tower.
Earlier this March, a Public Chambers session was held, where experts from various fields overwhelmingly agreed that even with corroded elements the tower remains in a stable condition and that dismantling of the tower is not only unnecessary for restoration but also dangerous for the tower. The suggestion to consider a new location for the tower was also dismissed. However, the draft Government Decree that appeared later that day reflected only the Ministry of Communications proposal for a two stage reconstruction-restoration, with the dismantling of the tower followed by reassembly at a new location.
Image (right): Close up of the tower. Credit: Natalia Melikova.
With the exception of the Ministry of Communications, it appeared that the vast majority of experts and the public were against the dismantling of the tower, equating this course of action as the demolition of the tower, as the irreversible destruction of one of Moscow's famous landmarks. Because the draft Government Decree was worded in favor of dismantling and relocation, and Moscow's notoriously bad track record when it comes to protecting cultural heritage, the fast approaching threat of losing the tower struck a nerve with the public.
While there were news reports that fixated on the dangerous condition of the tower, helping to spread fear and confuse the public, a large number of articles dedicated to the defense of the tower provided strong arguments on why dismantling and relocation were not options if the tower were to remain a monument. See the arguments and more detailed analysis of the situation here.
Image (right): Photo of one of the tours. Credit: Natalia Melikova.
Joining the efforts of the Shukhov Tower Foundation, numerous architectural organizations including Docomomo International and ISCOMOS ISC 20C, cultural institutions, public figures, historians, architects, activists and concerned citizens offered their support to the tower. In addition to publishing articles, writing letters to the authorities, and collecting signatures, a public interest campaign was launched around the Shukhov Tower site and throughout Moscow. The effort to inform the public took many forms and included free tours by historians and architecture specialists on the history of the tower and the surrounding neighborhood, social media groups organized ideas and coordinated actions as well as new art-related initiatives visually communicating the campaign to save the tower.
Image (right): Close up of a guide explaining one Shukhov's other towers. Credit: Natalia Melikova.
Informational leaflets were also handed out and placed at cultural institutions throughout the city, which listed both the reasons why the tower should not be demolished, and also why Shukhov Tower is so special:
The radio tower on Shabolovka Street in Moscow is one of the most famous works by the great Russian engineer Vladimir Shukhov. It is a symbol of modern engineering design. It is a masterpiece of 20th century architecture, it is comparable to the Eiffel Tower – and that is not an exaggeration. The Shukhov Tower is on the cover of many European books on architecture and engineering art. Many structures, telecommunication masts, and antennas around the world are designed based on the principle of Shukhov's hyperbolic design. But our Shabolovskaya tower is the most famous and unique, and it was the first. It is our pride, it is our history.
The response from the international community is an indication of the gravity of the matter. It also demonstrates that interest in the fate of Russia's Eiffel Tower is not limited to the boundaries of Moscow. In addition to an open letter by well-known architects and specialists to President Putin expressing their concern for the tower's fate, a wave of foreign publications helped to spread the message.
Image (right): Handing out the leaflets. Credit: Natalia Melikova.
The campaign to save the tower has mobilized, united, and rallied people together. The severity and urgency of the threat that the tower may be demolished has worked in favor of its protection, it has elicited a concentrated, passionate response. Despite the positive momentum in favor of saving the tower, the information war continues as demonstrated in this recent article in which the Russian Television and Radio Broadcasting Network, owner of the Shukhov Tower, defends its initial position.
Image (right): Collecting signatures. Credit: Natalia Melikova.
Publications such as this give all the more reason to actively discuss and promote the preservation of the tower in anyway each of us can. The events of the past two months have proven that if people did not spend much time thinking about the tower before, then most likely they have some opinion about it now.
As we wait for a decision on the tower's fate, one should note that 2014 is the "Year of Culture" in Russia. A good omen – Russia's Eiffel Tower!
The Change.org petition against the dismantling of the tower currently has nearly 10,000 signatures. You can add your name to the petition here.
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Youth who are LGBTQI2-S need strong role models who understand the stigma and discrimination they face. Community support and safe places where youth can find acceptance are critical. This page is part of resource package created to help programs better serve youth who are LGBTQI2-S and homeless.
This page is part of resource package created to help programs better serve youth who are LGBTQI2-S and homeless. It was derived from the results of a Listening Tour of programs serving this population. Visit the Listening Tour Page for more information, or read the draft report: Learning from the Field: Programs Serving LGBTQI2-S Youth Experiencing Homelessness.
Youth who are LGBTQI2-S need strong role models who understand the stigma and discrimination they face. Providers emphasize the need for community support and safe places where youth can find acceptance.
The following strategies can help promote collaborations and community partnerships designed to support LGBTQI2-S youth experiencing homelessness:
Work with LGBTQI2-S stakeholders to identify and respond to youth needs in the community. Partnering with the LGBTQI2-S community is at the heart of the Larkin Street Youth Services' LGBT housing model, Castro Housing. "People in the community were seeing kids on the street and asking what could be done. LGB-specific providers, including our Larkin Street Drop-In Center, came together and thought about the youth that we see and the services they need." Larkin Street Youth Services recognizes that their housing model was a result of collaboration between "queer-centric" organizations in San Francisco. "If we hadn't been in partnerships with these groups, Castro Housing would not have happened."
Provide safe spaces through partnership with the LGBTQI2-S community. Youth and providers emphasized the importance for safe social spaces just for LGBTQI2-S youth. "It is good to be around straight youth sometimes. But we need a place just for us," shared a youth. Positive adult role models who share a LGBTQI2-S identity are critical to helping a young person realize their own potential. Through partnership with LGBTQI2-S providers and advocacy groups, youth homeless service providers strive to present positive role models.
The Ruth Ellis Center recognized the importance of partnering with LGBTQI2-S adult advocacy groups. "The importance of how integrated we've become with LGBT adult advocacy groups cannot be overemphasized," reports the Executive Director. "They provide the support, advocacy, and role models necessary to make what we do possible." The Ruth Ellis Center has developed relationships with Black Men Together, PFLAG Detroit, The Bears, and others. These partnerships help youth to develop mentor relationships and find a sense of belonging within the community. One youth shared that he started volunteering with R.E.C. Boyz, a group that promotes safer sex in the gay community, reporting that it gave him a feeling of empowerment and purpose.
Create strategic partnerships to serve specific sub-groups. Transgender youth represent a small percentage of homeless youth, but have unique emotional and physical needs. Youth on Fire has worked to provide for these youth through a partnership with Transcend, a sister program specifically focused on transgender women. Transcend offers case management, provides support for name changes and gender alterations on identification, makes referrals to doctors who are trans-friendly, and provides physical and emotional guidance during transition. Youth on Fire is limited in being able to provide such specialized services for their transgender members, but this partnership allows for a higher level of care.
Partner with other homeless service agencies in the community. Many providers emphasized the importance of connecting agencies that serve homeless youth or adults. "Our partnerships with youth housing and drop-in centers are so important to help us identify youth for our program." Youth on Fire partners with other mainstream programs to conduct outreach with LGBTQI2-S youth. "When agencies providing services to youth experiencing homelessness have conflict, it can feel like divorced parents, undermining the work that we do. We need to become a true community of care." They felt that fostering good communication between agencies would help providers identify LGBTQI2-S youth who are falling through the cracks for specialized services, and would create a broader range of referrals to meet client needs.
Youth on Fire administered surveys at a community youth pride event in Boston to identify these partners. Responses identified places of worship, shelters, schools, skate parks, and punk shows as common places where GLBT youth spend time. Youth on Fire's Safe Spaces Coordinator reached out to those locations as a result. They recently set up an informational table at a punk show and also contacted shelters. If shelters share that they see queer youth or indicate a need for training, the Safe Spaces Coordinator responds with an invitation to refer youth to Youth on Fire and an offer to train their staff. "These connections are not easy to make, but you can have success if you're persistent." The Safe Spaces Coordinator networks with all possible partners—both homeless services and GLBT groups.
Make referrals to culturally competent agencies and providers. Most homeless service agencies rely on referrals to health clinics, mental health agencies, and other specialized social services. However, LGBTQI2-S youth may be at a disadvantage when referred to outside services. The referred provider may not be appropriately trained to care for their needs. Most Listening Tour sites were aware of the need to make appropriate referrals in order to maintain trust with their young clients.
Larkin Street Youth Services is building a network of national and regional referrals for youth experiencing homelessness. They do this by reaching out to providers and engaging them in a dialogue about LGBTQI2-S young people. Other programs, such as Outside In, Youth On Fire, and UCAN Host Home Program, also reached out to potential referral services to ensure that they are sensitive to the needs of LGBTQI2-S youth. Larkin Street Youth Services emphasized the importance of honesty when making referrals. "We do what we can to seek out and make appropriate referrals, but we always tell youth that we don't know if the referral we are giving them is LGBTQ-friendly."
Make referrals as seamless as possible. Many programs emphasized the importance of assuring that as many resources as possible are available at the agency. The more services available in the same place at the same time, the more the youth are likely to utilize them. However, if this model isn't available, and services are scattered around the community, referrals and access to services need to be as seamless as possible. This might include providing transportation, accompanying the youth to an appointment, helping the youth navigate bureaucratic hurdles, and other assistance.
Develop relationships with community stakeholders, including police departments and school districts, to improve the community of care. Providers report that local police did not know about The Ruth Ellis Center until recently. After repeatedly reaching out and informing the officers about their services, the police are now more aware. "Now they bring kids to us instead of arresting them," explained the staff. They also emphasized their efforts to build relationships with The Department of Child and Family Services. "We've engaged in capacity building with child protective services that was very positive. They have now become the impromptu community ambassador, referring calls from families struggling with their LGBT child to us."
The Ruth Ellis Center also works to build bridges to schools, meeting with school boards when a young person is re-entering class. "This way everyone, from superintendent to teacher, is on the same page about the student. When we get resistance from educators we try to inform and train the school faculty as much as we can about the issues these kids face, like protecting them from bullying, and listening to their pronoun and name preferences."


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GOP ends week with no debt plan
House Republicans left Washington Thursday without a plan to lift the debt ceiling.
Meanwhile, Senate Democrats are pretty clear in their position: They want a clean debt limit increase.
The nation's borrowing limit needs to be lifted by the end of the month — just seven legislative days away — and there's no clear plan in place.
Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and his leadership team have been canvassing GOP lawmakers to try to craft a package that could get the support of 218 Republicans — and it's not been an easy task.
( Also on POLITICO: John Boehner: Immigration reform difficult in 2014)
Republicans are seriously considering attaching language that would reverse recent changes to cost-of-living adjustments to the military. That tweak, though, would need to be offset by another budget reduction measure. The GOP is considering something called "pension smoothing" — a change to pension contributions which saves the government money.
That provision aims to put Democrats in a tight spot — they are in favor of this policy but plan to use it to pay for an extension of jobless benefits.
The Senate is set to vote on a bill to roll back the COLA changes on Monday. That bill, written by Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), will hit the Senate floor before House Republicans have an opportunity to attach it to the debt ceiling bill.
Many Republicans acknowledge that Democrats passing a debt ceiling bill with extraneous policy attached is a long shot, since Democrats want an up or down vote on a so-called clean debt limit bill.
( Also on POLITICO: House GOP stymied on debt limit)
"Our position has been that there not be hostage taking on the debt ceiling. It's too important. And once you say you do something that we want to do, which is change the COLA, it opens the door for some of the more conservative members of the caucus to say: 'Well, let's do this too. Let's do that too,'" Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said. "We want to get [COLA] done, but it's a dangerous, dangerous precedent to allow someone to say they'll only do the debt ceiling, if, and only if, you do A or B."
Senate Budget Chairman Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said Republicans are "just throwing ideas against the wall to see what sticks and creating more uncertainty."
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), asked if she could accept tweaks to military COLAs, said "No. Clean, clean, clean [debt ceiling hike]. Those are all things that can be discussed in their own place."
Boehner pointedly declined to rule out a clean debt limit bill Thursday.
"We're continuing to talk to our members," he said, when asked about the prospect of a clean bill on the debt ceiling.
( Also on POLITICO: House GOP: 'Fish to fry' besides Keystone XL)
Boehner added, "Well, I think that we're still looking for the pieces to this puzzle, but look: We do not want to default on our debt, and we're not going to default on our debt. We're in discussions with members about how we can move ahead."
Moving ahead won't be easy. Boehner said that if Congress voted on making Mother Teresa a saint, it would not get the support of 218 Republicans.
Burgess Everett and Ginger Gibson contributed to this report


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The college basketball season gets under way Friday with a game at a Europe military base, two more aboard Navy ships and another featuring a reshaped national champion playing in a brand new building.
No. 14 Michigan State plays Connecticut, in its first game since the retirement of coach Jim Calhoun, at Ramstein Air Base in Kaiserslautern, Germany. It's the first game between Division I teams held in Europe.
Then it's on to the decks for No. 4 Ohio State against Marquette on the USS Yorktown in Charleston, S.C., and Georgetown facing No. 10 Florida on the USS Bataan in Jacksonville, Fla.
No. 3 Kentucky, the defending national champion with a heralded freshman class, plays Maryland in the first college doubleheader at the new Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Also, one of the sport's shrines reopens. Pauley Pavilion, boosted by a $132 million renovation, will be the site when No. 13 UCLA hosts Indiana State, the alma mater of John Wooden.
A statue of Wooden stands outside the north entrance and the corridor on the east side of the 47-year-old arena has been named Wooden Way. Three large cabinets are filled with mementos of the Wooden era that includes 10 NCAA championships — seven in a row — during his 27 years in Westwood.
The big opening weekend — 21 teams from the preseason Top 25 will have played by Sunday night — will be followed by a month full of early season tournaments. Several special matchups before Christmas will dot the 2012-13 schedule leading into the start of conference play.
There will be a third game played on a ship this weekend when No. 9 Syracuse faces No. 20 San Diego State on the USS Midway in San Diego on Sunday. The game will be the first telecast of more than 100 for MSG Network.
ESPN will continue its coverage of almost 1,500 games with its annual 24-hour college basketball marathon on Tuesday. Those 12 games, including a 6 a.m. start for Stony Brook at Rider, an 8 a.m. tip for Northern Illinois at Valparaiso and a 10 a.m. start for Harvard at Massachusetts, are part of the 54 the network will show during a six-day stretch.
Early matchups between ranked teams include Michigan State against No. 7 Kansas and then No. 8 Duke facing Kentucky in the doubleheader in Atlanta that caps the 24-hour marathon; No. 23 Wisconsin at No. 10 Florida; and the Battle 4 Atlantis that involves No. 2 Louisville, Duke, No. 15 Missouri and No. 17 Memphis.
Four months of conference, nonconference and in-season tournament games all point to Selection Sunday on March 17. The NCAA tournament ends three weeks later with the Final Four in Atlanta's Georgia Dome.


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The first Wednesday of each month, Carolyn Astfalk hosts #OpenBook, where bloggers link posts about books they've read recently. Here's a taste of what I've been reading:
Relic of His Heart by Jane Lebak. When a midwife is suddenly confronted by an angel who wants her to restore a relic stolen 70 years ago to a church in Italy, she thinks he's crazy. Then she finds out the depth of her family's connection to that church, and the dire state of the town — and her journalist husband gets on board to help with this mission. Along the way, her own livelihood is threatened as lawmakers try to enact legislation that will effectively outlaw midwifery in her state. One of the things Jane Lebak does very well is human-angel banter, and this novel is no exception. This is an excellent story, with plenty of clever humor, a great twist at the end, and almost no gory birth-center details to deter the squeamish (like me). Interwoven in the dialogue is a wonderful explanation of what Catholics believe about relics. Recommended!
Catching Christmas by Terri Blackstock. I'm pretty sure the first chapter's premise came from a meme: cab driver pulls up to house that looks like no one's home. Reluctantly going to the door, he finds an elderly woman asleep in wheelchair and takes her to medical appointment. That's where the meme ends and the novel begins. Over the next several days, former restauranteur Finn needs to pay his rent, but Callie, the elderly woman, is so insistent that he not only driver to her to the places she needs to go (including Christmas shopping), but bring her in to each and every one. That means he can't leave the meter running. That means he's out the cash – and plenty of it. He alternates between anger at Callie's granddaughter, Sydney, who apparently is too tied up in her work to care for her grandmother, and remorse for the way he treated his own mother when she was dying. Great story. (Netgalley review)
The End of the World by Amy Matayo. When Cameron shows up on the doorstep of his new foster home, he's greeted by a slightly-older teenage girl who tries to help him survive the awful circumstances he's just entered. Shaya is bossy, but that's all a cover she uses to keep it together in a horrific situation. Cameron joins Shaya in caring for the younger 3 children in the home and finding a place where the two of them can pretend that none of this is happening. This is not your typical foster-home horror story, though there's plenty of that in this novel. Instead, it's a story of resilience, of missed opportunities, of brokenness so deep that there seems little chance for wholeness. Warning: this story will shatter your heart. But it's well worth it.
A Curve in the Road by Julianne MacLean. Lots of suspense in this quick-to-read novel. Abbie's perfect life is shattered when she's seriously injured in a car wreck by a drunk driver — and family secrets she never knew come to light. Her whole life changes in a matter of seconds. I usually don't feel I can relate to characters who have perfect lives, but maybe because Abbie's life stops being perfect in the very first chapter, it was different this time. I had trouble putting this book down.
The Wideness of the Sea by Katie Curtis. Twentysomething artist Anna Goodrich lives and works in New York, putting distance between herself and her father, since their relationship has become complicated after her mother's death. She doesn't want to live her life bound by his expectations that she'll follow in her mother's footsteps as a famous artist. Her return to her Maine hometown for her uncle's funeral brings up old hurts, including an old romance; at the same time, she learns she's been invited to show her work at a prestigious art show that would blow her cover. An enjoyable read.
The Girls at 17 Swann Street by Yara Zgheib. A truly intense novel written from the point of view of a young married woman with anorexia. Anna is a dancer in Paris, but an injury ends her career and she becomes obsessed with staying thin. Add in the depression resulting from her relocation to the USA for her husband's job and some childhood tragedies, and Anna winds up in a residential treatment facility for women with eating disorders. The author makes the thought process of the patient with anorexia painfully real. (Netgalley review)
Beach Winds (Emerald Isle NC #2) by Grace Greene. This story feels like it starts in the middle; Frannie is tasked with taking care of her uncle's house while he recovers from a stroke. She hires a handyman to paint and repair things, but what's really in need of repair is her own self-esteem once she finds out she's being gaslighted and lied to about her childhood.
Castles in the Clouds (Flowers of Eden #2) by Myra Johnson. This novel follows an infatuated Lark as she follows her handsome professor to Africa to teach in a mission school; let down professionally and romantically, she must find a way to make a difference in a small Southern town during the Depression.
Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh. I read this countless times as a kid, and just reread it after some authors were discussing it online. If Harriet the Spy were walking around today, she'd probably use Instagram or Snapchat. But this book would make a great lead-in to a discussion of cyberbullying, boundaries, and where we keep private thoughts private. This favorite from my childhood stands the test of time.
It's OK to Start with You by Julia Hogan. This not the kind of self-help book that works from the assumption that you're doing this on your own. Hogan writes from a Catholic point of view, and she includes mental, emotional, social, and spiritual self-care in her whole-person look at this topic. (Review copy received from publisher.) Read my full review.
Links to books in this post are Amazon affiliate links. Your purchases made through these links support Franciscanmom.com. Thank you!
Where noted, books are review copies. If that is not indicated, I either purchased the book myself or borrowed it from the library.
Follow my Goodreads reviews for the full list of what I've read recently (even the duds!)
Visit today's #OpenBook post to join the linkup or just get some great ideas about what to read! You'll find it at Carolyn Astfalk's A Scribbler's Heart and at CatholicMom.com!
Copyright 2018 Barb Szyszkiewicz


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How to See God
- Jim Binney Today's Christian Preacher Magazine
- 2005 13 Jul
After I had been interviewed about the topic of pornography, my comments were published in a national Christian periodical. Within two weeks I received over two dozen calls from pastors desperate for help with their addiction. At about the same time, I counseled three pastors who had lost their ministries over Internet pornography. Approximately one-fourth of my counseling has been with those who have been grappling with problems of immorality-most notably, bondage to pornography. Why is this problem so prevalent among pastors?
In over 30 years of counseling, I have yet to find a single problem (spiritual, emotional, or behavioral) which does not have a root of origin, in part or in whole, in an unbiblical image of God.
Pornography is a case in point. Ezekiel, in his famous vision (Chapter 8), was shown 70 of the ancients of Israel gathered in a darkened room of the temple prior to going forth to lead the people in worship. They were surrounded by images of the idols of Israel, some of which were arguably pornographic in nature. What an awful picture! Ministers of God with instruments of holiness in their hands ready to conduct public worship but fixing their eyes upon sinful objects and filling their minds with lustful thoughts.
Despite all their qualifications for ministry-the advantage of maturity, association with other ministers, titles of respect, and theological knowledge-these men harbored some destructive thoughts about God ("the Lord seeth us not; the Lord hath forsaken the earth," v. 12). Their disbelief in God's ability to see them in their sin along with their misconception of His absenteeism fueled their sins. By embracing a lie about the omniscience and omnipresence of God, they were crippled in their belief and led like sheep to the slaughter.
In Romans Chapter 1, we are told that men "changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man" and they "worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator." Why this perversion of life? Why did man glory in the image of man and fixate on the human form? The answer is found in verse 21: "because that, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God." It was their failed image of God, their distorted view of Him, which led to their sin. That is the bad news.
The good news is that just as sin can be traced to dishonoring views of God, victory can be built on a biblical view of God. Isaiah's life was literally changed after his vision of God. He became a new man with a new mission. He came under heavy conviction of his sin; he found forgiveness and a new life purpose.
But all this happened after a new revelation of Who God is. "I saw ... the Lord ... high and lifted up ... Then said I, Woe is me ... Then flew one of the seraphims unto me ... and said ... thine iniquity is taken away ... Then said I, Here am I; send me" (Isaiah 6). Isaiah's conviction of his sinfulness came after his new view of God.
Likewise, his cleansing from sin and his new calling followed that vision. When he came under the truth of God's person, he had compelling reasons to change, and so does the person in bondage to sin. Indeed, the truth shall set you free, especially the truth about God's character.
The Goodness of God
"Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions" (Psalm 51:1).
The thing that motivated David to return to his God was his all-consuming belief in the goodness of God. Like Paul, he believed that "the goodness of God leadeth ... to repentance" (Romans 2:4). David knew in his heart that the ears of God were open unto his cry (Psalm 34:15). This caused him to write, "I love the Lord, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications. Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live" (Psalm 116:1-2).
He saw God as a loving Heavenly Father with His arms outstretched and longing for his return, not as a divine bully of some sort, leaning over the battlements of Heaven with a revenging club in His hand. Most people are attracted to goodness and repulsed by harshness. David could climb into God's lap and hug His neck because he was comfortable and comforted with His goodness and love.
When you think about God, does His goodness come into mind first, or do you think of Him as austere and unyielding? The answer may affect your return to Him.
The Holiness of God
"I saw also the Lord ... high and lifted up ... Holy, holy, holy" (Isaiah 6:1, 3).
When Isaiah saw the Lord as holy, it radically and permanently changed his life. First, in the way he thought of himself: "Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King" (Isaiah 6:5). Isaiah no longer coddled himself into thinking he wasn't so bad after all. He had come into the illuminating light of God's holiness, a light that penetrated every cave of his heart and exposed every vile thought lurking in the shadowy crevices.
As long as he loitered in self-congratulations on the perimeter of the light, he could compare himself favorably to those even deeper in the shadows. But once he was exposed to the brilliance of God's pure light, he could no longer dissimulate. Every wart and cankerous sore on his soul was exposed to the light.
The Fear of God
"By the fear of the Lord men depart from evil" (Proverbs 16:6).
The fear of God is one of the least understood aspects of an effective Christian life. Perhaps this is because of a misleading imbalance of teaching. We tend to emphasize either the severity of God to the exclusion of His goodness (the tendency of Separatists) or His goodness to the exclusion of His severity (the tendency of Neo-evangelicals).
The Apostle Paul, on the other hand, stresses a careful balance of the two. In writing about the fear of God, he exhorts us to "behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off" (Romans 11:22). He brings a needed balance to the discussion, but at the same time voices a strong warning about sinning against God. He is teaching the fear of God.
This fear includes a trembling sense of awe in the presence of His powerful justice and retribution against sin. In this day of sexual philandering and the public ministerial failures of Jim Bakker, Jimmy Swaggart, and Jesse Jackson, the attitude of Americans toward God's justice seems to be a collective yawn instead of a fearful cry.
But any healthy fear of God includes an awestruck sense of God's holiness while the stains of one's sin still appear on his hands. A biblical fear of God dictates that before one draws nigh to God, he must be cleansed. "Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded" (James 4:8).
Why does a man sing in the choir with sin in his heart? Why does a man serve on the board when the chamber of his imagery is stocked with vile images? Why does a man attempt to serve a holy God with contaminated hands? It is because "there is no fear of God before their eyes" (Romans 3:18).
The sexual sinner is often frustrated in his search for God by the feeling that God is so distant. He seems so cold, remote, and untouchable.
While it is true that "No man hath seen God at any time," it is also true that "the only begotten Son ... hath declared him" (John 1:18). Moreover, Jesus has stated, "No man cometh unto the Father, but by me" (John 14:6). Jesus is telling us that not only is He the means to God, but also the method for coming to know God. Let me explain.
A premature baby girl was born in a California hospital. Weighing less than three pounds, she could fit in the palm of her grandfather's hand. She was given less than a five percent chance of living three days. She had an intravenous tube in her foot and another in her navel. There was a feeding tube and a breathing tube down her throat. The fragile child lay helpless in an incubator, gasping for every breath. To make matters worse, her father had panicked at the thought of caring for this child and had run away.
The grandfather was called upon to stand in as the little girl's surrogate parent. Led into the neonatal unit, he was shocked at seeing his granddaughter for the first time, but his heart went out to her. "What can I do to help?" he asked.
The nurse said, "Watch carefully what I do." She reached into the incubator and with the tip of her finger, gently rubbed a patch of the baby's skin that was not covered with wires or tubes, and at the same time, she spoke endearing words of love and assurance to the baby. She looked at the grandfather and said, "Can you come in every day and do that for 15 minutes?"
The grandfather readily agreed, but asked, "Why?"
The nurse replied, "In order for this little baby to bond to you as her father, she must learn to connect your voice to your touch."
The same can be said of every soul of man born into sin and facing certain death. To really know God, there must be a way to bond to Him as our Father. That is, we must be able to connect His voice to His touch. "In the beginning was the Word" (John 1:1)-that's His voice. "And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us" (John 1:14)-that's His touch. The Apostle John wrote about Christ: "which ... our hands have handled, of the Word of life" (I John 1:1). The Lord Jesus Christ is the very God you need to know. He also is the Living Word Who combines God's voice and God's touch in One.
Any victory you can hope for is in God, and God is in Christ, and Christ is in you. He is where the victory is.
Do you long for that peace? Do you desire to find rest from your exhausting journey away from God? Jesus said, "Learn of me ... and ye shall find rest unto your souls" (Matthew 11:29). Learn to see God aright.
Jim Binney is a biblical counselor with a counseling center for ministry couples in New Concord, Ohio. He is author of the book Living Purely in an Impure World. He can be reached at 740-872-3816 or email@example.com.
Today's Christian Preacher is the magazine for those involved in ministry and those training for ministry service who live in the United States. TCP won't help you preach a better sermon or build a larger ministry. It will help you in your personal life. For more information, call 1-800-588-7744.
© Right Ideas, Inc., 2005, www.rightideas.us


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Leggett on the tendency of the government to become "the universal dispenser of good and evil" (1834)
Found in Democratick Editorials: Essays in Jacksonian Political Economy
The Jacksonian era journalist William Leggett (1801-1839) argued against government intervention in the economy on moral grounds as well as because its policies favored one group or class over another:
Whenever a Government assumes the power of discriminating between the different classes of the community, it becomes, in effect, the arbiter of their prosperity, and exercises a power not contemplated by any intelligent people in delegating their sovereignty to their rulers. It then becomes the great regulator of the profits of every species of industry, and reduces men from a dependence on their own exertions, to a dependence on the caprices of their Government. Governments possess no delegated right to tamper with individual industry a single hair's-breadth beyond what is essential to protect the rights of person and property.
In the exercise of this power of intermeddling with the private pursuits and individual occupations of the citizen, a Government may at pleasure elevate one class and depress another; it may one day legislate exclusively for the farmer, the next for the mechanic, and the third for the manufacturer, who all thus become the mere puppets of legislative cobbling and tinkering, instead of independent citizens, relying on their own resources for their prosperity. It assumes the functions which belong alone to an overruling Providence, and affects to become the universal dispenser of good and evil.
In this article written in 1834 William Leggett provides one of the most concise and clear defenses of the principle of limited government ever penned. He holds that the sole function of government should be strictly limited to "the protection of person and property from domestic and foreign enemies". When the state moved beyond these limited functions it inevitably favored one group or "class" of individuals at the expense of another group or "class" of people. Here Leggett had in mind the farmer, the mechanic, and the manufacturer. By introducing legislation that benefited one group at the expense of another Leggett believed that the social compact which binds all men and women was destroyed and was replaced by "the strife of parties" in which each party struggled to defend its political interests.


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Drawing by Dan Perjovich for Spike
Drawing by Dan Perjovich for Spike
Many people are anxious that the growing class divide in the art world and the succession of record-breaking prices paid for contemporary art endanger the belief system supporting it. But why is nobody worried about money itself? Isn't what happens at an auction that money celebrates its freedom, its release from the burden of being a means of comparison? Is art the new money? On a currency that lives from the bank of the gaze, into which we all make payments.


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As the months of May and October are especially devoted to the Blessed Mother, pilgrimages to Monte Cassino Shrine are held each Sunday during those months.
The pilgrimage begins with an opening hymn and a short sermon, followed by a rosary procession. The hour-long service ends with the Litany of the Blessed Virgin and a hymn.
Pilgrimages start at 2 p.m. Central Time. The shrine is located in St. Meinrad, IN, one mile east of Saint Meinrad Archabbey along Indiana 62.
For more information on the Monte Cassino pilgrimages, call 812-357-6585 or 812-357-6501 during business hours.
The shrine is open daily from dawn to dusk.
We produce a quarterly print newsletter, On the Hill, and an e-newsletter.Stay Informed


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|The Girl looking at the neighbours' horses
These days feel like a countdown; we are drying herbs for tea and seasonings, pickling vegetables, brewing wine, and checking the miles of hedgerow elderberries inching closer to ripeness. The increasingly rainy weather means time is running out to get peat for fuel from the bog; we have enough, but tractor pull wagons past our front gate laden three metres tall with peat sometimes, the father driving and the rest of the family standing and holding the sides. Even though it is still summer, we all feel the oncoming darkness.
I have mentioned how strange it feels -- for one unaccustomed to it -- to live on an island less than a thousand miles from the Arctic Circle, kept mild by a Caribbean current but at latitudes that elsewhere see polar bears. Summers for us mean light in the sky as early as 3 am and as late as 10 pm, long stretches of sun that cause our crops and weeds to grow so rapidly we can't keep up. Unfortunately, it means that winter brings months of brief, dim light over a Gothic landscape.
Yet the temperature never ranges widely, from a median fifteen (60F) in the summer down to five degrees (40F) in the winter, and the weather only gets rainier. The Irish are well used to the damp and chill; old people tell me they walked to school barefoot in all seasons, which sounds like a standard exaggeration until I see it borne out by historical accounts and photos. Even now the Irish keep their rooms and offices at temperatures far below what most Americans would tolerate.
When the temperature hits 25 degrees, though, (70 F) some of my co-workers turn red, sweat profusely and lunge for the air conditioner – they actually have air conditioners here -- to turn the ambient temperature back down to 15 (50 F) or so. To someone who grew up in 40-degree summers, this seems ridiculous, but we were simply acclimatised to heat as the Irish are to the chill. Even in Missouri or the Deep South, moreover, everyone once lived without air conditioning, and society did not collapse.
|Window in a pub near our home
Before World War II, in fact, St. Louisans sometimes slept on their porches in the summer, or on balconies, or in rows of blankets on the grass of Forest Park. You can see a bit of this in the film Rear Window; during the heat wave, a couple sleeps on the fire escape, and the plot hinges on the fact that everyone keeps their windows open. You might think that nothing could be more dangerous than sleeping outside in St. Louis, but crime rates were lower then than now – and that in the middle of the Great Depression, when some people faced genuine starvation. Criminals find it difficult to raid a neighbourhood in which someone is always outside, and everyone knows everyone else.
Similarly, old neighbourhoods in almost any warm city had a range of features to cut down on heat. Some Arab countries feature lattices, which create shade themselves and could host climbing plants that shade further. Awnings draw attention to a window or door and offer protection from the sun, rain and snow, as do street-side trees. Southern homes had jalousie windows allowed air to pass while still offering shade, while Mediterranean homes have shutters that can be closed in mid-day, and many such buildings were white to reflect heat.
Almost all men and women once wore hats, statements not just of fashion but of profession and, most importantly, protection from the sun; hence the wide brims of European sun hats, cowboy hats, Asian bamboo hats and Mexican sombreros. Hats disappeared quickly in the 1960s, however – perhaps victims of changing fashion or the counterculture, or perhaps of the newly widespread office jobs and air conditioning.
Walk through endless miles of strip malls and asphalt in the USA today, and you notice a stunning absence of any basic features to make heat bearable using any method except air conditioning -- no awnings or trellises, no whitewashed roofs, few shutters or trees, and few hats or kerchiefs.
Nor do most modern cities feature amenities for winter; those same awnings would do wonders for keeping snow off the walkways, and those same trees and lattices would break up the wind. Insulated buildings, straw bales or firewood piles around walls, blankets in the attic, close quarters, sealed-off rooms, rows of black bottles in the southern windows – all of these and many more would reduce our winter expenses.
Just as importantly, we could adapt to far less heat in winter, even if we don't have to walk barefoot in all seasons. A US organisation recommends an indoor winter temperature of around 22 degrees C (around 72F), but the British keep their homes at 17 degrees C (62F), and a few decades ago kept them at 12 degrees (53F), according to the UK's Building Research Establishment. I don't have statistics for this country, but I would guess it to be colder still. I'm getting used to it.
Most importantly, just as we can wear sun hats in summer, we can wear thermal undergarments in winter. Growing up I knew long johns mainly from old movies and cartoons, the favoured campfire dress of cowboys and prospectors, or what Mickey Mouse or Tom and Jerry always fell into on a washing line. As Kris deDecker of Low-Tech magazine pointed out recently, thermal underwear is an amazing heating resource, and recently developed fabrics allow us far better insulation than people had a few decades ago. A single layer of thermal underwear, he calculated, equates to four degrees of thermostat heat, letting you save you up to 40 per cent in heat energy.
The elderly people here remind me how little heat we need, just as other places remind me how much we can tolerate, both goals far beyond my current limits. My family lives with more heat than we truly need, I admit, but we live with about ten degrees less room heat now than when we first arrived in Ireland, and several years from now, one way or another, will live with less still. As with so many of our projects, we never feel like we are truly adapting, so slowly do the changes come. Then we look back several years, and realise how much we've changed.


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Collin must make it through his final three days of probation for a chance at a new beginning. He and his troublemaking childhood best friend, Miles, work as movers, and when Collin witnesses a police shooting, the two men's friendship is tested as they grapple with identity and their changed realities in the rapidly-gentrifying neighborhood they grew up in.
- 422 Pregledi
- Pogledaj Trailer


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We are officially less than a month before the start of the NFL season, so it's probably time to start previewing the monster. The key to the NFL's success — other than fantasy football and gambling, of course — is the rabid nature of its fans. That is to say: You don't see a lot of people painting their faces for their favorite golfer.
We asked a gaggle of writers, from the Web, from print, from books, even a TV guy or two, to tell us, in as many or as little words as they need, why My Team Is Better Than Your Team. This is not meant to be factual, or dispassionate, or even logical: We just asked them to riff on why they love their team so much, or what their team means to them, or whatever. We will be running two a day until the beginning of the NFL season.
Right now: the Indianapolis Colts. Your author is Will Carroll.
Will Carroll is an editor at Baseball Prospectus and the author of The Juice. He also writes bi-weekly on injuries for ESPN. His words are after the jump.
I drew the easy assignment here. My hometown team, the Colts, have dropped the beatdown on all comers over the past five seasons. Sure, Edgerrin James and his gold teeth have moved on, which is sure to prove just how dominant Indy's line really is and that running backs are essentially interchangeable parts. Dominic Rhodes did it once before.
But what this comes down to is the Monkey. You know the monkey. You might have seen him last January in the RCA Dome or the year before in Foxboro. You might have even seen the baby monkey and its Vols orange butt back in Knoxville. Some athletes sport tattoos or load up their Hummers with guns and speakers. In Indiana, we like our heroes to have a monkey. (Yes, that really is Smoke Stewart's monkey, Mojo. And yes, I just called him Smoke. We're tight like that.)
Peyton Manning is, hands down, the most talented quarterback in the league. Apart from the annoying pre-snap Tourette's, the worst you can say about Manning is that he hasn't won a big game. Fine: Monkeys don't like big games. It scares them. When you have a monkey on your back, you don't want the monkey scared. That never ends well.
Some people have suggested that the monkey could come off this year, that Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne have considered some sort of monkey intervention. Some have discussed bringing in Dane Cook to get Peyton to reconsider. Some have even suggested that it's not a monkey, swearing they saw the monkey away from Peyton during the offseason, hanging out with some anorexic actress and singing country, but I'm telling you, that wasn't a monkey and it certainly was never on Peyton's back.
There are no holes in this team; there are no weaknesses, no problem with depth and, hopefully, no off the field issues to distract the team. In fact, it's the newcomer, Joseph Addai, who may finally do away with the monkey. The kid is everything the Edge once was, a running, slashing, blocking, speed and power combination that the league simply didn't see coming. Already, he's absorbed the playbook and is making a beeline for the first squad. He won't be there at the start of the season, but at the end, I fully expect to see Addai standing at midfield of Dolphin Stadium with the Super Bowl MVP trophy.
Tony Dungy will be on one side, Peyton Manning on the other and the Monkey lying dead under his foot.


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Do's and Don'ts of Call to Action Pages
Good call to action pages (including landing pages and sales pages) are an important part of any website that either sells or asks visitors to sign up for something.
An effective call to action page can increase conversions and signups by a hundred percent or more (sometimes much more). As designers, we should know exactly what makes an effective call to action page, both in terms of actual design and the kinds of content they should ideally include.
Here are more than a dozen do's and don'ts for crafting great call to action pages. In general, they're not difficult to design well, but there are certain guidelines that sometimes run counter to a designer's instincts, or what might work on other kinds of pages.
The main thing to remember is the purpose of a call to action page: to get a visitor to perform a specific action. If you keep that in mind while you're designing, you're likely to have a more successful result.
Do make your page intuitive to use
When a visitor lands on your page, it's vital that they are instantly able to discern certain things: the purpose of the page, what they're expected to do next (and how to do it), and how the page benefits them. Without those things, the page is useless, and your visitor will likely leave before taking the desired action.
As soon as you make your user think about what the page's purpose is, or what they're supposed to do next, you're increasing the odds that they'll decide the page isn't what they're looking for, or that it's too much of a hassle. Either of those things will increase your bounce rate.
Don't use too many graphics
Your page should include only necessary graphics. Too many graphics only serve to clutter things up, especially when "above the fold" in your page design. In that area, a logo and "hero" image (styled image of the product being sold) are really all that are needed.
Beyond those two images, the only other images you'll want to use on your call to action page are those that directly illustrate benefits or features. Icons can be useful, but they can also detract if you're not careful in how you use them and the specific icons you choose to use. Only use them if they help to clarify the meaning of any of your content.
Do minimize your navigation options
The more options you give your visitors to navigate away from your call to action page, the more likely they are to do so. Your main website might have dozens of navigation links, but your call to action page should act like the start of a funnel, and aim to direct visitors in only one direction.
If you absolutely must include links to other areas of your website, consider how to minimize the chance visitors will click on those links. For one thing, only include top-level navigation, and consider even leaving some links out entirely. Links should only be included if there's a legitimate reason someone on your call to action page would likely click on those links. If they wouldn't think of it on their own, don't include it.
Do make use of modal windows
For some links or information that visitors might need to know to make a purchasing decision, consider using modal windows rather than redirecting to a new page. Modal windows can serve up whatever information your visitors want, without ever taking them away from the main conversion funnel.
Through modal windows and tooltips, you can provide things like FAQs, feature lists, support questions, and more, while still making it easy for your visitor to continue their conversion. Modal windows are an invaluable tool for this purpose, and should be used whenever possible instead of a link that redirects to an entirely new page outside of your conversion funnel.
Don't use red for your call-to-action buttons
In a lot of cultures, especially in the Western world, red means "stop". It's the color of aggression, danger, stop signs, and stop lights. Even in its more positive connotations (passion and love), it's a color of commitment and big steps. So why on earth do designers use it for a button they want visitors to click on?
If you're designing a site for a Western audience, avoid red for call to action buttons if at all possible. In some cases it might work, but it's more likely to provoke a negative response, at least subconsciously, in many of your visitors. You'd probably find an increase in conversion rates if you changed the color to something more positive, like blue or green (which is widely considered a very positive color).
Don't let your call-to-action button get lost
While a big red button isn't going to be the most effective call to action, it's still important to draw attention to your call to action. You can do this through location, negative space around the button, the size of the button, and the contrast with the rest of the page.
Some of the most effective call to action buttons are green, while the rest of the site uses little to no green. In effect, creating a button that "clashes", just slightly, with the surrounding page draws attention to that element.
Do only include the information your visitors need
Give your visitors the information they need to take the desired action, and nothing more. The goal is to give as little information as possible while still getting them to convert. This isn't because we want to trick our visitors or customers, but simply because the more information they have to sift through, the more likely something is to interrupt them and take them away from your site.
Think in terms of the information your visitors are likely interested in, and then express that in concrete, active terms. Keep your copy brief and to the point. Consider that your visitors are likely busy people, and they want to know right away whether what you're offering them is in line with what they need. If they can't figure that out quickly, they'll likely assume it isn't.
A designer's job in all this is to make sure that the copy presented on the page has a distinct hierarchy and is well-organized. It should be scannable, so the visitor can instantly pick out the information they're interested in, without having to read through a bunch of stuff they don't care about.
Don't ask for too much information
In creating your signup form, make sure that you only ask for the bare minimum amount of information. If all that's really required is an email address, then only ask for that. If you absolutely need a phone number, make sure you let your customers know why it's necessary.
Again, this is all about not giving your visitors an excuse to leave your site. Each additional bit of information you ask them for is putting up a barrier to them completing your form. The more barriers, the less likely they are to finish.
Don't ask for too much commitment
Immediately asking your visitors to purchase something can be a turn-off. Instead, consider using more neutral phrasing for your call to action. Using two or three steps to funnel your visitors in the right direction can be more effective than trying to get them to immediately make a decision.
Consider making your primary call to action a button that says something like "See plans and pricing" or "Learn more", rather than "Buy now" or "Sign up". It's less intimidating, and lets visitors know exactly what to expect next.
Do keep it simple
Call to action pages have one very specific goal: to get visitors to perform a specific action. Anything that does not directly contribute to that is superfluous.
Now, this doesn't mean your page has to be sparse and minimalist, but it does mean that you should take a close look at what really belongs on the page and what doesn't. If it's adding to a visitor's trust in the page, their comprehension of the content, or otherwise positively influencing their visit, then the argument could easily be made that the element is, in fact, necessary.
Don't let your links break
A lot of call to action pages are based on short-term offers. In other words, they have built-in expiration dates. The issue with this is that links coming into the site (including bookmarks) aren't going to change just because your offer ends.
Think about how to prevent a broken link when your offer expires. One way is to redirect that offer page to the new offer page (or just keep re-using the same URL for all of your specials). Alternatively, you could redirect to your home page (though only if it's not going to confuse repeat visitors). Or, you could create a post-offer page that talks about what the offer was, how successful it was, or any other pertinent information.
Do direct users to the best options
If you're offering your visitors more than one purchase or sign-up option, it's a good idea to make some kind of indication as to which is the most popular or best option. This can be done in a couple of different ways. The first is to make it the default selection. The second is to use some kind of graphical indication to single out a specific option.
The second option is the most popular with things like pricing tables. Be careful not to automatically indicate the most expensive option, though. That can turn off potential purchasers, who feel like you might be trying to sell them more than they actually need. Instead, many companies opt to highlight a good mid-level package.
Do make the value clear
Visitors need to know what the value in something is before they purchase or sign up for it. Remember, buyers are interested in how something benefits them, not just the features it has. Tell buyers how your product will help them, rather than just what it does.
A strong headline, clear copy, and good organization can all help make the value evident to your visitors. Just make sure that before you start, you know exactly what the value is, so you can convey that to your customers.
Don't forget to test your pages
Too many designers spend all sorts of time creating call to action or landing pages but then never bother to test them to make sure they're working. This leaves conversions on the table, and costs companies money.
Take some time to run A/B or multivariate tests before you decide on a final version of your page. Listen to the results of those tests, and put up the page that converts the best, regardless of what your "gut instinct" tells you.
For professional and affordable website design and development, feel free to contact us at Farend, for no obligation quotation.
The above article was originally published by Web Designer Depot and can be seen here.