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Thank you to all the families, staff and children at Comet Children's Centre - especially Gareth, Sarah Jane and Clara. We made our own mincemeat, mince pies, mince muffins, Christmas cakes, soaps, gingerbread shapes, carrot cake muffins, chocolate muffins, lots of icings and more.
Latitude 2016 - Action Aid UK Tent Workshops
Action Aid UK are an amazing charity and I was thrilled to be asked to be part of their Latitude Festival activities. The theme this year within their tent at the Festival was menstruation. There were mixed reactions when I discussed this with lots of people prior to the event; from mild interest, confusion and lots of pulled faces. It's something that all women will experience in their lives, a rite of passage, a cycle and the varied reactions reflect the different experiences that women will feel at different times. What we often do not think about are how people struggle with issues pertaining to menstruation in third world countries, while experiencing homelessness or poverty. The Action Aid Uk tent were offering activities including henna painting, dance and drumming workshops, my jewellery workshops and more.
My session focused on creating waist beads from recycled African glass beads:
- Waist beads are a celebration of womanhood and femininity.
- Waist beads are not only for the young or slim!
- Waist beads can also be worn around wrists or necks.
Waist beads can be traced throughout Africa, they are depicted in Egyptian hieroglyphics are famous from the Yoruba tribes of Nigeria. They are a chain of beads worn at the waist and have personal meaning to the wearer. Meanings include:
Adornment - worn under or over clothes or via an exposed mid-drift, waist beads are decorating our vital middle sections with one of a kind, personal pieces. It is not about conforming to body pressure but empowering this area and highlighting femininity.
Menstruation - Mothers may traditionally create and present their daughters with waist beads as a rite of passage into womanhood. Waist beads were/are practical as menstrual cloths could be strapped to the beads to provide a type of belt.
Celebration of Womanhood - waist beads are worn during rites of passage during puberty, at weddings. Waist beads are used as a tool to measure weight loss or gain as they will roll up or down which can also be used to signal a pregnancy. They are also said to allure partners and to signify that a young woman was ready for marriage.
Protection - as with lots of jewellery, waist beads are thought to offer healing energy to the wearer and protect them from negative energy. Gems and stones are included to provide specific powers.
Waist beads, like everything, can be seen negatively by some:
Ownership of Women - Some say that the placing of the waist beads at puberty can be seen as staking a claim on the woman's virginity, purity and placing the father or parents in control.
Charms - Some waist beads have been known to be charmed or have spells placed upon them to entice or entrap the opposite sex.
African beads reflect the diversity of African geography, culture, resources, technology, religions and society. Beads have been found on or next to human remains dating as far back as 100,000 years ago, a number that gets larger with further archaeological finds. African beads have historically featured organic materials such as seeds, shells, bone, nuts but include those made from stone, shell, ceramic, glass, wood, bone, metals, plastic, computer chips and more. Today there is a growing industry of recycled glass and plastic beads.
Bead use and meanings range from decoration, trade, monetary, emulation, religion, adoration, fashion and more.
Thank you so much to all the staff and volunteers of Action Aid UK and Latitude Festival!
Gazpacho at Wentworth Children's Centre
Everyone loves a soup during the winter months to get all ones nutrients and to keep warm. Gazpacho is a great way to enjoy soup in the summer and stay hydrated, refreshed and get much of ones five a day. Gazpacho is typically a Spanish dish with a recipe that will vary and depend on whom you ask and how their parents or grandparents made it. The following is a simple Gazpacho recipe that is simple and fun to make with children and suited to their taste buds.
1 kilo red ripe tomato chopped
1 green pepper deseeded and chopped
1 red pepper deseeded and chopped
1 large cucumber deseeded and chopped
1/2 a small white onion chopped
1 garlic clove chopped
250 ml tomato juice
100ml extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 chunk or two slices of stale (not moldy) bread
salt and freshly milled black pepper
- Cover and soak the bread with the tomato juice and leave while preparing the other ingredients.
- Combine the tomato, green and red pepper, cucumber, garlic and toss in the olive oil.
- Remove the bread from the tomato juice and squeeze the excess juice from the bread and add the bread to the prepared vegetables.
- Blend everything together in a food processor or with a hand blender until smooth with no chunks.
- Now stir in the olive oil, cider vinegar and salt and pepper to taste.
- Chill for at least two hours and serve as is or with garnishes such as finely diced cucumber, herbs, ham, eggs, spring onions, peppers or anything you would like.
Salmon Pasta and Salad at Wentworth Children's Centre
Here are the salmon and brocolli pasta and accompanying beetroot salad that we made today at the Healthy Eating Course held at Wentworth Children's Centre. My workshops focus on healthy recipes that are easy to prepare and cost-effective. The workshops allow for the parents and children to prepare ingredients and cook together and try new things. We cook our meals and then sit down together to enjoy the fruits of everyone's labour.
400g pasta (penne or fusili or tagliatelle)
250g skinless and boneless salmon fillets
250ml yoghurt
150 ml vegetable stock
150g broccoli - chopped very finely
25g butter
25g parmesan (optional)
1 chili finely chopped
1 lemon
bay leaf
Mixed herbs
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- First poach the salmon. In a medium saucepan, add the vegetable stock, the juice of half a lemon, bay leaf, salt, pepper and heat to medium high. Add the salmon with the skin side next to the pan. Cover, reduce the heat and cook for 5 minutes or until cooked through. Once cooked remove from pan, cover and allow to cook. Keep the poaching liquid. Break the salmon up in to smaller flakes and remove any bones that may still be in the filets.
- Prepare the water for the pasta according to the instructions and be sure to add salt to the water. Set a timer and cook the pasta until al dente, strain and reserve.
- Melt the butter in the pan with the poaching liquid, add the chili to the poached water and stir over medium heat for one minute.
- Then add the brocolli, cover with a lid and cook on medium heat for three to five minutes.
- Next add the yoghurt to the mixture and stir well until everything is combined well.
- Add the parmesan to the mixture and combine.
- Add the mixture and the flaked salmon to the pasta, add salt and pepper then stir and thoroughly combine.
- Garnish with fresh parsley (or any fresh herb) and serve.
1 tbsp Olive oil
fresh cracked pepper and a pinch of salt
- Finely chop all the ingredients with the exception of the rocket and place in a bowl.
- Toss together with the olive oil, salt and pepper.
- Gently stir and fold the rocket into the vegetables.
Student Thank You Card
I love working with people of all ages doing arts, crafts and food workshops. I received this thank you card from a young girl who I have worked with several times before when she has attended workshops with her twin sister and their grandmother. Today we made mobiles and talked about art, crafts and musicals. I was really touched to receive this card at the end of the session and it hangs up and inspires me each and every day.
Mosaic - Henry Maynard Primary School
Here is the completed mosaic made over a four week period at Henry Maynard Primary School in Walthamstow London. Henry Maynard is a wonderful school where everyone from the children, staff and students are enthusiastic, kind, caring and proud of their lovely school. I facilitated a family learning course with eight children and their mothers. The children and parents came up with the theme of a ship, which is the schools emblem, coming out of a book and different items which symbolise what they love about their school such as music, reading, maths, friendship, sport and arts. The hand border are the mosaic hands that they all made from their own hands on the first day and symbolise the teamwork that they all showed throughout the project. I am so proud of everyone on the course and at the school and so thankful to everyone, especially Lauren and Alison Pearson. Please do check out my other mosaic projects at Wentworth Children's Centre and Comet Children's Centre.
Handmade Bath Bombs or Bath Fizzies
In our final six-week soap making course we made bath bombs or bath fizzies. We've all seen these in the shops or have received some as a gift and they are fun,give great results and are luckily easy to make. You can buy all the ingredients from most shops, chemists or online. To form the shapes of your bathbombs you can buy specific shapes online that will create round ones or use silicone moulds, recyclable items like little yoghurt pots or go to the pound shop and buy a muffin tray which is what I have used for this class.
Dry Ingredients
250g bicarbonate of soda
75g epsom salts or mineral salt
75g citric acid
50g cornstarch
Wet Ingredients
2 tsp oil
1/2 tsp water
4 drops essential oil/fragrance
1-2 drops food colouring/beauty grade colourings
Bath Bombs/Bath Fizzies Instructions
- Lightly grease your moulds, trays or containers with any oil.
- Mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl, make sure there are no lumps at all, use a whisk or a spatula to make sure there are no lumps.
- Combine all your wet ingredients together in a separate container and thoroughly mix.
- In stages, add a little bit of the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, stirring all the time, until both are combined. You might hear a bit of fizzing which is normal, you just need to keep stirring.
- .Your mixture will start to appear a bit damp and clumpy and you can test if it's ready by balling some together in your hand. You want the mixture to hold it's shape and not crumble. If it is crumbling and you have added all your colour mixture you can give your mixture a spray of water and them stir again until it holds together in your hands. Don't be tempted to add lots of water as this will make the mixture expand.
- When the mixture is ready you can add it to your moulds, trays or containers. Make sure to pack it in tightly to the mould, tray or container or the mixture will crumble and not hold its shape.
- Leave the moulds or trays for at least an hour and then remove. f using silicone moulds, leave your bath fizzies in over night and then take them out of the moulds.
- When packaging or storing your bath fizzies make sure that they are not kept in an air tight container or they will expand or explode. Keep them in a baggie or paper bag or box until ready to be used.
Burger & Veggie Burgers - Wk 6 - Healthy Eating Fast FoodTakeaway Alternatives
A burger and chips may be the poster child of the fast food world. Everyone loves burgers and chips in some fashion at one time or another. With McDonald's being so prevalent all over the world burgers and chips have buried themselves into our subconscious so that when we may need something cheap and/or quick and/or naughty they will pop into our minds as an option and/or craving. Burgers range in quality and price and variety and we may be tricked into thinking that a veggie burger is always a healthier option than a meat burger however just like their meaty cousins, veggie burgers range in quality and cost as well.
For this session we handmade our own veggie burgers and meat burgers and opted for a healthier sweet potato chip. What is great about making your own burgers is that you know exactly what is going in to them and you can adapt the recipe to suit your own tastes and preferences. The veggie burgers are made with butter beans but any pulse can be added. Both burgers can be made in advance and frozen which comes in handy for those times when you may not know what to cook or lack inspiration. When freezing the veggie bean burgers you want to freeze them before the flour, egg and breadcrumb stage and save that stage for after they are defrosted. I was guilty of whining to my mother when she made homemade burgers that, "They don't taste the same." I was right but they didn't taste the same because they tasted better and by getting everyone involved in preparing the salad, helping to shape the burgers, offering different toppings and seeing who can build the best burger - a homemade burgers and chips night can be a fun evening for family and friends.
Butter Bean Burger Ingredients:
400g can butter beans (*or any pulse) - drained, rinsed and shells removed
30g fresh mozzarella chopped (*or substitute a cheese of your choice)
30g parmesan grated (*or substitute a cheese of your choice)
4 tbsp coconut oil (* or substitute olive oil)
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 Tbsp sesame seeds
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp chili powder
handful of chopped parsley
3 tbsp plain flour
1 egg beaten
75g fresh white breadcrumbs
fine sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
* use a cheese of your choice or substitute 60 grams of left over mashed potato
Butter Bean Burger Instructions
- Use a fork to mash up the beans in a bowl and set aside.
- Gently heat the coconut oil in a pan and add the onion and garlic. Cook over a low heat for 4-6 mins, until softened.
- Add the onion and garlic mixture into the butter beans and stir.
- Add the cheeses, sesame seeds, cumin, coriander, chili and parsley. Shape the mixture into burgers of your desired size, cover and chili for 20 mins.
- Set up three plates; one for the flour, one for the beaten egg and one for the breadcrumbs.
- Roll each burger in the flour, then the egg and then the breadcrumbs - making sure the burger is coated all over at each stage.
- Heat the remaining 2 Tbsp of coconut oil to medium in a non-stick frying pan and add burgers. Cook for 5-7 minutes on each side until golden brown.
- Place on a piece of kitchen paper to remove excess oil and serve on their own or with pita bread, rolls or salad.
Beef Burger Ingredients
500g pack extra-lean beef mince
100g fine breadcrumbs
1 onion, minced
3 cloves of garlic minced
1 Tbsp coconut oil
1 Tbsp dijon mustard
1 Tbsp tomato paste
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp mixed dried herbs
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
Beef Burger Instructions
- Add all the ingredients in a large bowl and thoroughly mix.
- With clean hands shape the mixture into burgers of your desired size and thickness. Place in a single layer on a plate, cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge for 15 minutes.
- Heat 1 Tbsp of coconut oil on a non-stick frying pan and cook for 4-8 minutes on each side until cooked as desired.
- Place on a piece of kitchen paper to rest and remove excess oil and serve on their own or with pita bread, rolls or salad.
Blackened Sweet Potato Chips Ingredients*
4 medium sweet potatoes, cut into chips size and width of a pinkie finger
1 Tbsp coconut oil
pinch smoked paprika
pinch chilli flakes
pinch ground cumin
pinch ground coriander
pinch onion salt
pinch garlic salt
pinch cayenne pepper
pinch black pepper
pinch oregano
pinch thyme
pinch of freshly ground black pepper
* omit or add ingredients as desired or available
Blackened Sweet Potato Chips Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 220°C/200°C if it's fan assisted.
- Cut sweet potatoes into chips roughly the size and width of a pinkie finger.
- Add all the dry ingredients and the coconut oil into a bowl and mix together thoroughly.
- Add the sweet potato chips to the bowl and mix thoroughly so that the oil and seasoning are dispersed all over the chips.
- Place onto two baking trays so that the chips are in a single layer.
- Place into a preheated oven and cook for half an hour, turning at the midway point and making sure that they do not burn.
Cold Process Soap Making
I've been teaching a six-week Soap Making Course at Wentworth Children's Centre and for weeks 4 and 5 we have been learning the cold press (CP) technique. We could have easily spent the whole six weeks on the CP technique but since part of the course has been family learning and we involved the children of the families there in the activities where it was appropriate for them to do so.
We had been building up to this session and this was our most technical as well as creative which explains our scales, goggles and gloves. For the first of the CP technique weeks we used the following recipe which I calculated using the fabulous SoapCalc.net:
150g distilled water (or filtered water, then boiled and cooled)
60g lye
160g olive oil
160g coconut oil
40g almond oil
40g castor oil
10 g lavender essential oil
Turkish Food - Wk 5 - Healthy Eating Fast Food/Takeaway Options
For week 5 of the Healthy Eating Fast Food Alternatives course we prepared a Turkish feast at Sebright Children's Centre. Each time I run this course the fifth week's menu is chosen by the students. Turkish food is very healthy and very varied but like any food eaten at restaurants it can be full of extra calories and fat. A special thanks is due to Selma who is Turkish and works at Sebright and another very kind Turkish woman who attended the course with her daughters. Together they helped us tweak the recipes and gave us lots of tips. Selma noted that Turkish food often involves a lot of preparation and different stages so we chose these recipes that can be prepared in advance, are cost effective and served with healthy sauces and sides. Selma and Itidal and all the staff at Sebright have been so helpful to myself and the families on the course and they make working at Sebright such a pleasure and I am very thankful for their hard work and support.
For our feast we prepared falafel, lamb kofte, hummous, vegetable cous cous, salad and a homemade mint dressing served with pita bread for 8 adults and 5 children for £15 in two hours.
Falafel Recipe
400g can chickpea, rinsed and drained
Half a red onion, finely chopped
garlic clove, chopped
handful of fresh parsley
handful of fresh coriander
2 tbsp breadcrumbs
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1⁄2 tsp chilli powder
2 tbsp plain flour
2 tbsp canola oil or coconut oil
toasted pitta bread
lettuce, tomato and various accompaniments as desired
Falafel Instructions
- Rinse the chickpeas and soak them in water and lightly rub the chickpeas with your finger and thumb to remove the shell surrounding each chickpea and then discard shells.
- Blend all the ingredients until they are a smooth consistency. Cover with plastic wrap and allow the mixture to rest for 20-45 minutes, if not longer.
- Heat up your oil to medium hot but be careful to not burn the oil.
- Shape the mixture into golf sized ball shapes and gently flatten a bit using wet hands so that the mixture does not stick to your hands. Place the balls ready to fry on a plate.
- Fry the falafel balls until they go a deep brown in colour, turn carefully and cook the other side. When they are ready remove and place on a sheet of kitchen towel for a few moments to soap up any excess oil.
- Serve in pita bread or on their own with tomato, lettuce, hummus and other dips and gerkhins, pickled cabbage or other accompaniments.
Lamb Kofte Recipe
1 garlic clove, crushed
2 tbsp chopped mint
500g lean lamb mince
1 small red onion finely chopped
1/4 green pepper, cored, deseeded and finely chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Lamb Kofte Instructions
- Mix together the garlic and mint in a bowl, add the lamb and stir well. Cover and leave to marinate in a cool place or the fridge for 10 minutes.
- Shape the mixture into 5 cm long sausage shapes or 3 cm wide round disc shapes and leave to rest covered in a cool place or fridge for 10 minutes.
- Preheat the grill to a hot setting.
- Place the shaped lamb kofte in a single layer on a baking tray and place on the top shelf and cook for 10 minutes, after 10 minutes turn each kofte and cook for another 10 minutes being sure to not burn. Alternatively you can grill the kofte as well for 4-5 minutes on each side until cooked through.
- Serve with mint dressing, cous cous, salad, hummous,e tc.
Hummous Recipe
Two tins (425 grams) chickpeas
Fresh lemon juice, about 1 large lemon
60ml tahini
3 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for serving
1 garlic clove, pressed or finely minced
2 to 3 tablespoons water
1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt, depending on taste
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
Dash of ground paprika for serving if desired
A sprig of fresh coriander for serving if desired
Hummous Instructions
- Open the tin of chickpeas, drain the liquid and then rinse well with water. Soak the chickpeas in some water and using your fingers and thumb to lightly rub the chickpeas which will release the shells from the chickpea. When all the shells are removed strain the water and keep the chickpeas to the side for the moment.
- In a separate bowl or blender add tahini, lemon juice and the olive oil to a bowl or blender and mix until thoroughly combined. Make sure to scrape the sides down into the mixture and blend/mix again.
- Add the garlic, cumin and salt to the mixture and blend for one minute. Make sure to scrape the sides down into the mixture and blend until thoroughly combined.
- Add the chickpeas in stages to the mixture and blend until combined. Keep blending until the humous is thick and smooth.
- Taste the humous and add any more ingredients until it is of a desired taste and consistency. If the mixture is still not a smooth enough consistency you can add another tablespoon of olive oil or water and then blend again for 1 minute.
- Place the humous into a decorative serving bowl or plate and then garnish with a tablespoon of olive oil, sprinkle with paprika and garnish with a sprig of coriander.
Homemade hummous will last for one week in an airtight container in the fridge.
You can add all sorts of things to hummous to jazz it up, for example roasted garlic, roasted red peppers, chillies and more. You can also use any sort of pulses such as butter beans to make a slightly different type of dip.
If you like a very smooth consistency of hummous you can remove the shells before adding it to the mixture.
For an even more inexpensive hummous you can use dried chickpeas which are cheaper. For this you should soak the chickpeas in water overnight and then cook gently for an hour the next day until soft.
Vegetable Cous Cous Recipe
500g cous cous
500g organic vegetable stock or one free of MSG or additives
100g tomato diced small
half a red pepper diced small
half a green pepper diced small
half a yellow pepper diced small
handful of fresh parsley
pinch of salt
pinch of freshly cracked pepper
Vegetable Cous Cous Instructions
- Place the couscous in a heatproof bowl, pour 500ml/18fl oz of vegetable stock over the couscous. Leave to stand until the liquid has been absorbed. Season with salt and pepper and fluff the couscous with a fork. Set aside until all the liquid is absorbed, about 15-20 minutes.
- Add all the remaining ingredient and stir until combined. Any diced vegetables can be added to make a tasty cous cous salad.
- Transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with some larger slices of vegetables like peppers or tomatoes and serve.
Basic Mint Dressing
one bunch of mint
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
4 tbsp boiling water
4 tbsp cider vinegar
1 level tbsp sugar or agave syrup
Basic Mint Dressing Instructions
- Separate the stems from the mint leaves and discard the stems.
- Gently rub the salt into the mint leaves sprinkle and chop into roughly .5-1 cm pieces.
- Add the leaves to a heatproof bowl then stir in the sugar or agave syrup.
- Top the mint with the freshly boiled water while stirring thoroughly and then leave to cool.
- Once the mixture is cool, stir in the cider vinegar.
- Add more water or vinegar and adjust seasoning to suit your taste.
The dressing can be added to vegetables, salads, meat and fish.


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Collaborative Law
Collaborative Law allows you to work efficiently with the support of a team of professionals to settle your divorce or other family law issues confidentially without the threat of litigation, to create an ongoing working relationship with your spouse, and avoid the destruction of your family. Collaborative law gives you individual representation and advocacy along with the support of a neutral mental health professional and, if appropriate, a neutral financial specialist that will enable you to reach resolution efficiently and at a much lower cost than litigation. Collaborative law allows you to avoid the uncertain outcome of court and to achieve a settlement that best meets the specific needs of you, your spouse and your children.
The collaborative process can be used to facilitate a broad range of family issues, including divorce, disputes between parents, contempt, modification, and the negotiation of prenuptial and postnuptial agreements. Collaborative law avoids the adversarial, oppositional process of litigation, instead focusing on a consensual and mutual approach.
Mediation and mediation support
Nussbaum Family Law offers mediation to facilitate direct negotiation of your family law issues at a fraction of the cost of litigation. We provide guided negotiation using our skilled, impartial mediation services. Mediation helps you achieve resolution that will meet your needs and goals, and preserve a respectful working relationship with the other party. We will assist communication, encourage understanding and help focus you on your individual and common interests. Through mediation, we will work with you to explore options, make decisions and reach your own agreement in a neutral, confidential process.
If you choose to mediate your divorce or modification elsewhere, you still need the representation of counsel to ensure that your agreement is complete, accurate, and meets your needs and your children's best interests. Nussbaum Family Law can act as your consulting counsel, enabling you to enter mediation knowing what to expect and understanding the law. We will discuss your concerns and help you prioritize your goals and decisions, answer your questions, make suggestions, be your reality check, and offer feedback between mediation sessions. We will also help you consider your options to make informed decisions. Nussbaum Family Law will review any draft agreement, explain the legal language, and see if any important terms are missing. We will advise you whether your agreement is lawful, enforceable, fair, and whether it satisfies your priorities and concerns.
Prenuptial and postnuptial agreements
A prenuptial agreement or a postnuptial agreement can be essential to protect premarital assets or inherited assets, and to protect children from a previous marriage. In Massachusetts, a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement will be enforced if it is equitable at the time it was entered into and at the time of enforcement. Nussbaum Family Law can help you draft and negotiate an effective, enforceable prenuptial or postnuptial agreement or examine such a pre-existing agreement to determine whether it is enforceable or vulnerable to challenge. We can assist you craft a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement through mediation, mediation support, collaborative law, or direct representation.
Negotiation-based representation
If alternative dispute resolution in the form of collaborative law or mediation is not an option, Nussbaum Family Law offers negotiation-based representation up to and through pre-trial conference, at which time the vast majority of matters settle. Attorney Nussbaum will draft and argue motions and a pretrial memorandum on your behalf, all the while negotiating settlement favorable to your interests and your children, if applicable.
Parties usually file for no-fault divorce in Massachusetts, alleging that the marriage has suffered an irretrievable breakdown. In an uncontested petition, parties may agree upon terms before going to court and file a joint petition for divorce, known as a "1A" petition. Where the parties are unable to agree on terms ahead of time, a party may unilaterally file a "contested" petition for divorce, known as a "1B" petition. Even when a petition is contested, it will convert to an uncontested petition if and when parties are able to reach agreement on the terms of divorce. Nussbaum Family Law will work with you to file a divorce petition depending on your needs and your particular situation. We believe that peaceful resolution of divorce is usually but not always the best way forward for parties seeking divorce.
Alimony/spousal support
Massachusetts alimony reform has changed the way alimony functions in Massachusetts. Previously alimony could be indefinite; now in most instances alimony is time-limited, although the Probate Court still has discretion to protect economically dependent, elderly and infirm spouses. There are different types of alimony with shorter or longer alimony terms, including general term alimony, that provides for payments to an economically dependent spouse, rehabilitative alimony, that provides for payment to spouses to complete education or find employment, reimbursement alimony, payments for a spouse to be compensated by monetary or non-monetary contributions that allowed the other spouse to complete education or job training, and transitional alimony, that allows spouses to adjust to a different lifestyle or location. Nussbaum Family Law can advise you on the different forms of alimony and advocate for the most advantageous application of the alimony laws.
Asset division
In Massachusetts, the Probate Court divides marital assets based on equitable considerations, including: (i) the length of marriage; (ii) the conduct and contribution of the parties during marriage; and (iii) the parties' relative education, needs and ability for future earnings and acquisition of assets. Although in practice there is usually a presumption of equal division for a marriage of long duration, there may be complex factors that might override that presumption. Division of assets can be complicated by premarital assets, inherited assets, business valuation, partnerships, stock, other monetary vehicles, and other types of property. Nussbaum Family Law can advise you as to valuation and the equitable division of these and other assets.
Child support
The amount of Child support depends on the amount of income earned by both parents and takes into account health insurance premiums, work-related child care expenses, and pre-existing child support orders. The child support guidelines define what is "income" for purposes of child support, as well as a formula for calculating child support. Child support can deviate from the guidelines in situations where a child has special needs or where the payor parent has unusual circumstances. Special rules under the Massachusetts child support guidelines also now apply to high-income families. Nussbaum Family Law will advise you on child support and advocate for the most beneficial application of the alimony and child support laws to meet your children's needs.
Child custody and parenting plans
Massachusetts law on child custody has evolved to favor joint legal and physical custody when in a child's best interests. Nussbaum Family Law can help you craft a parenting plan that works for your family and is in your children's best interests, and when appropriate, will work with trained child specialist professionals who can help you reach an agreement. When agreement is not possible, Nussbaum Family Law will work with guardians ad litem (court-appointed professionals who investigate and make observations and recommendations to the court regarding parenting plans) to help determine what arrangement is in your children's best interests. Nussbaum Family Law has extensive experience dealing with the Department of Children and Families ("DCF") and help you navigate DCF investigations and allegations of child abuse and neglect.
Modification and contempt
After divorce, you may need to modify child support, child custody, or parenting plan where there has been a "material change in circumstances," or to enforce an agreement or judgment where the other party is not following its terms. Examples can include a substantial change in income, a party's failure to pay child support or alimony, or when the best interest of a child requires a modified parenting plan. Nussbaum Family Law provides mediation, mediation support, collaborative law services and direct representation in issues involving modification or contempt.
Nussbaum Family Law assists family members or other interested parties in obtaining guardianship for children when parents are unable or unavailable to maintain their care and custody. We also represent parents or children in modifying or vacating guardianships when they are no longer necessary.
Either because you or your former spouse has received an unfavorable result at the trial level, you may need appellate representation. Unlike many capable trial level law practices, Nussbaum Family Law can offer you extensive expertise in appellate practice. We are experienced at identifying appellate issues from a trial judge's decision and can confidently navigate the complicated appellate process. Attorney Beth Nussbaum has had nearly 20 years of experience in interpreting prevailing case law, preparing clear and concise appellate argument, and appearing before the Massachusetts appeals courts on a multitude of occasions. Click here to see a sampling of Beth's numerous published and unpublished cases: https://www.avvo.com/attorneys/02067-ma-beth-nussbaum-1356243/legal_cases.
LGBTQ divorce and family law services
Nussbaum Family Law provides divorce and family law services to same-sex/LGBTQ couples or individuals, who are entitled to the same rights and protections as heterosexual parties.


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We had an interesting and enlightening interview with Barrister Tomi Vincent, a Real Estate Lawyer. He discussed on due diligence in land transactions and doing your proper homework to avoid being cheated on and duped. Read the interview below:
NREH: For how many years have you practised as a real estate lawyer?
Barr Vincent: 26 years now.
NREH: Have you always wanted to practise law in real estate?
Barr Vincent: Not exactly. It was just a matter of accident. It was not something I really enjoyed as a course while we were in school but as time went on, I developed interest in it, developed expertise in it as well.
NREH: Were you practising law before you switched to real estate law?
Barr Vincent: I just wanted to be a commercial lawyer. In the course of commercial law practice, I just found out that you had to buy properties for people. So, I heightened my interest to know more. This got me interested and so when I undertook further courses of study in this aspect, it helped me to become more astute and have an in-depth knowledge, deeper insight on real estate law.
NREH: Why do people still go to buy land from omoniles instead of a credible real estate company? Ignorance?
Barr Vincent: This is the point; it's not as if buying from omonile is in itself a bad thing. It is just about buying from the right omonile, that is really the challenge because even the real estate practitioner will go and buy from omonile and will take from omonile. The bottom line is the ability to find the right omonile who has the estate or the proper authority, he title which can be passed to other people buying from them. Most times, there are people who position themselves, who are just rent collectors or probably because they have thuggery, they assume authority to be sell the land that does not belong to them.
NREH: What is Lagos state doing to scrap out fraudulent land transactions?
Barr Vincent: Ehm, number one, in recent times, a law to stop the trespassing of omonile. Then, number two is the instrument that will enable titles to pass when there is purchase and there is an ease of perfecting the papers as well to be sure that the milieu for proper transaction is done for land sales and purchases but you know ultimately, ehm, it is still a case of buyers beware because there is no amount of what the government can put in place to stop you if you are not mindful of the fact that your money can be lost if proper checks are not made and if people that are supposed to help you are not put in motion to help you, lawyers to go and do investigation for you and things like that. What government would do is to help based on the understanding and assumption that you have done your proper check as well and that is why probably it comes out with the issue of what you said earlier about real estate companies who have the time to go out and do all the necessary things and now they are selling at a premium to you. Some people ask why would I buy my land at that price when I can buy at a lesser price. This is one of the things that you also get because a good real estate company is assumed to have done all the necessary things you might not do due to negligence or carelessness .They have fought all the battles that you might not fight.
NREH: Should a real estate investor get a lawyer? Or do you need big ticket transactions to get a real estate lawyer? Does it make sense to ordinarily employ the services of a real estate lawyer?
Barr Vincent: Oh, it makes sense because you see, when we are talking about real estate transactions, it is not just about the purchase of land alone, it is an on-going thing, you know , purchase, perfection, the acquisition itself. It also doesn't have to be a big ticket transaction also to get lawyers to help you do these things. It is very important. That's why I always advice people that the lawyer should not always be the last point of call. The case of penny wise pounds foolish is what makes peoples wait. Expose your deals and dealings to your lawyers so that there is a regular stream of advice and it doesn't come too late.
NREH: What would you advise a new person going into real estate investment especially because of the high rate of real estate fraudulent activity?
Barr Vincent: I will say you must be mindful of the fact that it is a risky terrain and you can do all to minimize your risk by ensuring that whenever you want to do any transactions, you get your lawyers, you are diligent, you are not in a haste and don't let anybody pressurize you until you are satisfied with your homework results. If you don't buy a land, you can buy another one. Don't let anybody make you feel like you are missing on a big opportunity. You need to understand the cost attendant to whatever you want to do. Relationship also maters but while you are relying on people to help you, be careful and diligent.


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Click here to visit attraction's home page
|The town of Vis is located in a large and naturally protected bay (Bay St. George) on the northeastern side of the island Vis, facing the island of Hvar and Dalmatian mainland. Redundant port is located in the most indented southwestern part of the bay, which is a small island and peninsula Host Prirovo protected from the effects of the high seas. Within the bay there are small areas of anchorages on Angle and Stonca. Vis is quite possibly the oldest town in Croatia, which has existed for 2400 years. It has the remains of the ancient city of Issa (thermae, necropolis, theater, parts of the port), rich sacral heritage (Parish Church of Our Lady of Spilica, the Church of St. Cyprian and St. Spirit, the Franciscan monastery on the peninsula Prirovo, Shrine of the Assumption in Podselje – Velo Selo)
homes of royalty, works from various historical periods (Venice, England, Austria-Hungary).
Highway Zagreb-Split exit Split and by ferry to Vis


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John Lloyd - Authentic Christianity Pt. 7
Authentic Christianity
Practical Wisdom from the Book of James
Taming our Tongue James 3:1-12
November 5, 2017
Pastor John Lloyd
Passage: James 3:1-12
The Principle: "A little member has great power to influence."
Review: Three things that are critical for genuine faith: Controlling tongue, caring for the needy, and avoiding worldliness.
I. Remember the ___________________ of a teacher.
James 3:1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. (James 1:19, 1:26)
Job 40:4 "Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth.
Isaiah 6:5 And I said: "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!"(Numbers 12:3, Ps.106;33)
I Corinthians 12:29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles?
"The more you know the greater your responsibility and condemnation. We are not to teach to satisfy our own needs, but to bring glory to God and to deliver His Word accurately to the eternal benefit to those who hear us." Ellsworth
"Our plea is not for perfect people to go about the work of teaching, it is rather for imperfect people to go about the work in a serious and diligent way, praying, as they do so, that the Lord will be pleased to use them in their weakness." Ellsworth
We are influencing through our Words.
II. Submit your desperate need for _________ in this area.
James 3:2 For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body.
"Do you want to achieve spiritual maturity? Concentrate on your talking! If you get this under control the rest will be relatively easy for you. Give attention to your speech." Ellsworth
"We all sin in many times and many ways. About 9/10's of the flames we experience in our lives come from the tongue." Kent Hughes
James 3:8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. (Matthew 12:36)
A. The ______________ is where we're most vulnerable to Satan's attacks.
James 3:6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell.
The horse and the bit James 3:3
The ship and the rudder James 3: 4
Small spark and a great forest fire, James 3:5
B. The world ensnares us through our ______________.
Proverbs 10:19 When words are many, transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his lips is prudent.
Ecclesiastes 5:2 Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few.
Lord, I can't tame my tongue without your help! I need you! Give God control of the rudder and He will control the ship!
III. Draw from the well of the __________ ______________.
James 3:9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.
A. See God's ____________ in every person.
Genesis 1:26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.
B. Let your __________, lead you to the __________.
James 3:10From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. (Psalm 19:14)
Matthew 12:34 "Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks."
Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. (Isaiah 50:4)
Hebrews 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. (Hebrews 4:16, Psalm 81:10)
C. Begin sowing a new crop of ______________________.
James 3:11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? 12 Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.
John 6:63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. (Ephesians 4:29)
Admit the problem. No Excuses. Ask God for Help. Ask friends for help.
Don't be misled: No one makes a fool of God. What a person plants, he will harvest. The person who plants selfishness, ignoring the needs of others- ignoring God! – harvests a crop of weeds. All he'll have to show for his life is weeds! But the one who plants in response to God, letting God's Spirit do the growth work in him, harvests a crop of real life, eternal life. (Galatians 6:7-8 The Message).
Use my words… to build your kingdom, to build people!
Prayer Commitment:
Lord, I recognize that it is impossible for me to control my tongue. Help me to continually give my words to you. Realizing that these words come from my mind, I give my thoughts to you as well. Help me to think your thoughts, to see that I am your child and that I matter to you. May the words of my mouth be pleasing to you and edifying to those who listen. Show me step by step how to do this as I rely on your Spirit's wisdom and words. I want my words to glorify you!


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The most important ingredient in any process isn't expertise or charismatic personalities or financial resources. It's relationships. When the bonds are strong among the people involved, there can be productive disagreement, a full exploration of possibilities, deep investment in the work, and mutual support and accountability, all leading to forward progress.
The foundation of relationships is trust. Not simply predictability - I know your passions and hot buttons and how you'll react to each being tapped - but shared vulnerability and risk-taking. Many pastor search teams start with some sense of predictability by virtue of the members attending church together for a long time. But most (if not all teams) will need to dig in before the search begins to develop the second-level trust that will allow for the most thorough and faithful search process.
What does it look like to grow that deep trust? Here are eight Cs - from lowest to highest risk - to guide that essential work:
Clarity is getting straight within ourselves about our thoughts and commitments, then being honest with others about them.
Communication is putting our clarified knowledge and understanding out there, and in turn listening to others with open hearts and minds.
Curiosity is admitting we don't have the whole picture and wondering about what we don't know.
Compassion is showing care to and connecting at a heart level with others, believing the best about them as we do so.
Companionship is being present and authentic while still maintaining the boundaries that allow us to be clear and compassionate.
Consistency is showing up the same way every time and admitting when circumstances have thrown us off balance.
Conflict is being willing to disagree and to have our ideas improved upon.
Control release is relinquishing attachment to the outcome, trusting that the process will end up as it should so long as we bring our whole selves to it.
In pastor searches, these Cs and the resulting trust can strengthen relationships not just within the search team but between the search team and congregation and between the search team and candidates. The effects of deepened connections, in turn, extend beyond the search itself, cultivating beloved community with the Source of love at its center.
Photo by Skye Studios on Unsplash.


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Overview of Services
The services offered at Rami Shami Consulting serve to address the multidimensional and intradisciplinary nature of organizations. Services are individualized to fit the learning objectives and overarching culture of an organization.
Organizational Wellness
The mental, emotional and spiritual wellbeing of staff at all levels of operation are integral to the functional wellness of an organization.
Education And Training
Courses, trainings and educational presentations are developed and delivered utilizing best practice and extensive in-the-field experience.
Speaking Engagements
Inspiration and motivation are the hallmarks of an effective speaking engagement, leaving an audience with an impacted feeling.


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When the New Testament writers look for a metaphor to sum up the nature of the church, they choose an image of community. Church membership provides the opportunity to belong and contribute to a community of believers. In fact, membership is our opportunity to grasp hold of each other in responsibility and love. For the first time, Restoration extends to you and your family the invitation to membership with the hope it will be a gateway into an ongoing community of fellowship for you.
If you are interested in learning more, please let us know. We will either coordinate a time for a group presentation or a one-on-one.


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This article describes an issue where scheduled jobs stop working in the DXC and steps to identify and resolve the issue.
The scheduled job will appear in the CMS database in the dbo.tblScheduledItem table. Usually the job that is blocking the queue has the IsRunning value true in the database.
- Clear scheduled item from running by setting it to 0.
- Restart the web application with Managed Services
- Run manual job version of the job.
- Confirm that it worked and recheck the table referenced above.
- Scheduled job should run after these steps are completed.


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Brockwell Park Community Tennis Club
Brockwell Park,
Dulwich Park Road,
6 Hard Courts
Lead Coach: Luis Perez
E: email@example.com
Coaching programs are available for all ages and levels. With 6 courts available this is great location in the centre of the park with a view out over London. We have great bunch of regular players who have played at our club over several years.
A comprehensive Mini Tennis program that uses modified court sizes and equipment. See table below for schedule and bookings.
Our 11+ years tennis program aims to get kids playing tennis fast combining fun games and best practice technique. See table below for schedule and bookings.
Our 6 week courses are the best way to learn to play. Using our popular adult training system we aim to get you playing fast and on the tennis development pathway. We also provide weekly social matchplays and weekly drop in sessions.
Our Intermediate / Advanced sessions provide structured training and practice sessions. Drills and Matchplay sessions provide a combination of coaching and social matchplay. Our Adult LTA league teams are also picked from these sessions and regular team practices also take place.
Meet Our Team
James heads up our Junior Performance section at Lifetime Tennis and he looks after tennis programming and other 'boring' bits off the court.
Luis runs the tennis program at Putney and Barnes Community Tennis Club. He also organises all of Lifetime Tennis Teams and Leagues. Ph: 07792600003


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The Reformed Presbyterian Church of Scotland website has recently had a complete redesign. It features news from around the denomination, the latest online sermons from our ministers, a growing archive page of historical resources by and about the denomination, and more.
One of the first news articles on the new website was from our own Hannah, sharing about how she got on at Girls' Adventure Camp last weekend.
She said: "At camp reunion this year the talks were on Luke chapter 15. We learnt about the rebellious son, older brother, and the father. They taught us about how the father forgives the son that spent all his money straight away, and that his love was unconditional. This represented Jesus' love for us. We went swimming. We also had a fashion show on Saturday night. My favourite was the swimming. My favourite thing about reunion was seeing all my friends from camp and the talks."


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Every year hunters come to us with trail camera photos of great bucks that live where they hunt, and ask: "Why can't I find him during shooting light? Where is he while I'm hunting?"
Bowhunting Whitetails the Eberhart Way is all about locating and taking these elusive bucks off public and permission-granted private land. Proven methods developed by a father and son team who've killed over 50 Pope & Young bucks.
Order your copy today!


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If there were no limits what would you want to create for yourself? What are the limitations? Do you have a strategy for identifying them then drawing them to you?
The co-founder of A Course in Mastering Alchemy, and an international speaker and author, Jim Self has been leading seminars and teaching healing, clairvoyance and personal energy management courses since 1980.


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Healthy learning - Students play a game during a break from their exams at Be PA De Zouza school in Lomé. The children at the school have benefited from a nationwide deworming programme, a Togo Health Service initiative supported by GSK and WHO to control soil transmitted helminths. Photo © GSK
Lomé, Togo.
Power of recognition - A man who suffers with leprosy stops to drink a cup of water offered to him by a good samaritan, intriguing those around him. But the man in the picture is not defined by his disease, nor by the deprivation which gave it to him. He is defined by his caste, known as the Dalits (broken) or the Untouchables of old.
The photo served as the signature image for The Power of Recognition, a TEDx talk by David Griffiths about the thinking behind Being Untouchable; a series of intimate portraits illustrating the injustice, poverty and inequality suffered by many of India's 167 million Dalits.
Maharashtra, India.
Women human rights defenders - Civil engineer Manizha Paktin (left), director and co-founder of Stand Up for Afghan Women, instructs builders at a construction site in Kabul. She was photographed for an Amnesty International report on women human rights defenders at risk in Afghanistan.
Manizha was recently recognised and awarded for her work by IWEC, a New York based NGO whose mission is to connect and develop a global network of successful women business owners.
Kabul, Afghanistan.
East Timor: Who Cares? - For the people of one of the world's newest and poorest nations, the legacy of East Timor's violent past merges with the daily struggle to survive. Soaring unemployment raises concerns that violence could return to the streets as disaffection grows. With an estimated 80 per cent of young Timorese finishing school without any job prospects, most now expect to leave their troubled nation in search of work abroad.
The 'East Timor: Who Cares?' campaign, commissioned by Progressio and funded by DFID, was launched with a major exhibition in the central lobby of the Houses of Parliament.
Dili, East Timor.
Fair trade for Africa - Farmers and their families load the community's cotton harvest onto trucks to be sold collectively. Prior to loading, each farmer's harvest is weighed for a fair share of the profit. Despite the positive cooperation between Burkina Faso's two million cotton farmers, subsidised production in the west forces their income below a dollar a day.
Commissioned by Tearfund to illustrate their advocacy for fair trade.
Southern Burkina Faso.
Disappearing trades - Michael Broadway is one of only a handful of people with the skills to tune some of the UK's largest organs. Here he is working on a small section inside one of the world's most famous - the Henry Willis Organ in the Royal Albert Hall.
Built in 1871, the organ has an eye-watering 10,000 working pipes, of which 9,997 are connected to the keys and peddles. The pipes are located on multiple levels and take up the space of a four storey house.
Photographed for Metro features: Disappearing trades.
London, UK.
Being untouchable - Two Dalit girls living in a slum area of Bengaluru wash their faces before going to school. None of the families in the girls' community had a private bathroom and washed instead on wasteland. Assisted by the local Dalit community, the picture was taken for Being Untouchable, an exhibition of intimate portraits illustrating the injustice, poverty and inequality suffered by many of India's 167 million Dalits.
Bengaluru, India.
Typhoon Haiyan - Treading carefully to avoid standing on hidden nails and other sharp objects, a woman picks her way through the main street of Basey. The town was destroyed after being hit by Typhoon Haiyan.
Tearfund / Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC).
Samar, Philippines.
Rising to the challenge - As a teenager, Josephine had enough on her plate without having to deal with a conflict. When the fighting finally arrived in her community in South Sudan, it tore apart friendships, families and businesses - leaving her no choice but to flee for her life.
Rising to the challenge, Josephine walked over 400km barefoot with her seven brothers and sisters and elderly grandmother before reaching the relative safety of a displaced persons camp in the capital, Juba. In the crowded camp, Josephine still manages to attend school, while looking after her siblings, and hopes one day to become a maths teacher.
"I often feel hopeless, but I still have a little hope left. If peace comes, I will go back home and finish my education. But it is hard to see what the future will be for my country."
Juba, South Sudan.
War and famine - Blighted by war and famine, Afghan men with no jobs and no homes gather on the fringes of a refugee camp during a dust storm.
Tearfund / Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC).
Northern Pakistan.
Eliminating NTDs - Sauda chats with her friend at Bandamati School in Zanzibar. The pupils have been given Albendazole, Ivermectin and Praziquantel to control lymphatic filariasis, soil transmitted helminths and schistosomiasis. The three conditions are being targeted by the WHO as part of a global campaign to eliminate neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). Photo © GSK
Zanzibar, Tanzania.
I am South Sudanese - Edmond is blind and cannot work as he relies on being led by someone else at all times. Despite the immense difficulties of living with blindness in the midst of a conflict, Edmond's dignity radiated like a beacon. "I am South Sudanese and I am a grateful person, regardless of what happens."
Tearfund / Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC).
Juba, South Sudan.
Learning against the odds - Sisters Savitri and Sarita learn the alphabet together. They are Musahars, a community of two million known as the Dalits of the Dalits. The Musahars are a landless people, 99 per cent illiterate and often close to starving. Their diet has earned them the name of 'rat-eaters'.
The Indian press has often highlighted their plight, but they face ridicule and derision from others around them. In a nearby Musahar community, 'high' caste villagers disrupted our visit and told the Dalits that this photography would be used to mock them.
Commissioned by CSW for the Being Untouchable project, an exhibition of intimate portraits illustrating the injustice, poverty and inequality suffered by many of India's 167 million Dalits.
Bihar, India.
Water security - Children collect water at dusk in Kuajok. With few functioning boreholes in Warrap, pressure on the ones that work can be intense. When disagreements occur, they can escalate quickly and violence is not uncommon as families and communities step in to defend their side.
Out of seven boreholes built in the area in 2011, the one pictured above is the only one that still works. NGOs have been instructed to wait for the new government water system. With new borehole drilling on hold, the new system delayed, and existing water points falling into disrepair, an essential daily task has become a trigger for conflict.
Commissioned by SAFERWORLD for their 25th anniversary exhibition, presented in the UK and European Parliaments, funded by the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Warrap, South Sudan.
Curiosity - Rural Afghans always study foreigners with an intense curiosity. But even in times of conflict, behind the piercing eyes you'll often find a warm welcome and a culture of protective hospitality unique to Afghanistan.
Tearfund / Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC).
Western desert, Afghanistan.
Empowered - Roundworms, whipworms, hookworms and other soil-transmitted helminths have failed to put the brakes on these excited children, running to their after-school learning club at St Monica's Girls School. Thanks to the ongoing deworming programme in their community, part of a global initiative overseen by World Health Organisation, these girls can keep on running towards empowerment and education. Photo © GSK
Cape Coast, Ghana.


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Comedy: Chris Grace Is A Natural Neutral (Part 1)
Comedian Chris Grace has got magic to do... and also magic to do. The former is in reference to his weekly improv show, Magic To Do (which can be seen at UCB Sunset on Mondays) and the latter is in reference to the fact that he has recently started doing magic as a hobby (which can be seen at his Instagram account @ambitiouschris). If you like what you hear in this episode (and there's a lot to hear and to like), you can also find Chris on Fresh Off The Boat, Baby Wants Candy and the very well-catered Superstore. When we turn to The Fishbowl, we pull nightmares, worst qualities and even a surprise guest spot by Swinky! As always, thank you for listening!
Season 02 Episode 12
Comedy: Chris Grace Is A Natural Neutral (Part 1)
Episode 1 Released on April 2, 2019
Episode 2 Released on April 4, 2019
Episode 1 Duration: 00:49:34
Episode 2 Duration: 01:01:03
Chris Grace can be found on TikTok @chrisgracecomedy, Twitter @chrisgrace and on Instagram @chrisgracecomedy.
Hollywood Fishbowl can be found on Instagram and Twitter @HWFishbowl and at www.hollywoodfishbowl.com.


text: José Romildo Malaquias <j.romildo at gmail.com> wrote: > I need to put space characters at the beginning of a line in a LaTeX > document. The problem is that neither '~' nor '\ ' works to achieve this > behaviour. > > See the simplified document that illustrates the problem: > > \documentclass[a4paper]{article} > > \begin{document} > > \ttfamily\frenchspacing\noindent > First~line\newline > ~~Second~line > > \end{document} > > Note that, when this document is compiled, the letter 'S' in the last > line aligns to the letter 'F' in the previous line. How can I get this > 'S' aligned to the 'r' front the previous line? > > This problem should be solved without using the verbatim (or similar) > environment. so you want verbatim without the verbatim environment, but don't explain what you don't like about the environment. how about copying the code of the verbatim environment? verbatim text in tex is notoriously tricky, which is why the verbatim environment is so complicated. there are various scraps of verbatim code on the macros/plain and macros/generic trees on ctan; iirc there's one in the texbook, too. all those that work will have essentially the same code as the verbatim environment. (the \obeyspaces, \obeylines stuff.) robin


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It appears that France is following Belgium and proceeding towards a public ban on face veils. Ladies that refuse to abide by the law will be fined and 'if' it is proven that men who may have forced women to wear one can be imprisoned. (Reminds me of a much lauded yet now buried law regarding using prostitutes that the client knows to have been trafficked.) The spurious nature of such a law is plain to see for all. There is anecdotal evidence that ladies that were trafficked for prostitution told their clients this fact and asked for assistance, (Tell the Police etc.) they were ignored and abused accordingly. As for a man confessing that he had forced a lady to wear a veil, I feel this may be as likely as a politician coming up with an idea that benefits his electorate rather than himself!
The issue of women wearing veils is a contentious one, and my own feelings on the matter are that it is wrong. I do not understand the logic of it and have asked Islamic friends to explain the reason and found it confusing. My feelings aside, there appears to be a rational argument for a 'secular society' to not wish to be seen to promote any religion and not want its citizens to do the same. Therefore any public display of religious symbolism should not be tolerated. Whether religious buildings should come into this field I am not too sure, although there may be merit in questioning the imposition on the human psyche that they may play. The French Interior Ministry state that there is as little as 1,900 individuals that wear a niqab out of a population of 5,000,000 Muslims. (Seems like a very large hammer to crack a very small nut).
Here lies my real concern over this legislation, and I predict this will encompass many more countries and very soon. Not a bad idea you may say. Why is the legislation coming to the fore now? Is it because of the rampant Islamaphobia that appears to be sweeping throughout Europe? Is it because Europe has become more liberal in its approach to its citizens and sees secuarlization as a way of stemming religious despotism and narrow-mindedness. Are France and Belgium leading the charge towards a new period of enlightenment, where scientific endeavour and rational debate will be the norm? To all these questions the answer is: No!
In real terms, superstition and religion have grown over the passed thirty years or so, and this legislation is not designed to stem the flow. A population that believes in fairies, goblins, ghosts, gods and luck, works well for our political elite. This is not to say that they too aren't averse to a little superstitious belief, one only has to look at how much of our money they have squandered chasing the neo-liberal dream, even though any five-year-old can see that it doesn't work. As for their love for guru's, advisers and consultants, they have shown their devotion by squandering the few pennies we have left on nice offices and epic salaries for them.
This drive towards freeing those 'poor oppressed women' from wearing the niqab has a more sinister motive. There is little known legislation that has made its way through the EU parliament that is the true cause for the removal of the niqab, and will also be the cause for legislation, yet to come, for the removal of hoods and hats in times to come. This legislation is to do with the new digital age of surveillance and to what degree this imagery must be accurate and of the highest quality. All European states have signed up to it and all must abide by its codes. Not only will the imagery have to be of the highest resolution and the best of quality, but also, the population will have to be monitored. High-resolution imagery is of no benefit if the individuals you wish to monitor walk around with masks on, therefore all veils must be the first to be removed – because that's the easy way. No one in France or Belgium, except a minority, will see much of an issue with such legislation and may even see it as liberal approach. In truth it is but the first step, to a twenty-four-hour surveillance society where every spot, defect and political persuasion will be recorded in glorious detail.


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JFK November 22, 1963: A Bystander's View of History
As we near the 50th anniversary of JFK's assassination, there are a lot of things going on around the world to mark the tragedy. These photo's are part of an exhibition showing "stills from Abraham Zapruder's famous footage of the assassination, as well as news photographs, snapshots by bystanders, souvenirs, and scrapbooks".
JFK November 22, 1963: A Bystander's View of History


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Our writers to talk about how their mental health has changed over the last semester, year, and 5 years.Read More
The concept of "well-being" can be described as a holistic approach to health. There are 8 dimensions to well-being, which include physical, spiritual, emotional mental, intellectual, environmental, social, occupational, and financial. Everyone defines these a bit differently, and practices self-care in each of these areas using different methods. We all have parts of our well-being that are stronger than others, and breaking down our analysis into these 8 pillars helps us to pinpoint areas that need improvement.Read More
For National Eating Disorder Awareness week, Mentality's staff is sharing what makes us feel great about our bodies.Read More
What do you wish more people knew about you? We asked some of the Mentality staff what they wish more people knew about them and why.Read More
Support systems can be hard to find, but it never hurts to be proactive to find those you can lean on in hard times. In this piece, Mentality staff writers share their tips for reaching out and forming bonds.Read More
We all cope with stress/anxiety/problems in different ways. Sometimes we handle these issues well, but sometimes we are working towards better ways to cope. Here, our staff shares how they cope on good days and bad days.Read More
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, our staff reflects on what they are thankful for.Read More
Mentality's staff gives tips for how to make the new semester great!Read More
Our staff shares how they get through the winter blues. The cold, gray days can be long, but we have plenty of fun activities to get you through to summer!
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Our staff shares their stories and advice from finals season. From waking up late to panic attacks, we've been through finals before and we can do it again. We have a plethora of exam secrets, from earplugs to peppermint tea.Read More
Here's what the writing staff from Mentality is thankful for...Happy Thanksgiving!Read More


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Who would've thought that a peppy little book about an overweight gal struggling through the single life in a big city would've changed the world-the publishing world, that is.
The book was Bridget Jones' Diary, which has now been made (in)famous through its adaptation into a blockbuster film whose critical acclaim always seemed focused on the hip-size-fluctuation of Rene Zelwegger. The author, Helen Fielding, has now been credited with the invention of a new and incredibly trendy strain of literature: Chick Lit.
"Chick Lit is a phenomenon," says San Diego author Jennifer Coburn, whose new novel, The Wife of Reilly, is a benefactor of the phenomenon. "They used to call it "contemporary women's fiction,' and then Bridget Jones came along and redefined everything. Chick Lit is kind of this single girl in the city looking for love. You get into her head more. It's these highly imperfect heroines. [My book] is definitely Chick Lit. The Chick Lit ending is usually that she gets her man...."
To avoid spoiling her work, I won't divulge whether or not Coburn's main character, Prudence Malone, gets her man in the end. Although the book begins with Prudence stuck between two suitors-a new and an old hat.
"Finding a new wife for my husband was not going to be an easy task," she writes to open the novel. "Keeping [my husband] a secret from my new fiancé was going to be an even greater one. This sounds just awful, I'm sure."
Sure does. Thus begins the idea Coburn calls "romantic environmentalism," which was sparked by a fantastical exchange with a friend.
"All married women go through "moments' where they just think, "What the hell am I doing here?'" explains Coburn, herself married with a 6-year-old daughter. "My friend called me up and said, "I'm watching a housing development go up in this neighborhood, and all I can think about today is that I want my husband to move into one of these houses with his new wife and I want to move into the one next door.'"
Coburn's natural question to her friend was, what new wife?
To which her friend responded: "Oh, well, I guess I'd have to do that for him, too-like I do everything else around this house."
The two laughed off the fantasy, but while driving a half-hour later, Coburn decided the very Sex in the City idea was the nugget she needed for her new novel.
"What kind of a comedy of errors would that be for her," Coburn proposes, "to keep that a secret from her husband while dating women who want to know why they're on a date with the wife who's telling them she's [her husband's] sister."
At the time, things weren't going so well for the project Coburn was working on-a series of essays about motherhood titled Tales from the Crib. Since penning her first published article for a church newsletter in San Diego called Positive Living News, Coburn has become an established writer in San Diego on women's issues-reproductive rights, civil rights, political issues.
Her first book-Take Back Your Power: A Working Women's Response to Sexual Harassment in the Workplace (1996, ISM Press Inc.)-was a non-fictional analysis of her own experience with sexual harassment on the job, compared and contrasted with hundreds of interviews with other females with similar experiences.
Since, she has written "three to four hundred" articles on women's issues for newspapers and magazines, including the Union-Tribune. Four years ago, while receiving an award for her work, one judge commented that Coburn's style reminded him of Erma Bombeck.
"And I thought, "Wow, I'd love to write a Bombeckian collection of essays about motherhood.' So I sent a couple of essays to an agent in New York. They said, "We love your edgy style and your lack of treacle sentimentality about motherhood, but we think this would be better as a novel.'"
So Coburn rewrote the stories as a cohesive novel, which her agent pitched and pitched to publishers-to no avail.
"I'm a New Yorker, and I'm Jewish-so the combination means I'm highly neurotic," Coburn says with flippant, humorous self-awareness. "So to keep my mind off when it's gonna sell and to not call my agent everyday and bug the crap out of him, I decided I would just busy myself by writing another book, which was the Wife of Reilly... which sold before Tales from the Crib."
Coburn acknowledges that one of the reasons why The Wife of Reilly was picked up by Kensington Publishing-a major New York house that accounts for 7 percent of all mass market paperback sales in the U.S-was because of the Chick Lit boom.
"Just like everyone else in New York, they just opened up a Chick Lit imprint," she says. "If you look at Random House, Downtown Press, even Harlequin Romance-everyone is branching out into Chick Lit."
For the book, Coburn tapped her natural resources-friends. When she was running dry of ideas for bad dates to conjure for Prudence, she e-mailed everyone she knew, asking them for horror stories.
"I got tons of e-mails that had me in stitches," she explains. "And then I just used them. [One friend told me], "I once went out with this person who was worried that I was a vegetarian and he pulled down my eyelids to check out if my lids were red enough and check me for anemia.'
"I can think of some freaky dates," Coburn says, "but I would never come up with that. So that made it into the book."
While waiting for the book's Jan. 1 release, Coburn attends to daily life in Del Cerro. She owns and operates Coburn Communications, which handles media relations for about 12 local businesses and non-profit organizations, including Planned Parenthood. She also teaches girls' soccer-not only running drills, but also trying to impart the life lessons of the game to her pint-sized players.
"In life, have a goal and move toward it," she says, relating her soccer-is-life paradigm. "Things will get in your way. Move around it. If that doesn't work, try something else. Look around for your friends. Look around for space and opportunities. There's more than one way to solve a problem."
Coburn is also appreciating her husband, who is growing accustomed to friends raising eyebrows once they learn that his wife has just dedicated 345 pages of prose to spouse recycling.
"He looks at it like a work of fiction," Coburn says. "He was very helpful in sharing some of his worst date stories. He realizes that I get to be really, really naughty in fiction so that I can be just sort of a boring, happily married person in real life."
The Wife of Reilly will be released on Jan. 1. Coburn will hold a launch party on Jan. 17 at Gallery 504 (3041 University Ave. in North Park) from 7-9 p.m. www.jennifer coburn.com.


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Program Information
Starting Date: Sep 2018
Teaching Language: English
Scholarship policy
Tuition fee: 0
Accommodation fee : 0
Master's Program (taught in English)
Master in Chemical Engineering
Master in Mechanical Engineering
Master in Pharmaceutical Technology
Master in Environmental Science and Engineering
Master in Civil Engineering, Hydraulic Engineering, Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering
Master in Electronic Information Engineering
Master in Architecture
Master in Landscape Architecture
Master in Urban Planning
Master in Software Engineering
Application deadline:- Apr 30
Documents You Need to Provide
1.Photocopy of valid passport
2.Passport photo
3.application form
4.Highest diploma (original or notarized photocopy): Documents in languages other than Chinese or English must be attached with notarized translations in Chinese or English.
5. Academic transcripts (original or notarized photocopy): Transcripts in languages other than Chinese or English must be attached with notarized translations in Chinese or English.
6. Photocopy of Foreigner Physical Examination Form (The original copy should be kept by the applicant.). The medical examinations must cover all the items listed in the Foreigner Physical Examination Form. Please select the appropriate time to take medical examination as it is valid for only 6 months.


text: Deixis brings together the works of Pat Blocher, Gloria Ceren, Kim Turner-Smith, Zakriya Rabani, and Laura Kim Meckling. Centered on the operation of deictic expression, the work functions to invite the viewer in, transforming and reframing conventional context. Through proximity and bearing witness, a channel is formed, creating a glimpse into a present moment. The exhibition will feature recent, multidisciplinary works by the five MFA candidates here at the University of South Florida.


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Dear AIG,
Your website is the very best one online I see a lot of them as I do research constantly on the net. I love AIG and I keep it as my homepage. I'm so glad that I can send greetings now to my children and grandchildren. I have always kept them informed about all of your articles, but this greeting card idea is great.
L. W., Scottsdale, AZ


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On a sunny Spring morning OXO2 opened its doors to Persil UK for a fun-filled yet very messy event designed to encourage kids to get involved in the kitchen. The event was attended by 30 moggers (mum bloggers) and their children, who enjoyed a day of fun-filled activities which made full use of the flexible South Bank venue.
The event began with food-based fun, with guests learning how to make their own pizzas, which were finished off with their favourite toppings. After the pizzas it was time for dessert, guests got creative as they decorated cakes - then ate them!
Shortly afterwards it was time for the hotly anticipated Persil food fight… when all hell broke loose as moggers' kids went wild! Once the very successful event had ended the team got straight to work on the mess, repainting and cleaning the entire venue in time for the next event… just another normal day at OXO2!


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Wide but small black cuff handcrafted in polymer. The black is "painted" in naive style in saturated colours. The cuff is backed in black polymer stamped with a texture. The cuff has enough flexibility to fit over your wrist but more than strong enough for the job. After I photographed this I added a matching bead toggle on black elastic. I did this because I felt the cuff may fall off. It was a feeling rather than a fact.
Natural inner diameter is 6 cm with a 1.5cm opening but this opening can be moved gently to 4 cm. The toggle allows you to make the cuff secure regardless of the gap width.
item # 0413060 designed by Kay.


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Not many people in China would be aware of mobile phone maker Tecno despite the brand's heady success in the export market
The company has notched an impressive record by grabbing 40 percent of the African market, beating much bigger Chinese opponents like Huawei, ZTE and Lenovo.
So, what's the secret behind its success?
Well, rather than go for expensive advanced technology, Tecno simply pays close attention to the needs of African customers and tweaks its product features accordingly.
Tecno phones are priced between US$120 to US$280, and in fact not very cheap for African customers. However, being carefully tailored to the niche market, they are selling like hot cakes.
For example, the picture system of most mobile phones is based on white or yellow skin tones. When African users take selfies, the pictures are often either too dark or blurred.
To solve this problem, Tecno collected a large number of pictures taken by African customers and tweaked the picture function of its handsets based on the data. The superior selfie quality soon became a major selling point.
Tecno also noticed that the African telecom market is highly fragmented, which means customers using different telecom operators need to pay hefty fees to call and text each other.
Given this situation, local people tend to use dual-sim phones to save money. Tecno pushed the envelope and introduced four-sim handsets, enabling customers to use up to four carriers.
Again this is not groundbreaking technology, but the minor adjustment made Tecno phones hugely popular in Africa.
The look is also crucial. Most global mobile brands have shifted toward simplistic designs, but Africans prefer sharp colors and shiny handsets. Tecno wasted no time in appealing to the local taste.
The company shipped 55.65 million Tecno phones in the first three quarters of last year, making it the champion among Chinese mobile exporters, according to official data. That compared with Huawei's 41.49 million and Lenovo's 29.51 million units respectively.
Tecno claimed that its total export reached 80 million units last year, up over 60 percent from the year before.
The company's market share in Africa far exceeds that of global brands like Apple and Samsung, as well as that of more affordable Chinese brands like OPPO and vivo.
Headquartered in Shenzhen, the company has set up a network of branches across Africa, covering countries like Nigeria, Kenya and Tanzania.
The company manufactures its products in Shenzhen and Guangzhou and in some African nations.
This article appeared in the Hong Kong Economic Journal on Jan. 17
Translation by Julie Zhu
[Chinese version 中文版]
– Contact us at [email protected]


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This Christmas was very special for our little family, for several reasons. The first and most exciting reason is that it will be our Last Christmas in our 2 Bedroom Apartment. We have shared 8 wonderful Christmas' here and enjoyed each (crowded) one. Another reason is that it was nice to take the time through out the Season and share with Lizzie and Trevor the reason we celebrate this Special Holiday. Every time we saw a Nativity I would ask them about it, and they were excited that they were able to celebrate his birth. Things are so simple in a child's mind, its very refreshing sometimes.
Like so many others Im sure, This is how our Morning went.
Woken up by children--really early, make them eat breakfast (Im sure Im not the only one who does this right?), Read the story of Christmas from the Scriptures, then open gifts, play with toys, get dressed, then visit with family (one of my favorite parts).
Here is Lizzie with her Dollhouse and Princess Barbies. Todd and Jack (a general contractor) whipped this house out in one day. It turned out better than I could have imagined.


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Come join us for the 2016 La Fiesta de los Vaqueros, Feb. 20 - 28 at the Tucson Rodeo Grounds, 4823 S. 6th Ave., Tucson Arizona. It is SO much fun!
You'll find our booth under the grandstands --- Rodeo + Shopping = PRICELESS!!
For information about all rodeo events, go to www.tucsonrodeo.com


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Jeremiah 22
Thus says the LORD: "Go down to the house of the king of Judah and speak there this word, and say, 'Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, who sits on the throne of David, you, and your servants, and your people who enter these gates. Thus says the LORD: Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place. For if you will indeed obey this word, then there shall enter the gates of this house kings who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their servants and their people. But if you will not obey these words, I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that this house shall become a desolation. For thus says the LORD concerning the house of the king of Judah:
"'You are like Gilead to me,
like the summit of Lebanon,
yet surely I will make you a desert,
an uninhabited city.
I will prepare destroyers against you,
each with his weapons,
and they shall cut down your choicest cedars
and cast them into the fire.
"'And many nations will pass by this city, and every man will say to his neighbor, "Why has the LORD dealt thus with this great city?" And they will answer, "Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD their God and worshiped other gods and served them."'"
Weep not for him who is dead,
nor grieve for him,
but weep bitterly for him who goes away,
for he shall return no more
to see his native land.
For thus says the LORD concerning Shallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father, and who went away from this place: "He shall return here no more, but in the place where they have carried him captive, there shall he die, and he shall never see this land again."
"Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness,
and his upper rooms by injustice,
who makes his neighbor serve him for nothing
and does not give him his wages,
who says, 'I will build myself a great house
with spacious upper rooms,'
who cuts out windows for it,
paneling it with cedar
and painting it with vermilion.
Do you think you are a king
because you compete in cedar?
Did not your father eat and drink
and do justice and righteousness?
Then it was well with him.
He judged the cause of the poor and needy;
then it was well.
Is not this to know me?
declares the LORD.
But you have eyes and heart
only for your dishonest gain,
for shedding innocent blood,
and for practicing oppression and violence."
Therefore thus says the LORD concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah:
"They shall not lament for him, saying,
'Ah, my brother!' or 'Ah, sister!'
They shall not lament for him, saying,
'Ah, lord!' or 'Ah, his majesty!'
With the burial of a donkey he shall be buried,
dragged and dumped beyond the gates of Jerusalem."
"Go up to Lebanon, and cry out,
and lift up your voice in Bashan;
cry out from Abarim,
for all your lovers are destroyed.
I spoke to you in your prosperity,
but you said, 'I will not listen.'
This has been your way from your youth,
that you have not obeyed my voice.
The wind shall shepherd all your shepherds,
and your lovers shall go into captivity;
then you will be ashamed and confounded
because of all your evil.
O inhabitant of Lebanon,
nested among the cedars,
how you will be pitied when pangs come upon you,
pain as of a woman in labor!"
"As I live, declares the LORD, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were the signet ring on my right hand, yet I would tear you off and give you into the hand of those who seek your life, into the hand of those of whom you are afraid, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of the Chaldeans. I will hurl you and the mother who bore you into another country, where you were not born, and there you shall die. But to the land to which they will long to return, there they shall not return."
Is this man Coniah a despised, broken pot,
a vessel no one cares for?
Why are he and his children hurled and cast
into a land that they do not know?
O land, land, land,
hear the word of the LORD!
Thus says the LORD:
"Write this man down as childless,
a man who shall not succeed in his days,
for none of his offspring shall succeed
in sitting on the throne of David
and ruling again in Judah."
(Jeremiah 22 ESV)
Mark 8
In those days, when again a great crowd had gathered, and they had nothing to eat, he called his disciples to him and said to them, "I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way. And some of them have come from far away." And his disciples answered him, "How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place?" And he asked them, "How many loaves do you have?" They said, "Seven." And he directed the crowd to sit down on the ground. And he took the seven loaves, and having given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and they set them before the crowd. And they had a few small fish. And having blessed them, he said that these also should be set before them. And they ate and were satisfied. And they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. And there were about four thousand people. And he sent them away. And immediately he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha.
The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him. And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, "Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation." And he left them, got into the boat again, and went to the other side.
Now they had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. And he cautioned them, saying, "Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod." And they began discussing with one another the fact that they had no bread. And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, "Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?" They said to him, "Twelve." "And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?" And they said to him, "Seven." And he said to them, "Do you not yet understand?"
And they came to Bethsaida. And some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, "Do you see anything?" And he looked up and said, "I see people, but they look like trees, walking." Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. And he sent him to his home, saying, "Do not even enter the village."
And Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that I am?" And they told him, "John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets." And he asked them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered him, "You are the Christ." And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him.
And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man."
And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels."
(Mark 8 ESV)
Mark 8: Following Jesus requires sacrifice. We must beware of any teaching that disregards this truth. Therefore, we must consider the question, "What has it cost me to follow Jesus?" What are the things in life that hold us back from truly being a follower of Jesus?
The command is clear. If we want to follow Jesus then we have to devote ourselves to the denial of self. This means a complete willingness to turn from the way we are currently thinking and living. We are no longer to live in order to satisfy ourselves. We are to live in order to serve Christ.
If Jesus is Lord, then he is the one who sets the agenda. There is no negotiating with Him. The second someone attempts to negotiate the authority of a king then that person is no longer respecting or recognizing his authority as king. Taking up our cross means for us to die to our self-seeking pursuits, to die to our desire for control, to die to our efforts to use God for our own agendas. May we lay our swords at the feet of the King and say, "Yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever."


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So here at Bijoux HQ, we have noticed a massive surge in bookings and enquiries for our hen parties in Nottingham and with the Nottingham post writing an article about the influx of hen and stag parties coming to the city, I name it the place to be in 2016.
The home of Robin Hood plus many cool bars, restaurants and hotels in the city, I am not surprised it is as popular as the likes of London, Manchester, Bournemouth.
This year alone, Bijoux Hen Parties have hosted various Dance Hen Parties as well as Vintage Makeovers, Vintage Photoshoots and even a Stripper so far this year.
Due to having such an increase of bookings for Nottingham, we have taken on new staff in the city to enable us more availability. Still have plenty of space for June - and if you book before May 31st for a hen party in June you will receive 10% off your final booking fee if you quote *blogmay*
So if you were looking for any of our hen party activities, then please contact us on firstname.lastname@example.com and one of our team members will come back to you.
#henpartyideas #dancehenparty #vintagehenparty #henpartiesinnottingham #nottinghamhendo #makeover #charlestonhendo #80shendo