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Senate Democrats on Tuesday said a slight Republican lead in the contested 46th district is "deceiving," accusing the GOP of purposely objecting to a high number of Democratic absentee ballots and trying to slow down counting.
Sen. Michael Gianaris, a Queens Democrat who heads his conference's election efforts, said this morning that he believes Republican Assemblyman George Amedore's 680-vote edge is inflated, claiming that Democrat Cecilia Tkaczyk will pick up a few hundred votes when contested absentee and affidavit ballots are counted.
When counting paper ballots, either candidate's legal team can object to the counting of a ballot based on anything from an illegible vote to a faulty address and anything in between. A judge later decides whether the contested ballots are to be counted.
Both Gianaris (pictured) and his GOP counterpart, Binghamton Sen. Thomas Libous, appeared on WGDJ-AM this morning.
"The numbers are deceiving," Gianaris said. "Senator Libous is performing a sleight of hand here, because what the Republicans are doing is objecting to ballots in an enormous volume. I think he tried to make it seem like it was a more balanced, routine situation, but it's anything but."
Libous—who was interviewed prior to Gianaris—said the Republicans are objecting to ballots with errors or listing an address outside of the five-county district, which stretches from Montgomery County to Ulster County. In particular, Libous said many affidavit ballots listed a New York City address, which is well outside of the district.
"We're objecting to affidavit ballots that are we believe not legal ballots," Libous said. "For instance, there are a lot of ballots where people's addresses are New York City and they voted in Ulster County. As you know … that's something you can't do. You can't register in the city and vote in Ulster County. So we're going to go after those ballots because if they're not legal, we want them tossed."
Gianaris also pointed to the battle between incumbent Sen. Stephen Saland, R-Poughkeepsie, and Democrat Terry Gipson, a Rhinebeck trustee. He accused the GOP of trying to slow counting of absentee ballots to a crawl in the district as a way to delay Democrats being seated. About 450 paper ballots have been counted in Dutchess County so far, according to Democrats, compared to more than 1,000 in Ulster yesterday alone.
Gipson currently has a 1,700-vote lead in the district, which includes much of Dutchess County and half of Putnam.


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The Environmental Science Project
Forging partnerships to deliver knowledge
"The Library is working in partnership with Living with Environmental Change to enhance research information access."
Dr Johanna Kieniewicz
Environmental Science Research Officer
Global issues such as climate change, food security and renewable energy highlight the cross-cutting importance of environmental science research. This value is recognised in the UK through programmes such as Living with Environmental Change (LWEC), a partnership of 22 major public sector organisations. Efficient discovery and use of information is key to the LWEC partners' research and the Science, Technology and Medicine team at the British Library is helping to co-ordinate this activity.
"Environmental science is a vast research area, with growing emphasis on cross‑cutting research, and translating research findings into policy and practice," said Dr Johanna Kieniewicz, Environmental Science Research Officer. "The Library is working in partnership with LWEC to enhance research information access to support this for the benefit of the UK and beyond."
"The Library's work with the environmental research community has revealed an unmet demand for access to specific types of information that are not easily accessible because they have low visibility or are spread across disparate locations," said Elizabeth Newbold, Science, Technology and Medicine Content and Collections Leader. "Our partners across LWEC see particular value in online services that can co-ordinate access and enhance discovery."
"We are working closely with the environmental science community to understand how we can add value to their use of information," said Elizabeth. "This project is a prime example of the way the Library is forging exciting partnerships and developing new ways to deliver knowledge where it is needed."

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Clip Art of a Happy Electric Plug with a Gold Plaque
Design Element Clip Art © Toons4Biz
Royalty free website design elements clip art of a happy electric plug with a gold plaque. This Electric plug character stock design element image #21455 was designed by Toons4Biz. Please note: this image is protected by copyright law and may not be used without buying a license. To acquire the license simply click on the 'Download Digital File' button.


text:
By Lacey Johnson
GEORGETOWN, Del., Feb 10 (Reuters) - A well-known Delaware
doctor accused of waterboarding his 11-year-old stepdaughter
admitted at his trial on Monday to slapping the girl and putting
her in 'time out' up to six times a day.
By Lacey Johnson
GEORGETOWN, Del., Feb 10 (Reuters) - A well-known Delaware
doctor accused of waterboarding his 11-year-old stepdaughter
admitted at his trial on Monday to slapping the girl and putting
her in 'time out' up to six times a day.
Dr. Melvin Morse, 60, said the girl, now 12, used to be "the
darling of the family," but she "became defiant" after being
tormented and sexually molested by her teenaged half-sister, who
was ultimately sent away to live in an institution.
"She was, naturally, angry at us for not protecting her,"
the pediatrician testified in his own defense at his child
endangerment trial in Sussex County Superior Court in
Georgetown, Delaware.
On occasion during time-outs, "she would just give me the
middle finger the whole time she was standing," he said, adding
there were instances when made her stand in 'time-out' as many
as six times a day.
"Sometimes it felt like I was pushing her buttons, and she
was pushing my buttons," testified Morse, a best-selling author
on near-death experiences.
At one point, "she stuck a finger in her nose, and I slapped
her; I did," he told the jury.
When questioned about accusations that he waterboarded the
child, who is the daughter of his now-estranged wife Pauline
Morse, the doctor explained that he was only trying to wash her
"Pauline wanted me to do it" because it was "a thrash" every
time she tried to wash the girl's hair, Morse testified.
Waterboarding, typically associated with the interrogation
of terrorism suspects, in general involves holding a cloth over
a person's face and flooding it with water to simulate drowning.
"I did say to her, 'I'm not waterboarding you. This isn't
some kind of torture. I just want your hair to be clean,'"
recalled Morse, saying the girl would struggle and scream.
"I know I didn't do it more than five times, because it
wasn't worth it," he testified. He was arrested in 2012.
Pauline Morse, 41, was also arrested for suspected child
abuse. She pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges in May and
agreed to testify against Morse.
Morse said many of the parenting techniques presented as
evidence against him, including the creation of a discipline
journal and home videos of him lecturing the girl, were inspired
by advice he received during family therapy sessions.
"I wanted to see how I sounded," Morse said of his
self-recorded lectures.
Morse heads the Institute for the Scientific Study of
Consciousness and has appeared on "Oprah" and "Good Morning
In response to Pauline Morse's testimony last week that
"there was no playing" at home, the defense presented photos of
the girl playing with blocks, driving a miniature electric car
and playing a board game with her mother.
Morse was expected to return to the witness stand on Tuesday
for cross-examination by the prosecution. Jurors could hear
closing arguments as early as Tuesday afternoon, followed by the
judge's legal instructions and the start of their deliberations.
(Editing by Barbara Goldberg and Eric Walsh)


text:
By Harriet McLeod
CHARLESTON, S.C., March 16 (Reuters) - A comedian's sister and a philandering ex-governor lead a field of 18 candidates seeking to fill a vacant U.S. congressional seat in Tuesday's special election, reminding voters how "Appalachian Trial" became a euphemism for extramarital affair.
Coastal South Carolina's 1st Congressional District needs to fill the vacancy left by Tim Scott, who was appointed to replace Jim DeMint in the U.S. Senate after DeMint resigned to head the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.
Sixteen Republicans will compete in Tuesday's primary, including former Governor Mark Sanford, who once secretly left the country to visit his Argentine mistress, and the son of media mogul Ted Turner.
Two Democrats are also running on Tuesday, including Elizabeth Colbert Busch, sister of television comedian Stephen Colbert, who faces a perennial candidate in the Democratic primary and is expected to win in her first run for political office.
The general election is set for May 7.
"Typical of South Carolina, when there's truly an open seat, everybody and his brother seems to run for it because we have a habit of electing incumbents," said Kendra Stewart, associate professor of political science at the College of Charleston.
Sanford is looking to make a political comeback by way of the office he held from 1995 to 2001.
As governor in 2009, he tearfully admitted to an extramarital affair after he abruptly left the state for a week. He told aides he was hiking the Appalachian Trail, when in fact the married politician was visiting his girlfriend in Buenos Aires.
Sanford, 52, paid more than $70,000 in fines for ethics violations that included use of state funds to fly to Argentina. He divorced and served out of the rest of his term in disgrace.
"I've experienced how none of us go through life without mistakes," Sanford said in his first campaign ad. "But in their wake, we can learn a lot about grace, a God of second chances, and be the better for it."
Opponents have been quick to remind voters of his past transgressions and some also have questioned whether Sanford was as fiscally conservative as he says.
"Mark Sanford has huge name recognition, but so too does Lance Armstrong right now," said Republican opponent Robert "Teddy" Turner, a business owner turned high school economics teacher, the son of Ted Turner.
Teddy Turner, 49, who is seeking elected office for the first time, has tried to distance himself politically from his father, known as the "Mouth of the South" for his outspoken views, and his former stepmother Jane Fonda, who is still reviled among many conservatives for her Vietnam War protests.
"That's the 800-pound gorilla in the room. It's a little bit of a challenge to convince folks that you're conservative," said Turner, who has been a vocal critic of Democratic President Barack Obama's healthcare reform law, or Obamacare.
South Carolina's 1st Congressional District encompasses parts of coastal Charleston County and nearby rural counties and extends south along the coast to include wealthy Hilton Head Island.
The Republican candidates also include a number of state legislators, a former sheriff and a couple of engineers. No public polls have been conducted to show who has an edge.
Sixty percent of the Republican-leaning district voted for Mitt Romney in last year's presidential election and it hasn't elected a Democratic representative since 1981, said Alex Stroman, executive director of the state Republican Party.
But Stewart said Republicans could emerge from the primary bruised, giving Colbert Busch, the business development director for Clemson University's wind energy facility, a boost as the campaign moves toward the general election.
"Democrats have an ideal candidate to take this district if a Democrat could do it," Stewart said.
If no Republican gets more than 50 percent of the vote on Tuesday, the top two vote-getters will meet in a primary run-off on April 2. (Editing by Colleen Jenkins, Daniel Trotta and Andre Grenon)


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The holidays will be upon us soon, and one of the flower stars this time of year is the amaryllis. The large, vibrant flowers are always a welcome sight, yet they never seem to last long enough, and they might not be in full bloom for your special party.
One way to extend the flowering season is to pot bulbs every 2 weeks in fall. An easier method for staggering amaryllis bloom times is to select varieties that flower at different times. Some varieties bloom within 5 to 6 weeks after planting, while others may take up to 12 weeks to bloom. By selecting a number of different amaryllis varieties, you can have flowers blooming for months in winter.
The Netherlands Flower Bulb Information Center has organized some amaryllis varieties by the number of weeks from planting to blooming. Here's a sampling:
Early-Season Blooms (5-8 weeks): 'Apple Blossom', 'Minerva', 'Mary Lou', 'Roma', 'Vera', 'Mount Blanc', 'Aphrodite', 'Pasadena', and 'Scarlet Baby'.
Mid-Season Blooms (7-10 weeks): 'Lemon Lime', 'Liberty', 'Red Lion', 'Picotee', 'Blossom Peacock', 'Royal Velvet', 'White Peacock', and 'Papillio'.
Late-Season Blooms (9-12 weeks): 'Las Vegas', 'Clown', 'Piquant', 'Toronto', 'Vlammenspel', 'Happy Memory', 'Charisma', 'Promise', 'Dancing Queen', 'Flaming Peacock', and 'Andes'.
For more information about growing amaryllis bulbs, go to: Netherlands Flower Bulb Information Center.


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An Introduction to Social Polyamory – By Nancy & Darrell CaseyCopy Right 2005 -Reprinted from Loving More Magazine Issue #35 Summer 2005
"When it's time to cum, you have to go," was the humorous comment I'd often make as newcomers were introduced to "Rainbow", which was an off premise Lifestyle Swing club. "Off premise" meant that dance activity was limited to making sensual and social connections; overt sexuality was not allowed. ...Continue Reading →


text:
Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome (SLOS) is a multiple congenital anomalies/mental retardation (MCA/MR) syndrome caused by a defect in cholesterol synthesis. SLOS is an autosomal recessive genetic condition caused by deficiency of the enzyme 3 beta-hydroxysterol-delta 7-reductase (7-dehydrocholesterol-delta 7-reductase [DHCR7] EC 184.108.40.206), the final enzyme in the sterol synthetic pathway that converts 7-dehydrocholesterol (7DHC) to cholesterol.Here's another definition from the NIH's Genetics Home Reference:
Affected individuals usually have low plasma cholesterol levels and invariably have elevated levels of cholesterol precursors, including 7DHC. Severely affected individuals (those with the condition formerly referred to as SLOS type II) have multiple congenital malformations and are often miscarried or stillborn or die in the first weeks of life. Dysmorphic facial features, microcephaly, second- and third-toe syndactyly, other malformations, and MR are typical. Mildly affected individuals may have only subtle dysmorphic features and learning and behavioral disabilities.
Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome is a developmental disorder that affects many parts of the body. This condition is characterized by distinctive facial features, small head size (microcephaly), intellectual disability or learning problems, and behavioral problems. Many affected children have the characteristic features of autism, a developmental condition that affects communication and social interaction. Malformations of the heart, lungs, kidneys, gastrointestinal tract, and genitalia are also common. Infants with Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome have weak muscle tone (hypotonia), experience feeding difficulties, and tend to grow more slowly than other infants. Most affected individuals have fused second and third toes (syndactyly), and some have extra fingers or toes (polydactyly).The first one is for the medically proficient. The second is for me.
The signs and symptoms of Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome vary widely. Mildly affected individuals may have only minor physical abnormalities with learning and behavioral problems. Severe cases can be life-threatening and involve profound intellectual disability and major physical abnormalities.
Great news for us needless to say. She continues to disprove all of medical science. (I still believe she's the next evolution of the human race.)
In other news, she's been getting her Human Growth Hormone treatments for 6 or 7 weeks now. One shot every day (I've given her exactly zero treatments). She's non-plussed by it. No crying, no wimpering, nothing. Lah lah lah. She could care less.
According to measurements last week, she's already grown 3/4 of an inch so far (I still can't tell). She continues to eat like a horse. Her favorite food of late are Cheetos (Chester Cheetah!).
And she's still an absolute joy. Kate's taken to climbing the stairs now because she wants me to throw her onto the bed (a good 4 feet of air). She's never climbed the stairs without one of us prodding her.
She's also very spoiled. She's just so darn cute and still looks like a baby or toddler, maybe 2 now? She's going on 4 1/2.
The other day at school the teacher gave her a tray to carry to the table. She looked up at the teacher, grinned, and dropped (threw) the tray. We've instructed the teacher to be more firm with her (because we're not) so she scolds her. Then the lunch lady jumps in and says, "She's just a baby!" So it's difficult for anyone to scold this little girl. I feel bad for her future husband already.
I'll leave you with the queen on her throne (Dora couch) and some basketball with grandpa:


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Talk of gondolas is sweeping the region. Or, at the very least, making a few headlines.
What choices might the commuters of Kirkland and Seattle someday enjoy when it comes to getting from point A to point B? If a handful of movers and shakers have their way, the options might include gondolas.
As Alexa Vaughn noted in the Seattle Times Feb. 23, in Kirkland "City Council members, the city manager and the mayor have started exploring the addition of air gondolas into its public-transit mix." Kirkland even organized a transportation symposium at Google's campus, where Steven Dale of Creative Urban Projects, which, according to the Times, is studying cable-car projects "worldwide," talked extensively about the potential of cable car transportation. "It's the fastest-growing transit technology in the world at this moment," Dale reportedly told those in attendance.
In Seattle, some have the gondola bug as well. On Tuesday, the family behind Seattle's Great Wheel, the Griffiths, unveiled aspirations and drawings for a gondola connecting the Convention Center to the waterfront, eying a 2016 opening, once the viaduct comes down. As Lynn Thompson of the Seattle Times reported yesterday afternoon, the proposed gondola line - which was discussed by the Great Wheel's Kyle Griffith at an afternoon press conference - would be privately financed and also feature a stop at the Pike Place Market. Thompson reports that the Griffiths' plan has won over Peter Steinbrueck as a supporter, and the family is reportedly working with the city on permitting issues as we speak.
Meanwhile, some on Capitol Hill have their own gondola hopes, as Mike Lindbloom noted Feb. 16 for the Seattle Times. Lindbloom reports that "The Capitol Hill gondola is championed by Matt Roewe, of VIA Architecture, and Matt Gangemi, better known among transit wonks as Matt the Engineer." The idea is to create a better east-west route and an alternative to the Route 8 bus, according to the Times.
What might Seattle's gondola future hold? While there are obvious differences, Portland built a gondola - known in PDX as the Portland Aerial Tram - back in 2007, connecting the Oregon Health and Science University hospital atop Marquam Hill with Portland's south waterfront, which is now home to OHSU's Center for Health and Healing. Today Portland's tram is used primarily by those shuttling between the two OHSU campuses, though it also serves tourists and as a connection to Portland's streetcar infrastructure.
Diane Dulken, a spokesperson for the Portland Bureau of Transportation, says the Portland Aerial Tram has been an "iconic addition" to the city's skyline. She also notes some of the tram's milestones so far, including spurring nearly $2 billion in investment along Portland's south river waterfront, which she says was basically vacant prior to the tram's arrival. "This tram was a big catalyst for development," Dulken says.
Having just passed its 10 millionth rider mark, according to Dulken, Portland's tram has eliminated the need for 2 million vehicle miles per year, and saved of about 93 thousand gallons of gas and 1000 tons of green house gases annually since it opened. During a recent stow storm in Portland, Dulken says the tram served as a part of the city's critical transportation network, getting people up and down an otherwise impassable hill.
That's not to say Portland's foray into gondola transportation has been all roses. Rich Eisenhauer, the City of Portland's operations manager for the aerial tram, points to some of the lessons Seattle can learn from its gondola-equipped neighbor to the south. While Portland's tram was primarily paid for by OHSU, with local improvement district taxes on property owners making up the difference, cost overruns during the aerial tram's construction were nothing to scoff at. Originally it was estimated Portland could build a tram for $15 million. By the time things were said and done, however, Eisenhauer says the price tag was $57 million. He attributes most of the overruns to engineering difficulties and the fact that Portland's custom-designed towers and cable cars "really drove up the cost."
"I think the public was surprised," says Eisenhauer of the cost overruns. "Every couple weeks [the price] would go up."
Today, Eisenhauer says OHSU pays for 85 percent of operation costs, while the City of Portland pays 15 percent - which is covered in its entirety by the $4 aerial tram fare.
The money wasn't the only area where the Portland Aerial Tram raised concerns. Specifically, when it launched many Portland residents complained that the gondola - and the views it provided passengers - invaded their privacy, or ruined their neighborhood's character. One local homeowner, in true Portland fashion, emblazoned his roof with a message for riders reading: "FUCK THE TRAM." In response to the outcry, the Portland Aerial Tram installed frosted windows on cable cars and a few other tweaks to limit how much riders could see.
According to Eisenhauer, the privacy uproar was "short lived," and these days the City doesn't hear any complaints on the matter. "I think we're past it," he says of the dust-up.
When it comes to specific neighborhood concerns, Eisenhauer says trade-offs were used to help win skeptics over. For instance, he says a pedestrian bridge connecting a neighborhood below the tram that was previously landlocked by Interstate 5 to the south waterfront has improved life there, and helped to mitigate some of the tensions.


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Trigg County, Kentucky Newspaper Genealogical Abstracts, Volume 9Trigg County, Kentucky Newspaper Genealogical Abstracts. Simmons, Don, 1934-. (1990)Simmons Historical Pubilications publishes a series of genealogical resource books for the atates of Kentucky, Tennessee and North Carolina. These books are transcriptions of a variety of records including, but not limited to, censuses, newspapers, land deeds, wills, tax lists, city directories, county marriage records and tombstone inscriptions.
Simmons Historical Collection


text:
If you are experiencing symptoms of heart failure, there's a good
chance we can diagnose your condition without surgery or painful procedures by using diagnostic cardiac catheterization. The
CepEsperu Heart & Vascular Center is one of approximately 10 percent of
medical centers nationwide that uses radial catheterization. Radial
catheterization is a minimally invasive technique that helps doctors access
your heart through a tiny incision in your wrist.
Radial catheterization has become our preferred approach for
cardiac catheterization. In fact, we perform 70
percent of diagnostic catheterization procedures through the radial artery, totaling more
than 2,000 procedures each year.
Our use of radial catheterization is part of our commitment to
offering the most advanced diagnostic services for heart and vascular disease.
All of our vascular surgeons and interventional cardiologists are experienced in this approach to diagnostic cardiac catheterization and use
it whenever possible.
Radial catheterization is a technique to help diagnose certain
heart conditions such as:
This diagnostic cardiac catheterization technique involves threading a thin, spaghetti-like tube (catheter)
through the radial artery in your wrist all the way up to your heart. Benefits
of the radial approach include:
Generally, patients with a good blood supply to their hands can
receive the radial approach. If you are very thin or have small or twisted
arteries in your wrist, we'll need to use a different approach, such as the
artery in your groin. Our specialists always have your health and best outcome
in mind.
Before radial catheterization, you will receive medication through
an IV that may make you sleepy, but you'll be awake for the procedure. We will
also give you medication to numb the skin on your wrist skin where we insert
the catheter. You may feel some pressure, but you shouldn't feel any pain.
After the area is numb, we'll pass a thin, flexible tube through the artery to
your heart.
When the catheter reaches your heart, your doctor can:
After your procedure, we'll place a band similar to a wristwatch
around your wrist to apply pressure and prevent bleeding. Most patients are
able to get up almost immediately after this test.
New patients may request
an appointment for a diagnostic cardiac catheterization online. Or, for more
information, please call:
Local Toll-free
Vascular -4151Heart -6674
We are happy to take your appointment request over the phone, or, you may fill out an online request form.
Disclaimer: The information on this website is for general informational purposes only and SHOULD NOT be relied upon as a substitute for sound professional medical advice, evaluation or care from your physician or other qualified health care provider.


text:
Mic Mod Services
Ribbon Mic Mod Services
My Account
Cart Contents
Mr. Joly, I received the Apex 205 mic. I was able to reco ..
Buy New Mics->
Mic Mod Services
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Ribbon Mic Mod Services
Mic Musings->
Professional Mod Service for your MXL 990. Not a kit, no risk.
Premium Mod for Your Apex 205
OktavaMod'd Apex 205 Chosen over Coles 4038 for Solo Piano Album
"As soon as things got busy or loud, the 4038 just couldn't keep up. Too slow sounding...the 4038's were just too.....dense (for lack of a better word) for much of the harmonically rich textures the pianist was kicking out. The 205 ... top end is opened up quite a bit more than the Coles as well, yielding a more "open" sound overall to all it's tracks. It will be 90% 205 and 10% (or less) Coles in the mix"
William Pearson,
Gearsluts Forum
, October 2007
Grammy award-winning engineer William Pearson of
Mindseye Productions
recently chose tracks he recorded with a pair of OktavaMod Apex 205 ribbon mics for a new solo piano album from
Jeff Bjorck
William Pearson, Coles 4038 & OktavaMod'd Apex 205
Bill used ribbon mics - one near the keyboard end of the piano facing toward the outside edges of the instrument, and one at the oposite end of the instrument facing up and down. Incidentally , the second engineer and recording artist all preferred the OktavaMod'd Apex 205s as the primary mics for this album.
A discussion around Bill's unique piano mic'ing technique (seen above) and four excerpts of his recordings can be found on the
GearSlutz Forum
The Modifications -
The first inexpensive ribbon mics to appear on the market several years ago were commissioned by Nady Systems and manufactured by a large microphone vendor in China. These mics are now sold under various brand names. The Apex 205 is a long ribbon mic with an strong internal resemblance to the AEA R-84 (itself inspired by the RCA 44).
The stock ribbon motor design is really quite decent. But many layers of wind blast protection were added to the grille and headbasket to reduce the likelyhood of return. In addition, a perforated high frequency resonator plate is used to provide an acoustical boost in the top end. These layers sure do work - but the stock sound is simultaneously slightly muffled, bandwidth restricted and colored from the cumulative effect of reflections and refractions within the headbasket.
This is Michael Joly writing, the guy behind OktavaMod. You're invited to contact me to discuss your mic needs and discover if modifying your Apex 205 is right for you.
Check out the MJE-K47 Upgrade Suite - a universal problem solver for bright and sibilant mics
The OktavaMod upgrade removes these mechanical filters and adds acoustical damping. Subjective impression of frequency response extension is improved by about an octave at each end. These modifications produce a great-sounding mic for drum overhead, guitar cabinet, piano or vocal use.
Ribbon mic are simple devices, but a big part of their sound is the output transformer. The OktavaMod Premium modification for your Apex 205 ribbon mic swaps in my custom-designed, made in America transformer for better time and frequency domain performance across the audio spectrum.
Ribbon Sag -
About 50% of the eight hundred or so mics of this type I've seen have come from the overseas manufacturer with ribbon sag - often 80% of the ribbon is sagging out of the magnetic gap. (see below).
Stock Mic with Ribbon Sag
This can cause mechanical "banging" noises when the mic is moved - the ribbon is so slack it scrapes the magnet pole pieces. A slack ribbon also creates a resonant frequency in the single Hz range thus making the mic very sensitive to footfall vibration and can also reduce output if the ribbon is bowed out of the magnetic field.
You can check your Apex 205 (or any other ribbon mic) for ribbon sag very easily. Listen to the mic in headphones, gently tip the mic back and forth so first the front face, then the back face comes to rest parallel to the floor. If you hear a sudden "clang" or "clunk" this indicates a severely under tensioned ribbon flopping about in the magnet gap. Not good - should be retensioned.
Video: Superior sensitivity of new 1.8 micron ribbon vs. stock 6 micron ribbon
So the next step in my modification and QC process is to
replace and upgrade
the ribbon to 1.8 micron aluminum then adjust for proper tension and secure the motor mounts.
The OktavaMod upgrade for your Apex 205 enables recording quality quite similar to the legendary Coles 4038.
Hear the results yourself
Click "Add to Cart" to purchase the Premium mod for your Apex 205 ribbon microphone - you'll get an immediate confirmation email of your order. By the close of the next business day you'll receive a personal email with your scheduled modification and return ship dates. Questions? Just click "Contact Me" - best, Michael
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text:
The following sermon transcript does not match the video version of the sermon—it matches only the audio version. Here's a brief explanation why.
John MacArthur routinely preaches a sermon more than once on the same date, during different worship services at Grace Community Church. Normally, for a given sermon title, our website features the audio and video that were recorded during the same worship service. Very occasionally, though, we will post the audio from one service and the video from another. Such was the case for the sermon titled "Mark's Sweeping Summary of Jesus," the transcript of which follows below. The transcript is of the audio version.
I invite you to turn in the Scripture to Mark chapter 3 verses 7 through 12...Mark chapter 3 verses 7 through 12. We're going to be reading that in just a few moments but since it's been over three months since our last look at the gospel of Mark, we need to kind of prepare our hearts and our minds for what is before us this morning.
There are four gospels in the New Testament, as you know, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. These four gospels have a singular purpose and that purpose is summed up in the final gospel, the gospel of John. In John's gospel, chapter 20 and verse 31, John says this, "These have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and that believing you may have life in His name."
John tells us that the reason that the histories of the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ have been written is so that we may believe that He is the Son of God and that by believing have eternal life in His name. The four gospels then are designed as proof or evidence of the deity of Jesus Christ. All four gospels are written for the same reason, to tell us that Jesus is no mere man, no mere prophet, no mere religious leader, but rather He is the Son of God. Any Jew would understand that term, the Son of God, to mean that He shares in the very nature of God. He is God Himself. He is deity.
Eternal life comes to those who believe that. But you can't believe that unless you have evidence and the evidence of the deity of Jesus Christ is contained in the four gospels. All of them present that evidence to us.
Here at Grace Church we've had an immense privilege for many, many years to go through this evidence. We spend about eight and a half years going through every verse in Matthew, almost three years going through every verse in John, ten years going through every verse in Luke, and now we have begun to go through Mark. To those of us who have been a part of all of this, or some of this, the evidence is compelling, it is overwhelming, it is unmistakable that He is the Son of God and thus we believe. Because we believe, we have eternal life.
We gather together on a day like this as we do on every Sunday to worship the one in whom we believe. We are gathered here because we love the Lord Jesus Christ. We honor Him. We praise Him. We worship Him. That's what gathers us together. We collectively make the confession that He is the Son of God, that He is the Messiah and the Savior.
That is what Mark wants us to know, as did Matthew, Luke and John. And so Mark begins His gospel in a very unambiguous way, chapter 1 verse 1, by telling us what is about to read is the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. And then starting in verse 2, he begins to amass the evidence that this pronunciation is true. You have then, as in all four gospels, in the gospel of Mark the unfolding record of evidence regarding the deity of Jesus Christ. There are some who would tell us that Jesus was an influential man for a brief period of time in a very small part of the world. Anything but that is the case. He is God in human flesh, the proof is unmistakable. We have come to know that proof. We have come to believe it and we affirm our faith in Him and have received eternal life and thus we gather to worship His glorious name.
As we study the gospel of Mark, the evidence will overwhelm us. We will acknowledge it because we already know it to be true and the Spirit of God confirms it to our hearts. But for those who are not believers, the evidence is still overwhelming. There was never an argument about His teaching that succeeded to undo any truth that He proclaimed. No one ever denied His miracles. No one ever denied a miracle or the mass of miracles that He did. Not even the people who resented Him the greatest and hated Him the most ever denied His miracles. They never denied His authority and power over the demon forces of hell. They never denied that.
And so, without being able to refute His teachings, without denying His miracles, or denying His power over the forces of hell, you might assume that they might have believed in Him and received eternal life. They did not. Strangely enough, even in the fourth chapter of Mark, well into the story, well into the evidence, not written but seen and experienced by the disciples who were following Jesus, it is the disciples who ask the question after Jesus controls the wind and the waves, what kind of man is this? In fact, all through the gospel of Mark you never find the disciples saying, "You're the Son of God?" In chapter 8 verse 29, Peter says, "You're the Christ, You're the Messiah." But in Mark's gospel, no one says, "You are the Son of God until the fifteenth chapter and the thirty-ninth verse and of all things, it's a Roman soldier. There is testimony in the early part of this gospel that Jesus is the Son of God, it comes from God the Father at His baptism as we read in chapter 1, "This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." There is testimony also in chapter 1 from a demon who says, "You are the Holy One of God." There is further testimony in the section before us, in chapter 3, from another demon that this is the Son of God. Heaven knows He's the Son of God. Hell knows He's the Son of God. Mark lays out what the other gospel writers, the evidence for all men to know that He is the Son of God.
But in spite of all that evidence, He is rejected by the nation and executed as a criminal. We stand with that Roman soldier in chapter 15 verse 39 who said, "Truly this is the Son of God." That's where we stand. And because we believe that, we have eternal life in His name. We all gather on Sunday like this as worshipers to make an open confession of Christ. We gather as a church to exalt and worship the Lord Jesus Christ, the divine Son of God. He's the object of our worship, both personal and corporate. We worship not only collectively here together, we worship personally, we are those who worship Christ. Day by day, hour by hour we sing His praises, we obey Him, we express our love to Him. He is the Son of God. He is our Lord, our Master, our sovereign King, our Redeemer. He is the object of our greatest affection, the source of our greatest joy.
In fact, although we are not yet in heaven, we are a part of the redeemed and we on earth replicate what is going on in heaven in terms of worshiping directed at Him. You'll remember that in Revelation chapter 5 there is a scene in heaven which pictures the throne of God and gathered around the throne of God are saints and angels and the focus in chapter 5 turns toward Christ and He becomes the object of this glorious heavenly worship. They adore Him in heaven as a lion and then they adore Him in heaven as a lamb. And on both counts, they sing His praises and they will sing His praises forever and ever and ever. And we do the same here on earth. Not yet glorified in heaven, we still offer Him the same worship that He now receives from the saints who are in His presence in heaven. We adore Him as the lion...powerful, majestic, deadly to His enemies. And at the same time we adore Him as the lamb...meek, humble, dead and risen from the dead. He is the lamb who slays His enemies. He is the lamb slain by His enemies. He is the one who bought our eternal salvation with His sacrifice as the lamb. And He is the one who conquered all our enemies with His sovereign power as the lion.
And we join the souls of every tongue and tribe and nation and people who love Him savingly. And we compose a kingdom of worshipers who will reign with Him forever and praise Him forever and ever. And so those who know Him and love Him and possess eternal life gather in heaven incessantly to praise Him, and gather on earth to praise Him as well.
How have we come to give Him this honor? How have we come to praise Him alone, to trust in Him alone, to love Him alone as the only hope, the only Redeemer, the only Savior? It is because of the testimony of Scripture we have read and we believe. While all Scripture is His story from Genesis on, that's why He Himself on the Emmaus Road taught two of His disciples all the things concerning Himself from the Old Testament. The four gospels are the focal point of His story because they reveal in history what the prophets said would come to pass. It is the four gospels that tell the story that reveals the full preeminence of Christ. We see the glory of God revealed in Christ. God presents Himself to us in a more clear way than any way in the Old Testament previously in the arrival of Jesus Christ. Why are we studying Mark? We are studying Mark so that again we may celebrate the truth that this is the Son of God we believe and in believing we have eternal life. He has given us this gift, and therefore we offer Him our praise.
To those of you who do not yet believe, the story of Mark like Matthew, Luke and John is to bring the evidence to you that you might believe in the Son of God and believing have life in His name. How blessed are we to gather again on another Sunday then and do this, though we have spent twenty-plus years in these four gospels in the past, we eagerly come every Sunday, don't we, for the next section of the next gospel. And if the Lord gives me a long, long, long life and a functioning brain, some day I may even go through the gospel of John again.
You say, "Why do you do that? Isn't enough, enough?" You could never get enough of Christ. You can never get enough of His majesty and His glory. How blessed are we today to gaze again at the wonder of our Redeemer.
Now chapter 3 verse 7 to 12 is a good place to restart our study. It's a good place because it's a summary from chapter 1 verse 1 through chapter 3 verse 6, you kind of have the first act in Mark. And then you have a kind of summary. Summaries are good. Summaries look back and sort of gather up the truth. It is kind of like we've been watching a video, or watching a play unfold and it's just constant action up to now. And all of a sudden, Mark hits the pause button in chapter 3 verses 7 to 12 and says, "Let me give you a still photo, let me give you a snapshot now. Let's stop the action and let's freeze the frame and sum up what we've learned."
Not only does this kind of summary look back but it looks forward because it gathers up everything we know which then generates momentum for moving ahead. Mark introduced his subject, chapter 1 verse 1, the gospel of Jesus Christ identified Jesus Christ as the Son of God. Immediately he affirmed that Jesus is the Son of God because Jesus is the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy verses 2 and 3. He again affirms that Jesus is the Son of God by the testimony of the greatest Old Testament prophet, John the Baptist. In chapter 1 verses 9 to 11, he affirms Jesus as the Son of God by the testimony of God Himself from heaven who speaks audibly and says, "This is My beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased." Affirmed by the Holy Spirit who comes and descends and rests on Christ.
In chapter 1 verses 12 and 13, he again affirms the deity of Jesus Christ by demonstrating His triumph over Satan in the great temptation. And then in chapter 1 verse 14, Mark shows us how Jesus begins the ministry of preaching the gospel of salvation. He shows us how He calls His Apostles and disciples to follow Him. He gives us an account of how Jesus unleashes His power over disease and over demons. He tells us several stories about healings and then comments on the fact that there were many more healings. He tells us incidents about the casting out of demons, testimony to the fact that the Lord Jesus has power over the natural world and power over the supernatural world, power over the physical, power over the spiritual world and only God has that kind of power.
As a healer, He creates eyes that can see, where there weren't any. He creates ears that can hear where there weren't none. He creates limbs and internal organs and gives life to dead people. There is no explanation for that other than He is divine. He invades the supernatural world with such power that the demons panic and scream in His presence as He banishes them from their sad victims.
In chapter 2 verse 23 to chapter 3 verse 6, the end of the first section, He attacks Judaism by saying He's the Lord of the Sabbath. Sabbath observance was the heart of the Judaistic religion. Jesus says, "I am Lord of the Sabbath," that striking a deadly blow against that religious system.
Now after that kind of flow, evidencing that Jesus is the Son of God, for only He could have authority over disease, authority over demons and authority over the heretofore revealed Law of God regarding the Sabbath. His authority is divine. His power is divine. And Mark hits the pause button and this is the still photo. Let's look at verse 7.
"Jesus withdrew to the sea with His disciples and a great multitude from Galilee followed and also from Judea and from Jerusalem and from Idumea and beyond the Jordan and the vicinity of Tyre and Sidon, a great number of people heard of all that He was doing and came to Him. He told His disciples that a boat should stand ready for Him because of the crowd so that they would not crowd Him, for He had healed many with the result that all those who had afflictions pressed around Him in order to touch Him. Whenever the unclean spirits saw Him, they would fall down before Him and shout, 'You are the Son of God." And He earnestly warned them not to tell who He was."
The demons knew who He was. God declared who He was. The evidence made it obvious who He was. Why did the people not get it? Why do you go through the whole book and no one ever says, "Yes, You are the Son of God?" God says it, the demons say it and finally at the end the Roman soldier says it but what about the Jews? Isn't this convincing enough? There was a barrier, massive barrier.
We get an insight back into it back in chapter 2 verses 21 and 22. "No one sows a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, otherwise the patch pulls away from it." The new from the old and a worse tear results. "No one puts new wine in old wine skins otherwise the wine will burst the skins, the wine is lost, the skins as well. But one puts new wine into fresh wine skins."
Jesus is saying, "The message I bring can't be connected to Judaism. You can't sew them together. It can't be contained in Judaism. It is completely separate." And this poses the massive barrier. Jesus never offered Himself as some kind of reformer simply wanting to reform Judaism. He did not come as one who was saying, "You've got a lot of things that are wrong in your worship and I'm here to fix them." He came to abolish Judaism. He came to abrogate it, to nullify it, to bring it to an absolute end. He is the inaugurator of a completely new religion, the New Covenant which would bring about the end of the Old...and I mean not just the end of apostate Judaism as it existed in first century Israel, but the end of Old Testament Judaism. He came to end Judaism as a religion. And since the arrival and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, Judaism is a dead religion...it is unacceptable to God.
Jesus ended the Old Testament Covenant era. He ended the shadow era, the Old Covenant shadow religion that always pointed to life and salvation but never provided it because by the means of the Old Covenant, the keeping of the Law, no one could be saved because no one could keep it. The Old Covenant said there was life, there was eternal life but couldn't provide it. The old message was that sinners must come to God but sinners can't come to God. There was life for sinners but not by this system. In fact, in 2 Corinthians 3 Paul calls the Old Covenant a ministry of death. The Old Covenant said God is separate, God is distant. You can't get near Him.
And how is that illustrated? All the people were out in the courtyard and inside there was a holy place and then there was the Holy of Holies where God dwelt and no one could ever go there except once a year when the high priest went in for a brief moment on the Day of Atonement and hurried out. So the Old Covenant said there was eternal life, there was forgiveness, there was salvation, there was heaven, there was intimacy with God but not through that system.
You see, this is what made the acceptance of Jesus so difficult because it meant the forsaking of Judaism totally...totally. When Jesus began His ministry, according to the gospel of John, the first thing He did was go in to the temple at the festival time and make a whip and threw people out. One can hardly imagine the sheer force of personality that would allow one man to do that. I mean, they had a lot at stake in there, that was a place where there were tens of thousands of people all milling around, the Sadducees, the Chief Priests, the High Priests were running basically a den of thieves, an operation where they scamming people, taking their money by illicit exchange of coins for the temple offerings and illegitimate prices placed on acceptable animals for sacrifice. There were a lot of reasons to resist the efforts of Jesus to clean the place out, but that was not what happened. No one could withstand His power and so He literally evacuated the place. He was striking a blow at the heart of Judaism. This has nothing to do with My father.
At the end of His ministry, the last week of His life when He came into Jerusalem, Passover week, He did the same thing again. Mark tells us that story in chapter 11 verses 15 to 19. Did the same thing. Struck a devastating blow at the heart and soul of Judaism, temple worship. Through the years this has been called the cleansing of the temple. And as I thought about it, and I've used that phrase through the years, that's not a good phrase because this is not the cleansing of the temple. Jesus wasn't saying, "You know, if we can just clean this up a little bit, this thing can go on. If we can just get this act kind of washed a little bit, if we can just fix some of the aberrations, if we can just clean out some of the corruption...hey, this temple has a future.
Listen, the day Jesus Christ arrived, the temple had no future. That was not the cleansing of the temple, that was the pronunciation of the abolition and devastation and destruction of the temple. And at the last week of Jesus' life, what did He say? Not one stone will be left on another. The whole thing is coming down. It happened in 70 A.D. the Romans came in, smashed it to be. No more holy place, no more Holy of Holies and that was an act of God's judgment through the Romans. The system was done. Jesus was pronouncing destruction on the temple. He was giving them previews of coming attractions, both the times He went in and did that. He was not saying, "If we just clean this thing up, it has a future." There was no future for the temple. There was no future for sacrifices. There was no future for priests. There was no future for a system of law and ceremony and that's why it's obliterated. There never has been a replacement temple. There never has been another sacrifice. There never has been a priesthood. The whole system was brought to an end. And the Lord Jesus brought the New Covenant which established what has always been true that salvation was by faith alone and that faith had to be placed in Him. Not by law, not by works, not by ceremony, salvation is by faith and faith alone. It's always been that way. And the faith had to be placed in Him. Again, John 20:31, "These things are written that you may believe and believing have life in His name."
So as Mark unfolds his story, it is centered on Jesus Christ and His credentials as the Son of God.
And the credentials are just stunning. And as I said, nobody really argued against them. Nobody ever denied them. Nobody ever tried to explain them away. And yet the people didn't accept Him.
The barrier was they had to turn their backs on Judaism which had woven its way into every bit of their lives. It was so profoundly imbedded in their persona that they couldn't even conceive of life without Judaism.
There is no explanation for Jesus other than that He's divine...no explanation. But human depravity is deep and unbelief is deep, and religion provides a very thick tomb in which to bury that unbelief.
Nonetheless, after the first act in Mark, Jesus has achieved tremendous popularity and we get a glimpse of that in the text I just read you. Let me give you three aspects to the little snapshot here.
Number one, the popularity of Jesus, verses 7 and 8. "Jesus withdrew to the sea with His disciples, a great multitude from Galilee followed and also from Judea and from Jerusalem and from Idumea and beyond the Jordan and the vicinity of Tyre of Sidon, a great number of people heard of all that He was doing and came to Him."
No one has ever been this popular. No one has ever come close to this popularity, no prophet, no sage, no rabbi, no wise man, no philosopher, no hero. Jesus has in a brief period of time managed to garner unparalleled fame demonstrated here. Verse 7 says, "He withdrew to the sea with His disciples."
Backing up to the previous paragraph, tell us why, chapter 3 verse 1, He was in a synagogue in Capernaum. Capernaum is the main city at the top, right at the crown point of the Sea of Galilee, that lake that's in Galilee where the Jordan River comes in at the top and flows out at the bottom down through the Jordan Valley to the Dead Sea, a familiar area of Jesus' ministry. Israel is divided into two sections, southern section called Judea, northern section called Galilee. Up at the Galilee section up at the north tip of the Sea of Galilee is the city called Capernaum, Jesus' headquarters during the year plus that He had a ministry in Galilee. He's in that city, He's in a synagogue. There's a man there, He heals the man which irritates the Pharisees because they think it's a violation of Sabbath law. So in verse 6 the Pharisees went out and immediately began conspiring with the Herodians who are called Herodians because they were attached to Herod. They were politically motivated, the Pharisees religiously motivated. They came together mutually against Jesus and met, conspiring as to how they might destroy Him. Hummm
Now this is understandable because they get it. They understand that the power is unmistakable, it is not arguable. They also understand that the message of Jesus is Judaism is finished. They knew when Jesus made a whip and did what He did in the temple that this was not some kind of temporary cleaning. This was not saying to them, "Hey, you guys, if you can clean this up, it has a future." He knew, they knew exactly what He was doing. They knew by His message that He was offering something completely distinct from what they taught. They knew He was calling for the destruction of their system. And so, they wanted to kill Him.
Now verse 7 makes sense. "Jesus withdrew to the sea with His disciples." It's really an act of protection, an act of common sense. Now He's already had four confrontations with the religious leaders, three of them occurred in chapter 2 and then the one I just pointed out in chapter 3 which is the most hostile one. But this is not going to go away, this is not going to change, it's just going to go on and on and on and on through His whole ministry. And that, by the way is the subject of a new book I've written called The Jesus You Can't Ignore which talks about Jesus' confrontations with the false leaders of Israel.
So, Jesus knows that He needs to get away from the immediate anger. It's not God's time yet for Him to be arrested, that doesn't come for a long time. He doesn't want to expose His disciples to any danger either and so it says that He withdrew to the sea. Now Capernaum is right on the lake. He just simply left that location and went somewhere along the north end of the Sea of Galilee to a more isolated place. He's wise to put Himself and His disciples at some distance from these murderous men.
Now just exactly who are His disciples? Well broad word, mathetes, learners, people who had gone beyond the attraction of miracles and wanted to hear what He had to say. They were a little more interested in His theology to varying degrees. Among them and there were many nameless ones, we don't know how many at this point, but among them are some familiar names who later become Apostles. In fact, we're going to actually meet the Apostles in the next paragraph in Mark. But at this particular time, according to chapter 1 verses 16 to 20, He has already called Simon and Andrew...Peter and Andrew and James and John. According to chapter 2, verses 13 and 14, He's called Matthew the tax collector, so there are five. According to John's gospel, chapter 1 verses 35 to 51, He's called Philip and Nathaniel. So there are already seven of the Apostles, five more to be named in the next paragraph along with other followers. They are at various stages of interest in His teaching. They even don't come to any great confession until chapter 8 when Peter, no doubt, speaking for them says, "You are the Christ." They are following, for the moment, and Jesus gives them some momentary relief from potential open conflict with His enemies by going to a different location. However, you might get away from the enemies but you can't get away from the friends, and a great multitude from Galilee followed.
It's a big crowd. It says great multitude in verse 7, it says great number in verse 8. The Bible always tends to understate things. This is a massive crowd. We can estimate it in the tens of thousands of people rather readily. His fame has been spreading everywhere. It says here that the crowd comes from both Galilee which is in the north and Judea in the south. If you go back to chapter 1, you can see how this has been growing over the weeks and months, 1:21 He went to Capernaum immediately on the Sabbath, He entered the synagogue began to teach, they were all amazed at His teaching.
The effect of this is quick, verse 28, immediately the news about Him spread everywhere and to all the surrounding district of Galilee the word goes like a grass fire, verse 32, when evening came, still in Capernaum after the sun had set, they began bringing to Him all who were ill and those who were demon possessed and the whole city had gathered at the door and He healed many, cast out many demons.
Verse 39, He went all around into synagogues throughout all Galilee preaching, casting out demons, verse 45, again it tells us He went everywhere and trying to avoid undo publicity He found Himself having to go into unpopulated areas where the crowd continued to find Him and press against Him. Chapter 2 verse 13, He went again by the seashore, all the people were coming to Him and He was teaching them. That's the way it was everywhere He went in Galilee and the crowd kept growing, and growing, and growing, and growing. Nothing like it in the history of the world. Nothing certainly like it in the experience of these people. Massive healings happening before their eyes, people being delivered from demons. It was a wonder of wonders, the likes of which no one could ever imagine.
Now understand, this is a period of time in which there is no medical care, there is no real healing by the medical arts. This is a time when people are dominated and obsessed and oppressed and indwelt by demons. This is a horrible time. This is a difficult world, life expectancy is short. There is massive amounts of illness. And the attraction for those who were ill and had friends and family members is just unbelievable. The relief of suffering, the relief of demon-torment was far more interesting to them than Jesus' theology. So they came. They even came from the capital of Israel from Jerusalem. They came from Idumea. Idumea would be south and east of Judah, way down in the desert south of Jerusalem in Judah. This would be populated by historic Edomites, descendants of Esau as indicated in Genesis 36. And it was also largely populated by Jews and there was a mix of Jews and Edomites, but that area was generally considered as part of Israel. So you had kind of the Jews from Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem, and then you had the mix of Jew and Gentile from Idumea. Then it says beyond the Jordan which would be east of the Jordan River, east of Galilee running north and south an area called Peraea, also mixed Jew and Gentile under the rule of Herod Antipas.
And then the vicinity of Tyre and Sidon, northwest of Galilee to the Mediterranean shore, the old area of the great seafaring world of the Phoenicians. That would be a strictly Gentile area. So the Jewish areas, the mixed Jew and Gentile areas and the Gentile areas also literally giving up masses of people, flooding in and around Capernaum in the region of Galilee, bringing their desperate, demon-possessed and diseased friends and family, drawn by the fame of Jesus.
It says a great number at the end of verse 8, they came because they heard of all that He was doing and they came to Him. And again I say, as a footnote, this is remarkable testimony t hat indicts the ultimate unbelief and rejection of Jesus Christ by the leaders and the people. No one denies the miracles, they all affirm the miracles. No one denies that He had power over the kingdom of darkness, over the agents of hell and still they reject the Lord Jesus Christ. No one tries to dismiss Jesus as a fraud ever, no one, not any of their leaders. His miracles are daily. They are public. They are undeniable testimony and evidence of His deity, yet in the end they will scream for His blood and say, "Crucify Him, crucify Him." And we're reminded again of why false religion is called demon doctrine because it captures souls and sends them to hell. In fact the crowd is so threatening that verse 9 says He told His disciples that a boat should stand ready for Him because of the crowd, so they wouldn't crowd Him.
What do you mean a boat? The diminutive is used in the Greek, a little boat, just a little boat. If you look at the last word in verse 9, "would not crowd Him," it's a verb there. It's thlibosin(?), it means to squeeze, it means to crush, it means to press. Jesus was literally afraid that the crowd would crush Him. They were a mob. They were, in one sense, a desperate mob. In that sense they are a wild mob, clamoring to get near Him to be healed. And the little boat, what would that do? He could get in the little boat and be pushed out into the lake, get away from the shore and thus away from the people. If you look over at chapter 4 verse 1, "He began to teach again by the sea. And such a very large crowd gathered to Him that He got into a boat in the sea and sat down and the whole crowd was by the sea on the land." Literally they forced Him into the water. I like to see the fact that Jesus uses common sense here, even though He's the Son of God and has supernatural power. In spite of His divine power, He does what makes good sense to protect Himself from harm.
So, the popularity of Jesus unmistakable. The general response is that they...they come after Him, they want the miracles, never the gospel. And sadly, at the end, He pronounces judgment on them and on their unbelief and many of them are the very people He had healed and delivered.
The second thing that we see in the snapshot that Mark gives us here is not only the popularity if Jesus, but the power of Jesus. His fame is driven by His power, verse 10, He had healed many with the result that all those who had afflictions pressed around Him in order to touch Him. He had healed many. You remember back in chapter1 verses 29 to 31, 32 to 34, verses 40 and following, chapter 2 verses 1 to 12, we've gone through the healings and the references to many other healings, constant display going on all the time. And remember this, folks, healing is a creative act...healing is a creative act. He had made everything, John 1:1, not anything was made that was not made by Him. He is the Creator. And He created limbs and organs. He created them right before the people. That's why Romans 1:4 says He was declared to be the Son of God with power. He had drew everybody.
The results, back to verse 10, was that all those who had afflictions pressed around Him in order to touch Him. Affliction is fascinating. Afflictions is the word mastigos(?), it's the Greek word for a scourge, a whip. It's a funny way to refer to your illness, isn't it? You can refer...we use the word affliction, it's kind of a benign word in one sense, but the Greek word mastigos, is a whip, a scourge, it is the very word for scourge or whip.
Why would they refer to their illnesses and disabilities as a whip, as if someone is whipping them and scourging them? Because in their system of theology, anybody who had such an infirmity was under the judgment of...whom?...God, in their theology. That's why they asked about the blind man, who sinned, this man or his parents? People who were under the scourge of God and would view themselves that way because that was the way they were taught saw themselves as being punished by God and that gave reason for people to keep them out of the synagogue, out of the social discourse, they were outcasts. Some times not only cut off from th e synagogue, cut off from their own family, isolated. All these people who saw themselves as under the scourge of God came in their desperation. It says they pressed around Him, epipiptan literally means to fall on Him, to crush Him. It's a mob.
Why? Because they're all trying to do one thing, they want to touch Him. Why? Because He had healed people with a touch. And the word had spread that when He touched someone, they were healed, chapter 1 verse 41, "Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, and he was healed immediately and the leprosy left him." In chapter 6 it's verse 56, whenever He entered villages or cities or countryside, they were laying the sick in the marketplaces, imploring Him that He might just touch...that they might just touch the fringe of His cloak and as many as touched it were being cured. That didn't help them go away. When they touched Him and when He touched them, they were instantly and totally healed and so the crush is on and His powers explosive as He heals everybody.
The second category of power displayed is in verse 11, "Whenever the unclean spirits saw Him, they would fall down before Him." Stop at that point for a moment. Unclean spirits, another term for demons, agents of Satan, fallen angels. They were everywhere. They were indwelling people. We already met a situation like this in Capernaum, chapter 1 verse 23. There's a man in the synagogue, Jesus is there on Sabbath teaching. Verse 23, this man is in the synagogue, he has an unclean spirit, he screams. Demons don't want to blow their cover. They don't want to be seen as evil and wretched, they want to hide...they want to hide and do their deadly damning work. But when Jesus showed up, they went into panic.
It shouldn't surprise you if you know James 2:19 where it says, "The devils believe and...what?...tremble." They're terrified of Him and their terror caused them to be unable to keep silent. When Jesus comes into the synagogue, the demon screams in terror and says, "What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? Is this the time for our destruction? I know who You are, the holy one of God."
Wow! Jesus rebuked him saying, "Be quiet, come out of Him and threw the man into convulsions. The unclean spirit screamed again with a loud voice and came out of Him. They were all amazed and debated among themselves, 'What is this? A new teaching with authority, He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey Him.' And the news spread everywhere."
This is crucial proof that He has power not only over the natural world but the supernatural world. If He is the Son of God, He has power over His creation both material and immaterial. If He is the Son of God, He has power over His creation, physical and spiritual. He is the Son of God, He must have power over Satan and demons...and He did...and He did. And the demons were terrified in His presence.
And what did they do to respond? Whenever He appeared and they saw Him, it says they literally would fall down. The person they were living in would go to the ground. They would literally throw the person down. Prospiptan is the verb and it's used eight times in the New Testament, every time it means an inferior bowing to a superior. They knew who their Lord was...their sovereign.
So Mark gives us a picture here of the popularity of Jesus and the power of Jesus. And then, thirdly, there's a testimony here of the person of Jesus, it comes from this most unlikely source. The unclean spirits not only bowed down before Him, but screamed, "You are the Son of God." Wow! You know, they know the truth. They believe the truth and they are terrified. This is testimony added to the testimony of God the Father, "This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased," chapter 1 verse 11. This is testimony added to the testimony of the demon in chapter 1 verse 24, "You are the Son of God." And the demons will go on saying this, chapter 5 verse 7, you have that really bizarre man with an unclean spirit living in the tombs who breaks the chains that are bound upon him, screams in the tombs, the mountains, gashes himself with stones. Sees Jesus, verse 6 chapter 5, from a distance, ran up and what does he do? He falls down before Him, knowing He's his Lord, his sovereign. Screams, "What business do we have with You or with each other, Jesus Son of the Most High God?" Don't torment me.
Who is this? Who is this Jesus? None other than the Son of God. The Father states it, the demons know it. The disciples struggled with it. They wonder in chapter 4, who is this man? In chapter 8 they say, "You are the Christ, the Messiah." Eventually they come to believe He's the Son of God but the nation never does, never confesses Him and therefore never believes and therefore never receives eternal life.
No, the critics are wrong. Jesus is no mere man with a small sphere of influence. He is the Son of God, the Messiah, the King, the Sovereign, the Savior. The Old Testament religion was a system that emphasized the distance between God and the sinner. Though God was at work in the nation, He was distant. The arrival of Jesus obliterates the distance, obliterates the separation...God comes near. The Law kept us at a distance and frightened us, the smoke and fire and burning. Jesus comes near and welcomes us. You can't come to God by the Law, it will destroy you. You can only come to God through faith in Christ. That's why Hebrews 10 says, "Draw near in full assurance of faith."
All that is written by Mark, all that is written by Matthew, Luke and John is to show you who Jesus is that you might believe and have eternal life.
Closing comment in verse 12. Jesus earnestly warned them not to tell who He was. He had authority over the demons, and He exercised it. He told them never, never to say who He was. He didn't want that. Not all the demons were there that day, some didn't get the memo. So we'll find out in chapter 5. But He didn't want them affirming who He was because that's very confusing. Jesus didn't want people to think demons were His allies, demons were His press agents, demons were His representatives. He wants no promotion from the filthy realm of Satan. It reminds me of Paul in Acts 16 where the demon-possessed girl comes running along and says, "These are the servants of the true high...true...Most High God." Paul says, "Quiet," and silenced the demon. Don't say anything.
And I think that even leaks to His disciples. He doesn't want them spreading around who He is as the Son of God too wildly because this is liable to foment a kind of reaction that He's not ready for...it's not yet time. Cause people would be prone like they were after they were fed free food to try to force Him to take His messianic place. All in God's good time. Most important thing was that individual people seeing the miracles, understanding this make the conclusion of who He is, accept His message that He came to end Judaism and to bring salvation by faith alone in Him alone and embrace Him as Lord and Savior.
So Mark has established his purpose, to tell the story of Jesus Christ who is the Son of God, the title of deity that no Jew would ever mistake and He has proven it. The only thing left is for you to respond to it. If you've received the evidence, embrace the truth concerning Jesus Christ. Do you believe in Him as God's Son and your Redeemer? If you do, you have eternal life.
Father, thank You again for the power of the truth, again the glimpse of Christ, riveting, compelling and transforming. Again we are swept up in wondrous truth. Well what can we say to You about the gift that we've received of faith in Him? We're so grateful that You didn't leave us in the darkness, that You gave us the Word, we're so grateful that You unfolded it to us through teachers and through the Spirit of God so that we saw the evidence, we embrace the evidence and by Your power we believed the evidence and we came to the confession, "This is the Christ the Son of the living God," and that believing that we've received eternal life. We rejoice in that, O Lord. We thank You that we don't stand with the darkened souls of those who are captive in false and damning religion. Lord, we can only ask today that You would rescue sinners, that You would free people from the delusions, free them from error, free them false religion. And may everyone know and understand and believe that Jesus is the Christ and there's no salvation in any other than Him.
This article is also available and sold as a booklet.
This sermon series includes the following messages:
Please contact the publisher to obtain copies of this resource.Publisher Information


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Nova Launcher Prime v2.0.1 final Apk for Android – Highly customizable, performance driven, homescreen replacement for Android 4.0+.
Updated: 26 february 2013
Current Version 2.0.1
Requires Android 4.0 and up
Category: Personalization
Nova Launcher Apk is the original and most polished customizable launcher for Android 4.
Nova Launcher Prime Apk Features
- Drawer Groups:
Folders in App Drawer
Unlimited custom tabs
Organize apps into tabs and folders in the app drawerGestures
Quickly start Nova Actions or Apps from gestures on the desktop, such as pinching, swiping or two-finger swiping.
- Hide Apps
Keep a clutter free drawer by hidding never used apps.
- Dock Swipes
Get more use out of your dock apps by setting swipe-actions
- Unread Counts
Never miss an email. Unread count badges for SMS, Missed calls, Gmail, Email, Google Voice and more. Counts show in the dock, desktop, drawer and folders.
- More Scroll Effects
Nova Launcher Apk Features
- Color Themes
Change the accent color of the launcher, full color picker support
- Icon Themes
Apply ADW or Go launcher icon themes to all app icons
- Scrollable Dock (for Tablets and Phones)
Keep all your favorite apps on the dock, with up to 7 icons per page and up to 3 pages.
- Customizable App Drawer:
Scrolling style, choose between horizontal paginated or vertical continuous
- Scroll Effects
Enjoy eye candy when scrolling your desktop and drawer. Effects include Cube and Cardstack and more for Prime users.
- Infinite Scroll
Never be far from your favorite page, loop through your desktop continuously.
- Folder Icons
You can chose a background, preview style or even replace the whole icon.
- Backup/Restore
Export your settings and layout before a wipe to quickly get back up and running.
- Widgets in dock
Add any 1×1 widget to the dock
- Widget Overlapping
Overlap on resize or placement, long-press to send to back or bring to front
- Bulk Add
Add multiple apps to the desktop or a folder at once
- Activities shortcut
Select hidden activities from your favorite apps
Whats New in Nova Launcher Prime Apk 2.0.1 final
- Just fixes and optimizations
- Fix blank widget previews
- Improve icon theme handling
- Improve accessibility
- Fix swipe actions for icons in folders
- Reduce memory usage
- Improve animations
- Misc fixes and optimizations
- Improve gesture detection
beta 9
- Fix double tap gesture
- Misc Fixes
- Updated Translations
beta 8
- Fix multitouch FC
- Misc fixes
- Optimizations
beta 7
- Fix FC
- Fix folder window out of bounds
- Update translations
beta 6
- Tuning to scrolling and swiping
- Fix hidden dock accepting items
- Fix folder windows going out of bounds
- Fix FCs
beta 5
- Minor layout cleanup
- Several misc fixes
DOWNLOAD Nova Launcher Prime v2.0.1
- nova launcher prime v2 0 1 final


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we're ready to work with yoU.
Innovation is not a final destination; it's a journey as much as a process.
The creative act— seeing old problems from a new angle, adjusting to and being open to change—lies at the heart of innovation. But innovation is not a final destination; it's a journey as much as a process. And it's a promise too, because it represents infinite possibilities just beyond on the horizon.
Innovation is never finished, and that's what makes it so exhilarating Over the years, we've completed a lot of projects and made many discoveries along the way. We've also made our share of mistakes—but we've never ceased moving forward, following our vision and anticipating that next big discovery. Taking a risk and seeing it pay off is what keeps us on our toes, and we're looking for like-minded partners who share our passion.Why Innovate


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Help System
With this system you can check the most important information posted in our forums, but from inside the game!
To learn how to use it, follow the next steps!
First make sure that Help is activated on the game options. To see this press Z and then Option, and make sure Help is marked:
After that, you will be able to access the Help System from the icon on the top right of your screen:
Or from the action menu; press J and scroll all the way down:
Once you click on any of these, you will see the main menu of the Help System:
Click the option you want to see, and it will show inside that same window:
Like this, you can check the most important information, and most of the forum, at the same time you play!
However remember that to realize some actions like send a pm, create threads or post, you will still need to log in with your forum account inside that window first. To do this, scroll the page all the way to the top and introduce your forum login information:
If you choose for your login information to be remembered, you will find your forum account always logged in, from all your accounts without needing to log in again!
We hope you enjoy this system and it's useful for all of you!


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EA's juggernaut Battlefield franchise is getting closer and closer toward the Oct. 25th release of its third main sequel, and at E3 2011, we got a chance to sit down and play it. Based on the new Frostbite 2 engine, Battlefield 3 certainly delivers a high degree of graphical fidelity and destructible environments. More important is how the game will expand the same gameplay that the fan base knows and loves, adding in some nice features while still keeping intact the same addictive core gameplay.
Our mission took place on a Rush map called Operation Metro, which was a 16v16 slugfest on a city park and through an abandoned subway station and tunnels. At the first of the four mission phases, the fighting took place in a hilly outdoor environment flanked by massive city buildings, and as those phases moved on, we had to switch on our flashlights to navigate the more cramped quarters underground. In each phase, our team had to arm and detonate a pair of bombs to progress; fans of Battlefield: Bad Company and Bad Company 2 will be quite familiar with this.
What's far more interesting are the new features. By firing around an enemy, you can use suppressive fire to blur their vision and degrade their weapon accuracy. If a teammate kills that enemy while you're doing so, you gain teammate points, as you would when you heal a teammate or give them ammo. Obviously the Support's classes LMG is best suited for the job with its large magazine, but any class can do the same with its weapons.
Weapons will see far more customization than in previous titles, and to that end, each weapon has three customization slots for add-ons, such as optics or bi-pods. Those bi-pods aren't just for show, as they automatically deploy when you aim down the sights while prone or when suitable cover is in front of you. Crouch behind a fallen vending machine and aim, and your character automatically pops out the bi-pod, letting you fire fully automatic with only minimal accuracy degradation from recoil.
Another feature tweak is the ability to perform stealth kills via new player animations, assuming you successfully and specifically stab them in the back. This is the only way to get their dog tags, which are now customizable and show your personal stats in addition to some selectable designs, such as "Mr. Fix It" scratched into the metal for those who are handy with an impact wrench. This makes dog tags a bit more difficult to get, but it also makes them much more personal than they have been.
The classes have seen a bit of a shake up, with the Assault class now filling the role of medic whereas the Support class is now the guy who lugs around the ammo box to resupply teammates. The rationale behind this change is simply that the Assault class is the most run-and-gun, front-line class. They're the most likely to take damage, but they're also the most likely to be close to other teammates to help heal them. It's a minor change, but it's sure to shake up the play styles of those who are used to things being the other way around in BF: BC2.
DICE is gearing up the game as a true sequel to the franchise, and it certainly shows. While the formula is still the same mix that fans love, the new features do a great job of injecting more action and nuances. The enhanced customization and class changes are relatively small evolutions, but things like suppressive fire and context-sensitive bi-pods are certainly an unexpected and welcome addition to the fray. Our time in Operation Metro was certainly impressive, and with the game entering open beta in September for an October release, fans won't have to wait very long to get their Battlefield fix.
Greg Hale also contributed to this preview.
More articles about Battlefield 3


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Here Come the Ducks! Here Come the Badgers! Here Come the Bandies!
It's that time of year again in Pasadena: Rose Bowl time. New Year's weekend is right around the corner, and my in-box has been filled with a unusually high number of requests for advice, information and parking requests. Yes to advice and information; no to parking. The driveway is already filled!
In order to help as many folks as possible, I thought I'd put it all in one handy-dandy blog post for those of you from U of O and Wisconsin and other points around the country headed to Pasadena.
Here is my advice for fully enjoying the festivities:
Go to the parade, people. This year, thanks to the Never on Sunday rule, you don't even have the hangover reason as an excuse to sleep in—New Year's Eve is Saturday night, but the parade's not until Monday. So get up and get going! If this is a once-in-a-lifetime event for you, buy tickets. (The closer to Orange Grove and Colorado, aka "TV Corner," the better. Worth every dollar. Bathrooms and coffee, need I say more?) The floats are spectacular, the bands are fab, the horses are beautiful, the weather is always great. J.R. Martinez of Dancing with the Stars is the Grand Marshall, and the theme is something vague called "Just Imagine." What more could you want?
Wear layers. The early start time means that the weather is often cold at the beginning of the parade. (Stop snickering, Badgers! To us, 47 degrees is cold!) Then it's sunny and warm by the end of the parade. Wear layers is all I'm sayin'.
Call out "Happy New Year!" and "Queen Drew! Over here!" It's a personable little parade for a million people. There's lots of waving and good wishes, as riders in the parade call out to the crowd and the crowd calls back. You don't have to be a local to acknowledge the Queen. And please thank the volunteers in the white suits (the White Suiters, as we call them). They put on the whole shebang as a community service, giving up literally years of their lives, not to mention their entire holiday!
Cheer for the bands. Love the bandies and their parents. These high school bands are hand-picked; they've been rehearsing, auditioning and fundraising for yours to make their appearance possible. And those kids are in for the longest march of their lives (over five miles), usually in inadequate footwear. (Why don't the flag girls wear shoes with support? Why?) So when they go by, be generous. Better yet, see the bands perform before the parade. This year, Bandfest will be broadcast online for band geeks around the world! Click here for the schedule and all the details about Bandfest.
Wear your school colors at all times. We locals like knowing who is representing. More Badgers? More Ducks? We talk about you all year long when you're gone. As in "Wow, those Oregon fans really spent a lot of money in the bars." Or "Love those Badgers. So polite." We'll never know who you are if you don't wear your sweatshirts.
Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate. I know the landscaping may look lush, especially after the 13 inches of rain we recently received, but technically, Pasadena is a a desert. So, drink up, Shriner! And by that I mean water. It's a long day if you take in the parade and the game. You'll need extra H2O to walk back up the hill to your car after the game.
Rest easy. There is not a bad seat in the Rose Bowl. I've sat in the Rose Bowl for a World Cup final , multiple Rose Bowl games, a U2 concert and the Barcelona vs. Galaxy match — all with the stadium filled to capacity. (I've also been there for AYSO soccer opening days where the stadium was not quite filled to capacity!) And I can tell you that there is not a bad seat in the house. There are tight seats! But not bad seats. So whereever your tickets are, they will be great. But get there early to avoid security issues and enjoy the spectacular view of the San Gabriel Mountains once inside. Then imagine Keith Jackson's voice saying, "The Granddaddy of them all."
Read Helen of Pasadena before you show up to get the inside scoop. Yup, my novel starts at the Rose Parade and gives you the inside scoop on all things Pasadena. You'll be in the know about so many local haunts if you read the book before you come. Here's the Helen of Pasadena link to Amazon.com. Or pick it up at one of our many fantastic bookstores while you are here: Vromans, Borders, Barnes & Noble, Apostrophe Books, Flintridge Bookstore and more. After you read the book, you'll understand my caution, "Watch out for those parade floats!"
If you have extra time, visit the Norton Simon, the Pasadena Museum of History or the Huntington Library and Gardens. And get a load of how classy we are here in Pasadena. No theme parks in the Rose City! We've got taste, and it shows at these wonderful museums. If you can't make it to the museums, rentFather of the Bride, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Rumor Has It or The Wedding Planner — all shot locally.
Eat, shop, and stay in Pasadena. Please. Thanks. We appreciate it. For recommendations, pick up the book Hometown Pasadena or go to Hometown-Pasadena.com.
For more insider information check out these three fantastic websites:
Hometown Pasadena– Great recommendations for eating, shopping, special events, written by locals who are top-notch journalists and writers.
The Rose Magazine– A complete guide to events and profiles of the people who make it happen. Great resource.
The Tournament of Roses — The official site for all the official festivities.
Have fun!
Lian Dolan is the author of Helen of Pasadena and the blogger and podcaster at the Chaos Chronicles.


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Mortgage-Backed Securities (MBS)
Mortgage-backed securities (MBS) are batches of residential mortgages, packaged in pools with similar interest rates and terms, and sold as securities in the secondary mortgage market. The MBS program was launched in 1968, to increase the supply of funds available for mortgage lending. This is accomplished when banks and other mortgage lenders sell portfolios of their existing home mortgage loans as mortgage-backed securities. The sellers recover the underlying value of the mortgage pools, allowing them to expand mortgage lending in their communities. In addition to receiving monthly principle passed-through from mortgagors to the buyers, MBSs are popular because buyers also receive a sure rate of interest (based on the pools of mortgages that make up the security).
There are many reasons for mortgage originators to finance their activities by issuing mortgage-backed securities.
Pricing a vanilla corporate bond is based on two sources of uncertainty: default risk (credit risk) and interest rate (IR) exposure. The MBS adds a third risk: early redemption (prepayment). The number of homeowners in residential MBS securitizations who prepay goes up when interest rates go down. One reason for this phenomenon is that homeowners can refinance at a lower fixed interest rate. Commercial MBS often mitigate this risk using call protection.
Since these two sources of risk (IR and prepayment) are linked, solving mathematical models of MBS value is a difficult problem in finance. The level of difficulty rises with the complexity of the IR model, and the sophistication of the prepayment IR dependence, to the point that no closed form solution (i.e. one you could write it down) are widely known. In models of this type numerical methods provide approximate theoretical prices. These are also required in most models which specify the credit risk as a stochastic function with an IR correlation. Practitioners typically use Monte Carlo method or Binomial Tree numerical solutions
MBSs are highly-regarded investment vehicles. Large institutional investors often purchase one of more pools of mortgage-backed securities, and many small investors buy shares of popular Ginnie Mae MBS mutual funds.
This section is written with the subprime lending crisis of 2007-2008 as its focus; as such it is framed as "winners" and "losers" from the subprime crisis and the companies that invested heavily in sub-prime MBS.
Many large investment firms have seen their stock prices plummet as a result of their heavy exposure to mortgage-backed securities, as they took heavy write downs in the wake of the subprime bust.
When it's easy to buy homes, rental prices drop. When financing for mortgages dries up, people rent instead of buying. As a result, Apartment REITs, which own and operate rental apartments, benefit in some areas from the subprime fallout as the decreased availability of mortgages makes rental apartments more attractive.
Other potential winners are the few hedge funds that have bet against the subprime market recently, by shorting subprime-heavy firms' stocks and securities backed by subprime mortgages.
Commercial Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs)
Commercial REITs have faired well relative to REITs with significant holdings in residential property, as the subprime lending crisis has primarily affected home mortgages.
The creation of these securities is credited to the Government National Mortgage Association [1] (Ginnie Mae), a wholly-owned federal corporation within the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) [2]. The MBS program was designed to increase the supply of funds available for home mortgages.
MBSs made a small splash in 1968 when they first were issued, and today are at the heart of a billion dollar securitization industry. MBSs are called "pass-through" certificates. The monthly principal and interest payment from each of the underlying mortgage loans is "passed through" to investors. The interest rate of the security is lower than the interest rate of the underlying loan to allow for payment of servicing and guaranty fees. By selling a pool of mortgage loans to an MBS servicer, the lender receives funds equal to the underlying value of the pool, which will be used to make more home mortgage loans.
MBS have garnered controversy for their role in subprime lending. MBS allow originating banks to offload their exposures to homeowners to the bond market, recycling their capital so they can originate more mortgages. Investors count on the investment banks and, crucially, the rating agencies to rate and then monitor the credit quality of the resulting MBS. Apparently compromised by their reliance on this flow of business, however, the agencies and investment banks failed to spot (or, say some, deliberately ignored) the deteriorating underwriting standards of the originating banks, and rated as triple-A (AAA to Standard & Poor's and Fitch, Aaa to Moody's Corporation) some MBS that were, in fact, much riskier. This mistake was compounded by the emergence of CDO's (Collateralized Debt Obligations) that invested in these MBS on the basis of their ratings, and got their own AAA/Aaa ratings on their bonds as a result.
Whether the resulting meltdown was the result of corruption, or simply incompetence, is still under debate. The rating agencies, not without some reason, can claim to have been duped alongside the investors -- to have lost 'reputation capital' just as the investors lost money capital. Many observers, though, point to the enormous growth in their business on the back of the securitization phenomenon.
While highly visible and distressing, subprime MBS and CDOs are only a fraction of the securitization market; many MBS are still considered high-grade either because of the high credit quality of the mortgage pools that back them, or because of the guarantee of the federal housing agencies. Securitization remains a pillar of all modern capital markets because of its ability to move risk onto the balance sheets of investors and creditors who are better able to bear that risk than the originating institutions.
See especially Government National Mortgage Association (also known as Ginnie Mae, or GNMA).