text:
The 344-apartment project, Angelgate, based in Manchester, UK, which carries a two-year rental guarantee, is set to receive strong overseas interest, says Pinnacle MC Global
UK student accommodation specialist, Pinnacle MC Global, is launching its first residential development.
Angelgate, based in Manchester, UK, will include 344 one and two-bed apartments. Planning permission has been granted and work is set to start in December.
Pinnacle MC Global Director, Julie Harvey, tells OPP Connect that Manchester capital growth has outperformed London and demand from Asian investors is likely to be strong.
"We have been looking for a great site for our residential development. We chose Manchester as in 2013 Manchester experienced 21% capital growth compared to London with just 15%.
"In addition around 30% of Manchester rent private accommodation, many professionals wanting good quality accommodation such as our Angelgate development. Manchester is also in the top four Buy-to-Let Hotspots in the UK (HSBC) with average yields of 7%.
"We have recently launched the development and have experienced huge demand from Hong Kong, Singapore, the Middle East and the UK.
"There is a huge appetite for overseas investors from Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia, China, Taiwan et cetera to invest in safe secure developments in the UK from a reliable developer such as ourselves with an excellent track record."
All apartments at the Dantzic Street development, near Manchester's Northern Quarter and the Victoria train station, will include fully-fitted kitchens and bathrooms, flooring and fitted wardrobes for the master bedroom. Many will have balconies.
The project also includes a two-level gym, with sauna and steam room, which will be free of charge for residents, landscaped roof gardens, secure underground parking, and a pair of electric Smart cars, which residents can hire for their personal use. Smart cars have a range of 100 miles between charges and will give residents an eco-friendly travel option.
"Angelgate promises to be a marque development for Pinnacle, for the city, and for its residents, as Pinnacle has used all its experience from its student developments to create an apartment complex that will fit perfectly into this modern city," the company says.
Buy-to-let is a thriving industry in Manchester, and the city's large young population has helped boost private rental rates to 29%.
Pinnacle plans to break ground in December 2014 and complete the project by February 2016. These apartments are seen as ideal opportunities for investors or homeowners alike, and with Manchester City Council's Grow initiative expected to be finished by 2017, Pinnacle expect these apartments to fit perfectly into this booming city.
By Adrian Bishop, Editor, OPP Connect
Twitter: @oppnews
Source:: OPP


text:
The Archdiocese of San Francisco has established the Office of Child and Youth Protection. This office includes the services of a licensed therapist who serves as Victim Assistance Coordinator (VAC). The VAC, Rocio Rodriguez, LMFT, can be reached at 415-614-5506. This is a secure line answered only by the VAC. The VAC email address is firstname.lastname@example.com.
The Victim Assistance Coordinator is available to help victim/survivors make a formal complaint to the archdiocese and offers pastoral support and assistance with psychotherapy, spiritual direction, and referrals to other supportive services that meet the needs of the individual or family seeking assistance.
In addition, the Archdiocese maintains a Survivor Help Line. This is also a secure line and is monitored/answered by survivors. The Survivor Help Line number is 415-614-5503.
Outreach to victims and survivors is addressed in the USCCB document Promise to Protect; Pledge to Heal – USCCB 2002 (Revised 2005 and 2010): "The first obligation of the Church with regard to victims/survivors is healing and reconciliation. Each diocese is to continue its outreach to every person who has been the victim of sexual abuse as a minor by anyone in church service, whether the abuse was recent or occurred many years in the past".
Article 1. "Dioceses will reach out to victims/survivors and their families and demonstrate a sincere commitment to their spiritual and emotional well-being."
Article 2. "Dioceses are to have a competent person or persons to coordinate assistance for the immediate care of persons who report having been sexually abused as minors by clergy or other church personnel."

subset: commoncrawl


text:
2011 HKCBA National Canada - Hong Kong Business Forum
The Hong Kong-Canada Business Association (HKCBA) will be hosting the biennial 2011 "HKCBA National Canada-Hong Kong Business Forum" at the Calgary TELUS Convention Centre in Calgary Alberta on Monday, May 30, 2011, which has the theme – "The China Opportunity: Now is the Time to Build Bridges through Hong Kong".
HKCBA organizes this biennual "Canada-Hong Kong Business Forum" event to encourage Canadian business – particularly the small and medium enterprises - to take the opportunity and initiative to expand their business activities by taking advantage of the exciting opportunities that are available .. now.. and increasingly in future .. in the rapidly growing China marketplace. And to assist by providing advice and example as to how they may do this, in confidence and safety, using Hong Kong as their business platform to other parts of China and South East Asia.
HKCBA, one of the Founding Members of The Federation of Hong Kong Business Associations Worldwide, is one of Canada's largest bi-lateral trade associations with over 1,500 members in 8 major cities across Canada, and has had as its Mission since our establishment in 1984. Again, we look forward to seeing you soon at this HKCBA signature event in the beautiful Calgary Alberta!


text:
One thing I have always loved about living in a city is the ability to find something new out all the time. A new block, restaurant, or park is usually around the corner sitting quietly by for you to discover it. Public transportation while not as good as some cities is pretty good at getting […]
Entries from May 2009
The #12 SF Muni Beer Bus
May 27th, 2009 · 2 Comments
Tags: Beerventures
Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels
May 24th, 2009 · Comments Off
Another beer cocktail from B Bar and Restaurant. Our gracious bartender, Devan van Eyck, whipped this one up for us first. It was a recipe from his Cocktail Lab cohort Tim. The idea behind this drink, the Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels was a drink made up of just booze. Soda? Ha! Juices? No […]
Tags: Beerventures · Tastings
Breakfast of Champions: more beer cocktails
May 18th, 2009 · Comments Off
After a rousingly successful Session about beer cocktails, we just can't stop thinking about them here at Beer at Joe's. A few weeks ago, Joe made contact with Tim, one of the mad geniuses over at Cocktail Lab. He agreed to whip up some beer cocktails for us and we set a date to come […]
Tags: Tastings
Esquire – Best Bars in America
May 14th, 2009 · 2 Comments
Esquire LOVES lists – and here is another one…Best Bars in America – Here is the California list (SF did pretty well) BAR NAME TOWN RATING Zeitgeist San Francisco 78 Vesuvio San Francisco 76 Veranda Bar at the Hotel Figueroa Los Angeles 74 Tosca Cafe San Francisco 73 Toronado San Francisco 81 The Sportsman Sonora […]
Tags: Around the Web
Your Kidneys' Final Duet
May 8th, 2009 · 2 Comments
My friend Victor recently had a kidney removed to donate to his father. They're both doing great (thanks for asking), and he recently asked me this in an email: "Also an important question that crossed my mind pre kidney donation – if you were to have one last beer on this earth – what would […]
Tags: Beer I can't get my hands on · General


text:
EGR & Associates - Engineers, Geologists & Surveyors
UAS (Drone) Services
EGR & Associates is excited to be able to offer cutting edge services utilizing Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS). Advances in hardware and software have made it easier than ever to acquire high accuracy data and detailed aerial imagery for your project. EGR's licensed land surveyor and FAA certified remote pilot ensure the accuracy of the data and compliance with applicable laws.
Centimeter level orthophotography
Detailed elevation models (DEMs & Point Clouds)
Stockpile Volumes
In-situ Volumes
Prior to the development of these systems measuring stockpiles and in situ volumes required expensive equipment and time-consuming field procedures. Now we can collect this data quickly, accurately, safely, and more cost effectively than ever.
EGR & Associates
Civil Engineering
Environmental Geology
Land Use Planning
UAS Services (Drones)
Contact Us
EGR & Associates, Inc. 2007
Render time: 0.0428 sec, 0.0184 of that for queries. DB queries: 15.


text:
Promo Lions
The new Promo Lions for sales promotion drew 622 entries, while Media Lions and Cyber Lions both took off this year. Media Lions entries are up by 36.2% to 1,466 entries, and Cyber Lions grew 32% to 2,502 entries. Press, by far the biggest category, is up 10.3% to 7,387 entries, and the second-largest contest, for outdoor, is up 13.2% to 5,282 submissions. Commercials entries make up 4,860 of the 24,862 total entries this year.
Groundbreaking work
The Titanium Lions, a category that is meant to reward groundbreaking work but has been a little hard for entrants to figure out, grew to 202 entries from 133, a 52% increase.
Several categories have not fared well. Lions Direct suffered the biggest drop, with direct-marketing entries falling 6.5% to 1,509. And radio, in its second year, saw entries grow by just 1.2% to 1,032, perhaps because of difficulty coming up with English-language scripts for the spots.
The U.S., as always, has by far the most entries at Cannes -- 3,384, or close to 15% of all entries -- followed by Brazil, with 2,537, and the U.K., at 1,959.
U.S. vs. Brazil
Each country plays to its strengths. The U.S., with bigger TV production budgets than most countries, is one of the few to have more entries in film than any other category, with 1,123 film entries, almost twice as many as for press (662) or cyber (600). The Brazilians count on press and poster, and have more entries in both of those categories -- 1,055 for press and 703 for outdoor -- than any other country. The U.K.'s submissions are more evenly spread, with between 300 and 400 entries each for film, press, outdoor and cyber.
In general, 2006 has been a good year for awards shows. The U.K.'s most prestigious awards, D&AD, held last week in London, reported numbers were "definitely up" this year from 24,000 entries in 2005, although D&AD wouldn't give specific figures. In the U.S., the recent One Show wasn't far behind, with 17,000 entries this year.


text:
Death toll in cyclone-hit Bangladesh nears 1, 800November 18th, 2007 - 11:54 am ICT by admin
Dhaka, Nov 18 (ANI): The death toll in cyclone-hit Bangladesh is likely to cross 1,800, even as thousands of survivors of the Sidr that hit the country on Thursday night are still waiting for relief aid today.
On Saturday, Bangladeshi authorities pegged death toll at 1,784, but they added that the figure could rise as more rescuers reach ravaged areas.
With a wind speed of up to 240 kph, the cyclone roared in from the Bay of Bengal just before dusk on Thursday, killing over a thousand and damaging homes and crops.
Bangladesh military along with help of domestic and foreign navy assistance have stepped into the relief and rescue operations.
Several international organisations and donors have also extended help to devastated Bangladesh.
M Shakil Anwar of CARE said that his organisation would hire local country boats for rescue works.
The World Food Programme is providing emergency food rations to 400,000 people. Teams from the government, the Red Crescent and other NGOs have also been pressed into service in affected areas.
According to the government estimates, at least 1.5 million coastal villagers had fled to shelters where they are receiving emergency rations.
The worst hit area was Bagerhat District, where 610 people died, said Ashraful Zaman, an official at a cyclone-monitoring centre in Dhaka.
Experts believe that now the affected areas of the country may face food shortages and problem of safe drinking water.
The Bangladesh Government this time managed to save huge number of lives due to early warning program, UN Resident Coordinator Renata Dessallien said in a statement.
The Ministry of Disaster Management said that an estimated 2.7 million people were affected and 773,000 houses were damaged, roughly 250,000 cattle and poultry perished, and crops were destroyed along huge swaths of land.
The government has allocated 5.2 million dollars in emergency aid for rebuilding houses, a government statement said.
Several countries have pledged to help. The German government offered 731, 345 dollars, while the European Union released 2.2 million dollars in relief aid. The Rome-based World Food Program was rushing in food, and the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society was sending thousands of workers to stricken areas.
Washington has sent two US Navy amphibious assault help authorities in relief and rescue operations.
The USS Essex and USS Kearsarge, each carrying helicopters, hovercraft and equipped with hospital facilities, have been dispatched, pending a formal request for help from the Bangladesh authorities, said Major David Griesmer, spokesman for the U.S. Pacific Command in Hawaii.
According to rescuers and volunteers, it would take weeks to assess the actual death toll, financial loss, and days to reach relief to people who have been forced to live under the open skies.
Over 40,000 policemen, soldiers, coast guards and health workers have been deployed along the coast for rescue operations.
Southern Bangladesh is often hit by cyclones, but experts say the latest is a category four storm, the most powerful so far in the season.
In Bangladesh, 500,000 people died in a 1970 cyclone. A similar storm claimed 143,000 lives in 1991. (ANI)
Tags: bangladesh government, bay of bengal, crops, cyclone, death toll, devastated, dhaka, emergency aid, emergency food rations, emergency rations, face food shortages, government estimates, local country, monitoring centre, relief aid, resident coordinator, world food programme


text:
Fighting for My Trans Family
There's been a lot on my mind lately, and I cant even begin to skim the surface here. But I will share this:
When I came out as gay at fifteen years old, I was confronted by family members who accused me of "having penis envy" and questioning if I was Trans. It caused a lot of anxiety and fear, and even some resentment. At that time, I don't think I really even understood what Transgender meant... But I didn't believe that I was, and didn't want other people to think that either.
I didn't like the way I felt in tight "women's" clothing. I also didn't like being sexualized by men. Especially grown ones who would make comments about "what a waste it was that I was gay." I found comfort in loose jeans and baggy button ups. I felt like... me.
Still, I didn't want to be mistaken for "that." So I wore tighter clothes, and I tried to be "less gay." I took a guy (granted he was a totally hot gay one, *wink wink* Nathan Mckellips) to my Junior prom. I wore a dress, and he wore a tux... and I remember feeling really uncomfortable.
For a long time I think I avoided trying to understand the "T" in my community, because I was afraid that understanding might shed some sort of light on yet another secret that I didn't know I was keeping.
But as I got older, I realized that I wasn't Trans. I was just a confused little lesbian trying to force myself into a predetermined stereotype that society had set for me.
And my fear and refusal to educate myself about the Trans community meant that I was actively neglecting and repressing my own brothers and sisters. I didn't "envy" anything. I loved being a girl. I just didn't want to "dress like one." I hated having to wear a dress. But our Trans brothers and sisters are facing obstacles in life that the rest of us will NEVER understand. We couldn't possibly. It's so much deeper than we could ever fathom.
I share this tonight, because it has taken me well into adulthood to actively fight for my Trans family. And that's what we are... A family. Everyone on the queer spectrum, and everyone else as well. We're all a part of the human race.
We don't have to "understand" someone to accept them as they are. And we don't have to "understand" something to know it's worth fighting for.
Praying for snow
In the South, I used to play in the woods every Winter. The snow usually fell through the night and left a powdery bank that I would hide behind. I'd dig my way inside like a cave – calling out into the white flurries – hoping for a familiar echo. Nothing ever came.
Snow is an insulator. Wind breaks over it. Sound dies upon it. Sometimes, I'd climb so far inside my fingers would grow numb. Away from the world, away from everything, there, in the middle of the forest, I couldn't feel my toes. But I could feel my heartbeat.
I knew what grief felt like, but my tears turned to ice when they hit the slush beneath my fists. The pain became a part of the solution. It became my escape. Here, I could control what I felt. And sometimes, if I planned to stay for a while, I'd bring a blanket.
I felt a little warmer knowing I was a mile away from our double-wide trailer. Maybe it was mind over matter, but somehow I knew that it would be colder inside at the dinner table. The scraping of fork over knife as everyone pretended to be fine when we weren't.
To this day, my body grows cold when my heart breaks. When the world seems wrong. When I forget what a real hug feels like. On days like these, in the middle of a California Summer, I find myself praying for snow.
I remember summers in Tennessee vividly. Most days, I spent out in the fields of my family farm, wearing tattered, old jeans and my stepfather's oversized woodworking gloves as I trudged heavy-footed through prickly straws of freshly cut hay. My siblings and I would spend hours beneath the scorching sun pushing whatever hay had been missed by the tractor into narrow rows so the bailer could scoop it, tying it neatly into fifty-pound square bails.
Days upon days spent in the fields with dry stems and leaves crumbling their way deeply into my socks and shoes, scratching my body, and leaving me covered in a rash, combined with the unbearable heat beating down on me bleed together in my memory – but there was one specific atypical day during the summer of 2000 that I will never forget…
My stepsister and I were excused from bailing hay. It was a rare occurrence, and happened only because we were meeting our church congregation down at the creek for our Baptism.
Everyone told me that it was the biggest day of my life. That I was accepting Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, and that meant that no matter what happened in the years to come – all I would need to do was confess my sins to the Lord, ask for forgiveness, and that forgiveness would be granted. After all, that's why Jesus died on the cross. To forgive us all of our sins…
I remember walking waist deep into the middle of the creek, as our pastor took me by the hand. He told me that I was safe, and that he would hold on to me. He kept his word, pinching closed my nose as he dipped me beneath the surface. I cried as the cold water rushed over me, and our pastor exclaimed that in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, I had been washed clean of my sins and saved by the blood of Jesus Christ.
On the dry bank members of my congregation applauded and celebrated my decision to join them in accepting the Lord as my personal savior. My mother watched on proudly, and I could feel the love and joy of the Lord in my heart… It was a powerful moment, but one that now causes me great pain to remember.
Four years after my Baptism, I made what would become the second biggest decision of my life. I decided to come out as a gay person in my Southern Baptist community. I was combating severe depression, and suicidal thoughts – and I could no longer bear to live in the shadows of my own heart.
I tried to pray away the gay, but I quickly realized that being gay was a centric part of who I was. I had become a shell of a person, and my prayers no longer brought me comfort. I didn't understand what I was asking to be forgiven for, because in my heart, I felt like I had done nothing wrong. I only wanted to love myself, a woman, and God…
I reiterate -- I only wanted to love.
All of a sudden, people I had known for most of my life… many who had attended my Baptism… told me that what I was doing was wrong, and that my chosen lifestyle would send me to hell.
Almost immediately, my history of positive and productive contribution in my church and community no longer mattered. People who claimed to be Christians, and friends of mine, treated me like an addict or a pervert. Members of the church that I grew up in told me that I was no longer welcome in the house of the Lord as long as I chose to live in sin.
My fifteen year old heart was broken…
I tried going to a different church without a specific denomination. It was fine at first. The people were very polite. I made a few friendly aquaintances, and even applied for a membership within the congregation. But word travels fast in small towns…
One day, as I stood in the third row next to the preacher's daughter – a traveling minister approached me in front of the entire fellowship to tell me that he had heard of me, and that my behavior was sinful. That one of my closest friends or myself would wind up in a pine box for our lifestyle choices. He threw a bible at me, literally, and told me to read Leviticus. Eleven years have passed, and I haven't been back to church since.
I left the church first, then the religion as a whole. I no longer knew how to believe in something that had beaten me down, and tried to change the very core of what made me happy as a human being… receiving and giving love. Most of the gay people I've met throughout the years who were raised in the church have had similar negative, and frequently traumatizing experiences with Christianity.
As an adult I've met many wonderful people who are Christians. I've heard of churches that are not only open to, but embrace gay people as they are. These congregations recognize that there are parts of the bible that may be outdated, and may have even been mistranslated to begin with. After all, the most common version, the King James Version, was translated by the King himself. Imagine if we allowed Donald Trump to translate his own version of the Holy Bible?
Even after a decade, I find myself grieving over the loss of my relationship with God. I don't blame these kind-hearted, accepting people whom I've met in adulthood, but I find it difficult to relate to them. It's hard to share my negative religious experience with people who have only received positive love and reinforcement from the religion that condemned me so many years ago. While I appreciate them, sometimes I also find that I envy their ability to still believe.
I have taken the stance that I am not a Christian, because I can't blindly support a faith that has intentionally harmed so many individuals. I waver back and forth between claiming to not be religious at all, and identifying as "somewhat spiritual." It infuriates some of my relatives who are still devout Christians. Many of them have told me they've accepted me "despite their religion," and they can't understand why I haven't mended my relationship with the Lord. Few seem to acknowledge that I didn't break up with God… The religion broke up with me in God's name.
There were a lot of things that I loved about Christianity. Sermons about love and kindness were always my favorite. My little heart would burst with happiness and inspiration hearing the heartwarming stories of Jesus healing the blind man, and turning five loaves of bread and two fish into a bountiful feast that fed five-thousand people...
But as I was pushed away from the church, and told that I was an unforgivable sinner, I reflected on a specific story about kindness that has stayed with me for all these years…
Mark 10:13-16 reads:
"People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them."
If you truly believe in God, then you know that according to the bible we are all God's children. That all sins are equal, and thou shall not judge. That only a non-sinner was permitted to cast the first stone. And that no one such as this stands among us…
My issue no longer lies in the religion itself, but with the people who have taken it upon themselves to misrepresent the word of God. To translate his teachings into a lesson that preaches hate and judgment instead of love, compassion, and peoplehood.
There is a church near my apartment in Los Angeles that I have driven by at least once a week for four years. Occasionally, I strain to read the billboard out front, curious what the Pastor might preach on that week. Many times I've seen rainbow flags hanging from the window ledge, and I've often told myself that if I ever go back I will go there. I've yet to bring myself to it.
I know that not all Christians are homophobic. I know that many denounce the way that LGBT people have been treated by a large portion of the religion… but I also believe that it is the responsibility of ALL CHRISTIANS to actively repair the cracks in the foundation of God's message that are being used to target and condemn an entire group of innocent people.
My experience in the church taught me that as Christians "we are simply servants of the Lord who spread the love of Jesus Christ by the way that we live our lives and treat our fellow people." It is my humble opinion that Christians as a whole need to refocus on light, and love, and let the message of God live through them – instead of condemning others for the way they live their lives.
And that if the entirety of the LGBT community ever stood before Jesus Christ, he would bring us before him exclaiming ""Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these."
I wasn't in a hurry, but I had somewhere to be. All of the lines in Target seemed long, so I chose the one closest to me. Already at the conveyor belt an elderly woman was emptying her cart. Her leisurely pace was indicative of her age. I considered changing lines, but when I glanced down the rows I noticed the other lines had grown longer. I decided to stay in line behind her. As I said, I was in no particular rush.
As she finished unloading her cart, the cashier announced her balance. Ten dollars and five cents. She had to repeat herself three times. The elderly woman's caregiver explained that she has difficulty hearing, and repeated the cashier holding up ten and then five fingers. The elderly lady opened up her coin purse, something I haven't seen in a while, and began digging through change. One by one she pulled pennies from the little pouch.
"Would you like me to help?" Her caregiver asked reaching for the pouch.
"I'm eighty six. I'm not dead." The woman told her with a pointed finger and more sass than I expected. She wasn't rude, but sharp – humored even.
She began telling the woman behind the counter that she had lived in California for most of her life. She explained that her father left her mother while she was pregnant, and not wanting to shame the family as an unwed mother she placed her up for adoption.
Unbeknownst to her at the time, her father remarried and had five more children. All boys. She continued telling the cashier the story about her childhood without them, and how her adopted parents didn't really want her either. She told her that a year ago one of her brothers reached out for the first time in her life and that finally they met.
"He's a Sheriff in Colorado, and he'd been looking for me all this time." she told the cashier proudly.
I had become so intrigued by this woman and her story that I forgot for a moment that we were still in line at a shopping center. I was only reminded by the exaggerated huff of the woman behind me. She collected her items off the belt, and left to occupy a line that was moving at a faster pace.
Aware of the impatient woman's reaction the elderly woman let her sentence trail off. She helped her caregiver place her bags into her shopping cart, and took the receipt from the cashier folding it gingerly and tucking it back into the pouch she pulled the pennies from.
The elderly woman turned to me, and we made eye contact for the very first time.
"You'll probably never know what it's like to spend your entire life thinking that no one in the world wanted you… and to find out almost too late that someone always did. Don't wait that long."
She smiled at me, but behind her eyes there was an ache that spoke volumes. I felt my cheeks grow warm, and tears brimmed against them. The cashier told the woman very softly that she was thankful to have her in her line, and to come back soon. I hadn't fully recovered from the conversation before the cashier addressed me.
"Thank you for your patience." She said without prompting.
"My patience?" I asked.
"Many people don't realize that this is the only interaction that many people her age have with strangers."
"Not a problem." I told her. "It was truly my pleasure."
As I took my receipt the cashier looked at me sincerely. " Thank you again. It was a pleasure to have you in my lane today as well."
I cried as I left Target that day, which probably surprises no one. I was overwhelmed by the conversation and how much it affected me, but also by how abruptly it ended. I looked for the woman on my way out, but she was gone.
I was shocked that the cashier felt the need to thank me. That the woman behind me hadn't waited to hear the end of the story. That I almost considered changing lanes myself. I wished that I had said more to the elderly woman, but decided that maybe I didn't need to. Maybe all she wanted was for someone to hear her.
You can point a finger at any given moment of my life, and I can show you something I overcame. You can ask me about a decision I made at any point, and I can give you a reason -- often one that helped me survive.
These are not mistakes. I do not regret them. They are why I am standing here, that I can look you in the eye, they are the reason that I'm alive today.
But there is so much more to this. These moments, these decisions, these obstacles, they are not me, but I am stronger because of them. - TM
Over a steeped cup of loose-leaf jasmine tea, I asked myself, "When did I become this woman?"
The one who stays in on Friday nights. Who spends Saturday mornings conducting help-based interviews and hosting screenings at her apartment for feminist theater groups.
The woman who changes her mind -- not because she is indecisive, but because in-depth research and careful consideration have taught her otherwise. The woman who actively seeks opportunities that challenge her. Who isn't intimidated by her own presence. Who isn't afraid of laughter and love. The woman who doesn't ask for permission, but doesn't take advantage of her liberty.
I sipped the tea down until the bottom of the soaked paper cup began to leak. "I've always been her," I decided. "An ever-evolving version. "
I spoke to Thomas for the first time last Wednesday. We've never met in person. He had never even heard my name before that day. I'd only learned his the night before, when a woman who knew me in high school reached out for help communicating with him. She knew he was having a difficult time with his sexuality, and was concerned he might not be dealing with the pain in a healthy manner. I sat there staring at his email for nearly two hours before trying to pen a response that didn't feel like an excerpt from a self-love pamphlet.
How do you ask a sixteen year old not to kill himself because he is gay?
How do you explain to a child that things will be better after high school -- once he is living independently and has had a chance to become the man he wants to be? How do you ask him to put down the razor blade and the handfuls of pills, even though they're the only things numbing the real pain that he feels inside? How do you convince him to trust you and believe you when you say that life won't always hurt this much – especially if you're not sure you believe yourself?
You see, Thomas lives in the South. He grew up in a conservative Christian household with parents who love him, but would not accept him living a "homosexual lifestyle." He can count on one hand the number of people he's been able to talk to about the depression that, according to him, he "sinks deeper into every time he blinks."
He makes good grades, and scored above average on his first attempt at the ACT. He has dreams of majoring in Linguistics at a prestigious University, but he has zero self-confidence. Thomas is a really great kid, and has a really bright future in front of him. He just has to get past the twelfth grade.
I can't tell Thomas that things will get better at school. I can't tell him that his friends will understand, or that his church won't kick him out of the congregation based on his sexuality. I can't tell him that there is no chance that his parents might put him in a "Pray away the Gay" program if they realize he is gay.
What I can tell Thomas is that he's risking his future with drugs and self-violence; that neither jail nor a mental institution would be as fun as college. I can send him lists of Universities with notable Linguistics programs. I can encourage him to spend the next two years perfecting his admissions letter and locating and acquiring enough scholarships to independently fund his education - just in case. I can remind him that he is not broken. That he reminds me of myself, only a brighter, more talented version. I can tell Thomas that he is not alone.
What I would like to do is prove it. Tell Thomas that you are with him. That he is not broken. Tell Thomas your stories, your hopes and your dreams. Tell Thomas that life is beautiful, and that two years will go by faster than the blink of depression.
Thomas is just one of many young people who need to hear that it's all right to be alive and to be themselves. That they don't need permission to be happy.
Tell Thomas he is not alone. Use the hashtag #TellThomas to tell them all.
Just a thought...
It isn't selfish to seek your happiness. In fact, the most selfish act would be to deny oneself of that happiness. The void of pleasure is not one to stand alone, empty and dark. It is filled up, instead, by other emotions. Anger. Sadness. Resentment. What is the purpose of life, if not to rid us of those burdens, and fill our lives with happiness and love?
Art History
I can still remember my first art class in grade school. My teachers name was Ms. Carter, and when we walked into the art room there were rolls of paper, markers, charcoal, scissors, paper mâché, and every other artistic medium you could imagine a K-5th grader using. The one that really stood out to me was the paint. At the time we mostly worked with watercolor, but gradually she introduced us to acrylics. I loved painting.
Unfortunately the middle schools and high school that I attended weren't very supportive of the arts. I would go on through life not picking up a brush until college. I took a still life drawing class that reignited my passion for art, and before long I was taking my first college painting class. I enjoyed it so much that I turned it into a minor. It wasn't necessary for my career, but it was necessary for my soul.
Since college I've invested more time into my art. It has become my favorite hobby. One day, I realized that I had in fact become an artist.
Of course I questioned whether I was talented enough to actually make money doing what I love. Painting is an expensive art form, and to continue doing it, I knew that I had to come up with a way to fund the habit.
Two days ago, I sold my first painting. I set a goal for myself to sell my first piece by 26, and I achieved that goal.
Never give up on the things that you love. Even if they seem silly, or pointless. If it matters to you, then you'll find a way to do it. If you work hard enough at something, it will pay off.
Thank you so much to all of the wonderful people who have supported me and the crazy art that I make. Hopefully one day you'll all have a piece of me hanging on your walls. I'd be honored.
National Coming Out Day
One day my mother and I were driving to the tanning salon together. Terrible, I know, but that's the south in the early 2000's for you. We listened to the radio nearly the entire way there, and if you've ever met my mother you know that it's very unusual for the two of us to stay quiet for that long. That's when I knew that something was weighing on her.
About a mile outside of town, my mother turned down the music. She began to choke up, and I noticed that she was on the verge of tears. "Is there something you want to talk to me about?" She asked. A pit grew in my stomach. I was a pretty good kid, and stayed out of trouble, so I knew what she wanted to talk about.
My sexuality.
I must have stayed quiet for longer than I realized, because after all of her silence – she spoke again. "Do you have a girlfriend?"
I wanted to vomit. I wanted to cry. I wanted to jump out of the van speeding down the highway at sixty-five miles an hour. What I didn't want to do was look at her, or respond. But my mother was my best-friend. So I took a deep breath. I nodded, and told her that I was gay.
I wish that I could say that she laughed, and told me that it was fine. That we looked cute together (or not.) That she would love me anyway. But I was fifteen years old, and it was a very different time eleven years ago.
We wound up still going to the salon. The twenty minutes that I laid baking in that bed, listening to my mother sob in the room next to me, were the longest minutes of my life. I never wanted to disappoint her, but I couldn't lie to her. I respected her too much.
Over the next six months she spent a lot of time crying and reading the bible. She blamed herself, my father, the school systems. She even blamed me to an extent. Finally, she told me that I had to "wait to be gay" until I was eighteen, and living out from under her roof.
I became really depressed, and began cutting myself at sixteen years old. That was also around the time that I first began thinking about suicide. My mother took me to our family physician, and after a thorough exam she requested I be put on anti-depressants. He then told her that what I needed was a girlfriend.
My mother was a nurse, but she is also a Christian. In her heart, she still felt as if what I was doing was wrong. It wasn't until a few months later when my (secret) girlfriend's father threatened to kill me that my mother realized that her love for me was more important than my sexuality. She filed a restraining order against him, and became my biggest ally.
The next two years of high school would be extremely difficult for me. I lost friends, and a few family members. Guys called me "Dyke" as I walked down the hallway. Girls acted uncomfortable around me when we were alone. The rumors were vicious.
I went on to attend Stephens College, a very supportive and liberal women's college in Columbia, MO where I met women and made friends that would change my life. My time there carried me to California, one of the most diverse and accepting places in the world, to pursue a career writing television where my voice could be heard.
Ten years later, I look back at the young girl that I was. I have grown, become more comfortable in my own skin, and learned to love myself. I made it.
Many young LGBT people didn't make it. A few of them will die today. That's why it's so incredibly important to support your LGBT youth. If you know someone who is struggling, reach out. You could save a life just by being an ally. Just by speaking up, and being vocal about your support. If you're not sure how to help them, please offer them my email. -
I'll talk to anyone. No questions asked.
Today I'm sending out my love to all of the people young and old who have been brave enough to take that step. To be themselves, and do so unapologetically. Thank you for your bravery.
You are beautiful, you are important, and you are not alone. There are millions of us out here, just like you. Today I am celebrating#NationalComingOutDay and I'm sending my love and thoughts to each and every one of you.
Tennessee Martin
is a writer, artist and human/animal rights activist based in Echo Park- Los Angeles, CA. The Stephens College graduate loves poetry, camping with her rowdy friends and tequila of many varieties.
December 2016


text:
Bibliography Background About KRIS
Sediment in Streams
Excess sediment can profoundly effect the productivity of a salmon or trout stream (Cordone and Kelly, 1961). In a healthy stream, young salmon and trout hide in the interstitial spaces between cobbles and boulders to avoid predation . In streams that get extremely cold in winter, young steelhead may actually burrow into the streambed and spend the winter in flowing water down within the gravel. The area of the stream where flowing water extends down into the gravel is also extremely important for aquatic invertebrates, which supply most of the food for young salmon, steelhead and cutthroat trout. If fine sediment is clogging interstitial spaces between streambed gravel, juvenile salmonids lose their source of cover and food.
Salmon, steelhead and coastal cutthroat trout are also very susceptible to sediment pollution because they build their nests in the stream bottom. The eggs, buried one to three feet deep in the gravel redd, rely on a steady flow of clean, cold water to deliver oxygen and remove waste products. In coastal streams the eggs usually hatch in about 30 days, depending on water temperatures. Eggs hatch into alevin and remain in the gravel another 30 days or so, living on the nutrients in their yolk sacs. As they develop into fry, the yolk is used up, and the fry must emerge through spaces in the gravel to take up life in the stream. During the 60 day period when eggs and alevin are in the gravel, major shifts of the stream bottom can kill them (Nawa and Frissell, 1993.)
Koski (1966) and Tappel and Bjornn (1983) demonstrated that increased fine sediment in spawning gravels caused decreased survival and emergence of salmonid eggs and alevin. McNeil and Ahnell (1964) found fines less than 0.85 mm (0.833 was actual sieve size) to have the highest impact on salmonid spawning success. Particles of less than 6.4 mm are recognized as having the potential to infiltrate redds forming a layer in the stream gravels which sometimes prevents emergence of fry (Lisle, 1989). Kondolf (2000), in a review of the literature, found that when fines (<6.4 mm) exceeded 30% that it reduced salmonid emergence and survival by 50%. Chapman (1988) showed different responses to similar levels of fines from various field studies (Figure 5 from Chapman) and noted that laboratory experiments might not duplicate redd dynamics.
Studies conducted in redds in Olympic Peninsula streams in Washington found that if more than 13% fine sediment (<0.85 mm) intruded into the redd, almost no steelhead or coho salmon eggs survived (McHenry et al., 1994). Barnard (1992) showed that fine sediment levels inside and outside coho salmon redds varied substantially in Freshwater Creek, a tributary to Humboldt Bay. Fines (<1 mm) averaged seven percent inside redds and 13% outside them, with no inside redd measurement in excess of 13%.
While salmon have the ability to substantially lower fine sediment in the redd pocket during redd construction, if fine sediment levels in the stream bed outside the redd are high, there is a potential for fines to intrude into already constructed redds during high flows (Kondolf, 2000). Because the redd is a depression in the stream bed, it creates Venturi forces, drawing water down into the gravel. Fine sediment in suspension during storms may be sucked down into the redd.
Lotspeich and Everest (1983) noted that pore space and permeability were key variables in the quality of salmonid spawning gravel, and suggested using the central tendency of particles (FREDLE Index) as a standard. They postulated that, because of varying head diameters, coho salmon have less success emerging as fry than steelhead trout when fine sediment levels in redds are high. Barnard and McBain (1994) suggested that measuring permeability itself might be a quicker, and more cost effective, method of measuring sediment impacts on salmonids. McBain and Trush (2000) concluded that measuring permeability defined "the variability in spawning gravel quality with better resolution and at lower cost than substrate composition analysis, but the relationship between permeability and salmonid egg survival is less well known."
Suspended sediment in the water column causes turbidity. Sigler et al. (1984) found that turbidities as low as 25 nephlometric turbidity units (ntu) caused a reduction in juvenile steelhead and coho growth. High turbidity during winter likely impacts the feeding ability of juvenile salmon, steelhead or cutthroat trout, and the longer the duration of high turbidity the more damage is likely to fish and other aquatic organisms (Newcombe and MacDonald, 1991). Higgins (2002) noted measurement of turbidity in excess of 25 ntu for weeks at a time in Freshwater Creek (Humboldt County) in the winter of 1999, after widespread logging in the watershed upstream in a relatively short duration.
Coho and chinook salmon do not have the leaping ability of steelhead and are, therefore, confined to low gradient reaches. These reaches were formerly the most productive spawning and rearing areas, with an ample supply of good gravel and large wood. High bedload transport can bury low gradient reaches, making them much simpler and less productive salmonid habitat. These formerly productive low gradient reaches become wide and shallow and recovery of fish habitat may take decades (Frissell, 1992). Lisle (1981) noted that recovery of streams with high gradient proceeds much more rapidly following large flood events.
Knopp (1993), in a study of 60 northwestern California streams, found that intensive land use management was correlated to loss of pool volume. In the chart from Knopp (1993) at left, Elder Creek, an unmanaged watershed, had roughly 7% of its pool volumes filled by sediment while logged streams sometimes were over half filled (>0.50 V*). During the year they spend in freshwater, coho salmon prefer deep pools that form around large pieces of wood. High sediment transport can fill pools and cause reduction or loss of essential salmonid juvenile rearing habitat (Frissell, 1992). Brown et al. (1994) noted that optimal coho habitat is comprised of pools at least one meter deep (39 inches), and Reeves (1988) found that yearling and older steelhead juveniles needed pools at least three feet deep for successful rearing
Cordone and Kelly (1961) documented the problems of sediment waves associated with Post WW II logging in California and concluded:
"More than anything else we need to develop a philosophy of land husbandry that will avoid the creation of untreated and running sores on the earth's surface. Man must acquire a responsibility to future generations that matches the power he has gained through the development of heavy machinery. Our observations in the field and our review of the existing literature leads us to the unshakable conclusion that unless this can be done many of our trout streams will be destroyed by the deposition of sediment."
Barnard, K. 1992. Physical and Chemical Conditions in Coho Salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) Spawning Habitat in Freshwater Creek, Northern California. Masters Thesis. Humboldt State University. Arcata CA. 81 pp. without appendices.
Barnard, K. & S. McBain. 1994. Standpipe to Determine Permeability, Dissolved Oxygen, and Vertical Particle Size Distribution in Salmonid Spawning Gravels. As FHR Currents # 15. US Forest Service, Region 5. Eureka, CA. 12 pp.
Chapman. D.W. 1988. Critical Review of Variables Used to Define Effects of Fines in Redds of Large Salmonids. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society. 117: 1-21.
Cordone, A.J. and D.W. Kelley. 1961. The influences of inorganic sediment on the aquatic life of streams. Reprint from California Fish and Game. Vol. 47, No. 2. California Department of Fish and Game, Inland Fisheries Branch. Sacramento, CA. 41 pp. [155k]**
Frissell, C.A. 1992. Cumulative effects of land use on salmonid habitat on southwest Oregon streams. Ph.D. thesis, Oregon State University, Corvalis, OR.
Knopp, C. 1993. Testing Indices of Cold Water Fish Habitat. Final Report for Development of Techniques for Measuring Beneficial Use Protection and Inclusion into the North Coast Region's Basin Plan by Amendment of the.....Activities, September 18, 1990. North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board in cooperation with California Department of Forestry. 57 pp.
Kondolf, G.M. 2000. Assessing Salmonid Spawning Gravel Quality. Trans. Am. Fish. Soc. 129:262-281.
Koski, K Victor. 1966. The survival of coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) from egg deposition to emergence in three Oregon coastal streams. Master's thesis, Oregon State University. 98 pp. [905k]**
Lisle, T. E. 1981. Channel recovery from recent large floods in north coastal California: rates and processes. Pages 153-160, in: R. N. Coates (ed.), Proceedings, Symposium on Watershed Rehabilitation in Redwood National Park and Other Pacific Coastal Areas; 25-28 August 1981; Arcata, California. Sacramento, California: Center for Natural Resources Studies of JMI, Inc. [92k] http://www.rsl.psw.fs.fed.us/projects/water/lisle81.pdf
Lisle, T. E. 1989. Sediment transport and resulting deposition in spawning gravels, north coastal California. Water Resources Research 25(6): 1303-1319. [487k] http://www.rsl.psw.fs.fed.us/projects/water/Lisle89.pdf
Lotspeich, F.B. and F.H. Everest. 1981. A new method for reporting and interpreting textural composition of spawning gravel. Pacific Northwest Forest and Range Experiment Station, Research Note PNW-369.USDA Forest Service. Corvallis, OR. 12 pp. [242k]**
McHenry, M.L., D.C. Morrill and E. Currence. 1994 . Spawning Gravel Quality, Watershed Characteristics and Early Life History Survival of Coho Salmon and Steelhead in Five North Olympic Peninsula Watersheds. Lower Elwha S'Klallam Tribe, Port Angeles, WA. and Makah Tribe, Neah Bay, WA. Funded by Washington State Dept. of Ecology (205J grant).
Nawa, R.K. and C.A. Frissell. 1993. Measuring scour and fill of gravel stream beds with scour chains and sliding bead monitors. No. American J. of Fisheries Management. 13: 634-639.
Newcombe, C.P. and D.D. MacDonald. 1991. Effects of Suspended Sediments on Aquatic Ecosystems. North American Journal of Fisheries Management. 11: 72-82.
McNeil, W. J. and W.H. Ahnell. 1964. Success of Pink Spawning Relative to Size of Spawning Bed Material. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Special Scientific Report - Fisheries No. 469. Washington, D.C. 17 pp.
Sigler, J.W., T.C. Bjornn and F.H. Everest. 1984. Effects of Chronic Turbidity on Density of Steelheads and Coho Salmon. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society, 113: 142-150.
Tappel, P.D., and T.C. Bjornn. 1983. A new method of relating size of spawning gravel to salmonid embryo survival. North American Journal of Fisheries Management 3:123-135. [247k]**


text:
Below is a summary of the City's answer to the allegations of Bishop McDonnell.
As part of our ongoing coverage of the federal case that John Egan is making out of Bishop McDonnell's reluctance to endorse the historic preservation of Our Lady Of Hope Church (he apparently prefers that it be bulldozed or made it into a concrete planter), we present a summary of the City's opposition to McDonnell's complaint.
The responses of the City of Springfield are taken from court paper # 25, which is archived on the Western Mass Catholics web site. The formal name of the paper is "City Opposition" and it consists of 3 parts, 25.1, 25.2 and 25.3. The partition of the paper was made due to pdf. limitations on the PACER web site of 20 pages per pdf.
My summary gives City responses to the complaint word for word. However, there are many gaps (indicated by ellipses: . . . ) due to length of legal briefs, redundancy of arguments, and concerns for the mental health of transcriber.
Footnotes are not given but are indicated as they occur in the text. Footnotes often include salient points of the case law and not just citations. They can be easily found by referring to the three parts of Paper 25. Footnotes 1-46 are found in 25.1, footnotes 47-101 are found in 25.2, and footnotes 102-131 are found in 25.3.
Paper 25 (City Response)
Before discussing the substance of plaintiff's [Bishop McDonnell's] assertions we turn first to two procedural issues:
1. Claims against named individuals are redundant and should be dismissed . . . suits against municipal agents in their official capacities are actually suits against the municipality.[8] . . .
2. The City is not a person under the Massachusetts Civil Rights Act (MCRA). Massachusetts courts have indicated that a municipality is not a "person" within the terms of the MCRA and, as such, cannot be sued under the statute.[9] . . . that claim must be dismissed in its entirely and Defendants are entitled to summary judgment on such claims . . .
Plaintiff's suit challenges the facial validity of the enactment of Springfield's Our Lady of Hope Historic District Ordinance on constitutional and statutory grounds…...Springfield City Ordinances properties within a historic district are given architectural protection by the Springfield Historical Commission…there is an application process by which the Commission may issue one of three types of certificates to allow changes within historic district: 1. Appropriateness . . . 2. Hardship . . . , and 3. Non-applicability . . .
Instead of filing an application for one of the aforementioned certificates . . . the plaintiff has chosen to challenge the constitutionality of the OLOH Ordinance under the State and Federal constitutions, and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000, 42 U.S.C….(RLUIPA)….
…in 2001, the City of Springfield commissioned a historic survey of the Liberty Heights neighborhood. It was conducted by Bonnie Parson, preservation planner for the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission…Our Lady Of Hope church was included in that survey…
As noted in the survey of Ms. Parsons, the building meets the criteria for eligibility for the National Register of Historic Places, the federal listing of places important to the nation, state, or locality, as the first parish church for Irish immigrants of the Hungry Hill section of Springfield when population spread far enough north of the city to make Sacred Heart too far and too crowded. Established in 1906, the parish has continuously served as the religious, education and social, and civic center for Hungry Hill's Catholic residents, most of whom have been among successive waves of immigrants to the city…
...the OLOH church is an imposing Italian Renaissance style structure at the corner of Carew Street, a major east/west thoroughfare, and Armory Street, a north/south connector. Not only is the building seen in the immediate neighborhood, but its 145-foot tower can be seen for a distance, such as from the North End bridge as one enters the City from West Springfield...
…OLOH church was designed by Springfield architect John Donohue, who was active throughout central and western Massachusetts designing many Roman Catholic churches, schools, parish houses, rectories and social centers…
Section 1 - Violation Of Free Exercise Of Religion And Establishment Clause, counts 1 (federal) and 2 (state) [click to read full complaint]
A basic principle of constitutional law is that the First Amendment "free exercise clause embraces two separate concepts-freedom to believe and freedom to act. The first is absolute but, …the second cannot be. Conduct remains subject to regulation for the protection of society. The freedom to act must have appropriate definition to preserve the enforcement of that protection."[10] Laws which regulate conduct rather than speech generally fall outside the First Amendment and into an area over which government enjoys full regulatory power. …..although the application of the OLOH Historic district Ordinance many have some minimal impact upon "the unfettered autonomy" plaintiff "would otherwise enjoy," plaintiff's "generalized and diffuse concern for church autonomy, without more, does not exempt" plaintiff "from the operation of secular laws."[12]…..
…..The Catholic religion does not forbid compliance with the OLOH Historic District Ordinance. Plaintiff will not be subject to substantial pressure to modify his behavior and violate his religious beliefs in order to comply with the OLOH ordinance. The "routine regulatory interaction which involves no inquiries into religious doctrine, no delegation of state power to a religious body, and no detailed monitoring and close administrative contact between secular and religious bodies does not of itself violate the nonentanglement command."[45] Substantial alteration or complete destruction of abandoned religious exterior architectural features, without compliance with the OLOH Ordinance, is not a constitutionally protected form of religious exercise.
...Plaintiff, as the "party claiming an unconstitutional burden on the free exercise of religion must show (1) a sincerely held religious belief, which (2) conflicts with, and thus is burdened by, the state requirement." [84] Plaintiff has not presented facts to bring it within the hybrid rights exception where heightened judicial scrutiny may be appropriate...content-neutral legislation regarding publicly visible expressions such as the exterior architectural features of architecturally significant or historically important sites is permissible because it does not pose any danger of governmental censorship or political orthodoxy.
. . .Plaintiff presents a grab bag full of allegations designed to have the Court, for federal constitutional purposes, review the OLOH Ordinance under strict scrutiny.[47] ......the general proposition for addressing the constitutional protection for free exercise of religion established by the Supreme Court is "that a law that is neutral and of general applicability need not be justified by a compelling governmental interest even if the law has the incidental effect of burdening a particular religious practice."[49]...
...while the government may not coerce an individual to adopt a certain belief or punish him for his religious views, it may restrict certain activities associated with the practice of religion pursuant to its general regulatory powers... The critical distinction is thus between a neutral, generally applicable law that happens to bear on religiously motivated action, and regulation that restricts certain conduct because it is religiously oriented."[51]...
...This critical distinction between beliefs and conduct is recognized in Massachusetts and used in analyzing the state constitutional scope of religious freedom....It is perfectly lawful to "enact land-use restrictions or controls to enhance the quality of life by preserving the character and desirable aesthetic features of a city."[53]...
...The OLOH Ordinance was not created to infringe upon or restrict plaintiff's religious practices. Instead the OLOH Ordinance, like its enabling legislation, the Historic District Act, regulates neutral criteria which are applied generally. Therefore, the correct legal standard of review is whether the OLOH Ordinance is rationally related to its stated goals....
...To determine the object of the OLOH Ordinance we must begin with its text because "the protections of the Free Exercise Clause pertain if the law at issue discriminates against some or all religious beliefs or regulates or prohibits conduct because it is undertaken for religious reasons."[57] The OLOH Ordinance does not discriminate against religious beliefs or regulate or prohibit conduct undertaken for religious reasons. The OLOH Ordinance does not refer to any of plaintiff's religious practices...
Section 2 - Violation Of Freedom Of Speech, Expression And Assembly, counts 3 (federal) and 4 (state) [click to read full complaint]
OLOH is not the only Historic District in Springfield which contains a place of worship and Springfield is not the only municipality in the commonwealth with places of worship in local historic districts. [there follows a list and description of 5 local historic districts]
The Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System (MACRIS) allows a search of the Massachusetts Historical Commission database for information on historic properties and areas in the Commonwealth….it reveals that a number of communities in Western Massachusetts have religious institutions located within the boundaries of their respective Local Historic Districts. [there follows a list of 8 local historic districts with churches]
Mr. McCarroll searched MACRIS for communities beyond Western Massachusetts with local historic districts in which was a resource containing "catholic church" in its description. [there follows a list of 15 Catholic churches located in local historic districts in Massachusetts]
While plaintiff has brought a facial challenge to the OLOH Historic District no such challenge has been brought with regard to any of the other local historic districts in the commonwealth containing property owned by the Roman Catholic Church or any other religious denomination…..
…..Springfield did not prohibit all religious exercise anywhere within its municipal boundaries by the plaintiff. In fact, plaintiff admits to circumstances in which the OLOH Historic District Ordinance allows adequate alternative means of religious expression; "the Parish was merged with St. Mary's Parish, East Springfield, under a new name, St. Mary Mother of Hope Parish."[17] Merely designating a building as historical is not an infringement of any constitutional right because the designation itself does nothing to restrict religious practice. Plaintiff's facial challenge to the OLOH Historic District Ordinance must fail because the challenged Ordinance has plainly legitimate sweep. Moreover, an issue ordinarily is not ripe for decision until a land owner has requested permission to act and has been denied the right to act, or has suffered actual and present harm as a result of the designation.[18]…..
…..Plaintiff's constitutional claims are based in large part upon the erroneous contention that the OLOH Ordinance purports to control plaintiff's religious symbols. "[A] Latin cross is not merely a reaffirmation of Christian beliefs."[29]. Our Lady of Hope was a central meeting point as religious, social and civic center for Hungry Hill residents. In 1945 with the end of World War II it was at the church that a Servicemen's honor roll was erected to name all the 1000 young parish members who served, placing stars by those from Hungry Hill who had died."[30] Simply because the exterior architectural features of the OLOH property may have some "religious content" or promote "a message consistent with a religious doctrine" does not make them "run afoul of the Establishment Clause."[31] In the context of the OLOH Ordinance, the exterior architectural features have a dual significance partaking of both religion and government…..
…..religious symbolism is the use of symbols by a religion. Upon closing the OLOH Church, its former religious symbols were "reduced to profane (non-sacred) use."[39] The object of the Historic Districts Act and the OLOH Ordinance is to protect the exterior architectural features of historically significant buildings and places. It is not to infringe upon or restrict practices because of their religious motivation. Springfield is not doing anything but regulating in a content neutral manner the exterior architectural features of the OLOH Historic District. The OLOH Ordinance governs actions and while it cannot interfere with plaintiff's religious believe and opinions, the Ordinance may interfere with plaintiff's practices. The OLOH Ordinance does not interfere with plaintiff in the performance of any religious rituals or Catholic ceremonies of worship. The OLOH Ordinance does not suppress the Catholic religion or religious conduct. The OLOH Ordinance neither encourages nor discourages participation in religion. To permit plaintiff to excuse illegal alteration of the exterior architectural features of the OLOH Historic District because of his religious beliefs "would be to make the professed doctrines of religious belief superior to the law of the land, and in effect to permit every citizen to become a law unto himself."[40]…
Limiting the destruction or substantial alteration of the exterior architectural features of the OLOH property is not even a hypothetical infringement of plaintiff's purported free speech rights. [86] Where, as in this case, the communicative content of the regulated activity—its message---is irrelevant to the government's reason for regulation then it is conduct, not speech, which is being regulated and the First Amendment values are not implicated…
Section 3 - Violation Of Equal Protection Of The Laws By Discrimination, counts 5 (federal) and 6 (state) plus count 7, Violation Of Due Process [click to read full complaint]
Ordinarily a municipality's reason for creating a new historic district is not reviewable.[22] The record here reveals a reasonable basis for the enactment of the OLOH Historic District. It was created to "protect the architectural integrity of Our Lady of Hope Church, which is scheduled to be closed and is possibly threatened by demolition."[23] As the Planning Department report pointed out:
Our Lady of Hope Church is slated to be closed by the Diocese of Springfield at the end of 2009. The last church to be closed in Springfield was St. Joseph's Church located on East Columbus Avenue. Although listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it was sold to a developer and demolished for a strip commercial complex. This proposed local historic district is being proposed to avoid the same possible fate for Our Lady of Hope.[24]…..
…..In 1898, plaintiff transformed itself into a "body politic and corporation sole" and thereby became "subject to all the liabilities and limitations imposed by the Public Statutes."[33]…Plaintiff does not challenge the OLOH Historic District to use the OLOH site exclusively for religious purposes. Although the plaintiff retains title to the OLOH property, it is no longer used as a place of sacred worship. In fact, plaintiff admits that "the Our Lady of Hope Church was closed"[37], its assets "were transferred" and "the Church [is] out of service with respect to religious worship."[38]…..
...In this case the Court should apply a deferential minimum rationality standard of review to the OLOH Ordinance because it is a police power regulation which imposes a general applicable rule of conduct designed to advance society's broad interest in preserving significant exterior architectural features and historic properties...
...the purpose of the Historic District Act and the OLOH Ordinance fit "easily within the established boundaries of 'benevolent neutrality,' in which religious exercise is supported but not promoted"[71] and afford no basis to conclude that the legislative intent was to advance religion...
...the court should look at the specific public interests at stake in creating the OLOH Ordinance. The Historic District Ordinance limits destruction or substantial alteration of the exterior of OLOH property without prior permission of the Springfield Historical Commission. An individual's religious beliefs do not "excuse him from compliance with an otherwise valid law prohibiting conduct than the State is free to regulate. On the contrary, the record of more than a century of our free exercise jurisprudence contradicts that proposition."[83]
The OLOH Historic District Ordinance does not suppress any element of the Catholic worship service. The OLOH Ordinance does not regulate any religious or secular uses of the property by the plaintiff or anyone else. The OLOH Historic District Ordinance does not single out for discriminatory treatment any Catholic religious practice...the Historic District Ordinance merely regulates a secular activity — significant alteration or destruction of the exterior architectural features of a significantly important property in Springfield. The Ordinance does not pressure the plaintiff to abandon its religious beliefs through financial or criminal penalties or impose taxes upon the exercise of plaintiff's religion...
Section 4, complaints under the Religious Land Use And Institutionalized Person Act
4.a. (RLUIPA) discrimination [click to read full complaint]
Plaintiff, conflating two separate provisions in RLUIPA [116], argues that the "equal terms and nondiscrimination mandates of RLUIPA are also violated by the Ordinance." [117] These two separate RLUIPA provisions will be discussed separately herein. RLUIPA's equal terms provision [118] provides:
No government shall impose or implement a land use regulation in a manner that treats a religious assembly or institution on less than equal terms with a nonreligious assembly or institution.
… nothing in the OLOH Historic District Ordinance's objectives treats religious assemblies or institutions less well than secular assemblies or institutions that are similarly situated as to the regulatory purpose. [122] Although the OLOH Historic District Ordinance contains only RCB [Roman Catholic Bishop of Springfield] owned property, that fact alone is not enough to prove a violation of RLUIPA's Equal Terms provision. ….Plaintiff's failure to identify any property which is similarly situated to the OLOH site and better-treated, in regard to the objectives of the OLOH Ordinance and the purposes of the Historic Districts Act, is fatal to plaintiff's RLUIPA claims...
…Plaintiff argues that the OLOH Ordinance violates the RLUIPA because it "targeted the Our Lady of Hope Church", "is but a single-parcel" and "improperly 'targets' only church property owned by the RCB." [125] As previously discussed plaintiff closed the OLOH church, ceased religious exercises on the OLOH site and relocated the Parish to a different part of Springfield. The creation of the OLOH Historic District followed a statutorily prescribed process aimed at preserving the significant architectural features existing on the OLOH site which seemed to be potentially threatened with destruction by the plaintiff. "The last church to be closed in Springfield was St. Joseph's Church located on East Columbus Avenue. Although listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it was sold to a developer and demolished for a strip commercial complex. This proposed local historic district is being proposed to avoid the same possible fate for Our Lady of Hope." [126]...
…The creation of local historic districts is aimed at preserving exterior architectural features of significant historic properties located within the commonwealth. The preservation of such properties does not have any religious motivation whatsoever …..since there is no evidence in the record from which it may be reasonably inferred that Springfield established the OLOH Historic District in order to discriminate against the Catholic religion, plaintiff's RLUIPA discrimination claims fails as a matter of law.
Section 4.b. (RLUIPA) substantial burden [click to read full complaint]
Under RLUIPA the government is prohibited from imposing or implementing any land use regulation "in a manner that imposes a substantial burden on the religious exercise of a person, including a religious assembly or institution. [90] A RLUIPA plaintiff "bears the burden of persuasion" on whether the challenged laws, or Springfield's "application of those laws" to plaintiff "substantially burdens its exercise of religion." [91] Since the OLOH Historic District Ordinance does not impose a "substantial burden" on "religious exercise" plaintiff cannot carry its RLUIPA burden of proof.
Plaintiff's position is implicitly grounded upon a fundamental misconception of the nature of Historic District legislation. The Historic Districts Act and its legislative derivative, the OLOH Ordinance, do not regulate the religious or any other uses of property. Plaintiff abandoned religious use of the OLOH property; Springfield is not preventing or inhibiting plaintiff from reviving it's former religious use of the OLOH property. Unlike traditional zoning the Historic District Act and the OLOH Ordinance strive to preserve from unlawful alteration the existing features of property…
…they forbid the substantial alteration or destruction of the exterior architectural features of property without prior approval of the Springfield Historical Commission. Because neither the Historic Districts Act nor the OLOH Historic District limits or restricts plaintiff's use or development of the OLOH site these local preservations laws do not, as a matter of law, constitute a "land use regulation" [94] within the meaning of RLUIPA; consequently, plaintiff's RLUIPA claims against Springfield must be dismissed.
…the plaintiff does not cite any current or planned future use of the OLOH site for religious exercises of any kind. In an attempt to invoke RLUIPA, plaintiff describes the process it generally follows when selling its property to a third part:
…an agreement must be reached between the Bishop and the purchaser that any religious symbols may not be desecrated or put to a sordid use. If such an accommodation cannot be reached, all religious symbols are removed from the interior and exterior building. This would involve the removal of all exterior Christian crosses and stained glass windows depicting religious symbols or scenes. Where it is either impossible or impractical to remove religious symbols from the building exterior (a frieze or carvings of sacred scripture) such symbols are covered with concrete or other suitable material to prevent desecration. In some instances, in order to make certain that religious symbols or expressions are not desecrated, such items must be properly destroyed. [101]
Nothing in the OLOH Ordinance prevents plaintiff from applying to the Springfield Historical Commission for a certificate to conduct these types of activities. The historical designation of the OLOH exterior architectural features does not transform the sale of the closed OLOH property, which was formerly used as a place of worship, into any form of "religious exercise" under RLUIPA. Plaintiff's title to the OLOH property, or even its incidental use for religious purposes, would not convert plaintiff's secular plan for the property, selling it, into a religious exercise protected by RLUIPA. In this regard RLUIPA's legislative history is enlightening:
The right to assemble for worship is at the very core of the free exercise of religion. Churches and synagogues cannot function without physical space adequate to their needs and consistent with their theological requirements. The right to build, buy or rent such a space is an indispensable adjunct of the core First Amendment right to assemble for religious purposes. [102]
The right to sell, lease, or otherwise dispose of space which is no longer needed or used for religious exercises is not at the core of the free exercise of religious; it is not even on its periphery. Disposition of unneeded property is common commercial secular activity without any religious significance. RLIUPA does not protect such secular activities even when they are conducted by religious institutions. Creation of the OLOH Historic District does not give rise to a colorable RLUIPA claim. Springfield has done nothing to substantially burden plaintiff's religious exercise. …..
…Plaintiff complains that the mere enactment of the Historic District Ordinance creates an inability to make changes to the exterior of the building without seeking a certificate of appropriateness, hardship or non-applicability and asserts that this process constitutes a "substantial burden: under RLUIPA.
Contrary to the plaintiff's contentions, the Ordinance is not a substantial burden on plaintiff's exercise of religion. The creation of the OLOH Historic District did not impose a significantly great restriction or onus on any exercise of plaintiff's religion. It did not force plaintiff to choose between following the precepts of the Catholic religion and ownership of the OLOH Property. It did not force plaintiff to abandon the precepts of the Catholic religion or forfeit title to the OLOH property. Creation of the OLOH Historic District did not put pressure on plaintiff to modify his religious behavior or violate his religious beliefs. The ordinance merely submits the plaintiff to the same restrictions that any other landowner in a local historic district must fact. The plaintiff is not entitled to special government treatment that would violate the Establishment Clause.
Plaintiff speculates that, at some time in the future, it could face "delay, expense and uncertainly" from the mere filing for a certificate with the Springfield Historic Commission. [107] This minor responsibility is a normal incident of property ownership in a historic district; it is not substantial under RLUIPA…[108]…
Plaintiff's brief cites that the provision of fines from $10 to $500 dollars under section thirteen of the Historic District Act is evidence of a "substantial burden". However, there is nothing in the Historic Ordinance or state statute that singles out anyone for special burdens on the basis of religious callings. It appears that plaintiff is simply averse to complying with the ordinance's requirements…
Section 4.c. (RLUIPA) unreasonable limitation [click to read full complaint]
Plaintiff argues that RLUIPA's exclusions and limits provisions [128] "are not limited to cases of total exclusion of a religious practice from a jurisdiction. They may exist where a city acts arbitrarily or discriminatorily or where it simply deprives churches of reasonable opportunities to practice their religion." [129] That proposition has no application in this case.
First, it is undisputed that the OLOH Historic District Ordinance does not totally exclude the Catholic religion from Springfield. It was the plaintiff, not Springfield, which closed the OLOH church and transferred its assets elsewhere. Second, the exclusions and limits provisions in RLUIPA do not expressly address religious practices. It deals specifically with land use regulations which unreasonably limit "religions assemblies, institutions, or structures within a jurisdiction. [130] In this case there is absolutely no evidence of any kind that the OLOH Ordinance unreasonably limits any religion or religious assemblies, institution, or structures within Springfield. Indeed the undisputed facts of the case are that after plaintiff closed the "our Lady of Hope Church… the Parish was merged with St. Mary's Parish, East Springfield, under a new name, St. Mary Mother of Hope Parish."[131] Thus, the …unreasonable exclusions and limits provisions in RLUIPA do not apply in this case.
For the reasons set forth herein, Springfield submits that it is entitled to summary judgment on all counts, and respectfully requests the courts to declare the OLOH Historic District Ordinance valid under the Federal and State constitution and RLUIPA.
In addition Springfield requests the court to mandate that plaintiff file a timely application with the Springfield Historical Commission before attempting to alter or demolish any of the exterior architectural features of the OLOH site.
Respectfully submitted, Defendants: City of Springfield et al.


text:
Site Search
Christmas Tree Star
A pierced tin star for the treetop, with a clip on the back to hold the first bulb. Click photo for details.41P21Christmas Tree Star, Old Red Finish$0.
Christmas Tree Star
A pierced tin star for the treetop, with a clip on the back to hold the first bulb. Click photo for details.41P11Christmas Tree Star, Pewter Finish$0.
Victorian Christmas Tree Tinsel
Each piece 5 1/2" long. Corked tin container includes 50 pieces of tinsel. Made in Canada.41N21Victorian Christmas Tinsel$18.
Paper Star Ornaments
Punched paper stars are a traditional German Christmas decoration. Our set includes five different sizes of stars, ranging from 2 1/4" to 3 1/2" in diameter. Click photo for details.42T34GGold Punched Star Ornaments - Set of 5 is SOLD OUT.$0.42T34SSilver Punched Star Ornaments - Set of 5$13.
Mini Candle Ornaments
A woven wire candle basket and a mirror sconce are each hand made and perfectly scaled for the Christmas tree. Click photo for details.41R13Mini Candle Basket Ornament$6.41R13XMini Candle Basket Ornament - 3 or more$5.41R14Mini Candle Sconce Ornament is SOLD OUT.$0.
German Angel Orchestra
Angel orchestras are a traditional European Christmas decoration. Ours is entirely hand carved and hand painted in the Erzgebirge region of Germany. It comes complete with thirteen angels (no two alike -- 12 playing instruments and a conductor), a grand piano, and a two-level "cloud" on which they can be arranged. Click photo for details.42H51Cloud for German Angel Orchestra$80.42H55German Angel Pianist and Grand Piano$60.42H54Grand Piano only$40.42H53AGerman Angel Orchestra Figure - Director$20.42H53BGerman Angel Orchestra Figure - Triangle$20.42H53CGerman Angel Orchestra Figure - Horn (Waldhorn)$20.42H53DGerman Angel Orchestra Figure - Drum$20.42H53EGerman Angel Orchestra Figure - Trumpet$20.42H53FGerman Angel Orchestra Figure - Fanfare Trumpet$20.


text:
GamesFIX writes: Walt Disney once said, "It's kind of fun to do the impossible."
After playing Disney Infinity, that quote has new meaning for me.
A magical blend of classic Disney and Pixar franchises, Disney Infinity is an upcoming game that makes me giddy with excitement.
It stands out as one of the year's most anticipated games, and for good reason. Here's why.


text:
Diseases & Conditions
Forums & Chat
Join HealingWell
Hi, I'm new (sorda)
Forum Rules
Password Help
Log In
HealingWell.com Forum
Diseases & Conditions
> Hi, I'm new (sorda)
Select A Location
****** Top of the Forum ******
==== General Information ====
Frequently Asked Questions
Forum Rules & Guidelines
==== Diseases & Conditions ====
Allergies & Asthma
Alzheimer's Disease
Anxiety - Panic Disorders
Bipolar Disorder
Breast Cancer
Celiac Disease
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Chronic Pain
Crohn's Disease
Cystic Fibrosis
GERD - Heartburn
Heart & Cardiovascular Disease
Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Kidney Diseases & Disorders
Lyme Disease
Migraine - Headache
Multiple Sclerosis
Parkinson's Disease
Prostate Cancer
Rheumatoid Arthritis
Sjogren's Syndrome
Thyroid Disorders
Ulcerative Colitis
<< Previous Thread
Next Thread >>
Veteran Member
Date Joined Mar 2008
Total Posts : 1766
Posted 5/20/2008 8:49 PM (GMT -6)
Hi, I'm new to this forum of healingwell. I post often in the Ulcerative Colitis forum. And I'm definitely not new to depression.
I stopped the medication a couple months ago b/c I was doing so well and I was already taking so many meds b/c of the UC. As my UC has worsened, I have been doing a lot worse emotionally as well. Within the last week, I've cried about
5 times. I just spent an hour earlier crying b/c I can't handle this disease. Depression and self-esteem issues robbed my teenage years, and now this disease has robbed me of the rest of my life. I can't follow or complete my dreams. I always have to worry about
any possible messy situations, what I have to eat, etc etc. I'm a burden on my family. I'm afraid that I'm never going to find someone to love me. I don't have anyone other than my immediate family to talk to or rely on. And they definitely don't understand depression (in fact, my dad thinks it's complete bs) and as much as they try, they don't understand what it's like to have UC.
I feel like things can only get worse since the disease is mostly likely to get worse. I'm just so unhappy.
I'm sorry for rambling and thanks for listening (or rather, reading).
Post Edited (ComedyDork) : 12/4/2008 6:02:11 PM (GMT-7)
Back to Top
getting by
Forum Moderator
Date Joined Sep 2007
Total Posts : 42528
Posted 5/20/2008 9:16 PM (GMT -6)
Hi CD,
First of all welcome to the forum. You have come to a wonderful place full of wonderful members. You are among friends.
I must say that you have projected a rather bleak future for yourself. And all I can say is to take life one day at a time. The more you worry about
the future the worse that you are going to feel. You already said that stress makes the UC worse. I would say take life one day at a time. Talk to your doctor and see about
some counseling. There are programs for people who don't have insurance. You might end up working where you can get insurance in the future. There is no sense of defeating the purpose by assuming this or that will happen. So relax. Some medications can be obtained by samples from your doctor. There are options out there and hopefully you will be able to work something out. Just worry about
today, today. I know that I am rambling, but I am trying to get the point across so that you wont be so hard on yourself. You have achieved so much so far. And I can see you achieving more.
Good luck, there will be others coming along with advice.
hugs, Karen
fibromyalgia, Chronic fatigue, depression,allergies
Back to Top
Veteran Member
Date Joined Jul 2006
Total Posts : 1257
Posted 5/20/2008 9:39 PM (GMT -6)
Hi CD, thanks for the reply to my post from the other day. We all need friends and you will definitely find wonderful ones here. You should check about
getting med samples from your DR. Also, if you can find a job you may be able to get health insurance. It is true that you need to take each day as it comes. If your Dr. is not helpful maybe you can switch to someone else. Also, check into counseling services. I don't know where you live but there are some places that take people on a sliding scale. Also, don't feel that no one will love you - that is not true. The most important thing is to love yourself and take good care of yourself. Try to concentrate on the positive things in your life and stay focused on trying to feel well. Keep posting and let us know how you are doing. I will reply whenever you want. I want to encourage you to use this forum for help. We all want to help each other. Remember, to be good to yourself first.
P.S. You can go on the internet and just type in the word depression and you can get lots of info. that way and maybe some ways to help you deal with the depression.
Back to Top
Veteran Member
Date Joined Apr 2008
Total Posts : 585
Posted 5/21/2008 2:08 AM (GMT -6)
Eej CD,
Karen an Aurora gave some great advice. Worry is caused by fear of the future, sadness by the past, so try, as Karen said, to live more in the now. It could help if you try not to let your mind wander of to future and past. Accepting the things that happened and will happen will make your life a lot easier.
And as Aurora mentioned, try to love yourself, no matter how hard that might be. I was in the same situation as you about
love, I never had a gf and that really hurt. Someone who loved me would give purpose to my life. But later I realized that when I didn't rely on outside sources to make me happy, but looked on the inside, I would be happy all the time. So these days I live by that. Maybe it will help you too.
But keep posting, we all care for you!
All the very best!
Acceptance is the key
Existential depression and Insecurity
Try to keep smiling! :)
Back to Top
Veteran Member
Date Joined Dec 2005
Total Posts : 3036
Posted 5/21/2008 6:07 AM (GMT -6)
Hi Cd
I too wanted to welcome you to the forum,we are very glad that you are here.
Karen and Aurora of course have given you some great advice, just use this board for whenever you need us and we will be there for you.
Mod- Depression
Chronic Depression, Panic Attacks,Anxiety Attacks,Anorexia
Please remember,I am not a professional..I am just a person who is also fighting depression.
I know I'm in my own little world, but it's ok. They know me here.
Back to Top
Regular Member
Date Joined May 2008
Total Posts : 63
Posted 5/21/2008 7:58 AM (GMT -6)
I'm sorry you are feeling that way too. I also have UC and I went through a bout of depression when I was first diagnosed. I say go for your dreams. Don't let UC hold you back. Some people never flare again (or as bad as the first time). Not everybody stays sick. I've been in remission for a couple years with only one minor flare and I originally had pancolitis. What I had to do for along time was quit reading about
UC on the internet because it kept scaring me. What I'm trying to say is you will learn to live with UC. You can do it. You have your whole wonderful life ahead of you and you can make it work. (((hugs)))
40 yrs young
dx UC (pancolitis) Dec 03 then re-dx to Crohns colitis April 04 then re-dx again to UC Dec 07-currently taking no meds and in remission
Back to Top
Veteran Member
Date Joined Mar 2008
Total Posts : 1766
Posted 5/21/2008 3:43 PM (GMT -6)
Thanks for replies, everyone! I really appreciate it. I started back on Prozac last night that I had from earlier this year. I think I'm going to try to find a psychologist who specializes in chronic illness. But I did schedule an appointment with old psychologist just in case. I'm feeling a lot better and a bit more optimistic today.
I know that I need to go day by day, but I'm a planner. I HAVE to have everything planned out. But I guess that's something I'll just have to work on.
lmb0114, that's so great that you've been in remission for the last couple of years! Let's hope I get there soon.
Female, Age 19, Dx w/ UC August 2007
Seasonal allergies
9 Asacol/day,
1000 mg Canasa
(caused side effects), Proctofoam
Digestive Advantage (Crohn's & Colitis), 2 pills/day
Calcium chews
Back to Top
Veteran Member
Date Joined Dec 2005
Total Posts : 3036
Posted 5/22/2008 6:49 AM (GMT -6)
Good Luck to you,and please keep us posted on how you are doing.
Mod- Depression
Chronic Depression, Panic Attacks,Anxiety Attacks,Anorexia
Please remember,I am not a professional..I am just a person who is also fighting depression.
I know I'm in my own little world, but it's ok. They know me here.
Back to Top
Forum Information
Currently it is Friday, August 17, 2018 3:33 PM (GMT -6)
There are a total of 2,993,810 posts in 328,079 threads.
View Active Threads
Who's Online
This forum has 161245 registered members. Please welcome our newest member,
302 Guest(s), 17 Registered Member(s) are currently online.
John T
Tall Allen


text:
Camp Rox Work Pack
The 40 liter Camp Rox Work Pack is a durable PVC backpack perfect for carrying your personal gear. The innovative triple-zip closure system allows the pack to be opened in both vertical and horizontal positions - either like a regular backpack or like a duffel bag.
Dimensions: 19x31x55 cm (7.48x12x21.65 in)
Capacity: 40 liters (2440 in3)


text:
Sunday, June 01, 2014
Postal Reading Challenge: June
I hope you are all still reading along with the Postal Reading Challenge -- and that you'll share your reading with us by using this link up!
1 comment:
- Anonymous6/24/2014 10:01:00 pm
I will update my accompanying blog page as fast as possible. We all have our eye on Canada Day's finish and fresh start. :) I have linked my twelfth review! I carefully ensured they are mail / journal-related, or epistolary literature itself. Hurray! I'll wrack my brain to add the part about mail, because our family takes it for granted as a mode used regularly. :) Yours Truly, Carolyn.ReplyDelete
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


text:
* Brazil accounts for 1 pct of Israeli firm's assets
* Also sees buying opportunities in Europe
* Focus in U.S. is on developing existing assets
By Tova Cohen and Steven Scheer
* Brazil accounts for 1 pct of Israeli firm's assets
* Also sees buying opportunities in Europe
* Focus in U.S. is on developing existing assets
By Tova Cohen and Steven Scheer
TEL AVIV, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Gazit-Globe, Israel's
largest real estate investment company, may triple the scale of
its presence in Brazil after declines in the country's currency
and capital markets created buying opportunities, the company's
president said.
The company owns five shopping centres in Brazil, most of
them located in the densely-populated Sao Paulo state.
But Gazit-Globe has only just begun to penetrate the
country, which accounts for about 1 percent of its 76.9 billion
shekels ($21.96 billion) in assets under management. President
Roni Soffer said that proportion could easily double or triple.
"It doesn't make sense to build companies that will be just
$200-$300 million. We are looking at $1 billion total gross
asset in markets we operate. I want to get to critical mass," he
said in an interview.
Soffer said the currency fall and weakening Brazilian
markets were prompting some international investors to start
selling assets, which created good buying opportunities.
Gazit-Globe, which has a market value of $2.2 billion,
focuses on supermarket-anchored shopping centres in major urban
areas, where growth is often double or triple the country's
overall rate. Soffer pointed to Stockholm, where it owns the
Kista Galleria, as an example.
The company's total assets under management have edged up
from 76.5 billion shekels at the end of 2012, and have doubled
since the start of the financial crisis in 2008.
It operates in the United States through its subsidiary
Equity One and in Canada through First Capital Realty
Inc.. It is also the largest shareholder in Finland's
Citycon and in shopping mall developer Atrium
European Real Estate.
It has 584 properties in 20 countries, with the U.S. and
Canada accounting for 53 percent of its operations.
Soffer also saw buying opportunities in Europe this year,
while in North America it plans to development and redevelop
sites in its existing portfolio.
"It makes sense to me ... to buy prime real estate but I
will buy it in big capital cities - even if I know I am paying a
little bit more, but I know there is liquidity," he said.
In the first nine months of 2013, Gazit-Globe invested 4.7
billion shekels in acquisition and development of properties and
disposed of assets worth 1.8 billion shekels.


text:
The attorneys we work with need outstanding medical teams like Dr. Nissim's practice to help them build their case.
Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) July 08, 2014
Doctors on Liens™, the leading network of qualified medical professionals specializing in med/legal evaluations and treatments for personal injury and workers' compensation cases, has continued its trend of adding highly valuable multispecialty medical groups.
Doctors on Liens™ has announced the addition of Performance Care Chiropractic & Sports Medicine in Toluca Lake, CA to its ever expanding network of doctors working on a lien basis. Lead by Dr. Golam Nissim, D.C., the medical team consists of medical doctors, chiropractors, physical therapists, and massage therapists. The office is conveniently located to serve the San Fernando Valley including Burbank, Sherman Oaks, and Glendale. As a well-established practitioner, Dr. Nissim has spent over a decade establishing relationships with nearby physicians and orthopedic surgeons who also work on a lien basis. These relationships ensure attorneys can count on a comprehensive care plan for injury victims.
At the request of law offices throughout Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and Orange County, the network has been rapidly adding a variety of medical specialists working on a lien basis.
Says Doctors on Liens, Inc. President, Samantha Parker, "Personal injury and workers compensation attorneys have an increasingly difficult job. Insurance companies are demanding to see detailed documentation of clients' injuries, and the attorneys we work with need outstanding medical teams like Dr. Nissim's practice to help them build their case."
Over the last twenty years, Doctors on Liens™ has built the undeniable reputation of being the go to network for trusted medical groups, and Performance Care Chiropractic & Sports Medicine will help maintain that standard. Parker continues, "We put our new doctors through the ringer. The process of joining our network starts with an exhaustive screening followed by routine trainings to ensure our attorneys can trust their clients' evaluation and treatment. Dr. Nissim and his team fit the mold, and I have full confidence attorneys are going to jump at the chance to work with this fantastic office."


text:
I'm afraid of…
♒ losing all my hair.
♒ being totally annoying to other people.
♒ getting old – and hurting. Everywhere.
♒ losing my mind by forgetting one word at a time.
♒ that I may be the one we all refer to as "stupid".
♒ being forgotten.
♒ dying a slow painful death.
♒ evil people.
♒ not finding a job I love.
♒ that I'll never be good enough.
♒ bees.
♒ being bitten in dark spots when I sleep at night.
♒ bed bugs.
♒ power tools.
♒ doing something wrong that'll make my boat sink.
♒ my computer dying on me.
♒ rejection.
♒ becoming homeless.
♒ not being liked.
♒ wasting my life away.
♒ missing out.
♒ really smart people.
♒ not dying after going through something unbearably horrendous.
♒ making poor choices.
♒ failure.
♒ being a bad friend, daughter, sister, aunt (notice I didn't say wife, I know I'm an awesome wife and that Leo is by far the luckiest guy I know).
♒ chasing a dream I cherish because having the dream is better than failing at the dream, and it's stupid. I know.
Everybody has fears including those who appear as brave as a movie hero facing overwhelming demons. It's not IF we have fears, but WHAT we choose to do with them. I don't have enough fingers to count the days where I wished I could hide under my bed (if I had a bed) and assume the fetus position sucking my thumb. Not that I would actually do that. But…
It's how we choose to face our fears and force them into submission (sorry, don't know where this Ultimate Fight talk is coming from). If you've conquered a fear and looked back with a smile – pat yourself on the back. Better yet, write your own fearless story where you looked at your demon and punched it in the nose. Let me know when you post it so I can come over and read it, I'd love to hear about your conquest.
This is a Studio 30 Plus writing prompt based on "What are you afraid of?" For some reason I am perceived as a fearless and brave woman. Yet, when I think of myself I see a 5-yr old who was afraid of her own shadow.