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The Potala Palace(simplified Chinese: 布达拉宫,Lhasa-budalagong)is located in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, China. In 641, after marrying Princess Wencheng, Songtsen Gampo decided to build a grand palace to accommodate her and let his descendants remember the event. The monastery-like palace, reclining against and capping Red Hill, was the religious and political center of old Tibet and the winter palace of Dalai Lamas.
Tibet Autonomous Region is situated at the southwest border, southwest of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, longitude 78 ° 25 'to 99 ° 06 ', latitude 26 ° 44 'to 36 ° 32 ' between. It is bounded by the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Qinghai Province, northeast connecting the east of Sichuan Province, Yunnan Province, south-east and connected; south and west with Myanmar, India, Bhutan, Sikkim and Kashmir and other countries and regions bordering China and the formation of national and Border lines of all or part of a total length of 4,000 kilometers. Tibet, with its magnificent, magical magnificent natural scenery known. Her vast territory, spectacular landscape and abundant resources. Since ancient times, people of this land to create a rich and splendid culture.


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The Berkeley Cultural Needs Assessment and Findings With Recommendations for the Berkeley Cultural Plan
In 2002-2003, the Civic Arts Program along with the Civic Arts Commission worked with the consultants ArtsMarket to research and develop an analysis of the arts and culture needs of the Berkeley Community. The document "The Berkeley Cultural Needs Assessment" is a presentation of a year-long study of the Berkeley arts and culture community. The document includes a Needs Assessment of the arts and culture community and a detailed Economic Impact Analysis of the non-profit arts and culture organizations in Berkeley.
You may download a complete copy of this document below. Because it is such a large document, it has been divided into four different sections. Please download all four files to have a complete copy of this document.
Documents are provided in .pdf format and require Adobe Acrobat Reader to view. To view .pdf applications, download a free copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader from Adobe's website.
The Berkeley Cultural Needs Assessment and Findings: Recommendations for the Berkeley Cultural Plan
Public Opinion Survey-Fall, 2002
Economic Impact Survey-Fall, 2002 (pdf)
Additional Information
Return to Arts Cultural Plan

subset: commoncrawl


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We don't mean to be crude here, but heavens to Betsy: This woman is going to live on in our nightmares.
Her name is Lora Ottenad, a name that will in no way bring her derision, is the 2006 Women's NPC National Champion, having just won the title in Miami. She's a Seattle native and bench presses 315 pounds, squats 500 and curls 150. Sadly, she cannot beat the Rev. Pat Robertson in the leg press, topping out at 1,800 pounds, 200 short of his record.
According to Sports Business Solutions, Ottenad's victory in Miami "ushers in a new era where muscularity is back, and after what seemed to be an assault on the very idea that women can and for contest purposes should have cut large muscles." We're so glad muscularity is back in the world of bodybuilding. Really. We totally are.
Lora Ottenad Is 2006 Women's Champ [FemStrong]
Let The Games Being, Rev. Robertson [CBS Sportsline]


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For Christmas 2011 I'll be doing gift recommendations every day – stuff that I genuinely think are good value and make unusual, lovely gifts! Keep an eye out for a chance to win the gift recommendation of the day too!
There is a RECESSION going on people, so it's the perfect time to pick up sweet little gifts for people rather than taking out a second mortgage for an iPad that your Nan is only going to mistake for a placemat anyway.
Today is ChapStick's Limited Edition Tempting Lips range:
I LOVE the retro case. There are 7 designs to choose from and each one has three lip balms inside, in Cherry, Apple and Strawberry. Unfortunately they aren't tinted, just scented and the formulas are the same.
Obviously after you have used the lip balms, or my case, lost them all, the tin can be used for keeping nick-nacks in. I like!
There's a sticky label on the back which was semi-difficult to remove but then came off in the end – otherwise I would be might peed off that it ruined the tin. But you'll be happy to know the tin was saved!
The ingredients; it's not organic or anything but I know plenty of people who swear by Chapstick:
Hey did you ever know anyone who ate chapstick? I knew a girl at school who would eat a whole stick. Yeah…special school it was.
Here are the other designs:


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Mighty Joe out, Rolen in
TORONTO — Mighty Joe Inglett was still out of the starting lineup on Tuesday due to a wonky left knee, but he's considered day-to-day. I'd be willing to bet that, with rookie lefty Gio Gonzalez due to start on Wednesday for the A's, Inglett gets another day to rest.
Inglett shouldn't be out long, basically, but Aaron Hill? That continues to be a different story. Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi said today that the club is getting closer to the point of potentially coming out and saying Hill is done for the year. He'd probably need a two-week Minor League rehab at this point, and Toronto is running out of time.
One interesting item that came out of the discussion with Ricciardi was in looking ahead to next season. Inglett will be around. Hill will be around. Ricciardi didn't dismiss the notion that the Jays might discuss moving Hill back to shortstop for 2009: "I dont know. That might be something we have to look at, but that's a long way off."
Also, Scott Rolen was back in the starting lineup for the Jays after resting his ailing left shoulder for the past two games. Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston said that, when he took over as manager in June, he could almost immediately tell that something wasn't quite right with Rolen's shoulder.
"Since I've been here, I could tell that there was something going on with him," Gaston said. "Once in a while, the left hand comes off the bat and he's holding on to it with the right hand. Usually, a right-hander, unless you're hurting, the right hand comes off a lot. The left hand doesn't come off. I've been seeing that since I've been here. So, it's not like it's something that just showed up lately."
Today's lineups:
OAKLAND (53-58) at TORONTO (56-56)
at 7:07 p.m. ET at the Rogers Centre
Ryan Sweeney, RF
Kurt Suzuki, C
Jack Cust, LF
Frank Thomas, DH
Carlos Gonzalez, CF
Mark Ellis, 2B
Jack Hannahan, 3B
Bobby Crosby, SS
Daric Barton, 1B
PITCHING: LHP Greg Smith (5-10, 4.04)
Marco Scutaro, 2B
David Eckstein, DH
Alex Rios, CF
Lyle Overbay, 1B
Rod Barajas, C
Adam Lind, LF
Scott Rolen, 3B
Kevin Mench, RF
John McDonald, SS
PITCHING: RHP Scott Richmond (0-1, 5.06)
9 Comments
What do you think of the Brett Favre soap opera?
How's life in Boston without Manny and what did you think of the trade?
great to see another come back. After looking like it was impossible for them at the start of the year, I think they now have 3 walk offs in the last month. I hope that Rolen's problem isn't something that carries into next year because for a while he was definitaly showing signs of what he can do when he was fresh off the disabled list. I wish too that the Jays were more open about these things because I hate watching a guy like Rolen struggle so much and not know if it's actually him declining or an injury (see Wells too last year). Good night everybody.
good question sumner, i'd like to know what he thinks myself.
Ramirez is a great player and he'll probably put the Dodgers in the playoffs. He became a malcontent towards the final weeks with the Red Sox. He seemed like he was worried about his contract. Without Ramirez Boston wouldn't have won 2 titles. I say thank you Ramirez but good luck. Bay is an all star and he seems to fit in just fine. Boston needs to win on the road and soon. Start winning series on the road. Hope all is well!!!
BOSOX: Whodathunk we'd see the day Manny could be Manny on Joe Torre's watch? … As for the Favre ordeal, it just needs to end already. I'm as sick of hearing about it as the next guy. BUT, I'd take him on the Bears in a heartbeat.
Bay is a nice player-but I don't think anyone can replace Manny. Manny's a for sure hall of famer. He killed us each time we played Boston and loved hitting hore runs in the Rogers centre. He's probably hit more home runs here than any other visiting player.
I am happy to see him go from a competitive position.I for one thought a lot of his antics brought color to what sometimes is a boring game. I don't think I'll ever forget the time he went through the back door in Fenway to relieve himselfandcame back outwith that sheepish grin.
I'm sure the fans in Boston will miss him.
The beauty of sports, you can never tell what will happen. Imagine saying to someone 3 years ago. Torre will manage Ramirez in L.A. Who would have believed it? Boras played a big role behind the scenes. Boras is bad for baseball. Great for players.
Favre would put the Bears in the playoffs. No Favre, no playoffs for the Bears and Packers. Vikings will take the Central. 10 wins and the Central is yours.
Bay will never replace Ramirez. He is there to stretch the lineup, not too replace Ramirez. So far he has done quite well. He is an All Star. Happy too see him in Boston, he wants to play everyday unlike Ramirez. Ramirez will tear it up in L.A. He'll end up in N.Y. 2009 and beyond—- Yankees? Mets? I would prefer too see him with the Yankees.
Joba is going to visit Dr. James Andrews. Isn't that the guy notorious for Tommy John surgery ?


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Today's argument in American Needle Inc. v. NFL offered two lessons to the packed courtroom: first, the Solicitor General's office can rob both parties of a clear victory; second, if Justice Breyer isn't kept on a tight leash, he will crack jokes all morning.
American Needle was a hotly anticipated case that asked whether the thirty-two teams in the NFL served as a single entity when they granted Reebok an exclusive license to market NFL apparel. American Needle, Inc., a sportswear company that once did business with the NFL, argued that the NFL violated the Sherman Antitrust Act because the league's thirty-two teams, all independent companies, acted together to limit the market in their agreement with Reebok.
Whereas American Needle petitioned for certiorari seeking a reversal of the Seventh Circuit's holding that the NFL constituted a single entity for intellectual property and trademark purposes, the NFL, rather than oppose American Needle's petition, decided to run up the score. It urged the Court to grant certiorari and expand the Seventh Circuit's holding beyond trademark and intellection property. NFL wanted the Supreme Court to find that the league is a single entity in general, which could potentially shield the NFL from anti-trust scrutiny.
Faced with these two extremes, the Court called for the views of the Solicitor General's office, which responded in amicus by adopting the Seventh Circuit's more modest approach. This morning, the Court made clear its ambivalence towards both parties' arguments, suggesting its ultimate allegiance to the Solicitor General's approach.
Indeed, at no point did any justice clearly come down for or against either party. Rather, they all seemed interested, though non-committal, in testing the limits of the rule of reason–antitrust law's case-by-case balancing test to determine what is and isn't an unreasonable restraint on the market–in NFL teams' relationship with the league itself.
For instance, during American Needle's argument, Justice Alito wondered whether certain teams, under NFL's rules, are allowed to schedule more games for themselves to get more money. Chief Justice Roberts inquired whether the NFL's rules and regulations are horizontal rules among the teams or issued by a single, central entity. Justice Stevens followed up by exploring–and subsequently repeating throughout the argument–the idea that NFL's licensing agreement with Reebok could actually have an overall "pro-competitive" effect on the market by giving more public attention, and therefore more sales, to less popular or successful teams.
Glen Nager, American Needle's lawyer, responded by stating that the anti-competitive aspects of the NFL's control over each team's merchandizing outweigh the possible pro-competitive situations. Teams, Nager argued, should get together to forge an agreement in which each team will individually market its own logos.
And this is when Crazy Legs Stevie Breyer grabbed the ball and ran. After fumbling to think of the Patriots' arch-rival, first settling on the Saints, and then inventing inter-sport play by replacing the Saints with the Red Sox, Breyer threw up his hands and proclaimed, "I know baseball better." Laughter filled the Courtroom. And for the rafter-swinging Breyer, who scans the audience with satisfaction after almost every one of his questions, laughter proves a potent drug:
Breyer: I don't know a Yankees fan who will take a Red Sox sweater if you gave it to them!
Nager: A three-year-old could be persuaded.
Breyer: They have very small allowances, those three-year-olds.
Irked by his roadshow adversary's getting all the guffaws, Justice Scalia grumbled, "Why am I worried about this other stuff?" Nager dead-panned: "because Counsel has an obligation to engage justices' questions." After making the case for the relevance of his comical questions, Crazy Legs Breyer took himself out of the game, giving Nager permission to "blow off" his questions.
By the time Gregg Levy, the NFL's lawyer, took to the lectern, the courtroom had returned to its silent decorum. Levy argued that, among other reasons, the NFL deserved single entity status because its primary purpose is to centrally and cohesively promote the game of football as authorized by all thirty-two teams. Justice Scalia did not buy that line and pithily stated that the NFL's purpose–particularly through its licensing deal with Reebok–"is to make money." Sotomayor piled on: "you are seeking through this hearing what you haven't got through Congress: an absolute bar to anti-trust claims." Yet the old ambivalence soon overtook the momentary shot of antagonism. The justices went back to their exploration of the rule of reason and Scalia admitted that the individual teams constituting the NFL would be "worthless if the NFL disappears."
American Needle came into the Court as potentially transformative of sports law, if not anti-trust law in general, but by the time Chief Justice Roberts banged his gavel and submitted the case, it was clear that the case, to switch to Justice Breyer's sport of choice, would be sent back down to the minors for further development.
UPDATE: The official transcript is available here. Excoriate my own transcription prowess in the comments.
2 Responses
[…] "Mid-Majors": Get in line by 6am. Last week's cases exemplify the "mid-major" cases: issues that attract the public's attention […]
[…] Biskupic illustrates her point with the justices' behavior during last week's American Needle argument, her article reminds me of my own brief Scalia-and-Breyer story that similarly […]


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Zack Snyder's stylishly violent swords and sandals epic, 300, was a surprise box office smash (taking in $456 million worldwide in the spring of 2007), but no one kids themselves into believing that his cinematic vision was not responsible for that chest-beating comic book adaptation being so enjoyable to watch. This is why the upcoming sequel/prequel, 300: Rise of an Empire, has prompted more wariness than excitement, as Snyder passed on directing to make Man of Steel instead.
Rise of an Empire is based on Frank Miller's 300 companion graphic novel "Xerxes," which Snyder and his 300 co-writer Kurt Johnstad adapted into a script. The film centers around the Battle of Artemisium, a naval conflict that pitted the Greek general Themistokles (Sullivan Stapleton) against the vengeful commander of the Persian navy, Artemesia (Eva Green), and the Persian leader Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro), who had developed a major god complex by that point.
As expected, the newly-released Rise of an Empire trailer appeals heavily to everyone's nostalgia for the first movie, between shots of Xerxes leering over King Leonidas' (Gerard Butler's) corpse and the VO narration by Lena Headey - who's now a bigger star thanks to Game of Thrones - reprising as Queen Gorgo. That's in spite of the fact that neither 300 lead is expected to make anything more than a glorified cameo in the new installment (a misleading, but smart, marketing angle to take).
The Battle of Artemisium occurred at the same time as the Battle of Thermopylae depicted in 300; hence, Rise of an Empire is described as being a 300 "mid-quel" rather than either a pure sequel or prequel. The Rise of an Empire director Noam Murro has said the film will offer a "whole different choreography of fighting and war," which could be an effective means to distinguish the movie from Snyder's brazen storytelling and action coordination in its predecessor. (Or, it could just be an excuse for why Murro's adaptation feels like a hollow knockoff.)
So far, based on the trailer, the digitally-enhanced visuals and cinematography in Rise of an Empire seem decent, but they lack that extra "oomph" factor and flair that Snyder brought to the proceedings. And bless Stapleton for effort, but he doesn't seem to possess either the macho presence or yelling capacity that made Butler so memorable as a Greek warrior. Maybe Green playing a treacherous warrior lady will make up for that...?
300: Rise of an Empire opens in U.S. theaters on March 7th, 2014.
Source: Warner Bros. Pictures


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Decorate your home or office with this Air Force Falcons NCAA area rug by FANMATS. Made in the U.S.A. 100% nylon carpet and non-skid Duragon latex backing, and 20 x 30 inches in size. Officially licensed and chromojet printed in true team colors with the Air Force Falcons logo in the center.
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Kremmling fundraiser to benefit local family
On Jan. 27, the friends and the Christian community of Kremmling are sponsoring a fundraiser for the Keith Bohall family to help offset their medical expenses as a result of the recent surgery for Keith's brain tumor and the following radiation treatments that are now taking place in Florida at the Mayo Clinic. The fundraiser will consist of a spaghetti dinner, desserts for purchase, a silent auction, and entertainment will be provided by Blessed Hope Band. The fundraiser will take place at the CSU Extension office in Kremmling at the fairgrounds from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Cost of admission will be $25 for a family, $15 for couples, and $10 for a single person. Anyone wishing to make a silent auction donation can contact Shelly Mathis at firstname.lastname@example.com or at 970-406-8113. Online donations can be made on PayPal at coloradohomesteaders.org/bohall. For more general information contact Beth Worden at 724-2954.
Submitted by Molly Scruggs; Mountain Valley Christian Academy.
Picture: Keith and Shawn Bohall.
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The Flaming Lips #2
The Flaming Lips #2
An alternative view of live music photography with The Flaming Lips, taken by photographer, Sarah Frankie Linder.
Artist: The Flaming Lips
Location: Auditorium Shores, Austin TX
Date: March 15th 2013
igned limited edition print available in one size, 24" x 36" plus one unique artist proof print available as a 13" x 19" print
You can read more about Sarah's concept behind "On The Bright Side" by clicking HERE
Click on image to enlarge
Scroll down for further print and edition information
ON THE BRIGHT SIDE by Sarah Frankie Linder
- Signed limited edition of only 5 prints available
- Printed on heavyweight 330 gsm, Epson Hot Press Bright Smooth Matte Paper
- 24" x 36" paper, margin padding of 3" all round giving an image size of 18" x 30"
- Signed and hand numbered and embossed with Sarah's official embossed stamp for authenticity
- Also available - one of a kind unique artist proof print - size 13" x 19"
We are printing to order, so please expect delivery within 2 weeks of ordering.
Your print will be sent rolled in a new, high quality mailing tube with sufficient packing. You will be emailed shortly after your order is placed with an estimated delivery time. Alternatively you can collect your print from the gallery free of charge.


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Government can't find room for America's wild horses
Wild horses, descended from the steeds of Spanish explorers, Native Americans, U.S. cavalry and ranch strays, are being offered for auction this weekend in Fort Worth, Texas, as part of a desperate effort by a federal government that can't figure out what to do with them.
The Interior Department, in roundups that outraged wild horse advocates, has taken nearly 50,000 wild horses off their Western rangelands and paid private ranchers to put them in corrals and pastures, largely in Kansas and Oklahoma. More of America's wild horses are now in holding facilities than roaming the wild.
The Bureau of Land Management says the roundups are needed because the swelling horse populations are too much for the wild range to sustain. Wild horse advocates counter that it's really about favoring the interests of ranchers whose cattle and sheep graze upon the public lands.
Everyone agrees the situation can't go on. The Bureau of Land Management is running out of space in the holding facilities and can't find more. At the same time, the cost to taxpayers of the wild horse and burro program has nearly doubled in the past four years to $75 million, with more than half going to holding costs.
"There is no quick fix," said BLM spokesman Tom Gorey. "The options are limited because we're not going to put down healthy horses for which there is no adoption demand, even though the law authorizes it."
The Bureau of Land Management could find homes for only about 2,600 wild horses and burros last year – less than half than in 2005. Arranging adoptions has become harder with the rough economy, as horses are considered a luxury item, Gorey said. There's also a glut of cheap domesticated horses on the market since the closure of the nation's last horse slaughterhouse six years ago, he said. Such domesticated horses tend to be more attractive to buyers than the Interior Department's untrained wild horses, Gorey said.
The Bureau of Land Management pays the Mustang Heritage Foundation $3.75 million to train some of the wild horses and put them up for auction, a program that led to 868 of the adoptions last year. The foundation is in the midst of an adoption event at the John Justin Arena in Fort Worth, with 150 of the horses going for bid Friday and the same number Sunday. The average sale price is under $500.
Adoptions last year, though, represented just 5 percent of the wild horses in government-funded holding facilities. The Bureau of Land Management's wild horse and burro advisory board said the number of horses in holding has ballooned to the point that it "threatens the health and welfare of the horses and the entire program."
The board recommended removing the ovaries of mares in the field as a population control method. The BLM is considering it, but wild horse advocates call the procedure cruelly invasive and unnecessary.
The Bureau of Land Management should instead balance wild horses with the livestock, along with contraceptive vaccines for horses if necessary, said Suzanne Roy, campaign director of the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign, based in Hillsborough, N.C.
"You have wild horses on about 11 percent of BLM land. But even on that small percent the BLM still allocates most of the forage resources to privately owned livestock," Roy said in an interview this week. "You'll have management areas with the annual equivalent of 1,000 cows and 100 horses, and when the horse population reaches 125 BLM says the horses are overpopulating. What we really have is an overpopulation of cattle and sheep on our public lands."
A National Academy of Sciences study on the wild horse problem is coming out next month and will heavily influence the debate. Among the issues covered are population control methods and the controversial question of how the Bureau of Land Management decides how many horses a piece of land can sustain.
But the BLM's Gorey said the study won't give any easy answers. The fertility control efforts used so far have limited effectiveness, he said, and herds can double in size every four years. If the bureau can't find places for the horses, that could mean limited roundups and "deterioration of the range, which is going to be unacceptable for most people that care about public lands," Gorey said.


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Arkansas House votes down compromise Medicaid plan
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Legislation to continue Arkansas' compromise Medicaid expansion has failed in the state House.
The plan would have reauthorized funding for the "private option" that was approved last year as an alternative to expanding Medicaid's enrollment under the federal health law. The measure fell five votes shy of the 75 needed for passage in the 100-member House.
Under the private option, Arkansas is using federal Medicaid funds to purchase private insurance for thousands of low-income residents.
Supporters of the measure are expected to try again. House Speaker Davy Carter has said he would try multiple times if the funding measure failed.
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Vice President Biden recently visited the Middle East in an attempt to revive peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians. Like other high-profile visits of recent years, his efforts fell short.
The violent status quo – one that drives many other conflicts across the region – has defied the peacemaking efforts of the world's leading nations and the international community.
Yet there is one incentive for peace that could break the impasse and that neither Israelis nor Palestinians could refuse: an Olympic pledge.
The international community, led by the United States, should consider offering the Olympic Games of 2020 as an incentive for both Israelis and Palestinians to commit themselves to a successful peace process.
Here's how it would work: World leaders should pledge to lobby for Jerusalem (or Al Quds in Arabic), when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) convenes in 2013 to make the decision about the host city for the 2020 Games.
However, the commitments by world leaders and by the IOC should be contingent on the achievement of a sustainable peace agreement between Israelis and Palestinians in the intervening three years.
In addition, the two nations would need to jointly develop a viable plan for hosting the Games. The year 2013 would be the deadline for both the peace agreement and the hosting plan.
The reason why this plan can succeed where others have failed is threefold: It puts economic payoffs front and center, requires cooperation on a large scale, and involves sublimation of otherwise deadly instincts.
With investments pouring in, and reconstruction of infrastructure and job creation, the Olympic Games bring unmistakable and tangible economic benefits to their hosts. The effects on Barcelona and Beijing, for instance, have been obvious: If nothing else, notice the major improvements in infrastructure, employment, transportation, and a brief reduction in air pollution. Indeed, some call what Barcelona went through economically a "transformation."
Rather than a vague promise for economic prosperity that would come with peace, in the case of Palestinians and Israelis this plan gives economic improvement a place, a name, and a date.
What is more, such a common goal shared by Israelis, Palestinians, and many of the neighboring nations would facilitate long-awaited regional cooperation. In a part of the world where long-term planning typically sinks in a sea of short-term interests, the promise of the Olympic Games could reshuffle systems within and between nations.
The first Games in the Middle East, if framed the right way, are likely to attract a flood of investments from far and near and should provide the bureaucratic infrastructure necessary for successful regional cooperation. The benefits would not be limited to local interests, but would also include the forging of regional alliances.
Regional powers vying for dominance are likely to find the Games a goal worth pursuing. An Olympic pledge, with the support of the world's leading nations contingent on successful regional cooperation, is likely to catapult Middle East politics in a new direction.
Furthermore, sports events are the closest substitute to armed conflicts. One need only observe the brawls between soccer fans, when certain European national teams meet, to be reminded of the wars those very nations waged against one another a few decades ago – and be comforted by the diminished form those conflicts presently take.
When such sublimation, inherent to sports, is combined with regional cooperation over a goal that is bound to deliver economic benefits, the prospects of the plan appear to improve a great deal. Israeli and Arab sport teams usually avoid playing on the same field. This plan would not only put them on the same field but also on the same metaphorical team.
The scores of new sport stadiums, hotels, and shopping malls connected by upgraded road systems and modern mass transit, and tens of millions of tourists flying in through state-of-the-art airports, funded by Saudi and Emirate investments with the cooperation of Turkey and Egypt, and to the benefit of Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria might seem distant. Yet, the work to plan and build those (and the associated benefits) could commence shortly.
Skeptics might say that, like its predecessors, this plan is doomed to fail.
Granted, those who benefit from economic stagnation and thrive on uninformed publics would oppose Middle East cooperation. They would probably point to what so far have been unsolvable questions such as the right of return, the settlements, and sovereignty in Jerusalem/Al Quds. And, religious fundamentalists, terrorist groups, and others who felt that peace in the region would not benefit their best interests could opt for more lethal measures rather than settle to watch disagreements play out in sports events.
The Olympic Games, however, with its economic, political, and mental benefits may be just the strong enough incentive to overcome the hurdles both Palestinians and Israelis have so far been unable to clear on the way to sustainable peace.
As hard as the challenges may be, nothing has stood in the way of an Olympic opening night. In 2020, the world could see peace in the Middle East and the torch relay conclude in the lighting of the Olympic flame positioned between the plazas of Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Wailing Wall.
Udi Sommer is assistant professor in the department of political science, Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy, State University of New York at Albany


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This evening my family and I inhabited the candlelit world of President Lincoln and friends for two and half magical hours courtesy of inspired Hamptons resident Steven Spielberg. The natural day light and darkly shadowed yet glowing rooms of night time were a timely reminder of our own absence of electricity just a few weeks ago. So many of us, who were fortunate to stay in our homes, commented on the heightened intimacy and intense enjoyment to be found in spontaneous candlelit dinners by an open fire with family and friends. The lack of intrusive lighting and electronic devices allowed us to slow down and live more in the moment: to talk to each other, to quiet down.
Lighting is all important in home decorating and design, and needs to be thought through at the beginning of projects. The right lights provide ambience, focus and improve functionality. Good lighting, and good storage, are the key to an enjoyable Hamptons home. The trick is to layer the lights, at different heights and different levels of intensity, avoiding overhead lighting except for the odd chandelier.
Starting in the heart of the home, the kitchen, under cabinet lighting creates an adjustable atmosphere, cozy and warm or bright and sparkling while supporting our culinary efforts. Table lamps also work well to create pools of light where needed and to draw attention to items of beauty. A chandelier over the kitchen table or drop-down lights over an island can support the overall design style and make a bold statement as well as providing task lighting. Dimmable recessed lighting in the ceiling allows you to zone different areas of the kitchen/dining area to help with tasks or to provide atmosphere when the whole area is not being used.
In the dining room place matching table lamps on a buffet or console for balance and to make redundant any overhead lighting. Where a chandelier is in place make sure it can be dimmed to create atmosphere. Low level simple candles and centerpieces for dinner parties work so much better than elaborate displays where guests can't see each other and converse easily.
Ideally, surround the table with four or five lights spaced at low and medium height around the room. Position items close by that pick up the reflected glow of the lamps—decanters, glass bowls, brass items, silver candlesticks etc. Lighting up display cabinets full of sparkling crystal glasses can also enrich the ambience while dimmable wall sconces provide elegance for any dinner.
The idea with lighting is rarely to saturate a room, corridor or hallway with light but to create pools of light that contrast with darker areas, revealing what you want to see and concealing or disguising the rest. We don't want to live in the naked glare of a science lab but in the nurturing, soothing world of light and shade.
A world where Abraham Lincoln had some of his best ideas.
Helen Lind is an interior decorator, organizer and home stager working in Long Island and Manhattan. You can contact her at (516) 922-3518 for a proposal or consultation, or visit her www.englishivyinteriors.com.


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Home › Classroom Resources › Calendar Activities
Calendar Activities See All Calendar Activities
Not your everyday calendar, here you can find important events in literary history, authors' birthdays, and a variety of holidays, all with related activities and resources that make them more relevant to students. View by day, by week, or by month.
November 10 - 16, 2019
Veterans Day is celebrated in the United States today.
Students write biographical poems about a soldier.
Grades 3 – 12
The Lewis and Clark Expedition reached the Pacific Ocean in 1805.
Students look at Kenneth Holder's paintings of the Lewis and Clark trail and transform their notes into a descriptive paragraph as if they were a member of the expedition.
Grades 7 – 12
Types of Calendar Activities
Authors & Texts
Birthdays, publication dates, and more
Historical Figures & Events
Notable people and happenings in history
Holidays & School Celebrations
Special days and how to observe them
Literacy-Related Events
Celebrations that promote and encourage literacy


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What's your favorite vegan or vegetarian friendly product?
That's as difficult as determining my favorite song or meal. The answer is very dependent on my current mood. Our family favorites include, Gardein, Tofurky, Field Roast, The Vegg, Daiya, Earth Balance and we would be at a loss without nutritional yeast. Though I have to admit aside from the nutritional yeast or normal diet are basic, non-processed, organic foods.


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Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Slow cooked beans
We love our beans in this family, and these are probably the favorite. Classic, simple and tasty, the kids could eat the whole pot :) The only thing you need to do is soak them the night before and leave the rest for the slow cooker!
5 cups white navy beans- soaked in water overnight
6 cups water
1 can tomato paste
1/2 onion-minced
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp onion powder
1 tbsp mustard powder
1 tsp molasses
1 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp vegan Worcestershire sauce
2 1/2 tsp sea salt
freshly ground pepper
Add everything to a slow cooker except the salt- cook on high for 4-6 hours.
Season with salt once the beans are soft.
6 comments:
I love a big pot of beans! These sound so simple and delicious. Yummy!ReplyDelete
Hey Kirsten! I love this recipe -- it's such a great meal to eat (esp. on cold days!) I shared this post with our fans on the Redpath Sugar Facebook Page.ReplyDelete
We're also running a PIE contest, to have your pie recipe as a featured flavour at The Canadian Pie Company in Toronto. Check out more details on our facebook page:
This makes me wish we had a slow cooker. I am not even sure if these exist in Germany. I gotta find out.ReplyDelete
Yum! My husband could devour this whole pot by himself--his favorite dish by far!ReplyDelete
Thanks friends :)ReplyDelete
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


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Story highlights
- Both the victim and suspect went to Middle Georgia State College
- Authorities are still looking for the body of Jmaal Malik Keyes, 19
- "We are devastated by this news," college president says
Authorities say they have made an arrest in the case of a Georgia college student missing since last month.
Police at Middle Georgia State College arrested and charged Robert Kane Rolison, 17, with one count of murder in the disappearance and death of Jmaal Malik Keyes, who was last seen on April 25 and reported missing on April 29. Rolison was arrested at his home Thursday night.
Both were students at the school in Cochran, Georgia. Campus Police Chief Shawn Douglas said Friday that authorities were searching for the body of Keyes, a 19-year-old freshman from Atlanta.
Rolison is from Hawkinsville, Georgia, and police describe him as a dual-enrolled high school/Middle Georgia State student.
The suspect is now in custody at a Bleckley County, Georgia, facility.
Rolison and Keyes knew each other, and Rolison gave Keyes a ride to a convenience store the day Keyes went missing, Douglas said. The chief is not commenting on a motive and said he doesn't know of any prior conflict between Rolison and Keyes.
"We are absolutely devastated by this news," said John Black, the college's interim president.
"There just are no words to describe how deeply hurt we are and how terrible we feel for Jmaal's family. I wish to convey my heartfelt condolences to everyone in his family, and everyone who knew Jmaal."


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[R47R, Big Powderhorn Resort], located in Michigan's western Upper Peninsula, apparently lost their main lodge in a fire today, Thursday, Jan. 13. Details were sketchy, but news outlets in the area were reporting the lodge was being called a total loss this afternoon.
Area operations will continue as normal starting tomorrow, Friday, Jan. 14, according to Jeanie Schenk, an operations assistant at the resort.
"We will be operating out of the Caribou Lodge starting tomorrow morning, and lift operations will continue as normal," she told OnTheSnow. "No one was hurt in the fire and lodging and lift operations were unaffected."
The fire, according to online reports, started in the kitchen area a little after 11 a.m. Central Time, but no official cause has been determined. No injuries are being reported at this time. Gogebic County Sheriff's Deputy Jay Kangas, was quoted in reports as saying the building was a total loss. The base lodge housed administrative offices, rental and retail shops and food service outlets.
Four area fire departments responded to the fire.
Big Powderhorn Resort has been a mainstay in the UP's Big Snow Country for more than 60 years, and recently came under new ownership a couple of years ago.


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Improving Business Website Marketing Efficacy
Marketing efficacy refers to onsite techniques that encourage users to do what you want them to do. One technique deserves special attention here: the call to action. Calls to action are usually, but not always, imperative verbs (such as buy, view, register, and get). They move visitors from one page of the site to another, building interest and desire until visitors take the desired action.
On average, sites lose about half their visitors with every additional click. If visitors wander around your site without finding what they want, they're likely to be goners.
The conversion funnel
Conversion rate is one of the most important statistics you track for your site. It is the number of people who take a desired action divided by the number of people who visit. Across the board, the average conversion rate is only 2–4 percent, as shown in the following illustration.
That's a sobering number. While conversion rate varies widely — from 0.1 percent to over 35 percent — from site to site, the 2 percent to 4 percent number is a useful yardstick for predicting and assessing success.
Of course, "average" conversion rate can be quite misleading. Not all industries or businesses are the same, and not all conversions are measured as sales. Assuage your ego with the results of an August 2010 Practical eCommerce survey of online purchase conversions. Three-quarters of respondents confessed to a conversion rate of less than 5 percent; 5.6 percent claimed 5 to 10 percent; and 11.1 percent boasted of more than 10 percent.
The remaining 8.3 percent proclaimed ignorance. There was no explanation why those companies even bothered to have websites.
The moral of this conversion story: Be careful with your expectations, watch for trends, and focus on your own bottom line.
To achieve the standard conversion rate, you must bring 25–50 times as many visitors to your site as the number of conversions you're looking for. In turn, that number dictates elements of your strategic marketing plan. Again, on average, only 5 percent of people who see your URL somewhere end up visiting your site. Therefore you must generate between 500 and 1,000 URL impressions for every conversion you want to make.
Calls to action
A few simple rules for calls to action can help improve the conversion rate of your site:
Set up two clicks to action. Enable users to take the action or action(s) you most want in two clicks or less. Keep your primary calls to action, such as Add to Cart or Sign Up to Save, on the main navigation or catalog pages at all times. A second click submits the request. Your site is off and running!
Generate leads. In the world of web marketing, e-mail addresses are gold. If you don't have a newsletter, offer visitors a benefit to sign up or register, such as Register to download our free white paper or Sign up for savings. Of course, let people opt in to give you permission to contact them by e-mail in the future.
Use links as internal motivators. A link is an implicit call to action, with click here understood at this point by most web users. With the right phrasing, a link call to action pulls the user to another page with an appeal to self-interest. For instance, a link might read Live Longer or Warm Nights, Cool Drinks, Hot Dates.
The four-letter word that starts with F
Free is marketing's other magic word. Especially on the Internet, with its legacy of free information, visitors expect to get something for nothing. It might be free shipping, a free gift with order, a free newsletter, a free five-year warranty, free gift wrapping, free maintenance tips, a free color chart, or free tech support.
Offer anything, as long as it's free (and you can make good on the offer). Free works even when targeting wealthy retail customers or B2B prospects.
Free is one call to action that doesn't need a verb. By itself, the word free generates an impulse to act. Without a doubt, free is one of the most potent tools in your online marketing workshop.
OfficeVP uses many different calls to action on its home page, even repeating the most important ones, as shown in the following. Several of them include the magic "F" word.


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Forms Jobs
Directions: Please answer the following questions by choosing the answer that best describes your experience with the Human Relations Department.
Strongly Agree= 1, Agree=2, Neutral=3, Disagree=4, Stongly Disagree=5, NA=6
Receive E-Mail Notification When New Information is Posted on this PageAs a member, enjoy the benefits of MyCityofWS, including your choice of newsletters, and notifications about events and site updates. Login and Manage Your Subscriptions Now.


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If your hair is coloured you know that it needs extra special care to help restore strength and to keep the colour true and fast. Although coloured hair looks good it does mean that your hair has been structurally damaged and so it needs gentle cleansing and protective conditioning to seal colour into the hair shaft and to hydrate and treat your hair.
The new Tommy Guns Colour Protecting Shampoo and Conditioner contains ingredients that coloured hair will love: Bergamot, Manuka honey, Clary sage, orange, Cardamom, nutmeg and UV filters all help to keep hair clean, protected and in good condition.
Bergamot & Inula Shampoo – £5.50
Bergamot, Inula & Manuka honey conditioner – £5.50


text: Welcome to OCP Contributions Database. OCP members have been contributing specifications and designs to the open community since 2009. All contributions listed here have undergone a comprehensive validation process and are available for you to utilize in your own infrastructure. You can select from many options: Specifications, Design Packages and White Papers. More types of contributions are being added as companies across the world start to benefit from open solutions and share their expertise. See what you can learn from these contributions, build on their expertise, share your experiences and give back to the Community. Join in the movement and contribute today!


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Contemporary Home Interior Designs Design Style And The Essentials To Master It D Cor Aid 644×428
If youd like to apply this principle on your own houses architecture, you have to focus on being simple and keeping things at their most natural state. You should choose a flatter roof and more open spaces. Try avoiding a roof structure that has a steep pitch. For your interior house design, if you need to have a private space, try avoiding permanent walls and use a shoji or a sliding door, instead. In this way, you can still have an open space when you dont need an enclosed area.
Minimalist home designs should have an overall look thats spotless and effortless. When choosing paint for the walls, you can still veer away from white, though. But you have to stay with the neutral shades like beige. The strongest color you can pick is a pale shade of terra cotta. The guideline in selecting colors for this type of design is to remain creating the feel of open spaces. Colors that make an area feel enclosed should be avoided. The idea is for your home to be in harmony with nature. You can add mirror doors for a modern twist, if you wish.
Wood beams, walls, and countertops should be left in their barest look. If the item is of wood material, the most you should do is have it stained to bring out the natural beauty of the wood. Stone countertops should just be polished also to bring out the grains and specks of the material. Metal items should also just be polished and not painted.
Minimalist home designs are often chosen by house owners these days to refurbish or build their properties, because their simple and seamless style makes their abode more comfortable and relaxing. Minimalist design is influenced by the Japanese art elements of clean lines and open spaces. It doesnt support elaborate features, clutter, and unnecessary items that take up space.
Title: Contemporary Home Interior Designs Design Style And The Essentials To Master It D Cor Aid 644×428
Windows are also crucial in creating open spaces in minimalist house designs. Large sliding windows are ideal. If you need to use blinds, select those made of bamboo or wood or those that are of neutral color. If you prefer to use curtains, dont use ones with floral or ornate prints. Choose those with sheer materials, preferably of white, beige, sand, and other neutral hues.
License : some right reserved, and if the copyright of photo in this site is belongs to you, and then you want to remove it, please report to us and we'll remove it soon.
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Copyright © 2018-2019 travee.me


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AUSTIN, Texas - The Harvard sailing team kicks off the spring nationals by competing in the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association Women's National Championship Wednesday and Thursday on a Lake Travis. Fans can follow the action via live video and Twitter feed, both in the Sperry Top-Sider's women's national regatta and the Gill Dinghy national regatta, held May 30-31 and June 6-8, respectively.
Both Harvard squads are coming off some of their top performances of the season in the national qualifying regattas and are set to compete for national titles against schools from across the nation.
Follow from Home
Live video from the race course is available on the 2012 Sperry Top-Sider Women's Regatta, while this Twitter feed will feature updates as the racing progresses. Results will be updated on the TechScore results page.
History Lesson
The Crimson has won five national championships in women's sailing: in 1968, '69, '70, '72 and 2005. Harvard has won four coed dinghy titles: in 1952, '53, '59 and '74. The Crimson also won back-to-back team racing championships in 2002 and '03.
ICSA Women's National Championship
The women's championship field includes 18 of the top-teams around the country. The Harvard women earned a seventh-place finish at the New England Women's Championship, held in April. The A division paring of seniors Emily Lambert and Alexandra Jumper helped guide the as the duo had 15 single-digit finishes in 17 races. The tandem concluded the weekend in fifth place in the A division with 117 points. In the B division, the trio of sophomores Morgan Russom, Caitlin Watson and Isabel Ruane finished regatta strong, placing top 10 the last five races and taking 10th in the group with 154 points. Host Boston College took top honors in the event, with Yale and Brown rounding out the top-three.
Last Season
Harvard placed 10th in the A division and fifth in the B division for seventh overall at the 2011 ICSA Women's National Championship. Seniors Emily Lambert and Alexandra Jumper sailed in the A group while sophomores Morgan Russom and Isabel Ruane competed in the B division. Harvard totaled 112 points as a team, seven more than sixth-place Old Dominion and 13 more than fifth-place Yale. Rhode Island captured the national title with 83 points, followed by Connecticut College (93), St. Mary's (95) and Brown (97).
ICSA/Gill Coed Dinghy National Championship
Harvard's coed team will compete at the Gill Coed Dinghy national championship on June 6-8 in a field of 18 of the Eastern and Western finalists. To get to the event Harvard ascended up the standings in the Western semifinal regatta to finish third at the ICSA regional championship held in Annapolis, Md. Both the A and B division teams had sterling Sundays as the squads recorded single-digit finishes in nine out of 10 races.
Senior Brendan Kopp, sophomore Sarah Pierson and freshman Brian Drumm split time in the A-division as the trio had 11 top-10 finishes, including a key first and second place finishes on the regatta's final two races helping Harvard secure a share of third place in the A division with 84 points. In the B group Senior Emily Lambert and freshman Reid Bergsund split time with sophomore Sarah Pierson and freshman Brian Drumm. The quartet also recorded 11 top-10 finishes giving the squad 102 points, and fifth place in the B group. The Miami Hurricanes earned the top spot in the regatta while Yale edged Harvard for second.
Last Season
The Harvard coed sailing team came in third at the 2011 ICSA/Gill Coed Dinghy national championship The Crimson placed second in the B division and sixth in the A division to total 190 points in 14 races against an 18-team field, just two back of runner-up Hobart/William Smith and 29 behind repeat champion Boston College. Harvard finished 13 points clear of fourth-place Georgetown for its second straight top-three finish. St. Mary's rounded out the top five with 210 points.
The Crimson got a strong performance from its B-division squad. Harvard opened and closed the day with B-division wins and had five top-five finishes in six races in that division. John Stokes, Tedd Himler, Meghan Wareham, Quincy Bock and Alma Lafler represented Harvard in the B division, finishing with 75 points, nine more than division-winner BC.
Kopp/Pierson Are Honored
Senior Brendan Kopp and sophomore Sarah Pierson were honored by the New England Intercollegiate Sailing Association today as both received All-NEISA coed first-team accolades. Kopp was named to the first team skippers group while Pierson was included in the first team crew category.
Kopp and Pierson have been a reliable duo for the Crimson this season as the tandem has sailed in four regattas together this spring. Their biggest moment of 2012 came on April 14-15 when the two helped lift Harvard to its first New England Dinghy Championship in 11 years. The tandem in the A division recorded single-digit finishes in 13 of 18 races including placing top-thee in seven races during the weekend. Kopp and Pierson tallied 110 points, combined with the B-division score of 121; Harvard secured a total of 235, nine points better than second-place Rogers Williams. Harvard proved to come up big down the stretch as the duo placed first in the final four races to help deliver the victory.


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Our God and Creator is truly awesome, breathtakingly beautiful, mind-boggling, inscrutable, and good. That opening sentence is probably the granddaddy understatement of all time.
Think about it. God creates us. Therefore, we as with all life forms are contingent beings: we fully depend on God for life. Yet, unlike all other lifeforms, God endowed human beings with the capability to enter into a personal relationship with God. By personal I mean when God dwells with us and us with God at the level of intimacy known for all eternity within the God-head, shared between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God didn't create us in just the basal sense of contingency, but with a nature able to share God's nature, and also comprehend what such a relationship means--eventually, anyway. God created us for the possibility of us calling God, Abba, Father--Daddy.
But God doesn't fabricate such a relationship between God and us--although God could--because then it would be only a mere facsimile of what God is seeking. One could aspire to riding horses one day. But if one decided to make good one's dream by purchasing a hobby-horse--and it might be a very excellent 3-D printing of a real horse--and took to riding it, one would still be only dreaming. No, for the relationship God wants, both parties must freely choose to enter into it.
The force binding together the three persons of the Trinity in relationship is the same that must bind us in relationship with God, for the relationship to be genuine. The binding force is love. And for love to be genuine it must be freely given and received, and received to be freely given back again. I particularly like the above hobby-horse analogy because executing good and genuine horseback riding necessarily involves a relationship between the rider and the horse. True love always entails a translation between the lovers, not a transaction. One might program the hobby-horse to respond a certain way to each stimulus from the rider, but the response would be the same every time--that's how transactions work. A real horse may not always respond the same to stimuli from the rider--sometimes its because the horse sees something the rider doesn't--that's how translations work.
If we don't engage in the relationship with God in the purity of God's love, we will never engage in the relationships God intended for us to have between each other, because the same love is required. This is why there are so many destructive relationships in the world, because so few of us enjoy the necessary relationship with God. We spend our lives attempting to wing it, treating love as if it were a transaction, rather than something much deeper, powerful, and selfless. Only God can teach us such love because only God is love.
What is critical, then, for the relationships God seeks first between Himself and us, and then consequentially between you and me, to blossom, grow, and become intrinsic to us is for us to walk with God in the tension of God's sovereignty and Human Responsibility (GS/HR).
Next week we'll venture down by the sea, and unpack this perhaps startling claim.
Monday, February 25, 2013
Down by the Sea: Part 1
Our God and Creator is truly awesome, breathtakingly beautiful, mind-boggling, inscrutable, and good. That opening sentence is probably the granddaddy understatement of all time.
Posted by Bruce Kokko at 3:57 PM 2 comments
Thursday, February 14, 2013
A Valentine for my girl...
My Dearest, Sara,
In an ever darkening world that seems to be closing in on itself with every turn of the gravure, a few beacons are found guiding the lost, tormented, angry, marginalized, confused, sad, and weary to the port of safety and comfort of truth. Some who spot these lights on the distant shore as they fearfully attempt to navigate the tempest, choose to flee farther into the darkness above the deep waters, where distinctions blur beyond recognition; believing their security lies in the vast tumultuous desert; only to discover--and often too late--the solitude to be mean consolation, exacting an astronomical price.
Some will go towards the light. And while the journey is arduous, fraught with the terrors of rocks, shallows, wind, and undertow, they come to their peaceful haven: a secluded cove far exceeding their expectations in hope. And like a mother who holds her newborn for the first time, the pain of their flight is soon forgotten. Such voyagers cannot express their gratitude for the chance to bask in the warm light; nor can they express the wonder of it, except to say it is there they want to stay.
You are such a light, my darling. Because you love Jesus and strive to do His will, His light radiates out of you--brilliant and manifest. You don't notice it, and so it shines even brighter. Others see it, and long to enter your nimbus, and rest in the love so elusive in this grim world.
From the moment I first met you, I've noticed this aura of splendor adorning your loveliness. And no matter how troubled I might be, I always find solace in your presence. Why God should love me so much to allow me to share in your life, I cannot know. I love you, deeply, my beautiful girl. And I will as long as I draw breath both here and from the rarefied atmosphere past west.
Love always and forever, even into the age.
Posted by Bruce Kokko at 8:07 PM 2 comments
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Sports are a Window to Us
It has always been a love/hate relationship between me and sports. In the early days, I think my father secretly wanted athletic sons. Mainly because he is such a good athlete. Alas, he had to be content having sons who are artists and thinkers, instead. Actually, he has always been proud of what his sons have become, even though they never lettered in any sport.
I used to enjoy playing B-ball until in grad school it went from a nice friendly game for fellowship and exercise to an excuse to beat each other up. Later, I joined the church league, thinking things would be different. Even though there was less physical aggression, I felt the constant need to apologize for every error I made. So even in the weekly informal venue under the auspices of the church, the name of the game was still win at all cost. I get that. Of course, when one plays a game, one wants to win. But certainly a situation of friendly competition for the sole purpose of affording a bunch of middle aged men a fun way to get some exercise, shouldn't become a crucible of humiliation. Yet it always seems to go there. I guess there are enough guys in these games secretly trying to fulfill some sports fantasy, so any impediment to their glory is summarily put down.
I have since left all team sports and stayed with tennis. I ain't any good at that, either, but no one seems to care much.
At this point, I could easily wax philosophical about sports, but I shall restrain myself. I will say this: team sports such as baseball, B-ball, football, and hockey--to name a few--are microcosms of human society; sports are a window to us. And I suspect this is one of the main reasons sports thoroughly captivate us, even to the tune of billions of dollars, annually.
I recently witnessed two events illustrating what I mean by sports being a window to us.
The first case was during the end of the initial playoff game between the Packers and Vikings. The Pack was five yards from the goal and victory. But one of the Green Bay players responded in an unsportsmanlike manner to some trash talk and more than likely physical intimidation by his opponent, resulting in a fifteen yard penalty for the Pack and the lose of the game.
The second case occurred during a recent pairing of the Detroit Red-wings and the Calgary Flames. No doubt precipitated by trash talk and "spirited" checking, the Red-wings player threw off his gloves and started pummeling his opponent, who, I might add, gladly and predictably returned the favor. Despite a cooling off period in the sin-bin, the aggression persisted--although perhaps more subtly--leaving the Red-wings frequently out-manned on the ice, and at least from my perspective, enabling The Flames to defeat them, 4 to 1.
Okay, so what's the point? After all, brawling in professional team sports is part of the entertainment factor, isn't it? I won't go there. The point is it is us; it is all of us. Whether in our work place, our home, on the street, or even in our churches, if someone insults us in some way--it doesn't matter how--our first inclination is to retaliate. We may not haul off and belt the person, but invariably we look for some way to get even. More often than not we do it through passive-aggression, where we carefully create alliances by promulgating our own brand of trash talk. Rarely do we actually confront the person in question; even rarer do we perhaps consider if anything they had said to us--irrespective of how poorly it had been delivered--actually might be true, or at least partially so. No, we are hell-bent on getting our pound of flesh, with the result of escalating disunity, suspicions, mistrust, cliques, bad-feelings, and in some cases, outright violence. Warring has been the preferred way to peace in human society for eons. Hasn't anyone noticed the promised peace has never materialized?
Perhaps it is time to learn from our beloved sporting events that the eye-for-an-eye approach to resolving conflicts fails every time. Jesus teaches us that the only way to peace is through the very counter-intuitive response of loving our enemies. Such is the way of His kingdom; such is the only way to the lasting peace we all claim we want. Yet we don't believe Jesus because His way is too strange, too foreign to our sensibilities. Our way of doing things always fails, but no matter, it somehow feels right. Loving our enemies seems the coward's way out. I agree the energy barrier to doing it Jesus' way feels pretty insurmountable, but the few times I have witnessed the outcome of following Jesus' lead, the promised peace is there and it lasts.
The two players I mentioned earlier didn't need to hug and kiss their opponents in response to their insults. No, but they could have shaken off the insults, and responded instead by playing all the better. Their opponents might continue in their taunting, but in the end they will go away feeling pretty small--especially when they see how superior skill and execution ultimately wins the game, not intimidation.
All of us on nearly a daily basis are confronted by unpleasant people. It does no good to argue with Jesus on the basis of the very rare situation of someone putting a gun to our head. We are far more likely to face betrayal, character assassination, and snubbing than life and death confrontations. And as counter-intuitive as it is, we need to love the perpetrators instead of responding in kind. We need to step back and ask ourselves what might be causing the person to act the way he or she does, and then look for an opportunity to lovingly address the real issue. Often times the result will be life-long friendships. And such success stories are infectious. Others who are on the side watching these encounters unfold--and rest assured, people are always watching--will likely try it our for themselves when the situation arises. And peace and solidarity will began to multiply. There are no guarantees, of course, some people are just plain mean. But if we continue to answer their evil with more evil, I guarantee the outcome will be intensified hostilities instead of peace.
You might be thinking at this point, can't you sit back and enjoy a good ball-game with the rest of us; must you be so dour? Take heart, I definitely get into watching sports of all flavors. I jump up and down, stomp, scream, shout, and pout with the best of them. And I even sometimes secretly want to be a sports hero. I'm definitely human. But it doesn't hurt on occasion to ponder the many object lessons afforded us through sports. Because sports are a window to us.
Posted by Bruce Kokko at 7:22 PM 0 comments
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Catch the Beauty
If you have been a parent of teenagers you'll understand what I am taliking about. Your son or daughter--it isn't a gender issue--would go one way, when you want them to go the other. They would text friends, play games, watch movies, and sleep, when you want them to focus on school work, volunteer to clean their rooms, or even the bathrooms--we have perhaps lost all sense of proportion--and begin to aspire to a future where they have some significant place--to begin to show some ambition. But they won't have it--at least not without boatloads of resistance.
From your point of view, their disinterest defies all logic and reason, especially in the face of such a fast paced, competitive world. You might find yourself admonishing them about the pointlessness of endless textual prattle over the cyber airwaves, and how they cannot expect to survive into adulthood on a regimen of starch and cola.
You have forgotten how it was when you were their age. The technology was different, but not the carefree, distracted, and wreakless abandon of giggly youth. Then again, perhaps you remember your misspent youth all too well, and are desperate to save them from the same tortured path.
So you craft rules and consequences to guide their way towards the golden ring, and hold them to the straight and narrow road. You find yourself constantly and tirelessly reminding them to attend to a litany of details critical to a safe and effective launch into the outer space of adulthood. And they, with equal fervor and resolve, counter your every move with a roll of the eyes and judiciously executed patronizing.
In final desparation you might sit them down and appeal to them. You might start by explaining how much you want them to enjoy an adult life replete with opportunity and personal satisfaction--where they will soar like an eagle--powerful, majestic, confident, independent, and free. You might even confess that the rules you have imposed are probably exasperating and maybe even somewhat arbitrary, and definitely not always fun--okay, never fun. But you urge them to try to see where it is you are leading them. You ask them to trust you because you see clearly what is ahead of them, even though they cannot. Someday they will look back and discover all the hassle has been worth it, and it is a joy to be on the otherside and to have arrived there the best way.
I was talking with a couple of friends on different occassions, recently, who both voiced frustration with themselves in failing to do what God would want them to do. I could relate. Then it came to me. God is not so interested in us obsessing on the rules--although they are important--and He certainly finds no pleasure in seeing us suffer the consequences of our disobedience. No, God wants us to see this beautiful thing He has created and is now restoring. He wants to capture our imaginations and show us a truly lovely, awesomely (in its truest meaning) beautiful reality we can join Him in, forever. God is appealing to us to see His rules as guideposts to a place and state we are still too young to totally comprehend.
"Listen, my son and my daughter," He implores, "as I let you in on my thoughts and purposes. See how wonderous and beautiful they are. Know that behind the curtain is not a pretense, but an infinitely vast beauty. I am infinite and what I have for you to share with me is necessarily infinite; we must walk together forever for you to apprenhend it. Indeed, that is a part of the wonder of it: where we are going will always burst ahead of you with new vistas of endless potential and purpose. I know it's difficult; I fully understand your frustrations; I see how easily failure can overwhelm you; it seems to be one step forward and two steps backward. But,try to see what we are attempting to accomplish; try to glimpse the incredible beauty I have created for us to dwell together. Yes, you will need to endure growing pains, but know I have provided for everything you will need for the arduous journey ahead. Trust Me. Keep looking to Me for your strength. Seek Me to dress the wounds you will incur on yourself; I will forgive you. Ask me to salve the injuries others shall inflict on you. Forgive them as I have forgiven you. Depend on Me to protect you from what is really harmful. And one day you will awaken to the most glorious, breathtaking, inexpressible beauty of all: when you perfectly share My very nature. Think about what I am doing. Catch the beauty!"
The hike in God's kingdom is long and daunting, as God's kingdom light slowly quenches the darkness of the current world kingdom and turns its ugliness of blacks and greys into a beuaty of vibrant colors. See what a beautiful new world God has recreated at great cost. Gasp in utter awe as God's kingdom beauty unfolds before you like the most colorful, resplendent flower before a dawning sun. Catch the beauty!
Posted by Bruce Kokko at 4:04 PM 0 comments


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It's becoming a drumbeat of investors wary of the big downturn: Traditional "Sell in May" weakness coupled with the midterm year of a presidential cycle makes the market fertile ground for a correction.
After all, stocks are creeping back up toward record highs during a historically vulnerable time for the market.
The latest comes from Stephen Suttmeier, technical research analyst at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, who points out there's a more than 23% chance of the broader stock market shedding a fifth of its value sometime before October. Suttmeier notes:
The Mid-term year has a higher-than-average risk of a pullback of 20% or more during the 6-month periods beginning in January through August, especially during the March-August and April-September periods. The risk of a 20% pullback decreases substantially for the 6-month periods beginning in September through December. This supports the case for buying equities in late 3Q and 4Q during the Mid-term year.
Actually, the biggest risk for the upcoming six-month period (May through October), according to Suttmeier's data, is for a correction greater than 10% but less than 20%. There's a one-in-three chance of that happening. Then again, the risk of a 20% correction is a one-in-three chance during the April through September period, and a better than one-in-four chance during the March through August period.
Stocks continue to slog back up to near their recent highs. The S&P 500 Index is less than 1% from its all-time intraday high, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average is 0.5% off its intraday high.
A month ago, Sam Stovall, chief equity analyst at S&P Capital IQ, pointed out that in midterm years during the second year of a presidential cycle, stocks tend to perform their worst during the second quarter.
--Wallace Witkowski
Follow The Tell on Twitter @thetellblog.
Follow Witkowski @wmwitkowski.
More from MarketWatch:
Bull market won't die until a recession hits: RBC
Democrats are bad for business, hyper-growth stocks will calm down and other 'baloney:' Morgan Stanley


text: On The Posner Show, Sarah chats with Marie about the interwoven history of religious freedom and women's rights in America. Marie argues that that the 1638 trial of religious dissident Anne Hutchinson reveals a great deal about our ideas of religion and women's rights, demonstrating a prurient strain that that is still evident in the US today. Moving to more recent history, Sarah and Marie discuss conservative pushback to the line of Supreme Court cases culminating in Roe v. Wade. While Roe and church-state separation have been eroded, the government has become more protective of religious freedom for organizations and individuals claiming conscience objections. Finally: Do corporations have a religious conscience that ought to be protected by the law?Play entire video


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This multi-award winning musical continues to captivate audiences at Her Majesty's Theatre in London's West End, after more than 12,000 performances.
Shows in December 2019
Select a date to find all scheduled shows
Disney's musical phenomenon The Lion King continues to captivate audiences of all ages. Combining dazzling staging and highly imaginative costumes, masks and puppets, this astonishing show at the Lyceum Theatre uses breathtaking theatrical magic to tell the story of Simba - join him now in his epic journey to reclaim his kingdom!
Based on the acclaimed novel by Gregory Maguire that re-imagined the stories and characters created by L. Frank Baum in 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz', the WICKED musical tells the incredible untold story of an unlikely but profound friendship between two girls who first meet as sorcery students. Their extraordinary adventures in Oz will ultimately see them fulfil their destinies as Glinda The Good and the Wicked Witch of the West. Experience this unforgettable, award-winning musical and discover that you've not been told the whole story about the land of Oz...
Winner of 4 2014 Olivier Awards including Best New Musical. Rolling Stone says, 'The Genii of South Park hit Broadway, and history is made. Mormon is on its march into legend'. It's The Book of Mormon, the Broadway musical from South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone and Avenue Q co-creator Robert Lopez. Time Out New York says, 'You'll laugh your head off. Mormon is musical comedy heaven'. The New York post says, 'I Love The Book Of Mormon'.
This unique musical is set in the Canadian town of Gander where, in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, the town - which had a population of 11,000 – welcomed 8,500 passengers from diverted flights. Starring Rachel Tucker, the musical gets its London premiere at the Phoenix Theatre.
From humble beginnings in Nutbush, Tennessee, to her transformation into the global Queen of Rock 'n' Roll, Tina Turner didn't just break the rules, she rewrote them. This new stage musical, presented in association with Tina Turner herself, reveals the untold story of a woman who dared to defy the bounds of her age, gender and race.
In October 2015 Cameron Mackintosh's legendary production of Boublil and Schonberg's Les Miserables celebrated its 30th Anniversary in London and is now the world's longest running musical. This international award-winning musical sweeps its audience through an epic tale of passion and destruction, against the backdrop of a nation in the grip of revolution.
Tickets are now on sale for 9 to 5 the Musical which brings the brilliant music of Dolly Parton to life on stage. With a story based on the 1980 film of the same name, the show opened in the West End at the Savoy Theatre in January 2019. Dolly Parton - 9 to 5 The Musical is a hilarious story of friendship, gossip and revenge.
James McAvoy returns to the West End in an inventive new adaptation of Edmond Rostand's masterwork by Martin Crimp, with direction by Jamie Lloyd. Fierce with a pen and notorious in combat, Cyrano almost has it all - if only he could win the heart of his true love. There's just one big problem: he has a nose as huge as his heart. Will a society engulfed by narcissism get the better of De Bergerac - or can his mastery of language set Roxane's world alight?
Matilda The Musical is the multi-award winning musical from the Royal Shakespeare Company, inspired by the beloved book by the incomparable Roald Dahl.
Agatha Christie's legendary whodunnit, THE MOUSETRAP, is still thriving after over 60 years in the West End. The world's longest-running play, this murder mystery masterpiece goes from strength to strength as a new generation of theatregoers are tricked and teased at St. Martin's Theatre. Experience this cracking yarn today - an irresistible treat for amateur sleuths everywhere!
Following a sold out run at the Young Vic Theatre, the smash hit, critically acclaimed production of Death of a Salesman starring Wendell Pierce and Sharon D. Clarke transfers to the Piccadilly Theatre for 10 weeks only.


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New Job for Miss Sarah
In case you missed the buzz on Twitter and elsewhere, I have a new job! Starting officially on May 1st, I will be the Director for the San Rafael Public Library!
I've worked as the Assistant Director since February 2011, and as the Acting Director since November. I am thrilled to have been selected from a pool of extremely qualified candidates. It's the town I've lived in for over 8 years, and I stayed here even when it meant commuting 1:45 each way to San Jose for work. I love San Rafael and am honored to be able to serve as Library Director. We have an extraordinarily dedicated staff and our support groups (Friends, Board, and Foundation) care about this library tremendously. I am lucky to have such a great group of people to work with!
You can read more about the new job in the story in our local paper.
If any directors have advice for a newbie, please pass it on! My ears are wide open!


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Talking recently about exercise and the heart, a really weird question came up. Sometimes those are the best questions, aren't they?
Exercise makes the heart beat faster, so why doesn't exercise wear the heart out faster? Why don't you run out of heartbeats sooner if you spend a lot of time exercising? After all, the heart has a lot of moving parts – heart valves, blood vessels and muscle. These presumably wear out, like anything else, kind of like the 100,000-mile power train warranty on your car. After the warranty expires, you're on your own …
So you Exercisers watch out, you might just shake something loose. Actually the heart is an absolute wonder of durable construction and last an astounding number of beats. Let's play with some numbers.
How many beats do we get in a lifetime? If an individual averages 80 beats per minute, that's 4,800 beats per hour, 115,200 beats per day, and more than 42 million per year, which calculates to roughly 3 billion if you live to age 72. When you think about them that way, heartbeats are the most precious commodity on the planet. Hate to waste 'em.
Assume a really compulsive 40-year-old exerciser does something strenuous and aerobic five days a week for 30 minutes. He will drive his heart rate up to 160 beats per minute (220 – your age is maximum heart rate and we like to exercise at 65 to 85 percent of that).
The math works out to an extra 2,400 heartbeats per day on your exercise days. That is a 2 percent increase in heartbeats per day for those who are keeping count.
But exercisers have slow heart rates — not in the first week, but after a month or two. Let's assume exercise brings your resting pulse down from 80 to 60 beats a minute, a pretty reasonable goal. The 72-year-old at the 60-pulse rate uses only 2.2 billion heartbeats. To put it another way, to use up 3 billion heart beats, at a pulse rate of 60, you have to live to age 95. Startling, isn't it?
But lower pulse rate isn't the whole story because your heart is living tissue, not a car. That's a subtle distinction I know, but one that comes up every day in medical practice. A mechanic comes in with a cut hand that requires sutures. He thanks me for fixing it and I usually say, "you're doing the hard part, I just got it pushed together. You are healing it." A mechanic has to fix your car engine 100 percent or it won't run properly. Cars can't heal themselves, but people can.
Using your heart's muscle makes it strong. You don't wear tissue out by using it; you wear it out by not using it. So invest as little as 15 minutes a day in exercise and you will extend your warranty for more trouble-free years of body ownership. Get that pulse down to 50 and it takes 105 years to use up 3 billion heartbeats.
Take care
Dr B


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Belize police urge McAfee to turn himself in
Police in Belize urged software company founder John McAfee on Tuesday to come in for questioning over the shooting death of his neighbor, but McAfee, proclaiming his innocence, has told Wired magazine that he fears for his life and has gone into hiding.
McAfee, 67, is being sought by police as a "person of interest" in the death of Gregory Faull, a 52-year-old builder from Florida whose body was found in a pool of blood this weekend at his home on the island of Ambergris Caye off the Belize coast.
Faull died of a gunshot wound to the head Saturday night. Police said a computer and phone were missing from his house.
"Losing Greg leaves a hole in our hearts and our lives," his family said in a statement Tuesday. "We urge law enforcement authorities in Belize and internationally to bring those responsible to justice quickly."
Police called to the scene also searched McAfee's nearby house early Sunday, but said they found no one there.
McAfee, however, has spoken by phone with Wired magazine's Joshua Davis and said he was on the property that morning and saw the police arriving. He said he hid in the sand under a cardboard box because he feared for his life.
"I thought maybe they were coming for me," McAfee told Davis. "They mistook him for me. They got the wrong house. He's dead. They killed him. It spooked me out."
Raphael Martinez, spokesman for Belize's Ministry of National Security, urged McAfee to turn himself in.
"We want to encourage him to come in," Martinez told the Associated Press on Tuesday. "If he feels threatened, we need to tell him, 'Get someone to go along with you, but come in. Let's solve this crime and you can free yourself.' "
Martinez said two people have been detained in the investigation for questioning. But he added that police have yet to establish a motive in the crime.
Jeff Wise, writing for Gizmodo, reported on Monday that McAfee and Faull had been "at odds for some time."
"Last Wednesday, Faull filed a formal complaint against McAfee with the mayor's office, asserting that McAfee had fired off guns and exhibited 'roguish behavior,' " Gizmodo reported. "Their final disagreement apparently involved dogs."
Wired's Davis said he got an e-mail Friday night from McAfee in which he said four of his dogs had been poisoned, blaming it on Belizean authorities with a vendetta against him.
"The coast guard dropped off a contingent of black-suited thugs at 10:30 tonight at the dock next door," McAfee wrote in the e-mail to Davis on Friday night. "They dispersed on the beach. A half hour later all of my dogs had been poisoned. Mellow, Lucky, Dipsy, and Guerrero have already died."
McAfee, has had a complicated relationship with Belize police and political figures since he moved to the island three years ago.
Last April, Belize police raided his home looking for drugs and guns. McAfee said officers found guns, which he said were legal, and he was released without charges after being detained for a few hours.
Yet, just last Thursday McAfee appeared at a public ceremony with the mayor of San Padro and police officials where he donated equipment — including Tasers, handcuffs, flashing lights, metal detectors, pistol belts, pepper spray and batons — to the San Pedro Police Department, Ambergris Today reported.
The newspaper's website showed several photos of McAfee with local officials at the ceremony.
Gizmodo also reported that McAfee was involved in the "intensive use of psychosis-inducing hallucinogens" and that this "would go a long way toward explaining his growing estrangement from his friends and from the community around him."
One resident of the island told the AP that Faull had complained about McAfee's behavior, and others said the former software executive was hard to befriend. Some residents told the AP that McAfee seemed standoffish and not friendly.
"His physical appearance doesn't really inspire you to go over and make friends with him. He's a little scruffy looking," one real estate agent, Bob Hamilton, told the AP.
The case was the latest twist in McAfee's recent life as an eccentric yoga lover. He sold his stake in his software company in the early 1990s and moved to Belize to lower his taxes.
He told The New York Times in 2009 that he had lost all but $4 million of his $100 million fortune in the U.S. financial crisis.
Contributing: The Associated Press


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Pete Seeger Visits The Colbert Report
Stephen Colbert talks to the legendary musician about his new book, "Pete Seeger: In His Own Words."
Stephen Colbert interviewed musician Pete Seeger on how his life in letters came to be published, being a member of the communist party, and what his music has meant to generations.
You're never too old to change the world.
This photo series by Michael Bowman for YES! Magazine shows folk-legend Pete Seeger at his home in Beacon, New York, overlooking the Hudson River, in December, 2007.
As Willie Nelson taught us, you just can't play a sad song on a banjo. Folk legend Pete Seeger unveils his newest protest song.