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Medium-voltage (MV) cable pulling is not just slopping on lubrication and applying brute force. An MV cable is much like a piece of sophisticated switchgear, with various components interacting together to safely handle voltage and current. Damage any of these components during the pull, and the likelihood of a cable failure turns to an unfortunate reality.
So, how should you approach MV cable pulling? Our suggestion involves using a step-by-step approach. This means first evaluating the type and configuration of raceway you intend to use (existing or new), and seeing how the MV cables will be affected. This first part of the approach is like the "design" portion of the design-build construction technique.
Then, look at the anticipated pulling tension, which leads you to the best type and style of pulling grip and the best pulling location. This second part is like the "build" portion.
Know what the cables look like in the raceway
Since the majority of MV cable installations involve single-conductor cables in an electrical raceway (rigid metallic or nonmetallic), you should begin your approach here. Depending on their number, these cables will occupy the raceway in unique geometric ways, as shown in Fig. 1.
This is important because the particular configuration has a direct effect on how much frictional force, or drag, you place on the cables during installation. To find out the configuration, use the ratio of the inside diameter of the raceway (D) to the outside diameter of an individual cable (d). We call this the D/d ratio.
Obviously, one single conductor cable rests in the raceway as shown in Fig. 1 (option A). A triangular configuration, as shown in Fig. 1 (option B), occurs when you pull three individual conductors from three separate reels, and their D/d ratio is less than 2.5. If the ratio is 2.5 to 3.0, the conductors could again assume the triangular configuration, or may position themselves into the cradle configuration, as shown in Fig. 1 (option C). If the ratio is over 3.0, the three conductors are very likely to lay in this same configuration. The diamond configuration, as shown in Fig. 1 (option D), occurs when you pull four individual conductors in parallel from separate reels, and their ratio is less than 3.0. If you're pulling triplexed or quadruplexed single-conductor assemblies from one reel, the configurations will always be triangular for the former and diamond for the latter.
Add a fudge factor for cable weight
Each of the above configurations interacts uniquely with the new or existing raceway. You can also use the specific configuration's D/d ratio per the specific configuration to determine a fudge factor called weight correction factor.
When you install two or more single- conductor cables in a raceway, the sum of the forces exerted between the cables and the raceway is always greater than the sum of the individual cable weights. So, you need to apply a weight correction factor, which effectively increases the weight of cables. This helps in calculating a more accurate required pulling tension.
To find the weight correction factor for the intended installation, use the applicable equation shown in Table 1.
In the usual case of three single conductor cables of equal diameters and weights in a raceway, the weight correction factor is typically higher for the cradled configuration than for the triangular configuration. For example, a 40% raceway fill in a cradled configuration gives you a weight correction factor of 1.441, as compared to a value of 1.222 for the triangular case.
So, unless your cable is made up of triplexed single conductors, you should assume the cradled case, since it will yield higher values in calculated pulling tensions. This obviously results in a more conservative design.
Don't crush the cable's sidewalls
When you pull a cable through a bend in a raceway system or around a sheave, pressure develops between the cable and the bend or sheave. This pressure, known as sidewall bearing pressure, or SWBP, dramatically affects your power distribution feeder design. This directly relates to the radius of the bend, pulling tension on the cable, and weight of the cable. (The cable's weight is relatively small in comparison to the pulling tension; as such, we omit it in the SWBP calculation.)
This performance parameter is usually expressed in terms of the tension out of the bend (in lbs) divided by the bend radius (in ft). Obviously, the calculated result is really a unit of force per unit length.
You can use the equations in Table 2 to calculate SWBP values of specific cable/raceway configurations. These equations highlight the specific conductor subjected to the maximum crushing force for each of the configurations noted in Fig. 1. In the cradle configuration, this is the center conductor; for the diamond, it's the bottom most conductor; and for the triangular, it's the bottom two conductors.
Looking at these equations, you see as the bend radius is increased, the amount of SWBP to which the cable is subjected decreases.
Table 3 lists recommended SWBP values for various cable types and constructions. Based on these SWBP limits, you increase the size of a bend so you can apply a greater pulling tension out of that same bend. For example, suppose you calculate the tension in pulling three single conductor 600V XLPE cables around a bend is 3600 lbs. Then, the minimum bend radius is 3600 lbs divided by 1200 lbs/ft (from Table 2), or 3 ft.
Don't jam the cables
You have to consider the potential for jamming or wedging cables during the pull installation when you're sizing a new raceway or verifying if an existing raceway is of sufficient size. Jamming usually happens when three or more cables lay side by side in a single plane. As you pull cables through a bend, the curvature of the bend tends to squeeze the cables together, causing a jam that can result in insulation damage.
You normally won't have a jamming problem if you're pulling one or two single conductors, or a single multiconductor cable with an overall jacket. Also, nonjacketed multiconductor cables made up of triplexed or quadruplexed single conductors won't jam.
To find out if you may have a jamming problem, use the ratio of the raceway inside diameter (D) to the individual conductor's outside diameter (d). One special note: Since bends are not round but oval in section view, you must increase the diameter measurements by 5% (by a factor of 1.05).
Here are some jamming guidelines for you to follow:
- If 1.05 times D/d is less than 2.5, jamming is not possible.
- If 1.05 times D/d is less than 3.0 but greater than 2.8, jamming is very probable.
- If 1.05 times D/d is greater than 3.0, jamming is not possible.
Another special note: Avoid jam ratios of 2.8 to 3.2 for extruded dielectric cables.
Don't overbend the cables
A cable's minimum bending radius is directly related to its construction and directly affects cable insulation.
Two values are used in defining a minimum bending radius: One describes the radius of a cable bend made by training a cable in its place after its installation; the other defines a bend a cable can safely negotiate without damage during the pulling process.
As you would expect, the pulling radius is always greater than the training radius for the same cable because you expose the cable to greater physical stress during a pull.
Pulling radius. MV cables with overlapping tape shielding systems are particularly susceptible to damage if you don't use properly sized bends. If the radius is too small, the overlapping layer of tape shielding separates as the cable progresses through the bend. As the cable straightens out, the tape shielding buckles as it tries to come back together. In fact, it may actually cut into the cable's insulation. Since this cable construction usually features an overall jacket, you probably won't notice the damage, and the cable will have a reduced service life.
A similar concern applies to cable constructions having a spiral interlocking metallic (aluminum or galvanized steel) jacket. These jackets tend to pull apart if you force the cable to conform to an improperly sized radius, such as a too-small sheave.
For 600V and MV power cables (through 35kV) with metallic shielding or armor, use the following minimum pulling radii:
- Multiconductor interlocked armor cables: seven times overall cable diameter, except as noted for shielded conductors. Refer to Table 3 (on page 32) where a minimum pulling radius greater than seven times "d" is required.
- Flat tape and wire armored cables: 12 times the overall cable diameter. * Metallic tape shielded cables: 12 times the overall cable diameter.
- Concentric wire strand shielded cables: Refer to Table 3 except where a minimum pulling radius greater than seven times the cable diameter is required.
Training radius. The Insulated Cable Engineers Association (ICEA) has set recommended values of minimum training radii to bend cables for permanent training. These are shown in Table 3 (600V through 35kV) and Table 4 (over 35kV). Remember these limits do not apply to duct or conduit bends, sheaves, or other curved surfaces around which you pull power cables under tension. In all cases, the minimum radii specified here refer to the surface of the cable in contact with the bend and not the axis of the cable.
Give cables enough headroom
You must make sure there's enough clearance (C) between the uppermost cable and the inside top of the raceway to ensure a safe and easy pull. For a straight pull, the clearance can be as small as 1/4 in. and still be adequate. For more complex pulls, however, you'll need between 1/2 in. and 1 in.
Use the equations noted in Table 5, based on worst-case configurations, to find out the clearance distance for a given cable/raceway configuration. To compensate for variations in cable and raceway diameters, and the oval shape of raceway sections at bends, the nominal diameters are increased by 5% (by a factor of 1.05).
Don't pull too hard on the conductor
Maximum allowable pulling tension depends on three limiting factors; it cannot exceed the smaller of any of the following:
- Maximum tension on the cable's copper or aluminum conductor;
- Maximum tension on the pulling device (pulling eye or cable grip); or
- Maximum cable SWBP.
The maximum tension you can place on a cable's conductor is 0.008 times the circular mil (cmil) area of the conductor for copper and 0.006 for aluminum. Base these values on the tensile or yield strength of the respective metals and a 2.4 safety factor. In other words, you divide the respective material yield strength by 2.4 to find out the resulting maximum tension you can apply directly to the conductor material. This gives you a built-in safety cushion.
Use the equations noted in the SIDEBAR: How Much Tension Is Too Much For A Conductor Material? to calculate the maximum conductor material pulling tension.
Don't kill the pulling eye or cable grip
If you're pulling large kcmil conductors, their allowable maximum pulling tension is in the thousands of lbs. This large amount of tension can exceed the capability of your pulling equipment. Consider the capability of the pulling device along with the conductor's performance characteristics.
Obviously, the pulling device manufacturer's recommendations are important. As such, you should follow recommended maximum pulling tensions on cable conductors with pulling eyes, as shown in Table 6.
Conventional pulling eyes. These devices, whether compression or epoxy filled, have a maximum capability of 14,000 lbs. If you need additional capacity, you can use soldered pulling eyes, which allow a maximum of 16,000 lbs.
Basket grips. Here again, you should follow the manufacturer's recommendations. Table 7 lists the recommended maximum pulling tensions on cable grips with copper and aluminum single and multiconductor cables.
To calculate how much tension you can apply on a cable grip when pulling a lead sheath cable, see the SIDEBAR: Using A Cable Grip On Lead Sheathed Cable.
SIDEBAR: How Much Tension Is Too Much For A Conductor Material?
Yes, there is a limit as to how much tension you can place directly on aluminum or copper - as defined by the following equations:
Copper: Tm = 0.008 x n x cm
Aluminum: Tm = 0.006 x n x cm
"Tm" is the maximum allowable tension applied to the cable conductor, "n" is the number of cables, and "cm" is the individual conductor area in circular mils.
You'll have to adjust these equations to reflect the number of cables taking the tension. For example, if you're pulling three single-conductor cables (either cradle or triangular configured), n=2, since two of the cables may sustain the total pulling tension. If you're pulling more than three cables of equal size, the maximum tension you can directly apply to the conductor material is 60% of the total value.
SIDEBAR: Using a Cable Grip on Lead Sheathed Cable
You can find the maximum pulling tension on lead-sheathed cable when using a cable grip by using the following equation: TsubM = (4712) x (t) x (d - t), where t is the sheath thickness (inches) and d is the overall diameter of the cable (inches).


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There are no job postings that match your request.
All applications for employment with the Texas General Land Office (GLO) must be submitted electronically by the job closing date through www.WorkInTexas.com. PAPER, FAX OR E-MAIL APPLICATIONS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. Please visit our website at www.glo.texas.gov for more information about applying for a GLO job posting.
The Texas General Land Office/Veterans Land Board does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability or genetic information in employment or the provision of services. A criminal conviction records check is required for applicants who are selected for a position. The State of Texas requires all males who are 18 through 25 and required to register with the Selective Service to present either proof of registration or exemption from registration upon hire. The U.S. Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 requires new employees to present proof of identity and eligibility to work in the United States. The Texas General Land Office is a non-smoking agency. Smoking is permitted only in designated areas. In compliance with the FLSA, the GLO compensates overtime work though time off in lieu of payment.

subset: commoncrawl


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2004 Ford Taurus Sedan Replacement Light Bulb Size Guide
When you need to replace the headlight, turning signal or parking light bulb on your 2004 Ford Taurus Sedan, finding out what the replacement size you need can be a time consuming task. Whether you want to replace your headlamp bulb with a HID (High Intensity Discharge) Headlight Kit, Xenon Headlamp Kit or replace your interior lighting bulbs with LED (Light Emitting Diode) bulbs, we're here to help you with your 2004 Ford Taurus Sedan.
The Modified Life staff has taken all its Ford Taurus Sedan headlight bulb replacement guide, Ford Taurus Sedan light bulb size guides, Ford Taurus Sedan light bulb replacement guides and cataloged them online for use by our visitors for free. Our Ford Taurus Sedan light bulb guides allow you to easily replace light bulbs, replace headlight bulb, change a broken lightbulb, install a hid headlight conversion or install led light bulbs instead of spending countless hours trying to figure out which light bulb sizes in your 2004 Ford Taurus Sedan.
Feel free to use any replacement light bulb sizes that are listed on Modified Life but keep in mind that all information here is provided as is without any warranty of any kind. Use of the replacement bulb size information is at your own risk. Always verify all light bulb sizes, bulb voltage usage and bulb wattage before applying any information found here to your 2004 Ford Taurus Sedan.
Request a Light Bulb Size Guide
If you can't find a particular replacement light bulb size guide on Modified Life, please feel free to post a light bulb size guide request at the bottom of this page and we'll do our best to find you the light bulb size or light bulb replacement information you need for your vehicle.
Adding More Information
If you would like to help the Modified Life community by adding any missing information or adding a new light bulb size information to our resource, please feel free to post it at the bottom of this page.
2004 Ford Taurus Sedan Replacement Light Bulb Size Guide
Low Beam Headlight Bulb Size: 9007 or 9007 HID Upgrade Kit
High Beam Headlamp Light Bulb Size: 9007 or 9007 HID Kit
Parking Light Bulb Size: 3457A
Front Turn Signal Light Bulb Size: 3457A
Rear Turn Signal Light Bulb Size: 3057
Tail Light Bulb Size: 3057
Stop Light Bulb Size: 3057
High Mount Stop Light Bulb Size: 912
Fog/Driving Light Bulb Size: 899
License Plate Light Bulb Size: 168
Back Up Light Bulb Size: 921
Front Sidemarker Light Bulb Size: 194
Rear Sidemarker Light Bulb Size: 194
Glove Box Light Bulb Size: 194
Map Light Bulb Size: 211-2 or 578
Dome Light Bulb Size: 211-2 or 579
Step/Courtesy Light Bulb Size: 161 or 214-2 or DE3021
Trunk/Cargo Area Light Bulb Size: 906
Under Hood Light Bulb Size: 906


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December 21, 2010
These are the terms and conditions that artists agree to when creating a ZAPP® profile and using the ZAPPlication.org system.
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We departed early yesterday morning for the Capuchin Franciscan Institute of Philosophy and Theology, located just at the edge of the growing metropolis of Addis Ababa. We left early to beat the traffic, but we did not do too well in this regard. There is always traffic in this capital of nearly four million people, as the city is growing at an amazing rate. There is construction everywhere as old buildings are leveled and quickly replaced with modern structures of glass and steel and concrete. The road system is not equipped to handle the congestion, let alone the many disruptions due to closed roadways and construction equipment. But we made our way, despite some closed roads and with the kindness of some construction workers and roadway workers along the way.
Greeting us at the institute was Abba Daniel Assefa, O.F.M. Cap., the rector. Abba Daniel is known throughout the country for his leadership and his scholarship. His credentials, especially in Scripture, are most impressive, as is his humility.
This seminary serves most of Ethiopia and also enrolls students from five religious congregations; in recent times, this includes religious sisters. The institute does not house its students; seminarians and religious return to their respective residences after class, where they study and meet regularly with their spiritual directors. There are five seminary residences in all, and most of them are in the city proper and have seminarians from multiple jurisdictions in each one.
Abba Daniel strives very hard to elevate the quality of education and scholarship at this seminary. Not only is he a respected Scripture scholar, but he is also an authority on early Christian history and tradition in Ethiopia. He works closely with Ethiopian Orthodox scholars and other Catholic scholars, in Ethiopia and outside the country, to discover and preserve this great heritage.
We were pleasantly surprised at the quality of the facility, which is owned by the Capuchin Fathers. The buildings are beautifully laid out and the grounds are spacious, quiet and peaceful. You can feel the presence of St. Francis.
One of Abba Daniel's many outreach initiatives is a program for the laity to study Scripture and theology. During night classes and through correspondence-style courses, the friar inspires, engages and encourages lay leaders to become more familiar with their Christian heritage and faith.
The seminary educates about 130 seminarians and some ten religious sisters. One of the sister graduates has recently completed her doctoral degree in patristics and is now on the faculty at the seminary. It was at the urging of Abba Daniel that her religious superiors allowed her to pursue further studies and a place on the faculty.
A pleasant part of our visit introduced us to a New York archdiocesan priest who is on loan teaching moral theology here. Father Donald Haggerty has been on the faculty since last October. He formally taught at St. Joseph's Seminary in Dunwoodie, the heart of the Archdiocese of New York. It was a delight for both of us to engage in a friendly visit, bringing together two New Yorkers.
After leaving the seminary, and again through the kindness of some highway construction workers, we proceeded to drop in at the Asco School. This very new and brightly designed school facility educates about 900 children. Currently it runs from grades one to nine and plans to add another year of curriculum next year. The school is operated by the De La Salle Brothers of the Christian Schools, who have an excellent reputation throughout the country. In fact, these Christian Brothers operate many of the finest schools in the country.
Unfortunately, because of serious delays in getting there, we did not have the opportunity to meet with the director or the community's provincial. We left word for them about our difficulties in arriving and apologized for any disappointment that resulted. We did have an opportunity to look around the facility and were most impressed at the size and the design of this school.
The Asco School educates about 200 children who are H.I.V. positive and live with the Missionaries Sisters of Charity right next door on an adjoining piece of property. In fact, Blessed Mother Teresa's sisters own the land on which the school is built. This partnership of the Missionary Sisters of Charity, who care for these children, and the Christian Brothers, who educate them, makes good sense and addresses both needs.
This visit marked the end of my pastoral visit to Ethiopia. Thomas Varghese and I hope to arrive in New York today in the early afternoon.
As always, it has been an honor for me to have your company on this journey of faith. The Ethiopian Catholic people, a very small minority, have been exceptionally warm and welcoming. And so have the many Orthodox believers and Muslims who have welcomed us as part of their family. And you have always been included in the good wishes, welcomes, expressions of gratitude and most importantly the promise of prayers from the poor.
The real jewel of Ethiopia is its people: they may lead simple and poor lives, but they are rich in honesty and faith. In many ways, this has been a retreat of sorts. I thank each and every one of you for your prayerful support and your generosity as members of this one CNEWA family. By sharing what God has given to us with the poor in Ethiopia, we ourselves have been richly blessed.
Next stop: New York. God bless Ethiopia and God bless you.
Tags: Ethiopia Africa Msgr. John E. Kozar Seminarians Ethiopian Catholic Church
Today was a most uplifting day for me, one filled with many wonderful experiences. Let me share some of them with you.
We began with an early morning visit to Holy Trinity Theological College, where we were warmly met by the rector, Abune Timotheos. He is a very affable, kind and soft-spoken holy man.
A little background about this college: Holy Trinity is the theological seminary of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. It serves the entire country, which includes more than 35 million Orthodox Christians, the largest faith community in Ethiopia. Over many years, CNEWA has reached out to this seminary with some assistance as an expression of ecumenical solidarity with the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and as an outreach of our Holy Father. We have helped this seminary to improve the quality of its teaching and formation by supporting the graduate education of three faculty members who received their graduate degrees from the Catholic Pontifical Seminary in Bangalore, India. In doing so, the average seminarian, priest or deacon who attends this seminary is now better educated and prepared for his ministry.
The rector expressed profound thanks to all our CNEWA family for this loving sign of solidarity. The words of thanks were especially powerful as expressed by the three faculty members who received CNEWA scholarships. I am also impressed that the seminary in India, which is itself a huge mission territory, can now reach out and continue Pentecost by offering theological training and advanced degrees to our brothers in the Orthodox tradition.
We were given an extensive tour of this very humble seminary property. It had been taken over by the Communist government in the mid-1970's and closed for about 20 years. The facilities were left in shambles and most of the classrooms, library, study rooms, etc., are still very old and run down. They were most happy to show us the "new" classrooms built by gifts from our CNEWA family. Excuse my pride, but I felt very honored and happy to find that our gifts had borne such wonderful fruits.
CNEWA has also sponsored a clerical training program for rural Orthodox priests. You must understand that many — if not most — rural Orthodox priests have not had any formal theological training. They are basically subsistence farmers. Their primary training before ordination (often at 19 years of age) is the memorization of chants in the Ethiopian liturgical language of Ge'ez in order to celebrate the Qedasse, the Eucharistic liturgy of the Ethiopian church. But as traditional agrarian Ethiopia develops and modernizes, and as its increasingly better-educated people leave their villages for the cities, many within the Ethiopian Orthodox community worry that its priests will no longer be relevant; ancient Ethiopian Orthodoxy is at a crossroads.
In the last 20 years or so, evangelical Protestants have grown quickly — and usually at the expense of the ancient Orthodox Church. Through your charity, and with the strong endorsement of the Catholic bishops in Ethiopia and the open arms of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, CNEWA has undertaken a program of building some very basic study centers in very rural areas of the country. These clergy training centers have bolstered, however humbly, the theological and scriptural education of thousands of Ethiopian clergy.
The results have been most encouraging. Throughout our visit at the seminary and later in the presence of the Ethiopian Orthodox patriarch, the topic of these clergy training centers was highlighted time and time again. You should all be very proud as our Orthodox brothers find fulfillment in their formal studies at the seminary and at these centers. In fact, in meeting many of the men at the seminary, they were most anxious to tell us that they are now pursuing a degree and perhaps even a graduate degree in theological or scriptural studies. Just a few years ago, this was not possible.
Our next visit took us to one of the major seminary residences housing seminarians from both the Latin and the Ge'ez Catholic rites in Ethiopia. Most of the Catholic seminarians live in one of three residences located within a stone's throw of each other. This particular seminary residence, named for St. Ephrem, houses about 26 students. We arrived just in time for lunch. After lunch and few words from the rector and me, a group of ten seminarians performed a liturgical song and dance. A special feature of their dance was the chanting and dancing to the pulsating beat of a huge drum. They were delighted to share the rich heritage of their ethnic and tribal heritage. And better yet, they were a mix of both Ge'ez Catholic and Latin Catholics.
The rector, Father Ghirmay, was effusive in his thanks to all of us for CNEWA's support of these residences. The Catholic bishops of all Ethiopia also thanked me yesterday for the great gift of sponsorship of these seminary facilities, which serve to address spirituality and formation of the seminarians. Each young man has a director (or rector), a spiritual director (or formator) and visiting professors who give in-house classes to complement the formal seminary curriculum at the Capuchin Franciscan Institute of Philosophy and Theology (which we will visit later).
Afterward, the rector and some of the seminarians took us on a tour of the facility. They were eager to show us everything, especially the chapel and the library. Here again, CNEWA has been instrumental in donating resource materials for their studies.
Our last stop of the day, in the late afternoon, was most notable. We were received by His Holiness, Abune Paulos, Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. This role places him as the supreme shepherd of more than 35 million souls in this country, plus a significant number of Ethiopian Orthodox Christians living elsewhere.
The patriarch is quite a character. Entering the receiving room, resplendent with elegant furnishings, and seeing him seated on a throne, one expects that his manner would be quite formal and the visit very pro forma — quite the contrary. This man is full of wisdom and insight, but also very disarming with his humor. Out of the blue comes a quip or a jovial word. But make no mistake; this man is a first-class public relations expert and a high-power salesman. He is so good at promoting the church, I kidded him and told him some of the bishops in North America might want to hire him as a development consultant!
We had a delightful conversation and he obviously regards the solidarity with the Catholic Church as a precious gift. He especially holds Gerry Jones, our regional director in Ethiopia, in highest regard and made references to that relationship many times, sometimes in jest, but always with deep respect.
As I was bidding him goodbye and receiving his blessing, I offered him a heartfelt invitation to honor us with a visit to our office in New York. He received this invitation warmly.
It was a very good day, one filled with good stories and personal accounts of CNEWA being at its best: in reaching out to our Orthodox brothers and sisters, helping our Catholic seminarians be sustained in their spiritual lives and formation and in our expressions of solidarity with some very dedicated church leaders and those entrusted to their care.
Perhaps the most important expression of gratitude from our hosts — seminarians and their formators and teachers, patriarch and rectors — was the promise of remembering all of you, our CNEWA family, in their prayers. And I add my own prayers to theirs: Thank you and God bless you.
Tags: Ethiopia Africa Msgr. John E. Kozar Ethiopian Orthodox Church Seminarians
It is very early on Tuesday here in Addis Ababa. I'm eager to share with you yesterday's activities and to offer some insights on the life of the church in Ethiopia.
Yesterday began with an invitation from all the Catholic bishops of the country to meet with them while they gathered for a special weeklong workshop. They welcomed my observations, not only as the president of CNEWA but also as a brother priest. The metropolitan archbishop of Addis Ababa, Abune Berhaneyesus, offered profound thanks to CNEWA for accompanying the Ethiopian church for so many years on its missionary journey. This was really a very loving testimonial to all of you in our family for your many years of support for the poor and for the solidarity that we have demonstrated with the bishops of Ethiopia and to all the faithful.
I began my remarks by insisting that I am not an authority on anything theological or sociological or otherwise, and certainly not in reference to Ethiopia. I described my role with CNEWA as I have done oftentimes as being a parish priest from Pittsburgh, who loves the missions and is on loan to the world. They smiled and warmly invited me to continue.
I combined personal observations with the insights that some of them had personally shared with me during my visits of the past week or so, and also incorporated the considerations of many other diocesan priests, religious men and women, as well as lay leaders. Adding to this mix I also intertwined some of my experience as a parish priest and former vicar for clergy and former national director of the Pontifical Mission Societies.
The tone and substance of my remarks was very positive. As a brother priest, I offered them some practical suggestions and made some recommendations on how they might improve in certain areas, such as formation of their clergy; the ongoing formation of their clergy and laity; the leadership role of the episcopal conference; how they might address dialogue with men and women religious; and especially how they might better address the pastoral needs in their respective eparchies and in the country as a whole. They seemed to accept my presentation readily and expressed their determination in addressing the challenges facing the church in Ethiopia. I thanked them again for the honor of sharing with them and expressed CNEWA's solidarity with all of them, stating that we will continue to journey with them as a church.
The challenges facing the Catholic Church in Ethiopia are unique. Let's begin with the geography: Ethiopia is a huge country that seems much larger because of its poor road systems. It takes more than four days to drive from one tip to the other and these would be very wearying miles indeed. Without heavy-duty four-wheel-drive vehicles, it is impossible to navigate.
There are many ethnic, tribal and linguistic challenges and thus even communication is difficult at best in some areas of the country. Neighboring Ethiopia are countries that have suffered and continue to suffer from war, hunger, social injustice and political oppression. Ethiopia has herself experienced some great famines and an ugly war with Eritrea. Families have been cruelly separated from loved ones because they have been on the wrong side of a demarcation line.
Refugees arrive from bordering countries every day and bring further strain to the local economy. There is a constant reliance on global organizations for clothing, foodstuffs, water, medicines and other basics. The church is very involved in partnering with these agencies in bringing needed relief to the masses of people who are poor.
Ethiopia also has an interesting mix of rites: many of the dioceses are Latin and are called apostolic vicariates and other dioceses of the Ge'ez Catholic rite (which is Eastern) are called eparchies. Some of the bishops of one rite have actually grown up in the opposite rite. But generally, it seems to work. Most of the bishops and priests in many parts of the country are bi-ritual, and thus are comfortable in celebrating the liturgy well in either rite.
I also had a wonderful visit yesterday with our CNEWA family in Addis Ababa — that is, our staff. This group of very dedicated and dynamic workers welcomed me warmly. I took the opportunity to become better acquainted with them and to share with them how I value greatly not only their performance in the office, but their input in helping me to improve on the good works of CNEWA in Ethiopia. They very readily accepted this challenge as we journey together to discover more fully who we are, what we do and why we do it. We included in our visit a lovely lunch together at a local restaurant, a treat for them and also for me, as sharing a meal together is always the best way to heighten a visit.
Today, I have an audience with the patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, Abune Paulos. I look forward to this great honor, as this church leader is a most important figure in Ethiopia and in this part of the world. I will also be visiting the major seminary here, of which CNEWA is a significant supporter. Stay tuned for more of these visits in my next report. Until next time, be assured of my prayers and the prayers of the poor. May God continue to bless you all.
Tags: Ethiopia Africa Msgr. John E. Kozar Ethiopian Catholic Church
I have just come from a wonderful dinner at the home of my host here in Ethiopia, Gerry Jones. His wife prepared a great meal for Thomas Varghese and me and we enjoyed our visit, sharing many of the impressions, observations and insights of my pastoral visits thus far in this beautiful country. Let me share with you, my CNEWA family, what I have been doing these past two days.
On Saturday, our first stop took us to the Kidane Mehret Children's Home. It is truly an orphanage; most of the 130 resident children have no parents and are completely dependent on the care given there.
The director is Sister Lutgarda Camilleri of the Franciscan Sisters of the Heart of Jesus, a Maltese national who has worked either at the orphanage or at the school next door for more than forty years. She is a dynamo: a combination of a grandmother that everyone would cherish and a religious sister who commands tremendous respect and can bring anyone to attention with a glance or a word of admonition. She also strikes me as a person with great savvy with the government authorities. You know the type: Give them a little grandmotherly charm and, if that does not work, look right into their eyes and tell them they are wrong. Case closed.
Sister Lutgarda and her crew of two other sisters, dedicated staff members and a rotating crew of volunteers provide amazing loving care to children as young as a few months and up to the age of 16. Many of those in her charge are street children brought here by police or child welfare officials. Sometimes, the officials show up at her doorstep with more than 20 at one time. Exasperated a little, but never overwhelmed, Sister Lutgarda welcomes them into the family.
CNEWA has been a long-time supporter of this institution and we should all feel proud of the good works done here. Her success rate, with some of the most challenging kids under her care, has been very good and many of her "graduates" have excelled in school and gone on to become productive citizens of Ethiopia. Some have even returned as professionals to offer their help to the sisters.
As a brief part of our visit to Ethiopia we also met Spiritan Father Brendan Cogavin from Ireland, who is the director of the school adjacent to Kidane Mehret. He once served as the assistant director of our CNEWA office in Addis Ababa when Brother Vincent Pelletier, F.S.C., served as director. Father Brendan is still very much a CNEWA man.
For lunch we had a most enjoyable and informative visit with Abba (Father) Isaias, the provincial superior of the Capuchin Fathers. He is a delightful man, very savvy and well spoken, young but very wise. I have heard his name mentioned many times as a real leader in the church in Ethiopia. I can see why he is highly regarded. His insights clarified some of my observations and validated others. The Capuchins are a major force in this country and are blessed with vocations.
We were happy to accept an invitation to enjoy dinner with the superior of the Jesuits, Abba Groum. Before our meal, he introduced us to a group of university students and recent graduates who work with him in campus ministry. They shared with us a sketch of the great work they do with Christian students studying in the many universities of Ethiopia. They are dynamic and very committed to sharing their faith with the young university population. Abba Groum is himself the chaplain of this ministry and is well known for his work with youth.
Needless to say, the meal was delightful and we had some great conversation with the other Jesuits in the house and a visiting Missionary of Africa from Ireland who has worked in this country for many years.
Today, we headed about one hour out of Addis Ababa to the Galilee Retreat Center located on a cliff overlooking a beautiful crater lake. The setting is idyllic and filled with peace. I was privileged to concelebrate Mass with the Jesuit who directs this center, Father Joseph Pollicino, S.J., a Maltese national who has worked here and in Sudan for many years. A special treat was to be in the presence of about 20 sisters who were finishing their weekend retreat. Mass was particularly stimulating with the devotion of the sisters, their lovely singing and the peaceful manner of Father Joe. Coupled with this ambience was the captivating rhythm of the drumbeats of the young sister who put her whole heart into her percussion instrument, a beautifully decorated native drum. People come from all over to seek the tranquility of this retreat center. Many different types of spiritual programs are offered for youth, for religious men and women, for priests, for bishops and lay groups and interreligious groups.
After Mass, we enjoyed a wonderful meal with Father Joe and all the sisters.
Tomorrow I will have a dialogue with all of the Catholic bishops of Ethiopia, participating in a special workshop attended by all of them. I look forward to this visit and will share details with you in my next report.
In the meantime, I offer you the thanks of the many poor in this country whose lives are greatly impacted by your prayers and your generous gifts. Everywhere I visit I am asked to extend to you the gratitude of all here. So thank you, CNEWA family. May God continue to bless all of you.
Tags: Ethiopia Africa Msgr. John E. Kozar Orphans/Orphanages
Greetings again from Addis Ababa. This beautiful country continues to open up to me and I find the people, the history, the geography and especially the faith to be captivating.
We departed very early yesterday morning from Emdibir in the mountains and proceeded on a very exciting journey that would take us to Meki, about 3.5 hours away. Getting there was a little arduous, but filled with beauty and splendor. At one point we reached an altitude of 3,800 meters above sea level. The air was cold and the wind was whipping, but the view of the Great Rift Valley below was nothing short of spectacular. I am a geography buff and this site was candy for the eyes.
We arrived at Meki, much lower in elevation and in a totally different climate: hot, dusty and full of flies. Our first pastoral visit took us to the Meki Catholic School, run by the Christian Brothers, all Ethiopian nationals. Reputedly, this is the best school in this part of the country. Immediately after meeting the director, Brother Yohannes, F.S.C., it was obvious why the school enjoys such a reputation. Whenever Brother Yohannes put his head into a classroom or met a student along the campus walkways, there was immediate attention and respect.
CNEWA is proud to sponsor a number of very poor children in this lovely school. There are about 1,400 students here and the facility radiates an aura of serious academics, attention to personal development and a profound sense of dignity and worth of each individual. There is a complete mix of Catholic, Orthodox and Muslim students, and the brothers and faculty have really put together a great combination of excellence. It reminds me of good ole Central High School in Pittsburgh, where I was privileged to work with the Christian Brothers as a chaplain in the 70's. We should all feel very proud of the help we provide to the students here.
After our visit at the school, we paid a courtesy visit to the offices of the general secretariat of the Apostolic Vicariate of Meki. We were hosted by the general secretary, Father Temesgan Kebede. He was most cordial in explaining to us the many social service programs of the local church. Next, we were greeted by the bishop, Abune Abraham Desta. He mentioned immediately that he is a friend of Timothy Cardinal Dolan. I shared with him that Cardinal Dolan only very recently asked me if I was going to visit him, so mission accomplished. He graciously hosted us, along with members of his staff, for a lovely lunch. The bishop personally shared with me some of the many challenges he is attempting to address. "Education," he said, "is the church's priority in Ethiopia."
After lunch he took us on a walking tour of the current cathedral and, more importantly, the very large and modern cathedral under construction. We were overwhelmed by its size. Meki is a bustling market town that pulsates with people coming to buy produce, goats, sheep, cows and anything else for sale. By the way, goat herds are in evidence everywhere: on city streets, on the highways, the rough and tumble dusty or muddy country roads, even outside cathedrals, rectories, and the residence of bishops. And of course, goat meat is commonly eaten in raw form and "cooked."
Today, we returned to Addis Ababa. It was a very intense day of visiting, very poignant and emotionally very moving. Our first visit was to an impoverished area of this sprawling city, where we visited Atse Tekle Ghiorgis School. Talk about serving the poorest of the poor: this is it. These children, about 750 of them, come from the most abject of poverty and receive a completely subsidized education, plus a meal to sustain them. The school is situated on a precipice and the sisters there have creatively built classrooms from old shipping containers. Sister Bedainesh is the current director and does a superb job of making all these children feel so special. Her smile is infectious and radiates with all the beautiful children.
How about this for the background of this CNEWA-supported school: Forty years ago, the children of lepers lived in the local cemetery, as no one would let them live near to them. Two lay people decided to confront this gross injustice and actually began this school. They sought the help of a professional educator, a nun from Australia, who would assist them in establishing this marvelous outreach to the despised poor children. Today, it is a jewel and we at CNEWA are blessed to be sponsors of the children here. I did my best to share the love of all of you for these precious little ones. "Let the children come to me."
Round two was equally emotional and inspiring as we arrived at the Godano "complex." Can you imagine an institution made of 25 shipping containers that are stacked three high and connected by a maze of walkways and stairways and even some trees growing in the passageways? So who resides here and what goes on here?
Godano, which has received support from CNEWA for years, was first begun to welcome unwed mothers, many of whom had been abandoned on the streets, others had been victims of rape. Founded and directed by a layman, Mulatu Tefesse, this loving home offers safe haven for not only these girls and their children after birth, but also for abandoned street children and unwanted babies. He also provides a kindergarten and skill training for girls, such as sewing and hair styling. The campus also includes housing for mothers and their children. He does not warehouse the mothers and their children, but always seeks to keep them together and to give them a modicum of confidence to move on to at least a minimally productive life.
Mulatu referred, at least five times, to an image of Mary, the Mother of Jesus, as his "manager." His faith is evident in everything he says and does, including showing us a mural of his dream, to begin a completely new facility about ten kilometers away. Not of his choosing, he is being forced to leave his shipping container "village" behind, as the government has claimed his property for eminent domain.
A little change of pace brought us to a fine overlook restaurant for a lunch visit with the auxiliary bishop of the Archeparchy of Addis Ababa, Abune Lisanne Christos. He is a very young bright leader in the church and we enjoyed a most enriching chat with him. I look forward to being together with him next week when I will meet with all the bishops of Ethiopia at a special workshop.
We all know the incredible work of Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity. Well, magnify any previous visit you may have had to one of her institutions by a factor of five or so and you can appreciate the scope and size of the program at Sidist Kilo. It defies description as it is so large, so amazingly well organized, so clean and in such a loving environment.
There is care given to every kind of need, with special emphasis given to the poorest of the poor. Those who have open sores, those who come with pneumonia, tuberculosis, H.I.V./AIDS, those with mental and physical challenges and even the abandoned of any age — more than a thousand individuals all are welcomed here in the name of Jesus and are treated with the most tender loving care. There are 250 employees and the smiles abound. It was absolutely a treasured gift to have visited.
Sister Joanna Crucis took us on a "family" visit and her love for each individual was very obvious. She asked me to ask all of you to remember the sisters and the residents in your prayers. And we all know the power of the prayers of the poor, which were promised to us in return.
The final visit on this emotional roller coaster day of pastoral visits was most informative. We were greeted at the offices of the Conference of Major Religious Superiors, in the person of its executive director, Brother Hugo Verhulat, who is a member of the Brothers of Good Works. In his leadership role with the religious from all of Ethiopia (some 64 different religious congregations of women and men), Brother Hugo illumined me on the realities of the church in Ethiopia today. There are many challenges and not just relative to financial needs. In fact, he emphasized the need for good pastoral planning and implementation so that Catholics in Ethiopia, strong in their loyalty to the church, might continue to be better formed in their faith. We offered our prayerful support to him and to all the religious in Ethiopia.
I am tired from these emotional visits today, but also feeling very privileged and blessed to represent all of you from our CNEWA family in these personal encounters with the poor. May God bless and keep them under the watchful hand of his son. And may God bless all of you.
Welcome to Ethiopia! Thank you for joining me on this pastoral visit, which includes Thomas Varghese of our New York office. This is my first visit, so we will all be seeing Ethiopia through the eyes of a first-timer.
After a late night arrival in Addis Ababa, a very warm welcome by our host for the entire pastoral visit — Gerry Jones, who directs our office here — and a brief sleep, we scheduled our first visits with the Catholic archbishop of Addis Ababa and the papal nuncio. Our thought was that these visits would be a sort of tutorial on the realities of the church in Ethiopia. It turned out to be a most worthwhile 101 course on the Ethiopian people, their history and the political challenges that confront the church here.
Metropolitan Archbishop Berhaneyesus D. Souraphiel, C.M., who leads the Ge'ez Catholic Church, is a most engaging figure. He offered a wonderful introduction into the Ethiopian landscape and how this Catholic Eastern church navigates as a very small minority player. Out of a population of more than 80 million, the Catholic Church represents only 0.75 percent of the population. Of this small number of about 600,000 faithful, Ge'ez Catholics in Ethiopia number only about a 100,000 people and are scattered in three eparchies — most Catholics live in the south of the country and utilize the Latin rite. (Some 153,000 Ge'ez Catholics live in Eritrea, Ethiopia's neighbor to the north.)
Historically, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (the rites and traditions of which are shared with Ge'ez Catholics) accounts for about half of the Ethiopian population. But evangelical Protestants are making significant inroads among Ethiopia's Orthodox Christians; their numbers have tripled in the last 15 years and now account for about 17 percent of the population. Muslims make up about a 30 percent. So, the Catholic Church here is extremely small.
But what the Catholic Church lacks in numbers it more than makes up in terms of social service outreach. Hundreds of Catholic schools — which are open to Catholic, Orthodox and Muslims students — are found everywhere and contribute greatly to the moral fiber and educational achievements of this great country. Although the Catholic Church (Latin and Ge'ez) is not formally recognized by the government as a religious entity, it nonetheless receives great respect at every level. The government has donated land to the church to open schools, clinics and hospitals, and contributes to the salaries of teachers.
A second phase of my tutorial on realities confronting the life of the church in Ethiopia took us to the apostolic nunciature for a lovely visit with the apostolic nuncio, Archbishop George Panikulam. The nuncio is a very amiable gentleman, who is known for his openness and honesty. He shared with us some very interesting insights and never dodged any of the many questions I posed to him. And the best part of the visit was a delightful meal, in part prepared by him. I later heard that he regularly invites guests for dinner, which he personally prepares.
Before we headed out to the rural parts of the country, we visited the offices of the Ethiopian Catholic Secretariat, where the secretary general, Abba (Father) Hagos Hayish, O.F.M. Cap., warmly greeted us and introduced us to many of his collaborators. This body represents the seven Latin vicariates — or prefectures apostolic — and the three Ge'ez Catholic eparchies in the country, and works with the bishops in effecting pastoral and social development programs.
We drove about three hours to the village of Welkite, where we were warmly welcomed by the bishop of the Ge'ez Catholic Eparchy of Emdibir, Abune Musie Ghebreghiorghis, O.F.M., Cap. Along with Abba Teshome Fikre, the eparchy's secretary general and our guide in travel there, the bishop first showed us the new parish church now under construction. Also welcoming us were members of the parish committee who proudly took us on a tour.
Before arriving in Emdibir, we made a side visit to the Attat Hospital, which is located in the middle of nowhere. If not for the international team of sisters who staff the facility, there would be no healthcare available for the folks who receive treatment there. They come on donkey, carried on horseback, some in dilapidated public transport vehicles — but they come in great numbers to this refuge, where they receive attentive care. The sisters present a most loving image of Christ to all who come.
After a very long day, and in full darkness, we arrived at the diocesan guest house, which also seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. But, it turned out to be a most welcoming site for a nourishing meal and a restful night of sleep. As a surprise, the good bishop had invited all the diocesan clergy (19 in all) and two foreign religious priests to join us for a lovely dinner and some exchange about the eparchy of Emdibir, which was only established in 2003. I was much taken that all the priests were on hand for this most fraternal sharing.
My first exposure to the rich Ge'ez Rite would come at an early morning Divine Liturgy the following morning at St. Anthony of Padua Cathedral. The bishop and most of the eparchy's priests concelebrated the ancient liturgy. I was taken aback by the beauty of the liturgy, the amazing intricacy of the chanting, not just of the bishop and the priests, but all the many faithful who had assembled as well. The cathedral had a large of number of people for this ordinary weekday eucharistic liturgy, celebrated at 6:20 a.m. All of the faithful are farmers and some regularly walk great distances to attend.
Another impressive aspect of the cathedral is the outstanding paintings that adorn most of the walls. These are works of art in progress, as the bishop has commissioned an 80-year-old Orthodox priest-iconographer to paint the cathedral murals. After four years of labor, I would say this venerable priest is about 80 percent finished. He lives with the bishop and two other Catholic priests assigned there, together sharing their lives, meals and prayers. I had the honor to meet this outstanding artist and thanked him for his great gift.
Our next visit took us to the Meganese Catholic School, directed by the Capuchin Fathers. Talk about a welcome! Some 1,000 children encircled us, chanting happily and raising high their palm branches. Even the bishop was startled at this reception. The children were so warm and welcoming and responded to my every word and gesture.
The very large campus also includes a health clinic, agricultural components and other programs. We were accompanied by members of the parents association and community elders. Their enthusiasm for the school is obvious and they work hand in hand with the Capuchin Fathers on its administration.
I very much enjoyed the visit to the health clinic, which is immaculately clean and a reflection of the good order and management of the two European sisters who staff it. They are particularly proud of their birthing suite and hope someday to be able to perform simple surgeries at this facility. They are also very happy about recently purchasing a brand-spanking-new ambulance that will especially help them attend to the needs of women in labor.
Our next stop took us to Bhurat and a visit to the Bhurat Catholic School. Here, too, we were warmly and wildly greeted by the students, complete with welcoming signs with the name of CNEWA prominently featured and displayed on poles and carried on banners. Our first point of business was to "cut the ribbon" for an extension wing built on to the existing school, a gift from a most generous CNEWA donor. It was a special honor for me to inaugurate this new wing.
The real feature of our visit was a formal program, complete with an elevated stage set up outdoors with a large stand of huge trees as a backdrop. Hundreds of parents, community elders and, of course, children, were all in attendance and offered their expressions of thanks to CNEWA. Even some government officials honored us with their presence.
We were entertained by singers, dancers, acrobats and speakers who included the school administrator, the school director (a Capuchin father), a representative from the elders of the community and the bishop. The program also included the presentation of some special gifts to each of us, including Thomas and Gerry. What impressed me most was the wonderful level of collaboration with school parents (Muslims, Orthodox and Catholics), community elders representing a large number of rural communities and government education officials who gave public testimony to the immense benefit of Catholic schools in this area. The bishop gave some beautiful remarks that reminded all that it is only God who has made and continues to make all of this possible. What a profound summary of how the church invites everyone to come to know the goodness of God, no matter what faith tradition we espouse.
Another very inspiring experience on this day was a brief visit to a class being given to catechists, as part of their continuing education and formation program. And to me an amazing part of their story is that each of them has been chosen for this most important role by their respective communities. They must be men and women of great faith, willing to share their faith with others as catechists.
The big campus at Bhurat also includes a health clinic. Two sisters from India run it and do a superb job in offering first-rate healthcare in an environment of loving kindness. We ended our visit with a marvelous meal, which included the ritual roasting of coffee beans and serving of rich Ethiopian coffee. With us for the entire visit to this site were the elders, almost serving as our security team and "honor guard." In fact, the honor was all ours.
At the end of this very full and tiring day, the bishop had yet another surprise for us: a barbecue, Ethiopian style, in front of his residence. It was a delightful meal with many tasty dishes and the camaraderie of the bishop and a number of his diocesan priests. We said our goodbyes to all, as we would be departing very early in the morning for Meki, more than three hours away — if the rains do not play havoc with the roads.
Your ears should be ringing as so many of your family friends here extend their loving best wishes and thanks to you, the CNEWA family. God bless all of you. As one of the community elders said to me as he hugged me and wished me farewell: "I love you and all the people of America."
Tags: Ethiopia Education Msgr. John E. Kozar Ethiopian Orthodox Church Ethiopian Catholic Church


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Worldwide Travel Information (areaflag) World Countries > Asia > Yemen
Worldwide Travel Information (areaflag) World Countries > Asia > Yemen
YemenThe Republic of Yemen (الجمهورية اليمنية) is a country located in Western Asia, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east. Yemen is considered one of the poorest countries in the Arab world.
Its capital and largest city is Sana a.
Yemen's territory includes over 200 island , the largest of which is Socotra about 354 km to the south of mainland Yemen. It is the only state in the Arabian Peninsula to have a purely republican form of government. Yemen was the first country in the Arabian peninsula to grant women the right to vote. Yemeni unification took place on 22 May 1990, when North Yemen was united with South Yemen, forming the Republic of Yemen.
The majority of Yemen's population is divided into tribal groups, especially in the northern areas of the country where 85% of local residents belong to various tribes There are also small groups of peoples of Turkish Ottoman and possibly Veddoid origin in urban areas. The Majority of the population are Sunni Muslim following the Shafi i school with a large minority adhering to the Zaidiyyah Islam c jurisprudence.
[Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yemen]


text:
Rockstar Games has just officially announced Grand Theft Auto 5 on its official website.
There are absolutely no details yet - just a date for the first trailer, which is coming next Wednesday, the 2nd of November.
We will have much more on this announcement - including that trailer - in the very near future. Stay tuned!
Now, let's all start speculating on the design of the V in this logo. Looks like green to us...
Edited by Draztik, November 02, 2011 - 02:08 PM.


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These games teach valuable skills and have a high fun and educational rating.
Your child develops strategic thinking by rotating the screen with the goal of matching all the similar colored blocks.
Your child develops problem solving skills by rotating the screen in an attempt to get the "Tumz" into the goal.
Your child learns strategic thinking in playing this puzzle game.
Your child develops strategic thinking in this icy themed puzzle game by pushing blocks of ice into designates spots.
Your child learns about strategy by aiming to claim their opponents territory through playing this game.
Your child improves cognitive development by using a snow plow and clearing snow from a parking lot.
Zoodles 11.8.7 Copyright (c) 2014 Inquisitive Minds, Inc. All rights reserved.


text:
Facebook Fan Box Widget Links Celeb Sites, Pages
Facebook on Wednesday unveiled a new widget that will let users with a Facebook Page place more of their social networking content on outside Web sites.
The "Fan Box" lets public figures, musicians, communities, and local businesses with Pages (rather than Profiles) place a box on their external Web sites, which keeps fans up to date with their Facebook activity.
Cyclist Lance Armstrong, Coca Cola, and the (Red) campaign have already added the Fan Box widget to their sites via Facebook Connect.
"If you're not yet connected to their Facebook Page, you can become a fan directly from their Facebook Fan Box and begin receiving updates on Facebook as well," Facebook wrote in a blog post.
The move comes several weeks after Facebook launched the Live Stream Box, which lets any webmaster incorporate a Facebook chat box into their Web site.


text:
PalmForm Live Demo
Our online demo is a fully working version allowing you to try out most of the functionality of PalmForm.
The live demo will be refreshed every six hours
- Joomla 2.5.x
- Front End : http://www.sclivedemo.com
- Back End (administrator) : http://www.sclivedemo.com/administrator
- Username: demo
- Password: demo
PalmForm is tested on cloudaccess.net platform: The official host of the Joomla! Demo site
- URL of Joomla: http://demo.joomla.org (Official Demo)


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NASA sent a rocket crashing into the moon Friday morning in a bid to find water, but the view from Earth was disappointing.
The Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS mission, slammed the craft into a frigid crater in the lunar south pole at 7:30 a.m. ET, in an attempt to kick up proof that ice exists on the moon. Four minutes later, the LCROSS followed the probe through the small debris plume, collecting and relaying data back to Earth before crashing into the Cabeus crater. The LCROSS carried spectrometers and cameras and a visible radiometer.
The orbiting Hubble Space Telescope and NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter also relayed information back to Earth-bound scientists who will examine from afar the 12-mile wide plume of debris caused by the impact, looking for signs of water vapor or ice.
U.S. & World
The day's top national and international news.
But on broadcasts of the event, it was impossible to discern any evidence of an explosion deep inside the crater, and no plume emerged immediately following the event.
"It's hard to tell what we saw," said Michael Bicay, director of science at NASA's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif.Ames. "We have some confirmation from the (control room) that we had a thermal signature," Bicay said.
NASA spent $79 million on the experiment, and planned to hold a news conference to discuss the results at 10 a.m. EDT.
A fleet of Earth-orbiting satellites, including the Hubble Space Telescope, watched the collision and gathered data. If NASA determines there are large store of ice on the moon, it could have future ramifications for a station or even generating fuel.
"Whatever answer we get back, if we see ice or we don't, is going to be significant," Heldmann said.
Get more: MSNBC


text:
Biosafe Puppy Ball Toy is a germ smart and hygienic dental toy for puppies.
This product uses BioCote technology whichs helps make product more hygienic and keeps it fresher for longer. It helps prevent the growth of bacteria and mould on the toy.
The special design helps to massages gums and can help to reduce plaque and tartar build up. Made from tough yet soft plastics.
Dimensions: 7cm
Please Note:This toy is not indestructible. It is recommended you supervise your pet during use of this toy. Remove toy immediately if damaged and replace if necessary.
* We don't sell food to non-UK addresses. If you order food & non-food lines these orders will be shipped separately. A delivery charge will still be applied.
** Includes N.Ireland, Scottish Highlands, UK Offshore Islands, Isle of Man, Scilly Isles
UK, Channel Islands, N Ireland, Highlands and Islands - Standard delivery arrives 2-3 days after dispatch or for heavy parcels Courier next day after dispatch Mon-Thu.
Europe - Royal Mail International Services or Courier arrives 7-10 days after dispatch.
Express delivery arrives 1-2 days after dispatch or for heavy parcels Courier 1-2 days after dispatch Mon-Thu. Saturday delivery is not available.
24hr MON-FRI DELIVERY:
Non-Food - Light parcels, delivered Tue-Fri, signature required or for heavy parcels Courier next day Mon-Thu delivery after dispatch^.
Food Mainland UK - If ordered before 12pm, next day courier delivery.
Food Other UK - Two day courier delivery service.
^ Please note - Items usually dispatched within 24 - 72 hours. This is to factor in weekends or stock needing to be ordered in the next day, this time is in addition to the courier service you select at checkout.
Payment & Security Information


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Obamacare exchanges still set
It's looking more and more like Tuesday will be a split-screen day: The government will shut down, and Obamacare will open for business.
That's going to annoy a lot of Republicans because the ones who are pushing the shutdown are doing so precisely because they want to halt Obamacare.
Story Continued Below
Barring some last-minute deal, which is getting less likely with each passing moment, the federal government will shut down on Tuesday because the House and the Senate are unable to pass a spending bill that resolves their deep and persistent differences over Obamacare.
( Also on POLITICO: Obama keeps distance from Hill)
But Tuesday is also the day Obamacare's new health insurance marketplaces — some run by the states, many run by the feds — are scheduled to start signing up customers. And President Barack Obama has made clear that even if the government closes, the health care show will go on.
"On Tuesday, about 40 million more Americans will be able to finally buy quality, affordable health care, just like anybody else," Obama said on Friday. The new health insurance exchanges, he said, "will be open for business on Tuesday no matter what — even if there's a government shutdown. That's a done deal."
How is that possible? Here's a guide to how it will work — and what we might see on Tuesday:
How can Obamacare still be open for business if the government shuts down?
Many pieces of the health care law, the Affordable Care Act, aren't tied to the annual spending bills. Much of the health law is mandatory spending — a kind of fiscal autopilot that's not part of the annual appropriations battle that has Congress tied in knots. The mandatory components of the health law include the subsidies to help people buy private health plans as well as the expansion of Medicaid in many states. Both of those functions will be handled through the new health insurance markets or exchanges.
( Also on POLITICO: Hill prediction: Headed for shutdown)
Because those programs are mandatory, the Department of Health and Human Services has a lot of leeway to say whether Obamacare activities can continue — and HHS officials have made clear they're going to use it.
On Friday, the HHS quietly posted its shutdown contingency plan. The bottom line is clear: Obamacare would continue, including the health exchanges and their coordination with Medicaid. It also said Medicare coverage "will continue largely without disruption." True, lots of HHS workers would be furloughed — but those who would be told to stay home are concentrated in agencies that are not driving the launch of the health law.
HHS says its plan is consistent with legal advice that allows activities that "do not rely on annual appropriations, and activities that involve the safety of human life and protection of property" to keep running even if much of the government shuts down. And that means the staff that carry out mandatory programs like those in the health law can keep working — even if their positions are funded through the annual spending bills.
( WATCH: Mitt Romney thinks there's a better way to stop Obamacare)
There's plenty of legal precedent. In a report to Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), the Congressional Research Service predicted that "substantial ACA implementation might continue" during a government shutdown, citing a 1981 opinion by then-Attorney General Benjamin Civiletti. He argued, in essence, that as mandatory programs march on, they can take some discretionary-funded staff with them.
In addition, nobody really expected a huge rush to sign up on Day One. Even before the shutdown seemed so likely, the administration has been saying it expected people to spend some time learning more about their new health care options before committing to a health plan. Enrollment runs from October through March. Benefits kick in Jan. 1.
But at a time when so many Americans still don't understand the law — and some don't even realize that it hasn't been repealed by the House or tossed out by the courts — the shutdown could add yet another layer of confusion. People may not realize they can sign up even if the government is shut down.
( WATCH: Obama to Congress: 'Pay our bills on time')
Where will they get the money to keep the exchanges open?
The exchanges have two main monetary needs: staff and infrastructure to keep them up and running, and insurance subsidies that will be available to people with low and moderate incomes.
The subsidy question is fairly simple. Like Medicare and Medicaid, the subsidies are benefit payments that will go out even if the government shuts down.
And for the exchange operations, HHS has already granted billions of dollars to the states setting up their own — 16 states plus the District of Columbia.
If the shutdown lasts for only a few days or weeks — the most likely scenario — the state-run exchanges should still be going full steam ahead, equipped with the funding and staffers they'll need to start enrolling people right away. Some state exchange directors last week voiced concerns about whether they'll get everything they need — including data on income and eligibility — from the feds. But they said they are ready to go.


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14ct. gambeson
A gambeson (or aketon or padded jack) is a padded defensive jacket, worn as armour separately, or combined with mail or plate armour. Gambeson were produced with a sewing technique called quilting. Usually constructed of linen or wool, the stuffing varied, and could be for example scrap cloth or horse hair. During the 14th century, illustrations usually show buttons or laces up the front.
The term gambeson is a loan from Old French gambeson, gambaison, originally wambais, formed after the Middle High German term wambeis "doublet", in turn from Old High German wamba "stomach" (cognate to womb.) The term aketon, originally medieval french alcottonem might be a loan from Arabic al-qutn "cotton (definite article - the cotton)". In medieval Norse, the garment was known as vapntreyiu, lit. "arming shirt" or pannzar/pannzarum, another loan word from middle high German. Also known as: Aketon, acton, arming coat, auqueton, gambeson, hacketon, haqueton, pannzar, vapntreiyu, wambais, wambesium, or wambs.
Natural materials
- Linen
- coton


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Rough typo for MSNBC, which mixes up the first names of two prominent Venezuelan "Sandovals" in a totally not-racist way. The error, unfortunately, extends to MSNBC's website in their Game 3 writeup:
Pedro Sandoval, who tied the Series record with three home runs in the opener, had two more hits and is hitting .636 (7 for 11).
The real Pedro Sandoval, shown below in the process of creating one of his highly-acclaimed abstract paintings, could not be reached for comment.
h/t to Justin


text:
I've had an anger problem for a long time. It has included crying, yelling, cursing, screaming, and intimidating people. When I was at my worst, I would turn violent and destroy property and throw things. I even tried to kill myself.
The reason I have an anger problem is plain and simple. I grew up in a violent home. My mother would slap, whip, and beat me and my siblings. Also, she would torment us with words that to this day still hurt me. She would call us terrible names if one of us dyed our hair or for messing up on paperwork she was supposed to do. She would beat us for the smallest things, like making noise, or playing too rough in the house, or accidentally breaking things. She'd beat us until we bled or had welts all over our bodies.
That wasn't the only side of her. Sometimes she would laugh with us, take us on family outings, nurture us, and really show a mother's love. Those times, I really loved her. All this love and hate mixed together made me very confused and angry. Sometimes I took the anger out on myself, sometimes on other people.
When I was 12 my mother gave me $7.50 for a class trip, and instead I bought a video game magazine. She found out and whipped me with an extension cord.
That night I felt so much anger, I didn't know what to do with it. So I contemplated two horrible things. I thought of sneaking out of the apartment, going to my roof, saying a prayer, and then jumping off. And I contemplated hurting my mother. I imagined getting a knife, tip-toeing into my mother's bedroom, and killing her.
In the end, I made it through that night without hurting myself or her. But the worst of my anger was yet to come.
Back then, I never released my rage on my mother. I was afraid that if I did, she might kill me or beat me to the point where I'd be disabled. So instead, I took my rage out on other people, usually at school. I would fight and steal. Many times I would curse at people in public and say obscene things to females. I was a terrible bully.
It made me feel a little better to do those things. It made me feel like I had all the guts in the world, and it released my rage to make other people as mad as I felt. The only problem was that those people would always want to whip my butt for it. Sometimes they did.
Then one day I really lost it. It was a beautiful, warm day. I was 14 or 15. I lost a CD. At first that didn't bother me. Then I started imagining that my mother and brother had taken it just to see me get mad. Thinking this made me angry. I started yelling at my brother and my mom. Then I really went crazy. I was crying, and before I knew it, I'd gone to the china cabinet in the kitchen and rammed my elbow into the glass cover. I cut myself pretty bad. That's when my family sent me to the hospital.
The doctor who bandaged my cut asked me a bunch of questions to see why I did it. But I brushed them off, and said I just lost my temper. They thought of sending me to a residential treatment center where I could get help with my anger, but my mother wouldn't sign the papers to let me go. Looking back, it might have been a good thing for me to go to a residential treatment center where I would have been away from home and might have gotten a lot of adult attention and more mental health services. Instead, I kept living with abuse and feeling angry.
I did go to a school in a hospital because of my behavior problems. There I had therapy and group meetings three times a week for almost two years. They were trying to get me to work on my problems: Fights, Acting Out, Acting on Impulse, and, my personal favorite, Self-Destructive Behaviors, like when I tried to sharpen my finger in a metal pencil sharpener.
The school was good for me because it gave me a support network of adults who cared. I had all these people who wanted to help me with my problems. It felt like winning the lottery.
Eventually I began to open up to those people. I told one of them that I was contemplating suicide. Telling someone that made me feel a little less alone. But when I started talking with a psychiatrist, I realized I could lose my regular life and go into foster care if I kept telling my secrets, so I tried to just think happy thoughts and act like I didn't have any real problems.
But my anger and thoughts of suicide didn't go away.
One day my brother was cursing a girl on the street, and I thought he was cursing me. So when he came upstairs, I started to curse him out. My mom started to yell at me and sent me to my room. I went to my room and slammed the door. My mom came in my room with a golf club and started to beat me with it. I lost my marbles. I started to yell, curse and have a tantrum, so the police were called. They thought I was suicidal, so they brought me to the emergency room. Then my moms said, "I don't want him no more." So I was placed in my first group home.
It was a good idea for me to be removed from my mother, but I hated being in a group home. (Still do.) I was so scared and pissed at the same time. But I also hoped that finally I might get help with my anger problem. It was always getting me into fights and sometimes getting me beaten up. Instead, my anger seemed to get worse.
There were so many things in group-home life that triggered my anger—the bickering, the teasing, the stealing, and the fighting. When I would get into a problem with a resident and staff would intervene, I would curse and stuff like that. Then, when I really needed help from staff, the words I'd said earlier would backfire and the staff wouldn't help me. I got moved to a lot of different group homes because of my anger.
After a while, I started thinking about suicide again. I just couldn't find a way out of my sadness and I did not trust anyone there enough to talk about my feelings with them. The sadness was not just connected with my abuse. It was also because of life in the group home. I didn't feel very safe there.
I even had a plan: I would either jump off the roof of my mother's building or jump in front of a subway. Then one day I made a spontaneous attempt on my life instead. It was April Fool's Day. That day, a lot of things had gone wrong. My favorite staff member was arrested due to a false allegation. I got into a fight with a friend of mine and he and his brother jumped me. I took out my frustration on myself. In the group home, with people watching, I took a knife and slit my throat. When I felt no pain, I broke a picture, took a jagged piece of glass from it, and cut my throat again.
Soon I was in the hospital. I thought I would be in there forever because of what I'd done to myself.
While I was there, I began to think about a lot of different things that had happened to me. I thought about all the abuse I'd endured in my home and at all the group homes I'd ever lived. It wasn't the pain that bothered me, it was the fact that I would always find myself in the same situation over and over again. It seemed that people were always hitting me—my mom, my foster peers, sometimes even group home staff. I'd wonder if this pattern would ever stop. What if I got married? Would I face abuse from my spouse? Would I be abused by my kids? Could I break the cycle and try not to be around people who would abuse me? Did I and my anger cause people to abuse me?
There was one patient in the hospital who was old and he couldn't talk or defend himself. He could only grunt. I didn't want to be like him. I didn't want to have the same old problems forever and end up defenseless in a hospital.
So I said to myself, "I don't care what it takes. I am going to succeed. I am going to prove to all those who hurt me in my life that I have a future!" I thought maybe I'd want to try to help other people like myself so they would not suffer what I've suffered. To do that, I needed to live.
After my discharge from the hospital, I was motivated to change my life. I started to go back to school. I did my chores and cleaned my room and showed a decent amount of respect to the staff. I started yet another program for my anger. This one paired me with a therapist who was on call 24/7.
Not all those changes stuck. I stopped going to the program after about a month. I don't always do my chores anymore, and I still get in fights. I still struggle with my anger and sometimes when I think about my past, I just want to die. My anger still gets me moved around a lot, and recently I've been running away pretty frequently. But I do feel a little more motivated to not really slip up since I tried to kill myself. I guess that showed me how serious my anger is, and I feel determined to not let that happen again.
Still, I don't know what needs to happen for me to get a firm grip on my anger and emotions. I've been in a lot of programs, and not all of them have had much of an influence on me or my anger. I think the ones that helped the most were the ones where I had a good relationship with the staff there.
I guess my anger problem is the kind of thing that takes a long time to deal with. For now, I try to focus on the positive in my life, and I try not to think about my problems too much. When that doesn't work, I tell myself that if I give in to the stupidity and really lose it, then I'm letting the bullies win.
To talk to a crisis counselor about child abuse, call 1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453) or go to childhelp.org.


text: Maxi dresses may be the most versatile of all the dresses you own. Winter, summer, spring or fall you can pull a maxi dress out of your closet and put together the perfect outfit. Maxi dresses are a simple way to jazz up a wardrobe. They are comfortable yet elegant if the need arises. A black maxi or midi dress can be dressed up with a pretty sweater or lace wrap over the top. Who doesn't enjoy a burst of flowers any time of the year? A floral maxi dress is a bright and beautiful addition to your wardrobe. Shop our collection of women's maxi dresses online and in-store.