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Tips For Building Hurricane-Proof Houses
Victims of Katrina and Rita Are Studying Sturdy Options
For Hurricane Proof Houses
NOVEMBER 29, 2005 - https://phys.org/ - Copyright 2005 by Space Daily. As less fortunate residents of the devastated Gulf Coast look to rebuild, many are searching for new houses that will be able to weather the next storm.
They're studying house styles and construction techniques that might be better suited to hurricane-prone areas than the houses that were swept away in the double whammy of Katrina and Rita. And some are calling companies like Topsider Homes.
What kind of structure could stand up to the wrath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita?
Ask Pam Coyle and Shaun Washburn. The eye of the Hurricane Katrina passed right over their 20-year-old weekend retreat in Perkinston, Mississippi; yet the house suffered no structural damage.
"I was amazed," said Washburn, who estimated he had climbed over more than 30 fallen trees on the heavily wooded property to get to the house. "The house is glass all around, and had more than 100 trees around it. Not one pane of glass broke. From inside the house, you wouldn't even know there had been a hurricane."
Later, Washburn filed a claim with his insurance company to cover the devastation of the barn and potting shed on the property. The insurance adjustor also took a look at the minor damage to the soffit of the house, caused by falling trees.
"The insurance adjustor said, 'man, I can't believe it. It looks like the trees hit the house and bounced off,'" Washburn said.
Their house, like four owned by Hubert Spradling of Orange, TX, has a number of advantages over conventionally built houses when it comes to standing up to roaring winds and raging floods. One advantage is post-and-beam construction, believed to be the oldest wood construction method.
Post-and- beam construction is the secret to the longevity of the much-admired barns of New England. It's what has enabled those old buildings to withstand earthquakes and heavy loads of snow on the roof as well as hurricanes.
Going barn-style one better, these modern post-and-beam houses are based on the octagon. The eight-sided design makes it difficult to knock the house down. Rather, the winds blow down and around the house and over the low-slung roof.
Spradling had four such houses constructed on his property more than 20 years ago. When he built the first one, overhanging a bayou, in 1981, his neighbors were openly skeptical.
"They said, 'that damn thing will fall down within a year,'" Spradling recalls.
But when Hurricane Rita devastated much of the town of Orange on September 26, that house came through unscathed, as did two of his other Topsider homes. The fourth house suffered some roof damage and a couple of windows were blown out by the 140 mph winds.
Spradling's daughter lives in one of the houses and another is rented out. These residents moved back into their homes when the mandatory evacuation ended. In contrast, many of the nearby neighbors' houses lay collapsed under fallen trees, and the metal building that houses Spradling's retail boat business, 100 feet away from one of the Topsider houses, was torn apart.
Like Barns, Only Better
Builders today have a better variety of materials to work with than the farmers of 200 years ago. Topsider homes for example, are built with southern yellow pine lumber, which is the strongest of the softwoods and has a desirable amount of "give" that hardwoods lack. The laminated and solid timbers are bolted together with massive steel collars and couplings. In many cases the houses sit on thick concrete steel-reinforced pedestals, which are effective shock absorbers. The floor, wall and roof panels are affixed to create a weather-tight shell, and windows are typically made with safety glass or high-impact, missile-resistant glass.
Topsider homes, which are built virtually all around the world, start out in a factory in Clemmons, North Carolina. The components are shipped to the end location and assembled by local builders. And along with all their other out-of-the-mainstream features, every house is designed with local weather conditions, environmental factors and local building code requirements in mind.
"They do everything they were designed to do -- they're flood-proof, hurricane-proof and earthquake-proof. And they are easily maintained and very efficient," said Spradling. "We've been very happy with them."
The first Topsider homes were built on the sides of mountains and on ocean beaches, in vacation and resort areas. From the beginning, salt air, steep terrain, snowloading -- any local conditions that might present a threat -- were addressed in the design and engineering. When Spradling bought his four houses, just one model was available, and he has found that model adaptable for commercial as well as residential uses. Now the company's custom houses, in a large variety of shapes, sizes and styles, are built from Scotland to Japan, from the islands of the Caribbean to the permafrost of the Arctic Circle.
One-Stop House Shopping
For hurricane victims, like Cheryl Lukehart, whose vacation house at Pensacola Beach was totaled by Hurricane Ivan in September 2004, another advantage of these unconventionally built and unusually strong houses is that Topsider Homes offers in-house design, lender relationships, and whole departments specializing in builder recruitment and training, obtaining of building permits, and overall planning and logistics.
"When you're suddenly -- suddenly -- on the market, you don't know where to start," Lukehart said. Over the years she had owned her barrier island beach house, she had paid attention to which houses were demolished by storms and which survived. After Ivan she talked with local builders, and wasn't happy to hear that they were still putting up gable end style houses, like hers, that are vulnerable to high winds.
"You can't go into this thinking that what happened was a fluke," Lukehart said. "A few houses made it, and they were houses that had a different roof design, were built higher up, and were built to the new building codes."
When she decided to rebuild, she said, "I was going to have to find a design that had a shot at making it."
"The people we're hearing from are encouraged to find that there is an alternative building system that has a proven track record of surviving some of the nation's worst disasters," said Sheldon Storer, president of Topsider Homes.
Since the summer hurricanes, hits to the company's web site have skyrocketed, and many people whose homes were destroyed have visited its manufacturing facility to meet with its experts on design, construction, financing and the myriad considerations that go into building a house.
Cheryl Lukehart discovered this alternative approach to weathering storms when she Googled "hurricane-resistant design." She visited the factory last month and said she was reassured by seeing the quality of the materials and the construction methods. Topsider Homes provided her with a list of pre- qualified builders in the Pensacola Beach area, and she is in the process of selecting one.
Even though the design she chose has full-length glass panes facing the beach, she's confident that her new house will stand up to anything nature dishes out. And equally satisfying has been the way the rebuilding process is being streamlined.
"One of my neighbors has been working ever since the storm to rebuild, and our houses are going to be built at about the same time," she said. "I visited the Topsider factory in October and the house should be finished by the end of May. That's phenomenally fast."
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Lesson 14: Dealing with Disappointment
Alice had huge, brown eyes and a sweet voice that made me think of a little girl. She wanted to talk to me, she had explained, because of a recent physical problem she'd experienced.
"What kind of a physical problem, Alice?"
She stared at me for a moment, trying to find the right answer. Finally, with tears in her eyes, she said just one word: "Miscarriages . . ."
"How many, Alice?"
"Three. The third one was a week ago . . ."
After that, Alice was unable to speak for a few minutes. When she finally did, she was full of hard questions. "Vickie, how can you say God loves me when He never answers my prayers? The one thing I want most in the world is a baby. Is that too much to ask?"
"God loves you, Alice. There's no doubt about that." "But if He loved me, wouldn't He see how much pain I'm in? How much pain 'Tom is in? We want a baby more than anything, and we'd be godly, loving parents. Yet, when you look around, everyone else gets pregnant. Everyone! People who don't even want babies get pregnant and then kill them in abortions. I've promised the Lord I would quit my job and care for my child. I'd teach it to know the Lord. It's just so unfair. We pray and pray, and God doesn't hear our prayers!"
The Shadow of Disappointment
Disappointment comes in all sizes, doesn't it? Any time our hopes are not realized or our expectations or desires are not fulfilled, we feel disappointed. Disappointment can be a passing emotion over a temporary loss, or it may strike powerfully when something permanently changes our lives. A major disappointment can remain within us all the time, shadowing our reactions to everything.
We all experience disappointment for different reasons. In itself, feeling disappointed is not a sin. How we handle it is the crucial issue. Disappointment is so common to humanity that it was difficult to choose which biblical characters to best illustrate it. The Bible is full of disappointed people!
Think of the years of disappointment experienced by Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, Hannah, and Elizabeth. Month after month, year after year, they saw the evidence of their childlessness. Job and Joseph had good reason to be disappointed, too, both in people and in God. Elijah the prophet expected the great evidence of God's power on Mount Carmel would bring revival. Instead, it only put a price on his head. He was so disappointed he asked to die.
Moses—A Man Who Understood Disappointment
If anyone was ever faced with a repeated disappointment, it was Moses. In infancy he was rescued from death by the faith of his parents and the ingenuity of his mother. God arranged for him to be adopted by the princess of Egypt. But he spent the first formative years of his life being raised by his own parents. From them he learned of God's promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He was taught that the Israelites were God's people, chosen to bless the world, and that God would make them a nation and give them a land.
Moses was never able to forget what his parents had taught him, even after he went to live with Pharaoh's daughter, his foster mother, in the palace. This double identity must have caused him a great deal of tension. As he grew, he saw the Hebrew slaves struggling under terrible bondage while he lived luxuriously, enjoying all the privileges of royalty. Finally, Moses tried to do something to help his people.
"When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his fellow Israelites. He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian. Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not" (Acts 7:23-25).
Many years before God called him to do so, Moses longed to be a deliverer of his people. He was willing to use his power and influence to change their desperate situation. But they rejected him. In fact, he had to flee for his life from Egypt to live in the backside of the desert for another forty years after the murder incident. Talk about disappointment!
Two Key Reasons for Disappointment
Moses had two reasons to be disappointed. First, he was disappointed in people—because his expectations that his people would understand what he wanted to do for them and would accept him were not fulfilled.
Second, he was disappointed in his circumstances. After years of privilege and education in Egypt, he certainly had never dreamed that he would spend the rest of his life tending sheep in a desert. What a discouraging future!
Today, we become disappointed for precisely the same two reasons. When we set our hearts on people or on circumstances, we are usually disappointed. God wants us to set our hearts only on Him. He wants us to trust in His goodness, even in the midst of our deepest disappointments.
Moses was leading a flock of sheep around the Sinai wilderness when God spoke to him from the burning bush. What a shock it was to hear that this was the time for him to do what he had once wanted to do—to deliver his people from Egypt.
"The LORD said, 'I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey. . . . And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt'
"But Moses said to God, 'Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?'
"And God said, 'I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain" (Exod. 3:7-8a, 9-12).
Despite the thrilling experience of hearing God's voice coming from the burning bush, all of Moses' self-confidence was gone. For the rest of Exodus 3 and half of Exodus 4, God patiently answered each of Moses' objections and insecurities. He promised to be with him. He gave him the power to perform miracles. He assured him that the Israelites would follow him this time and that God would compel the Egyptians to let them go by His great power.
But Moses was a discouraged and defeated man. Even God's wonderful promises didn't convince him.
"Moses said to the LORD, 'O LORD, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue!
"The LORD said to him, 'Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the LORD? Now go: I will help you speak and will teach you what to say'
"But Moses said, 'O LORD, please send someone else to do it" (Exod. 4:10-13).
This time God was angry; nevertheless He agreed to allow Moses' brother Aaron to accompany him and be his mouthpiece. Then Moses and Aaron told the elders about Israel God's message.
"Moses and Aaron brought together all the elders of the Israelites, and Aaron told them everything the LORD had said to Moses. He also performed the signs before the people, and they believed. And when they heard that the LORD was concerned about them and had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped" (Exod. 4:29-31).
This time the people accepted him and worshiped God, and Moses was encouraged. Things were working out as God had said they would. Now it was time to tell Pharaoh.
'Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, 'This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: "Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the desert."'
"Pharaoh said, 'Who is the LORD, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD and I will not let Israel go" (Exod. 5:1-2).
With these words, the battle lines were drawn between God and Pharaoh. Pharaoh oppressed his slaves even more, until life became unbearable for them. And who was to blame? Moses, of course.
"When they left Pharaoh, they found Moses and Aaron waiting to meet them, and they said, 'May the LORD look upon you and judge you! You have made us a stench to Pharaoh and his officials and have put a sword in their hand to kill us" (Exod. 5:20-21).
Can you imagine the disappointment Moses felt when he heard their words? He had told them God would deliver them. Instead, their circumstances were worse than ever. Naturally, Moses was disappointed too. But in handling his disappointment he showed us what to do when our own expectations are not realized.
"Moses returned to the LORD and said, 'O Lord, why have you brought trouble upon this people? Is this why you sent me? Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble upon this people, and you have not rescued your people at all" (Exod. 5:22-23).
Moses blamed God for all the trouble. He accused God of not keeping His promises. But the important thing is that he came to God and expressed his doubts, fears, and feelings. God can handle that; He knows how we're feeling anyway. When we honestly tell Him of our disappointments and heartaches, He can reassure and comfort us and give us strength to go on.
"Then the LORD said to Moses, 'Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of my mighty hand he will let them go; because of my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country' . . .
"But Moses said to the LORD, 'If the Israelites will not listen to me, why would Pharaoh listen to me, since I speak with faltering lips?"' (Exod. 6:1, 12).
Poor Moses! He was in the pits! He was depending on his own ability instead of realizing that he was simply the instrument in God's hands. God would accomplish the deliverance of his people, not Moses. His faith had a lot of growing to do, and God was very patient. He let him suffer disappointments because they drove him to know God, enabling Moses to trust Him to a greater degree. Of course, He does the same with us.
We're all familiar with this story describing how God displayed his mighty power in the devastating plagues that ruined Egypt. Ultimately, on that first Passover night, while the Egyptians mourned the deaths of their firstborn, Israel marched triumphantly out of the land of their long and cruel bondage.
God opened the Red Sea for them to pass on dry ground. In the days that followed, He led them with a pillar of cloud and fire. He fed them with manna. He gave them water from the rock. He supplied their every need. The Israelites heard God's voice at Sinai when He gave them His law to live by.
But over and over, the people complained. They were disappointed about one thing and then another. Even though Moses increased in his faith and dependence on God, the people's constant griping drained his strength. In Numbers 11 they complained about the monotony of eating manna every day. Again, Moses was disappointed and discouraged.
"Moses heard the people of every family wailing, each at the entrance to his tent. The LORD became exceedingly angry, and Moses was troubled. He asked the LORD, 'Why have you brought this trouble on your servant? What have I done to displease you that you put the burden of all these people on me? Did I conceive all these people? Did I give them birth? Why do you tell me to carry them in my arms, as a nurse carries an infant, to the land you promised on oath to their forefathers? Where can I get meat for all these people? They keep wailing to me, "Give us meat to eat!" I cannot carry all these people by myself; the burden is too heavy for me. If this is how you are going to treat me, put me to death right now—if I have found favor in your eyes—and do not let me face my own ruin" (Num. 11:10-15).
Moses was worn out. Instead of a grateful, joyful people, willing to endure anything to get to the wonderful homeland God had promised, he had to play nursemaid to a bunch of babies who were never satisfied, no matter what he or God did.
Do you ever feel disappointed and exhausted with the mundane routines of life? There is such monotony of doing the same thing every day: the meals, the carpool, the kids, the laundry, the shopping, the housecleaning. Do you have a job that is far below the skills you trained for? Do you have aged parents to care for, to the point that your own activities have had to be severely curtailed? Are your children demanding and too young to appreciate your efforts? God recognizes genuine stress and will help us. Look at the way God relieved Moses:
"The LORD said to Moses: 'Bring me seventy of Israel's elders who are known to you as leaders and officials among the people. Have them come to the Tent of Meeting, that they may stand there with you. I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take of the Spirit that is on you and put the Spirit on them. They will help you carry the burden of the people so that you will not have to carry it alone" (Num. 11:16-17).
First, God gave Moses seventy men to help him carry the burden of all these people. He didn't punish him; He helped him. God still uses other people to encourage and help us. But God wasn't finished. He told Moses to tell the Israelites, "Consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow, when you will eat meat. The LORD heard you when you wailed, 'If only we had meat to eat! We were better off in Egypt!' Now the LORD will give you meat, and you will eat it. You will not eat it for just one day, or two days, or five, ten or twenty days, but for a whole month—until it comes out of your nostrils and you loathe it—because you have rejected the LORD, who is among you, and have wailed before him saying 'Why did we ever leave Egypt?'" (Num. 11:18-20).
God gave the people the change in diet they craved. But He showed His displeasure about their constant complaining and ingratitude by sending death with the quail He provided. For many, their first bite of quail was the last thing they ever ate.
Moses's Final Disappointment
Moses wasn't through with disappointments. How his heart must have broken when the people refused to go into the Promised Land because of the bad report of the ten spies. When God punished them with thirty-eight more years in the wilderness, Moses had to endure it with them, even though he had wanted to go forward and possess the land.
His worst and final disappointment came when he was forbidden to enter the land himself. This happened because of an outburst of pride and anger. He begged God to allow him to go across the Jordan. After all, hadn't he been a faithful servant for forty years? But God's answer was a resounding "No."
"The LORD was angry with me and would not listen to me. 'That is enough,' the LORD said. 'Do not speak to me anymore about this matter" (Deut. 3:26).
Imagine God forbidding Moses even to pray about it anymore! Moses had to be satisfied with a bird's-eye view of the land from a mountain before he died, but he did not lead his people into it. There are some circumstances that will never change. We have to learn to accept them and to keep trusting God in spite of our disappointment. Only in doing so are we able to experience life at its fullest.
David and Disappointment
Like Moses, David also experienced grave disappointment. When he was a teenager, God ordered the prophet Samuel to anoint David to be the next king of Israel. God had rejected Saul as king and had told him that none of his sons would be king after him. David's great victory over Goliath vaulted him into the limelight, and King Saul made him a military commander.
As David's popularity grew, Saul's fear and jealousy that David might be his replacement also increased. Saul was determined to thwart God's revealed will and kill David, so David had to flee for his life. He was a fugitive from Saul for about ten years.
There were times when his discouragement was so acute that David's faith in the future that God had promised him vanished. He consequently did things that were wrong and foolish. At one point, he even pretended to have lost his mind. Another time, he tried to run away and hide among Israel's enemies.
"David thought to himself, 'One of these days I will be destroyed by the hand of Saul. The best thing I can do is to escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will give up searching for me anywhere in Israel, and I will slip out of his hand.'
"So David and the six hundred men with him left and went over to Achish son of Maoch king of Gath. David and his men settled in Gath with Achish. Each man had his family with him, and David had his two wives: Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail of Carmel, the widow of Nabal. When Saul was told that David had fled to Gath, he no longer searched for him" (1 Sam. 27:1-4).
To be safe in the land of his enemies, David had to play the role of a traitor to Israel. Worse, he had to deceive and lie to his host. David wavered between discouragement and faith, just as we all do. He didn't understand God's timing. He didn't understand why he had to be on the run for his life when he had always been loyal to his king. Going to the enemy was not the right solution. But that's what he chose to do.
Sometimes God's way of doing things is really difficult for us. If He would only keep the schedule we've laid out for ourselves! If He cooperated, we wouldn't have doubts or disappointments. Of course the truth is that the most important time for our faith to be sturdy is precisely when we are disappointed and confused about what God is doing. Despite David's lapses, God did for him exactly what He had promised, and when he was thirty the throne was his. He wrote the Eighteenth Psalm after he had been delivered from all his enemies:
I love you, O LORD, my strength.
The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer,
my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge.
He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise,
and I am saved from my enemies. (Ps. 18:1-3)
It's easy to look back and praise God for what He has done. But true faith believes ahead of time what can only be seen by looking back.
Disappointed Disciples
Disappointment among God's people wasn't limited to the Old Testament. Jesus' disciples also knew what it was to be keenly disappointed. They had fervently believed that Jesus was the Messiah, and they expected Him to usher in the Messianic kingdom. Instead, He was crucified and buried. And all their hopes were buried with Him in that tomb.
The disciples expected Israel to be rescued from Roman oppression when the Messiah came. Instead, the One on whom they had set their hearts died a criminal's death on a Roman cross. Listen to how Jesus scolded them for doubting Him.
"He said to them, 'How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?' And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself' (Luke 24:25-27).
God had a much bigger plan that the Old Testament foretold. Jesus died and rose again to rescue all humanity from the bondage and oppression of sin. His redemption was not just to bring about a local and temporal change in earthly circumstances but a change in their eternal destiny. Did you ever think that. Jesus can be disappointed with us? He was obviously disappointed with His disciples and their unbelief.
Disappointment: The First Seed of Doubt
Disappointment is the first seed of doubt that intrudes on our faith. Disappointment sounds so harmless, but it's the tip of a wedge that will stop our spiritual growth and make us bitter and defeated (more about that soon). Think of disappointment as a test permitted by God to see if you'll continue trusting Him, obeying Him, and believing that He is good. That brings us back to those two sources of most disappointment: people and circumstances.
Has a Person Disappointed You?
When we place our expectations on people, we are usually disappointed. Has a close friend turned away from you? Has someone betrayed you? If you have set your hopes on your children being all you want them to be, you could be headed for a huge letdown. Did you marry, thinking your husband would meet all your needs? I have to tell you something: No man can meet all of a woman's needs, and no woman can meet all of a man's needs. God made us with a vacant space in our innermost being that only He can fill. So He will always let us experience disappointment with people so that we are driven to find fulfillment in Him.
Are You Disappointed in Your Circumstances?
If our joy depends on circumstances, we are in trouble, because circumstances are always changing. There are too many variables for them to remain the same. Did you expect a promotion, and someone less qualified got the job instead? Has illness interrupted and permanently altered the plans you had for your family? Has a divorce you never wanted radically changed your circumstances? Disappointment works in our lives like the wedge illustrated in Figure 14-1.21
Figure 14-1.
Satan has a strategy to invade our spirits and bring us down until we are defeated. The tip of the wedge seems so harmless. It is simply disappointment.
But if we let our disappointment fester, the wedge is driven in a little farther, and we experience discouragement.
Unchecked, discouragement because disillusionment.
Then the wedge invades even more territory as it proceeds to depression.
Ultimately, we end in defeat.
How do we prevent the penetration of this deadly wedge into our spirits? We find the answer in 1 Thessalonians 5:18: "Give thanks in all circumstances."
Thanksgiving—the Antidote to Disappointment
No matter what we are going through, we can find something to be thankful for. First and foremost, we can be thankful because we belong to God. If we have trusted Jesus Christ, God is our heavenly Father. He knows everything we are going through, and He is the only one in the universe who can make bad things work together for our good. So we can thank Him for His presence, His love, His blessings. We can rejoice that He has good plans for our future and that we receive His daily care, no matter how dark our circumstances seem.
Take another look at the wedge in Figure 14-1, and you'll see that the best place to give thanks is at the disappointment level. If we break the progression there, we won't go on to experience the other emotions that stunt our spiritual growth and drag us down to defeat.
We have to learn what the writer of the Seventy-third Psalm learned. When he contemplated the injustice all around him, the success of the wicked, and the troubles of the righteous, he lost his perspective. Then he went into God's house and thought on God's ways, and he adjusted his focus. The psalmist realized that no matter how successful the wicked seemed to be on earth, their destiny was eternal separation from God. And, in contrast, he knew God, and God knew him.
Yet I am always with you;
you hold me by my right hand.
You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will take me into glory.
Whom have I in heaven but you?
And earth has nothing I desire besides you. (Ps. 73:23-26)
The psalmist had learned that when you have nothing left but God, you realize He is enough. Your questions will not all be answered. Your circumstances may not be improved. The person you set your heart on may not live up to your expectations, but God is the strength of your heart and your portion forever.
The prophet Habakkuk learned this same lesson. After God revealed to him that Babylon would conquer and destroy his country, Habakkuk came to the conclusion that no matter what his circumstances were, He would find his joy in God. His words could, and should, be ours.
Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the LORD.
I will be joyful in God my Savior (Hab. 3:17-18)
21 I'm grateful to Dr. Paris Reidhead for sharing with me in a conversation several years ago this idea of a wedge-shaped progression of harmful emotions.
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Confusion, division, and disagreement abound in religion. Religious people are divided into hundreds of different denominations, wearing different names, worshipping in different ways, and teaching different doctrines.
In this study we want to consider why there is so much confusion, disagreement, and division. Does Jesus approve of it, or does He seek religious unity? Does the Bible contradict itself? Is it impossible to understand? Do people fail to study diligently enough, resulting in ignorance? Are the problems caused by following man-made creeds and authority instead of following the Bible? What does God's word say?
Sometimes people suggest invalid explanations, which are not the real sources of the problem.
Some people say that disagreement exists because God has never told us everything we need to know. Or perhaps truths have been lost or changed over the centuries. But consider:
2 Timothy 3:15-17 - The Scriptures provide us completely to all good works. God has told us everything we need to know to be saved.
1 Corinthians 14:37; John 16:13 -Inspired men wrote God's commands and revealed all truth.
1 Peter 1:22-25 - This gospel lives and abides forever. It will always be here to teach us God's will.
When people are religiously divided, it is not because God's word is unavailable to us today.
Some people suggest that Bible believers contradict one another because parts of the Bible contradict other parts. Or perhaps the Bible is in error or inaccurate on some points.
John 17:17; Psalms 119:128; 33:4 - God's word is truth. It is always right and can never be wrong. And truth will never contradict other truth.
Mark 3:24,25 - A house or kingdom divided against itself cannot stand. If the Bible contradicts itself, then God would be divided against Himself.
1 Corinthians 1:13 - The Corinthians were divided and confused. Was this because Jesus contradicted Himself and led them into confusion? No! Christ is not divided against Himself.
God's word is infallible, harmonious and unified. It cannot be wrong, and it cannot contradict itself. If people disagree with the Bible, then it is the people who are wrong, not the Bible - Romans 3:4.
Some people think that the average person cannot possibly understand the Scriptures, so people just naturally disagree about what it means.
2 Timothy 3:15-17 - The Scriptures make us wise to salvation, profitably instructing us to all good works. How could they do so if we cannot understand them?
Mark 7:14 - Jesus expected all the multitudes who heard Him to understand His teachings.
Acts 17:11 - The Scriptures give the average man a way to distinguish truth from error.
God revealed the Bible to make known his will. If we cannot understand the message, then God has failed. But how can an all-wise, all-powerful God fail? He did not fail; therefore we can understand.
Some people think God does not object if sincere people are religiously divided. "All the churches follow Jesus, so just join the church of your choice."
John 17:20,21 - Jesus prayed for all who believe in Him to be one as He and His Father are one. Do Jesus and the Father continually disagree and contradict one another?
1 Corinthians 1:10-13 - Paul told the Corinthians to cease their divisions. Jesus is not divided, so His followers must not be divided. If "all the churches are following Jesus," why are they divided? His teaching does not divide people. So they must be divided because some are not following Jesus.
Ephesians 4:3-6 - True unity is based on seven things of which there is only one each. Following many false gods creates confusion, but following the one true God would promote unity. Likewise, there are many false faiths and false churches, which create division. But there is only one true faith and only one true body (which is the church - Eph. 1:22,23; 5:22ff). Following God's true way produces unity in truth.
We have now studied several suggestions people offer to explain religious confusion and division. The problem with all these explanations is that they place the blame on God and the Bible. But God is not the author of confusion - 1 Cor. 14:33. We must look elsewhere for the real causes of the problem.
Hosea 4:6 - My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Ignorance causes confusion and division.
Matthew 22:29 - The Sadducees were in error because they did not know the Scriptures.
Romans 10:1-3 - The Israelites had zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.
Many circumstances may lead to a lack of knowledge of the truth. Consider some of them.
This was the case of Cornelius (Acts 10:1-11:18) and the Ethiopian treasurer (Acts 8:26-39). Such people need to hear words whereby they can be saved (Acts 11:14).
To discern good from evil, we must have our senses exercised by reason of use - Hebrews 5:12-14. We must "search the Scriptures daily" - Acts 17:11. Much religious error and division result from lack of study.
Even if a person studies and quotes the Bible, he may not be using it properly (Matt. 4:5-7).
For example, some people try to prove their practices by the Old Testament, not knowing it has been removed by Christ and is no longer in effect (Rom. 7:2-6; Heb. 10:9,10; Gal. 3:24,25; Col. 2:14,16).
Other people take only part of the Bible teaching about a subject but ignore other verses on the same subject. As a result, they reach conclusions that contradict other Scriptures (Matt. 4:4-7; Acts 3:22,23; Matt. 28:20).
We can truly be made free from sin only if we know the truth - John 8:32.
Much division results because people follow doctrines invented by men, but not found in the Bible. They may determine their beliefs by human guides such as the following:
Some people think, "It must be right, because Rev. so-and-so says so." Preachers are useful if they preach the truth, but many teach error (2 Tim. 4:2-4; Matt. 7:15; 2 Cor. 11:13-15). We must check out all teachings by the Bible (Acts 17:11).
"I was brought up in this church. If it's good enough for my loved ones, it's good enough for me." It is wonderful if our family and friends really serve God. But most people's families are in error (Matt. 7:13,14). We must obey Jesus, even when loved ones disagree (Matt. 10:34-37).
Most denominations have man-made rules that the denomination follows. These rules are often written down as official statements of church doctrine (manuals, catechisms, creeds, disciplines, etc.). But men have no right to make religious laws (Matt. 15:9; Eph. 1:22,23; James 4:12). No human writing or teaching should be viewed as an official, authoritative statement of church doctrine.
People sometimes follow other human guides such as conscience, feelings, beliefs of the majority, etc. All such standards can lead us into error.
Matthew 15:9,13 - Following human doctrines makes worship vain.
2 John 9 - Whoever goes beyond the teachings of Jesus, does not have the Father and the Son.
Galatians 1:8,9 - Any one who preaches any doctrine other than the one true gospel, is accursed.
Jeremiah 10:23; Proverbs 14:12 - The way a man should walk is not found within man himself. A way may seem right to men yet result in death. We must trust in God's word, not in human wisdom.
Matthew 13:14,15 - People often close their eyes and ears to the truth. They may have believed a certain way for years, so they refuse to consider evidence for other views and they reject the truth.
2 Thessalonians 2:10-12 - People who do not love truth enough, will instead believe a lie and be condemned. Such attitudes invariably lead to religious disagreement and confusion. [Proverbs 18:13]
To accept the truth, we must "hunger and thirst after righteousness" (Matt. 5:6). We must honestly study what God's word says, then accept truth with "readiness of mind" (James 1:19-21; Acts 17:11).
Matthew 13:20-22 - Serving God requires self-sacrifice and effort. Some people will not pay the price, so they justify themselves in disobedience.
2 Thessalonians 2:10-12; 2 Timothy 4:2-4 - Some reject truth because they just enjoy unrighteousness. They want preachers to justify their sins.
Acts 7:51 - Other people just rebel against authority and seek to please themselves.
All such attitudes as these contribute to religious division, disagreement, and confusion.
Religious disagreement, division, and confusion are not caused by God or His word. They are caused by people who do not obey God's word diligently.
Do you love the truth enough to follow it? If you want to learn God's true plan for your life, please contact us.
Copyright 1998, David E. Pratte; gospelway.com
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Industrial relations can be regarded as the relationships and interactions in the labour market between employers and employees (and their representatives), and the intervention in these relations by governments, government agencies and tribunals (e.g. the Australian Industrial Relations Commission).
The number of working days lost in 2001 was 393,100, a fall of over 16% on 2000 (table 6.58). Over the same period the total number of employees involved in industrial disputes (either directly or indirectly) fell by over 30% to 225,700. While the numbers of working days lost have been declining over the last six years, the number of disputes has actually been increasing. This indicates that the relative size of disputes, in terms of the length of the dispute or the numbers involved, is decreasing. For example, in 1996 there was an average of 1,710 working days lost per dispute, while in 2001 there was an average of 582 working days lost per dispute.
Table 6.59 shows that the number of working days lost per thousand employees has declined over the last five years, although there have been fluctuations in a number of industries. Since 1996 the number of working days lost per thousand employees has fallen from 131 to 50. However, Manufacturing has gone against this trend, increasing from 216 to 406 working days lost per thousand employees.
Coal mining continues to be the industry most affected by industrial disputation, with a total of 956 working days lost per thousand employees; however, this is considerably lower than the 7,171 working days lost per thousand employees recorded in 1996. The Construction industry, and the Education; Health and community services industry have fluctuated from year to year, although they have been generally falling. Construction fell from 892 to 275 working days lost per thousand employees between 1996 and 2001.
Trade Union membership
A trade union is defined as an organisation consisting predominantly of employees, of which the principal activities include the negotiation of rates of pay and conditions of employment for its members. In August 2001 there were 1,902,700 employees who were trade union members in their main job. As shown in table 6.60, this represents 24.5% of all employees, down from 24.7% in August 2000. The public sector has a higher rate of unionisation, with 47.9% of employees having trade union membership, compared to 19.2% in the private sector. A higher proportion of males than females are trade union members (26.0% to 22.7%).
Trade union membership in Australia experienced growth throughout much of the 20th century, peaking at 61% in 1962 (graph 6.61). Between 1962 and 1970 trade union membership declined rapidly. This was followed by increasing membership during the 1970s. However, since then the proportion of employees who were trade union members has steadily declined.
Some of the factors contributing to the decline in trade union membership include the changing workplace relations environment and the changing industry composition of the labour market, for example, declines in employment levels in traditionally highly unionised industries and the emergence of industries that are not highly unionised.
Another factor in the decline in trade union membership is the increases in part-time and casual employment which historically have been less unionised than full-time employment. Graph 6.62 shows that the proportion of part-time employees has increased from 20% in 1988 to 28% in 2001. Over this same period the proportion of full-time and part-time employees who were trade union members has decreased, with trade union membership of full-time employees declining from 46% to 27%, and trade union membership of part-time employees declining from 25% to 18%.
The level of trade union membership varies considerably across industries, with Electricity, gas and water supply (48%), Education (44%) and Government administration and defence (41%) being the most unionised (graph 6.63). The least unionised industries were Agriculture, forestry and fishing (6%), Property and business services (8%) and Wholesale trade (9%).
Between 1996 and 2001, 16 of the 17 industries experienced a drop in their rate of unionisation. The largest falls occurred in the more unionised industries, with the proportion of employees who were trade union members in Communication services falling from 62% to 39%, Electricity, gas and water supply from 65% to 48%, Finance and insurance from 34% to 22%, and Transport and storage from 48% to 39%. Over this period, the rate of union membership increased marginally in Personal and other services, from 29% to 30%.
While the fall in the proportion of trade union members in Communication services was greater than in Manufacturing, the fall in Manufacturing had a more significant impact on the overall number of trade union members, as Manufacturing has a much higher level of employment.


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A day has passed and I'm still not sure. I do have two of these fancy mercury glass knobs waiting to be installed so thats all taken care of.
Part of me thinks - its just fine the way it is. Paint it with a couple of coats of sealer and be done with it!
The other part thinks - it sort of looks like badly applied tin foil on an crappy Ikea nightstand. It needs more moxie! Maybe a black geometric pattern painted on top of the silver? A clover pattern? Or some loose script writing to mimic the pattern on the chair fabric? Or maybe something else?
What do you think?
edited to add: The silver leaf finish doesn't look nearly this bright or flat...its just the sunglight bouncing from the window that washes it out a bit. There is texture and some of the black showing through.
30 comments:
what if you made it look like aged mercury glass? Rough it up with 220 sandpaper to let some if the black show through. Maybe add a little brown to the rough areas to fake oxidation. I also like your idea to add script- like a letter written across the top. Anything to break up the silver would be an improvement.ReplyDelete
I think you need to wrap the leaf right around the edges of the top piece to deal with the egdes,ReplyDelete
I agree with Jamie a rub of grey or brown to take a bit of the super white silver and tone it down. Once you add a lamp or accessories that will break up the look.
Maybe paint a black Fleur-de-lis?ReplyDelete
I really can't run sandpaper on it or it will rip off the leaf entirely.ReplyDelete
I kinda like it just the way it is. What if you got a piece of glass for the top of it to protect the silver leaf, and then if later on you think it still needs more you can go ahead and do it because there is no varnish on it.ReplyDelete
Magic Paintbrush pointed me to Caromal Colours. Not that I think you need to buy any for this project but they have a tutorial and ideas for gilding.ReplyDelete
I picture it with a black glaze on it (water down your black paint?)and then dry wipe it back. Kind of aiming for what the silver black pears look like. At least you wouldn't have to sand to get the look if you dry wipe.
I like the idea of the scripting, that could look really good.ReplyDelete
I think you need to age the silver. Maybe some black glaze will work. I think it will really be beautiful when it is all done. I'm sure once you age it and add the hardware and accessories on it, it will tone down the silver quite a bit. Can't wait to see the final result.ReplyDelete
I agree it's not quite right. How about a design, like the blog header on coco & kelley (think it's cocokelley.blogspot.com) Otherwise I am really stumped. Why not submit it as a question to Apartment Therapy - I got some really good feedback when I asked for advice on what to recover a chair - but be warned, some people are really rude on there. But they often have brilliant ideas. You are nearly there I think...ReplyDelete
- Anonymous12:22 PM
Is it too late to add a crackle finish? If it is, maybe a "frame" design. Or something that ages it. The silver's just a little bright.ReplyDelete
I think it would look great if you could mimic the mirror that inspired this in the first place. So perhaps give it a black border like this coffee table: http://www.treadwaygallery.com/ONLINECATALOGS/MAY2005/images/0923.jpgReplyDelete
and antique the silver leafing like this: http://www.affordableartandframing.com/art/mirrors/06048-P.gif
you could even add brads around the border between the black and the silver leaf to mimic the mirror's detail.
pictures, take 2:ReplyDelete
I agree with anyone who said add some script. Words, even partial words--so cool. Also liked the idea of black glazing. Whatever direction you choose, based on everything else you have done, it will be great.ReplyDelete
"...badly applied tin foil on an crappy Ikea nightstand"ReplyDelete
yikes. photos usually make things look better and it doesn't look bad at all but if that's the description you've given it (at least some of the time) i don't think you should seal it just yet...you'll probably always think it looks like badly applied tin foil on an ikea nightstand when you look at it in the future...therefore my vote is to give it a bit of moxie. the geometric pattern or script you described sounds nice and would fit in with the aesthetic of the rest of your home.oh, and if you have left over leaf do the edges too that way it doesn't make you cringe when you look at it.
What about a black damask pattern all over the top of it.... to bring some black up onto the top. Then put some of the silver leaf onto the drawer detail (the trim on the drawer) to bring some silver down. Melanie Royals has great damask stencils...ReplyDelete
I think a border in a Greek key pattern (black) would give it some added interest!ReplyDelete
I'd just assemble with those fabulous knobs, and "stage" it (with a lamp, etc.) where you plan on housing it. I think you may find that you like it as-is! If not it won't be a big deal to go back to the drawing board. Perhaps quite literally!ReplyDelete
I like the script idea.ReplyDelete
Hey, I'm a photographer in Ontario and I mostly read photog blogs... but somehow I stumbled on yours and keep peeking at your adventures :) Keep them coming!ReplyDelete
What if you had a piece of square glass cut for the top? I feel like it needs a different material to tie in the knobs you're planning to use and the silver leaf... maybe glass would do it? Would it create kind of a mirrored looking top? Just a thought.
What about topping it with a beveled glass top and putting old black and white photos underneath or topping it with an old mirror.ReplyDelete
I am in awe of your "moxie" to just take this project on, and that sweet gal singin in the rain makes me smile. As an artist, the angst, the push, the hope, the distress, the final countdown....all of it is one big challenge full of joy and pure raw emotion.
I know you inspire so many!
Can we go back to the old format? The pictures were much clearer and it was easier to read. Plus your blog feed doesn't work.ReplyDelete
Hi Paul - What problems are you having with the feed? I know google reader is working but I'm not sure what other ways people read blogs.ReplyDelete
The photos should be the same size and source as before - what trouble are you having seeing them.
I'm with those who like the idea of the script words. I think they would be nice.ReplyDelete
- Anonymous9:40 PM
Hmm. I like it. I can't comment on how the sides came out as I can't see them well in the photo but I like the top portion. Whatever you do I'm sure it will just add to me liking it more.ReplyDelete
You make me want more space in my home to take on bigger projects. I so don't need big projects but you make me want 'em.
I've followed your blog since finding it on That Home Site during my bathroom re-do. Your bathrooms are an inspiration! First time commenting. The aging to mimic the mirror sounds good. What about wrapping the silver around the edges so the entire top including all edges are silver? That way it would look like a silver top set upon a black base, like the two are separate. But together. The damask idea someone raised sounds nice too.ReplyDelete
What you did looks good but I really think it still needs some more zazzing up...ReplyDelete


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The 50th All-American Dairy Show is set for Sept. 7-12, a week earlier than past shows, and will celebrate the nation's dairy industry through competition and special events.
The theme is "A Celebration of Generations of Excellence." This golden jubilee will draw nearly 1,000 dairy men, women and youth from across the nation. They will exhibit 2,500 cows and heifers during 22 shows at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex and Expo Center in Harrisburg.
"For 50 years, the All-American Dairy Show has showcased some of the best dairy cattle in the country, shown by world-renowned breeders, many of whom are from Pennsylvania," said Agriculture Secretary George Greig. "This year's show will pay tribute to long-time exhibitors and honor youth who participate in the show."
New this year is the selection of the Supreme Champion Bred and Owned animal of the open show, to be awarded during the Supreme Champion pageant on Thursday, Sept. 12.
The 10th annual Premier National Junior Events run in conjunction with the All-American Dairy Show from Sept. 7-9. A junior events benefit auction is Sunday, Sept. 8. Items available for bid include:
- Two framed Bonnie Mohr prints
- Seven painted cheese boxes representing each breed
- One-of-a-kind light fixture made from a barn stanchion
- Four Seasons Farm, Butler County, pheasant hunting trip
- Handcrafted wooden furniture piece by Tioga County's Russell Jones
- Personalized hand-painted piece by Debbie Cornman, Cumberland County
Also new is the National Dairy Shrine Banquet slated for Wednesday, Sept. 11, in the PA Preferred® Banquet Hall, and dairy oxen demonstrations on Sept. 7-8.
Open show judges have been confirmed:
- Ayrshire – Chris Hill, Thurmont, Md.
- Brown Swiss – Eric Topp, Wapakoneta, Ohio
- Guernsey – Chris Lahmers, Marysville, Ohio
- Holstein – Michael Heath, Westminster, Md.
- Jersey – Kelli Cull, Lomira, Wis.
- Milking Shorthorn – Jeremy McDonald, Middleton, Va.
- Red and White – Steve Shaw, Williamsburg, Blair County.
For more information or to donate items to the junior events auction, call the show office at 717-787-2905 or visit www.allamerican.state.pa.us.


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CyberAlert -- October 4, 1996 -- Dole's "Harsh" Speech
Three items today:1. Bob Dole delivered a speech Thursday on foreign policy. ABC and NBC call it "harsh" and ABC says the White House responded "softly."
2. The fact that Al Gore continued to grow tobacco for years after his sister's death from lung cancer finally makes it onto CBS News, but only to report how "Gore dismisses that attack as politics, an attempt to sully a man so close to the President he feels free to interrupt him."
3. The October 7 edition of Notable Quotables. If you make it to the end, you'll learn which anchor uttered this phrase last week caught by MRC analyst Steve Kaminski: "You'll be a wheezer long before you're a geezer."
"For days President Clinton has been dominating the news with his efforts to ease the crisis between Israel and the Palestinians. Today, Bob Dole decided to step onto center stage with a harshly worded attack not only on the administration's work in the Middle East, but its entire foreign policy. Senator Dole called the past three years rudderless and illusionary. He claimed the President has squandered American power. The administration has so far answered softly, but says there is more to come."
Reporter John Cochran went on the tag the speech as "scathing." He reported: "In a scathing critique of Clinton foreign policy, Dole rolled off a long list of what he called failures, going back to the 1993 effort to restore order in Somalia."
What was the administration's response that earned Sawyer's "soft" description? CBS and NBC viewers heard Press Secretary Mike McCurry's retort. He played off Spiro Agnew's "nattering nabobs of negativism" line (not generally considered "soft") and asserted that Dole foreign policy advisers are "nattering naysayers of gloom." ABC didn't show viewers McCurry's soundbite.
On NBC Nightly News, David Bloom also used the term "harsh" to describe Dole's speech: "It was Dole's harshest critique yet of what he called Clinton's failed foreign policy." But a bit later in his story Bloom put the tone in a better light, noting that "After reviewing his speech over breakfast with retired General Colin Powell, Dole chose his words carefully. His tone was measured. He was playing politics, but he wanted to appear presidential."
So, CBS acknowledges the whole premise of Gore's emotional convention speech was a fraud, but it's wrong to even raise the subject because he's so powerful he can cut in front of the President at a podium.
Notable Quoteables follows:
Amongst the quotes not included in previous CyberAlert messages, a quote identified by MRC analyst Geoffrey Dickens in which CNN's Bill Schneider calls Dole's tax cut plan "candy" that will make the electorate sick. And MRC analyst Clay Waters caught a network bureau chief referring to "these crazy 15 percent tax cuts."
Notable Quotables
October 7, 1996 (Vol. Nine; No. 21)
Really Helping Dole Make It A Close Race?
"Reporters want nothing more than, this year and four years ago, to have a horse race. That's what we're in love with, is the fight, the close call....So it's in our best interest to make it look close, to make Bob Dole look good." -- Chicago Tribune reporter Ellen Warren on CNN's Crossfire, September 20.
Reality Check:
"The former Senator argued that voters have a choice between two different visions of government... The ex-deficit hawk returned to the centerpiece of his campaign, a 15 percent tax cut. Campaign aides claim they have private polls showing President Clinton vulnerable on the tax issue. That's the reason for this attack. But between now and election day the Republican nominee has to do more than criticize. He's got to sell the Dole plan." -- Reporter Phil Jones, September 24 CBS Evening News.
Just Three Months Until Bryant's Contract Expires
"Comments that he has made to others would seem to indicate a certain degree of, and not unjustifiably, a certain degree of anger, bitterness. Has he expressed that to you?"
"Why do you suppose it is that one year after his acquittal, most white Americans at least, cannot accept the idea that he's out walking around free, refuse to let him live his life?" -- Bryant Gumbel to O.J. Simpson lawyer Johnnie Cochran in part one of three day interview series, September 30 Today.
"Most white Americans still charge that O.J.'s jurors didn't do their job. You talk about a rush to judgment. They would claim the same. They would claim the verdict was race-based. Do you think their judgment of those jurors is race-based?"
"Do you think O.J. will ever get a fair shake in this country? Will people ever let him live out his life and accept the fact that he was acquitted?" -- Some of Gumbel's questions to Cochran, October 2.
Clueless in Chicago
"In her Wednesday Commentary page column, Linda Bowles stated that President Clinton and his former campaign adviser Dick Morris both were `guilty of callous unfaithfulness to their wives and children.' Neither man has admitted to being or been proven to have been unfaithful. The Tribune regrets the error." -- Chicago Tribune, September 5.
Tax Cuts: Crazy Candy
"Pollsters, pundits, look at these numbers and they'll say this thing is locked....There is no way Dole can overcome this. Why doesn't he just accept it and be himself? Try to hold the Republican Congress and get rid of this book, and get rid of these crazy 15 percent tax cuts and speak from the heart?" -- NBC Washington Bureau Chief Tim Russert to Dole campaign manager Scott Reed on CNBC's Tim Russert, September 22.
"Americans are forever grumbling about high taxes and big government. You'd think promising a tax cut would be like giving away free candy. What's not to like? Everybody knows what happens when you eat too much candy. You get cavities. You get sick. You get fat. A big tax cut may feel good but it can cause problems...`Candy?' Dole says. `No thank you,' the voters reply. `We're feeling much better now and we don't want to get sick again.' Dr. Dole and Dr. Kemp are supply-side specialists. They have a revolutionary theory that says `Candy is good for you! More tax cuts, more growth. More growth, more income.' Now what a terrific theory! And so what if Democratic doctors say they are a couple of quacks. Gene [Randall], have some candy!" -- CNN analyst Bill Schneider on Inside Politics, September 14.
Welfare Reform: Hate That, Too
"Even your own aides, many of them, and advisers feel that the bill is too extreme. Two of your advisers recently quit. Under the new bill a 60 year old federal guarantee of aid to needy families will end. It's been estimated as many as a million children will go hungry. What are you going to do about that?" -- Barbara Walters to Bill Clinton, September 20 20/20.
"In light of the new welfare reform bill, do you think the children need more prayers than ever before?" -- Bryant Gumbel to Children's Defense Fund leader Marian Wright Edelman, September 23 Today.
Rapping the Republicans on Rape
"I think, generally speaking, most people would agree that the partisan, that the smear tactics -- I mean, the going after the family, and since when has President Clinton said anything about Elizabeth Dole? It hasn't happened, and yet you see the Republicans attacking Hillary Rodham Clinton, who I agree has made mistakes, but they [Republicans] have no boundaries, and I think that yes, both parties are guilty of using smear tactics -- it goes back to as I said the origin of American politics -- but I think the Republicans are quite frankly, better at it than the Democrats, and I think most people see that and believe that....Why don't you recognize some of the hypocrisy on the part of the Republicans?....Well, for starters, a rape victim up on the podium in San Diego when the Republicans oppose abortion." --PBS To the Contrary host Bonnie Erbe responding to conservative criticism on Westwood One's Jim Bohannon Show, August 30.
I Thought White People Were the Paranoid Anti-Government Wackos
"As Dick [Gregory] was saying, a conspiratorial thing, something that is genocidal that many African-Americans whisper and talk about that, or was it simply an economic situation that they thought this was a quick way to make money to send to the Contras?" -- MSNBC InterNight host Ed Gordon to activist Joe Madison on the San Jose Mercury News report that the CIA sold crack to fund the Contras, September 19.
"[CIA Director John] Deutch reiterated last week that he has asked the agency's inspector general to review the Mercury's charges. The Justice Department has also launched a probe. But if Deutch thinks anyone in black America is going to take the wordof those two organizations, he's mistaken. Black Americans have been the targets of so much hostility that many of them would not put it past their own government to finance the war against communism by addicting thousands of people." -- Time national correspondent Jack E. White, September 30 issue.
Rhymin' Rather
"Some of the first hard medical evidence is in tonight for teenage smokers who think it takes years for cigarettes to damage their health. Bottom line -- don't hold your breath. You'll be a wheezer long before you're a geezer." -- Dan Rather on the CBS Evening News, September 25.
L. Brent Bozell, Publisher; Brent H. Baker, Tim Graham; Editors


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VANCOUVER – The closest thing Marilyn Renter has ever had to a trial for her step-daughter's death is the public inquiry into the failures that allowed a serial killer to target sex workers from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.
Robert Pickton was charged with murdering Cindy Feliks, who vanished in 1997 and whose DNA was found five years later on the former pig farmer's sprawling property in nearby Port Coquitlam, B.C.
But once Pickton was convicted of killing six sex workers and sentenced to life in prison, prosecutors had little appetite for putting him back on trial for 20 additional murder charges involving Feliks and other women whose remains or DNA were found on the farm.
"For a lot of us, there have only been six girls that have actually had justice done to them," Renter said in an interview.
"We haven't had justice for our girls, and if it has to come in this forum, then so be it," she added, referring to the public inquiry.
On Monday, Renter will find out whether her long wait for justice has been answered as Commissioner Wally Oppal releases a 1,448-page report outlining why Pickton wasn't caught sooner and what should be done to prevent similar failures in the future.
For eight months, the inquiry heard from 80 witnesses, including current and former police officers, Crown prosecutors, sex workers, academics and the families of missing women.
Renter told the inquiry that Feliks, a 42-year-old mother who was born in Detroit before moving to the Vancouver area as a child, vanished in November 1997.
She was addicted to drugs — "I think all of them," Renter recalled in the witness box — and supporting her habit with prostitution.
In what became a familiar story, Renter testified that Feliks's younger sister tried, unsuccessfully, to report the disappearance to police in 1997 and again the following year. A formal missing person file wasn't opened until 2001.
Renter blames the delay on police attitudes toward women, sex workers and drug addicts. She hopes Oppal's report can find a way to change that.
"They've got to get rid of a lot of attitude," said Renter, who was living in Calgary when her step-daughter disappeared but moved to Rosedale, B.C., two years ago.
The inquiry was called to examine why Vancouver police and the RCMP failed to catch Pickton before he was arrested in February 2002, despite evidence that surfaced years earlier linking him to the disappearance of Vancouver sex workers.
Oppal was also asked to look into Crown counsel's decision not to prosecute Pickton for attempted murder following a vicious attack on a sex worker in 1997. After that charge was stayed, 19 more women connected to Pickton's farm disappeared.
The inquiry heard that senior officers in Vancouver actively resisted considering the possibility that a serial killer was operating in their city, while RCMP investigators in Port Coquitlam were slow to seriously investigate Pickton.
Oppal said the problems that plagued those investigations must be fixed, because just as Pickton wasn't Canada's first serial killer, he won't be the last.
"Pickton isn't the sole problem — there will be other serial killers," Oppal said in an interview in advance of the report's release.
"Horrible tragedies have taken place here, and we need to learn from those tragedies. We have to come together as a community so that women are better protected."
Bringing the community together, particularly the non-profit groups that work with sex workers in the Downtown Eastside, has perhaps been Oppal's largest challenge.
The provincial government's decision to deny legal funding for advocacy groups that had been granted standing at the inquiry prompted nearly all of them to boycott the process.
Several of those groups held a news conference last month denouncing Oppal's report and the entire inquiry, which they say was too narrowly focused on police and failed to give adequate voice to the vulnerable women it was set up to protect.
Oppal again pleaded for his critics to read his report with an open mind.
"I'm urging those people who have had differences with the inquiry to come forward and co-operate," he said.
"The violence against women and the tragedies that we have experienced in our communities are far more important than the individual differences about the process of the inquiry."
Unlike the advocacy groups, the families of missing and murdered women received government funding to hire lawyers at the inquiry, but they, too, have decried the process as deeply flawed.
One of their lawyers, Neil Chantler, said the inquiry didn't hear enough evidence about systemic problems within the police forces, including allegations of sexism and racism, to determine what really allowed Pickton to remain at large.
"The primary theme we're going to be looking for is some recognition that institutional prejudices were pervasive at the time," said Chantler, who along with lawyer Cameron Ward represented more than two dozen families.
"This commission shied away from those issues during the hearing process and chose to focus on other issues such as technical policing failures rather than the more social, systemic issues that might have been at play."
Vancouver police and the RCMP have each offered apologies, but with disclaimers attached.
Both forces admitted they didn't do enough to catch Pickton, while insisting their officers did the best they could with the information they had.They also spent considerable time blaming each other, with the RCMP accusing Vancouver police of failing to notice a serial killer was at work and the Vancouver police blaming the RCMP in Port Coquitlam for botching the investigation.
Pickton was convicted of six counts of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.
The remains or DNA of 33 women were found on his farm. He once told an undercover police officer that he killed 49 women.


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Erzi Wooden Play Food Rainbow Ice Lolly, Made in Germany
Realistic wooden ice pop in rainbow colors for any pretend plays! The miniature food by Erzi will become an integral part of playtime, encouraging hours of house and shop fun. Great toys to stimulate young imaginations! Handcrafted in Germany of beechwood.
Dimensions: 4.27 x 0.8(inches)
Recommendations: 3 years+
Material: beech wood
Made in Germany
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Pretend store
Pretend foods
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Free standard shipping for most orders over $49 and flat rate of $4.99 for orders below $49. Free shipping promotions is not available for some oversize items or for items shipped outside the contiguous 48 states. view complete shipping details. >
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My Sweet Muffin L.L.C is required to collect an 6.625% sales tax on some items for the orders shipped to a New Jersey address.
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Last year Northern noise-merchants Rolo Tomassi entered the studio with producer and DJ of much skill, Diplo, to record their new record, the follow-up to 2008's Hysterics.
They then announced the details of the that album, to be called Cosmology and to be released on April 19, all through Hassle. The release date was then put back to May 24 however, so you'll have to wait over a month longer. Annoying.
The good news for those who haven't been sent a promotional copy of the record is that there's a new track to listen to from it and it's one which can also be downloaded entirely for free. Hurrah! You can get your paws on 'Party Wounds' by clicking here and then entering your e-mail address when prompted. Typical Tomassi it is. Great production, though.
Tracklisting for Cosmology is below:
- Katzenklavier - 1:04
- Agamemnon - 1:40
- House House Casanova - 1:15
- Party Wounds - 3:14
- Unromance - 4:03
- French Motel - 2:52
- Kasia - 5:31
- Sakia - 3:17
- Tongue-in-Chic" - 5:11
- Cosmology" - 7:43
Rolo also support Biffy Clyro on these dates in the next month or so.
29 - Perth, Concert Hall
30 - Sheffield, Academy
1 - Blackpool, Empress Ballroom
3 - Leicester, De Montfort Hall
4 - Portsmouth, Guildhall
5 - Bristol, Colston Hall
6 - Hammersmith, Apollo
Photo by Lidal-K on Flickr


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White & Red Pure Katan Silk Handloom Kadwa Banarasi Saree
Fabric - Pure Banarasi Katan Silk.
Katan is a thread, prepared by twisting a different number of silk filaments according to requirement gives a firm structure to the background fabric. Katan is a plain-woven fabric with pure silk threads.
Weave – Kadhua Weave Kadhua is an exclusive technique of handloom weaving in Varanasi region, and it cannot be imitated on power loom. One piece of Kadhua saree takes 3-4 months engaging at least three persons to complete. It is a pure handloom product produced only in this region.
Blouse– Plain with a thick zari floral border.
Note- There may be slight color variations due to photographic reasons.
This is a hand-woven product and any irregularities in the weaving or pattern should not be taken as a defect. These irregularities make every handloom piece unique


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Graceful Swan Knit Dishcloth Pattern
Graceful Swan Knit Dishcloth Pattern
This elegant swan glides gently along. She is designed in profile facing to the right with her head held high curving up to the right and her tail curving up to the left. Compared to the other swan pattern, this one has her head and tail held higher.
The design is not symmetrical so lefty knitters may need to make adjustments if it matters which way the swan is facing.
The picture is created in garter stitch on a stockinette background. The border is seed stitch, but the pattern is written so that you may substitute a preferred border if you wish.
More Information
More Information
Chart Included: No
Knitting Information: This square casts on 37 stitches and is 55 rows tall.
Suggested Yarns:
To make dishcloths: 100% Cotton yarn such as Sugar 'n Cream, Peaches 'n Cream, Bernat Handicrafter, or Lionbrand Cotton.
To make Afghan squares: Any worsted weight yarn.
Finished Size: 9in x 9in
Yarn Requirements: Approximately 1.5 oz of 100% cotton dishcloth yarn.
Needle Size: Size 7 US (4.5 mm) or size to obtain gauge
Gauge: 18 st and 26 rows = 4 inches in stockinette
Click Here for A Note about Needle Size, Gauge, and Making the Design "Pop" Out
** All purchases are for a downloadable PDF file of the knitting pattern and not for the actual dishcloth. **


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One of the great advantages of this country is that if you are willing to make the effort, and run into someone who can show you the way, you can end up in some good university, or community college, and get a degree.
This is what happened to our family when we came upon the Foundation for a College Education, in East Palo Alto. An organization that has been sending kids to college for almost 20 years.
Knowing what you want and being willing to work for it is a very important first step in aiming for higher education. But getting bogged down as one tries to navigate the maze of a-g curriculum, AP classes, PSAT and SAT, high school graduation, college applications, FAFSA, paying for college, etc, can derail the best intentions. Especially for families like ours, with no one before us ever walking down that path, to at least point us in the general direction.
One day while in high school, my daughter came home with a flyer a boy had given her. It was something about a program that helped kids from East Palo Alto and East Menlo Park "go to college". We went over to inquire, and what we saw and heard was like something sent from heaven.
When they enroll kids at the beginning of high school, FCE staff analyzes their strengths and weaknesses to know what the possibilities are, and where the efforts will be needed. Parents sign a release authorization to give FCE access to their kid's grades, and make sure the program detects early any problems that may make it harder for that child to achieve the goals.
FCE has a group of very dedicated tutors to help kids with homework and projects after school. The students get classes to prepare them for the PSAT and SAT tests, and help with their essays and college applications. Supposedly, those who comply with the program's requirements get to go on tours of colleges in California. Supposedly, but I heard that even those who may have failed to fulfill some of the conditions, are given a break and get to go too. You see, FCE doesn't like to leave anyone behind.
In its 19th year, FCE has helped graduate 140 high school students, it currently has 59 students enrolled in institutions of higher learning; 69 of FCE graduates have obtained a bachelor's degree, and 11 have gone on to get an advanced degree. Sixty-four percent of FCE's students complete college in 4 years. Pretty amazing, isn't it?
If you would like to learn more about it, here is the website: FCE
This is year 4 for me on FCE's Board of Directors. After they helped 2 of my kids prepare for and enroll in college, the least I could do is help other families who want their kids to aim higher, but like us back then, have no idea where to start the process.
If you would like to support FCE's efforts to continue changing lives for the better, please join me at FCE's Gala on April 5th. I promise you will love this event.
Here is the invitation


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NEW YORK, NY – Another World Cup promise is being kept and bringing much delight to fans!
Enrique Iglesias isn't the only one that made a promise tied to the World Cup. Iglesias has always had the attention of women, but the spotlight will be on him even more thanks to his bet. Iglesias promised that he would water ski naked if Spain won the World Cup. Well, Spain is the new champion and Iglesias is looking for a Brazilian wax.
"I need to get my Brazilian wax before I do it," he told People.com. "Actually, I'm just waiting for a day off."
The Spanish heartthrob is the son of balladeer Julio Iglesias, says he'll take the birthday suit plunge in Miami's Biscayne Bay under cover of night to avoid trouble from Miami cops.
"I never got arrested in high school for doing it," Iglesias said. "Can you really get arrested for skiing naked?"
Iglesias has his concerns about a late night ski – and it's not that his fans won't be able to fully catch a glimpse of an exposed Enrique.
"The only thing I'm worried about is if you fall at night," he said. "There's sharks in the water."
NEW YORK, NY – Another World Cup promise is being kept and bringing much delight to fans!


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Open Apps wechat and Scan the above QR code.


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A decent boldness ever meets with friends. – Homer, Odyssey (VII, 67)
Tartessos. By Theia, what a dump.
I suppose it was my own fault; I should've known better than to trust Derinoe. She was always restless, constantly talking about leaving Amazonia to see Man's World before being tied down with children and a farm. Besides, she pointed out, in peacetime there wasn't exactly any way for us to distinguish ourselves as warriors, which meant that we'd either be stuck tilling our mothers' fields or having to endure the back-breaking labor of clearing new land without slaves, since we had neither war in which to capture them nor money with which to buy them from the traders. And though I couldn't argue with any of that, something told me that signing on as mercenaries to fight in a war at (literally) the edge of the world probably wasn't an idea which came straight from Metis. Yet I ignored my misgivings and let Derinoe fill my head full of stories about the Silver Kingdom and the riches we were sure to win.
So now I'm stranded among barbarians with neither money nor food nor knowledge of the gibberish they speak in this benighted land; Derinoe and the others are all dead, and I haven't the faintest clue of how to get home even if I cared to endure months of travel on one of those awful galleys (a method of transportation so dangerous and uncomfortable only a man could've invented it), which I most certainly don't. Riding the whole way would be out of the question even if I had a horse, because all I know is that Amazonia lies in the direction of the sunrise and that nearly every nation between here and Colchis is hostile; though I trust my skill with sword and bow, I also know the difference between confidence and suicide.
If I were still a girl I would cry, but I'm a grown woman of seventeen and our goddesses expect Amazon warriors to have courage in the face of adversity. I can't just sit here feeling sorry for myself and dwelling on my misfortunes; I need to take stock of my assets. Let's see; my wounds are quite minor, my helmet and shield are undamaged and my sword is vastly superior to any of the crude excuses for weapons I've seen in the past few months. My bow is in good condition and I still have (six, seven) eight arrows before I have to start hunting materials to make more, which won't be easy in a city (assets, now, not liabilities!) And I have the protective talisman my mother gave me before I left. Oh, and when fighting men I have the advantage of surprise because they expect me to be as soft and useless as these frail Western wenches.
But that's about it. And I'm hungry now. I can hear the noises of the marketplace from here, and though I'm sure I could probably steal a melon or a loaf of bread I won't disgrace Amazon honor by stooping to common thievery; I'll just have to hike out of the city and carefully stalk some game. That'll give me food for at least a few meals, assuming I can find something bigger than a rabbit or one of these filthy sea birds that foul this whole city with their noisome droppings. There now, that's a plan at last, thank Metis! Now to figure out which is the quickest way out of town; I think if I follow this large and well-travelled road from the marketplace I'm bound to come to a gate sooner rather than later.
How now, what is that racket? Even in a place where people habitually shout at one another, that sounds like trouble. Well, it won't hurt to take a look and…NO! I know these people's ways are different from ours, but this just can't be right; this girl is no warrior, yet a man beats her as one would beat a dog who had stolen sausages. By Themis, I cannot ignore this! It's over in an instant; the drunken fool never hears my approach, and before he can strike the terrified girl twice more I lay him low with a sharp blow to his head from the edge of my shield. As he collapses to the ground, his victim's eyes grow wide and she looks back and forth from him to me as if she doubts the evidence of her senses.
Within moments, I am surrounded by other women, chattering like a pack of squirrels in their incomprehensible gobbledygook. They're pointing at my weapons and looking at my fallen foe, and though I can tell from their inflections they're asking me questions I just shake my head and hold my arms wide in exasperation. Suddenly, out of the meaningless sounds I hear a few recognizable words; they are spoken in the tongue of Crete, whose people come often to our land to trade! I immediately turn to the woman who spoke them and let her know that I understand her. The others quickly grow quiet, and she says that the women are grateful to me for saving their friend and that they wish me to stay for dinner.
As my interpreter conducts me inside, she tells me (I think) that her education enabled her to guess my race, and she asks how I came to be so far from my native shores. I explain as best I can in my limited command of her tongue, and she repeats it in Tarshi to their captain, to whom I have been presented. Before long we eat, and though the Cretan woman tries to explain what kind of place this is, and why the man was assaulting the hapless girl, I am not quite sure that I understand. There is no word in the Amazon language to name this place or the trade of those who live here, and when she eventually gets me to understand that men pay these women generously just to mate with them for an hour I decide that the men of the Outer World are all quite mad. But mad or not, I exclaim a prayer of thanksgiving when the Cretan, on instruction from her captain, offers me employment here as a guard at a wage five times that I was promised as a mercenary!
Later that evening, my belly full, I do my best to learn a few words of their babble while on duty in the atrium, watching the women's customers come and go; only once are my services needed, and even then my scowling presence is enough to cow the fat little man into what I take to be an apology to the woman he had apparently threatened. The Cretan has apparently been assigned to teach me, for she remains with me all night and patiently explains (through constant repetition and rephrasing until I understand) some of the strange things that men pay the girls for beside mating. She even tells me that tomorrow I will be paid a bonus equal to half of my daily wages if I agree to whip a customer as one whips a disobedient slave, in other words to hurt but not injure. Obviously I must not understand correctly; I'm sure I'll grasp it better when the time comes. But one thing is for certain: in spite of herself, poor Derinoe set me on the right track after all. In a few years I will be able to return home far wealthier than most women my age, without having to live in filthy camps or face death every day to accomplish it.


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Mahler Symphony No.7
COMPOSERS: Gustav Mahler
LABELS: Tudor
ALBUM TITLE: Mahler
WORKS: Symphony No.7
PERFORMER: Bamberg Symphony/Jonathan Nott
Mahler's Symphony No. 7, with its haunting orchestral colours, never seems to enjoy a less than immaculately prepared interpretation on disc these days, and Jonathan Nott's is the latest in a hard-to-choose-from field. Every Bamberg soloist, from the artistic tenor horn solo right at the start, is given room to breathe; it helps that Nott takes measured steps with the first two movements' nocturnal parades, steering the first by careful degrees to a masterful climax at the two-thirds mark. The human touch between all that marching registers shyly as introspective chamber music, while the trios of the two 'night musics' are luminously distinguished by trilling woodwind and an especially expressive cello solo.
Hieronymous Bosch-like monsters duly creep and burp through the macabre central waltz, and there's more shadowy menace than usual between the lines of the fourth movement's ever-fascinating clockwork serenade. Whether or not you believe in the sudden garish sunshine of the finale's civic carnival, you have to admire the way Nott and the Bambergers negotiate the hurly-burly with supreme skill; the balance between ordered chorales, teasingly gracious minuets and those moments where the stateliness totters is ideal. As with other instalments in this Mahler cycle, the sound is free and natural, helping with textures that range from shrilly penetrating to gruff and baleful, laying on the bells justifiably thick in the final gallimaufry. This performance may not be quite as incandescent as the same team's recent Third Symphony, but it's still well up to the overall standards of Bamberg's Mahlerian success story.
David Nice