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One of my personal favorites!
Part 1 - Tedium ad nausium
This that I post today on this most wondrous evening, would be for those languid fragments of pseudo-humanity who delight in the display of their evolutionary advances upon the earlier design of the supra-esophageal ganglion. Yes, it is the recent public trend toward the elevation of grey matter and the cerebral cortex to its currently sublime state of near-cult worship that I refer to here. More specifically, what are being addressed are those individuals who believe to have polished such intellectual acrobatic feats to a high degree of flamboyancy while embarking upon the pursuit of magickal status and personality-inflation, wherever they may exist on this marvelous planet of ours. It occurred to me the previous morn that the overbalance of the Hodian perspective to the detriment of Netzach through the proliferation of mental masturbatory drivel (the likes of which have been known to tire a ground sloth to tears while attempting to find substance or purpose in such verbal meandering) might create an obstacle to one's personal spiritual development. Therefore, I've devised this wonderful method of energetic catharsis with the hopes that it might prove useful (as both an enema and a catalyst for true human emotions and experience, if you will) in unclogging the constipated neurons of apparent self-proclaimed genius that weave their way through the synapses of such fragile minds as can be found perched upon well-worn elbows aloft arms of the finest in antique furnishings. It is in those hallowed libraries and personal studies throughout the land that the forlorn and forgotten few of class and poise ruminate upon the workings of divinity, all the while avoiding the possibility of the accumulation of personal empirical data itself. (Seemingly in preference to that which can be found in the rehashed piles of dusty volumes from ages long passed.) Much like a jilted fart from the staggering vagabond that goes unrecognized in his drunken stupor, they remain lonely and ever craving the sorts of tedious discourse that will provide their soul with the public appreciation they require for emotional sustenance. (Which could only be indicative of unresolved parental issues involving a lack of praise at a young age.) And yet, that sustenance they seek through the structure of the rational facilities alone! Is not man a multi-faceted being capable of emotion and experience? If they only knew that true joy as can be found within the bosom of bliss wherein the sleeping masses of humanity dwell and know as freedom from the burdens of excessive leisure and intelligence. Woe! Woe! And verily woe is he who steps in the path of this Jurassic archetype of society! May that crusty old seeker of endless thought-with-form flourish in his antiquity and be enlivened by the senseless and cyclic toiling of his pen. For it is his way toward the conquering of his own ego, whether he know it to be true or not.
Without further delay, I present to the world this marvel of the base, vile, and yet oddly necessary in our daily (or quad-weekly as one's visceral regularity may dictate) routine. May the pompous and self-absorbed multitudes who conduct themselves in an overly serious manner be stricken by its simplicity and succumb to the cosmic prankster who consistently reminds us that we're ALL still forms of the human animal outwardly, regardless of how spiritual we might be on the inside.
Segue to Part 2 - Interlewd
Tools and materials required: 1 Holey Sacrificial Bowl (common toilet that has been dedicated to magickal work), ceremonial tissue paper (in rolls preferably), deodorant spray, and the usual sacrificial offerings appropriate to this Rite. If necessary an empty tissue roll may be used as a temporary wand.
1. Firstly, secure and clear the ritual space in the usual manner by closing (and preferably locking) the chamber door and then perform preliminary banishings according to one's traditions.
2. Next, assume the proper position (i.e. perched aloft the magickian's 'throne' in the appropriately semi-disrobed fashion).
3. Now, activate and open corresponding energy centers (e.g. root or 1st chakra) for the auric purification and any other energy work to be done. One might use a previously learned grounding exercise and then systematically open the other chakras to ensure proper energy flow through the auric sphere.
4. When ready, the magickian may concentrate all negative emotions and tensions such as anger toward people or situations, sadness, depression, etc. and direct them into the ritual offering (which is still to be found in its entombed position held securely within the grasp of the magickian's rectal sphincter).
5. While vibrating any and all appropriate names whether voluntarily or involuntarily, the magickian should then deposit the ritual offering(s) into the Holey Sacrificial Bowl, thus releasing them from his body and purifying his energy field. The Sign of the Excretor may be used while releasing the offering (sitting version of the Sign of the Enterer), and a more accurate version of the Sign of Silence (Harpocrates sitting upon a lotus) may be used to cut off the flow of energy after each release.
6. One should visualize the emotional tensions which were concentrated into each offering as being permanently released from one's sphere of consciousness, only to be dissolved over time in the septic waters which carry away impurities toward their return to the Source of All. Meditation on the significance of this cycle of endless return may also prove beneficial later.
7. If the magickian is lucky enough, the Holey Sacrificial Bowl (corresponding to Water and really just a larger version of a common ritual chalice) may deem him worthy of the anointing of a watery kiss upon his root chakra after a particularly substantial release. This may also help to alleviate any initial pain or irritation that may have been experienced in that area. Pain is a part of life, and often encountered when dealing with one's inner turmoils, tensions, and unresolved emotional conflicts.
8. Following the completion of this Holey Rite, the magickian should then perform the final cleansing with the ceremonial tissue. Then, send the offerings on their way to return to the Source, assured all the while of one's emotional tensions being dissolved over time in the septic waters of creation and renewal.
9. When once again fully robed, perform the proper rituals to close the ceremony according to one's tradition, and banish with deodorizing spray.
10. Cleanse the hands in the usual manner, and return to the world of people with the smug satisfaction that they are completely unaware of what you've REALLY been doing in there all this time. Note: a magazine carried under the arm is a good cover-up for this Rite.
Part 3 - Finale
Before I start, I'd like to apologize to those who have expressed their distaste in this matter to me privately. It is with much regret that I must attend to the situation thusly, as such elements of the internet make their way into our discussion circle on occasion. My tone in this message is appropriate for the person being addressed, and I recommend that others ignore this post if they have found the recent trend of wordiness EXTREMELY annoying. (As I certainly have- writing like a dried-up fruit is SOOO boring and tedious!)
Start of Post:
"Interesting (and most revealing) post, Amoris (smile). Certainly, humor is necessary to Magick (even if only in discussion, and even that of the "toilet" variety I suppose)."
Certainly revealing in that I'm a human who possesses the ability to laugh and appreciate the earthy qualities of life, as I see no need to pose and posture as though it were below me. More than I could say for you unfortunately. Much as I suspected, lacking common human social skills you've completely missed the point AND the butt of the joke (pun intended). In fact, you've pretty much responded exactly the way I anticipated from having spent so much time with others of your caliber and demeanor.
"And now my friend, do you have anything of substance to contribute to this group?"
If you'd bothered to spend the time to read my past contributions to this group as well as many others, and my efforts online to further more correct and practical information on magick from the viewpoint of an actual practitioner, you wouldn't have made such a spurious and uninformed comment. Funny you should mention the issue of substance; most of the other practitioners I've been receiving complaints from on this and other forums regarding You have all mentioned that your own contributions and personal 'essays' seem to have a certain wordy lack thereof.
"As to my motives here, as well as elsewhere, I merely seek sincere and serious discussion on those matters that pertain to all which you advertise so boldly and forthrightly within your "Founder's Message," Amoris."
If that were true then you'd have ample amounts of personal information to share regarding your Experiences from actually practicing magick. That is, rather than the same rehashed drivel from other authors and cyclic philosophizing which you seem to proliferate elsewhere on the net. I suspect you aren't a practitioner at all. However, I care not whether you truly are, and feel no need to expend the effort in the pursuit of such knowledge.
"Consequently, because of those motives, I do not feel moved to satisfy your (or any other's) whims, with regard to mere curiosity."
In other words, when faced with a legitimate question as to one's actual EXPERIENCES (this does not refer to personal information about one's social/career/family life) you avoid the issue and pretend to be much too elevated an individual to bother with anything human and sincere like that.
"And of course, you may "monitor" as you please, as every other may also-- there is hardly anything private about these posts. But then perhaps you might be better advised to place more of your "concern" upon being the "founder," which you have reiterated and asserted that you are, than merely being the club's "monitor."
My concern as Founder of this respectable forum is to ensure that it remains accessible by those who honestly wish to share their ideas and experiences with others. Allow me to cite the ancient Chinese philosophy of Rectification of Names here, wherein a person of any specific position should be able to demonstrate the qualities of said position in order to wear its title. With that said, the Job of a Founder is to maintain a positive environment, offer ideas on occasion if he/she feels they will be helpful, and MONITOR club activity to make sure that the online environment is not polluted by those who would seek to disrupt it. I'd say my track record of the past in this forum has been exceptional for displaying those qualities. Really, the only difference between other members and myself is the fact that I have the ability to delete disruptive and disrespectful members. I always keep in mind that I'm no better or worse than anyone on this forum when posting but I don't forget about my responsibility to tend the garden and eliminate any common pests when complaints flood my inbox about them. As you can see, the people really do have a voice here, and I respect that and take action on their behalf when petitioned to do so.
Furthermore, to assume a position of authority with me and pretend to have control over my online creation is much the same as walking into someone's house and ordering them around. I respect the views and authority of other founders when I venture into their clubs because I did not create or promote those forums and have no right to come in and 'rule' things. I'd recommend you rethink your childish fantasies of authority, power, and perceived intellectual 'superiority'. I refuse to pander to your ego and give you the attention you seem to require so much by allocating any authority to you.
By the way, you'll notice that at no point have I made any claims to be more than I am. I am a human, and a student who is completely unconcerned with establishing a 'reputation' or 'status' in the eyes of others. Such a pursuit would take me away from my path of non-ego based spiritual development. I do not believe there are any 'masters' in this universe - only fellow students. The only personal concern I retain while participating in this and other forums is toward learning through the interaction with others (emotionally and intellectually), and I've learned quite a bit over the last year as this club's founder. I've learned that I must remain tolerant of the views of others, although I might not agree, since they have just as much right to exist as I do. I've also learned the hard way that time spent arguing with those who obviously seek only to disrupt while contributing little in an attempt to usurp control of the forum, is time wasted that cannot ever be regained in life. Life is Experience, and Experience Teaches. All else is wasted effort, or merely a tool for future experience.
I appreciate the Castaneda quote as it does have much merit, by the way. The tactics made use of in that post to further the motive of debunking the credibility of the Founder were quite transparent and childish however. Most lamentable all that intelligence wasted on unresolved emotional conflict and egocentricity. Perhaps you'd like to go back and really read closely what Castaneda wrote about Juan Matus' views of the ego and the pitfalls of self-importance, and then apply them to yourself before spouting them without full comprehension of the message intended therein.
Have a nice life!
Visita Interiora Terrae Rectificando Invenies Occultum Lapidem
(insert das boot here)


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It's not just that I'm some kind of crazy capitalist. This thing takes an enormous amount of work. I research or travel. I take photos. I upload them. I write and do the best that I can as a writer. It all takes time and, believe it or not, I think my time has value. So I decided to try this.
|Christine Gambito aka "Happyslip"
I chose this program because I can control the content of the ads. One of the problems I have is that I don't want the ads to be some product or some thing I don't believe in, or wouldn't want to support. I watched Youtube's "Happyslip" struggle with the site she used as a base, for running ads that were contrary to her belief system. I certainly don't want to contribute to the exploitation of young Taiwanese women by having an ad that says, "Find and Marry Hot Taiwanese Girls." I want all the content on this site to be something reflective of my values.
With Amazon.com I can choose what I want to advertise and I will advertise something that goes with the blog post or the blog. But I need your help. You seem to be a quiet group. I ask for comments on content or format and nothing. Silence ensues. No comments at all. I guess if people don't like it they just stop looking at it. But I don't want that. I want you to read and learn about Taiwan's beauty, history, culture, traditions and people.
If you are going to buy something advertised at Amazon.com anyway try to use the links I put in for you. If you don't like it contact me my email address is in the "Contact Us" link and I'll stop doing it, rather than lose a lot of readers. There is an example in my last post, Eating My Way Through Taiwan: Buddha Jumps Over the Wall [Feb 19,2011].
Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sdaffphotos/sets/72157608069319936/

subset: commoncrawl


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A museum shop that produces miniatures of its main exhibits is no surprise. But when it comes to Vitra Design Museum shop and the miniatures they produce, things are a liiiiitle different! Collector's items, chair & furniture miniatures, are an excellent gift for designers or design lovers.
As noted at the museums site:''...The chairs are all one sixth of the size of the historical originals. They are all true to scale and replicate the originals right down to the smallest details in construction, material and colour. Thus, not only have the design's key points been translated in the miniature versions, but details such as materials, the natural grain of the wood, the reproduction of screws and elaborate handicraft involved have also been taken into consideration...''
Well, if not the original, I would love one of those as a christmas gift...
see the whole miniature collection & more products here


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Bill is an experienced software entrepreneur, and the founder of Atalasoft, an enterprise software company that sold to Kofax (NASDAQ:KFX) in 2011, now Lexmark (NYSE:LXK). Prior to Atalasoft he worked in aerospace manufacturing.
Jacob is an experienced UI designer and web application developer, having worked at Atalasoft and Vizit as a lead developer. He is responsible for product design and development.
Eric is a serial entrepreneur, and life-long manufacturing industry expert holding multiple manufacturing patents. Eric is responsible for product strategy, customer integration, and hardware development.


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Is denial a crime?
Natalya Narochnitskaya is a historian and head of the Paris office of the Russian Institute of Democracy and Co-operation
1948 - Born in Moscow
1970 - Graduates, Moscow State Institute of International Relations
1982 - Works at UN Secretariat, New York
1990 - Activist, Party of People's Freedom
1994 - Co-Founder, All-Russian National Rights Centre
1995 - Co-Chairwoman, All-Russian National Rights Centre
2003 - Member, Motherland Bloc, State Duma
2004 - Vice Chairwoman, State Duma International Affairs Committee
2008 - Head, Russian Institute of Democracy and Co-operation, Paris Office
Today we will talk about history. According to Sergey Shoigu, Russia's Emergencies Minister, Russia needs a law making it a criminal offence to deny the role of the Soviet Union in the defeat of Nazi Germany during World War II. Speaking to war veterans on Red Army Day earlier this month, Shoigu said the law would "protect the history and the heroic deeds of our fathers and grandfathers." But does history need protection? We'll be talking about it with Natalya Narochnitskaya, a historian and head of the Paris office of the Russian Institute of Democracy and Co-operation.


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e-Class Register for students
e-Class Register for students is a web application enabling students since the second semester 2012 to view the marks, absences and notes entered by teachers in the e-Class Register system. For now the marks can only be viewed by students at schools involved in the pilot project (XVth Grammar School in Zagreb, Požega Grammar School and Ante Kuzmanić Medical High School in Zadar).
Beside the desktop version, the application has been adapted for mobile devices to enable students better accessibility and easy reference while at school. At school students can connect to the eduroam wireless network. Instructions for connection can be found at the following address: http://installer.eduroam.hr.
Students have to log in with their electronic identity (e.g. email@example.com) in the firstname.lastname@example.com system at https://ocjene.skole.hr.


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Now on to the good stuff! I know it is still spring, but this Tortellini Summer Salad is one of my favorites, regardless of the season. This pasta salad constitutes a meal without the need for many side dishes. A little fruit salad will make this a complete meal. It is tasty and delicious, with a pleasant tartness, from the lemon juice and red wine vinegar, which I just crave. I stand in front of the frig with my fork and chow down! I love this pasta salad!
Tortellini Summer Salad
Ginger's Cookbook
1 20 ounce package cheese tortellini
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 small red onion, chopped
1/4 Cup black olives
1/2 Cup olive oil
1/2 Cup red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon heaping crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 Cup crumbled feta cheese
Cook tortellini according to package. Set aside, allow to cool completely.
In large bowl with a lid, add above ingredients, except for the feta cheese; simply toss the ingredients together till combined. Chill overnight then stir in feta cheese.


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If you're interested in nominating someone for PA of the Year, please complete this form.
For the past 15 years plus, Laura has provided effective and quality health care as a PA in the state of Iowa for the adults in emergency medicine and the pediatric and adolescent population in the clinic setting. She is the only PA in the Bilgi Pediatrics and Adolescence clinic in Ankeny, Iowa. Since 2009, Laura has been on faculty at Des Moines University, DMU, as a clinical coordinator for the Physician Assistant program.
Promotion of IPAS, Volunteering and Mission Work
Outside of DMU, Laura has served on the Iowa Physician Assistant Board of Directors, been an elected President and Past President of IPAS, committee member and chairperson for the Spring IPAS Conference and an advocate for many legislative initiatives for PA scope of practice issues.
The list of awards and honors that Laura has been granted is exhaustive to include the 2009 Governor's Volunteer Award for her continuing service to the State of Iowa for volunteer work with the American Lung Association of Iowa 2009 inductee to the Pi Alpha Honors Society for PA education, 2011 Des Moines University recognition by the faculty for the Service Award. Each year Laura takes a group of DMU PA and medical students to global health mission trips that include several countries in Africa and St. Lucia.
Laura annually supervises students in community health events that range the lifespan to include school sports physicals at rural communities across Iowa and economically challenged population in Des Moines, events coordinator for the DMU Senior Health Fair each November providing bone density/COPD screening at different health fair events, the Iowa State Fair and Iowa Caregivers' Conference each August.
Community Involvement
Laura provides the students of DMU an opportunity to attend and practice skills at the annual "flu shot" clinics at Bilgi's Children's Clinic. Being an asthma patient herself, she supports the Iowa Lung Association walk and stair climb by participating in the stair climb and challenges her PA students to join her each year.
In her hometown Iowa communities of Ankeny and Saydel, Laura assists with her church youth group. Those that know Laura, realize her excitement for the PA profession and the provision of quality healthcare both locally and internationally. Laura is excited and determined as a PA to always make sure everyone is aware of the profession she loves.
Dr. Roberta J. Baldus
If you're interested in nominating someone for PA of the Year, please complete this form.
Tipton, IA – October 7, 2014 – Robyn Nebergall of Tipton, IA has been named the 2014 Physician Assistant of the Year by the Iowa Physician Assistant Society (IPAS). Requirements for consideration of this award include promoting the Physician Association, volunteering or mission work and being involved in the community.
Aside from working at a Tipton clinic for the past 20 years as a Physician Assistant, Nebergall is a highly visible and active servant within her community. She has volunteered as both a medical advisor and coach on the sidelines of numerous youth sporting events. She attends and participates in a variety of school events, and, on top of it all, has raised a family in the same community.
Nebergall's dedication to her work as a PA and her time, effort, value, love and servanthood for her community, all while being a busy mother, represent the spirit of the Physicians Assistant profession and have made her an obvious choice for the 2014 Physician Assistant of the Year award.
If you're interested in nominating someone for PA of the Year, please complete this form.
This year's PA of the year is Theresa Hegmann and it is a great pleasure to present her with this award. She is a colleague and a mentor. Theresa has been an actively practicing PA for 22 years. Her primary role for 12 years is as a faculty member at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicines, Department of Physician Assistant Studies and Services where she is a professor and Director of the Didactic curriculum. Her accomplishments are many and are diverse. She has devoted her most of her time in clinical practice to rural and underserved areas including a remote clinic in the mountains of California, several different underserved populations in Iowa including one with a predominately Hispanic population. She currently works in an urgent care in the greater Iowa City and Muscatine area. Her Supervising physician is Dr. Harriet Echternacht. It is no small task to balance her duties with her role as a PA educator with her clinic duties. She has a strong dedication to promoting and teaching evidence based medicine, this is evident is her practice as well as the education she provided to students. She teaches Clinical decision making to up and coming PA to provide a strong background and promote lifelong learning. She has received 6 grants for her scholarly work and has had over 20 publications to date including a review articles, journal articles and posters.
She is active participant in PA association's including being fellow member of the AAPA, member of Physician Assistant Education Association, as well as al long time IPAS fellow member. She has received multiple awards including AAFP Recognition for Teaching in Family Practice Medicine, Teaching Scholar, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine and the Rising star award from PAEA. She has served the PA profession by serving on the state PA regulatory board as a member and then as the chair of the board. She has pursued her passion for research and evidence based medicine by serving on the PAEA's Research committee and data research sub-committee. She has been as an editor for JAAPA and the Journal of Physician Assistant Education, and participated in multiple review panels. She has been a strong advocate for PA legislation in the state of Iowa and has written, emailed and spoken to many of her legislators to present the issue Pa's in Iowa face and has been a role model for many Pa students.
In short she has provide leadership and service in every aspect of the PA profession, going above and beyond to promote, provide support and educate PA's, increase access to healthcare, improve legislation for practicing PA's and is very deserving of this award.
If you're interested in nominating someone for PA of the Year, please complete this form.
Frankie Winegardner is an outstanding PA who has been a long time pioneer of the profession in many medical settings. Among the many aspects of her life she has served most notably as a PA medical practitioner, educator, leader, writer and effective advocate for patients and PAs. Frankie is a 1978 graduate of the University of Iowa PA program who practices Integrative Medicine at her clinic in Clear Lake, Iowa.
Always willing to help she is an exceptional leader who was instrumental in virtually all of the Iowa PA Society legislative successes in Iowa. These advancements include increasing the number of PAs a physician may supervise at one time from 2 to 5, clarifying PA authority to order and perform respiratory therapy, allowing PAs to form and join professional corporations and prescribing schedule II stimulants (Ritalin, amphetamines). Frankie persuaded her state representative and neighboring state senator, key legislators, to guide these bills through the legislature. Additionally, Frankie was a leader in the successful IPAS efforts to pass third party reimbursement, prescribing and the PA regulatory board.
Frankie has been singularly effective in educating legislators about PAs, and physicians about PA training and skills. Each time of the many times Frankie was asked she successfully organized Mason City area PAs to work on legislative issues. Frankie has served the PA profession in many capacities including IPAS president, chair of the Iowa PA regulatory board, AAPA House of Delegates representative for Iowa, IPAS newsletter editor and columnist for 7 years, preceptor for PA student and PA presenter on a variety of medical topics. Frankie has worked as a PA in many different settings from surgery to remote sites, to radiation oncology, to setting up her own clinic to care for patients with challenging medical problems. And she publishes her own quarterly wellness medical newsletter.
Among many her many educational projects Frankie has served as a teacher of ACLS, smoking cessation and Complementary and Alternative Medicine varying from healing touch to hypnosis. These skills are especially helpful for her difficult to manage patients. To develop these abilities she completed the University of Arizona fellowship in Integrative Medicine. Frankie is also a published author and serves as a volunteer at the Mason City free clinic.
For her crucial role in the education of legislators alone Frankie richly deserves recognition as Iowa's PA of the year. Throughout her career she has demonstrated very well the variety and flexibility a PA can offer a practice. And she has done it all extremely well reflecting most favorably on our PA profession. Most importantly, she has helped innumerable patients have a better life.


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Thursday, November 10, 2011
Eucharist at a time of shortage of priests: Wir sind Kirche wants answers
On Saturday November 5, 2011, Wir sind Kirche ("We Are Church"), together with the reform groups Laieninitiative, Pfarrer-Initiative, Priester ohne Amt and Taxhamer PGR-Initiative, met for a study day to discuss "The Eucharist at a time of shortage of priests". Dr. Franz Nikolasch, a professor of Liturgy, and Dr. Peter Trummer, professor of Biblical Studies, led this discussion and the group came up with the following manifesto (Note: this is an approximate translation since German is not one of my languages):
Concern for the Eucharist in the churches: seven theses
The priest shortage and the impending dissolution of parishes lead us to the following conclusions:
1. The community that gathered in the name of Jesus, was awarded the Eucharist. The commemoration of the death and resurrection of Christ is entrusted to it as a local church; the Lord is in their midst (Mt 18:20). The community determines who directs it and presides at the Eucharist. Commissioning by the Bishop is necessary to maintain the unity of the Church.
2. At present, the line and the celebration of the Eucharist are dependent on the number of celibate priests. This is the wrong approach. Rather, the number of heads for church leadership and congregational celebration of the Eucharist must be adjusted to the number of communities.
3. The priest shortage has been artificially created by outdated requirements for the profession of priest in the official Church. While hundreds of priests have been removed from their positions due to marriage, the remaining priests must take on more and more communities. They can no longer offer adequate pastoral care and increasingly slide into burnout.
5. The New Testament abolished Jewish and pagan priests. Jesus Christ is the only priest of the New Covenant (Heb 9:10). All believers have a share in His Priesthood -- you are "a royal priesthood" (1 Peter 2:9). This priesthood is awarded at each baptism, without gender distinction (Gal 3:28).
6. There were women deacons (Romans 16:1) and apostles (Rom 16:7) in the early church; they spoke prophetically in worship (1 Cor 11:5). Later restrictions were adjustments to the limitations of patriarchal societies, which have now been effectively overcome in our society. The path to women's ordination should not be obstructed by papal bans on discussion of it.
7. Every community has the right to a head. If the Bishop does not fulfill his obligation to ensure this, the communities, appealing to the general priesthood, will assume responsibility for facilitating the celebration of the Eucharist as the summit, the font of power for the faith (Vatican II, Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy 10).
Die katholischen Reformbewegungen [The Catholic Reform Movements], Linz, November 5, 2011
Hans Peter Hurka, head of Wir sind Kirche, told Reuters that a copy of the manifesto had been presented to the Austrian Bishops' Conference prior to their meeting this week. The bishops planned to discuss some of the church reform proposals and initiatives, along with other Church matters.
Risk averse
Eclesalia Informativo
Matthew 25:14-30
The parable of the talents is very well-known to Christians. According to the story, before going away on a journey, a man entrusted the management of his assets to three employees. He gave one five talents, another, two, and a third, one talent -- "each according to his ability." He expected a worthy return from all of them.
The first two immediately began to trade with their talents. You see them working decisively, identifying with their master's plan. They aren't afraid to take risks. When the man comes back, they proudly give him the fruits -- they have been able to double the talents they received.
The reaction of the third employee is strange. The only thing he can think of to do is to hide the talent by "burying it in the ground" to keep it safe. When his master returns, he justifies himself in these words: "Master, I knew you were a demanding person, harvesting where you did not plant...so I was afraid and I went off and buried your talent in the ground. Here is what is yours." The master condemns him as a "negligent" employee.
In fact, the root of his behavior is deeper. This employee has a false image of the master. He imagines him to be selfish, unjust, and arbitrary. He is demanding and doesn't admit mistakes. He is not to be trusted. It's best to defend onself against him.
This petty image of his master paralyzes him. He doesn't dare to take any risks. Fear is blocking him. He isn't free to respond creatively to the responsibility that has been entrusted to him. The safest thing is to "save" the talent. That's enough.
Probably the first generation of Christians understood the appealing strength of the parable better than we do. Jesus has left His Father's plan to create a more just and humane world in our hands. He has bequeathed us the commandment to love. He has entrusted to us the great news of a God who is friendly to human beings. How are we responding today as followers of Jesus?
When Christian faith isn't lived in confidence but in fear, everything is distorted. Faith is preserved, but not spread. Religion becomes a duty. Observance is substituted for the gospel. Worship is dominated by preoccupation with ritual.
It would be a mistake to present ourselves before the Lord some day with the attitude of the third employee: "Here is what's yours. Here is your Gospel; here is the plan for Your kingdom and Your message of love for those who are suffering. We have kept it faithfully. We have preached it correctly. It hasn't been very useful for changing our lives or for making ways of justice to Your kingdom. But here it is, intact."
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Dom Demétrio Valentini: Revisiting Vatican II, renewing hope, and resuming ecclesial renewal
Thank you for the invitation to participate in the Andean Theological Conference, in view of the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Vatican II.
In this conversation with you, I propose to simply relive some of the moments of that broad event that was the Second Vatican Council....more in the form of personal testimony than of theological reflection around the vast themes that this Council raises.
Fifty years after Vatican II, there are now few bishops alive who participated in the four conciliar sessions. On August 24th, Dom Clemente Isnard, one of the bastions of liturgical renewal, died in Brazil. Dom José María Pires, 93, is still alive.
It can be said that the generation of conciliar bishops is now gone. Now we are the heirs of an event that deeply involved the Church, whose momentum towards renewal is ours to sustain.
Personally, I feel obligated to give my testimony on the context in which this Council took place. I was lucky to experience Vatican II from up close, as a theology student in Rome at the time the Council was happening.
I especially remember the luck I had on October 11, 1962, on the opening day of the Council. I had gone very early to St. Peter's Square to see the procession of bishops that was to go through the square and enter the Basilica. I was there, very aware of the historical significance of that moment.
There I was surprised by the unexpected offer Frei Boaventura Kloppenburg made me. He was in charge of press credentials for Portuguese speaking journalists. And since none had shown up, he asked me if I wanted a press pass. I quickly accepted. I put my Brazilian seminarian's green and yellow sash in my pocket, went on through the square to the entrance of the Pope and bishops and then presented myself at the main door of the Basilica, entry guaranteed by my press pass! They looked at me suspiciously but let me go in. I came closer and closer until I was very near the Pope, nearer than all the cardinals, archbishops and bishops.
So I could see up close with my own eyes, and hear from John XXIII's own mouth, his famous speech at the opening of Vatican II, emphatically saying that this council was not going to repeat anathemas or proclaim new dogmas, but that it would attempt a new and accessible way to present to the people of today the great truths that make up the rich heritage the Church must bear witness to in all generations.
So now I also feel responsible for bearing witness to what that Council was. A while ago my conscience was troubling me, until I decided to write a little book which I titled Revisitar o Concílio Vaticano II ("Revisiting Vatican II"), where I tried to record the intense process of preparation for this great Council, what took place, and how it was received. The book has been published by Ediciones Paulinas, and it would be a good job to translate it into Spanish since it was written by a "Portuguese journalist"!
What I'm proposing to do today is a little bit like what I did in the booklet but I promise I won't read all the pages...because I don't want to kill any curiosity with respect to it!
Also, by way of an introduction, it's good to realize that we are now being challenged to look at the Council 50 years after it took place to answer the worrisome questions:
* To what extent is Vatican II still valid?
* Are its documents still in force?
* Has the process ended or are we still experiencing the consequences of Vatican II?
To answer these questions, nothing is better than to remember, first of all the words of Pope John Paul II in Tertio Millenio Ineunte, where he stated: "I feel more than ever in duty bound to point to the Council as the great grace bestowed on the Church in the twentieth century: there we find a sure compass by which to take our bearings in the century now beginning."
Written on the occasion of the passing of the millenium, this declaration clearly shows the importance that the Council still has.
At the same time, we need to realize that we are living in a period of a strong tide of conservatism, which is manifested in many ways, and which, in some groups in the Church, is expressed explicitly as a challenge to the conciliar process.
This is a phenomenon that should be analyzed calmly, to understand it with much discernment. Undoubtedly, it presents a serious challenge to correctly understanding the Council, and for how far its proposals for church renewal can reach.
This hasn't ceased to cause a lot of perplexity. Fifty years ago nobody could imagine that we would come to the situation we are experiencing today, with this tide of conservatism, whose major symbol is the return of the Eucharistic celebration to pre-Conciliar models.
We are called to reflect more on what is at stake in this phenomenon. For this, undoubtedly, knowing the historical context can be helpful, that is, both the moment of the celebration of Vatican II and the situation we are experiencing today, especially with the profound social, religious and cultural changes going on.
For this, we'll propose a quick reflection on how the Council emerged, the reactions it provoked, the historical context of those years, the preparation for the Council, its decisive moments, its major institutions, how the Council was received, resistance to the conciliar process, and subsequent perspectives.
All very simple and brief! If you're patient, we'll go quickly through these points:
1) How Vatican II arose
A first observation to make: To understand the Council, it's necessary to realize how much it depended on Pope John XXIII. Never has a council been so linked to a pope as Vatican II was to John XXIII.
Without John XXIII, this Council wouldn't have happened. Without any exaggeration, it can be said that this is Pope John XXIII's Council.
The dynamic of the events that led to the convocation of an ecumenical council had already begun with the election of John XXIII. No one expected that Cardinal Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli would be elected Pope.
With Pius XII's death in October 1958, everybody was asking who could replace a pope of Pius XII's intellectual caliber.
The conclave process itself highlighted the difficulty in finding a successor to Pius XII. There was vote after vote, with persistent black smoke that showed the difficulty in reaching a consensus.
When white smoke finally appeared, after four days, Angelo Roncalli's name was announced. The vast majority didn't know who the new Pope was. Noting that he was 77 years old, it quickly spread that he was a "transitional Pope" -- one who wouldn't live very long -- until someone would emerge who would be able to continue Pius XII's pontificate.
Therefore, John XXIII started under the stigma of being a "transitional Pope", a role he himself took on and put at the service of his plans that nobody suspected were very brave and worthy of a Pope who, contrary to what was expected, would go down in history as one of the most influential popes in the Church of his time. He surprised everyone, and he knew how to avail himself of the opportunity history offered him.
He started surprising people with the date he took office, which he chose himself: November 4th! It was the feast of St. Charles Borromeo, one of the bishops who had carried out the Council of Trent. The new pope understood about councils!
But John XXIII was able to win everyone's esteem very quickly. In a few weeks, he was quickly identified as the "Good Pope" and the "Kind Pope."
On Christmas, to everyone's surprise, John XXIII left the Vatican and went to visit sick children in a hospital in Rome. The next day, he went to visit prisoners in the city jail.
It was enough for everybody to be very happy with the new 77 year-old pope! For the people of Rome, they didn't need any other pope! And in fact, the primary mission of the pope is to be bishop of the Roman people!
It was in this context of admiration for the Pope, and prompt support for his stances, that a great surprise was announced. The Pope would convene an ecumenical council.
It was January 25th, the feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul. The "Week of Prayer for Christian Unity" was ending in St. Paul's Basilica in Rome. The Pope had been invited and he was getting ready to go.
Three days before (according to a frequently heard statement from John XXIII himself) in a conversation with his personal secretary, Msgr. Capovilla, Pope John XXIII confided that he felt the need, as pope, to do something for Christian unity. And he asked his secretary what he thought. And, as he asked the question, the answer came to him: a Council.
The idea never left his mind. Three days later, at the Basilica of St. Paul, at the closing of the "Week of Prayer for Christian Unity", John XXIII surprised the Church and the world with the brave announcement of his plans.
Playing with the "transitional Pope" epithet they had given him, he stated that in spite of that, he also had plans for his pontificate. And then he went on to state what those plans were:
* Holding a synod for the Church of Rome,
* Bringing the Code of Canon Law up to date, and
* Convening an ecumenical council for the whole Church!
2. The reactions
The news spread rapidly and it was met with the same warmth that already surrounded the figure of the pope.
In the middle of this story, there was a significant episode that well shows that Pope John XXIII was aware of how far-reaching his proposals were, especially holding an ecumenical council.
He made a very interesting move. Before going to meet with the cardinals in St. Paul's Basilica, John XXIII had asked Vatican Radio to announce the news of the Council directly, without waiting for the closing of the religious ceremony.
So when the cardinals came out, the news had already spread throughout the world as the big headline of the day! The cardinals, who had listened to the daring proposals of the new pope with a certain amount of suspicion and reserve, suddenly encountered people's enthusiasm at the airing of the news.
Thus John XXIII strategically managed to avoid the possible resistance that might have come from the Roman Curia. The announcement of the Council having been greeted with so much enthusiasm, nobody would oppose this initiative. So, from its announcement, the Council was accepted in the Church with much enthusiasm and hope, especially ecumenically, given the events of the week.
Ecumenical expectations spread rapidly to the point that John XXIII himself felt the need to moderate them and he explained that the Council would be for the Catholic Church. However, the ecumenical atmosphere remained deeply linked with the future of the Council.
Thus the idea of the council was immediately accepted with a lot of enthusiasm, and it was supported from the beginning by John XXIII.
Even before it began, the Council modified the church atmosphere, in which everyone was soon involved, raising lots of hopes of participation and profound ecclesial change.
Taking these facts into account now, 50 years later, it's worth asking ourselves if John XXIII's strategy was completely positive. Now we realize that is caused resistance to build up that then manifested itself in the preparation of the conciliar documents, and especially as the Council developed, and even more after the Council ended.
The fact is that he delayed a lot in noticing the consistency of the opposition to the Council. He began with great enthusiasm, but did not sufficiently take into account the power of reaction, the niches of resistance, which unfortunately became divisive, and now threaten to contaminate the whole Church like volcanic ash from the Andes that extends across the continent!
It never hurts to insistently seek dialogue and to overcome resistance, especially when fundamentalist positions are being taken.
Even the "Council of Jerusalem" shows the importance of mutual concessions to secure unity and communion. Even the "meat sacrificed to idols" was part of the compromise between the two streams of thought!
3) The historical context of Vatican I
To understand the mood that was felt so intently at the council, it is necessary to note the atmosphere of optimism that the world was experiencing in those days.
It can be said that the decades of the 50s and the 60s were the most optimistic in recent centuries. Europe was rebuilding itself after the war. The African nations were at the full apogee of their independence. Development seemed about to come to all countries. The detente between east and west was solidifying, and the 1962 Cuban missile crisis became the symbol of the event with the appearance of the trio of personalities that reflected the new world situation -- Kennedy, Khrushchev, and John XXIII, who would write Pacem in Terris.
It seemed as if the utopia of peace and universal progress were coming!
The euphoric mood infected the atmosphere of the Council, and expressed itself, particularly, in the conciliar document Gaudium et Spes.
At the same time, another observation is very important. The worldwide euphoric mood was abruptly broken by the "cultural revolution of 1968", the revolt of the young people, and by the rapid initiation of the process of secularization which especially affected the Western European countries, where hopes for the Council had grown fonder.
If that crisis had come earlier, or if the Council had happened later, there's no doubt that much of the focus would have been different, whether in the internal Church documents or those addressing its mission in the world.
One fact that should be clearly noted is the error in historical interpretation, which is used insistently by those who are fighting Vatican II today. They accuse the Council of being the cause of the secularization that has deeply invaded Europe and elsewhere. It's a serious error in historical interpretation. Secularization would have happened even without the Council.
Thus, we now have the annoyance of living with incorrect suppositions, which has allowed for gratuitous accusations, attributing effects to the Council that it absolutely didn't cause.
That doesn't exempt us now from making a lucid evaluation, observing how the implementation process of the Council was managed, and , especially how it should proceed in the future. I hope that the serious in-depth celebration of the jubilee of the Council will help us perceive the important values that we can consider and use as a reference for our pastoral activity.
4) The preparation of the Council
Because it was promptly embraced, we can say that the Council process started on January 25, 1959, with the announcement that it was taking place.
The official summons happened on Christmas Day, 1961, in the papal bull Humanae salutis, when John XXIII said the council would open the following year, without specifying the date. Its official opening took place, effectively, on October 11, 1962, the closing date of the Council of Ephesus in 431, when the people proclaimed Mary as Mother of God. Here we can see John XXIII's style. Without offending the "separated brethren", the Council was placed under the protection of Mary.
The preparation for the Council was firmly directed by Pope John XXIII, who had his age in mind and wanted to ensure the effective fulfillment of his great dream.
So after the announcement of the Council, he named a "Central Preparatory Commission", with the primary task of identifying the main issues to be addressed by the Council. For the first time in history, a council was being convened without any specific problems to solve.
The Commission had the bright idea of asking the opinion of the bishops, superiors of the large religious orders, and rectors of Catholic universities.
The response was surprising.
The gathered suggestions filled twelve big volumes, which then served as a source for the development of the 75 schemas, already in the Council's preparatory phase.
The fact is that the council was formed through a strong experience of church involvement, already through its process. Before declaring that the Church is the people of God, the Council led Christians to truly feel like conscious and involved people of God.
Therefore, the best way to relive the Council is not so much by studying its documents as by reliving its experiment in church participation.
5) Key moments in the Council
First, the opening speech on October 11 became a very important reference point for the whole conciliar process. As John XXIII emphatically declared, it would be a Council to bring about the great "aggiornamento" of the Catholic Church, with the subsequent developments that this "updating" entailed.
Another key moment happened in the first regular meeting after the opening of the council. The session was intended to elect ten working committees. Each bishop was to submit 16 names for each committee. The impasse was evident. Who would have the names of 160 bishops in mind to nominate?
This situation led to a clever maneuver by the Roman Curia. At the entrance to the conciliar hall, the bishops received ten lists, each with 16 names of bishops. The intent was clear: to put the names indicated by the Curia on the commissions.
That was when Cardinal Liénart, of Lille, proposed suspending the session, and giving the bishops three days to make relevant inquiries to find the most appropriate names for each committee in each episcopate.
The idea was supported by several other bishops, and was finally adopted.
This demonstrated the importance that episcopal coordination would have in this council to sustain and support the conciliar process. And the autonomy of the bishops as actors in the conciliar process was affirmed.
Some bishops stood out in this role. Among those who obviously emerged with great effectiveness were Dom Helder Cámara, of Brazil, and Mons. Larraín of Chile.
Another important moment came during the first rejection of a preparatory document. It was the schema on the Word of God, where the controversial topics of Revelation, Tradition and the Magisterium of the Church came in. The document had been written in a quite controversial way, and many bishops began asking for its rejection.
When it was submitted to a vote, a clear majority was declared against the schema, but not the two thirds required to reject it. Then John XXIII intervened and decided to order that the document be withdrawn so that it could be written in different, more ecumenical language.
This strengthened the bishops' impression that they were the authors of the Council and that the schemas and programs prepared in advance could be replaced by different ones.
During the interval between the first and second session, before his death, Pope John XXIII ordered a drastic reduction in the number of preparatory schemas, since the Council had already identified the main theme, which would be the Church, and many other less important themes could be integrated within that broader theme.
Thus, before his death, John XXIII could be sure that his great dream was beginning to come true.
6) The great insights of the Council
Some say that this Council had no theological depth, or even that it didn't intend to state truths -- that it was a purely "pastoral" Council. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The big theme of the work and documents of Vatican II was the Church, mainly its vocation and mission in this world. It was clearly an "ecclesiological" Council, just as the first councils were clearly "Christological".
It's not a matter here of elaborating the great ecclesial statements made by the Council. I'm only going to recall them briefly.
The most strategic, the deepest one, was the vision of the Church as the People of God, recovering the Biblical dimension of the Church's journey.
Parallel to this statement, we can place episcopal collegiality, affirming the co-responsibility of all the bishops in the government of the Church, establishing the balance between the primacy of Peter and episcopal collegiality. This laid the groundwork for a vision of the church that includes both unity and diversity.
Closely related to these two truths, we can see how it adapts well to the importance of the local church, and the value of all church communities as practical manifestations of the life of the Church.
Thus, since the Council, we have been able to continue to develop a vision of the Church as People of God, led by pastors who call it to fraternal communion and to the mission in the world as "universal sacrament of salvation."
7) How the Council was received
We know that the worth of a document, or a church event, is measured by how it is received.
One good question to evaluate it, on the jubilee of the Council, is exactly that: checking to see how Vatican II was received.
The celebration of the 50th jubilee of the Council brought the hope that this positive reception of the Council might be resumed. After encountering so much resistance, a time is finally emerging for the fruitful reception of the impetus for Church renewal that the Council brought. This would be the aim for celebrating this conciliar jubilee.
In any case, for us here in Latin America, it's good to remember that our church was the only one that welcomed the Council on the continental level, due to the actions of CELAM, and the general conferences it conducted, especially the Conference at Medellin, in Colombia, which was a sort of Council for Latin America, making Vatican II resound among us.
At the same time, it must be admitted that, unfortunately, during those post-conciliar times, we also experienced a climate of mutual distrust between the Roman Curia and the Church in Latin America.
This suspiciousness was very much present at Puebla and at Santo Domingo, but almost completely vanished during the Conference at Aparecida.
Certainly, mature dialogue can contribute to making relations between Rome and the Church in Latin America take place in an atmosphere of complete trust, enabling us to always be in ecclesial communion, without impeding the implementation of appropriate pastoral options for our reality, for the benefit of strengthening the whole Church, in search of making way for the ecclesial renewal envisioned by the Council.
8) Resistance to the conciliar process
Nowadays we can appreciate John XXIII's grand strategy for circumventing possible resistance to his proposal for ecclesial renewal through a Council. But at the same time, we see that this resistance was not overcome. Instead, it coalesced during the Council, and was explicitly expressed after the Council, leading to ruptures that unfortunately still exist, and which constitute a personal drama for Benedict XVI, in his effort to reach full communion with the few dissidents, putting at risk the conciliar advances of the whole post-conciliar Church.
We hope these difficulties, which have been well located and identified, can be overcome, and not impede the continuity of the conciliar renewal proposed by this great ecumenical council, which God gave as a special grace to His Church in these difficult times of historic change we are experiencing.
Fifty years after Vatican II, we find ourselves faced with a vast panorama that could give rise to two initiatives that could be complementary:
On the one hand, we see how valid the Second Vatican Council was, and how much it gives for walking in the light of its two documents and the ecclesial events it stirred up.
Undoubtedly the Church keeps on moving forward, sustained by the motivation of Vatican II.
On the other hand, the rich experience of the era of the Council make us wonder if it wouldn't be worthwhile to experience an intense conciliar process again by holding a new council.
This second hypothesis is much more clearly opposed by the practical possibilities of its undertaking. And then we realize how difficult it would be, and perhaps too risky to undertake a new council in the current state the Church is in.
In addition to how complex organizing a new council would be, the profound changes that have happened in recent decades would result in a council that would also be completely new in how it was carried out.
In Spain there is even a small foundation, "Proconcil", that can be found through the Internet, dedicated to reflecting on the appropriateness of promoting a new council.
It prudently reached the conclusion that, for now, it was appropriate to recover the conciliar dimension of the Church, which is already a lot, to rely again on the opinion of the bishops and the people of the Diaspora to decide Church matters.
In any case, we have the enormous task over the next few years, as we celebrate the anniversary of Vatican II, of seeing how we can still motivate ourselves through its proposals and its dreams!
In this context, it is worth bringing up here, briefly, the dream of one of the cardinals who dreamed of the ecclesial renewal that we still have. It's the dream of Cardinal Martini, presented at the Special Synod for Europe in the nineties, in preparation for the transition to the new millennium.
Let me cite his dream again here:
Without saying that he was proposing a new Council, he proposed that "all the bishops of the world" should be called together to address three issues:
- Within the Church, rethinking the exercise of ministry, from the Petrine ministry to the community ministries entrusted to the laity, therefore, a radical change in the Church's ministerial structure.
- With respect to other Christians, that foundations be laid for broad theological understanding, which would allow a gradual rapprochement, and finally overcome the divisions.
- With respect to the world today, beginning a broad reflection on the urgent need for inculturation of the Gospel, so that Christ's Church can take on the characteristics of different cultures in the world and not be limited to only one of them, the Western one.
If a council were convened with these goals, all of us, doubtlessly, would have many opinions to give and positions to take. And we would do so enthusiastically.
But for now, at this Theological Conference, we are only called to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Vatican II, and take up again its generous goals of ecclesial renewal.
Which is certainly no small matter!
Photo: Dom Demetrio blesses his flock.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
The difficult search for self-fulfillment
Leonardo Boff's weekly columns are available in Spanish from Servicios Koinonia and in Portuguese on his blog. Some of his older columns are available in English at LeonardoBoff.com.
by Leonardo Boff (English translation by Rebel Girl)
There is nowadays a widely prevalent erosion of ethical values that were usually lived out and transmitted by the family and later by the school and society. This erosion has made the guidestars of heaven hidden by the clouds of interests that are harmful to society and to the future of life and the equilibrium of the Earth.
Despite this darkness, we must also acknowledge the emergence of new values associated with international solidarity, care for nature, transparency in social relations and the rejection of forms of repressive violence and the violation of human rights. But not even thus has the crisis of values diminished, especially in the field of the market economy and speculative finance. These are what define the direction of the world and the daily life of employees, who live under constant threat of unemployment. Recent crises have exposed speculator mafias inside the stock markets and big banks, whose high number and ability to pillage others' money almost caused the collapse of the global financial system. Instead of being in jail, such miscreants, after minor adjustments, have returned to the old habit of speculation and the game of misappropriation of the "commons", of the common property of mankind (water, seeds, soil, energy, etc.).
This atmosphere of anomie and "anything goes", which also extends to politics, dulls the sense of ethics and, in the face of general corruption, makes people feel powerless and condemned to acid bitterness and humiliating resignation. In this context, many search for meaning in self-help literature, made of pieces of psychology, Eastern wisdom, spirituality, with recipes for complete happiness -- all an illusion because it isn't based on or supported by a realistic and contradictory sense of reality. Others get psychologists and psychoanalysts who give better founded advice, but in the end everything ends with the following recommendations: Given the failure of entities that create meaning, such as religions and philosophies, and given the confusion of worldviews, the relativization of values and lack of existential meaning, find your way yourself, work on your deep self, set your own ethical standards to guide your life and seek your self-fulfillment. Self-fulfillment: the magic word full of promise.
I will not be the one to fight against self-fulfillment after writing El águila y la gallina, una metáfora de la condición humana ( "The Eagle and the Hen: a metaphor for the human condition" -- Trotta 2002), a book that encourages people to find reasons for sensible self-fulfillment within themselves. This results from the wise combination of the eagle dimension and the hen dimension. When should I be a hen, i.e. particularly attentive to the challenges of everyday life, and when should I be an eagle that seeks to fly high, free, fulfilling hidden potential. By joining these dimensions, the possibility for successful self-fulfillment is created.
I think this self-realization is reached only if it seriously incorporates three other dimensions. The first is the shadow side. Each one has his or her self-centered, arrogant side, and other limitations that do not ennoble us. This dimension is not a flaw but a sign of our human condition. To accept such a shadow side and ensure that its negative effects don't reach others, makes us humble, sympathetic with the shadow side of others, and allows us a more complete and wholistic human experience.
The second dimension is the relationship with others, open, honest and made of enriching exchanges. We are relational beings. There is no self-fulfillment if ties with others are severed.
The third dimension is nurturing a certain level of spirituality. This is not to say that the person must belong to any religion. It can happen but it's not essential. The important thing is to be open to human/spiritual capital which, unlike physical capital, is unlimited and made of values such as truth, justice, solidarity and love. In this dimension, the urgent question arises: In the end, what is the meaning of my life and the whole universe? What I can expect? A return to cosmic dust or shelter in a divine Womb that welcomes me just as I am?
If the latter is the answer, self-fulfillment will bring depth and an intimate happiness that no one can take away.


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Hilal War is writing a Book on Benazir's Assassination
Srinagar, Dec 27 (Only Kashmir) : A Joint meeting of Bhutto Memorial Trust (BMT) and People's Political Party (PPP) was held to commemorate the Fifth death anniversary of slain PPP Chairperson Muhtarma Benazir Bhutto at party headquarters, Rajbagh, Srinagar, Kashmir.
The meeting was presided over by Engineer Hilal Ahmad War, Chairman PPP. The PPP and BMT leaders paid rich tribute to the great leader in recognition of her life-long struggle for the stability, integrity and democracy of Pakistan and her contribution for the Kashmir cause.
Mr. War said with authority that 'Benazir Bhutto was killed at the behest of American CIA'. He said there were some black sheep in PPP leadership who hatched conspiracy with American CIA to kill her. He further said that she and her father Zulfikar Ali Bhutto vehemently opposed American Policy of making Pakistan a satellite State for its future plans. First America engineered the killing of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and then its Intelligence Agency, CIA killed Muhtarma Benazir Bhutto. The assassination of Benazir Bhutto was part of the ploy to create instability in Pakistan in order to the takeover the control of Nuclear Weapons of Pakistan by United States, said War.
PPP Chief, Mr. War, said that he is writing a book entitled 'The Man Who Assassinated Benazir Bhutto 'in order to expose the killers of the daughter of East.
Mr. War said in his speech, "PPP Government of Pakistan miserably failed to expose and punish the killers of Muhtarma Benazir Bhutto and it appears that due to vested interest and non concern for the integrity and stability of Pakistan, some prominent members of the present PPP Government are adamant to sell off Bhutto's of their 'dignity and honour' that they earned globally for their struggle to make Pakistan a stronger and "Greater Pakistan".
The speakers emphasized that the concept of Greater Pakistan floated by Shaheed Z.A. Bhutto and his Kashmir Policy for realization of right of self-determination for struggling people of Jammu and Kashmir were and are the source of inspiration for the political and armed activists of Kashmir Liberation Movement. The participants of the meeting urged the Government of Pakistan to formulate a Kashmir Policy in accordance with the letter and spirit of Bhutto's Kashmir Policy.
After conclusion of speeches delivered by various participants' special prayers (Fatah Khawani) were offered for the eternal peace and comfort of the souls of Shaheed Z.A. Bhutto and Shaheed Benazir Bhutto. (OK)


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Cover Puppies is a weekly post here on Pivot Book Reviews, where I combine my extreme love for my doggies and YA books, and recreate my favorite book covers with my puppies!
This week, I'm featuring..
The One (The Selection #3) by Kiera Cass!!
FROM GOODREADS: The Selection changed the lives of thirty-five girls forever. And now, the time has come for one winner to be chosen.
America never dreamed she would find herself anywhere close to the crown- or to Prince Maxon's heart. But as the competition approaches its end and the threats outside the palace walls grow more vicious, America realizes just how much she stands to lose- and how hard she'll have to fight for the future she wants.
From the very first page of The Selection, this #1 New York Times bestselling series has captured readers' hearts and swept them away on a captivating journey... Now, in The One, Kiera Cass delivers a satisfying and unforgettable conclusion that will keep readers sighing over this electrifying fairy-tale long after the final page is turned.
Let me be honest, I adore The Selection trilogy's covers SO much. I wanted to do this cover originally, but had convinced myself not to, because it seemed too hard. Then Pili was giving me suggestions for covers she wanted to see, and since this was the first she mentioned, I figured it was a sign. However I'm not too sure I did the cover justice. I'm pretty sure my dogs are sick of my shenanigans at this point, because it took FOREVER (and a ton of cookies) to get Gentry with the program. Cover Puppies is going to make my puppy fat! HAHA. Anyways, I haven't had a chance to read The One yet (since I'm writing this Wed night), but I plan on starting it today (Thurs), so if you have finished it, please please please don't spoil it for me (or I'll kill you *cough* for real, though). Also fun fact, I met Kiera Cass last night, and she is adorbs, guys, AND she gave me a ton of signed bookmarks for The One so be on the lookout for a giveaway within the next week or so!!
Did you like this feature?
Have a cover you are dying for me to recreate?
Let me know in the comments! I heart comment love!
Thanks for visiting Pivot Book Reviews, and be sure to hit that follow button so you get the newest Cover Puppies posts the second I hit publish!!


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Family Channel shared the short video they made to sum up our amazing day in PEI.
Thank you to all who voted to make our Dream Day Vacay a reality!
Family Channel shared the short video they made to sum up our amazing day in PEI.
Thank you to all who voted to make our Dream Day Vacay a reality!
It was "Anne" day like no other for the Beckett family. Chris and Jenn Beckett of Waterloo, Ont., and the couple's children, Delphine, 14, and Quincy, 8, packed a full Anne of Green Gables-themed Tuesday together on Prince Edward…
Source: Lucky Ontario family enjoys free – but short – fun-packed P.E.I. vacation | The Guardian
UPDATE: WE WON! Thank you to ALL who voted! We had the most wonderful time on our PEI Dream Day Vacay!
Thank you to Family Channel and to Prince Edward Island! Local businesses rolled out the red carpet to welcome us!
Thank you to the Confederation Centre of the Arts for comped tickets and a meet and greet with the Company of the Anne of Green Gables Musical on stage, the Holman Grand Hotel who upgraded our room to a harbour view suite, the Prince Edward Island Preserve Company for a private lunch room, passes to the Butterfly House and for looking after the Family Channel's Dream Day Vacay production team, the drivers, video crew, Mavor's Restaurant, COWS Queen Street, PEI Guardian Newspaper, Air Canada and West Jet.
Family Channel made every moment of our big day so special. We are forever grateful!
Our trip segment should air on August 13th, and a longer format video will be available on Family Channel's social media outlets.
A few weeks ago we spotted the "Dream Day Vacay" contest hosted by Family.ca. The contest asked for a written submission by our children sharing why our family deserves to win a summer day (24hr) vacation to anywhere in Canada… the prize is worth up to $10,000 and makes that dream vacation come true! Plus, they will film the day so there will be a video memory to treasure.
We have been dreaming up a way to get to PEI and see the "Anne" sites and also see our local Kitchener-Waterloo star AJ Bridel as Anne in the Charlottetown Anne of Green Gables Musical, so we submitted our entry. We have not been able to go on any big family vacations since my son was diagnosed with autism at 2, but if you know me, you know I am resourceful!
We were so surprised to find out WE MADE IT to the TOP 5 FINALISTS!!!!!!
But, in order to win, we had to make a 45 second video AND Our Video Has to Get the Most Votes… So, We Need Your Help!
The Voting begins Monday, June 25 at 10am ET and ends on Monday, July 9, 2018 at 10am ET over here on Family.ca. Clearly, I am not a professional videographer, but we did our best in a tight time frame and the video was made with a lot of love. ❤
Here's the original Video we submitted… The link for voting is below.
Vote here: Family.ca/contests
Here's an Eventbrite Event I created so you can easily add a voting reminder to your calendar (it is a daily vote). Thank you! If you can vote daily or as often as you remember, it will really help!
Up to 4 members per Canadian household (all ages, or 13+ in QC) with unique email addresses can vote per day! Rules: http://promo.family.ca/contests/dream-day-vacay/voting-rules.php
When you successfully submit your vote, you will get a SUCCESS
screen (see the sample image above) – if you don't, please resubmit!
I don't know what the outcome of the contest will be, but THANK YOU for being a part of the FUN!! =) I'll keep you posted!
❤ ❤ ❤
– The Beckett Family of Waterloo, ON
P.S. Family.ca did not sponsor this post, nor am I affiliated with them in any way.
When we left Great Wolf Lodge Niagara Falls, we had to literally peel my son's fingers off of the door as he kicked and screamed. Needless, to say, he LOVED every minute and never wanted to leave. This was our first visit, and I want to share with you what we learned, what we loved and why we'll be returning again as soon as possible!
For first-timers I highly recommend the Paw Pass! For $64.99 plus tax per kid, you get:
We did everything on the list except for the activities at the Cub Club. The kids loved getting their wolf ears, their stuffed wolf (just like at Build-A-Bear), and their wands for the MagiQuest. I upgraded the Paw Prints photo for about $6 we got a printed picture of our family going over the Falls in a barrel. We have very few family pictures and I appreciate the kitsch of this souvenir.
Our package included the meal plan and I loved the breakfast and dinner buffets. There were lots of choices and my picky eaters were all happy. Niagara Wine samples came to the table (SCORE!) and as it was my daughter's birthday, she received a special dessert and a birthday song from wait staff ending with a wolf howl! So fun!
Check out the video of the birthday song: Great Wolf Lodge Birthday Surprise
Lunch choices were 'okay'. We could choose from a pizza slice, chips and pop; or a hot dog or burger w/fries and a pop. Not as awesome as the buffet, but it was quick enough and let us get back to the more important task of enjoying the water park.
Next time I will consider bringing more food and possibly not getting the meal plan, it is certainly possible to make do without it, but I also really enjoyed the buffets!
The room had a mini-fridge and microwave oven, coffee maker and sink, so we could definitely have made do while in our room. No microwave popcorn is allowed to be popped in the hotel rooms – there are big warning labels on the microwave ovens. I brought snacks, chips, candy, and bottled water for the room.
Our room was a themed KidCabin Suite. The kids enjoyed the bunk bed room of their own. My son loved sleeping in the top bunk. My daughter turned 13 on the trip and found the beds very uncomfortable. Next time I would double a mattress for her (they were thinner than a standard mattress) and there were three beds in the suite and only two kids.
We would have been just as happy in a standard "Family Fireplace Suite" as we all really enjoyed the fireplace and would pay a little more for that perk (we visited in January and it was so nice to warm up by the fire and also to dry our towels). My daughter would've been more comfortable in a regular bed and would happily share with her brother.
If you have no budget, consider a premium suite. I'd love to try the loft fireplace suite. This would be great to book at Christmas as the room holds up to 8 people and Santa can bring presents to the fireplace! Some of the premium rooms come with dedicated parking right outside your suite so it is easier to load/unload.
We have been to the Fallsview Indoor Waterpark in Niagara Falls twice thanks to Autism Ontario attending in the Winter and were rather disappointed both times. My kids are not thrill seekers and they only enjoyed the wave pool there and unfortunately as the day progresses the water park gets colder and colder as patrons go outside to the heated outdoor space letting cold air continually blast into the water park.
We were pleasantly surprised with Great Wolf Lodge as the temperature was nice and warm and stayed warm the whole time we were there. The water park had smaller water slides for young kids or 'chickens' like my two. They loved the lazy river (I think half of our day was spent in the lazy river)! The wave pool was a hit and they also loved the smaller swimming pool with basketball nets around the sides. It was easy to access self serve life vests. Heated towels were available and there were lockers for rent. On our second day, we remained at the water park after checking out from our hotel room, so we rented a locker. The locker was about $20 and when we returned our key we had the option to receive the key back or pick a wolf stuffed animal (my daughter chose the wolf).
For the budget conscious, you can get a lot of fun out of a one night stay. If your room is not ready at your 1pm check in time, you can access the water park already! And you have water park privileges for your check out day as well, so you can stay as long as the water park is open! My hope next time is that we book at least 2 nights as there is so much fun to be had and it would have been a more relaxed pace for squeezing in all of the fun activities.
We used to save up for Disney, the happiest place on earth for me and so many others – but now, in less than 2 hours with no border crossing, our family has found our new 'happiest place' and it's IN CANADA. To celebrate #Canada150 a lot of bloggers are urging Canadians to make Canadian destinations a priority this year, so we will definitely be spending our vacation dollars in Canada and as often as possible, at Great Wolf Lodge in Niagara Falls, Ontario.
Check out all of my Great Wolf Lodge Niagara Falls videos on YouTube here:
Discounts here:
Great Wolf Lodge Official Website Deals: https://www.greatwolf.com/niagara/deals
Entertain Kids on a Dime posts monthly deals, here are the APRIL 2017 ones:
Special Needs Families! Did you know your Easter Seals Access 2 Entertainment card gets you a discount to Great Wolf Lodge? Scroll to the very bottom: http://www.access2card.ca/onattractions/
This Review is not an #Ad. It is my own opinion based on a stay my partner WON from CHYM-FM in Kitchener (Thank you for making me the #BestMomEver ).
Last year, I read Craig & Marc Kielburger's book The World Needs Your Kid: How to Raise Children Who Care and Contribute and was inspired to help my children find their own ways to give back in our community. Then in April of 2016, Ontario announced a cut to services for children with Autism over the age of 5 (a decision which did not impact my son with Autism, but greatly impacted his same age peers), and suddenly, my daughter and I were off and running. We marched in a rally in our hometown, headed to Queen's Park for a protest and attended Question Period, and we helped organize a small protest at a local MPP's office. We engaged on social media (#AutismDoesntEndAt5), posted signs, printed and distributed flyers in parking lots along with many other families across the Province. Thankfully, the government reversed its decision, but for our family, teaching our daughter that she has a voice and can use it, was the best outcome.
Craig and Marc Kielburger were raised in a family who practiced seeing the world through a lens where they were active participants in making the world a better place. At a young age they were moved to create Free the Children (now WE.org) and worked tirelessly to create a world where child slavery could be a thing of the past. Over the years, their effort has morphed into the WE movement. Children all over the world earn their way to attend WE Day events by fundraising and participating in volunteer projects and initiatives.
Many local school children participate in WE Day clubs and volunteer to earn their ticket to WE Day. There they are inspired to do more and find their own way to change the world. Kids come home from WE Day pumped up and excited, and they bring this enthusiasm home to their families. Families were looking for direction and ways to support their children and get involved. This was the inspiration for the first ever WE Day Family event, held in Toronto on October 19th, 2016.
My daughter and I were honoured to join over 20,000 people at the Air Canada Centre where we were treated to inspirational talks from speakers such as Chris Hadfield, Rick Hansen, Nelly Furtado, Paula Abdul, Lilly Singh and music from The Barenaked Ladies, Gord Downie and Hedley.
Lilly Singh (aka YouTube sensation IISuperwomanII) shared her #GirlLove movement and the Rafiki bracelet she created while visiting Kenya on a WE Villages trip. Sales of her GirlLove Rafiki bracelets help girls in Kenya access primary education. Lilly wants to end 'girl-on-girl hate' and spread #GirlLove!
Rafiki bracelets are handmade by women in Kenya! Purchasing Rafiki bracelets through the ME to WE store helps a variety of causes such as access to clean water!
My daughter, was inspired to help communities access clean water and proudly purchased a WE GIVE CLEAN WATER Rafiki bracelet. She also picked up a #GirlLove Rafiki bracelet!
Gord Downie is lending his voice to furthering the cause of the Reconciliation movement in Canada. Gord delivered an emotional rendition of "The Stranger" from his Secret Path concept album/Graphic novel collaboration with Jeff Lemire. Gord sang of the tragic death of Chanie Wenjack, who died while fleeing a residential school and attempting to walk to his home (not knowing it was over 400 miles away). Gord walked the stage as if Chanie, falling to the stage floor – a move that left many of us in tears. After the song, Gord was joined on stage by Chanie's sister Pearl Wenjack, who sang a heart wrenching song. Although Chanie died 50 years ago today (Oct. 22, 1966), his sister's ever present pain was evident in her voice.
TAKE ACTION: Tune in and watch as a family, then start the difficult conversation of Reconciliation in your home. The Secret Path will be broadcast by CBC in an hour-long commercial-free television special on Sunday, October 23, 2016, at 9pm (9:30 NT).
Astronaut Chris Hadfield joined the Barenaked Ladies to play his guitar and sing along with "If I Had A Million Dollars", then joined a room full of children and Mom Bloggers for an inspiring Q&A. When he was little, there was no such thing as a Canadian Astronaut, but he didn't let that stop him. He dreamed big and achieved his goal through hard work and determination.
His time in space inspired his commitment to WE.org – having a space-eye view of Earth, taught him the "WEness" of us all. WE are all in this together, and WE can make a difference to the lives of others around the globe.
Paula Abdul shared her story of achieving her dream to be a dancer and a choreographer, cleaning a dance studio in exchange for lessons and not letting her petite physique keep her from mastering the grace of ballet. Now she is a WE Ambassador and has traveled to Kenya. Her message was about taking action to achieve your goals, which really resonated with my daughter (who dreams of Broadway).
If you need a reason to get involved as a family, studies have shown that by engaging your children in WE Movement charities "youth experience profound academic and professional growth and develop critical 21st century skills, including leadership skills, as well as collaboration, communication, and problem-solving skills, all of which contribute to creating better prepared students and job candidates."
By living "WE" at home, families learn how to make a difference through their everyday actions. Families bond over causes that matter to them, and raise children who become caring and compassionate adults.
If you only do one thing today, take a minute and join the WE movement, visit WE.org and take the WE pledge. $10 will be donated for every pledge taken, up to $1 Million dollars will be donated to support charitable domestic empowerment programs and sustainable development programs in communities oversees.
One of the action campaigns my Tween wants us to take on as a WE Day Family, is called "WE Scare Hunger." With materials available online, we have all the resources we need to organize and collect food for our local food bank on Halloween. A few days before Halloween, we will be delivering notes to our neighbours, so they can be ready for us to collect non-perishable donations for the food bank when we visit them for Trick-or-Treat.
This is also a great way for kids who are starting to feel a bit too old to Trick-or-Treat to stay involved with the Halloween fun!
We Day Family was proudly sponsored by RBC. Check out their Make 150 Count campaign and share how you would use $150 to make a change!
❤ Jennpup ❤
P.S. Check out Canadian Living's Me to We Family Award winners, the Bodanis Family here.
We send our heartfelt thanks to Erica Ehm's Yummy Mummy Club for tickets and Media Access to We Day Family, Toronto 2016. Thank you to Canadian Living Magazine, Craig and Mark Kielburger and the WE.org staff for an unforgettable and inspiring event!
As a mom of a child with autism, I have a ready list of worries relating to him being out in the world. I recently took my eldest child to see an advance screening of Pixar's latest release, "Finding Dory" which we both enjoyed immensely. I chose not to bring my son with autism, because an advance screening means a big crowd, long line-ups and sometimes a late start. It is potentially too overwhelming for him, so it felt safer to keep him home.
He won't miss out – Cineplex in partnership with Autism Speaks Canada is offering a sensory friendly screening of Finding Dory on July 2nd, so my partner will take my son to see Finding Dory then, when my son can move in his seat, make noise and we can 'relax' that we are in an audience of people who "get it".
But this is just one of the ways that having a child with autism impacts our family. I worry about him every time we leave the house and go out into the community, and even in the house I worry – we have baby gates and high bolts to help keep him from wandering.
I worry about how he'll do at school, if he'll be able to attend integrated 'typical' classrooms or if he'll be separated. I worry about potential bullies and people who might harm him due to his sweet nature and trust of other people.
In "Finding Dory", the main premise is that Dory remembers she has a family and that she misses them, so she sets out to find them. Through flashbacks we learn about her parents Jenny (Diane Keaton) and Charlie (Eugene Levy) and how they worried about Dory. Dory suffers from Short Term Memory Loss and if she leaves home without her parents, her parents are afraid (and rightfully so) she won't be able to make it home on her own. They practice playing 'hide and seek', devise a way of leaving shell paths to help Dory find her way and come up with songs and rhymes to try to help Dory retain important information so that she can be safe when away from them. Dory wants to learn and tries to learn, but her disability prevents her from being successful. Her parents spend every day practicing these drills over and over again, not unlike how we work with our son at his IBI therapy. I can completely relate to their worry about Dory, how hard they work to try to help her and how proud they are when she accomplishes her goals.
Unfortunately, Dory's parents fear is justified. Dory does get separated from her family, and she does encounter many dangers in the ocean, but luckily escapes harm. She meets Marlin and later Nemo, who end up taking her in to be a part of their community and family. They offer her support and patience and do what they can to keep her safe and help her be included in their community. They accept that she can't help but wake them up in the night and that she makes unsafe decisions, and they love her anyway.
I hope my child with the support received in his childhood is able to be an independent adult who can find companionship and form a family of his own. I hope that he can be gainfully employed and help make the world a better place with his beautiful spirit. I worry about him and hope he makes it safely through the world into the future I dream of for him. I am hopeful that there will be community living options for him should he need them, such as those offered at the organization I work for*, and I will continue to advocate for a more inclusive world for him, not unlike the reef Dory lives in with Nemo and Marlin (her chosen family).
In her community, Dory finds acceptance, inclusion and a feeling of independence while being supported. These are the things that help me worry less while advocating strongly so this future can be a reality for children like mine.
❤ Jennpup ❤
-*Jennifer works in KW Habilitation's Residential Services since 2013. Her son was diagnosed at age 2 1/2 with autism and benefited from KW Habilitation's ELCCFR Special Needs Access Point (SNAP) program which brought additional supports in to his daycare, to address his early social and communication needs, prior to and following diagnosis.
I just took the Stayfree Challenge!
Thanks to Sarah at Journeys of the Zoo I was selected to participate in the #StayfreeChallengeContest – and I was *shocked* by the results!
I received this cool test kit in the mail from Stayfree® so I could test the Stayfree® Ultra Thin® pad against my current product.
Meet the competition: I chose an Always® Radiant Infinity pad with Flexfoam™. It looks almost like a sponge and I've found it to be very absorbent – I thought for sure it would beat Stayfree.
Next I was to pour 5ml of blue liquid on the centre of the Stayfree® Ultra Thin® pad, and wait 30 seconds…
After 30 seconds elapsed, I placed a blotter sheet, an acrylic sheet to protect my book – and then I had to place a heavy hardcover book on top.
I chose Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Seemed fitting… 🙂 Then I pressed down for 5 seconds.
After 5 seconds it was time to check the blotter paper! LOOK!!
Well, I wasn't actually surprised. I had seen Sarah's results and expected the Stayfree® Ultra Thin® to pass this part of the test. I was sure my fancy Always® pad would do *just* as well.
Next up! The COMPETITOR. Cue the Eye of the Tiger! 🙂
Yep, just like a sponge! It soaked up all of the liquid. I waited 30 seconds (timed with my FitBit Charge HR) and then added the blotter sheet, acetate and same book:
After pressing down for 5 seconds, it was time to see if my product won!
Sorry, Charlie! Not even close! I was truly shocked!
It wasn't even CLOSE!
Wow! Super fun! I enjoyed sharing the results with my tween – I know we'll be picking up some Stayfree® Ultra Thins® when it's her turn to start using pads. We'll both feel more secure in our new 'pad of choice'.
Congratulations, Stayfree® Ultra Thin®!
Thanks for following my adventures!
❤ Jennpup ❤
Imagine you are a parent of a child with autism in Ontario. Three years ago your child was diagnosed with autism, and you immediately applied for an IBI (Intensive Behavioural Intervention) assessment. Your child was assessed by a team who agreed that IBI was the best therapy for your child and you were put on the wait list. Now your child just began, or is about to begin the therapy (the average wait list is 2 1/2-3 years in Ontario), but the Province decided a few weeks ago to change the rules and that your child is now considered too old and will no longer be receiving the therapy. You will receive a one time payment of $8,000.00 (enough to purchase about 8 weeks of IBI therapy), while the average cost for one year of therapy is approximately $50,000.00.
According to the Province, this is the only solution to the wait list problem. Not increasing funding and creating more spaces, but drastically cutting funding and arbitrarily kicking children off of the wait list based on AGE and not by whether or not the therapy IS the best option for that particular child.
Please stand with these 'lost children' and ask that they receive the service promised to them when they were first diagnosed with autism and the province assessed them and deemed them in need of receiving IBI therapy.
Write to your local MPP. Keep up the pressure! The Ontario Liberals have changed their mind on closing schools for the Deaf (crazy, right?) and cutting some prescription benefits for seniors. Thank you to all who showed your support on Friday, April 15th at rallies held all over Ontario.
Note: My child was diagnosed with autism at 2 and started IBI therapy at 4 years 9 months. Prior to the changes to IBI, we had agreed to discharge him from therapy at the end of June, to continue working on his social and communication needs within the framework of the school system. The majority of his IBI therapy happened during the year he was 5 and he made great strides thanks to this vital therapy. He is able to attend our local school and has a much greater chance at being a productive member of society thanks to the therapy he received. Please join me in standing up for the "lost children" of Ontario.
Our family also 'dodged the bullet' – we were discharged in April, effective at the end of June. Great Post, had to share!
Oh, Kathleen. What. Have you. Done ?!
After hearing the recent changes announced by the Liberal government, regarding the Ontario Autism Program, I felt inclined to write to you again. Forgive me for having not written sooner, but you dropped a bomb on us Kathleen. I needed some time to crawl through the rubble.
I am the mother of a child with Autism, and I firstwrote to you back in June 2014.
Kathleen, you humiliated me. You humiliated all of us that believed you, when you promised additional support and shorter waitlists for our children with special needs.
My husband and I tuned into our local news station, along with other eager parents in the Autism community, on March 29th. The $333 million in funding sounded promising ! I mean really, how could an announcement for additional fundstowards supporting our children with Autism, be bad…
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Thank you to our partners and collaborators at the British Columbia Cycling Coalition and to our friends at MEC and the Real Estate Foundation for their generous support for our work.
Thanks as well to Britannia and KickStand for the space for our meetings
and to the Vancouver Foundation's Neighbourhood Small Grants program for funding our cargo bike!
Just some of our awesome business supporters. Please support our supporters!
"The Storm Crow Tavern supports bike lanes on Commercial Drive because so many of our customers and friends in the neighbourhood use bicycles as their main mode of transportation and because riding is a safer, healthier, and more environmentally sustainable alternative to automobiles. The biggest celebrations of Commercial Drive every year are Italian Days and Car-Free Day. It's no coincidence that these celebrations are huge successes for the neighbourhood and the businesses on the Drive because there's no cars present and people can walk at their own pace soaking in the amazing culture. It seems counter-intuitive to me to argue against bike lanes while simultaneously praising Italian Days/Car-Free Day. Commercial Drive is a progressive-minded neighbourhood, bike lanes are a progressive idea. Let's do it." – Sean Cranburg, General Manager, The Storm Crow Tavern
The owner of Renzo's Coffee at Commercial and Charles Street, Andre Montagliani, wrote to the Vancouver Courier saying that he "would like to make [his] support clear for Streets For Everyone's proposed improvements", calling traffic "loud, dangerous and, at times, unpleasant". "I am pleased that Streets For Everyone has put forward a proposal that would make the street more safe, attractive and accessible to all residents, shoppers and visitors", he continued. (Source)
"I think [businesses] would be crazy not to do it. I think that's a super smart move, just in terms of the number of bikes you can get in a car parking spot. We can have up to 20 bikes there." — John Neate owner of the JJ Bean Coffee Roasters commenting on the Commercial Drive bicycle parking corral. (Source)
If you would like to add your business to our list of supporters, please send us an email at firstname.lastname@example.com!