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Reunion with parents in the works for kids in bus home
SPLENDORA — The parents of two young children discovered living virtually unsupervised in an old school bus in Southeast Texas had been looking forward to the prospect of regaining full custody of their kids.
Child welfare officials have said they are delighted with the commitment Mark and Sherrie Shorten have shown since their kids were found last year while the couple was in federal prison.
But the Shortens were left puzzled after Child Protective Services officials told them a court hearing Tuesday was unlikely to result in them regaining full custody of their 12-year-old daughter and 6-year-old son.
"I'm going to walk in there with an open mind," Mark Shorten said Monday night shortly after CPS officials informed him they would not receive the expected recommendation for unrestricted custody of the children.
"We've done everything we could to cooperate with these people," he said.
Agency spokeswoman Gwen Carter said last week the children had been attending school and the parents have complied with CPS care plans, evaluations and therapy.
"They're doing really well and the family is doing really well," she said. "The staff is very proud of them."
But Monday evening, she called expectations that CPS would recommend dismissal "a misunderstanding."
"It's down on the books as a regular hearing," she said. "We'll report how the family is doing and proceed from there."
Last March, a postal worker, after repeatedly spotting two disheveled children in the Montgomery County neighborhood about 35 miles northeast of Houston, became concerned and notified authorities. Welfare officials quickly arrived and placed the kids in foster care while media coverage led with images of the outwardly dilapidated bus on a trash-littered lot.
Carter said officials are accustomed to poor families living in tough conditions and while it's not illegal to live in a bus, "sadly, that was the sensational part, the condition of their living environment and they were left there all day."
"Let's be blunt," Mark Shorten said. "Once I saw pictures on the news and read the full story, I was glad somebody pulled my children out of that mess. Both of them suffered through that mess."
At the time, Shorten and his wife were in separate federal prisons both serving 18 months for convictions for conspiracy to embezzle money from victims of Hurricane Ike, which struck in 2008. They had arranged for their children to be supervised by an aunt, who told authorities she became overwhelmed between working 12-hour days and trying to care for them.
"There was a lot of emotional and mental anguish put on the kids," said Sherrie Shorten, who was released from prison several weeks after the children were removed. "And that's what we were upset about."
Her husband was released in July and their children were returned to them, under CPS supervision, in September.
"My main focus when I got home was getting my kids back home," Mark Shorten said. "And I did that. Life's as good as it's going to get at the moment but we're trying to make it better."
Despite its worn appearance, the bus inside had been renovated, furnished, had hot and cold water and a bathroom, and was air-conditioned. The family moved it from Louisiana after their home there was flooded from Hurricane Ike. It was intended as a temporary home until they could build on the lot, where the trash has been cleared and items outside, like a lumber pile, are neatly stacked.
"We'd still like to (build), but we have some restrictions," said Sherrie Shorten, who with her husband is on supervised federal release for three years and also looking at more than $100,000 in court-ordered restitution. "We have a lot of issues rebuilding our lives and getting back on track."
Mark Shorten maintains neither he nor his wife, an accountant, were guilty.
"I don't want to sound like somebody who is bitter and mad, because I'm not," he said. "We're trying to move forward."


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Last post I mentioned a relationship between my dad and me, this time I will talk about my mom for a little bit. My mom is a clean freak-hahaha yes she is. It's good and bad. Their house is organized and clean. It's bad when she asks me to help her clean the house so often!
My Mom's Tomato Soup
Yield: 6 first course soup
7-8 fresh Roma tomatoes, cut quarterly
3 medium shallots, thinly sliced
2 Tbs vegetable oil
1 lbs of ground meat at your choice (I like to use ground pork)
1, 8 oz. package of firm tofu, cut in cubes
4 cups chicken stock
1 Tbs kosher salt (add more if needed)
1/4 Tbs black pepper
Chili flakes (optional)
1/2 cup chopped green onion and cilantro
|beautiful Roma tomatoes from farmers market in my hood
- Heat up large pot on medium high heat. Add oil; swirl to coat.
- Add shallots. Cook until brown.
- Add meat and cook until brown and cooked through.
- Add tomatoes. This will take a while about half hour. Cook until tomato meat is smushy and starts to turn to soup. Season with salt and pepper. Cover lid as needed.
- Add chicken soup. Adjusting seasoning (salt, pepper, chili flakes if using)
- Bring it to boil. Add tofu and let it simmer for another 10-15 mins.
- Turn off the heat and add chopped green onion and cilantro.
- Serve as a soup or eat with rice or bread.
|Brown shallots. The smell is incredible good!
|Add ground pork
|Then tomatoes
|Cook until tomatoes are smoochy and turn to tomato soup
|It will look like this
|Add chicken stock, tofu and cook in low heat for 15 mins. Add green onion and cilantro; turn off the heat and remove from heat
|A finished soup witout fried shallots on top
|Top with fried shallots (optional) and serve with your choice of pasta, noodles, rice, or even bread

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Farmers may have yet another chance to win meaningful disaster assistance for their 2009 waterlogged crops, the chairman of the National Cotton Council told producers attending the Mid-South Farm and Gin Show.
Although growers have become increasingly frustrated with what have been perceived as "missed opportunities" in obtaining ad hoc disaster legislation for the 2009 crops, Eddie Smith, a cotton producer from Floydada, Texas, said such assistance may yet pass the Congress.
"We have been advised that disaster assistance will be included in what is known as the second JOBs bill, which could be considered by the Senate as early as this week," said Smith, who became the NCC chairman during its recent annual meeting in Memphis.
"Although not yet finalized, recent language would deliver assistance – in a manner similar to a direct payment—to eligible producers in counties with a primary Secretarial disaster declaration. Producers will likely have to certify a 5 percent economic loss for at least one crop of economic significance on the farm."
Council leaders also believe a disaster assistance amendment to the JOBs bill could also contain financial assistance for losses associated with cottonseed, specialty crops, aquaculture, poultry and grazing.
The National Cotton Council, and other farm organizations began seeking "swift passage" of an ad hoc disaster bill last November after it became apparent that producers in the South had experienced severe crop losses due to prolonged periods of rainfall and flooding.
Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee and Mississippi Republicans Thad Cochran and Roger Wicker introduced legislation that would provide an additional direct payment to producers who suffered significant losses due to weather.
Congressmen Travis Childers, D-Miss., and Marion Berry, D-Ark., introduced similar legislation in the House.
Hopes the legislation was gaining traction were dashed earlier in February when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid introduced a JOBs bill that did not contain the disaster assistance language. The Senate passed the scaled down version the week of Feb. 22.
Smith said the Council's congressional contacts indicate the legislation will be re-introduced in the second JOBs bill the first week in March.
Smith said the coming year promises to be full of challenges and opportunities for the Council and the U.S. cotton industry, including several other issues such as implementation of the 2008 farm bill and preparation for writing the 2012 legislation.
"In the area of farm bill implementation, USDA's final rule issued on Dec. 31, covering payment eligibility for the 2010 crop, was no more restrictive than the rule covering 2009," Smith said. "USDA, in fact, provided a less restrictive interpretation of the labor and management provisions of the 'actively engaged' requirements for some smaller entities in 2010. Otherwise, we believe the eligibility requirements for 2010 will be unchanged from 2009.
"The Dec. 31 rule also included finalization of the memorandum of understanding between USDA and the IRS for verifying compliance with adjusted gross income or AGI eligibility provisions for farm program and conservation program benefits. The Council will be closely monitoring the implementation of this process."
The NCC and other agricultural groups are also conveying strong opposition to the Obama administration's budget proposal, which would include almost $11 billion in cuts to U.S. farm programs. The proposal includes phasing down direct payments, limiting total payments, elimination of cotton storage credits, and a reduction in Market Access Program funding.
Other issues confronting the Council:
• Council leaders are anticipating increased activity on the WTO Brazil case. The Brazil government recently announced that, on March 1, it will publish a final retaliation list of U.S. goods that will be subject to retaliatory duties. It appears that Brazil's list will target $560 million in retaliation and they will also claim the right to impose another $269 million in cross-retaliation (or the suspension of intellectual property rights).
• Continuing to support a comprehensive Doha agreement that does not include any reductions in commodity programs without commensurate market access gains.
• Addressing the Sixth Circuit Court Decision concerning pesticide application permits will continue to be a priority this year. On Feb. 22, the Supreme Court denied the Council and other agricultural associations' petition which sought a reversal of the original decision. "We firmly believe a Supreme Court review of the earlier decision was warranted and that the Court's determination will have significant repercussions for U.S. agriculture. The Council will be working closely with EPA and other agricultural groups to ensure that this process does not result in permitting requirements that will greatly increase our costs."
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Ferrari said today that it is in talks with Apple to expanding their in-car entertainment partnership, also unveiling a new, iPad mini-equipped car. The car, called "LaFerrari", is a 1 million euro hybrid four-seat vehicle with iPad minis in the passenger seats. LaFerrari was announced at the Geneva motor show. Bloomberg reports:
Ferrari, which today unveiled the 1 million euro hybrid model "LaFerrari," is in talks with Apple about broadening a partnership on in-car entertainment, Di Montezemolo said today at the Geneva motor show. The new four-seater Ferrari model includes mini i-Pads on the passenger seats.
Eddy Cue, Apple's Senior Vice President of Internet Software and Services, joined Ferrari's board in November. There were also reports last spring of a meeting between Apple CEO Tim Cook and Ferrari Chairman Luca Cordero Di Montezemolo. Cue tweeted about the car's unveiling today, calling LaFerrari "stunning". He's not wrong about that.


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Architecture, the Built Environment, and Religion in America
Peter W. Williams
The development of religious architecture in what is now the United States is tied closely to continuing immigration and the development both of de facto and de jure religious pluralism. Prior to the arrival of Europeans, seminomadic Native Americans built temporary structures, while those farther south erected more permanent temples, most notably those of the Aztecs in Mexico. Spanish settlers in what is now the U.S. Sunbelt built mission chapels, with those in California incorporating a mixture of styles and building techniques derived from Spanish, Moorish, and indigenous traditions. Puritans in New England and Quakers in Pennsylvania erected meeting houses, architecturally simple structures based on secular models and eschewing the notion of "sacred space." Anglicans from Boston to Charleston imported English neo-classical models devised by Sir Christopher Wren and Sir James Gibbs in the mother country, devised to accommodate Anglican sacramental worship. Later classical styles, especially the Roman and Greek revivals, reflected the republican ethos of the New Republic and were adopted by a whole range of religious traditions including Catholics and Jews. Urbanization and enhanced immigration following the Civil War saw adaptations by Protestants, including auditoriums, institutional churches, and the Akron Plan; by Jews, who invented a new, eclectic style for synagogues and temples; by Anglicans, who revived English Gothic traditions for churches and cathedrals; and by Roman Catholics, who turned to Continental Gothic for their inspiration. Mormon temples, beginning in Salt Lake City, took on new forms after that faith spread across the nation. During the post-WWII era, the colonial revival style became popular, especially in the South, reflecting patriotic and regional values. Following the immigration reform of 1965, waves of newcomers from Asia and the Middle East brought their traditional mosques and temples, often considerably modified for worship in the diaspora. Religious architecture, like the nation at large, has reflected an ongoing process of change, adapting old forms and inventing new ones to accommodate changing demographics, settlement patterns, and the necessities of living in a pluralistic society where religion is protected but not supported by the government.
Art and Religion in Ancient Greece and Rome
Robin Osborne and Caroline Vout
One of the challenges shared across cultures and faiths is the intangible, ineffable nature of the divine. One problematic, yet theologically productive, solution to this problem is to embody the divine in sculpture and painting; another is to seek divine aid and attest to divine presence by making votive offerings. In the absence of a sacred text, it was sculptural and graphic representation of the divine that made sanctuaries and temples in Greece and Rome theologically active places. But the need to experience god was not confined to these centers. Greek and Roman gods were everywhere—on coins, gems, drinking vessels, domestic wall paintings. Even when they were not there, their power could be felt in the representation of those who had felt their power. They were as pervasive as they were all seeing.
This article examines how this material culture worked to bring gods and mortals into contact. It does so by tackling three major issues: first, it discusses how a wide range of artifacts, monumental and modest, shaped sanctuary space and guided and recorded the worshipper's interaction with the divine; second, it looks at images of gods themselves and how these affected epiphany, while maintaining a critical gap and insisting on their strangeness; and third, it uses art to rethink the relationship of religion and myth. Although there are some continuities between cultures, the rise of Hellenistic and Roman ruler cults created a new subcategory of gods, creating additional representational challenges. Out of this came Christ, who was god incarnate. We briefly explore how early Christian artists used the problems of anthropomorphism to their spiritual advantage.
Autobiography, Biography, and Theological Questioning
John D. Barbour
Autobiography and biography (which together will be called "life writing") raise theological questions in ways different from systematic or constructive theology. These forms of life writing tell a story that may or may not be correlated with traditional doctrines. They integrate the first order discourse of symbol and narrative with secondary hermeneutical reflections that interpret and analyze the meaning and truth of religious language. The probing and disturbing questioning in a profound autobiography such as Augustine's contrasts with the assurances and settled answers expected of theology by religious institutions and communities. Particular religious questions shape specific genres of life writing such as Puritan discourses, nature writing, or African American autobiographies. The theology in autobiography may be either explicit or implicit and involves both questioning and affirmation, as may be seen in works as different as Newman's Apologia Pro Vita Sua and Edmund Gosse's Father and Son. Conversion has been a central theme and shaping influence on Christian texts, even when authors challenge this focus and create alternative forms. A central theological question posed by autobiography concerns the authority of individual experience when it contrasts or conflicts with traditional norms asserted by orthodox believers and ecclesiastical hierarchy. In spiritual autobiographies by contemporary writers, we see serious attention given to communal norms for life stories and a search for a distinctive personal apprehension of what is sacred. Autobiographical writing has been stronger in the history of some religious traditions than in others. Yet in the modern world, almost every culture has produced life writing that questions or challenges established patterns of thought and practice. In contrast with autobiography, sacred biography has been an important part of every religious tradition, usually describing an exemplar to be revered and imitated. Its strong didactic interests often curb theological questioning of established norms. While modern scholarly biographies often mute theological questions, some writers raise normative issues and argue for why the subject's life should be valued. As well as the theology explored within life writing, many works reveal a theology of life writing, that is, beliefs about how this kind of writing may bring the author or readers better understanding of God or deeper faith.
Buddhism in Film
Sharon A. Suh
Film serves as one of the most recent contributions to the variety of Buddhist visual forms that can offer a perspectival shift in interpretation for its viewers akin to other meditative devices such as mandalas. As a relatively recent subject of study, Buddhist films present innovative opportunities to visualize the Buddha, Buddhism, and the self in nuanced ways. Buddhist film can be understood as a spiritual technology that reshapes vision, and the act of viewing becomes a ritual process and contemplative practice. Ranging from films with an explicitly Buddhist theme and content to more abstract films without obvious Buddhist references, Buddhist films have become the subject of scholarly studies of Buddhism as well as occasions to reimagine Buddhism on and off screen. Buddhist films found in Asia and the West have proliferated globally through the rise of international Buddhist film festivals over the past fifteen years that have increased both the interest in Buddhism and the field of Buddhism and film itself. Most studies of Buddhism in film indicate that what constitutes a Buddhist film continually evolves and, as such, can be seen as a contemporary instantiation of the skillful means of the Buddha.
Buddhist Art and Architecture in Tibet
Erberto Lo Bue
Tibetan Buddhists view images primarily as religious supports and secondarily as works of art. Buddhist images are aimed at improving one's karma by earning merit in view of future existences, at removing obstacles, and at creating wellbeing. Their commissioning may be occasioned by various circumstances, including illness and death, besides the need for a specific religious practice. Since they are primarily expressions of faith, their age has a limited importance and their originality hardly any: a religious image is valued less for its rarity and aesthetic value than for its apotropaic virtues and for its particular connection with a holy place or master. Hence the application of Western post-Medieval aesthetic criteria to the appreciation of Tibetan art ought to be complemented by an appreciation of the specific religious meaning of an image, the interpretation of its particular symbolism, and the aim of its client within the specific cultural and historical context in which it was produced.
This article is preceded by a historical introduction sketching the development of Buddhist art and architecture in Tibet from the 7th to the present century, mentioning the role played by foreign artists, mostly Newars from the Nepal Valley, and dwelling on particularly significant monuments, such as the monastery of Sàmye (8th century) and the Great Stupa of Gyantsé (15th century), representing the two highest moments in the history of Tibetan religious art and architecture, the Pòtala being basically a fortified palace.
The first section, on Tibetan Buddhist art, deals with iconography and iconometry as well as materials and techniques, contrasting the prevalent approach to the subject by collectors, and even art historians, with that of Buddhist masters and devotees, pointing out the importance of the consecration of images, without which the latter remain worthless from a religious point of view.
The second section, on Tibetan Buddhist architecture, deals with the construction of religious buildings, their materials, their religious functions and their symbolism. Although stupas are referred to throughout the article, they are dealt especially in this section.
Sanskrit terms, whether in phonetic transcription or in transliteration, prevail in the first section because the relevant terminology is largely the Tibetan translation of Indian Buddhist terms, Tibetan terms in phonetic transcription and transliteration prevail in the second section, except in the part dealing with the stupa.
Culture, Entertainment, and Religion in America
Randall J. Stephens
Throughout American history, religion and entertainment have influenced each other and have intersected in fascinating ways. Native American rituals and games entertained and inspired. Early white settlers like the Puritans, though defining their faith over and against profane pastimes, engaged in sport, play, and elaborate storytelling. Still, stark contrasts appeared in the 17th and 18th centuries when it came to how Catholics and Protestants in the New World thought of the theater, music, and performance. The evangelical surge in the 18th century brought with it a lively and riveting preaching style—represented by celebrity ministers like George Whitfield and Gilbert Tennent—that faced the ire of their more traditional foes for using "vulgar" methods to reach the masses. In the 19th century, African Americans, in slavery and freedom, expressed their faith in ways that combined religious systems, dancing, and music traditions from Africa and the Americas. Evangelical churches and prominent figures used entertainment to proselytize, illustrate the drama of salvation and damnation, and to enliven services. Temperance, anti-slavery, and other reformist groups employed music, novels, and theater to spread their earnest message. Pentecostals and other evangelicals took up new forms in the 20th century. They eagerly made use of radio, film, and later, television. The well-known evangelist Billy Graham was a skillful pioneer of new media. In the 20th century, Hollywood films drew on Jewish and Catholic themes, as Jewish and Catholic writers, directors, and actors put their stamp on the silver screen. Late 20th and early 21st century combinations of religion and entertainment included Muslim rap music, Christian rock, Jewish folk music, and much more. A great deal of this innovation coincided with the rise of the performance-driven megachurch and the proliferation of religious organizations that catered to athletes and drew on sports imagery and symbols for the cause. In the long sweep of American history, the devout have found new, elaborate ways to draw on popular culture and to entertain as well as enlighten the faithful.
Dunhuang Art
Michelle C. Wang
The oasis city of Dunhuang lies at the eastern end of the southern Silk Routes, in Gansu Province in northwestern China. In the 2nd century BCE, Dunhuang was established by the Chinese Han dynasty as a center for military operations and trade. Over time, Dunhuang became an important hub for multicultural trade as well as for the transmission of commodities, ideas, and religions. The status of Dunhuang as an important regional center for Buddhism is demonstrated by a wealth of paintings and manuscripts that provide crucial insights into the unfolding of religious praxis and developments in visual culture over many centuries.
A few centuries after the establishment of Dunhuang as a military garrison, the construction of cave shrines in the area began. Four major groups of cave shrines were constructed in the Dunhuang region: the Mogao, Yulin, and Western Thousand Buddhas caves, and the Five Temples site. The most well-studied of these are the Mogao 莫高, or "peerless," cave shrines, which are located 25 kilometers southeast of Dunhuang at the eastern edge of Mount Mingsha 鳴沙山 (Mountain of the Singing Sands). From the 4th to the 14th centuries, 492 man-made caves were carved from the sandstone cliffs, stretching 1,680 meters from south to north. They were painted with over 45,000 square meters of mural paintings and installed with more than 2,000 painted clay sculptures. To the north, 248 additional caves were carved. Mostly unadorned, the northern caves served as habitation chambers for monks.
In addition to the mural paintings and inscriptions in the Mogao caves, more than 50,000 manuscripts and portable paintings were discovered in 1900 by the caretaker and Daoist priest Wang Yuanlu 王圓籙 from one cave, numbered Mogao cave 17, popularly though perhaps problematically known as the "library cave." These objects were dispersed in the early 20th century to library and museum collections, the most prominent of which are the Stein collection in the British Museum, British Library, the National Museum of India, and the Pelliot collection in the Musée National des Arts Asiatiques-Guimet and Bibliothèque Nationale de France. For this reason, the study of Dunhuang art and material culture encompasses both objects held in museum and library collections worldwide as well as mural paintings and sculptures located in situ in the cave shrines. Bringing these two bodies of material into conversation with one another enables a nuanced understanding of Dunhuang as a religious and artistic center, focusing in particular on the Mogao caves.
Film and Religion in America
Eric Michael Mazur
Religion intersects with film not only in film content, but also in the production and experience of film. From the earliest period, religious attitudes have shaped how religious individuals and communities have approached filmmaking as way to present temptation or salvation to the masses. Individual religious communities have produced their own films or have sought to monitor those that have been mass produced. To avoid conflict, filmmakers voluntarily agreed to self-monitoring, which had the effect of strongly shaping how religious figures and issues were presented. The demise of this system of self-regulation reintroduced conflict over film content as it expanded the ways in which religious figures and issues were presented, but it also shifted attention away from the religious identity of the filmmakers. Built on a foundation of "reading" symbolism in "art" films, and drawing from various forms of myth—the savior, the end of the world, and others—audiences became more comfortable finding in films religious symbolism that was not specifically associated with a specific religious community. Shifts in American religious demographics due to immigration, combined with the advent of the videocassette and the expansion of global capitalism, broadened (and improved) the representation of non-Christian religious themes and issues, and has resulted in the narrative use of non-Christian myths. Experimentation with sound and image has broadened the religious aspect of the film experience and made it possible for the viewing of film to replicate for some a religious experience. Others have broadened the film-viewing experience into a religious system. While traditional film continues to present traditional religions in traditional ways, technology has radically individualized audio-visual production, delivery, and experience, making film, like religion, and increasingly individualized phenomenon.
Film Regulation and the Church in America
William D. Romanowski
Since the dawn of the cinema at the turn of the 20th century, the church and its vicissitudes have been an essential part of the Hollywood story. There is a basic affinity between film and religion; both propagate values and offer visions of life that can—and often do—rival one another. For that reason, religious leaders have always been wary of Hollywood's effect on the moral and religious character of the nation and its influence around the world. The film industry evolved in tandem with the church and other social institutions as it became integrated into society as a legitimate art. Negotiations with Hollywood were complex as church leaders sought to resolve enduring tensions between profits and the public welfare, freedom and control, art and entertainment, morality and marketing.
Approaches to the cinema embody deeply held religious principles held in some tension. The one stresses freedom of expression and individual conscience; the other a concern with protecting the church and the moral and religious character of American society. Various perspectives that are rooted in different theological-cultural traditions exist along a spectrum. At one end is an emphasis on the individual as the genesis of social change; at the other is a concern with transforming institutions that influence and govern people's lives. These two tendencies, which are not mutually exclusive, find expression both within religious groups and between them.
In the history of Hollywood-church relations, Protestants favored industry reforms to protect individual liberty and the common good based on a shared recognition of the need for self-restraint and public responsibility. While Protestants stressed the individual conscience in movie matters, Catholics emphasized ecclesiastical authority. Proscribed film viewing and production oversight were deemed necessary to develop the individual conscience and protect parishioners from false ideas and immorality. Evangelicals, in turn, utilized film to evangelize and expected to restrain film production with highly publicized protests and a demonstrable consumer demand for family-friendly movies. Though motivated by different goals and perspectives, these strategies are all in some measure attempts to fuse moral and religious principles with democratic values and market realities: persistent dynamics traceable from the origins of the cinema to contemporary debates.
Judaism and Visual Art
Melissa Raphael
Until the late 20th century, it was widely assumed that visual art could be of only negligible significance to a Jewish tradition that had been principally mediated through written texts. However, by the closing decades of the 20th century, Jewish cultural historians had demonstrated that, while Jewish worship and study is indubitably logocentric, the Second Commandment's prohibition of the making and worshipping of graven images has not entailed a blanket ban on visual art. Jews have not been uniformly indifferent or hostile to visual art, a category that includes the architectural design and decoration of synagogues; funerary monuments; illuminated manuscripts; embroidery; liturgical seats, pulpits, and the other fittings and ornaments of religious Jewish life at home and at worship; as well as, since the 19th century, drawing, painting and sculpture. Most interpreters now read the biblical texts as prohibiting only the making and worshipping of images of the divine. The Bible forbids idolatry, but is aware that not all images are idolatrous. By around the 3rd century of the Common Era, rabbinical rulings recognized that the danger of Jews becoming idolaters, as they might have done under formerly pagan dispensations, had passed. In short, although in a number of Jewish historical periods and geographical regions there have been good reasons to be reluctant to accommodate visual art within the tradition, there is also ample evidence of visual art in settings that span the entire geography and history of Judaism. Jewish avoidance or neglect of visual art has usually been more historically contingent than theologically necessary. The religious culture of Jews resident in Islamic lands, for example, tended to conform to their hosts' prevailing, though not historically or geographically comprehensive, tendency to aniconism.
On grounds such as these, it has been argued that the notion of Judaism as an aniconic tradition is a modern one. Kant's appreciation of the Second Commandment as one of Judaism's few redeeming features, proscribing any crude urge to see that which exceeds the bounds of sensibility, encouraged western European Jews to advert to Judaism's lack of art a sign of its pre-eminence as the first enlightened religion. The 19th and early 20th-century claim that Jewish tradition is aural and literary, but not visual, seems to have owed more to the modern German scientific study of Judaism's use of the Second Commandment to highlight affinities between Jewish and Christian monotheism and to Jews' desire to integrate into Protestant culture, than to restrictions within their own legal and cultural inheritance.
Perceived violations of the Second Commandment no longer provoke much of a reaction in any but the most conservative Jewish communities. And even among the Haredim, artists have begun to paint semi-abstract pictures that are not considered a deviation from halakhic norms. Yet, while many Jews still regard abstraction as a more permissible form of Jewish visual art than others, it is evident that the art tradition that developed after Jewish civil emancipation in Western Europe has actually been predominantly figurative. A number of scholars have therefore proposed that the Second Commandment has not so much prevented figurative visual art as promoted a distinctive set of styles and techniques, especially those that allow Jewish artists to make images that fulfill their quintessentially Jewish obligation to criticize idolatrous images. Jewish art, it has been argued, exists because of the Second Commandment, not in spite of it.
This essay does not cover Jewish approaches and contributions to film and architecture. It examines both the history and theorization of Jewish visual art and Jewish religious approaches to visual art. The essay uses the findings of this two-pronged enquiry to suggest that Jewish visual art, which is more than art by artists who happen to be Jews, is properly counter-idolatrous art, art that is far from hindered by the Second Commandment but is actively produced by it. Jewish art does more than build cultural, political, and national Jewish identities; it does more than the commemorative work of visually constructing Jewish memory. Visual art made by Jews becomes Jewish when it serves a constructive theological, prophetic purpose and when it uses idoloclastic techniques to produce images that both cancel and restore the glory of the human. This claim counters the prevailing view that there can be no unified or normative theory of Jewish art.
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As the first architect to appear on The Apprentice, the newly fired Gabrielle Omar says the profession is in desperate need of a redesign
Gabrielle Omar, the first qualified architect to appear on BBC's reality television programme The Apprentice, has called for a 'brand overhaul' of the profession after being booted off the show last week.
The owner of London-based practice Lolli & Square, told the AJ that the public still didn't know what architects did and that common misconceptions had
to be addressed.
The 29-year-old entrepreneur made it to week 10 before she was fired by the show's ringmaster Alan Sugar, who described her as a 'nice girl who talks a bit too fast' with creative flair but a lack of 'business savvy'.
She said: 'I wanted to bring attention to my practice and the profession. Since going on the show the profile of the firm has sky-rocketed.
There are so many people who don't realise what we do
'But there are so many people who don't realise what we, as architects, do. 'I once told somebody I was an architect and they said 'What, you clean bones?
Omar, who also runs a creative agency and an online sweet retail business, said: 'We need a design overhaul of the whole profession and I want to approach the RIBA about how we could do that.
'We need to be seen as essential to the process of construction. We need to work on becoming sexy'.
She added: 'People are bypassing us. I've got some new clients who, until they'd seen the show, admitted they'd never have thought of using an architect.'
In response to Sugar's remarks about her commercial sense, Omar – the 'top seller' four times during her 10-week stretch on the programme – said: 'In his uneducated opinion artists, architects and those people in the construction industry have no idea about business.
'Getting so far in the process should prove otherwise. The fact I also have three businesses, which are all doing very well, should also be proof.'
Omar, who will be talking at a special AJ event at the NLA on 12 June with AJ Woman Architect of the Year award winners Cindy Walters and Michál Cohen, said she also hoped to change perceptions about women in the profession.
She recalled 'When bidding for work, I had to pretend I was working for somebody else. I was seen as a young female. I had to create an illusion I represented a group, headed by an old man sitting behind a desk. I'd love to champion women architects.'
Omar says architects have got to be adaptable to changing circumstances. She said: 'I was made redundant in 2008, but while colleagues remained unemployed for more than a year, I was doing graphics and designing flyers.
'I'm working on a high-end residential scheme and restaurant in Kensington, where I'm also doing the menus and logos. I'm creating the whole package.
Being nice is seen as a weakness. I was an easy target
The former University of Westminster student said ultimate her demise on the show was down to exhaustion, having flagged in the final task of negotiating discounts for a daily deals website.
She said: 'I just got tired. It was non-stop for two months, some days up at 4am. As an architect I'm used to working all hours, but they were very long days.
On her performance in the boardroom, she said: 'Being "nice" is seen as a weakness, alongside being "creative". I was an easy target.'
See Omar with Walters & Cohen at the free AJ Women in Architecture: Taking care of business event at the NLA, 26 Store Street, London, 12 June, 5:30-8pm
For more details and to register click here.
The Apprentice's Gabrielle Omar: 'Architects need a brand overhaul'
RSVP now: Women in Architecture event this evening
Readers' comments (5)
Why does architecture have to kowtow to 'sexiness' in order to get a place at the table?? Omar links two separate issues - architecture in society - and women in architecture. Her point about using sex to sell the profession completes contradicts her point about the inequality of the sexes WITHIN the profession. Is sex important or isn't it??
These are dangerous times for all architects, male or female. There is a real risk that the roles we meld to create our profession will be swept up by other, more hungry and cost effective, professions. We have arguably lost the Project Management role, the Contract Administration role and seem to be allowing Mechanical and Electrical Engineers to take the lead on sustainable design without even as much as a whimper. Small residential schemes are being 'designed' by contractors, often as permitted development and large residential master plans for speculative developers are being planned by chartered surveyors to gain outline planning. We know what we as architects can bring to the table, but in such economically challenging times as these, there is an increasing likelihood that others will forget. After the RIBA and ARB have finished their squabbling will there be much of a profession left? Personally, for the sake of my 10 week old daughter's future, I hope so.
'But there are so many people who don't realise what we, as architects, do. 'I once told somebody I was an architect and they said 'What, you clean bones?'
I can't tell you how many times this has happened to me.
Although Gabrielle's actions were well intended, surely it falls within the remit of the RIBA to promote both what architects can do and how architecture as a profession contributes to wider society. Perhaps the RIBA is too glitzy? Too standoffish, a tad aloof, perhaps, as a profession, dare I say it, we have become arrogant- or are at least perceived to be? Perhaps we are all guilty of pandering to the tastes and fashions of the prosperous - representing architecture as an exclusive highbrow luxury commodity rather than as the development of practical, economic, considered solutions for the many.
I agree wholeheartedly with her assessment of the industry. I'm pretty sure she's not using sex to sell (@Alice Fawke), but rather her comment about making the industry sexy is about making it attractive to the public.
It's tragic that such an integral, valuable and essential profession is in such a sad state.
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A supercharger is an air compressor used for forced induction of an internal combustion engine.
Ituses a mechanically driven blower or compressor to push more air into the intake system while turbocharger is driven by hot exhaust gases exiting the engine.
The primary advantages of supercharging over turbocharging are instant throttle response and more boost at low engine speed. Because a supercharger is belt driven off the crankshaft, it can deliver boost the instant the throttle is opened.


text:
Free example essay on Pros and Cons of War:
War is devastating and tragic. It affects the daily lives and activities of the people of the nations involved in the war. It affects the economy of each nation involved and it can cause long-term affects on the soldiers involved in the actual fighting.
In the following essay I am going to tell you about the pros and cons of war. I will also be discussing the reasons behind why wars are started and I will be giving my personal opinion and thoughts about war. What are the reasons that cause wars?
Is war good for the economy? Would I like to be involved in a war? These are just a few of the questions I hope to answer in this essay. I hope that this essay will help give you a better understanding of war and that you will be able to form your own opinions about taking part in a war.
Pros & Cons of War
Some world leaders think there are advantages to waging war. Continue reading Example essay on Pros and Cons of War


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April 11, 2005
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Boston College soundly defeated MIT and Rhode Island, Sunday, along the Charles River, with a big effort at the start igniting the victory. The Engineers recovered in the novice eight as Tech's heavyweight and lightweight boats swept the top two spots.
In the varsity eight, the Eagles lightweight crew took a commanding lead at the start, before hanging on for the win. MIT's varsity heavyweights slashed BC's lead in half with 700 meters to go, but endured a boat-stopping crab. MIT's lightweight crew finished about a length back.
The novice eight offered a tremendous race to watch. The first freshmen heavyweights got a length in the opening 500 meters and steadily increased their lead throughout the tilt. The real race took place at their backs, where Boston College and MIT's lightweights battled for second. In the first 1000, MIT was out nearly a length before the Eagles reeled them back. Each move gained BC a seat or two, but the Engineers refused to break. With 250 meters to go, the Cardinal and Gray surged ahead, winning by 3/4 of a length. MIT's heavyweights posted a time of 6:41, while the lightweights earned their runner-up finish with a split of 7:01.


text: I'm going through old travel photos, and these two bring back memories. On our first trip together with all three curators, to Frieze Art Fair in 2010, Tina and I went to the Hayward Gallery to see Move: Choreographing You. We got a bit tangled in the art. The exhibition was actually a lot of fun, and distinguished itself from the rash of recent interactive/audience-centered exhibitions by focusing on the idea of choreography, both explicitly and through sculptural installations.


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SPLOG By DAN JOHNSON
With the U.S. Sport Aviation Expo now history — but hoping to build on the strong beginning of the LSA-only event — preparations are underway for Sun 'n Fun 2010, running April 13-18.
Sebring, in January, has become the first airshow of the year and when it goes well, some feel the rest of the season can follow. Certainly as Sun 'n Fun is often considered the start of the "season" (of sport flying, presumably), the two events are ever-more linked. So, at least you might say, if Sebring goes well, so may Sun 'n Fun. We certainly hope so, as this new year simply must be better than 2009 if our small aviation businesses are to recover from the slump all of aviation has endured.
Once again, Sun 'n Fun will offer an LSA Mall right near the main entrance. The industry showcase of the top 20 LSA models will now be in the Southeast Display area, a slightly different location from the last three years. The good folks at Sun 'n Fun offered the new spot at the corners of Doolittle and Sun 'n Fun roads. Meanwhile, the show organizers will move to the former LSA Mall area. This is a smart location as the Sun 'n Fun team can then be the first to greet visitors to the big event.
The build up for Sun 'n Fun continues to revolve around the entry of legacy brand Piper Aircraft, which will again show its brand-new PiperSport, no doubt right alongside its still-in-development PiperJet. The two make an interesting contrast and show the range of the brand from a $119,900 LSA entry to a $2 million cabin-class single-engine Very Light Jet. Piper is enjoying its time in the limelight, while Cessna announced six to 10 months of delay before the SkyCatcher LSA enters full production.
For more on Sport Pilot and LSAs: ByDanJohnson.com


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The Society of Typographic Arts chooses 38 pieces for this year's Chicago Design Archive
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Design Bureau delivers honest and inspirational global dialogue on design from diverse disciplines and points of view. It gathers people like you—creative professionals, style arbiters and industry leaders—and connects you with a like-minded community of design enthusiasts across the world with one common idea: discovering great design and the people who make it happen. Published in Chicago by ALARM Press.


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Cassidy Tomlinson is a 16 year old girl, with a bit...
Nothing , to , something ?
- by ptommo
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- Published: 31 Dec 2013
- Updated: 1 Feb 2014
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Logan Lawster is a 20 year old girl from San Diego , California . For the last years of he collage & high school life she struggled with bullies & disrespect . She hasn't seen anyone from her school for a year now. But what happens when her old bullies & classmates find out who she is now ?
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This series of infographics was created to supplement the Here, There, Everywhere (HTE) exhibit and connects cross-cutting science content (Earth and planetary sciences and astrophysics) with everyday phenomena, helping to demonstrate the... (View More) universality of physical laws and the connection between our everyday world and the universe as a whole to non-experts. (View Less)
The bending and scattering of sunlight to create blue skies and red sunsets is explained and illustrated in this article. SciJinks is a joint NASA/NOAA educational website targeting middle school-aged children and their educators. It explores... (View More) weather and Earth science through articles, videos, images, and games. (View Less)
This comic addresses the question "What is color?" Using the Sun as an example, the comic discusses how visible light (white light) contains all the colors of the rainbow. It goes on to describe why our Sun is white, our sky is blue, and why sunsets... (View More) are red/orange. The discussion ends with a thought-question and provides further information on NASA missions and websites that address issues related to the Sun. The comic is illustrated mostly with NASA imagery and is part of the series Tales from Stanford Solar, featuring Camilla Corona and Colours O'Iris. The topic "What is Color?" was inspired by the 2014 Alan Alda Flame Challenge, an international competition asking scientists to communicate complex science in ways that would interest and enlighten an 11-year-old. (View Less)
This poster features NASA's Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission. The front features an image of the GPM Core Observatory satellite along with the constellation of satellites that will accompany it. Background information is provided on... (View More) the reverse side of the poster, including an overview of the mission, details of the satellite, the science and applications of the mission, and information on the constellation missions with which GPM will partner. Also included on the back is a multi-age educational activity on freshwater availability. See Related & Supplemental Resources to download a PDF of the poster. (View Less)
Materials Cost: 1 cent - $1 per group of students
Two comic characters, Camilla Corona, a rubber chicken, and Colours O'IRIS, a peacock, explore questions relating to colors of light from the Sun. This comic is part of the series Tales from Stanford Solar.
Materials Cost: Free
Learners will investigate how much you can learn about something just by looking at it. In Activity 1, students study aerial photographs to identify geologic features, determine how they differ from one another, and examine the processes involved in... (View More) their formation. In Activity 2, students investigate how remote observations of a planetary surface can be used to create geologic maps. By the end of the lesson, students will understand how data gathered by spacecraft can not only be used to investigate the properties of an object, but also how it was formed, how it has evolved over time, and how it is connected to other objects nearby. Note: The MESSENGER mission to Mercury that is mentioned in this lesson ended operations April 30, 2015. For the latest information about MESSENGER and NASA's solar system missions see the links under Related & Supplemental Resources (right side of this page). (View Less)
This is a comic book about the science of Earth's upper atmosphere, specifically the ionosphere. Learners will better understand the ionosphere, the science behind atoms and ions found here, and how radio signals from satellites are distorted by... (View More) space weather caused by to the Sun. (View Less)
Materials Cost: Free


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Titleist Den Caddy
This item is ideal for a wide range of uses and will fit perfectly in any office or golf shop, it can be used as golf ball storage, waste paper bin etc
Manufacture information - TA7ACDC-061, *Balls not included.
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YORK, PA – The York College men's lacrosse team earned their first-ever berth in the Capital Athletic Conference championship game as they defeated a very talented University of Mary Washington squad 13-9 in the tournament semifinals on Saturday in York.
The Spartans, who are ranked 15th in the nation, improve to 15-3 overall. The Eagles, who are ranked 13th in the nation, fall to 14-3 with the loss, their second to the Spartans this year.
The 15 wins for York establishes a new school record for victories in a season. It is also their eighth straight win, which is also a new school record.
The Spartans got off to a great start in the game as senior James Lowe (Monrovia, Md./Urbana) fired the first salvo with a goal off a pass from Joseph Joseph (Hollywood, Md./St. Mary's Ryken) 1:31 into the game. The Eagles tied the game four minutes later but York responded with goals from Andrew Gamble (Easton, Md./Easton) and Joseph to take a 3-1 lead with 7:08 left in the quarter.
The Eagles wasted little time in tying the game as Luke Dick and Greg Smith notched goals less than a minute apart. York took the lead for good when Gamble scored his 46th goal of the year off a pass from Tyler Hutson (Westminster, Md./Winters Mill). Spartan faceoff man Jake Katchmark (Centreville, Va./Westfield) then gave York a huge jolt as he won the ensuing face off, raced towards the net and fired a shot past Zack DelGrosso for the goal. Katchmark's tally came seven seconds after Gamble's goal.
The Spartan run continued in the second quarter as York ripped off five straight goals to push the lead to 10-3 late in the period. Hutson and Gamble had two goals during the run while Joseph had the other tally as the Green and White took a stranglehold on the game.
The Eagles got a Griffin Burke man advantage goal with just 12 seconds left in the first half as UMW took a 10-4 deficit to the half.
Mary Washington opened the second half with another man-up goal from Burke and a Dick goal at the 4:48 mark, cutting the York lead to 10-6. Tyler Davis (Finksburg, Md./Westminster) stopped the Eagle run with a goal at the 3:24 mark but Mary Washington finished the quarter strong with a Chip Pittard tally with only 35 seconds left in the third.
Dick began the fourth quarter with an unassisted goal 32 seconds into the period, trimming York's lead to 11-8. Gamble picked up his fifth goal of the game with 10:46 left in the game to push the Spartan advantage to 12-8. The two teams would trade goals over the final 4:26 of the game as York secured the four-goal win.
Spartan head coach Brandon Childs thought it was a true team effort for the Green and White on Saturday.
"I think everyone, whether they were on the field or on the sideline with me, was really focused on doing their role," said Childs. "It was 40 people making good plays, not one person making the great play. I think that's the temptation when you get to playoff time is players want to make a great play. We harped on that all week. Just make the good play and if all 40 players do that, we will make great plays. I thought our guys on the sideline were great all day. The guys on the scout team did a great job all week of simulating Mary Washington and getting the guys prepared. It was a team win. Top to bottom and all the way through the entire team."
Gamble finished the day with six points on five goals and one assist. Gamble tallied his five goals on a mere seven shots. He also had a ground ball in the win. Lowe contributed two goals and two assists for four points. Joseph and Hutson each notched three points on two goals and an assist. Senior Seth Krolus (Westminster, Md./Loyola Blakefield) collected a season-high nine ground balls while he also had an assist and a caused turnover.
Katchmark finished the game winning 17-of-25 face offs while he also had eight ground balls and his first collegiate goal. Sophomore defender Josh Kluver (Abington, Pa./Abington) caused four Eagle turnovers while he also notched three ground balls.
Dick led the Eagles with six points on three goals and three assists. John Bohlinger added three points on a goal and two assists while Burke recorded a pair of man-up goals for UMW. Smith was the other Eagle with multiple points as he contributed a goal and an assist.
Childs has nothing but respect for the talented Eagle squad.
"I think Mary Washington is a very good team. They have just three losses all year. It's a big deal for us to have two wins over this team. I think they are well coached and are a very good squad."
The Spartans finished the game with a 41-22 edge in total shots while they also held a 42-26 margin in ground balls. The Spartans were great at the X, winning 17 faceoffs for the day. The Spartans had 13 turnovers while the Eagles committed 17. Mary Washington failed on seven of their 18 clear attempts.
Spartan goalie Caleb Abney (Forest Hill, Md./Fallston) earned the win as he recorded four saves in his 54:42 of work. James Anderson (Pasadena, Md./Annapolis Area Christian) notched three saves in his 5:18 of work. Anderson allowed two goals.
DelGrosso was brilliant for the Eagles as he made 14 saves in his 60 minutes of work.
Childs believes his offense is peaking at the right time of year.
"I think offensively we were clicking. Their goalie made some unbelievable saves. I feel like we are really hitting our stride at that end of the field."
The Spartans will head to top-seeded Salisbury next Saturday for their first appearance in the league title tilt. The Sea Gulls knocked off the Spartans 11-8 in their March 22 regular season meeting. Game time for the contest will be determined on Monday.


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Denizens of Atheist Nexus, I have failed you. I am ashamed.
I recently bought a country place to get away from it all. By "it all", I mostly mean "people". I want to grow fruits and vegetables, feed the chickens, and raise honey bees. I want to plant trees. I do not want conversations with people who have agendas.
Tuesday I was unloading 2 young hazelnut trees from the pickup truck. I'm moving them from the town yard, not enough room. And squirrels were getting all of the nuts. Damn those cute rodents.
A white sedan drove up the road. Three modestly dressed ladies got out, carrying bibles. One had a bun. The others wore scarves. Now was my chance. Ready to pounce, tell them "I'm an atheist!" "I've read your cursed bible more than you. It's vile". "I voted for Obama! Take that". "I'm a Sodomite. Give me your sons."
So the lady said, "We're here to do our Christian work. Do you have some time?"
I had no fight in me. I just said, "No, I'm busy". And she said "Maybe another time". And I said "Maybe.".
I'm sorry. Can you forgive me?
Views: 470
Another possibility: "I'll listen to you only if you then listen to me set you straight for an equal amount of time." If the agree, quietly intone at the proper moments "One minute." "Two minutes." and so on. (You might also want to correct their English as they go on, or count aloud the number of times they say "like" or "you know.")
For me that would be an interesting experience. It would make my holiday.
Don't worry, it was 3 to 1 anyway.
We've been visited by Baptist, Methodist, Church of Gawd, but the JW were the most persistent. Since they have no compunction coming on my property without invitation and assuming that I need their "holy sure cure" for what ails me, then I have no problem telling them I am an atheist. We haven't been bothered by any of them in years.
One could try conversing with these people as human beings.
Like, "it's awful that your church makes you do this, don't you get a lot of people being nasty to you?" see if one can get a response as a person, not a canned "Jesus told us we would have to suffer for our faith".
From what I've read of ex-religious people, they hated going door-to-door.
It's a bit like being a sheep and having "circling disease", which is a bacterial infection that makes the sheep go around in circles.
Asking them how to prevent further visits might work.
It doesn't happen much here, and when it does I often just don't answer the door.
Booklover, it's nice having a place to retreat to. It needed/needs some work but there is no hurry. The place was abandoned for a year, but not too bad for that. Lots of ground to dig in, room for gardening, and you can see the stars at night.
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Named after Yorick, the deceased court jester whose skull is exhumed by the gravedigger in Act 5, Scene 1, of Shakespeare's Hamlet, this very dapper felted skull scarf was designed by the talented Kate Kuckro of Knitty.com. It is straightforward; one knits across each skull opening and then cuts out the yarns crisscrossing the eyes and nose without having to worry about anything unraveling. We love it in white, but imagine it would also look marvelous in a subtle bone-colored yarn.
"Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio; a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy; he hath borne me on his back a thousand times; and now, how abhorred in my imagination it is! My gorge rises at it. Here hung those lips that I have kissed I know not how oft. Where be your gibes now?" (Hamlet, V.i)
Felted Skull Scarf
September 9, 2010 by Britex Fabrics


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Hello from SWEAT Fitness at the Island Rec Center! Unfortunately, some people are full of excuses when it comes to working out. Some of the most common excuses I hear include, "No time", "No gym membership" and "No fitness equipment." For those people, I designed an excuse-proof workout you can do at home, with no equipment, in under 10 minutes. A little exercise is better than no exercise at all, so squeeze in this short routine for a quick total body burn.
Wall sit
Sit against a wall as though you are sitting in an imaginary chair. Your legs should be at a 90 degree angle with your ankles directly below your knees. Engage your abdominals, drawing your belly button to your spine and pressing your lower back flush to the wall. Your arms can be extended straight in front of you. Hold the Wall Sit for 60 seconds
Bicycle crunches
Lay flat on the floor, legs extended and hands supporting your head. Squeezing your abdominals, crunch your chest off the floor, while bringing your right elbow to your left knee. Next, switch sides and bring your left elbow to your right knee. Speed up the move crunching right and left for 60 seconds.
Alternate between Wall Sit and Bicycle Crunches for two, 60-second sets.
Traveling push-ups
Begin in push-up position (on knees or toes). Complete one push-up and walk hands to the right. Complete another push-up and return to starting position. Complete another push-up and walk hands to the left. Continue this push-up pattern for 60 seconds.
Booty lifts
Begin in a crawl position with your body weight supported by your hands and knees. Lift one leg off the ground, holding the leg straight at hip height. While squeezing the glutes tight, pulse the lifted leg up and down for 60 seconds.
Alternate between Traveling Push-Ups and Booty Lifts for two, 60-second sets. Switch legs on the second set of Booty Lifts.
If you want to get Hot 'N' Healthy, consistency is key. Try this routine 3-4 times a week and turn your excuses into results.
Jen Edwards is the owner of SWEAT Fitness and star of the SWEAT Total Body Burn DVD series. She is an AFAA certified fitness instructor with over 20 years of experience. She can be reached at email@example.com, by calling 843-415-1665 or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/readysetsweat.


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Big 3 Carmakers See Strong Truck Sales Rebound
As the big three automakers report strong year-over-year pickup truck sales, Ford Executive VP Joe Hinrichs joins the News Hub from Ford's Kansas City Assembly Plant where 2,000 workers will be hired to build vans and F-150 trucks.
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
... the ... good ol' days after the auto industry to the ... one to the assembly plants ... Kansas City Missouri expanding their production lines ... expanded the number of trucks ... Anna and as for Dell reveal the expanding its profits ... will come back this up ... till Hynix for one company ... is here to tell us about what's going on the F one fifty and truck market done this time it's great to see a ... you get a great backdrop that they get the trucks move in now way behind yet ... tell us um in such a move in ... you know we actually sell a truck ... United States every forty six seconds in right now we're building ... the put that behind me here in the assembly plant ... that were here to make some great new whenever without doubt that the plan ... adding a third crude production ... for the US would it be because we're very bullish on what's happening in the housing market the oil sector ... and the overall economy ... and the Cup series sales are up nineteen percent this year so far ... net production ... the tothe the market leader Tom Wright of assignments ... tell us you you you mention the housing starts with us on the other factors that contributed to me that that you're seeing on that ... the the oldest trucks working ... out there in the marketplace that we've ever had talked on average eleven years old ... that's driving replacement demand ... housing starts rose thirty six percent in the first quarter ... the best driving causing growth which really correlate well with truck sales ... were also seeing a nice ... uptick in the oil sector here in United States Golf and light trucks ... and all draw construction environment improving as well as all of the content into ... truck sales outpacing growth in the industry about three to one right now so far this year ... Anacor's as F one fifteen PM the leader ... I were excited by a market that's ... all right now with that of the truck sales of the Big three all seem to be doing quite well ... I wish you open for its position relative to your define us ... and for that ... Plato the series then the number one selling thought I'd take the thirty six straight years ... without making it thirty seven ... this year ... are still doesn't earlier up nineteen percent so far this year in the US ... aam overall Fortis the ninth hence the markets here in us so far this year Sir Silva doing really well ... and of course having the right trucks helped us out alot right ... they can ask question about driverless cars driving the trucks ... you see a density of one fifty becoming a driverless vehicle over time ... well we believe that we all agree that the driver in control and have the ability to take over full but there are the light technology coming ... helping communicate between vehicles to help with ... that with all the sensors we have everything else ... help that vehicle to vehicle communication but we believe over time will be warmer technology helping to advance ... the ball but the flow of vehicles and also the safety of vehicles ... but we don't think well reviewed title people actually lose control of buying the vehicle to what people directly ... at full price and of ... course a lot of discussion about changes ... the makeup of our trucks double when nobody ... trucks earlier discussion ... afforded elsewhere tells about something that that ... well when they announce that some of the future holds for our grade afford the drugs did show the Alice kind that ... North America International Auto show and it was named most significant vehicle show so we note that this that that ... um but we'll have more to say as time moves on my kids both did little to do but ... suffice to say we love our trucks ... with the big number one and will keep ourselves and among the greatest books online for four of this is one of the facilities around the country including Kentucky toss about ... what we're seeing some of ... the reform of me ... well we're seeing a lot of growth here in North America ... Ivan tenderly are still growth of nine cents a share so far this year ninety percent growth ... in trucks thirty percent overall processing tremendous growth ... internationally like in China were up fifty four percent ... in the first quarter ... our target is doing very well ... what's in your up for stabilizing the business for a restructuring plan in a very aggressive plan to get that that the contracting doubling down on costly new product ... and South America ... were broader business there as well ... some instability in places like Venezuela Argentina but strong growth in Brazil ... Nestle were growing but released ... at home here in ... America with U S Canada ... leading the way ... write to Joe thanks for joining us ... it's nice to see


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Mumbai: International dancer and actress Lauren Gottlieb, currently a contestant on dance reality show 'Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 6', is happy that she is doing TV because she feels it is the best way to familiarise herself with people.
Lauren is an American and has featured in many TV shows in her home country. She made her entry in Hindi films with Remo D`Souza`s 'AnyBody Can Dance'.
"I am doing `Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa`, going from film to TV so people were questioning that why you did that..? But I am new in the country (India) and it`s a great way for people to know about me," Lauren said here during the photo shoot.
Currently, Lauren is enjoying her stint on 'Jhalak...' and happy with appreciation she has been getting on the show.
"I hope I can show the talent in the best way I can and what I can wish for more than anything that good comments I am getting from the judges, the three people (Remo D`Souza, Madhuri Dixit and Karan Johar) that I respect deeply," she said.
Lauren is competing with Karanvir Bohra, Drashti Dhami, Siddharth Shukla, Mukti Mohan, Sana Saeed, RJ Mantra, actor Karan Patel, and 'India`s Got Talent' winners Sonali and Sumant for the winner`s title.


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The Wall Street Journal's Investigation on Tuberculosis
This morning's Wall Street Journal in the U.S. ran a story by Mumbai-based reporter Geeta Anand and Atlanta-based reporter Betsy McKay on the unintended and deadly consequences of an approach to treating tuberculosis that was widely adopted – in India and elsewhere – by the World Health Organization, a branch of the United Nations.
This is the latest in-depth piece on the scourge of tuberculosis, especially strains that are very resistant to traditional treatments.
For more on this topic, please read the other stories in the series so far this year.
India Faces New Front in Battle Against TB
India in Race to Contain Untreatable Tuberculosis
Q&A: The Threat of Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis
A Woman's Drug-Resistant TB Echoes Around the World
A Global Race to Abate Spread of Drug-Resistant TB Strains
Indian bureaucracy slows treatment of tuberculosis
Help Line: U.S. WSJ Readers Aid India TB Victim


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Central's commitment to affordability is our assurance to make the Central experience possible for you and your family.
To qualify for this financial aid program, students must be admitted to Central with a cumulative GPA of 3.00/4.0 scale or better and total family income less than $100,000 per year. Students can rest easy knowing that the cost at Central for the upcoming year will not exceed the published cost of your flagship public university after federal, state and Central financial aid is awarded.
Colorado students who meet the cumulative GPA and family income criteria will be awarded financial aid to match the University of Colorado's published cost of $26,950.
Central College commits to providing you the Central College grants/scholarships amount awarded to you your first year, for all four years at Central, provided you are in good academic standing and complete the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) each year.
We look forward to working with you! If you have questions, call 641-628-7616 or get started here.


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Earthquake proof house in Colma – just $399k!
Price: $399,000
Buy with Redfin and Save $7,980*
Beds: 1
Baths: 1
Sq. Ft.: 600
$/Sq. Ft.: $665
Lot Size: –
Property Type: Detached, Single-Family Home
Year Built: 1902
Stories: 1
Region: San Mateo County/Northwest
Area: Colma
County: San Mateo
Status: Active
Contractor special. Small house on a big lot. Potential for new construction/addition.
$666 per square foot is pretty reasonable, given that this house isn't in the Real Bay Area. But let's face it, the real selling point of this house is that it is earthquake proof! Just from looking at this picture, you can already tell that this house has been stress tested and is well equipped to handle the next calamity.
Why risk the lives of you children by buying a brand new house that's unproven? You want a house that you know has withstood the test of time. Furthermore, it's like those $250 jeans – this house is distressed and distressed is HAWT.
It'll also confuse robbers! "What is this? A pile of wood? A house? I'll move on to the next place." Safety first my friends!
So go ahead, go vintage. Go buy this house.
(Thanks to Burbed reader San Mateo Home Sellers in Trouble)


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Liberty News
D-Day conference draws veterans, WWII scholars
In honor of World War II veterans and to bring awareness to the D-Day invasion as a pivotal event in history, Liberty University has partnered with the National D-Day Memorial Foundation to host a two-day conference titled "Overlord Echoes: The D-Day Journey Then and Now."
The conference, taking place June 4 and 5 at Liberty University School of Law, features leading authorities on World War II, including Alex Kershaw, author of the best-selling book "The Bedford Boys" and Dr. Gerhard Weinberg, a German-born American historian and author who has written numerous books on the origins of the war. Veterans are also sharing personal experiences of the June 6, 1944 Normandy invasion.
Dr. David Snead, chairman of Liberty's history department, said those in attendance will not only be able to gain a better understanding of the events surrounding the war, but also have one of the final opportunities to hear the participating veterans speak publicly.
"As far as I know, there has never been a conference [on D-Day] that has tried to include both scholarly sessions and panels of veterans. This mix will allow the conference attendees to learn from actual participants in the war while gaining additional perspectives from some of the leading scholars in the world," he said.
The conference is a prelude to the 65th anniversary ceremony taking place on Saturday, June 6 at the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford, Va., about 25 minutes from Liberty University.
"Since President George Bush dedicated the D-Day Memorial in 2001, it has brought literally thousands of people to the area to recognize the sacrifice of the men and women who served in World War II," Snead said. "With its proximity to Bedford, outstanding facilities, and highly trained faculty, Liberty is in a perfect situation to help the D-Day Memorial to expand its outreach and offer new opportunities for the community."


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Winners/Losers: A Tough Week for Herbalife and AIG
AIG and Herbalife's battles grabbed headlines this week. Who else made the list for Deal Journal's Winners and Losers? David Benoit joins Markets Hub to discuss. Photo: AP.
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
... I ... we take a look at the winners and losers in the land ... deal Journal blogger day Benoit ... Mr. Noi ... are ... doing well do well ... in the excited about this week's edition yet know if someone ... did really ... really good in designing ... don't know that the way side were in first went to Deutsche Bank share of retroactively into thousandeight the British bishop at its unconditional when Frank Gretz of it is so odd to have a great story this week about ... Deutsche Bank making me given every six hundred and fifty four million dollars train on life or rate which ... these are incredibly risky trades ... they said it will point it ... if it moves just like a very small amount ... would cost them millions of dollars each month ... and live are obviously live or re rating has come under extremes Rennie said the bank is one of the banks on their ... right under investigation by international companies ... and national regulators ... we'll see if the ... pain on my right so for no winner ... who knows a lot of good for ... the scoop on the spot next winner in Egypt Charlie urging the odd dish ... Dish Network Chairman Dick satellite that ... while the opera this week to buy Clearwire out from under Sprint ... really it's not happen is I can get Clearwire that this is a very interesting move right essentially he's if you're member rain in late last year ... Dish got approval from federal regulators to use its satellite spectrum to sell cellphone service on ... an essentially yes second scramble to figure out ... how to do that now in this is kind of ... looks like a tactic either right Prisma on ... the ... artificial our been wondering if the Herbalife to ... pick up all over the place ... of big backing By Dan loved this week the hedge fund for on coming in Cummins can slow a bit of Bill Ackman short position ... an investor day a sale was a really all that exciting shares ended down by it but aam ... but having in love letter cited his aunt and certainly I think ... for some fun with this on ... her Siloam on who's the biggest winner in this story it's Herbalife the hedge fund guys with in the ... right the business press as it is ... to get these two guys who is really fastening I mean the the the names lineup ... in telling consumers to start ... something positive to the sad part of the show ... said Thomas graziers U of R ... phosphorous or their immediate Edward Lampert mm ah this is a little that can be sold to a guess but I'm ... the takeover this week as CEO of serious ... man he was chairman rent was literally on driving the essentially ran anyway ... but I'm ... gonna have to step into this job well this retell is really struggling and he has ... limited regional it's it's ... really a kiddies mill to turn the company around or do you want to who knows who wants to cut in the company recently released a lot of money and ... the real estate weekend so funny now ... top job for him jumping in for a turnaround from one week exactly that ... aam ... second of their ... baths ... and this is like a unbelieving one ... ALM so so bad said the exchange that if you recall ... ruined its own IPO that's messed up that rely on an exchange while trying to IPO ... aam ... announces that for four years ... it was ... accidentally essentially ... doing the race for the misery right right right there cut their customers are not getting the ... legally mandated best trade avail ... which is the heart of stock market trading ... part of the extreme right right and that all money last night drank less by modern aren't all so this is not a big deal ... for its own terms of money ... in terms of money in terms of public relations right and and and a new client confidence right it's it's it's of the aisle on the region this quote ... from from today circumvent ... quote this is the CEO of of that ... court handling orders right is a challenging problem to sell ... the solution that is that ... as you shop at are standard on how ... good ... are I saying of reporting the news isn't difficult to ... do is visit if it's either the big loser big loser any of the Hank Greenberg now ... former CEO of AIG ... one out on a villa mobile and try to get AIG to join his lawsuit ... against the US right because the US is bailout of AIG the terms of the bailout will too hard and Denver ... as the ... EU I knew that there never can a Joinus on with it we said we talk about today read this know it would join it ... a native ... son Hank name in the news this week putting can lead to that ... I ... good stuff they don't own appreciated as always Idenix weekend ...


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On Sept. 4, Durango City Council appropriated $36,000 to hire a consultant to devise an organically managed land policy for the city. The council was pressured into the appropriation by the group Organically Managed Parks Durango and its threat to put an initiative on the November ballot that would have jeopardized the environment and increased maintenance cost of public lands in the community.
The Durango Herald editorial board rightly chastised the council for its decision and for showing how any special interest group now knows how to roll the city (Herald, Sept. 9). What should be added to the criticism are suggestions for how the council can deal with risk issues in the future to prevent being blackmailed again.
The recent conditions faced by the City Council concerning risk management are not unique to Durango. There were a series of studies conducted by the National Academy of Sciences back in the 1990s that specifically addressed how local officials can effectively cope with risk situations. The results were published in a book Understanding Risks, Informing Decisions in a Democratic Society.
The most important message the book teaches is to differentiate between risk assessment and risk management. In the current chemical discussions, that distinction was never made. The council felt obligated apparently to make a management decision without proper risk assessment. To prevent that from happening, the NAS suggests city councils adapt a set of steps that will be followed rigorously in council meetings and explained to everyone beforehand. Without such a structured format, hearings become free-for-alls, and bad decisions will inevitably emerge.
The steps advised by the NAS include:
Getting the participation right;
Getting the problem right;
Getting the science right; and
Getting the deliberations right.
In the recent council meeting about using synthetic chemicals, it appears that the first step was adequately covered because all the stakeholders seemed to have been involved. It is the second and third steps that were not followed, and the council advanced to the fourth step without the valid risk assessment information necessary to allow an effective management decision to be made.
About Getting the problem right (Step 2), NAS says: Most claims concerning risks start with an assumption rather than an assessment of the danger. It is wrong to simply assume that because there are chemicals or industrial emissions that triggered their alarm, that those conditions pose an unacceptable health hazard to a community. The evidence the organic activists provided was contained in the documentary A Chemical Reaction and Paul Tukeys The Organic Lawn Care Manual. But these sources provide only generalized accusations, and for the most part are anecdotal, not epidemiological.
According to the National Academy, the first response by the City Council should have been to challenge Organically Managed Parks Durango to provide evidence that the specific types of synthetic chemicals used by the city, and at the specific dosage used in their applications, are dangerous to people or animals health or detrimental to the environment. Furthermore, that the proceedings would not continue until such evidence is provided.
When the group submits what they believe is such evidence, Step 3, Getting the science right, can take place. NAS cautions Too often, deliberations about risks start with faulty conclusions about the dangers involved. It does not take a lot of scientific expertise to detect the way scientific principles are violated in the documentary film or Tukeys lawn manual. The dangers of using synthetic chemicals are overstated by ignoring dosage and statistical fundamentals necessary to establish a causal relationship. Also, the dangers and not the benefits of using chemicals are all that is discussed, and only the benefits and not the danger and limitations of using organic products are presented.
If the city staff does not have the expertise to make a scientific evaluation, then the council should obtain such help from outside experts. Fort Lewis College science faculty would be a good place to start. A valid risk assessment would not only provide the basis for good risk management decisions, but also information to counter any ballot threats.
If the second and third steps are addressed properly then Step 4 can proceed with assurance. A cost/benefit approach is preferred by NAS.
It is important for the City Council to develop a format for addressing risks because this community has several ideologically driven groups that do not have adequate empirical evidence to back up their risk concerns but will press for restrictions or special favors. The recent proposal to ban outdoor smoking by Lasso Tobacco Coalition is a prime example of a restriction without a scientific justification. Such a risk-assessment format will not inhibit Durango from instituting restrictions or providing incentives where warranted, only ensuring that they are based on hard evidence rather than scare tactics or ideology.
Garth Buchanan holds a doctorate in applied science and has 35 years of experience in operations research. Reach him at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Man Who Killed Dave Navarro's Mother Has Death Sentence Overturned
The man convicted of killing the mother of Jane's Addiction and former Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist Dave Navarro has had his death sentence overturned. John Riccardi had been on death row since 1994 for the 1983 murders of Connie Hopkins Navarro, his then-girlfriend, and her best friend, Susan Marshall Jory.
According to the California Supreme Court, Riccardi, now 76, did not receive a fair trial because the original trial's judge did not properly question a prospective juror about her views on the death penalty before dismissing her. The ruling follows a 1984 U.S. Supreme Court decision regarding jury selection in capital punishment cases.
The murder conviction was not overturned, so Riccardi, who was captured in Houston in 1991 after Navarro appeared on the television show 'America's Most Wanted,' will still spend the rest of his life in prison.
Navarro has said that he was originally supposed to have stayed with his mother on the night of the murders, but decided to stay with his father instead. That night, Riccardi broke into her house and shot the two women when they arrived. Had Navarro been there, he believes he also would have been killed.
There has been no comment from Navarro on the ruling.