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Brendon S necessitava di un nuovo design di logo e ha lanciato un contest su 99designs.
È stato scelto un vincitore tra 36 design presentati da 10 designer.
As a charity event, a father and son will be riding their bicycles across Australia. The Perth To Paradise website will serve to promote this ride, and try to attract media exposure.
Desired Color Scheme:
Blue/Yellow or Blue/Orange
Desired Style:
To suit ocean and desert theme
Accepted File Formats:
Vector Formats (.eps, .pdf or .ai)
A guy and his 15 yo son will be riding their bicycles across Australia. This is a distance of roughly 4,500 kilometers, or 2,796 miles. They are planning to do this in 30 days.
The ride will be to raise money for nominated charities within Australia. They will start in Perth (on the western coastline) and finish up in Surfers Paradise (on the eastern coastline).
We'll be building a website, http://www.PerthToParadise.com.au to promote this ride.
Step one, is the logo. This logo will be used on the website, and eventually on stationary/media releases, and hopefully merchandise (jerseys, t-shirts, caps and stickers).
We're looking for something blue/orange or blue/yellow. The idea is a contrast between the oceans, and the desert (where most of the ride will take place). The ride will go from water, through deserts and cities and will end by the Pacific Ocean.
Ideally the logo will represent this to some degree. We're looking for something 'modern and fresh'. One idea might be to include Australian imagary (flag, or iconic country outline) and a bicyle.
For an idea of the ride, please see:
Note Perth on the lower west coast. Surfers Paradise is on the eastern coastline near Brisbane.
Maggiori informazioni su come funziona un contest di design o sui nostri servizi di design di logo.


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Episode 4 | 52m 25s
We examine books on America's list that feature heroic characters. Celebrities, literary experts, authors and everyday book lovers discuss why our favorite heroes are complex and relatable, from the everyday hero to the tragic and unlikely or anti-hero.
Aired: 09/25/18
Expires: 05/22/28Video has closed captioning.
Problems Playing Video?
The Great American Read is made possible by the Anne Ray Foundation and public television viewers. Additional engagement funding for The Great American Read is made possible by CPB.

subset: commoncrawl


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The destruction of Indonesia's rainforests and peatlands is driving climate change - Indonesia's peatland areas alone hold as much carbon as the Amazon rainforest - and pushing critically endangered wildlife closer to extinction. What is at stake »
Our evidence shows that APP, which claims to be the world's third biggest pulp and paper producer, is actively clearing Indonesian rainforests and draining peat swamp forests to produce its pulp. APP admits that rainforest fibre (mixed tropical hardwood) makes up one fifth of the fibre pulped in its Indonesian mills. APP's forest destruction »
Chain-of-custody evidence in China and Indonesia reveals that APP is an important supplier of packaging materials for major toy companies, which use a lot of cheap, glossy packaging to wrap their products. Forensic testing shows how Mattel, Disney, Lego and Hasbro had deforestation in their supply chains. APP's toy sector customers »
Toy companies need to completely remove products from their supply chains that come from deforestation - and making sure they stay deforestation-free. This requires strong, clear policy commitments, tough timelines and due diligence. The solutions »
Campaign update January 2012: Lego, Mattel and Hasbro have all introduced procurement policies to tackle these issues and have stopped buying from Asia Pulp and Paper. Disney is still finalising a new policy. Latest campaign updates »
Sign up to get Greenpeace news and action alerts.
Do you have information about APP/Sinar Mas that might help our work? You can contact us anonymously via our whistleblowers page.
Please consider donating to support our work to protect Indonesia's rainforests.
Forest threats
Forest solutions


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The world's greatest ground? A photographic centenary celebration of Highbury
We are part of The Trust Project What is it?
5. Top of the table
Arsenal show off their pots for the 1 December 1934 visit of Wolverhampton Wanderers. Among their possessions that year were the London Combination Cup, the Charity Shield and the Football League trophy, retained by three points with easily the best defensive record in the division.
What makes the second successive title triumph the more remarkable was that Arsenal had lost their innovative, modernising manager Chapman, who in January 1934 had died suddenly of pneumonia, contracted during a scouting trip. He was only 55, but he had changed football forever, forging the role of the modern manager.
Back at Highbury, after the trophy table had been wheeled off, Wolves were dispatched with ruthless efficiency in a 7-0 win, followed up a fortnight later by an 8-0 home victory over Leicester; they won the league for the third successive season with a 115-goal return. No wonder Highbury crowds were booming.


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Katey Hyer
North Augusta High
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3pcs violin bow frogs 4 4 with screw,copper fitting tvgysx1436-Cellos
Invoice capture is a growing area of AI where most companies are making their first purchase of an AI product because it is an easy to integrate solution with significant benefits.1PC New SMC CDUJB6-10D Cylinder
While digitization helped automate numerous processes, mostly rule based software was used in digitization. However, invoice capture involves both reading the invoice text with Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and understanding its context with machine learning.
Invoice capture (also called invoice capture, invoice data extraction or invoice OCR) is extracting structured from invoices so invoices can be automatically processed. Invoice capture has been the first back office process to be automated with AI for most companies.


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Metropolitan St. Louis Consortium for Educational Renewal
A collaborative partnership for the simultaneous renewal of educators and the public schools
The Metropolitan St. Louis Consortium for Educational Renewal is a collaborative effort involving two universities and public schools within the Metropolitan St. Louis area. These partners are listed to the right.
The Mission
The institutions which are members of the Metropolitan St. Louis Consortium have joined together to "simultaneously" improve the education of educators and P-12 schooling. We believe that in order for American schools to renew and improve, the preparation of the educators in those schools must improve as well, and the only way real renewal can come about is for both university-based educators and school-based educators to work together. Thus our mission is:
In order to sustain our democratic society and advocate for our public schools, the members of the Metropolitan St. Louis Consortium for Educational Renewal have joined together to simultaneously improve the preparation of public school educators and the schooling of children in the P-12 schools.
The work of the Metropolitan St. Louis Consortium for Educational Renewal is based upon the philosophy of "simultaneous renewal" which was formalized by Dr. John Goodlad. This renewal work is grounded in "an agenda for education in a democracy" which focuses upon four moral dimensions:
- Access to knowledge for all youth
- The stewardship of the American public schools
- A pedagogy of caring
- The enculturation of the young into a social and political democracy
The Consortium is a member of the National Network for Educational Renewal (NNER), a network of similar partnerships in the United States and Canada. The network was established by Goodlad to actively address the agenda of simultaneous renewal and education in a democracy, using this philosophy as a basic framework for educational change.
Our work is sustained by the following five goals:
Goal I
To advocate for public education by articulating in a variety of forums that public education is the strongest foundation for an effective democracy, the protection of our common good, and our best hope for a compassionate and just society.
Goal II
To establish, create and sustain educator preparation programs and partnership schools which engage participants in reflective practice and inquiry, focused upon the four moral dimensions which guide our work.
Goal III
To establish, create and sustain educator programs and partnership schools which model a deep commitment to the moral and to the belief that all children can and will learn to the best of their ability.
Goal IV
To establish, create and sustain educator preparation programs and partnership schools which challenge candidates to move out of their "comfort zone;" develop and implement curricula which require candidates to think deeply and broadly about aspects of schooling which inhibit student learning; and share the above widely within our community and seek feedback on ways to improve the experiences within both the higher education programs and the experiences candidates have within our partner schools.
Goal V
To create and sustain educator partnership programs and partnership schools which model such conditions as active student engagement, challenging curriculum, participatory decision-making and a safe, nurturing environment.
The Benefits
Involvement with and attendance at conferences and meetings designed to:
- Improve student achievement
- Improve teacher performance (reflection upon performance; reading and discussion about the teaching/learning process)
- Initiate scholarly activity supported by university educators and school-based faculty
Cross-site visits with other schools and universities in the NNER to share and learn
Participation in partnership activities
- Placement of preservice students in partner schools
- Ability to use preservice students as substitutes and interns
- Specially-designed coursework and seminars for building and district needs
- Participation on externally-funded graduate level programs designed to help educators gain new skills, knowledge and certifications
Opportunity to attend state and national meetings and meet with NNER participants to renew and learn
Opportunities to participate in numerous grant-funded programs
Opportunity to submit to the Dr. Sam Hausfather Mini-Grants Program
For more information
Carol Hall-Whittier, Executive Director


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CDL-A Tanker Truck Driver Opportunity!
Celebrating over 100 years of solid success, Quality Carriers wants to help you Find Your Lane. We offer the variety in trucking you have been searching for; we are proud of our driver diversity and recognize that individual needs vary. Therefore, we offer incentives like flexible home time, consistent pay and a supportive and stable work environment to help drive you on and off the job.
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Enjoy exciting attractions and waterside vistas from your private home rental in Tampa. You will appreciate family holiday time with traditional home comforts and the space you need at a value you simply won't find from hotel stays.
Explore Tampa's exotic history and lively culture. As a port city and destination of choice for Cuban, Spanish and Italian immigrants, Tampa exudes Latino flair. They came to Tampa and nearby Ybor City to provide the labor for cigar factories and support businesses for the workers. Their multi-ethnic imprint remains today in a progressive city with portside entertainment complexes, family-friendly Busch Gardens and gorgeous Gulf beaches a short drive to the west.
Begin your exploration at The Tampa Bay History Museum, where past meets present, and the city's legends and allure come alive. The waterfront museum will whet your family's appetite for discovering Tampa. Channelside Bay Plaza is a trendy entertainment complex, where music ranges from smooth jazz to dueling pianos, and plenty of indoor/outdoor bars, clubs and restaurants overlook the bay. Boutiques, the resident chocolatier and other retail sites round out a very lively destination. Next to Channelside, The Florida Aquarium is home to dynamic activities and exhibits. The Aquarium also offers tickets for a wonderful new addition - the "Bay Spirit" catamaran ride and dolphin encounter.
Trolley service travels to and from Channelside and downtown Tampa to Ybor City, once the "Cigar Capital of the World." The cigar factories have given way to lively clubs and multi-cultural restaurants and bars. Don't miss the 100-year old Columbia Restaurant with 11 dining rooms that spread across an entire city block. It's known for authentic Spanish fare, tiles and flamenco shows. Branch Ranch in nearby Plant City is another magnet for food lovers, where family-style dining features mounds of fresh vegetables, fluffy biscuits, strawberry preserves and infamous relish trays.
Definitely a family favorite, Busch Gardens is an all-inclusive attraction with Safari adventures, roller coasters, rapid rides, Sesame Street playland and more. Gain a feel for Africa along scenic walkways or from the Serengeti truck tour. The natural, rolling landscape is home to exotic animals and birds and a genuine wilderness experience.
You and your family will enjoy the many advantages of condo or home rentals, not the least of which is being able to offset dining expenses with a few home-cooked meals. Add the convenience of extra space, laundry facilities and residential feeling of holiday homes; and you will become a lifelong fan of this popular travel alternative.


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A day out for all the family will be coming to Grafton later this month.
The Grafton Races and Family Fun Day sponsored by Michael Graham comes to the area on Sunday May 20.
The event will take place at a new venue of Edgcote Racecourse north east of Banbury having been forced from the previous venue at Whitfield Race Course due to the HS2 development.
Equestrian loving hearts are racing as the track is renowned for its incredible gallops. If you know your horses, world-class thoroughbreds Royal Relief and Spanish Steps
were trained there.
Michael Graham is delighted to be a sponsor of the Grafton for the eleventh consecutive year, and if you're a new-comer to point-to- pointing, you're in for a treat.
Described as amateur horse racing over fences, at the Grafton gates open at 11am with the first of three pony races at 1pm, followed by the first horse race at 2pm.
Seven horse races will be run over the afternoon.
Away from the track there is entertainment guaranteed to keep everyone amused, whatever their age or inclination. A children's corner with rides and activities, a vintage car display, birds
of prey, a licensed bar, artisan food market and shopping opportunities galore mean you certainly don't have to be a point-to- point purist to enjoy the day.
Entry is £10 per adult (children under 16 go free) an visitors can get 20 per cent off the ticket price if booked in advance. For more details visit www.edgcoteraces.co.uk.


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Reviewed by Emily E. (age 8)
So Addie was walking home and she saw Mr. Davenport in his car. He said, "Can I give you a lift?" Of course Addie just had to say, "Yes!". Mr. Davenport said, "Are you going to the Valentine's dance? Because I have something I want to talk to you about." Addie said, "Yes, I'm going to the Valentine's dance. Addie thought that Mr. Davenport wanted to say he loved Addie. Read to find out what Mr. Davenport really wanted to say to Addie.
This book reminds me of when I went to a father and daughter Valentine's dance with my dad. Addie also went to a Valentine's dance with her father.
Addie is my favorite character because she is sassy. For example, sometimes her friends would tease her about Billy Wild and she says, "Oh, shut up!" She is not afraid of people. She does not let other people boss her around like tossing back and forth like a volleyball.
My favorite part in the book was when the announced who the Queen and King of Hearts were. When I read that part I held my breath because I was so excited.
I recommend this book to kind in 3rd grade to 6th. I think kids this age would understand and enjoy it more than younger kids.


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KHAN BANI SAAD, Iraq – A $40 million prison sits in the desert north of Baghdad, empty. A $165 million children's hospital goes unused in the south. A $100 million waste water treatment system in Fallujah has cost three times more than projected, yet sewage still runs through the streets.
As the U.S. draws down in Iraq, it is leaving behind hundreds of abandoned or incomplete projects. More than $5 billion in American taxpayer funds has been wasted — more than 10 percent of the some $50 billion the U.S. has spent on reconstruction in Iraq, according to audits from a U.S. watchdog agency.
That amount is likely an underestimate, based on an analysis of more than 300 reports by auditors with the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction. And it does not take into account security costs, which have run almost 17 percent for some projects.
There are success stories. Hundreds of police stations, border forts and government buildings have been built, Iraqi security forces have improved after years of training, and a deep water port at the southern oil hub of Umm Qasr has been restored..........................


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Mango Royale
Mango Royale or Mango Float is a popular Filipino no bake refrigerated cake made out of sweetened whipped cream and mangoes in a Malt cracker base. I am not 100% sure where did this dessert originated but with the American influence in the Philippines it looks like this is a variation of the icebox cake where whipped cream and chocolate wafers are stacked to each other to form one big piece of cake. Basically the idea is for the wafers sandwiched between cream layers to absorb enough moisture to ease the cutting process when served individually. To achieve that is that this dessert is left for 24 hours in the refrigerator to set before consumption.
There are lot of variations of this ice box cake in the States where you can see puddings are used in replacement to cream, graham crackers are used in replacement of wafers and sometimes chocolate, bananas or pineapples are used between the layers. In the Philippines our version is the use of our local mangoes and condensed milk. A very easy dessert to make the only hard part is to wait for it to set.
- 3 pcs Filipino mangoes, chilled and slice into cubed
- 2 cups cream, chilled
- 1 cup condensed milk, chilled
- 1½ cup crushed Graham crackers
- 5-6 pcs Graham crackers
- 6 tbsp melted butter
- In a 9 in cake pan add the crushed graham crackers.
- Pour melted butter on top evenly then mix with the crushed graham crackers, mix well then flatten to form the base. Set aside and place in the freezer.
- Whip the cream and when stiff peaks form gradually add condensed milk, continue to mix in lowest hand mixer setting until combined.
- Remove the cake pan from the freezer then pour half of the cream mixture and place whole graham crackers to cover the top ready for the next layer.
- Pour the remaining half of the cream mixture then top it with cubed mangoes. Cover cake pan with cling wrap and set aside in the refrigerator for 24 hours.
- For even better result, place in freezer 2-3 hours before serving, it will be something like a cross between cake and ice cream cake.


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How do you make a yummy pumpkin muffin even better? Stuff it with sweet cream cheese filling! Here's our guilt-free take on the baked goodie du jour... Ingredients: Filling 4 oz. fat-free cream cheese 2 1/2 tbsp. Splenda No Calorie Sweetener (granulated) 1 tbsp. fat-free liquid egg substitute (like Egg Beaters Original) 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract Muffins 2 cups whole-wheat flour 2 tsp. baking powder 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon 1 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice 1/2 tsp. baking soda 1/8 tsp. salt One 15-oz. can pure pumpkin 1/2 cup fat-free liquid egg substitute (like Egg Beaters Original) 1/3 cup Splenda No Calorie Sweetener (granulated) 1/3 cup brown sugar (not packed) Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with foil baking cups, or spray it with nonstick spray. To make the filling, in a medium bowl, combine cream cheese with Splenda, and stir until smooth. Add egg substitute and vanilla extract, and stir until uniform. To make the muffins, in a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, and salt. In medium-large bowl, combine remaining muffin ingredients, and whisk until uniform. Add to the flour mixture, and stir until just mixed and smooth. (Batter will be thick.) Evenly distribute half of the muffin batter among the cups of the muffin pan, and smooth out the surfaces. Use a spoon to form an indentation in the surface of each cup of batter, large enough to hold about 2 tsp. filling. Evenly distribute the filling among the indentations. Evenly distribute remaining batter among the cups, and smooth out the surfaces. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, 16 - 18 minutes. Enjoy! MAKES 12 SERVINGS
Serving Size: 1 muffin (1/12th of recipe) Calories: 120 Fat: 0.5g Sodium: 240mg Carbs: 23.5g Fiber: 3.5g Sugars: 5.5g Protein: 5.5g PointsPlus® value 3*
HG Alternative: If made with an equal amount of granulated white sugar in place of the Splenda, each muffin will have 145 calories, 30.5g carbs, and 13.5 sugars (PointsPlus® value 4*).
By this time of year, ordinary pumpkin treats might have lost a bit of their allure. Oh, who are we kidding?! Perfectly spiced pumpkin muffins could never bore us. And ones injected with sweet cream cheese goodness? YES, PLEASE! Too bad the stats are so steep. Rather than writing to Santa and asking for a mega-dose of self-control, make a round of our sweet stuffed pumpkin muffins! They're moist, flavor packed, and (DUH) crazy delicious. And with just 120 calories and half a gram of fat each, you can devour one without a lick of guilt! Warning: If you leave a batch of these babies unsupervised, the temptation may be too much for others to handle. So make sure you secure a muffin for yourself...
Serving Size: 1 muffin Calories: 405 Fat: 15g Sodium: 258mg Carbs: 60g Fiber: 2g Sugars: 40g Protein: 5.5g PointsPlus® value 11*
It's the season of giving, and our trusty
"Send to a Friend" button makes sharing a cinch. Click and send this recipe to all of your muffin-lovin' pals!
December 11th has arrived, which means so has National Noodle Ring Day. Click here for some neat-o noodle jewelry, and then check out our Know-Your-Noodles Guide, packed with guilt-free picks!
SmartPoints® value not what you expected? Click here for more info on how the values are calculated, plus more FAQs about PointsPlus® and SmartPoints® values on our website.


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The last couple of days, while riding the el, I've been thinking I need to put together a new blog project: going through a day of relatively normal activities and photographing every image I run across that's meant to trigger anxiety/feelings of inadequacy.
It's not even just the weight loss ads, though there are plenty of those. It's the "Don't let your kid fall out of a window!" ads. The "Do you suffer from…?" ads. The "Are you where you want to be in your career?" ads.
I said relatively normal activities up there because, frankly, "normal" for me doesn't involve getting out much. I write from home, and I usually stay in the neighborhood when I go out for lunch or a walk, so I see the same stuff every day. Thus, when I ride the el downtown, I see all these ads I'm not usually exposed to — including those you can see from the train, not just the ones on it — and it occurred to me the other night that if I actually commuted to an office downtown, I would be subjected to a couple dozen ads telling me how much I suck (nearly half of those offering me "help" for the undeniable problem of my fatness) just in the course of getting to and from work.
And then, as we've been discussing over the last couple of days, once you get to work, you are either conscripted into participation in Office Diet Talk, or you are a stuck-up bitch who thinks you're too good to hate yourself or something.
And then there are the ambushes, the self-esteem grenades you can't even begin to predict. Yesterday, I went into a store and tried on some clothes. As the saleswoman was walking me to the dressing room, she remarked on a very "body-conscious" pencil dress I'd picked out, "Oh, that is SO cute! I have it in brown!"
Me: Yeah, I love it! I hope it looks good on.
Her: Well [looks at my gut], you're gonna need Spanx. I've got the 12, and I definitely have to wear the Spanx. In fact, I'm trying to eat less just for this dress! Ha ha ha ha!
Me: Yeah, ha.
Hey, saleswoman, did I ask what you think of your own body, let alone mine? Did I ask what size you wear? Did I ask about your eating habits? Did I ask whether you think a curvy woman could rock this dress sans spandexical assistance? NO. And yet, you're still talking.
I can't even tell you how many times shit like that has happened to me. I have an exaggerated hourglass figure, which means I have two choices: wear clothes that show off my shape, or look like I'm wearing a tent from the boobs down. But clothes that highlight an hourglass shape will often also highlight the belly pooch that goes along with the wide hips, or the outer thigh saddle bags, for instance. This is because I am a human being, not Jessica Rabbit. I have come to terms with that.
But a whole lot of women who are in the business of selling me clothes are not so sanguine about my belly and thighs. They desperately try to steer me away from curve-conscious clothing — or at least encourage me to put on some Spanx, for the love of Christ — because I don't actually look like a cartoon in it. I just look like me. THE HORROR.
So some days, it doesn't make a damn bit of difference how much I like looking like me; perfect strangers will still insist that I shouldn't like it. How dare you, a person who actually knows what your body is like and which clothes make you feel happy and which make you feel frumpy — not to mention the person who will be paying for this garment — believe your opinion is the only one that matters? It's almost like you trust yourself! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?
And then, AND THEN… you've got your own family and friends to deal with.
Good with Cheese has a typically great post up today about eating lunch with her mom.
Anyway, on Tuesday this week, she said she thought it was a double-chocolate cookie day. I just wasn't feeling it; I really wanted the Fig Newton, so I told her she should go ahead and have the special cookie, but I was gonna go with the Newton. She became…well, pouty, and said if I wasn't going to have the cookie, then she didn't need it either.
Can I just tell you how much this kind of exchange drives me BATSHIT? As I said in GWC's comments, I have one ex-friend I always think of when stuff like this comes up. She? Is categorically A Dessert Person. I am not. I mean, I love plenty of sweet things, but given the choice between sweet and savory, I'll almost always go for the latter. This means that when I go out to dinner, I'm focused on the entree; if I'm still hungry after that, or if a particular dessert sounds so mindblowing I must try it, I'll have dessert. But usually, I don't, because I'm already perfectly satisfied, not because I have anything against dessert.
She, however, thinks dessert is the whole point of going out. She'll get a salad for an entree and only eat half of it because she's got her eyes on the prize; she's the type of person who deliberately saves room for dessert. I'm really, really not.
This means that every fucking time I've eaten out with her, she's gotten all excited about dessert — and asked me to split one with her. And nearly every time, I've said, "No thanks, I'm full. You go ahead."
First, the cajoling: "Come on, don't you want dessert?"
No. I'm full.
But doesn't it sound good?
Sure, but I'm full. So right now, no, it's not particularly appealing to me.
Just a couple bites?
Really, I'M FULL. YOU ARE ALLOWED TO ORDER DESSERT ALL BY YOURSELF. IF YOU CAN'T FINISH IT, YOU ARE ALLOWED TO LEAVE SOME BEHIND. YOU DO NOT NEED A PARTNER TO EAT DESSERT. AND I AM FUCKING FULL.
Then comes the pouting. That's because she doesn't really want a partner in tackling the dessert, she wants an accomplice. Also, she's not asking to share because she thinks she can't finish it herself; she's asking to share because she thinks she can. She is stone terrified of devouring the world.
It doesn't matter how many fucking times I tell her to go ahead and order dessert. It doesn't matter that she ate a third of what I ate for dinner, specifically because she wanted dessert, and is probably still hungry at this point. It doesn't matter that she is a grown woman paying for her own meal. All that matters is, she has to choose between eating dessert alone and not ordering it at all.
The former choice is unbearable, so she takes the latter. And pouts. And it is all my fault. I have deprived her of dessert because I had the gall to fill up on food I actually craved. The fat chick doesn't even want dessert! (This woman is, of course, tiny.) How could she possibly be so bad, so indulgent, in light of that? How utterly mortifying would it be to admit she would like a piece of cheesecake when the fat chick is just having coffee? FUCKING FAT CHICK!
You'll note I said this is an ex-friend. There are numerous reasons for that, but I can tell you I sure as hell got sick of dining with her.
And all of this goes to the point Fillyjonk made in the midst of the whole dieting kerfuffle, a point that deserves to be made again and again and again: it is fucking hard to accept and trust your own body in this culture.
It is hard to feel adequate, let alone proud of yourself, when everywhere you look, there is literally a sign saying there's something wrong with you.
It is hard to accept the label of Weird Office Bitch instead of cataloguing your self-hatred along with your co-workers.
It is hard to have fun with fashion and enjoy adorning your imperfect body in clothes that make you happy, when perfect strangers are telling you you need a girdle and a diet before you even get the fucking thing on.
It is hard to simply eat what you desire and leave it at that, when even people you love cannot do the same — and furthermore cannot shut up about the moral value of certain foods.
It is hard.
It is hard.
It is hard.
Sabotage lurks around every goddamned corner.
About the only thing harder is playing the game.


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ARCO NEW Original Equipment Quality Replacement Outboard Starter - 5369
ARCO Part #5369
ARCO NEW Original Equipment Quality Replacement Outboard Starter
Fits: BRP-OMC , 8/9.9-11 HP, 1997-1998 4 stroke, 1977-1992 9.9-15 HP, 10-tooth drive gear, 2" motor casing
Replaces Part Numbers:
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I need some general help with queues. I am able to conceptualize with no problem what my queue should be doing, but implementationis rough for me.
I am trying to make a program with queues representing a 4way intersection. Vehicles approach the intersecion and are queued up until the light turns green. I understand how to add objects to my queue and how/when to remove them correctly. I don't understand how to create the vehicle objects without defining each one individually.
Since the vehicles arrive with a random probability, which means I wont know how many there will be, is there a way to create objects as necessary rather than declaring them in the beginning, then push them into my queue?
This is probably really basic, but I missed this if it is.


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Feed me, Seymour. Feed Me All Night Long.
First Commentary by Adam-Troy Castro
Little Shop Of Horrors (1960). Directed by Roger Corman. Written by Charles B. Griffith. Starring Jonathan Haze, Jackie Joseph, Mel Welles, Dick Miller, and Jack Nicholson. 70 minutes. **
Little Shop Of Horrors (1986). Directed by Frank Oz. Written by Howard Ashman, based on the musical by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken, itself based on the original screenplay by Charles B. Griffith. Starring Rick Moranis, Ellen Greene, Vincent Gardenia, Steve Martin, Bill Murray. 94 minutes. ***
Your name is Seymour Krelboyne. You are a born nudnik working a dead-end job in the worst part of town, in an florist's shop about to go under from lack of customers. But you believe you have the solution: a strange, sickly potted plant with an egg-shaped gourd that somewhat resembles a head. You've named it Audrey II, in tribute to your co-worker, a sweet airhead with a knack for mangling the English language. Surely, you tell your abusive boss Gravis Mushnick, putting this discovery on display must be a great way to attract new customers. He is dubious, to say the least. But within minutes of your big unveiling, customers start swarming in, and the future employment seems assured. The only problem is that the plant is carnivorous, malevolent, and so hungry that your gardening hobby soon acquires its own body count.
The original Little Shop Of Horrors, imbedded in its entirety above, was made on a lark, by folks who never expected it to be anything, and who were in fact daring themselves just on general principle to come up with a movie that could be shot on sets built for another movie, on a two-day filming schedule. (It actually took three weeks, if you count the two it took to write the screenplay, the three days the cast spent on rehearsal, and the final two-day frenzied production.) It was such a surprise success, and object of cult adoration for over the years that followed, that Howard Ashman and Alan Menken used it as the basis for a hit off-Broadway musical, that inevitably brought the story back to Hollywood.
The 1986 version, made at a budget of approximately 750 times the budget of the original — literally, on such a scale that the moviemakers could have made the original all over again on about the same amount the money the new movie spent on any particular shooting day, before breaking for lunch — is the one that most casual moviemakers know now. Close examination reveals that the new version is, songs and all, if anything, a smaller-scaled story. But is it a more focused one?
Little Shop of Horrors (1960): Dedicated Weirdness
As often occurs with remakes, the partisans of this version regard the remake with open contempt, treating it as a bastardization of the original work of genius. They call the 1986 version overblown, obvious, and spendthrift of the original's charms.
One can only wonder if they've seen the original lately.
It's not a bad film (though the wife is – spoiler warning – about to take violent exception to that assertion). In fact, considering the conditions under which is made, it is a surprisingly good film, with clever dialogue, and some remarkably witty character bits. It certainly serves up a lot more incidental weirdness than the 1986 version, providing us in addition to the sadistic dentist and masochistic patient a number of eccentrics that don't make it to the 1986 film at all. They include Siddie Shiva (Leola Wendorff), a perennial customer who arrives every single day to announce the death of yet another of her poor relatives; Seymour's crazy hypochondriac mother Winifred (Myrtle Vail), whose mania includes a revolting form of down-home cooking that utilizes patent medicines as food staples; and Burson Fouch (invaluable b-movie veteran Dick Miller), an awfully nice guy who buys up flowers so he can snack on them in the store. There are also a pair of deadpan Homicide detectives, who between them offer an outrageous parody of Jack Webb's Dragnet that could have been, and in fact eventually was under other hands, a workable premise of a full-length movie all by itself.
"How's the wife, Frank?"
"Not bad, Joe."
"Glad to hear it. The kids?"
"Lost one yesterday."
"Lost one, huh? How'd that happen?"
"Playing with matches."
"Well, those're the breaks."
"I guess so."
This is funny stuff now. Audiences in 1960, with Jack Webb's intonations still in recent memory, would have found it even funnier.
The constant malaprops uttered by both Audrey and Mushnick – neither of whom seem to have ever met a sentence they didn't have serious trouble crossing intact — are another fine element. And so's the brief visit from the masochistic dental patient (played by a young pre-stardom Jack Nicholson, who is of course given star billing on every public-domain VHS and DVD pressing of the film). Nicholson had yet to learn most of what he eventually knew about acting, and he was still a hoot and a half as a pervert experiencing heights of sexual arousal while reading a medical journal: "The patient came to me with a large hole in his abdomen, caused by a fire poker used on him by his wife. He almost bled to death and gangrene had set in. I didn't give him much of a chance. There were other complications. The man had cancer, tuberculosis, leprosy, and a touch of the grippe. I decided to operate." Hee hee!
So this is all good. What's not? Well, to be frank, Jonathan Haze as Seymour, attempting to channel Jerry Lewis and failing miserably. (It's not funny as intended, in either film, when Seymour trips while running into the store and smashes a bunch of flowerpots while Mushnick rages at his incompetence, but the difference between the first film and the second is that when Rick Moranis gets up, he goes back to being funny, and Haze seems to leave his comic timing in the debris.) The encounter with an insistent prostitute is just plain embarrassing. The plant itself is not nearly as interesting, in that it's not the voluble chatterbox of the remake but instead a vegetable of few words beyond the insistent, "Feed me!" The plot doesn't manage to achieve any real comic velocity but instead comes down to a series of strange things happening, until a dull final chase scene that consists of Mushnick and the two cops chasing Seymour around a tire yard. And, finally, there's ending: a tragic death for Seymour that consists of him deliberately climbing into the plant's mouth and ends as a bud with his face cries, "I didn't mean it!" Today, it gives the impression of being what it likely: a hasty wrap-up by moviemakers who never thought their two-day production would form the basis of an ongoing franchise, and who just did whatever would get them to the title card THE END as soon as possible.
The first film is in short the product of a generous posterity. Its best moments are remembered with fondness, and its worst forgotten or forgiven.
Little Shop of Horrors (1986): A Stage-Bound Epic
According to producer David Geffen, the first director approached for this remake was Martin Scorcese. Think on that a bit. What he might have made of it!
It's actually fortunate that he didn't, as the team put together by Frank Oz, in adapting the stage hit, made about as good as movie as anyone could have made from the material.
Part of it involves what novelists call "killing your darlings," the fine art of jettisoning those favorite bits of business that we might recall with affection but which really don't do all that much in terms of servicing the story. Howard Ashman and Alan Menken, the writers of the musical, had every reason to do this, because any Off-Broadway production lives and dies by narrative economy and therefore can't survive much in the way of incidental characters who add nothing but oddness. So farewell, alas, to Burson Fouch; we'll miss you, but you distracted from the stuff we needed to heed. Farewell, Siddie Shiva; we enjoyed your perpetual state of mourning, but it was really only one-joke and you can serve the same purpose as an unseen presence on the other side of a phone.
Most importantly, farewell, Winifred Krelboyne: getting rid of you, and making Seymour an orphan who has lived all his life as Mushnick's virtual slave, serves several purposes. First, it means we lose that interval when Seymour has to travel across town to get the plant, and return with it; Second, it makes him even more put-upon and therefore sympathetic than he was before; third, it increases the stakes, from Seymour losing a job that wasn't any good anyway to losing the only home he's ever had, and then to finding a happiness he's never known
All of this leaves more room for the character of the sadistic dentist, who is here positioned closer to the concerns of the plot. In the original, he's just another odd element, incidental to Seymour's life until Seymour needs a tooth looked at. In the musical, and subsequently in this film, he's the human Audrey's ridiculously abusive boyfriend, a guy who really does look to the far from murderous Seymour like one of those people who (as both Seymour and the plant declare in song) might as well become plant food.
This change moves the love story closer to center stage, increasing our empathy for everybody involved (and making way for one of the funniest Ashman / Menken songs, "Be A Dentist"). Even the appearance of Bill Murray in the masochistic-patient part once played by Jack Nicholson is rendered material; sure, it pops in out of nowhere and leaves just as quickly, but in context it serves as the unsatisfying office visit that stokes the dentist's rage and prompts him to seize on Seymour as a patient who will react properly to the agony he inflicts.
The increased attention to the Seymour / Audrey I dynamic gave the musical something the original didn't have: narrative momentum. The original doesn't so much build in tension as stagger its way through a series of incidents. The musical makes it a comic race between Seymour getting everything he's ever wanted, and damning himself beyond redemption. (The fact that in the stage musical and in the original cut of this film, he loses the race, as both he and his girlfriend are eaten, and leave the carnivorous plant to further threaten the world, is immaterial; a disastrous test of that apocalyptic ending led to the happier resolution it enjoys now; and it would be true in either case that it's the tension being played with.)
Your friendly analysts have seen the stage musical – not the original, but a subsequent revival – and must report that the movie accomplishes things it does not. It is perfectly acceptable, on stage, for a soloist to just stand in one place, and belt out the entirety of a song – that is, assuming that it's a good song, that it advances the story and illuminates character, and that the performer can sing it. A movie musical where most of the story is conveyed via the songs must do a little bit more, and we happily report that the imaginative staging of the songs in the film give them all significant visual power. "Skid Row," for instance, is here an epic production number detailing exactly why Seymour's life sucks and how much he's aware of it; it places him in a milieu where everybody feels the same way, and motivates him about a hundred times better than anything seen in the original film.
"Be A Dentist" not only tells us that Orin Scrivello is a dirtbag who deserves to die, as the play does, but here shows us (with one eye-popping within-the-mouth shot).Giving the plant the power of song as well as the power of speech (both Levi Stubbs) underlines just how Mephistophelean the deal offered by that mulch-fed maniac is, and why Seymour responds to it as he does. Hell, despite the silliness of the proceedings, this viewer always mists up, badly, during the declaration-of-love song, "Suddenly Seymour." He honestly cannot help it.
(It helps, of course, that they're for the most part great songs, and that the greek-chorus narrators have a presence that restores much of the strangeness the removal of so many incidental characters has taken out.)
The set is a marvel: one of the largest New York City sets ever built, taking up much of London's Pinewood studios, it is clearly not a real place but a fine stylized approximation of one. And the plant is terrific. Just the statistics are impressive: for the various incarnations of Audrey II, fifty thousand fake leaves, eleven miles of cable, design assistance from the Atomic Energy Commission, and fifty puppeteers operating it during the finale. None of this would be even remotely enough if it didn't actually come off as a living thing, but Audrey II does; he's malicious, cajoling, self-satisfied, evil AND charming, all at once. If you want to be absolutely terrified, reflect that today, he would almost certainly be rendered by CGI…and imagine just how lame that would inevitably be.
Some enthusiasts believe it a betrayal of the source material (both prior film and stage show), that Seymour and the human Audrey go on to live their happily-ever-afters, and I'm afraid that's an argument that can't be won. It degenerates into, "Yes, It is! No, it's not!" I can only suggest that if the preview audiences were outraged at the original ending where Seymour and Audrey died, it must be because that by then the couple at the center of the proceedings had such genuine chemistry…and that, by itself, speaks volumes.
Neither Rick Moranis nor Ellen Greene went on to the lasting screen stardom they deserved – in Moranis's case by choice, as he eventually took some personal time off from acting and realized over time that he didn't miss it at all; and in Greene's case because the couple of headlining roles she received on screen afterward didn't achieve anywhere near the same impact. (Unlike Moranis, she's still performing, and was prominent as an eccentric aunt in the cult TV series Pushing Daisies.) It remains the best film either one has ever been involved with.
There have been some vague noises about yet another remake, including from one guy who says he wants to go back to the source material and make a straight horror movie. We are not eager to see the result.
The Leaf-Cutting
1960 version, a remarkable achievement on a shoe-string, but one with dead spots that weaken its flashes of genius. 1986 version, a terrific movie musical, that manages human feeling despite the campiness of its story.
And now, the wife plants her own seeds.
Second Commentary by Judi B Castro
Little Shop Of Horrors (1960). Directed by Roger Corman. Written by Charles B. Griffith. Starring Jonathan Haze, Jackie Joseph, Mel Welles, Dick Miller, and Jack Nicholson. 70 minutes. *
Little Shop Of Horrors (1986). Directed by Frank Oz. Written by Howard Ashman, based on the musical by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken, itself based on the original screenplay by Charles B. Griffith. Starring Rick Moranis, Ellen Greene, Vincent Gardenia, Steve Martin, Bill Murray. 94 minutes. ***
I was eager to see the 1960 Little Shop of Horrors. I had heard how this cult classic was completed in a few days, on borrowed sets and less than a full shoestring of a budget. It was a horror/sci-fi/love story supposedly filled with just the right amount of "black humor" to at least get a chuckle or two. Supposedly.
Then I watched it. While I can admire the accomplishment I can not tolerate the horrible anti-semitism throughout. If was just the caricatured characters, I could shrug it off, but no! This hatred permeates every moment of film. The language, the mannerisms the set decorations! They took one really bad Jewish joke and stretched it to a full hour of pain. Do only Jews populate this particular part of skid row? I did find myself horrified, but not by the sf/horror alien plant taking over the world, that could have been fun!
Move ahead to 1986. I'm already a fan of this musical and I can't wait to see what the film brings out.
This film is fun. The music is catchy, the characters are mostly likeable, and Audrey II is amazing! This film never slows down. It's a cannon ball shot towards a heavy magnet. Even by the CG driven films that can wow me today, these effects still play well. Audrey II's movement and lip synch are near perfection, but I expect that from a crew run by Frank Oz(whose puppet Yoda still far excels the CG one)!
Rick Moranis and Ellen Greene are the dufus couple you can cheer for. The chemistry seems natural and even the singing fits the character moments. This movie had me on the lookout for both these actors for quite some time after.
Steve Martin's leather clad, sleaze ball, sadistic dentist is so much fun especially when played off of Bill Murray's masochistic patient. And, while Jack Nicholson in the same basic part was one of the few bright spots of the earlier attempt, Mr. Murray's turn just tweaks it up a notch.
Gone from this version is the yidenglish signage, the spinster jewess with the constantly dying relatives (mass murderer???) and the over eager flower muncher. None of these are a loss felt deeply and the changes actually lighten the entire tone.
As to the SF/Horror elements. Well they are played out here as before. Not actually central but not secondary either. At its heart this remake is a love story, plain and simple. Who really needs more than that?


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In this Issue: Are they related? Judgement & Catastrophe | Viewing Katrina from Israel | Oxana: A Russian Immigrant Finds a Home | Arieh comes of age
By Avner Boskey
As we move closer to the return of Israel's Messiah, our planet is beginning to show signs of stress. (Isaiah 25) Yeshua prophesied that local and global wars, earthquakes and roaring of the waves would be another sign indicating His soon return. (Matthew 25:6-8; Luke 24:25-28) The recent events in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast have shaken everyone whose heart is still able to feel pain. (See Matthew 24:12)
What is the role of the prophetic in such heart-breaking circumstances? When apocalyptic scenarios become last night's television news, how can a word from the God of Jacob equip, encourage and edify the Body of Messiah? Does God have anything to do with catastrophes that shake the earth? To be more direct, does God have something to say about the catastrophes that are now shaking the earth, and which will soon increase in intensity and severity? At the heart of the matter is the question: does God want to communicate and is He really communicating what He is doing on the earth today to men and women touched by the spirit of prophecy? Why catastrophic judgments?
God does not wish "for anyone to perish, but for all to come to repentance." (II Peter 3:9) Yet natural catastrophes cause people to perish. Why then does God allow or even catalyze such judgments?
When God shines His light on darkness, a power encounter erupts between two kingdoms. The end result is clear: Light triumphs over darkness. "The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness does not overwhelm it." (John 1:5) Note that John is using "battle terminology," words of warfare. When darkness in a society takes hold and rises to a certain level, God has often brought the "severe mercy" of natural catastrophes or other judgments to bear. His judgments are a response to evil. They are catalyzed by evil. His judgments also expose evil and destroy evil. The clearest example of such a judgment on an international scale is Noah, who alone escaped the Flood, along with his immediate family.
Yet it is painfully true that innocent bystanders are sometimes caught in the crossfire when such a "battle royal" breaks out. When God judged the nation of Judah, people like Jeremiah and Daniel suffered persecution, imprisonment and exile. Army people use the impersonal military term "collateral damage" in such cases. The sad truth is that when a nation is judged, innocent people often suffer.
Part of the prophetical calling of all believers is "to let our light shine," to expose darkness by shining what light we have on localized sources of darkness. Of course, that light is none other than Yeshua, the Light of the World who dwells within us. "Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them…All things become visible when they are exposed by the light…." (Ephesians 5:11,13)
Not everyone wants to have "that light" shining on him. One of the reasons Ahab, King of Israel, did not want to inquire of the Lord through the prophet Micaiah ben Imlah was because the prophet "does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil." (Kings 22:8) Ahab tried to explain away what the prophet was saying by turning the tables on him suggesting that Micaiah had both a bad attitude and a judgmental spirit. Rather than Ahab humbly accepting that his own sins had brought judgment down, Ahab tried to charge the prophet with presumption, and accused him of not speaking from God but rather from malice. The rest of the chapter plays out the sad ending of this dramatic event.
Actually, the Scriptures do not blush when describing the judgments of God. The Bible also notes that not everyone will learn what God wants to communicate through His judgments. Over 2,700 years ago the prophet Isaiah explained, "When the earth experiences Your judgments, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness." (Isaiah 26:9b) Natural catastrophes are meant to draw men's attention to consider what is on God's mind and heart. Some men and women hear His voice roaring "out of the storm" and above its din: Then the Lord answered Job out of the storm and said, 'Now gird up your loins like a man. I will ask you and you will instruct Me. Will you really annul My judgment? Will you condemn Me that you may be justified? Or do you have an arm like God, and can you thunder with a voice like His?" (Job 40:6-9)
Isaiah continues this message in the next verse, adding that the wicked just don't get it. They do not see the hand of God in His judgments. Though the power and kingliness of the God of Israel is revealed through natural disasters, the wicked man refuses both to recognize God's hand of judgment and to turn toward the Light. "Though the wicked is shown favor, he does not learn righteousness. He deals unjustly in the land of uprightness and does not perceive the majesty of the Lord." (Isaiah 26:10)
History reveals that this pattern is part of God's dealings with mankind. The Lord reveals His mighty arm and His holy nature through catastrophic judgments. This offends the minds of mankind and reveals the thoughts of everyone's hearts. In the end most people don't understand what God is doing. But those who do understand are described as men and women who are learning God's lessons about righteousness.
It is worth meditating on these matters in the light of John 16:8, where Yeshua describes the ministry of the Holy Spirit: "And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sins and righteousness and judgment." But repentance is the key which is "knockin' on heaven's door" and it will open up the floodgates of rescue and safety.
Throughout the ages Jewish prophets echoed certain themes, including the guilt of Israel and the world, and the need of personal repentance. When Messiah Yeshua taught in Jerusalem, He also reiterated the same point. "Do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish." (Luke 13:4-5)
Yeshua was not saying that no one was allowed to know why the tower fell. Nor was He saying that the 18 men killed in its collapse were guiltless. He Himself ended His teaching with a prophetic and time-sensitive warning of soon-coming judgment to the entire Jewish nation. (Luke 13:6-9)
Yeshua stated that there was plenty of guilt to go around the 18 were guilty, but so were the majority of Jerusalem's inhabitants. Yeshua linked the tower's casualties with judgment on sin. And He did not consider such a link simplistic or primitive, for He was speaking in the name of His omniscient Father, the God of glory whose voice thunders over the many waters. (Psalm 29:3-4) The teaching was an exhortation to His listeners not to think that they were more righteous than those being judged. As Paul said, "For all have sinned…" (Romans 3:23)
What Yeshua wanted His hearers to understand is that, even though catastrophic events are due to sin, they are meant to be a tool in God's hands to shock all of us into repentance. If we do not recognize that God's hand is somehow in the catastrophic event, we will not humble our hearts and soften our spirits before the God of Israel. We will not learn what He wants us to learn. We will not move into repentance. We will move against the prophetic spirit of God.
The connection between sin and judgment is part of a biblical worldview. The awareness that God will punish sins even in the "here and now" is supposed to motivate us to bow low before His footstool in the fear of God. (See Isaiah 11:1-5) But the Bible also teaches us that it is not always the fault of the individual who is directly in the crosshairs when God's judgments roll like thunder across a nation. Sometimes God brings judgment on a people due to the sins of their leadership.
One such example is found in II Samuel 24 and I Chronicles 21. God was angry with Israel for some sins which are not directly described in context. He allowed Satan to influence David into taking a census. Even a rough and tumble soldier like Joab discerned that David's census was contrary to God's own heart. Perhaps this is connected to Deuteronomy 17:16-20 where the Davidic king is called to base his "State Department" policy on strict obedience to the covenants and not to lean on his own wisdom and power. Or perhaps it ties in with Deuteronomy 8:10-20, wherein Israel is warned against "trusting in chariots" depending on its own strength to save it, instead of following the promises and heeding the warnings of God's covenants.
Since the Lord had given David much, He would now hold him responsible for much. God's judgment on David would be most severe. (See Romans 2;4-11; Amos 3:2; Isaiah 40:2) Through the words of the prophet Gad, God gave David three choices of judgment three years of famine, three months of military invasion, or three days of plague. David chose the shortest possible judgment, declaring that it is better to fall directly into God's hand of judgment than into that of Israel's surrounding neighbors!
The prophesied plague sent from the Lord fell on Israel, and 70,000 men died within only a few days. This judgment was accepted by David as coming from the hand of the Lord. He humbled his heart. He did not reject the prophetic word. And he wept.
"Then David lifted up his eyes and saw the angel of the Lord standing between earth and heavens, with his drawn sword in his hand, stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, covered with sackcloth, fell on their faces. David said to God, 'Is it not I who commanded to count the people? Indeed, I am the one who has sinned and done very wickedly, but these sheep, what have they done? O Lord my God, please let Your hand be against me and my father's household, but not against Your people that they should be plagued…' Then David built an altar…and he called to the Lord, and He answered him with fire from heaven on the altar of burnt offering. The Lord commanded the angel, and he put his sword back in its sheath." (I Chronicles 21:16-17, 26-27)
The biblical principle here is that judgment on a nation can be due to the sins of the country's leadership. This scenario actually happened with David, a man after God's own heart, and with Israel, God's chosen people. The principle was commemorated in the Bible, a record of God's dealings for all time. Today the same dynamic may play itself out in your country, or in any country.
When God brings judgment on a nation for the sins of its leadership, our 21st century minds may get offended. Please don't get offended! Press on through to the other side. The God of Jacob is testing our hearts and revealing our thoughts. He is calling us to repentance and to acknowledge our nation's sin.
When any nation's leadership actively campaigns and brings pressure to bear to shrink Israel's borders, this is a national sin. These actions eventually bring national judgment (See Joel 3:1-2) and this sin requires national and identificational repentance.
When Israel sins before God, He may even reveal His displeasure by temporarily trimming away land from her. (See Judges 2) Even so, the nations which threaten and pressure Israel into shrinking her own land border will also be judged.
As the Jewish sometimes-prophet Bob Dylan has remarked in his remarkable voice, "The times, they are a'changin." The God of the Old Testament is the God of storms and earthquakes. (See Habakkuk 3) And His handiwork is beginning to show up as the lead story on the nightly news. The God of the Exodus is incrementally revealing His mighty arm at present. Part of the reason He is doing this is buried in the pages of the Hebrew prophets. He is letting the superpowers of the world know that He is "exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and Zion" and that He is "very angry with the nations who are at ease; "for while I was only a little angry [at Israel], they furthered the disaster." (Zech. 1:14-1)
The God of Israel wants the superpowers of the world to have a revelatory experience - to experience that "he who touches [Israel] touches the apple of His eye." (Zech. 2:8) The Lord wants the nations to know that any person or nation who says "It's only Zion; no one cares for her!" (Jer. 30:16-17) is in danger of having himself, his family and his own land plundered, devoured and exiled - curse for curse, just like the superpowers in times past (and present!) have allowed these things to happen (or even encouraged them) in regard to the Jewish people and their land.
As events barrel forward, God's eyes are roaming to and fro throughout the earth, looking to strongly support those whose hearts are completely His. (II Chronicles 16:9) Now is the time to seek God's face and to dedicate ourselves afresh for His service and His kingdom. Now is the time, as Isaiah says, (See Isaiah 58:1) to cry out loudly and not hold back, raising our voices like a shofar and declaring to the House of Jacob (and to all the families of the earth) their sins.
Avner Boskey lives with his wife Rachel and four sons near Beersheva. They oversee Final Frontier Ministries, a ministry dedicated to stirring up the creative arts, worship, intercession, evangelism and the prophetic within a Jewish and Israeli matrix. http://www.davidstent.org/
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By Shira Sorko-Ram
We have always linked the wars and disasters in Israel with the sins of our Israeli people - the reason being that the whole Bible persistently makes that connection. That is why we have consistently maintained that the only hope for Israel's survival and victory over those who hate her and seek to destroy her, is for the Israeli people to first receive victory over the enemy of her soul.
It is not at all easy in this 21st century to talk about national sin being the direct cause of national disaster. The West has had deep revelation concerning grace and forgiveness of sin for the sinner, and hundreds of thousands have come to the faith because of the outstretched arms of Yeshua. On the other hand, sign-toting preachers on the street corner crying, "Repent! The end is near!" doesn't preach, doesn't attract seekers.
Today pastors throughout the U.S. are encouraging Christians to show the love of God in practical ways to those who have lost everything. They are right on! Love precedes all, and through this love, no doubt, multitudes more will receive eternal life.
But the message is incomplete if the sheep do not understand that sin costs. "The wages of sin, simply put, is death. Perhaps many believers automatically connect that "death" with judgment in the next world. Again they are right.
But the whole message must include the fact that individuals, cities and nations often pay for their sins in the here and now. Because God's calculations of sovereign intervention is so different than our human reckoning, we can never second-guess God. But when He does manifest Himself and His power, it is critical that we sit up and take notice. And of course, the first place we must head for is the Bible.
The most dramatic destruction of a city in the Scriptures is of course that of Sodom and Gomorrah, of which Abraham was told, "Their sin is exceedingly grave." (Genesis 18:20) Moses describes Sodom as a city of morally depraved citizens; the whole city had become a habitation of homosexuals and perverts who surrounded the home of Lot along with his visitors who happened to be angels sent to investigate.
"The men of Sodom, both old and young, all the people from every quarter, surrounded the house" and were attempting to break down the door to rape the men inside. With that, the angels told Lot,
"We will destroy this place, because the outcry against them has grown great before the face of the
Lord, and the Lord has sent us to destroy it." (Genesis 19:4,13)
The prophet Ezekiel reveals more of God's heart toward Sodom:
"Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom. . . arrogance, abundant food, and careless ease, but she did not help the poor and needy. Thus they were haughty and committed abominations before Me. Therefore I removed them when I saw it." (Ezekiel 16:49-50)
New Orleans, the Big Easy. What are her sins? Alas, they are so easy to list; both national observers and local New Orleans dwellers can give you a list without end.Her leadership is some of the most corrupt in the U.S. And that's saying a lot!
But we must remember the words of Yeshua which paraphrased might be something like this: "Do you believe that the people of New Orleans are more sinful than others! No! But unless you repent, you also shall perish."
In fact, Yeshua made known that if the miracles He had done in Capernaum had been done in Sodom, that city would not have been destroyed at all! That means to me that a lot of people in Sodom would have repented and turned to the Lord had they had the chance. And then the shocker! Yeshua reveals that a nice, prosperous city like Capernaum will have a far heavier judgment than the licentious city of Sodom! (Matthew 11:23-24)
But this is not the end. In wrath there is mercy. The New Orleans evacuees are now scattered around the United States, creating unprecedented opportunities to bring salvation and healing to these people, many of whom may have never had a real opportunity for an encounter with the Living God.
Franklin Graham said on Fox News a few nights ago: "There are 360,000 churches in America. If each congregation would take in one family, pay for an apartment for them, help underprivileged children be successful in school, assist the adults in finding jobs and even career-training, and show them the love of God, they could change the city of New Orleans forever! Many who choose to return to New Orleans as born-again believers would become vibrant, effective workers in their communities, in their reconstructed churches and brand new churches, and New Orleans would rise up out of her spiritual and physical ashes!
We believe it is even now happening. The last figure I heard was a month ago, when Pastor Rick Warren stated that already churches and faith-based organizations were housing a quarter of a million evacuees. May the men and women of God in America take hold with all of their might this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! And may God guide the leadership of America to bless Israel and not curse her.
- August 22, 2005, under international pressure, the last Jewish evacuees are forcibly removed from their homes in Gaza - part of the land promised to Israel, the apple of His eye.
- August 23, 2005, a tropical depression forms near the Bahamas and in six days, the eye of Hurricane Katrina hits the Gulf Coast and destroys an area the size of Great Britain, and over a million people are forced out of their homes.
- The Road Map designed by the U.S. and Great Britain plans for a Palestinian state on Israel's homeland. The motivation is partly to secure safe Middle East oil supplies.
- The U.S. oil refineries and New Orleans port which transfers the oil, are badly hit.
- While 8,500 Jewish evacuees find refuge in hotels, shelters and tents in Israel, within a few days U.S. evacuees are finding refuge in hotels, shelters and tents in America.
- The Jews are evacuated in sweltering heat, under supervision of police and army.
- Residents of New Orleans and the Gulf are evacuated in sweltering heat, under supervision of police and army.
- Israeli dead are exhumed from their graves is Gaza to be reburied in another place.
- American coffins are seen disinterred from their resting place and lying in water.
- Business lost to Gaza coast Jewish evacuees will cost Israel many millions of dollars.
-Business lost to Gulf Coast evacuees will cost the U.S. many billions of dollars.
- Israeli homes and communities along the coast of Gaza are utterly destroyed.
- Many homes and communities along the Gulf Coast are utterly destroyed.
Thus says the Lord, who gives the sun for light by day. . .who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar…the Lord of hosts is His name: If this fixed order departs from before Me, declares the Lord, then the offspring of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before Me forever. Jeremiah 31:35-36
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I was born in Russia, in Leningrad - now Saint Petersburg - in 1960. From a very young age I knew that I was Jewish but sensed that this was not something to boast about. I experienced much ill will at school because I was a Jew, especially when the teacher deliberately inquired about my race in class. At times when I would have arguments with other kids, they would say, "You, Jew, go to your Israel!" I hated hearing about Israel, perhaps because of the constant propaganda against it in the media.
Actually, I just wanted to be like everybody, a normal Russian girl.
My parents were totally secular. No one ever talked to me about God, and my only knowledge of Him came from books or pictures that I had seen in museums. From these I had learned that in previous generations there were people who believed that there was a God. I thought that these were very narrow-minded people who had never studied about evolution and had never read any books apart from the Bible.
At the time of my birth, Russia was still communist; there were no churches and no believers that I had ever heard of. There was an official synagogue which some older people attended during the holidays, but anyone caught going there would be kicked out of their university or lose any good job opportunities. My father was a member of the communist party and a manager of a big bookstore in the city center. My mother worked in a factory, where she was a manager of the supply department. They were poor and much of the time was spent arguing about money matters.
My parents did not have moral values, but I somehow thought that when I decided to marry, I would live according to higher moral standard. But after two years of marriage, my husband and I were no longer faithful to one another. I was lying nonstop and never felt remorse. I had a lifestyle of partying, drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes, telling dirty jokes, watching pornographic films and laughing and talking about them.
I had a good job representing the government in trade and commerce exhibitions, but in 1989, when Jews were being let out of the Soviet Union, we seriously started to think about leaving for the USA. At that time it was a major event if someone left the country. Only Jews were permitted to do this, because of international agreements (the right of return of Jews to Israel), and those who left were considered traitors.
We received permission pretty quickly and then started to prepare everything for our departure, knowing we would have to start a new life in a new place, acquire new friends, new language, new values, new jobs and even a new mentality.
The government fined us 500 rubles for leaving (the average wage at that time was 120-140 rubles per month) because of our "bad behavior". They took away our Russian passports since we were no longer considered citizens of Russia. Instead they gave us a piece of paper with our picture glued on it, our names and dates of birth and that we were Jews. This was the only I.D. we had. The government "very generously" permitted us to take with us $147 per person, the only money we had when we left.
We journeyed through Austria to Italy. When we arrived in Italy we met many Russian Jews who were stuck there waiting for visas to enter the U.S.A., and we joined them but soon found ourselves without even food. I learned Italian very fast and after four months I was speaking almost fluently. I accepted any job that came my way, teaching Russian, working in a Pizzeria, ironing, cleaning and working in the market.
One day we noticed an advertisement that in the "American Club" they were going to show a free movie in Russian called "Jesus". The Jewish "Joint" Organization in charge of Jewish immigrants in Italy which had been giving us a small amount of money, warned us not to go to the "American Club" because there were Christians there.
In spite of the warning, we decided to go, not because we were so interested in this film about Jesus, but because, being refugees at that time, we could not afford to go to the movies or the theater. So for us it was like tasting normal life again.
During this time the American consulate was quite selective. They did not give a visa to everyone and as the criteria for visas was unknown to any of us, it was just like a lottery. We were sure that we would get our visas since we were young with good skills and good health. However, we were unlucky and were refused visas, leaving us to an unknown future.
The only country in the world that wanted to accept us was Israel. The Jewish Agency representatives tried to persuade us to go to Israel; even promising to supply us with a house, work and money….but I was stubborn and self willed. I told my husband that even if I were to endure hunger in Italy, I would not go to live in Israel. I had my heart set on America or Canada or even staying in Italy. But we were at a loss. We couldn't just continue to be in limbo without citizenship or any rights.
As it happened, we heard that a Pastor Joe and Caroline from the "American Club" helped many to find sponsors in the U.S., Canada and other countries. So we decided to draw on their help too. As a result, we started going there every Sunday and participated in their Christian events. I even learned their songs of praise to God. I was singing there and playing my guitar! All this in search of a solution to our situation.
We felt that these sweet people had something unique and they expressed so much love for us. They took a picture of us and put it in a Christian magazine, and also asked a Christian radio station to broadcast our story in North America and to explain that we were in need of sponsors.
Time passed quickly and we were already in Italy for nine months. It seemed as though there wasn't any hope. In the meantime Pastor Joe was preaching in his Sunday meetings: "God has a plan for you. You are stuck here for His good purposes in your life." I didn't like this explanation. I was fed up with this kind of life and wanted to know what was going to happen with us. I wanted to start living a normal life.
And then one day Pastor Joe and Caroline came to us and said, "Congratulations! You have sponsors! You are going to Canada! There are some Christian believers that heard on the radio about your situation in Italy, and have decided to sponsor you." WOW! This was so exciting!
A few months later we arrived in Vancouver, where we met this precious family, a not particularly rich couple with three kids. They gave us a place to live together with them in their house. They helped us with everything, cared for us as though we were their children. I was amazed at their kindness and hospitality. They simply said: "This is what we felt God wanted us to do; we just wanted to obey Him and follow His Word."
In Canada we also met other believers that had a love for Israel. Though they were not Jewish, they were celebrating all the Jewish Feasts; they were even fasting on Yom Kippur. I can simply say that I learned from them how to be a Jew. Their love for Israel was beyond anything I had experienced, and in one year their love infected me!
When I finally visited Israel to see my parents, I was so excited that my eyes filled with tears whenever I saw an Israeli flag. Something in me had changed. Now I know that God just turned my heart towards Israel and planted a great love for my ancient homeland in me.
I was not yet a believer and still quite a sinner. But I was discontent and restless inside. Finally, I decided to immigrate to Israel in 1991 and arrived with just two suitcases. For the next four years, I went backwards and forwards between God and the world. I wanted to be godly, and yet I was still not ready to give all aspects of my life to Yeshua.
Then one night I was attending a Bible study and we were studying the book of John, when somehow I finally got a very strong revelation that Yeshua is the Jewish Messiah. That He is the Light of the World, the Bread of Life, the Only Way!
I called Pastor Joe and Caroline, who had since moved to Israel, and told them that I was ready to be immersed in water. Joe said that we should wait a little, as there could be others who might want to join. My reply to him was that I couldn't wait at all, that I wanted to be immersed as soon as possible! He wondered at my impatience, but I knew that I had received the fire of God directly into my heart, and since that moment it is still burning within me. I am a changed woman, and serve in many activities in my congregation, Tiferet Yeshua.
My CD, "The Power of Words" that I have recently produced is just one fruit of this fire that the Almighty has put in me. Hallelujah! I have been writing songs since I was a young girl. But as an adult who was far from God, I wrote many vulgar songs for fun and jokes. In 1996 I wrote my first song in Hebrew for the Lord!
My congregation and Maoz was able to help me with one-fourth of the cost for this CD, and the rest I just paid by myself. Altogether, it took me almost 3 years to complete this project.
The recording was made in the tiny private studio of Reuven Hayun (not a believer). During our work, we had a lot of opportunity to witness to Reuven. The atmosphere in the studio was magical; the "Ruach HaKodesh" (The Holy Spirit) was there and we all felt Him!
During the work with Reuven we realized he had a wonderful voice and he was very happy to sing and play the guitar. So we incorporated him into our project! I am still praying for his salvation.
This CD is an expression of my deepest heartfelt thanks to Him who in His Love saved a wretch like me. To HIM, and to HIM alone is the Glory!
Since this CD is completely in Hebrew, we wondered if our Maoz partners would enjoy the music.
A few days ago, we played one of the songs for two visiting pastors of one of the fastest growing churches in America, and they LOVED it.
In fact, they asked to take our copy back to the States with them. We decided that if they were that enthusiastic about the CD, many of our partners would be too! So we offer it to you as our gift this month! The Hebrew songs are written out in English, so that you can follow the meaning of all the songs. So please enjoy the very first music CD to come out of our congregation - "The Power of Words"
Ari and Shira Sorko-Ram
Arieh immigrated in the year 2000 along with his mother and brother from Belarus. As is true with so many FSU immigrants, he comes from a one-parent family, and their acclimation into the country has been economically difficult.
Arieh's mother and brother received Yeshua as their Messiah while still in Belarus, and Arieh has blossomed in his faith since he began attending our Congregation Tiferet Yeshua. During a congregational picnic, he followed His Messiah Yeshua into the waters of immersion.
On the following Shabbat, we celebrated his passage to manhood on his 13th birthday at his Bar Mitzvah. As always, non-believers attend all of our special events. It is their first introduction to a congregation of born-again Israeli Believers.
October 2005
Dear Maoz Partner,
In these incredible times when the unthinkable is happening, our eyes are upon the Lord and His soon return.
When the disciples asked, "What will be the sign of your coming?" the Lord
"This Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a witness to all the nations, and then the end shall come." Matthew 24:14
Israel is to be a prominent vehicle of this salvation. Her reconciliation to her God will be "life from the dead" for the Gentiles. So said Paul.
You might ask, "How can I, living in my own country, help you there in Israel to 'preach the Gospel?'"
We only know how to state it simply. You can help us publish books that preach the Gospel. You can put them into the hands of our Israeli people.
As the end times close in upon us, you can help us translate some of the greatest books available into Hebrew, print them, and distribute them in Israel - books that can change lives.
These books will nourish the core group of Messianic Jewish Israelis a group that is destined to grow into an "exceedingly great army," according to Ezekiel and the prophets.
And while your gift may not seem like a significant amount to you, together we will be able to fulfill our part of the Great Commission in Israel.
If you and all our other partners will give, we are convinced that the end result of publishing these books will be very significant.
Last year, for instance, our partners gave over $60,000 to help us produce Hebrew books - most of it in small gifts.
So you see, $25 or more might not seem like a lot, but through your act of graciousness, their faith will be strengthened, giving them power to impact their community.
And you and I both know that Israelis, like all human kind, need all the encouragement, fortification and knowledge of the Word of God they can get in these terrifying - but opportunity-laden - times in which we live.
We hope you will help us make The Hebrew Book of the Month Fund grow!
So please send your gift of $25, 50, $100 - or more if you can.
What can touch the God of Israel's heart more than seeing that you care about the nation who gave the world His Word and His Son! Now we can bring the Word and the Son back to His people that He has promised to save!
We offer you our deep gratitude for caring about and loving Israel. And God bless our faithful partners who have already joined the Hebrew Book of the Month Club!
For Israel's salvation,
Ari & Shira Sorko-Ram
P.S. One more very important point: 100% of the money given to the Hebrew Publishing Fund will go directly towards translating, printing and distributing books.
And don't forget to request your CD, The Power of Words!
Related Links
April 2006, Seven Deadly Sins That Will Bring Judgment Upon Israel


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