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To add or change your team name, please email firstname.lastname@example.com or call the KCBS office at 1-800-963-5227.
KCBS Team Bios
BARTLETT BONEHEADSYear Started: 2007
Team Bio:
We won our first event in 2007, which was a non-sanctioned event. We cooked in 1 KCBS event in 2007 and got as high as 16 in Brisket. In 2008 we lost several of the original team as they could not travel and cook in as many events as we had planned. Today our team, consist of two main guys, Chris McCluskey and Doug Jakalski. We have different roles we play to round-out the team. Chris does most of the cooking and Doug preps the boxes. Both taste the product to determine what we put in the boxes. We have a couple of other guys that help on occasion and they are Vic Modugno and Mike Kelly. We are just a group of guys from the western burbs of Chicago that love BBQ and cook in general. We all come from different careers like sales, marketing, manufacturing and engineering. We are cooking on Big Green Eggs, Backwoods competitor and an off-set while using lump & charcoal.
Hometown: Bartlett, IL.
State/Province: IL
Country: US
Most wins in a year: 1
Biggest Wins: 1st place Chicken - Hazlewood Mo. 1st in Ribs- 2010 Shannon IL. 6th in Brisket and 10th in pork- 2010 Westmont IL. Grand - Boondocks BBQ for Cancer Research West Chicago, IL. August 2008 Grand - Last Fling Naperville, IL. 2007 Reserve- Last Fling Naperville, IL. 2008 5th overall - Hazelwood, MO. March 2008
Sponsors: Frontier Brand Charcoal Northwest Supply
Website: http://www.bartlettboneheads.com

subset: commoncrawl


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'And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.' Revelation 21:23
Suggested Further Reading: Luke 20:27–38
They need no social ties in heaven. We need here the associations of friendship and of family love, but they are neither married nor are given in marriage there: their God is enough. They shall need no teachers there; they shall doubtless commune with one another concerning the things of God, and tell to one another the strange things which the Lord has wrought for them, but they shall not need this by way of instruction; they shall all be taught of the Lord, for in heaven 'the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.' There is an utter independence in heaven, then, of all the creatures. No sun and no moon are wanted—no creatures whatever. Here we lean upon the friendly arm, but there they lean upon their beloved and upon him alone. Here we must have the help of our companions, but there they find all they want in Christ alone. Here we look to the meat which perishes, and to the raiment which decays before the moth, but there they find everything in God. We have to use the bucket to get water from the well, but there they drink from the well-head, and put their lips down to the living water. Here the angels bring us blessings, but we shall want no messengers from heaven then. O what a blessed time that shall be, when we shall have mounted above every second cause and shall hang upon the bare arm of God! What a glorious hour when God, and not his creatures, God, and not his works, but God himself, Christ himself shall be our eternal joy.
For meditation: God's people, having his perfect presence in heaven, will no longer need the pleasant things they enjoyed on earth and will no longer face the unpleasant things they suffered on earth, such as hunger, thirst, excessive heat, tears (Revelation 7:15–17), death, sorrow, crying and pain (Revelation 21:3–4). The lost in hell will suffer all of these and miss all that they enjoyed in their earthly lives (Luke 16:23–25).
Sermon no. 583
31 July (1864)


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State police charge Concord man with selling heroin
August 01. 2013 11:10AM
CONCORD – A city man is under arrest, accused of selling heroin in the city after an investigation by the state police Narcotics and Investigations Unit.
Jason Sfara, 39, of 197 N. State St., is charged with one count of sale of a narcotic drug.
Investigators said they recovered 25 grams of heroin, assorted pharmaceutical drugs and $2,690 in cash when they searched Sfara's residence.
What's next: Sfara refused bail and is being detained pending his arraignment Thursday in 6th Circuit Court, Concord District Division.


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Read Part 1 or 3 of this discussion.
Dear Kathleen:
I too was struck by E.J. Dionne's discussion of the early twentieth century work of Msgr. John Ryan. What I found particularly interesting was that Msgr. Ryan thought it necessary and valuable to make a direct connection between his faith and his politics, arguing that his call for economic justice rested "ultimately on the foundational principle that God created the earth for the sustenance of all his children; therefore, that all persons are equal in the inherent claims upon the bounty of nature." This is a fundamentally Catholic social anthropology and it led Msgr. Ryan to conclude that the subsistence wages of his day were an injustice that had to be remedied.
In order for any political platform to be coherent, as you well know, it has to be built on a solid anthropology: a set of sound principles that describe who human beings are, what they require, and what should be done to achieve it. Throughout the 1990s, as Dionne rightly points out, the anthropology or worldview of the religious right led them to conclude that Christian faith is necessarily identified with the politics and policies of the Republican Party. The opportunity now is for Christians to carve out a new philosophy of public action that is post-partisan, big enough to transcend traditional ideological barriers. Catholics are uniquely situated to meet this challenge. We have a rich and compelling tradition, as Dionne points out, of sustained reflection on what it means to be human and this, it seems to me, is the first and most fundamental political question.
Mr. Obama has taken some hits lately for seeming to lack a philosophical grounding. Michael Powell recently wrote in the New York Times "Mr. Obama, an intellectually curious man, is nothing if not pragmatic in the application of philosophy to politics, temperamentally inclined toward no strand of thinking." I suspect that isn't quite fair. But it is true that when it comes to clearly articulating the philosophy that undergirds his positions, Mr. Obama has been less eloquent, even hesitant, about his thinking. We saw this, I think, at the Saddleback forum.
Yet Mr. Obama's troubles in this regard seem to mirror America's troubles as it struggles to re-cast faith, philosophy and politics on the national stage following the exit of the religious right. And Mr. Obama's somewhat tentative philosophical instincts also seem to reflect a Democratic Party that is in the midst of some pretty big changes. Sixteen years ago, the Governor of Pennsylvania, Bob Casey, was banned from speaking before the Democratic convention because of his pro-life views. Last night, his son, Senator Bob Casey, Jr., also pro-life, had a prime time speaking role. This seems to indicate that the times are indeed a-changing. Are these clear signs that the Democratic Party has grown more comfortable with religious and ideological diversity? Is the party expanding to fill a bigger tent?
I look forward to hearing from you.
Dear Matt,
You raise three very interesting points about the connection of faith and public life. First, whether Barrack Obama has a philosophical grounding that undergirds his policy positions. Second, are there clear signs that the Democratic Party has grown more comfortable with religious and ideological diversity? And, third is the party expanding to fill a bigger tent?
The answer to the last two questions is YES. I have been at the Democratic Convention for the last four days. I have felt the excitement and witnessed the change in the party. There have been many forums on faith and public life. Jim Wallis, the evangelical editor of Sojourners, is a rock star here, and he is pro-life. His message is that to be pro-life one must care about life after birth—as well as before.
Bob Casey, Jr.—whose father was prohibited from speaking at the 1992 convention—has been welcomed in the Democratic Party today. What a change. He has spoken eloquently about his faith. And, his message is wise. Casey argues that people of faith must, first, listen, so that we can learn from others. Faith defined as hearing what others say is in itself a shift from the unfortunate caricature of religion as close-minded and didactic.
And, the big tent in the Democratic Party also includes vets. I have attended a number of events that celebrate the contributions of veterans. Part of last night was a tribute to the many men and women who are serving our nation.
Finally, on the day when the first African American was nominated by a major party, the proceedings ended with a benediction from one of my heroes: Sister Catherine Pinkerton, the founder of NETWORK, a social action advocacy group in Washington D.C.
The question of Obama's philosophical grounding may take a few more entries, written with a little more time, something not easily found in the chaos of a convention! One point: Joe Biden's argument that we are all equal, that no one is better than us, could be the beginning of a uniquely American, faith-based philosophy. His point about the dignity of work is a big part of Catholic social thought. Each of us wishes to contribute to society, to feel that our work is important, to be able to say to our family and community. "I have produced. I take care of my family. I am human."
Biden also spoke about the conversations families have over the kitchen table. People are worried about the price of gas, the declining value of their home, and the bills that keep going up. Yet we are not alone, Biden said, we all share these same worries and dreams. We are very much connected to one another. (Some in the Republican Party seem to believe that we are alone, but that's a subject for another conversation.)
I assume that Barrack Obama chose Biden because they did share these common values…and a commitment to the common good. Tonight, we shall hear more.
All best,


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Get ready for brand new batch of talent! Miley Cyrus takes a seat as judge, in the search for the USA's next big voice.
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Iraq veterans 'seeing everything they fought for go out the window'
By JEFF WILKINSON | The (Columbia, S.C.) State | Published: July 4, 2014
On the night of Oct. 8, 2004, U.S. Army Sgt. Ramon Guitard, a Brooklyn native serving his second tour in Iraq, was a 21-year-old generator mechanic working as a guard in a supply convoy.
En route from Baghdad to Tikrit, Guitard's unarmored vehicle took a direct hit from a remotely detonated roadside bomb thought to be made of four artillery shells linked together. The impact of the blast shredded Guitard's legs, collapsed his lung, buried a rock in his right eye and ruptured his internal organs so badly that he had to be cut open from chest to navel to allow them room to swell up.
Today, Guitard wears two gyroscopic, carbon-fiber prosthetic legs that allow him to walk, drive a car, climb stairs and even ride his motorcycle. And on this Fourth of July — a decade after the blast — he watches new developments in Iraq with deep sadness.
"It hurts," said Guitard, who lives with his wife and four children near Columbia, South Carolina. "But my take on it is that I don't want to lose any more American lives because of this. We've sacrificed too much already."
Almost four years after U.S. combat troops left Iraq, the war has rekindled with a new vigor. Sunni insurgents, angry over the failure of the Shiite-led government to address tensions in their communities, have seized most of northern and western Iraq.
The front line in this new fight is the road between Tikrit and Baghdad, where Guitard was riding when he lost his legs 10 years ago.
Last week, President Barack Obama sent 300 U.S. combat troops back into Iraq to protect American interests and advise the Iraqi army. Some leaders — chief among them U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. — are calling for more involvement to stop the Sunni advance on Baghdad.
"Put American air power into the game," Graham told CNN last weekend. The Sunni insurgents "are not 10 feet tall. Stop the advance on Baghdad, get people on the ground that the Iraqis trust."
But many Iraq veterans — particularly those who were wounded in combat — are leery of another military push into the Persian Gulf country. And they are disappointed that their sacrifice seems to have been wasted, said John Trustruth, commander of the South Carolina Chapter of the Military Order of the Purple Heart.
"They're pissed off," said Trustruth, a Vietnam veteran who was wounded in a rocket propelled grenade attack. "They went over there and put their lives on the line. Now they're seeing everything they fought for go out the window."
No easy solutions
The situation in Iraq is complicated at best.
Iraq's parliament is considering starting a new government, questioning whether Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite, can stay in power. Some are even asking if the country should be divided into three sectarian zones: Sunni, Shiite and Kurd.
The United States is pressuring Iraqi politicians to form a unity government with all three groups, but many question if that is possible, given the rifts.
The Sunni minority ruled Iraq for centuries until the U.S. invasion ousted Saddam Hussein. Shiites have dominated the government since al-Maliki became prime minister in 2006 with the support of Shiite clerics in neighboring Iran. Recently, a Sunni organization that is an offshoot of al-Qaida declared an Islamic state in the north and west of Iraq and much of Syria. Kurds in the northeast of the country have a formidable army and may declare independence.
Mohammed al Duliamy, a native of Fallujah, served eight years in his homeland as an interpreter and reporter for Knight-Ridder and McClatchy newspapers and other news organizations. He said any further U.S. involvement on the ground is fraught with danger.
"The Iraqi government failed to contain an insurgency and fueled this sectarian fight that might consume the whole country," said Dulaimy, who has lived in Columbia since leaving Iraq to attend the University of South Carolina more than two years ago.
"I think the problem is so complicated on what the United States should do," said Dulaimy, who is seeking asylum here. "Leave Iraq to be controlled by terrorists? Or fight alongside a government that is favoring Iran. It is a dilemma. It's too complicated, and boots on the ground would complicate it more."
The toll on Americans
More than 1.5 million Americans served in Iraq between 2003 and 2011.
Since March 20, 2003, the day U.S. troops poured across the Kuwait-Iraq border to oust Saddam Hussein and search for weapons of mass destruction that did not exist, the United States lost 4,485 troops killed in action and an estimated more than 30,000 wounded in action.
Of those, 64 members of the U.S. military with ties to South Carolina died in Iraq; 48 have died in Afghanistan. More than 60 percent of American casualties nationally in Iraq were caused by roadside bombs.
Maj. Christopher Rauch of Lexington, South Carolina, was one of the first Americans to be wounded by a roadside bomb. It happened near Fallujah in October 2003, shortly after the rise of the Sunni insurgency after Saddam was driven from power.
"When I was hit, they were just starting," he said.
Rauch was riding in a convoy that was taking VIPs to tour a factory in the town of al Habbaniyah that Iraqi officials were pitching to U.S. investors. As they traveled down the main highway between Fallujah and al Habbaniyah, an explosion went off — again, a roadside bomb made of four 155 millimeter artillery shells linked together in what is referred to as a daisy chain. Only two of the shells went off.
The hit was not direct. But Rauch's Humvee — the fourth vehicle in the convoy — was blown off the road and into a ditch. Rauch was briefly knocked out, suffered a blown eardrum and was peppered with debris. The driver and the gunner in the vehicle were also wounded.
"I just remember waking up and saying 'Oh shit'," he said. "I waited a couple days to get over the concussion and went back to work."
Rauch, still a member of the South Carolina National Guard, returned for a second tour in Iraq in 2009 as a convoy manager. And he served in Afghanistan in 2013-2013, replacing first gentleman Michael Haley on a South Carolina agricultural development team.
Rauch said that the United States gave up many of its options and influence in Iraq when it withdrew all combat troops in 2011.
"We gave up ground we had already paid for," he said. "It was a decision made not just by (politicians). It was made by the people of the United States. That was a popular decision when it was done. But it had a cost."
As for a return to a combat role there: "I don't see what the gain would be," he said
'It's their time to step up'
Steven Diaz of Columbia also was struck by a roadside bomb near Fallujah.
A native of San Luis Potosi, Mexico, Diaz joined the Marine Corps after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, D.C., out of patriotism and as a step toward citizenship.
"I felt like it was something I needed to do for the country that had done so much for my family," he said.
Diaz's parents were permanent residents, but not yet citizens. Diaz joined the Corps in 2003 with nothing but a green card and was deployed to Iraq in December 2004.
On March 26, 2005, the lance corporal was commanding the lead Humvee in a convoy on a resupply mission to a forward operating base called Camp Korean Village, located on the main highway from Amman, Jordan to Baghdad.
Diaz's vehicle — a Humvee with armor plating the Marines had welded to its sides and its floorboard covered in sandbags — was to sprint ahead to draw enemy fire to alert the main convoy to trouble spots. The Marines called the vehicle "the suicide truck."
"If you got hit, you were on your own," he said.
The Humvee was hit by a roadside bomb — again four, linked 155-millimeter artillery shells. Diaz, who was 21 years old at the time, was riddled with shrapnel and one piece went through his left eye and lodged in his skull. Three other Marines in the vehicle also were severely injured.
"But I got it the worst," he said.
Diaz spent a year and eight months at National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., recovering from his wounds. He still suffers from traumatic brain injury and is blind in his left eye.
Diaz said he thinks the United States will have to take some sort of limited military action in Iraq to prevent the rise of more terrorist groups and support a Democratic government there.
"I don't know if there is a diplomatic way out of this," he said. "But for us to go back and take Fallujah for the third time, you're going to have a hard time selling that."
Guitard, who spent 18 months at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and underwent more than 50 major procedures, agreed.
"I would support air strikes," he said, "but nothing on the ground. We did our jobs. It's their time to step up."


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January 01. 2014 11:59PM
Gambling, again: 2013's defeat was temporary
Casino gambling was defeated in New Hampshire last year in part by arguments that either cannot be made or will be harder to make the next time. Opponents will have a hard fight on their hands.
There were three primary objections to last year's casino gambling proposal that doomed it among legislators who were otherwise open to expanded gambling.
One was that the state had no regulatory framework in place to govern casinos. The governor's gaming commission has come up with a recommended framework. Many House Democrats who opposed expanded gambling because it would be largely unregulated will not oppose it now.
Another was that the revenue would not appear for years, though Gov. Hassan's budget counted on having it immediately. The Senate killed Hassan's budget, so that objection is out.
The final big objection was that the bill did not provide the state with a large enough take. Look for any new legislation to give the state a larger share of casino revenue.
These issues brought in enough Democrats and gambling-agnostic Republicans to doom the bill last year. Opponents will need to focus next time around on how casinos will change New Hampshire for the worse. It will be a tough but winnable fight.


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Today will bring showers, mainly after 1 p.m., with a high near 43, but the first snow of the season may fall tomorrow morning in a mixture with rain, the National Weather Service says.
Today will bring showers, mainly after 1 p.m., with a high near 43 and light and variable wind becoming east 5 to 10 mph in the afternoon, according to the National Weather Service.
The chance of precipitation is 80 percent with new precipitation amounts of less than a tenth-of-an-inch possible.
Tonight the showers will continue with patchy fog after 8 p.m. and a low around 35 with an east wind 15 to 18 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80 percent. New precipitation amounts of between a tenth- and quarter-of-an-inch are possible.
The first snow of the season may fall tomorrow morning in a mixture of rain and snow showers likely before 9 a.m, then a chance of rain. Little or no snow accumulation expected.
There will be patchy fog before 8 a.m. Otherwise, it will be cloudy then gradually becoming mostly sunny with a high near 44 and a north wind 10 to 18 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60 percent.
For a more detailed or extended forecast visit the National Weather Service website.
Sigalart.com is reporting no major problems on major roads leading to and from the Cape.
For an up-to-the-minute report visit Sigalert. Call: 511 or 617-374-1234.
For a live look at traffic on the bridges visit Cape Cod Live Cam
Air Quality:
According to the State Department of Environmental Protection: "Poor mixing from overnight inversions could hold for part of the day in limited or no sunshine. Moderate fine particle readings in some valley and urban locations are expected."
For more detailed information go to Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection>Mass EPA website.


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I'm very sad about this because I've been waiting a long time to take this class but I'm trying to be optimistic.
What are your thoughts about independent study? I'm going to have a hectic schedule during school but I really want to learn Greek.
I feel your pain.Pronunciation and the fact that Greek doesn't use the "Roman" alphabet seem like the 2 major stumbling blocks for me.


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TUCSON, Ariz. – The San Jose Earthquakes dropped their first preseason game 2-1 against Seattle Sounders FC on Wednesday at the Kino Sports Complex in Tucson, Ariz.
Seattle tallied twice in the first half and the Earthquakes pulled one back late in the second. Nigerian Designated Player Obafemi Martins had both goals for Seattle while Mike Fucito found the net for San Jose.
Jean-Baptiste Pierazzi nearly opened the scoring in the 24th minute. The French midfielder made a darting run through the middle of the box and nodded a Sam Garza free kick toward the far post. However, Seattle goalkeeper Stefan Frei leapt and batted the net-bound shot out for a corner.
Seattle found the scoreboard in the 27th minute as Martins tapped home a shot in front of goal. Jalil Anibaba sent a long throw into the box where Andy Rose contested for the header with the resulting loose ball falling to the feet of Martins on the doorstep.
Martins doubled his tally two minutes later with a header from close range. Dylan Remick sent a cross to Rose, who was open on the far side of the box. Rose headed a pass into the six-yard box to Martins for the goal.
San Jose had a chance to pull one back in the 81st minute after a string of passes led to a shot from the top of the box. Rookie trialist A.J. Corrado sent a pass across the top that Atiba Harris laid off for JJ Koval. The Stanford graduate targeted the lower corner, but Frei was there to make a diving save.
The Earthquakes broke through in the 86th minute with Fucito providing the finish. German trialist Andreas Gorlitz picked out Atiba Harris open in the box. Harris traded passes with Fucito, eventually springing the forward for a shot from 10 yards out.
Fucito nearly tied the game moments later after Harris slipped a pass between the Seattle backline. Fucito cut back and curled a shot for the far corner, but misfired high.
The Earthquakes wrap up their preseason trip to Tucson with a match against the Houston Dynamo on Saturday at the Kino Sports Complex. Kickoff is 2 p.m. PT with a livestream available at www.sjearthquakes.com.


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May, 15 1962 - January, 25 2013
Fallsburg, NY
Maria Elena Castro of Fallsburg passed away on January, 25 2013 at Westchester Medical Center. She was 50.
She was the daughter of Larry and Vitalia Harrison born in New York, NY on May, 15 1962. Maria married the love of her life of 24 years, Samuel Castro.
Maria was a graduate of the Fashion Institute of Technology at New York and a graduate of Sullivan County Community College where she achieved a license as a registered nurse. She served the New Hope Community as a registered nurse for five years. Maria was a loving foster mother of several children. On her spare time Maria enjoyed anything to do with fashion, as well as crocheting, painting, arts and crafts, cooking and baking, reading and entertaining her family and friends. She was a devout member of the Lighthouse Assembly of God.
Maria leaves behind her loving husband, Samuel Castro; her three adoring children: her son, Richard and fiance, Laura Schuman of Jersey City, NJ, her son, Aaron and daughter, Samantha, both of Glen Wild, NY; brother, Ismael and his wife, Amy Berrios of Woodbourne, NY and sister, Barbara Harrison of Woodridge, NY; as well as several cousins, aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews. She will be dearly missed by all.
Visiting will be held Monday January 28th from 7 to 9 p.m. at Colonial Memorial Funeral Home. A Funeral Service will be held at 11 a.m., Tuesday, January 29th at the funeral home.
Arrangements were under the direction of Colonial Memorial Funeral Home, for further information please call 845-434-7363 or visit our website www.colonialbryantfuneralhome.com


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Common Fisheries Policy Campaign
Invest in Fish!
In May 2013, the European parliament and fisheries ministers agreed new laws that could help European fish stocks recover, and secure jobs and income for the fishing industry.
It is vital that the revised European Marine and Fisheries Fund, the financial package that supports the fishing industry in Europe, is in line with these new laws. In October, the European parliament took a big step towards securing a sustainable future for fishing by voting against subsidies for fleet renewal. It's now up to Europe's fisheries ministers to endorse these proposals.
None of this could have happened without your support. The overall reform shows what we can achieve through citizen power.


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He was standing on the side of a rural road in Southern Arizona, about 50 miles from the Mexican border, where the Sonoran desert is dry, desolate and deadly. As I drove by, I could see he was holding up an empty water jug in his hand, asking for help. I kept driving for the next mile, but thought of the man every inch of the way.
A few years earlier, when I was driving with a friend who was particularly known for his magnanimity and hospitality, we passed by a similar stranger on the road. My friend said, "You know, I never take chances with people like that." A bit puzzled, I said, "What do you mean?" He continued, "That's Jesus in that person over there, and you can't fool around when you see someone in need like that. To neglect him is to neglect God. So we turned around and helped him." With this in mind, I also turned my car around and worked my way back to attend to this stranded individual. There was little mystery as to who he was; I had no fear that he might be a clandestine serial killer in a hitchhiker's disguise. He was simply an immigrant who had just walked 50 miles across the deadly desert and ran out of water.
It was not by accident that I came across this man. I had gone to the desert looking for people like him, wanting to talk to immigrants after they made the dangerous, harrowing trek across the Mexican-American border. During my encounters with them in detention centers, hospitals, shelters, train stations, deserts, mountains and along rivers and highways, they shared their stories, their struggles and, above all, their spirituality.
The Gospel passage Mt 25:31-46, which is often titled "Judgment of the Nations," is a challenging text through which to read these narratives and look at the issue of immigration. In this passage, Jesus says, "I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me." The corollaries to the immigrant experience are striking. Hungry in their homelands, thirsty in the treacherous deserts they cross, naked after being robbed at gunpoint by bandito gangs, sick in the hospitals from heat-related illnesses, imprisoned in immigration detention centers and finally, if they make it across, estranged in a new land, they bear many of the marks of the crucified Christ in our world today. In light of Matthew 25, immigrants provide one of the most striking instances of Christ's presence in our country.
As I got closer, however, I began to feel a little nervous, not because of any fear for my personal safety, but because of the legal complexities involved in helping immigrants. Any act of hospitality nowadays, especially in this part of the country, was going to be complicated. I quickly found myself not only on the border between Mexico and the United States but also on the border between civil and natural law—between national security and human insecurity and between citizenship and discipleship. The border is a challenging place to sort out the demands of obedience, but in the face of those desperately in need, it is also a fertile place of revelation.
If this man was like 98 percent of the immigrants who come across the border illegally, he was not a drug dealer, a criminal or a terrorist. Like most, he was a man pinned down by human misery, whose goal was simply to pry himself off the ground in order to make enough money to feed his family. As one immigrant named Xavier explained, "I don't even want to leave Mexico. I am not trying to get rich; I simply don't have enough to feed my family anymore. I only make three dollars a day, and all we can buy is tortillas and beans. Migration is a matter of survival for us." Like others, he realized that immigrating to America gives his family hope for bread and honest work, but it will also criminalize him in the process.
As I pulled over to the side of the road, this stranded man was winded and weathered, and his voice weak and weary because he had gone days without food and a day without water. After I offered him something to drink, he said his name was Manuel. Others like him had walked across this snake- and scorpion-infested desert, where summer daytime temperatures can exceed 120 degrees. He is one of thousands who try to cross daily, who walk for four days in a no man's land, trying to avoid detection by the Border Patrol. Since Operation Gatekeeper and similar border-control initiatives started in 1994, migrants have been diverted into more dangerous areas like the Sonoran Desert in order to make it into the United States. Desperate in their misery, they are forced to travel through hellish territory in order to get a job in America that, ironically, no one else wants: doing stoop labor in scorching fields, de-boning chicken in poultry plants, cleaning bathrooms in restaurants and other such menial work.
But Manuel was oneof the lucky ones. He was not one of the more than 2,500 who have died in the last nine years by drowning in rivers, freezing in the mountains, overheating in the deserts or suffocating in tractor trailers. Despite attempts to deter migrants, they keep coming even when the risks increase. Until economic conditions change in Mexico, border-control policies will do little to stem the tide of immigrants who are struggling to survive. Even while the United States needs and profits from undocumented labor, most immigrants grasp for the remnants of human dignity amid multiple levels of poverty, discrimination and exploitation. In perplexing simplicity, an immigrant named Julio said: "I need the work. You need the workers. Why are you making it so difficult for us to come across the border and work for you?"
After Manuel's long trek across the desert, however, his first words to me were, "I just want to turn myself into the Border Patrol." After looking death in the face, he wanted to exchange his freedom for a ticket back to Mexico. He said he started with a few friends, but after two days, he had trouble keeping pace with them, so they left him behind. His friends knew he would get lost and probably die, but they left him anyway.
His story seemed all too similar to that of another immigrant I met named Sebastian, who came within an hour of dying of heat stroke.
After two days without food and a day without water. I got disoriented and desperate. I had to resort to drinking out of feeding troughs of the desert livestock, and then I had to drink my own urine and even that of the animals. Beyond my exhaustion, my body started doing crazy things. I couldn't hear right and I had this loud, buzzing sound in my head. I felt dizzy and had terrible headaches. Blisters covered my feet, and then my arms and legs began to feel numb. My throat swelled up, and my heart began to beat real slowly, until everything felt like it was moving in slow motion. Everything turned black and white, and, at that moment, all I wanted to do was die, for I felt only death could liberate me from my suffering.
When asked why he risked death in the desert, he said, "My need is great. The fact is, I'm already dead in Mexico. By going through the desert, I have a chance to live, even if I die."
As Manuel shared his sufferings, the marks of the crucified Lord began to emerge more clearly. He experienced an economic crucifixion as a poor man. He experienced a political crucifixion as an "illegal alien" (with such dehumanizing terminology, he felt he had more in common with extraterrestrials than with U.S. citizens). He experienced a legal crucifixion as a border crosser. He also endured a cultural crucifixion in his separation from home and country. And he underwent a social crucifixion in his piercing loneliness, because of which—separated from his wife and children—he feared being no one to anybody.
But what was most striking was Manuel's testimony to hope. Amid his trials, he depended more than anything else on his relationship with God. He said, "You know, my friends abandoned me in the desert. I thought they were my friends, but they really weren't." With tears in his eyes, he continued, "I've learned that God is the one and only friend who will never abandon me. He was the only one with me in the desert when everything else was taken away." Manuel then went on to recall that the desert was the place where Jesus went, a place where he waged war with the devil. He said, "The desert was the place where Jesus spent 40 days and where he was tempted."
"What temptations did you experience out there?" I asked. "For me, the greatest temptation was simply to give up, to allow myself to die in the middle of the desert, to stop fighting," he said. "And you know at times I simply wanted to die, because it would have been easier for me. But then I saw in my mind the faces of my kids who I left for in the first place, and I knew they were too young to be alone, and they kept me going."
His insight into the Scriptures intrigued me, so I asked if there were other passages that gave him hope. "What gave me strength," Manuel said, "was the Book of Job. He was a guy who lost everything: his friends, his family, his livestock, his house and his health. Job's story is my story. I've lost everything, and about all I have learned is how to suffer. But in Job's case, he never cursed God. And I've always been inspired by him, because I want to be faithful to God as Job was, even with all my struggles."
Another immigrant, María, spoke in a similar way. She had come north from Guatemala because her family had no money for badly needed medication. She twice tried to cross into the United States. On both occasions she ran out of food and water. The second time, she started throwing up and was on the verge of heat stroke. Twice she was apprehended by the border patrol. Once she was robbed at gunpoint by gangs. And once someone attempted to rape her.
After all she endured in the three weeks since she left home, I asked her what she would say to God if she had 15 minutes to talk to God in person. She looked at me askance, as if I were totally out of it. She said, "First of all, I don't have 15 minutes. God is always with me and I am always talking with God. But if I could see God face to face, the first thing I would do is thank God, for I have been given so much. Everything I am is a gift from God, and God has been so good to me."
Immigrants like Manuel, Xavier, Julio, Sebastian and María reveal a power of life that is stronger than the many dimensions of death that oppress them. One of the great marvels of God is that such hope springs forth amid great suffering. Immigrants not only compel us toward the works of mercy of Matthew 25, but challenge us to discover a spirit of divine gratuity where most of us would tend to see only despair and abandonment. Their stories call us not only to reach out to those in need, but also to find God in the most unlikely places.


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Inside Tom Cruise's Private Pain
The 50-year-old megastar, who was blindsided when his wife of five years, Katie Holmes, filed for divorce on June 28, "was thinking, 'What did I not see?' " a source who knows the former couple tells PEOPLE in this week's cover story.
Especially tough: His month-long separation from 6-year-old daughter Suri, which finally ended when the pair reunited on July 17in New York City.
What took so long?
"He's wanted to see her as fast as possible since this started," a source, who cites Cruise's obligation to his sci-fi thriller Oblivion as the main obstacle. "He couldn't shut down production, cost people their jobs. People count on him."
In agreeing to a divorce settlement in a mere 11 days, "Tom tried his best to do what's right for Suri," according to his longtime friend and lawyer Bert Fields, who says the star is "sad" but not "bitter" about the situation.
Cruise has been leaning on his older children, Connor, 17, and Isabella, 19, his three sisters and his mother – all of whom share his Scientology religion. Several members of his family joined him for support as he filmed his final scenes for Oblivion.
"Tom is not ashamed of his beliefs," says the source, who knows the former couple, "and won't hide them from his daughter."
For much more on this story, including details on Tom's trusted inner circle, how he's coping and Holmes's new life, pick up the new issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday


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A guide to the trial of James 'Whitey' Bulger
James "Whitey" Bulger is on trial in a 32-count racketeering indictment accusing him of a long list of crimes, including participating in 19 killings. Here's a look at the case against him, his defense and what's happening in the courtroom as the trial enters its fourth week:
The 83-year-old Bulger, who prosecutors say was the former leader of the Winter Hill Gang, was one of the nation's most wanted fugitives after he fled Boston in 1994. He was captured in 2011 in Santa Monica, Calif., where he had been living with his longtime girlfriend in a rent-controlled apartment. His early image as a modern-day Robin Hood who gave Thanksgiving dinners to working-class neighbors and kept drug dealers out of his South Boston neighborhood was shattered when authorities started digging up bodies.
Excerpts from Bulger's FBI informant file presented to the jury Monday show he had secretly provided information on a variety of criminals, from members of the Italian Mafia to people in his own South Boston neighborhood. On Tuesday, the widow of a man who prosecutors say was killed by Bulger testified that after her husband disappeared in 1975, Bulger told her that he "was probably in Canada robbing banks."
Bulger's lawyers continued to challenge a claim by prosecutors that Bulger was a top-echelon FBI informant. The defense contended that former FBI Agent John Connolly fabricated Bulger's FBI file in an attempt to cover up his own corrupt behavior.
Eleven men and seven women make up the panel of 12 regular jurors and six alternates. The trial, which began in June, was initially expected to last three to four months, but Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Kelly told the judge that it's moving faster than anticipated. Prosecutors could wrap up their case by the end of July, followed by the defense case, he said.
The defendant swore in court Thursday as former FBI agent John Morris described his role as an informant who ratted on criminals. The judge said she did not hear the remark but told Bulger his lawyers are to speak for him. He said he understood.
Morris is expected to remain on the stand Monday as Bulger attorney Hank Brennan continues his cross-examination.


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Expert Physicians
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Unique and Supportive Environment
The Bon Secours Cancer Institute treats the whole person – body, mind, and spirit. Educational programs and a Resource Center keep our patients informed, and an appearance boutique promotes self-confidence and healing.
A Continuum of Care
The Bon Secours Cancer Institute consists of four acute care hospitals, two freestanding outpatient Radiation Oncology Centers, two Outpatient Infusion Centers and the Cullather Brain Tumor Quality of Life Center. Caring for the whole person is what sets the Bon Secours Cancer Institute apart, and that's why we combine the latest technology with our tradition of compassionate care.
For more information, call 353-HOPE
Bon Secours Cancer Institute at Reynolds Crossing
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Orthotics and prosthetics in veterinary rehabilitation
In veterinary school, I was taught that animals do well on three legs. While it is true that many of them adapt amazingly well, this is functional adaptation—not necessarily the highest quality of life. During the time I spent in general practice, I came to expect—even accept—that limited mobility, limb breakdown and chronic neck or back pain were consequences of limb amputation. I thought that cast-related wounds were unavoidable and that dogs with cranial cruciate ruptures would be uncomfortable for the remainder of their lives without surgical stabilization. But I was seeing dogs with mobility issues every day, and it seemed there should be something more I could do to help them run, chase balls and harass squirrels again.
Rehabilitation moves to the forefront
Over the past decade, there has been a tremendous increase in our understanding of physical fitness for both people and animals. We now know that optimal movement and mobility can significantly impact the physical and mental health of our patients. Canine rehabilitation has moved to the forefront of modern veterinary medicine with the advent of the American College of Veterinary Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation. With this new paradigm comes the idea that using mechanical appliances to improve the mobility and functionality of impaired patients is no longer the purview of human medicine alone.Veterinarians have a history of creating assistive devices from things at hand, using everything from plywood to low temperature thermoplastics and aluminum rods to PVC pipe. As our understanding of the intricacies of quadruped mobility and biomechanics has grown, so have the variety and sophistication of these devices. Now they incorporate veterinary-specific hinges, composite plastics, titanium, carbon fiber and specialty foam liners. Veterinary orthotics and prosthetics (V-OP) is evolving into a new specialty.
Orthoses (braces) are defined as any medical device attached to the body to support, align, position, immobilize, prevent or correct deformity; assist weak muscles or control and improve function. They are not a replacement for surgery, but complementary. Orthoses can be used as preoperative or postoperative solutions or even as alternatives to surgery. In cases in which surgery must be delayed, they can provide interim support, protect a limb and minimize disuse atrophy. Postoperatively, orthoses can provide a safe, effective and dynamic alternative to casting. Orthoses can also be used when surgery is not an option such as in patients that are poor candidates for anesthesia or have comorbidities or advanced age or if finances are an issue for the owner. These patients are seen daily in veterinary clinics everywhere, and until the advent of V-OP, there were no options to offer them.
The structural consequences of a missing limb or limb segment are now being recognized, in part through the efforts of rehabilitation therapists who understand the biomechanics of locomotion. Reestablishing a quadruped structure should be the goal whenever possible. Prostheses, like orthoses, are readily accepted by veterinary patients with congenital limb deformities as well as by those requiring an elective level amputation. In human medicine, amputation at the hip for a catastrophic ankle injury would be unthinkable, but elective level amputation is a recent development in veterinary medicine. Why amputate an entire limb if only the distal segment is not salvageable? When a friend of mine lost the lower half of her leg in an accident, her surgeons did everything they could to save her knee. Why don't we do this for dogs? Lack of awareness or knowledge? These reasons are no longer tenable in this era of V-OP.
There are many advantages afforded by orthoses and prostheses. Simply put, they offer treatment options where none existed before. They can improve quality of life and functional independence, preventing premature decisions to euthanize. Patients can return to an active lifestyle that curtails obesity and associated comorbidities. Biomechanics can be improved, decreasing secondary or compensatory pain. Cast-related wounds with associated pain and expense can be prevented. This is particularly notable given that in a recent retrospective study,1 cast-related injuries were shown to occur in 63 percent of casted patients at a cost that in some cases actually exceeded that of the original orthopedic procedure.


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Ozzie Guillenfree agent
Manager | Ht: | Wt:
|Twins | Ozzie Guillen interest in manager job
Mon, 29 Sep 2014 12:09:35 -0700
Former Miami Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen has interest in the Minnesota Twins vacant managerial position, according to a source.
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|| Source: St. Paul Pioneer Press - Mike Berardino
|Tigers | Have not contacted Ozzie Guillen
Sat, 26 Oct 2013 16:41:37 -0700
Former Miami Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen said he has not been contacted by the Detroit Tigers about their managerial position but indicated he is interested in the job.
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|| Source: FOXSports.com - Jon Paul Morosi
|Tigers | Ozzie Guillen would like to manage Miguel Cabrera
Sat, 26 Oct 2013 12:34:20 -0700
Former Chicago White Sox and Miami Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen said the only team he would consider taking a coaching position with is the Chicago Cubs, because he currently lives in Chicago. However, he would be interested in taking a managerial job anywhere. In a conversation in Spanish on Twitter, Guillen said his dream would be to manage the Detroit Tigers so that he could "manage the best, Miguel Cabrera." The two became close in 2003, when Cabrera was a rookie with the Marlins and Guillen was the third-base coach.
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|| Source: FOXSportsDetroit.com - Dana Wakiji
|Marlins | Ozzie Guillen fired
Tue, 23 Oct 2012 12:57:27 -0700
The Miami Marlins fired manager Ozzie Guillen Tuesday, Oct. 23.
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|| Source: Twitter
|Marlins | Fate of Ozzie Guillen to be determined soon?
Sat, 20 Oct 2012 09:36:59 -0700
The status of Miami Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen is expected to be determined next week, when team executives are scheduled to meet in New York.
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|| Source: CBSSports.com - Jon Heyman
|Marlins | Ozzie Guillen expected to stay
Wed, 17 Oct 2012 10:19:03 -0700
The Miami Marlins have not been active in searching for a manager to replace manager Ozzie Guillen so far, so it appears likely that Guillen will remain in the position for the 2013 season. As more time passes into the offseason, the greater the chance is for Guillen to keep his job. He has three years remaining on his contract and around $7.5 million.
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|| Source: The Miami Herald - Clark Spencer
|Marlins | Trying to replace Ozzie Guillen
Thu, 04 Oct 2012 07:37:18 -0700
The Miami Marlins are aggressively trying to find a replacement for manager Ozzie Guillen.
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|| Source: ESPN - Buster Olney
|Marlins | Ozzie Guillen expects to be back
Sat, 29 Sep 2012 08:12:42 -0700
Miami Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen said to a group of Spanish-language reporters that he expects to return to the team next season and believes it would unfair to fire him after only one season.
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|| Source: The Palm Beach Post - Joe Capozzi
|Marlins | Heath Bell clarifies statements on Ozzie Guillen
Tue, 25 Sep 2012 10:50:54 -0700
Miami Marlins RP Heath Bell backtracked on comments he made criticizing manager Ozzie Guillen Tuesday, Sept. 25, saying he was misinterpreted. "I was never criticizing Ozzie," Bell said. "I don't think that's what I was doing on the radio. I was choosing my words kind of right. Apparently I didn't get it too right but the thing is I respect Ozzie as a manager."
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|| Source: The Miami Herald
|Marlins | Heath Bell critical of Ozzie Guillen
Mon, 24 Sep 2012 12:03:15 -0700
Miami Marlins RP Heath Bell was critical of manager Ozzie Guillen during a radio interview Monday, Sept. 24. "It's hard to respect a guy that doesn't tell you the truth or doesn't tell you face to face," Bell said. "There's probably reasons why." Bell said he feels he hasn't had the chance to win the closing job back after performing well in the second half. Guillen stands by his decision to replace Bell in the ninth with RP Steve Cishek, but said that Bell will have the opportunity to win his job back next season.
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|| Source: ESPN.com


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Using Ignite herbicide on Phytogen cotton that contains the Widestrike gene for insect management is becoming a popular practice for growers in Virginia and North Carolina, despite warnings that the practice may damage the crop, leaving the grower no recourse, if things go wrong.
"This is our fifth year of using Ignite on Phytogen cotton, and we've had little damage — none that we feel has reduced our yield," says Windsor, Va., grower Paul Rogers.
Rogers says he fully understands the risk, but feels it's justified as long as he keeps a watchful eye on the weather. "Some growers in our area have gotten some fairly severe burn using it, but that's only when it is applied in the heat of the day or if they add an adjuvant to it," Rogers adds.
In Capron, Va., Cliff Fox says he does get some burn on some of his cotton from using Ignite on Widestrike cotton. "We're careful of how we use it and when we apply it, but still you can see some burn sometime, but not enough to damage our yields," he says.
"I learned real quick when to 'not' spray it — 11 o'clock in the morning is definitely not the right time. I thought the leaves would be tough enough by that time, but after a few days you could see the burn. I sprayed a different field about 6 p.m., and I couldn't see any burn," Fox says.
"Waiting later does reduce the burning on the cotton plants, but I'm concerned we may not be getting quite as good weed control by waiting until late in the afternoon to spray it," Fox adds.
Both Bayer CropScience, which sells LibertyLink cotton varieties that are tolerant of Ignite herbicide, and Dow AgriChemical, which sells Phytogen Widestrike cotton seed frown on the practice. Both claim no responsibility if growers damage their crop, but the practice is legal, as long as growers follow label restrictions on the herbicide.
Weldon, N.C., Crop Consultant Daniel Fowler says the value of using Ignite herbicide on cotton is to help growers avoid or reduce the risk of yield loss from glyphosate resistant pigweed. "I make real sure the grower understands that the gene in the Widestrike cotton is similar to, but not the same as the gene that makes it safe to spray Ignite herbicide on LibertyLink cotton," Fowler says.
The North Carolina crop consultant says he is seeing more and more pigweed that appears to be resistant to Roundup (glyphosate). "We've seen what kind of problems growers in the central and southern parts of the state have had with Roundup resistant pigweed and marestail, and we're doing everything we can to try and stay away from those kinds of problems up here," Fowler says.
Fowler adds that a few growers have had significant burn problems if they tank-mixed Ignite with AMS (ammonium sulfate). "And, if you have to apply it before the crop comes up, Ignite can be finicky, but when used at the right plant growth stage and applied at the right time of day, few growers have had any problems at all using Ignite on Widestrike cotton," he says.
University of Georgia Weed Scientist Stanley Culpepper has done a number of research projects with the LibertyLink System and explains the genetic process that renders LibertyLink cotton varieties tolerant to glufosinate, the active ingredient in Ignite herbicide.
Broad-spectrum herbicide
"Glufosinate is a broad-spectrum, non-selective, foliar herbicide that effectively controls many grass and broadleaf weeds.
"Phosphinothricin, the active portion of the glufosinate molecule, inhibits the enzyme glutamine synthetase. Glutamine synthetase is the initial enzyme in the pathway that assimilates inorganic nitrogen into organic compounds. Glutamine synthetase is pivotal in nitrogen metabolism converting ammonia and glutamic acid into glutamine.
"Since plants detoxify ammonia almost exclusively through this pathway, glufosinate causes the accumulation of ammonia accompanied by cessation of photosynthesis, disruption of chloroplast structure, and vesiculation of the stroma," Culpepper says.
The primary source of LibertyLink cotton tolerance to glufosinate is a mechanism based on metabolic inactivation of Ignite herbicide.
The glufosinate resistant BARgene of Streptomyces hygroscopicus and PATgene of Streptomyces viridochromogenes encode for phosphinothricin-acetyltransferase, an enzyme which converts L-phosphinothricin that kills plants to non-lethal N-acetyl-L-phosphinothricin.
A similar PAT gene is used in Widestrike cotton primarily to allow scientists to track the movement of the gene used to make these cotton varieties non-palatable to a wide range of insect pests that commonly feed on cotton.
Though not an exact copy, the PAT gene in Phytogen Widestrike cotton does make cotton plants tolerant of glufosinate-based herbicides, including Ignite, which is part of the LibertyLink system marketed by Bayer CropScience.
Long-time Cotton Agronomist Johnny Parker, who works for Continental Cotton Gin in Windsor, Va., says telling Virginia cotton growers not to use Ignite on Widestrike cotton is a good way to lose credibility.
"They have been using it for years, it works, it provides another good tool for managing weeds and grasses and there have been few problems with it.
Learned from neighbors to south
"I think our growers really learned from their neighbors to the south — they saw the problems growers in the Carolinas were having with herbicide resistant weeds. Palmer amaranth is the big one, but we have resistance in other weeds and grasses as well," Parker says.
"One big tool our growers are using is Ignite. Once pigweed gets through residual herbicides, we can still manage weeds with Ignite. Without it growers would be looking at a lot of expensive hand labor to keep resistant weeds under control," he adds.
"There is no doubt that Ignite or glufosinate helps us keep our weeds under control, especially in fields with weeds that are resistant to Roundup or glyphosate. When growers start using glufosinate on crops that are not in the LibertyLink program, then it starts getting interesting, Parker says.
"When a farmer has a weed complex that drives him to glufosinate, he must understand the risk he is taking by using Ignite or glufosinate on Widestrike cotton and weigh that against the risk he is facing by having weeds in his cotton field.
"Right now, the best option for Roundup Ready crops that have ALS resistance and possible glyphosate resistance is using Ignite. The real risk may be of over-using Ignite and getting into a similar problem we already have with glyphosate resistant weeds," Parker stresses.
"I think the producer needs to understand the risk, he doesn't need to be protected from the risk. It's hard to tell cotton growers in Virginia they are messing up by using Ignite on Widestrike cotton, because they are using the combination and making 1,300-1,400 pound per acre cotton," Parker notes.
"There are some situations in which a grower would be better off using Ignite only on LibertyLink cotton. If they know they have a problem with glyphosate resistant pigweed, and they know they will be spraying cotton the maximum amount with Ignite, they may be better off sticking with cotton varieties that have the specific gene for resistance to glufosinate," he concludes.
In these days of high tech agriculture, with multiple genes in seed to protect crops from one thing or another, the question whether to use Ignite herbicide on Widestrike cotton comes down pretty much to common sense.
Common sense tells you that if you use the combination, you have some inherent risk. It also tells you not to spray in the middle of a hot day and to not use any kind of adjuvant to make the herbicide hotter.
Growers are not likely to get an official list of what to do and what not to do when using Ignite herbicide on Widestrike cotton. Balancing the risk involved in growing a crop is as old as farming itself, and growers are likely to make the right decision most of the time.


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Israel News - Stay Informed, Pray Informed
Palestinian Arab stone throwers attacked Jewish motorists in Jerusalem's Armon Hanatziv neighborhood Thursday evening, wounding a 2-year-old Jewish girl.
The child was traveling in a vehicle targeted by the assailants, and suffered a moderate head injury when at least one stone crashed through the car's windows.
The girl was rushed to a nearby hospital where doctors listed her in stable condition.
Later that night, Israeli authorities arrested four Arab men between the ages of 15-20 from the adjacent village of Sur Baher. The four were scheduled to stand trial Friday morning for the potentially fatal stoning attack.
Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat Israel's Channel 10 News that the time has come to "treat a stone as a weapon" and crack down hard on those who indiscriminately attack Jewish men, women and children.
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2010-10-20 / Opinion
Guest Editorial:
Technology is no excuse to ignore personal responsibility and human decency
I would like to applaud the Beacon for your editorial, "Technology isn't cruel, people are" which addressed the issue of the Rutgers student who committed suicide after his roommate had posted videos of him online. Unfortunately, technology has allowed mean-spirited people to take their agendas and unconscionable behavior and broadcast them worldwide.
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Red Wine Onion Tart
|Vegetables, Beverage Alcohol
|Day Part
|Menu Part
|Side Dish
|Cuisine Type
Thin slices of yellow onion sauteed in dry red wine and sugar, added to a reduced cream and baked in a pastry shell. Serve warm.
2 tbsp. olive or cooking oil
3 large yellow onions, halved and thinly sliced
1 2⁄3 cup dry red wine (cabernet sauvignon or merlot)
1⁄4 cup sugar
1⁄2 cup heavy cream
1 (10-in.) pastry shell
Salt and white pepper, to taste
1. Heat the oil in a large sauté pan. Add onions and sauté over low heat for 30-40 min., or until tender. Add wine and sugar. Continue to cook slowly, stirring often, until all liquid has evaporated, approximately 30 min. longer.
2. While onions cook, pour cream into a small saucepan and place over med. heat until it boils. Reduce the volume by 2⁄3 and set aside.
3. Pre-bake the pastry shell in a 400°F oven for 20 min., or until golden.
4. When the onions are "dry," combine them with the cream and season to taste
with salt and pepper. Turn into pastry shell. Bake in a 325°F oven for 30 min. or until hot through the center.
5. Serve warm.


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The Salon Art + Design Brings a Global, Eclectic Blend of Designers and Craftsmen to Park Avenue
Artsy Editorial
Fabric design by Gio Ponti
Image rights: casati gallery
Manufacturer: Cassina
It takes a native son to build something as iconic as the Pirelli Tower, Gio Ponti's 1960 masterpiece that soars over Milan. In 1928, the prolific architect and designer founded Domus, the influential design magazine to which he would contribute for the rest of his life. Along with building projects like the elegant Villa Planchart in Caracas, Ponti designed a number of now-iconic products, including the lightweight Superleggera chair and the curvy La Pavoni coffee machine of 1948. He was an enthusiastic leader of the post-war reconstruction, and a major influence on younger designers including Alessandro Mendini and Ettore Sottsass. In 2011, his prolific and wide-ranging career was the subject of the exhibition "Expressions of Gio Ponti" at the Triennale Museum in Milan. "Love architecture, be it ancient or modern," Ponti said. "Love it for its fantastic, adventurous and solemn creations; for its inventions; for the abstract, allusive and figurative forms that enchant our spirit and enrapture our thoughts. Love architecture, the stage and support of our lives."
Italian, 1891-1979
The Salon Art + Design Brings a Global, Eclectic Blend of Designers and Craftsmen to Park Avenue
Artsy Editorial
12 Top Designers Pick Must-See Works at The Salon Art + Design
Artsy Editorial
New York Celebrates an Italian Master: Giò Ponti
Marisa Bartolucci


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Jason Lezak, the anchor of the thrilling 400-freestyle relay in Beijing, claimed a spot on the Olympic men's 100-meter freestyle team after a top-six finish in the event Friday.
The 36-year-old Lezak will be joined on the team by Nathan Adrian, Cullen Jones, Matt Grevers, Ricky Berens and Jimmy Feigen.
"I was nervous. It's a big race for me. I trained four years for this. It's been real hard," Lezak said. "This 36-year-old body was run down."
Scott Weltz and Clark Burkle earned spots on the men's Olympic team for the 200-meter breaststroke, while Cammile Adams and Kathleen Hersey won Olympic berths in the women's 200-meter butterfly.
Veteran still in the Olympic mix
Natalie Coughlin, the 11-time Olympic medalist, kept her chances alive for more hardware Friday night with a seventh-place finish in the 100-meter freestyle. Coughlin, who set the trials record in the event four years ago, won bronze medals in the event, and silver in the 400-free relays, in the 2004 and 2008 Games.
Her signature event, though, is the 100-meter backstroke, which is where she won gold in those Olympics, but she was edged out at a shot at a third by Missy Franklin and Rachel Bootsma on Wednesday.
Coughlin said she hopes to mentor the younger swimmers, something she's already done as a U.S. team captain over the years.
"This meet is kind of a horrible meet," she said after her heat Friday night. "There's so much stress and anxiety, and I want people to enjoy it as much as possible."
Grevers' on-again, off-again schedule
Grevers' schedule over the past couple of days was in constant flux. Thursday night, he scratched from the 100-free finals scheduled for Friday night, or so it was thought. USA Swimming said Friday morning it had gotten bad information, and he actually would compete.
Then, Friday morning, Grevers swam in the 200-back preliminaries in the morning, finishing third behind Ryan Lochte and Tyler Clary, but scratched from the semifinals, not wanting to swim that and quickly recover to swim the 100-free finals. Plus, there are only two Olympic spots available in the 200-back, and Lochte and Clary are pretty tough to beat in that event.
Grevers already made the Olympic team Wednesday in the 100-back.
Maryland swimmers
Along with fellow North Baltimore Aquatic Club swimmers Michael Phelps, Austin Surhoff, Chase Kalisz and Kevin Webster — who made it into the semifinals — Sean Roddy swam in the 200 IM but didn't advance further.
NBAC's Annie Zhu, swimming her 200-meter breaststroke preliminary in 2 minutes, 28.72 seconds, came in eighth in a field that included record holders like Rebecca Soni and Amanda Beard. That finish qualified her for the evening semifinals. NBAC's Stephanie O'Toole, Navy's Laura Gorinski and McDonogh alum Rachael Schaffer didn't advance beyond the 200 breaststroke preliminaries.
In the women's 100-meter freestyle, former NBAC swimmer Elizabeth Pelton tied for 11th in the preliminaries to advance to the semifinals, while NBAC's Felicia Lee and Maryland Terp Ann Fittin failed to qualify.
Drew Cosgarea and Patrick Murphy of NBAC swam in the 200-meter backstroke preliminaries but didn't advance.


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It's a curiosity of scientific progress that black holes were postulated decades before a theory of evolution was1. Not only is evolution a latecomer to the party, it also happens to be a straggler when it comes to popular appeal.
Why did it take so long for someone to come up with the idea of evolution? And even after 150 querulous years, why is it that so many people struggle to accept it?
According to Ernst Mayr, architect of neo-Darwinism, the blame rests squarely with Plato2.
Plato believed that the world we inhabit is but an imperfect projection - a shadow - of an ideal world; a flawed departure from its perfect essence3.
For eg., there are rabbits in the world but there also is the ideal 'Rabbit', which is perfect and immutable for all time. Real world rabbits do differ from this ideal 'Rabbit' - they may have longer ears or differently coloured eyes. But these, in essence, are undesirable deviations from the ideal 'Rabbit', which serves as a conceptual blueprint for how all rabbits should be4.
Similarly, according to Plato, for every living and non-living thing there exists a category type of the same - its perfect version. Every thing in the world 'strives' to embody its category type.
As inheritors of the Greek tradition of thinking, we continue to see the world through the lens of this idea - a cognitive bias now dubbed essentialism5.
Essentialism has us believe that the categories we assign to things (and people) have a deep underlying basis to them. Instead of viewing categories as a helpful way of understanding the world, we begin to see them as factual features that are actually present in the world.
Based on this, we expect sharp and pronounced divides between different categories - triangles and squares, but also rabbits and non-rabbits. Any intermediates are only temporary anomalies.
To really appreciate evolution, however, one needs to disavow essentialism and see the world through the prism of 'population thinking'.
There are no ideal types in the world, only real instances of populations with variations in characteristics. There is no perfect Rabbit form. Moreover, today's commonplace rabbit form is anything but immutable and could have very different characteristics a thousand years hence, depending on selection pressures.
Evolution, if nothing else, is a wholehearted embracing of variation.
* * *
If essentialism has a professional cheerleading squad, it has to be the advertising industry.
At the heart of every advertising or brand-building endeavour is an exercise in essentialism.
Step 1: Define an archetypal experience or consumer: for eg., the tastiest burger, the sexiest man, the healthiest breakfast, the smartest housewife or the bounciest hair. Step 2: Present any deviations from these 'ideals' as sharply delineated and deeply flawed. Step 3: Suggest corrective action, buying the brand in question.
That's not all. The process of creating advertising, from start to finish, rests on driving wedges of categorisation in a spectrum of contiguous variations: generations of consumers (Gen Xers OR Millenials), proficiency in using technology (digital natives OR digital immigrants), consumer affinity (favorability OR advocacy), brand personality (hero OR sage), and so on.
And it goes deeper still. Unlike magicians, we remain convinced in the magic of our own trick, even after the curtains have come down.
So when thinking about the future of our industry, we continue to resort to the categorical clarity of Platonic ideals.
We dichotomise between creative types and everyone else (We have a monopoly on creativity); between professionally produced ads and user generated content (Nobody would do this for free); between bold visionary ideas and ideas that arise out of research and testing (A consumer can have nothing constructive to add); between ads that look like ads and content marketing (Nobody wants to read, everyone wants to be entertained); between stories and data (Everybody loves to listen to stories); between the eternal kingdom of advertising and the end of all advertising as we know it (Nothing will change! Everything will change!)
Our instinctive response to all problems - including our own - is to seek 'essences', to leave no room for intermediates. Our reality remains firmly bounded by our ideas of it, rather than the other way around.
While Platonic certainty served us well in simpler times, the present and the future are decidedly messier6. To thrive in these interesting times, we need to master an ability to experiment with and vary our response to the world, not impose our mental order on it7.
But as long as we continue to see any deviation from the norm as an undesirable (and temporary) aberration and as long as we continue to mistake the map for the territory, we are destined to remain trapped in an essentialist maze of our own making.
Continue reading "Evolution and the hidden cognitive bias that's sabotaging advertising's future" »


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Transcript of Video:
Atlantico!! Well I'm very, very excited today because together with Illa is one of my most precious collections. If Illa represents the dream that came true, then Atlantico represents the journey to achieve the dream. The name says it all. Obviously, it's the ocean. With its endless movement that inspired me to create the collection. The collection has a very distinctive look that has a kind of twisted frame that creates circles, infinity circles. You don't know where the line ends or where it starts. And sometimes this circle capture a diamond that could represent a memory and achievement – whatever that is important for the person that is going to end up wearing the pendant. So, to me this collection, is really important because it represents a bit of my journey but it could be anyone's journey.


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The Daily Word in Facebook confession, speeding momma, Perseid meteor shower
Florida man confessed on Facebook to killing his wife and posted a chilling, graphic photo her of bloodied body before turning himself in.
One injured after officer-involved shooting in Santa Fe.
Arrests made in Rehtaeh Parsons case.
Police say a pregnant mom led them on a 120-mph-chase down 550.
New Hampshire woman arrested after an officer said she lied about her father dying in order to get out of a ticket.


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Midfielder Lee Nguyen chatted with Country 102.5 morning show hosts JW and Lori to discuss the goals for the coming season and his love for fashion. Check out the interview to hear more about Nguyen's thoughts on being named one of the top left midfielders in the MLS.
Since the MLS SuperDraft, number one pick Andrew Farrell has been the talk of the town. Coach Jay Heaps has discussed putting Farrell in the starting lineup and how he will do this season. Read this Boston.com piece to find out more on Heap's decisions.
With the Revs' first game on March 9, Michael Kline from Soccer By Ives sums up the previous season and what to expect from the upcoming one. Read what his predictions are for the team and who the rookie to look out for is.


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The head and upper chest of the figure emerging from the dark background seem at first to face us squarely. With its broad peasant's nose and slightly parted, full lips, the face would not be remarkable but for the searching eyes and their haunting expression. Gradually one notices, thanks to the light and subtle modulation of the flesh, that the head and shoulders turn somewhat to their left. Resting lightly on the figure's head, and casting a shadow, is the strangely delicate circlet of a thorny branch. (Were it gold, it could almost be a prince's crown.) The arms are bound behind the figur's back.
This is Antonello da Messina's "Christ Crowned With Thorns," a painting from 1470, now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and an exquisite example of what has been called an Ecce Homo or Man of Sorrows genre that had been popular in the West for almost two centuries before this panel was painted. (In the East the theme emerged in the 12th century.) This suffering Christ confronts not just his tormentors but everyone who is arrested by his image. He suffers, yes. Above all, though, he questions. What might he be saying? Subject to such abuse, does he defend himself? Implore? Accuse? Judge, perhaps?
One remembers the Reproaches of the Good Friday liturgy: "My people, what have I done to you? How have I offended you? Answer me!" Except that this face is as gentle as it is searching; this wounded body is still somehow inviolate. Only the first verse of the Reproaches seems to apply: "My people, what have I done to you?"
The Christ this painting invites us to contemplate is too infinitely open to be demanding. "Why?" he simply asks. Why are you doing this? Rather than judge or accuse, his eyes—which seem to follow you wherever you go in the gallery—see into all unwarranted human suffering, raising the question of its meaning in the simplest, most elemental form. We wish the lips would part farther, to utter a word to which we could respond. For the mute, hurt gaze allows no self-justifying response, nor even a plea for forgiveness. It is life itself that is questioned: our human nature and the God who created it.
The French philosopher Jacques Maritain once spoke of poetry as "that intercommunication between the inner being of things and the inner being of the human Self which is a kind of divination…what Plato called mousiké." In this sense one might well call the author of this work, Antonello da Messina, a poet and a poetic master of contemplation.
Antonello's Story
The artist was born Antonello di Giovanni di Antonio about 1430 (the details of his biography are unclear) in Messina, at that time part of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. After an apprenticeship he traveled to Naples, where sometime between 1445 and 1455 he became a pupil of Niccolò Colantonio and learned the techniques of Flemish oil painting. It was a time when Spanish, Provençal, Flemish and Italian influences all mingled in Naples. Antonello also was exposed to the great Netherlandish art that the king patronized, probably including works by Jan van Eyck and Rogier van der Weyden.
By 1457 or so, Antonello had married in Messina, had a son and had begun to receive significant commissions. In the late 1460s he traveled to the mainland, perhaps journeying to Northern Italy and studying the work of Fra Angelico and Piero della Francesca, whose sense of volumetric proportions clearly influenced him. In time, Antonello became known for scenes from the Passion of Christ, Madonnas with the Child and secular portraits.
But it was a well-documented trip to Venice in 1475-76 that led to his greatest work—and to his major influence on such Venetian artists as Giovanni Bellini. In Venice Antonello painted the famous "Il Condottiere" (a three-quarter profile and an image of formidable resolution, now in the Louvre) and his masterpiece, the San Cassiano Altarpiece (a fragment of which is the pride of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna). Returning to Sicily, the artist combined Italian elegance and Flemish detail in his "Virgin Annunciate" (c. 1476), a mysterious, regal girl, and in a great Pietà (to which I will return). Antonello dictated his will in February 1479 and died a few months later.
'Christ at the Column'
In these waning days of Lent, I turn to a second type of suffering Christ that Antonello developed after "Christ Crowned With Thorns." It is Christ Bound to the Pillar, and the supreme example is arguably "Christ at the Column" (c. 1476-78, p. 24), in the Louvre. Here, with the column behind him, an anguished, bust-length Christ looks toward heaven as if in rapture. A braided crown of thorns sits on his thick auburn hair, drawing little blood; he has a light beard; a few delicately painted tears lie on his cheeks. The rope around his neck is knotted at the bottom center (adding to the illusion of depth), then falls over his right shoulder, behind his neck and down his left shoulder.
The desolation is extreme, but the body of the Lord suffers no disfigurement; the artist clearly chose psychological rather than merely physical revelation. The image draws us toward both heaven and earth, with a muted pathos unique to Antonello. The viewer, too, with the suffering Christ, looks for the mercy of God and for the fate of one's fellow man. This is incarnation just before its final test.
The artist also painted three crucifixions. The simplest and most contemplative of these is a small votive panel (for private prayer), now in London's National Gallery. While his other Crucifixions show the two thieves on either side of Jesus (not nailed to crosses but hung on trees), the London version shows only Jesus, a slender figure on a cross so high that he seems to float in the sky. Skulls surround the base of the cross. But Mary, to Jesus' right, sits rapt in contemplation, while John, to the left, sits in prayer. You are bidden, humbly, to join them. Sit at the cross? you might ask. Yes, says the poet; imitate the mother and the apostle who will now be her son.
The 'Dead Christ'
The startlingly contemplative mood also suffuses Antonello's last painting, completed perhaps with the help of Jacobello: "Dead Christ Supported by an Angel," which is sometimes called a Pietà, because the dead Christ is being mourned. One of the greatest treasures of the Prado in Madrid, this moderately sized panel has monumental effect. The dead subject sits almost upright in the center of the painting, the wound in his side still pouring blood; his head falls back, utterly helpless. Behind him, looking toward the viewer, a small angel weeps as he (implausibly) supports the Lord. Christ's left hand falls into a space that is surrounded in the middle distance by skulls and bones. In the far background is the walled city of Messina, with its cathedral church and bell tower.
Here the depths of sorrow sound once more, but with a dignity and calm that draws us into the mystery. Stay; keep watch, you feel the painter say. This, in a searing yet serene image, is the revelation of sin and redemption all in one—and of love beyond telling.
I have never read that Antonello da Messina led a saint's life. And there is often a gap (sometimes great) between an artist's life and work. It is fairly certain that this artist was industrious in pursuing his painter's profession and not averse to worldly recompense. But contemplating his panels, I felt a saintliness shining through. And what this artist offers us for Lenten prayer—or anytime—is saintly surely.
I am troubled with emphasis on the sufferings of Jesus. A crucifixion death, while horrible, is not significantly more horrible than what many suffer today especially in the developing world, e.g. AIDS and Tuberculosis infected people suffer terribly and for a prolonged time.If Jesus's story had ended with his death, his message would not be more important than the messages of Gandhi, the Buddha or Mohammed. The Easter experience validates the authority of Jesus's message.
In my home I replaced the traditional crucified Jesus with a crucifix with the risen Jesus. You can see several renditions at Amazon.com. (I chose the Fontanini 10" Religious Risen Christ Crucifix Wall Cross.)I find that the risen Jesus, rather than the dying Jesus, for me, is a better reminder why I am Christian.
Truly appreciative to read on Good Friday morn about
"Contemplative Compassion". The colored paintings and
interpretations are truly meditative.
Deep thanks to Fr. O'Donovan for his article on Antonello da Messina. The paintings of Jesus - Ecce Homo and Christ at the Column - are haunting, never seen before. Both the article and its paintings helped meditation on Good Friday, and prompted research to learn more about the artist's life and style and legacy.


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Photo: Screenshot
Facebook is expected to announce the rollout of the Timeline design for fan pages today. So what does your business need to do to prepare for the new design? Think visuals.Brands should be translating their key messages into visual images now.
The cover photo opportunity, which we've now all seen on Facebook personal profiles, is a beautiful billboard. At 852 pixels wide by 315 pixels high, this real estate can be used to convey a lot of information about a business. And because Facebook makes it easy to change your cover photo, having a cover photo strategy might mean creating multiple versions of your cover photo and changing it regularly.
The cover photo is certainly the largest, most obvious new opportunity for business pages, but keep in mind that if Timeline for business pages mirrors Timeline for profiles, the scrapbook feel of the page will give links, videos and uploaded images a more prominent place in your overall marketing strategy. Creating images that entice fans to press like, or even share, means watermarking or adding your website or attribute to the visuals so that three shares down the road, the new viewer will subtly invited back to your business home base through an imprinted url.
Hosting your cover photo images and your brand visuals on your website is a way to make those images work harder for you. Besides sharing them through your Facebook fan page, you'll be able to pin, tumble, e-mail and tweet your watermarked "mini advertisements." Unlike cover photos on profiles, like the one I'm currently using, the fan page cover photo can and probably should, clearly help the viewer understand the brand offering at first glance.
But, keep in mind that most people are not clamoring to share or pin advertisements. Brands will have to work a little harder to create visuals that inspire, humour, teach, or surprise. Those are the visuals that fly through the web from person to person.
Advice to brands?
- Make friends with a great graphics person and let them help you translate your message into share-worthy graphics that leave breadcrumbs back to your website or Facebook fan page.
- Create a cover photo strategy that mirrors your brand or product delivery cycle.
- Watermark your images so wherever they land, people have a way to connect with you.
- Think inspire over advertise when creating images.
- Let Facebook inspire you to be think visually across other consumer facing platforms.
Let's share our favourite Facebook Timeline photos here to inspire one another. I like photos that tell me more about the person without hardcore advertising. I'll start with a couple of examples and I invite you to add your favourites.
- Nannette Bosh
- Hugh Briss
- Gary Vaynerchuk
- Tara-Jenelle Walsch
- Kathy L. Patrick
I'll be listening to the livestream announcements today, as will others. Outstanding questions include:
- Will fan pages still have the option to set a default landing page?
- Will fan pages still have the ability to add custom tabs?
- How will the new design affect social e-commerce, contests, and opt in offers?
Do you have questions or concerns about Timeline rolling out to fan pages? Let me know and I'll report back from the LiveStream.
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