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Supporting Single Homeschool Moms
May 5–9, 2014 | Vol. 119, Week 8
Are you a homeschooling single mother in need of guidance and assistance? Mother's Day can be a difficult time for single moms homeschooling their children on their own. This week on Home School Heartbeat, Tracy Klicka MacKillop, director of development at the Home School Foundation, shares about her own journey as a single, homeschooling parent and how the Home School Foundation can help support and aid these families in need.
"Being a homeschooling single parent, a widow myself, I would say feeling alone is one of our greatest challenges."—Tracy Klicka MacKillop
Mother's Day can be a hard time for single moms homeschooling on their own. And today on Home School Heartbeat, host Mike Smith interviews Tracy Klicka MacKillop of the Home School Foundation on the challenges of single parenthood.
Mike Smith: This week my guest is Tracy Klicka MacKillop, director of development at HSLDA's Home School Foundation. Tracy, it's good to have you on the program today.
Tracy: Well, it's good to be back again with you, Mike.
Mike: Tracy, many of the people you help through the foundation are single parents, especially moms. Now, what are some of the greatest challenges single homeschooling moms are actually facing?
Tracy: Well, Mike, being a homeschooling single parent, a widow myself, I would say feeling alone is one of our greatest challenges. The responsibility of running a household and teaching our children is demanding. Doing it without a spouse to help carry the load can be downright overwhelming. Many times after Chris died, I felt paralyzed. So much was on my plate and I couldn't share it with anyone. "What do I do next, Lord?" became a frequent prayer along with, "Father, please give me more grace." Financial difficulties only add to a single mother's burden, and the challenge we face isn't just logistical and financial. Feeling emotionally alone can be the hardest to bear. The good news is, God is always with us, ever present to help. Hebrews 4:16 offers great encouragement: "Therefore, let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." Praise God for His faithfulness.
Mike: Well, thank you for sharing that insight with us today, Tracy. Until then, I'm Mike Smith.
Mike Smith: Tracy, how does the Home School Foundation help single homeschooling moms who are struggling financially?
Tracy: Well, Mike, our Children of Single Parents Fund offers assistance to children of single parents who through no fault of their own experience financial hardship during the homeschooling years. This fund is defined to assist Christian single parents in extreme circumstances who are training their children in the Lord. Our fund administrators are there to help determine eligibility and guide a parent every step of the way through the application process. By meeting some of their physical needs so they can continue to homeschool their children, we fulfill God's call to build up the body of Christ in the homeschooling community. And while we can't give these homeschooling single moms a literal hug or shoulder to cry on, we do try to offer sincere emotional support and encouragement in the Lord. We count it a great privilege to pray with them for our families, as Ephesians 3:15 says, that "He would grant them according to the riches of His glory to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in their hearts through faith." With God's help, HSF is here to strengthen these moms in their faith.
Mike: Well, this is really a wonderful program, and I hope many single moms are blessed by it that are listening to us today. Until next time, I'm Mike Smith.
Mike Smith: Tracy, I think you'd agree that local help is often the best kind of help to receive. How is the Home School Foundation assisting local single homeschooling moms through the Foundation's Ambassador Program?
Tracy: Well, Foundation ambassadors are out in the field and are looking for families who need help, and single mothers are among the neediest. Through support groups, church groups, and personal knowledge our ambassadors learn of the heart-wrenching stories of abused mothers and children, abandoned families, single parents who have nothing left but their faith in the Lord. Ambassadors gently interview these mothers and then together with the Home School Foundation they devise a service project, or a grant, to help ease their distress. Ambassadors also pray diligently for families they are assisting, and God hears their prayers and meets their needs. The Home School Foundation Ambassador program is a wonderful way to provide tangible help and assistance to these single homeschooling parents.
Mike: Well, Tracy, we know this is a tremendous opportunity to bring a tangible blessing to these moms. And until next time, I'm Mike Smith.
Mike Smith: We're joined again today by Tracy Klicka MacKillop, director of development at the Home School Foundation. And, Tracy, what can our listeners do today to support single homeschooling moms and their families?
Tracy: Well, I'm glad you asked, Mike. There are actually several ways our listeners can help. First of all, you can pray. Pray that God would be with single homeschooling parents in a special way. These moms who are committed to their children in the Lord need regular reminders that He is with them, that they are not alone, and that God is there to help them. Having a heart for parents who homeschool alone is the first place to start. Second, you can look for opportunities to come alongside parents homeschooling alone, with tangible practical help. Contact your local homeschool support group and ask if they know of families who might need help. You can also contact us at the Home School Foundation and ask about getting involved with our ambassador program, and help with one of our service projects in your state. Lastly, you can support the work and ministry of HSF through your sacrificial giving. We help single parents and their children because of the generous gifts we receive from you, the homeschooling community. Together, we can remind them that God cares for them. Contact us at www.homeschoolfoundation.org to help bless these moms.
Mike: Tracy, these are wonderful ideas. Thank you for sharing those with us today! And until next time, I'm Mike Smith.
Mike Smith: This Sunday, moms everywhere will have a special day just to celebrate them—Mother's Day! Tracy, is there a final note of encouragement you'd like to give to homeschooling moms, especially single homeschooling moms?
Tracy: Mike, every mom who has heard God's call to teach her children and raise them for the Lord is doing a tremendous kingdom-building work. Moms who are in a place of needing encouragement however right now, I want to share this poem the Lord gave me:
Dear mother,
What you do each day may seem
To be invisible, unseen
The countless hours you give and pray
To serve God with your heart each day
In all your labors in your home
You may often feel alone
And long to know your efforts count
When days are long and pressures mount
But be assured, God sees it all
The hands that serve, the tears that fall
He hears your prayers and He is there
To hear your cries, extend His care
Press on, dear mother, seek His face
In His great love God gives you grace
And what you do amounts to much
When done with a mother's loving touch
A blessed Mother's Day to all of you listening today!
Mike: Tracy, what a tremendous encouragement and thank you for joining us this week to share how our listeners can reach out to single homeschooling moms struggling financially. And until next time, I'm Mike Smith.
Tracy Klicka MacKillop
Tracy Klicka (MacKillop) is a homeschooling mom of seven children, several having graduated and married. As a seasoned homeschooler and gifted writer and speaker for over 17 years, Tracy has addressed thousands of parents at homeschooling conventions and women's events, has written dozens of articles, and has appeared on television both nationally and internationally. She has contributed to her late husband's several books on homeschooling, and blogs at www.tracyklicka.com. She currently serves part-time as director of development for the Home School Foundation, and writes for HSLDA'sEveryday Homeschooling blog. Out of many years of great hardship, yet with a steadfast joy and certainty that God is good all the time, Tracy loves to encourage parents to see His fresh grace for each new day. She and her husband Peter live in Northern Virginia.
Quick ContactEmail: email@example.com
Homeschool Heartbeat has been retired and replaced by a new HSLDA podcast, Homeschool Talks. You're welcome to continue browsing the Homeschool Heartbeat archives, but if you want to stay up-to-date on the latest content, head over to our new podcast page. Happy podcasting!


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Monday, July 2, 2012
Where's my Peace and Quiet?
The situation is so bad that Blizz is considering a specialized form of server merge to make the intro zones seem more active, on the premise that Blizz is losing potential new subs because "there's nobody on WoW".
The funny thing is, among the MMOs I've played, WoW is the deadest game at the low levels.
Sure, you could argue that the F2P nature of some games like Lord of the Rings Online and Age of Conan means that you'll see higher numbers of people trying those games out. In the case of AoC, detractors will point out that the Tortage intro area is the best developed part of the game as well. LOTRO has the benefit of name recognition among non-gamers, and has a more developed F2P area than AoC.
Then we come to a title like The Old Republic.
Sure, it's got that name recognition, but so did Star Trek Online. It's also got its detractors, saying that the game is dead and a failure.
Then why are the intro and lowbie zones so busy?
When I tried TOR on one of the free weekends a month or two back, I found the intro zone for the Trooper and Smuggler filled with people (>100). This was before any talk of server consolidation became a reality, and according to some statistical analyses contains the least played class (Smuggler) in the game.
After hemming and hawing about it,** I picked up the game last week, logged in to get access to the Smuggler I started, and found over 100 people in Coruscant alone. Each planet I've been to since (Taris and Nar Shaddaa) has had a similar population level in the (late) evenings. These aren't twinks, but people leveling actual toons.
When was the last time that you saw 100+ people in (Ashenvale + Northern Barrens) or (Loch Modan + Wetlands) that didn't involve a holiday event? Outside of the first month after 4.0.1 dropped, I can't think of any the past 3-4 years. Hell, the past month or two the population in Stormwind in an evenly divided server (Ysera) has been averaging 45-50 people a night. That's right: the big central home for an entire faction is averaging less population than a lowbie leveling zone in TOR. Is it the end of an expac? Sure! But do you expect more than 50 people in your home city on an average night, even at this late date? Yes! And the week after D3 dropped, the population plunged to 20-25 people before recovering.
Getting back to the low level zones, perhaps the maturity of WoW hurts it the most in these areas, since the entire MMO is geared toward endgame.
Look at it this way: how many recent posts geared toward Mists are talking about endgame already? How many are saying "well, if your guild wants to raid you have to be at L90 by XXX date after launch, so you'd better get ready"? How many are plotting out all the class changes for Mists, so you'll be ready to get to L90 and raid as soon as you can?
To me, this means that the focus of the two MMO populations is completely different.
Design intent or not, the TOR population's values are different than WoW's. I could make a very successful argument that WoW's population is big enough that you can't make any generalizations, but at the same time the focus of WoW's expansions and content are mostly on the endgame. When they did attempt to rework the Old World in Cata the results were incomplete at best, and Blizzard took a PR beating from people who complained there wasn't enough to do once they got to L85.
TOR suffers from the "there's nothing to do at L50!" stigma, so maybe the leveling activity is part of a desire of people to explore all of the Class stories. I tend to doubt this, however, due to one other item: Gen Chat itself.
Unlike the other MMOs I've played, I've noticed a lot more basic MMO questions in TOR's Gen Chat. Yesterday, I fielded a question about using the word "drop" in MMO parlance, and I could tell by my conversation that the person on the other end was completely new to the game and MMOs in general. People were less inclined in Gen Chat to say "L2P noob!" as well, in an almost LOTRO level of tolerance. That doesn't mean that TOR is free of spammers in Gen Chat; on Taris there were enough Chuck Norris jokes I quipped that "Barrens Chat has been reborn in Taris."***
Does this mean that TOR is better than WoW?
No, it doesn't. It just means that TOR is different than WoW. Pronunciations by the suits and pundits aside, TOR caters to a different sort of player than WoW does. Sure, the mechanics are similar, and most of the 'under the hood' character development is similar, but TOR seems to have taken over the mantle of "the first MMO you'll ever play" from WoW.****
Blizzard knows what it is good at --endgame and an expansive world that somehow works (if you ignore the story continuity issues)-- and if it sticks to that for Mists, it will do well. If it tries to somehow 'outdo TOR' to lure those new MMO players over, it may be making a Cataclysm-sized mistake by trying to turn a game with a high intro cost into something it's not. Mists is set to drop probably by October at the latest, and we'll see what Blizz has in mind with their marketing campaign.
Until then, I guess it's safe to say that if you want peace and quiet in your leveling, go hang out in Azeroth for a while.
*And lowbie zones. Of course, when 4.0.1 dropped and all of the quests changed, the lowbie zones were a hive of activity for a month and a half until Cata dropped, then they almost instantly dried up.
**And running the numbers for the budget.
***I got several LOLs from Gen Chat on that quip, which made it worth my while.
****Although for my money, I'd suggest people try LOTRO first. It's F2P, after all, so you're not out of money if you don't like the concept.
6 comments:
- AnonymousJuly 2, 2012 at 11:33:00 PM EDT
Hm, the last time I played TOR and started up new characters, I found the lowbie zones to pretty thin. Not current WOW Ashenvale Thin, but thin none the less.ReplyDelete
My second character I leveled to 50 was able to complete very few group missions because there just weren't people to form parties with.Replies
Oh, I believe it completely, especially if you're on a server that was getting thin. But the thing is, I've been on 9:1 Horde and 7:1 Alliance servers, and I've found the lowbie zones there to have maybe 4-5 people total. And that was back in Wrath days.Delete
I'd hoped that there would be more people in the revamped zones, but no more than six months after 4.0.1 I began leveling Adelwulf and found on the Worgen starting zone there were maybe a half dozen toons.
By comparison, I'm sure that TOR has benefited by server contraction, and I've found a steady stream of people looking to group up for the Heroics. I'm sure it's not an accident, either, that the server I started on became a destination server for TOR contraction. But still, a busy TOR server seems to have more low level activity than, say, A-52 (which is often hovering close to 'Full' during the evenings, especially Tuesdays and Thursdays).
The maturity of the WoW servers is more on display here. Blizz obviously can't contract servers just to get the lowbie zones more activity, but at the same time you have to wonder why they have a lot of 'New' servers out there, which really means "our population is so small we don't even qualify for 'low' right now".
I'm assuming the same will happen with brand new monks; the lowbie zones will be bursting with life, then quickly fade to ghost towns.ReplyDelete
The only non NPCs I've seen in the lower zones for a long time were passing 85s. I know I play at odd hours but the only time in quite a while there was anyone around was when they listed that server as "new player."ReplyDelete
That's interesting about TOR, I plan to go back when I have time, I'll have to ask my son-in-law what his server's like. He did say people were much friendlier and more helpful.
And thanks for the tip about LOTRO. So many games, not enough time!Replies
Having seen the MMOs in action that I have, I'd say that LOTRO has the most helpful players, with TOR not too far behind. With AoC, my main complaint is that the gold farmers spam Gen Chat all the time, so you can't get enough of a feel for your fellow players. WoW, of course, has a much greater proportion of asshats who fill up Trade Chat (and Gen Chat). The big problem WoW has is that the basic questions can get shouted down by the "L2P noob!" crowd, and unless you either know someone playing the game or you run into someone in the Intro Zones willing to help out, you have no clue what you're doing.Delete
LOTRO uses the same concepts as WoW or any other MMO, so it's easy to pick up. They change some of the names of course, such as a fellowship instead of a group, but the basics play out the same. The appeal of LOTRO is that Turbine did a great job of evoking the feel of Middle-earth, and the quests have plenty of flavor to them.

subset: commoncrawl


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ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Corey Perry scored two goals and captain Ryan Getzlaf extended his point streak to 12 games in the Anaheim Ducks' 5-2 victory over the spiraling New York Islanders on Monday night.
Cam Fowler had his first career short-handed goal and added two assists. Saku Koivu scored his first goal in nearly two months in the Ducks' third consecutive win and the Islanders' 10th straight loss. Perry scored a goal in his career-best sixth straight game late in the second period, and he added a power-play goal in the third to clinch the sixth 20-goal season of his career. Andrew Cogliano also scored, and Jonas Hiller made 35 saves for Anaheim.
John Tavares and Thomas Vanek scored for the Islanders, who also have lost 10 consecutive road games since Nov. 1. Anders Nilsson stopped 26 shots for New York, but the Ducks overcame two early deficits with another dominant performance. Anaheim improved to 11-0-2 at Honda Center, still the only NHL team without a regulation home loss this season.
Getzlaf has the NHL's longest active point streak, officially at 12 games after earning an assist. He has scored in each of his last 14 appearances, but missed three games early in that stretch with an injury. Fowler and Perry put the Ducks ahead with spectacular goals in the final 33 seconds of the second period. Fowler converted on a 3-on-1, short-handed rush before Perry scored his 19th goal of the season from his knees with 1.7 seconds left after getting tripped in the slot. Fowler had his first three-point game of the season, and Perry pulled even with St. Louis' Alexander Steen and Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos for the league's longest goal streaks this season.
At 0-8-2 since Nov. 16, New York is on its longest skid since dropping a club-record 14 straight in 2010.
The Islanders also have been outscored 43-16 on their longest road losing streak since the 1998-99 season. The Ducks returned home on a high after consecutive victories in St. Louis and Chicago, cementing their status as a contender after four straight games against the Western Conference's best. After just one day off, the Ducks started slowly against the Islanders before their electric second-period effort. Tavares put the Islanders ahead with his 12th goal during a power play midway through the first period, but Koivu evened it with a backhand goal on a rebound several minutes later.
The Finnish center hadn't scored since Oct. 10, missing 15 games during that stretch with an apparent concussion. Vanek scored with a quick shot off a faceoff early in the second period, but Cogliano evened it again with an easy goal off an exceptional assist by Daniel Winnik, who threaded a no-look backward pass through three Islanders.
NOTES: Anaheim D Mark Fistric left late in the game with an upper-body injury. ... The Islanders put C Pierre-Marc Bouchard on waivers before the game. Bouchard, signed in the offseason to a one-year deal worth $2 million, had nine points and a minus-9 rating in 28 games. ... The clubs hadn't met since Jan. 6, 2012. ... Anaheim scratched RW Kyle Palmieri and LW Patrick Maroon. Palmieri hadn't missed a game since Nov. 12, but the gifted forward is in a 15-game goal drought, managing just two assists in that stretch. C Mathieu Perreault also missed his third straight game with a lower-body injury, and veteran David Steckel took his lineup spot again.


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3- Los Angeles traded Jason Blake to Islanders for a conditional pick in 2002.
4- Tampa Bay traded Steve Martins to the Islanders for a cond. pick in 2001.
11- Washington traded Craig Berube to the Islanders for Vancouver's 9th round pick in 2001 (prev. acquired).
12- Nashville traded Rory Fitzpatrick to Edmonton for future considerations.
13- Minnesota traded Steve McKenna to Pittsburgh for Roman Simicek.
14- Pittsburgh traded John Slaney to Philadelphia for Kevin Stevens.
14- Columbus traded Krzysztof Oliwa to Atlanta for an optional pick in 2001.
14- Pittsburgh traded Jiri Slegr to Atlanta for San Jose's 3rd pick in 2001 (previously acquired).
20- Ottawa traded Vaclav Prospal to Florida for an optional pick in 2001 or 2002.
23- Tampa Bay traded Bryan Muir to Colorado for its 8th round pick in 2001.
1- Pittsburgh traded Matthew Barnaby to Tampa Bay for Wayne Primeau.
1- Nashville traded Brantt Myhres to Washington for future considerations.
5- Rangers traded John MacLean to Dallas for a conditional pick in 2001.
7- Tampa Bay traded Dan Cloutier to Vancouver for Adrian Aucoin and Vancouver's 2nd round pick in 2001.
9- Anaheim traded Ladislav Kohn to Atlanta for Scott Langkow and Sergei Vyshedkevich.
9- Florida traded Scott Mellanby to St. Louis for the rights to David Morisset and a cond. pick.
13- Boston traded rights to Matt Zultek to Philadelphia for Philly's 9th round pick in 2001.
15- Vancouver traded Felix Potvin to Los Angeles for a conditional pick in 2001 or 2002.
16- NY Islanders traded Wade Flaherty Tampa Bay for a cond. pick in 2001 or 2002.
20- Toronto traded Konstantin Kalmikov to Tampa for Maxim Galanov.
21- Montreal traded Eric Weinrich to Boston for Patrick Traverse.
21- Los Angeles traded Rob Blake and Steve Reinprecht to Colorado for Adam Deadmarsh, Aaron Miller Colorado's 1st round pick in 2001 and a cond. pick. The Kings could also choose a player off Colorado's prospects list.
23- Los Angeles traded Bob Corkum to New Jersey for future considerations.
27- New Jersey traded Steve Kelly to Los Angeles for future considerations.
28- Los Angeles traded Steve Passmore to Chicago for an 8th round pick in 2001.
1- Rangers traded Eric Lacroix to Ottawa for Colin Forbes.
1- Minnesota traded Scott Pellerin to Carolina for Askhat Rakhmatullin, a 3rd round pick in 2001 and a conditional pick in 2002.
3- Florida traded Brent Thompson to Colorado for future considerations.
3- Washington traded Remi Royer to Florida for David Emma.
4- Minnesota traded Sean O'Donnell to New Jersey for Willie Mitchell and a cond. pick in 2002.
5- Rangers traded Alexei Gusarov to St. Louis for Peter Smrek.
5- Anaheim traded Teemu Selanne to San Jose for Jeff Friesen, Steve Shields, and a cond. pick in 2003.
5- Phoenix traded rights to Nikolai Khabibulin and Stan Neckar to Tampa Bay for Paul Mara, Mike Johnson, Ruslan Zainullen and a pick in 2001.
6- Calgary traded Bill Lindsay to San Jose for a pick in 2001.
7- Nashville traded Ryan Tobler to the Rangers for Bert Robertsson.
9- Nashville traded Drake Berehowsky to Vancouver for a pick in 2001.
12- Islanders traded John Vanbiesbrouck to New Jersey for Chris Terreri and a 9th round pick in 2001.
12- San Jose traded Johan Hedberg and Bobby Dollas to Pittsburgh for Jeff Norton.
13- Anaheim traded Jason Marshall to Washington for Alexei Tezikov and Edmonton's 4th round pick in 2001 (previously acquired).
13- Atlanta traded Donald Audette to Buffalo for the rights to Kamil Piros and Buffalo's 4th round pick in 2001.
13- Calgary traded Cory Stillman to St. Louis for Craig Conroy and Blues' 7th round pick in 2001.
13- Chicago traded Dean McAmmond to Philadelphia for Flyers' 3rd round pick in 2001.
13- Columbus traded Frantisek Kucera to Pittsburgh for Pens' 6th round pick in 2001.
13- Columbus traded Kevyn Adams and a cond. pick in 2001 or 2002 to Florida for Ray Whitney.
13- Columbus traded Steve Heinze to Buffalo for Sabres' 3rd round pick in 2001.
13- Edmonton traded Dan LaCouture to Pittsburgh for Sven Butenschon.
13- Florida traded Todd Simpson to Phoenix for a 2nd round pick in 2001.
13- Florida traded Mike Sillinger to Ottawa for the return of a cond. pick in 2001 or 2002. The pick had been acquired from Florida in a previous transaction.
13- Los Angeles traded Aki Berg to Toronto for Adam Mair and Leafs' 2nd round pick in 2001.
13- Minnesota traded Curtis Leschyshyn to Ottawa for Sens' 3rd round pick in 2001 and a cond. pick in 2002.
13- Montreal traded Trevor Linden, Dainius Zubrus, and New Jersey's 2nd round pick in 2001 (previosly acquired) to Washington for Richard Zednik, Jan Bulis, and Washington's 1st round pick in 2001.
13- Phoenix traded Keith Tkachuk to St. Louis for Michal Handzus, Ladislav Nagy, the rights to Jeff Taffe, and a 1st round pick in 2001 or 2002.
13- Tampa Bay traded Grant Ledyard to Dallas for Stars' 7th round pick in 2001.
22- Colorado traded prospect Jared Aulin to Los Angeles to complete the Feb. 21 trade of Rob Blake.
8- Minnesota signed FA Travis Roche
11- Montreal claimed Benoit Gratton off waivers from Calgary.
12- St. Louis signed Blake Evans.
18- Edmonton signed Ty Conklin.
24- Tampa Bay signed Nikita Alexeev (their 1st round pick in 2000 Entry Draft).
1- Calgary named Greg Gilbert head coach.
3- Chicago named Brian Sutter head coach.
7- Columbus signed Karl Goehring and Duvie Westcott.
9- Boston named Robbie Ftorek head coach.
11- San Jose signed Jeff Jillson.
18- Columbus claimed Sean Pronger off waivers from the Islanders.
23- Montreal signed Patrick Traverse.
24- Detroit signed Fredrik Olausson.
29- Edmonton signed Marc-Andre Bergeron, Craig Reichert and Kevin McDonald.
31- Florida traded Alex Auld to Vancouver for a 2001 draft pick and a 2002 3rd round pick.
1- Chicago signed Michael Leighton.
1- Vancouver signed Kevin Swanson.
1- Washington signed Nolan Yonkman.
1- Nashville signed Vladimir Orszagh and Konstantine Panov; claimed Bill Bowler off waivers from Columbus.
1- Atlanta signed Derek MacKenzie, David Kaczowka, Garnet Exelby and Luke Sellars.
5- Phoenix signed Martin Grenier.
12- Edmonton signed Fernando Pisani.
12- Phoenix traded Robert Reichel, Travis Green and Craig Mills to Toronto for Danny Markov.
13- Dallas signed Sami Helenius.
14- Pittsburgh signed Robert Scuderi.
15- Phoenix traded Joe Juneau to Montreal for future considerations.
18- Phoenix traded Juha Ylonen to Tampa for Todd Warriner.
18- Colorado Avalanche and Ray Bourque win the Stanley Cup
22- Phoenix traded rights to Mikael Renberg to Toronto for Sergei Berezin.
22- Islanders traded Mathieu Biron and their 2nd round pick in the 2002 Entry Draft to Tampa Bay for the rights to Adrian Aucoin and Alexander Kharitonov.
23- Ottawa traded Alexei Yashin to the Islanders for Islanders' 1st round pick in 2001, Zdeno Chara, and Bill Muckalt.
23- Toronto traded Igor Korolev to Chicago for Flyers' 3rd round pick in 2001 (previously acquired).
23- Montreal trades its 4th round pick in 2001 to Chicago for Stephane Quintal.
23- Calgary traded Valeri Bure and Jason Wiemer to Florida for Rob Niedermayer and Flyers' 2nd round pick in 2001 (previously acquired).
23- Calgary traded Fred Brathwaite, Dan Tkaczuk, Sergei Varlamov and its 9th round pick in 2001 to St. Louis in exchange for Roman Turek and Blues' 4th round pick in 2001.
23- Phoenix traded Jyrki Lumme to Dallas for Tyler Bouck.
24- Philadelphia traded Islanders' 4th round pick in 2001 (previously acquired, Jordin Tootoo) to Nashville in exchange for Nashville's 4th round pick in 2001.
24- Chicago traded its 4th round pick in 2001 (Christian Ehrhoff) to San Jose for Sharks' 4th round pick (Aleksey Zotkin), 6th round pick (Petr Puncochar) and 7th round pick (Oleg Minakov).
24- Dallas traded Richard Jackman to Boston for Cameron Mann.
24- Atlanta traded Buffalo's 4th round pick (previously acquired, Igor Valeev) in the 2001 Draft to St. Louis for Lubos Bartecko.
24- Tampa Bay traded Kings' 6th round pick (previously acquired, Scott Horvath) in 2001 Draft to Colorado for Nolan Pratt.
24- Montreal traded its 8th round pick in 2001 (Neil Petruic) to Ottawa for Andreas Dackell.
24- Philadelphia traded Dean McAmmond to Calgary in exchange for Flames' 4th round pick in 2002.
24- Buffalo traded the rights to Mike Peca to the Islanders for Tim Connolly and Taylor Pyatt.
26- Ray Bourque announces his retirement.
29- Edmonton traded Sergei Zholtok to Minnesota for undisclosed draft picks.
30- Buffalo traded Dominik Hasek to Detroit for Slava Kozlov, a 2002 1st round pick and future considerations.
30- Rangers traded Tim Taylor to Tampa Bay for Nils Ekman and Kyle Freadrich.
1- Boston: Sean O'Donnell
1- Chicago- John Klemm
1- Detroit- Brett Hull
1- Dallas- Pierre Turgeon and Rob DiMaio
1- Islanders- Garth Snow
1- Edmonton traded Doug Weight and Michael Riesen to St. Louis for Marty Reasoner, Jochan Hecht and Jan Horacek.
2- Boston- Martin Lapointe
2- Flames- Bob Boughner
2- Dallas- Donald Audette
2- Detroit- Luc Robitaille
2- Philadelphia- signed Jeremy Roenick and traded Daymond Langkow to Phoenix for 2 draft picks to be determined.
2- Atlanta- Hnat Domenichelli and traded Denny Lambert to Anaheim for future considerations.
2- Minnesota- Jason Marshall and Dwayne Roloson.
2- Los Angeles- Brett Hauer and Ken Belanger.
2- Nashville- Stu Grimson.
3- Los Angeles- Steve Heinze.
3- Toronto- Alexander Mogilny and Mikael Tellqvist.
3- Anaheim- Jason York.
4- Montreal- Yanic Perrault.
4- Ottawa- Josh Langfeld and Julien Vauclair.
4- Toronto- Anders Eriksson.
5- Columbus- Mike Sillinger.
5- St. Louis- Rich Pilon.
5- Philadelphia- Eric Weinrich.
5- Dallas- Valeri Kamensky
5- St. Louis- Mike Keane.
5- Florida- Paul Elliott, Kristian Huselius, and Niklas Hagman.
5- New Jersy- Tommy Albelin and Andreas Salomonsson.
5- Pittsburgh- Mike Wilson.
5- Islanders- Ken Sutton.
6- Boston- Rob Zamuner.
Los Angeles- Tomas Zizka.
6- Minnesota- Andrew Brunette.
7- Los Angeles- Randy Robitaille.
7- Islanders- Shawn Bates.
9- Detroit traded Aaron Ward to Carolina for a future 2nd round pick.
9- Philadelphia- Marty Murray.
9- Calgary- Kay Whitmore.
9- Minnesota- Martin Brochu.
10- Dallas- Niko Kapanen, Marcus Kristoffersson, Jim Montgomery.
10- Tampa Bay traded Ryan Johnson and their 6th round pick in 2003 to Florida for Vaclav Prospal.
10- Boston- Andy Hilbert.
10- Pittsburgh- Robert Dome.
10- Los Angeles- Jaroslav Bednar.
10 Columbus- David Ling and Darrel Scoville.
11- Pittsburgh traded Jaromir Jagr and Frantisek Kucera to Washington for Kris Beech, Michael Sivek, Ross Lupaschuk and future considerations.
11- Toronto- Karel Pilar.
20- To Rangers: Eric Lindros and a cond. pick in 2003
To Flyers: Jan Hlavac, Kim Jonsson, Pavel Brendl and a 3rd round pick in 2003 (Stefan Ruzicka)
22- Detroit signed Brett Hull as a FA from Dallas
6- Montreal signed Doug Gilmour as a FA from Buffalo
24- To Boston: Jozef Stumpel and Glen Murray
To Los Angeles: Jason Allison and Mikko Eloranta
10- To Vancouver: Trevor Linden and a cond. 2nd round pick (Kiril Koltsov?)
To Washington: 1st round pick in 2002 (Alexander Semin)
21- To Dallas: Martin Rucinsky, Benoit Brunet
To Montreal: Donald Audette and Shaun Van Allen
17- To Flyers: Donald Brashear
To Vancouver: Jan Hlavac and Tampa's 3rd round pick in 2003
18- To Calgary: Petr Buzek and a cond. pick
To Atlanta: Jeff Cowan and Kurtis Foster
28- To Vancouver: Trevor Letowski, Todd Warriner, Tyler Bouck and a 3rd round pick in 2003
To Phoenix: Drake Berehowsky and Denis Pederson
Andrei Kovalenko, Boston Bruins
Paul Coffey, Boston Bruins
Ron Sutter, Calgary Flames
Kevin Hatcher, Carolina Hurricanes
Dave Reid, Colorado Avalanche
Ray Bourque, Colorado Avalanche
Doug Brown, Detroit Red Wings
Larry Murphy, Detroit Red Wings
Greg Adams, Florida Panthers
Garry Galley, New York Islanders
Chris Terreri, New York Islanders
Kirk McLean, New York Rangers
Guy Hebert, New York Rangers
Tony Granato, San Jose Sharks
Petr Svoboda, Tampa Bay Lightning
Glenn Healy, Toronto Maple Leafs
Joe Murphy, Washington Capitals
T Tags: NHL Trades 2001 history


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A pretty positive review of the Western Flyer and accessories.
Welcome! We're glad you are here. This is the place to ask for bag advice, help other people out, post reviews, and share photos and videos.
First, select your desired search engine:
A pretty positive review of the Western Flyer and accessories.
I got the Western Flyer in March but had not really used it for travel until this past weekend when I went to New York City by train. I was going on work, and had to take fairly dressy clothes, plus laptop, plus lots of paperwork. I also had a small (16inch) rollaboard.
The Western Flyer packed like a charm. I bundle wrapped two pants, 4 dress shirts, a linen jacket, one pair of jeans, and even a lightweight overcoat--into the western flyer. The front pocket easily accepted most of the rest of my stuff. I was quite stunned.
Mostly, I loved how well it fit on my back and how easily it carried. The last time I went to NYC, I got exhausted carrying my 21 inch rollaboard up and down stairs at stations, in subways, and in trains. This time, everything was a breeze. I had my WF on my back and a small rollaboard, and life was the easiest.
My only suggestion would be for the front pockets. Is there any way to do the orientation a bit differently so that the open pocket is vertical when you carry it as a backpack? maybe run it along the side like an old fashioned umbrella pocket? That way you can do the two pockets with a three sided zipper opening...and it will look ok carried horizontally or vertically.
I had been very concerned about getting the bag and read these forums endlessly, and of course spent an hour at the store--I am so glad I went with it. As a small made person, this is plenty big for me...the Aeronaut was too big; and so was the Air Boss.
I just wish that you would all make all your messenger bags have D rings and make life easier for us to switch out shoulder straps!!


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KaySie on Family Tree Circles
view: full | list
Journals and Posts
REED of Essex UK, my Gggrandparents also PATTON of Stronalor Donegal Ireland.
My Gg grandfather was Richard REED, who was sent to Australia as a convict in 1837, he was 19 years old. When he was 24 he married Olivia LUCAS the, 19 year old granddaughter of first fleet convicts Nathaniel LUCAS and Olivia GASCOIGNE, her grandparents on the maternal side were Kennedy MURRAY and Ann WHITE, also convicts.
During Richard's trial at the Essex Assizes mention was made of his bad parents. This comment was made by the occupier of Havering Castle, near Havering-atte-bower, Essex, so I assume the senior REED worked on this estate. Richard's brother Robert, also a convict in 1844, mentions two siblings, Amelia and Hannah. Richard and Olivia named their eldest child Henry and a daughter Mary, these names were not Olivia's parents names...two further children were named Eliza and James after Olivia's parents, a further child was named Richard after Richard the child's father.
Richard and Roberts parents names are Henry and Mary...because of Richard's children's names
Sisters are Hannah ( could be Ann) and Amelia...marriages?
Parents worked on Estate of Havering Castle as ag. Labourers as both sons were ag. Labourers.
Also trying to trace Irish ggggrandparents, from Stronolar,Neil PATTON or PATTEN and Catherine MCLAUGHLIN, their son James came to Australia, NSW on the Kate in 1852, as free settler and settled in Warrnambool Victoria.
Looking for Reed in Essex, c.1810..two sons Richard and Robert sent to Australia as convicts
Richard came on the Susan, Robert on the Agincourt to Tasmania
Richard married Olivia Lucas
Eliza. Married James Baker
- Displaying 1-2 of 2 Journals
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NCLB Update
Strategic Vision: Higher Ed
E-Learning for Teachers
Grants Forecast
G8 Indicators
New Listserv
Quote to Note
Upcoming Events
NCLB Update (http://www.nochildleftbehind.gov/)
Soon, the Department's Office of Innovation and Improvement (OII) will release "Choosing a School for Your Child." This booklet is a type of "decision tool" that can help parents choose where they really want their child to learn. It explains some of the public school choices that are now available in many communities (charter, magnet, virtual, etc.), as well as private school options. It also outlines steps parents can follow to make a thoughtful choice and includes questions that parents might want to ask when going through the process. In addition, the booklet spotlights new options for education provided in the No Child Left Behind Act, from allowing low-income parents whose children are in public schools that need improvement to choose other public schools or take advantage of free tutoring to mandating that states and school districts provide a wealth of public information. "School choice is part of the strategy to give every child an excellent education," Secretary Spellings declares in a letter to parents that opens the booklet. "I offer you [this resource]...to help you make informed decisions..." FOR MORE INFORMATION UPON RELEASE, PLEASE GO TO http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/oii/. (Copies, in both English [EU 0121P] and Spanish [EU 0122P], may be pre-ordered from ED PUBS at http://www.edpubs.org/.)
The Manhattan Institute's latest report on high school graduation and college-readiness rates, covering 1991 to 2002, is sobering:
- The national high school graduation rate for all public school students remained flat over the last decade, from 72 percent in 1991 to 71 percent in 2002.
- There is a notable disparity in the graduation rates of white and minority students. In the Class of 2002, 78 percent of white students graduated from high school with a regular diploma, compared to 56 percent of African-American students and 52 percent of Hispanic students.
- There is also a notable disparity among racial and ethnic groups in the percentage of students who leave high school "eligible" for college admission. In the Class of 2002, 40 percent of white students graduated from high school college-ready, compared to 23 percent of African-American students and 20 percent of Hispanic students.
One positive finding: nationally, the percentage of all students who left high school with the qualifications and skills necessary to attend college increased from only 25 percent in 1991 to 34 percent in 2002. For this, the authors credit the "increased standards and accountability programs of the last decade, which have required students to take more challenging courses required for admission into college...." "This study highlights the vital need for high school reform," Secretary Spellings said in a prepared statement. "The President's $1.5 billion High School Initiative provides the blueprint for states to reform our nation's upper grades so that a high school diploma once again has some meaning." For more information, please go to http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/ewp_08.htm. (The Secretary's statement is available at http://www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2005/02/02152005.html.)
Strategic Vision: Higher Ed
In her first speech on higher education as Secretary of Education, Margaret Spellings called on university presidents assembled at the American Council on Higher Education's annual meeting to adopt the spirit of the No Child Left Behind Act. "Even though we federally fund less than one-tenth of [K-12 education]compared to about one-third for higher educationwe've leveraged our investment through the No Child Left Behind Act, tying it to the great goals of ensuring that children read and do math at grade level.... The vast majority of states credit No Child Left Behind with improving academic performance. And, I believe states and postsecondary institutions should view it as a model as you work to close your own achievement gap, so vividly illustrated by the report you released today." (That report showed minority enrollment had grown by 1.5 million students, or 52 percent, between 1991 and 2001, but participation rates of blacks [40 percent] and Hispanics [34 percent] still trail that of whites [45 percent].) Of course, a big part of that effort is better preparing high school students, which is prioritized in the President's budget. The Secretary appealed, too, for "compatible and comprehensive measurements," including accurate cost information, how credit hours compare at different institutions, and the average time it takes to graduate by major. "This way," she said, "both traditional and non-traditional education consumers can make smart choices based on information, not anecdote." Finally, the Secretary encouraged high quality teacher preparation programs: "Remember, you produce the teachers who produce the students who make up your freshman class." For more information, please go to http://www.ed.gov/news/speeches/2005/02/02142005.html.
Note: Two days later, Secretary Spellings called community colleges "truly indispensable in a world defined less by where you were born or live and more by what you know." For more information, please go to http://www.ed.gov/news/speeches/2005/02/02162005.html.
E-Learning for Teachers
Attention teachers! Fifteen Teacher-to-Teacher sessions are currently available online, and, over the next few months, eight more sessions will be added. Moreover, the Department is continuing to work to support teachers by seeking state approval of these free professional development sessions, which focus on improving teachers' content knowledge and teaching skills in reading, math, and science. So far, Delaware, Florida, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Texas have agreed to accept these sessions as credit toward teacher re-licensure; Arkansas, California, Colorado, Vermont, and Wisconsin teachers need approval at the local level to receive credit. Many teachers are also using these sessions to earn credit or points to meet their state's High Objective Uniform State Standard of Evaluation (HOUSSE) to become highly qualified.
Grants Forecast
Be sure to review the FY 2005 Grants Forecast (as of February 23) at http://www.ed.gov/fund/grant/find/edlite-forecast.html, which lists virtually all programs and competitions under which the Department has invited or expects to invite applications for awards and provides actual or estimated dates for the transmittal of applications under these programs. The lists are in the form of chartsorganized according to principal program officesand will be updated regularly through July 2005. (This document is advisory only and is not an official application notice of the Department of Education.)
Also: The School Leadership Program is designed to assist high-need school districts with the development, enhancement, or expansion of innovative programs to recruit, train, and mentor principals and assistant principals. For eligibility purposes, a high-need district is defined as one that: (1) either serves at least 10,000 children from low-income families or serves a community in which at least 20 percent of children are from low-income families and (2) has a high percentage of teachers teaching either outside of their certification or with emergency, provisional, or temporary certification. Interested parties must submit a notice of intent to apply by March 24. The deadline for applications is April 15. For more information, please go to http://www.ed.gov/programs/leadership/.
G8 Indicators
Following in the footsteps of the latest results from PISA and TIMSS, a new report from the National Center for Education Statistics compares the U.S. education system to the other Group of 8 (G8) industrialized countries (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Russian Federation, and the United Kingdom) in four areas: (1) the context of education; (2) pre-primary and primary education; (3) secondary education; and (4) postsecondary education. The report is an update of a 2002 study and part of a series to be published in alternate years. For more information, please go to http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2005021.
New Listserv
The Charter Schools Program Listserv is a free service offered by OII's Charter Schools Program. Subscribers interested in K-12 charter school issues automatically receive periodic notification of information posted on the Department's web site relevant to charter schools nationally. For more information, please go to http://www.ed.gov/programs/charter/csplist.html.
Quote to Note
"We're at a crossroads. We still have the best system of higher education in the world, but the world is catching up. China graduates six times as many engineering majors as the U.S.; Japan and South Korea, four times as many. In 2001, India graduated nearly one million more students from college than the U.S., including 100,000 more in the sciences. Meanwhile, our young students lose ground as they age. Our fourth- and eighth-graders score above the international average in math and science, but our 15-year-olds lag below it.... It's now our time. Together, we can show Americans a future where knowledge powers our economy and empowers our citizenry."
Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings (2/14/05)
Upcoming Events
The Department's next Education News Parents Can Use broadcast, on arts education, is scheduled for March 15. For more information, please go to http://www.ed.gov/news/av/video/edtv/.
On March 23, the Department's Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives will host a workshop in Las Vegas to assist faith-based and community organizations applying to become approved supplemental educational service providers. The workshop is free, although pre-registration is required. The deadline for registration is March 21. For more information, please go to http://www.ed.gov/about/inits/list/fbci/suppserv-workshops.html.
Credits, Subscribe & Unsubscribe
Please feel free to contact the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs with any questions:
Deputy Assistant SecretaryKen Meyer, (202) 401-0404, email@example.com
Program AnalystAdam Honeysett, (202) 401-3003, firstname.lastname@example.com
To be added or removed from distribution, or submit comments (we welcome your feedback!), please contact Adam Honeysett. Or, visit http://www.ed.gov/news/newsletters/edreview/index.html.
This newsletter contains hypertext links to information created and maintained by other public and private organizations. These links are provided for the user's convenience. The U.S. Department of Education does not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of this outside information. Furthermore, the inclusion of links is not intended to reflect their importance, nor is it intended to endorse any views expressed, or products or services offered, on these sites, or the organizations sponsoring the sites.


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Alright, so you've bought a Rooms To Go bed set. Now what? Well, a step in the right direction would be to dress your new purchase with specially made bed linens. Lucky for you, we offer a full line of bed linens for girls bedrooms. Teenagers and young children can go through sheets like water, and to keep your mattresses and mattress pad covers from getting dirty or worn out, be sure to look through our stocks of girls bed sets, sheets, and bed linens.
Bed linens not only protect the materials of your favorite mattresses and pad covers but also accent bedroom color schemes and decor. Whether you seek bright colors and lively patterns or neutral tones without the clutter of intricate designs, our online inventory includes near limitless choices. Rooms To Go girls bed linen selections feature fun and vibrant patterns, like bright pink and purple throws lined with silk and other ultra-comfortable materials. Other available patterns are perfect for young girls, including hearts, flowers, stars, and birds.
Transform your daughter's, niece's, or granddaughter's living space with a set of bed linens from Rooms To Go. We ensure our girls bed linens and bed linen sets are made from quality materials that offer maximum comfort and durability. Relax and rest easy. We've taken care of the hard part. Now all you have to worry about is getting that certain young woman to make the bed once you purchase the linens. This may or may not be easier said than done.


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Saturday, 20 July 2019
The NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI) Carnegie Team focuses on life's chemical and physical evolution, from the interstellar medium, through planetary systems, to the emergence and detection of life by studying extrasolar planets, solar system formation, organic rich primitive planetary bodies, deep sequestration of CHON volatiles in terrestrial planets, prebiotic molecular synthesis through geocatalysis, and the connection between planetary evolution to the emergence, and sustenance of biology. This program attempts to integrate the sweeping narrative of life's history through a combination of bottom-up and top-down studies. On the one hand, this team studies processes related to chemical and physical evolution in plausible prebiotic environments – circumstellar disks, extrasolar planetary systems and the primitive Earth. Complementary to these bottom-up investigations of life's origin, they will continue this field and experimental top-down efforts to document the nature of microbial life at extreme conditions, as well as the characterization of organic matter in ancient fossils. Both types of efforts inform the development of biotechnological approaches to life detection on other worlds.


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Dialogue Between the Past and the Present
35th International Convention, Modesto California
Alfred Schnittke was born in 1934 in the city of Engels.
He was a prolific composer, and produced an enormous catalogue of works.
His musical style, while completely at home in the 20th Century because of his training, was firmly grounded in more traditional concert music.
He was not celebrity performer, and his work is largely unknown to German Russians in North America. However, if one follows concert music — even a little — it sometimes seems that Schnittke's music is being performed almost everywhere around the world.
Alfred Schnittke's mother was Maria Vogel, whose people were from the Bergseite Roman Catholic village of Kamenka, in the Volga region. Maria left the village and moved to Engels, to take advantage of educational and vocational opportunities in the capitol city of the Volga German Republic. There, she became active in the leadership of the youth organization the "Young Pioneers" and later she became a German teacher, and then proofreader at Nachrichten, the official newspaper of the Republic. Nachrichten stopped publication in August, 1941, but after the war, when the central German-language newspaper, Neues Leben, began publication in Moscow in 1956, Maria Vogel was selected to serve on the editorial staff. She was the only ethnic German to be chosen. Maria Vogel died in Moscow in 1972.
Alfred's father was Harry Schnittke. Harry's people were German-speaking Lithuanian Jews, who permanently lived in the Soviet Union after 1927. Family members were involved with publishing and writing. Harry Schnittke's mother, Thea, edited German-language books for the publishing house "Progress" in Moscow; his younger son Victor (Alfred's brother) was an accomplished translator and poet. Harry Schnittke met Maria Vogel when they both worked in the newspaper offices of Nachrichten in Engels.
Alfred Schnittke, then, was born into this German-speaking household. Alfred always considered Volga German dialect his mother tongue, and in fact, as an adult, when he visited German relatives in Kazakhstan, he was surprised to learn that they spoke only Russian. The Schnittkes, however, were not deported along with the rest of the Germans in 1941, because they could show Jewish ethnicity.
After the war, Alfred studied and then taught at the Moscow Conservatory of Music, and he spent most of his adult life in Moscow. He was held hostage for many years by the Soviet musical establishment. Even though his music became so popular that some concerts of his music were mobbed like sporting events, his first visit to the West to attend a premiere of one his works came only about 20 years into his career, in 1977. After 1985, during the Gorbachev era, Schnittke had easier contact with musicians in the West, and he was able to attend more and more premieres of his works in Europe and in North America, where his work was becoming increasingly popular. After 1989, he lived in Germany. He died in Hamburg Germany 9 years later in 1998.
Schnittke's Output is Prodigious: he wrote a total of sixty-six film scores, 9 large symphonies and numerous other orchestral works, concertos for solo instruments and for ensembles of instruments, chamber music for many familiar and unusual combinations of instruments, piano music, choral music, much of which is religious, art songs, operas, incidental music for plays, occasional pieces and so on. It is a huge catalogue.
His publisher, Sikorski, attributes Schnittke's popularity to the fact that he was not an avant-gardist. In fact, everything he wrote was thoroughly grounded in the past, but it was always original… and typically Schnittke.
1 He wrote in traditional forms like sonatas and concertos, but he filled these forms with new content.
2 He wrote for traditional instruments such as violin, piano, and so on, but he made unusual demands on the performers.
3 His music is highly emotional like older music, but emotional in a way that reflects 20th Century experience. Considering the stifling repression in the Soviet Union, and the uncertainty and anxiety experienced everywhere during the post-war era, it should not be surprising to discover that "terror, threats, dread, mourning… are part and parcel of the music" of this great composer.
4 Music lovers will certainly hear some of Alban Berg and Gustav Mahler in his music; casual listeners may experience it much like film music.
Schnittke is best known for the way in which he sets different historical musical styles side-by-side, and then allows them to interact. His publisher Sikorski says that "Decisive for Schnittke is that the music of the past, quoted or evoked in many of his works, should be constantly confronted with the musical language of the present. The important thing here is the dialogue between the past and the present, as Schnittke experienced it."
This dialogue is often expressed in the music by allusions to the music of earlier centuries. "Do I know that music?" the listener might ask, upon hearing something that resembles a recognizable chorale or march or dance tune. This experience repeats several times, and each iteration of the "old" style expresses homage to that earlier music. These evocations of memory are embellished, interrupted and often overwhelmed by Schnittke's own 20th Century material. The result? Both styles of music can be heard in a new context, and these layers of associations, suggestions and interpolations become subtle and powerful expression that probes deeply into the listener's emotions and psyche.
Just how popular is Schnittke's music? A simple internet search reveals dozens of performances since the turn of the century, and these are taking place in every region in North America:
1 Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Washington;
2 Minneapolis, Chicago, St. Louis, Denver, Houston;
3 Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver;
4 Seattle, Portland, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Most of these performances are by major arts institutions, such as symphony orchestras, where as many as 10,000 concert-goers might attend a series of concerts.
The same is true for European music centers. The Gewandthaus in Leipzig, Germany, for example, will feature 5 significant Schnittke performances in the 12-month period that began in May, 2004.
For hundreds of thousands of concert-goers around the world, Alfred Schnittke's biography in the printed program notes is their only source of information about German Russians.
This evening we will hear 3 very short piano pieces, which date from 1990, late in Schnittke's life, when he composed with fewer and fewer notes, but at an ever-loftier spiritual level. These are 3 movements from Five Aphorisms for solo piano.
In the first, Lento, tone clusters — chords with all the notes filled in — make the piano growl, but these passages are alternated with freely melodic, almost vocal sections.
In the second, Senza tempo, carefully constructed chords are allowed to sound for extended periods of time, and are only barely interrupted by the merest tendrils of melody.
The third piece, Grave, comes close to expressing Schnittke's dialogue between the past and the present, but in this case he uses just a single tune alternately dressing it in traditional and in 20th Century clothing. I would like to point your attention to the eight iterations of the opening melody, each of them handled in a different manner.
One of the most striking compositional techniques in these pieces is the use of 2-octave tone clusters. These clusters require the performer to play a 2-octave span, but fill in as many notes as possible. They occur only twice, but the effect — as you will see — is dramatic.
These pieces originally were written to be performed, as we are doing this evening, with poetry read between the movements.
Alfred Schnittke was born 1934 in Engels, the capitol city of the Volga German Republic; his mother was Volga German, his father was from a family of Lithuanian Jews.
He produced a huge catalogue of works.
His music is best known for the way in which he creates interaction between old and new musical styles in his compositions.
His music is being performed almost everywhere. Including, this evening, Modesto, California.
I hope you enjoy hearing a few moments of the music of Alfred Schnittke this evening.
References Consulted
Constantin Floros' biographical essay about Schnittke on the Musikverlag Hans Sikorski webpage, 2003
Alexander Ivashkin, Alfred Schnittke, London, England: Phaidon Press Limited, 1996
Alexander Ivashkin, editor, A Schnittke Reader, Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press, 2002


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Reese Witherspoon was recently spotted running errands and dropping by her Beverly Hills office in a pair of off-white Valentino Rockstud Slingback Pumps with beige trim. It's amazing how preppy rockstuds can look when paired with a navy sweater pulled over a button-up shirt and skinny jeans. You can find Reese's exact pumps.
Reese is also carrying her favorite new handbag, The Row 12 Satchel, which we saw her carrying for the first time last week. You can find her satche. If you haven't yet acquainted yourself with the majesty of Reese's personal bag and shoe collection.


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This pattern is taken from the UK Vineyard original album 'Come Now is the Time'. This is a very common syncopated rhythm that comes up a lot in worship songs. If it seems complicated on the page, break it down and count it through very slowly. Keep your hand moving as you strum and only build up the speed once you've got the groove nailed.
I've listed this in a box format that shows the song over a single bar in a 16th note format. So the key is to count 1 E & A, 2 E & A, 3 E & A, 4 E & A over the song and crucially KEEP YOUR HAND MOVING at all times. Naturally your hand should strum down on the numbers or beats (1234), the &'s and then the up beats should always link to the E's and A's. If you find this difficult to work through on paper then I'd recommend either our Song Learner series DVDs or Intermediate Acoustic DVDs as its much easier to see it on video than in an article.
- I've tried to pick the patterns from either the original album version or a fairly stock version of each song but of course, there are many versions of each song, and even within each version there will be some room to change up the strumming pattern and still fit the groove.
- Do realise that while each strumming pattern will work for the song on its own, if your drummer, or indeed your band is playing a different groove (consciously or unconsciously!) then it may not entirely fit. The key is to make sure the main accents in the rhythm of the melody are reflected in the strumming pattern.
If you want any more do make suggestions, but please don't make them too obscure (ideally send a YouTube link to the song in question). We'll be uploading a new strumming pattern every couple of days.
Other posts you might like:
All our strumming patterns (to date)
Archive of all our guitar related posts


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Just when you thought there couldn't be more analysis about why the lack of lawyer jobs is no big deal, they pull some more in. Robert Anderson, a professor at Pepperdine Law (45.5% Employment Score, 35.7% Under-Employment Score, $46,680/yr (+9.0% vs 2012-13)) says the problems with the job market may be nothing more than the result of an aging lawyer population. From his blog Witnesseth:
Between 1980 and 2005, the median age of lawyers increased from 39 to 49. [...]
That means that the reported oversupply of lawyers may well result from demographic factors, rather than permanent changes in the legal market. The demographic factors, in turn, probably result from a combination of lawyers waiting longer to retire because of 401(k) accounts decimated during the financial crisis together with the "bulge" of baby boomers working their way through the system.
The bulge of baby boomers should be a very rare occurrence, one which the legal market maybe doesn't need to do much of anything to address. It sucks for people graduating while boomers are hanging on to their jobs, but any solutions would take too long, the problem will be gone before there's any affect. But what about that first explanation, that lawyers are staying in the workforce longer in order to recoup their losses from the recession? The market is back, baby:
The Dow hasn't just recovered, it's up nearly 12% over it's pre-recession high. If you add in extra income from staying on the job a few more years, lawyers who were delaying retirement because of the recession should now be much better off than they were before the crash. Why not just cash out now and get the demographics back in line? We suspect two reasons. First, lawyers may be below-average investors. Many lawyers work in small shops that won't have a formal retirement program, so they're going to be handling their retirement savings themselves. And partners in firms big enough to have retirement programs are probably investing quite a bit beyond their 401(k)s. You know what happens when people who have a lot of faith in their intelligence but less information than professional investors try to play the stock market? They lose. People who play the market are also more prone to pulling their money out during a recession, as opposed to people with generic mutual funds who will tend to just let it ride. So, those lawyers who were too smart for their own good didn't get to reap the benefits of the recovery, and now they have to work an extra decade to make up their losses. Second, there's the availability heuristic at work. The recession is still fresh in everyone's memory, and if you saw your retirement savings wiped out, it's going to be an especially strong memory. That means the goal posts for retirement have moved. You now need enough to retire on plus enough to cover the losses of another recession. It doesn't matter that retirees should be putting their investments into safer vehicles, or that another recession would be followed by another recovery, so you don't really need to save much extra to prep for it; cognitive biases don't care about that stuff. You're once bit and twice shy, and that's the end of that. Back before the recession, and even during its early days, the pom-pom wavers talked about how law was recession proof, or at least resistant to the recession. Crimes still get committed, those people need lawyers, and there's more bankruptcies and divorces to make up for slower areas. Of course the proof of the pudding is in the tasting, and as it turns out if your clients have less money they can't pay you as much, and it's not all that simple to go from a deals practice to bankruptcy, or a T&E shop to divorce. There are some industries worse than law during a recession, and some areas of law are counter-cyclical, but whatever resistance the law has to recessions is pretty minimal.But while the law may not resist recessions well, the number of older lawyers still in the work force indicates that law may be recovery resistant. Baby booms are rare, but recessions? They happen frequently enough that if the legal industry gets any worse at recovering, it might not move fast enough to be back on its feet before the next one hits.
This story was originally published by Constitutional Daily.


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No. 86,172
Under K.S.A. 2000 Supp. 22-3716(e), postrelease supervision is not be be imposed when an offender's nonprison sanction is revoked for failure to comply with the terms and conditions of probation and he or she fulfills the obligation of the underlying sentence.
Appeal from Sedgwick District Court; CLARK V. OWENS II, judge. Opinion filed December 21, 2001. Reversed and remanded with directions.
Cory D. Riddle, assistant appellate defender, and Jessica R. Kunen, chief appellate defender, for appellant.
Lesley A. McFadden, assistant district attorney, Nola Foulston, district attorney, and Carla J. Stovall, attorney general, for appellee.
Before KNUDSON, P.J., PIERRON and GREEN, JJ.
GREEN, J.: Van R. Williams appeals the imposition of postrelease supervision on the basis that the trial court lacked authority to impose postrelease supervision under K.S.A. 2000 Supp. 22-3716(e). We agree and reverse and remand for resentencing.
Williams pled guilty to one count of possession of cocaine and no drug tax stamp. He was sentenced to 24 months' probation with an underlying prison sentence of 11 months and 24 months of postrelease supervision. Williams' probation was later revoked for failure to comply with the conditions of probation. The trial court imposed the underlying sentence of 11 months and modified postrelease supervision to 12 months.
On appeal, Williams argues that the trial court erred in ordering postrelease supervision. Resolution of this issue requires interpretation of K.S.A. 2000 Supp. 22-3716(e). Statutory interpretation is a question of law over which this court exercises unlimited review. State v. Peterson, 265 Kan. 732, 733, 962 P.2d 1076 (1998).
Williams contends that he is not subject to postrelease supervision upon completion of his prison sentence imposed as a result of the revocation of his probation. A plain reading of K.S.A. 2000 Supp. 22-3716(e) indicates that his assertions are correct. The statute provides:
"Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law to the contrary, an offender whose nonprison sanction is revoked and a term of imprisonment imposed pursuant to either the sentencing guidelines grid for nondrug or drug crimes shall not serve a period of postrelease supervision upon the completion of the prison portion of that sentence. The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to offenders sentenced to a nonprison sanction pursuant to a dispositional departure, whose offense falls within a border box of either the sentencing guidelines grid for nondrug or drug crimes, offenders sentenced for a 'sexually violent crime' . . . or whose nonprison sanction was revoked as a result of a conviction for a new misdemeanor or felony offense. . . . The provisions of this subsection shall be applied retroactively."
Here, Williams' probation was revoked when he failed to remit payment for the ordered costs and failed to report to his probation officer. However, under K.S.A. 2000 Supp. 22-3716(e), postrelease supervision is not to be imposed when an offender's nonprison sanction is revoked for failure to comply with the terms and conditions of probation and he or she fulfills the obligation of the underlying sentence. As a conditional violator, Williams does not fall within the exceptions listed in K.S.A. 2000 Supp. 22-3716(e) and is not subject to postrelease supervision. As a result, we remand this case with directions to remove the requirement of postrelease supervision from Williams' sentence.
Reversed and remanded with instructions.


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Apple Recipes
Mulberry Hazelnut Apple Tart Recipe
In my opinion, your Valentine essentials consist of anything with chocolate; it's sort of the unofficial sponsor of Valentine's Day. But chocolate isn't always given, and if your special someone isn't a chocolate lover (hard as that may be to believe), I have an alternative dessert. I prepared a hazelnut cream apple tart with a hidden layer of mulberry preserves that I canned last summer.
I'm sure your sweetie will be appreciate your sweet (no pun intended) gesture and that these little drool-inducing sweets will create special memories in his/her heart.
Full Recipe...
Drunken Apple Cake Recipe (Gateau Invisible aux Pommes)
My girlfriend is coming over for lunch after we work out together and she's not a chocoholic, so I've had to rethink my normal dessert selection. This light pastry should get the job done. In French, it's called gâteau invisible aux pommes. By its name, you've probably already guessed that it's a dessert made exclusively of apples. I would say it looks like a healthy version of a Dobos torte. They're sliced paper-thin and coated in a delicate, evenly-distributed, layer of cake batter. This creates a light, multi-layered apple cake. The apple slices are so thin, it makes the cake almost translucent once baked. The apples are soft, almost creamy. The hardest part is to wait to let it cool and set.
In English, it's called drunken apple cake because it's traditionally covered with a caramel sauce (I often serve it with a caramel au beurre salé sauce) or a crème anglaise topping (light, thin, pourable custard) but I wanted to keep the dessert healthy so I substituted berry coulis using the strawberries from our garden. I haven't been able to harvest any apples yet though (I need to wait at least 2 more months for these!).
Full Recipe...
Easy Apple Tart Recipe
I am beyond excited the weekend is here. This means it's dessert time and that my husband Lulu will be home after a week-long business trip. Lulu has a weakness for sweets so I'm sure he won't have any complaints about this apple tart.
This French dessert is one of the easiest tarts to assemble, with only about 5 ingredients. It has an apple- sauce filling and is brushed with apricot preserves at the end for a shiny look.
Full Recipe...
Truffle Mushroom Risotto Stuffed Baked Apples
This is an upscale version of risotto that you could offer as a side dish (or main vegetarian course) on Thanksgiving. I love including lightly sweet ingredients in savory dishes, so I came up with the apple and mushroom risotto. I used Jonagold apples, brown mushrooms and truffle butter.
I think making individual servings give a more elegant look to the dish, so I nested the luxurious risotto in baked apples. The apples almost turned into apple sauce which paired beautifully with the risotto.
Full Recipe...
Apple Hazelnut Cake Recipe (Eggless Dessert)
Whether served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, crème anglaise or simply a dollop of Greek-Style vanilla yogurt, this apple hazelnut cake will satisfy your sweet tooth. What I love most is the contrast in texture of the crisp, buttery top and the moist interior.
I flavored the cake with Red Delicious apples. I chose this particular variety because of their firmness and beautiful bright red color. I usually use them in salads or eat them as is but they also work well in these baked goods.
The girls have been working out hard this week and asked if they could break their healthy routine with some sweets. I'm so happy they decided to join me in my workout routine and thought they deserved a little reward. They're teenagers after all. As you can probably tell by our meals, we don't really diet, though I try to find healthier alternatives as long as they don't sacrifice flavor. After enjoying these treats, the girls and I hit the gym and enjoyed 30 minutes of pure Stairmaster fun!
Full Recipe...


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A little less confrontation, a little more action
After more than 30 years of stalemate, some on both sides of the abortion debate are ready to put down their signs and start trying to work together.
Benedictine Sister Adrienne Kaufmann spent many years as a bridge between her prolife and pro-choice friends.
"I always found myself caught in the middle, trying to explain pro-choice people to prolife people, and prolife people to pro-choice people," she recalls. "I would tell them, 'That's not what they're about; that's not what they believe.' I didn't want to accept either label, even though I am 100 percent committed to a consistent life ethic."
Being a go-between for the two groups wore Kaufmann out. "All a bridge does is get walked on," she says.
So when she enrolled in a doctoral program, she chose abortion as her case study for her dissertation, focusing on how to bring together both sides of the polarized issue. Then she received an invitation to co-direct the Network for Life and Choice, a project founded in 1993 by the Search for Common Ground, an international conflict resolution organization. The network brought together prolife and pro-choice people in 20 cities across the country to work on issues such as reducing teen pregnancy or promoting adoption.
Although the network folded in 1999 due to lack of funding, Mary Jacksteit, a former co-director who still works with the Search for Common Ground, says she still gets calls once a month from people who have read about the network and want to continue similar work in their own cities.
"It definitely put forward the idea that it is possible," she says of the group's efforts to bridge such a polarized divide. "That has power."
Crossing the party line
After more than three decades of legal abortion in the United States, neither public opinion nor the rate of abortions has changed significantly, causing people in both movements to think about focusing on more universally accepted ways to build a culture of life in this country.
Hillary Clinton-a staunch supporter of abortion rights-spoke last year about working with the prolife movement to realize a common goal of fewer abortions. On the same day, President George W. Bush called for the same thing, "seeking common ground where possible."
Kaufmann believes that dialogue is not just a feel-good activity or political sound bite; it is the most productive outlet for the prolife movement.
"To reduce or end abortion, prolife people need to get into dialogue with pro-choice people about things in this society they both care about, and work together to change them," she says. "They have a lot more in common than they believe or imagine, but it's submerged below this pool of enemy rhetoric. Instead they need to drop the rhetoric, look at ways to pool their energies, and make progress that way."
The Search for Common Ground identified the following areas where prolife and pro-choice people have dipped below that rhetoric and joined forces: preventing teen pregnancy, making adoption more accessible, preventing violence at abortion clinics, and increasing options for women.
That the prolife and pro-choice movements could have anything in common, let alone work on anything together, might be unheard of, but Francis Pauc of St. Stephen's Parish in Milwaukee says he discovered some common views with the co-chair of the state's Green Party, with whom he has exchanged letters.
Despite the party's hardline pro-choice stance, "we had a lot more in common than we thought," says Pauc. "She wouldn't budge an inch on abortion. But the Green Party wants to provide enough alternatives to women so that abortion no longer becomes an attractive option for women-safe, legal, and rare, with an emphasis on rare."
Reducing the number of abortions is a common goal of many on both sides. While running for his first term as president, Bill Clinton said he wanted to make abortions "safe, legal, and rare."
If the Democrats could deliver on "rare," they would be in a good position to neutralize the debate, says Clyde Wilcox, professor at Georgetown University and co-author of Between Two Absolutes: Public Opinion and the Politics of Abortion (Westview). That would be a significant feat considering the debate has shown no signs of neutralizing for decades.
Beyond politics
A handful of Democrats are trying to do just that, advancing legislation that they say could reduce the abortion rate by 95 percent in 10 years.
The bill, developed and promoted by Democrats for Life (DFL) as the "95-10 Initiative," has the support of prolife Democrats in Congress, and DFL leaders soon hope to have the support of more members from both sides of the aisle and of the abortion debate.
The initiative was born in the wake of the 2004 election, when everyone was talking about moral values.
"The election sent a really big message," says Kristen Day, DFL executive director. "A majority of people think the abortion rate should be declining. But no one is doing anything to make abortion rare. They've only been working to keep it legal. So we looked at the reasons women have abortions."
Their initiative, introduced last November, includes prohibiting the transport of a minor across a state line to obtain an abortion; fully funding the federal government's Nutrition for Women, Infants, and Children program; requiring insurance to cover contraception; providing grants to nonprofit, tax-exempt organizations for ultrasound equipment to provide free examinations to pregnant women; making adoption tax credits permanent; and initiating a five-year study by the National Institutes of Health on why women choose abortions.
Day acknowledges that reducing the number of abortions by 95 percent is ambitious, but she notes that in Michigan, where one point of the 95-10 initiative was put in place-a public awareness campaign informing women of abortion alternatives-abortion rates have already dropped. Though many factors affect abortion rates, including the economy, Day and other prolifers credit the public awareness campaign and use the Michigan statistic to justify a nationwide public awareness campaign.
Father Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life, a group dedicated to spreading the prolife message among Catholic priests and parishes, gave some parts of the Democrats' plan cautious approval.
"There are many proposals in this package, like women's right-to-know provisions, funding for promotion of alternatives to abortion, strengthening of adoption practices, and more," he wrote in a column last May. "These are key goals for all of us to pursue. The precise way in which these and other proposals in 95-10 should be written into law will, of course, need to be carefully debated and refined.
"And in the end, we cannot be content to reduce the numbers of abortions," he wrote. "We have to acknowledge that laws permitting even a single abortion undermine the very fabric of our freedom and our republic."
Irreconcilable differences?
Pavone's comments illustrate the divide that America may not be able to overcome: He supports those aspects of the 95-10 plan he and other prolifers have always supported, but he remains staunchly against any support for contraception and considers overturning the law as important as reducing the number of abortions.
Differences like these-many of which go beyond the debate over whether abortion should be legal or illegal-make working together nearly impossible, says Frances Kissling, president of Catholics for a Free Choice.
Her organization, which supports access to legal abortion and contraception, lies on the opposite end of the spectrum. It has been publicly criticized by the U.S. Catholic bishops for using "Catholic" in its name while promoting positions contrary to the church's prolife teaching.
Kissling admits about the only thing she and Pavone have in common is that they are both baptized Catholics and thinks that even if both sides agreed to work together to reduce teen pregnancy, they would immediately disagree on how to accomplish that.
"You may think there are commonalities, but when you peel away layers of the onion, those commonalities disappear," she says. "Each of these movements has radically different core values and principles that do not lend themselves to working on issues together, even where there seems to be some sort of agreement."
Kissling added that while she never works with groups like Pavone's, she is open to the policies of Democrats for Life, especially since the group no longer seems to oppose contraception. While working in coalition is not always wise or practical, she says she could work separately but alongside a group with whom she disagrees.
Given the statements made by Kissling and Pavone, it appears that the diametrically opposed Catholics could each give some level of support to different aspects of Democrats for Life's 95-10 plan-but neither will be actively pushing for it.
In the end, though, it will be public opinion and the votes of legislators that will determine the fate of the Democrats' plan-and possibly create a new, more mainstream and practical prolife movement.
Baby steps
Wilcox, the Georgetown professor, says that while reducing the abortion rate by 95 percent with this one set of policies is a "dream," reducing it by even 30 percent is within reach, making these policies more significant than any other abortion-related policies enacted in the last 30 years.
"When you think about all the money that has been spent, all the mobilization efforts, and there has been no change in public opinion," Wilcox says. "The all-or-nothing route has not been all that successful for the prolife movement."
But it may have received a significant boost when President Bush filled two vacancies-including the seat of the Roe v. Wade supporter Sandra Day O'Connor-on the U.S. Supreme Court. The addition of Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Samuel Alito to the high court could pave the way for a victory for those pushing the all-or-nothing route.
But even if the 1973 Supreme Court decision that guaranteed the right to abortion were overturned, the right to restrict abortion would likely be left up to states, many of which would continue to guarantee women the right to have an abortion. And in a best-case scenario for the prolife movement-the total or near-total outlaw of abortion in the United States-abortions will likely continue in some form.
Among the approximately 46 million women who have abortions every year worldwide, 20 million have their abortions in countries where abortion is restricted or prohibited by law, according to a report by the Alan Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit organization focused on sexual and reproductive health research, policy analysis, and public education.
Thus, changing the culture into one that respects life is a critical aspect of any viable prolife movement, which is why many prolife groups aim to educate people rather than change laws.
Among them is Feminists for Life, which roots itself in the idea that early feminists like Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton spoke out against abortion and that modern abortion advocates have hijacked the feminist movement.
President Serrin Foster has worked with pro-choice people in supporting the Violence Against Women Act and laws pushing for greater child support enforcement.
Conversation starters
Feminists for Life takes an educational approach and aims to change minds, not so much on the national political level, but in the halls of higher education. Foster and other members speak regularly on college campuses and bring students, faculty, and administrators together to look at how the campus can better serve students who become pregnant.
At Georgetown University, where the campus Right to Life has brought administrators together for a pregnancy resource forum every year for nearly a decade, these discussions have resulted in more housing for student mothers, a free babysitting service, and a 24-hour pager service with information on pregnancy resources.
"Generally the forum is pretty well received," says undergraduate Bridget Bowes, president of Georgetown Right to Life. "We've never had any protests. Right to Life is a very controversial group on campus, but because of the nature of the pregnancy resource forum, students are receptive to it."
Foster says, though, that many of her campus speeches are initially met with protest. But looking for common ground, Foster invites these protesters to dialogue, and many end up participating in the conversations.
"I think it's really important not to meet hostility with defensiveness or more hostility," Foster says. "We allow students to ask questions. We start off sharing the rich prolife, pro-woman history that FFL embraces, and then move on to progressive solutions, like babysitting, housing for families, and telecommuting. It really does resonate with students. The movement as a whole gets caught up on legal versus illegal."
What about the women?
It was Foster who coined the slogan "Women deserve better," which the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops adopted for a recent campaign. Abortion is a sign that society has failed to meet the needs of women, says Foster, who agrees that the financial inability to support a child is one of the root causes that drive women to abortion.
Approximately 100 women a month come through the doors of College Area Pregnancy Services in San Diego, according to director Walter Ko. A free pregnancy test reveals that roughly half of them are not in fact pregnant. Of those who are, 1 in 50, he estimates, eventually seek an abortion. The remaining 49 have their babies, often with the help of the center, which not only provides diapers and cribs but also connects women with local churches and social service agencies.
"Most of the women come in here because they believe that financially they cannot support a baby," Ko says. "Many are in the middle of getting an education, and they don't want a baby to get in the way of that."
College Area Pregnancy Services is one of hundreds of pregnancy care centers around the country, most of which provide similar services-pregnancy tests, counseling, clothing, diapers, and parenting classes-to help women struggling with an unexpected pregnancy, rather than focus on changing laws. Like Serrin Foster and Hillary Clinton, they operate under the assumption that abortion is a tragic choice for many women.
Prolife and practical
Despite local examples of working together, cooperation between prolife and pro-choice people on the national level seems nonexistent. While Kissling blames 30 years of polarization, mistrust, and demonization, Sister Adrienne Kaufmann blames politics. A culture of non-cooperation dominates national and state political levels, and winning perks and elections, not solving real problems, are most important in the political world.
"Both sides use abortion to grab single-issue voters but don't act on a commitment to prolife or pro-choice very well," she says.
Politicians and fringe groups can try to change laws and make noise, but if Americans are going to seriously work to end abortion, it will be through the efforts of people like Kaufmann, who are both prolife and practical. More and more Catholics share her views.
Among them is Heidi Russell, who directs adult faith formation at St. Monica Parish in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin. Though she is disappointed with the Democrats' refusal to budge on issues like parental notification and waiting periods, she votes Democratic because she sees the party as being overall more prolife. Reducing poverty and increasing education, not overturning Supreme Court decisions, are the keys to ending abortion, she believes.
"As a society, we have to come to a point where people value life and don't consider abortion as a choice," she says. "I'm very much against abortion, but overturning Roe v. Wade puts it back in the hands of the states. It's not going to solve the problem."
Francis Pauc, the Green Party member, agrees. "I know people who have had abortions," he says. "They did it because they were pushed into it. They ran out of what they perceived to be the options. What happens when abortion is illegal? Are they going to jail? If I'm going to be prolife, it has to be out of love. It has to be Christ-like."
Catholics with one foot in prolife circles and one foot in progressive political circles have a difficult time bringing even their own friends together, a discouraging thought for those truly seeking common ground.
Some of Kaufmann's prolife friends look down on the fact that she engages in dialogue with pro-choice people. But in the end, she says, believing in a consistent life ethic involves some difficult choices.
"Do I believe in the value of life?" she asks. "Absolutely. Do I believe in a consistent life ethic? Absolutely. Would I prefer there are no abortions? Absolutely. Would I prefer there be no more war? Absolutely. Within that value of a consistent life ethic, each of us has to do what is best."