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Lakers make it 3 straight titles
The Lakers captured their third straight league championship with a 5-0 blanking of rival Bad Axe.
The Lakers dominated the first half by scoring four goals.
David Feger had a pair of goals to lead the Lakers.
EPBP's first goal was scored by Eric Weitzel, assisted by David Feger. The second goal was put away by Nick Parrish on a header off a corner kick, assisted by Mike Yoder.
David Feger had the third and fourth goals while Shane McNamara had the assist on the third goal and Mark Feger on the fourth tally. Mark Feger had the lone second-half goal on a header off a corner kick, assisted by Mike Yoder.
Jackson Maust recorded his 15th shutout of the year.
The Lakers are now 19-1-0 overall and end the league season unbeaten at 8-0-0, with 19 straight wins.
The Lakers play Sandusky at home today at 4 p.m.
Marlette 5, Caseville 0
MARLETTE - Marlette's 5-0 win over Caseville on Thursday forced the Eagles and Raiders to share the Greater Thumb East championship.
With one starter injured, and two out sick, the Eagles were simply outpaced by the Raiders.
The game was even for the first 20 minutes and Caseville had some good opportunities, but once the Raiders found the net for their first goal, they scored three more times before the half.
The final goal came early in the second half.
Once again, with only one substitute on the bench, and four players in new positions, the lack of experienced players against a School which runs both a JV and varsity program left Caseville vulnerable.
Marlette and Caseville both finish 5-1 in the GTE.
Caseville ends the regular season at 8-6, giving up 31 goals while scoring 36 on their opponents.
Harbor Beach 3, Sandusky 0
SANDUSKY - Harbor Beach earned a 3-0 win over Sandusky.
Harbor Beach took the lead in the first half with a goal by Josh Hill on a direct free kick. He shot from 30 yards out on the right side and placed the ball high in the upper left corner of the goal.
In the second half, the Pirates added two more goals by Alex Talaski. The first was assisted by David Henderson, who sent a long perfectly-timed pass from his defensive position over the heads of the Sandusky defenders. Talaski sprinted in with the ball and hit the inside corner of the goal with his shot. Talaski scored his second goal on a crossed ball from a corner kick. His shot hit a goal line defender's back and went in. Josh Hill had the assist.
Craig Lackie, Zach Mazure, David Henderson and stopper Ali Aqel
anchored the Pirates' defense, and Evan Tapio earned the shut-out win.
Harbor Beach improved to 3-11 overall and finished third at 2-4 in league play.


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http://instagram.com/p/o9O3CyBhuF/ Por fin (finally) it's time to write this.
What: Past Life Regression Therapy Session #1. June, 2014.
Why: I'm curious. And not afraid of the depths of my mind as I once was.
Where: Maha Rose Center for Healing. A great location for learning, and community. I received my Reiki 1 Certification there and recommend it for new field explorers (it's a friendly and unintimidating place with genuinely kind and educated teachers).
The rest:
The hypnotherapist, Daniel Ryan, and I are the only two in the center on a summer Saturday afternoon. We take to a quiet room in the back and talk briefly over a glass of water. Why am I there? Just curious. For fun. Want to experience this. What do I hope to accomplish? Learning only. No set goal, question or conflict to resolve. Then, let's begin.
He talks me through to relaxed and then – similar to the guided meditation I'd done previously – we start in my happy place. A haven of my subconscious making, the details of which I won't share with you but that I can say surprised me in their clarity and beauty. The place is unbound by natural laws, which my mind seemed to know immediately – building landscapes around me, filling in scents and sounds and sensations.
In regression therapy, one progresses through a series of regressions – these are the past lives. Truly, if that is what you believe, or as a model for navigating the subconscious. For two hours, I was consciously experiencing my subconscious – guided by Daniel.
I leave Eden for "the first past life we'll experience today".
1. A beach. I'm a barefoot person, alone – looking out to the sea. I want to go in that direction. I say – because it's escape but then I realize that rather, it's a destination. It's opportunity, the unknown and newness. I smell the air (flowers), see some of the scene (huts, boats), but there's little else. What it means for this life is that "I don't like to stop moving" (my conscious interpretation).
2. Through a door and I'm split – caught half between a forest and a suburban neighborhood. We retrace and step through the door again and I'm in the forest. I'm a youngish man, responsible and content (I say "complacent"). I work there in the woods, cutting trees. I say that I enjoy the forest. I know it's all I'll do with my life, but that's okay. I am simple.
Daniel asks me if there's anything else I'd like to see, or should we move on? I say that I'd like to see some people. So, where are they? Up ahead – off to the right. "You know exactly where they are so go to them." I do and when I see them, my buddies, they're happy to see me albeit a bit preoccupied by making lunch over a little campfire. I think they call me Joe. I'm really happy to see them. Just to know that they're my friends. It's nothing significant – I see them every day – but yes, happy.
I start laughing (in reality – not in my mind – and I get happier and happier. I'm overwhelmed by it. Surprised and grinning and laughing, which now I can't stop. It feels like the happiest day of my life. Daniel is laughing now too. I don't know that I have ever, ever felt that happy before. It's blooming in my chest and face – unmixed, positivity.
He tells me to take it in – enjoy it, let it absorb, and I do and then nearly as suddenly, I'm terrified. Physically cold and scared. (I realize later, as has been a pattern in my life always, that it was the lack of control that scared me. The happiness took over and ironically that made me unhappy and fearful.) Daniel and I analyze the fear – what it looks like, what to do with it. His questions are always for me to ask myself, which I do and then my self answers.
We continue.
3. The third is another life, very different from the first two. I spend some time in it, just walking, and looking around. What I learn from it is that 1. I'd like to have children someday (or so my conscious mind thinks, at the time) and 2. That I'm very strong.
It's a bit exhausting, the regressions – a lot of mental work. I start to feel it here but don't want to stop so we return to Eden as my last scene to learn from.
4. There, Daniel suggests we ask for a guide. I do, and receive a little ray of light – an orb like a firefly. I ask the light to take a form so that I might have a conversation with it. It begins – growing into a human shape but without any detail in face or body. I can't recognize it as familiar or even man or woman. This turns into a playful game. The light lets me poke at it, which creates some more shape, revealing what's underneath but then quickly returning to anonymity. I try hard to recognize someone but I don't. I can't.
And then I realize that it's me.
"Beautiful. In many ways, your guide will always be a reflection of yourself, Rachelle."
It is that. A version of me that is more outwardly happy. Laughing and playful. Immediately, my best friend. I am my best friend and it doesn't make me less happy. I say "It's good because it let's me play." (Conscious utterances aren't particularly cerebral, if you've noticed.)
We are arm-in-arm, the light reflection of myself, in the Garden of Eden. That's pretty goddamn great.
Daniel asks if I'm ready to go.
I ask if (how) I can bring her with.
He tells me to ask her, so I do.
She wraps herself around me, melts into my body, and becomes a glow that I am and so can take.
I say, "Okay, we're ready."
After the session, we speak a bit more, though not much as the realizations had mostly been had. A few more would come later (I dictated the session as I biked home). I enjoyed the experience so much that I went back to the Center the next day for a several hour group regression session led by Daniel again. In that, I experienced several more lives, all very different and with their own epiphanies.
Daniel complimented my deftness with the therapy. "Good at it" because, he said, "you trust your mind".
Daniel Ryan, CHT, CRT (Hypnotherapist and Regression Therapy)

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Thursday, March 31, 2016
Happy easter
This little fellow was a project for the kids-club at church. Fantastic with a cutting machine so the paper-parts could be pre-cut and the kids could put the parts together to make their own expression to the chick.
Labels: digital cutter
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text:
Sweeping, indiscriminate condemnations of Big Government are, I believe, misguided. But some expressions of Big Government certainly do deserve to be resisted. Sweeping surveillance by the government is one of those expressions that have the most sinister potential. Many of us have not – or thought we hadn't – lived under an all seeing eye of government. Yet what we didn't know from experience we knew from news reports and fiction. Big Brother of Orwell's 1984 was not national health care or social welfare programs. It was Big Surveillance first of all.
The revelations from Edward Snowden about the vast invasion of privacy being pursued by the National Security Agency (NSA) have caused quite a stir. Apparently, under the Patriot Act all the spying is perfectly legal. Still many Americans were not previously clear about the extent the government was allowed to snoop on emails and phone calls. Not surprisingly the intelligence community's activities have been defended in the name of preserving our security. The government claims that the surveillance helped thwart numerous terrorist plots. However, these claims have not gone unquestioned.
It is past time that there be a lively debate in America about proper balance between privacy and civil liberties, on the one hand, and national security on the other. As Christians we should remember that there is no limit to the evil that can be justified in the name of national security. The very ones who orchestrated the crucifixion of Jesus argued, "It is better for you to have one man die for the people than to have the whole nation destroyed" (John 11:50). Just as "love covers a multitude of sins" (1 Peter 4:8), the unrestrained pursuit of security sanctions a multitude of sins.
President Obama tried to assure the nation that the procedures guiding the intelligence gathering activities are "perfectly transparent," a claim Politifact has determined is a "pants on fire" lie. In an effort to divert attention from the disturbing intrusive actions of the Big Surveillance arm of the government, Snowden has been villainized by both Democratic and Republican leaders. On the other hand, Louis Clark, Government Accountability Project president, contends that "Snowden is the target of those who wish to sweep his assertions under the rug and turn the media spotlight on him instead. We believe the focus needs to be on the revelations and their implications. History will eventually be on Snowden's side."
In a glaring display of partisan hypocrisy several recent polls have shown that Democrats are more likely to support the NSA intelligence-gathering program than Republicans. A Gallup poll, a Pew Research poll, and a Washington Post-ABC News poll have all found the same thing. Yet in 2006 when George W. Bush was President a Pew poll found the Republicans were enthusiastically in support of the NSA scrutinizing phone calls and emails of suspected terrorists, 75% for and only 23% opposed. Only 37% of the Democrats supported the program while 61% found it unacceptable. For many people, the party affiliation of the one occupying the Whitehouse, more than clear principles, seems to determine their support or opposition of the Big Surveillance arm of government.
Yet Big Surveillance coupled with Big Military is where suspicion about Big Government is most clearly justified. Many naively say, "I don't care if the government knows what I'm doing. I have nothing to hide. I'm doing nothing wrong." Yet in countless nations throughout the world there have been people who thought the same thing right before they were taken off to prison. In fact, recently it was disclosed that peaceful antiwar activists have been spied on by the government and have had their names placed on a domestic terrorist list.
These people have not done something wrong; they have done something very right. "Blessed are the peacemakers," taught Jesus (Matthew 5:9). Yet they were deemed a threat by a government that wants no one to stand in the way when a national decision has been made for war. There is a very serious concern that dissent in America is in danger of being criminalized under anti-terrorist legislation as the definition of "material support" of terrorism is broadened. Imagining, "I'm doing nothing wrong," will keep no one safe from a Big Surveillance/Big Military government that defines "wrong" as anything that is done contrary to "national interests." Snowden's disclosures should not be shrugged off as inconsequential. Now is the time to resist.
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American Muslims, Human Rights....
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Joined: 20 March 2004
Location: Australia
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Points: 369
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Posted: 24 October 2006 at 12:03am
American Muslims, Human Rights, and the Challenge of September 11, 2001
By Imam Zaid Shakir
Human rights regimes constitute one of the critical aspects of modern international political life. Like many other contemporary political phenomena, the idea of human rights originated in the secular political milieu of the modern West. Although Islam has historically been characterized by viable teachings, which have helped to insure the protection of basic human rights, it has yet to produce a human rights regime, which mirrors that of the modern West. With the growth of Islam in America, certain conditions have combined to produce an understanding of Islam which creates a strong human rights imperative. Foremost amongst these conditions is the minority composition of the Muslim community.
Traditional concerns of ethnic and religious minorities, especially strong among African American Muslims, lead to many Muslims viewing Islam as a system that will provide relief from the harsh realities of political under-representation, discrimination, race-based prejudice, economic stagnation, and other real or perceived maladies.
These concerns, combined with the strong human rights imperative of Islamic movements based in the Muslim world, movements which are combating in many instances brutally repressive states, create a very strong human rights discourse among those advancing the Islamic call in America. That call, beginning in earnest with the missionaries of the Ahmadiyya movement in the 1920s, focused on contrasting the worst failings of American societies, such as racism and racial discrimination, with an idealized and simplistic view of the Islamic Shari'ah. Malcolm X was able to synthesize the many currents informing that discourse into a fully developed human rights agenda.
With the tragic events of September 11, 2001, the prevailing Muslim human rights discourse has been called into question, as the idealized view of Islam has been undermined by acts of wanton, inhumane violence, allegedly committed in its name. Critics point to those tragic events and similar acts as indicators of Islam's inability to accommodate a system of modern human rights. To effectively respond to the challenges presented by these allegations, Muslims will have to radically reform the way that we understand and conceptualize human rights.
The philosophical basis on which we build any proposed human rights regime will have to be clearly and rigorously articulated. Vague, ambiguous, or meaningless generalities will have to be clarified by appropriate legal and technical language. We will have to cease avoiding the discussion of critical issues by hiding behind our cultural and religious uniqueness. Existing declarations will have to be accompanied by firm, well defined legal and constitutional guarantees which allow us to extend, in meaningful ways, existing theoretical guarantees to those groups which most frequently experience human rights abuses in our lands –specifically: women, and ethnic, racial, as well as religious minorities. While acknowledging the shortcomings in contemporary Islamic human rights schemes, we must also recognize that Islam contains the necessary foundation for the construction of a viable, modern system of human rights. If we are able to discover and build on that foundation, we will be able to meaningfully discuss human rights, even in the changed post September 11, 2001 political climate.
The tragic events of September 11, 2001, have called into question many fundamental Islamic principles, values, and beliefs. The ensuing discourse in many critical areas reveals the weakness of Muslims in making meaningful and substantive contributions towards a clear understanding of the Islamic position on a number of critical issues. The purpose of this paper is to examine one of those issues, human rights, in an effort to identify:
1. How human rights are defined in the Western and Islamic intellectual traditions;
2. Why human rights issues are of central importance to Islamic propagation efforts in North America;
3. What are the implications of the tragic events of September 11, 2001 for prevailing Muslim views of human rights.
This paper is not designed to respond the attacks of those authors who assail the philosophy, conceptualization, formulation, and application of human rights policy among Muslims. Such a response would be quite lengthy, and owing to the complexity of the project, would probably raise as many questions as it resolved. Nor is it an attempt to call attention to the increasingly problematic indifference of the United States government towards respecting the civil liberties and other basic rights of its Muslim and Arab citizens. We do hope that this paper will help American Muslims identify and better understand some of the relevant issues shaping our thought and action in the critical area of human rights. Hopefully, that enhanced understanding will help lead to the creation of a vibrant, sober, relevant Islamic call in this country.
Part One: Defining Human Rights
A review of the relevant literature reveals a wealth of definitions for human rights. Some of these definitions are quite brief, others quite elaborate.1 However, few of these definitions deviate far from the principles delineated by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), issued by the UN General Assembly in 1948. That landmark document emphasizes, among other things: The right to life, liberty, and security of person; the right to freedom of thought, speech, and communication of information and ideas; freedom of assembly and religion; the right to government through free elections; the right to free movement within the state and free exit from it; the right to asylum in another state; the right to nationality; freedom from arbitrary arrest and interference with the privacy of home and family; and the prohibition of slavery and torture.
This declaration was followed by the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), in 1966. In the same year, the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), was also drafted. These arrangements, collectively known as the International Bill of Human Rights, were reaffirmed in the Helsinki Accords of 1975, and buttressed by the threat of international sanctions against offending nations. When we examine these and other international agreements governing human rights, we find a closely related set of ideas, which collectively delineate a system of fundamental or inalienable, universally accepted rights. These rights are not strictly political, as the UDHR mentions: The right to work, to protection against unemployment, and to join trade unions; the right to a standard of living adequate for health and well-being; the right to education; and the right to rest and leisure.
In summary, we can say that human rights are the inalienable social, economic and political rights, which accrue to human beings by virtue of their belonging to the human family. Defining human rights from an Islamic perspective is a bit more problematic. The reason for this is that there is no exact equivalent for the English term, "human rights," in the traditional Islamic lexicon. The frequently used Arabic term, al-Huquq al-Insaniyya, is simply a literal Arabic translation for the modern term. However, our understanding of the modern term, when looked at from the abstract particulars which comprise its definition, gives us insight into what Islam says in this critical area. For example, if we consider the word "right" (Haqq), we find an array of concepts in Islam, which cover the range of rights mentioned in the UDHR. If we begin with the right to life, Islam clearly and unequivocally guarantees that right. The Qur'an states, Do not unjustly take the life which Allah has sanctified. [Qur'an 6:151] Similarly, in the context of discussing the consequences of the first murder in human history, For that reason [Cain murdering Abel], we ordained for the Children of Israel that whoever kills a human being for other than murder, or spreading corruption on Earth, it is as if he has killed all of humanity. And whoever saves a life, it is as if he has saved all of humanity. [Qur'an 5:32]
It should be noted in this regard, as the first verse points out, Islam doesn't view humanity as a mere biological advancement of lower life forms. Were this the case, there would be little fundamental distinction between human and animal rights, other than those arising from the advancement and complexity of the human mind. However, Islam views human life as a biological reality, which has been sanctified by a special quality that has been instilled into the human being –the spirit (Ruh).2 The Qur'an relates, …then He fashioned him [the human being] and breathed into him of His spirit. [Qur'an 32:9] It is interesting to note that this spiritual quality is shared by all human beings, and precedes our division into nations, tribes, and religious collectivities. An illustration of this unifying spiritual bond can be gained from considering a brief exchange, which occurred between the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him), and a group of his companions (May Allah be pleased with them). Once a funeral procession passed in front of the Prophet (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) and a group of his companions. The Prophet (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) reverently stood up. One of his companions mentioned that the deceased was a Jew, to which the Prophet (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) responded, "Is he not a human soul?" Possession of this shared spiritual quality is one of the ways our Creator has ennobled the human being. Allah says in this regard, We have truly ennobled the human being…[Qur'an 17:70] This ennoblement articulates itself in many different ways, all of which serve to highlight the ascendancy of the spiritual and intellectual faculties in man. It provides one of the basis for forbidding anything, which would belittle, debase, or demean the human being, and its implications extend far beyond the mere preservation of his life. It guarantees his rights before birth, by forbidding abortion, except in certain well-defined instances; and after death, it guarantees the right of the body to be properly washed, shrouded, and buried. It also forbids the intentional mutilation of a cadaver, even in times of war, and forbids insulting or verbally abusing the dead, even deceased non-Muslims. While these latter points may be deemed trivial to some, they help create a healthy attitude towards humanity, an attitude that must be present if acknowledged rights are to be actually extended to their possessors.
If we examine other critical areas identified by the UDHR for protection as inalienable rights, we can see that Islam presents a very positive framework for the safeguarding of those rights. In the controversial area of religious freedom, where Islam is identified by many in the West as a religion which was spread by forced conversion, we find that Islam has never advocated the forced acceptance of its creed, in fact, the Qur'an unequivocally rejects this idea, Let there be no compulsion in [accepting] Religion, truth clearly distinguishes itself from error. [Qur'an 2:256] Allah further warns His Prophet (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon Him) against forced conversions, If your Lord had willed, everyone on Earth would have believed [in this message]; will you then compel people to believe? [Qur'an 10:99] In this context, every human being is free to participate in the unrestricted worship of his Lord. As for those who refuse to do so according to the standards established by Islam, they are free to worship as they please. During the Ottoman epoch, this freedom evolved into sophisticated system of minority rights known as the Millet System. Bernard Lewis comments on that system: Surely, the Ottomans did not offer equal rights to their subjects –a meaningless anachronism in the context of that time and place. They did however offer a degree of tolerance without precedence or parallel in Christian Europe. Each community –the Ottoman term was Millet- was allowed the free practice of its religion. More remarkably, they had their own communal organizations, subject to the authority of their own religious chiefs, controlling their own education and social life, and enforcing their own laws, to the extent that they did not conflict with the basic laws of the Empire. Similarly positive Islamic positions can be found in the areas of personal liberties, within the parameters provided by the Islamic legal code. We will return to a brief discussion of those parameters, and their implications for an Islamic human rights regime. However, it isn't the purpose of this paper to engage in an exhaustive treatment of this particular subject. Stating that, we don't propose that Islamic formulations in this regard are an exact replica of contemporary Western constitutional guarantees governing human rights policy. Muslims and non-Muslims alike, when examining the issue of human rights within an Islamic legal or philosophical framework, should realize that human rights regimes, as we know them, are a contemporary political phenomenon, which have no ancient parallel. However, we are prepared to defend the thesis that Islam has historically presented a framework for protecting basic human rights, and that it presents a system of jurisprudential principles that allow for the creation of a viable modern human rights regime, totally consistent with the letter and spirit of Islam.
Part Two: The Relevance of Human Rights for Islam in America
Islam in America has historically been characterized by a strong advocacy of human rights and social justice issues. This is so because it has been associated with people who would be identified as ethnic minorities. The first significant Muslim population in this country, the enslaved believers of African origin, would certainly fit that description. The various Islamic movements, which arose amongst their descendents, appeared in a social and political context characterized by severe oppression. That socio-political context shaped the way Islam was understood by the people embracing it. It was a religion, in of all its variant understandings, which was seen as a source of liberation, justice, and redemption. When the ethnic composition of the Muslim community began to change due to immigration in the 1970s, 1980s, and into the 1990s, the minority composition of the Muslim community remained. These newly arriving non-European immigrant Muslims were generally upwardly mobile, however, their brown and olive complexions, along with their accents, and the vestiges of their original cultures, served to reinforce the reality of their minority status. This fact, combined with the fact that the most religiously active among them were affiliated with Islamic movements in the Muslim World, movements whose agenda were dominated by strong human rights and social justice concerns, affected the nature of the Islamic call in this country, keeping human rights concerns to the fore. Illustrative of this human rights imperative is the stated mission of the Ahmadiyya Movement when it began active propagation in America. Mufti Muhammad Sadiq, the first significant Ahmadi missionary to America, consciously called to a multicultural view of Islam, which challenged the entrenched racism prevalent in early 20th Century American society. This message presented Islam as a just social force, capable of extending to the racial minorities of this country their full human rights. However, there were strong anti-white overtones of the Ahmadi message, shaped by Mufti Muhammad Sadiq's personal experience, and the widespread persecution of people of Indian descent (so-called Hindoos) in America, which dampened the broader appeal of the Ahmadi message. Those overtones were subsequently replaced by the overtly racist proclamations of the Nation of Islam, which declared whites to be devils. In the formulation of the Nation of Islam, Islam came to be viewed as a means for the restoration of the lost pre-eminence of the "Asiatic" Blackman. This restoration would be effected by a just religion, Islam, which addressed the social, economic and psychological vestiges of American race-based slavery. In other words, Islam was the agent that would grant the Muslims their usurped human rights.
The pivotal figure who was able to synthesize these various formulations into a tangible, well-defined human rights agenda was Malcolm X. By continuing to emphasize the failure of American society to effectively work to eliminate the vestiges of slavery, he was an implicit advocate of the justice-driven agenda of the Nation of Islam, even after departing from that movement. His brutal criticism of the racist nature of American society, which he often contrasted with the perceived racial harmony of Islam, highlighted by his famous letter from Mecca in which he envisioned Islam as a possible cure for this country's inherent racism, was the continuation of the original multi-cultural message of the Ahmadiyya Movement. Finally, his evolving thinking on the true nature of the struggle of the African American people, and his situating that struggle in the context of the Third World human rights struggle, reflected the human rights imperative which figured so prominently in the call of Middle Eastern groups such as Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, and the Indian Subcontinent's Jamaati Islami, groups which had a strong influence on the founders of this country's Muslim Students Association (MSA) in 1963.
These various groupings, along with the Dar al-Islam Movement, the Islamic Party of North America, and Sheikh Tawfiq's Mosque of Islamic Brotherhood,14 which would develop in many urban centers during the 1960s and 1970s as the purveyors of an emerging African American "Sunni" tradition, a tradition consolidated by the conversion of Malcolm X to the orthodox faith, represented in their various agendas, the crystallization of the sort of human rights agenda which Malcolm was hammering out during the last phase of his life. These groups all saw Islam as the key to liberation from the stultifying weight of racial, social, and economic inequality in America. The Iranian Revolution of 1979 further strengthened this human rights imperative.
The revolution was presented by its advocates in America, who were quite influential at the time, as an uprising of the oppressed Muslim masses, the "Mustad'afin," to secure their usurped rights from the Shah, an oppressive "Taghut." This message, conveyed strongly and forcefully through the call of the Muslim Students Association: Persian Speaking Group (MSA-PSG), was extremely influential in shaping the human rights imperative in American Islam, not only because of its direct influence, but also because of the vernacular of struggle it introduced into the conceptual universe of many America Muslims, and the way it shaped the message of contending "Sunni" groups. The combined influence of these forces worked to insure that human rights issues were prominent in the call of Islamic organizations and individuals prior to the tragic events of September 11, 2001.
Part Three: The Challenge of September 11, 2001
The tragic events of September 11, 2001 present a clear challenge to the human rights/social justice imperative of Muslims in North America. The reasons for this are many and complex. The apocalyptic nature of the attacks of September 11, 2001, particularly the assault on, and subsequent collapse of the World Trade Center towers, led many observers to question the humaneness of a religion which could encourage such senseless, barbaric slaughter. Islam, the religion identified as providing the motivation for those horrific attacks, was brought into the public spotlight as being, in the view of many of its harshest critics, an anti-intellectual, nihilistic, violent, chauvinistic atavism. The atavistic nature of Islam, in their view, leads to its inability to realistically accommodate the basic elements of modern human rights philosophy. This inability was highlighted by the September 11, 2001 attacks in a number of ways. First of all, the massive and indiscriminant slaughter of civilians belied, in the view of many critics, any claims that Islam respects the right to life. If so, how could so many innocent, unsuspecting souls be so wantonly sacrificed? Secondly, "Islam's" refusal to allow for the peaceful existence of even remote populations of "infidels," the faceless dehumanized "other," calls into question its respect for the rights of non-Muslims within its sociopolitical framework. It also highlights its inability to define that "other" in human terms.
As a link between the accused perpetrators of the attacks, Usama bin Laden, and the Taliban rulers of Afghanistan was developed by both the United States government and news media, the human rights position of Islam was called into further question. The Taliban, by any standards of assessment, presided over a regime that showed little consideration for the norms governing international human rights. Much evidence exists which implicates the Taliban in violating the basic rights of women, ethnic minorities (non-Pashtun), the Shi'ite religious minority, detainees, artists, and others, using in some instances, extremely draconian measures. Many of these violations occurred under the rubric of applying what the regime identified as Islamic law. The news of Taliban excesses, coupled with the shock of the events of September 11, 2001, combined to create tremendous apprehension towards the ability and willingness of Islam to accommodate a meaningful human rights regime. The political climate existing in America in the aftermath of September 11, 2001 has been exploited by certain elements in American society to call into question any humanitarian tendencies being associated with Islam. For example, in the aftermath of the brutal murder of Daniel Pearle, an act whose implications are as chilling as the attacks of September 11, 2001, Mr. Pearle's bosses at the Wall Street Journal, Peter Kann and Paul Steiger remarked, "His murder is an act of barbarism that makes a mockery of everything that Danny's kidnappers claimed to believe in." Responding to those comments, Leon Wieseltier, of the New Republic, stated, "The murder of Daniel Pearle did not make a mockery of what his slaughterers believe. It was the perfect expression, the inevitable consequence, of what his slaughterers believe." This, and similar indictments of Islam, challenge the ability of American Muslims to effectively speak on human rights issues in obvious ways.
If we examine the actual nature American Muslim human rights discourse prior to September 11, 2001, we find that it was based in large part on Muslims contrasting the generalities of the Shari'ah, with the specific shortcomings American society and history in relevant areas of domestic and international policy and practice. This discourse ignored the positive human rights strictures contained in sections of the American constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the UDHR, to which the United States is a signatory. As in other areas, this inadequate approach produced a false sense of moral superiority among Muslims in America. This sense was shattered by the attacks of September 11, 2001, in that many Americans were suddenly pointing to what they viewed as the inadequacy of Islamic human rights regimes, their inadequate philosophical basis, and their failure to guarantee basic human rights protection, especially for women, religious, racial, and ethnic minorities living in Muslim lands.
Responding adequately to these charges will require a radical restructuring of current Islamic human rights discourse, and the regimes that discourse informs. The generalities, which formerly sufficed in that discourse will have to be replaced by concrete, developed policy prescriptions, which stipulate in well-defined, legal terms, how viable human rights protections will be extended to groups identified as systematically suffering from human rights abuses in Muslim realms.
An example of the dangerous and inadequate generalities alluded to above, can be glimpsed from a brief examination of the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam (CDHRI). Article 24 of that document states, "All the rights and freedoms stipulated in this Declaration are subject to the Islamic Shari'ah." Such a statement is meaningless, considering the vast corpus of subjectively understood literature that could be identified as comprising the Shari'ah, unless the relevant rulings and principles of the Shari'ah are spelled out in exacting detail. While this paper has consciously avoided mention of those features of Islam which would be antithetical to the Western concept of personal liberty, such as the lack of freedom to chose one's "sexual orientation," there are major civil liberties issue which must be addressed, in clear and unequivocal terms, if Islam's human rights discourse is to have any credence. Hiding behind Islam's cultural, or religious specificity to avoid providing answers to difficult questions will not advance a deeper understanding of our faith amongst enlightened circles in the West. Islam indeed has much to say in the area of human rights. However, much foundational work has to be done before we can speak clearly and authoritatively, especially in the changed post September 11, 2001 political climate.
In Islam and Human Rights, Ann Elizabeth Mayer, whose work has been previously cited, acknowledges, "…the Islamic heritage comprises rationalist and humanistic currents and that it is replete with values that complement modern human rights such as concern for human welfare, justice, tolerance, and equalitarianism. These could provide the basis for constructing a viable synthesis of Islamic principles and international human rights…". Perhaps the greatest challenge before us in this regard is successfully identifying those rationalist and humanitarian "currents" and riding them to a new, more enlightened shore. Doing this will require, among other things, a bold, but mature assessment of the proper relationship between creed and action in the social and political realms. A serious attempt to engage in a rational application of legal principles to contemporary social and political problems in no way implies adopting the methodology of the Mu'tazila, medieval Muslim legal and theological rationalists. Using ration as the standard to assess the veracity of revelation, and using ration as the basis for discovering meaningful Islamic solutions to pressing social or political problems, in areas where revelation provides no articulated guidance, constitute two entirely different projects. That being said, our attempts at solving novel contemporary socio-political problems must be guided by well-defined methodologies. Applicable methodologies have been expounded on by Muslim scholars of jurisprudential principles, and those who have assessed those methodologies, and the rulings they inform in light of the great overarching objectives of Islamic law. These scholars include the likes of Imam al- Shatibi, author of the groundbreaking work, al-Muwafaqat,23 and Imam 'Izz al-Din bin 'Abd al-Salam, author of Qawa'id al-Ahkam,24 and many others. These writings are part of a rich heritage of scholarship and thought, which allowed Muslims to adequately respond to a succession of civilizational challenges throughout our long and illustrious past. If we are able to master that rich heritage, and use the best of it to address the burning issues of our day, we will be able to meaningfully discuss human rights, and the full array of issues that currently vex and perplex us. By so doing, we will be able to step confidently into the future.
"I am a slave. I eat as a slave eats and I sit as a slave sits.", Beloved, sallallahu alyhi wa-sallam.
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Publications & Media
The work of Caviness Landscape Design is featured in the following television and publications.
"POOL KINGS" - Reality series on DIY Network - May, 2016
Financial Times - January, 2016
HGTV "Cool Pools" Scuba Pool – Mustang, Oklahoma
HGTV "Cool Pools" Twin Creek Farms – Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
LUXURY POOLS – Fall, 2013 Cover
2013 Oklahoma Magazine "The Best of the Best"
AQ Magazine – Fall, 2012 – Twin Bridges Estate
AQ Magazine – Fall, 2012 – White Fences Estate
AQ Magazine – Fall, 2012 – Mustang Estate
Design Bureau Magazine – May/June 2013 Feature Story
CNBC – Spectacular Pools, June 2012
Pool and Spa Outdoor – 2012 Edition - Cover
APSP Quarterly Winter/2011 – Cover
Ogrodowa Galeria Design & Shopping
AQUA Magazine / March 2010 - Cover
And featured in the portfolio gallery of Phillips International/Color Kinetics, Inc.
The Sound of Hope - We are a passionate supporter of The Sound of Hope, a ministry of Rusty and Ericka Jackson which exists to raise funds and awareness for orphans and vulnerable children around the world, specifically Swaziland, India and Thailand.
Transformed by Christ Ministries (Oklahoma based Christian Counseling ministry) We are a long-time supporter of Transformed by Christ Ministries, a non-denominational ministry whose desire is to support local churches, with a focus being on foundational truths, not denominational issues. There are several ways in which they serve the Body of Christ – by spiritual counseling, group discussions, and training believers to minister effectively to others.
Re-Generation - Ministry of Chuck and Della Magnet based in Los Angeles, California. They seek to help this generation see past the exterior of their lives and come along side to help them know and live out their true identity. They look at this generation God is raising up right now and see their true value.
The World Race - A program of the inter-denominational organization Adventures In Missions (AIM). Sending out people from the ages of 21-35 to go out on an 11-month life changing trip to countries all around the globe, rising to the challenge of seeing the world transformed through the tangible expressions of God's love, in the people they serve and in themselves.
Our son, Cameron, went on the World Race in 2009 and we were all dramatically changed by the experience. No longer satisfied with the status quo, our hearts and resources continue to support this life-changing ministry.
Keep It Local OK - We are a proud member of Keep It Local OK, a company that gives people the tools and incentives they need to find and support independent, locally-owned businesses. With a KeepItLocalOK card, people can receive special discounts at locally-owned businesses, a win-win situation!
Allied Arts OKC - We are a proud patron of the Allied Arts, which represents and supports local art groups in Oklahoma City and surrounding areas, and serves as the advocate for central Oklahoma's arts and cultural community.
Bike Lab Race and Recreation Team – We are passionate about the sport of cycling, and support this local road, cyclocross and mountain biking team as they compete in area events.
Lifechurch.tv - Our church, whose mission it is to lead people to become fully devoted followers of Christ, has locations all around the world and online; serving in many ways including YouVersion, an online Bible in different translations that can be accessed free of charge on any computer or smart phone device.
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Top 50 Pool Builders – 2014 by Pool & Spa News
2012 APSP International Award of Excellence – Gold Medal – Twin Bridges Estate
2012 APSP International Award of Excellence – Gold Medal – White Fences Estate
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Ayurvedic therapies are seriously on trend right now - and expensive! Ayurveda translates to "the science of life." To put it simply, Ayurveda is to India what Chinese Medicine is to China. It dates back to over 5000 years ago and is the oldest and most complete system of understanding health. Ayurveda has to do with your digestion - not just of food, but of experiences. It is a way of understanding your health from a very holistic standpoint. I personally love Ayurveda because the more I learn, the more it feels like I am discovering something I already know.
It's very hard to break down the study of Ayurveda in a few hundred words, but I'll try! There are three doshas: Vata, Pitta and Kapha. These doshas can be observed in you and everything around you. On a simplified level, Vata is "Air," Pitta is "Fire," and Kapha is "Earth" and "Water." Geographic locations, people, food, seasons, times of day, activities, careers, stages of life, cultures, colors - anything you can imagine can be understood in terms of the doshas. Classical Ayurveda lists seven different combinations of these doshas.
These combinations are called "Prakriti":
Vata Pitta
Vata Kapha
Pitta Kapha
Vata, Pitta, Kapha.
Like yoga, Ayurveda has eight limbs:
Internal Medicine - Kayachikitsa
Surgery - Shalya Tantra
Ear, Nose, Throat - Shalakya Tantra
Toxicology - Agada Tantra
Psychiatry - Bhutavidya
Pediatrics - Kaumara Bhritya
Rejuvenation - Rasayana
Aphrodisiacs - Vajikarana
These ways of practicing Ayurveda all start with an understanding of the doshas.
As humans, we can be represented by one of these seven combinations of the doshas. My Prakriti is "Vata Pitta." Think about the qualities of air and fire and try to imagine what that would look like as the qualities of a person. A few examples of external qualities of a Vata person include being tall or short, thin, bony, low in weight or rapidly fluctuating in weight, and having thin, rough, dry or dull skin. A good example of a famous Vata person is Nicole Richi. External qualities of a Pitta person include a medium to average body frame, moderate or muscular weight, and warm, glowing skin. George Clooney is an example of a Pitta person. From my body type, you can tell that my Prakriti is Vata Pitta - I'm tall, bony and have low but muscular weight, my skin is thin, dry, and can be glowing! If I'm balanced. Mike, my husband, is Vata Kapha. External Kapha qualities include a wide, stocky, well developed frame, heavy or dense weight, and thick, cold, smooth skin. An example of a Kapha person is the lovely, Kim Kardashian. I'm sure Mike wouldn't really appreciate me comparing him to Kim Kardashian, but for the sake of "science," he'll be fine. His body type is tall and well developed, his weight is low but dense, and his skin is smooth, cold and thin. He is a combination of air, earth, and water qualities, where I am a combination of air and fire qualities. The nature of a Vata person is very adaptable, like air, which we both share. The nature of a Pitta person is penetrating (think of George Clooney's eyes), critical and intelligent, this isn't to say Vata and Kapha people don't have these qualities, it's just more evident in Pitta types. The nature of a Kapha person is that they are typically very steady and slow, which is totally not me, and all Mike. I may move slowly in my workouts and yoga classes, but my overall nature is pretty quickly moving and swift, like air. Mike is very grounded and certain, like earth. The way I am explaining the doshas is by no means 100% accurate, and someone out there is probably criticizing me for using Kim K to explain an ancient Indian science, but that's okay!
If the study of Ayurveda were as deep as the ocean, I'd still be on the very top, close to the shore, floating on a pink blow up bed. It is so incredibly dense and deep, but like anything, the more you learn about it, the more it starts to make sense. Start to experiment with guessing what you think your own Prakriti is. Or my favorite pastime, try to guess what certain celebrities' Prakritis are. It's important to understand that a person's Prakriti goes even further beyond their external qualities. Remember not to judge or try to look for a certain outcome, do your best to view yourself and others from a scientific standpoint. Think about what the qualities of air, fire, earth and water may look like in a person. This is one of the first steps you can take towards understanding Ayurveda.


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We had another great time at the ASD Halloween carnival. I dressed up as a shark!
And used by bag to get lots of candy.
Skyelar was dressed as a pumpkin, but she slept through the whole thing.
Here I am trick or treating in the spooky haunted house.
Here I am with my best friend Aidan who was dressed a s dragon.
We had a great time!


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This week I am not only trying to get my 3 oldest girls ready to head off for college, but I'm also trying to pack for a family trip to Michigan. Both of those require a trip to Trader Joes to load up on snacks. So if you're tired of boring, bland, healthy snacks...your taste buds will thank you when you choose these flavorful but nutritious snacks from Trader Joe's.Read More
Try out these 6 practical tips to help you survive your summer picnics, graduation parties, and vacations without gaining 10 extra pounds!Read More
Ginger not only tastes refreshing and is so pleasing to my taste buds, it has soooooo many proven health benefits. It's an amazing, ancient root that really does fall under the catagory of "super food". I decided to try making my own ginger water initially to use in teas and cocktails.Read More
Want to give mom her best Mother's Day ever? Try out some of these recipes!Read More
So instead of grabbing something that is full of sugar and adds to your daily sugar intake, try one of these dessert teas to satisfy your sweet cravings. Here are some of my favorites:Read More
Try out these 5 practical tips to help you navigate through the holiday party season without gaining 10 extra pounds!Read More
Did you know pumpkin seeds have more protein than other nuts and seeds? They are also loaded with tons of nutrients for a healthy body! Here are 5 reasons to stock them in your clean eating pantry!Read More
If you need a well balanced breakfast and have no time....this is the recipe for you!!!!Read More
The age old question of whether diet or exercise is more important for weight loss is finally answered!Read More
Don't love the taste of plain greek yogurt? Try adding one or more of these yummy additions to your yogurt without adding extra sugar!Read More
The weather is cooling down and there is nothing more comforting than a warm cup of tea in your hands! Find out what three tea items we are in love with right now!Read More
Great news! Studies have found that the compounds in apples help you feel full and suppress your appetite! Read more about the amazing apple on our blog.Read More
Why I never skip breakfast and neither should you. Studies show that those who eat breakfast weigh less and have a lower BMI than those that skip breakfast. Her are 5 reasons you should never miss breakfast.Read More
Have you been using all those workouts you see on social media boasting calorie burns of 1,000 calories, only to keep gaining weight? Here's why those workouts might be sabotaging your weight loss efforts.Read More
Everyone is Apple Cider Vinegar crazy - here is why! 5 reasons to grab a bottle today.Read More
Do these five steps to boost the antioxidant and weight loss properties of your tea!Read More


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May 5, 1928-Feb. 19, 2013
Edmund Zochowski, age 84, of Newport, died at 8:05 p.m. Tuesday in the emergency room at Mercy Memorial Hospital. He had been in declining health for two months.
Friends may visit from 2-8:30 p.m. Friday at Rupp Funeral Home, where the Rosary will be recited at 7:30 p.m., followed by a Litany Prayer Service conducted by Monroe Council 1266 Knights of Columbus. Ed will lie instate at 1 p.m. Saturday at St. Charles Catholic Church, Newport, followed by Mass of the Resurrection celebrating his life at 2 p.m. The church pastor, Rev. Victor Roman will officiate. Burial will follow at St. Charles Cemetery.
Born May 5, 1928 in Detroit, Mich., he was the son of John and Anastasia (Koprowski) Zochowski. Ed made his home in Belleville, Mich., moving to Newport in 1943. He married Jean Manor on Nov. 27, 1954 in St. Charles Church with the Rt. Rev. Msgr. Walter R. A. Marron officiating.
As a teenager, he played football, basketball and baseball for the former St. Charles Athletic Club, organized by former St. Charles pastor Rev. Paquette.
He joined the National Guard in 1946 and served in the Army as Sgt. 1st Class from 1950-1952 in Augsburg, Germany.
He was employed by F.W. Ritter Company for 19 years and for Ford Motor Company, Rawsonville, Mich., in hydraulic maintenance for 29 years, retiring in 1991. He received his skilled trade training from Henry Ford Trade School and Washtenaw Community College.
He was a current member of St. Charles Church and was their first Eucharistic Lay Minister. He was also a member of the Frenchtown Seniors Center, Rockwood Historical Society, Knights of Columbus and American Legion. Past memberships include: St. Charles Usher?s Club, St. Charles Dad?s Club, St. Charles Girl?s Softball coach, 12 years on S.M.C.C. School Board, S.M.C.C. Band Boosters, S.M.C.C. Bingo Chairman, Nortel Senior Citizens Bowling League.
Ed enjoyed gardening, traveling and bike riding for many years.
He is survived by his wife Jean of Newport; four sons, Mark (Joette) Zochowski of Newport, Chris (Georgia) Zochowski of Grosse Ile, Paul (Celia) Zochowski of Monroe and Scott (Laura) Zochowski of Grand Rapids; eight grandchildren, Jessica, Jacob, Catherine, Faith, Mya, Ava, William and Joel.
He was preceded in death by his parents and three brothers, Julian, Jerome and Gene Zochowski.
Memorial contributions may be made to St. Charles Church new building fund.
Online condolences may be sent through www.ruppfuneralhomeinc.com.


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By Rich Streitfeld, CPA
In the best of worlds, taxes can be complicated, provoke anxiety, and, of course….be costly. In a divorce situation taxes have the potential to become yet another battleground for the exhausted parties. Many of the financial decisions made by the parties – or made for them if they cannot agree – have serious, long-lasting tax consequences. Care and consideration must be given, as illustrated in the following examples:
It ain't over till it's over. Bette and Peter* are negotiating a particularly nasty separation that will span two calendar years. Peter is a banker and Bette is a stay-at-home mom. Peter wants to file as a couple – "married filing jointly" – so they will get a small refund. Because of the acrimony between them, Bette will not agree and thus they have to each file "married separately" returns – she will still not owe anything (no income) and Peter will owe a ton (the rates are much higher and the credits limited for "married filing separately").
Logic dictates that for "the parties as a whole" married filing jointly is a more profitable choice, easier, cheaper. If it is a straightforward return (e.g. neither partner owns a business) and the parties trust the veracity of their reported figures, this is particularly true. Then again, if trust is gone it is hard to blame Bette, who from her own point of view has nothing to lose (well, time, lawyer's fees, her husband's assets that she may be relying on, any residue of good will…). There is also the thorny issue of allocating payments and refunds if the couple is filing a joint return and misuse of funds is already an issue in the divorce.
Should Bette continue to insist on a separate return despite the total higher tax cost, Peter's counsel could advocate for "reimbursement" in the property settlement.
Know when to stop investigating. Sue runs a professional staffing agency. Her husband Larry is half-owner of the corporation but is not actively involved. The divorce was drawn out for five – Five! – years because Larry wanted to be bought out of the business. Fair enough Larry but as her tax preparer I know there is not much there. "Staff For You" has one core client, and no long-term contracts. There is little intrinsic value and virtually no hard-core assets. Essentially SFY provides employment for Sue, some tax breaks and liability protection. Larry may be entitled to alimony or child support based on Sue's earnings, as well as his rightful share of personal property, but just because your spouse "owns a business" doesn't necessarily mean there is a bucket of cash lurking there.
It ain't over even after it's over: Howard and Deirdre have two children, Al and Allie. They will stay with Deirdre during the week and with Howie on weekends. How should they determine who takes each "dependency exemption" after they are divorced?
Again, it helps if the parties can think longer term and not punitively. Howard's income is substantially more than Deirdre's – therefore, the dependency exemptions save him a higher percentage of his taxes than it would for her. In addition, he plans to fund the children's' education, and he cannot claim an education credit without the related dependency exemption.
Then again, Deirdre's income has grown steadily each year and within a few years could be similar to Howard's. Meanwhile, a spike in Howard's income would make him less able to take advantage of that dependency exemption because of recent tax law changes. How should they structure the arrangement?
With two children and potential tax benefits for each parent, oftentimes the parties will specifically identify one dependent per parent in the divorce agreement – or, if one child they will agree to alternate the exemption annually.
Howard and Deirdre trust each other to be fair in these matters and they are remaining friends – this is a less hostile divorce than others. Given this, they do not want to write anything into stone -- (especially since tax law is anything but). As the custodial parent, Deirdre has rights to both dependents, but she may waive either one or both in any year, and Howard would then be entitled to the benefit (s). They will "run the numbers" year by year and decide what approach is in their best interests. Yes, I have clients who see me separately and do this!
This is just a hint of the tax complexities inherent in the divorce process (we didn't even mention child support, capital gains…) Every situation is different, but ultimately it is up to the parties what tack to take. Will you fight over every penny? Drag the proceedings out until you are both left bloodied, dissatisfied and no less angry? Switch lawyers until you find the perfect match for the lowest price, who is aggressive but effective, calls you back but doesn't charge? Yes, you are right (you always are!), you are entitled and it's not fair – but when all is said and done often it is best to get it done as quickly and painlessly as possible, even if you don't get all you deserve.
Richard Streitfeld is a Certified Public Accountant and Certified Fraud Examiner with Aaronson Lavoie Streitfeld Diaz & Co (www.alscpa.com) in Cranston, Rhode Island. He can be reached at (401)-223-0205 or firstname.lastname@example.com.
* These are real names and real situations. The names, details (and sometimes genders!) have been altered to protect privacy.


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Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Who Should Make The First Move, Men Or Women? A No-Brainer.
4 comments:
Love this. Can we print this on pretty resume paper and post it all over the world? :)ReplyDelete
- AnonymousOctober 20, 2010 at 9:42 AM
I just came across this after a visit to Champlain this past weekend. My son is verrry interested to coming to Champlain in the fall. As a mid-fifties dad of 2 boys, one an adopted Peruvian and one homegrown (surprise!!!)I find your writing and your attitude refreshing. I'm sure my wife probably wouldn't, but if we had a girl I think I would love to have her a lot like you, with just a tad less sex of course. Pardon a father's old fashioned mores. To be fair, I/we have always given our boys the same admonishments re: sex we would if we had a girl. No double standards in our house! I do find it unbelieveable that you have produced such a HUGE library of work. Where do you get the time????
Anyway, I just thought I'd drop you a line and let you how remarkable you are. Keep it up....
Lou Priest Jr.
P.S. Hopefully Sean will be there next fall. Keep your fingers crossed for us.
Thank you so much for your kind words! As a Professional Writing major at Champlain, I've been extremely lucky to have professors who realize how important my time and commitment to my writing and blogging are. I also figured out early on that some homework assignments can double as blog posts if you choose your topic and approach in a certain way (saves twice the time). I actively make time for my writing, because I recognized that building this blog's content is basically building a massive portfolio of work for grad school and future jobs. (Obviously, I'm looking to go into a very specific market.)
I wish your son all the luck in his college endeavor-- I certainly can't say enough good things about Champlain, but wherever he ends up, be sure to let him know it's what he puts in to it that mandates what he gets OUT of it.
- AnonymousOctober 21, 2010 at 9:07 AM
Thanks for the advise. Sean has realized this for a long time now, which is probably why he does so well in school.
You must be looking forward to graduation, I know I was when I was in college. All those engineering, math and science classes! UGH! If he does get into Champlain, I hope he meets classmates like yourself, it will make the transition easier.
Thanks Again,


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The Eurosteam® XVapor is a multi-utility, user-friendly and an extremely efficient steam cleaner, that provides super-easy cleaning using the power of steam. The steam cleaner removes the most difficult stains in a matter of seconds; it uses hot steam vapors to weaken and dislodge the dirt, to be wiped off easily. Save yourself hours of scrubbing and washing, and use the steamer to effectively clean the most difficult-to-reach corners.
The steam cleaner uses ordinary tap water to generate powerful steam, thereby, removing unsafe and toxic cleaning chemicals from your environment. Not only does this benefit kids and pets immensely, it also eliminates chemical-laden cleaning solutions and waxes from your house. The steam from the steamer removes 99% of bacteria and virus from the surface as well. The Eurosteam® XVapor is built to fight and remove dirt easily from kitchens, bathrooms, cars, floors, windows, mirrors etc. The steam cleaner is accompanied by a variety of easy-to-use accessories, which are specifically crafted to reach difficult areas like behind the sink, between the tiles and below the faucet.
The powerful 1500W stainless steel boiler generates hot steam at a 5 bar pressure, and is ready to use for up to 50 minutes with just about 8 minutes of heating, lesser if the water used is warm. The compactly-designed, easy-to-carry and portable steam cleaner is capable to take on the most stubborn dirt and grime in your house. The Eurosteam® Xvapor is helping people save time and money all across USA, and is an effortless, healthy and effectual solution to most cleaning related challenges you can encounter.
Really clean with the power of steam.


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I was just reorganizing the site and found this recipe. TinyHands wrote it up when we first did GAPS Intro Stage 4 a couple years ago. But we didn't have a good picture and forgot all about the post!
Of course once I'd found the recipe, I had to make it and take a new picture! I only made a half-batch, so the loaf pictured is actually less than half of what this recipe makes.
In her original post, TinyHands said: "This stuff is good. A little too good. It's exceedingly difficult to go easy on this bread when all you've had to eat is soup, but really do try." Remember, nuts are a "sometimes" food on GAPS, not a staple!
What's funny is that I have no problem "going easy on this bread," while TinyHands and the kids couldn't get enough. But then, almond flour isn't really my favorite. I'm curious what you think! This bread will make you full fast, it's dense, moist and holds together well.
Almond Bread
- 4 cups crispy almonds
- 1 cup winter squash, cooked
- 4 eggs
- 1/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp ghee or coconut oil
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees F and melt 1 Tbsp ghee in loaf pan in oven.
- Finely grind almonds in food processor – you want them ground as finely as possible without turning them into butter. (This works best if you skinned them before drying them when making your crispy nuts.)
- Whisk eggs, squash, and remaining ghee together.
- Beat flour into the egg mixture until well blended.
- Tip your loaf pan to cover the sides with the melted ghee, then press the mixture into it the pan. Fill it all the way up, since it won't rise much.
- Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
This post is part of Fat Tuesday, Slightly Indulgent Tuesday


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As some of you may know I work very closely with Megan Clark. She is one of my good freinds and working with her as a team is one of my favorite things. I wake up in the morning before our weddings together with butterflies in my stomach (our relationship is totally platonic don't worry).
Because of this we have put together some packages where if you book both of us you can save on both of our packages. If you would like more information on this please email me and I can give you the details.
For now we have the top reasons why hiring a photographer that works closely with a planner is so important!
Top 10 Reasons Why Hiring a Planner/Photographer Team will make Your Wedding Awesome
- Planning
If this was the only reason to hire a planner/photographer team, it would be enough. Having a planner/photographer team will really benefit you during the planning process. Your planner will know what your photographer needs, your photographer will know what your planner needs…it just works! Any of the more logistical details can be worked out between the two without having to concern you at all. You can rest easy knowing that each and every detail of your day will be not only meticulously cared for, but beautifully styled and captured, as well.
2.) Photo Styling
Taking engagement photos? boudoir? maybe even a post wedding portrait or trash the dress session? Most planner/photographer teams include professional styling for these items in their packages. This means that your coordinator will help you find locations, design props and assemble styled "sets" based upon your unique vision and style for all of the photo sessions you have booked with your photographer. They will also handle the timing of the day, including hair and make-up appointments, transportation, venue management, and other logistics of the day.
- Family Photos
Family photos can be extremely stressful and time consuming without the proper coordination. It is very important that your coordinator and photographer are on the same page when it comes to who is taking which photos and when. One of the biggest challenges couples face is corralling their bridal party and family members following the ceremony for photos. Hiring a skilled planner/photographer team can put an end to this issue, as most of them will have procedures in place to ensure a smooth and timely family session through a little extra coordination.
For example, Claire and I take a proactive approach to our family photo session. We ask our clients to prepare a list of family photos they'd like taken, complete with the names of each family member to be included and then we use that information to develop a precise and efficient photo schedule, help you inform guests about when and where to go for photos, and to coordinate everyone on the day of. Our family sessions are always fast and efficient and it's because of our experience working together and the planning we put in before hand.
- Timing
Most photographers offer packages ranging from 4 to 8 hours of wedding day coverage. No matter which package you have chosen, precise planning and coordination is key to making sure that you are getting the most bang for your buck. A planner/photographer team can not only advise you in the planning stages to help create a timeline that will ensure your photographer captures all of the evenings highlights, their experience and familiarity with each other will also create a logistical efficiency that will maximize the time available on the day of and, as a result, increase potential photo ops!
- Price
Most planner/photographer teams will have special packages which include both vendors' services at an all-inclusive, reduced rate. More often than not, they even throw some extras in there!
- Post-Wedding Support
Even though the wedding is over, your planner and photographer will still have some work to do. Your planner will be busy tying up any loose ends and, if you've contracted them to do so, will be hard at work coordinating your brunch and/or honeymoon logistics and thank you cards. Your photographer will be editing your photos and putting together any prints or albums you may have ordered. If you have contracted these vendors separately, you will most likely have to act as the liaison between the two for any remaining projects. However, if you have hired a team, you can sit back and relax and let them handle all of that work together. All you will have to do is try and contain your excitement as you wait for all of it to be ready! Maybe your new spouse can entertain you!
- Destination Weddings
Planner/Photographer teams are the perfect fit for your destination wedding. These two people will be working very closely with you on your wedding day and, ideally, you will be comfortable and familiar enough with them to ensure that they add to the fun and excitement of the day and don't distract from it with their strange and unfamiliar presence. You want to KNOW them. For that reason, couples often opt to hire photographers and planners near their hometowns whom they can meet and visit with at their leisure before the big day arrives. The benefit of hiring a planner/photographer team in this situation is that, not only will most planner/photographer teams share lodging and transportation (which saves you $$), but their familiarity and close proximity will allow for some great "behind the scenes" shots of your decor being produced and set-up, welcome bags being assembled and distributed, and your bridal suite being prepared for hair and make-up styling.
- Better Decor
Hiring a planner and photographer team will nearly double the decor and design expertise at your disposal. It is true that planners are more known for their design savvy and extensive decor libraries, but don't count your photographer out just yet. They have to have something to shoot, right? Most photographers are designers, as well; they have an eye for design, as well as a variety of props and decor at their disposal. Together, your planner and photographer can create a gorgeous design that will impress your guests and look beautiful in photos.
- Versatility
This is perhaps one of the most valuable benefits of a planner/photographer team. Separately, each vendor is responsible for the task which they were hired for. A photographer takes photos and a planner…well, plans. While both will undoubtedly perform well within their given task, they are often unprepared to assist in other areas. A planner/photographer team has both the ability and willingness to "pitch in" where necessary. The photographer's battery is low? I know where she keeps her back-ups. Bridesmaid ripped her dress during photos? The photographer has my sewing kit on her. Whatever problem arises, your planner/photographer team will be much more equipped to handle it together then on their own.
- Fun!
Hiring a planner/photographer team is just more fun! If they've chosen to work together, they obviously like each other. And their partnership will undoubtedly make their jobs easier, so they will be less stressed and more carefree.
Claire and I are best friends. We love doing weddings together and we love joking around with our clients. Don't get me wrong, we take our jobs very seriously and we will "rock" your wedding, but we want to make sure that you have a little fun too! It's your wedding day! We want you to smile, laugh and soak in the joy of the day. Not only will you enjoy it much more, but it will also make for some gorgeous photos!


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January Releases You Should Know About
I was very fortunate to receive several advanced readers copies of January releases and am excited to say that I can recommend all of them.
This first one is a short story collection that just left me saying, WOW.
Difficult Women by Roxane Gay
The first story in this collection, I Will Follow You, hits you with a wallop. It Lets you know this is not a collection of happy, go lucky stories to provide you an escape. However, this is a collection of truth, everyone one of these stories digs deep into real life and the complexities we find there. These are real women and men, warts and all. Some of these stories have a fantastical element, but Gay is able to still have them relay the true life essence underneath. Be warned this is not a collection to read if you have any kind of triggers, but if you are like me and like to read stories that connect you to the characters and feel, I highly recommend this book. (I received a copy of this book from the publisher for an honest review.)
I also highly recommend her essay collection Bad Feminist
The Most Dangerous Place on Earth by Lindsey Lee Johnson
This amazing debut exemplifies the notion that reading fiction fosters empathy. Johnson's beautiful prose and well developed characters, in the end, enabled me to understand and care about each of these characters, even the most unlikable of the bunch. Employing the structure of following a different one of the half dozen characters in each chapter we are able to see each one's motivations. On top of all this she manages to tell a compelling story that keeps you turning the pages until the very end. I can't say enough about this book and I will definitely be following Lindsey Lee Johnson anxiously awaiting her next book.(I received a copy of this book from the publisher for an honest review.)
The History of Wolves by Emily Fridlund
Another Debut - A suspenseful, page turning tale that is a coming of age, beautiful imagery, delves deep into the ideas of guilt and identity and secrets and faith.
The structure that wanders back and forth in time at times is confusing but ultimately just adds to the suspense and slow unraveling of the story.
There are a few things I had problems with, her portrayal of a four year old I found myself questioning whether he was believable as that age. She does touch on some subjects that some may find her handling of questionable, but overall I thought it was a well written and compelling debut. (I received a copy of this book from the publisher for an honest review.)
Perfect Little World by Kevin Wilson
What makes a family? Kevin Wilson's second novel asks that question. This is a darkly comic tale of ten families pregnant with their first child become part of a research project The Infinite Family and what happens as they try to define "family". I enjoyed this book, (not as much as Wilson's first novel The Family Fang) It is quick read,uplifting read, not too heavy. I'd recommend it.
(I received a copy of this book from the publisher for an honest review.)
I have two other January releases that I did not get a chance to read yet but you may want to check out. Those would be Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney and The River at Night by Erica Ferencik
That's all I've got this month.. I hope you found some books you are interested in. I'll be back next month with my picks for February.
Laura Spaulding


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New In Games: Professor Zombie!
From the official press release:
Product Studios Releases Professor Zombie! for iOS, Android, and Kindle Fire
Today Producto Studios released their newest game for iOS, Android and Kindle Fire: Professor Zombie Unscramble!
Just in time for Halloween - a sequel to the hit iOS game Professor Palindromes! (also released for the first time on Kindle Fire Today), Professor Zombie! Challenges you to unscramble the words before the Zombie eats the professor's brain!
The Professor has left his brain out, and now zombies want to eat it! The only way you can stop the zombies is by unscrambling the words from the zombie lexicon.
The play is simple: press two letters to swap their places.
The action is frantic: can you make the correct moves before the time runs out?
You get 40 seconds on each level to unscramble the words. Be sure to read the clues, as they will help you figure out the puzzle.
Any time left over from the last level is applied to the next. The faster you work on the earlier levels, the better chance you have when things get more complicated.
Earn or buy (iOs only) "Instant Solves" to help you get to higher and higher levels!
Fun, and addictive. Download it now! For iOS and Android, and Kindle Fire.


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Classroom Library Management Made Simple
The Challenge
Capsa Labs was looking for a web-based solution as a replacement for their mobile app, Book Retriever, which manages classroom-based libraries for teachers. The old mobile app was hard to maintain and had limited functionality, and their users needed new features and a more universal application.
The Solution
Tuva Interactive built an entirely new, Software as a Service (SaaS) platform and subscription business model for Book Retriever, with a web-based application and a companion native mobile Scanning App. A robust system architecture, and a friendly, consumer-facing UI provides an engaging user experience for their subscribers.
The branding was important for the Book Retriever project, and the Tuva creative team developed a new logo and a bright, clean color palette. This branding extends from the website to broadcast emails and marketing collateral.
The Result
The new Book Retriever has had an incredible impact and has changed the way teachers and students interact with their classroom libraries. The new app makes it easy for teachers to find the right books for their students, and loss rates have plummeted from a typical 15-20% per year to under 5%, saving teachers and schools thousands of dollars.


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Blog Archives
Castlederg To Host Cross-Community Paramilitary Games
The Castlederg Community Project have moved to cash-in on the feel-good factor following the Olympic and Paralympic Games in London by announcing the inaugural 2012 Paramilitary Games. In a concerted effort to develop community relations on both sides of the divide, all paramilitary groups will be invited including the UDA, PIRA, RIRA, CIRA, RHD, UFF, DAAD, UVF, INLA, LVF and the OV.
"We're really excited to be invited", the INLA claimed through a coded telephone call. "We've been practicing the shot putt for ages now and have high hopes of at least a bronze medal. We hear that the UVF have a few big men but it's all about how you perform on the day up in Castlederg."
All participants are required by the recently drawn-up rules to wear balaclavas and wooly jumpers which does present a problem for the swimming competition. The RHD were a little worried about the strict dress code:
"That is a bit of a hindrance alright. The lads have been out in Belfast Lough practicing in their work clothes so we're confident we can adapt to conditions. There has been a recent shipment of skin-tight balaclavas from China which will give us an advantage over the provos who still use the 1980s model. The River Derg can be treacherous"
Those attending the opening ceremony in the 'Derg will witness an array of musical acts including The Wolfe Tones, The Shankill Accordian Band and Willie McCrea who will sing the Games' anthem called "I hae a leanin' twards the Laird, bein' a Christian" in Ulster Scots. The £10 firework display has been cancelled due to concerns about the sound it makes.


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Picture It: Sicily, 2014
More pictures in Google Stories.
I got an email late last year from my mother about a tour of Sicily they had booked. Sicily's been on her bucket list for a while. Her grandparents were born and married there, and when they first moved to New York they still had land. I'm not sure if they intended to go back periodically throughout their lives, depending on work, but somebody muddled those plans. In the 1930s, Mussolini started confiscating the land of absentee owners, so the family went back to sell their only link to "home." Once accomplished, they came to America to stay.
My great-grandparents both lived to see their early 90s, and as long as I had known them the didn't speak English. I often wondered how they were able to get by in the US, but after they died I learned that they knew English, they just didn't speak it. I have to admit it puts an interesting spin on my memories, watching my aunts holler at them in English and me thinking, Why don't you just learn a few Italian phrases and meet them halfway?
I certainly wished I'd bothered to learn it myself, because I joined them after their tour for a few days. Mom intended to see the village her family left behind, and I never turn down free room in a foreign country (almost done paying for the airfare). So away I went last week.
|Cathedral di Sicilia
This was only my second trip to Europe, and I'm amazed by the apparent age of the continent. In Florida and Virginia, some landmarks date back to early Colonial times, so we're talking 1600s at best. You travel to Sicily and you find ruin that go back to Christ. We stayed mainly in Catania – there are no Starbucks, but I found three Catholic churches on the same block. We attended Mass at the one above, which holds the relics of St. Agatha. You hear that Sicily served as home to so many people – Greeks, Jews, Muslims – over the centuries, but the Catholic presence is most obvious. The food is insane, too. I didn't go hungry.


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I swear to you... these are healthy... I swear! They may be quite decadent, with their oozing blueberries, crispy topped salty bacon and deliciously gooey maple syrup but Pancake Day has to go out with a bang, so if you please - enjoy!
This mixture makes 8 pancakes and personally four each sounds good to me, but you could stretch it out to feed four and make 9 pancakes... if you really believe you could be satisfied with only three? C'mon!!
115g buckwheat flour
1tsp baking powder
2 free range organic eggs
140ml coconut/nut milk
raw cold pressed virgin coconut oil
grade B organic maple syrup
a punnet of blueberries
good quality streaky bacon
good quality vanilla extract (optional)
These pancakes are Paleo as the flour is gluten free, I use a dairy alternative milk, I have swapped butter for coconut oil and I have used only natural sugars. These would be just as delicious for Vegetarians if you leave out the bacon.
Sieve your buckwheat flour into a mixing bowl and add in the baking powder. Next you want to get an unbreakable bowl to use your electric whisk in and then separate your eggs, keeping your yellow yolks away from the whites. Break the whites into the unbreakable bowl and chuck the yolks in with the flour. Pour in the milk. Add the vanilla extra and whisk with a hand whisk until all of the ingredients are combined and the mixture is fairly thick.
Grab your electric whisk and on full blast whizz up the egg whites until they form stiff peaks and you can turn the bowl upside down without them falling out... obviously don't hold it there for too long, because they might eventually land on your slippers! Get a metal tablespoon and fold in the egg whites, fold - you want to keep the air in there so your pancakes are light and fluffy. Do this until they are only just fully combined.
Your mixture is complete, and best cooked straight away otherwise it will deflate and your pancakes will be sad and flat. Preheat your pan and add a teaspoon of coconut oil. Dollop the mixture into your pan to make four pancakes and pop on the blueberries. Yummy.
Flip them. Cook the bacon - I like my bacon crispy. How do you like yours?
When they are cooked, stack them up on a plate and if you've managed to keep your mits off the crispy bacon and there is still some left then balance the pieces on the top and glug, sorry - drizzle* the maple syrup over the top. I also like to crush a few blueberries into the bacon drippings and add a little maple syrup, heat to make a a blueberry sauce that you can add the pancakes. Grab a folk and gorge yourself silly!
Tag #lalamariarecipe on Instagram with your creation!
Tag #lalamariarecipe on Instagram with your creation!
Lala x
Lala x


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In The Days
Alexandria Petrassi
In the days of my father's sweet whiskey smoke
we sat in the doorway to watch the burning.
I lusted after those bourbon-thick clouds
like a dark crescendo. An acceleration,
a desire to rust, a still rush in my stomach
to reap seeds I had not sown.
My brother sat in the cusp of the door, cradled
and always rocking, rocking and afraid to breathe.
A car might creak over the gravel. Searching.
My father's slow predatory stalk. A lapse.
Cruel is a word with rocks in its mouth.
It was never right for us to say.
In the days after my father's burning, even then,
he had the continual air of a man smoking.
Alexandria Petrassi studies poetry in the MFA program at George Mason University. She works as the Assistant Editor at "So to Speak", the editor-in-chief of "Floodmark", and a Digital Communications consultant. Her work has appeared in "The Seldom Review", on The American Writer's Museum's blog, and on Stillhouse Press's blog, "Moonshine Murmurs".


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1. "What is THIS?", my boyfriend asked as we were shuffling around furniture this weekend playing interior decorators. "My sewing machine...", I sheepishly replied. Ya know, the magical box that Santa gifted me in December that I haven't even touched. In my defense, there has been no time! And it lives in the corner by the lamp! Since I have no room to use it! Okay, that's enough excuses for a Wednesday morning. Mimi or Lai, if you're reading this (they're my awesomely talented friends who can sew), I need help. My goal is to learn how to make this. Not any time soon as all those aforementioned excuses are still intact. But sometime this summer? Pretty please?
2. a blog post with good advice for being a fun mom.
3. Do you always fall off the healthy bandwagon when you're either busy or traveling?
(it's hard, right?)
Here are tips for how to make nutritious snacking choices when you're on the go.
4. a cute (& easy!) way to spruce up that pony tail.
5. My wish for you:
when you hear your favorite song,
may you be this enthusiastic.
happy wednesday!
until next time,


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This season, Valentino features sensuality and independence.
For Valentino's F/W 2015 collection, Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli capture the essence of the world of contemporary women, portraying its changes and evolution.
From their modern perspective, the two creative directors recognize signs of modernity in two unconventional people, both artist and muse: Emilie Flöge and Celia Birtwell.
These two different women share a singular approach to life: they combine fragility and sensuality and give strength and depth to modest grace.
The inevitable icons of the new Valentino collection follow the season's moods and evolve. Rockstud comes in a color block version that contrasts with black, while knotted fringe and braids are boho touches.
Clothes become an artist's canvas on which exquisite intarsia from scenes and landscapes is harmoniously expressed through prints, seeking cosmic conjunctions and motifs of astral inspiration.
Opulent sensuality is expressed through floral prints and butterfly motifs that are the result of the collaboration with Celia Birtwell and are given a luminous touch through raised metallic threads and contrasts of stripes, triangles and geometric shapes.
These are just a few of its glamorous composition! To find out more, please visit VALENTINO at:
ION Orchard
2 Orchard Turn
Singapore 238801
Thank you Accesscomms for the invite!


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The Bachelor in Paradise Drinking Game
UPDATE: After conducting an analysis of the first half of the 2016 season, The rules of the drinking game have been revised to make the end result slightly less... lethal.
It's official: I took the leap and watched Bachelor in Paradise for the first time ever. In case you missed my review, I found the third flavor offered by the Bachelor Franchise to be as delightful as expected despite a too-prominent note of Chad. Luckily, his behavior and lack of bowel control seem to have disqualified him from participating beyond his set-up-to-but-won't-really-be-dramatic return to terrorize the remaining contestants when the second episode picks up where we left off. Unlike the Bachelorette, I think excising Grumpy BadScruff and his drama will improve this show; I didn't turn on a show full of really, really, ridiculously good-looking people at an open bar to watch one man get drunk and demean every female participant.
There was something critical missing from my viewing experience for episode 1, though, and it wasn't difficult to identify. Without a Drinking Game to guide me, I had to set my own pace while watching a bunch of confusingly desperate people get sloppy on a beach. You know that feeling you get as the designated driver, when you suddenly realize everyone has passed the point of intoxication where it's still enjoyable to talk to them? This was a similar sensation, except I didn't have to go through the trouble of putting on pants or herding people into a car at 2:00 AM. The point is: this show seems more fun to watch if you can put yourself in the contestants' frame of mind, and to do so you'll need an adult beverage or five. Let's take a look at the first edition of Questionably Qualified's newest drinking game:
The Questionably Qualified Bachelor in Paradise Drinking Game Rules:
1 Drink Every Time:
- A contestant orders a drink; support your entertainers!
- Every "cheers!" or "toast"; it's reflexive for me, so why not?
- An animal is shown; snakes, crabs, and birds got a lot of screentime
- Chris Harrison sighting; his job seems incredible, and I'll drink to that
- Someone says "Paradise"; these people might think it's a real place
- Someone says a form of the word "drink"; classic, consistent, and easy
2 Drinks Every Time:
- A contestant finds a new snogging partner; the show encourages polyamory, don't act surprised!
- Someone talks about a hangover; it seems like a natural topic of discussion, but they (almost) all looked good after night one
- Someone eats on camera; the untouched food in this franchise is a pet peeve of mine, so if they actually eat it, I like to celebrate
3 Drinks Every Time:
- ABC censors nudity or near-nudity; I still support pantslessness whenever possible*
5 Drinks Every Time:
- Some incredibly desperate person tells another incredibly desperate person "I love you"; it's a little sad, but a lot funny
These Bachelor in Paradise Drinking Game rules are not set in stone. I'll be adjusting them throughout the season, targeting a rate of one drink every two minutes. That comes out to about two and a half beverages per hour, which should leave us neither irresponsibly drunk nor sober
Have feedback, questions, or suggestions? Send it all to us at email@example.com.
*rule changed from all instances of censorship including blurred mouths
Here are a couple of our favorites on amazon to help you enjoy this season properly
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