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Bridgepoint Education, Inc. (NYSE: BPI), a provider of post-secondary education services focused on providing higher access to higher education, announced today that Ashford University has introduced a Bachelor of Arts degree in Applied Behavioral Science. The new degree program was designed for individuals looking to develop critical thinking skills through the application of theoretical and empirical knowledge drawn from the social and behavioral sciences. The interdisciplinary nature of the Applied Behavioral Science degree will help students examine human behavior and social problems in diverse community settings.
"This new degree enables students to draw from the foundations of both psychology and sociology in order to study the broad diversity of societal problems and provide students with an interdisciplinary framework for solutions," said Dr. Alice Vestergaard, Ashford University College of Arts and Sciences program director. "Students who study in this degree program will develop the skills necessary to analyze community issues and problems and make recommendations for improvement and change using valid scientific tools taught in this degree program."
Students who graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in Applied Behavioral Science will be prepared to embark on numerous career paths. Possible career fields include human resources, social work, religious studies, criminal justice, law enforcement, mental health, counseling, psychology, hospitality, family and consumer science, youth services, political sciences, early childhood education, juvenile justice, rehabilitation, urban planning and community development. The same diversity of career paths may be pursued in an academic context at the graduate level.
Ashford University's Bachelor of Arts in Applied Behavioral Science is currently available online only. This degree does not lead to any licensure or certification of any kind.
About Ashford University
Founded in 1918, Ashford University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (www.ncahlc.org). The University offers graduate and undergraduate degree programs online and at its Clinton, Iowa, campus. The University is known for its high quality yet highly affordable online and on-campus programs. For more information, please visit www.ashford.edu or call Shari Rodriguez, director of Public Relations, at 858.513.9240 x2513.
About Bridgepoint Education
Bridgepoint Education's postsecondary education services focus on offering associate's, bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs in such disciplines as business, education, psychology, social sciences and health sciences. Bridgepoint Education's regionally accredited academic institutions – Ashford University and University of the Rockies – deliver their programs online as well as at traditional campuses located in Clinton, Iowa, and Colorado Springs, Colorado. For more information about Bridgepoint Education, visit www.bridgepointeducation.com or call Shari Rodriguez, director of Public Relations at 858.668.2580.


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A savory bean pudding, prepared with black-eyed peas.
Ingredients Edit
- 2 cups dried cowpeas (black-eyed peas)
- 1 tablespoon dried Shrimp powder
- 2 tomatoes, chopped
- 2 onions, chopped
- salt and black pepper to taste
- chile pepper, chopped, to taste
- cayenne pepper or red pepper, to taste
- oil to grease muffin tin
Directions Edit
- Cover the cowpeas with boiling water and soak them for at least an hour or overnight. Drain them in a colander.
- Crush, grind, or mash the black-eyed peas into a thick paste. Slowly add enough water to form a smooth, thick paste.
- In a separate container combine all other ingredients and crush and stir them together until they are thoroughly mixed.
- Add the other ingredients to the Black-eyed pea paste and stir to make a smooth mixture.
- Grease the muffin pans.
- Scoop the Moyin-Moyin mixture into your pans, allowing some room for it to rise while cooking. #Place the pans in a baking dish partially filled with water.
- Bake in a medium-hot oven for about 30 minutes.
- Check for doneness with a toothpick or sharp knife, as you would for a cake.
Community content is available under CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted.

subset: commoncrawl


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…..heck, you know the rest.
And rest assured, my Mama, she ain't nowheres NEAR happy! I been layin' low since nigh on breakfast yesterday. That there's when Daddy, him and Grandpap, 'long with Linc and Lawrence, the big boys, they headed off to the ol' Smoot place, down in the bottoms, hour 'way as the crow flies.
An' why they deigned not to be takin' me, Liam Goodwell, third son and fifth chil' of the Denton County Goodwells, and durned best mushroom hunter this side o' God's own heaven, why I'll never know. I can fair sniff them delectables out half mile 'way, I can. Them brothers o'mine, why, they ain't got the sense the good God give 'em when it comes to mushroom huntin'. They be right now stompin' 'round in they big ol' boots, smooshin' and smashin' greens and growths what could be hidin' the most succulent, delicious treat known to man!
Oh, they think they know. Oh, they be sure of it. But durned if my gleenin's ain't always near double theirs. They do consider themselves blessed I willingly share once we get back to the house with our lip-smackin' treasures.
And true, ain't nobody I'd rather have rustle up these heaven-sent prizes than my Mama. Now, ain't possible to spoil a mess of them delights, but when they done right, it's right spiritual. 'Specially when my Mama, she makes 'em. All slathered in cornmeal, salted and peppered and fried crispy brown and golden, blackened a bit in the insides, poppin' in fresh o'l in Mama's biggest cast iron skillet. Takes a big ol' mess to feed a family big as us Goodwells, but my Mama, she'll stand hummin' at that ol' skillet till they all be fried and crisped to perfection. I note she always saves the extra done ones, fairly burnt black, off to the side, slippin' her a taste ever' now an' a'gin. Cain't blame her none. Them morels is hard to resist.
Law, my insides be turnin' summersaults and the memory of that mouthwaterin' woodsy flavor is leavin' me faint. I can smell 'em cookin' and taste 'em as I sit here, itchin'.
These here tidbits o' de-vine deliciousness I be pinin' fer? Why, they be wild morels, fer ain't nothin' in the worl' like 'em, and I be roiled with certainty they be the food angels will be servin' when I pass through them pearly gates! Finger length perforated and pleated, they resemble little white Christmas trees some, clusters o' sprouts what pop up in the most unexpected wooded places come springtime. Lookin' like mini-a-ture done eat corn cobs with little stumps what keeps mice and such dry durin' spring rains, these rapturous morsels, they blind me fer near an'thin' else what's set before me on the dinner table. They only come on 'couple weeks o'the year, and some years, law, they don't show 't'all. Ain't no rhyme nor reason. No cultivatin' nor plantin' nor plannin'. Pop up 'hind that stand o' trees yonder this year? No sign the next. But go look down to the river, by them mossy rocks, and they they be, playin' hide 'n seek with those of us who has mouths a waterin' for a personal pile o' golden fresh mushrooms sizzlin' and teasin' on tonight's plate.
Gotta step careful, light. Keep your eyes peeled and your nose to the wind. And, 'course, know the diff'rence 'tween good ones and bad. That there's where brothers Linc and Lawrence, they fail. They got they heads in the clouds half the time, be it rodeo (that'd be Lincoln) or runnin' off to do some soldierin' an' be a he-ro (that'd be Lawrence). Either path you choose, they be steppin' all over my mushrooms and I'm near fit to be tied.
An' this year, why, all I kin do is set and wait 'fer them all to darken the door. An' watch Mama fussin' and flusterin' at the stove, back stiff with exasperation and displeasure.
For my Mama, she loves her her mushrooms near on as much as me. And that them fellers left me behind, why, she's beside herse'f, fearin' (an' rightly so, by my thinkin') they'll come back empty handed.
'Course, they woulda taken me, (me and Mama, we venture they shoulda!), had not Doc Allen been by the house 'couple days ago, examinin' me, stem to stern. Mama coulda tol' him, law, I my ownself coulda tol' him, but after his checkin' and proddin' and pokin, he pronounced, to no one's surprise, "Liam, son, you got yerself a fine case of the Chicken Pops. Best you stay out the sun, best you stay inside and he'p yer Mama fer the next week or so. Don't want nobody else a gittin' what you got."
Well, for 'bout a minute and a half, that forced re-laxation sounded plumb like a va-cation. Till I thought o' how Miss Meadow down to the school would fluster herself gettin' work home fer me to complete, how the horses out to the pasture would whinny and neigh, as I can fair speak their language, how I am the durned last of the Goodwells to suffer this malaise and would gleen the laughs and torment I bestowed on all my brothers and sisters whist they was spotted and runny.
So yesterdee at the breakfast table, when Grandpap 'nnounced Raymond down to the Feed and Seed, he seen fer himself a mess growin' out to his back forty, we all set right up.
"We goin', Grandpap?! We goin'?!" I sang out, joyous.
Grandpap turned his clear as the sky blue eyes to mine, blinkin' only once.
"We goin', Liam, but boy, you shore ain't. Not with them specks you got. Doc said sunshine might make you blind."
Don't mind. Don't care.
"But Grandpap!" I began, stunned. Felt Mama step behind my chair, hands on my shoulders, "Now Daddy," she begun, but Grandpap, he held up a firm hand, bade us both be silent.
"Won't have it, won't have none of it. Liam, " he looked me dead on, "Son, we'll miss you, boy, but it's 'bout time somebody else in this clan learn to sniff out them 'shrooms."
And with that, it was done. Linc and Lawrence, they gathered they kit fer an overnight, and stomped out to the back porch, screen door slammin' 'hind.
And so, I got me the Chicken Pops, and covered in oozin' speckles and itchy like a house a'far, I ain't s'posed to see the light 'o day, 'ccordin' to Doc Allen. So here I set, me and Mama, hopin' and prayin', but fair knowin' we"re likely bound to be waitin' till nex' Spring.
That be be yesterdee. This be today. And me and Mama, we ain't neither of us happy.
I am a'itchin' in more ways'n one, I tell you what.


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Plans for Y-Express in Agawam moving forward
Read Full Article
The Springfield YMCA hopes to open a Y-Express in space in the former Foodmart property on Springfield Street. Plans call for a technology center for youths to learn computer applications as well as an enrichment area for children younger than 10. A wellness center would include free weights and weight machines, men's and women's locker rooms and two multipurpose rooms. The venture is projected to become financially self-sustaining after one to two years.


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When Is The Right Time To Lash Out? Nicki Minaj Speaks And The People React
The fall out from the MTV VMA's is still live. Was Nicki Minaj in the right for her on stage out burst towards Miley Cyrus? Was this the public undressing that Miley and a whole collection of today's Hip Hop jocking Pop artists needed? Was Nicki wrong in the manner and setting she elected to act out in? Many say she was wrong. Many say she should know better and it was a petty move. I read many who said it was beneath her. In all honesty I've found a lot of those views to be one part comical and 1 part hypocritical. How so you ask? Well let's get into that.
I'm going to assume most folk reading this know what the background story is that led up to the VMA's if not click here.
Hip Hop exists as the epicenter of current popular culture. Everything that moves the needle among the youth ties into and comes from Hip Hop in some form or fashion. Yet Hip Hop is not treated with the respect that many other genres are. Dig deeper and realize that Nicki Minaj, a successful Black woman in Hip Hop who then crossed over into popular mainstream entertainment gets even less respect and unbalanced treatment in comparison to the other white female contemporaries. Many of whom can credit their direct success to their shady exploitation of Hip Hop elements and overall appropriation of the core cultural facets that people of color have lived for years.
What we end up with is a space where the creators and innovators of the art get critiqued and beaten down for their ways while others pick the pieces needed for success without the same judgmental opposition. It's from this position that I get why Nicki did what she did. It wasn't about being the bigger person or replying in a more professional manner. Life isn't diced up in perfectly manageable parts like that. Surprise, surprise people get mad and get emotional regardless of the level of success and notoriety they have. When you watch people do what you do……correction, when you watch people make a mockery of what you do yet gain equal if not greater success and THEN attempt to tell you how you should feel about the matter through the media I expect you to possibly pop off.
This leads into another aspect of the Nicki situation. There are those that see Nicki as a gimmick and not a true representative of Hip Hop. Much of this stems from her heavy pop presence a few years ago and her direct position of wanting to be more than just a NY rapper and extend beyond classic Hip Hop definitions. Personally, this is a slippery slope for me.
There is no blueprint to success and person expression. Do I feel Nicki turned her back on Hip Hop? No. As a true blue New Yorker did I feel slighted at her comments about being more than a NY rapper? No. At least in my opinion people should be allowed to grow. She wanted more and had the ability to do so. I don't fault her for that. Often times the Hip Hop audience has this mentality that they want you to succeed but it has to be strictly within the manner that they want. It doesn't work like that. Most of our favorites have ventured into the pop waters at one time or another. The business of Hip Hop is bigger now and the powers that be have more opportunity to profit off us then ever before.
Truthfully, folks issues with Nicki, while genuine and understandable don't take away from the matter at hand. She's Hip Hop and while I personally am I not elevating her to some black social leader status, what she did was needed. What Nicki did is the offline equivalent of what most of you do online when our culture gets disrespected. Folks are so used to running instagram and Twitter to rant, vent and "clap back" that they've forgotten the ways we came up dealing with people. You come out your mouth crazy, you get addressed directly. There's a reason the appropriation and disrespectful antics haven't stopped. The guilty parties know that all they have to do is survive a few slick tweets and then everything goes back to the status quo.
I'm sure if this was Queen Latifah or MC Lyte in that moment the delivery and message would have been different, but it wasn't. I hold people to consistent standards regardless of professional status. Someone needed to check Miley, period. Her act is old and insulting. Perhaps if more people stood up "for the culture" vs riding her wave to get paid we wouldn't be in this situation to start with.


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Title: Dynamic evaluation of free-form curves and surfaces
Free-form curves and surfaces defined by control points together with various varieties of basis functions are frequently used in Computer Aided Geometric Design. Efficient evaluation of points and derivatives of free-form curves and surfaces plays important roles for interactive rendering or CNC machining. In this presentation we show that almost all free-form curves used in CAGD are the solutions of linear differential systems. By employing typical numerical methods for solving the differential systems, points and derivatives of free-form curves and surfaces can be computed in a dynamical way. There are two advantages of the proposed technique for evaluating free-form curves and surfaces than other known methods. First, the proposed method is universal and efficient for evaluating free-form curves and surfaces. Second, the evaluation needs only arithmetic operations even when the free-form curves and surfaces are defined using some transcendental functions. (This is a joint work with Jialin Hong from CAS.)
Brief Bio: Xunnian Yang is now an associate professor at the school of mathematical sciences, Zhejiang University. He obtained a PhD in Zhejiang University in 1998. His major research interests include spans of CAGD, particularly spline and subdivision based techniques for shape representation and geometric modeling. Recently, he also studies differential geometry, ODE and PDE based methods for shape modeling and geometric processing.


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Getting Ready for a Wedding
This coming weekend, I will be going to the wedding of someone that I love very much. I am really excited to be going and getting to see a lot of people that I care about.
I am also excited because one of the cities that I will be near has a National Archives research center. I don't know if they will be open when I am there, but all of the family research has me making a huge list of questions to ask them when they are open. I thought of almost all of these questions today, a Federal Holiday that I don't observe. (National Oppress Native American Land and Asset day.)
I don't think Columbus and that Spanish Queen were cool. A lot of really crap stuff happened to the Native Americans in the United States, and I really wish that we had a holiday to celebrate Native Americans. I am not Native American, but I think that for a long time, they have gotten the bad end of the stick.
Which brings me to the wedding. Since the DNA test that has been done, I have been the list maker. Lists of various things to do and look up and find. Lists of things to compare and contrast. I feel like I need to not sleep in order to get all of the updating done that I want to do. I have a long list of relatives that I need to remove from my tree. Which brought me to a problem that I finally decided on a solution for.
I now have a problem with my family tree. Years of research is invalid as it is no longer relevant to me. Do I delete all of that information? Do I give it to others? I finally decided that my family tree will remain intact, but I will build a second tree that is DNA accurate. I have named them 2 different things so that there are no mistakes. That way, people who are benefiting from the research I did on a couple of lines that are not mine are still able to access that. I merely pulled the connection to me away.
The second tree is my little tree. All me. All DNA locked down. It is tiny. For now. But it is good because it is accurate.
Going to this wedding, I will be encouraging a few of my friends to get their DNA done because we have a few surnames in common. I am convinced that 2 of my friends and I are actually distant cousins. I am excited about this, because if they do test, if we are related, that will fill in a missing line that was lost around the turn of the 20th century. If we are not related, then they will have the fun that I am having with all of this.
If this was a wedding of a family member, I would be encouraging every single person there to get testing done. Because why not?
I think back to all of the family members that are gone, and I wish that I had gotten some DNA from several people, so that there were no unanswered questions. Too late. Don't regret asking someone to test. I will be putting a page up by Halloween of this year with all sorts of fun links and things to do when you get your test results as well as my reviews of DNA testing.
Have a fun week and tell your family that you love them.
If you or anyone in your life wants to get DNA testing done, please use my link listed in my LINKS tab above. I get a small commission, and every little bit helps. Additionally, if you shop Amazon, please shop through my link. Again, commission, sales, etcetera. Using my links don't cost a single cent more.
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About Dixie
I write a lot about genetic genealogy, family trees, DNA, and home life as well as the occasional product review. Comments? Email me at email@example.com
April 2020


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I invite you all to read it, and meditate on it, especially on the quotes presented there from the sacred writings.
One of the reasons I post other people's articles, discussions, letters on the topic of modern divergences is to show to the international Shinshu sangha that there are many, not only me, who are tired of seeing the Dharma being distorted with ideas and opinions that can't be found in the writings of the Masters of our school. I also hope that others will find the courage to speak.
I know that there are even more people there, reading this blog and finding the correcting of modern divergences being true and necessary, but still keeping silence....
I know this because I saw you, met you and discussed with you personally at former European Shinshu Conferences or other meetings, and I know you are sick and tired to see the Dharma being distorted in such a way as it is done in our days by some English speaking scholars seeking their fame in countries where the Dharma is still at the beginning.
I know you often understood nothing from the many complicated discourses presented there.
I know this because I was there and I am sick and tired to see beginners coming and going in the international sangha because there are so few capable to present the Shinshu Dharma as it is - a simple way of faith for all people, in the true and living Amida Buddha....
So, I invite you all who share the same aspiration like me, to have courage and speak openly and directly in the support of this cause - to return to the sacred texts of our school, to the sutras and works of our Masters and guide/rely in our presentation of the Dharma only on them and not on everybody's opinions and ideas. Let us stop our precious Dharma who can make everyone attain Buddhahood, no matter their capacities, from being destroyed and become unrecognizable for future generations of followers. Let us act now as responsible disciples of Shakyamuni and Shinran Shonin.
Jason Ranek (Norway) (1) writes: This quote is from the preface to chapter III. I found this passage AMAZING because it shows clearly that "modern" deviations from the true teaching were also around in Master Shinran's day:
"As I reflect, I find that our attainment of shinjin arises from the heart and mind with which Amida Tathagata selected the Vow, and that the clarification of true mind has been taught for us through the skilful works of compassion of the Great Sage, Sakyamuni. But the monks and laity of this latter age and the religious teachers of these times are floundering in concepts of `self-nature' and `mind only,' and they disparage the true realization of enlightenment in the Pure Land way. Or lost in the self-power attitude of meditative and non-meditative practices, they are ignorant of true shinjin, which is diamondlike."
I would like to note here that the translation in my Shinshu Seiten is
slightly different and renders the last two sentences in the text
above as follows:
"However, priests and laymen of the Declining Age, and masters of these days, sunken in the idea `that one's true nature is Buddha' and `that the Buddha's Pure Land exists in one's mind,' degrade (the belief in) the True Enlightenment in the Pure Land; or, being deluded by the mind of self-power to practice meditative and non-meditative good deeds, they are blind to the Adamantine True Faith."
Here, we find Master Shinran speaking directly to the false views infecting the modern Shin Sangha. Clearly, the idea that what was taught by Shakyamuni in the Pure Land sutras is merely a "skilful means" for the ignorant masses who lack the wisdom to see the deeper, esoteric message of the dharma, is an idea that was rejected by Master Shinran. What strikes me here is that only when the pretensions to wisdom of foolish beings are stripped away can we access the true and real mind and heart of Shakyamuni.
Paul Roberts:
Thanks, Jason, for this outstanding post showing how Master Shinran tackles head on the "mind only" approach to Buddhism - including the idea that the Pure Land is just a state of mind.
Unfortunately, someone who is attached to the idea won't accept what you say, even if you point to this passage, or other relevant passages, from the core texts of our school.
Why not?
Because they're not willing - at this point in time - to do the work of LISTENING DEEPLY.
Specifically - they are not willing to take the nickel's worth of thoughts and ideas in their head, and set them aside for a time, so that they may inquire honestly within concerning Dharma TRUTH.
They'll give you all sorts of reasons why they won't do it. They'll quote modern western thinkers, or something they heard in college, or something some guru or teacher says. They'll grab ideas from the YOGACARA (mind only) school of Buddhism, from Carl Jung, or his
student Joseph Campbell, or (as happened recently in a blog defending Taitetsu Unno), Christian theologian Paul Tillich. They'll do anything and everything as long as they don't have to let go of their precious pre-conceptions and sit with their questions, humbly awaiting an answer from their innermost being.
That is why, for such folks, there's really nothing to be done at this time. That's why I won't debate them - even though they'd love to debate me, or Josho Adrian, in some sort of public forum.
There is just no point in debating folks who talk like that. None at all. It would be like trying to debate a blind person about whether or not there was such a thing as the color blue.
That's why Master Shinran, speaking with Amida's wisdom, said that we should avoid all scholarly debate. There's just no point in it.
Now, please don't think I am being hard on these folks - or rejecting them in any way. I am not. But I recognize that each sentient being has his or her timetable for awakening to the True Teaching of the Pure Land Way. It is one of the five conditions for birth explained to us by Master Rennyo.
At some point in the future, these same folks who are now acting as Dharma destroyers will awaken to their great need for salvation from the Other Power of the real and true Buddha Amida. It may happen in this lifetime. It may not happen for another billion lifetimes. But
it will happen.
At that point, Amida and the Buddha team will be able to manifest the great compassion to these folks who are now imprisoned by their doubts. Just as we have been led to lisen - and to listen deeply - so they will be led to listen deeply as well.
And then, because they are ready, willing and able to listen deeply, they will hear what they cannot hear right now. They will hear that Amida is a real and true Buddha of reward body. They will hear that the Pure Land is a real place, and not just a state of consciousness. They will hear that the Larger Sutra is a true record of events that occurred when Shakyamuni Buddha preached one particlar sermon some 2500 years ago on Vulture Peak.
They will hear it from WITHIN - as the fundamental Buddha nature which is within each of us bears witness to truth of the words of our Dharma masters.
Then - after countless ages of living in darkness - the gift of faith-consciousness called SHINJIN will arise in their hearts and minds, just as it has arisen in ours. Then we will all rejoice together, praising - along with all the other Buddhas in the sentient universe - the great Buddha Amida for who He is, and what He has done.
So - in the end - everything will be resolved, every doubter will become a believer, and every endarkened mind will become enlightened.
That is what is going to happen. No one can prevent this ultimate destiny from manifesting - even if today these folks are acting in the role of a Dharma destroyer - as these false teachers in the Shin Sangha surely are.
But that leaves open the question: What should we do TODAY?
Specifically - for those who have been called by Amida Buddha to be true teachers in the Shin Sangha - whether they are clerics, or scholars or lay people - whether they are men or women - whether they are members of one Shin sect or another, or no particular sect at all - what is OUR duty, in THIS day?
For ease of discussion, I've dubbed this question DHARMA DIALOGUE #2, the dialogue about the state of the larger Shin Sangha - in contradistinction to DHARMA DIALOGUE #1, the dialogue about our individual journey to SHINJIN and ultimately, Buddhahood.
There are a number of us right now - including Eiken Kobai Sensei, Rev Josho Adrian Cirlea, and myself - who are publicly pressing others to have this dialogue in various venues. Eiken Sensei writes scholarly papers, Eiken and Adrian speak at conferences and write books, Adrian
and I have Dharma dialogue concerning this issue with others on the internet.
Frankly, there are some who object to this dialogue. They feel we have no right to dictate to others what they should or should not believe.
The truth is, we're not dictating anything. People are free to believe whatever they want. What we are doing is pointing out - just as Jason has pointed out in quoting Master Shinran in the KGSS above - that these divergent beliefs have nothing to do with Shin Buddhism,
that they are NOT Shin Buddhism, and that no one who teaches such beliefs can be said to be a true teacher of Shin Buddhism.
And the reason we can make such sweeping conclusions with such authority is simply because we've been doing what Jason is also doing right now: We're reading the core texts of our school, and we're allowing the pristine teaching of our Dharma Masters to trump our own small thoughts.
In his last response to me on Dharma Dialogue #2, my Dharma friend Richard, a longtime member of the BCA here in America, said that "the Shin Sangha is in disarray". I'll get back to Richard and our ongoing dialogue shortly, but what he says - and what I have been saying for
YEARS - is the bald truth.
The Shin Sangha IS in disarray - and has been in precipitious decline for decades - not because of the Amida-deniers and the Dharma destroyers. Those divergences - and all sorts of other divergences - will ALWAYS be part of the landscape of an endarkened world. It's just one of the countless forms of evil that exists here in Samsara.
No - it is not because of the divergences, nor because of their propagators that the Sangha suffers such great loss as it has experienced. Rather, it suffers loss because those who KNOW the truth, and have been given the gift of SHINJIN, are keeping silent, rather than speaking up concerning the false teachers and their false teachings.
So - one of my own goals is to encourage this essential Dharma Dialogue along with those who are willing, like Eiken and Adrian, so that others who are called as true teachers would stop being silent, and start speaking up - in local Sanghas, at conferences, in scholarly journals, and on the internet.
This is the only way that the larger Shin Sangha will ever emerge from it's current state of disarray.
Thanks to Jason, to Richard, to my Dharma mentor Eiken Sensei, to my close Dharma friend Adrian - and to EVERYONE who is willing to listen deeply to the Dharma, and take part in this dialogue, in whatever way.
(1) Tokujo Jason Ranek is a Jodo Shinshu follower living in Norway. He received kikyoshiki (confirmation rite) at the last European Shinshu Conference which was held in Bad Reichenchal, Germany, 2008.
You can read some of his poems in the section "poems" on this blog.
related articles with this post:
General statement to prevent rumors and false i9nformations
Book by Unno denied acces in the library of Tariki Dojo
Reactions to my critics of Rev Unno's writing (part1)
Reactions to my critics of Rev Unno'a writing (part2)
General statement to prevent rumors and false informations
Those who deny the existence of Amida, don't have shinjin - some simple explanations
and all article in the category DIVERGENCES FROM JODO SHINSHU TEACHING


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Peer Tutor Program
The Peer Tutor Program provides training to students currently enrolled in for-credit courses at Cape Cod Community College to become tutors for courses in which they have received a grade of B or higher. Students must have a 3.0 or higher cumulative GPA and a recommendation from a faculty member to apply to become Peer Tutors. Peer Tutors are trained according to College Reading and Learning Association Guidelines (CRLA).
Peer Tutors are accessible resources who can relate to student needs, having recently taken courses they are tutoring and being currently enrolled in classes themselves.
Here is what some of our peer tutors have to say about the Peer Tutor Program:
"The Peer Tutor Program works great in both directions, for students and for peers. Students have access to free academic resources, and peer tutors more deeply explore those subjects that they tutor."
"I think the overall program is a great tool for students. I know it isn't easy for some students to seek out help and in my position, it makes it easier for them to obtain that help."
Students who are interested in being peer tutors can fill out the Peer Tutor Application Form.
In a world that is constantly changing, there is no one subject or set of subjects that will serve you for the foreseeable future, let alone for the rest of your life. The most important skill to acquire now is learning how to learn.


text: News Beach volleyball 17/03/2018 Germans Bergmann and Harms celebrate maiden World Tour gold in Muscat Muscat, Oman, March 17, 2018 – Philipp Arne Bergmann and Yannick Harms claimed gold at the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour event in Muscat, Oman. The second-seeded Germans won five matches to register their first ever podium finish on the World Tour.Quick links - Beach volleyball:FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour - MuscatFIVB.com - Beach VolleyballLatest VideosFacebookTwitterInstagramTop-seeded Iranians Rahman Raoufi and Bahman Salemiinjehboroun took silver, a step up from bronze at Agadir 2017, their only previous medal on the World Tour. Italy's Tiziano Andreatta and Andrea Abbiati, who came into the main draw from Wednesday's qualification tournament, finished in third place, claiming their first medal on the Tour and leaving the home heroes, Omani rookies Nouh Al-Jalbubi and Mazin Alhashmi, off the podium, in fourth.All medal winners on the podium in MuscatIn the gold medal match, Bergmann and Harms delivered a 2-0 (21-18, 21-11) shutout of Raoufi and Salemi to claim the top honours of the tournament. In the first set, the Iranians held up through 18-18, but three points in a row for the Germans followed as Bergmann found the empty spot on the opposite half of the court to close it off at 21-18. The second set was much quicker as the European side quickly broke away and never looked back. It was again Bergmann who managed to overcome the Iranian block to score the last point for 21-11.The match for third place featured a very competitive first set and a one-sided second on the way to Andreatta and Abbiati's 2-0 (21-19, 21-9) victory. The lead went back and forth in the first half of the first set, but the second half went under Italian control. Still, Nouh and Mazin saved the first three of four consecutive match points, before Abbiati converted the fourth one to a 21-19 close. 7-6 was the last time the score was so close in the second set. Andreatta and Abbiati then opened a gap while the Omanis were unable to offer much resistance. With a powerful shot through the middle, Andreatta shaped up the win at 21-9.The semifinal between the Iranian and the Omani duos was a hard-fought, but straight-set affair. Raoufi and Salemi advanced to the final with a 2-0 (21-19, 21-15) win, carved out in 44 minutes of play.The first match on the sand court at the Millennium Resort Mussanah on Saturday was the most competitive. The semifinal between Bergmann and Harms and Andreatta and Abbiati was the day's only three-setter. After 51 minutes of play, the Germans emerged victorious with a 2-1 (21-14, 16-21, 15-9) win. Print this Page News {{item.LocalShortDate}} {{item.Title}} All the News


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Exhibitor's Centre
Who Can Exhibit in Fashion Conect Trade Show?
Apparel Brands in Children's Wear, Women's Wear, Men's Wear, Active Wear, Knits, Denim/Jeans, Intimates/Lingerie, Loungewear/Sleep Wear, Fashion Acessories Brands & Supplies in Handbags, Footwears, Scarves and Stoles, Art Jewellery, Watches, Eyewear, Belts & Wallets, Headwear, Neckware .
Exhibitor profile of Fashion Conect Trade Show includes


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May's Daring Bakers' Challenge was pretty twisted – Ruth from The Crafts of Mommyhood challenged us to make challah! Using recipes from all over, and tips from "A Taste of Challah," by Tamar Ansh, she encouraged us to bake beautifully braided breads.
I was pretty excited about this month's challenge. My hubby and I love challah and I love any excuse to make it!
Challah bread is definitely a bread that anyone can make. It's pretty forgiving and easy to shape. I have no idea just how traditional this particular recipe is (not much challah bread up in North Dakota where I grew up), but it is tasty. This could also be easily made into rolls for those summer time burgers now that grilling season is here with Memorial Day.
Thank you to all who serve on this Memorial Day! Thanks to my grandfather who served 23 years in the Air Force, my father-in-law who served 20 years, and my brother-in-law who also served 20 years. And especially to my wonderful hubby who is still serving – you make me proud every day!
Challah Bread
From Professional Baking by Wayne Gisslen
Yield: 2 loaves
Difficulty: Intermediate
Time: 30 minutes hands on; additional 2 to 3 hours for baking and proofing.
- 8 oz water (temperature will vary depending on your kitchen – warm kitchen equals cool water)
- 1 TB + 2 tsp instant yeast
- 20 oz bread flour
- 4 oz egg yolk (about 6 to 8 eggs)
- 1.5 oz sugar
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 oz oil
- egg wash
1. Put all the ingredients into a mixing bowl starting with the water. If using a stand mixer, mix on speed 2 for 4 minutes (using your dough hook) or until all the ingredients come together into a ball, or use a wooden spoon to mix until it is ready to knead. At this point I like to finish kneading by hand, but feel free to finish in the mixer on speed 3. Knead until smooth.
2. Form into a ball and place in a greased bowl. Cover and let rise until about double, about 1 to 2 hours.
3. Gently deflate and cut six equal strands. Roll each strand to the length of your sheet pan. Place three strands on each sheet pan and braid. Pinch the ends and tuck under. Brush with egg wash and let rest for another hour or until about double again. Preheat oven to 400F.
4. Brush with egg wash again. Bake about 25 minutes, rotating half way through. Loaves should be golden brown. Check temperature if needed – bread should be no less than 180F in the center.
Let cool completely (it will be tough!) before enjoying! This bread makes a fantastic french toast, but it is also great all by itself! Enjoy!
Note: I know there are no pictures of the process and the instructions might be a bit vague for those who haven't made bread before. Please shoot me an email or comment below if you need further clarification! It really is an easy bread to make!
Check out more bread ideas at Yeast Spotting


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Metro train is one of the most popular mode of transport for a majority of people these days. This has given rise to a huge rush in the number of passengers travelling with the help of Delhi Metro. Delhi Metro is the best example of the technology. This has proven as a boon for the women, old citizens, etc. This train provides the travelers with a comfortable as well as convenient journey. The Delhi metro Rail Corporation has introduced the concept of smart cards, so as to stagger the rush during the peak hours.
The use of smart cards has made the passengers turn into the smart passengers. This is because; the metro recharge of smart cards can now be done with the help of the Add value machine, which has now been installed at the every metro station, so as to add some money to the card. The passengers are suggested to become a smart traveler by getting the card recharged with the help of mobile apps likePaytm. This has enabled the smart card users to rescue and enjoy a quick top-up without leaving the comfort of their home.
This has saved the time of the users, as majority of the users were supposed to stand in queues for long hours, so as to get their card recharged. The passengers or the smart card users are informed that they can do this complete task of metro card recharge online with the help of Paytm, Airtel live, etc. The users can do this task with an ease and within a shorter period of time. They are just required to enter the unique number mentioned at the back of the card and get their card recharged in just a few minutes.
If a person want to recharge online, he/she is supposed to login to his/her account and get their card recharged with the help of comfortable payment options like debit cards or credit cards. So, the smart card users are suggested to save time and get their metro card recharged with an ease. The users can get assistance for the same for every 24 hours. The regular users of smart cards are facilitated with special coupons or promo codes that they can use during their card recharge.
The Metro Rail Corporation has provided a number of solutions to the smart card users without standing in queues. This enables the users to avoid gigantic queues at the metro station and recharge it online. This enables the users to enjoy the fastest recharge service and never turn their card out of value. Also, the users can enjoy special cash back offers on their online recharge of the smart cards. These online modes of recharge ensure that their payment options are safe as well as secure. They will get an instant confirmation with the help of an SMS with all the details of the recharge.
The online recharge of metro card has enabled the users to add value to their card without any hard efforts.


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Factory Unlock and FRP Remove Services are Temporary Unavailable
We are sorry to inform you that Factory Unlock and FRP Remove services are disabled till April 9-10 due to server maintenance.
All existing requests will be postponed. Please, don't submit new orders and inform your customers.
We apologize for the inconveniences caused.


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Joshua Conkel is a writer of plays, films, and TV pilots. He is also a Navy brat from rural Washington State.
His film Curmudgeons (directed by and starring Danny DeVito) has won countless awards at film festivals around the world and he was a writer for Netflix's hit adaption of A Series of Unfortunate Events.
Plays include MilkMilkLemonade (Best Off Off Broadway Show of 2009-NY Press, published by Playscripts), The Chalk Boy (Published by Original Works Publishing), Lonesome Winter (co-written with Megan Hill), The Sluts of Sutton Drive, I Wanna Destroy You, Sprawl, The House of Von Macrame, Okay, bye as well as countless short plays.
Conkel's work has been seen all over the world and developed by Steppenwolf, Soho Rep, Ensemble Studio Theatre, The Bushwick Starr, Old Vic, Dixon Place, The Flea and more. Alumnist of Youngblood, The Soho Rep Writers/Directors Lab and the TS Eliot Old Vic US/UK Exchange. BFA in theater, Cornish College of the Arts.
He lives in Los Angeles, CA.


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Not the most idyllic of Saturdays… Rather than doing something utterly pointless, or nothing at all, I actually put in work. I spent most of the day helping wrestle in a new water heater. A couple weeks ago, the old water heater sprung a leak and then it went away… so we just ignored it. Inevitably, the leak came back, so it had to be taken care of (now, anyway).
I also got a chance to take care of the Previa's flat problem. Luckily, it came with a full-size spare. Unluckily, it was a pain in the ass to get. The weird cage thing holding up the wheel was rigged all retarded, and I ended up having to cut it. With the spare wheel free, I was able to unbolt everything entirely (weight savings son).
Back in business.
Yeah, today wasn't much fun.


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So, it's super late — but it's worth posting because it is a monster win for San Jose.
|Busch saves the day for Earthquakes
|By Julio Lara Daily Journal Staff
|It's been an up-and-down year for the San Jose Earthquakes — but they might just have hit their peak.
In what has to be seen as one of the biggest wins since their return to Major League Soccer, San Jose scored early and held on to beat the L.A. Galaxy, the team with the best record in MLS, 1-0, in front a record crowd at Buck Shaw stadium.
The win, coupled with a Colorado loss, propels the Quakes right back into the playoff picture with 29 points.
"For us to get a clean sheet against a team like that, it shows the character we have in our dressing room right now," said San Jose head coach Frank Yallop. "We picked up three valuable points today. It's not about how you do it, it's about getting it done."
How they did it shouldn't come as a surprise anymore to anyone that follows the league — with their 8th home shutout in 2010 the Quakes have demonstrated that there might be a tougher team to score on at home than San Jose.
In their latest win the defensive conversation begins and ends with goalkeeper Jon Busch, who was anointed the starter earlier this week after Joe Cannon went down with an ankle injury.
The nine-year MLS veteran was superb between the posts for the Earthquakes, making several key saves including a pair on Landon Donovan, the U.S team star, who is loved and hated around theses parts.
"We knew we could play with them," Busch said. "They're probably the best team in the league right now (but) we knew we could compete with them."
Call it the rivalry, or maybe it's that San Jose knew that Saturday marked a big stretch of games that could determine their postseason aspirations, but the Quakes seem to have a little extra in the tank when they've played against the Galaxy.
Saturday marked the second time that an early goal has fueled San Jose. In Los Angeles, Bobby Convey put the Earthquakes ahead in the second minute. On Saturday Chris Wondolowski was the benefactor of a defensive miscommunication by the Galaxy in the 4th minute.
After receiving a pass by Arturo Alvarez, Convey crossed the ball into the L.A. 18. Galaxy goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts started for the ball but then let up and Wondolowski found himself alone on the end line with the ball at his feet — to his credit San Jose's leading scorer still had to execute a shot on a difficult angle to convert the score.
Down 1-0, the Galaxy, who came back twice against the Earthquakes in late July to steal a draw, went to work. But at the end of their best efforts was Busch.
Due to injuries, San Jose is still trying to patch things up on their backline — and that showed Saturday.
Three times L.A. was gift-wrapped goals on defensive lapses by San Jose but none greater than in the 39th minute when Donovan was 1-on-1 against Busch. The San Jose keeper went low and to his left to make a marvelous save.
"If that isn't the save of the week, there must be some amazing save," Wondolowski said.
"I kind of block everything out," said Busch on his approach to 1-v-1 opportunities. "I drift off into Jon Busch Land and today, it was a good place to be."


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So, What Happened?
Arlene's Flowers is a florist in Richland, Washington that was approached by long-time customers to provide flowers for a same-sex wedding ceremony. Arlene's owner, Barronelle Stutzman, declined the opportunity explaining to the customer that her faith wouldn't allow her to be part of that event. According to Ms. Stutzman, he said he respected her position and they parted on good terms.
Call Your Legislator:
Arlene's Flowers FAQs
Who is suing Arlene's Flowers?
Most cases alleging discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation originate with a disgruntled customer. This case is unique, however, because the lawsuit has been brought by Washington State Attorney General, Bob Ferguson (360-753-6200), on behalf of the State of Washington. Arlene's Flowers has been accused of violating of the state's Consumer Protection Act, which exists to protect the public from unfair or fraudulent business practices. Further, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is also suing Arlene's Flowers and it's owner, Barronelle Stutzman, after she refused to give in to their demands to apologize to the gay men, donate $5,000 to a gay community youth center, and relinquish her U.S. and State Constitutionally protected free exercise of religion among other liberties.
Who is paying for the lawsuit?
We are. The Attorney General is funded by the taxpayers, so this lawsuit against Arlene's Flowers is being funded by taxpayers. These are your tax dollars at work.
Is this because Washington redefined marriage to include same-sex "marriage"?
Yes and no. Prior to the redefinition of marriage in Washington, a state statute was enacted that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Cases like this have arisen in other states where marriage has not been redefined using similar non-discrimination statutes. However, redefining marriage made controversies like this much more likely to happen because the legal definition of marriage is now at odds with millions of Washingtonians beliefs about what marriage is.
Why shouldn't Arlene's Flowers have to provide services for a same-sex wedding?
The key issue is whether individuals should have the liberty to choose what their artistic, professional services are used for. Should a web designer be required to design a website for a cause he disagrees with? Should a print shop be required to print literature in violation of his beliefs? Should an artist be required to paint a picture that would be offensive to her simply because someone is willing to pay her? Artistic expression is a constitutionally recognized and protected form of speech. In the same way that your right to speak is protected by the First Amendment, so is your right not to speak. In this case, Arlene's Flowers is simply choosing not to speak in this venue.
Isn't this like separate lunch counters for blacks and whites during segregation?
No. This case illustrates the difference between discriminating based on sexual preference and making decisions based on your beliefs about marriage. A policy refusing to serve gay people under any circumstances would be discrimination based on sexual preference. That would also be like segregated lunch counters. In this case, however, Arlene's Flowers had no such policy refusing to do business with gay people. In fact, they have employed gay people and had happily and knowingly served gay people for years without any claim of discrimination or hostility. However, this particular event was something they did not want to lend their artistic, professional services to because of their beliefs about what marriage is. You cannot have a policy refusing service to all Mexicans or Japanese people, but you cannot be compelled to do something you don't wish to do simply because the person asking is Mexican or Japanese.
If they would do it for a straight wedding, isn't their refusal to serve a gay wedding discrimination based on sexual orientation?
No. Should a business be forced to be part of a gay pride parade if asked to do so because the person is gay and wouldn't be asking if he weren't? Should a Muslim person be forced to lend their services to an Easter service because you can't discriminate on the basis of religion and the person wouldn't be asking if he weren't Christian? The fact that a person happens to be part of a group covered by the non-discrimination statute does not mean it's illegal to ever decline to do business with them. It just means that you can't have a policy of refusing to deal with that class of person.
How can I support Arlene's Flowers?
Support a Local Freedom of Conscience Resolution
Kennewick City Council
Freedom of Conscience Resolution and Supporting Documents
Download Printable Action Cards
The action card includes contact information for calling Kennewick City Council Members. Please print and share with others.
Contribute to Arlene's Flowers Legal Defense Fund
If you wish to make a contribution specifically to support the legal team of Arlene's Flowers, please make a tax deductible contribution to the Alliance Defending Freedom.
Contact Your Legislators and the Attorney General
Contact your Legislators at 800-562-6000 and Attorney General Bob Ferguson at 360-753-6200 to express your support of the constitutional rights of Barronelle Stutzman, the owner of Arlene's Flowers:
Freedom of Religion:
- The Constitution protects Americans from being forced by the government to advance ideas that violate their beliefs and has no business demanding that citizens abandon their faith in order to avoid fines and imprisonment
- Americans don't have to surrender their beliefs in order to make a living, to provide jobs, and to serve their communities
- Arlene's Flowers serves everyone in the community, but what it won't do is violate the family's biblical belief that marriage is defined only as a union of husband and wife
Freedom of Speech:
- Artistic expression is a constitutionally recognized and protected form of speech. In the same way that your right to speak is protected by the First Amendment, so is your right not to speak. In this case, Arlene's Flowers is simply choosing not to speak in this venue
Freedom of Expression:
- A Christian artist should not be forced to promote homosexuality, just as a homosexual artist should not be forced by the state to promote Christianity
- An artist may by hired, but in America, an artist cannot be forced into involuntary servitude by the state
Free Enterprise:
- America is supposed to be a free marketplace of ideas where citizens are able to express, live and work according to their beliefs. Family businesses are guaranteed the freedom to live and do business according to the family's deepest beliefs
Hand Deliver an Arelen's Flower to the Attorney General
Attorney General Bob Ferguson
1125 Washington St SE, Olympia, WA 98504
Write a Letter to the Editor
Share your thoughts about this issue with your local community.
Contact Your Local Chamber of Commerce
Create local support for free enterprise for business owners.
Host a Local Organizing Event
Discuss how to educate your elected officials, as well as your community, about the need for religious freedom protections in Washington State.
Receive Updates and Inform Your Friends
Subscribe to FPIW news and alerts at FPIW.org! Select "I want to join TEAM ARLENE" as your subscription interest.
Buy flowers from Arlene's Flowers
Online or in Person:
1177 Lee Blvd
Richland, WA 9935 (800) 692-0706


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I am having an amazing time in Phoenix, there is so much amazing stuff going on here in this city. Off to brunch with my hosts and the Crafty Chica herself, Kathy Cano Murillo. One more screening today at Modified Arts, hopefully it will sell out like yesterdays showing.
I got a great review you can read HERE from yesterday too!
And, if you have a spare moment read this article that was passed onto me about the growing movement of younger foodies in Brooklyn, there is so much crossover with what is going on with DIY creativity in this article HERE.
Pictures and more news to come! I fly home right after my screening and will be in Milwaukee all week catching up on stuff.... Oh and don't forget to do read about the giveaway that P.A. Press is doing for the book below!
Sunday, May 03, 2009
Phoenix:: Sunday
2 comments:
- missgreen2061 said...
it was a joy to meet you Sunday afternoon, thoughly enjoyed your film. Please let me know once the DVD is ready for purchase. I love crafts of all kinds, but my favorite thing is finding a treasure made from long ago, so much time, love, & energy put into it, i then take it & either reuse it or display it, for it's beautify to be seen again. i am totally into using recycled goods, they usually are the best, & much easier on the pocketbook. Thank you for showing the true value of handmade goods, really handmade treasures for the next generation to "find". God Bless you on all of your travels.....Sandy
Love the name of this blog. Great find!
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


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This week we are playing with buttons...
If you squint, you'll see that I included one teeny tiny little button. LOL!!
The image is A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E and it's from this week's sponsor, JellyPark digital stamps. I colored this cutie with my Copics.
And the change I mentioned - Linda has started creating beautiful inspiration boards for her challenges, I love the one this time for buttons!! And even better, she created an entire Pinterest board with all the inspiration (and more!) featured here. So cool!
I really hope you'll play along with us this week! You have until Saturday, January 21 at 8pm EST and all you have to do is make a card and use buttons! Or even just a single button, like I did! I know you can do that! And when you link up your creation, be sure to tell Linda that I convinced you to play along, so she knows I'm earning my keep on the team... :-)
Thanks for stopping by!
- Stamps: Digital image from Jellypark
- Paper: Stampin Up & Georgia Pacific cardstock, Little Yellow Bicycle & Lily Bee DP
- Ink: Copic markers, white gel pen
- Other: MFT snowflake die, American Crafts twine, Diamond Stickles, button


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Rewards Canada News | Issue 57 | 12.10.04
Air Canada has announced that the following Maple Leaf lounges will no longer participate in the Priority Pass program as of Dec 31, 2004: Calgary International , Edmonton International ,Halifax International, Montreal Pierre Elliott Trudeau x2, Ottawa International, Toronto Lester B. Pearson International x3, Vancouver International x3 and , Winnipeg International.
Northwest Airlines WorldPerks program has announced increased redemption requirements in 2005 for reward travel to South America as well as increased many of the restricted business class rewards. However all Northwest fare classes will now count towards Elite status. Details on the reward increases can be found here and the elite update can be found here.
Scandinavian's Euro Bonus program has announced some new changes that came into to effect on Oct 31. Gold members earn 25% more Basic points and Silver members earn 15% more in all classes on SAS, SAS Braathens, Blue1, Widerøe, airBaltic and on Estonian Airways. The nice thing here, is the "all classes" part, so an elite member with SAS can earn bonus points on any fare. They have also lowered the bonus flights from and to the US from 70 000 to 60 000 points in Economy and from 110 000 to 90 000 in Business. Finally they will be awarding 500 bonus miles for tickets
|Alaska Airlines
has decided to take on America West by launching direct Vancouver to San
Diego service on February 13. In addition Alaska will be boosting its service
from Vancouver to Las Vegas and Palm Springs
JetsGo announced a major expansion in Western Canada with flights from Edmonton to Victoria, Abbotsford and Saskatoon beginning Jan. 10., Calgary to Ft. McMurray on Jan 23 and Vancouver to Prince George on Jan 16
Air Canada | 5,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles for every round-trip or two one-way segments on direct non-stop flights in any fare class between Toronto and Rome.From 04.04.05-05.31.05
JetsGo | Double Jetsmiles when you fly to and from Kelowna, Saskatoon, Fort McMurray, Prince George, Abbotsford and Victoria . Until 02.28.05
| Triple
Travel Club Miles
you rent an Avis car for three days or more worldwide. Until
Hyatt Gold Passport
| Earn
a Free Nights Stay after every
2 stays paid for with your MasterCard.Registration is required, register
Until 02.28.05
InterContinental Hotels Group Priority Club | Double Points or Miles for each qualifying stay, beginning with your second stay at any InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Hotel Indigo , Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Staybridge Suites or Candlewood Suites hotel worldwide. Register online. From 01.17.05-04.30.05
©2004 Rewards Canada. You are receiving this email due to your requesting it through the Rewards Canada website. To unsubscribe send an email with "Unsubscribe" in the subject line to email@example.com


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Join artist Anthony Lister at a unique, interactive art event at Nanda\Hobbs Contemporary in collaboration with the Art Gallery Society of NSW.
For Lister, drawing from life is a fundamental part of his artistic practice.
You've probably noticed his works on walls and buildings around Sydney. Originally from Queensland, this pioneer of the stencil and street art movement was named one of Australia's 50 most collectable artists by Art Collector Magazine in 2010 and has exhibited in Miami, New York, Los Angeles, London and Milan as well as in Australia. High and low culture clash in his drawings, paintings and installations. In his recent works, he has turned his focus back to the human form and the female figure.
This event offers a unique opportunity to witness him drawing his life models. You're also able to participate and will be encouraged to draw during the evening.
Drawing materials and drinks provided.
Ticket Price:
$60 - Members of the Art Gallery NSW
$70 - Non Members
For Booking / Enquiries contact the AGNSW - 02 9225 1878 or book online here


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Project:ARTspace is proud to present Andie Dinkin in her first New York solo exhibition, Fish Served in Satin Slippers. Dinkin, a Los Angeles based artist, is known for her pen and ink drawings of decadent crowds produced from imagination. In Fish Served in Satin Slippers, Dinkin creates crowds within surrealist motifs to satirize the grotesque nature of our current state of world affairs.
On the first day of Trump's presidency, Dinkin found herself writing "the inferno is here". This became the impetus for her use of Dante's Divine Comedy as a metaphor for the world's wellbeing. The Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso became subject for the exhibition. Over the course of nine months, Dinkin masterfully created three large pen and ink drawings on paper. Filled to the brim with an obsessive attention to detail, Dinkin's humorous drawings are made up of scenes within scenes that are thematically held together. With her choice of subject combined with her style her work closely relates to pieces by Hieronymus Bosch and Peter Breughel. Each were known for their satirical displays of Christianity and the modern day.
Dinkin's approach to her subject, as her title suggests, is with humor. The title The Fish Served in Satin Slipper is the name of one of Salvador Dali's Dream Dishes. Like a dream, Andie uses both the imaginary and real to create a world ripe for metaphor and satire. This is aided by her hypnotically eloquent compositions and drawing style. In Dali's Holiday Feast a drawing inspired by Purgatorio, the characters are practicing sinful indulgences, neglecting respect for their time of repentance. Despite being one step from permanent residency in Hell, the characters satiate all their desires, such as sex, food, and mischief, which is catered by their animal and demon hosts. It's decadent on a grand scale with hundreds of figures packing the composition each with their own absurd story, and each drawing is as opulent as Dali's Holiday Feast.
Andie Dinkin studied illustration at Rhode Island School of Design and graduated from their illustration department in 2014. Dinkin has exhibited in New York at Christie's Gallery 1 and Society of Illustrators. She has also exhibited in Berlin at Johanssen Gallery. Dinkin is known for her commissions for companies and individuals. Some of her clients have been for Stein Erikesen Residences, Design Miami and DDG partners. Dinkin will be exhibiting at the end of 2018 at PULSE Miami Beach with Project: ARTspace.


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We were up early as our host was supposed to pick us up at 7:30 and we didn't want to make him late for work. He works at an organic farm near Fujino and was giving us a ride so we could see the area. We were ready and waiting by the door, but he ended up being a little late. We piled into the van, along with Daniel, who is living near us and has been here for 6 months. Apparently he also works at the farm to supplement his stay here. We didn't find out where he was originally from, but he said that he lived in Spain for 3 years and has also lived in Colorado and Chicago. When I lived here before I encountered a lot of travelers who would stay in places for a while before moving on to the next. I can't imagine living like that, but am also a little envious.
It took us about an hour to get to our destination and we were well outside of the city by that point. We were up on a hill, outside of Fujino and the views were amazing. We were very lucky with the weather, it was very temperate and we had very clear skies.
He had told us about the morning market that happened every first and third Tuesday of the month and encouraged us to check it out. It reminded me of our local farmer's markets, only much smaller. Jason, Nick, and I got some focaccia type bread and then Nick got he and Jason some coffee, which was apparently very smooth. It made for a pretty picture:
After we ate, we went to get tickets for the onsen (hot spring) that was up the hill. Nick and Sierra were not interested in participating and waited outside while we were enjoying ourselves.
Because I was in there by myself, I didn't stay long. I am, thankfully, not too embarrassed to get naked in front of strangers, as long as they are not too embarrassed in front of me. I did have to close my eyes at one point because one woman was being friendly and said something to me in Japanese that I didn't have a response to. I just smiled and went back to being non-social. I do really want to study up for our next visit.
I was probably in there for about half an hour before I started feeling a bit overheated. It was very relaxing, and a great way to spend the morning. When I went to take my towels back to the front desk, they asked for the ticket I had come in with. They only allow you to stay in the onsen for a specific amount of time and they needed to stamp my ticket to show that I had not gone over the time. Unfortunately, I realized at the counter that Jason had our tickets and I asked if he and Riley had come out yet. The man didn't understand my question and gestured at an area behind me. He said that the guys were to wait there and I understood that I would have to wait for them to get out before I could leave.
I saw Sierra and Nick sitting outside and Nick came in not longer after that. We talked about what it would be like to live here, and how aside from the language barrier, it wouldn't be that bad. I did enjoy my 8 months. It would be too far from family to be here for long, but I could stand to stay for a month or two.
The area we sat in had rows of low tables and a stack of sitting mats in the corner. There were several people who were full out laying on the ground and napping. They had a small restaurant and, most importantly, ice cream. When Jason and Riley came out, after about an hour and a half, Sierra came inside and we got some ice cream. I got the sakura flavor and it was delightful.
We sat around for a little longer before heading out to explore and walk down to Fujino. There was a bus that came about once an hour, but we decided to walk down to see more of the area. Like I said, it was a lovely day and we enjoyed the mostly down-hill jaunt.
We made it down to the Sagami river and decided it was time to get some food. I googled the area and found a delightful looking cafe (ふじのタンポポ/カフェてくてく Japanese website), which we had unfortunately passed on our way downhill. We trudged back up and went inside. The main waitress was extremely helpful in translating the menu when our phone translators failed to do an adequate job. Nick and I got the baked curry, while Sierra and Jason got the chorizo and potato pizza. It was much better than his other Japanese pizza experience, thankfully.
We finished lunch and headed back down the hill and across the bridge. There weren't a lot of shops that we could see, and no sidewalks to speak of on the hilly terrain. I asked if we might go to the next station to see Sagami lake, as the waitress at the cafe had told me that it was easy to get to.
We decided not to get a ride back with our host and would just take the train back home. We made it down to the lake and back to our station before he would have left to come back.
We thought we would try our hand at pachinko, but once we stepped inside the smoke filled and load place, we changed our minds. You literally had to yell right next to someone's ear to be heard, plus, it looked much more complicated than we had thought initially.
We went to Seiyu to pick up some groceries and gifts for co-workers, and had to go back home to drop everything off, then went back out to find dinner. Nothing sounded appetizing to everyone, but we eventually decided on Mos Burger. Not being one for burgers, I never visited a Mos Burger before, but I was told that their burgers were better than Japanese McDonald's.
We headed back home and to bed.


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Title: Wasted
Author: Becka
Pairing: Xander/Spike.
Warnings: Abuse, Angst, AU, Brutality, Child-abuse, Dark, Disturbed, Drug-use, Language, Self-injury, Xander-torture, Yoai/Slash.
Disclaimer: Neither Angel nor Buffy, the Vampire Slayer belong to Becka; characters are used without permission for a non-profit purpose. No infringement is intended.
I want to say that I didn't see it coming, but I promised myself that I would never lie again.
The truth is, I saw it coming. I saw it coming from a mile away.
It wasn't a sudden change or anything. It wasn't like the warning signs weren't there. I'm Sunnydale-born-and-raised; my ears are fine-tuned for that sort of shit.
I guess it's confusing. Fuck, I can look back and see that everything was so messed up and stupid, easy. I don't need a fucking therapist to tell me that.
Hindsight's perfect, you know. I know where this started. I can pinpoint it to the exact fucking _second_. I can draw you up a timeline with names and events, and I'll tell you right now, it's a fucking _spiral_.
Maybe that's inspiration, the little muse I never knew I had. Because it's my life we're talking about here, and that spiral goes in one direction - straight down.
You can follow it all the way. You can find it at the bottom of every bottle. You can see it with the flick of a fingernail against a needle. You can choke on it when the gun's shoved halfway down your throat and some homophobic sadist tells you to suck it nice and slow.
I'm a poster-child for childhood trauma, and it's followed me since my mother shoved me headfirst into this hellhole. Ask my dad. He'll tell you I'm the biggest accident of his pathetic life.
Then again, we live on the Hellmouth. Accidents happen.
But you can be sure he regrets drinking the abortion money. You can fucking bet on it.
I guess I started out normal enough. Middle-class family with a mother that baked the world's worst meatloaf and a father who got his jollies off in front of a television when Monday Night Football was on. Me? I was the kid who was afraid of the dark, and my mother looked under my bed for monsters every night just to shut me up.
Dark hair, dark eyes, and a smile that was always short a tooth. I guess I should be grateful my dad caught onto the child-abuse laws and stopped hitting me in the face. See, it's okay if you beat your kid with a belt, just so long as no one sees the welts.
I got yelled at a lot, for stupid shit mostly. Kids have this habit of knocking stuff over or dropping the beers they're supposed to fetch from the fridge until they develop a little thing called hand-eye coordination. I'd be willing to bet that if my dad hadn't killed my brain cells by bashing my head against the wall so much, I'd have developed them a lot sooner.
Still, it's a great excuse for teachers. Sorry, Ms. Paterson, I'm just clumsy, I guess.
I don't really know why I covered it up. I could have told them I was being abused, could have proved it with the scars on my back, the cigarette burns on my arms, the bruises on my stomach. I could have showed them the imprints on my arms and throat from beefy fingers that always seemed to squeeze the life out of me. I could have even repeated some of the names my father called me - you know, the ones little kids aren't supposed to learn until they're old enough to watch R-rated movies.
I could have. But I never did.
I just smiled at my teachers and told them I got cold really easy when they asked about the long-sleeve shirts in the middle of August.
I started learning how to cover his tracks when I was about six or seven. Why? I don't know. I guess I was scared. Maybe I thought if the world found out what a useless fuck-up I was, they'd side with my dad.
It's not like I really remember too much from back then. It's a blessing, if you think about it. I can't tell you about the first time he hit me because it's not something that sticks out. I remember the worst times, but those in-between backhands? The one-two sting of his belt? It's not like they were anything special. My only reminders are my scars, and I got rid of every mirror in my apartment ages ago.
Time passed. I got older. I filled out, put on some muscle. But I could never bring myself to hit him. I could never cross that line from fuck-up to victim. By the time I was fourteen, I knew I deserved everything he could give me and so much more. Fourteen is where I'll mark the beginning of my timeline. September 18th, 1995 - that was my fourteenth birthday, and two things happened.
The first was the discovery of something I like to call oblivion.
And the second was that I found out the monsters under my bed were real.
See, as I got older, my body wasn't the only thing that filled out. My mind... well, let's just say that did a little expanding of its own. When my father beat me, sure I was frightened. But I was angry, too. I was full-up with hatred, with rage, with a torrent of dark emotion that swirled around my head. And overriding everything else was the knowledge that I deserved it.
That confused me at first. I didn't deserve it, did I? I knew I was worthless, but no one deserves to have the snot kicked out of them for something they can't control. But my father felt I deserved it, and that's what I felt too.
Everyone else calls it empathy. Me? I call it shitty luck.
I learned, bit by bit, about my "gifts." I learned that I could sense emotions, pretty strongly, and that I could occasionally push them a little. Hell, I never studied for a math class in my life. I just pushed a bit of sympathy onto Mr. Johnson and let nature take its course.
Every birthday, it got stronger. Empathy is a powerful thing. And on the Hellmouth, it's painful as well. I'll get into that a little later. My other abilities developed along the way. Telekinesis, which was great when I needed to provide a bit of a distraction for my dad. When the beatings were too much, I'd ring the doorbell, and by the time he finished scouring the neighborhood for the "little punks who were trying to pull a fast one on him," he'd have totally forgotten about the boy bleeding to death in his basement. Of course, it was also pretty helpful when I was trying to keep my blood _in_ my body on the way to the hospital.
The pyrokinesis wigged me out a bit. When I get mad, and I mean fucking red-hot pissed, things have a tendency to spontaneously combust. After that developed, I started getting real damned good at controlling my temper. That hasn't changed much. I still hold it all in, but every once in a while, I need to let it loose, and when I do, it's like the fires of hell come to earth. It took the firefighters three days to subdue my most recent temper tantrum.
Clairvoyance is a pain in the ass. I've had six years to try and understand it, but I'm still clueless. It hits me every once in a blue moon, a barrage of images that I can't put together. Totally useless until _after_ whatever my prophecy's about has happened. It's only by looking back that I can see where it all comes together.
And my last "gift" is the worst of them all. Psychometry, that's what they call it in the books I've studied. To touch an object and have it tell you all about its last owner. But when someone touches me, God, it's more than I can fucking bare. It's like every single event that shaped their life is trapped behind a floodgate, and when they touch me, it opens up and drowns me. I know what torture is. And it's because of my psychometry that I can endure any torture without a cry.
I'd dealt with my father since, well, forever. I learned to endure pain. But sometimes the feelings of the whole fucking _town_ would just overwhelm me, and sometimes it was more than I could take, y'know? Someone would brush against me in the hallway, and I had to fight against falling to my knees and screaming.
It was only by chance that I stumbled across a little drug I fondly call oblivion.
Everyone else calls it heroin.
September 18th, 12:30 p.m., math class. My teacher's hand accidentally brushed against my own when he was returning an assignment. Forcing the bile down, I hoarsely whispered that I wasn't feeling well and asked to be excused.
Five minutes later my head was buried in the toilet as I brought breakfast up for a second look.
A voice behind me slurred, "Shit, man, you okay?"
I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and turned. The boy was a little bit older than I was, and his bright, blue eyes were bloodshot and glazed.
"Shit," he repeated stupidly, giving me a cursory glance, "You look like you could use a hit." He squatted on the floor and unzipped his bag, pulling out all the standard paraphernalia: a belt, a spoon, a few sterilized needles.
Contrary to popular belief, I wasn't a complete idiot. I knew what he was offering.
Or maybe I was as much of an idiot as everyone said because I welcomed him with open arms.
Both of us crammed into one of the stalls, and he dropped one of the pills onto the spoon and used a lighter to liquefy it. A cotton ball was employed to soak it up, and a needle to extract it. I can still remember the flick of his fingernails against the needle, and the tiny little squirt that came out the tip. I can still remember him showing me how to tighten the belt around my arm, where to inject myself. I can still remember the tiny pinch as the needle pierced my skin.
And, God help me, I can still remember how fucking fantastic it felt.
The kid's name was Jesse. In those five minutes, he became the first and best friend I'd ever had.
We stumbled out of school and spent the rest of the day lying next to each other in the cemetery, too high to even move. I don't think I can even begin to explain how fucking _beautiful_ it was. As the drug worked its way through my system, the feelings that constantly haunted me faded into black nothingness. I touched Jesse's hand, and there was _nothing_ there. No feelings, no thoughts, no motley kaleidoscope of imagery.
I felt nothing. Even my own thoughts paled in the buffer of my oblivion.
We lay there until nightfall. I think we might have shot up again, but I'll be honest. I was too lost in not feeling to remember much else besides that. We might have talked, or we might have just lain there. Hell, we could have fucked like rabbits, and I wouldn't remember it.
What I _do_ remember was a vampire sinking his teeth into my neck.
Heroin's sort of funny like that. One minute I was laying there, lost in the joy that for a fleeting moment I could pretend I was normal, and the next minute there was this _pain_ that I'd never felt before. I could deal with it, but it snapped me out of my happy little reverie.
It dawned on me that I was up-close and personal to one of the monsters under my bed, and then the vampire pushed me away and spat in disgust, "Fuckin'_junkie_."
Mark that on the timeline as the first time anyone called me a junkie.
Be warned though - it was far from the last.
So there I was, sprawled out next to this kid I'd just met, confronted with a nasty that went bump in the night. My neck was bleeding, I think, and Jesse had this horrified look on his face, and the vampire was sneering at us. There was this sort of bizarre quiet that came over the cemetery. Guess someone was taking "silent as the grave" a bit literal.
And then I opened my mouth and the first thing that came out was, "You want some?"
The vampire blinked stupidly, staring at me like I'd lost my mind. Maybe I had, but I was too high to care.
Then he laughed. "Fuckin' riot, you are. You do know what I am, right?"
"Vampire?" I hazarded.
"And you want to shoot up with me?" The disbelief in his voice was tinged with a touch of curiosity. I knew, in that moment, that I would save or damn myself with my next words.
"Well," I drawled, "S'not like it'd kill you, right?"
He laughed again, and I got the impression that I'd amused him. "Fuckin' junkie," he muttered. Then he picked up the belt from the grass and tightened it like a noose around his arm. That seemed to snap Jesse out of his stupor, and he quickly prepared a needle as the vampire sat down on the grass next to us.
"Wot's your name, junkie?" he said, hissing a little as my new-found friend injected him. Jesse had prepared two more needles and I silently thanked him as the vampire offered me the belt.
Slipping it around my arm, I replied, "Xander. You?"
"Spike," he said shortly.
I reached up a hand and absently wiped the blood from my neck. I felt the sting of the needle in my other arm, and I closed my eyes and let everything drift away.
Sitting in the cemetery, shooting up with a vampire, trying to block the voices in my head, I knew.
I knew then and there that I was damned.
I just didn't care.
It's kind of funny, I guess, but that's how the next year of my life passed by. I went to school because I had no choice, and in the breaks between class, Jesse and I would sneak off to the bathrooms or the boiler room and lose ourselves. The heroin made it all right because we didn't have a group or a clique or whatever. We were the freaks, the odd ones out. Cordelia Chase's little posse would whisper and point whenever we passed them in the halls, but they wouldn't look us in the eyes.
There was another group, too. Buffy Summers had just moved to town and befriended Willow Rosenberg. It wouldn't have mattered to me, but Jesse _adored_ Willow, and had been trying to get up the courage to even talk to her. The one time he did manage to stutter out a "hello," Buffy swiftly intervened and snipped, "She's got better things to do than talk to you, burnout."
I couldn't care less how she treated me, but Jesse was a good guy. I fucking hated her after that.
Anyway, after school we'd slip off to the cemetery and Spike would roll around just as the sun faded from the sky. Sometimes he'd shoot up with us, but most of the time, he taught us. Or rather, he taught me.
I guess I was his pet project or something.
It was a week or two after we'd first met, and he'd said, "Fuckin' pathetic, you are. Loungin' in a bloody cemetery without a care. Suppose I 'afta fix that." And he did. He whipped me into shape faster than I thought possible, but it was nothing like the movies. In the movies, the fights are beautifully choreographed, like a fucking ballet or something. The moves Spike showed me were cheap, dirty, and effective as hell.
Jesse would sit on the sides, watching, as Spike taught me how to fight.
Looking back, I can see he was teaching me how to kill, but I don't care. Other than Jesse, those memories are probably the only good thing that came out of Sunnydale.
I remember this one time he got really frustrated with how I failed to put all my weight behind my punches. I think I snipped something about how he wasn't explaining it very well, and he turned around and fucking clocked me, all his vampiric strength behind that single hit.
I hit my knees. It hurt like hell, and a couple of flecks a light danced in front of my eyes. There was a buzzing in my ears, but slowly I started to hear someone calling my name.
"Aw, fuck, Xan, look at me. C'mon, please..." Spike's voice said, and gentle fingers touched my face.
"You broke my jaw," I tried to say, but it came out sounding more like, "Yuh buh muhha."
"Shit, shit, shit," Jesse muttered.
"Sorry 'bout that, pet. Need to get you to the 'ospital. Look, when they ask you wot 'appened-"
"Thuh wuh," I said.
Apparently Spike understood me because he blinked and asked, "Why not?"
"Cuh thuh nehhu huh buhuh."
Now, I know that people say vampires are pale, and I also know that there's no blood running through their veins, but in that moment, it looked like all the color had drained out of Spike's face.
Jesse glanced at Spike and asked, "What'd he say?"
And maybe my ears were still ringing, because it sounded like there was something stuck in Spike's throat when he replied, "He said they won't ask what 'appened, 'cause they never 'ave before."
They took me to the hospital, and the doctors patched me up without question. Spike never asked me what I meant, and I never tried to explain myself, but he knew. He never hit me again, either. He started bringing fledgling vampires with him occasionally, and demonstrated on them instead.
He brought other demons, too. Said he'd found them along the way, and taught me how to kill them.
It was fucked up, but it made me feel better.
On the nights that he shot up with us, he'd start talking. He'd tell us about the places he'd been, the things he'd seen. He'd recite bad poetry and rattle off ten ways to kill a Benslaxy demon in the same breath. There were times he'd speak in other languages that I didn't understand, or say things that I just didn't get, but during the day I'd research them. Half of his gift was teaching me. The other half was making me curious enough to learn.
My parents were under the impression that I was an idiot. My teachers seemed to think that I didn't like learning. Nothing could have been further from the truth. The problem I had with them was that I wasn't interested in what they were teaching.
So under Spike's guidance, I learned Latin, Gaelic, and a couple of other odd languages. He showed me how to hot-wire just about any vehicle I could get my hands on. He insisted that I be able to recognize mostly every demon in existence, know how to bargain with them, and if that didn't work, how to kill them. Jesse and I made our first fake IDs under his watchful eye, and while he said it was impossible for us to pass for twenty-one, we could at least pretend we were eighteen if we wanted to buy cigarettes.
In the same regard, he took us to get our first tattoos. I wanted something that covered my whole back, but I knew it was impossible because of all the scar tissue. So Jesse got his on his left shoulder and I got mine on the right - a railroad spike and a needle full of blood crossed over each other.
Spike and Jesse were like my family. Psychotic, drugged-up, fucked-up, yes, but they cared about me more than anyone else, and I love them for it. Two junkies and a vampire - sounds like the start of a really bad joke. But I never told them about my gifts. I guess I cared about them too much and the fear of rejection was still there.
I had a year with them - one screwy, messed up, perfect year. I used to be so afraid that someone would take them away because Spike and Jesse were too good to be true.
And then, someone did.


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Project Seeks To Turn Manure Into Electricity
KSCB News - December 9, 2009 12:00 am
The cattle manure in a feedlot in southwest Kansas may soon be providing electricity to nearby homes.
Gene Pflughoft is the economic development director for Grant County. He says that early next year, equipment at a cattle feedlot will


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New Jersey Devils general manager Ray Shero asked center Adam Henrique for a chat on Thursday morning. It seemed routine. It wasn't.
"I was shocked," said Henrique, who was traded to the Anaheim Ducks in a package for defenseman Sami Vatanen on Thursday. "It wasn't something I was expecting. In the back of my mind, maybe going into this season, maybe at some point, maybe closer to the trade deadline … [but] you generally don't see trades like this go down early in the season."
That's because, generally, you don't see a team like the Ducks staggering around the first two months of the season as the NHL's unofficial infirmary unit, but also one with a glut of defensemen. And, generally, the Devils haven't been a team that could deal a center like Henrique because they considered him surplus.
But here we are.
Shero and general manager Bob Murray first spoke about this around the expansion draft, when it appeared the Ducks might lose Vatanen or defenseman Josh Manson to the Vegas Golden Knights. Instead, they shipped defenseman Shea Theodore to Vegas and the Knights agreed to selected another defenseman, Clayton Stoner, in the expansion draft. And yet the Ducks still had a surplus.
"He could have an excess of forwards. I could have an excess of defensemen. It's a good trade, because we both have needs," said Murray. "It wasn't easy for us to give up Sami, because he competes so hard. It probably wasn't easy for him to give up Adam, either."
Well, it was and it wasn't.
In drafting both Nico Hischier and Pavel Zacha, Shero wanted young talents for his top to center spots. (Although the jury remains out on Zacha.) The emergence of Jesper Bratt and Brian Gibbons on the wing, the acquisitions of Taylor Hall, Kyle Palmieri and Marcus Johansson … all of it pointed to Henrique, a holdover from the Lou Lamoriello years in Jersey, being expendable, and especially for a defenseman like Vatanen.
Shero had coveted Vatanen since watching him play in world juniors with Finland, where he showed himself to be a top-four defenseman with speed and good puck movement. But before pulling the trigger, Shero needed another expert opinion — a Finnish one.
As chance would have it, Shero got a visit from former NHL player Tuomo Ruutu recently. The GM has known the Ruutu family for years. So when the Devils were closing in on the trade with the Ducks, Shero picked Ruutu's brain — without telling him why. "I called him out of the blue and asked him about Sami. He had very, very positive things to say about him," said Shero.
When Ruutu saw his advice had possibly resulted in a trade? "He texted me this morning and said, 'Holy cow, that was quick,'" said Shero.
Yet despite the return, dealing Henrique wasn't easy. He's a celebrated member of this franchise, not only for his consistent play on the ice but for his work in the community as an ambassador and fundraiser.
And then there was that goal.
A #tbt to one of the biggest goals – and memorable moments – of @AdamHenrique's career. Excited to see more big goals scored for us! #LetsGoDucks pic.twitter.com/QfqAdTdIsz
— Anaheim Ducks (@AnaheimDucks) November 30, 2017
The Devils weren't supposed to win the Eastern Conference in 2012. No one anticipated the goaltending renaissance of 40-year-old Martin Brodeur. who led them through three rounds, a last line of defense behind a patchwork defense. Yes, they had Ilya Kovalchuk and Zach Parise and Patrik Elias, but by no means were they the Stanley Cup favorite that the first-place, 109-point New York Rangers were.
But the Devils played for the Stanley Cup in 2012, thanks to a flick of the stick from a 21-year-old rookie named Adam Henrique in overtime of Game 6, which eliminated the Rangers in the Eastern Conference finals. New Jersey had lost four of the five playoff series it had played against its hated rivals from across the river. Henrique's goal stands with the Stanley Cup winner from Jason Arnott and others as one of the most memorable in team history.
Henrique finished third for the Calder Trophy that season. In 2015-16, he scored 30 goals. But his production has fallen in the past two seasons. At 27, Henrique has been through a few different incarnations of this Devils team, and hence different incarnations of his own role.
"That team has had to evolve and they've had to rebuild. He's had a changing role there. With us, it puts him back into a more offensive role, which I think he's going to love," said Murray.
There's no question Henrique needed a refresh. And while the Devils wish him well, Shero also knows his history.
This trade is an odd role reversal for Shero and Murray, who made a similar deal when Shero was with the Pittsburgh Penguins. In 2009, Shero traded a surplus defenseman, Ryan Whitney, to the Ducks for their surplus forward, Chris Kunitz, who went on to win three Stanley Cups.
So when Shero sat down with Henrique to inform him that his time as a Devil was over, he also told him that good times are ahead.
Just don't be too good.
"I might have been one of the longer talks I've ever had with a player I've traded," said Shero. "I told him he has another level. But I told him if find another level, I don't want to see him actually inducted onto the Hockey Hall of Fame or something."


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About Lunirra
Budgie Hatchling
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Breeding Budgies
Lunirra replied to Budgie Beth's topic in Budgie TalkAs long as you continue with normal often interaction with her, as before, she won't lose her "tameness". There may be a period of time, normally while in the nest, where she can be aggressive to protect the eggs and chicks even from you. But when she is in the next no one should be bothering her except the male when he goes to fee her. When everyone is out of the nest box, everything will be as it use to as far as her friendliness to you.
Male is a light green (some aqua bleeds through the green) split for normal blue, possible split for cinnamon wing. Female normal Blue Dominant pied OR Female Normal Blue What would the possible color mutations be for the chicks with him pair with either of these hens? Still learning how mutations work! sorry. Thanks
hmmmm okay this helped me decide a bit more.... he's definitely green just a light green and around his vent is most definitely an aqua with the aqua washing up into the middle of his chest a bit.I'll try and get a better photo of him a bit farther away from the window to the photos aren't washed out. I was also thinking a blue dominant pied female as well. here r some more accurate shots of his colors. camera still didn't pick up some of the aqua bleeding to his chest but you can kindda see it. He's def a light green tho. so if i did pair him with a blue dominant pied what would be the outcome?also since he is def split to normal blue, what would b the outcome with a normal blue female?
This is Cesar. He is still quite too young to breed, I know. But I am unsure of what mutation I should get him in his mate. I don't know Cesars whole background regarding his genetic mutations. All I know is that he is full english/show budgie. Mother was a blue (possibly cinnamon I believe). I saw both parents but the lighting was dim and the mom's black markings didn't look very black, more brownish. The Father was a dark factor green, but the woman I got Cesar from said that the dad is a possible split to blue? I think? lol sorry, I'm really not much help (neither was the woman I got Cesar from). Cesar had a brother as well that looked just like him. So mutation wise, would Cesar be a normal green (maybe cinnamon? his markings on his back is definitely not black!) split to blue? I just recently started reading about genetics, its so confusing, sorry about my ignorance on the subject, still learning. Apparently from what the woman said her previous clutch with the same parents had pieds (dunno if they were dominant or recessive or if they were blue or green). So now I'm confused with which mutation my boy's lady should be when I go pick one out. I can't even pretend to have any idea what female would make some nice mutation chicks with Cesar (if any). I'm not setting my goal high, all I'm trying to achieve is at least one baby that isn't green, if possible. I have lots of experience breeding cockatiels and budgies, this is just my first shot at the mutation side of pairing. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.