text:
Sustainable IT Architecture: the way to assess your Information System
Using our concepts
CEO and CIO
ACMS and ERP
MDM and BRMS
Data Flow management
Enterprise Architecture
IS Governance
Global Crisis
IS Assets passport
IS foundation
Quality criteria
Types of IS value
IS Rating
IS Valorization
Assess your IS
EA and your IS Assets
CobiT Mapping
Working Group
Training material
Training session
Executive Summary
One day workshop
Data Assessment
[IS Valorization]
Assess your IS
] [
EA and IS Assets
] [
CobiT Mapping
] [
Working Group
] [
] [
Training material
Training session
] [
This section sets out some remarks and suggestions about the
IS Rating Tool
beta version, gathered within the IS Rating
Working Group
These contributions are published with the authorization of their authors (listed by dates).
Contribution by
Richard Ordowich
Independent Consultant with STS Associates Inc. located in Princeton New Jersey
Linkedin profil
December 3rd, 2009
- Governance must be considered in any assessment. The culture of the organization must be considered. The cultural aspects are critically important. I suggest that the IS Rating Tool include some factors that assess the governance of the organization.
Quick Answer by Sustainable IT
We agree on this remark. Cultural aspects and organizational issues are key concerns for deploying an ACMS foundation and then leverage its IS rating.
Reminder: ACMS (Agility Chain Management System) is based on Business Repositories set up through Master Data (MDM), Business Rules (BRM) and Processes (BPM).
To tackle this remark, we plan to add a new part 'Human Resources" to measure the HR maturity level regarding ACMS. But we also know that there is an interesting work to give more details about the connection between the IS Rating Tool and existing IS/IT governance frameworks such as CobiT, CMMI, ITIL V3, etc. Indeed, the IS Rating Tool doesn't focus on IS Governance, it tackles IS Assets, in other words the stocks of key IS Assets based on Master Data, Business Rules and Processes. Each of these assets is measured through three domains: Mastering Knowledge, Mastering Governance and Mastering IT. Our Governance domain deals with the level of performance regarding the business features given to Business Users such as Version Management, Right Management, Authoring…of Master Data, Business Rules and Processes. It doesn't measure the ability of the organization to use these business features in the right way. This later assessement should be gauged with help from CobiT, CMMI, ITIL, etc.
All help to give more information regarding the complementary between the IS Rating Tool and IS governance frameworks is welcome.
Contribution by
Jean-Philippe Auzelle
, IS Architect at Henri Poincaré University of Nancy
Linkedin profil
December 9th, 2009
- The IS Rating Tool should exist in French language. The current beta version is in English only.
- The tool is currently based on spreadsheets which could be insufficient when using it at a large scale of a company.
Quick Answer by Sustainable IT
The translation in French is not planned. This work remains feasible within 2010. The current version of the IS Rating Tool is based on spreadsheets. We hope to implement it with help from EA tools.
All suggestions to set up the IS Rating Tool to EA tools are welcome
Contribution by
Olivier Lallement,
MDM Manager at Logica Management Consulting
Linkedin profil
December 14th, 2009
Data Assessment:
- Tacking into consideration differences between internal Data Flows and external Fata Flows (B2B). In the current beta version, Data Flows are studied only.
- Tacking into consideration the relation from Data to Rules. In the current beta version this relation is evaluated from Rules to Data only.
- Tacking into consideration Meta-Data. The current beta version doesn't provide any evaluation about Meta-Data.
Rules Assessment:
- Tacking into consideration the lifecycle Rules management. This is similar to business objects' lifecycles but applied at the level of Rules.
- Taking into consideration Rules supervision issues: how to control Rules behaviours and throw alerts when needed.
- Vocabulary issue: is CEP a BRMS? Is it useful to keep CEP/BRMS term or CEP only?
Process Assessment:
- Terms should be well-defined as they are less understandable than those used for Data and Rules.
Quick Answer by Sustainable IT
We agree on these suggestions. The next version of the IS Rating tool will integrate them.
Regarding the term/vocabulary 'CEP/BRMS' we don't know what the best approach is: either CEP only or CEP/BRMS. It depends if CEP solutions embedded BRMS engines or not.
All suggestions are welcome to provide us with more details about this issue.
Contribution by
Philippe Herbert
Manager EAI/SOA/
Referentials at Soft
Linkedin profil
January 4th, 2010
Data Assessment:
- Add an assessment about the level of Data standardization (ISO, ARTS, CEFACT-ONU, MDC-DGME, etc.).
Rules Assessment:
- Questions BR-KN-01-2 or BR-GV-01-2 should also be evaluated through the autonomy level of the business users when authoring and testing business Rules. Most of the time and even though a BRMS is used, a pure waterfall development lifecycle is deployed.
Quick Answer by Sustainable IT
We agree on these suggestions and remarks. The next release of the IS Rating Tool will benefit from them.
Contribution by
Jean Evelette
, Chief Architect & Data Manager
Linkedin profil
January 6th, 2010
- There is a possible misunderstanding between the three letters providing the consolidated IS Rate (Data, Rules and Processes) and the four letters used to compute it (A, B, C, D).
- A documentation providing definitions and explanations about each questions and marks levels could be very useful to support the use of the IS Rating Tool.
Quick Answer by Sustainable IT
- We will provide an additional information in the IS Rating Tool user guide to remove the possible trouble between the consolidated IS Rate and the four letters used to compute it. We have planed to write a complete user guide, given explanations by questions within 2010.
Contribution by
Hamid Hammouche
, IS Architect - Leader IBM ILOG Solutions at Atos Origin
Linkedin profil
Carolin Chai
, IS Architect at Atos Origin
Linkedin profil
January 14th, 2009
- The current beta version of the IS Rating Tool doesn't tackle other IS Assets than Data, Rules and Processes: what about IT infrastructure, applications, services, etc.
- There is a lack of examples to help the utilization of the tool.
- A glossary should be set up to define all terms used in the tool.
- Set up a first and easier list of questions with answers limited to yes/no rather than the current scale of percentages. Keep this scale (bad to good) for a second stage and more detailed assessment
- To enforce a well-balanced assessment between companies, it is needed to provide more information to make the right decision within the scale of percentages, for each question.
- Questions related to Budget and Replacement value should be moved to the Governance domain.
Data Assessment:
- DT-KN-01: the term 'Data enterprise architecture" should be detailed
- DT-KN-02: add some questions about the number of available data dictionary, which users can access to these data dictionary, etc. This suggestion could be applied to every question.
- DT-KN-02-02: unclear question.
- KN-03-01: the term 'dynamic modeling' is not semantic.
- KN-02 'Basic modeling' should be renamed by Static or Semantic modeling
- DT-GV-03: we need several questions about the integration between MDM and EAI. This integration is a key point to leverage the MDM solution.
Rules Assessment:
- BR-KN-01: is the goal to define a first classification of Rules? If so, the first attempt presented in the current beta version of the IS Rating Tool should be detailed (Core Business, Organizational, and Security)
- BR-KN-03: the goal to gauge the integration level between MDM and BRMS is interesting but still remain complicated
- questions related to the Rules assessment are not focus on the method but more on the ability to identify and extract from existing systems Rules. We have nothing that tells us how to do that.
Quick Answer by Sustainable IT
Many thanks for this important contribution.
What about other IS Assets?
- The IS Rating Tool tackles IS Assets only, not IT Assets such as IT Infrastructure. We think that other resources such as Services (SOA approach), Applications… should rely on Data, Rules and Processes managed as real assets, in other words what we are studying with the IS Rating Tool.
- However, it could be very useful to complement the IS Rating Tool with other domains of assessment and
we hope that Systems Integrators will deploy such works
Lack of examples
- We agree on this trouble. We hope that companies using the IS Rating Tool will be willing to share their rating with the community. A further web site section will be opened to gather these results.
All contributions are welcome and we will deliver them under an anonymous publication
Quick IS Rating
- The idea of a easier set of question (response with yes/no only) is a very good suggestion. We will plan to do something in this field within Q1 2010.
Providing more information to support the use of the IS Rating Tool
- Yes it is required and we will be working on it during 2010.
We also hope that Systems Integrators will be readiness to package their own offering around the core IS Rating Tool that will be available on end of February 2010
. This release will be stable an sustainable enough for allowing Systems Integrators to complement it with their own added-values, including guidelines and best practices to help and support companies in using the IS Rating Tool.
Obviously, the Sustainable IT Architecture community and its website are available to publish information by Systems Integrators providing works related to this matter
Contribution by
Martha Lemoine
, Enterprise Architect, Toronto Canada
Linkedin profil
January 20th, 2009
Global remark:
I am worry about how you demonstrate the value and benefits (agility, data quality,) in business terms and get the funding to improve the IS Rating . A white paper on that will be a great companion with this tool. My guess is that not a lot of Organizations will have a high IS Asset rate but then question is what to do next to influence the paradigm change from "application driven" to Model Driven and position the Organization and Architecture so that change can become a reality. Organizational Readiness is a key element to be evaluated and tackle in order to get the value of any IS asset management tool.
General comments:
- Glossary: agree with existing feedback asking for adding a Glossary of Terms / acronyms as well as examples is key from usability point of view. Once glossary is available remove notes that include definition and add examples where there are not.
- Guidelines: Add a recommendation that it is a good practice to have more than one person doing the IS rating questionnaire to avoid subjectivity, to frequently review IS rating to gauge the evolution as per roadmap driven by the evaluation. Use IS rating to baseline metrics and track improvement showing business value of following all the good practices that are evaluated. Add those metrics in corporate scorecards (metrics) to track execution of IS assets strategies.
- Rating: Percentage is very hard to evaluate unless you have a very mature organization with metrics (total number of rules, number of data elements, number of processes, vs. architected data elements, rules, processes…). For some questions percentage or low medium high rating doesn't match very well maybe evaluate to use something along the line of: Strongly agree (Very High), Agree(High), Neutral (Medium), Disagree(Low), Strongly Disagree(Bad).
- Weight for your rating: Provide example or guideline explaining when it will make sense to change the weight.
- A diagram showing rating , summarizing key points for each rate rage and how the rating can evolve overtime will be helpful in the user guide (something like the CMMI diagram)
- Ideally IS rating should be a tool that let Organizations go to Sustainable IT Architecture web site do the evaluation (online) and benchmarks against all existing evaluations and or to same business sector (financial, government, insurance,..) that may drive interest in improving rating overtime. The IS rating says "for each question make one choice only", but it would be better to prevent the choice of more than one.
Data Assessment:
- Why unstructured data is not one evaluate in IS Data assets? I think it is important for BPM the ECM (Enterprise content management piece) lot of people will refer to that as Information Architecture.
- DT-KN-01: change 'Data enterprise architecture" to Enterprise data Architecture (same comment for Rule Enterprise Architecture and Process…)
- DT-KN-01-4: shouldn't ETL be added after ESB. ? If not why not.
- DT-KN-01-5: not very clear please provide some examples. Initially I see this as an overlap of 01-1 to 01-4. Maybe I am missing the point...
- DT-KN-02: add some questions about the number of available data dictionary and its accessibility to the whole Organization/projects for reuse. Sometimes model are available but with no metadata. Metadata on valid values should be linked to MDM
- DT-KN-02-1- Business Dictionary/ Business Glossary - Business Glossary exists with process defined for its maintenance and is accessible by any potential user
- DT-KN-02-2: instead of "not reliant on any IT DB" write "independent of any physical implementation".
- How would you rate an organization that has Enterprise business model, logical and physical model using Data Modeling notation IDEF1X or IE instead of UML. I believe in general there are more mature Organizations in data assets management (data modeling) than process and rules management. Organizations that are not yet doing Model Driven architecture, SOA have frequently silo Application development using UML for Object modeling for a specific application but Enterprise data Architecture may exist manage Business, Logical and physical/dimensional models existing in Data Modeling tools.
- DT-GV: scope says org issues out of scope but isn't Data Governance a key "process" that relies on people to resolve issues in MDM. If technology maturity is there but people maturity in term of information management is not will IS asset have the same rating?
- DT-GV-01-01: suggest to change "nature of data" for "data domains"
- DT-GV-01-2,3 Not sure why we need to separate CDI and PIM from MDM. How would you deal with an Organization that has an MDM tool like Siperian or Initiate that are defining themselves as multi domain MDM solution. Should be those questions replaced by one that says any application that uses master data is connected to MDM to leverage data governance and trusted master data.
- DT-GV-05 -1: It is not very clear. Is it referring to the Corporate Scorecard or IT scorecard? IT strategy, Information Management strategy or what? How about saying something like. A scorecard exists with Key Performance Indicator (KPI) that measure quality of master data against targets and tracks actions to drive improvements in Data Assets rating. (Similar comment applies to rule and process PR-GV-03, BR-GV-03)
- DT-GV-05 -2 is this about business rules, process monitoring or MDM real-time data quality Monitoring and alerts?
Rules Assessment:
- If you have all your rules in excel spreadsheet where would you rate this vs. not having it.
- BR-KN-04 – What if you have rules well defined (in excel or word) but you don't have a BRMS or CEP tool. How would you arte this if scope of evaluation is an application vs. an entire organization.
- In which point is evaluated that rules are defined base on a common business vocabulary and reference data. It may be part of KN-03
Process Assessment:
PR-KN-01-03 Qualify Process as "Non Core Process"
Quick Answer by Sustainable IT
Your Global remark:
We agree on this remark. We have to publish such a white paper. In 2008 we published the white paper "IS Governance when restructuring IS around ACMS" by Orchestra Networks, Logica Management and ILOG. It provides some interesting information. You can download it
We are preparing a quick view about the mapping between CobiT (Plan & Organise Processes) and the IS Rating Tool. It should bring additional information. Stay tuned through the
linkedin Group
Your general comments:
- We agree on all comments. Your suggestion about the tool is relevant.
We hope that software vendors in the field of EA tools and/or modeling tools will be willing and readiness to contact us for studying an implementation
Systems Integrators should also be interested in delivering something in this field to support their offering around the IS Rating Tool
Your remarks about Data Assessment:
- We haven't integrated unstructured data yet and this is a missing topic. Unfortunately we don't have a good command of this matter so we need help.
If you can/want suggest an additional list of rating questions about unstructured data, please contact us
- Regarding UML notation, you are right, there are other notations and we must take them in consideration.
- Regarding your remark about the organizational issue: yes we agree that this is a key point. The IS Rating Tool deals with Governance Features but not with Organizational issues. These Governance Features are just a check-list of target features required to be able to govern IS Assets based on Master Data, Business Rules and Processes. For example: version management, authoring, traceability, etc. Therefore the IS Rating Tool doesn't gauge the ability of the organization and its processes to well-governed IS Assets, for example through strategic and tactic plan, SLA, etc. We believe that CobiT is the right tool to use in this field. Therefore, the IS Rating Tool complements with CobiT.
- Regarding your remarks about CDI; PIM and MDM classification, this is a complicated topic. Pierre Bonnet, founder of Sustainable IT Architecture, holds a detailed point of view about this matter as he is also cofounder of
Orchestra Networks
, Software Vendor in the field of generic MDM, in other words what we call Model-driven MDM. From an IT point of view we need to distinguish OLTP data repository (CDI) relying on a pure and usual relational physical data model and more semantic data repository relying on a relational+oriented object+hierarchical rich data model, including business rules to check data quality and manage referential integrity constraints. Troubles are raised when companies set up PIM/MDM with a pure OLTP data repository because all data governance features are frozen with rigid data models: when you modify or customize your data models, you need to deliver specific software development to align governance features. On the opposite, when using a Model-driven approach, data governance features are well-aligned with rich data models and its evolutions and variations. CDI is different as it should be limited to identifiers/keys management (broker), and even if OLTP is required it doesn't provide any trouble as data governance features are not needed.
- Regarding the scorecard. It is first of all an IS scorecard; not only IT but not yet a pure business scorecard. We will provide more detailed in the next release of the IS Rating Tool to avoid misunderstanding.
Your remarks about Rules Assessment:
- About the spreadsheets as Rules Repository. We don't like very much the idea of spreadsheets to govern IS Assets, including Business Rules: lack of version management, lack of permission management, lack of traceability, etc. Therefore, the IS Rating Tool should provide a bad rate when using spreadsheets as a Rules repository. We will check this point.
- We agree on your remark about the common business vocabulary. This is a linking value between Data Assessment part and this Rules Assessment part: we will check this point.
Contribution by
Romain Montillet
, IS Consultant at Devoteam
Linkedin profil
January 21st, 2009
- IS Rating is a feeling-based analyze. The same IS Rating for the same firm could be different according to evaluators.
- A "from scratch" analyze should be different from a "recursive" one. Moreover, in a "recursive" rating, it will be relevant to be able to identify evolutions of our performances. In the same way, the IS Rating should be customized according to the importance of the scope and the level of criticality.
- The maturity or performance target ("to be") should be defined in order to compare with the current rating ("as is"). This would allow us to define a sort of policy to follow with action scenarios.
- Three main themes are not taken into account :
Organization and governance, Man and Culture and compliance
- What about widening the scope with unstructured data (ECM…)?
The advantages of this analyze should be emphasized for consultant as well as for enterprise:
1/ For consultants:
- An industrialized tool which capitalizes knowledge, know-how…
- A method which provide a concrete, progressive and modular analyze
- Better way to build deliverables...
2/ For enterprises:
- A good start for a global strategy with innovation/change projects
- A point of view according to three assets for a better efficiency in projects definition...
- The letter rank should be calculated automatically.
- We should be able to make a global weighting for each measure.
- It would be great to have pivot tables (for instance knowledge according to Data, Rules and Processes).
- A data base with type questions, guidelines, types of deliverables (for instance in a monthly report…), specific examples according to type profiles or type clients…
- It would be great to be able to export results to Access, MEGA or others software.
Quick Answer by Sustainable IT
Your remarks about the method:
- We must admit that the current version of the IS Rating Tool cannot provide a deterministic approach. Not sure that the further release plan for the end of March 2010 will be able to do better in this field. We believe that an audit IS Rating Tool should be defined, later within this year to fix this issue.
- Your suggestions regarding the assessment of the existing IS and the targets are relevant. We will include this advise when writing the user guide of the IS Rating Tool.
- As already stated (see answers above), the IS Rating Tool doesn't tackle organization and culture issues but the stocks of IS Assets (Data, Rules and Processes) only. We believe that CobiT and CMMI have to be used in this field. On the opposite, CobiT and CMMI don't provide a tool such the IS Rating. Regarding you remark about the compliance, we must study in-depth this question as we firmly believe that ACMS and IS Rating Tool leverage the ability of companies to comply with business regulations, requiring a better traceability of Data and Rules, with a better involvement of stakeholders which is quite impossible when implementing IS with a hard-coded approach only.
- About unstructured data; please read our answer within the Martha Lemoine's contributions above.
Your suggestions to emphasize the importance of the IS Rating Tool towards Consultants and Companies are very good.
We will take benefit from these suggestions when writing the user guide of the IS Rating Tool.
Your remarks about functionalities and extensions:
Yes we need solutions to implement the IS Rating in software such as EA or modeling tools.
Once again, all software vendors and SI wishing to study this matter with us are welcome. The added-value of such implementations should be very high to support and emphasize consulting offerings
Contribution by
Stéphane Mulard
, IS Consultant at Infhotep
Linkedin profil
January 25th, 2009
Localized version:
Although strongly in favor of an international approach to the IS Rating initiative, we do believe that we need a French version (or even a localized version) of both the rating tool and any guidelines accompanying it. The relevance of the rating really depends on how well the questions are understood, especially when some of them may use a vocabulary that can be relatively new to some people – in fact we rated some IS ourselves rather than involving our clients specifically because of the language issue.
Systematic guidelines /examples:
We think that the guidelines accompanying the questions have to be developed in order to be more precise and to give out more examples. Rather than expanding the size of the cells containing the questions, perhaps all the notes could be transferred to the Guidelines references column (J) or an extra column.
More precise and measurable questions :
Some of the questions are formulated too openly in terms of interpretation and reliability of the answer. Typically starting with the first question DT-KN-01-1 "Enterprise Architecture works at the reference and Master Data level". It is very hard to rate this with specific measurable elements matching the rating levels themselves. We think that for each question, or maybe sections like DT-KN-01, 02, etc. there should be a list of elements, pieces of evidence that are expected to be rated a given level. This may be a big task but it makes the rating more accurate. We have created a similar type of rating ourselves, though a bit more specific to what we call "Urbanisme" in French, with a slightly smaller scope than Enterprise Architecture. In our document we actually included a column that expects a type of evidence for each question. Sometimes it is a document, sometimes it is just about the existence of a committee, sometimes it's just a name. Without this kind of clue the rating is very (too much?) dependant on the skills / Mood / involvement of the person carrying out the rating. Ex: DT-KN-03-2. This question is more formulated like the 100% mark description, the top maturity level but leaves the "rater" imagining the appropriate mark for the less than ideal situation.
Pre-requisites / Assessment of maturity:
We feel that it might be useful to include a set of pre-requisites, either in shape of questions or as a description of some required elements. This touches on some of the feedbacks that other contributors have made. Basically we felt that some of the questions required an appropriate level of maturity to be asked (on each of the three axes, Data, Rules and Processes). Sometimes there is no use in marking lots of questions with a "bad" mark if some prerequisites are not in place. Ex: All the DT-GV questions assume a MDM tool is in place… if this is not the case then the master data cannot be stored and managed in it. The weight of the questions is a way around this but you cannot really cancel too many questions. How about adding a question on the fact that implementing such a tool is planned or available on a limited scope? DT-GV-01-4 touches it this through the existence of Excel spreadsheets but it may be interesting to rate the amount of these Excel documents and light applications: are these well identified? Is there a plan to migrate them into a tool?
Splitting questions:
Some of the questions contain multiple questions within the description, making it more difficult to rate the right element. Ex DT-KN-02 Business Levels. All the elements are very relevant points to rate and should maybe be split into 3 parts: Models are using a formal notation, coverage of these models relating to referential data, how the models are maintained. For instance how would we rate the following situation: "30% of the identified referential data is modeled in UML and natural language accurately and made available to all but the business does not really control the models whose maintenance is ensured by an isolated team or individual". What is important? What do we want to rate? The existence of the models, the format of the models, the control that the business has over the models?
Improvement path for a company:
I did find very relevant the idea in your PowerPoint presentation of an improvement path for a company, going from C /C /C to B /C / B to B / B / B. However to go further, I think that the rating levels, either for each question or group of questions, should also reflect an improvement path. In other word, a company that is at 15% for a category should find the next steps or the next goal through a description / guidelines for the 30% mark. I realize this may be trying to map out an ideal progression scheme but I think the rating tool could be improved at this level.
Quick answer by Sustainable IT
Localized version:
We understand this requirement. Then, after having established the first release of the IS Rating Tool and its guidelines, we will be working on the translation in French language. This translation work should be done on March and April 2010.
Pushing currents notes to the Guidelines column is excellent. We will be doing that and trying to provide more explanations. However, we hope that Systems Integrators will be willing to put their own added-value in this field of Guidelines reference. Indeed, IS Rating Tool should provide basis explanations only to enforce an homogeneous rating and let the door opens to use different best practices and modeling procedures stemming from different communities and companies.
More precise and measurable questions:
We fully agree on your remark and suggestion. Obviously, as you mentioned it, this is a big challenge but we must provide this effort. This work will be doing within 2010, when releasing further version after the end of March.
Pre-requisites / Assessment of maturity:
Good suggestions. We will integrate them in the release planned at the end of March 2010.
Splitting questions:
We agree with you. We must split too complicated questions into more understandable and targeted ones. This should be easier to read and to deliver the rating.
Your last suggestion about the "improvement path for a company":
Yes we agree on this suggestion. On the basis of the first stabilized release of the IS Rating Tool, we will be able to provide some "natural paths" to improve the rating, depending on the current rate. Indeed, we can fully use best practices around the Agility Chain Management System Foundation to achieve this goal. This is the core-value of the Sustainable IT Architecture Community.


text:
South Sudan?s envoy to the United States and the United Nations has called on the international community to pressure President Omar Hassan al-Bashir and his National Congress Party (NCP) to provide its portion of funds needed to support the work of the referendum commission ahead of the 9th January referendum.
Ezekiel Lol Gatkuoth, who is also a member of the Sudan People?s Liberation Movement?s (SPLM) ruling council, told VOA, despite repeated appeals, President Bashir?s NCP has refused to provide funds for the commission to adequately prepare for the upcoming vote.
?It is very clear now that the National Congress Party is not interested in having the referendum conducted. So, they have been dragging their feet and the sign that is very clear now is that they are not actually paying their share (for the referendum),? said Gatkuoth.
?The referendum is basically being paid (for) by the government of southern Sudan as a whole, and the international community is contributing effectively in making sure that the referendum is conducted on time. That is why we are calling on the international community to pressure them (Khartoum) to release money.?
Officials of the Sudan People?s Liberation Movement (SPLM) say the refusal of the NCP to financially support the referendum commission is yet another attempt by the governing party to derail south Sudan?s self-determination vote, a charge the NCP sharply denies.
The NCP has accused the SPLM of flouting the Referendum Act by intimidating and harassing prospective voters in the run up to the January vote.
But, Gatkuoth said there are indications that the NCP is disinterested in the referendum and, in his words, will do anything to sabotage the vote.
?We have discussed it many times with the NCP so that they can commit themselves to paying their share, but they are refusing. It is another tactic of them dragging their feet on the referendum implementation,? Gatkuoth said.
?We are actually rejecting any call for the referendum voting day to be extended or delayed for a day, or even a second. We are going to vote on the 9th of January 2011, and we are ready for a new nation.?
As part of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), southern Sudanese will be allowed to vote in a referendum to decide whether to be part of the north or secede and become and independent country.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
A sermon for Proper 12: Genesis 29:15-28, Psalm 105:1-11, 45b, Romans 8:26-39, Matthew 13:31-33,44-52
This morning's story is complex, and we only hear just a part of it; but, it is important to get the bigger picture, so here is Jacob and his Wives, the shorter story.
Jacob leaves Bethel heading to Laban. He comes to a well, and whenever we hear about a well we need to remember wedding bells. Remember Abraham's servant finds Isaac's wife at a well, it happens again and again (Gaventa and Petersen). And you are right, Jacob meets Laban's youngest daughter at the well. He and Rachel fall in love. She takes him to meet her father, who takes a liking to Jacob. The next thing you know Jacob asks for Rachel. We heard that story this morning. Jacob does not have a bride price, yes, in those ancient days men literally bought brides for a bride price; and it is not likely Isaac will give Jcob a bride price, given their recent history. So, Jacob suggests he works seven years for Rachel. It seems strange to our modern-day ears no matter what. And seven years sounds like a really long time; but, it does indicate the depths of Jacob's love, and his valuation of a dowry for her (Fretheim). The deal is done. Seven years later, Jacob asks for his wife. Laban throws a big wedding feast. And in the morning, it was Leah! Jacob is stunned. He wants to know what happened. Laban tells him that here, the younger daughter is never given in marriage before the older daughter. However, Laban offers Jacob another deal, just seven more years for Rachel. Jacob accepts.
Some observations about this story. Jacob favoring Rachel over Leah is yet one more instance of the Genesis' tradition of the younger over the older (Gaventa and Petersen). And at the same time Laban's trickery results in a reversal of Jacob's deceit of Esau, here the older replaces the younger (Harrelson). Even though he was clever and accomplished at deception it is not completely a surprise that Jacob is deceived, (Tanner). The ancient Near East custom was that the bride was brought veiled to the bridegroom. And it was a wedding with customary festival drinking (Ellingsen, Fretheim). There is an element of turn-about, Laban takes advantage of Jacob's vulnerability just as Jacob took advantage of Esau. The cheater is cheated, the deceiver has been deceived (Fretheim). It may cause us to wonder if a birthright and a blessing are worth fourteen years of indentured servitude (Bratt). It may cause us to wonder if Jacob feels something of what Esau felt (Fretheim)? I also wonder how Rachel feels that her father replaces her with her older sister. It may be custom, nonetheless, as we shall hear, Rachel deeply loves Jacob. I also wonder how Leah feels that her father agrees to another marriage before her week of wedding celebration has barely started (Tanner).
What follows is as disturbing a story as, well the whole story of Abraham's family to this point. Jacob makes no effort to conceal his love for Rachel. However, Rachael, following the custom of wives in Abraham's family is barren. But Leah, Leah is a bit of a baby factory, and has four sons (Bratt). Rachel not wanting to be out done and seeking the honor of bearing children and following Sarah's example gives her maid Bilhah to Jacob to be a surrogate mother for her (Harrelson). She has two sons. Leah notices she is no longer producing children so she gives her maid Zilpha to Jacob to be a surrogate for her, and she has two sons. Rachel discovers that Leah has some mandrakes which are supposed to improve fertility (Harrelson). Leah isn't likely to give those up so Rachel makes a deal with Leah and gives her access to Jacob, and Leah has two more sons! and a daughter. And then, finally, Rachel conceives and gives birth to Joseph, who we will hear much more about him. And some years later Rachel has a second son, Benjamin, who we also hear about.
This competition to produce the most child for Jacob, by any means sets up one more dysfunctional set of family relationships and conflicts (Gaventa and Petersen). The whole ugly story is deeply rooted in Abraham's family history; and foreshadows the conflict between Joseph, a child of Rachel, and his ten brothers who are children of Leah and the surrogates (Fretheim). Maybe, the only redemptive aspect of this story is that, finally, we are introduced to Jacobs twelve sons who become, the heads of the twelve tribes of Israel.
It is tempting and rather easy to judge Leah and Rachel for their maternal competition. It may be easy to judge Jacob and Laban, for their deceitful manipulative ways. But we judge we miss the point of the story. Beth Tanner writes They are not "them." They are us (Bratt). Which brings us to the question of how we glean real wisdom from this or any other of the many sordid, despicable stories in the Old Testament.
We tend to, and we have been taught to read it as history, and there is value here. But there is also other deep source wisdom to recognize. It might be interesting to read the Old Testament stories as parables. There is an old saying that the key to success was to care enough about your objective not to care (Epperly). If we can resist seeking historical accuracies or explanations or definitions then perhaps we can allow these stories to tease us into a different kind of active thought wherein we may just catch a glimpse of the Kingdom of God, we would otherwise miss. Even in Jacob messes, the ones he is in, and the ones he created, we can see the Spirit, we can see God's purpose moving forward, overcoming obstacles one by one. We can see God's abundance strewn, seemingly recklessly, everywhere (Epperly). After all, with twelve sons the promise finally seems to be on track (Bratt). Throughout Abraham's family's story we have seen and we will see how God's presence continues to quietly sneak in unannounced influencing the movement of the story of God's Kingdom on earth.
Have you seen God's quiet presence sneaking around St. Stephens? I have. In a time when large congregations, in much larger cities struggle to find an organist, in one week two parishioners find two separate organists; and now St. Stephen's two organist to succeed Ruth; or to follow Ruth, I don't know if anyone can succeed her. I'll be honest this is not the outcome I expected. Not only could I not find a pianist, I couldn't find the little MIDI musical boxes that have these things pre-recorded, I'm relieved.
Another trait of reading the Old Testament as history is that we know all the decisions the characters have made; we know where all the characters have gone, we know the path they have trod. So, imagine for a moment any given Old Testament story is a context, a setting for decisions we face, for paths we have yet to trod, for ventures we are in the midst of, or perhaps have yet to begin (Skinner). They can be the source of imagination that allows us to catch a glimpse of God's grace, of God's abundance, of God's remarkably continual presence, especially when we can't feel it.
There is one more gleaning truth in the story of Jacob's children's birth. Beginning with Abraham and Sarah and through to Jacob, Rachael, and Leah there has been confusion about the story, confusion about who the story is really about. Abraham and Sarah thought it was about them, they thought that they were first. Hagar and Ishmael thought it was about them that they were first. Rebekah and Jacob thought it was about them that they were first. Isaac and Esau thought it was about them that they were first. Rachel thought it was about her and her kids, that they were first. Leah though it was about her and her kids, that they were first. We think it is about us, that we are first, we are being told, again and again "America first." Abraham, Sarah, Hagar, Ishmael, Isaac, Esau, Jacob, Rachel, and Leah are all wrong. The Kingdom of God is first. We are wrong, the Kingdom of God is first. Only when we begin with the Kingdom, first and foremost, that we can see how a tiny seed will grow, how leaven can work its way through the entire mass, how a hidden treasure is truly present, how everything will be sorted out (Skinner). Only when the Kingdom is first can we live believing that nothing has been, is, or ever can be, between us and the love of God in Jesus Christ that is right here, right now.
Bratt, Doug. Proper 12A Genesis 29: 15-28. 30 7 2017. <cep.calvinseminary.edu>.
Clavier, Tony. "Training for the Kingdom of Heaven." 30 7 2017. Sermons that Work.
Ellingsen, Mark. Lectionary Scripture Notes. 30 7 2017. <http://www.lectionaryscripturenotes.com/>.
Epperly, Bruce. The Adventurous Lectionary. 30 7 2017. <http://www.patheos.com/blogs/livingaholyadventure/author/bruceepperly>.
Fretheim, Terence E. New Interpreter's Bible Commentary; The Book of Genesis. Ed. I. Vol. XII. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2015. App Olivetree.
Gaventa, Beverly Roberts and David Petersen. New Interpreter's One Volume Commentary. Nashville, n.d.
Harrelson, Walter J. The New Interpreters' Study Bible. Abingdon Press, 2003. E-book.
Lose, David. Pentecost 7 A: On the Question of Evil. 30 7 2017.
Sakenfeld, Katharine Doob. New Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible. Nashville: Abingdon, 2009.
Skinner, Matt. Hide Away. 30 7 2017. <workingpreacher.org>.
Tanner, Beth L. "Commentary on Lamentations 1:16." 30 7 2017. Commentary on Genesis 29:15-28. <http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=3020>.


text:
An Islamic hacker group has taken down the website of the English Defence League (EDL) in advance of this afternoon's EDL protest in Dudley, Birmingham.
The hackers, who call themselves the Izzah Hackers, have denounced the EDL as "an anti-Muslim hate organisation".
They attacked the EDL website as part of a online campaign against Islamophobic groups.
The EDL's Twitter feed has also been hacked, though it is not known whether the Izzah Hackers are also responsible. Satirical fictitious tweets are being sent out from it.
The EDL describes itself as "an inclusive movement dedicated to peacefully protesting against Islamic extremism". However, it is widely perceived and reported as a far-right anti-Muslim organisation.
Whether the hacks will hamper the EDL's organisation of today's protest is unclear, because its Facebook page remains active. Two thousand
Up to 2,000 EDL supporters are expected at the rally today, which is due to start at 2pm. The EDL are protesting against plans to build a new mosque.A large counterprotest by the Unite Against Fascism group will take place at the same time.
A counterprotest by Unite Against Fascism group will take place at the same time.
The mayor of Dudley, Councillor Margaret Aston, told the EDL supporters: "Don't come here intent on causing trouble." In an interview with the
In an interview with the Birmingham Mail, Aston said she was concerned about potential violent clashes between the two groups.
"I think everyone is a little nervous," she said.
The Bishop Of Dudley, the Right Reverend Graham Usher, has also made his views known, stating that he is "deeply saddened" that the EDL would "try to divide and sow the seeds of distrust in our community". He said: "I deplore, in the strongest terms, those who single out for hate our Muslim brothers and sisters. I see an attack on one faith as an attack on all faiths."
West Midlands Police will not disclose how many officers will be deployed. There will be road restrictions in Dudley to accommodate the protests.
David Jamieson, Police and Crime Commissioner for the West Midlands, said: "We will protect the right of people to peacefully protest, but expect everyone who visits the borough to respect local people and their rights to live in harmony. Most of all though, violence in all its forms is not acceptable and won't be tolerated on Saturday."


text:
Report on the Second Half of the Twentieth Century, Books 16-22
Ken Norris
About the Book
This is the final installment in the multi-book long poem Ken Norris began in 1977. The seven books collected here were written between 1989 and 2000. This volume extends and completes the 22-book sequence and brings it to its intriguing conclusion.The format and content concerns of these seven books are diverse and far ranging. Book 16, "Notes for Reconstructing Babylon," explores the cultural and spiritual realities of a long vanished Mesopotamian civilization, while also keeping an eye on the first Gulf War that is gathering on the horizon. Fragments from the "Lost Book of Mu" (Book 17) is a meditation on the fabled "lost continent" of the Pacific. "The Book of Broken Moonlight" (Book 18) and "Boulevard Saint Laurent" (Book 19) survey the ecstasies and vicissitudes of post-modern love. In Book 20, "Judgement, or The Wordsworth Project," Norris traces the roots of the contemporary long poem while walking the history-haunted streets of Prague; in "Blizzard of the World" (Book 21), he brings the curtain down on the 20th century, while also finding time to investigate the tragic realities of Shakespeare's King Lear. The final book, "The Book of the Fool," addresses the folly of a world subject to the forces of history.
About the Author
Ken Norris is a widely published and nationally acclaimed poet. He teaches Canadian Literature and Creative Writing at the University of Maine. He currently divides his time between Canada, Maine and the Caribbean.
- 978-0920486-75-7
- POE011000 Poetry/Canadian
- 196 pp 6 x 9 in


text:
26/11 That was a day you didn't have to work, a beautiful November day
Get in here with me you teased as I set down the coffee tray.
That was a day our son's music teacher cancelled and our son was enthralled
You had to work, urgent business you said, I was secretly happy when the car stalled.
26/11 That was a day when I ran behind the tuk tuk to give you the phone you left behind
Children played in the streets, families chattered, I watched from the balcony, resigned.
That was a day Renu Aunty decided to show up with her awfully boring stories
Our son broke Sharma ji's window panes adding to our list of worries.
That was a day I put our son to bed and readied quite the treat
I had dinner alone and angry, you called from the cab- another client to meet.
That was the day the delicious taste of parathas lingered long after my anger subsided
Before the perpetual taste of grief oppressed my palate and even simple pleasures receded.
26/11 That was the day when you didn't come home my darling
Our son didn't understand why you weren't there in the morning.
That was the day we were thrown at the mercy of this world
Some say I got justice that I deserved- but my senses… they are still blurred…


text:
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text: All The Tr… Editing David Gonterman 0 You do not have permission to edit this page, for the following reasons: The action you have requested is limited to users in one of the groups: Users, FANDOM Staff, FANDOM Helpers, Wiki Managers, Content Team Members. Please log in to edit this wiki.Joining All The Tropes Wiki is free, and it only takes a minute.We hope that you sign in, and become a member of the community!Click here to log in or create an account more + You can view and copy the source of this page: {{trope}} [[File:DaveyKinsmaninprison.gif|frame| [http://gontermaninprison.ytmnd.com/ Doo Oooh Oooh... PRISON BITCH!]]] David Gonterman, aka Daveykins, FoxFire, or David Foxfire, is a fan-fiction author and artist who is known mainly for the controversial "American Kitsune" fan fiction story and the furry themed "[[Fox Fire]]/Scarlet P.I." webcomic series. Dating back to 1995, he has produced a number of mind-numbingly convoluted fan fiction X-Over stories. His stories involve ''[[Sailor Moon]]'', ''[[Power Rangers]]'', and ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' series, which in his fan-fiction universe all take place at the same time. King of the self-insert fan fic, he was one of the first Sailor Moon fan fiction writers to insert himself as Serena's one true love. He also gained infamy among fans of the show's gay cast members; in one of his more infamous stories ("American Kitsune"), they died at his character's hands while his insert character made a homophobic rant justifying their deaths. He is also notoriously thin-skinned (he once wrote a story where he beat up poor Mary Jo Pehl of ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000]]'' fame, who had the misfortune of being a stand-in for his legion of critics). He has also created a furry-themed webcomic series called "[[Fox Fire]]", which was later retooled into "Scarlet P.I." He also [http://www.commuterbarnacle.com/gonterman/APRILFOO.GIF created a guest strip] for ''[[Walkyverse|It's Walky!]]''. He seems to attend the [[Macross|Shoji Kawamori]] school of continuity, i.e. pick and choose whatever you want from the previous stories and throw the rest out. As such, readers of his work should expect [[Kudzu Plot|Kudzu Plots]]. Easily as notorious in the 90s and early 2000s as [[Sonichu|Christian Weston Chandler]] is today, he's managed to fade from the public eye, mostly by growing up substantially in the intervening years and just being outright outdone by the aforementioned...individual. ------------- == '''''The Davey Crockett Trilogy''''' == A trilogy of tangentially linked stories incorporating the character of David "Davey Crockett" Kintobor into the world of [[Sonic the Hedgehog]]. ''[http://www.tuxedojack.com/godawful/nauseating/gonterman/gonterman-Piasa.txt The Piasa Monster]'' ''[http://www.commuterbarnacle.com/gonterman/text.html Blood and Metal]'' ''[http://www.commuterbarnacle.com/gonterman/text.html Sailor Moon: American Kitsune]'' The most infamous story of his works. ''[[Sailor Moon]]'' meets ''[[Power Rangers]]'' meets ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' meets anything else Gonterman could think of at the time. Davie meets Sailor Moon and the Power Rangers and rants about how he hates gay people while gleefully murdering the gay villains from Sailor Moon. == '''''Scarlet P.I.''''' == Two separate but interrelated strips. The first series, which was named ''[http://www.furnation.com/FoxStudios/archive/ComicStrip/FCS.html FoxFire]'', ran for 240 strips before being dropped without a resolution. After a recent comic convention, Jim Goodlow comes home to find a package with a female fursuit in it. He's surprised to find out that it's a sentient creature and needs to a symbiotic relationship to survive. [[Hilarity Ensues]] as the suit (originally named Susan, before being changed to Scarlet) becomes Jim's crime fighting alter ego as he continues his career as a professional cartoonist. Things get a little confusing from that point on. In 2004, a total [[Retool]] and reboot was started under the name of ''[http://daveykinsfoxfire.deviantart.com/gallery/#Scarlet-PI-Strips Scarlet PI]'', with there being 123 strips. Jim Goodlow reappears, but is changed from a cartoonist to a prodigy cop that can't get a job. (Interestingly enough, he's also [[Straight Gay]], but it instead just feels like repentance on Gonterman's part.) After failing to find a job, he happens upon a box dumped near his apartment. It contains an advanced prototype female fox fursuit, which was created by a corrupt corporation (not an [[Alien Invasion]] this time, [[Benevolent Alien Invasion|Benevolent]] or not). Of course, he leaps right into it due to wanting to seduce men, investigating the corporation as an obligatory exchange. == '''''The Packbellverse''''' == These stories and comics initially seem unrelated, but they are set in the same universe- there are many crossovers of the various characters in other stories. Most of them incorporate the character of Adam Packbell, if at least only tangentially. ''[http://www.foxfirestudios.net/packblog/WebBook/index.php?page=6 Lost Boy Found]'' A self-published ''[[Peter Pan]]'' fanfic about a Lost Boy named Adam Packbell. The advertising blurb claims that it is "equal parts autobiography, adventure story, and ''[[Shrek]]''-style parody of every recent novel set in Neverland including the official sequel". Adam Packbell is a central character in many of the Planewalker-verse comics and books. ''[http://gonterman.kicks-ass.net/displaystrip.php?comic=3&strip=1 Night Soldiers]'' A ''[[Sailor Moon]]'' inspired story about a young witch in a southern community. After Sue "comes out of the broom closet", life goes well for her as everybody accepts it. However, her lifestyle is threatened: when a [[Horny Devils|succubus]] attacks and kills a couple people, she is the only one able to stop it. It abruptly ends before she starts her journey, so what happens is unknown. Like ''Fauna Force'', this was meant to steal the audience from its source of inspiration. ''[http://gonterman.kicks-ass.net/displaystrip.php?comic=10&strip=1 Baka Breakers]'' The plotless adventures of a robotic foxgirl and [[Author Avatar|her boyfriend.]] Difficult to describe. ''Livewire Latte'' A continuation of Baka Breakers, with Adam Packbell (See Lost Boy Found- it's the same character) running a coffee shop in a small town roughly 70 miles from Vegas, or 'Sin City' as Gonterman loves calling it. Primarily a [[Slice of Life]] comic, [[Mundane Fantastic|except]] for the [[Robot Girl|android]] [[Catgirl]] Tara and the [[Furry Fandom|anthropomorphic mice]] running around; as well as the hints to Adam's magical side. Arguably half-decent for the first three dozen pages or so, ''precisely'' due to its less ambitious, slice-of-life style... at least until the [[Token Minority]] Japanese girl comes in. ''[http://gonterman.kicks-ass.net/displaystrip.php?comic=12&strip=1 Planeswalker]'' An original story based loosely on ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'' done in a [[Magical Girl]] style. In ancient times, a portal between Earth and Dominaria was briefly opened and then sealed off, leaving behind artifacts which contained the souls of mages. In modern times, a young girl named Jamie came in contact with one of these books and was infused with a spirit of a Planeswalker. The symbiotic creature now acts as a paragon of justice... when not just being a giant [[Jerkass]]. Adam Packbell appears in a ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]''-esque tournament based on Magic, and Richard Kronos and Sue from Night Soldiers appear in the audience. == '''''Other Gonterman Works''''' == ''Fauna Force'' Gonterman's response to Sonic the Hedgehog, ''Fauna Force'' starred Johnathan Brisby, originally introduced in the ''[[Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers (animation)|Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers]]''/''[[Secret of NIMH]]'' crossover story ''The Rangers of NIMH''. Johnathan, an accomplished street magician, stumbles upon the Animaster, [[Cats Are Mean|an evil lion]] who has recently turned a small cadre of humans into animals via a process known as 'furricization' (a none-too-subtle play on roboticization from the Sonic universe) and takes them in to form a team that can fight against the Animaster. It was intended to "steal" the audience from Archie's ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog]]''... ''[http://www.commuterbarnacle.com/gonterman/kissingcontest.html The Kissing Contest]'' An inept Disney [[Script Fic]] of sorts, which includes Gonterman's self-insert being praised by Disney executives as an insightful genius for portraying [[Pocahontas]] as a "donamatrix" in his fanfiction and a paragraph-long sidenote about how none of the Disney characters actually died in their films. ''[http://www.commuterbarnacle.com/gonterman/441.html Kitsune .44]'' Scott Trucker, a Texas Ranger, gets sent back in time to Feudal Japan after a tornado scoops him up. He becomes part of a war against another time traveler that has taken over a sizable portion of Japan. As the site hosting the comic points out, the self-insert isn't named after Gonterman this time, but the hairstyle is a dead giveaway. ''NiGHTS: The Third Dreamer'' A rare Gontercomic about ''[[NiGHTS Into Dreams|NiGHTs: Into Dreams]]'', ostensibly a spinoff from Archie's own ''NiGHTs'' miniseries.. The plot does not seem to exist until about two pages before the comic abruptly stops, when the titular 'third dreamer' is revealed. Notable for containing the most strangely rugged Gonterman insert known to date. Who beats Charles Barkley in a one-on-one basketball game and dunks right over his head. Seriously. He also has an [http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v322/puppet_chaos/ALI-AL-GONTERCHEZ.jpg uncanny resemblance] to Ali Al-Saachez of ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam 00]]'' fame. Hide your women, lock your doors and get in the Gundam! ''[http://www.commuterbarnacle.com/gonterman/nitro1.html NiTRO]'' David Gonterman gets fed up with the MSTs of his work, creating a reactionary comic in which he <s>[[Never Say "Die"|defeats]]</s> brutally kills his most vocal opponents and takes over the Satellite of Love. Also includes a bunny [[Sex Bot]] for no real reason but [[Author Appeal]]. The source of the infamous "Clinton Jobs". ''[http://www.commuterbarnacle.com/gonterman/RANGERS.TXT The Rangers of NIMH]'' Medical equipment is being stolen by Nimnul. After meeting up with Johnathan Brisby, the Rescue Rangers go out to stop him. Pretty much the gold standard for both [[Rouge Angles of Satin|blind trust in the spellchecker and absolutely no proofreading whatsoever]], its first sentence reads "The Ranger's where flowing a leaded of break-ins." Usual tripe that wouldn't be too exceptional except for the fact that it created Johnathan Brisby, who became Gonterman's mascot of sorts. ''[http://waggoner.lardpirates.com/d/spank/1376/mist+on+the+ghost+planet++sailor+moon+usa+chapter+1+prelude Sailor Moon USA]'' After the US cancellation of ''[[Sailor Moon]]'', David ends up catching said character after an explosion in Japan launched her across the Pacific. An [[Adaptation Distillation]] of ''Sailor Moon: American Kitsune''. Note: link is to a "[[Fan Art]]" [[MST]], since the unaltered artwork is generally considered to be lost. ''[http://www.commuterbarnacle.com/gonterman/sally1.html Sally Protest]'' A reactionary comic made when he discovered Archie Comics' plan to kill off Sally in the ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' comic continuity. After assigning his own sense of outrage at the idea to, uh, everyone else in the world, David consoles an outraged Sally, offering a solution. Famous that it got ''Ken Penders''' attention. ''[http://www.commuterbarnacle.com/gonterman/SONIC199/ The Mobius Chronicles]'' Sort of the follow-up to ''Sally Protest'', ''The Mobius Chronicles'' is an alternate continuity that diverges from issue 47 of the official ''[[Archie Sonic|Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' comic book. Naturally, Gonterman promptly makes himself the main character. [[MST|MSTed]] [http://waggoner.lardpirates.com/d/spank/1294/mist+on+the+ghost+planet++sonic+the+mobius+chronicles+chapter+1+prelude here], [http://waggoner.lardpirates.com/d/spank/1325/mist+on+the+ghost+planet++sonic+the+mobius+chronicles+chapter+2+prelude here] and [http://waggoner.lardpirates.com/d/spank/1355/mist+on+the+ghost+planet++sonic+the+mobius+chronicles+chapter+3+prelude here]. == '''''Audiobooks and Dramatic Readings of Gonterman Works''''' == * [http://pitpodcast.blogspot.com/2009/09/episode-10-enter-daveykins.html American Kitsune, chapters 1-3] (Andrew Cook) * [http://pitpodcast.blogspot.com/2009/09/episode-11-end-of-beginning.html American Kitsune, chapters 4-6] (Andrew Cook) * [http://badfanfictheater.blogspot.com/2009/12/christmas-audiobooks.html The Piasa Bird] (Franzie von Karma) * [http://pamachu-productions.blogspot.com/2011/09/episode-12-piasa-bird.html The Piasa Bird] ([[Tropers/Pamachu|Pamachu]]) * [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXYk2EGG0Hg Excerpts from Foxfire] (puppetchaos) ---- === Gonterman's work provides examples of: === * [[Aerith and Bob]]: With so many crossovers, it's inevitable. A good example: Davey and Lord Zedd. * [[Author Avatar]]: Nearly every main male protagonist. Even a few female ones, too. * [[Alien Invasion]]: The villains in the original Scarlet P.I. * [[All There in the Manual]]: Gonterman gives a lot of supplemental information in random-side stories, blog entries, pages buried within his websites, scribbled notes on sketches of characters, and in descriptions on [[Deviant ART]] submissions. Gee, it'd sure be handy for him to tell us this stuff in the stories, eh? * [[Author Appeal]]: Anthropomorphic foxes, robot girls, masks, mimes, clowns and mind control. ** High heels and [[Of Corsets Sexy|corsets]] on his women, all the time. Even if it does not make sense. ** Take some Sonic the Hedgehog, put in a self insert, a lil' Sailor Moon, just a pinch of Battletech and a healthy shake of Power Rangers... half bake for three weeks.. * [[Author Filibuster]]: Taken to the extreme in American Kitsune, where Davey-kins rants about how homosexuals made his life a living hell. Adam Packbell has 'blog entries' in the Lost Boy Found novel where he rants about Ritalin; and goes out of his way to call MSTings "troll fanfiction" during a ''court case''. The weird thing is that the people who made his life a so-called living hell were just high school kids calling him gay, not actual gay people. It's like having high cholesterol and blaming it on clowns. Gonterman later recanted his positions on this subject. * [[Ascended Fanboy]]: David in ''Sailor Moon USA''. * [[Anti-Hero]]: Richard Cronos and a few of his 'edgier' self-inserts appear to be attempts at Antiheroes, but they're more like [[Sliding Scale of Anti-Heroes|Disney Anti-Heroes]] * [[Becoming the Mask]]: Most "Zoot" wearers start to lose their original identity. Even Jim and Scarlet seem to mush into a single being. * [[Bi the Way]]: Copper Mystrian ...maybe. * [[Brother-Sister Incest]]: Davey and Usagi in BAM 1.0 * [[The Cameo]]: Shall we list the ways? ** President [[Barack Obama]] appears in BAM 2.0. ** Gonterman has a less-than-flattering cameo of his real self when Adam looks through a magic mirror in Livewire Latte. Characters from other comics and stories appear in short cameos in both Planeswalker and Livewire Latte. ** In Scarlet P.I. 1.0, Rael the Transvestite Bunny is based on a ''[http://raelbunny.deviantart.com/ real person]'' ('''Do not click if you are faint of heart, or [[Homestar Runner|faint of butt]]''') ** Many celebrities in Scarlet P.I. 1.0 * [[Canon Welding]]: Due to the [[Mega Crossover]] tendencies, it appears that everything takes place on one big world, with a few alternate dimensions thrown in. It doesn't make it any easier that he frequently reuses character names and appearances, making it unclear if it's supposed to be the same character at different stages of life, or not. * [[Character Filibuster]]: ''The Rangers of NIMH'' has [[Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers (animation)|Rescue Rangers]] expressing Gonterman's thoughts on the then-current state of [[Disney]]. * [[Clap Your Hands If You Believe]]: Adam uses this in ''Lost Boy Found'' to bring the fairy he found back to life, albeit using a computer program to find websites via a search engine about the belief in fairies being true and to make a clap sound through the speakers. * [[Clothes Make the Superman]]: In both ''Scarlet PI'' comics, It's the sentient fursuits that have the powers, not the people wearing them. The wearers just serve as a [[Human Resources|glorified power battery]]. * [[Curb Stomp Battle]]: The typical result of Gonterman's self-insert entering a battle. * [[Determinator]]: Let's be honest here, Gonterman himself. Only a Determinator would have the will to keep on doing what he does, even if he's near-universally regarded as bad. * [[Do Not Touch the Funnel Cloud]]: The opening of ''Kitsune .44''. * [[Even Evil Has Standards|Even Fail Has Standards]]: Even David Gonterman thinks that [[Sonichu|Christian Weston Chandler]] is a disgrace. {{quote| ''"Tell me about it on CWC. Geez, when you have'' me ''facepalming at you, you have got to be pretty bad off."''}} * [[Expansion Pack Past]]: Davey and ED. * [[For the Evulz]]: Some of his villains don't seem to have much of a motive other than making people miserable. * [[Flanderization]]: Most of the characters from the external canons only had one or two of their character traits kept intact, being defined exclusively by the traits that Gonterman viewed as most vital. Even his original characters tend to flatten over time. * [[Furry Fandom]]: Scarlet PI To the max. * [[Giftedly Bad]] * [[Good Bad Girl]]: Scarlet. * [[Gratuitous Spanish]]: Robbie from 'Lost Boy Found'. Even though English is apparently his first language. * [[Hands in Pockets]]: Much like [[Rob Liefeld]], Gonterman avoids drawing feet whenever possible. The only exception he makes is for high-heeled boots, as the [[Author Appeal]] gives him enough motivation to finish. * [[Hollywood Cyborg]]: Many, many instances. * [[Human Resources]]: The evil Zoots in Scarlet PI use humans as glorified batteries and memory storage. Good zoots are partners. * [[Idiosyncratic Episode Naming]]: In the original Sonic fanfic version of ''Blood and Metal Alpha'', the chapters were called "Zones", and divided further into "Acts", much like the classic Sonic games. * [[Improbable Aiming Skills]]: Davey shooting and destroying Lord Zedd's throne, located on the moon, from the Earth, using a ''sawed-off shotgun.'' Oh, and with Lord Zedd not getting hit by a single pellet in spite of ''sitting in the throne at the time.'' * [[Informed Flaw]]: In the remake of BAM, Gonterman informs us in supplemental materials that Eric likes beer a little too much. This doesn't seem to play at all into the plot. * [[Interquel]]: There's a few side-stories on one of Gonterman's site that appears to take place sometime during the new series of BAM. The Scarlet P.I. novel is one of these, too. * [[Instant Fanclub]]: Scarlet gains ''a lot'' of fans overnight. * [[Kudzu Plot]]: Do we REALLY need to explain this one? * [[Luke, I Am Your Father]]: Davey's father is Robotnik. Averted in the remake. * [[Kavorka Man]]: Unintentionally evoked in pretty much everything he creates. * [[Lawyer-Friendly Cameo]]: Blatantly avoided in Scarlet P.I. 1.0 * [[Magic Negro]]: A pseudo-example happens in the BAM remake, as the scientist who transforms Eric and gives him his powers is black. ** In the old version of Blood and Metal, Old Man Coyote, while not human, is a deity from a 'mystical' non-western culture, and helps give Davey, a white American, some of his powers. * [[Mega Crossover]]: Everything is liable to crossover with everything else. * [[Mighty Whitey]] ** Semi-Justified in Kitsune .44, as possession of a [[Hand Cannon|hefty revolver]] and 1990's knowledge in feudal Japan would give you some advantages. ** Davey/Eric in BAM crossing over from America to another world and saving everyone. Made even more blatant in the rewrite, as Eric is essentially ''creating an alternate-universe United States''. * [[Mind Control]]: Evil Zoots in Scarlet P.I. get hosts through this. One of them even has hypno eyes. Copper Mystrian gets a lot of mileage out of this, too. * [[Moral Dissonance]]: Many, many times. Blatant examples include Davey Crockett murdering a bunch of homosexuals, or Copper Mystrian creating a hypnotized personal army of young girls, some of whom serve as a harem of sorts. In general, sometimes the reasons the heroes fight, the things they do or what they say just doesn't quite match up to most of the reader's ideals, and even if they do, it's oftentimes handled in a way to be off-putting anyway. * [[Mundane Fantastic]]: Lost Boys, fairies, android foxgirls and other blatantly magical and science-fiction elements exist in a world that's more or less the 'real world.' * [[New Powers as the Plot Demands]]: Davey's cybernetic arm, Ed's closet, and many miscellaneous objects that Davey has collected. Scarlet becomes a psionic capable of teleportation within one strip in Scarlet P.I. 1.0 * [[Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot]]: Davey Crockett himself in BAM, but also the introduction of the Sailor Senshi to the Morphing Grid and the highly modified Battletech robots. * [[Old Shame]]: Gonterman ''hates'' BAM 1.0 and American Kitsune. He's also tried to erase most of his older works from the internet, though archives of them stick around thanks to his [[Hatedom]]. * [[Only Six Faces]]: More like only two, male and female. Maybe three if you throw in "furry." Only one set of eyes, that's for sure. * [[Orphaned Series]]: He rarely finishes anything. Only Lost Boy Found got finished, and the original Scarlet P.I. had a pseudo-ending where Scarlet rides off into the sunset, or in this case, the furry convention circuit. * [[Out of Character]]: All the ''[[Sailor Moon]]'' characters, but especially Usagi. Rampant elsewhere. * [[Pet Homosexual]]: Jim Goodlow in Scarlet PI 2.0. Scarlet gets the attention, Jim's stuck in the suit. * [[Powers as Programs]] * [[Puppeteer Parasite]]: Good Zoots get permission from their hosts. Evil zoots don't. ** Many others appear across the Gontercanon, even (supposedly) heroic ones. * [[Planet Eris]]: Here's a fun game: take a shot with each new reference to a completely different canon. Your liver won't make it through to the end. * [[Reclusive Artist]]: Unless we go by the drawings of his self-insert characters, there are no actual known photos of Gonterman himself. * [[Remember the New Guy?]]: Scarlet Foxfire has a daughter in Scarlet PI who just randomly shows up. * [[Reused Character Design]]: Reuse of names, character archetypes and designs is frequently common and intentional. * [[Riding Into the Sunset]]: Scarlet/Jim and Sarah in the "end" of Scarlet PI 1.0. Actually, it's the furry convention circuit and they're driving a car but... yeah. * [[Robot Girl]]: Roll-chan in ''NiTRO'' and Tara Kit in ''Baka Breakers'' and ''Lost Boy Found''. The latter also mentions one named Aline Rabbit who used to work in Las Vegas's Red Light District. * [[Rouge Angles of Satin]]: ''The Rangers of NIMH''. {{quote| "The Ranger's where flowing a leaded of break-ins."}} * [[Self-Deprecation]]: Gonterman openly mocks himself now. * [[Sex Bot]]: Gonterman loves this trope, nearly every more-recent creation of his includes at least one. The most obvious is Aline in Baka Breakers, who is a former robo-hooker who kills terrorists in Afghanistan ... or something. * [[Shout-Out]]: To many things, perhaps even TV Tropes in BAM 2.0. * [[Showing Off the New Body]]: Scarlet, after Jim becomes her host. * [[Slice of Life]]: Livewire Latte and Baka Breakers, but Livewire moreso. * [[Straight Gay]]: Jim Goodlow in the ''Scarlet P.I.'' reboot. * [[Take Over the World]]: The motive of many villains. * He's a cartoonist who needs a job! She's an alien symbiotic costume! [[They Fight Crime]]. * [[The Remake]]: Blood and Metal, Scarlet P.I. Other stories and comics have recieved psuedo-remakes * [[Third Person Person]]: David Gonterman sometimes talks about David Gonterman as if David Gonterman is a different David Gonterman than the other David Gonterman. * [[Token Minority]] ** Gina the hospital intern and Professor Obacain (lolwut) in BAM 2.0. Both are black. ** Adam's gang in Lost Boy Found cover a variety of races and backgrounds. ** Jim Goodlow in Scarlet P.I. 2.0 is [[Pet Homosexual|gay]] ** There's a Muslim in Baka Breakers, but he seems to be a subversion of this trope due to his strange behavior. Once he jokingly suggests to Davey that he'd could get Allah to call in a jihad; making it sound like a [[Holy Hand Grenade|divine airstrike]]. The biggest part of his characterization seems to be that he's just a weird, sarcastic guy. * [[Trapped in the Past]]: The driving point of ''Kitsune .44''. * [[True Companions]]: Gonterman's main characters will typically have a group that is closely associated with them, but it's most noticeable in ''Lost Boy Found'' where Adam's gang is almost always together, even going to [[Peter Pan|Neverland]] together. * [[The Remake]]: Blood and Metal, Scarlet P.I. Other stories and comics have received pseudo-remakes * [[Unsound Effect]]: [http://www.thoughtviper.com/smmyst/p5.htm DRAMATIC ENTRANCE!!!] [http://www.commuterbarnacle.com/gonterman/4413.html AUTOMATIC MACHINE GUN FIRE!!!] * [[Unusual Euphemism]]: At the end of ''NiTRO'', Roll-Chan reveals she gave Gonterman some "Clinton Jobs." "''Oh yerf''" (which is a [[Take That]] to yerf.com, which Gonterman had some drama with); along with the standard furryism of 'yiffing' in Scarlet P.I. * [[Wham! Episode]]: American Kitsune, Chapter Seven, which had the [[Separated at Birth|infamous twist]]. * [[What Happened to the Mouse?]]: David can come up with ideas for plots that would be interesting if [[Needs More Love|given attention and developed carefully]]. Unfortunately, he also tends to get excited about the [[ADCD|Next Big Plot]] and completely change the topic of his webcomic. There was at least one example involving a literal anthropomorphic mouse, too. ** Example: An extraterrestrial police officer battles Earth gangsters with illicit alien tech (the main plot-line), then the plot is about [[Professional Wrestling]] (because [[Big Lipped Alligator Moment|why the hell not]]), then the same character has a wacky episode about hiding their [[Secret Identity]] (never an issue in later strips), then there is suddenly a F-to-M transsexual with [[Psychic Powers]] (he wanted to [[Write Who You Know|add a friend of his into the plot]]). * [[Worthy Opponent]]: Captain Hook is this to ''both' [[Peter Pan]] and Adam Packbell. * [[You Fail Biology Forever]]: Eating [[It Came From the Fridge|expired food]] will give you a cold and make you sneeze. ---- === Websites detailing Gonterman's work: === * [http://foxfirestudios.net/main.shtml FoxFire Studios] - The official David Gonterman website. * [http://daveykinsfoxfire.deviantart.com/ DaveykinsFoxFire on DeviantART] - The official DeviantART page maintained by him. * [http://www.commuterbarnacle.com/gonterman/ The Gonterman Shrine] - A website that compiles some of Gonterman's more infamous older works. It hasn't been updated since May 2001, but it feels just as current now as it did back then. Contains the entire published texts of ''Blood and Metal'' and ''Sailor Moon: American Kitsune'', amongst others. ** [http://www.commuterbarnacle.com/gonterman/phrackin.html This section] delves deep into Gonterman's psyche, analyzing and exposing his mental and life issues to the entire world. * [http://killass.lardpirates.com/mstron/default.html MSTron] - An [[Mystery Science Theater 3000]] style website that includes ''FoxFire'', ''Night Soldiers'', ''Baka Breakers'', and ''Planeswalker''. Officially dead, but a mirror remains. ** [http://brig.lardpirates.com/d/log/106/ The 'Viewtiful Gonterman' chain at Lard Pirates], which is "picking up where MSTron left off." * [http://audobonbridge.tripod.com/toontown/inter.html An Interview With David Gonterman]. An online interview with the Gonterman himself. * [http://www.thoughtviper.com/geo/sisto.html The Sisto Files,] a collection of Space Ghost themed MSTings that also include some of Gonterman's early works, Sailor Moon USA and Sonic: The Mobius Chronicles. Note that this is mirrored from a [[Geocities]] site that no longer exists and many of the non-Gonterman links are now dead. Gonterman-related content also mirrored [http://lardpirates.com/d/chain/21/msting+on+the+ghost+planet here]. {{reflist}} Templates used on the current version of this page: Template:Quote (view source) Template:Reflist (view source) Template:Trope (view source) (protected)Return to David Gonterman. Retrieved from "https://allthetropes.fandom.com/wiki/David_Gonterman" Edit summary Preview Mobile Desktop Show changes


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home, as the dead of winter weather, also wear a few times, I did not expect to wear this year, February 20, unexpectedly found that the inner front of the shoe lining is rotten. Ms. Lee told reporters, because it is casual shoes, she bought a bigger size special, certainly not big foot bursting it! certainly is quality! So, Ms. Lee took on February 23, Garden Road, Central, shoes chaussure de foot mercurial to department stores, want to have a say. Nike monopoly, said after watching the counter attendant to be there, what the situation will notice. It can be more than a week later, Ms. Lee did not receive any notice. It can not wait for the message, Ms. Lee again in March 1, 2, 4, repeatedly asked the case to Central Department Store, did not think of is, Nike has been pushing the salesperson said it was not the quality of the shoes, that is, manufacturers have had to return back, the repair would only be affixed on the inside layer of fabric, or sew, or glue. everyone knows that, catch some pieces of cloth from the inside, certainly Ge feet, but also affect the appearance, if not fill, holes only grow and will soon be scrapped. Lee said: "Ordinarily a pair of shoes not a big deal, but felt manufacturers have repeatedly evasive, too irresponsible, and the waiter's attitude is very poor, says a replacement impossible. Who is in charge of the many shopping malls under the coordination failed to solve them, 3 months warranty replacement has become an empty talk!"
Ms Lee said:" As a brand awareness so high, so much as a air max 24-7 shopping mall, is to treat the consumer do? "
At the weekend press and Central Department Store, contact the persons concerned, and once again came together with Ms. Lee, Central Department Store, Nike counter clerk told a man named Xu Dekun Ms. Lee, but for shopping coordination, like Ms. Lee breakage shoes simply not within the scope of the three packs will not be accepted and normal. Xude Kun said that if the shoes do not want to retire can not, but a certain amount of depreciation expense, depreciation charge is three bags of requirements; If you want to exchange also, but to collect the difference, and that they exchange new or old, can not be returned once the exchange after, there was no warranty. And when a reporter asked where these provisions are, Xu Dekun said: "We shop it is so. "
"I really can not afford to delay, to which all ran 5 times, and back and forth play of light and the costs are gradually getting enough to buy a pair, and say we still have to travel abroad next week, forget it, for a pair of pair had to change, it is no time ah! "Ms. Lee said," My family has 3 people 4 people are wearing Nike shoes hypervenom pas cher many years, I did not expect problems will be encountered this courtesy of Nike factories. Now to the point where, really feel disappointed and wronged ah!"
When Ms Lee told reporters after a pair of not-for-three packs of the time, Ms. Lee said with a wry smile:" Without it there would be no better than put a pair of bad air max LTD shoes in the house strong."


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It is almost like a mix of culture and or tradition merged with modern day beach wear styles. After a very hectic couple of weeks, I flipped through different style files and trust me to stare at the tribal prints section for the longest time. I'm happy it is over and there is lots of progress, thank God.
One thing I've also learned in these past weeks to to learn to stop trying to figure everything out at once. If you find yourself lost,
get draw a map , if you lost it, draw a new map and start all over. And whilst you have a map, be it a career map, job map, academic map don't stay linear, it's okay to go chaotic, it's a map anyway. I've never seen a linear map, anyone who reads a map and wants to search for a place has to look through until they find that point or destination. One thing to keep in mind though is that in the end, we want to make sense of the chaos by connecting the dots to get somewhere. It's a process, and it sure requires time and patience. Don't fuss, it's okay to feel uneasy, it's a reminder you are always thinking, enjoy and learn as much as you can, on the journey.
So whiiiiile I wait, I'll keep sourcing inspiration and keep working. Stella Jean's beachwear collection is really inspiring and classy. A very talented Italian-Haitian designer, Stella Jean. I love that these prints can stand out, it embraces all body types and in addition to that, it is very different from most type of beach wears out there. The turbans and head wraps makes the ensemble interesting, fun and chic, a change in the beach wear fashion dynamics. As you may have noticed I love prints and welcome all kinds of statement prints. I would definitely rock most of these! Maybe next picnic?! *smiles*
What do you think?
Source: Stella Jean
You guys always have incredible feed-backs and or comments. I always appreciate them.
Leave me your links if you wish, I likewise visit and return your gestures!
Thank you for visiting!


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Contact: Maureen Oltrogge, 928-638-7779
Grand Canyon, Ariz. - On Tuesday, June 9, 2009, the National Park Service began a project to reconstruct the South Kaibab Trail in Grand Canyon National Park. The project is one of the largest reconstruction projects on a Grand Canyon trail since the mid 1960s and will be funded, in part, with funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA).
The project is one of many National Park Service Recovery projects that was selected after a review of all pending construction, maintenance, and rehab/repair projects through a rigorous process to identify those that were not only priorities but also met the specific ARRA criteria.
Grand Canyon National Park is renowned for its trails. The park has more than 630 miles of trails, including 415 miles of inner canyon backcountry trails and 42 miles of inner canyon corridor trails. Corridor trails include Bright Angel Trail, the River Trail, and the South and North Kaibab Trails, all of which comprise the inner canyon corridor from South to North Rim. Over 200,000 visitors use these trails on an annual basis.
The reconstruction of the South Kaibab Trail will take approximately two to four years and will cost several million dollars to complete. Grand Canyon National Park received approximately $10.8 million in ARRA funds, of which $550,000 will go towards the reconstruction of the South Kaibab Trail.
The South Kaibab Trail begins on the South Rim near Yaki Point and descends to the Colorado River. The distance from the trailhead to Phantom Ranch is approximately 7.5 miles with an elevation change from rim to river of 4860 feet.
The reconstruction project will significantly improve the condition of the trail for both hikers and stock users alike. The reconstruction effort will include resurfacing of the trail; rebuilding steps; stabilization and preventative maintenance to existing retaining walls; replacing retaining walls that have been lost to floods, slides, or erosion; repairing and aligning existing water features; and more.
The money will allow the National Park Service to extend 28 trail crew members that would have normally been furloughed; as well as purchase necessary equipment and supplies for trail reconstruction. A majority of the work that will be conducted on the trail is repair and replacement of stonework that is historically significant and requires master-level masonry skills and a background in historic preservation of masonry structures. Recovery funds will make it possible to extend employment of the young men and women that have the skill level needed to adequately perform this work.
Offering their expertise and helping the National Park Service with trail work in the park are the American Conservation Experience (ACE) and Coconino Rural Environmental Corps (CREC), both from Flagstaff, Arizona. These crews are being paid with funds from entrance fees collected under the Federal Lands and Recreation Enhancement Act.
"Grand Canyon has total deferred maintenance of over $262 million, of which over $24 million is attributed to Grand Canyon trails," stated park superintendent, Steve Martin. Adding, "Funding provided through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 will help us reduce the park's deferred maintenance, and begin to rebuild park trails to a safer standard and create a lasting value for the American People."
To address the issue of how best to complete reconstruction work, the National Park Service made a decision to temporarily divert commercial and private stock traffic to the Bright Angel Trail during construction activities for the safety of stock users and hikers alike, as well as to save costs by reducing the time it will take to reconstruct the trail. The South Kaibab Trail will remain open to hikers during trail reconstruction; however, occasional short delays may occur – hikers will be advised to follow instructions provided by trail crew members, or through signing and other advisories.
Additional Grand Canyon projects selected under ARRA include repair of North Rim trails and trail structures damaged by wildfire; preservation treatment on 130 miles of roads; improvements to wastewater flow meters to increase visitor health and safety; rehabilitation of historic South Rim housing; repair and rehabilitation of housing at Supai Camp (an area established in the 1920's as a permanent location for the local members of the Havasupai Tribe to maintain a residential area in the vicinity of the South Rim Village) as well as the rehabilitation of two non-historic structures at the Camp; rehabilitation of HVAC systems in the park's Fee Management Office and Visitor Center; replacement of shingles on South Rim housing units; replacement of doors on historic South Rim Facilities as well as painting the facilities to improve energy efficiency and appearance; and purchase of five new alternative fuel transit buses.
For more information about ARRA projects and contracting/job information, please visit www.doi/gov/recovery. For more information about Grand Canyon National Park, please visit www.nps.gov/grca, or call 928-638-7888.
Last updated: February 24, 2015


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Construction Loans
Building your own home can be a wonderful and exciting experience. Nothing quite rivals the feeling of living in a home built to your precise specifications. However, we know that this process can quickly turn into an expensive one. Paying for home construction up front is something that many cannot afford and getting a mortgage can often prove to be difficult.
At Tribecca Finance, we have a streamlined approval process. We offer a wide range of construction loans and have extensive knowledge and experience in construction mortgage lending. If you are a homeowner building your dream house to live in, or a builder planning to sell the house after completion, we can offer you financing to meet your needs. We work with you so that we can fully understand your needs, and will provide a customized loan with the right terms for your project. Whether you are starting to build a home or are looking for financing to complete your project, our team will assist you.
We can save you money by providing financing for the entire project or by offering you a 2nd mortgage for construction purposes, and leaving your 1st mortgage in place. We will work with you to determine an advance schedule to accommodate your requirements. You may also want to consider home equity loans. Our specialists can assist you with choosing the right loan for your needs.
We offer flexible repayment terms and can incorporate your interest cost into the loan. With these options, you will have peace of mind and can eliminate the financial stress of building your home.
If you are looking for a construction loan, or are interested in construction loan rates, Tribecca Finance is the right company for you. Learn about our home equity loans or click here for information on second mortgages. To get started, simply apply online, or call us at (416) 225-6900 and one of our lending specialists will be pleased to assist you.


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Quite different from the curries most cooks are familiar with, my Thai version gets its flavor from sweet chiles and onions, capturing the essence of red-curry paste in a dry-spice form.
- Ingredients: sweet chiles, onion, turmeric and spices
- Contains garlic
- 2.25 oz. by weight
Lior's Tip
Simmer root beer, maple syrup and Penang until reduced by 2/3 and use as a glaze for chicken or pork.
Ricotta Gnudi with Spring Pea Soup
Recipe from Ari Weiswasser, Glenn Ellen Star, Napa, California.
As appears in the book, The Art of Blending.
Shipping and Processing
All of our products are handmade in small batches with a lot of love. Please allow up to 48 hours for your order to be processed and shipped.
For more information about our shipping policy, click here.


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Questions And Answers About Islam
Pages: 48
Language: English
Publication date: 18/04/2011
0.99 €
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An attempt to answer some questions about Islam.
In his book: 'Questions And Answers About Islam', Wael El-Manzalawy is discussing many major issues: the presence of the God, the necessity of religion, the truth about the Christ, woman in Islam, the relationship between Muslims and non-Muslims......etc. Did Islam spread by the sword? Is Islam the religion of terrorism? Using the technique of imagined dialogues, Wael El-Manzalawy answers these questions and many other questions.
El vendedor asume toda la responsabilidad de esta entrada.


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Strategies For Stress Relief
These activities provide calming and relaxing sensory input for stress relief and can be done by almost anyone depending on one's lifestyle and preference. Everyone experiencing stress wants to overcome this tension in the best possible way and there are many stress relief products available at present. Prayer is perhaps the best source of stress relief that you can experience. Yoga is another..
What is yoga and how can it help with stress relief?
Yoga is a broad term for a series of personal practices, which bring together your physical, mental and spiritual parts with the goal of attaining a state of wholeness and completeness. Yoga is an ancient practice that reduces stress and tension. Yoga exercises involve the body, mind and spirit together. Yoga can lower blood pressure and levels of cortisol, a stress hormone. Yoga allows you to build up a natural response to stress and bring a relaxed state more easily into your daily life.
Some people go to yoga or meditation centers or take retreats regularly at such centers in order to learn and to be around people who are positive and taking care of themselves. And while none of us can avoid stress, but we can return to a state of balance and regulation through a variety of means, including deep breathing, meditation, and exercise. Yoga teaches you a series of stationary and moving poses called asanas and a form of breath control known as pranayama, as well as concentration techniques. All of this means is that yoga can teach a person to relieve stress.
Relaxation Techniques
Relaxation techniques can add enormous power to other holistic healing techniques. Stress management and stress reduction techniques help you to cope with stress resulting from events like divorce, losing your job, children getting into trouble, caring for a sick relative, preparing for an exam, or just your daily commute. Common techniques for stress relief include:
- Changing lifestyle habits
- Changing thinking
- Emotional responses
- Controlled Breathing
You can practice techniques like controlled breathing exercises or yoga when you feel your stress levels soaring.
It Really Is Possible To Find Stress Relief
Juggling work and home life can mean finding a balance between the two, starting first with managing stress at work, and this is where some employers have become enlightened to the stresses of modern 24/7 life.
Some employers offer in-house massage and aromatherapy during work hours for a natural holistic approach to stress relief in the workplace. Some excellent ideas for stress relief are the following: relaxation exercises, deep breathing, yoga, weight loss, joining a sports team, and finding a relaxing hobby such as knitting or model building.
Exercise is a tried and tested technique for stress relief. From doing gentle stretching exercises to keeping up in a physically demanding aerobics class, stress relief can be achieved through a wide range of exercise. Interacting with other people during exercise can provide additional stress relief. Yoga, as was mentioned above, is an excellent form of stress relief.
Life, Love, and Stress
Many people in the world we live in today experience some form of stress. The inevitable stress is something that happens to all of us and leads many on a quest to find some way to deal with it. Stress relief is a great option because it provides you with a manageable and healthy way to deal with the stresses of everyday life, with work and school and other activities many adults, teens and children experience stress, which is why scientists have tried to find ways that will safely reduce those stresses.
When it comes to stress relief a lot of people turn to therapy or relaxation techniques to deal with stress. This is a very popular form of stress relief because in most cases it provides fast results and allows the person to calm down and reflect. Remember that stress will never totally disappear because no matter what, stress in going to occur whether you try to stop it or not, it is a natural part of life. Stress can also help you, it is not all bad, it can be a good motivator for people who need that extra push in work or school.
Eustress, Distress and How to Deal
If you are considering stress relief, you should first consider what kind of stress you are experiencing, not all stress is bad stress. There are two main kinds of stress, Eustress and distress. The first kind called Eustress, refers to positive or healthy stress, the Greek word for "good" is Eu which provides us with the term Eustress or good stress. This kind of stress can propel you to work harder, it gives you drive and motivation to do your best at whatever you have to do. Eustress can be any kind of stress that has a positive experience behind it.
The second kind of stress is distress which can be seriously harmful for you and the people around you, this kind of stress can make you cave under pressure, make you feel sick and fatigued. Usually distress is triggered by a traumatic event of some kind such as the death of a loved one.
But no matter what kind of stress you experience, stress relief is quite possibly the best way to deal with stress. Some helpful stress relief strategies include, full body relaxation techniques, these can be tremendously helpful when dealing with stress, start by sitting back closing your eyes and taking a deep breath lose yourself in thought but try not to think about anything that does not make you happy, with each deep breath relax your muscles starting at your head and working down, before you know it, you have relaxed your entire body, this can be a very helpful tool for stress relief.
Another good idea would be to think positively about your life and your job, thinking about things with a negative attitude only increases the stress level and it does not help your situation at all, so relax and try not to worry excessively, because worrying is never good for anyone. Setting goals for yourself can also be a helpful stress relief strategy, by setting yourself goals it gives you something to work toward one step at a time, avoiding the feeling of being overwhelmed.
Some natural herbs and minerals can help with stress as well, things like vitamin C and others can help you feel rejuvenated, while Calcium can help to relax your muscles which can be a big part in dealing with stress, the ability to relax is what you need for good stress relief. But not all stress relief is good, some people try to relieve stress by taking it out on others, overeating, or not eating at all.
Stress is different for everyone and you should try to work with whatever makes you feel happy and healthy, try to avoid sugar and junk foods, going for a run or any other physical activity can be good when dealing with stress, it is really a matter of personal preference, doing what you love can help you relax and take your mind off the stressor.