Always in my Heart

It has been a year since the horrible day we learned that our growing baby, whose perfect heartbeat we had heard only a month before, had died in my womb.

One year passes so quickly and so slowly, bringing with it changes and sorrows and joys. I am not the same person I was a year ago. Grieving changes you. It teaches you things.

Grief has taught me to be thankful for every little moment with my children, including the new little person growing within me right now.

Grief has taught me to trust more in the God who can see the pattern and the plan even when all I can see is my life crashing around me.

I have learned that there are millions of women out there who have experienced this loss– and losses far greater than my own. I have become friends with women who have held their child in their arms for a few moments, and watched them die. I have met mothers who have lost baby after baby, and who still have the hope to keep trying, in spite of their grief. I have looked at these women and marveled at their strength.

I have struggled with the temptation of jealousy and anger against women who brought their children unharmed into the world last summer. I like to think I have won that battle, that the sight of a six-month-old little boy doesn’t fill me with those hurtful feelings anymore. Now it is a twinge of sadness that I feel, a bit of loss, a reminder of the “should-have-beens.”

I have learned that life goes on, even as we carry our grief inside. My home, overflowing as it is with toys and drawings and laundry and evidence of two little boys, is full of life, life that for all its flaws and failings must continue. And somehow, through a Savior who loves me, through a husband who supports me, through children who accept me and adore me in spite of myself, I find myself able to live a good life, in spite of my grief. I find myself able to remember without dwelling on the hurt and injustice and pain.

I did not choose to become a part of this sisterhood– this group of women who know the grief of losing a child. If the choice were given to me now, I would take my son, make no mistake. But I am thankful for the friendships I have made because of my loss. I am thankful for the lessons I have learned with grief as my teacher.

Each of us must walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death. Some walk through it with their parents, their spouses, their friends, their siblings. Some walk it early in life; some walk it later. But we all find our way to that Valley eventually. I walked it last winter, and I learned the truth of God’s promise.

Though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death,

I will fear no evil, for You are with me.

Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

No evil can befall me, with my Shepherd walking beside me. And although I don’t understand, I believe that His plans and purposes, even in the death of my son, are for my good. I believe because I have seen how He has taught me and used this tragedy in my life.

My lost boy is always in my heart. It would be easy to sit down and remember and never go forward again. Grief can do that to you. But it can also teach you, teach you to love more deeply, to be more thankful, to cherish what you have been given each and every day.

My son is not behind me, a part of my past. He is before me– a part of my future, waiting in heaven for the day when I arrive there.

And so we press on.

WELCOME (and a few ground rules)!

Hello,

Please let me extend a warm welcome to you to this class.

If you have attended the first class meeting, you already know that we will be using Blackboard (formerly, WebCT/WebCT Vista) extensively for class-related communications, distribution of teaching materials and exams. So, please make sure that you stay tuned to Blackboard. Recently, the University installed Blackboard, a new version of WebCT, which already has seen quite a bit of teething troubles. In fact, I have frequently been locked out of Blackboard for extended periods of time.

Consequently, to overcome possible situations like this in the future, I will use THIS web site to distribute information to you as well.

If you are unable to reach Blackboard, most (but not necessarily, all) of the important information will be posted here.

Here are some additional important ground rules:

1. Please know that it is much more efficient to email me through Blackboard for matters related to this course than leaving a message for me on my office voice mail. If you have an urgent need, please email me at my UNT email address “jhinuk.chowdhury@unt.edu” but PLEASE prefix the subject line with “MKTG 4280.001″ or “MKTG 4280.002″ (as may be applicable in your case). Having your full name, your EUID, and your student ID number in your signature line (or anywhere else in the email message) will help me respond a whole lot quicker than otherwise.


2. If you have any questions or comments that you think may be relevant to the entire class, you are welcome to post that in “Discussion” tool of Blackboard. If it is something that may be only of relevance to you, please send me email through Blackboard. (When sending email within Blackboard, you do not need to prefix the subject line with MKTG 4280.001 or MKTG 4280.003; a good descriptive subject line will do just fine.) If there is any aspect of the class, the instructor, or teaching assistant(s) you are dissatisfied with, let’s please try to resolve that through private email messages. I try very hard not to embarrass you publicly; I would expect no less of you.


3. When posting items in the Discussion tool of Blackboard, make sure that (a) you are posting it under the correct heading (section) and, in cases of assignments and graded discussions, posting them no later than the announced deadline. Failure to follow these two directions will most certainly deprive you of any credit for your posts.

Throughout the semester, there will likely be additional announcements and guidelines for you; so, please stay tuned to Blackboard.

I am looking forward to having a great semester with you. I will try to make this an useful and enjoyable course to the best of my abilities. Once again, welcome to Global Marketing!

~ JC ~

Netflix

If anyone actually bothers to read my blog its safe to say that I’m a fan of movies. I think my original intentions were for the blog to be more music-based, but hey, sometimes its easier to write about films than music. In any case, I’m a recent convert to the Netflix phenomena.

My childhood memories are filled with vague recollections of trips to video stores. By the time I was born the switch to VHS was in place. In my relatively short span of exisitence I witnessed the indepedent rental store go downhill. I saw the invasion (so to speak) of Hollywood Video and Blockbuster. I still rented, and I remember searching through the racks for films I’d seen but long forgotten, new releases, or something that caught my eye. When I entered college I had a fairly large (nothing obsessive) DVD collection, and the notion of pirating and downloading movies was certainly there too. I won’t lie by saying I didn’t, because I certainly mucked around in the dirt for a bit. For whatever reasons I still liked actually owning a movie, or even borrowing it from a friend. Lately my movie-buying has slowed down, especially with the realization that I’m horrible at managing funds sometimes. Which I guess leads me to Netflix.

The first person I really heard extoll the virtues of Netflix was my sister. Sure I knew about it before then, and heard other people talking, but sometimes you trust the sources closet to you first. So I signed up. Its been nothing but pure joy since. To a certain extent Netflix has embraced the new-age tech of the internet and mixed it with the old-school tech of video rental. A person still ends up browsing movies, and you can hover to see descriptions. Instead of searching blindly you rate films, which helps Netflix to better know you; thus suggesting movies you might like. Makes it a lot easier, and you can spend as much time as you like browsing without feeling awkward. While I understand their system of DVD delivery - stations all across the US - its still amazing how damn fast they are. Its nice to see that kind of turnaround, because there really is minimal wait. My queue is growing, but I don’t feel as though I need to frantically reorder movies since I know they’ll get here in time. By fair the single most important feature (to me) are the streaming movies. Included in the general subscription plan, a user can stream movies on their computer. Its let me be able to watch movies I want to sooner - several have gone into my actual DVD queue as well. I like it because it appeals to the new internet generation that wants its information faster. That and it means less time waiting for a film, and not feeling bad about not liking something either. However you look at it Netflix is a great service, I see many happy times with it ahead.

Zork [NOT Sweetie] Wants to NetFlix in Times Square

Football is boring!

       In my opinion, football isn’t very exciting,  I get a lot of question’s from friends and family asking how I can justify this.  I would rather watch a baseball or basketball game any day of the week.  Maybe its because I’m not a die hard fan of any football team, and could careless whats going on, or who plays in the Superbowl.  I’ve always though it was because you don’t see many nail bitters in football.  You do have those close games at times, but not that often.  And when you do, you can often predict the end results.  Everyone says watching baseball is like watching grass grow, not true.  Every pitch, every swing can effect the end results of a game.  Baseball might be slower paced, but its a game of perfection.  From defense, to getting the proper lead and jump in the base paths.  Then in the late innings of a game, one swing of the bat and “KABOOM”, off goes the fireworks!  Basketball is a back and forth game.  Point for point, every second is action packed whether its on offense or defense.  Basketball out of any sport comes down to the last couple of seconds.  You can be down 20 points with 25 seconds left , and with a good strategy and a little luck come out with a buzzer beater to win the game.  In football you do have the occasional Brett Favre hail mary to beat the Broncos on Monday night, but they are far and few between.  Don’t get me wrong, the toughness of the sport is exciting, but the overall excitement doesn’t compare.  Last years Angels playoff game against Boston came down to a missed squeeze play, and the Angels were out.  Last year the Lakers blew a 25 point lead in the championship late in the game and their season was over.  That type of  thing doesn’t usually happen in football.

Bastardy Bond

Although (through our research), we have not found evidence that this type of bond was required in all states (colonies), it was definately required in North Carolina and Tennessee. If or as we learn about other states that required them, they will be added to the list.

There are many different type records associated with Bastardy Bonds filed with the courts. Those record types are as follows:

1. Warrant for Pregnant Woman to Appear

2. Examination of Pregnant Woman

3. Warrant for Reputed Father to Appear

4. Appearance Bond of Reputed Father

5. Examination of Reputed Father

6. Bastardy Bond

7. Warrant to Collect Judgement

The process usually began with public knowledge or a complaint that an unwed woman was with child. However, sometimes the process was begun after the fact. A warrant was issued to bring the woman before the local justices, where she was examined (interrogated) to determine the father of the child.

If she named the father, a second warrant was issued to bring the proclaimed father before the local justices of the peace. He posted bond to appear in court, where he answered to the charges on a particular date. If found guilty, he posted a second bond for support of the bastard child. This particular bond is known as a Bastardy Bond.

The bond was required from fathers of illegitimate children. It was usually made with the Court in the county where the mother resided, and its intent was to protect the county from being forced to support the child should the mother fall into ill health or die.

In those cases where support for the child(ren) became necessary, the court issued a Judgement for Collection of the requisite amount, which seems to have been different with each case, from the father and/or his bondsmen (surety).

If the pregnant woman refused to name the father, she and her family were then required to post bond for the support of the bastard child.

John Haywood’s manual for the Tennessee Justices of the Peace (1810, reissued 1816) defines bastardy as:

“an un-indictable offence, which can be tried before any two justices. If found guilty the father is to be brought before the full court to provide bond and security. This would be the County Court comprised of all the justices, not the Superior Court. The bond is technically a “bastardy” bond, not a “bastard” bond. (Charles A. Sherrill, Tenn. State Library & Archives)

PE knickers and the newest way to skive school - get so fat you can't fit under a desk

School children have come up with a cunning new way to skive lessons – they’re becoming too fat to fit under their desks.

According to a policy commission on the future of education, standard school furniture is based on measurements made in the 1960s when children were smaller and thinner. New research suggests that the average height of children has increased at the rate of 1cm a decade, with the majority of growth in the lower leg, and that the prevalence of obesity among pupils has risen from around five per cent in 1985 to 15 per cent in 2008.

Positively anorexic in comparison to schoolchildren in 2009

I’m not sure about you, but when I read those figures I’m not worrying about school furniture, I’m worrying about 1,000 years hence, when all our children will have lower legs that are a full metre longer than they are today.

They’ll look like grasshoppers. Finding them a pair of trousers or some wellies that fit will be even more of a nightmare than it is now.

Additionally, if the obesity crisis continues rising at its current pace, those spindly lower legs aren’t going to be of any use whatsoever – the first time children stand up they’ll buckle under their own gigantic weight and need to be wheeled around on giant skateboards for life. Thank God I’ll be dead by then.

According to studies, unless schools start ‘going large’ with their school furniture orders, children’s schoolwork could suffer as back pain distracts their attention and causes absence from school.

We may not have had an over-sized obesity problem at my high school, but we did have more than our fair share of those freakish early-developers who reach puberty at six and look like 45-year-olds by the time they’re 12, and they managed to fit under the desks.

As for myself, I certainly wasn’t overweight at school, although I may have been slightly under-height for my weight.

But even at my lowest height, ahem, I could still fit under a school desk and have room for a copy of Jackie magazine to read during geography, particularly when we were learning about the import and export trade in Nigeria (a subject as relevant to my life then as it is now, ie not at all).

Maintaining a healthy weight in those days meant not being so fat that your thighs persistently rubbed against the chewing gum left on the bottom of the desk by its previous occupant. These days it means being slender enough not to require being washed with a rag on a stick.

Namby-pamby excuses about desks and bad backs would have been met with hollow laughter and a month of lunchtime detentions in the lair of the terrifying bearded maths teacher whose hatred of young people was considered a bonus, rather than an impediment, to his teaching career.

It practically took the production of a death certificate to get you out of PE lessons, let alone ordinary lessons, and even if you had that, you’d still be expected to carry the netball bibs, keep score and apply pressure to wounds when required.

Forget about small desks and chairs causing backache, the PE knickers at my school in the late 1980s caused the kind of injuries to one’s self esteem from which many, including me, never truly recovered.

Even the good-looking twig-legged girls struggled in those monstrosities, so for those of us who had nice personalities and arses so large they had their own gravitational pull and corresponding solar system, the knickers were an appallingly unsubtle form of torture.

Quite why fostering team spirit amongst people that, on the whole, you probably wouldn’t spit on if they were on fire was considered edifying is anyone’s guess.

More to the point, why that fostering had to be done while wearing a huge pair of pants made from  an exotic blend of manmade fibres – one stray spark during hockey practice and the entire school could have been blown sky-high – also remains at issue.

Skiving PE, unless you were a future Oscar winner, was difficult, but avoiding communal showering was attainable with that classic Get Out Of Jail Free card – your period (unless you were a boy, when it was less likely to work unless you were dealing with one of the foreign student teachers).

There were many girls in my class who appeared to defy biology and have their period every single week of the month in order to evade the showers, but it was when it came to  swimming that the menstrual situation got really out of hand.

In the end, we needed a letter from our parents to prove the painters were in – teachers rightly feared a situation where only one student ended up in the pool, the pregnant one from the fourth year who realised the period excuse was out of bounds for at least nine months.

Come to think of it, even she could get behind a school desk. Just how big are kids these days? Should I be saving up for a winch for when my children hit puberty?

I think all this trouble began when they got rid of the nit nurses.

Wunlang children carrying desks

Letter to President-elect Obama from the Association of Public Health Labs

January 8, 2009

The Honorable Barack Obama

President-elect

Presidential Transition Team

Washington, DC 20270

Dear Mr. President-elect:

Maintaining and improving the public health laboratory workforce at governmental

laboratories that conduct testing of public health significance is the top issue for the

Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL). The economic decline has reduced

funding levels for state and local governments, and it is causing them to reduce the amount

of funding they direct to public health and the laboratories that support it.

Governmental laboratories performing testing of public health significance are barely

staffed to meet their obligations and are likely to be severely stressed if they lose even one

position. APHL has learned that almost 80% of its member laboratories are being required

to cut their spending, and APHL estimates that, nationwide, state and local governmental

laboratories have seen their state funding cut by almost $34 million, with an average

reduction of more than $400,000, because of the economic downturn. More than half of

these respondents are laying off their highly-trained and qualified staff, which APHL

estimates has resulted in 429 positions being cut nationally. Another cut of 246 positions is

planned or likely in the very-near future. This is diametrically opposite from the direction

that must be pursued to not only strengthen public health laboratories but also to improve

health outcomes.

Based on survey results, governmental laboratories performing testing of public health

significance have also been required to reduce their purchases of needed materials and

supplies by an estimated $14 million, or an average of almost $142,000. These reduced

expenditures further exacerbate the economic downturn. APHL is joining with the many

voices in the public health community to urge increased funding through the Preventive

Health and Health Services block grant, managed by the Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention (CDC), to quickly and easily provide federal funding to state and local

governments. Funding of $300 million will enable laboratories to staunch the layoffs,

purchase needed materials and supplies and continue to provide good health outcomes.

Second only to workforce, there is an urgent public health need to improve electronic

laboratory messaging. Creating an electronic network for medical laboratory results will

constitute the cornerstone of early detection and rapid control for disease outbreaks, as

documented in a recent report from Analytic Services Inc (ANSER). Electronic laboratory

The Honorable Barack Obama

January 8, 2009

Page 2

reporting (ELR) would also serve as the country’s key indicator for significant outbreaks

of disease.

Without timely and accurate information, those responsible for managing and controlling

an event cannot respond in time to prevent needless casualties. ELR would promote rapid

identification and mitigation of exposure. Test orders and results can no longer be

inefficiently reported by telephone, fax and email. Improvements in health information

technology must include laboratories performing testing of public health significance. The

ANSER panel of subject matter experts identified a funding level of $200 million annually

as essential to moving forward in a significant way.

The economic downturn is also aggravating the underlying long-term workforce shortage

in public health laboratories. The nation’s state and local public health laboratories

currently face high levels of turnover and likely shortages in senior leadership over the

next several years. During 2005 alone, 16 new state public health laboratory directors took

office, representing a 30% turnover rate; for 2006, the vacancy rate in these senior

leadership positions is expected to exceed 25%. Moreover, many current laboratory

directors indicate that the pipeline of candidates available to serve as their successors is

thin and comprised of individuals who lack the knowledge and skills needed to lead

laboratories successfully through periods of change in the evolving public health

environment. APHL has been addressing the future workforce needs of its member

laboratories through its public health laboratory fellowship program, which has 60 active

fellows. A doubling of the program to 100 fellows could be accomplished with $6 million.

At a minimum, funding for CDC’s existing programs in infectious diseases and

environmental health must be maintained. Specifically, state and local funding for

preparedness, biomonitoring, tuberculosis, food safety, influenza and newborn screening

must receive funding at least at the previous fiscal year levels.

Continued federal funding for preparedness will preserve the state and local capacity that

has been built and allow laboratories to respond rapidly and effectively to a terrorist

event or public health emergency; purchase new instrumentation, adopt new

technologies and develop electronic laboratory reporting; recruit and retain highly-skilled

laboratory personnel; maintain outreach programs to hospital and clinical laboratories and

first responders; and assure a coordinated response effort with federal partners.

Biomonitoring funding will allow states to build laboratory capacity and capability to

monitor chemicals in people and will allow CDC to manage state programs, conduct

studies and issue reports on monitoring disease and chemical exposures in people.

Increased tuberculosis funding for laboratories will enable them to implement new and

existing diagnostic tests that can identify tuberculosis and screen for drug resistance;

The Honorable Barack Obama

January 8, 2009

Page 3

standardize drug susceptibility testing methods in the US for first- and second-line drugs

used to treat TB patients to improve clinical outcome; enable CDC to conduct an

assessment of laboratory tuberculosis testing capacity; develop a plan of action that will

address extensively drug resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) to prevent it from invading the

US; develop recommended testing methods for different patient populations, as well as

guidelines to help jurisdictions select the appropriate level of service; and improve

laboratory staff proficiency in complex tuberculosis testing procedures.

Funding increases in food safety would allow states to hire additional staff and train new

and existing staff to meet food testing demands; provide for the purchase of necessary

reagents and laboratory equipment; allow for the development of food chemistry testing;

fully fund PulseNet to allow immediate testing of samples and expand PulseNet to detect

additional pathogens; evaluate and implement next-generation laboratory testing methods

and support national foodborne disease surveillance; and make improvements in sample

shipping to assure timely submission of samples from healthcare providers and clinical

laboratories.

Continuing influenza funding will enhance influenza pandemic preparedness and expand

early warning laboratory surveillance with year-round testing to rapidly detect variations of

influenza viruses, especially the emerging deadly avian influenza viruses, in accordance

with the Department of Health and Human Services’ “Federal Guidance to

Assist States In Improving State-Level Influenza Operating Plans” and enhance molecular

detection capacity, provide needed reagents, allow for staff recruitment and provide

training.

Newborn screening funding increases will support the implementation of the Newborn

Screening Saves Lives Act of 2007 (Public Law No: 110-204) to increase funding of

newborn screening grant programs in education, outreach, follow-up care, quality

assurance and contingency planning and expand the efforts of CDC’s Environmental

Health Laboratory’s Newborn Screening Quality Assurance Program.

Finally, the revitalization of the Commissioned Corps of the Public Health Service — under

the excellent leadership of Rear Admiral Sam Shekar, has made much progress. APHL

believes that the changes underway in the Corps reflect exactly the right approach the

program has needed. Particularly strong is the notion of promoting Corps assignments to

state and local agencies, including public health laboratories, which helps to fill gaps and

provide qualified and interested Corps members with on-the-ground public health practice

– representing a win-win for the Corps and for public health practice.

The nation’s state and local governmental laboratories performing testing of public health

significance pride themselves on performing the best possible diagnostic work and

transmitting the data from that work in a timely fashion to improve the public’s health.

The Honorable Barack Obama

January 8, 2009

Page 4

They deserve funding that will allow them to continue their operations and provide this

critical service. Sadly, the economic downturn is now threatening their ability to meet

these goals, and they must be included in any economic recovery package. These public

health benefits cannot be delayed or deferred.

Sincerely,

Frances Pouch Downes, DrPH

President, APHL

Director, Public Health Laboratory, Michigan Department of Health

The Association of Public Health Laboratories is a national nonprofit dedicated to

working with its members to strengthen governmental laboratories with a public health

mandate. By promoting effective programs and public policy, APHL strives to provide

public health laboratories with the resources and infrastructure needed to protect the

health of US residents and to prevent and control disease globally.

A First For Me...

My sweetie and I went on a date tonight. And for fun we decided to try a new restaurant we have driven by a few times…Blue Fin, Japanese cuisine. It was excellent, by the way.

The place was crowded when we got there and we had our choice of being seated at the bar or at the sushi bar. We opted for the sushi bar.

Side note: Those sushi chefs are amazing. That’s a seriously cool skill.

Anyway, deciding to be adventurous, we ordered some sushi. Not much, just a few safe pieces. And they were very good. But we noticed that the sushi chef had added a little bonus to our sushi bowl…the fried heads of the shrimp. Needless to say, those heads were still in the bowl when our waitress came around to collect our dishes. Of course, she smiled sweetly and asked if we were sure we didn’t want the heads.

Seriously, we didn’t want them. But, two things were working against me. One, my sweet accommodating self didn’t want to offend the waitress or the chef. Two, I was on a date with my sweetie and wanted to prove that I could still be adventurous and fun and all that. So, after being assured by the waitress that the proper etiquette was to eat the entire head (eyes and all) and that I just needed to be careful of the antennas (since they tend to stick in the throat! Her words, not mine!), I agreed to give it a try.

I started with a small bite and it actually wasn’t bad, except for the fact that I couldn’t get past what I was eating. But the challenge was on now and I wanted to prove that I could eat the whole thing. So I did. And honestly, it was quite tasty. Except that the whole mouthful almost came right back out when I was pretty sure I could feel the eyeball on my tongue.

Good times. Good times.

Now that the night is over, I’m glad I ate that shrimp head. And that I managed to not choke at all on the antennae. I’m pretty sure I’m stronger for having tried it. Pretty sure.

As of Late

I haven’t written in such a long time. I apologize to those of you who actually were taking an interest in my blogging. Well, I suppose I can give you the basic run-down of my life.

Apparently, my dad is not my biological father. I have been talking to my actual biological father for a few months now though. His name is Jeremy. And it explains why I looked like an Indian baby, why I have dark hair, and dark eyes. I look a lot like him. Which is good, because I guess his sisters are also small like me. And he looks pretty fit for his age - so hopefully I won’t balloon up like the women on my mom’s side of the family after having a kid. This gives me hope - if even a little. I mean, if I look like him and have enough of his traits thus far, might as well hope to have that build later on. Maybe I can even train my skin to tan again.

Other than that, I finished last Fall semester quite easily. I just started the Spring semester a couple of days ago, though. So far so good, I think. All except with Database Management 2 -which they may even remove from my program altogether. If they do, I hope the future Graphic & Web Designers are happy with their curriculum. They would have it much easier than I did.

I have a couple new teachers that I haven’t seen around before. One of them being my advisor’s son. And the other being a major graphic designer in town. As stressful as that would appear to be, it’s quite amazing. He seems like the perfect choice for Typography, that’s for sure. He is exciting and funny - a lot like Rhonda, which is why she is my favorite teacher. So bubbly and full of energy and excitement for graphics. It really gets me pumped to just walk into class with a huge smile on my face. I can honestly say that she has inspired me - and she is probably the main reason that I decided to go for my Graphic Design degree.

I suppose that my college life is fairly well, then. I mean, not many people can say they WANT to go to their class. Or that they’re even remotely happy about so-and-so. And even with these projects, I am excited. They seem fun and lifting, although slightly challenging. I mean, cutting out 64 PERFECT squares and gluing them to 8 different boards PERFECTLY.

And last but not least - the biggest development in my life lately has been with Stephan. A small town boy with a big heart. He’s super sweet and amazing in every way the word can mean. It’s almost been 3 months, but it’s been wonderful and I am excited to see where we can end up. We have a lot of similarities, and our differences compliment each other’s quite nicely.

I try to let him know how much I appreciate him each day. I hope I am doing something right; but I have to be, because he seems happy with me, too. And even though he decided to join the Marine Special Forces, I’ll be right here, waiting for him to come back home. And after his training is done, and my schooling is done, perhaps I can leave with him, follow him anywhere and everywhere he goes.

We may not be in love just yet, but one day, we will be there. And not knowing what comes next is the most exhilarating thing I’ve ever experienced with anyone - and I am glad that I have that with him. Here’s to us, Stephan.

Write your senator... see what good it did me?

I recently wrote my Senator regarding my distress at the Israeli massacre of Gazans and asked her to do something to get Israel to stop, wielding her power as a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.  She wrote me back today with this”

Dear Dr. Strong:

 

Thank you for contacting me regarding recent events in the Middle East.  I appreciate hearing from you.

As you may know, on December 27, 2008, Israel responded to ongoing rocket attacks against its citizens by launching an offensive in the Gaza Strip against Hamas, the militant Islamist group that controls the Gaza government.  The death and destruction is tragic on all sides.

It is time for a real and sustainable cease-fire and a post-conflict diplomatic solution that will allow the promise of peace in the Middle East to be realized, not just for hours or days but permanently. 

I believe that it is important for the United States and the international community to be actively engaged in promoting a lasting resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 

Again, thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts with me on this important issue.  Please be assured that as a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, I will continue to monitor this situation closely and work to encourage a peaceful solution to the crisis in the Middle East.

Barbara Boxer

United States Senator

 

I don’t know why it is that the entire group of USA politicians have completely bought into this theory that Israel is responding to Hamas’s rockets and that it is Hamas’s rockets that are the entire problem here.  Nothing is said of the occupation, the cruel blockade, the frequent firing at defenseless Gazan fishermen, the Israeli theft of Palestinians water supplies, the kidnapped Palestinians who rot in Israel’s prisons as “administrative detainees” with no recourse by law etc. etc.  Surely all USA politicians who want to hang onto their jobs get their talking points from AIPAC.  It must be.  If not, why can’t Senator Boxer read the very same things I’m reading every day in plain sight?

Next, she says the death and destruction is tragic on all sides.  This really flabberghasts me.  She must here be taking cues from the New York Times which shows a lady cowering in her Sderot home while rocket alarms are going off, next to a picture of a frightened Gazan, framing the conflict as one where the sufferring is roughly equal on both sides.  The tragedy of Gaza infinitely larger than that of the Israeli people here.  There shouldn’t be much arguement among reasonable people right?

Also, Hamas is a militant islamist group that controls the Gazan government according to Boxer.  No mention here that they were elected to power in an election that would have put an Israeli election to shame.  No name calling on the other side, such as referring to Israel as “that militant terrorist Zionist group that controls Israel.”

The real and sustainable ceasefire that Boxer seeks will never come from this sort of murderous attack on Gaza.  The sustainable ceasefire will come when justice comes to the middle-east and no sooner.  Israel must give back the land it took in 1967 and cease it’s cruel oppression of the Palestinians and must give up its vision of eretz Israel and then we will see if tempers will cool.  Oh, and don’t forget the right of return for refugees as the UN decided was a necessary condition in allowing Israel to maintain its membership in the UN so many years ago.

I have no faith in my government in coming to any sort of helpful resolution of the middle-eastern conflict.  They are all AIPAC hacks and will never apply pressure to Israel to do what is right.   

Sorry I am so testy lately, but there is so much death and misery in one of the most miserable places on the earth right now and noone is able to stop it and the only power that can do something, the USA, is doing nothing.

 

The Middle East

Arguing your very right to exist.

Harriet McBryde Johnson 1957-2008

     Last December 24th, in the New York Times, Dr. Peter Singer eulogized one Harriet McBryde Johnson.  This was a tribute to their 2003 head to head meeting, in which they sat on opposite sides and engaged in the single most fascinating debate on human rights that I have ever read.

   As a little background, Peter Singer is a very controversial figure.  He is a member of the Princeton faculty and an atheist, an animal rights activist, and a bioethicist who takes some very controversial stands.  Singer is a radical Utilitarian.  He caries the ideas of this philosophy as far and as fast as he can carry them to their furthest conclusions.  He rejects the “doctrine of the sanctity of life,” as stemming from an irrational religious dogma. 

     Consequently, he holds that a right to life can only be given to those who hold a preference to live, leading him to support abortion, infanticide, and euthanasia.  Most disturbing of all to Ms. McBryde Johnson and other disability rights activists, he argues that parents of “defective” babies should be allowed to terminate them in order to replace the baby with one more likely to bring them happiness.

     The reason this is so offensive to Harriet McBryde Johnson in particular, is that she herself was born one of those infants.    She was born with a very severe muscle wasting disease that confined her to a wheelchair her entire life.   She was an anomaly, supported by modern day antibiotics and technology to survive and thrive with a condition that it would never have been possible to survive with in the past.  She graduated from Law school and was a practicing lawyer in South Carolina.   She was also an atheist, fiercely independent, and abhorred the pitying poured upon her for her condition.  She was a member of “Not Dead Yet,” a disability rights group that blockaded a university hall at Princeton in protest of Dr. Singer’s appointment. 

   And yet, here she was, meeting with the man, discovering to her dismay that in person, he was not a monster.  He treated her with disarming respect and dignity.  He calmly proceeded to argue that parents have every right to kill all babies born as she was, and argue an extermination of sorts for the greater good.

     Ms. Johnson then proceeded to dismantle the idea that a baby can be “replaced.”  That she and her brother born later have a complete package of strengths and weaknesses, virtues and flaws so different as to be incomparable.  She proceeds in her own words to politely “argue for her very existence.” 

    She proceeds to note from personal experience that she ENJOYS her life.  She speaks of a family she knew that found joy and beauty in caring for their completely unconscious daughter.  She notes how assumptions about the quality of her life engender prejudice and pity and keep minds closed from really understanding her experience.

    A student of Singer’s, noting that she eats meat, ponders why she has so much respect for human life and so little for animal life.  She herself wonders how Singer can have so much respect for animal life and so little for the human.  She argues that so much suffering, suicidality, pain in the world occur entirely in a framework of oppression, and that they are entirely curable. 

    More than anything, this debate is a battle of abstraction over real life.  Bioethics has a love of the theoretical and the experiment in thought.  Ms. Johnson had real life battles and experience fighting for her own right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

    As a pediatric resident at the time, we discussed her writings and experience at length.  In the course of discussion, one resident mentioned how “unreasonable” it is to give sway to the emotional arguments of those whose lives are directly affected by these issues.   Personally, I can see nothing more unreasonable than refusing to give the personal experience of the disabled the greatest weight in discussing rights and quality of life.

   I think this debate exposes the real danger of high minded ethical and social theory.  In their detachment, in their ivory tower, they can support a system that in its true life practice is inhumane, cruel and revolting.   Life is not abstract.  Life is life.  Ideas like Dr. Singer’s have been used in support of  eugenics, which reached unknown heights in the 1940’s in Nazi Germany. 

Ms. Johnson saw herself on the forefront of the battle to ensure such things never happen again.  While I do not agree with her every position, particularly in relation to a higher power,  like Dr. Singer I am taken by her fight, her dignity,  and her vision for a more equitable world.  Her passionate, reasoned, and articulate arguments touched the heart and opened the mind of this Doctor.  I invite everyone to read the experience as written in her own words for the New York Times.

Riding the #20 Victoria Bus in Vancouver

The #20 is the bus that runs up and down Victoria Dr and Commercial Dr on it’s way to downtown and god knows where on the South side of Vancouver. It makes a couple of important stops at the Broadway/Commercial intersection (access to the 99-B-Line to UBC as well as the Expo Line of the Skytrain). They run, almost exclusively, the articulated buses on this route, those being the ones with the extra back end attached, and then that funky section in the middle that swivels. For anyone looking to ride this bus, here’s a set of instructions and guidelines for safe, enjoyable and stress free travel.

The Yellow Strips: Let’s start with the most important and new piece of technology on these buses. These yellow strips are how you open the back doors when you want to get off. They are different from the old step down versions of buses, and different again from the rigid pole that you would push to activate the door. The yellow strip just needs the pressure of a single finger to activate the door mechanism and for the door to open. Pushing harder in an attempt to open the door will trigger an alarm, and the door opening mechanism will not activate. I see people all the time applying too much pressure, the door doesn’t open, they get frustrated and start hollering at the driver. Here’s a step by step procedure for getting off the bus.

Step 1: Make sure the bus is at an actual bus stop. If you want to get off at a corner that is not a stop, you’ll have to go speak to the driver directly.

Step 2: Make sure the bus is stopped, and that the overhead light is on, indicating the door is ready to be opened.

Step 3: Apply gentle pressure to the yellow strip, at or around where there is a pictogram of a hand on the strip. I only use a single finger when doing this and have never had a problem activating the door mechanism.

Step 4: Exit the bus.

Avoid these three things while trying to use the Yellow Strip:

1. Pushing anywhere but on the yellow strip. I recommend the aforementioned hand pictogram.

2. Pushing too hard on the yellow strip.

3. Pushing on the yellow strip while the overhead light is not on, thus indicating the door is not ready to be opened.

The #20 is a busy bus, and it often gets bogged down with loads of people getting on and off in and around Commercial Dr. Sometimes at the busy spots, drivers will let you get on from the back of the bus to decrease loading time, sometimes they don’t. Usually it is obvious what they will allow if you stand there a moment and wait. If the doors close after the people finish unloading, then the driver would like you to board at the front. If they remain open, then feel free to board wherever you like. It is difficult to tell what is happening and what you should do, if you are attempting to board while other people are simultaneously trying to get off the bus.

Follow these guidelines if you’d like to venture through and around the wilds of East Vancouver in a stress reduced fashion. If not, be prepared to hear people holler ‘Back door!!’ as they are defeated by the complexities of the Yellow Strip and have to request help from the poor driver to exit the bus on this busy route.

Wow Satellite Dish Crash

MAD TV - Low Cost Airlines

I am getting SOOOOOO angry!!!

Hi , i am getting so angry!

why?

because too much contests are fake, and some r true and i lost!

i ONLY WON 1 CONTEST IN MY LIFE THAT IS REAL, IF OTHERS R

REAL I COULD HAVE ONE 6!!!!!

Here is all my contest i have been to

Contests I won: Cpmonster’s Member and rare penguin Status :Won

Fake or Real, REAL!

Cpmonster’s 6 month membership Status : Won Fake or real FAKE!

Cpmonster’s toy code contest, Status : Won, Fake or real , FAKE!

Gasnier11 1 month membership Status : Won Fake or real , FAKE!

Icip’s one month membership Status, Never accounced the winner

(Ignored it so it has to be fake)

Snow Dobby’s gift thing Status : Won Fake or real, FAKE!!!!!!

Tomyellowcentrenal’s 1 month contests Status : In progress

Fake or real, not sure

Pinoguy’s six month membership, Status : In progress

Real or fake, no idea

Darkcrow’s 15 credit contest, Status :3rd place (nothing)

real or fake, REAL!

Tooly228’s Toy code , Status : No postion but i didn’t win

Real or Fake, REAL!

Fastjordan’s Card Jitsu contests! Status : in progress,

real or fake, not sure

AND THERE IS HEAPS MORE THAT I WON BUT IT”S FAKE, CAN’T REMBER

THEM ALL

PST: EVERY CONTEST I BEEN TO I HAVE NOT WON IS REAL!!!

I hope their is no more fake contests!

IF THERE IS I WILL BE DOING STH VERY BAD

FOR EXAMPLES, QUITTING, SHUTTING FAKE CONTEST’S SITE DOWN

THAT IS FAKE (NOT I HAVEN’T WON) EXCEPT FOR CPMONSTER

~Joshshicool~ i am not gonna tell u how to shut sites down but i can

That might make u very worried, hehe

Spider-Man 4 (2011) Udapte # 1

The Virtue of DOUBT?: An AGNOSTIC'S Call For Intellectual Humility and Openness to the ONTOLOGICAL MYSTERY

Being an agnostic, I am very far from wishing to defend theism—but if I were to attempt to do so I think I would start with LOVE.

I know that sounds corn-ball, and I can (as you can) come up with a highly coherent mechanistic and strictly evolutionary accounting of its existence, but the very fact that we live in a universe that includes love, language, poetry, narrative, breathtaking natural beauty, and Shakespeare seems to resist our attempts at mechanistic reductionism—and to beg us to recheck our premises at every turn.

The sheer fact that anything exists at all is stupifying, and to add all this extraordinary body-mind-emotional human complex mix of suffering and joy and love and creativity on top of it leaves me humble. I just don’t want to be so cocksure that I’ve figured all this out yet.

I think that living with the AMBIGUITY of our existence is an important way to grow intellectually. I think that where we are sure, we should be sure (as in knowing that the earth is billions of years old, and that plants and animals have changed over time). But I think that we need not engage in the folly of overreaching—and to strip mystery from the universe in a too quick attempt to vanquish, once and for all, the Bronze Age religions.

I think that the Bronze Age religions are almost wholly wrong in the way that they conceived of the universe, and God, and yet we are living at the edge of a profound ONTOLOGICAL MYSTERY—and we should not be glib about the fearsome nature of our own very peculiar existence.

In short, if there was no mind prior to the existence of this universe, that is flabbergasting. And if there TURNS OUT TO HAVE BEEN some MIND prior to matter that is also flabbergasting.

But I just don’t think we know yet exactly what the hell is going on. And being imbedded in the system that we are trying to comprehend makes it all the more difficult.

Noam Chomsky, no slouch intellectually, and not a theist, thinks that consciousness and language is not to be accounted for by standard evolutionary means. He thinks it’s like one of Gould’s cathedral SPANDRALS—a lucky accident of the architecture of the mind.

If so, what a lucky accident!

Doesn’t the universe, and your own body, and the bodies of your SPOUSE and children, and the responses of your soul to the things that you LOVE, sometimes leave you utterly awestruck?

The sheer existence of THINGS, and their capaciousness, is too much if we let it enter our consciousness in a sustained way.

And where does all this excess come from?

I think, for example, that the poetry of Wallace Stevens is a route into this mystery.

I know it’s not science, but I think that those of us who are part of the skeptical community have to work very hard not to “demystify” our world to such an extent that something important dies in us.

I think that ultimately that is what religion is pushing against (as well as poetry and literature): “The palm at the end of the mind” (to use Wallace Stevens’s phrase).

HOW TO DO AN EFFECTIVE SHOPPING

When you do the shopping especially in the supermarket that display the products in a very confusing piling of items in the shelves, you need to read these.. These tips are very helpful being a new buyer to the store.

In looking to the consumer goods, ask the salesperson around you to guide you to locate the items. Although there were product labels in each category in supermarket aisle but you have to use enough time in looking the correct location of the merchandise. It is a wisest way to ask direction from them for your easy shopping. But once you are already a repeated buyer and know all the location of the items, it is now easy for you.

Find an ideal time to do your shopping to avoid volume of shoppers while waiting for the cashier to entertain you. Before leaving the counter, count your change. It is not easy to claim for any lacking change when you are already out of the counter. If you can check items being priced the better, because there are instances when the cashier punch twice the same item doubling the price.

For you to save a few peso/dollar/cents, look to the section of the supermarket for bargains and promotional sales or any other items in discounted price.

In your shopping, you have the ready list of all the items you wanted to buy. The purpose is to avoid forgetting the merchandise and return twice to the store which is time consuming.

Don’t bring too much cash for the shopping to avoid victimize by pickpockets. It is better if you have credit card for your convenience and safety.

Hold your receipt. Any defective items unnoticed during your purchase can be return for replacement. The store will not accomodate you in the absence of an official receipt.

Stick to your budget when you do the shopping. Don’t include any unnecessary items to avoid ballooning your purchasses.

Be watchful to your baggage. Don’t just leave it somewhere. If you buy something around, better to bring it with you wherever you go.

What enlightens my spirit?

Let’s start with a controversial topic.”Religion”–>I call it the Spiritual World & Worship—>a form of Being Spiritual.  Believe me! I am not an atheist. Since, childhood I have had a single prayer and it seems to me like a nursery rhyme. I repeat the same till date in front of every temple,mosque or church. Any place of worship makes me feel the same, calm and tranquil, willing to stay there in desperate need to heal myself and then motivates me to move on into the world of reality.This ritual is like a self meditation where in I create  positive energy within me to start afresh and believe in self and in the spirit of good-will.It may be a form of “Feel good” factor but it indeed rejuvenates the soul and is like an ablution of negative thoughts,bringing clarity to the mind,resolving all perplexed situations,relieving the tension of all hassles and letting go of all that I would want to let go and feel my presence and existence as a being. And that very moment I relive…relive as a human. The only place where I am truthful to myself and accept my flaws, being ashamed of them too.All this makes me realize that I have some power within me which can create miracles and resolve mysteries. I seem to exercise self-control on my life and become geared up to lead it to various directions. Finally, I thank the Almighty(Radiant Energy) for being there and taking care of me and my fellow people.

Religion, on the other hand, is mere a way of worshipping the Energy and practising the faith to move on. I am not the right person to write about rituals as I am not thoroughly aware about different religions and their beliefs. But, I believe, religion is also a way of judging the right and wrong; a parameter of trying to be rational. It is indeed a way of respecting our ancestors and following customs/traditions and keeping their faith alive. Another method of being civilized and different than the other forms of life.It is the most popular way of connecting to the holy spirit just within you.

Personally,  defining worship for an individual is more difficult than practising religion. As worship could be admiration and respect for someone and dedication and expression of gratitude for others. For me, it is my sense of not giving up and not losing hope in all my low phases. It is also a word of encouragement given by my grandfather. A thought of being independent and capable of being self-reliant. An internal prayer continuously sung with every breath that I intake.Whereas, for the slumboy on the road, it is just a wayof survival and a sense of sustaining his life. In the end, worship is my spirit to live life.

Al Jazeera, Sony Ericsson tie up to provide news on the move

The Al Jazeera network and Sony Ericsson have announced a new partnership that will bring news headlines straight to mobile phones. The news headlines will be available in both English and Arabic. Several Sony Ericsson handheld devices on the market in the Middle East and North Africa region will have an Al Jazeera RSS feed pre-installed. Owners of the devices can request daily international news updates straight from the Al Jazeera network through the RSS feed.   

 

“Al Jazeera’s partnership with Sony Ericsson is an important step as our audience becomes increasingly ‘on-the-go’,” said Saeed Othman Bawazir, Al Jazeera’s Director of Technology.”Today’s news consumer wants to be informed of the latest developments anytime, anywhere,” he added.  

 

Al Jazeera RSS feed links are now built into the software of the following Sony Ericsson models: W910, G502, W760 and W980. Husni El Assi, General Manager, Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications for Middle East and North Africa, said: “We are pleased to partner with Al Jazeera on this project as it demonstrates to the consumer Sony Ericsson’s new product features and applications.”The Al Jazeera/Sony Ericsson partnership will build on Al Jazeera’s existing new media initiative, which includes a host of interactive platforms including YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and the iPhone application.

History of Zionism, Israel and US Support. Prof Schleifer

still falling

I am extremely frustrated. Tomorrow I have about a million errands to run and am not getting any help whatsoever. I have to drive my parents to the airport at 10am and shower before that leaving me no time to exercise. I am very frustrated about getting fat. I also have a brother who is home he’s 20 and he’s back from school but he can’t drive my parents because he stays up all night playing a video game so he winds up going to sleep at like 6am. It’s frustrating they view his insomnia as a debilitating disease but my depression and anxiety and body image issues and extreme busyness and hard work go unnoticed. It’s insufferable because apparently I can control my diseases he cannot.

Then i have to go therapy and then to hempstead which is about an hour away to go over crap for my internship. Then I’m going to Jenny Craig to get weighed in and be told that I lost no weight this week. Today’s like a sunday.

I got into bed once I got home from work I had to leave an hour early because I was very depressed and so exhausted I couldn’t even move.

So I tried to pull myself out of this mood and went to dinner with my parents and my grandmother. No such luck I ate the entire bread basket and then just sat there regretting it. How wonderful. Then I came home and just crawled into bed and didn’t get out barely speaking to anyone for hours.

All I do is lay in bed, watch tv, maybe read a little and bite my nails to death. I have no nails now i’m just ripping off skin. This is going to sound crazy especially since i’m 23 but I haven’t had a vacation in months not since May. But god it was the happiest 5 days of my life. I went to disney world with my boyfriend and had the greatest time of my life.

I was happy I was someone else I was motivated I wanted to get out and do things and not waste my time. Now I am a time waster and I get very sad when I think about who I am right now. A wasteful fat depressed idiot. I would take a xanax just to pass out but I took a lunesta last night and whenever I take those two medicines within 24 hours I try and kill myself because they don’t mix well in my head. I found this out the hard way. I was on a cruise with my friend and her family and took a xanax for my anxiety, and a lunesta to sleep because I thought that the boat was making me sea sick. I woke up at 3 am and walked around the entire boat half naked with my entire body shaking trying to jump off the side of the ship because I just wanted the feeling to go away.

I think the reason that I get depressed so often is because I have codependency issues. I am 23 and still live with my parents. They go away for at least two weeks every months and every time they do I freak out. I get anxious and sad and suicidal because I hate being alone. Every sunday my boyfriend hangs out with his family and friends and every sunday I cry because I want to kill myself and I want the anxiety to go away. Sundays are also hard because I have my internship the next day and am worried and hateful about having to go.

God no one knows this is how I really feel. I’d have to be insane to admit that this is what goes on in my mind

Best Chicken Curry Recipe EVER.

I was fumbling my way through a maze of web pages a while ago and stumbled upon a chicken curry recipe which I thought sounded good. I made the curry (with a few small changes) and wrote the recipe down before losing the bit of paper on which it was written. I also lost track of where I originally found it on the web.

Today was a great day because I found the bit of tattered paper and cooked it for the second time….here ’tis

INGREDIENTS (measurements of teaspoons are heaped not level)

1kg of chicken thighs (2 lb approx) chopped into bight sized chunks

5 or 6 curry leaves (optional)

1 Large onion diced ( red or white)

3 cloves of crushed garlic

2 tea spoons of grated fresh ginger

1 tsp kashmiri chilli ( not as hot as regular chilli - can use more or less depending on taste)

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp coriander

1 tsp garam masala

half tsp of sea salt

1 table spoon White wine vinegar

400 gram tin of chopped tomato

1 tablespoon Tomato Paste

half a cup of coconut milk

Fresh chopped coriander for garnish.

Method

Put some olive oil in a pot and heat (you will need a pot with a lid)

Add onion, ginger, garlic (curry leaves also if you have them) and cook til soft (2 mins or so)

Add all the spices along with the salt and Vinegar and stir well. If you are worried about the onion and spices burning while you are fumbling around in your spice rack- just take the pot off the stove until you have added them all.

Add the chopped chicken and stir around until it is coated with the spice mixture.

Add tomato paste and tin of Tomatoes and stir well.

Bring to the boil and then turn down and simmer for 40 mins with lid on.

Stir every 10 minutes so that nothing sticks to the bottom.

in the last 5 minutes add the coconut milk and stir through well.

Serve with rice…i prefer brown but white is probably faster to cook and more to peoples taste. sprinkle the fresh coriander on top of each bowl as a garnish.

A non-gingerbread, gingerbread house PART I

Lore and Wisdom

The big writing project on the Euthyphro highlights what is already a regular object of contemplation for me, namely, the relationship between divination, knowledge of lore (be it the Eddas or patakis, fable or poetry), and moral guidance.  Fortune telling is all well and good, but it seems most expressions of it nowadays in the West are pale shadows of the sort of work done by seer-priest(esse)s in more oral cultures.

There is more to divining than knowledge of the future.  Knowledge of the future may be far less important than knowledge of the present and its potentialities.  Divination ought to be a moral act, assisting the querent not just with information, but with their personal evolution.

Lore serves an essential role in that process.  First, it provides knowledge of the past, lessons of what was done in the past and the results of it.  Through contemplation of historical events, we learn how things tend to happen and so acquire a deeper sense of how things are likely to happen in the future if we or others act in certain ways.

Second, lore provides us with images of how spiritual forces relate to each other.  While not always reflecting actual historic events, they illuminate spiritual structures that, when activated, tend to support and foster material changes in the world.  They may contain advice about proper ritual protocols for dealing with different spiritual beings.

Third, lore provides us with models for thinking through the present in moral terms.  The lore contains stories filled with characters, each character defined by moral virtues and vices.  They in turn relate to other characters, with their virtues and vices.

Contemplation of those alongside our experience of living with people, provides us with glimpses into the complexity of morality.  It also provides us with glimpses of how to simplify that complexity, of actions that coalesce and focus thought into action that creates a better world.

The lore-wise diviner can use lore in any of these ways, taking the occasion of a divinatory response (be it an oracular saying, a casting of runes or cowrie shells, or the toss of a divining chain) to provide the querent with the lore suitable to their situation and, more importantly, have the skill at extracting how that lore applies to the present situation.

Lore - Journey to Beyond

Finding Love in the Real World

He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the LORD.  Proverbs 18:22.

“There are three things that are too amazing for me, four that I do not understand:  the way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a snake on a rock, the way of a ship on the high seas, and the way of a man with a maiden.”  Proverbs 30:18, 19.

As a matter of faith, we must take that first promise to heart.  When a man finds a wife who will love, cherish, support and be a true partner in life and someone he can love, cherish and support in return, he finds what is good and God will reward him.

This flies in the face of some who believe marriage to be simply a way to keep us from sin until Jesus comes to change our earthly bodies into His heavenly spiritual type.  Though I won’t harp on it too much, I believe this latter understanding has missed the purpose of God’s design for humankind in order to undermine His nature.

For those of you who have read these articles before, be warned that this will end up being a rather long entry, since there is much for me to discuss on the subject.

Where we get our misunderstanding, I believe, stems from from a misinterpretation of Jesus’ answer to a Sadducee’s question about the resurrection found in Matthew 22:23-33 and Luke 20:27-40.  Let’s review these texts before we get into the promise from Proverbs above, because unless we deal with our misunderstandings first, our comprehension of truth will be colored by our mistaken ideas.  A person who thinks of the world as flat won’t grasp the nature of the universe in the same way someone who accepts it as round and part of a solar system will.  So the same principle applies to the Christian’s understanding of what Jesus was saying about marriage.

Let’s set the stage for the Sadducees’ argument to Jesus:

1)  The premise of the argument the Sadducees presented to Jesus surrounded the issue of the resurrection, a doctrine the Sadducees rejected as nonsense.  So first of all their point had nothing to do with marriage really but was a conundrum the priests used to call attention to the impossibility of the resurrection and stymie the Pharisees.

2)  They chose seven brothers because it is a perfect example with a perfect number.  The symbolism here cannot be ruled out, they were playing philosophy with God’s Word and missing the meaning by a light year, according to Jesus.

Jesus’ answer?

“You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.”  Matthew 22:29b.

Now wait a second!?!  The Sadducees were made up of mainly priests and Levites, the educated of the Jewish nation.  They were taught to memorize Scripture from the time they were young, bound the Law to their foreheads, garments and studied constantly in the temple grounds and synagogues.  How could Jesus even begin to say something so inaccurate?

Well, first off they did what many of us do when we want to prove a point:  they ignored other Scriptures in order to get to our pet “truths” and doctrines.  First, they ignored the law’s clear statement about marriage to the oldest son.  Deuteronomy 25:5,6 states that the brother who marries but dies before having children, passes his wife down to the next available brother who will then carry on his oldest brother’s legacy by giving that brother’s wife children in his name.  The oldest male child will be named for the elder brother and inherit that brother’s property.

If we carry this logic to its conclusion, we realize that in the resurrection the woman in the Sadducees’ illustration cannot be anyone else’s wife except for the oldest of the seven brothers, since all six married her to fulfill the obligation to the eldest brother’s name.

Second, God’s power was outside of the laws of nature.  The Sadducees had to ignore the historical record of Elisha raising the boy and Elijah doing the same for the widow.  This flies in the face of their claims there could be no resurrection.

Both gospels record Jesus saying that “God is not the god of the dead but of the living.”  Romans 4:17b carries on this thought by saying,  The God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were.  We cannot ignore the fact of the resurrection, so Jesus threw their argument out by reminding them of  Scripture.

Now about the issue of marriage in heaven.  I don’t know whether we will be sexual beings or not for Scripture doesn’t speak to it directly.  Some argue that we will be like angels, who many assume have no sexual characteristics, but since no one knows what angels are like exactly, arguing this point would be moot and prove nothing.  Next we can take Isaiah’s prophecy concerning the New Earth and set it against the assumption of the common understanding today.  Isaiah 65:17-25 speaks to a new heaven and new earth, citing children as part of the reward for those who are faithful, telling those who hold on to God that they will be rewarded by building houses and living in them, worshiping God forever in His presence.

Our concept of marriage is based on Scripture for sure, but we have this current method of vows because of sin not righteousness.  Jesus said that oaths have to do with sin and His followers must let their “yes” be yes and their “no” be no, (see Matthew 5:34).  In other words, once sin is dealt with at Jesus’ restoration of all things, there will be no need for vows (a form of oath) because the twist of sin will be gone and we will be faithful without needing them, promises or the threat of punishment to keep us so.

I don’t know if those who are translated at His second coming will become sexless or not, and quite frankly it doesn’t matter.  But from all the OT books I gather there will be some sort of family clans for the people of God.  C. S. Lewis put it like this (I’m paraphrasing from memory),  The concept of marriage in heaven is like telling a young boy about sex.  His first question is,  ”Is it (sex) better than chocolate?” because chocolate is his standard for the best things in life.  His scope for life and other joys limits his ability realize something outside his experience.  Such is our standard of comparison for this issue.

If God created sex (and by that wording I’m not questioning it but creating a premise for what follows), then such a joyful creation should hold promise of greater things.  Yet I don’t believe sex is evil or a lost condition of man, since it was made in the beginning before sin entered the world at all and holy to the Lord as a part of His image stamped on humanity.  Therefore, I would say that we will be raised with perfected bodies, or Christ’s body, which was still male in form and function.  He proved He wasn’t a ghost or spirit by eating fish with the disciples, so we can conclude that He saved, restored and sanctified the body of Adam through His death and resurrection.  This means that those who disparage sex as distracting us toward earthly pursuits miss the point of Paul’s instructions to the Corinthians about marriage being a bad idea.  We have to take the subject in context, for Paul gives us a key phrase Because of the present crisis, I think it is good for you to remain as you are.  1 Corinthians 7:26.  The current crisis was persecution, which would leave women widowed, possibly with children, and a man who stole his father’s wife was being patted on the back for his efforts.  The Corinthians were in such a messed up state of mind about sex, marriage and godliness, Paul was instructing them to hold off on any further moves on this issue until they resolved their dilemma.

We get these things so twisted around that we buy into the extremes of human reasoning and methodology.  Asceticism is based not on God’s preferred will for everyone but on human methods to get close to or please God.  What does Genesis say about male and female?  They are the image of God.  Our perception of righteousness needs to grow away from the extremes with which the enemy endeavors to pervert our understanding of God and His Word.  Jesus claimed that some people are made eunuchs by the hand of man, others by the will of God (see Matthew 19:12), but that it was a calling not a rule for all.

I think I’ll leave it here and come back to our promise in Proverbs in the next entry.  Yet I will say this:  Marriage is honorable and to be honored, respected and celebrated by all.

Marriage and Singleness - The Plan of God

2009- New Beginnings? Oh $*%$. No, actually lets keep it the same.

Yes, okay, I haven’t updated in awhile, but, it is a new year and a time for new beginnings.  No, I am not talking about Barack Obama.  I am talking about new beginnings in track!  Oh wait, damn, we had a good year in track… you mean when the economy tanks good things can happen?  Oh… well then lets hope for no change when it comes to track!  Of course there will likely be many changes this year.  Like, hopefully a certain someone will break 2:10 in the 800.  And maybe a certain someone will actually get back to the form he was at last spring (okay so we can hope for one new beginning :/)

Okay so I am not going to bore you with stupid results from last time because 1) You already freakin know them; and 2) I Don’t feel like it.  So, I will bore you with other news from my life that you likely could give a crap about.

So it’s Christmas break (thank the Lord) and, uh, yeah, I am so bored it’s nt even funny.  Like seriously you’d think I’d have something to do but I don’t (other than practice, of course).  So I’ve been thinking and making some decisions which are none of your business and yeah.  Well at least it has been relaxing.  So, uh, yeah that’s all I have to say about that.

Wow okay I’m at 220 words which is not much so I am going to ramble.  OH I’m running for governor in 2014 so vote it up then.  I am hoping I get a good running mate (because, of course, the people decide).  I actually still haven’t chosen a campaign manager… I’ll have to get on that.  So, yeah, join the Facebook group if you haven’t already and please support me and spread the word about me.  I think I can do a good job. 

So, okay lets get back to track.  Do you know how much it sucks having an injury?  A LOT.  Like I’m pretty much over it now but now I’m so far behind in training and its tough to jump back in and try to be competitive in a sport where it’s hard to be competitive in the first place.  Like it’s hard enough but then throw in a wrench like an injury which holds you back for months on end and it sucks.  But I dunno I am feeling better and hopefully I can get back into the form I was in last spring.  It’s frustrating, though, ya know?  Like I’m competitive and I want to be able to help the team any way I can but I can’t do that yet even though nothing is physically  hurting… but I just can’t keep up yet.  Agh.

So yesterday we submitted the financial assistance form (aka the holy crap this form changes both my life and the lives of other in such a huge friggin way form) and yeah I’m confident they will decide to give enough money (nahhhhht, I have no confidence).  But we’ll see it should be all good, but who knows, ya’ll might be without me come next fall…

Talk at ya later

Customary First Post (2009)

Being something of a mental pack rat, I have a motley collection of facts, notions, legends and other party favors and ice breakers, on hand.  While I’d like to be able to document sources for every one of them,  that just ain’t happening. When questioned on an assertion, I’ve been known to respond with, “It’s a fact, look it up”, or,  ” Google it!”.  Just so’s you know, I have not made a New Year’s Resolution to take a more scholarly approach.

Its my understanding (how’s that for a cop-out?) that the Scots had, at least, a charming New Year custom. Charming in both senses of the word.  The first visitor of the new year would not cross a cottage’s threshold empty handed but, rather,  carried a gift of a  piece of coal as a little acceptable folk magic to bless a household with prosperity  (and may be where that Christmas lump of coal idea originated).

I don’t have coal, I don’t want coal.

Down south, folks follow the tradition of eating black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day.  Its a custom born  of adversity.



In 1864 the godless federal troops, under General Sherman, marched across Georgia, destroying and looting everything in their path.  They sacked Atlanta in November and  ended up in Savannah on December 22.  They left the civilians to starve in the snow, leaving nothing behind but black-eyed peas, which was considered animal fodder.

I do have black-eyed peas.  Later, today, I’ll eat them for “luck” as many of us do, but I’ll also eat them in remembrance of the plight of those civilians.  

Perhaps we all should.

As the last few measures of 2008 were played I listened to the wicked law breakers shooting off  contraband fireworks out in the neighborhood and blessed them for spitting in Big Brother’s eye.   “A streak of anarchy is the birthright of every American.”

At midnight I kissed the little woman and copped a feelie for luck before she turned in.  I’ve started this year off right.  Trust me, I know these things, I took a class.

BNSF Coal Drag Departs Pigs Eye Yard St. Paul, MN 7-4-08