Bible Studies- We value time spent in God’s Word which guides and equips us as we live our our lives as Christians.
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. 2 Tim. 3:16-17
Cancer Companions – A Cancer Support Ministry to care for those newly diagnosed, currently going through treatment, or in remission. Through a call to the church office or an email to Vickie Adams (vadamszionharvester.org) and we will connect you with someone with experience going though the process to pray for you, answer your questions, offer a shoulder on which to cry, and identify your needs with which we can help as a congregation. We are looking for members who have been affected by Cancer who would like to offer their companionship and care for others new to the diagnosis. Click here to learn more>
Crafters – This is a group of creative women who meet every Wednesday to make items to sell which support church mission projects. There are two craft sales annually, the first Saturday of November and in February in conjunction with the Sausage Supper. Crafters accept donations of crafting items. Bring your special talent, work on our projects, bring your own project, teach us a skill, learn one of ours, stay all day or a few hours.
Home Bound Ministry – This team of Zion members reaches out to homebound members through phone calls, cards, and special worship services (especially at Christmas and Easter). Special efforts are made to include our homebound family and friends in regular events at Zion.
Lutherans For Life St. Charles County – Lutherans For Life (LFL) is a local chapter witnessing to the sanctity of human life through education based on the Word of God. LFL also ministers personally to people regarding life as opportunities may arise. Membership forms are available in the Welcome Center.
Men’s Ministries – All men are invited to join in fellowship and faith building through bible study and events.
Quilting Club Zion – Quilting Club provides Christian fellowship to women who enjoy using their creative gifts to earn funds for God’s work. Their careful stitches produce many beautiful quilts every year.
Women’s Ministries- All women of our congregation and community are invited to take part in Bible Study, events, and service ministries through which we can be built up in our relationships with God and each other. Click here to learn more>


Brad Rempel, sports and recreation director at the Sabes JCC in Minneapolis, MN, will attend a three-day conference for youth and high school football leaders sponsored by the National Football League. The JCC nominated Rempel for his seven years of service to the JCC’s youth football program. He will participate in the 2006 National Football League Youth Football Summit during the Pro Football Hall of Fame Induction Weekend Aug. 2 to 5 in Canton, OH.
The YMCA is building a new 45,000-square-foot, $6 million facility complete with a fitness center and pool in Greene County, NY. Construction is slated to begin in 2008.
WOW! Work Out World in Brick, NJ, promoted several employees in June. The company promoted James Cianci to vice president of facilities management, Ken Carrier to senior vice president of sales and personal training, Natalie Aziz to regional sales director and Doug Hawxhurst to regional personal training director.


Yesterday we passed, but on Thursday we lost in CBB with Xavier +3 vs Villanova. Even though we lost, we are still 19-6 our L/25 PLAYS POSTED OVERALL (76% WINNERS) and 36-14-1 our L/51 PLAYS POSTED OVERALL (72% WINNERS) and 56-27-1 our L/84 PLAYS POSTED OVERALL (67% WINNERS)!! We have some other streaks of 69-34-3 our L/106 PLAYS POSTED OVERALL (67% WINNERS) and we are now 178-120-5 +$19,693 in ALL SPORTS (60% WINNERS) since JOINING pregame and we will try to add to that today. For today, we are going to CBB for our $100 Play and we are going to FIRE AWAY!!!! Good luck to everyone!!!!
19-6 our L/25!
36-14-1 our L/51!
56-27-1 our L/84!
69-34-3 our L/106!
178-120-5 +$19,693 in ALL SPORTS (60% WINNERS) since JOINING pregame!
03-09-14: CBB: William & Mary vs Towson (5:00 pm est.)
$100 CBB Play: William & Mary +3 (-110) (Bovada) <------ (WINNER)
Key TRENDS for this game:
Tribe are 14-5 ATS in their last 19 games overall.
Tribe are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games vs. a team with a winning S.U. record.
Tribe are 12-5 ATS in their last 17 vs. Colonial Athletic Association.


This week there was a potluck get-together with all of the host families from my program. Studying in France with EAP, you have the option to live in a homestay with a “famille d’accueil” (or in English, a host family). A host family is there to help you practice your French and to acclimate you to your surroundings in a foreign country. The first weekend I was here, my host mom helped me get my metro pass and also drove me around Lyon to get me acquainted to the city. Homestays are great because you learn so much about French culture (and you get to eat a home-cooked meal every night).
Most of the students in homestays hear tons of stories about each other’s host families, so having a potluck was a great way to meet everyone’s host parents. Every family brought a plate of finger foods, so we got to nibble on things as we practiced our French.
I got to meet my friend’s host mom, which was super cool. She’s a neurological doctor, and she owns her own practice. She does paintings in her free time (some of which I’ve seen when I went over to my friend’s house for lunch). We also discussed our mutual love for comedies and her love for classical music (I can do Mozart from time to time, but I wouldn’t say I love it).
Besides chatting up host families, we were lucky enough to be joined by a few professors and the director of our program. It’s always fun to be able to talk to French adults in low pressure situations – talking to teachers after class can be challenging! I’ve mangled many sentences asking about when homework is due or how long a paper has to be. It was nice just to chat.
Now that I have met all of my friends’ host families, I can start coming over to everybody’s houses more often! It’s way too fun to look at French houses, and I would love to get to know other families better. Homestays are cool – I’ll be sad to leave mine at the end of the semester. But I’m sure I’ll come back for visits and hopefully there will be more soirees like the potluck.


This game wasn't a must-win, but it was one the Boilers could really use to solidify its position as a top team in the B1G and on the right side of the bubble. Unfortunately wins are always hard to come by on the road in this conference, and it is 1000x harder when you turn the ball over 20 times. Sure, the refs weren't exactly spectacular today, but we can't give away that many chances and expect to win.
Early in the first half, Purdue looked flat on both sides of the ball. Oddly enough, the crowd at the famed Williams Arena was even flatter than we were. A run by the Gophers put them up 21-13 and picked up the energy of the crowd, but that seemed to pick up Purdue's energy as well. A stretch of good defense and dunks by Octeus and Hammons allowed the Boilers to retake a 23-21 lead. Minnesota eventually settled down, but the good guys took a 31-27 lead into the break.
Unfortunately for Purdue and my blood pressure, the Gophers came out like a team on a mission and we couldn't handle their pressure defense at all as they scored a ridiculous 14 straight points to take a 41-31 lead. It took the Boilers a long time to finally get it together and they ended up down 15 before the shots started to fall and threes from Jon Octeus and Kendall Stephens put us right back in it with five minutes to play. Finally, down five with a minute to play Octeus hit his fourth triple of the game to make it a one possession game.
The last minute of this strange game kept with the theme as the Gophers' missed shot was tipped in between the rim and the backboard by Eliott Eliason. The possession arrow kept it with the home team and Rapheal Davis was forced to foul Deandre Mathieu. He would miss the one-and-one opportunity and the Boilers had a shot to win it with about 20 seconds left, but Davis passed up a decent look from the outside before Vince Edwards got mugged inside by Maurice Walker on his attempt. Despite everyone on the floor stopping and looking around, no foul was actually called. Minnesota would hit two free throws to put it away, 62-58. Andre Hollins led all scorers with 18, while Octeus scored 17 for Purdue.
I feel confident in saying Purdue is a better team than Minnesota. However, we have to stop with the lazy passes and keep playing hard. We got back to doing that late in the first and at the end of the game, but kind of like the Gardner-Webb game, we dug ourselves too big of a hole. This loss hurts our resume a bit, but we are still squarely on the bubble. If we win our last three at Mackey, win at Rutgers and at Michigan State(very doable this year), we should be a top four seed in the B1G Tournament and right at the 12-6 mark most thought we'd need to get in the NCAA Tournament.
On a positive note, Hammons is still playing great, he even played the whole second half without looking too tired. He went for a double-double with 11 and 10, in addition to 5 very important blocks. Going forward I think we will only see Isaac in short spurts to spell Hammons. Secondly, our outside shooting picked up during the late run and we'll need that to help stop teams from focusing their defense entirely on the paint. In the end, we really missed a golden opportunity, but hopefully we can learn from it and pick up a big victory at the RAC (another place where strange things seem to happen) against Rutgers.


Bahrain's insurance companies need to merge to create stronger and more competitive entities, the country's central bank governor was quoted as saying on Tuesday.
A severe downturn in the region's real estate sector and debt restructurings in Saudi family firms have hurt Bahrain's banking and insurance sector following the global financial downturn.
Central Bank of Bahrain's (CBB) governor Rasheed Al Maraj urged insurance companies operating in the non-OPEC oil producer to strengthen their positions through mergers to boost competitiveness among firms.
"We need to look at the question of integration and formation of large entities able to provide new services and products for customers to compete at the same time with big companies," Al Maraj told the Bahraini Alwasat newspaper.
The size of the insurance industry in the island kingdom reached more than BHD200m ($530.6m) at the end of 2010, the paper reported.
He also said the central bank would however not intervene in the services provided by insurers.
"Our key task is to provide the legislative environment for all activities, and to guarantee the controls governing the work of these companies," he said.
The penetration rate of insurance companies in the Arab world was at least 25 percent, and the volume of insurance premiums in the region about $20bn by the end of the year 2010, according to the General Arab Insurance Federation.For all the latest banking and finance news from the UAE and Gulf countries, follow us on Twitter and Linkedin, like us on Facebook and subscribe to our YouTube page, which is updated daily.
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Fast Flip: 1986 Rolls Royce Silver Spirit Hearse – Sold?
January 26, 2022 Update – We just confirmed the listing for this “Classifind” expired, so with no replacement found we’re assuming this ride “Sold?” While this one got away, please reach out either by email or call us directly if you’d like to be informed when we come across something similar.
If there was ever a Rolls Royce worth dying for a ride in, this 1986 Silver-Spur-based funeral hearse originally listed in December 2021 on Craigslist in Houston, Texas literally might be the one. Unfortunately for the seller, the fact there aren’t that many Roller Hearses quickly had us thinking we’ve seen this car before. Sure enough, we remembered seeing it auctioned here on Cars And Bids in early August 2021. The winning bid was $9,000.
Fast forward just four months and the winning bidder is now trying to double his money by listing on Craigslist. Based on what the seller’s description indicated during the C&B auction, in their four months of ownership, the current caretaker replaced a noisy power steering pump, replaced the tires, and added a vintage wooden coffin that will be included with this sale. Tack on the four-and-a-half-percent buyers premium paid to Close &B ($405 estimated) and likely three large to have this hearse shipped from Washington State to Houston, and it’s easy to see the current seller is trying to recoup all of their investment and then some. Unfortunately, the seller makes no mention of whether he replaced the low-pressure A/C line during his watch.
While the seller may be trying to double their money in a fast flip, comparing the $18,000 asking price against the Hagerty Insurance Online Valuation Tool confirms the private seller has their Rolls Royce Hearse priced between this guide’s #2 “Excellent” estimate of $16,500 and its #1 “Concours” appraisal of $23,700. We predict this Roller will wind up selling for less than his current ask.
Here’s the Hagerty Insurance Synopsis of the Rolls Royce Silver Spur:
“The Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit and its long-wheelbase sibling, the Silver Spur, replaced the Silver Shadow and Silver Wraith respectively in 1980. Continuing the unibody construction initiated by the Shadow in 1967, they were redesigned to be much more rounded and less upright, the work of Austrian stylist Fritz Feller. These are the first Rolls-Royces to have the disappearing Spirit of Ecstasy hood ornament, which sinks into the radiator shell.
The 220-hp, 6.75-liter aluminum V-8 initially used twin SU carburetors, but cars exported to the U.S. and Japan always had Bosch fuel injection, which was eventually standardized for all markets in 1986. The Silver Spirit and Silver Spur were built in four iterations, or Marks, but there were thousands of running changes through the years. A total of 8,129 Mk I Rolls-Royce Silver Spirits were built between1980-89; 1,152 Mk IIs were produced from 1989-93; 1,658 Mk IIIs were manufactured in 1993-94; and 122 Mk IV models left the line from 1995-98. The Flying Spur of 1994-95 added a Garrett turbocharger in 1997, almost doubling the power output to 412 horsepower. The Silver Spirit was replaced by the Silver Seraph in 1998.
The finish on the Silver Spirit was as superior as one might expect, with burl walnut wood trim , Connolly leather hide interior, and Wilton carpets. Steering was power rack-and-pinion, and Rolls-Royce used Citroen’s hydraulic self-leveling suspension at the rear, power disc brakes all-around, and a three-speed automatic transmission, which was later replaced by a four-speed automatic in 1991. Almost everything was standard, including air conditioning, power windows, seats, and door locks.
Rolls-Royces are famous for their sophistication and durability, but curiously, that can lead to deferred maintenance once they hit resale channels. Be mindful that authorized service work and repairs can be frightfully expensive – the brakes and suspension in particular – and cannot be performed properly by anybody who is not a certified Rolls-Royce mechanic.”
Here’s the walk-around video of this hearse the seller on Cars & Bids posted last summer:
Unlike all the hearses we’ve come across here in the states, this Roller still features one-third of the rear seat complete with its folding picnic table. We wouldn’t recommend sharing your jar of Gray Poupon with anyone who rolls down the rear window of this hearse, especially the guy that’s included in the coffin.
Here’s the seller’s description:
“This is a one on a kind (at least in the US) 1986 Rolls Royce Silver Spirit that’s been converted into a hearse and used by a funeral home in Japan. This is originally a German Market car which means that it’s still left-hand drive, but the Odometer and speedo are in KM… and showing a very low mileage 65,xxxKM or 40,xxx Miles
It was originally black but was painted dark blue and a matching blue vinyl top installed by a previous owner
This car is obviously British but uses a lot of GM parts (AC compressor, power steering pump, TH transmission, ect).
Newer parts I’ve replaced:
Power steering pump
Bluetooth head unit (still have non-functional original)
Wide white wall tires (looks awesome)
A homemade (for Halloween) wood coffin is even in the back and included with the sale.”
Show or go: what would you do with this 1986 Rolls Royce Silver Spirit Hearse? Comment below and let us know!


The former international correspondent Doug Levitt was once a familiar face on the TV when he was a London based international correspondent for some of the top news networks in the U.S. However, over the course of the last decade Doug has become better known as one of the world’s leading folk performers after departing on a series of bus trips that have allowed him to touch the lives of people in the heartland of the U.S. he feels are not represented through the mainstream media.
Doug Levitt believes the mainstream media does not give a full reflection of the lives of people in the U.S. who have been left behind and disenfranchised from the majority of society. Through the artistic work he has produced in the form of a novel, numerous songs, and photographic images Doug Levitt has been trying to give a voice to those in the U.S. who feel they are not given the chance to through traditional outlets across the country; the work of Doug Levitt is reminiscent of the reportage pieces produced in the 1930s when the poorest in U.S. society had little choice in how they lived their own lives. Musicians, photographers, and writers all set out to report on the people of the U.S. heartland in the 1930s and developed their own work to express the feelings and thoughts of those they met on journey’s across the country.
The need to help those who have not been given a regular voice in the U.S. is something the family of Doug Levitt has been looking to do for decades through their work in Washington D.C. Growing up in the U.S. capital gave Doug Levitt the chance to see inequality in a city that sees many communities on real need of assistance; Levitt’s parents were among the best respected in Washington D.C. local politics and the death of his father when Levitt was only 16 is seen as a pivotal moment in the life of the musician.


Cost saving basic installation for media in permanent installations
Daily business shows that costs for media technologies are often underestimated in renovations and new installations.
CatCore offers several advantages compared to conventional audio- und DMX-wiring.
Inexpensive wires, usable for different purposes.
- worldwide standardised cables with perfect transmision parameters
- available in large cuts on reels or in paper boxes.
- standardized pinning within cable according to TIA 568 A/B
- wider range of special cable types as FRNC and fire resistant available compared to media cables
- Install and connection can be done even by an electrician
- connecting without soldering (no smoke or heat, even in almost inacessible areas with few space possible)
- check your audio- and DMX-lines with simple network testers, or even ask for a measuring protocol prior to media install.
- very low diameter, only few cutting works in walls or furniture, low space requirements in cable trunks
- in protected monuments even running lines in seams possible
- Wall outlets with same covers as switches and power sockets available
- no custom made covers or special cutouts in walls required
- place your lines in empty tubes - even years after the initial installation
- up to 87% less meters of wire to be pulled (Duplex vs. 8x symmetrical line)
- low space requirements for wall outlets (eight signals per Duplex-outlet)
and for patchbays in central control racks
- use costeffective network components / patchbays and wall outlets
- no prior definition of signal direction, just define your lines by the breakout boxes you use -
an existing line can be used either for light, audio, video, intercom, CCTV or IT.
Typical applications for XLR over CAT:
- churches and community centers, for example connecting main hall to separate prayer rooms
- Conference applications, e.g. conecting floor tank to technical room, debates on stage, system cabling for lecturnes
- connection to separate rooms as wardrobes, foyers, control rooms
- temporary transmissions to foyers, outside areas, cantines, meeting rooms
- Cruise Ships, Theaters & Cinemas
perfect for wide installations with long cable runs and several connections for in/outputs, as sport halls, assembly halls in schools, multi purpose city halls.
- signal distribution from centralized inputs for background music or PA-systems
Protection against theft, vandalism and damage
- for occationally using the boxes are very practically because they can be removed and stored away easily after use
- heavy-duty installation sockets for lan-cables available, perfect even for sport halls or as floor sockets
Tools for tekkies
little helper in every toolcase for sound and light tekkies,
just plug and play wherever there is a free network cable available.


I recently read an article online (where else?) decrying the proliferance of "hipster" living and listing the items in your home that could either make or break your hipster status . I find this kind of lifestyle/cultural trivia mildly entertaining and so I had to see for myself which furnishings the writer considered "hipster" worthy. The premise of the article was to state that folks are actually becoming more and more homogenized, despite their best attempts to stand apart from the crowd with their style and eclectic tastes. It was actually kind of enlightening. The long and short of it is that I discovered that I am definitely not a hipster at present, but if I could acquire a coveted piece such as, say, a ghost chair which you can view here , my status could be instantly transformed. Actually, I really do like ghost chairs, even if you seem them everywhere now. Another option for aspiring hipsters is to hang decorative antlers, buy an overdyed rug or use skateboards as a wall decoration instead of a means of transportation. Hmmm.....what do you think??
Any decor elements that scream "hipster" to you or some you'd even like to incorporate for yourself? Do tell!


Historical essays on Canadian fashion
Fashion: A Canadian Perspective is a book of historical essays on Canadian fashion that is the first to draw together new research on Canadian fashion design, fashion advertising and consumption.
This book breaks new ground in that it discusses not only the contribution of individuals to Canadian fashion, but also the broader issues of fashion in Canada. Internal and external influences are included in order to examine how fashion has been harnessed to reflect or deliberately create forms of Canadian fashion and national identity over three centuries, thereby setting the discussion of fashion, Canada and Canadians, into a larger socio-cultural framework.
The non-Canadianness of Canadian designers and fashion, and why they are not recognized as such raises complex issues of internationalism and globalization of fashion and Canada's role within this matrix. On one hand, fashion is becoming more and more multinational, both in terms of design and manufacture, making trade and international borders increasingly irrelevant. On the other hand, the role of design in fashion shows, marketing and the resulting press coverage, is still very much linked to national identities. Concomitantly, national design identity has become an increasingly important tool in creating a unique fashion product, particularly when there is often little distinction between similar designs. Thus cultural and national identity often operates as a key to deciphering the exclusive and novel "original" from the plethora of knock-offs.
This book also reflects current scholarly viewpoints and methodologies for the study of Canadian fashion by offering case studies that can serve as guidelines for future research on Canadian design in general, which both echoes and diverges from patterns in other North American cities. It is divided into themes in order to make trends and approaches to dress study more coherent for readers. In keeping with the academic trend for more encompassing and multidisciplinary approaches to history, the chapters are informed from several perspectives, including labour and gender, business, biography and oral history, art and fashion history and material culture studies. Just as the authors are drawn from diverse areas and foci, it is hoped that this volume will be of interest to a varied readership.
Beginning with Fashion and Identity it sets out to cover several very current areas of academic inquiry. The next section, Fashion and the Trade, addresses the viewpoint of manufacturer, worker, retailer, worker and consumer. The chapters cover a broad range of late 19th-20th century histories and examines how events, etiquette and fashionable dress have been promoted and understood by Canadian retailers and designers, and how they, in turn, have promoted Canadian or imported fashions in response to Canadians' consumption patterns or requirements. Fashion and Refuge addresses the interesting and controversial area of conventional and radical dress and work for women. Finally, different perspectives are included on the profession of journalism and fashion advertising in Fashion and the Press.
All the authors have directly contributed to the recording of a neglected aspect of Canadian society and history through the lens of fashion, demonstrating that fashion is inextricably linked to social, cultural and economic events in times of adversity and prosperity. This book, with its kaleidoscopic view of Canadian fashion, hopes to illuminate and stimulate further discussion and the recording of history in this rich area. It demonstrates that there was and is such a thing as Canadian fashion and that by examining its history, complexity and uniqueness we can begin to assess its significance internally and externally.


Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI) is a genetic disorder that affects the production of a protein called collagen. Collagen is one of the main proteins in bone and is what gives bone its strength.
Symptoms of OI
Children born with OI may suffer fractures while still in the womb, during delivery, or they may suffer their first fracture soon after birth. Fractures of bones may occur with normal handling. Fractures may not be identified right away, and are sometimes discovered later in the child's life when x-rays are done for a different reason.
Fractures in OI are unpredictable. For example, fractures that might be expected to occur from an injury often don't, and fractures that do occur can happen under the mildest of circumstances. The good news is that rates of fractures often decrease with age.
There are other signs and symptoms that doctors may look for that also may occur as a result of the collagen defect in OI:
- Lax (loose) joints and muscle weakness
- Blue or grey discoloration of the white part of the eye (sclera)
- Teeth that break easily and may be discoloured
- A tendency towards bruising
- Heat intolerance and excessive sweating
- Scoliosis (curvature of the spine) and other curved bones
- Breathing issues (in severe cases)
- Deafness or hearing loss
How OI happens
OI can be passed down in families from one generation to the next in a recessive fashion. This means that only one parent needs to carry the gene in order for OI to be passed to their children. Often OI is the result of a new genetic mutation; in other words, it just "happens". This is true in about 35% of cases.
How OI is diagnosed
Mild OI often goes undetected and undiagnosed. When OI is suspected, usually because of a history of frequent fractures, physicians look for other associated symptoms such as those mentioned previously. The child may be seen by a geneticist or a doctor knowledgeable in diagnosing OI. Blood tests and skin biopsies can now be done to assure the diagnosis. Some patients with OI have extra small bones in their skull along suture lines, where the different sections of the skull come together. These bones are called wormian bones, and can help make the diagnosis of OI.
How OI is treated
At present, there is no cure for OI. Treatment of OI is symptomatic and supportive. Fractures, if they occur, should be monitored carefully to ensure proper healing. Surgery is sometimes done to stabilize bones. Occupational therapy can be used to teach parents how to handle their child so as not to injure them inadvertently. Children with OI may be prescribed braces to support their limbs as needed. Hearing should be monitored frequently in children diagnosed with OI, as deafness and hearing loss can occur if small bones in the middle ear break. Medications to strengthen bones may be prescribed.
Advances in knowledge of OI allow children with OI to lead fuller lives. Prompt diagnosis is important, as the earlier children are diagnosed, the sooner measures to protect them from fractures can begin. If you suspect your child may have OI, see your physician.


THE MEDIUM IS THE MESSAGE
In 1964, Marshall McLuhan coined the phrase, the medium is the message, to suggest that the medium itself, not the content it carries, should be the focus of study.
Salah presents an investigative series of self-portraits centered around the act of prayer in Islam and the underlying explanations for each micro-movement of the ritual.
ART INDEX 1.0
For me its a social activity to visit people in their places or spaces where they work and capture their photos of behind the scene.
Adjusting his thick-rimmed glasses, he opens a plain white envelope and fans out ‘The Slaughterhouse’, a photo essay documenting the ritual slaughter of goats and sheep on Eid Al Adha in Khorfakkhan, a rural town in the Emirate of Sharjah.
An article in National Geographic titled, ‘Water, The Age of Scarcity Begins,’ gave Al Attar the impetus to undertake a project investigating the way that the most precious natural resource in the desert is often given away for free as an act of charity.
In the rural area of Diba Al Hassin, Sharjah, roadside cafes serve as places for older men to gather in their free time. Seated around plastic tables, they sip endless glasses of tea heaped with spoons of white sugar, while playing dominoes or cards.
This two-year project surveyed prayer rooms across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain. Mandated in public buildings by national legislation, these informal worship areas are ubiquitous, providing the faithful a place for their five prayers a day regardless of their location.
Ammar Al Attar first began to train his eye by noticing the eccentric, the unusual, and the fleeting scenes that repeated in his everyday life. His early images successfully persuaded viewers to pause and reconsider a scene they mindlessly passed by each day.


Are you looking for a way to pick up awesome girls near you? Do you know that girls are attracted to looks? What is that all about, anyway? Read on for more information.
When it comes to attraction’s electrical power, it is anything all men have to manage. The truth is that the majority of men just don’t understand the concept of attraction. We want to meet up with a girl that any of us can „be. “ We wish to meet women that we may venture out on date ranges with and spend all day with and when we do finally meet one of these girls it’s always an exciting point in time because we’re thus happy whenever we finally get her.
All of us don’t realize that what it’s about is all about the girl. I mean if the girl doesn’t have the best body how can she stand out from all the other young ladies? Well, when you are attractive to females you will be noticeable, but if you could have a bad human body you’ll be seen as a loser. It could really that simple. Don’t http://academy.ppl-labs.com/what-perform-you-require-to-enroll-on-kissrussianbeauty-chinese-wife-for-sale/ worry despite the fact, because you can conveniently work with your body in case you put your mind to that.
You see the fact is the fact when it comes to attraction majority of the women only consider the person they are really attracted too. They avoid pay attention to other items like appears or height or intellect or anything else that they can should look closely at. They concentration only on these things therefore never draw in any men that truly interested all of them.
Women are extremely easy to work on because they don’t have any expectations about what it takes to attract men. They can’t always be bothered with the looks they usually aren’t really bothered about your job or perhaps what institution you went to. All they love is that you simply as a person.
That’s why you may have so much problem attracting women. A lot of women think that you will need to look a specific way in order to be attracting them. I am going to give you a simple tip that may help you meet scorching girls towards you without spending all of the time trying to be perfect.
You observe girls think how we dress and the way you act will probably bring them. In case you walk up to a girl and increase and grab her provide and start jogging her around she is never going to give you her number. That is not going to be her first thought. She is going to have got other things in mind.
Instead of looking at her you should examine yourself inside the mirror and see bridesbest.org/africa/congo/ great you look and try to imagine how you could turn that girl in. If you find yourself with a great body then you will instantly be seen as being more attractive and you will be able to simply turn any daughter on. This kind of works since women do want at this point somebody who isn’t positive and eye-catching.
If you are positive and appealing and you have an effective body, you can immediately pull in the type of girls that you want. You want to be with women that contain good body systems and brains as well as beautiful faces. Which is way to make sure that you attract the ones that you want and never those women that merely happen to be about.


Saturday, January 22, 2011
Mountain bike to Genting Highland on 22nd Jan 2011
4:46:43 ride time
56.75km/h max speed
pagi: tiada hujan
petang: tiada hujan
malam: tiada hujan
min: 17 degree
max: 24 degree
- 22nd Jan 2o11
- started at 7.37am at Genting Sempah Hospital
- total riders = 3 (me, Nicholas Chan and Guan)
- Ride ended at 4pm.
20th Jan after Kiara 3 of us decided to ride Genting Sempah and Guan suggested me should go up till Genting Highland. I told myself I will only ride till Gotong Jaya and also hoping that the Batang Kali Police will stop and disallow us to continue to ride up. At 15km at the peak of Genting Sempah we saw another rider and asking us where are we going. Guan said we plan to go up Genting Highland and the guy said yes we can ride up and wont get shop at the police check on weekday and Saturday. DAMN!
Riding us from the beginning no problem at all and we reached Gotong Jaya at 10am and had our meal. I know my limit which I cant continue with them but Guan said "we already that far", "we might not be able to do it anytime soon" and thats keep me continue the journey all the way up.
At the start I can feel my legs are going to cramp. About 20 pedals turn I can feel my legs are going to cramp especially the right one. After stopping and want to continue my legs just cant get up and start pedal again. After a few hundreds meter we had a major break and I apply some muscle rub.
We had a major stop for every hundred meters and 4 more KM to go is the major challenge for us and especially me. Some friendly tour bus drivers offer help to shuffle us but I weave my hand and say NO NO NO. From this point onwards I almost pushing my bikes as I cant get on to my bike.
1km. Another major stop for food and cig for Guan. For me I know I cant stop for long so every major break im the one who go first and finally we reached the top - about 1pm.
After taking some pictures and Highland hotel we had our lunch at Old town. Order some food but just too tired to eat. During the break we refill water, strategies to go down telling them do not brake to hard else will burn their rotors, checking out some girls and we leave about 1.45pm.
Nicholas was going very fast and almost the the Chen Swee temple he stops and he had his rear rotor burned. During the ride down my jersey is completely wet. TIPS - BRING A EXTRA JERSEY OR ANOTHER LAYER OF CLOTH IF YOU ARE SCARE OF COLD and LONG GLOVE. I did not race down as Sunday 23th Jan evening I need to shoot for my client's wedding dinner. We stop every 1km to let the rotor to cool down as I do not was to buy another XX rotor. I also noticed my rear pad is almost finishing. Luckily I did not use a Sintered pad instead of Organic.
Was fun during the ride down till we passed Gotong Jaya where we need to climb 2 mountains and after that we reached the Police station at Batang Kali and took Genting Sempah back to our starting point. The ride down was so fun as I know I will be heading home. We reach the starting point at about 4pm and everyone was quickly pack and go home.
i will be continue to ride more details later. I need to go and replace my brake pad now.


This Is What It Really Means When Your Crush Watches Your Snap Story
Apparently, according to Mashable, there's a new revolutionary Snapchat feature that lets you see if your crush is into you. Seeing as I'm a sex and dating writer who has both a Snapchat account and a crush (like, could I BE more perfect for this piece?), I was STOKED to write about this. What could this new innovative filter possibly be and how can I use it immediately?
So I'm skimming through the article like a madwoman trying to get to the bottom line when I finally find it: "And, there it is: a notification to tell me that my crush has already viewed my Snap Story."
The writer elaborates, "This notification might not sound like much, but, to me -- and anyone else with a crush -- it's the modern day version of a love note; a little nudge that says 'I like you'; the Facebook poke of 2016."
OK, what? I'm sorry, but I completely disagree.
First and foremost, being able to see who watched your story is not a new and innovative feature; it's been around forever. Second, YOUR CRUSH WATCHING YOUR SNAP STORY LITERALLY MEANS NOTHING.
And the author of this article isn't the first person I've come across who seems to buy into this common misconception. I feel like at least once a week I hear someone telling me about a crush or an ex watching their story as if this is some sort of relevant information to help measure whether or not this guy is into them.
And I don't blame them for it, either. I even find myself falling in the trap from time to time and reading a little too heavily into who watched my Snap story. When you like someone you want to read into every and any sign that the person shares your same feelings, it's natural.
But here's the deal, while the boy who went to your profile and pressed the "poke" button circa 2008 was making a conscious effort to flirt with you, watching your story takes literally zero effort. In fact, with the most recent feature making you automatically move on to the next story, I would even say that it takes more of an effort from the person to not watch your story.
Yes, that's right. I would go so far as to say that the pathetic loser going out of his way to not watch your story is way more into you than the guy mindlessly scrolling through your story of you and your friends looking hot at bottle service just like he scrolled through his freshman year roommate who always had the bagel bites for dinner's story of his dog, Alfie.
I mean, is the guy reaching out to you after he sees the Snap story of you and your friends? Is he texting you? Sending some sort of Snap in response? Maybe then we have something to work off. But if he literally just watched your story, I am going to go ahead and call that absolutely irrelevant information.
I'm sorry. I hate to be the bearer of bad news here. But rest assured, there are plenty of other old-fashioned ways to see if your crush is into you. Does he talk to you? Does he want to hang out with you? Does he SAY HE LIKES YOU? All great signs.


Founded in 1891, the Outdoor Advertising Association of America, Inc. (OAAA) is the trade association for out of home (OOH) advertising, with member companies representing over 90% of industry revenues. Through advocacy of reasonable legislation, support of sales and marketing efforts, and commitment to quality operations on all levels of business, OAAA is the united voice of the OOH advertising industry.
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By DE Editors
Delta Marine, based in Seattle, WA, earned its reputation as a highly successful builder of commercial fishing vessels, primarily for use in Alaska, notorious for its harsh conditions. In the 1980s, Delta shifted its focus and embarked on the mission of becoming an industry leader in the luxury yacht market. Delta has since accomplished this, and the company has received top awards in several categories, including "Best Motor Yacht Interior" and "Highest Technical Achievement" at the elite annual ShowBoats Rendezvous in Monaco.
Figure 1. Mr. Terrible, cruising in Alaskan waters (Photo by Neil Rabinowitz)
Delta uses finite element analysis software to design the composite structural members of its boats to provide strength and minimize vibration while maintaining weight targets. The result is a series of stunning and noteworthy megayachts, such as Mr. Terrible, launched in 2007 (Figure 1), with an open floor plan and attractive styling. The 154 ft., semi-displacement design is built for high performance, reaching maximum speeds of 24 knots, even though it uses heavyweight wenge, buginga, and koa woods (creating a Polynesian look).
Professional Mariner magazine made the following comments about Mr. Terrible: “What is most impressive about the execution of the interior is the almost overwhelming amount of detail. The flawless application of complex shapes of contrasting wood or polished stainless steel applied to wood-clad columns, built-in furniture pieces, or overhead panels is stunning.” The extra weight and nonstandard pillar placement dictated by this striking interior created major composite design challenges in Mr. Terrible. These complexities were duplicated in the design of Delta Marine’s newest 156 ft. long megayacht, which has a composite hull and superstructure and will be certified by Lloyd’s Register for unrestricted ocean operation.
Figure 2. Mr. Terrible‘s hull first mode of vibration (Courtesy of ANSYS)
Graphite Composite Design
“Graphite composites provide the ideal material for megayacht design because they are stiffer and stronger than metals per unit of weight, making it possible to build a lighter and stronger boat,” says Chad Caron, P.E., naval architect for Delta. “Composites enable more flexible designs because their physical properties can be tailored to a very high degree.” Caron adds that, in the past, interior design was constrained by structural considerations; more recently, advancements in composites have provided designers with far more flexibility. For example, the location of pillars today can be more readily accommodated by the structural engineers to suit the interior designers’ vision for an overall successful collaboration.
“It’s a rare boat now that has the pillars aligned,” says Caron. “These days, a pillar is as likely as not to land in the middle of a beam. When pillars are not aligned, it becomes much more difficult to determine how loads will distribute among the various structural elements. Traditional design methods, such as handbook formulas and rules of thumb, are not adequate to achieve an optimized structural assessment. The load path becomes convoluted with many 90° angle turns that require taking the exact geometry and load locations into account. This means that analysis typically needs to be performed on a global basis, which in turn requires very powerful software and hardware.”
Figure 3. Delta’s latest project has a racking frame, shown here resisting a roll acceleration (Courtesy of ANSYS)
The horizontal structural elements in a megayacht are the decks. In Delta’s latest megayacht, the decks (from top to bottom: flybridge, boat deck, and weather deck) are made of 2 in. thick composite sandwich construction. The vertical structural elements consist of freestanding pillars, used to support beams and vertical beams attached to the superstructure plating, the mullions. To fulfill the client’s request for side-launching tenders, Delta developed 21 in. deep, 1 in. thick carbon-fiber channel sections to support the crane.
Optimizing Weight Management
Caron says the company selected ANSYS Mechanical technology as its structural design software seven years ago because its composite-analysis capabilities were well ahead of that of its competitors. “In particular, at the time we made our selection, ANSYS Mechanical was the only finite element software we could find with a composite shell element,” says Caron. The engineer adds that other software packages have made advances since the initial selection, but he feels that the ANSYS Mechanical package has maintained its advantage in composite-design capabilities. ANSYS offers complete composites solutions for modeling layered shells and solids. It includes generalized section definitions for layer properties, orientation, and failure and cohesive zone materials modes for studying delaminations in composites.
Delta naval architects model the major shapes of a yacht in Rhino 3D and develop the shop drawings in AutoCAD. The Rhino 3D model is exported to a neutral file format and imported into ANSYS Mechanical to provide the geometry for the model. Caron uses composite shell elements to model the laminate stack layer by layer. He uses solid elements for foundation parts cast in resin and in scantlings that have structurally significant core.
The prediction of vessel vibration frequencies depends on the total weight distribution for the yacht (Figure 2). The interior design can increase overall weight through substantial use of hardwood and stone, so common in today’s yachts (especially for megayachts that incorporate heavyweight trimmings). Delta has developed parametric approaches to estimate interior weights, using targets on a per-square-foot basis for various materials. The outfit weight, along with the other structural and mechanical weight components, coupled with the hydrodynamic added mass of the water, directly affect the vibration frequencies and mode shapes the yacht will exhibit. Accurately predicting these frequencies and mode shapes are critical to successful design.
Designing for Strength
Caron designed the company’s newest megayacht in two stages: first for strength and then to resist vibration. Today’s yacht buyers are interested in a luxurious interior and a high cruising speed, but behind the scenes, designers know it is critical to optimize the structural elements to deliver the required strength while avoiding any extra weight that would reduce the speed of the boat. Caron used ANSYS Mechanical technology to evaluate global and local stresses on a layer-by-layer basis. Most other finite element analysis packages merely average the loads over the stack.
“ANSYS Mechanical tells us exactly where the load is going, down to the individual composite layer,” says Caron. “This simplifies the design of the mullions, beams, and pillars.” The ability to distribute the loads among the different layers also helps to tune the laminate stack. Delta uses ANSYS reports to detail and defend structural decisions that the regulatory body rule books cannot cover adequately.”
Designing to Resist Vibration
Even after a structure has been designed to support the design loads, the yacht can still vibrate. Caron performed modal analysis on the same ANSYS Mechanical model to investigate its primary modes of vibration. The technology determines the natural frequencies of the mass matrix. Analysis results showed that the first mode of vibration was a racking mode, which means that the superstructure of the boat vibrated horizontally, with the decks decoupling from each other like a deck of cards sliding back and forth.
The engineer addressed the concern by adding a racking frame, a structure that spans two decks and resists horizontal motion (Figure 3). The racking frame consists of a box 17 ft. tall, 7 in. wide, and 8–17 in. deep, made of ½ to 1inch thick carbon fiber. “I modeled the racking frame using 0/90 and +45/–45 biaxial laminate and unidirectional carbon fiber,” says Caron. “The finite element analysis results identified the stresses on the structure and helped determine which layer buildup should be used on each particular part of the frame.” Caron also was concerned about the longitudinal second mode of vibration identified in the modal analysis. This mode generated a high bending moment near the middle of the ship. He addressed that mode by strengthening the hull and decks to make them stiffer in the area that experiences the highest bending moment.
“ANSYS Mechanical finite element analysis helps us create a more beautiful, stronger, and faster megayacht design,” concludes Caron. “Finite element analysis makes it possible to determine exactly how loads distribute through the complex structure, so we can tailor the properties of structural elements to provide strength and stiffness exactly where it is needed. These capabilities free the designers to put walls and partitions wherever they want and keep the weight to a minimum. As a result, the new boat delivers the optimal combination of luxury and performance.”


So, you know I coupon. But did you know...
I make my own laundry detergent for around a penny/load.
I make my own ranch salad dressing mix that I make salad dressing and vegetable dip with.
I make my own foamy soap.
I make my own pancake syrup.
I put leftover soup in old peanut butter jars and freeze them... it tastes way better than canned soup.
I can (hopefully) make four halloween costumes for less than $10.
And I can make an empty cereal box useful.
One of these days, I'll make my new magazine holders pretty (or get my children to do it), but it's not that important to me.
That's why they call me "Charming and Cheap."


Much is abuzz on the rising fuel prices, but Obama says “there’s no silver bullet that can bring down gas prices right away," so let’s chat…
Rush had an interesting call yesterday, which involved a discussion of how Obama is encouraging the rest of the world to drill for oil, so we don’t have to:
“Obama doesn't want the price of gasoline to come down too much. Obama hates oil. Look, folks, let me find it here in the story. Get this. If this doesn't say it, I don't know what does. Reuters story: "President Barack Obama on Tuesday urged world oil producers to lift crude output, as he sought to deflect public anger over high gasoline prices that has hurt his popularity among voters." Now, the original headline for this story was "Obama Presses Oil Producing Nations to Boost Output," but the editors realized that "presses" was a little too bellicose for our courageous president. So "urges" became the word. But here he is and if you read the whole story, Reuters is trying to make it out like the Republicans are using high gasoline prices to hurt Obama. Never mind they hurt everybody. But what about the hypocrisy here? How come if all these foreign countries increase their output of oil -- in other words, if foreign countries do their own "drill, baby, drill" -- that will lower the price of gasoline, but it won't lower the price of gasoline if we produce more domestically? "Obama Urges Oil Producers to Increase Output to Lower the Price." Would you ever read, "Obama urges domestic producers to increase..."? No! He is hamstringing domestic production, and he also knows that these foreign producers are not gonna do it just because he says so.
Look, his entire economic plan -- green energy and all that -- depends on rising energy prices.
So we can't drill our way out of the problem, but they can. They can drill our way out of the problem. All these foreign producers, yeah, if they just drill more, if they just up their output, yeah, baby, yeah, that helps us. Obama says there's not a silver bullet to lower gas prices. But there is. It's called boosting production. It's worked every time it's tried.”
And then of course to add his media tweak, he continued, “In 2008 when Bush announced the end of the Gulf drilling moratorium -- this was after Katrina -- folks, the barrel price literally fell off of a cliff. I have the chart. I could show you on the Dittocam. The price just fell. So the caller could be right. This could be a giant scam Obama's setting up to end his drilling moratorium in the Gulf a year from now causing the oil price to plummet and gas prices to do likewise. It wouldn't be the first time something like that happened in politics.”
So, we’re importing more oil, but we can’t drill for our own? We can’t drill for our own, because the mask of our State religion (a.k.a. "Environmentalism") must be used to force a transfer from fossil fuels to alternative energies. What and where are the alternative energies? Exactly…they don’t exist. So as we’re significantly limiting our own sources of energy, and we’re unable to replace them with nonexistent alternative energy sources, we continue to import more oil from other regions of the world. Nevermind that in a majority of cases, these countries care little for America…I guess as long as we keep the façade of eco-friendship cycling on our own monitors, while continuing to encourage, and even help stimulate, the “drill, baby, drill” philosophy in other parts of the world, contributing to their economies and their job markets, not our own, then somehow that should make us feel better about our part in a perceived ‘cleaner’ world? And surely that’ll bring ‘peace to the Mid-East’ as well, right? Meanwhile in the real world, fuel prices are skyrocketing as a result of all these despotic actions, or inactions, depending on how you look at it.
Continuing the discussion, yesterday in the second hour of The Mark Levin Show, Mark takes this all too familiar topic of rising fuel prices, discussed in prior shows (here, here and here), and sheds further light on how the Obama Administration has created no new sources of energy, while simultaneously obstructing old sources: “Obama’s out there, you can see the fuel prices, unbelievable, unnecessary and unbelievable, he’s out there taking credit for ‘the most oil production ever’. That’s what he says, have you noticed that? ‘It’s not a production problem, we have the most production ever’…every interview. And then we have an interview right here where he says we need to do what? We need to increase oil production.” [skip to 1:53]
Levin continues, “All you liberals must be so damn confused. You got the talking points yesterday, and that was to blame speculators. Now here we have the President today talking about we need more production, while he obstructs production. So in other words, we’re never gonna get out of this until we change presidents, I can tell you that right now.”
Red State reports that the White House is falsely taking credit for an increase in oil production:
It is categorically true that, while the numbers may be factual, Obama Administration policies had nothing whatever to do with the production buildup in late ‘09 into early 2010. That production growth is due almost entirely to a handful of large deepwater fields, notably BP’s Thunder Horse, which came on production during that time frame. So Thunder Horse by itself accounts for almost all of that abrupt ramp-up in oil production.
Does Obama deserve credit?
Thunder Horse sits in 6,200 feet of water. The leases date from 1988 (Reagan) and 1994 (Clinton). The discovery well was drilled in 1999, and the platform was set in 2005, during the George W. Bush Administration.
Due to the Deepwater Moratorium/Permitorium and the shutdown of the Offshore Leasing Program, we have essentially stopped looking for the next Thunder Horse.
Instead, half the available rig fleet sits idle due to a lack of permits. The BOEMRE’s current permitting backlog is comprised of 270 shallow-water and 52 deepwater wells. The Obama Adminstration threatens to reject seven of the outstanding deepwater permits rather than comply with Judge Feldman’s order to approve them or show cause within 30 days.
Production elsewhere in the U.S. has also increased, but no thanks to Obama’s policies. It is industry ingenuity and competitiveness that has led the production growth, in the Bakken Shale of North Dakota, the Eagleford Shale of South Texas and in the Permian Basin of West Texas. This increase is driven by technology (horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing) and by product prices. None of these areas are primarily on Federal lands; they have excelled in spite of hostile Federal policies, not because of them.
Levin wraps up the topic: “Obama has absolutely nothing to do with increased production last year and at the end of the year before, and everything to do with the inability to drill new wells, expand on old ones, to expand refineries and build new ones. THAT is the Obama Policy! Now, this is consistent with how Obama behaves. All these things, whether it’s NASA, whether it’s the great American military, whether it’s oil rigs and leases to drill in certain areas, they’ve been done before Obama became president. And so what he does is uses them and destroys them. He hasn’t created any new sources of energy. I want you to listen to me: Obama and his administration haven’t created any new sources of energy, period. And they’re obstructing old sources of energy. They are crippling NASA. They are slicing and dicing the United States military. They’re destroying our currency; they’re destroying our credit rating…
…Obama is a serial liar (that’s right, I said it)…whether it comes to Medicare or Medicaid, whether it comes to the deficit, what he ‘inherited’, whether it comes to oil production, he has to lie, not only because that’s the nature of his philosophy, but he has to cover up the disaster that is his presidency. So he has to take credit for what’s come before, even though he hates everyone and everything that has come before. Neat trick?”
Combine all of this and you get a grand receipt, not only at the pump, but for broad suppressive failure. And we’re supposed to buy that this somehow gives him an edge in the next election?! Even if this administration were to lift the ban preceding his re-election bid, are you that gullible to think he’d actually keep it lifted afterwards and not return to his same destructive policies? Right…he’d go right back to reloading those silver bullets for the werewolf he sees as America.
And just to cover all the basis, here's a conclusive reality check for our eco-friends:


ANDERSON - Claudia Becerra enjoyed sharing her barbacoa dish and introducing her children to cuisine from other counties at Boulevard Baptist Church's international dinner Sunday.
Becerra of Anderson is originally from Mexico and moved to the United States nine years ago. She came to the event with husband, Sergio, and their 4-year-old twins, Diego and Christian.
"I think it is a nice opportunity to meet people from other countries and taste their food," Claudia Becerra said.
She has also been coming to English for Speakers of Other Languages classes at the church for the past year. Many of the people at the dinner on Sunday are members of the class, which is held on Tuesdays.
More than 150 people came out for the international dinner, which was held at the church's activities center in Anderson and sponsored by the church's international committee, said Ruth Hodges, a chairperson of the committee. Hodges said there have been about six international dinners in the past and was impressed with the turnout on Sunday.
"I'm pleased beyond words," Hodges said. "It is the largest group we have ever had."
She said that many local residents do not know how much international diversity is represented in the Anderson area. Most residents brought a dish and the international food covered multiple tables.
People from more than 15 counties came for the dinner, including those from India, Brazil, Japan, Turkey, Hungary and the Ukraine. The event also included a violin performance and an acapella musical performance.
People from various countries addressed the crowd at the dinner to talk about why they came to the United States. They also shared their experiences about living in the Anderson area.
Yuri Maximenya, 54, of Anderson said that he was impressed with the dinner. He moved to the United States 20 years ago from the former Soviet Union to escape socialism.
Maximenya said that even though he grew up in the big city, he enjoys the country living in the Anderson area.
John Walker, 72, of Anderson has been coming to the Boulevard Baptist Church for decades and said the church has a responsibility to host these events to reach out to the community.
"I think it is a wonderful occasion to get people together to share with each other," Walker said.
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We live in physical bodies. We have physical lives. We have our physical problems. But the battle we wage is not physical at all! The battle is fought in the realm of belief, ideas, philosophies, teachings, words, principles, and laws. To sum it up, we could say, "We fight the battle in our minds."
That is where it is—in our minds. Or as the Bible often says—within our hearts, our emotions, our personalities, our developing character. Why is that where the battle lies? "For as he thinks in his heart, so is he" (Proverbs 23:7). A person is what goes through his mind, what he allows himself to do, all the decisions that he makes.
We say, "We are what we eat." We know that what we put into our mouths goes into our bodies, and supplies our bodies' needs as energy or raw materials for building and maintenance. We know that our bodies over time replace all the cells that we have! That is the way that God has made us. Our food is the raw material—fuel—that makes us what we are physically.
Well, spiritually it is the same thing. We are what we think! We are what we allow into our minds. René Descartes said, "I think therefore I am [Cogito ergo sum]." It is essentially a true statement because it is our thoughts, and the character that our thoughts have helped to form, that will pass through the grave. Our essential being beyond our physical flesh and blood is what is going to be preserved by God.
Job 32:8 informs us that "there is a spirit in man," and Solomon writes in Ecclesiastes 12:7, "Then [at death] the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it." And God does whatever He does with it. What is recorded on that spirit? The person's thoughts, his memory, his beliefs, his desires, his habits, and his character traits!
God does not work with us through however many years of our lives just to throw away what He accomplished in us through His Spirit.
When we die, He takes what He has made, and He stores it for the resurrection, so at that time, He can return it to us in a spirit body that will live for eternity with Him. What He stores is what goes on in our minds with the human spirit coming into alignment with God's Spirit: what we think, what we believe, all the experiences we have gone through, the habits we have formed, and the character traits that God, by His Spirit, has created in us. Those are the things that pass through the grave.


By Larry Keane, National Shooting Sports Foundation
A recent study published in the journal Injury Prevention, is ridiculous on several levels. Right off the bat, the authors state that “Firearms violence in the USA continues to be a major public health concern.” As we’ve noted here before, violence and the criminal misuse of firearms is a criminal justice problem, not a public health epidemic.
And while violence of any nature is unfortunate, the Department of Justice released new data last month showing the continued decline in violent crime. In 2014, the rate of violent crime per 1,000 people aged 12 or older overall dropped to 20.1 per 1,000 from 79.8 in 1993. For those that argue this drop is due to improvements in the late 1990s and doesn’t indicate recent improvement, note that the 2014 rate is well below 28.4 in 2005. There’s no question the trend is downward. Looking at violent firearm misuse in particular, the rate dropped to 1.7 in 2014 compared to 7.3 in 1993.
The Injury Prevention report does not improve after the first flawed sentence. The authors make it clear they believe there are too many firearms in the United States and that the goal of their survey is to figure out if the reason Americans choose to exercise their Second Amendment right is due to a pervasive “gun culture.”
By fielding a public opinion poll on an internet site popular with Millennials, the authors measured “social gun culture” by using questions to assess, among other things, whether their social life with their family or friends involves guns. If the respondents said yes, they were deemed to have been exposed to the gun culture. Then the authors asked a series of questions to determine if the respondents owned guns. Answering yes to questions such as whether they had “attended gun safety classes” or “advocated responsible gun ownership” put respondents into the gun owner category. Not shockingly, the study found a “strong association between gun ownership and being part of a social gun culture.”
Again, unsurprisingly, the study concluded there is a “strong association between social gun culture and gun ownership.” Because the authors’ preexisting goal is gun control, the study recommends that, “Gun cultures may need to be considered for public health strategies that aim to change gun ownership in the USA.”
“Although notions of protection of one’s family and property originally justified gun ownership, gun ownership today is sustained in public consciousness much more through calls to constitutionally enshrined social values, reinforced intermittently by outrage at efforts to limit widespread gun availability. Insofar as social gun cultures may contribute to these prevailing social values, their co-occurrence with gun ownership suggests that social gun culture must be considered by potential public health intervention in the area.”
Here’s what this means: Watch out gun owners, the public health authorities are coming to change your dangerous “culture.”
What the authors really missed here is a connection between the rise in legal gun ownership and arguably the growth of this “culture” that prioritizes safety education programs and – in the author’s own words – advocating “responsible gun ownership, and the decline in firearms violence and unintentional injuries. If the social norms in areas with high gun ownership rates are relevant at all to the discussion, the policy prescription here should be to increase the number of law abiding, eligible adults that are willing to take on the responsibility that comes with owning a firearm for sport and protecting oneself and loved ones.
The firearms industry remains dedicated to fostering a “culture” that teaches important best practices when it comes to safety in using and storing firearms. In the meantime, keep an eye out for the public health white lab coats coming into your communities.


ATLANTA, May 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Consulting magazine named Elaine Remmlinger, a senior partner at management consulting firm Kurt Salmon, one of its Top 25 Consultants of 2012.
With more than 30 years of experience advising the nation's leading hospitals and health systems on information technology planning, vendor selection, contract negotiation and implementation oversight, Remmlinger was recognized for Excellence in Healthcare.
"We're very proud of Elaine's recognition as one of the country's leading health care experts," said Andy Bachrodt, managing partner of Kurt Salmon's Health Care Group. "Elaine's passion for her work and her deep knowledge of health care information technology help her provide outstanding client service and develop innovative solutions to the industry's most complex challenges."
Remmlinger has played a pivotal role in growing Kurt Salmon's Health Care IT Practice, which she led for more than a decade. She has led more than 750 engagements for more than 200 clients, some of whom she has worked with for more than 20 years.
"Year after year, I continue to be most proud of my longstanding client relationships," Remmlinger said. "This is a particularly challenging time for the health care industry. Health care reform has necessitated that providers reexamine business plans, become more efficient and effective, and explore new strategic partnerships and care delivery models. Information technology has become an essential tool to meet these new demands. We help clients plan and execute strategies to meet these challenges today and into the future."
Elaine has served as a board member for the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives and on the editorial boards of hfm Magazine and the Journal of Healthcare Information Management. Elaine also served on Kurt Salmon's board of directors. She is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and events.
About Kurt Salmon
Kurt Salmon is the premier management consulting firm for today's leading hospitals and health systems. We work closely with our clients to create tailored solutions for their strategic, facility and capital asset, operations and performance, and information technology needs.
Globally, Kurt Salmon has more than 1,400 consultants in 13 countries across four continents. Our clients are industry leaders who benefit from our deep industry and functional expertise.
Learn more at www.kurtsalmon.com.
SOURCE Kurt Salmon


Alex Monroe (beyond this point, Music Director, The Little Match Girl Passion) is a native of St. Louis, MO, Alex holds degrees in percussion performance from Northwestern University (M.M.) and Truman State University (B.M.). A strong advocate of new music and collaborative art, Alex co-founded beyond this point, an experimental percussion group specializing in inter-disciplinary and cross-disciplinary work, alongside Chicago percussionist John Corkill. The ensemble's previous work with dado includes
two unique productions infused with percussion, Harold Pinter’s Celebration (infused with the music of Mauricio Kagel) and the original play The Silence That Follows, at A Red Orchid Theatre in Chicago. Additionally, the ensemble’s work on the Artistic Home’s 2015 rendition of Macbeth garnered a Joseph Jefferson Award nomination for its acoustic, percussive sound design, and the ensemble was featured at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention the same year.
beyond this point's collaborators include Matthew Duvall of the four-time GRAMMY-winning ensemble Eighth Blackbird, Chicago directors dado and Scott Westerman, and Minneapolis-based composer/choreographer Peter O'Gorman. The ensemble's recent projects focus on the relationship of humans to the natural world. A new series of programs by the collaboration entitled nature | human features a collection of immersive, contemplative, and powerful works that explore and interact with the very substance of what defines the world of percussion: the base materials (stone, seed, metal, skin, cactus, wood) activated to musical purpose.
Alex is also an arts administrator and grants professional who has worked with Eighth Blackbird, Blair Thomas & Co., the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival, and the Lake Forest Symphony.
Alex proudly endorses Vic Firth drum sticks and mallets.


One Saturday afternoon we went to visit our Spanish friends, Juan Ramón and Penélope, to do a cooking session. While Paul was making Thai food, Juan Ramón showed us one of his traditional family recipes, gazpacho with fruit. What were I and Penelope doing, you might wonder? We were busy chatting, admiring the skills of our amazing men and drinking tinto de verano, the refreshing mix of red wine and fizzy lemon.
Gazpacho, similar to salmorejo (read about this here), is a traditional Andalusian cold soup that’s just so refreshing to eat on those hot days when it’s over 40C outside. The difference between the two lies in the ingredients. While they both need tomatoes and garlic, swap the bread to cucumber and the oil to apple vinegar when making gazpacho.
Here´s a short description of how to make it.
1. Throw all the ingredients in a blender, add some salt and mix.
Pour it all in a large bowl and leave it to cool down. Serve in a glass or a bowl and decorate with chopped up vegetables. If the tomatoes weren’t juicy enough, you can add some water to it. You might also want to speed up the cooling process with the help of some ice cubes.
Juan Ramón, however, did not stop here. He also threw some small bread pieces in the mixture, together with bits of fruit, namely ripe melon and nectarine. It was great to bite into the big, crunchy fruit pieces!
If you fancy a smoother soup you can pour the original mixture over the bread to soak and blend it all together. You can add the fruit pieces to it, too! The possibilities are endless. Let your imagination run wild!


LONDON, England (CNN) -- Director James Cameron is today unveiling a 15-minute taster of his hotly-anticipated 3D sci-fi blockbuster "Avatar" to sold-out audiences in selected cinemas across the world.
Director James Cameron has long been a fan of 3D technology and "Avatar" combines digital 3D with epic big screen storytelling.
Those who snapped up a ticket to the event that has been dubbed "Avatar Day" will be privy to footage of the much-hyped, technically-advanced 3D science fiction epic that some are saying will revolutionize the way we watch movies.
The Oscar-winning director is famous for pushing the boundaries of technology in film and has long been an enthusiastic proponent of 3D technology. "Avatar" is the fruition of his long-held ambition to combine digital 3D with epic big screen storytelling.
"The 3D is going to be mind-boggling," David Cohen of film industry trade magazine Variety told CNN. "He may indeed be pushing 3D to another level."
Fueling the hype is the fact that "Avatar" is Cameron's first film since "Titanic" in 1997 -- the most successful film of modern times -- and a return to sci-fi for the "Aliens" and "Terminator" series director.
Set on the lush and magical jungle planet of Pandora, the story takes place against the backdrop of a war between invading humans and Pandora's native species, the Na'vi.
Sam Worthington stars as a former Marine paralyzed from the waist down offered the chance to have a healthy body again by becoming an "avatar" -- a 10ft tall, blue-skinned creature genetically engineered to resemble the planet's humanoid life forms. The cast includes Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez and Zoe Saldana.
"Avatar" is a combination of live action and photo-realistic CGI and is being touted as a huge leap forward in film technology -- likened to the first movie in sound or with Technicolor.
The famously perfectionist director first came up with the concept for "Avatar" 14 years ago but decided not to make the film until technology was advanced enough to cope with his vision.
In fact, the ex-trucker who dismantled his first 35mm movie camera to see how it worked took tech matters into his own hands, teaming up with longtime collaborator Vincent Pace to develop the most advanced camera rig using stereoscopic (3D) cameras yet for the film.
It has lenses that mimic the human eye -- positioned close together that can move a little to capture objects that are near or far away. This allows the cinematographer to capture two images simultaneously to give the illusion of depth.
In July, Cameron showed a 25-minute preview to fans at Comic-Con in San Diego and since then frothing commentators have described "Avatar" as everything from mind-expanding to the future of cinema.
His peers are impressed too: Ridley Scott says he is filming upcoming sci-fi adaptation "Forever War" in 3D after seeing some footage of "Avatar." While "Iron Man" director John Favreau described the film as "a game-changer" and says he thinks it is "the future."
It helps that Hollywood is also squarely behind 3D, a medium that is gaining momentum and popularity fueled by the success of films like "Coraline" and DreamWorks' "Monsters vs. Aliens."
Earlier this year Pixar's 3D animation "Up" opening the Cannes Film Festival supplying the medium with yet another stamp of approval from those who matter. Would you pay more money to watch a film in 3D?
"In a couple of years, all kids movies will be made in 3D and when they get older they will expect all films to be made in 3D," says Cohen. "It will probably happen in about 15 years."
But right now, one issue that many including Cameron are stepping around very carefully is that not all movie theaters are digitally equipped to project films in 3D.
In the UK, the UK Film Council reports that around 320 out of 3,600 screens are digitally equipped, while in the U.S. the ratio is even worse. These figures are predicted to improve rapidly over the next few years.
Cameron argues vociferously that movies have to play well in both 2D and 3D; that a narrative should work whether it's shot as a black and white silent or as a 3D color epic.
But, says Cohen, there's more to the issue than Cameron is letting on. Films are made differently for 3D -- different lenses, different depth of field, different pace of editing.
For example, action sequences which traditionally have fast cutting are edited more slowly because the eye and the brain cannot process stereoscopic cinema as fast as 2D.
"If you make a movie to work in both formats, it doesn't work fully in either format," points out Cohen. "You can't fully exploit either format."
This could have implications for the popularity of "Avatar" with the large numbers of people who will have to watch it in 2D when it comes out on December 18 -- with a potential knock on effect on box office takings.
But, whatever happens with "Avatar," it is unlikely to halt the steady march of 3D towards domination of our movie theaters.
"This is a revolution that's here to stay," said Cohen. "We are headed for a future in which 3D screens are ubiquitous and where we simply get used to using the stereo sense again."


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When I was in sixth grade, I was asked one morning by a neighbor if I would be willing to walk her first grade son to school that day. Perhaps I would have forgotten performing this act of charity if not for a startling comment that the boy made as we approached the school’s entrance, informing me that he was “the third most popular kid in first grade.” I was quite taken aback– not because of the blunt, startlingly specific nature of his claim, but mostly because I felt unworthy to stand in the presence of this either extremely self-aware, or dangerously self-deluded hotshot, given that, as a first grader, I was liked much better by my teachers than by my classmates.
First graders share a surprising amount in common with novelists. Both revel in creating and occupying fictitious universes, both have not realized what career pathways actually provide a steady and reliable income, and both tend to possess a curious mix of self-importance and self-consciousness. Like my young friend, novelists are ever mindful of their own personal popularity, but in order for a novelist to be popular his or her novels themselves must be relevant.
The novel is dead. I want to take my turn saying it. In a New York Times Sunday Book Review feature from August of this year entitled, “Why Do We Always Proclaim That The Novel Is Dead?” Benjamin Moser makes the assertion that “the death of the novel is a rhetorical motif—all the more venerable for never having produced a corpse.” Novels are, in fact, still being written, but perhaps my pronouncement, once it reaches that part of Brooklyn where all novelists live, will put an end to that enterprise. For now, sort of like the soldiers in the Battle of New Orelans, novelists will futilely continue to type and pen away.
The novel certainly has not maintained its former popularity, but that is hardly surprising. Reading a novel requires patience, concentrated discipline, and isolated detachment from immediate surroundings and circumstance. The majority of us, having been weaned on television and raised on the internet, may not be willing to give so much of ourselves in order to be informed and entertained– though the purpose of the novel should hardly be boiled down to those two ends.
Nevertheless, reading, I believe, will always retain a semi-popular appeal, whether out of a superficial desire to come off as cultured or intelligent, a need to occasionally escape our constant barrage of pixilated entertainment, or a genuine appreciation for and enjoyment of art. It can already be observed, though, that the type of reading we are doing is changing.
At the moment, non-fiction, particularly the essay, has taken off. In a review of a collection of essays by John Jeremiah Sullivan, the New Yorker literary critic and Harvard professor James Wood writes that “the contemporary essay has been gaining energy as an escape from, or rival to, the perceived conservatism of mainstream fiction.” Wood quotes Geoffrey Dyer, an extremely successful non-fiction writer who made the switch away from fiction, who presents an argument for the essay at the novel’s expense:
“Increasingly, the process of novelisation goes hand in hand with a strait-jacking of the material’s expressive potential. One gets so weary watching author’s sensations and thoughts get novelized, set into the concrete of fiction, that perhaps it is best to avoid the novel as a medium of expression.”
Non-fiction and all the forms it takes—the essay, memoir, or those over-quoted, too-often-referenced-in-conversation books Malcolm Gladwell writes—do not inherently hold less literary merit. I certainly cannot bash something as brilliantly self-serving and self-obsessed as the memoir. And the Swedish Academy’s decision to award the latest Nobel Prize for Literature to Belarussian journalist and non-fiction writer Svetlana Alexievich, who according to the BBC is the first journalist to ever win the award, serves only to further affirm the respectability of contemporary non-fiction prose writing. My impetus for writing this piece comes, in large part, from recognizing my own reading tendencies and my increased consumption of non-fiction. There is something irresistibly explicit about the form: you feel connected to the writer, who holds on to you and seems to care deeply about keeping your attention.
My concern, however, is that the current popularity of non-fiction might relate to its relative difficulty (or lack thereof). Non-fiction does not intimidate like a poem, which demands careful attention to the energy stored within each word and phrase, or a novel, whose mode of communication is decidedly denser. Non-fiction, especially the essay, seems better suited for the digital age and quick, skimmed gleaning of little nuggets of easily shared information.
I know that there is a place for fiction in the modern world. I can see it in my favorite essays—the essays that are willing to scoff at staid formal conventions and the don’t-you-dare-use-contractions-or-first-and-second-person types, the essays that are brilliantly creative, the essays that are willing to incorporate narrative elements we normally think of as belonging to a novel.
In a recent conversation with novelist Marilynne Robinson in the New York Review of Books, President Obama said, “The most important stuff I’ve learned I think I’ve learned from novels.” As long as making sense of existence is a relevant issue, the novel should survive.
Andrew Hauser is a first year in Columbia College. He is a member of the Editorial Board of The Columbia Review.