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Our daughter's fussing started this summer just as we reached the summit of the Siskiyou mountain range that divides California from Oregon. Home was on the other side of the country in north-central Florida, far from the lofty mountains of north-central California.
But a family reunion still farther north in north-central Oregon had us driving along Interstate 5 from Los Angeles to Portland on this seemingly endless northern trajectory. We had been driving for some fifteen hours, and we were all tired. We were at that particular stretch of highway known to be among the more treacherous routes in the entire interstate system because of its sharp descent of 2,300 feet in the span of about seven miles. By the time we had descended into Medford, Darya's fussing had turned to intermittent bouts of full-on screaming, and there were still many miles to go.
Our adopted daughter Darya (now five years old) has Down syndrome, and this steep decline was wreaking havoc on her already narrow ear canals. Meanwhile, Darya's three older brothers, Sam, Ben, and Nate, were doing their best to calm their sister down by singing some of her favorite songs.
As I took stock of the situation that had been unfolding behind me, I thought to myself, "This trip would be so much easier without Darya." And it was true—it really would have been easier. The boys were getting older, and were now self-sufficient in so many ways.
But as I thought about it more, God granted me grace to see the beauty of what was really unfolding behind me. A little girl, who had never had anyone to love her or care for her when she was hurting, now had a chorus of brothers seeking to calm her in her pain. This little outcast, in the eyes of the world, had been given a new name, which said she was no longer an outcast, but that she belonged to our family.
When we had stopped for dinner in Roseburg, I had no sooner unbuckled her car seat when Darya jumped into my arms, relieved that her distress was finally over and wanting nothing more than the reassurance of being held by Daddy. My heart melted. In that moment, I was reminded not only of the benefits of adoption for Darya, but more profoundly of the benefits for me. I would later say to my wife, "This trip would have been so much easier without Darya, but it would have been so much emptier as well."
The present article is intended to be a follow-up to an article I wrote for New Horizons in January 2011. That article was entitled "Adoption: Costly Redemption." In it, I chronicled the events, thinking, and theology that led to our decision to adopt Darya.
I considered the analogy between our adoption of children and God's adoption of us, taking the title from those two phrases in Ephesians 1:4–7, "In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ" and "In him we have redemption through his blood."
My basic premise was that adoption is redemption and therefore is costly—as the psalmist says, "For the ransom of their life is costly" (Ps. 49:8). I sought to demonstrate how this premise courses through the teaching of Scripture.
For example, Israel's redemption from slavery is called her adoption (Rom. 9:4; cf. Ex. 4:22–23), and God's command for Israel to care for the fatherless was grounded in this redemption (Deut. 10:18–19; 24:17–22; Ps. 68:5). Likewise, the church's redemption from her bondage to sin and the law is her adoption (Eph. 1:5–7; Gal. 4:4–5). The final, consummate blessing for which we wait is called nothing less than our "adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies" (Rom. 8:23).
I also found this premise reflected in our standards. The Shorter Catechism teaches us that adoption is one of the primary benefits of our effectual calling, which is nothing less than the way in which "the Spirit applieth to us the redemption purchased by Christ" (Q/A 30).
So far so good, but that only tells part of the story, and that part is focused on the costliness of adoption. But there is another emphasis in Scripture (and in our Shorter Catechism, for that matter), which is not on the costliness of adoption, but on its benefit and blessing. That benefit and blessing is the heart of this article.
Once again, I have drawn my title ("Adoption: Glorious Inheritance") from another passage in Ephesians. In Ephesians 1:16–22, Paul tells the Ephesian Christians of his prayers for them. He prays "that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe" (vv. 17–19).
It is the phrase "what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints" that has caught my attention.
An inheritance is something that we immediately associate with the relationship between children and their parents. This is all part of the wonderful benefit of being one of God's adopted children.
The emphasis in our Shorter Catechism is almost exclusively on the benefit and blessing of adoption. Question 34 asks, "What is adoption?" The answer given is, "Adoption is an act of God's free grace, whereby we are received into the number, and have a right to all the privileges, of the sons of God."
Among those privileges of having God's name put upon us is the privilege of an inheritance. The Scripture says that because we have "the Spirit of adoption," we are "heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ" (Rom. 8:15–17).
This inheritance is spoken of in Scripture as a "kingdom" inheritance (James 2:5; Eph. 5:5). That kingdom inheritance was prefigured in the promised land of Canaan (Num. 34), and will be realized consummately in our eternal life in the promised land of heaven (Heb. 9:15; 11:8–10).
The Spirit himself is "the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory" (Eph. 1:14).
But more than that, the witness of Scripture is not simply that heaven is our inheritance, but also that the King, God himself, is our inheritance.
The land was a holy land only because it was the place where God dwelt in the midst of his people. It was God's presence that made the inheritance of such great value. This was evidenced by the fact that God himself was to be Abraham's "great reward" (Gen. 15:1) and by the fact that the Levites had no portion in the land because God himself was to be their portion (Num. 18:20; Deut. 10:9; 18:2).
This comes out in the intimate song of the psalmist, who says, "The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance" (Ps. 16:5–6; see also Ps. 73:25–26; Lam. 3:24). Such is the glorious inheritance that belongs to the adopted children of the King: we receive not just the kingdom, but the King himself.
But Paul may well have more in mind in his prayer for the Ephesian saints. In the ESV, Paul's prayer is that the saints may know "what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints" (1:18). If this translation is correct (and I think it is), the point seems to be that God himself also receives an inheritance.
Now, it's perhaps easy for us to see how we receive an inheritance, but it's less easy to see how it might be that God does. And yet that seems to be the clear teaching of Scripture. So, for instance, Deuteronomy 4:20 says that God redeemed his people from Egypt "to be a people of his own inheritance."
And this is hardly an isolated instance. It is a repeated emphasis in Scripture (consider also Deut. 9:26, 29; 2 Sam. 21:3; 1 Kings 8:51, 53; 2 Kings 21:14; Pss. 28:9; 33:12; 68:9; 78:62, 71; 94:14; 106:5, 40; Isa. 19:25; 47:6; 63:17; Jer. 10:16; 51:19). And it is also clear that God intended for the nations to be part of the inheritance that he gives to his Son in the resurrection (Ps. 2:7–8; cf. Acts 13:32–34).
Now of course we should be clear that since no one gives to God anything "that he might be repaid" (Rom. 11:35), God does not receive this inheritance in the same way that we do. Rather, we should simply acknowledge that God gives this inheritance of his people to himself, and yet he finds benefit and takes pleasure in the inheritance of his people.
It is wonderful to consider that God takes worms like you and me and through his Son delights in us as gifts and trophies of his grace. Perhaps the benefit he receives is in some small measure analogous to the delight I take in my daughter's love. In this marvelous grace of adoption, the benefit is a glorious inheritance in which we receive him and he for Christ's sake receives us.
The author is the pastor of Redemption OPC in Gainesville, Fla. New Horizons, January 2014.
|© 2020 The Orthodox Presbyterian Church
Chaplains and Military Personnel


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Research Projects: VizClass
Project Name: VizClass - Expanding Engineering Thinking: Interactive Visualization Of Numerical Models
Team Members: Tara C. Hutchinson, Falko Kuester, Dirk Groeneveld, Mike Elkin, Mark E. Phair and Kai-Uwe Doerr
Assessment Team: Mark Warschauer and Doug Grimes (Department of Education)
Project Sponsor: National Science Foundation (NSF)
Though the field of engineering has changed dramatically in the last 20 years, the study of engineering has changed relatively little. Students continue to passively listen to lectures in chalkboard-based environments that afford them little opportunity for visualization, hands-on manipulation, interaction, or creative design. Indeed, almost all of these skills- which are vital for engineering- are learned through on-the-job practice, rather than at universities. A continuation of this trend threatens to weaken the relevancy of engineering and computer science study at the university. This project involves the development of a new interactive learning environment—incorporating both a specially designed lecture room and laboratory- called VizClass. VizClass integrates 2- and 3-dimensional spatial learning by coupling a series of interactive projection display boards (2D white boards) and a semi-immersive (3D stereo equipped) wall display controlled by a dedicated visualization server. Each of these spaces (devices) will be connected to a numerical solver. Active white board screens providing either an input or output workspace will be linked to each other and to the numerical solver via a high-speed (large storage capacity) server. The solver will receive feedback from the input or 'working' screen in the form chosen by the user. If the input-mode is of type equation, the solver will manipulate the equations and output the solution as either a 2- or 3-dimensional visual object to the selected output device in either mono- or stereoscopic form. Visual output can be for example, a distorted or contoured mesh with stresses, strains or flow distribution, or figures annotating important engineering parameters. Test bed verification of VizClass will be targeted towards finite element methods applicable to civil and structural engineering problem solving at the graduate education level. This research project has just begun (Fall 2002) and receives matching resources provided by the Henry Samueli School of Engineering (HSSoE), Calit2 and RGS. Faculty and student researchers from the Departments of Civil Engineering, Computer Engineering and Education are collaborating on this project.
Courses Taught in VizClass
- EECS 104 Fundamentals of Computer Graphics
- EECS 105 Fundamentals of Scientific Visualization
- EECS 205 Avanced Computer Graphics
- EECS 208 Principles of Virtual Reality
Media Coverage
Related Resarch Projects
- VizION
- GateKeeper
- SketchFEA
- SmartKey
- SmartPen
- iCARE
Tools Used In This Project
External Links
This material is presented to ensure timely dissemination of scholarly and technical work. Copyright and all rights therein are retained by authors or by other copyright holders. All persons copying this information are expected to adhere to the terms and constraints invoked by the author's copyright. This work may not be reposted without the explicit permission of the copyright holder.

subset: commoncrawl


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Drake On Tim Westwood Showcasing His "London, UK Accent"! They Talk Like They Want To Shoot You In The Face"
Drake's London Accent
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Welcome to our website! As we have the ability to list over one million items on our website (our selection changes all of the time), it is not feasible for a company our size to record and playback the descriptions on every item on our website. However, if you have a disability we are here to help you. Please call our disability services phone line at 303.443.1339 during regular business hours and one of our kind and friendly personal shoppers will help you navigate through our website, help conduct advanced searches, help you choose the item you are looking for with the specifications you are seeking, read you the specifications of any item and consult with you about the products themselves. There is no charge for the help of this personal shopper for anyone with a disability. Finally, your personal shopper will explain our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service, and help you place an order if you so desire.
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Catch up with latest news from the sailing world every Friday with the Volvo Sailing Podcast.
The podcast will be available to download at www.sailing.org, www.volvooceanrace.org/podcast and iTunes.
CLICK HERE to find out more about Volvo and their involvement in sailing, including the Volvo Ocean Race and Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship.
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Political strategists believe the hurricane was a distraction from the candidate's economic message.
The election is still a day away, but the political pundits who might be on the losing side of the vote are already preparing their excuses for what went wrong. The early line coming from some Republicans is that Hurricane Sandy really put the brakes on Mitt Romney's campaign, just at the moment he was staging a powerful comeback. Former Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour gave that idea its own forward push on the Sunday morning talk shows, explicitly saying that "The hurricane is what broke Romney's momentum."
He's not the only one who thinks that either. None other than super-strategist Karl Rove admitted that the storm was a distraction from Romney's economic message and it also gave President Obama a chance to play the roll of "comforter-in-chief." Despite the "stutter" in the campaign, as Rove called it, he told The Washington Post that he still thinks Romney wins Ohio and the election, but there's no doubt in his mind that the hurricane and its aftermath made his job a lot harder.
NEXT STORY: House speaker expects 'bridge' on fiscal cliff


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Welcome to Watch List, where we identify five things on TV to watch while you stay at home and forget to add the fabric softener. There's a sock inside your t-shirt, but you won't know that until you pull it out of your drawer three weeks from now. LET'S GO!
TOP CHEF – 10:00PM (Bravo – an NBC/Universal network) I apologize for giving you the wrong time for Top Chef last week. Those sneaky Bravo folks moved the show back to 10PM after "Work of Art" wrapped up. So now you have to wait another full hour for your food porn. NOT FAIR!
Last week, creepy Alex finally got the boot and we're left with a final six of Angelo, Tiffany, Ed, Kelly, Kevin, and Cocaine Lady. I'd go ahead and assume Cocaine Lady is dead meat after this week, but shows like Top Chef always keep one unqualified contestant hanging around just long enough to drive you out of your freakin' mind. Also, Angelo has absolutely collapsed. Perhaps it's the result of new hair product. Either way, he's folding just like Jennifer did at the end of last season, and he may not even make the final three at this rate. Suddenly, Tiffany is crushing everyone and winning four challenges in a row. And she's so darn NICE! Kinda rooting for her to keep it up.
One thing before I move on. In defending the decision to oust Kenny two weeks ago, Tom Colicchio noted on his blog (quite testily) that judges only boot contestants based on individual challenges. He reiterated it 10 times. Now, this sounds like a good idea in theory, but in practice it's really dumb. With Tom's method, you could win 10 challenges in a row, then get booted the next week for an off day. Meanwhile, some idiot can come in second to last every week up to the finals and then win because they pulled some miracle dish out of a toque. Did you really just figure out the best chef if you did it that way? No. You gotta give the good ones a little leeway, Tom. ANTICIPATION: FIERY!
MAN VS. WILD – 9:00PM (Discovery) Secretly, I've always wondered if Bear Grylls would ever have something horrible happen to him while filming this show. I mean, he's sleeping in trees and jumping into crevasses and all that. Surely, the law of averages would catch up to him at some point. Well, tonight it does, as a trip to the Rockies ends with Bear taken to the hospital. Uh-oh. That isn't good. ANTICIPATION: DANGER!
AMERICAN GREED: MADOFF BEHIND BARS – 9:00PM (CNBC) See where the Ponzi schemer will spend the rest of his days. I'm sure the cell will be far too spacious and lacking in a serial killer cellmate for everyone's taste. ANTICIPATION: DIRTBAG!
HARD KNOCKS – 10:00PM (HBO) Coach Rex Ryan cut down on the swearing last week. DUNGY!!!!!! And if you thought Antonio Cromartie had a hard time remembering the names of all his kids, wait till you watch him try and name all those children's mothers. IMPOSSIBLE. ANTICIPATION: SWEARY!
TRADING PLACES – 8:00PM (WGN) Officer, may I suggest using a choke hold? ANTICIPATION: IT WAS THE DUKES! IT WAS THE DUKES!
Wednesday Watch List: Top Chef Gets Ornery
Welcome to Watch List, where we identify five things on TV to watch while you stay at home and forget to add the fabric softener. There's a sock inside your t-shirt, but you won't know that until you pull it out of your drawer three weeks from now. LET'S GO!


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Eventually, by early April, 2006 I stumbled on Syria Planet [3] and was very excited to discover this underground culture. My early browsing of Syrian blogs led me to read those which were highly prolific, regularly posting on a daily basis. Initially, I accepted what I thought was courageous criticism of the local political, religious and social scenes on one or two of these blogs. But soon thereafter, in a matter of days, a certain pattern emerged in front of my eyes. These self-proclaimed "dissidents" were not just utterly boring, fixated and autistic; they were naked megalomaniacs, plain and simple. They had reduced Syria to an absurd dichotomy comprised of the regime and themselves. Their writings promoted the idea that everybody else, the vast majority of Syrians at home and abroad, can only choose between suffocating oppression or their cheap brand of prostituted freedom of speech. What a pity! As I had learned some long time ago to never give the local official media a second thought, I had no reason whatsoever to pollute my mind with this new type of psychotic delusional garbage. I never considered clicking their links afterward. I even suppose that I have blemished by own writing by mentioning them but I have to give credit where it is due, as they were also an inspiration for me to start blogging. I had no idea whatsoever what I would write about. I just knew what I should never allow my blog to become.
I took my first dip on April 24, 2006, and published a brief meaningless post. With no compass to guide me, I sought the moral assistance of a few dear friends living in the United States and Australia. I sent an email apologizing for not being in touch with them as often as I should have and telling them that I had started by own blog where I would try to post something every week. This way they would remain informed of what I was up to. My lifelong friends here in Tartous, those I see almost everyday, have still not heard about my blog. They might one day, but not from me. Blogging became my private hobby. I told my kids. They shook their heads and wished me good luck. Well actually, they were watching something on TV and I was in their way. I told my wife and she patted my back: "Good luck dear", she said, "just don't ask me to read your posts. I'll do that on my own when I feel like it".
Without hesitation, I named my blog: abufares said… the world according to a tartoussi. It had always weighed heavily on me that very little was written or known about my beloved Tartous. I thought that I could probably fill this empty niche. Slowly yet surely, comments started appearing, a few by my distant friends, others by total strangers. Super Hero [4], Mirzade [5], Ascribo [6], Ghalia [7] and Yazan [8] were among the very first to comment and I have to thank them and acknowledge that because of them I was encouraged to go on. They provided me with an early indication that "there is someone out there". I had an audience but I had nothing to prove. During the past year I have written, admittedly, a little more than I thought possible or what I now deem appropriate. I would love to continue blogging as long as physically and emotionally possible but I must slow down a bit. I am not into making conscious decisions about the future but it would be more fitting to write once a week. I should not run the risk of boring anyone, including myself, although that might be too late by now. I have repeatedly written about Tartous, the city which forged my eternal identity. More and more is expected of me in return for all the favors Tartous has bestowed on me. I feel that I have managed to express my love for my city best so far in Gone Are the Olive Trees [9]. I have never imagined that I would be posting recipes, but the modest yet cheering comments I received on 100 Ways to Cook a Rabbit[10] veered me toward the kitchen and For the Love of Shanklish [11] eventually became my highest ranking post in terms of the feedback it received. Politics, a topic I detest by all accounts, crept on me and made me write Tom & Jerry [12]. It shouldn't be that hard to deduct who Tom and Jerry are, according to a tartoussi, after reading this macabre account. On a softer note, I was better able to portray my own moderation in Average People [13] while, at the same time, clarifying my stand on war and peace. On Faith & Religion, A Visit to Seidnaya [14] briefly portrayed my relationship with God and my resistance to any canned interpretation or indoctrination of this relationship. I also wrote about the women in my life, or their absence, on several occasions. Down memory lane my friend strolled in 3 Love Songs [15] and I expressed my middle-age blues in the ramblings of In the Mood [16]. I also wrote about the ephemeral yet lethally attractive woman in The charms of the Passing Woman [17]. When I came to my senses, I paid tribute to the light of my heart, the love of my life, Om Fares The Wind Beneath My Wing [18]. My blog became more self-consuming and my first real personal post was in response to a commentator's request. He wanted me to write about myself and I responded with Something About Me [19], a post I consider my very best yet by virtue of the memories it stirred and the profound impact this particular story had had on my own life.
The greatest pleasure derived from blogging though was the golden opportunity to cross paths with you. Within twelve months I have met some of the most amazing people ever. Most, I have never seen, a few, I don't even know their real names but they have nonetheless become my friends. Karin [20], a woman of unrestricted enthusiasm, dedication and affinity for justice has done more good to the Palestinian cause and to Islam than most of us, Palestinians, Syrians and Arabs in general have. She is my friend and I'm so proud she considers me her friend as well. The Syrian Brit [21] a top-notch surgeon and physician living in England surprised me, and probably himself, with the many parallel lines we have in common. Like Karin, I have never met him yet. I don't even know his real name. I read every single word he writes (although I wish he does more of it). I respect his sense of decency, his affection for his family and country and his dedication to his noble career. Shannon [22], a teacher of the English Language, is a sincere, hard-working American who reminds me of all the good honest folks I have met during my eight years journey of America. She, too, is a friend I have never met. Dubai Jazz [23] an expatriate Aleppine living and working in Dubai brings to memory my own homesickness when I was away. He also reminds me of my struggle(s) when I was his age. I admire him for his intelligence, his wit and his resilience in his quest for what is right and what is wrong. We are planning on meeting this summer and I will either teach him some bad habits or he succeeds in instilling in me some good ones. Most likely, it will be a combination of both. Yazan [24] and I have met over a glass of Arak in the mountains near Tartous. He is a bright young man with a promising future. I esteem his intensity, his compulsiveness and sincerity. Our meeting was too brief and I look forward more drinks and chatter. Chet [25] is a brother of mine across the oceans, across the mountains and the plains. Had I known Chet while I was living in Louisiana, I would have walked the distance to Nebraska to spend sometime together, on the front door of his trailer or in his favorite watering hole. We still have not met in person, Chet and I, but we will, one day. Soraya [26], her parents and I had dinner together one past summer night. She is a highly intelligent and sensitive woman. She writes from her heart, a heart as pure as snow and as big as Syria. Gray Fox [27] invited me not so long ago to Damascus. He has arranged a wonderful get-together of some Syrian bloggers. It was a great joy meeting all of them. They made me feel young again (although I'm not that old). I read Gray Fox very slowly like smooth Vodka and tremendously enjoy his writings, his dreams and his vision. Rime [28] an elegant woman with style and grace makes me wait for "her" politics despite my deep-seated aversion. Only a master such as her can tackle controversial political quandaries and get out on top. She loves her country and she is proud of who she is. When she attacks official Syria with hard balls she makes sure she does it, not from the sidelines, not from the dugout, but from her own side of the court. Another doctor I greatly admire is Abu Kareem [29], who writes excellent and readable political essays. We share more beliefs and values than we differ over circumstantial politics and I make sure to review his blog always. Razan, oops Sham, I mean Golaniya [30] brings warm laughter to my heart. She is spontaneous, she is smart, she is arrogant, she is modest, she is human. Had she been a few years younger, oops had I been a few years older, I mean … you know what I mean. I just wish she stops changing her penname, she's making me dizzy. Writing from Montreal, an original ibn balad Damascene, Omar F [31] helps me fill some mental gaps I have neglected over the years. Whether by design or not, he excels in his role as the modern Syrian intellectual. I often crave a glass of wine, although at times something much stronger, after reading one of his posts. There is yet another Omar S [32] in Canada and I always read his delightful, lighthearted, easy flowing, unpretentious posts. He constantly succeeds in transforming me into a college kid and I tremendously enjoy this momentary transition. Canada is home to still one more blogger I regularly follow and appreciate. Ihsan [33] scribbles about everyday experiences or his reflections on the "Ghorbe" inside us all with compelling dark humor. Arima [34] who describes herself as "a mix of Egyptian and British genes" puts me on the line every now and then with a thought provoking tag or a far-reaching post. Although I have never seen her, but would love to, I imagine her as a woman of exceptional Egyptian beauty. Blogging is certainly dull if some of the comments do not challenge the writer. Lujayn [35] makes sure I do not get away with everything, especially when the topic is reservedly divisive. For some reason I enjoy disagreeing with her. She keeps me on my toes. Restless in Dubai [36] celebrates life on his blog in all of its triumphs and pitfalls. He is not afraid to be sensitive in the open, an attribute we should all learn to emulate and respect. I have also learned more about Ascribo [37] by reading his posts than by knowing him as my nephew. When I returned from the United States he was a toddler still. I was lucky to witness his first steps, and now I am proud of what he has become. I can rest assured that as I grow older and my health gets frailer, I will always have a Doctor in the house. Angel [38] should write more often on her charming blog. However, when she comments on mine she does so with such a feminine flair that I immediately think of losing some weight just in case I should run face to face with her one day. I am certain that I have failed to mention many other wonderful persons I have come to know through their blogs or on my own over the last year. This, however, is a shortcoming of mine and does not reflect their degree of importance to me. To all, a big thank you for writing and being a part of my daily life. I also appreciate the fact that you are reading me. I have the common sense to acknowledge that I do not make sense all the time. But at least I know that I try my best to remain the honest and candid person I have always been.
Blogging has helped me come to terms with some of my own unexposed traits. By putting thoughts into words, by publishing them on the internet for all to read, I have become a more content person. The effect is therapeutic as blogging has made me realize that my true self is acceptable to (some) other people. Their acceptance is not tinted by any material or conditional advantage. They are reading my blog because, apparently, it has touched them in some way. There is no greater reward than this realization.
Another tremendous personal gain I reaped out of blogging is ascertaining my own identity, as a Tartoussi, a Syrian, a Levantine, an Arab, a Muslim and a human being. A troubling trend has been gaining momentum in the last few years, encouraged by the State of Israel and the current US administration, that of planting seeds of doubts and shame in the collective psyche of the population of the Middle East and North Africa. This troublesome trend worries me as it has one of two possible outcomes. If the plot reaches some of its objectives then we are likely to go through rough seas in the near future. Every social minority, every religious sect, every extinct creed living now in arguably relative harmony will jump at the others' throats. Just observe what they have done in Iraq and learn. If the scheming fails it might be more likely because it had stirred the dormant fire of religious fanaticism as a self-defense mechanism. Up till now, it is my belief that "most" (certainly not all) of the "terrorism" they keep complaining about has come about through the making of their own hands and the scheming of their own minds. In the 6-volume novel "Dune" by Frank Herbert (1920-1986) [39], the Fremen's Jihad eventually toppled up the entire universe. The Fremen [40], a simple yet ferocious people belonging to tribes of the desert lived in deplorable conditions similar to what the State of Israel and the current US administration are forcing on the Palestinians and the Iraqis today. Similar also to what they are trying to impose on the other "tribes" of the region. The West (in general) is using the word Jihad too loosely, underestimating what it really implies. A true Jihad, if it ever catches momentum, could well change the face of the earth. Only if they knew what lurks inside the magic lamp. I might never know for certain my exact ancestry, and frankly I could care less. Being a Tartoussi for at least 6 generations past on my father's side and from the alleys of Damascus' Quanawat on my mother's side, it could well mean that I have at least Phoenician, Byzantine, European and Arab blood running through my veins. But here I am at this very moment ascertaining in English that I can identify myself only as a present-day Arab. This is an identity worth defending as are all the other ethnic identities in existence. Even if I fear the risk of offending local minorities in Tartous, Syria, the Levant and the entire Middle East and North Africa I would say it still: You, I and everyone else living here, has the Arab identity tattooed all over their faces. It would be much easier to engrave it in their hearts as well instead of futilely resisting a simple fact of life. We are all Fremen after all.
I might have exhausted my welcome with this unusually long post. However, after one whole year of blogging and 117 different posts, after dozens of pictures and thousands of words, after the recipes, the personal thoughts, the politically one-sided essays, after the drinks and the passing women, after my devotion to my family, my love to my city and my total commitment to a just cause, after I inhale Syria with every breath I take and BEFORE I close my eyes every night, I still have nothing to prove, obviously not to you and certainly not to myself.


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"Complete disarmament" of the American people.
The UN Arms Trade Treaty that has been identified by observers as a flagrant threat to the second amendment and which Barack Obama is determined to sign has its roots in a 1961 State Department memorandum which explains how the United Nations will oversee "complete disarmament" of the American people under the ruse of preventing war.
The UN Arms Treaty has caused so much controversy because it outlines a plan to target "all types of conventional weapons, notably including small arms and light weapons," according to Forbes' Larry Bell.
Former US Ambassador to the UN John Bolton also warns that the agreement "is trying to act as though this is really just a treaty about international arms trade between nation states, but there is no doubt that the real agenda here is domestic firearms control."
A letter sent last month by 130 Republican House members to President Obama argued that the treaty should be rejected because it infringes on the "fundamental, individual right to keep and bear arms". The letter adds that "…the U.N.'s actions to date indicate that the ATT is likely to pose significant threats to our national security, foreign policy, and economic interests as well as our constitutional rights."
Using the rhetoric of the threat post by terrorists, insurgents and "international crime syndicates," the UN is busy trying to imply that all weapons are somehow involved in illegal activity on a global scale and should therefore be controlled and regulated by a global authority.
This is precisely the same language used in a 1961 U.S. State Department briefing which outlined a long term agenda to carry out a "Program for General and Complete Disarmament in a Peaceful World."
Invoking the threat of nuclear warfare, the document spells out a plan to create a "United Nations Peace Force" that would "enforce the peace as the disarmament process proceeds."
While the document initially focuses on scrapping nuclear weapons, it later makes it clear that the only groups allowed to own weapons of any kind would be governing authorities, "for the purpose of maintaining internal order," and the UN "peacekeeping" force itself, which would require "agreed manpower."
"The manufacture of armaments would be prohibited except for those of agreed types and quantities to be used by the U.N. Peace Force and those required to maintain internal order. All other armaments would be destroyed or converted to peaceful purposes," states the document.
While the memorandum outlines a broader mandate to destroy national sovereignty, eviscerate national armies and institute the UN as the planet's supreme authority with a world army, the document serves as a stark reminder that the plan for the United Nations to oversee the abolition of the second amendment has been in the works for decades.
As Bell points out in his Forbes article, the threat of the Obama administration relying on a UN treaty to do what successive administrations have tried but failed to accomplish – taking a huge bite out of the second amendment – is by no means far fetched.
After all, a plethora of UN treaties and international agreements have already stripped the United States of its sovereignty and its power to decide its own laws. The power to authorize U.S. involvement in wars and conflicts has now been almost completely stripped from Congress and handed to the United Nations.
Following Barack Obama's arrogant rebuff of Congress in seeking approval to strike Libya, during which he churlishly remarked, "I don't even have to get to the Constitutional question," Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta affirmed that the U.S. now requires "international permission" before deciding on its military policy.
Other Obama-endorsed UN power grabs like the Law of the Sea Treaty (LOST) as well as Agenda 21 and sustainable development are also serving to decimate national sovereignty and remain almost completely under the radar.
You only need to look at the European Union, which now crafts around 50 per cent of the laws made in member states like Britain, to understand how unelected global institutions can and have dictated policy on a national level.
The UN Arms Trade Treaty presents an existential threat to the guns rights of American citizens and should be rejected for what it is – yet another attempt by the Obama administration, in the aftermath of the Fast and Furious scandal, to abolish the second amendment by stealth.
Source: http://www.infowars.com/un-gun-grab-follows-state-department-plan/


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I had some strawberries and ripe bananas and decided to combine the both with some white chocolate and make a quick cake loaf. I love this combo of flavours, having made some muffins with the same combo not long ago. This utterly lush loaf delivers a moist sweet sponge, with the delightful blend of mashed banana and studded through with bite-sized strawberry chunks and white chocolate chips. A match made in heaven!
Thursday, 3 September 2009
Banana Strawberry and White Chocolate Loaf
I had some strawberries and ripe bananas and decided to combine the both with some white chocolate and make a quick cake loaf. I love this combo of flavours, having made some muffins with the same combo not long ago. This utterly lush loaf delivers a moist sweet sponge, with the delightful blend of mashed banana and studded through with bite-sized strawberry chunks and white chocolate chips. A match made in heaven!
18 comments:
- Katiecakes said...
That's so sad :( I lost both my cats a year and a half ago and I still well up if I think about them.
All my love
Katie xox
- 4 September 2009 at 00:07
- Reeni said...
You brought tears to my eyes. I understand how special the love for a cat can be. I feel it for my Moon. *HUGS*
I love this combo of flavors. Looks delicious!
- 4 September 2009 at 01:57
- Pity said...
hola maria,
venga mujer! animate!
carry on bringing us your lovely recipes, like this banana loaf, it looks sooooo delicious!
muchos besitos,
- 4 September 2009 at 12:00
- Nic said...
Thinking of you still.
Glad to see you baking, this looks really good.
- 4 September 2009 at 12:18
- Lucie said...
This looks delish!, I oftern have strawberries and banana to use up so I will give this a try.
Hope you're ok.
Lucie x
- 4 September 2009 at 14:10
- Snooky doodle said...
this looks so good! the combination of banana abd strawberries must be awesome !
- 4 September 2009 at 21:46
Hi! My name is Magali and I'm from Bahía Blanca, Argentina.
I'm very sad for happened with your kitty...really. I have a cat- Matute- and I love very much. His my baby.
About your blog is beautiful...and the recipes yummy!
Visit my blog...Bye bye!!!
- 7 September 2009 at 00:14
- Maggie said...
What a beautiful combination of flavours to include in a loaf cake Maria.
- 9 September 2009 at 09:46
- Palidor said...
Oh, I'm soooo sorry! I lost a kitty many years ago, and it still saddens me to this day. Pets bring so much joy to our lives. The loaf looks wonderful. I love how you combined banana, strawberry, and white chocolate.
- 11 September 2009 at 00:42
- George@CulinaryTravels said...
This looks so good Maria.
- 13 September 2009 at 02:00
- Maria said...
I want a slice!
- 14 September 2009 at 00:42
- Petit Filoux said...
I made a version of this with raspberries and it's so delicious! Thanks for the recipe! Had to adapt it in grams as I don't do cups, check it out on my blog! x
- 16 September 2009 at 10:47
- Anna said...
Hope you're feeling better Maria, I know it must be so hard. Baking therapy sounds like a good plan. This looks delicious; I'd love to try it with raspberries..
- 16 September 2009 at 18:55
- Jacqueline Meldrum said...
That looks great Maria!
I really feel for you. It is so hard when you lose your cats. I lost my wonderful Beaker and Elmo in December, just a day apart. They were both 17, but that doesn't help, especially when you have to have them put down. It just breaks your heart. I still miss them so much. Oh no, the tears are flowing now.
Hugs to you
- 21 September 2009 at 18:44
- george said...
Just pottered onto your blog! Following you instantly! :) So sorry to hear about your cat - I have two myself and couldnt imagine how heartbreaking it is! ((cuddle))
Cant wait to try your recipies!
freckles x
- 22 September 2009 at 16:58
- Crystalin Dunn said...
I'm so sorry for your heartbreaking loss.
I found your blog through Reeni's blog, and I have to say, you had me at hello. Between this too-good-to-be-true cake and your doughnut muffins, plus your affinity for Nigella(one of my all-time faves!), I'm hooked. Thanks for a tremendously well-done blog.
- 29 September 2009 at 02:43
Oh yum I am going to make this loaf this Saturday! But will use strawberry jam hope it works ok....all suggestion?
From Mel in Christchurch, NZ
- 6 October 2009 at 21:18
- Christine said...
Excellent recipe. I have been making a lot of banana loaves lately since it is my sons favourite. May have to spruce it up a bit and make him love it even more. I may regret it in the end, but at least there is banana and strawberries mixed in with the chocolate!
Thanks for sharing this,
- 3 December 2009 at 03:58


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As a certified teaching site, Sterling Regional MedCenter Wellness Services will be offering Safe Sitter, a babysitter training program on Tuesday, July 19. Safe Sitter's slogan, "Better sitters today … Better parents tomorrow," demonstrates it's commitment to teaching young adolescents skills they will be able to use the rest of their lives.
The program is medically accurate and designed for 11 to 13 year olds. Because accidental injuries are the leading cause of death in children over age one in the United States, the immediate goal of Safe Sitter is to reduce the number of accidental and preventable deaths among children being cared for by babysitters.
Instruction during the program includes how to deal with medical emergencies including hands-on-practice in basic lifesaving techniques such as rescue breathing. They will also learn about the responsibilities and ethics of safe babysitting, age-appropriate entertainment, child development basics and the business aspects of babysitting.
The fee is $35. To register your son, daughter or your child's baby sitter, call Glenda Amen at 970-521-3260 by Tuesday, July 12. Each class is limited to 16 students.


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Caputo: It'll be a sweep if Detroit Red Wings don't play much better
The Red Wings' worst fears were realized Wednesday night.
The Chicago Blackhawks are that good. The Red Wings have glaring flaws.
Both factors were clearly evident as Chicago opened a Western Conference semifinal Stanley Cup playoff series with a resounding 4-1 victory.
The Blackhawks weren't the least bit rusty after a relatively long layoff. They ambushed the Red Wings. The only reason the game was remotely close was the brilliance of Detroit goalie Jimmy Howard. This could have easily been a 6- or 7-goal blowout.
It was as if the ice was slanted like a downhill ski run at the Olympics toward Howard's goal crease.
The Blackhawks doubled the Red Wings in shots on goal - 42-21. And that was after a slow start.
The idea for the Red Wings, especially on the road, is to control tempo.
If it becomes up-and-down, end-to-end hockey, the Blackhawks are going to win the series. They are faster, bigger - even more experienced in many ways.
The idea is not unlike a basketball team that wants to make the game half-court rather than fast break, or a football team that wants to shorten the clock with a time-eating, ball-possession offense, against superior opponents.
The Red Wings can afford to bend. What they can't afford to do is break. With the score tied 1-1 in the third period, and after bending for what seemed to be forever, the Red Wings finally broke.
The first period was encouraging for the Red Wings - and misleading.
Predictably, the Blackhawks, who hadn't played in many days after ousting the Minnesota Wild in the opening round in five games, came out with much energy. They stormed Detroit's zone early in the first period, taking a 1-0 lead on a goal by Marian Hossa. It was setup by a bad turnover by Red Wings' defenseman Niklas Kronwall and a pretty feed by Chicago captain Jonathan Toews. Yet, the Red Wings weathered the storm. By the end of the first period, the score was tied 1-1 after a goal by Detroit rookie Damien Brunner. As importantly, the game had slowed down to a pace more suitable to the Red Wings.
The second period was disturbing from the standpoint Chicago totally controlled the Red Wings. The Blackhawks held as 17-5 edge in shots on goal. But neither team scored. Jimmy Howard kept his team in the game. It was the bottom line.
Ideal? No. The Blackhawks, actually, look like the Red Wings during their salad days. However, they didn't score. It was still a 1-1 game entering the third period. It was right there for the Red Wings to take. They were doing what was necessary to win a playoff game on the road against a foe with better overall talent.
It was just too much for the Red Wings. The flood gates opened in the third period. Chicago finally scored a couple goals. By the point of the breakthrough, it was no longer a matter of if Chicago was going to score a go-ahead goal, but when.
You saw glimpses, though, how the Red Wings can make this a good series down the stretch of that game.
It was 3-1, and the Red Wings almost scored twice before an empty-net goal sealed their fate.
The odds of winning the series will improve for the Red Wings if they take better care of the puck in their own end, and start throwing more shots on Crawford.
It wasn't a good start for the Red Wings, however. They weren't just beaten by the Blackhawks. They were overwhelmed.
No silver linings in this cloud.


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The C&O Company was chartered in 1825 to construct a shipping canal connecting tidewater on the Potomac River in DC with the headwaters of the Ohio River in western Pennsylvania, thereby providing an economical trade route between the eastern seaboard and the trans-Allegheny West. The company acquired the rights of the Potomac Company, formed by George Washington and associates to improve navigation on the Potomac. That venture had attempted to achieve its objective by deepening the channel and cutting skirting canals around impassible rapids, but the flow of the river proved too erratic to make these measures successful. This experience led C&O promoters to adopt plans for a separate canal paralleling the river. President John Quincy Adams turned the first spadeful of earth in ceremonies at Little Falls, Maryland, on July 4, 1828. On the same day, construction of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad westward from Baltimore was begun-a move that would have significant implications for the ultimate fate of the canal and the canal era generally.
From the start, numerous difficulties retarded the progress of the canal construction. An acute labor shortage forced the company to campaign for workers from other states. Numerous disputes arose with landowners that resisted efforts to purchase the right-of-way. Between 1842 and 1847, construction was at a standstill. The canal was finally completed to Cumberland, Maryland, in 1850, bringing the total cost of the project to over $11 million.
During the years following the Civil War, the coal trade increased rapidly until in 1871, the peak year, some 850,000 tons were carried down the canal. During these few profitable years more than 500 boats were in frequent operation on the canal.
In 1938 the railroad, hurt by the Depression, sold the entire canal to the United States government, and the canal was placed under the National Park Service. In 1961, President Eisenhower proclaimed it a national monument. An act of Congress in 1971 authorized the acquisition of additional land and establishment of the C&O Canal National Historical Park.
The canal survives as an excellent illustration of 19th-century canal-building technology. The magnitude of the engineering achievement is exemplified by the length of the canal, its 74 lift locks to accommodate a rise of 605 feet, the 11 stone aqueducts spanning the major Potomac tributaries, 7 dams supplying water to the canal, hundreds of culverts carrying roads and streams beneath the canal, and a 3,117-foot tunnel carrying the canal through a large shale rock formation.
The C&O Canal runs along the Potomac River west from Rock Creek The Chesapeake and Ohio National Historical Park is located along the C&O Canal from Rock Creek Park to the DC boundary and extends into Maryland. The park is open during all daylight hours. Some of the park's five visitor centers operate on a seasonal schedule
The Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O) Canal
is the subject of an online lesson
plan produced by Teaching with Historic Places, a National Park Service
program that offers classroom-ready lesson plans on properties listed
in the National Register. To learn more, visit the Teaching
with Historic Places home page.
Itinerary Home | List
of Sites | DC Map | Learn
More | Next Site | Previous


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The latest DVD, 'Beat the Odds', is by far one of the best RMA DVDs I have purchased to date. What can I say? Excellent! If any DVD sums up the principles of the style, it's this one. The reason for this is the content - pure and simple.
I've always thought that RMA has been at its most effec..read more >>


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Violence: Domestic abuse in the queer community
An issue beginning to come to light, domestic violence in queer relationships, is misunderstood by many. With rates comparable to violence in straight relationships, yet mired in a homophobic culture, queer people of all stripes who are living with abuse find themselves with fewer resources to draw upon, and fewer people on their side.
Services available for cisgender women are typically well-known, though not always welcoming to queer women. And services for men and trans people are less well-known and sometimes just don't exist. The issues facing the queer community revolve around police misunderstanding and minimizing same-sex relationship violence, making it difficult for queer people to get help.
Providing the only shelter of its kind in Canada, Winnipeg's Men's Resource Centre caters to all men regardless of orientation or gender history. According to Steve Sutherland, therapist and administrator at the centre, it can house men as they leave an abusive relationship and help them get back on their feet.
Dan, who will be identified by his first name only, was a client of the centre earlier this year. After being closeted in an abusive relationship for a number of years, married to a wife he was financially controlled by due to his immigrant status and who he felt he had to marry, Dan made his escape. "I would not have been able to do it without the Men's Resource Centre." The centre signed Dan up for unemployment insurance. It also helped him find low-income housing and spruce up his resumé.
"I didn't have a place to go because of how isolated I had been," he said. "I didn't really know anyone well enough that I could ask them to crash on their couch. The biggest help was [that] they provided shelter." While waiting for his first cheque to arrive, the centre provided meals. And Dan found emotional support. "They made it very easy," he said. "Even as I was dealing emotionally with what I was going through and wasn't able to think straight."
Though resources available for women are more common, they aren't available to all women. The situation for trans women seeking shelter in Winnipeg could be described as dire. Bradley Tyler-West, LGBT* program facilitator at Winnipeg's Sexuality Education Resource Centre (SERC), said, "I have heard of individual experiences of trans women who have gone into shelter and some have had a good experience there getting access to support and services, and some did not – and I think that's really based on their ability to pass or be stealth." He's heard the problems have come from residents at shelters rather than staff. And the trans women he knows of who have gotten help have been in mixed-gender relationships, with violence coming at the hands of male partners. He noted that falls into the heteronormative pattern assumed of domestic violence.
Sutherland refers trans women to Sage House. "They're very LGBT friendly," he said. "But that would be the only shelter I know in Winnipeg that would be providing services to that segment of the population."
Sage House could not be reached for confirmation.
There are resources available for women in lesbian relationships. Yet if shelter is needed, sometimes a lack of sensitivity can limit access. Glenda Dean, executive director of Winnipeg's Alpha House, said she sees a "real gap" in lesbian and bisexual women utilizing shelters. Although she said she doesn't know why that gap exists, she said perhaps shelters have not reached out enough to the community.
According to a workshop for service providers presented by Saskatoon's The Avenue Community Centre for Gender & Sexual Diversity Inc., lesbians often experience a lack of understanding about the seriousness of abuse when violent incidents are reported to therapists, police or doctors. Because of homophobia, queer relationships are sometimes seen to be inherently unstable or unhealthy.
When abuse happens, police will sometimes be called to domestic violence scenes. Both Tyler-West and Sutherland have heard in their work with men about police incidents where violence was minimized or male victims of abuse were even mocked. Myths such as that abuse doesn't happen to men, or for men in relationships with women that it can't happen because the man is bigger or women aren't aggressive, lead police to sometimes misunderstand abusive situations, said Sutherland. He said discrimination can be especially bad in First Nations communities.
But he added that police are making steps, and so is the Province of Manitoba. A GLBTQ* domestic violence working group was launched in November 2012 and began distributing posters and brochures addressing the issue of queer domestic violence last month. Part of the group's mandate is to provide GLBTQ*-sensitivity training to staff at service organizations. According to Beth Ulrich, executive director of Manitoba's Status of Women, who the group is hosted by, shelters are working on some of their issues.
"That's a commitment where I think some shelters are probably more ahead of others perhaps. I think that there's a willingness and an awareness now that 'OK, we need to make sure we're being respectful'," she said.
The Rainbow Resource Centre is another place victims of abuse can receive counselling and support. Located at 170 Scott St., the centre has pamphlets for those who are wondering if their relationship might be abusive and has counsellors trained in helping fill out protection orders. Tyler-West said, "We are hearing more conversations… so that is encouraging—a small light at the end of the very dark tunnel. It's nowhere near where it needs to be, but it is definitely better than it was, say, four or five years ago."
– Larkin Schmiedl is a freelance journalist from Vancouver, B.C. He's an LGBTI contributing editor with rabble.ca, the former host of a queer-issues radio show called Gaydio, and loves to write about social and environmental justice.