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As Operation Enduring Freedom marked its 11th anniversary on Oct. 7, the conflict in Afghanistan remains a largely undiscussed issue in the 2012 presidential campaign. Both major candidates—President Barack Obama, the Democrat, and his Republican challenger, Gov. Mitt Romney—have kept Afghanistan on the rhetorical back burner as they crisscross the country, even though 68,000 U.S. troops remain on the ground.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced on Sept. 21 that the last of the 33,000 troops that were part of the 2010 surge have left Afghanistan. While the Obama administration has said the surge weakened the Taliban, the insurgency remains a potent force and threatens the security of both troops and Afghan civilians.
On Oct. 5 combined Afghanistan coalition military fatalities stood at 3,197 dead, including 2,132 Americans, according to statistics compiled by the Web site iCasualties.org. Thousands more have been wounded in a war marked largely by low-intensity conflicts in a country slightly smaller than Texas. Estimates of civilian casualties in Afghanistan vary widely, but the latest U.N. figure puts the death toll among noncombatants at more than 25,000—the majority victims of the insurgency.
Afghanistan gets scant attention even on the candidates' Web sites. On the president's re-election site, Afghanistan garners a two-line reference in a promise to withdraw U.S. troops by the end of 2014. Romney's Web site offers a longer narrative on the war. But his criticism of the president's surge and the 2014 deadline to withdraw forces is longer than his plan for addressing Afghan security. "Withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan under a Romney administration will be based on conditions on the ground as assessed by our military commanders," the site concludes.
"The truth is that both candidates have avoided talking about Afghanistan because neither has really good answers," said Michael J. Boyle, assistant professor of political science at La Salle University in Philadelphia. Boyle said that even though the president plans to withdraw the remaining U.S. troops by the end of 2014, "events on the ground are not cooperating with him.
"We have the situation that the Taliban aren't losing, and that is not making the U.S. withdrawal very easy."
Of Romney's stance, Boyle said there is little to dissect.
"He says, 'We will win,' but there's no clear understanding of what winning means at this point," he said. "Does winning mean increased security and stability? Does winning mean defeating the Taliban?"
Beyond its military goals, the United States has a "moral obligation" to rebuild both Afghanistan and Iraq, said Stephen Colecchi, director of the U.S. bishops' Office of International Justice and Peace.
"Our foreign assistance needs to continue to the Iraqi people both to enable them to rebuild society and to strengthen the rule of law and to strengthen the judiciary and to protect all Iraqis, but especially vulnerable minorities and particularly Christians. That's the unfinished agenda of the legacy of that war that we still have to deal with," he said. Much the same holds true in Afghanistan, even as hostilities continue, he added.
U.S. bishops have encouraged the U.S. government to focus more on diplomacy, development and humanitarian assistance and less on exclusively military responses to geopolitical challenges. Other concerns that must be addressed, the bishops have pointed out, include protecting human rights and religious freedom, minimizing the loss of human life and assisting refugees and internally displaced people while fostering economic and agricultural development.
None of those issues is specifically addressed on the candidates' Web sites.


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If looking at today's headlines makes you wonder about the fate of our planet, here is some news that may surprise you: from an evolutionary standpoint, we are exactly where we need to be.
According to eminent biologist Bruce H. Lipton and political and cultural commentator Steve Bhaerman, we are surrounded by the proof that we are poised to take an incredible step forward in the growth of our species. On Spontaneous Evolution, you are invited to participate in an eye-opening examination of science and history—one that leads to a profound vision of the next "holistic" stage of human civilization.
Join these two pioneers as they explore:
- The three perennial questions any belief system needs to address, and why the answers have changed throughout history
- The four "Myth-Perceptions of the Apocalypse"—the unexamined pillars that support modern thought, and why each one of them is ready to crumble
- Why the blueprint for a brighter future is literally inside you—encoded into each of your trillions of cells
- What you can do to help usher in the greatest cultural shift since the Copernican revolution
Many of the ideas and institutions that define our culture today are breaking down—and that's a good thing, say Lipton and Bhaerman. This is a necessary part of the natural process of clearing out what no longer serves us, in order to make room for a new way of being that will carry us into the next age.
Spontaneous Evolution is an insightful, playful, and ultimately hopeful look at the unfolding destiny of our species—and how you can play an active role as a co-creator of the world to come.
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A tour de force--integrating science, beliefs, spirituality to answer how can we evolve Review by Marguerite
Bruce and Steve bring a fresh perspective to so many of our 'truisms' about reality…which are in fact beliefs based on incomplete or inaccurate information. They tie all the pieces together in a way that allows each one of us to challenge our our assumptions…and adopt a new perspective. One day…this CD will be the foundation of all science courses in high schools and intro levels of colleges. Maybe even in primary schools. (Posted on January 27, 2015)
Review for Spontaneous Evolution Review by Just Chairs Debra
I'm very pleased with the product. Good packaging and quick shipping. very informative audiobook (Posted on March 31, 2013)
Review for Spontaneous Evolution Review by John P
Meaty, meaningful, persuasive. An oasis in a desert of meaningless twaddle designed to dumb us down. (Posted on January 12, 2013)
Review for Spontaneous Evolution Review by merilyn Bonifacio
Amazing material - strangely anticipated by myself, I have sensed these energies are out there for some time. Let's hope more people become aware. I need to seek out more people with like mind so I am part of this Spontaneous Evolution (Posted on July 1, 2012)
Review for Spontaneous Evolution Review by Karen Kneisley
The presenters were delightful and the ideas contained were critical to understand the spiritual transformation on this planet. (Posted on June 25, 2012)
Review for Spontaneous Evolution Review by John C Davis
Am currently reading the book and have just now ordered the CD program. Because of the way the book is written is the reason for the CD order. The idea that energy fields can become powerful enough to lift all boats, in a manner of speaking, is reasonable to believe. Each one of us has a potential contribution to make in assisting and enhancing the quality of these fields. Consciousness evolves as we evolve into consciousness. (Posted on March 16, 2010)
Review for Spontaneous Evolution Review by Gege
I have the cd and book and they don´t have anything in common.
How can they be so different. Is the same product.
Bruce is so over excited, it gets a bit confusing. Love his excitement. But needs a bit of control. Love you Bruce great work. (Posted on January 29, 2010)
|5 CDs (5 hours, 49 minutes)
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|October 01, 2008
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subset: commoncrawl


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On a train, Smithe, Robins, and John are the fireman, conductor, and the engineer, but NOT respectively. Also aboard the train are three businessmen who have the same names: a Mr. Smithe, a Mr. Robins, and a Mr. John. Mr. Robins Lives in New York. The conductor lives exactly halfway between Columbus and New York. Mr. John earns exactly $20,000 per year. The conductor's nearest neighbor, one of the passengers, earns exactly three times as much as the conductor. Smithe beats the fireman in billiards. The passenger whose name is the same as the conductor's lives in Columbus. Who is the Engineer?
why smithe?


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Beer, Here: Dodgers Fans Embrace Kirin Frozen Beer
Fans at Dodger Stadium have something new to cheer for: frozen beer. Frosty-topped beers are part of Kirin's new strategy to expand beyond sushi restaurants in the U.S. Photo: Associated Press
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
I ... the ... baseball fans there's nothing like revenue cold wanted to watch the game ... a Dodger Stadium and could lead to greet free ... the ... the latest ballpark craze ... was in the air ... actually more like a frosty topping Chrissy and Japanese beer maker here and here it is having some service ... and the phony top melts down into regular carbonated shearing a sheep and so it doesn't mean that for air is blown into the hands here and it has been sales only gets down to five degrees centigrade on a ... twenty three degrees Fahrenheit ... it's the it's the it's ... making a little cooler ... better tasting be good for ... you ... it's a high-stakes marketing ... for the Priory ... which wants to score big in the U last like Corona and Heineken ... hearings is to launch at Dodger Stadium to expand its visibility outside of sushi restaurants can have a frosty freeze ... but will American beer lovers warm up to the frozen here ... the the ... at this game the novelty was selling as fast as CFE openly teacher ... I couldn't believe this to ... be embedded albeit it in ... even ... at eleven dollars ... Raquel Maria Dillon Associated Press Los Angeles California ...


text: Hello folks, I have followed the perfect server guide for Squeeze and ISPConfig 3 using OpenVZ. I have the physical server with only *VServer-Server* service setup. Then I have a virtual container / machine for family stuff and one for my home business which I will eventually try to get online. Both virtual machines are running ISPConfig 3 as well. So basically: Physical Server /..................\ Virtual Server 1.................Virtual Server 2 I was planning on following Falko's tutorial here: http://www.howtoforge.com/installing-mod_geoip-for-apache2-on-debian-squeeze I would want fewer countries blocked on a possible business server than the personal. If I install geo_ip on the three servers is each one separate or do they inherit rules from the physical (parent if you will) server? Like if I block China on the physical server do I then still have to block it on the virtual machines since all web traffic on the virtual machines in essence comes through the physical server? Thanks as always for your time, Scott


text:
SELL DOMAIN ([login to view URL]) at profit
Budget $100-300 USD
It's very simple. I bought ca. 200 domain names. I wish for you to sell just one domain name here. Obviously i want the biggest amount possible for it. I'm not asking you to buy the domain but sell this practical and easy-to-remember domain name as a business name and concept to someone or a group or existing business that could make use of it and/or increase their popularity or exposure, as well as profitability through its high exposure flair. It matters not to me how you sell it, be it directly to businesses, on forums, newsletters, blogs, broker sites, eBay, PPC, SEO etc. Do your best to sell it as high as possible, with the incentive of commission for you.
domain for selling here: [url removed, login to view]
thanks for your interest or suggestions,


text:
what football is all about!
Sunday afternoon (ARSENAL v ManU) was all a football match should be; there was passion, commitment and attacking play!! All respect to both Chelsea and Liverpool but they just bore the arse off of me to watch and in my mind that is the reason that regardless of success and wealth this was the clash of the premierships big boys! Read more


text: I think McCarthy is wanting this running balance today in part to try to keep the defense fresh. After that last drive, we'll need fresh guys – Cutler looked really good. And while it's an understandable approach, especially considering Grant is having massive holes, I say we just score 60 points to win.


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The Phantom Looking More Real, New Business Model Still Questionable
from the at-least-it-appears-to-exist dept
As expected, Infinium Labs is using E3 as its coming out party to prove that they do, in fact, have a product. You may recall this is the company that has faced lots of doubt about whether or not its gaming console really existed. The company started to look a bit more respectable by hiring a CEO who helped develop the X-Box, but quickly lost a lot of goodwill by suing one of the sites that questioned the legitimacy of the company. Now, they're making a big push to prove that they exist. Wired News has an article about the company saying that instead of pushing it as competition to gaming consoles, they're targeting "occasional" or "lapsed" gamers and offering the system as a service. That is, if you agree to pay $30/month for two years you get the hardware "free" and access to the basic level of downloadable games they offer. Of course, it's not really free, but the hardware fee is baked into that monthly fee. Of course, it looks like they still don't have any publishers officially signed up. The games they're displaying at E3 are only for display at E3 and might not actually be available when the device/service launches in November. As anyone in the gaming business will tell you, if you don't have good publishers signed up early, the gaming device will fail. Infinium seems to believe they'll be able to sign up enough publishers now that they can demonstrate the device publicly and build some buzz. You'll also notice that the box looks entirely different than it did just a few months back when people were doubting that it really existed. More importantly, you have to wonder about the business model and the target market. They say they don't want hardcore gamers, because they'll already have a console and a PC with all the games they want. However, you have to wonder why the occasional or lapsed gamer wants to pay $30/month if they don't really play games that often. On top of this, the games they'll offer at that basic level of service are older games. As Infinium points out, this may help get publishers on board by offering them a new revenue stream for old games, but that also means that your offering users old games. I guess they're hoping that these lapsed video gamers won't notice that they're playing old games, but it doesn't seem like the most compelling pitch to a lapsed gamer: come back to gaming, but get locked into a two year, $30/month contract, and we'll let you play a few old games that you can probably pick up for a couple dollars in the bargain bin!


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African Americans and Religion
Sylvester A. Johnson
Beginning with trans-Atlantic slavery, which forced hundreds of thousands of people into what is presently the United States, religion among African Americans consistently featured a complex of efforts toward innovation, preservation, and agential intervention rooted in efforts toward survival against structures of racial domination. Social factors including slavery, black responses to a range of political conflicts, influences of immigration, and the varieties of genealogies that have constituted religious formations among African Americans contributed to the creation of formal Christian denominations, intentional communities of Orisha, and transnational movements of Islam. Also important are the insurgent challenges that African Americans have proffered as a rejoinder to social oppression. But this progressive tendency has been paralleled by sharply conservative religious formations that check any easy generalization of African American religions as being predisposed toward social justice movements. Also important are social sources of autonomous church formation, the role of Black Nationalism, anticolonial forms of religion, and Yoruba revivalism of the mid-20th century.
Christian Spirituality and Social Transformation
Philip Sheldrake
The word "spirituality" has become increasingly common. What does it mean? It is not limited to spiritual practices, such as meditation, but suggests the pursuit of a life shaped by a sense of meaning, values, and perhaps transcendence. Although the word is used in different religions, and by people with no religious beliefs, its origins were Christian and referred to living life under the influence of God's spirit.
Nowadays, in a consciously plural world, Christian spirituality has a specific content whose origins are the Jewish and Christian scriptures. In particular, Christian spirituality is associated with following the teachings of Jesus Christ or imitating his values. The main New Testament word for this is "discipleship," which has two main elements. First, there is a call to personal transformation (conversion). Second, Christians are to continue the mission of Jesus to transform the world and to build the kingdom of a God of love. In that fundamental sense, Christian spirituality is inherently concerned with social transformation. In the Gospel of Matthew, this includes sharing in Jesus' work of forgiveness and healing. In the Gospel of Mark it involves selfless service of others. The history of Christian spirituality is a varied story of ways of approaching discipleship. Needless to say, part of what makes Christian spirituality distinctive is its underlying beliefs—in other words, how it understands the reality of God, the value of the material world, human nature, and identity and how these interconnect.
The great variety of spiritual traditions and writings within Christianity originated at different times and places. However, they are continually being adapted in the light of new historical and cultural contexts. Scholars have sometimes found it helpful to identify different types of Christian spirituality. Their choices vary, and the types are interpretative tools rather than straightforward descriptions. "Types" help us to identify distinctive styles of spiritual wisdom. The ascetical type, sometimes associated with monasticism, highlights discipline and detachment from material pleasures as the pathway to spiritual growth. The mystical type focuses on the desire for an immediacy of presence to, and intuitive knowledge of, God, frequently via contemplative practice. The active type promotes everyday life and service to other people as the context for spiritual growth. The aesthetic type covers a range of ways in which the spiritual journey is expressed in and shaped by the arts, music, and literature. Finally the prophetic type of spirituality embraces an explicit commitment to social justice and the transformation of society.
Christian spirituality has become a major area of study. It is an interdisciplinary field shaped by scripture, theology, and Christian history, but which may also draw upon psychology, the social sciences, literature, and the sciences. The study of Christian spirituality is also "self-implicating," in the sense that it is not treated in a purely theoretical way but includes a quest for practical wisdom.
Finally, the traditions of Christian spirituality increasingly engage with important issues of social and cultural transformation, for example interreligious dialogue, peace and reconciliation, ecological questions, the future of cities, the world of business, and the meaning of healthcare.
Civil Rights Movements and Religion in America
Paul Harvey
In the civil rights movement of the mid-20th century, black Christian thought helped to undermine the white supremacist racial system that had governed America for centuries. The civil rights revolution in American history was, to a considerable degree, a religious revolution, one whose social and spiritual impact inspired numerous other movements around the world. Key to the work was a transformation of American religious thought and practice in ways that deftly combined the social gospel and black church traditions, infused with Gandhian notions of active resistance and "soul force," as well as secular ideas of hardheaded political organizing and the kinds of legal maneuverings that led to the seminal court case of Brown v. Board of Education.
The civil rights movement had legislative aims; it was, to that extent, a political movement. But it was also a religious movement, sustained by the religious power unlocked within southern black churches. The historically racist grounding of whiteness as dominant and blackness as inferior was radically overturned in part through a reimagination of the same Christian thought that was part of creating it in the first place. In similar ways, the Mexican-American farmworkers' movement drew on the mystic Catholic spirituality of Cesar Chavez and brought to national consciousness the lives and aspirations of an oppressed agricultural proletariat that lacked the most elementary rights of American citizens.
American civil rights movements drew from, and were in part inspired by, the ideas of Mahatma Gandhi and the Indian independence movement. Gandhi's movement deeply influenced black Americans who visited India from the 1930s to the 1950s and who brought home with them a mixture of ideas and practices deriving from sources as diverse as Gandhi and the 19th-century American progenitor of nonviolent civil disobedience, Henry David Thoreau. American civil rights movements subsequently became a model for any number of freedom movements internationally, notably including the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa. There, religious figures such as Desmond Tutu became international symbols. Also, the black American freedom struggle based in the American South moved protestors in places as diverse as Czechoslovakia under Soviet domination and Chinese students staring down tanks in Tiananmen Square in 1989.
In the post–civil rights era, some suggested that America had moved into a "post-racial" era, despite the overwhelming statistics documenting racial inequality in American society. Thus, activists who have mined the connection between religion, civil rights, and social justice will have plenty of work to do in the future. The struggle continues through such contemporary venues as the #blacklivesmatter movement.
Class and Religion in America
William A. Mirola
Scholars pursuing questions on the links between religion and social class typically examine several distinct sets of dynamics. A main research focus has addressed how religious beliefs, behaviors, and experiences vary across different social class contexts. Studies in this tradition draw on quantitative and qualitative data to illustrate such differences. Statistical studies have demonstrated economic and educational differences in patterns of an array of religious beliefs, religious service participation, and other religious behaviors, and especially social and political attitudes on everything from gay rights to gun control to political party preference. Qualitative work typically delves into the lived religious experiences of individuals from different classes as well as examining the ways in which religious expression is itself shaped by class cultures.
A significant portion of this type of research examines how religion impacts the life and work experiences of those at the bottom of the class hierarchy, the working and nonworking poor. Here the way that faith shapes how poor people view the challenges of their lives and their views of the larger society are particularly central concerns. Addressing a second related set of questions, researchers also examine how participation in religious communities contributes to forms of social mobility in terms of socioeconomic status indicators. Statistical analyses dominate in this area, illustrating how denominational affiliation and measures of religious belief and practice predict views regarding income and wealth accumulation, educational attainment, and occupational choice. Another distinct area of scholarship examines the role religion has played in shaping the history of capitalism and the dynamics of the traditionally understood industrial working classes and the organized labor movement. Here, too, scholars examine how working-class individuals use religion as a way to understand their work and the evolution of global capitalism. Labor historians in particular have examined historical and contemporary instances in which religious leaders and organizations play active roles in industrial conflicts.
Whichever route one takes to explore religion and social class, studying their intersections has been of longstanding interest to social scientists, historians, religious studies scholars, and theologians for more than a century. This article bridges these approaches and provides an overview of their complex intersections in contemporary social contexts.
Feeling of Emptiness and Religion in America
John Corrigan
As part of a broader turn in humanities scholarship toward emotion since the late 20th century, scholars of religion increasingly have explored how emotion has been a key component in the lives of religious Americans. The relation of emotion to religious ideas has been particularly important in this nascent scholarship. In exploring how emotions and religious ideas are intertwined, scholars have focused on emotions such as love, melancholy, fear, and anger, among others. However, for reasons having to do with the historiography of American religion, as well as with categories that have governed much academic study of religion in America, the feeling of emptiness, which is so crucial to understanding Buddhism, and other Asian religions, has been underestimated for its role in American religions. In America, the feeling of emptiness plays a central role in religious practice, community formation, and identity construction, among Christians (the religious majority) but also in other religious communities. This essay describes some of the ways in which the feeling of emptiness has been expressed in American religions, and in American culture more generally, comments on how it has been joined to certain ideas at various times, and suggests how it has played a central role in shaping relations between religious groups in a society where religion is disestablished. The approach here is eclectic, blending historical narrative with cultural analysis, and the essay proceeds thematically rather than chronologically. Focusing on the feeling of emptiness allows a fresh perspective on religious practice in America, prompts new questions about belief and community, and enables new lines of interpretation for the development of religious ideas in America. Christians, Buddhists, Jews, and other religious communities in America have distinct ways in which they interpret the feeling of emptiness as a spiritual phenomenon. Religious persons often conceptualize it as an emotional experience of great value. Among Christians, it is important as a sign of an emptying of the self of immorality, distractions, and worldly clutter in preparation for being filled with the grace of God. Accordingly, Christians and others in America have developed spiritual disciplines aimed at cultivating the feeling of emptiness and advancing it to a point where deep longing becomes deep fulfillment. Religious practices involving the body include fasting, which is emptying the body of food, and tears, which empty the body of fluids. Bloodletting is also a notable practice, and, for those who do not cut or otherwise make bloody sacrifice (including war and lynching), bloodletting nevertheless is revered as a model discipline of emptying. There are aspects of sexual practices and the performance of work that also are exercises in self-emptying. All such disciplines are expected to prompt and enrich the feeling of emptiness. The severe fast, the deep feeling of emptiness, the desperate longing, the distancing from God becomes, paradoxically, a drawing closer to God. From the earliest settlement of North America, white Europeans and their descendants constructed the emptiness of the land to match the emptiness of their souls. Americans claimed to feel space. They expressed the spiritual feeling of emptiness in ideas about North America as a barren desert, crying to be filled by colonists and their descendants. The Great American Desert, a fiction created in the early 19th century, was one way in which Americans continued to imagine space as empty and themselves, as God's exceptional nation, as the agents of fullness. American fascination with millennialism was a valorization of the fullness of eternity over the emptiness of history. Millennial movements and communities in America felt time as they did space, and when American Christians felt historical time they felt its emptiness. Americans have constructed elaborate and richly detailed depictions of the end as they look forward to a time when empty time will become eternity, fullness. Christian groups in America, populated by persons who cultivate emptiness, have defined themselves largely by saying what they are not. Both persons and communities, invested in the feeling of emptiness, mark personal and collective boundaries not by projecting into the social world a pristine essence of doctrine so much as by pushing off from other groups. Committed to emptiness, there is little to project, so the construction of identity takes place as an identification of Others. Such a process sometimes leads to the demonization of others and the production of identity through the inventorying of enemies.
Gender, Marriage, and Sexual Purity in American Religious History
Seth Dowland
Throughout American history, religious people and groups have developed, sustained, or challenged cultural norms around gender, marriage, and sexual purity. Beginning with the earliest English Protestant settlers in the 17th century, American Christians have devoted consistent attention to the proper roles of men and women, and to the proper functioning of families. Throughout American history, religious leaders have assigned men as spiritual leaders of their families. Assessments of women's piety—and its importance in maintaining social order—have grown more positive over time. Prophetic radicals and political activists have frequently challenged American Christianity by attacking its traditionalism on issues related to gender and sexuality. The ideal of a "traditional family" has, however, proven quite robust. Even as cultural attitudes around gender and sexuality have shifted dramatically in recent years, the presumption that typical American families are heterosexual, middle-class, and Christian has persisted. This presumption developed over time and has remained dominant owing in part to the contributions of American religious groups.
The Gift in Martin Luther's Theology
Bo Kristian Holm
In analyzing the role of gift and giving in Martin Luther's theology, one almost inevitably has to deal with the contrast between Marcel Mauss's description of archaic gift economy, where gifts and exchange are interconnected and gift exchange a total social fact, and Derrida's critique of Mauss for talking of anything else but the gift, since only a gift uncontaminated by exchange deserves the proper name "gift." Accordingly, any reading of Luther relating Luther's theology to the reciprocity of giving seems, from the outset, to grasp anything but the cornerstone of his theology: the justification by faith alone apart from works of the law. Nevertheless, scholars in the early 21st century have been discussing Luther as a theologian of the gift. Some defend a position according to which Luther's theology can only be rightly understood by maintaining that the divine gift is free and pure. Others argue that Luther's mature theology allows for an integration of some kind of exchange as a vital part of the very doctrine of justification.
In both cases, social anthropological gift studies can function as a lens for highlighting the heart of Luther's theology, either negatively by presenting the absolute opposite of Luther's understanding of divine giving in justification and creation or positively by revealing the very heart of the same. The young Luther vehemently criticized a piety regulated by economic principles and understood divine righteousness in contrast to human principles for righteousness. However, he soon began integrating reciprocal aspects from the traditional definition of righteousness into his doctrine of justification. This was possible due to an emphasis on the divine self-giving, revealed in Christ and slowly elaborated to cover Luther's understanding of the whole Trinity. In this move, Luther seemed to have been influenced by Roman popular philosophy, which was widespread in the late renaissance, but biblical passages emphasizing reciprocal justice also played an important role. Advocators for understanding Luther's theology from the perspective of inter-human gift exchange will argue that Luther's theology of the gift is intimately related to his use of the figure of communicatio idiomatum, which allows the giver to share his attributes with the receiver.
Hispanics and Religion in America
Kristy Nabhan-Warren
What is today known as U.S. "Hispanic" culture is in reality a diverse array of ethnic, regional, national, and religious peoples and communities. Hispanic Americans trace their lineage back to colonial Spain, and Spanish is a unifying language for Hispanic peoples around the world. When we turn our attention to the United States, from the 16th to the 18th centuries, Spanish colonizers, missionaries, and explorers alike made their mark in American territories such as Florida, California, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. The focus of this article will be Hispanic religions from the mid-19th century United States to the present. The invention of the designation "Hispanic" by the U.S. government in 1970 was an effort to identify individuals and groups who shared a common language, ethnicity, and cultural heritage. While we can certainly problematize the designation "Hispanic," for the purposes of this essay we will use the ethnic and cultural designation Hispanic as a rubric to unify Spanish-speaking and ethnically related individuals and groups in the United States. What is useful about identifying individuals and groups as Hispanic is that we are able to focus on shared linguistics, ethnic identities, and experiences that emerge out of the lived experiences of colonization. Yet the story of Hispanics and religions is one of triumph and empowerment too as men, women, and children turned to their families, faith, and communities to combat the ethnocentrically driven colonization in the United States that threatened to overwhelm them. What they received from extended families, faith, and communities was support that gave them strength to persevere and prosper in conditions that were sometimes unbearable.
As long as we keep in the mind that there are vast differences among and between Hispanic peoples and groups, the broad rubric of "Hispanic" can help us understand linguistic, ethnic, and cultural continuities among individuals and their larger communities in the United States. Recent global Hispanic events such as the 2014 fútbol World Cup helped bring attention to the ethnic, nationalistic, and linguistic similarities as well as the cultural diversity of Latin, Central, and South Americans. As much as there is a wide variety of Hispanic peoples and communities, so too is there a wide array of Hispanic religions and spiritualities. Latin, Central and South Americans increasingly make homes in the United States and add to the ever-emerging religious and cultural hybridity of U.S. religions. While the majority of U.S. Hispanics still identify themselves as Roman Catholic, there is a growing diversity of Catholic practices as well as broader religio-spiritualities among U.S. Hispanics. In order to understand contemporary lived realities among Hispanics, it is essential that we take a historical approach and study the deeper history of U.S. Hispanic religions and spiritualities. When we do, we are able to understand that openness to hybrid theologies, practices, and ways of being spiritual and religious are central to Hispanics' histories of perseverance and adaptation to a country that has not been overwhelmingly unwelcoming to them. When we study U.S. Hispanics and their religious and spiritual lives from the mid-19th century to the present, we are able to understand three mutually informing and overlapping historical continuities: (1) A legacy of colonization, transculturation and borderlands existence; (2) The creation of a borderlands religion that responds to the legacy of ethnocentrism and inbetweeness; and (3) The centrality of fe, familia, and communidad (faith, family, and community) that work as an organizing and empowering trifecta for U.S. Hispanics.
Liberalism in American Religious History
Matthew S. Hedstrom
Liberalism describes an interrelated set of political and religious frameworks that grew out of the Enlightenment and the English, American, and French revolutions, though the term itself dates only from the early 19th century. Liberalism values individual rights and freedoms, secular rule of law, and reasoned public discourse, and has become the dominant political and economic philosophy of the Western democracies. Critics argue that there are oppressions entailed in this dominance, especially for women and racial, religious, and sexual minorities—members of groups that stand outside liberalism's implicit, normative subjectivity—while proponents contend that liberal individualism has provided the conceptual framework for civil and human rights movements.
Liberalism has shaped religion in the West in two interrelated senses. As a political philosophy, liberalism considers religion to be a matter of personal conscience and free association, and advocates broad (if always imperfectly applied) religious freedoms. The religion clauses of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution represent the quintessential legal forms of liberalism regarding religion. Liberalism has also greatly shaped religious thought and practice, especially among European and North American Protestants. Religious liberals have sought to apply reason, modern scientific and scholarly advances, and notions of minority rights and freedom of conscience to theology and ethics. Religious liberalism has shaped mainline Protestantism and related religious movements such as Unitarianism and Quakerism most especially, but also laid the groundwork for the growth of post-Protestant and post-Christian forms of spirituality. Given the historic dominance of Protestantism in the United States, Protestant liberalism has determined the nature of American secularism and thereby required theological and political adaptation from religious minorities, most notably Roman Catholics and Jews.
Naikan: A Meditation Method and Psychotherapy
Clark Chilson
"Naikan" 内観 is a self-reflective form of meditation founded by Yoshimoto Ishin 吉本伊信 (1916–1988), who developed it from a lay Shin Buddhist practice called mishirabe身調べ. After Yoshimoto used it to help prisoners in the 1950s, psychiatrists in the 1960s started to use it as a psychotherapy. Today in Japan it is the most popular psychotherapeutic method that originated in Buddhism.
Naikan involves self-reflection on three questions: What have I received from a significant other? What have I given back to that person? What troubles and difficulties did I cause that person? People doing Naikan ask themselves these questions in relation to a family member or some other person during particular times in their lives.
There are two types of the practice: intensive Naikan (shūchū naikan集中内観) and daily Naikan (nichijō naikan日常内観 or bunsan naikan分散内観). The former is done continually for a week at a Naikan training center, of which there are about twenty-five in Japan and several outside Japan in Austria, Germany, and the United States. During intensive Naikan, those doing Naikan report individually eight or so times a day their answers to the three questions to an "interviewer" (mensetsusha面接者). Daily Naikan is done as part of a person's everyday normal routine for as short as a few minutes or as long as two hours a day. Intensive or daily Naikan is offered as a therapy at about twenty medical institutions in Japan and another fifteen in China.
Intensive Naikan is commonly done for one of four reasons. First, it is done to solve a specific problem, such as alcoholism, gambling addiction, a psychosomatic disorder, or a bad relationship with a family member. Second, it is used to train employees so they can interact better with customers and colleagues. The Toyoko Inn, for example, which has over 230 hotels throughout Japan, requires all its full-time employees to do intensive Naikan. Third, it cultivates greater self-awareness with regard to, for example, how our minds work. Finally, it is done to discover the true nature of our lives through a spiritual awakening, which commonly entails the realization of how we live due to the care of others and how we suffer because of our own self-centeredness. This final purpose is in accordance with Yoshimoto's view of Naikan as a method for learning how to live happily regardless of one's life circumstances. Those who do Naikan for non-psychotherapeutic purposes sometimes use the term "Naikanhō" 内観法 (Naikan method) to distinguish their aims from Naikan therapy (Naikan ryōhō) 内観療法, which is used to solve a particular problem. But regardless of whether Naikan is done for self-developmental, spiritual, or for therapeutic reasons, the Naikan method of reflecting on the three Naikan questions is the same.
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December 26, 2012 03:30 ET
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM--(Marketwire - Dec. 26, 2012) - British fashion retailer Next is excited to announce the launch of its End Of Season Sale for 2012. Online from December 24th and throughout UK stores from December 26th, Next will have absolutely all sale items half price or less.* From men's suits to women's dresses along with designer clothing, homeware and electricals, shoppers can browse hundreds of brilliant bargains online.
Next's 2012 sale will see at least 50% off selections from its clothing, homeware and branded collections. Both online and offline, there will be discounted women's clothing ranges from ladies coats to cardigans, jeans to jumpers and purses to party dresses. What's more, there will be offers on maternity, petite, tall and plus sizes.
Beautifully made children's, toddler and newborn baby sale items will include outerwear, dresses, knitwear, pyjamas and matching sets, as well as boys and girl's shoes at fantastic prices. From its menswear range, there will be low prices on tailoring, denim, tops, accessories and underwear.
As well as Next's own collections, there will be many designer brands online at discount prices - including Converse, Joules, Vans, adidas and Lipsy. Popular men's and women's fragrances will also join the sale at next.co.uk, with the likes of Issey Miyake, Diesel, Jean Paul Gaultier and Lacoste.
Next's homeware and electrical ranges will also be available to browse. Great offers will be found on bedroom furniture, sofas and chairs, tables, lighting and bedding products as well as soft accessories and artwork. Kitchen accessories will also be discounted, with Next's own well designed microwaves, toasters and kettles.
To shop the Next sale, go online at http://www.next.co.uk/sale/ or find your nearest UK Next store at http://www.next.co.uk/stores/.
*Excludes any product offered for Sale at Next Bathrooms, Hammonds, Photos, Domestic Appliances, Art2Order, Green Retreats, Made 2 Order, Flooring, Wine, Gift List, Flowers, House Signs, MusicDVD, Carpets, Magazines and Experience Websites.
About NEXT . . .
NEXT, established 1982, is a leading British brand offering stylish clothes and accessories for all the family - plus beautiful home furnishings too. Distinguished by its commitment to great design, quality and value, NEXT is today's go-to label for everything from tailoring and dresses to jeans and shoes.
NEXT's exclusive collections are now available at over 400 stores throughout the UK, ONLINE at NEXT.CO.UK and through NEXT DIRECTORY (0844 844 8000).
Media contactMatt King0116 284 firstname.lastname@example.com
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Aaron Bernardin
Director of Revenue Assurance
DIRECTV recaptures $10 million in revenue leakage using SAS
When it comes to white-hot competition, few market segments can match the rapid pace and intensity that television services providers face. Every day, DIRECTV must fend off a range of competitors attacking its preeminent position in the market, including Comcast, Dish Network, Apple TV®, Hulu, Netflix and more. To stay ahead of the competition, DIRECTV offers hundreds of channels, exclusive high-definition programming, sports subscriptions, digital video recording services, interactive games, and more for tens of millions of subscribers in the US and Latin America who use a growing number of viewing devices and interfaces in a growing range of locations.
As that business model becomes ever more complex, it creates the unwelcome possibility of "revenue leakage" – the unintended (positive or negative) variances in collecting revenue from customers. With so many customers, products, offers and channels, those opportunities are everywhere. According to Aaron Bernardin, Director of Revenue Assurance for DIRECTV, the challenge is to find and fix "the leaks."
"We have complex provisioning and billing systems that are used by nearly 20,000 customer service agents," he explained. "And at any point in time, we're offering dozens or hundreds of different promotions, offers, discounts, and modified pricing plans. When all of that comes together, you have the potential for errors in billing and payments."
The answer for DIRECTV lies in being able to sift through its myriad systems, promotions and pricing plans to identify gaps in the application of business rules. "We spend a significant amount of time understanding and deciphering these nested business rules," said Bernardin, "to ensure that we are billing customers appropriately and paying our vendors and suppliers properly as well. Underbilling becomes a revenue-loss issue, but overbilling becomes a customer-satisfaction/churn problem."
"The key is to not just identify revenue leakage but also uncover the root causes and work with the appropriate people in the organization to implement a systemic remedy. Once we resolve the problem, we regularly monitor it to ensure it doesn't flare up again."
We're a longtime SAS user, so when the Revenue Assurance department was launched a couple of years ago, SAS was the obvious choice. The technology for finding these revenue gaps is indispensable, and the people we work with are always responsive and helpful. And as the number of analysis scenarios climbs every week, we rely on SAS for high-performance responses to the greater number and greater complexities of our scripts.
Aaron Bernardin
SAS helps detect the problems
Since the inception of the Revenue Assurance department more than two years ago, DIRECTV has been applying SAS solutions to help validate many of the thousands of business rules that can apply to any customer's account. "If there's a particular service that we provide to a customer for a monthly fee, we use SAS to write scripts that pull relevant data from various databases, emulate business processes and match the results against business rules, allowing us to identify where there might be gaps," Bernardin said. "We want to always be sure that our bills are appropriate and accurate. This includes making sure customers are not overpaying for services. If we find that a customer does not have a particular service but is being billed for it, we work in the same manner using SAS to interrogate the various data sources, validate the rules, and address any problems we encounter."
One of the toughest challenges facing the Revenue Assurance team is simply staying abreast of the constant changes in those business rules. "We're a fast-paced company in a fast-changing industry," said Bernardin. "When the business changes, the underlying business rules change, so we're constantly developing new monitoring procedures to ensure our bills are accurate."
According to Bernardin, DIRECTV has a strong relationship with SAS, based on the value it has consistently provided the organization. "We're a longtime SAS user, so when the Revenue Assurance department was launched a couple of years ago, SAS was the obvious choice," he said. "The technology for finding these revenue gaps is indispensable, and the people we work with are always responsive and helpful. And as the number of analysis scenarios climbs every week, we rely on SAS for high-performance responses to the greater number and greater complexities of our scripts."
Moving to proactive analysis
Already, DIRECTV has identified significant gains that it attributes directly to the revenue assurance initiatives facilitated by SAS. "We regularly evaluate the ROI that we bring to the company," Bernardin said. "We measure that through hard dollars in the revenue we bring back to the company, and we also measure it through the inbound phone calls we prevent by identifying our overbilling situations. We're recovering more than $10 million (US business), annually, from our efforts in this area – money that goes straight to the bottom line."
As DIRECTV continues to identify and remediate any revenue-leakage gaps, the challenge is subtly shifting. "It actually becomes a little more difficult to spot additional revenue gaps as we move forward," said Bernardin. "We have millions of transactions on a daily basis and already use SAS Enterprise Guide to efficiently analyze that kind of volume. More importantly, though, we expect to use SAS to mine this data and help us proactively identify gaps and trouble spots before they happen. That's why we're eager to use SAS Enterprise Miner to build our predictive and descriptive capabilities. If we can remediate issues before they have an impact or identify a root cause sooner, we'll be even more efficient and generate even greater return."
In the competitive market for television services, DIRECTV offers a broad and changeable set of offers, promotions and pricing plans. It's critical to ensure that the company issues accurate bills for these services to prevent revenue loss and ensure customer satisfaction.
Recaptured more than $10 million annually through revenue assurance initiative; execute sophisticated promotions and pricing plans; increased confidence in invoice accuracy


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|"Philippe Mouawad (JIRA)" <j...@apache.org>
|[jira] Updated: (DBCP-294) Memory leak in XA Implementation
|Sun, 14 Jun 2009 15:16:07 GMT
[ https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/DBCP-294?page=com.atlassian.jira.plugin.system.issuetabpanels:all-tabpanel ] Philippe Mouawad updated DBCP-294: ---------------------------------- Environment: JDK5, Oracle 10G,Postgres 8.x (was: JDK5, Oracle 10G) Remaining Estimate: 52h Original Estimate: 52h > Memory leak in XA Implementation > -------------------------------- > > Key: DBCP-294 > URL: https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/DBCP-294 > Project: Commons Dbcp > Issue Type: Bug > Affects Versions: 1.3, 1.4, 2.0 > Environment: JDK5, Oracle 10G,Postgres 8.x > Reporter: Philippe Mouawad > Priority: Critical > Attachments: PoolableManagedConnection.java, PoolableManagedConnectionFactory.java, Test.zip, TransactionRegistry-patch.txt > > Original Estimate: 52h > Remaining Estimate: 52h > > Hello, > We are been using Ofbiz with DBCP based implementation. > Ofbiz uses a Head revision of DBCP (package org.apache.commons.dbcp.managed is the same as current TRUNK) and geronimo-transaction-1.0. > We are having recurrent OutOfMemory which occur on a 2 days basis. > I analyzed the Heap Dump and I think have found the source of the problem: > The Heap Dump shows a Retained Heap of 400Mo by org.apache.commons.dbcp.managed.TransactionRegistry#xaResources field. > After analyzing more deeply, the leak seems to come from what is stored in xaResources through > xaResources.put(connection, xaResource); > Values inside weak Hash map will never be removed since XAResource holds a STRONG reference on key (connection) through: > org.apache.commons.dbcp.managed.LocalXAConnectionFactory$LocalXAResource through: > public LocalXAResource(Connection localTransaction) { > this.connection = localTransaction; > } > Found in WeakHashMap javadoc: > Implementation note: The value objects in a WeakHashMap are held by ordinary strong references. >>>>>>>>>>>>>Thus care should be taken to ensure that value objects do not strongly refer to their own keys <<<<<<<<, either directly or indirectly, since that will prevent the keys from being discarded. Note that a value object may refer indirectly to its key via the WeakHashMap itself; that is, a value object may strongly refer to some other key object whose associated value object, in turn, strongly refers to the key of the first value object. One way to deal with this is to wrap values themselves within WeakReferences before inserting, as in: m.put(key, new WeakReference(value)), and then unwrapping upon each get. > Philippe Mouawad > http://www.ubik-ingenierie.com -- This message is automatically generated by JIRA. - You can reply to this email to add a comment to the issue online.
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text: Job Discussion Forums :: View topic - Cultural things I don't understand about the Philippines Get TEFL Certified & Start Your Adventure Today! Job Discussion Forums"The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Students and Teachers from Around the World!" FAQ Search Memberlist Usergroups Register Profile Log in to check your private messages Log in Cultural things I don't understand about the Philippines Job Discussion Forums Forum Index -> Philippines View previous topic :: View next topic Author Message ZackbackJoined: 21 Apr 2010Posts: 31 Posted: Mon Jul 26, 2010 12:35 am Post subject: Cultural things I don't understand about the Philippines 1. A severe lack of knowing how to stand in line properly. People cutting in front of each other seems so pervasive here. Have you ever seen what it is like going to the pharmacies? In fact, there is no line. People just walk up to the counter and whoever is the most vocal and/or waves their arms the most gets served first. 2. After unloading all their groceries at the check out instead of pushing their shopping cart through if they can carry their bags they just leave the shopping cart behind for the next customer to deal with. 3. Despite the law forbidding it and without much care if babies and/or people with breathing problems have to inhale their smoke they just smoke on the jeepneys anyway. 4. Pissing in eveyplace imaginable. I have never seen so many signs in my life that read "Bawal Umihi Dito" (Don't piss here). 5. Singing karaoke until the wee hours of the morning within many subdivisions without a care that it bothers others. Are they aware that there are singing rooms for this? 6. Saying nothing when other Filipinos walk around shirtless in places where it is not illegal but when I (an American) do I sometimes encounter hostility. 7. Letting their dogs wander anywhere. Why packs of dogs that have owners are allowed to roam freely is beyond me. One time walking by a house a few dogs came at me. When I complained about it the response was "Well the dogs were in front of their house" despite the fact they were in the (PUBLIC) street in front of the house. Back to top roymJoined: 17 Nov 2008Posts: 42 Posted: Thu Jul 29, 2010 10:21 am Post subject: Count yourself lucky...these are trivial things. Wait for the thieving and scamming to befall you... Back to top zipperJoined: 14 Dec 2009Posts: 237 Posted: Sun Aug 15, 2010 11:30 am Post subject: Wow! Nothing has changed there, I see. I served two years with US Peace Corps/Philippines back in the early 90's. Do Filipinos still yell out "Hey Joe! Hey man!"? Yeah the pharmacy stores were a great irritation for me, too. You can't touch or pick anything up to read it, and when you ask for something, they will all crowd around and check out what you are buying. It can get pretty annoying, but you'll have to get used to things if you want to remain sane. Yeah, pick pocking is prevalent there as well. I was robbed three times during my stint there. They are quite clever. It's best to wear a pouch bag around your waist with the pouch in the front covered by your shirt. Filipinos live pretty much a communal life, and so don't ever expect privacy there. Have fun. Back to top escapismJoined: 03 Mar 2010Posts: 3 Posted: Wed Aug 25, 2010 11:06 pm Post subject: Well you could be in the UK, where they have people employed full time to go around checking if your dustbin lid is ajar more than 3 inches - and then fine you, and we don't even have stray dogs! Or you could enjoy lovely summers where it rains all day every day and you have to turn the lights on in the daytime as it is too dark to see. And on top of this almost every penny of (many peoples) wages goes into bills so you can JUST about afford to survive (exist) in this wonderful land! (Can you tell I am going stir-bloody-crazy in this place? ) I used to get pissed off with all these little nuances when I lived in Thailand long term, but trust me I can't bloody wait until my only stress is the locals doing there thing in a pharmacy or whatever! Good night! Back to top Display posts from previous: All Posts1 Day7 Days2 Weeks1 Month3 Months6 Months1 Year Oldest FirstNewest First Job Discussion Forums Forum Index -> Philippines All times are GMT Page 1 of 1 Jump to: Select a forum Where to Begin----------------General DiscussionNewbie ForumCurrent Events ForumTechnology ForumOnline Teaching Forum Africa Forums----------------General Africa Forum Asia Forums----------------CambodiaChina (Job-related Posts Only)China (Off-Topic)Hong KongIndiaIndonesiaJapanMalaysiaPhilippinesSingaporeTaiwanThailandGeneral Asia ForumVietnam Caribbean Forums----------------General Caribbean Forum Europe Forums----------------Czech RepublicFranceGermanyGreeceItalyMacedonia and the BalkansPolandRomaniaRussia & C.I.S.SpainTurkeyUkraineUnited KingdomGeneral Europe Forum Latin America Forums----------------ArgentinaBrazilChileColombiaCosta RicaMexicoMexico (off-topic)PeruGeneral Latin America Forum The Middle East Forums----------------BahrainEgyptIsraelKuwaitOmanQatarSaudi ArabiaUnited Arab EmiratesGeneral Middle East Forum North America Forums----------------General North America Forum Oceania----------------Australia/New Zealand You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forumYou cannot edit your posts in this forumYou cannot delete your posts in this forumYou cannot vote in polls in this forum This page is maintained by the one and only Dave Sperling. 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Home › Classroom Resources › Calendar Activities
Calendar Activities See All Calendar Activities
Not your everyday calendar, here you can find important events in literary history, authors' birthdays, and a variety of holidays, all with related activities and resources that make them more relevant to students. View by day, by week, or by month.
April 7, 2018
Jazz and blues singer Billie Holiday was born in 1915.
Students listen to Holiday's song "Strange Fruit" and identify powerful and descriptive images for a mini-lesson on tone and about the lynchings in the South during this time.
Grades 9 – 12
Types of Calendar Activities
Authors & Texts
Birthdays, publication dates, and more
Historical Figures & Events
Notable people and happenings in history
Holidays & School Celebrations
Special days and how to observe them
Literacy-Related Events
Celebrations that promote and encourage literacy


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A post by Guest Blogger, Doug Miller, faculty member and New Media Manager at DePaul University.
Douglas Lee Miller – Chicago, IL | about.me
On Twitter: @douglasLmiller
Learning Outcomes Assessment: Step by StepPresenters: Gail Rooney and Julia Panke Makela, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Nothing says real world application like a "step by step" and this one was both useful and inspiring. What follows are brief notes on a much more complete presentation about the deployment of these learning outcomes assessments in a particular context. The hope is that these notes and their brief outline of the constituent parts my inspire you to learn more.
From the presentation:
First, as a framework, it is important to define assessment as a process that is continuous. It tells a story and shares the dual function of providing continuous service and celebrating achievement.
What can we assess? We can assess needs, participation, satisfaction, and learning. There are many different desired outcomes, but learning is at the heart of what we are about in career services.
To be a part of the core function, career services needs to think of themselves as learning partners. -Rooney
Learning outcomes focus on client experiences.
We measure what clients can know, do, demonstrate or feel. How have they changed?
Focus in career services is too often on process and not on the change we want to see happen in our client experience. The purpose of the learning outcomes assessment is to be able to measure the changes we see in the client experience and behavior as a result of interactions with particular learning elements.
The steps below shed light on the path to deploying some learning outcomes assessments and on some of the more important questions an institution my ask while deploying them. They also illustrate the cyclical nature of the process while illustrating the need to assess and revise.
Step 1 – Defining Context
Guiding Questions: Who is the audience? What are the circumstances?
Step 2 – Brainstorming Outcomes
Guiding Questions: What do you want your audience to be able to do, demonstrate, value, or feel?
Step 3a – Writing Outcome Statements
Formula = "Intended learners who take will be able to ."
Step 3b – Writing Outcomes Statements
Useful construct = Blooms Taxonomy
Step 4 – Connect Theory to Practice
Helpful Suggestion: Look for a rubric from the field and place it in your context.
Step 5 – Prioritize Learning Outcomes
Guiding Question: If you had to pick only 3 which would be most helpful? Most important to stakeholders?
Step 6 – Evaluate the Outcomes
Helpful Suggestion: The purpose is to make a judgement. Too often we just use surveys – examine some other tools that may add dimension to the common survey. Look for demonstrable behavior changes.
Step 7 – Reflect on Results and Process
Guiding Questions: What happened that you expected? What took you by surprise?
Step 8 – Use the Assessments
Guiding Questions: What are you going to keep, modify, discontinue, explore?.
Bloggers note: The above steps were presented in a specific context – resume – that made it fairly easy to translate client behavior changes into learning outcomes. This author can imagine more than a few contexts whereby charting the behavior changes would be difficult if not problematic, especially in the areas of so called "soft skill" development. Despite this, there were some healthy and creative suggestions offered up by attendees that included everything from video taping to web analytics.
Finally, the most important advice from Rooney in the session is to start soon, start small, and to start with what you know you do well and build out from there. Making learning outcome assessments work is not easy and requires constant fine tuning – but the end results are by their very nature measurable.
A last reminder of Rooney's mantra as you set to the task of creating your own learning outcomes assessment tools: what did we help our clients to do, demonstrate, value, or feel that was different than from before we interacted with them?
In this case Rooney prompted at least this author's learning to demonstrate the outcomes assessment as a process – specifically to go home and revise my next syllabus before next quarter begins.
For more information see the story below:
The National Career Development Association | Learning Outcomes Assessment Step-By-Step: The Story Behind NCDA's New Monograph


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all max weight?
Quote from: phisherman_77 on September 28, 2011, 09:23:02 AMall max weight?too heavy for you.
actually, the roc is just about perfect. i might have to grab myself another 11x. after i lost all of mine over the last few years, DX rocs have become the plastic of choice, but i still like a good ole 11x kc pro!


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Athletes & Hoes: Chad Johnson's Freaky Flick Partner Exposed As Tatted-Up, Caked-Out, Video "Model" Named "Wankaego"
Video Model Wankaego Exposed As Chad Johnson's Freaky Flick Partner
Viat FullCourtPumps
Earlier today, Chad admitted to being the "Johnson" in a leaked "adult film" he shot with some bangin' tattooed jawn.
Well, the identity of said jawn has been revealed and confirmed as a Florida-area model named Theresa "Wankaego" Runyon (@Wankaego on Twitter). According to the FCP report, she has covered Black Men's Magazine, Urban Ink, and also has aspirations to become (wait for it….) a rapper…SMH
Celebrity chop-downs are nothin' new to this broad as she has also been known to have dalliances with both Bow Wow and Waka Flocka Flame.
Wonder if these type of shenanigans are enough to keep Evelyn from considering an Ochocinco reunion?
Image via Tumblr/Black Men's Mag/Alex Tirado
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CUMBERLAND, Maine - The MIT men's cross country team took sixth place at the NCAA Division III New England Championship, hosted by the University of Southern Maine on Saturday. New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Runner of the Year, Hemagiri Arumugam, was the top overall finisher for the Cardinal and Grey, who matched the program's best finish at the meet since 2003, with 163 total points.
Arumugam navigated the eight-kilometer Championship course in 25:59.7, to place 20th overall. Paul Welle came through the chute directly behind him in 26:03.8. Gihan Amarasiriwardena turned in a time of 26:22.2 to take 37th. Dan Harper crossed the finish in 26:26.6, good for 41st overall. Bill Phipps (26:28.0) rounded out the scoring for Tech, coming through in the 44th position.
Williams College easily captured the team title with 53 points, well ahead of runner-up Amherst's total of 104. Williams' Edgar Kosgey was the Individual Champion for the second year in a row, breaking the tape in 25:16.2.


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CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – A pair of MIT track and field student-athletes were honored Monday as the Athlete of the Week by the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC). Senior Jamie Simmons (Carlsbad, Calif.) was named the NEWMAC Women's Track Athlete of the Week while junior Kyle Hannon (Park Ridge, Ill.) garnered similar recognition on the men's side.
Hannon had a personal best in the 1500m at the Larry Ellis Invitational over the weekend. The senior finished in 3:50.73, the fifth-best time in MIT history and the sixth-fastest in the country in 2012. Simmons won the 400-meter hurdles at Saturday's MIT Spring Invitational with a time of 1:01.89, the third-fastest time in Division III in 2012.
It was the second Athlete of the Week accolade or Simmons, who was previously recognized on April 2. Teammate Portia Jones (Queens, N.Y.) was honored by the conference a week ago. Hannon is the third Tech harrier to be tabbed as NEWMAC Track Athlete of the Week, joining senior Daniel Harper (Naperville, Ill.) and sophomore Tyler Singer-Clark (Falmouth, Mass.). Senior Chinedum Umachi (Detroit, Mich.) was named the NEWMAC Field Athlete of the Week on April 2.
Both squads will be defending their NEWMAC titles at the conference championship meet next weekend. The men are looking to win their 12th straight crown while the women hope to make it four in a row.


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Primal Instinct: 'Teen Wolf' Unleashes With Gay Sexy Times! (Video)
Nigel Campbell | July 9, 2013
From werewolves to vampires--it appears that TV's hottest supernatural shows are actively competing for our affections!!
We already brought you True Blood's oh-so-steamy gay shaving scene from this week's episode and now Teen Wolf steps up to the plate with some sexy werewolf loving!!
Check it out!
Who's winning this battle, Instincters?? (Let's be honest--there are NO LOSERS here.)
Also, this GIF is our happy place:
Image Source


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MenuDirections 2013: Day Two Highlights
Coming face-to-face with a pig's head adds clarity on FSDs' changing roles
It's not a routine conference when the speaker reaches for the severed pig's head on the counter and lifts off the face, explaining he'd carved it free earlier so he'd have time to saw apart the carcass that'd been parted from the skull ("The brain's still in there, but that's okay.")
Welcome to one of the more extraordinary sessions of Menu Directions 2013 and the lens it provides on how the food service director's job is changing. During one of the conference's 30-Minute Universities, Stephen Gerike of the National Pork Board broke down half a pig and a whole hog's head to show the audience where familiar pork specialties come from. In the process, he underscored how much more the FSD has to know today to do his or her job, a message that was sounded repeatedly from the stage and in casual conversations.
Clearly that responsibility extends far beyond feeding tens or hundreds of thousands of people per day. During the MenuDirections awards banquet, FSD of the Year candidate Eric Goldestein was lauded for serving almost 900,000 meals daily in New York City schools. But what drew gasps from the audience was the observation that he also oversees student transportation within the nation's largest school district.
In feedback to speakers and chatter during breaks, attendees noted that their responsibilities now extend to housing, laundry services and, perhaps most routinely, the concessions in stadiums and other facilities connected to a non-commercial foodservice operation. Once, the worry was making food look good on the line. Now, as West Point's Kevin D'Onofrio noted at one breakfast, it's adjusting to a game day snowstorm that cuts revenues from your stadium concessions by some 70%.
But it's not just a matter of new areas of responsibility being added. As the pig-carving 30-Minute University illustrated, FSDs need to know far more today about their core responsibilities of serving food. It's no longer merely a challenge of finding the "Peel Back Here" corner on frozen product. They need to have a grasp on where their food comes from, and what to do about dynamics like the surge in gluten-free dining.


text: Hi All, got a problem with my mail server. I´m using Debian 7 with dovecote, postfix. Used this tutorial. I read a lot of threads an a lot of google hits but now im running creazy I can receive mails but i cannot send any. Now community pls told me what you need from me that i can solve the problem.


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Sewage Facilities Planning Module Review for Onlot Sewage Systems.
That is a mouthful and it sounds complicated.
To some degree, it's very complicated.
But what it boils down to is not that complicated — economic damage to northeastern Pennsylvania.
— Sewage Facilities Planning Module Review for Onlot Sewage Systems.
That is a mouthful and it sounds complicated.
To some degree, it's very complicated.
But what it boils down to is not that complicated — economic damage to northeastern Pennsylvania.
At issue is the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) regulations which are now being considered. Those regulations focus on water quality and the impact to that water from septic systems in the state.
It was the subject of a meeting on Friday at Ehrhardt's Waterfront Resort which was attended by around 200 people, including all of the statewide elected officials from this region.
Currently, the new regulations are being considered by DEP. There is a 60-day comment period and that has to be the focus for the public, said Rep. Mike Peifer.
He said it is urgent that members of the public make comments about the regulations in order to get their views expressed to those in charge.
Those comments can be made directly to DEP.The website is http://www.depweb.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/dep_home/5968.
"This issue is critical to this region," said Eric Ehrhardt, who moderated the meeting and is a Palmyra Township supervisor.
He also asked an interesting question: "Why is DEP not here?"
Ehrhardt answered his own question: "That's a good question."
He then reflected back a year when DEP Sec. Michael Krancer was at Ehrhardt's for a meeting and he was asked specifically about regulations which relate to groundwater and construction matters.
Ehrhardt said Krancer "basically ignored us and talked about the governor's budget."
Ironically, during the meeting, a press release was issued by the governor's office announcing that Krancer is resigning from office on April 15. When it was announced later in the meeting, it was met with a big round of applause.
Will Whitehead, a senior environmental scientist at Kiley Associates, told the audience the issue comes down to "special protection waters."
Those waters are "high quality" and "exceptional value" as defined by DEP.
As Whitehead pointed out, that covers nearly everything in Wayne and Pike counties.
And it could mean a big impact on new developments in this region.
Whitehead said what has brought the issue to this point is a court case involving a subdivision development in Berks County. DEP was sued over the decision it made in issuing permits and lost the case.
That, says Whitehead, is when "buffers" were brought "into the picture."
Under the rules, there has to be a 150-foot buffer zone between the septic system and any stream. That even includes ditches which may only run after a rainstorm.
In some cases, the buffer zone has to be a forrest, which he said could add great expense for property owners.
The focus of the proposed rules is the reduction of nitrates in surface waters. Many who talked on Friday said that is not a problem in this part of the state.
Whitehead said these rules would apply to single-family homes and the remedies to meet the rules would cost up to $10,000 to install various systems. There would also be ongoing maintenance costs.
There are also "best management practices" which have to be followed, which could also be costly to developers and landowners.
Whitehead said it would "limit your development."
Justin Hoffman from Kiley Associates also addressed the audience.
"Part of the motivation of this policy, in my opinion, is to regulate development," said Hoffman.
He then presented a case study which focused on the Namanie Village, a subdivision on Route 507 next to Lake Wallenpaupack.
Had the new rules been in place, Hoffman said the subdivision would never have taken place because of costs.
The requirements to apply buffers and setbacks, along with other rules, would have meant an additional $3.2 million to the developers. That, he said, means the project would not have been developed.
Hoffman also gave an example of a small development in Palmyra Township in Wayne County. In that case, it is 1.3 acres and would be a commercial development.
Because it is proposing to have two restrooms, that puts the requirements to a new level because of the amount of daily water discharge.
He said under the DEP's requirements, the "project could not be approved."
Hoffman also pointed out the new rules would force people to "look at land anywhere within a thousand feet of your land." That means adjoining land would have to be considered.
"Is this a taking of your property?" he asked.
Also speaking was Tom Reilly, president of Reilly Associates.
Reilly has been involved in commercial and industrial project development for 30 years. He said companies "choose locations" based on the "costs of regulations."
Should these go into effect, he said development would essentially grind to a halt.
Reilly also said there are currently petitions being circulated to "make all of the Upper Delaware" region as "exceptional value" water.
"I believe the push is coming from people who do not live around here," said Reilly.
Those people, he said, are against hydrofracturing for natural gas.
But, he said, even without fracking, the economic impacts of such regulations would devastate development in this region.
The next speaker was Brian Oram, a professional geologist from B.F. Environmental Consultants.
"The thing that fries my butt," began Oram, is the focus of the regulations are about nitrates. He also said the regulations don't specify any difference between exceptional value and high quality streams, although there is a difference.
"I believe we do need a policy," said Oram, "because the DEP can't fight themselves out of a wet paper bag."
Oram had several charts and graphs which outlined nitrate facts.
He said the largest percentage of nitrates come from agriculture uses and the second highest source is from the atmosphere. That comes in the form of rain which transfers nitrates all around the globe.
Only 4 percent of nitrates come from septic systems, he said.
In talking about the case in Berks County, Oram said the judge was "appalled" by "DEP's lack of science."
He also said that DEP "does not have a good track record" when it comes to lawsuits.
Oram said that nitrate levels in northeast Pennsylvania are very low.
"If nitrates were the problem, the streams would be loaded," said Oram. "Are they? No."
He said acceptable levels of nitrates are 10 milligrams per liter but the DEP "is talking zero."
Oram said any rules from DEP "should be made on science and facts," something he said is lacking with this proposal.
He also pointed out that townships, counties and boroughs are going to feel a big impact because not only will the regulations have to be followed, there will have to be constant inspections to make sure they are up to code.
"You are going to be hit with a big burden," said Oram.
He feels the proposal is written "for the highest needs" and that simply does not apply to this region.
"We forget about history," said Oram, pointing out that agriculture use was a big factor for causing nitrates but those have been reduced greatly over the past couple of decades.
But Oram's biggest beef is the fact he thinks DEP isn't using science, saying there is "the absence of actual data."
In summation, Oram said the proposal is "creating a future headache."
Also on hand for the meeting was Rep.David Maloney who represents the Berks County region where the lawsuit set these proposals in motion.
Regarding that court decision, he said "it is not science based at all."
Maloney said his wife's family has had an issue with DEP in trying to develop her family's estate. He said they have yet to get the permits to subdivide the land because of regulations.
Sen. Lisa Baker said now is the time for people to take action on this issue.
She called the policy "bad for our communities and our region."
Baker said it is "fixing a problem that does not exist. We need to scrap the policy and we need to start over."
She also said the legislature needs to "look at creating a statute" that deals with how policies are developed and how the public is informed.
Wayne County Commissioner Brian Smith also spoke to the audience. Smith has been instrumental in getting the experts and elected leaders together in addressing this issue.
"This is a huge problem," said Smith.
Smith blames "extreme environmentalists" for pushing these kinds of policies.
He believes those people, many of whom he said are from the Philadelphia area, "want to use this (region) as a playground. They don't want development. We have to start standing our ground."
He also urged people to "don't agree to things that don't make sense."
At the close of the meeting, Smith issued a challenge to the governor's office, which did have a representative at the meeting.
"I am publicly asking the governor's office for a public hearing by DEP in this region," said Smith.
That hearing, he said, should happen "before this policy is ever implemented."


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Writer/Director Christopher Nolan's final 3rd part to his Batman trilogy is now playing in theaters. Having seen it twice this weekend just as my own personal FU to the Aurora shooter, here's my review. It focuses more on the philosophical themes of the film.
The basic plot is easily explainable: A mysterious revolutionary named Bane shows up at the head of his own private army which he claims has been created from the poor and downtrodden living in poverty underneath Gotham. He proceeds to start a 'French Revolution' style takeover of the city after launching a series of devastating attacks, which draw Bruce Wayne's Batman out of retirement.
John Nolte sums the film up brilliantly in one sentence in his own review over at Big Hollywood:
"Rises" is about many things, but it is mostly about a rousing defense of an America under siege by a demagogue disguising his nihilistic rage and thirst for revenge and power as a noble quest for equality.Say...does that sentence remind you of a certain politician who's made it his personal mission to 'transform' America while talking about 'fairness' & 'equality' all the time?
When the film begins Bruce Wayne is a secluded cripple, needing to use a cane after too many injuries while helping to finally get Gotham cleaned up and safe.
Thanks to the Harvey Dent Act, Police Commissioner James Gordon (Gary Oldman) has locked away the cities most dangerous criminals. Peace and safety have been achieved, but we see Gordon struggling with having achieved this positive result based on a lie. At a yearly commemoration of Dent he plans to finally come out and tell the truth, but changes his mind at the last moment, tucking his planned confession notes back into his jacket pocket.
Through subsequent events, that confession falls into the hands of Bane, who decides to reveal the truth to the citizens of Gotham to further his own plans of causing chaos.
Bane is a composite of a lot of leaders that promise an egalitarian utopia to the masses that turn out to be anything but what was promised.
Those who hold up the French Revolution as a positive thing don't know much about it. The French Revolution led to a horrific bloodbath that culminated in a military dictatorship that led to fun military conquests & wars all over Europe and extending down South as far as Egypt. Yeah. Real swell outcome there. France didn't get anything even remotely close to a democracy or a republic until all the French revolutions aholes were long dead. We're talking like 3 or 4 decades.
Like the French Revolution, Bane convinces many the rich in the city can't be part of their new order, resulting in show trials that are presided over by madman Jonathan Crane aka 'The Scarecrow', who obviously relishes his new role. Having just left a century in which one class warfare demagogue after another turned it into history's worst bloodbath, we should all know this agenda quite well by now. So WHERE things are going is no surprise, it's how they get there that Nolan excels in setting up and revealing his story.
Bane does deliver what he promised - equality...but it's equality in squalor & misery. The rubes fall for it like they always do, easily talked into believing the present capitalist system that requires hard work to achieve success is inherently unfair because THEY didn't succeed in it.
Newsflash to the clueless: just because YOU did not succeed in the present system does not ipso facto prove it is unfair in any way. ANY system that does not guarantee equality of outcome by making everyone financially equal is inherently 'unfair' because SOME will ALWAYS work harder, longer and smarter than others. And guess what? There has NEVER been such a system in all of human history. Each new Utopian scheme is literally trying to do the impossible.
There is no escaping this. It's human nature.
The only way you can create a system in which all are exactly equal financially is to remove all differences between people that cause some to rise above others through their own self-initiative. It results in a lowest-common denominator leveling of every one.
This is why each insane utopian scheme ever since the French Revolution has involved forcing people to dress & act & live EXACTLY ALIKE, with individual expression, freedom and 'wrong' choices all forced out or at least underground.
Mad utopian schemes always result in elites at the top trying to rigidly force human nature into their little predetermined boxes. And if you can't or won't fit into the little box the elites have prepared, then there's no place for you in the new 'utopia' they are building.
It is arrogant beyond belief. People who try it need to be scorned, ridiculed, mocked and resisted to the last breath. It is a denial of what makes us all human, and it's the deliberate attempt to remove liberty and freedom of individual choice for the 'common good'.
Success in life & equality are NOT the same thing. Progressives have made a cottage industry out of deliberately conflating the two.
They know they will never get anywhere making the insane demand of "I demand the Government make me successful!" so pull a rhetorical trick by saying "I demand the Government make me EQUAL to the successful by pulling them down to my level. Because it's only fair."
Utopian elitists believe everybody should be 'guaranteed a sufficient living' by the State apart from their own efforts or abilities.
But some people want MORE than a 'sufficient living'. And they have the intelligence, ambition and drive to put in the hard work and longer hours to make it happen.
Elite progressives always try to explain this crucial human difference in moral language that reflects badly on the successful. That people who got wealthy some how cheated or robbed other people to get where they are, so it's only fair they be pulled down into 'equality' with those who never even tried for an exceptional life.
In his new film, Nolan does an exemplary job of truly displaying just how empty and stupid this kind of thinking is.
Naturally he's being attacked in some quarters for doing so. The movie reviews at Slate.com and The Guardian both accuse TDKR of 'perpetuating a conservative agenda'. [Wonder how many times those reviewers have accused a new film of perpetuating a LIBERAL agenda?]
In fact, the OWS-like 'create a fair utopia' scheme Bane uses to pander to people is shown in the final quarter of the film to be nothing more than a COVER STORY for his REAL intentions.
This is where Talia Al Ghul reveals herself and tells a stunned Batman that he's actually been fighting a reformed League of Shadows and that she's the daughter of his nemesis from the first film, Ras Al Ghul. Turns out she & Bane's plan has ALWAYS been to destroy Gotham, just like her father intended, so this has really all been about paying Batman/Bruce Wayne back and fulfilling her daddy's original agenda.
So while the film DOES make valid points about Utopian revolutionary movements, it also makes the point that people who use these kind of schemes always have a darker agenda working behind the scenes, but they hide this agenda from their adoring throng until AFTER they have the power they want.
As for the film itself, the supporting cast is superb. Anne Hathaway is so enigmatic as Selina Kyle, slinky, sexy thief extraordinaire, that it takes a very strong performance from Christian Bale to keep her from stealing the movie.
Kyle's Catwoman is the moral center of the film, as we watch her go from believing herself to be assisting in a Robin-Hood-style overthrow of an unjust society by robbing from the evil rich to give to the simon-pure poor to realizing she's helped unleash a monster on innocent people and needs to make amends.
Early in the film Kyle tells Bruce Wayne a statement that perfectly encapsulates class warfare thinking, in which she tells him the rich of Gotham had better batten down the hatches because a storm is coming, and when it arrives they'll all be wondering how they could live so well while leaving so little for everybody below them.
This is a classic exposition of the 'zero-sum' belief about wealth creation; that if you earned $1,000,000 in wealth for yourself, that left a bunch of other people collectively $1,000,000 poorer. Progressives know their class warfare BS can only be believed as long as people buy into the concept that success in life is a zero-sum proposition & the capitalistic system is rigged on the basis of gender, sex, race and class.
If some guy never applies himself, barely graduates from high school, meanders around and takes low paying jobs and never gets more than $20,000 in a year, while one of his classmates who became the same high school's valedictorian, put himself through college while working a job, then put in 4 years in law school or 8 years of medical school, so that when they hit 40 years of age one is still pulling in $20,000 a year but the other is making $200,000 a year, can you HONESTLY say 'society' has been 'unfair' to one of them?
Progressives actually believe that they can say this, that 'yes, society has been unfair to one of them.'
Trying to build a society based on envy and resentment of those more successful than others always results in unleashing a monster that leaves nobody better off. Kyle figures this out too late, but not so late as to help undo what she helped cause.
Nolan handles the confrontations between Batman & Bane creatively. There is a kinetic energy to the fights that many films try for and fail to achieve. Tom Hardy as Bane has most of his face obscured by the voice projector Bane wears, and so makes good use of his eyes to convey the characters rage and fanaticism.
As an action film it works if you choose to totally dispense with any kind of message or deeper themes, but Nolan does have much thought-provoking exposition in this film. Is a society where it's up to individual choice in taking risks and effort to determine your level of financial success a fair society? Or is a society where such things are determined for you by a strong leader 'better'?
In his 3 Batman films Nolan has brought Gotham's Dark Knight face to face with 3 real threats to a societies well-being:
A League of Shadows that turned out to be ruthless fanatical vigilantes who kill the innocent along with the guilty, who are convinced Gotham can't be saved,
An anarchist who just wants to watch the world burn, to tear down Gotham's moral core and replace it with chaos because chaos is 'fair',
A Utopian revolutionary who claims he wants to sweep out an old order of inherent injustices & corruption and bring about 'fairness & equality'.
Each threat forces the citizens of Gotham & it's dark protector to confront the basic beliefs that holds them together. Civilization is a fragile thing. It's not man's natural state and maintaining a society of just laws is hard work because there will always be people out there trying to attack it because they are convinced they have a better way.
It always starts with convincing enough people the present order is corrupted and unfair to the point it can't be saved or fixed and just needs to be swept away and replaced with something new.
At the end of the film we see the fight against such people never really ends, and Bruce Wayne knows this. And so John Blake, the intrepid patrolman we see heroically putting his life on the line for others repeatedly throughout the film, gets rewarded with becoming Gotham's new Dark Knight.
Nolan is a big enough film maker that while most of Hollywood is churning out nihilistic crap he's not afraid to explore and even defend the big themes that hold American society together. And he pulls it off brilliantly.
This is a film I can give the highest recommendation to anyone. I give it a solid 9/10.


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BRISTOL — Thanksgiving lunch at Bristol Elementary School this year was the traditional meal it is every year: turkey, stuffing, potatoes, gravy, corn, rolls, pickles, cranberry sauce and good friends.
However, in one big way, the meal was quite different. The students in Ms. Murnane's fifth- and sixth-grade class had a dream to make this annual event completely garbage free. With the help of Kristen Andrews, education coordinator for the ANESU Food Service Cooperative, and the BES kitchen staff, the students very nearly achieved that goal.
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Quick Start: Portrait Photography
Wednesday, January 23
12:00 p.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Apple Mall of the Emirates
Go to My Reservations to cancel your reservation
Practice hands-on techniques for capturing beautiful portraits with iPhone. We'll explore how to frame your subject with light and create an interesting composition in this 30-minute session.
Mall of the Emirates
Al Barsha 1