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A few months ago I started a new project called the Daily Psychedelic Video, a site which explores psychedelic aesthetics and features a psychedelic video each day. Since then I have be joined with 5 other visually literate psychonauts who now contribute to the site with the aim of creating a bank of high quality psychedelic videos available to anyone with an internet access. In fact the site has turned into a kind of modular psychedelic movie show, a kind of one stop-shop for other states of consciousness.
So here are a few of my favorite clips of the last months with links to the original posts made by the contributors which contain more information about the clips:
1. The ultimate trail clip (Link)
2. Pyschedelic Takashi Murakami (Link)
3. Chemical Brothers – Let Forever Be (link)
4. The most psychedelic buildings ever (Link)
'YEKPARE' (monolithic) from nerdworking on Vimeo.
5. Birdy Nam Nam (Link)
6. Ecstatic Computer Game Psychedelia (Link)
7. Everything is alive (Link)
8. Muslim Psychedelia (Link)
9. Organic Feedback meditation (Link)
10. Flying Lotus - MmmHmm Music (Link)
10. Flying Lotus - MmmHmm Music (Link)
12. An really beautiful movie about 60's psychedelic animator Ryan Larkin (Link)


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Currency Wars: The Phantom Financial Menace
By Giordano Bruno
Neithercorp Press
War, almost every kind of war, is first and foremost a production. A piece of live-action theater with "good guys" and "bad guys" delineated by governments and by media for the benefit of the masses. Most plot-points in most modern conflicts are not genuine. They are written and staged (Gulf of Tonkin, or WMD's in Iraq anyone?), though we treat the fairytale as if it were reality simply because the story is being told by some corporate mouthpiece wearing a fake smile and a suit on our TV. Very often, we discover after the fact that the wars we witnessed in the dark shadows of our cultural cinema with greasy popcorn and mega-large soda in hand were actually a charade, a farce. We get angry, we get livid, and then we go on with our menial lives because the "damage is done" and what can we do about it now anyway? Very rarely in history do the majority of people have the ability or occasion to see the authentic war going on right in front of their eyes, between the social puppeteers, and those who have broken loose from their strings.
Today, we as Americans have a rare opportunity to step outside the theater, away from the fabricated pageantry of a particular conflict barreling down the horizon, and examine the situation objectively before it fully develops. That conflict is the now increasingly aggressive "global currency war" being readied for implementation and public consumption at this very moment.
The Rest…HERE

subset: commoncrawl


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Why is the real world economic life of the wind farms roughly half the industry-claimed 25 years? See the 52-page Renewable Energy Foundation report "The Performance of Wind Farms in the United Kingdom and Denmark". There's a bit of math and statistics — the details are in the Appendix: Data and Methods.
There isn't much data yet on offshore wind — but what data we do have should give pause to the government planners counting on enormous investments in new offshore wind farms.
For the United Kingdom the raw data were extracted from the Renewables and CHP Register database compiled by Ofgem. This government data is used in the administration of the market in Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROCs, otherwise known as transfers from taxpayers to wind operators).
The data for Danish wind farms used in this study comes from a database compiled by the Danish Energy Agency covering the characteristics and performance of all wind turbines from 2002 up to the end of August 2012.
The decline in operational performance is empirical fact. As I read the data the rate of degradation is not improving with newer generations. The technology is mature so I would expect initial performance to be worse as the best sites are populated first.
The causes of degradation from initial power-on are likely a combination of industrial aging (vibration which increases rate of bearing wear, etc), blade performance degradation due to chips, dings and accumulated coatings of bird and bat bits, and downtime. Usually aging equipment needs more servicing so you observe increasing outages of longer duration. Vestas and GE probably have good data on the performance degradation, but it isn't obvious why they would be motivated to publicize what they know. They get paid at both ends, initial sale, replacement turbines and other parts.
I don't know how much the operators care as the taxpayer subsidies are so high they make money no matter what. If the subsidies went away the whole "industry" would evaporate except special cases where the reliable grid is distant from demand while the supply of high quality wind is close to site of demand. And there is nearby hydropower which can be tapped for cheap backup storage.


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Harley- Davidson has accepted a $12-million slap on the wrist from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over purported "defeat device" sales for its motorcycles.
The news comes as the much-bigger dust cloud is settling from the Volkswagen diesel scandal which has cost VW AG billions with global recalls, and which has prompted regulators around the world to probe deeper into other companies' doings.
"Given Harley-Davidson's prominence in the industry, this is a very significant step toward our goal of stopping the sale of illegal after-market defeat devices that cause harmful pollution on our roads and in our communities," said John Cruden, head of the Justice Department's environmental and natural resources division.
The implications of H-D'S agreement with authorities for other companies is not yet clear, but prominent and profitable Harley-Davidson was made an example of over what has widely been a gray area in regulatory enforcement.
At issue with the H-D case is a civil settlement – in which Harley-Davidson admitted no wrong in a "good faith compromise" – has mainly to do with aftermarket parts purportedly for racing and off-road use only.
These components – 340,000 "Screamin' Eagle" tuning kits sold since 2008 permitting higher than allowable emissions – were the test case with which the EPA made an example of H-D, along with more than 12,600 motorcycles not covered by an EPA certification.
Harley-Davidson was required by the EPA to stop selling its super tuners by Aug. 23 which allow increased power and performance at the expense of fuel economy and emissions. H-D is to spend an additional $3 million on an unrelated project to curb air pollution. Motorcycles generally have fewer emissions controls than automobiles and trucks.
Otherwise, for vehicles of the two- and four-wheel variety, the disclaimer of "off-road use only" or for "racing only" stamped on performance parts including tuning accessories and exhaust systems has for decades been a point of mixed enforcement. In cases, consumers have been known to install components on cars, trucks, or motorcycles intended for road use with a wink and a nod if they feel enforcement will not likely be applied to them.
In targeting Harley-Davidson, the Justice Department and EPA indicated it is on the look-out by going after the American brand which "enjoys prominence in the industry, calling this a "very significant step" in closing perceived loopholes that threaten illegal emissions.
"This settlement immediately stops the sale of illegal after-market defeat devices used on public roads that threaten the air we breathe," said Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance.
Whether federal authorities are investigating anyone else in the multi-billion aftermarket tuning industry for motorcycles or cars and trucks was of course not stated.
Automotive News (subscription)


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Beverly Knight has been in the UK music game for a hot minute, although she might not be that known to us in the US. Not only is her debut album, 1995's The B Funk considered a classic, but she has been able to transcend beyond music to stage and screen. Beverly just dropped her 6th studio album (which may or may not see the light of day over here), with a new more electro-pop sound.
The track "In Your Shoes" is a upbeat modern disco anthem, with powerful vocals and rap accompaniment by UK rapper Chipmunk. I could seriously see this track rocking US dancefloors. Let just hope it makes it across the pond! (via Soul Culture UK, which also had a very nice Beverly Knight interview)


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Heather Sargent is a freelance writer and mother who believes in the motivating power of coffee and deadlines. Her work has been published in the Sasquatch Review and more recently in The Pitkin Review and on DarWrites. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Goddard College where she was also an Associate Editor for The Pitkin Review.
She can often be found at her desk alternating between reading, writing, and mimicking the sounds of Facebook games. Of the things she does well, knowing the day of the week is not one of them, but she always finds time for family and friends. Heather is most interested in hybrid writing and works spotlighting social justice issues as she believes them to be important for current and future generations.


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William was serving as a Private with the 61st (South Gloucestershire) Regiment of Foot and is reported to have died in Kussowlie.
A website says:
The 61st (South Gloucestershire) Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, created in 1758 and amalgamated into The Gloucestershire Regiment in 1881.
The 61 was despatched to India in 1845, and did not return home until 1860. Duting this period it took part in the Sikh War, fought at Sadoolapore, Chillianwallah, and Goojerat, was engaged in the frontier war near Peshawur in 1851, and finally at the siege of Delhi during the Mutiny.
I need to do more research but this may explain why a William born in Cheltenham did not appear on census records after 1841. The Glosters Museum is due a visit I think.


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Girls can express their love to that special boy in their life on Valentine's Day, but it is not as simple as that. There are different types of chocolate giving on Valentine's Day. These include:
Giri-choco (義理チョコ) obligation chocolate given to male friends, work mates, family and bosses. Giri means ("obligation") in Japanese and choco, ("chocolate"). There is no romantic association with giri-choco and it is just chocolate that you have to give to people. These are usually ordinary, inexpensive store brought chocolate and can range in price from 100 yen to 500 yen.
|Various Chocolates on display in a Department Store
Honmei-choco (本命チョコ) chocolates for that special one who you want to express your love to such as boyfriend, lover or husband. This type of chocolate is special, so it is usually handmade by the girls themselves or is a really expensive chocolate from a store, often presented together with a gift. You are very lucky if you can get honmei-choco on Valentine's Day!
|There are lots of different types ranging from the cheap to very expensive
Tomo-choco (友チョコ) this is chocolate that girls give to friends and is usually inexpensive. This kind of chocolate has become more popular in Japan in recent years.
Jibun-choco (自分チョコ) chocolates that girls just buy for themselves. Sometimes it's nice to treat yourself to something special.
|Nama chocolate is always a popular choice for Valentine's Day in Japan
Chocolate is the most popular gift for Valentine's Day in Japan. Other popular gifts include cookies and small cakes. The department stores and supermarkets will be fully stocked with all sorts of chocolate days and weeks before the actual day. There are usually long queues at the stores in the days leading up to Valentine's Day.
Mr Donuts and Krispy Kreme in Japan also had several special donuts on sale just for Valentine's Day. Mr Donuts had ハートチュロ (Heart Churros) and ふんわりハート(Soft Heart) donuts. Both were very good and extremely sweet.
|Mr Donuts Heart Churros
|Mr Donuts Soft Heart Donut
This year, I also heard about "Valentine's Insurance" in Japan. A guy can take out an insurance policy if he feels like he might not receive any chocolates on Valentine's Day. A box of chocolates will arrive in the mail and he can feel that little bit special on the day.
I hope you had a great Valentine's Day this year wherever you are in the world.


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Charlotte Casiraghi and her boyfriend Gad Elmaleh have named their newborn son Raphaël, according to Monaco's royal palace.
The 27-year-old beauty gave birth to the couple's first child on Tuesday evening in Monaco's Princess Grace Hospital.
Raphaël's birth was announced by the president of the National Council, Laurent Nouvion, at a late meeting of the High Assembly. "The royal family has a new member," he said.
Princess Charlene and Prince Albert of Monaco were the first visitors to congratulate Charlotte and see baby Raphaël in hospital, in the same maternity ward where Charlotte herself was born.
The royal family requested the "Suite Maternité" — a 70 square metre bedroom with a bathroom, living area and state-of-the-art technology — for Charlotte.
French comedian Gad, who has a 12-year-old son named Noé from his previous relationship with actress Anne Brochet, has no doubts that his girlfriend will be an excellent mother.
"Charlotte is very intelligent and has a great sense of humour," Gad told PEOPLE. "She's doing well and is so excited about becoming a mother.
"She will be the best mother in the world because she's generous and loving. She has all the right qualities to be a good mother.
Gad, 42, also spoke about the first time he met Charlotte in 2011.
"We don't have a crazy love story, nor a fairytale," he admitted. "The most beautiful stories are the ones that are real. The great thing is that we were friends before.
"When you know someone first as a friend, you get to know them and you talk a lot, and then you really understand who the other person is."
The actor has been lovingly welcomed by Charlotte's family and it seems that the royal's mother, Princess Caroline of Monaco, has developed a soft spot for her daughter's boyfriend and loves to laugh at his jokes.
The couple has previously denied rumours that they are engaged, with Gad saying that "maybe one day" it would happen.


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Welcome to the Loblolly Railway!
An East Texas Tradition Since 1999
Located in the piney woods of East Texas around the town of Longview, a group of individuals have made a small impact on the communities in which they live and work.
This group of men from Nacogdoches to the South; Tyler, Big Sandy, then Mineola to the West and Shreveport-Bossier City, LA to the East have one common interest. Their common bond? Toy Trains! 3-rail, O gauge, toy trains.
Billed as the only traveling 3-rail, O-gauge, railroad display between Shreveport, Dallas, Houston and somewhere in Oklahoma, this group of men demonstrate toy trains to young and old alike. While others have standoff ropes or plastic shields around their layouts or the display is too high for little kids to stand and look at, The loblolly Railway chose to have their train display at table top height with no ropes.
The crew of the Loblolly Railway encourage the youngsters to get up close and experience the fun and excitement of toy trains. They caution the youngsters to not touch with their hands but look and see all the wonderful scenes that the displays have to offer.
Based out of Longview, Texas, the Loblolly Railway has been making a contribution to the community and those children and adults who love trains--real or toy.
Their goal, "Bring the excitement and fun of toy trains to the community in which they live by sharing their hobby."
Who are we?


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Chaoshifa and Lawson link up to launch 24-hour convenience stores aimed at Millennials
Retail veteran Chaoshifa Market has been given a new lease of life.
The Beijing-based supermarket chain caters for middle-aged and senior citizen Customized Houston Texans Jersey customers, and has been operating in local communities since 1997.
But this month the group opened three, small outlets in Beijing with the Japanese convenience store franchise, Lawson China Holdings Inc, in a bid to attract Millennial shoppers and white collar workers.
"Young consumers have grown into the habit of shopping at convenience stores,Customized Indianapolis Colts Jersey pushing the fast development of such formats," said Li Yanchuan, chairman of Chaoshifa.
With 7,000 employees and more than 100 supermarkets, the group is ranked in China's top 500 chain-store enterprises and has a wealth of retail experience.
Last month, Chaoshifa and Lawson signed a cooperation agreement, with the Beijing group supplying the outlets and the Japanese company operating them.
The plan is to have 10 24-hour convenience stores in place by the end of 2017. After that, they aim to open another 10 outlets each year. Fast food such as sushi, sandwiches, salads and coffee will be on sale along with 2,000 products.
"The convenience store sector in Beijing still has great potential and is far from reaching saturation point compared to Shanghai," Li said.
Indeed, the decision by Chaoshifa to enter this part of the retail business shows the popularity of small, 24-hour shops in major Chinese cities.
Last year, the sector increased by 13 percent to 130 billion yuan ($19.5 billion) Customized Green Bay Packers Jersey compared with the same period in 2015,
Women's Nike Custom Made Green Bay Packers Elite Team Color NFL Football Jersey Sale a report by the China Chain Store & Franchise Association highlighted.
Revenue also jumped and store numbers expanded.
"First- and second-tier cities are the driving force behind the expansion of the smaller retail format and the sector has a great potential to develop," the 2017 China Convenience Store report stated.
At the last count, there were more than 260 convenience brands in the country. Last year, the overall numbers climbed 9 percent to 98,000 outlets year-on-year.
On average, daily revenue increased by 4 percent to 3,714 yuan per store during
Men's Nike Custom Made Indianapolis Colts Elite Team Color Royal Blue NFL Jersey the same period, largely due to rising costs.
Store rents have gone up by 7 percent on average while staff wages have grown Custom Colts Jersey 6.5 percent, the report showed.
Water and electricity costs edged 0.7 percent higher, forcing retailers to improve management efficiency.
Only 10 percent of the food products stocked by half of the convenience store operators surveyed was fresh, the report showed. In Japan, the proportion was between 30 and 40 percent.
"About 85 percent of the convenience stores have merchandise with their own brands, but the average ratio between self-owned products and other brands is only 8 percent," the report stated.
Other key factors from the survey showed that nearly 30 percent of the retailers polled have yet to develop a franchise model. But up to 45 percent have adopted
Men's Nike Custom Made Houston Texans Elite Team Color Navy Blue Football Jersey Cheap online shopping, which accounted for 10 percent of their revenue.
Still, convenience stores face a myriad of challenges.
"They need to lift up their revenue by expanding their services, such as copy printing or ticket bookings as rents and labors costs eat into their profits," Jason Yu, general manager of Kantar Worldpanel China.
"High gross profit products, such as fresh food, will not be enough to improve the efficiency of convenience stores."


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Ranch Kimball was born in Salt Lake City in 1894. He was a regionalist painter who became and businessman and arts patron. He died in Salt Lake City.
Kimball studied under E. H. Eastmond and B. F. Larsen from 1912 to 1913 at Brigham Young University. He studied at the Art Institute of Chicago from 1915 to 1918. Boardman Robinson was an instructor at the Art Students League in New York where Kimball studied in 1916.
Returning to Utah in 1920, Kimball exhibited his work at the Utah State Fair. Through the 1920s and early 1930s he traveled in Utah, painting mostly landscapes. Some of his notable paintings are Zion Entrance, Touch of Modern, and Trees.
Biography adapted from Springville Museum of Art.
Ranch Kimball was born in Salt Lake City in 1894. In high school he studied mechanical drawing, and then he studied art at Brigham Young University from 1912-1913. After his two years at B.Y.U., where he worked under E. H. Eastmond and B. F. Larsen, he went on to spend three years at the Art Institute of Chicago. While at Chicago, Ranch studied lettering from Oswald Cooper. Cooper predicted that Kimball would one day develop his own script, the sans serif, he preferred. And, as seen in his signature and later in his signs for Lagoon, he did go on to develop a personal script without a serif.
At age 22, Ranch Kimball moved to New York to study at the Art Student's League with Boardman Robinson, whom he had long admired. After working as an artist both in Chicago and New York City, Kimball went back to Utah and regularly exhibited his paintings at the Utah State Fair between 1920 and 1930. In addition to painting, he began drawing pastels of scenes in and around Salt Lake City. One biographer describes his work as:
. . ". filled with fantasy shapes and colors, distances of round rolling hills, old smooth cliffs, walls of a house that couldn't possibly hold up the queerly shaped roof. The colors he chose are bright, strange, and lively. A purple road, "Kimball" pink cliffs, and beautiful shades of green. "
In 1934, he worked for the P.W.A.P. (Public Works of Art Project) in Utah, a federally funded project that gave work to artists during the Depression. Ranch was assigned to make "sketches of activities of various governmental branches." During this time he painted Entrance to Zion. This painting shows a Civilian Conservation Camp (C.C.C.) check station at the main entrance to Zion National Park. The painting was modern for its day. The pigment is thin and flat, and the grandeur of Zion's is not lost in a painterly study of color or light. He focuses on the architectonic qualities of the scene by using a flat brush stroke and by stressing the formal lines and shapes of the monumental rock formations.
Kimball's work was much influenced by the regional movement in art during the 1930s. Like others, he painted scenes he knew well, the city and countryside of Utah, but with an inimitable style of his own. However, in 1934, Ranch left art for other interests, including the Kimball Sign Company which he had started as a teenager. His contribution to the Utah art scene did not end with his switch in focus, as he continued to collect works of various artists of the Intermountain West. In addition, from 1940 to 1944, Kimball was a member of the board of the Utah State Institute of Fine Arts.
Not long after World War II, Ranch began work with the Lagoon Amusement Park, just north of Salt Lake City. The park suited his temperament. "It's a beautiful day at Lagoon," he enthusiastically greeted telephone callers. In 1953, when the older buildings were burned in a fire, Ranch supervised the building of the new Lagoon, bathing the structures in the whimsical colors he loved. He painted the merry-go-round himself, creating a turquoise lion with a purple mane as well as several Mother Goose characters.
Later Ranch Kimball became the president and general manager of both the "State Amusement" and "Lagoon" corporations, and vice president of "Amusement Service" in Salt Lake City. When he sold his business interests and retired, he sometimes considered taking up painting again, but he never did. Ranch Kimball was a vivacious man who ". . . worked as cartoonist, sign painter, graphic artist, illustrator, actor, magician, and businessman. He was ". . . a man too spirited to limit himself to a single pursuit."
Biography courtesy Springville Museum of Art.
Breckinridge, M. First National Exhibition of American Art: May 18th to July 1st 1936. New York, NY: Municipal Art Committee, 1936.
Dawdy, Doris. Artists of the American West: A Biographical Dictionary. Chicago, IL: Sage Books, 1990.
Dunbier, Roger. North American Artists: The Artists Bluebook. Scottsdale, AZ: AskART.com, 2000.
Haseltine, James L. 100 Years of Utah Painting: Selected works from the 1840s to the 1940s. Salt Lake City, UT: Salt Lake Arts Center, 1965.
Olpin, Robert, S., William C. Seifrit and Vern G. Swanson. Artists of Utah. Salt Lake City, UT: Gibbs Smith Publisher, 1999.
Reinhardt, Lisa. Davenport's Art Reference & Price Guide 2001/2002. Phoenix, AZ: Gordon's Art Reference, 2000.
Swanson, Vern G., Robert S. Olpin, Donna Poulton, and Janie Rogers. 150 Year Survey Utah Art, Utah Artists. Layton, UT: Gibbs Smith Publisher, 2001.
Swanson, Vern G., Robert S. Olpin, and William C. Seifrit. Utah Art. Layton, UT: Peregrine Smith Books, 1991.
Swanson, Vern G., Robert S. Olpin, and William C. Seifrit. Utah Painting and Sculpture, Layton, UT: Gibbs Smith Publisher, 1991.


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We get it, ok? Virtual reality — it's all very exciting and cool. Who wouldn't want to be transported to another world that's way more awesome than this one? But Samsung, who's known overdoing it, is now turning popular roller coasters across North America into insane torture machines using Gear VR headsets.
That image above are what Samsung and Six Flags are calling New Revolution and Superman VR coasters. People like you and me are expected to strap phones to our faces and pretend like we're a pilot fighting aliens or Superman thwarting Lex Luthor instead of suffering through a miserably boring roller coaster #IRL.
The details on how this all works are still a little hazy, with the big questions being how to keep headsets from flying off your face and if I can sue Samsung if someone throws up on me. Luckily, it looks like the Gear VR stuff will be optional, so you can still go on any roller coaster like normal.
Man, and we thought this future was bad.


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O, The Oprah Magazine, March Issue 2012
We are tickled pink to be in the March 2012 issue of " O Magazine ". We love Oprah, her mission to make the world a better place, and her magazine. Can you say alignment? We thank everyone at "O"! Check us out here.
Chicago Sun-Times April 26,2012
We're part of the color story for Spring in the Chicago Sun-Times -- how cool is that? WORKSHOP/CoOp bags come in colors to match every outfit (including those shoes!)
Click here to go to the online issue of the Sun-Times
Time Out Chicago, May 3rd 2012
Workshop CoOp in Time Out Chicago - even the coolest folks in town want their market bags. Says Time Out, "We want one in every color!" We couldn't agree more - there's melon, orange, celery, lavender... Decisions, decisions...
Downeast, specifically in Rockland, Maine, we're at Black Parrot nestled alongside their stylish treats for body, house, and palate! And if you're a Toronto, Bar Harbor or Miami gal, we're at Gee Beauty getting beautiful. Of course when in our hometown of Chicago one of the most luxurious treats of all is taking mom for tea in the Lobby at the Peninsula Hotel and then gifting her at their jewel box of a boutique shop with one of our bags! If you get out of town towards Lakeside, Michigan - a visit to the uniquely curated AP Boutique is a jewel box of a store - alongside some of the most talented artisans around the world! If you find yourself back in town and still in need of a bit of relaxation you'll find us at the exquisite Four Seasons Spa . Of course, you can always join in the fun by taking your creativity for a stroll to the Lillstreet Art Center and Gallery and creating your own art in one of their incredible classes while you pick up some of ours!


text: Presidential Image Gallery Presidents George WashingtonJohn AdamsThomas JeffersonJames MadisonJames MonroeJohn Quincy AdamsAndrew JacksonMartin Van BurenWilliam HarrisonJohn TylerJames K. PolkZachary TaylorMillard FillmoreFranklin PierceJames BuchananAbraham LincolnAndrew JohnsonUlysses S. GrantRutherford B. HayesJames A. GarfieldChester A. ArthurGrover ClevelandBenjamin HarrisonWilliam McKinleyTheodore RooseveltWilliam TaftWoodrow WilsonWarren G. HardingCalvin CoolidgeHerbert HooverFranklin D. RooseveltHarry S. TrumanDwight D. EisenhowerJohn F. KennedyLyndon B. JohnsonRichard NixonGerald FordJimmy CarterRonald ReaganGeorge H. W. BushBill ClintonGeorge W. BushBarack ObamaDonald Trump President Harding with His Cabinet March 05, 1921 Source: The Library of Congress President Warren Harding, front row third from right, made some effective cabinet appointments, including Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes, Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon, and Secretary of Commerce (and future President) Herbert Hoover. However, he also made some bad cabinet choices, including Attorney General Harry Daugherty, who was indicted for defrauding the government, and Secretary of the Interior Albert Fall who was eventually sent to prison. ← Return to Warren G. Harding Gallery


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Community Matters
It is our mission at Progressive Bank to contribute to the advancement of the communities we serve through our time, talents, and resources. We possess a genuine passion for the social and civic needs of our communities and are dedicated to community involvement.
We believe it is our responsibility to give back to the communities that trust us with their financial well-being. We know North Louisiana is a fantastic place to live, work, and grow. Our officers and employees volunteer their time for a number of charitable organizations, including the following: The United Way, American Red Cross, The Junior League, Boy Scouts of America, Junior Achievement, NE LA Arts Council, NOVA, Ouachita Business Alliance, MedCamps of Louisiana, ARC of Caddo Bossier, Monroe Home Ownership, Inc., the YMCA, North Louisiana Economic Partnership, Downtown Shreveport Development Corporation, and more. We are also active volunteers with a number of schools, sports leagues, etc.
In addition, Progressive Bank sponsors numerous community fundraisers for not-for-profit organizations including ARCO, The Wellspring, the Children's Coalition, ARC of Caddo-Bossier, and the Franklin Parish Catfish Festival, just to name a few.


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Our Mission Our mission is to develop a high quality ecotourism experience for the tourism market. We strive to provide an advocacy role to help all our policy makers in Ireland to achieve this aim. These policy makers include but are […]
- About Us
- Ecotourism
- Certification
- Resources
- Members
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- Is your tourism business related to nature?
- Do you have an accommodation with eco design aspects /Glamping ?
- Do you provide outdoor activities or work with people who do?
- Does 'local' play an important part in your business?
- Do you monitor your resources and waste?
- Do you promote the use of green and local, public transport?
- Communications
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'Taoiseach' features in US Spelling Bee
Nihar Janga correctly spelled the word for an Irish prime minister to become co-champ of the National Spelling Bee
'Feldenkrais' and 'Gesellschaft' were the final words given to the co-champs Jairam Hathwar and Nihar Janga of the US Scripps National Spelling Bee. However young Nihar was helped along the way by his knowledge of Irish governmental roles.
Even Irish students of the same age often struggle with the word 'Taoiseach'. Indeed many adults do too. Many wouldn't believe that the word would even be known, let alone spelled by a young boy over 3,000 miles away in the States.
Nihar, 11, and Jairam, 13, went head-to-head for 25 rounds. Jairam gave Nihar a chance to win when he misspelled "Drahthaar" a kind of dog. But Nihar then slipped up on "ayacahuite", a Mexican tree.
Each winner receives a trophy and $45,000 (£30,700) in cash and prizes.
Students are allowed to compete in the Spelling Bee up through eighth grade. And usually it takes until this advanced stage of middle school for students to have enough practice and skill to actually win the competition.
Finalists are chosen after extensive testing and knock-out rounds.
This is the third tie in a row at the bee. The organisers had implemented the 25-round spell-off to try to avoid a deadlock.
Jairam and Nihar are the ninth consecutive winners of South Asian descent. Jairam's brother, Sriram, was the 2014 co-champion.
Some of the words included in the competition include:
- Feldenkrais is a method of education
- Tetradrachm is a kind of coin
- Gesellschaft is a type of social relationship
- Mischsprache is a fused language
- Biniou is a Breton bagpipe
The final round was introduced by the host as follow: "This is a beautiful moment. If you both spell the next word correctly, you will be declared co-champions."
Both buys got their words correct, and the crowd, their families and the organisers celebrated with delight.
However, if you thought they were young, check out this little fella: the youngest entrant, 6 year old Akash Vukoti.


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Maryland will be playing its final basketball games as a member of the ACC this week in Greensboro. Before the Terrapins leave for the Big Ten, here is a look back at their top 10 moments from their 60 seasons on the court as one of the league's charter members:
10. Taking it from Tobacco Road: The ACC tournament has been the private domain of N.C. State and North Carolina during the league's first four seasons. That changed in 1958, when coach Bud Millikan's Terps won three games in three days at Raleigh's Reynolds Coliseum to become the first non-North Carolina team to win the tournament title. Maryland beat defending national champion UNC 86-74 in the championship game behind 21 points from Charlie McNeill.
9. You CAN go home again: Maryland's once-proud program was in shambles during the summer of 1989. The Terps had just completed a 9-20 season in which they won only one ACC game, coach Bob Wade had just been fired in the wake of an NCAA investigation that would ultimately land the program on probation. The future looked bleak. That is, until former Maryland point guard Gary Williams decided to leave Ohio State to rescue his alma mater. By the time Williams retired at the end of the 2010-11 season, he had earned induction into the Hall of Fame and amassed 452 wins with the Terps, including an ACC championship and his crowning accomplishment – the 2001 national title.
8. Cole's Curtain Call: Cole Field House wasn't anything special from architectural standpoint. In fact, it looked a lot like an oversized airplane hangar. But it sure looked good to the Terps, who used their homecourt advantage there to compile a 486-151 record over 47 years. Included among those triumphs were seven upsets of team's ranked No. 1 in the nation – the most of any arena in the nation. As friendly as the confines of Cole were to Maryland, the time came to move to newer, more modern digs. That happened in 2002. But before the Terps left for Comcast Center, they produced one final memorable moment on their old home floor by beating Virginia 112-92 on March 3 to clinch the ACC's regular season championship.
7. Breaking the barrier: Billy Jones' career at Maryland wasn't much to write home about, thanks to a knee injury that limited to an 8.9 scoring average over three seasons. But it was historic. By taking the floor for the Terps during the 1965-66 season, Jones became the first black player ever in the ACC.
6. Len Bias christens the Dean Dome: Maryland was supposed to be a sacrificial lamb on Feb. 20, 1986 against No. 1-ranked North Carolina at the newly opened Dean E. Smith Center. Apparently, though, someone forgot to tell Len Bias and the Terps that they were only there to be part of the show. Bias scored 35 points, including seven during the final three minutes of regulation to hand the Tar Heels their first ever loss at the Dean Dome — a 77-72 overtime upset that helped propel the senior forward to the ACC's Player of the Year award.
5. 'A nightmare on Peachtree Street:' The No. 1 seed had never lost an opening round game in the first 36 years of the ACC tournament. But on March 11, 1989 at Atlanta's Omni, the 1-13 Terrapins pulled off the shocker by manhandling regular season champion N.C. State 71-49 behind 23 points from Johnny Johnson. Wolfpack coach Jim Valvano called the beatdown "A nightmare on Peachtree Street" in his postgame comments. On the other side, the victory was so unexpected and so emotional that Maryland coach Bob Wade collapsed in the locker room from exhaustion and had to be rushed to a nearby hospital.
4. Greensboro becomes Garyland: Picking up on a theme first voiced by former coach Lefty Driesell, Gary Williams never wasted an opportunity to let the world know how unfair he thought it was that the ACC tournament is played in North Carolina virtually every year. That's why he was so excited about the event coming to Washington D.C. in 2004. Ironically, his one and only tournament title came the year before that in Greensboro, when his sixth-seeded Terrapins made up for a disappointing regular season by beating three North Carolina teams in three days – third-seeded Wake Forest, No. 2 N.C. State and then top seeded Duke 96-87 in overtime behind 26 points from tournament MVP John Gilchrist – to take home the elusive and unexpected title.
3. Lefty finally gets it right: Like Williams, Driesell was never a fan of playing the tournament in the hostile confines of the Old North State. In fact, he once boasted that if he ever won an ACC tournament, he'd bolt the trophy to the hood of his car and drive it from one end of the state to the other. He never actually took such a victory lap, but he did finally win his tournament title in 1984 when the Terps beat Duke 74-62 in the championship game behind 26 points from Everett Case Award winner Bias.
2. Greatest game in ACC history: Even though the Terps lost the 1974 ACC tournament championship game against N.C. State, their 103-100 overtime loss to the eventual national champion Wolfpack – generally acknowledged as the greatest game in ACC history – did at least change history. The matchup featured two of the best teams in the country, including Maryland All-Americas Tom McMillen, Len Elmore and John Lucas. But because of the rules at the time, only one team from each conference was allowed to play in the NCAA tournament. As a result of the talented Terps being left out that year, the NCAA decided to expand the tournament to 32 teams and allow conferences to have multiple representatives. The tournament has since been expanded to its current 68-team format.
1. Terps stand alone: Gary Williams' team bounced back from a heart-breaking loss to Duke in the 2001 national semifinals to win it all in 2002. Led by guard Juan Dixon and big man Lonny Baxter, the Terps traveled a difficult road that included wins against Kentucky, UConn and Kansas before beating Indiana 64-52 in Atlanta for the greatest victory in school history and Maryland's first national championship.


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Hockey's New Blades
You wouldn't think a sport that's played with wooden sticks would make a good high-tech showcase. But in June's NHL Entry Draftan annual event where the 30 teams of the National Hockey League pick their next squads of playersthe NHL used blade computing, an innovative new technology that promises to boost the efficiency and availability of corporate networks while decreasing administrative chores.
Now in its 40th year, the Entry Draft is familiar to any hockey fan with cable television: 30 tables set in a circle around a large room, with general managers, scouts, and owners sitting at the tables, filling out their future rosters through nine rounds of draft picks spread over two days.
For years, the process was decidedly low-tech: Nervous kids carried slips of paper to a podium to register the teams' picks. It got a little more advanced with the advent of the PC. But each PC had to be configured individually, and if one went down during the draft, all business would stop until the IT squad could configure a new unit. This was a less-than-optimal scenario for an event that is broadcast live on television.
The NHL's blade system offers an entirely new architecture: A single chassisa Sun Fire B1600 Blade Platformholds eight Sun Fire B100s Blade Servers, which run all the applications the teams need and display them back to the Sun Ray 150 thin-client terminals on the 30 team tables. Four of the eight blades run the Sun Ray terminals; two blades run Lotus Domino Server to support the Lotus Notesbased applications used for the draft; two other blades serve as hot-swappable backups.
That is a cautious setupand probably overkill. Even if a blade should fail and no backup is available, the blade architecturelike the structural support of a buildingis designed to distribute the load across the remaining resources. In other words, it picks up the slack and keeps business running smoothly. Manufacturers like Sun Microsystems have pitched this as a key benefit of blade computing: Pooled resources allow for greater efficiency. Instead of having one piece of equipment overburdened and another largely idle, the workload is spread over all available machines. It's an effective system, and that's particularly important for an event like the NHL draft.
"Outside of the Stanley Cup, these are probably the most important two days of the year for our member clubs," says Ken Chin, the NHL's vice president of events and entertainment. "They're deciding their future, and they don't need any distractions from technology."
The thin-client desktops also minimize glitches and delays. The draft requires some complicated business-process managementaccessing information on players, keeping track of which team has picked which player, routing choices to approval groups, and feeding real-time data out to the league's Web site. But since all this takes place in one central locationon the blade serversreplacing or adding a new desktop is simply a matter of plugging in a new Sun Ray 150.
"If a thin client goes out, you plug in a new one and see your whole environment on the new client without having to do anything on the server," says Brian Foley, an advanced development systems engineer at Sun. "The administrative ease and the scalability are the key to the system." While the NHL's blade servers use Sun SPARC processors running Solaris 8, Sun's chassis allows for a mix of operating systems (Solaris and Linux) and processors (SPARC and Intel x86).
This year's draft in Nashville, Tennessee, finished 90 minutes earlier each day than the year beforewithout any technical glitches. Foley doesn't give all the credit to the blades, but he does boast that the system "went absolutely smooth as silk." For the NHL, a penalty-free draft is one goal that benefits all the teams. "This is helping us run our business more smoothly," says Susan Rosenfeld, director of corporate markets for the NHL.
Time will tell whether the first-round picks live up to their potential. But the blades, it seems, have already scored.


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For fear violating an obligatory term in his contract with Fenerbahce, Super Eagles skipper Joseph Yobo on Thursday began attending Turkish classes at his club's Can Bartu Facility.
The Nigerian, who started learning the basics of Turkish with tutorial aids, is expected to spend a total of 100 hours with the club's language tutors.
Yobo, and seven of his non-Turkish mates, after the Turkish course programme, is expected to be self-sufficient in communicating with Fenerbahce's technical staff and teammates on a daily basis during training.
Manager Aykut Kocaman recently complained about a lack of understanding and team cohesion due to the communication barrier.
Kocaman was recently quoted as saying, "Hiring translators for our foreign players make their lives easier in the short-term, however, it ends up preventing their adaptation to the club and country.
"Nobody is above the club; neither the players nor myself."
Kocaman believes that if all the members of his squad can understand footballing terms and basic commands in Turkish it will benefit the team as a whole and help foreign players settle in.


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1 Now Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard in Jezreel, beside the palace of Ahab king of Samaria.
2 And after this Ahab said to Naboth, "Give me your vineyard, that I may have it for a vegetable garden, because it is near my house, and I will give you a better vineyard for it; or, if it seems good to you, I will give you its value in money."
3 But Naboth said to Ahab, "The LORD forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers."
4 And Ahab went into his house vexed and sullen because of what Naboth the Jezreelite had said to him, for he had said, "I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers." And he lay down on his bed and turned away his face and would eat no food.
Naboth, the man of 'fruits' was given a portion in Jezreel – the place of kings yet also the place where God scatters (likely to be a reference to the destruction of Ahab's house in 2 Kings 9). Yet, this very contestation of inheritance is akin to the story of Jacob and Esau – the latter brother who sold his inheritance to Jacob over a simple meal. Naboth however is no Esau – he is not selling his inheritance in new creation for mammon or the desire of his eye. "The LORD forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers" (v.3) – a basis built upon Numbers 26 and Numbers 36:7-9, that the inheritance of the Israelites are proportionately placed and kept within the tribes without transfer.
What is the value behind such a vineyard? Quality? No – it is a mere 'vegetable garden', which could have been replaced by a better vineyard (v.2). Rather, it is simply because it is in a better location, because it is near Ahab's house. What nonsense! Naboth's adherence to the LORD's command is exactly the type of faithfulness modeled from his following Wisdom, the Holy Spirit, the excellent wife in Proverbs 31:16; contrary to the sluggard, the vineyard of a man lacking sense, such as Ahab (Proverbs 24:30). Such is the vineyard, the object of Christian love (Song of Solomon 8:12), modeled after the love the Father has for us through Christ:
Isaiah 5:7: For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts
is the house of Israel,
and the men of Judah
are his pleasant planting;
and he looked for justice,
but behold, bloodshed;
for righteousness,
but behold, an outcry!
We are His vineyard! We are the apple of His eye! We are the treasure in the field! He is the one Who protects, Who seeks, Who provides.
5 But Jezebel his wife came to him and said to him, "Why is your spirit so vexed that you eat no food?"
6 And he said to her, "Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite and said to him, 'Give me your vineyard for money, or else, if it please you, I will give you another vineyard for it.' And he answered, 'I will not give you my vineyard.'"
7 And Jezebel his wife said to him, "Do you now govern Israel? Arise and eat bread and let your heart be cheerful; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite."
8 So she wrote letters in Ahab's name and sealed them with his seal, and she sent the letters to the elders and the leaders who lived with Naboth in his city.
9 And she wrote in the letters, "Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth at the head of the people.
10 And set two worthless men opposite him, and let them bring a charge against him, saying, 'You have cursed God and the king.' Then take him out and stone him to death."
11 And the men of his city, the elders and the leaders who lived in his city, did as Jezebel had sent word to them. As it was written in the letters that she had sent to them,
12 they proclaimed a fast and set Naboth at the head of the people.
13 And the two worthless men came in and sat opposite him. And the worthless men brought a charge against Naboth in the presence of the people, saying, "Naboth cursed God and the king." So they took him outside the city and stoned him to death with stones.
14 Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, "Naboth has been stoned; he is dead."
The events between v. 5-14 are but a repetition of Adam's fall – Eve directing Adam's actions, the man listening to the woman (Genesis 3:17) instead of being her head. Naboth cared deeply for his vineyard, given to him by the LORD and commanded by the LORD to keep as his and his fathers' inheritance. Yet, the men, elders and leaders of the city from which Naboth belongs betrays Naboth. The very people who are likely to know the same Naboth who stood up to king Ahab, and would cling onto his vineyard just as Christ clings to us that nothing shall remove us from His love (Romans 8:38). They would spit in the face of a faithful man, in the face of the prophets like Elijah and Elisha, and instead listen to the false head, the false king who is not listening to Wisdom but to Folly (Proverbs 9:13). Not only that, but two worthless men (witnesses) are set opposite the innocent Naboth, just as Christ was judged guilty in comparison to Barabbas (Matthew 27:20) by worthless men. This flies in the face of the command in Deuteronomy 19:15-21:
15 "A single witness shall not suffice against a person for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offense that he has committed. Only on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established.
16 If a malicious witness arises to accuse a person of wrongdoing,
17 then both parties to the dispute shall appear before the LORD, before the priests and the judges who are in office in those days.
18 The judges shall inquire diligently, and if the witness is a false witness and has accused his brother falsely,
19 then you shall do to him as he had meant to do to his brother. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.
20 And the rest shall hear and fear, and shall never again commit any such evil among you.
21 Your eye shall not pity. It shall be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
V.13 is direct and blunt. They did not place the dispute before priests and judges who are in office. There was no diligent inquiry. The two worthless men did not receive their due justice. Instead, Naboth was innocently stoned. He shall receive his true inheritance, as part of the LORD's vineyard, in new creation and we will meet with him there, an inheritance which no man can purchase from him. Yet, Ahab's kingdom is on this earth and this is all he shall ever receive. The nation Israel thus listened to a false king, whose headship had been influenced and subsumed heretically under the whore called Folly. Yet, we are the spiritual Israelites called to listen to the true king, the "Son" of Solomon, who listens to the excellent wife the Holy Spirit (Proverbs 1:10; 31).
15 As soon as Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was dead, Jezebel said to Ahab, "Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give you for money, for Naboth is not alive, but dead."
16 And as soon as Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, Ahab arose to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it.
17 Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,
18 "Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who is in Samaria; behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone to take possession.
19 And you shall say to him, 'Thus says the LORD, "Have you killed and also taken possession?"' And you shall say to him, 'Thus says the LORD: "In the place where dogs licked up the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick your own blood."'"
V.17 sees Christ speaking to Elijah – the Word of the LORD Who informed Elijah concerning the murder and false possession of Naboth and his inheritance. The LORD shall not forsake Deuteronomy 19 – the wrath, which did not fall upon us Christians, still needs to fall upon Someone – that One being Christ Jesus. Yet no one has paid the penalty for Ahab's sins – he shall therefore experience the torment of Naboth by having the dogs lick his own blood (v.19, c.f. Romans 7:14).
20 Ahab said to Elijah, "Have you found me, O my enemy?" He answered, "I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do what is evil in the sight of the LORD.
21 Behold, I will bring disaster upon you. I will utterly burn you up, and will cut off from Ahab every male, bond or free, in Israel.
22 And I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, for the anger to which you have provoked me, and because you have made Israel to sin.
23 And of Jezebel the LORD also said, 'The dogs shall eat Jezebel within the walls of Jezreel.'
24 Anyone belonging to Ahab who dies in the city the dogs shall eat, and anyone of his who dies in the open country the birds of the heavens shall eat."
25 (There was none who sold himself to do what was evil in the sight of the LORD like Ahab, whom Jezebel his wife incited.
26 He acted very abominably in going after idols, as the Amorites had done, whom the LORD cast out before the people of Israel.)
The destruction of Ahab's house does not fall upon him until 2 Kings 9:36-37, a fulfillment of Elijah's prophecy (his own fall fulfilled in 1 Kings 22:38). In stealing another man's inheritance, Ahab loses his own. In conceding Jezebel's actions and murdering Naboth, a holy saint and Christian in the city of Jezreel, Ahab's household is itself the subject of God's holy wrath. Thus also Adam's house is destroyed, so that the second Adam may rule – the removal of Satan, the false lord, the false Baal, in place of the true husband and our LORD Jesus Christ.
27 And when Ahab heard those words, he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his flesh and fasted and lay in sackcloth and went about dejectedly.
28 And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,
29 "Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the disaster in his days; but in his son's days I will bring the disaster upon his house."
Christ recognizes Ahab's repentance before his end – yet, his end is but a proverb (Deuteronomy 28:37) to those who go after idols, stealing the LORD's choice vineyard, selling himself to sin and listening to his wife instead of protecting and leading her in God's word. We are unsure whether Ahab himself has accepted the LORD personally, but the damage to his lineage cannot be undone. Chapter 22 does not fare well for Ahab's eventual death either, as he ended his life in sin and in defiance against the true prophets of the LORD. He has led Israel to sin and only Christ, not Ahab, nor Adam, could redeem it. The innocent blood of Naboth trickles on until Christ's blood is itself licked by dogs like us. Jezebel's demise, unsurprisingly, is more graphic – the true instigator, the true folly of follies. She is the temptress, the Babylonian prostitute (Revelation 14:8, 17:5).
1 Kings 22: Prophets and Kings
1 For three years Syria and Israel continued without war.
2 But in the third year Jehoshaphat the king of Judah came down to the king of Israel.
3 And the king of Israel said to his servants, "Do you know that Ramoth-gilead belongs to us, and we keep quiet and do not take it out of the hand of the king of Syria?"
4 And he said to Jehoshaphat, "Will you go with me to battle at Ramoth-gilead?" And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, "I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses."
5 And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, "Inquire first for the word of the LORD."
6 Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said to them, "Shall I go to battle against Ramoth-gilead, or shall I refrain?" And they said, "Go up, for the Lord will give it into the hand of the king."
7 But Jehoshaphat said, "Is there not here another prophet of the LORD of whom we may inquire?"
8 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the LORD, Micaiah the son of Imlah, but I hate him, for he never prophesies good concerning me, but evil." And Jehoshaphat said, "Let not the king say so."
9 Then the king of Israel summoned an officer and said, "Bring quickly Micaiah the son of Imlah."
10 Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah were sitting on their thrones, arrayed in their robes, at the threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria, and all the prophets were prophesying before them.
11 And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made for himself horns of iron and said, "Thus says the LORD, 'With these you shall push the Syrians until they are destroyed.'"
12 And all the prophets prophesied so and said, "Go up to Ramoth-gilead and triumph; the LORD will give it into the hand of the king."
We see in the final chapter of the first book of Kings what may seem to be a glorious attempt to unite Israel and Judah back into one nation, like the days of Solomon. Israel and Syria are not in covenant (2 Chronicles 16:7), and instead, Ahab – the 'king of Israel' (unnamed until v. 20), decides to pursue the Syrians in the battle against Ramoth-gilead in unity with the king of Judah. It is undoubtedly the case that the writer wishes to focus on the joint effort of this 'king of Israel' and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah. Yet, as following in his vein of character, Ahab does not inquire the LORD – but Jehoshaphat (the LORD is judge) does (v.5).
It is interesting that these prophets (v.6) have been noticeably inactive up to this stage – to the point of Elijah's despair (1 Kings 19:18). Perhaps they are part of the 7,000 who have not yet bowed their knees to Baal? I think not. These prophets are flatterers coming in their own name rather than Christ's Name, their power is in their eloquence and tongue rather than in the Word (1 Thessalonians 2).
What is strange is the omission of Elijah from this chapter. Surely if there is one man by whom Ahab could inquire the LORD, it would be Elijah – the 'enemy' of Ahab (1 Kings 21:20), who is also hated by Ahab like this Micaiah (Who is like Jehovah?) the son of Imlah (whom God will fill up). Like Micaiah, Elijah has not prophesied good concerning Ahab. Yet, what is certain by their common prophecies is that Elijah and Micaiah are indeed of the LORD and filled with His Holy Spirit. Zedekiah, though named a the 'righteousness of Jehovah' is not fitting of his name like Micaiah. He is the son of a merchant, Chenaanah, and rather than being filled with the Spirit is instead a false prophet filled with gas (v.11-12).
13 And the messenger who went to summon Micaiah said to him, "Behold, the words of the prophets with one accord are favorable to the king. Let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak favorably."
14 But Micaiah said, "As the LORD lives, what the LORD says to me, that I will speak."
15 And when he had come to the king, the king said to him, "Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall we refrain?" And he answered him, "Go up and triumph; the LORD will give it into the hand of the king."
16 But the king said to him, "How many times shall I make you swear that you speak to me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD?"
17 And he said, "I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd. And the LORD said, 'These have no master; let each return to his home in peace.'"
18 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "Did I not tell you that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil?"
19 And Micaiah said, "Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing beside him on his right hand and on his left;
20 and the LORD said, 'Who will entice Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?' And one said one thing, and another said another.
21 Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD, saying, 'I will entice him.'
22 And the LORD said to him, 'By what means?' And he said, 'I will go out, and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.' And he said, 'You are to entice him, and you shall succeed; go out and do so.'
23 Now therefore behold, the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets; the LORD has declared disaster for you."
Micaiah's prophecy in v.17 is a fulfillment of the name "Jezreel" – God scatters – during Ahab's time. The shepherdless and masterless Israel is a picture of the destruction of the house of Ahab. Yet, Israel shall be shepherded and mastered by the LORD on His throne, all the hose of heaven standing beside him on his right hand and on his left (v.19). He is the One who allowed a lying spirit in the mouth of these prophets to declare disaster upon themselves (v.21-23). Micaiah's prophecy in v.15 is filled with irony, and we can be sure that Micaiah's intention is for the king to receive his due judgment on the battlefield. Micaiah simply desires for Ahab to be removed, as the unrighteous king of Israel. Even Ahab can tell from Micaiah's tone that he is mocking the false prophets. Adam Clarke notes Micaiah's manner of exposing the false prophets' lies shielded in ambiguity:
"This was a strong irony; as if he had said, All your prophets have predicted success; you wish me to speak as they speak: Go, and prosper; for the Lord will deliver it into the hand of the king. These were the precise words of the false prophets, (see 1Ki 22:6, 12,) and were spoken by Micaiah in such a tone and manner as at once showed to Ahab that he did not believe them; hence the king adjures him, 1Ki 22:16, that he would speak to him nothing but truth; and on this the prophet immediately relates to him the prophetic vision which pointed out the disasters which ensued.
It is worthy of remark that this prophecy of the king's prophets is couched in the same ambiguous terms by which the false prophets in the heathen world endeavoured to maintain their credit, while they deluded their votaries. The reader will observe that the word it is not in the original: The Lord will deliver IT into the hand of the king; and the words are so artfully constructed that they may be interpreted for or against; so that, be the event whatever it might, the juggling prophet could save his credit by saying he meant what had happened. Thus then the prophecy might have been understood: The Lord will deliver (Ramoth-gilead) into the king's (Ahab's) hand; or, The Lord will deliver (Israel) into the king's hand; i.e., into the hand of the king of Syria. And Micaiah repeats these words of uncertainty in order to ridicule them and expose their fallacy."
24 Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said, "How did the Spirit of the LORD go from me to speak to you?"
25 And Micaiah said, "Behold, you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hide yourself."
26 And the king of Israel said, "Seize Micaiah, and take him back to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the king's son,
27 and say, 'Thus says the king, "Put this fellow in prison and feed him meager rations of bread and water, until I come in peace."'"
28 And Micaiah said, "If you return in peace, the LORD has not spoken by me." And he said, "Hear, all you peoples!"
As if the Spirit is only for Zedekiah to keep! As if the Spirit only indwelt in a few Israelites! No, the Spirit was shared amongst the holy, amongst the righteous, amongst the children of the LORD. Behold, this truth shall be revealed not on the Pentecost in Acts 2, but on the day the false prophets are shamed (v.25). This Joash is the son of Ahab, an agent of Ahab's heresy.
29 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth-gilead.
30 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "I will disguise myself and go into battle, but you wear your robes." And the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle.
31 Now the king of Syria had commanded the thirty-two captains of his chariots, "Fight with neither small nor great, but only with the king of Israel."
32 And when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, they said, "It is surely the king of Israel." So they turned to fight against him. And Jehoshaphat cried out.
33 And when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, they turned back from pursuing him.
34 But a certain man drew his bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the scale armor and the breastplate. Therefore he said to the driver of his chariot, "Turn around and carry me out of the battle, for I am wounded."
35 And the battle continued that day, and the king was propped up in his chariot facing the Syrians, until at evening he died. And the blood of the wound flowed into the bottom of the chariot.
36 And about sunset a cry went through the army, "Every man to his city, and every man to his country!"
The irony is drawn out in v.29-36 – for Jehoshaphat is truly the one worthy of wearing this robe, and the king of Israel is but a man in disguise, a man posing as king though bearing no qualities of one. It is interesting that the king of Syria in v.31 is only pursuing the king of Israel and no other, in fulfillment of Micaiah's prophecy that Ahab shall be struck down. In the LORD's providence (v.34), the king is struck, for God's wrath perceives through all disguises into men's sinful hearts (Matthew 9:4; Mark 4:12).
37 So the king died, and was brought to Samaria. And they buried the king in Samaria.
38 And they washed the chariot by the pool of Samaria, and the dogs licked up his blood, and the prostitutes washed themselves in it, according to the word of the LORD that he had spoken.
39 Now the rest of the acts of Ahab and all that he did, and the ivory house that he built and all the cities that he built, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?
40 So Ahab slept with his fathers, and Ahaziah his son reigned in his place.
The king therefore is buried in the same place where his father, Omri, was buried (1 Kings 16:28). This is the watch-mountain, pride of Omri's purchase in 1 Kings 16, where Ahab built an altar in worship of Baal. Instead of being buried in the heart of Israel, in Jerusalem the place of the House of the LORD, Ahab was instead buried next to the altar of heretical worship. This is highlighted in v.38 – this same pool of Samaria was where the dogs licked up Ahab's blood, where the prostitutes (like Jezebel) washed themselves in. It is thus the reign of Ahaziah, who instead of being held by Jehovah, follows in his mother's footsteps.
41 Jehoshaphat the son of Asa began to reign over Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel.
42 Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi.
43 He walked in all the way of Asa his father. He did not turn aside from it, doing what was right in the sight of the LORD. Yet the high places were not taken away, and the people still sacrificed and made offerings on the high places.
44 Jehoshaphat also made peace with the king of Israel.
Instead of reveling in the history of Ahaziah, we are brought immediately to focus on the robed king who survived the battle against the Syrians. He is the son of the physician (Asa), his mother the forsaken (Azubah), the daughter of Shilhi (armed), walking in the way of the true Physician Jesus Christ. The peace made with the king of Israel (v.44) is a mark rare amongst the other kings of Judah who have fought against the kings of Israel since the times of Solomon. This is the first hint of a re-unification of Israel as one man (Judges 20:8-11). Yet, unless the king of Israel and king of Judah both worship the Physician, the holy Son (Psalm 2), it does not look like Israel would be restored.
45 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, and his might that he showed, and how he warred, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?
46 And from the land he exterminated the remnant of the male cult prostitutes who remained in the days of his father Asa.
47 There was no king in Edom; a deputy was king.
48 Jehoshaphat made ships of Tarshish to go to Ophir for gold, but they did not go, for the ships were wrecked at Ezion-geber.
49 Then Ahaziah the son of Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, "Let my servants go with your servants in the ships," but Jehoshaphat was not willing.
50 And Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father, and Jehoram his son reigned in his place.
We see more of Jehoshaphat's reign here – that he is a man under whom deputies were appointed in Edom, that Esau is fulfilling his role as the elder serving the younger Israel (Genesis 25:23). However, as soon as Jehoram replaced Jehoshaphat, Edom rebels (2 Kings 8:22), marking the allegiance of Edom to Judah as granted by the LORD to the faithful king (which Jehoram was not). It is interesting that the account in this chapter regarding Jehoshaphat's refusal to join his servants with Ahaziah's servant is recorded differently in 2 Chronicles 20:35-37. It is likely that Jehoshaphat's refusal to join the servants from Israel and Judah is a result of the pronouncement of judgment upon Jehoshaphat's initial agreement to join with Ahaziah. Upon recognizing the LORD's wrath regarding Ahaziah's sinful reign, thus Jehoshaphat became unwilling (v.49). The writer omits this detail, likely because of his agenda to paint Judah as the lineage through whom the Messiah shall come – though the Chronicler focuses on the LORD as the true king sitting on the throne of Israel.
51 Ahaziah the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria in the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and he reigned two years over Israel.
52 He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and walked in the way of his father and in the way of his mother and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.
53 He served Baal and worshiped him and provoked the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger in every way that his father had done.
And to what extent shall the nation be unified? The picture looks grim at the end of the eventful book of Kings where the LORD had been quiet and has spoken more to prophets and through prophets than to the kings directly. Yet, things are still looking hopeful for the kings of Judah (1 Kings 11:36) in order for the election of the Messiah to be fulfilled. Though the LORD is angered by Ahab's household, Jehoshaphat still walked in the LORD's ways. The light is still glimmering in Israel, though dim, the light is still shining through the Christian prophets like Nathan, Ahijah, Jehu, Eijah, Elisha, Micaiah – all men of God influencing the kings. If only Israel could be united by the LORD as the King of kings and not by mere men.


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Rumour from the TDB Tipline has it that National rushed the Teina Pora compensation out once the magnitude of Paula Bennett's latest meltdown dawned on the Governments strategists.
It worked, the paltry compensation has managed to overshadow Paula Bennett's extraordinarily cruel tactics of smearing the very Marae doing the job she isn't.
Using Pora's compensation to distract media from holding Bennett to account for her latest spiteful knifing of an agency trying to help the homeless and showing up her inaction is contemptible.
Let's be very clear – the compensation offered to Pora for locking him up for a crime he did not commit is pathetic because it doesn't focus on the salient point which has been ignored throughout most of his case – the cops framed him!
This wasn't some miscarriage of justice by accident – the cops knew Pora could not have committed the crime they were c charging him with. The level of violence and sophistication of the crime plus the fact only one pair of foot prints were found at the scene plus the DNA of serial rapist Malcolm Rewa being found all meant the cops knew Pora was innocent when they stitched him up for murder and rape.
The idea that Rewa and Pora would share in a crime was a fiction the Police knew wasn't true.
This is why the case has been ignored for such a long time, the Police knew they had stitched him up and refused to acknowledge that for 20 odd years.
Pora has been framed, wrongly convicted, robbed of a life and gets a pittance back and the system that's done that to him uses his compensation as a smokescreen for National's latest assault on the poor.
Our 'justice' system makes a mockery of the word.


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Imagine yourself being thrown in middle of beautiful landscapes, seductive beaches, serene mountains and beautiful waterfalls. That is just scratching the surface when it comes to what Venezuela has to offer vacationers and expats looking to start a new life abroad. While it isn't always on the top of the list when it comes to most desirable places to live, it offers an exciting mix of eclectic culture and vibrant cities.
Venezuela is a tropical country located in South America and is bordered by Guyana, Brazil, and Colombia. Despite being a tropical country Venezuela has a diversified climate ranging from humid weather to glaciers which offers a varied lifestyle depending on where in the country you choose to vacation to or settle down. When looking at destinations for living abroad it can often be an added bonus for a climate to be diversified. While beach living is tempting, dry and hot weather all year long can be draining.
Lifestyle in Venezuela
The capital city of Venezuela is Carcas. The population is estimated to be around 27,030,656. It has the fourth highest birth rate in South America and houses about 252,200 refugees. The majority of the population is Mestizo and then about one fifth have a European lineage and another one tenth of the population has a lineage from Africa. There is no official religion, as in a religion that is recognized by the state, with the country. The official language is Spanish with more than 30 other local languages in use. The president is both the head of the government as well as the state and is chosen by the system of universal adult suffrage.
Venezuelans have developed a very urban lifestyle and has evolved to a majority of middle class citizens. Local beer, rum and coffee are the most popular beverages and North American music as well as a little South America salsa and Latin soul add a little spice to life. While the majority of citizens are middle class there are quite a few elites within the nation that have built their lives around oil and have quite a bit of pull with the government.
Tourism in Venezuela
Carcas, Angel Falls, Gran Sabana, arid deserts, beautiful mountains and sandy beaches, Venezuela has a lot to boast. A cable ride to Sierra Nevada National Park is worth a fortune. If you find yourself in Venezuela then you do not ever want to miss out on taking a quick jaunt over to Aruba or Trinidad and Tobago also. Playa Colarada boasts of some world famous beaches and then Gran Sabana has some unusually flat mountain tops that are more than worth a visit. To cut it short the country has a dizzying array of attractions and sights. Venezuela is in no way one of those cookie cutter destinations where you find yourself doing the same thing day in and day out.
Work in Venezuela
The currency of Venezuela is the Bolivar and at the moment of publication that the exchange rate is approximately 1 VEB = .000465 USD. The inflation rate is quite substantial and currently sits at 26% which obviously has quite an effect on the cost of living in Venezuela. The majority of jobs are offered within the service industry which includes employment sectors such as healthcare, retail, transport, education and of course tourism, seeing as it forms a vital part of Venezuela's economy. The estimated average salary in Venezuela is 7,480 VEB which may vary depending on the personal factors which are not constant in all cases.
Job networking sites offer a good option if you are looking for jobs within the country. You can speak to local clients and connect with potential employers about the possibility of obtaining a full time job. However, in many cases you are better off simply saving up and heading to Venezuela, and then starting your job search from within. Companies and employers are far more willing to hire people in person rather than over the phone or via the internet.
Housing in Venezuela
Housing can be a bit of an issue in cities like Carcas. The prices vary according to the location and one of your best bets is to get yourself registered with the nearest consulate as soon as possible. The consulate can often help point you in the right direction for housing and accommodations and also help you take the necessary precautions. Venezuela is an earthquake prone country and is affected by torrential rains, so one must also take pretty serious precautions when purchasing property and housing insurance.
Crime rate in Venezuela
Unfortunately, Venezuela has the highest per capita homicide rate in the world. The violent crime rate is an issue of concern here with kidnappings, assaults and robberies occurring every now and then. Many harassment cases against U.S citizens have occurred and have raised a serious concern. The political climate is highly polarized and prone to violence. While this is the one side that is often seen by many foreigners, the issues are a lot more isolated than it appears. There are of course major areas of concern and you are advised to stay away. However there are also very safe communities and especially some safe resorts and areas for vacationers.
Travel in Venezuela
Venezuela is connected through a major air route connecting South America with the rest of the world and thus remains a very easily accessible country of South America. It lies just above the equator and is situated in a part of the world that enjoys relatively pleasant weather all through out the year. This does mean that there is technically no off season or peak season in terms of traveling to Venezuela, but still to be precise the best time to travel to Venezuela is from September to April, which happens to be the dry season.
Yes there are a few drawbacks when it comes to considering moving, living and working Venezuela but there are also a number of wonderful opportunities. While some destinations offer an easy transition for expats this is not necessarily the case for Venezuela. However that is what makes it so appealing for some people who are trying to escape their routine life and break off the beaten path. Countries like Costa Rica and Mexico offer completely foreign communities that feel just like a southern American town. A lot of expats love that accessibility but it isn't for everyone. If you are looking for something a little different then you may want to consider Venezuela. Just keep in mind that research and preparation are keys for a move to Venezuela, even more than for other countries abroad.


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My latest novels, Enemy of Rome, fifth in the Gaius Valerius Verrens series, and The Samurai Inheritance (as James Douglas), the fourth Jamie Saintclair thriller, will be published in August
Friday, 11 March 2011
Mistakes, I've made a few ...
There are a lot of vital stages in the production of a book, but the copy-edit is right at the top. It's a process that every writer has to go through, and for some it's a chore, but I thought it was worth giving you an idea how it works.
My copy-editor, Nancy, has a wonderful eye and the Classical education I wish I'd had. She came up with twenty major queries or suggestions, which isn't bad in a complex story of over 100,000 words, and an average of about three minor tweaks (cuts, improvements or corrections) a page, every one of which improves the book in some way. While I checked what she's done (was I tired when I wrote that the world 'spun on its access' or just stupid?) I made my own corrections etc, which amount to a 3,000 word document affecting around 250 of those 338 pages. I'm never sure whether to be pleased I'm able to make such a difference even at this late stage, or embarrassed at the amount of work I've had to do on something I once thought was the finished article. Again, every change should be a further improvement in quality, whether its historical accuracy or the standard of the writing. Bear in mind that this is after my editor, Simon, has taken the novel through a similar process, focussing on the storyline and the writing rather than the facts, and I've probably checked it six or seven times already.
7 comments:
Its spins on its Axehead Doug
- 11 March 2011 at 09:22
- Mary Schneider said...
Great post, Doug. Out of curiosity, I Googled 'spun on its access'. There were 98 results. That's a lot of tired people writing the same thing. :)
- 12 March 2011 at 22:43
- Gabriele C. said...
Lol Mary.
Dropping 'Avernger of Rome' halfway through hopefully doesn't mean the book won't be finished (and published) some day?
- 13 March 2011 at 15:52
- Doug said...
No Gabriele, it just means I have to take a step back for a couple of weeks, which can sometimes be a good idea. In this case I don't have an option. The first deadline is the priority
- 13 March 2011 at 17:14
- Mari said...
Well, that gave me pause, Mr Jackson. I always find it inspiring (reassuring?) to read/hear about the nuts and bolts of writing, but what a lot of work!
I just finished 'Hero of Rome' and pre-ordered this tome in question, so I'm going to cast my vote for 'happy' even though it was more work for you. ;)
I suppose this is the novel length version of what had plagued me, and others, in writers papers at Uni; 'I knew what I meant' so that is what I saw! Thereby making the proof-read pointless and rendering my point mysterious to any other reader. Which, in my case, might have been the better option, come to think of it...
- 14 March 2011 at 12:14
- Doug said...
I know what you mean Mari, when I first started writing I looked at the first draft I'd put together and thought it was perfect when it certainly wasn't. I'm much harder on myself now, because I've got to be. I have readers who deserve the best I can give them. Just going through Defender again now and having to work even harder to keep up the concentration, but I know it's worth it, because every word I change now improves what you'll read!
- 14 March 2011 at 13:23
- Doug said...
- This comment has been removed by the author.
- 14 March 2011 at 13:24


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After a late start we rode BART into town and purchased tickets for the Cable Car. We rode from Powell/Market to the Cable Car Museum, which is only about 20 minutes. The museum was really fun, but VERY loud. Because were super close to China town the girls requested Utopia for lunch. This time we ordered more shrimp wonton soup and added an order of roast duck wonton soup. The girls loved it and ate every single drop. This time the staff spent more time chatting with us and letting the girls practice their Chinese.
We then spent some time in the "more Chinese than tourist" section of China Town. I was worried about whipping my camera out at some of the shops, so I do not have photos of the dried fish, squid and sea horse. I finally got my courage up in the third Chinese Medicine shop and asked to take photos. They gave me permission, but then promptly disappeared. So, I now have photos of medicine, but no chemist.
On our way out we passed several Chinese schools where I actually closed my eyes and remembered our time in China. The children's voices, the sound of the language and the smells made me "home sick" for China.
We also came across a shop with dragon dance costumes. We are now the proud owners of three and can not wait to bring them to our next FCC event!
The best part of our day was spent at the playground in China Town. We "accidentally" discovered it as we were heading back to Market Street to leave our dragon heads with Da for the day. Once again, we were the only white people around but my kids quickly found other children to play with. The playground looked like it could be any playground in China as it was full of grandparents enjoying the sun, playing cards and chatting with friends. Several grannies asked about the children, but relevant conversation was limited to "Wo you leo ge haizi" meaning "I have 6 children." Anything else was far above my understanding. I think that they understood that the two little ones are from Shantou, the one big one is from AnQing and that Xuxu was "my own."
After the playground we decided to head back to the hotel. We have been going full bore since Saturday and we need some rest. We are planing on taking the day off tomorrow to catch up on laundry, math homework and to rejuvenate. We will head back out for more adventures on Friday and Saturday and will take Sunday off. It will be nice to get back to the regular "day of rest" on Sunday and start our week fresh next week!


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Former Willis A.R. Turner coach, players remember state football championship
WILLIS — There were no rings passed out. No celebratory parade through downtown.
If you're looking for a gaudy sign — or any sign for that matter — you won't find it.
Besides the tales of how things used to be from players and fans alike, the only thing left to commemorate the last state championship football team from Montgomery County is a scrapbook kept in good condition by former Willis and A.R. Turner High School football coach Julius Shanklin.
The scrapbook tells the story of an A.R. Turner football program that reached the Prairie View Interscholastic League Class 1A state quarter and semifinals before breaking through for a state title in 1967.
"They are all we have," said Shanklin of the countless number of Conroe Courier articles from the '60s and '70s. "Without these, we wouldn't have anything to show what we accomplished."
What the A.R. Turner football team did accomplish that 1967-68 school year was a 9-3 run to the state championship, where the team defeated Trinity 30-10. It was the last time any team from the county has won a state title in football.
While they may not have the rings that high school state championship teams get today, and the team is still waiting for its parade, Shanklin and players Earnest Feggins Jr., Michael Williams, Claude E. Harvey and George Richardson will be inducted into the into the Prairie View Interscholastic League Coaches Association Hall of Fame on July 23 in Fort Worth.
"It's a tremendous honor," said Shanklin, who worked in the Willis Independent School District from 1961 until retiring in 1999. "What we did during that time and everything we accomplished was because of how hard everybody worked."
Led by quarterback Charles "White Shoes" Young, who got his moniker from the bright white Converse tennis shoes he wore on game night, the 1967 championship culminated a run in which A.R. Turner won five out of six District 4-A championships beginning in 1961, before the PVIL was disbanded a year later following desegregation.
"We were somewhat of a dynasty," Feggens Jr. said.
Never the biggest team on the field, A.R. Turner football was known for its speed. Offensive linemen Nathanial Lawrence and Williams — mainly Lawrence — often clocked times on the track competitive with the team's backs.
"We were fast," Williams said. "We would go up against teams that were bigger than us, but they couldn't outrun us."
Shanklin, Feggins Jr., Williams, Richardson, Young, Lawrence and Ruben Phillips got together in Willis on Saturday along with Jerry Blair, who was a 10-year-old fan at the time of the championship, as somewhat of a reunion for the 1967 title run.
While there is no sign commemorating the team's title — although the UIL will recognize PVIL state championships — the players won't hesitate to tell the story of their brush with glory if you happen to ask.
The proof is in the scrapbook.


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HYDERABAD, Jan 16: Preliminary inquiry report submitted to the Hyderabad district nazim has exonerated the school teacher, Buland Iqbal, from the charge of corporal punishment and has blamed the student and his family for not disclosing the fact that he was suffering from a 'chronic illness' that culminated into tuberculosis.
The report, compiled by a three-member committee comprising DCO Aftab Ahmed Khatri (chairman), EDO revenue Barkat Ahmed Rizvi and EDO health Dr Sharif Rathore (members), has proposed that the secretary health should be requested to form a high level medical board to look into complaints of student's family regarding the treatment provided to him at the hospital.
The report has made some confusing observations and seems to have given no credence to the complaints of the father and brother of the student, Mudassar Aslam, that he was severely punished by his teacher at school that may have aggravated his physical condition on Nov 21 which required two intestinal surgeries.
The most glaring omission in the report is that of Dr Bilal Rasool, the doctor of surgical unit-III, Civil Hospital, who had operated upon the student when he was first admitted to the hospital in November.
The doctor had stated that when he operated upon the boy, he found that his intestines were jumbled and infected. The inquiry committee did not call him to record his statement at least to verify any physical punishment in shape of the 100 sit ups that might have led to such intestinal obstruction in a 13-year-old student.
The committee also did not hear Dr Ambreen who had also examined the boy.
These two doctors had convinced the parents to allow them to operate, saying otherwise it would lead to brain death because of acute low blood pressure of the boy.
The committee members have passed the buck to a future medical board, if constituted, to look into the case from health point of view and in the light of complaints of the victim's family.
In the findings, the view of Dr Wajid, the in-charge of the paediatrics ward, has been upheld by the inquiry committee that the boy was suffering from tuberculosis and during the course of treatment he died. It was the same doctor who, according to the father, was not ready to admit his son in his ward, saying it was a case to be handled by surgeons.
The committee has blamed the family for not being aware of the fact that their son was suffering from a 'chronic illness' and that he was habitual in leaving school without intimation.
The report quoted statements of 13 students, including three former and 10 present, who all appreciated teacher Buland Iqbal as a 'competent teacher and sociable person.'
Statements of Mudassar's father, Mohammad Aslam, his brothers Owais and Muzamil were also incorporated in the report.
The committee heavily relied on the statements of students, headmaster, peon, a school management committee member and another teacher Sachedino. They all have stated that they never heard that Buland Iqbal had tortured students or awarded severe punishment to them.
It is quite interesting to note that on the one hand the committee observed that "Mudassar was not severely punished by the teacher as he was given 'a few sit ups/slaps.' This type of minor punishment normally does not lead to serious medical implications" but at the same time the committee proposes that "fresh instructions may be issued by the Hyderabad EDO education to all heads of government and private schools to ensure that no 'corporal punishments' to the students is given".
It is again surprising to note that even after giving no credence to the parents' claim that the boy was a victim of corporal punishment or torture, the committee at the same time blamed the parents for not mentioning torture inflicted on the student at the time of sick report when he was first brought to the hospital.
Meanwhile, an inquiry committee of the education department also absolved Buland Iqbal of the same charge. The report has been provided to the district nazim's inquiry committee.
This committee relied on death certificate issued from the hospital, citing 'cardio respiratory failure' as the cause of boy's death which is in sharp contrast to the opinion of the above mentioned committee which cited tuberculosis as the cause of death as per doctors' view.
Mudassar died on January 10 in the Civil Hospital's paediatrics ward. According to his family he suffered from severe abdominal pain and vomiting on Nov 21 after he was forced by the teacher to do 100 sit ups in the school. He underwent two intestinal surgeries but never recovered.
Source: Dawn