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Posted by Christian Piatt 1 year 14 weeks ago
I've done the Valentine's Day thing in the past. And with two school-age kids, I still make the annual pilgrimage to the card and candy aisles in the grocery store to buy sufficiently benign greetings for them to hand out to every kid in their class, whether they like them or not.But my wife, Amy, and I don't do Valentine's Day. In fact, we don't even do Christmas anymore, in the way the culture tells us we should, at least. We've stopped buying presents, cards, and other trinkets for each other on these obligatory days, opting instead to surprise each other with gifts or other gestures of affection throughout the year.One of my biggest objections to Valentine's Day came from a friend recently who was commenting about the coming date. She was excited, she said, because her husband "always gets me something good." Nothing about spending time together. Nothing about love for one another. Nothing about doing anything for him. She was excited to get something cool.I know I'm sounding a little crusty and cynical right now, and if couples choose to observe such days with the exchange of gifts or a night out, I hope they do it joyfully and without any sense of obligation. But the "Hallmark holiday" mentality in our society has swallowed the proverbial Kool-Aid when it comes to reducing love down to a materialistic, forced transaction.Yes, Valentine's Day is about love, but the kind of selfless, dangerous sacrificial love it recognizes is trivialized by lacy cards and chocolates. Though there's disagreement about which priest the day venerates exactly, the legends stretch back to the Roman rule of Claudius II, some 1,750 years ago.
Posted by Christian Piatt 1 year 15 weeks ago
Whenever I hear about someone else making a case for Young Earth Creationism in the name of Christianity, I'm embarrassed, once again, to associate myself with them. And people wonder why many of us prefer to identify as "Jesus followers" or "Spiritual but not Religious" rather than be lumped in with the Ken Hams of the world.Duh.The thing is, a healthy number of us who consider ourselves to be Christian embrace science. We think critically. We accept the likelihood that much we think we understand about the world, the universe, and about our faith can (and should) change as we learn new things. We understand that faith is more about questions than answers, and that the prime mover in our faith practice is to be more like Jesus in our own daily walk, rather than focusing so much on making others more like us.The desire of a vocal minority (yes, that's what I said, and I meant it) of Christians to cling to a notion that the entire universe is a few thousand years old, despite the clear physical evidence to the contrary, points less to a reasonable alternate view of the observable world. Rather, it points to a desperate attempt to maintain a dying voice in the cultural conversation.
Posted by Christian Piatt 1 year 16 weeks ago
Understanding the process of turning an implement of death and violence into a tool for creativity and imagination is one part of the strategy. In doing so, there is hope that participants in such an event will begin to reimagine their own world and how they engage it. After all, true change first begins with imagining the possibility of such transformation.Further, Reyes hopes to challenge U.S. citizens to consider their relationships with guns, and moreover, the impact that value has on people in other countries. Again, in the NPR story, Reyes explains, "We have to be allowed to ask questions. If you are not allowed to ask questions, you are not free."
Posted by Christian Piatt 1 year 16 weeks ago
Doug Pagitt and Tony Jones have been at this whole church leadership thing for a while now. As two of the voices at the forefront of the emerging Christianity movement, they are visionaries, strategists, and hands-on practitioners who, as much or more than anyone, have wrestled with the complex and persistent question of what tomorrow's Christian faith looks like.For one thing, there's an emphasis on the word movement: ideas, communities, and understanding of what it means to be engaging a Christ-inspired faith in relevant ways is forever in flux. As such, certain contemporary iterations of the Christian tribe have been criticized for being ill defined or for too easily accommodating cultural trends.But if Christianity is being true to the one from whom its name is borrowed, it will undoubtedly be countercultural. Any practice that has at it's core mantras like "it's not all about you," or "community need trumps personal gain" will find a skeptical audience in popular culture. Jones and Pagitt are far less interested in offering church leaders a novel attraction gimmick to fill their struggling churches. Rather, they are focused on helping visionaries, activists, and theologians discern what it means to be a follower of Jesus in the 21st century.That's why they created the Christianity 21 Conference, part of what Pagitt describes as the Generous Christianity Movement.
Posted by Christian Piatt 1 year 17 weeks ago
A recent report by OXFAM offered some sobering data about both the concentration and flow of wealth in the world today. A few key points, also summarized by a new business article on The Atlantic website , include:The richest 85 people in the world control as much wealth as the poorest 3,000,000,000 people;Nineteen out of 20 "G20" countries are experiencing growing income inequality between rich and poor;In the United States in particular, 95 percent of the post-financial-crisis capital growth has been amassed by the richest 1 percent of Americans;While domestic income inequality continues to grow, the income tax rates for wealthiest Americans have steadily dropped.My first reaction to seemingly immoral concentrations of wealth, and the systems that enable it, is anger and a compulsion to call them out, to change them and to distribute the world's treasures evenly among all of God's people.But what if we need the insanely wealthy to realize a kingdom-inspired vision for our world?
Posted by Christian Piatt 1 year 17 weeks ago
Recently, I presented this piece at the Christianity 21 Conference in Denver, and then at South Broadway Christian Church later that same week, also in Denver. I've been asked by several in attendance to post what I offered, so here's the text below. The talk was accompanied by a slide show that depicted a combination of Hubble telescope images, electron microscope images and artists/musicians. I considered making that into a video, with me narrating the text underneath, but it takes a lot of time. So let me know if this is something you have particular interest in and I'll try to make it happen.In the BeginningArt Saves lives because art is at the source of all life. It is the taproot to the dormant breath of God, Dwelling within all of creation, waiting for invitation. What we think of today as art is not art. It has become another product to be consumed, Rather than a phenomenon to be engaged, And experience to we have to submit ourselves to, Allow ourselves to be changed, And in doing so, catch a fleeting glimpse of The author, the wellspring, The essence of what it means to be a soul draped in skin and bone.[Poem continues after the jump.]
Posted by Christian Piatt 1 year 17 weeks ago
I'm asked pretty often what I see for the future of organized religion, and Christianity in the West in particular. Given the fact that I am in the process of completing a book called " postChristian ," some people make assumptions that I am convinced it's all going away.Granted, Christianity has experienced precipitous decline, and the drop-off likely is far from done. Before we see any leveling-off within the institutional church, there will be many more church closures, consolidation of shrinking denominations, and an increasing number of people called to, and already working in, ministry who supplement their income with some non-ministerial side vocation.So what do we, who still operate within the system of a declining religion, do about our situation? Some of this has little or nothing to do with anything the church has done or can do. Our increasingly distributed, decentralized, and accelerated culture has forced churches out of the center of American social life. Also, changing cultural norms have made it much more socially acceptable not to go to church.I've long suggested that many of the folks filling the pews during the so-called heyday of the Church some 40 to 60 years ago were there under some duress. They went because of community pressure to do so, because their spouses made them, or because it was a great place to do business networking. But honestly, were we any better off as a faith to have our buildings full if the folks who were there didn't really want to be there?
Posted by Christian Piatt 1 year 18 weeks ago
I do most of my work by contract, which means I'm usually looking for work. When the time comes for me to put my feelers out for new opportunities, I tend to look far and wide. In doing so, sometimes I come across some unexpected prospects.A couple of years ago, I applied for an editorial position at a magazine. Things were going well until we got down to the final rounds and they placed a statement of faith before me that I was expected to sign. There was much in the document that I didn't agree with, and in general, I balk at signing anything that tries to nail down what I believe or what I claim as a Christian.I respectfully declined to sign the document, and within the hour, they withdrew my name from consideration for the job. I was recounting this to a friend and fellow writer last night over a beer, and he shared a number of similar experiences. He tends to "get" evangelical Christian culture a bit more than I do, however, so he has found various ways to work around the points of disagreement he finds in such statements.In one case, at a college where he was applying for undergraduate studies, he performed a line-item edit, striking out everything with which he took issue. Surprisingly, the administrators at the school accepted the revised document and never mentioned his changes.
Posted by Christian Piatt 1 year 20 weeks ago
I'm a big fan of the TV show Mad Men, which takes place in the midst of the Madison Avenue advertising agencies back in the '60s and '70s. Sure, I enjoy the drama and the "cool factor" of Don Draper and his cavalier ad team. But for me, the most fascinating part is all of the cultural norms of the time that seem fairly shocking now, only a few decades later.Of course, there's all the drinking and smoking in the office, but beyond that, the way that non-Anglo employees and the women in the workplace are treated would today be grounds for a lawsuit, if not public shaming for such brazen chauvinism. The thing that's hard to remember is that, although we see such behavior as morally offensive today, it was simply normal back then.
Posted by Christian Piatt 1 year 20 weeks ago
Growing up in Texas, fairly close to New Orleans, I knew all about Mardi Gras. It was a big deal in the South, replete with combinations of debaucherous consumption and self-exposure. What I didn't understand, being the good evangelical Protestant that I was at the time, was that it actually was the celebration preceding the liturgical period of Lent.It was only once I framed the excesses of Mardi Gras with the self-discipline and austerity of Lent that it began to make much sense. Not that the gratuitous self-abuse was then justified, but at least it made more sense, given the things everyone was supposed to give up during the weeks to come.This got me thinking about how we approach New Year's Eve, and framing it, too, by what we expect and anticipate from New Year's Day. Yes, the celebrations of New Year's Eve are, in some ways, just an excuse to indulge ourselves in excessive partying, but they also stand in contrast against the hopes we hold for the following day.
Posted by Christian Piatt 1 year 21 weeks ago
We've created a Christmas monster: a grotesque assemblage of pagan, Christian and capitalist symbolism into something that resembles something we're both attracted to and repulsed by at the same time. We're fueled by an admixture of both guilt and greed, while the domestic economy pins its annual hopes on our propensity for spending far more than we have or want to spend.All in the name of baby Jesus.It seems that we have no means of escaping the vortex of materialism, partly because whoever is the first not to buy gifts is the cheap jerk who throws the whole transactional nature of gift-giving out of whack. But one Christmas, a few years back, my wife, Amy, and I had finally reached our limit. We were in the midst of our Financial Peace budget slim-down and Christmas spending was an obvious target.
Posted by Christian Piatt 1 year 21 weeks ago
I have followed, with great interest, as my friend, Ian Ebright, ran a successful Kickstarter campaign for, and then completed, his short film on American drones called "From the Sky." It's a sensitive and nuanced treatment of those on the receiving en of our hi-tech military aggression.This, combined with all I've read at Sojourners and in Time magazine, among other places about these low-risk (to us), high-efficiency (for us) killing machines, helped solidify in my mind a fairly resolute sentiment: Drones are bad.And then I read, with great interest, my most recent issue of Popular Science, which details the physics and engineering behind these new insect-size drone bots, which replicated insect flight for the first time in the machine world. These highly nimble and portable gadgets are already being used for everything from reconnaissance and recovery on disaster sites to pollinating crops in areas where the indigenous bee population has been decimated.So, of course, these exciting new breakthroughs left me with only one resolute sentiment: Drones are awesome!
Posted by Christian Piatt 1 year 22 weeks ago
I was encouraged by the findings of U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon on Monday who granted an injunction to plaintiffs Larry Klayman and Charles Strange that will temporarily stop the National Security Agency from continuing their data-gathering program that mines information from our mobile phone calls.The injunction was issued because the judge believes that Klayman and Strange likely will win their lawsuit against the federal government, claiming that the phone record collection practice is an unconstitutional violation of personal privacy.The whole storyline is made that much more dramatic since the otherwise secret program was leaked to the public by former NSA contract Edward Snowden, who is now on the run, seeking asylum in exchange for shared intelligence. And while some perceive Snowden as a hero of individual liberty, others vilify him as an enemy of the United States, much like any other terrorist. Interestingly, people's opinions about the NSA — and, frankly, the Obama administration and the government as a whole — diverge in similar ways.
Posted by Christian Piatt 1 year 23 weeks ago
I love Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace coursework. It put our family on stable financial footing years ago, and Amy and I never fight about financial matters any more. We find plenty of other things to fight about, but that's a different post, I suppose.Ramsey has come under fire recently for a list of "Rich People Habits" he posted on his blog. The list was compiled by Tom Corley at a site called RichHabitsInstitute.com, which is intended to track what people of means do differently in daily life than the rest of us (aside from brush their teeth with platinum-bristled brushes, since that one's a given).On the one hand, I'll agree that observing a cohort of people you want to emulate and learning from their habits makes a lot of sense, but I can see why Ramsey and Corley have caught so much heat for comparing habits of "poor people" with those of the wealthy.There are two problems that I see. First, though Ramsey tends to be an advocate for the poor with regard to pushing back against usury lending and the like, he draws many false correlations between the habits listed below and the fact that folks who practice them are in poverty. In fact, in a recent defense of the post, Ramsey reiterated this point, writing, "This list simply says your choices cause results. You reap what you sow."The other concern the list raises for me is that it appears to be blind to the inherent privilege linked to the habits, as if all people had equal access to such practices and resources. Not so, Dave. Below I've shared several of the 20 habits on the original list (which can be found here), followed by my thoughts on where they fall short.
Posted by Christian Piatt 1 year 23 weeks ago
This week marks a year since the nearly incomprehensible school shootings in Newtown, Conn. Gaping holes in families, lives, and the greater community remain, as the question of why such a thing happened still lingers on everyone's lips and in minds.Looking back for answers sometimes only serves to deepen the wounds, rather than help heal them. The shooter demonstrated serious mental illness. He played violent video games, including one called "School Shooting." He catalogued similar events as they emerged in the news. He holed up in his room, garbage bags on the windows, until his mother helped him buy the gun.None of this offers us the peace we seek. What we want is an end to such terrible violence, and a relief from the lingering fear that haunts us while we know another incident is only a matter of time. As a parent of two school-age children, I was made painfully aware of the vulnerabilities in their schools as I'd drop them off, sending them, alone, into the building.
Posted by Christian Piatt 1 year 24 weeks ago
Lots of people like movies; Gareth Higgins loves movies. But the founding director of the Wild Goose Festival and long-time peace activist engages popular culture with a different eye than most of us. And he's used that keen eye for deeper meaning to create his latest book.I asked Gareth about his new book on American film, his peace work, and what it's like considering American culture both as an insider and as a non-native. Here's what he had to say.
Posted by Christian Piatt 1 year 24 weeks ago
I always had very mixed feelings about Christmas as a kid. My dad — not a religious guy — went all out for this holiday, in the typical secular ways. He bought so many presents that it would end up being hard to make our way through the dining room, where we put the tree. We'd spend at least two weekends in November hanging lights and other swag outside, and the house resonated with Bing Crosby, Dean Marin and John Denver, all wishing us merry Christmas, over and over again.I came to hate decorating the house. All of that time spent on the roof could have been much better used playing with my friends and, of course, I never hung the lights correctly. I'd flop them along the wrong side of the roofline, only to be sent back to make it right. And suffice it to say that, although I love the Rat Pack singers in particular, hearing any carol more than 43 times in the course of three weeks can sour even the most ardent fans.Then there was the matter of the gifts. As I said, the piles of boxes were fairly obscene, which actually proved an embarrassment if we had other family visiting for Christmas. I was not a fan of being the center of attention, and opening my remaining presents while jealous cousins looked on made me just want to get it over and done with.
Posted by Christian Piatt 1 year 25 weeks ago
Methodist minister Rev. Frank Schaefer (not to be confused with Frank Schaeffer) has come up against what some might call a conflict of interest in living out his call as a minister of the gospel. Some might even call his experience a crisis of faith, but for Schaefer and his son, Tim, the struggles they have faced in recent weeks and months have yielded beautifully unexpected blessings.Schaefer's troubles with the larger Methodist Church go back some six years to when he performed a wedding ceremony for Tim, who is gay. Although his son realized this would present Schaefer with a dilemma (the United Methodist Church does not allow their ministers to conduct same-sex marriages), he also knew that it would hurt his father deeply not to be asked to perform the ceremony, regardless of whom he was marrying.The wedding was performed in Mass., where same-sex marriages are legally recognized.Though it took some time, charges were brought against Schaffer within the denomination, and he has recently had his license for ministry suspended. He is now facing an ultimatum: either he has to renounce his support for the performance of same-sex marriages or he will be defrocked within a month.
Posted by Christian Piatt 1 year 26 weeks ago
The busier life gets, the more corners we cut. One of the first things to go for me is self-care. My wife, Amy, and I both work full time and we have two kids, so it's fairly easy to get to the end of the day and realize we haven't exercised, had enough water, eaten a balanced diet or even taken time to stretch. So we recently picked up a pair of these new "fitness bands" that so many people are fans of.The thing is, they don't work out for you. They don't make meals for you or force-feed you water. They really just help you stay aware of your progress in a day, on everything from steps taken to ounces of water taken in and calories consumed. There are even little "rewards" like buzzes and blinking lights when you reach your daily goals. It's silly, I guess, but when I have it, I do a lot better for myself.Sometimes we need a little extra incentive to change our behavior for the better. It's not that we don't want to exercise or eat well, for the most part; we just get distracted and busy. And when we do, we make small compromises that add up to pretty significant negative effects if we're not careful.
Posted by Christian Piatt 1 year 27 weeks ago
Somehow I've had the good fortune until recently not to know who Theresa Caputo, (AKA the Long Island Medium) was. The long and short of it, in case you've been similarly privileged, is that she has a reality show and claims to speak to dead people. She also has a book, which I saw in the airport bookstore, and tours extensively (including where we are on vacation). Before I knew who she was, just looking at her book cover and the related press around her, I assumed she was the latest in a long string of prosperity gospel preachers.Not exactly, but kinda.It got me thinking about what folks like this have in common, be they prosperity-preaching ministers, self-help "Jesus light" media darlings, or channels for the dearly departed from Jersey Shore. Following is a list of traits they all seem to have in common.
Posted by Christian Piatt 1 year 29 weeks ago
As if it wasn't chilling enough to learn that NSA cronies are poring over your web browser history, now we discover that Barack Obama sits in bed at night and listens in on German Chancellor Angela Merkel's cell phone calls to Domino's.Okay, maybe those are a bit of a stretch, but quite a buzz has been generated as of late about the revelation that the United States does, indeed, monitor the communications of leaders from allied nations, including the cell phone activity of Chancellor Merkel. For some, the collective reaction has been more of a collective shrug, as if such impositions should be expected from a global superpower that generally prefers to maintain that status. But for others, there's a clear sense of shock and outrage.For starters, let's clarify: nations cannot be friends.
Posted by Christian Piatt 1 year 29 weeks ago
The theatrics around the Affordable Care Act seem only to be matched by the public's ignorance about what it actually is. Case in point: when late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel sent a reporter out on the street to ask people their opinions, they felt markedly better about the nuts and bolts of the Affordable Care Act than they did about Obamacare.Never mind they're the same thing (sigh).It seems that a handful of lawmakers have seen to it that our ignorance is sown into full-blown fear, obfuscating the fact that the shutdown – which was largely a fight over the ACA – cost our economy about $25 billion. For those who have been following even on a cursory level, the arguments against the ACA are becoming quite familiar:· The individual mandate infringes on my freedom not to have insurance.The whole thing costs too much.It's a slippery slope to a single-payer system.On this last point, we can only hope the critics are right, particularly since a single-payer health care system is the only model that has offered hard evidence of both covering everyone and reducing total costs. But since we're not there yet, let's consider what we do have with this new law.
Posted by Christian Piatt 1 year 31 weeks ago
Am I the only one who finds it deliciously ironic that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange objects stridently to how he is portrayed in the new movie, The Fifth Estate? The film, which hits theaters in wide release today, turns its attention to the organization best known for publicly sharing otherwise confidential information of various governments, including our own.Assange is clearly a study in eccentricity. From his tow-headed locks to his lock-down work environment, he fascinates as often as he infuriates. To demonstrate their displeasure about the coming film, WikiLeaks actually leaked the screenplay to the public ahead of the movie release and has published numerous corrections they deem necessary to more accurately reflect history. They have also labeled the movie "irresponsible, counterproductive and harmful," adjectives made that much more poignant, given that similar epithets have been leveled at WikiLeaks for their own work.But despite this latest round of drama revolving around WikiLeaks and its lightning rod of a front man, the question still remains:Is WikiLeaks good for America?
Posted by Christian Piatt 1 year 32 weeks ago
I was talking to my wife, Amy, today about the news that Speaker John Boehner has requested movement from his party toward a temporary increase of the United States government debt ceiling.The shutdown in itself is problematic enough. Our leaders have willfully put about a million people out of work while they haggle about policy that has already been put into law. The cost of their standoff to the United States economy is a loss of about $1.6 billion a week in economic output. And it's more than a little bit ironic that this is being done on the watch of a Congress that supposedly has its first priority as jobs and economic growth.However, all of this pales in comparison to the potential damage that would ripple throughout the global economy if we were to default on our debt. Because so many markets in the world peg their valuation system to the American dollar, and because so many exchanges use our currency as their monetary system, the prospect of the credibility of our money losing its footing in a potentially irreparable way could be nothing short of catastrophic worldwide."We should just fire them all," said Amy. "Just clean house and start fresh."The thing is, although this is a sentiment I hear on nearly a daily basis, and I've heard it over the course of many years, very little of substance seems to change when it comes to who represents us in Washington, D.C.
Yes, Community. But Then What? A Conversation with Brian McLaren, Stephanie Spellers, and Doug Pagitt
Posted by Christian Piatt 1 year 33 weeks ago
I can't count how many times I've heard people within mainline Christian churches note that, though they don't embrace all of the theological positions of their evangelical sisters and brothers, they are impressed by their aptitude for organizing and affecting change on a large scale. At the same time, I see thousands converge at festivals like the Wild Goose festival in North Carolina, feeling both fed by the invigorating sense of community, but also frustrated to be leaving with the still unanswered question:What do we do now?The CANA Initiative, which is a joint collaboration of Brian McLaren, Stephanie Spellers, and Doug Pagitt, seeks to help answer that nagging question. Cana seeks to be the connective tissue that helps hold together communities of faith that share common priorities in addressing the pressing socioeconomic issues of our time.From their website, "The CANA Initiative brings together innovative leaders from all streams of the faith to collaborate in the development of new ways of being Christian ... new ways of doing theology and living biblically, new understandings and practices of mission, new kinds of faith communities, new approaches to worship and spiritual formation, new integrations and conversations and convergences and dreams."Following is an audio interview I conducted with these three key voices in the CANA conversation. We talked about why CANA is needed now, more than ever, and what sort of transformation they hope to affect within the greater Christian body.
Posted by Christian Piatt 1 year 33 weeks ago
Every day, my previously stable faith is replaced with a little more hungry curiosity. I consider this progress.I posted this brief statement on my Facebook and Twitter accounts yesterday and promptly received quite a bit of interest in return. Not surprising, really, that my typical readership would resonate with such a claim, but I also found some surprising affirmations from those I would not have expected to appreciate my sentiments.I write fairly often about moving away from emphasis on a propositional faith and toward one that is more implicitly lived out in our daily experience. Said another way, I would much rather have the teachings and values shared by Jesus revealed through my actions and through what people see in me, rather than simply through any particular rhetoric that I offer them as an act of persuasion, or even coercion. This is also selfishly motivated, as I am increasingly convinced that, whereas a faith centered on the proclamation and defense of particular statements is one that lends itself to inertia, a way of life that reveals your values without explicitly having to state them is both more compelling to others and more fulfilling for ourselves.
Posted by Christian Piatt 1 year 34 weeks ago
Renowned scientist and author of such books as A Brief History of Time, Stephen Hawking suggested recently that it is conceivable in the future that we may be able to upload the contents of the human brain onto a computer so that the information may, in a sense, become immortalized. He readily conceded, however, that such a task was well beyond our current technological capacity, and he offered some measured words of caution for those who sought to read too much into this potential.When asked if this meant that there was potential for the mind to live forever through an alternative medium, he was dismissive. Such talk of human immortality, he said (and in particular, the very notion of heaven), was the stuff of fairy tales for people "afraid of the dark."Then in the same week, TIME Magazine featured a story about Google on its cover, highlighting a new company it has recently launched called Calico. The new enterprise is perhaps the most ambitious of what Google commonly calls their "moonshot" projects, as its aim is to prolong the human lifespan potential, and perhaps eventually solve the "problem" of death.All of this was particularly interesting to me in the context of the conversation between Richard Dawkins and Jon Stewart on a recent episode of The Daily Show about whether science or religion was more responsible for hastening humanities apparent self-destruction.
Posted by Christian Piatt 1 year 34 weeks ago
First things first: with all due respect to interim host John Oliver, I for one am thrilled to have Jon Stewart back on The Daily Show. I know it is sad to say, but I actually missed him while he was on summer hiatus. Welcome back, little buddy!Last night, Stewart interviewed Richard Dawkins, author of The God Delusion, who was promoting his newest title, An Appetite for Wonder. The most interesting moments in the interview revolved around Stewart's question to Dawkins about whether science or religion ultimately would be responsible for hastening our journey down this path of apparent self-annihilation. What followed was a fascinating, if not entirely satisfying, dialogue about the "downsides" of both disciplines.
Posted by Christian Piatt 1 year 34 weeks ago
I'm often asked about what trends I see within Christianity, both good and bad. So in my ongoing effort to help name trends and offer an alternative way of thinking about our faith, here are the five biggest things I've seen that tend to keep us from doing our best work as the living, breathing body of Christ in the world today.1. Church Buildings — Many of our church buildings were established in a time when Christianity was booming numerically in the United States. We could hardly keep up with the growth happening all around us. Understandably, churches popped up where the people were too, drawing many away from their old downtown churches to a more convenient suburban community. But as our numbers have dwindled – combined with the fact the we're a much more mobile society now that ever before – many churches are becoming monuments to what has long since passed. They have become an albatross rather than an asset.
Posted by Christian Piatt 1 year 35 weeks ago
It's not every day you meet a practicing priest in the Catholic Church who is married, so when I got in touch with Fr. Dwight Longenecker (a man who meets the above criteria), I took the opportunity to get his take on sex, marriage, celibacy, and how the Church can, should, and already is dealing with sex differently, both within clergy circles and beyond them.Dwight Longenecker was brought up in an evangelical home and graduated from the stridently anti-Catholic Bob Jones University in Greenville, S.C. While there he became an Anglican and went on to study theology at Oxford University. He married Alison and they have four children. After 10 years as a minister in the Church of England Dwight and his family converted to the Catholic faith. Showing that God has a sense of humor, Dwight returned to Greenville to be ordained as a Catholic priest. He now serves as a parish priest in Greenville. You are both married and a Catholic Priest. How did that happen?
Posted by Christian Piatt 1 year 35 weeks ago
About a year ago, I wrote about my family participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Challenge, which encourages families to try to live on the equivalent of SNAP assistance (food stamps) for one week. It was a growing experience for all of us, and we actually fell short of our intended goal. It turns out that it's not easy to feed a family of four well — especially without great time and effort — on less than $20 a day.In looking back on that experience, a number of myths come to mind that I've heard from folks about SNAP, which I thought I'd share here.
Posted by Christian Piatt 1 year 37 weeks ago
Ever since the most recent MTV Video Music Awards aired, there has been a breathless competition online to see who can be more offended by Miley Cyrus' highly sexualized performance. Yes, I watched it, and yes, much of it made me pretty uncomfortable. It was hard for me not to imagine my own daughter a dozen or so years from now, longing to replicate the gyrations and sexual gestures of another – but similarly overt – pop idol.Basically, it was lowest-common-denominator entertainment: hardly anything new in the music industry. Madonna did as much and then some decades ago, so why is this particular incident such a big deal?For one thing, one of the most lurid moments of the performance had her grinding in a compromising position with a married man nearly twice her age. Interesting, though, that the criticisms of Miley online have far outweighed those of Robin Thicke, the married man in question who participated in said grinding. Suffice it to say that women historically have been held to different standards of sexual expression than men, and when in doubt, blame the woman. Not that her dance was appropriate, but it tells us more about ourselves when we obsess about the shenanigans of the young woman than the borderline adulterous displays of a much older man.
Posted by Christian Piatt 1 year 37 weeks ago
I had a series a while back about the Christian Cliches that we should drop from our lexicon, and since then I've had people ask what they should be saying instead. So here's a list of handy phrases to help bring followers of Jesus into a post-Christendom, 21st-century world.
Posted by Christian Piatt 1 year 38 weeks ago
Trey Pearson, front man and creative mind behind the band, Everyday Sunday, is in many ways the picture of a successful Contemporary Christian Music artist. He's toured the world, played to thousands of fans at a time and sold hundreds of thousands of records. So I was intrigued when I sat down with him at the recent Wild Goose Festival in North Carolina to learn more about why this icon of Christian pop was going solo with his most recent record. How did you get started in the Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) scene?I was introduced to the scene as a teenager, finding out that people listened to "Christian music." I started going to "Christian concerts," and was inspired to write my own songs and have a band. I was already into performance art as a teenager from doing theater, musicals, acting, and modeling for commercials, print, and things of that nature. I grew up teaching myself piano, and was intrigued by the idea of playing songs for people. Given my background, I felt like I needed to do "Christian songs" to glorify God with my art. Long story short, after opening for several signed artists, I dropped out of college (after being on honor roll through my freshman year) to make an independent album and pursue a record deal. I went to Nashville, and knocked on doors until someone would listen. I signed a deal three months after I released my independent album.
Posted by Christian Piatt 1 year 38 weeks ago
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King immortalized many phrases still used in the contemporary American lexicon. But it was on Dec. 17, 1963 in a talk at Western Michigan University when he noted that the "most segregated hour in this nation" is 11 a.m. on Sunday.Though many of King's other famous quotes come from scripted speeches, the comment above actually was from part of a question-and-answer session with students and faculty about racial integration. He was asked if he believed that true racial integration must be spearheaded by the Christian churches, rather than in workplaces or on college campuses.Suffice it to say that Dr. King begged to differ, and sadly, his words spoken 50 years ago ring eerily prophetic as we scan the halls of most of our churches. What he claimed then is still, today, a stark reality. He went on in his response:"I'm sure that if the church had taken a stronger stand all along, we wouldn't have many of the problems that we have. The first way that the church can repent, the first way that it can move out into the arena of social reform is to remove the yoke of segregation from its own body." But how? About the same time King made these keen observations, white people were leaving the inner cities by the millions, establishing more homogenous suburbs on the far boundaries of town. So-called "white flight" took hold, creating entirely new municipalities, while decaying urban centers were hollowed out, left only with an aging infrastructure and those who had no choice but to endure being left to fend for themselves.As such, our churches were, in some ways, byproducts of the communities in which they found themselves.
There is No Longer Post-Evangelical or Post-Liberal: Talking 'Convergence' Christianity with Eric Elnes
Posted by Christian Piatt 1 year 39 weeks ago
Eric Elnes, author of Phoenix Affirmations: A New Vision for the Future of the Christian Faith and Asphalt Jesus, always has something brewing. I sat down with him over a hearty cup of his own Darkwood Brew coffee at the recent Wild Goose Festival in North Carolina to find out more about Convergence Christianity, a new concept he's developing, and which is gaining traction across many traditional ideological and theological lines.Here's what Eric had to say about the current state of the Christian faith, as well as where he sees it heading.
Posted by Christian Piatt 1 year 39 weeks ago
I just got back a few days ago from a campsite outside of Asheville, N.C., the site of the third annual Wild Goose Festival. For those who are unfamiliar with the event, imagine and old-fashioned days-long outdoor revival, combined with Bonaroo and a traveling circus. For several days, authors, activists, artisans, musicians, and seekers converge to engage in spontaneous community, share ideas and to inspire one another.It's not every day that you can walk by a makeshift tent and listen to Phyllis Tickle succinctly summarize the history of Christendom in 45 minutes, and then wander over and pick up a vegetarian pita sandwich while on your way to hear the Indigo Girls perform. Impassioned conversations emerge all on your walk about everything from child trafficking to the state of the institutional church in the 21st century. And you're only momentarily distracted by the guy on stilts, wearing a hat covered in goose feathers who wanders by for no apparent reason.Welcome to Wild Goose.
Posted by Christian Piatt 1 year 42 weeks ago
Our church is right in the heart of the city and as such, many who make their home outside find their way into our worship services on Sunday and throughout the week for various reasons. The first year Amy and I were here, we made a concerted effort to allow people to sleep on the steps and in the courtyard of the church if they so chose, as it seemed to be the bare minimum offering of hospitality required of us.In the past few months, however, things have gotten a lot more complicated. Several fights have broken out over turf, a couple of people have fallen and lost teeth or broken ribs, and at least three times, people have broken into the boiler room to sleep. At least once or twice a week, we catch a group of younger folks shooting up heroin in the courtyard, their needles scattered about in the midst of the greenery. We have found every kind of bodily waste one cares to imagine in the common area, and this Sunday during our annual church cookout, I had to escort one man out of the restroom for masturbating to pornography in one of the bathroom stalls.There comes a point when the hospitality afforded to those we are trying to welcome in has to be weighed against the safety of those already present in the community. Although the sanitation issues and the vandalism were less than pleasant, the violence, drug use, and sexual indiscretions finally pushed us over the line. We met with the Portland police and had a notice posted that said any loiterers who refused to leave upon request would be arrested.
Posted by Christian Piatt 1 year 42 weeks ago
Pope Francis quickly is establishing himself as the "peoples' Pope." He has actively advocated for the poor, downplayed his elevated status, and speaks in colloquial terms that make him seem that much more human. He has left open the possibility that non-Catholics, non-Christians, and even atheists may fall within the vast embrace of a radically loving and merciful God. And now, he's even made what many consider at least a benign – if not affirming – statement about homosexuality.Historically, popes have toed an ideological line, asserting that homosexuality is inherently evil, and that all gay people are fundamentally disordered. In an expression of sincere humility, political savvy, or perhaps some combination of both, Francis took a more compassionate position, adding at the end of his comments, "who am I to judge?"Welcome to the 20th century, Catholic Church.
Posted by Christian Piatt 1 year 43 weeks ago
By now most of the world knows the royal family in England is celebrating the birth of little baby George Alexander Louis. The commentators panted as they caught the first glimpses of the magic baby, about everything from the infant's apparent ability to withstand a media onslaught to the ever-so-newsworthy fact that his father drove the family home with his own two hands.Meanwhile in Iraq, several hundred prisoners of the infamous Abu Ghraib facility escaped, many of whom were known or suspected members of Al Qaeda. Considering the attention given to the few dozen detainees still held in Guantánamo Bay, it seems reasonable to think that such a breakout would arrest the headlines around the globe.But instead, we stayed focused for the most part on baby George. I remarked about this to my friend, sharing my concern about the apparent distortion of priorities. He suggested that it simply is a sign of cultural fatigue, or even resignation. Sometimes, after all, these stories that have international importance seem so big, so abstract, and so far away that it is hard to wrap our minds around them. It's easier instead to set our attention on something more hopeful — albeit remarkably more superficial — that won't keep us awake at night.
Posted by Christian Piatt 1 year 44 weeks ago
My wife and I are attending our denomination's national assembly in Orlando this week. Last night, we went to a retirement party for one of her mentors. As a group of ministers tends to do, they concluded by gathering around, laying their hands on, and offering him a prayer of blessing. Then the group spontaneously broke out into a round of song that went on for a few minutes. It was both beautiful and touching.The wait staff, however, wasn't quite sure how to take it."Wow," one bartender said," that's amazing. You guys can all really sing."Amy just smiled."That's church," she said.
Posted by Christian Piatt 1 year 45 weeks ago
What kind of tentmakers are we? Are we more like Martha, so preoccupied with busywork that we neglect our neighbors, the guests of honor? Do we stand by and rejoice in the misfortune of others suffer the consequences of their own doing, rather than inviting them in and making room for them at the table, under the protection of our shade? When we see a stranger come by, do we drop everything, bring out the best of what we have and sit at their feet in humble service?
Posted by Christian Piatt 1 year 46 weeks ago
I was five years old on Independence Day in 1976. The United States' bicentennial fever had overtaken the entire population. Everything was dressed in red, white, and blue. I remember decorating my tricycle in streamers and balloons for the neighborhood parade. It rained through the entire event, and although I crossed the finish line covered in red and blue dye, my award for "most colorful float" made it all worth it.Also attended Willie Nelson's Fourth of July birthday party/concert that same year. We camped out under the stars and enjoyed music for days in a Woodstock-like environment. I remember seeing my first naked adult woman there. She and her family – or some group of friends – were taking a break to bathe in the nearby river. Hey, it was the 70s, remember?But even there in that hotbed of post-hippie activity, everyone displayed affection for our country. Even those who likely had stood in protest against the Vietnam War only years before rose and placed their hands over their hearts when the national anthem was sung and the flag was unfurled every morning.Somewhere along the way, the idea seeped into our national consciousness that patriotism and political criticism could no longer coexist. Those who questioned or challenged the agendas or motives of those in power were pegged as patently unpatriotic; in turn, those dissident voices increasingly rejected the commonly embraced symbols of patriotism as mere tokens of jingoist American exceptionalism.
Posted by Christian Piatt 1 year 47 weeks ago
There are lots of biases and assumptions about Christians out there, many of which are founded in real-life experience. And yes, we Christians have done our share of damage when it comes to tarnishing our so-called "brand." But there also seems to be this tendency to understand Christianity and its adherents as one generally monolithic group that can be described in simple (often negative) terms that they would never be acceptable to apply to any other group.Part of this is because of the historic dominance of the Christian culture in the modern Western world. It's the same reason that stereotypes of men on network sitcoms are pervasively unflattering, while the same stereotypes would cause a firestorm of negative publicity if applied to the female counterparts. Some of this is entirely warranted and necessary in tearing down false or damaging constructs of power. But sometimes, if we're being honest, they're just wrong. And stupid.
Posted by Christian Piatt 1 year 48 weeks ago
For more than a generation, the gay conversion organization known as Exodus International has been one of the most prominent Christian symbols of LGBT intolerance. They have practiced what is commonly called "reparative therapy" to supposedly remove the urges of same-sex attraction from those who seek to become straight. I have personally written at great length about the damage done by such religiously fueled zealotry, but never in my lifetime did I anticipate that the leader of this infamous anti-gay organization would concede as much to the public in the form of a confession.What's more, at their 38th annual convention, Exodus International's director, Alan Chambers, announced plans to close the organization and cease its mission for good. You can read Mr. Chambers' full of apology HERE, as well as the formal closure announcement HERE.I'm not prone to emotional hyperbole, but I read these announcements and confessions with a nearly overwhelming admixture of shock, disbelief, compassion, and hope. I also try not to fill my blog posts with too much content from other sources, but this is one of those occasions when the original source material should be seen without adaptation. Following are several excerpts for Mr. Chambers' open apology to the public, along with my thoughts:
Posted by Christian Piatt 1 year 49 weeks ago
It's exhilarating to realize that I'm getting more done in less time. I got up and took a walk around the church while back, feeling pretty satisfied that I had fulfilled all of my professional duties for the day. And here it was, more than an hour before I even have to go pick up the kids!But then I had a moment beset with pangs of anxiety. Yes, at the moment I can answer emails faster with this little gadget than most people can muster a response. It puts me slightly ahead of the curve. But then I realized this advantage is only a temporary luxury. The efficiency that a new technology affords only works as long as the majority of people you come into contact with aren't yet using the same technology. Once they are, the entire conversation accelerates, and the expectations of everyone increase to at least reach the maximum limit of the new capability everyone has just recently acquired.
Posted by Christian Piatt 1 year 50 weeks ago
Anyone who listens to our Homebrewed Christianity CultureCast knows that we love Game of Thrones. The writing is complex and dramatic, and the characters are fascinating. What's more, after the recent "Red Wedding" episode, we're all too aware that no character, no matter how important or beloved, is safe.The series, set in a fictitious medieval Europe, is also dark, exploitive, highly sexualized at times, and one has to stretch to glean any moral redemption from the episodes. As such, there's a debate swirling online about whether Christians can or should watch such a show. Where's the Gospel? How can we justify all the sex and bloodshed? Do we watch with the (possibly deluded) hope that things will incline toward virtue, even though the series creator has suggested no such intention?Or should we just turn it off?Now, there's a constituency of evangelicals and Tea Partiers who claim that, since the coffee super-chain Starbucks supports same-sex partner benefits, drinking their coffee (and therefore inadvertently supporting gay rights, I suppose) is anti-Christian. So sorry, followers of Jesus, but that favorite frappuccino you look forward to every afternoon is off the menu. If you don't want to make Jesus cry, at least.
Posted by Christian Piatt 2 years 2 days ago
I've written before about the seemingly contrasting messages we offer to young people in church about sex and sexuality:Sex is dirty; save it for someone you marry someday.Umm, what? Granted, we walk a narrow rhetorical tightrope when discussing sex with our kids. If we tell them it's actually pretty awesome, and then tell them they can't do it, that's a setup for failure. On the other hand, if we focus on the negatives, we risk scarring and shaming them into a life of emotional conflict and struggle when it comes to sexual intimacy.What we end up with, often times, is a vacuous silence when it comes to the real, difficult issues of sexual identity, impulse, and expression. Add to that the Christian emphasis on marriage, and the result in many cases is scads of unhealthy, sexually awkward young people, married far too early with no idea why.
Posted by Christian Piatt 2 years 4 days ago
Sarah Thebarge is the author of The Invisible Girls, a new memoir from Jericho Books. I was fortunate to get a few minutes to ask her a few questions about her touching, funny, compelling new piece of work.Q: Your book is about Somali Refugees and also about your survival of breast cancer. How do you write one book about both things?A: When I met the Somali mom and her girls on the MAX the first time, we had a lot of differences – different religions, ethnicities, skin color, and language. But as I developed a relationship with them, I realized that we had a lot in common at the core. Because I'd been a little girl growing up in a fundamentalist culture, where men buried you under yards of fabric and lists of rules and taught you that women were supposed to be silent. And I knew what it was like to be a refugee of sorts, because after I nearly died of cancer in my 20s, I sold everything I had and got on a plane with a suitcase of clothes and flew from the east coast to Portland, Ore., and started over. And so even though the narrative lines of the Somali refugee family and my cancer experiences seem disparate, they actually weave together well, because all this time, I'd been an Invisible Girl, too.
Posted by Christian Piatt 2 years 1 week ago
You know, I always hedge when people ask me where I'm from, because the second I tell them I was born and raised in Texas, all kinds of stereotypes pop up in the conversation.Yes, I can read.No, I'm not a Republican.Yes, I'm a Christian. No, not that kind.No, I don't ride horses, own a cow, oil derek or know JR Ewing personally.And no, I do not think Texas should become its own republic.But then, stories like this one come along that only serve to reinforce the negative biases against Texans that I try so very hard to debunk. Come on guys, work with me here!


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Nikki BellaStephanie Nicole Garcia-Colace
- Birthdate: 11/21/1983 (age 31)
- Height: 5'6"
- Weight: 131 Ib
Nikki Bella has spent most of her career workin...
-- Santino Marella tweeted the following injury update during this week's WWE RAW broadcast: "BTW next Monday I'm cleared to wrestle again, fingers crossed, but so much stuff going on with #WrestleMania29 so we'll see"
-- The Bella Twins tweeted the following regarding their return on this week's WWE RAW broadcast "We're baaaaaacccckkkkkkk!! ???????? #RAW #BellasAreBack #BellaTwins" If you're interested, you can click the eWN "Reporter's Link" to view a photo of The Bella Twins' return on RAW this week. As noted earlier here on the website, John Cena is dating Nikki Bella in real-life while Daniel Bryan is dating Brie Bella in real-life. Since leaving WWE, The Bella Twins haven't been doing much besides appearing at a few conventions here and there. It's very possible the duo returned to be closer to their boyfriends. With the brutal WWE travel schedule, the couples don't get to see each other as often as they'd like.

subset: commoncrawl


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- Shopping Bag ( 0 items )
Publishers WeeklyKing has led a remarkable life: a hardscrabble childhood in and around New Orleans, a troubled adolescence, and a series of encounters with the justice system that led to several stints at Louisiana's Angola State Penitentiary. He radicalized while serving his third sentence, joining the Black Panther Party and agitating for improved conditions for prisoners. King was subsequently placed in solitary confinement, where he remained for the better part of three decades. The book is an important document of the failures of the justice system. Mumia Abu-Jamal's foreword attests to the gravity of these failures. However, King's own telling doesn't quite measure up to the story itself. His prose is loose and repetitive, particularly in the early chapters, so it sometimes difficult to keep tabs on people and events. The text is followed by a small collection of interviews and essays that prove engaging but haphazard, in keeping with the anecdotal bent of the autobiography. King's story is powerful, carefully observed, and deserves a wide audience, but such an incendiary topic requires greater precision in its telling. B&W photos.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.


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Special Correspondent
Candidates banned from offering puja to EVMs
Exercising of franchise by husband and wife together prohibited
BANGALORE: The curtains came down on the public campaign by candidates and political parties on Tuesday evening for the second phase of polling to be held on April 30 in 11 Lok Sabha constituencies of Karnataka.
As many as nine sitting MPs are contesting elections in the second phase. Polling would decide the fate of prominent candidates such as the former Prime Minister and Janata Dal (Secular) president H.D Deve Gowda (Hassan), the former Chief Minister S. Bangrappa (Shimoga), Bhartiya Janata Party State unit president D.V. Sadananda Gowda (Udupi-Chikmagalur), the former Union Minister B. Janardhana Poojary (Dakshina Kannada) and Union Minister of State M.H. Ambareesh (Mandya).
Chief Electoral Officer M.N. Vidyashankar has asked non-voting political functionaries to leave the constituencies as the campaign ended at 5 p.m. on Tuesday. The restriction would apply to election agents if they are not voters of constituencies. Only group of three to four persons are allowed to conduct door-to door campaign.
The commission also banned offering pujas to electronic voting machines by contesting candidates during exercise of their franchise. Since it is a secret ballot, the commission also banned exercising of franchise by husband and wife together.
As many as 156 candidates are the in the fray. The Congress and the BJP have fielded candidates in all 11 constituencies, Janata Dal (Secular) in six constituencies, Communist Party of India and Communist Party of India (Marxist) in one constituency each.
Polling will be held in 18,452 polling stations, including 755 auxiliary, in 11 constituencies and they are Bagalkot, Haveri, Dharwad, Davangere, Shimoga, Udupi-Chikmagalur, Hassan, Dakshina Kannada, Mandya, Mysore and Chamarajanagar (SC). Over 1.55 crore, including 76.79 lakh women, voters are eligible to exercise their franchise.
In this phase, highest number candidates are contesting in the Davangere constituency (28) and the lowest in Udupi-Chikmagalur (9). With this phase, elections to all 28 Lok Sabha constituencies will come to an end in Karnataka. The first phase of election was held on April 23 in 17 constituencies.
Officials in the CEO' office here said communication network among the polling offers in 11 constituencies had been established and all of them have been provided with mobile phones. The mustering work involving transportation of materials, including electronic voting machines, would be done on Wednesday.
The returning officers, and observers, micro-observers and the police have stepped up vigil against election malpractices.


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Cybersecurity Without NSA Snooping: Does the White House Proposal Provide the Protections We Need?
Earlier this week the White House released a legislative proposal aimed at enhancing cybersecurity by authorizing new information sharing between the private sector and the government. The White House proposal contains important privacy protections not present in CISPA and CISA – bills which ignored the public outcry for reform of NSA surveillance over Americans. However, the White House proposal relies heavily on privacy guidelines and use restrictions that are currently unwritten, leaving unanswered questions about their effectiveness.Read More


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Just when I thought Hollywood's mega-budget, special effects extravaganzas couldn't get any more elaborate or impressive, here comes "Guardians of the Galaxy" to, quite happily I must say, exceed expectations. Credit to native St. Louisan James Gunn, scriptwriter and director of one of the most wild and wonderful rides through Marvel Comics heaven.
British director Lynne Ramsay's We Need to Talk About Kevin charts the first 16 years of the emotionally damaged title character who lacks the ability to empathize. As Kevin's mother Eva, Tilda Swinton carries the film registering an amazing array of reactions as the film's narrative structure fragments time, a design that eerily fits Kevin's dissociative state.


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Eugene Torre and Oliver Barbosa, two grandmasters separated by nearly three generations, delivered the killer blows in the Philippines' amazing 3-1 victory over powerhouse England Tuesday in the eighth round of the 2012 World Chess Olympiad in Istanbul, Turkey.
Torre, the 60-year-old chess legend, defeated old rival GM Nigel Short (2698) with the black pieces at board three while Barbosa, 26, continued his winning run with white, this time at the expense of GM Jones Gawain (2653).
GMs Wesley So and Mark Paragua, playing on opposite ends of the four-board match, hacked out draws with GM Michael Adams (2722) and GM Nicholas Pert (2555), respectively.
The Filipinos came into the tournament, hoping to improve on their worst showing - 50th place - two years ago in Russia.
With three rounds left, the Filipinos can do the impossible - win this tournament - beginning with a much-anticipated showdown with China Wednesday.
The Philippines and China are in five-team logjam for second place with 13 points, two points behind solo leader Russia. Also with 13 points were Armenia, Germany and the United States.
Russia inched closer to regaining the crown by edging Ukraine, 2.5-1.5, with GM Sergey Karjakin (2785) overcoming GM Andrei Volokitin (2709) at board three.
China held Armenia to a 2-all draw, Germany nipped Hungary, 2.5-1.5; while the United States trounced FYROM, 3-1.
The Philippines has had good results against England in the past, but has never won against the European giant.
In 1970 in Siegen, Germany, the two teams faced and drew all four board matches.
National Master Sammy Estimo, then making his Olympic debut, claimed he was approached by the English captain proposing a draw.
"England has been wary of the Filipinos for the longest time," Estimo said.
The Filipinos rejected the English overture because the late International Master Ruben Rodriguez wanted to play, according to Estimo.
Eventually, all four matches ended in draws. The other members of the team were IM Renato Naranja at board one and Torre at board two.
The Philippines and England again fought during the penultimate round in 1988 in Thessaloniki, Greece with similar result: Four drawn games.
Torre and Short, the only remnants of the 1988 squads, faced each other again at board three on Tuesday.
Short came into the match undefeated with an impressive run of five wins and two draws.
He opened with a queen pawn to which Torre responded with the Nimzo-Indian.
The match came down to an endgame where Short had a rook and two bishops as opposed to Torre's rook and two knights.
Theoretically, Short had the advantage, but the Englishman played poorly, allowing Torre to trap one of his bishops with a series of clever knight moves.
The end came in 41 moves.
Torre's performance is short of phenomenal given his semi-retirement and personal loss. He left the wake of his mother to join the team.
In four matches, Torre has two wins and two draws and a performance rating of 2816 which belies his ELO of 2469.
Barbosa took much longer to bounce back from a previous loss to Hungarian GM Zoltan Almasi, needing 102 moves to bring down Gawain.


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On 01/19/2013 07:04 AM, Hans de Goede wrote:
Yes, #9 is on my list just for completeness. As I said before, I am trying to figure out a way of having these user requirements addressed. Although I initially proposed this to be included in virt-viewer, I am really open to discussion here. So, although #9 is already available in virt-viewer, it is important to have it here in case, for instance, I go down the path to implement these features in virt-manager --- which doesn't support #9 to the best of my knowledge.9) USB redirection functionalityAs a desktop user I want to be able to attach a USB device in my laptop/desktop and get it available in the running guest if the console viewer has the UI focus at the time the USB device is attached. I would also be able to manually select which USB devices already attached to the host I want to make availableto the guest.??? This is already supported in virt-viewer in combination with using spiceas display protocol and works exactly as you describe.Use case #9 is currently implemented only in virt-viewer.Ah, right, that is something which we ought to fix, is that why point 9 is on your list ?
Best regards, Leonardo Garcia


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HOUSTON An off-duty police officer shot and killed a burglary suspect Monday at an upscale apartment complex on Kirby.
The University of Texas police officer was working security at the Arcadian Apartments when he responded to a call about a possible break-in around 1:45 p.m.
The officer found the door of apartment 731 kicked in. He went inside and confronted an apparent burglar.
The suspect immediately charged him andthey began tostruggle, said HPD spokesperson Jodi Silva.
As the two men fought,the officer managed to breakfree.He pulled his gun and fired at least one shot atthe suspect.
The suspect, whose name has not been released, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Houston police are investigating the shooting. They haven t determined whether the suspect was armed.
The UT officer was taken to the hospital as a precaution to be checked for injuries he suffered during the fight.


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Latest F-16 Fighting Falcon Stories
PATUXENT RIVER, Md., June 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) F-35 Joint Strike Fighter short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) variant flew faster than the speed of sound for the first time June 10, achieving a significant milestone.
ORLANDO, Fla., May 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) has signed a $40 million foreign military sales contract to deliver Sniper Advanced Targeting Pods (ATPs) to the Royal Saudi Air Force.
FORT WORTH, Texas, April 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- A Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) F-16 demonstrated enhanced networked-enabled capabilities during the U.S.
EAST HARTFORD, Conn., April 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Last week, two Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-229 Engine Enhancement Package (EEP) engines powered the first flight of a F-15K aircraft planned for delivery to the Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) later this year.
ORLANDO, Fla., April 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Lockheed Martin's (NYSE: LMT) Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) program team has delivered its 1,000th missile to the U.S. Air Force.
ORLANDO, Fla., March 3 /PRNewswire/ -- The Precision Strike Association has awarded the Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) and U.S. Air Force Sniper Advanced Targeting Pod (ATP) program the 14th annual William J. Perry Award.
FORT WORTH, Texas, March 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The U.S. government has awarded an initial $213 million to Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) for long-lead tasks for the production of 20 new Advanced Block 52 F-16 aircraft for Egypt.
ARCHBALD, Pa., Feb. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) has successfully completed the paveway II Plus Laser Guided Bomb (LGB) F/A-18 qualification flight test program.
SINGAPORE, Feb.
SINGAPORE, Feb. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- SINGAPORE AIR SHOW -- The U.S.
- Stoppage; cessation (of labor).
- A standing still or idling (of mills, factories, etc.).


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Ballot proposal would mandate car fee for state parks
SACRAMENTO Today, $18 can buy a couple of movie tickets, a decent bottle of wine or six gallons of gasoline.
In the future, that same $18 could buy a year's worth of strolls through wildflowers, visits to selected museums and prime beach parking.
Supporters of California's state parks took the first step Tuesday toward launching a campaign for the November 2010 ballot. They want voters to approve a mandatory $18 annual fee on most vehicle registrations, with the money going to the state parks department.
In return, in-state motorists would get unlimited parking at state parks and beaches - except for certain tours, such as ones at Hearst Castle and the Ano Nuevo elephant seals preserve in San Mateo County. Campgrounds, sites designated for off-highway vehicles and boat launches would still charge fees.
Motorists would park for free as long as their vehicle's registration tags are up to date. There would be no per-person admission.
It now costs $10 to park at most state beaches, including Silver Strand and Torrey Pines. It's $15 to wheel up to San Onofre State Beach.
Currently, frequent users can buy an annual pass for $125. The state also offers yearlong access for $10 to people 62 or older.
Having the initiative on the November 2010 ballot could put the park-fee issue in the middle of the broader race to replace Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has opposed the vehicle registration plan in the past. His administration, grappling with monstrous budget deficits, has imposed higher costs on visitors and padlocked some parks during low-use days.
More closures and higher fees are anticipated given the state's bleak fiscal outlook, some park supporters said.
With roughly 28 million vehicles in California, the $18 fee would raise about $500 million a year - more than enough to offset lost revenues from making parking free at most state parks. The surplus would be used to clear a backlog of repairs needed for trails and facilities, the measure's supporters said.
If approved, the fee also would end the need to use money from the state's general fund to pay for park operations. That could free about $130 million a year for other priorities, according to the initiative's backers.
Eighty-five percent of the new fee would go to state parks. The remainder would be divided among the state Department of Fish and Game, Ocean Protection Council, Wildlife Conservation Board and other park-related conservancies.
"In these trying times, it's essential we keep the parks open to protect a crucial economic engine for California," said Ruskin Hartley, executive director of the Save the Redwoods League.
But the ballot measure would likely encounter fierce opposition from those who believe the state already imposes too many taxes. In addition, some motorists will probably question why they should pay for something they don't use.
Those involved in the initiative campaign had considered making the fee voluntary, but abandoned the idea because it wouldn't raise enough money to fund maintenance projects at the parks.
The supporters, including the California State Parks Foundation, Nature Conservancy and Save the Redwoods League, filed the initiative with the state Attorney General's Office. That's a precusor to collecting signatures.


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David Wain
Howard Bernstein
David Wain
Comedy / Romance
A.D. Miles as Gary
Amy Poehler as Susie
Bradley Cooper as Ben
David Hyde Pierce as Henry Newman
Janeane Garofalo as Beth
Marguerite Moreau as Katie
Michael Ian Black as McKinley
Michael Showalter as Gerald 'Coop' Cooperberg/Alan Shemper
Paul Rudd as Andy
Zak Orth as J.J.
Distributed by
USA Films
Release Date
Jan 23, 2001
Honesdale, Pennsylvania, USA
Movie Description(Click Here To Hide)
The setting is Camp Firewood, the year 1981. It's the last day before everyone goes back to the real world, but there's still a summer's worth of unfinished business to resolve. At the center of the action is camp director Beth, who struggles to keep order while she falls in love with the local astrophysics professor. He is busy trying to save the camp from a deadly piece of NASA's Skylab which is hurtling toward earth.
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Hello Jo! I meant to comment when you posted the other day, and say that I had missed you while you were gone! So glad to see you back! :-)Hooray for your spring onions coming up! How is your dyeing project going? Your photos were so beautiful! :-)Welcome back again!! I'd love to hear what you guys have been up to!Hugs,Vicki
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Press release from Marketwire
ATCO Ltd. to Release Third Quarter Results Thursday, November 1, 2012
Thursday, October 25, 2012
ATCO Ltd. to Release Third Quarter Results Thursday, November 1, 201213:55 EDT Thursday, October 25, 2012CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Marketwire - Oct. 25, 2012) - ATCO Ltd. (TSX:ACO.X) (TSX:ACO.Y) will release its financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2012 on Thursday, November 1, 2012. The news release will be distributed via www.marketwire.com and the results, including Financial Statements and Management's Discussion & Analysis, will be posted on www.atco.com.ATCO Ltd., with more than 8,800 employees and approximately $13 billion in assets, delivers service excellence and innovative business solutions worldwide with leading companies engaged in structures & logistics (manufacturing, logistics and noise abatement), utilities (pipelines, natural gas and electricity transmission and distribution), energy (power generation, natural gas gathering, processing, storage and liquids extraction) and technologies (business systems solutions). More information can be found at www.atco.com.Attachment Available: http://cnrp.marketwire.com/cnrp_files/20121025-1025aco.pdfFOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT: Contact Information: ATCO Ltd.B.R. (Brian) BaleSenior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer(403) 292-7502www.atco.com


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Apr. 10th Sportstalk: Tiger's Back?
Glenn Harris is joined by WJFK's Michael Williams to discuss the Masters, and if Tiger Woods is finally back in championship form.
PGA Tour Championship: McIlroy fades in season finale, Horschel wins
Golf roundup: Horschel redeems himself with win at BMW Campionship (Video highlights)
Kirk gets into Ryder Cup golf talk after Deutsche Bank win (Video highlights)
Mahan comes up with timely PGA victory at The Barclays (Video highlights)
Villegas claims 1-stroke win at PGA's Wyndham Classic (Video highlights)
PGA Championship: McIlroy surges to lead, Woods fails to make cut
Justin Rose wins Quicken Loans National in playoff in Bethesda
Justin Rose got his mistake out of the way early and won the Quicken Loans National in a playoff Sunday over Shawn Stefani.
Tiger Woods misses cut in return from injury at Quicken Loans National
Woods showed plenty of rust with his short game when he ran off four straight bogeys on the back nine Friday at Congressional to end any hopes of sticking around for the weekend at the Quicken Loans National.
Tiger Woods plays pain-free golf in Quicken Loans pro-am
He started Wednesday with a pro-am round that was not inspiring except that he showed no indication of pain or any other physical setback.
U.S. Open: Martin Kaymer dominates at Pinehurst
Martin Kaymer tore through the U.S. Open, winning the second major of 2014 with a dominant performance at Pinehurst No. 2.
May 19th Sportstalk with Laura Gaul
"Do you think Tiger Woods will ever regain his form?" Alex Parker takes viewers calls on this question. We'll go 1-on-1 with Tiger. Plus, Peyton Manning at UVA's valediction decided to break out a football play, the woman that caught that pass joins Alex.
Adam Scott wins Barclays to open FedEx Cup playoffs
Masters champion Adam Scott won The Barclays on Sunday. Tiger Woods had a back spasm on the 13th hole and hit the water, leading to a bogey. Woods birdied the 16th and 17th to get within one, but his 25-foot birdie off the 18th green stopped just short.
Tiger Woods coasts to 7-stroke victory at Bridgestone
Tiger Woods played safe and smart with a big lead, parring 16 holes in an even-par 70 Sunday to coast to a seven-shot victory at the Bridgestone Invitational for his eighth win at the event - and his 79th win on the PGA Tour.
Tiger Woods holds 7-stroke lead at Bridgestone with one round to go
Tiger Woods followed one of the best rounds of his life with a solid 2-under 68 on Saturday in the third round of the Bridgestone Invitational, giving him a seven-shot lead and setting him up for a remarkable eighth victory at Firestone Country Club.
Bill Haas pulls away to win AT&T National at CongressionalComment
Bill Haas pulled away from a crowd of contenders with three straight birdies, two good pars and one good hop. It led to a 5-under 66, giving him a three-shot win at Congressional over Roberto Castro.
Columbia Pike Streetcar Project; Dan Snyder says no to team name change; "Welcome to Golf" monthComment
Masters 2013: Adam Scott beats Cabrera for Masters title in sudden-death playoff at AugustaComment
Adam Scott has become the first Australian to win the Masters, beating Angel Cabrera on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff on a rainy day at Augusta National, after both made birdies on the 72nd hole.
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Only On 7
ABC7 News at 4 Now Weekdays!ABC7 is giving you MORE news in your afternoons with an extra hour, an hour earlier! Join ABC7's Leon Harris and Alison Starling for what's trending in your community and world. Every weekday afternoon at 4pm right after back to back "Hot Bench" shows at 3pm on ABC7.


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Slim 400 »
Slim 400 – Bompton City G's Ft. YG (Video)
Slim 400 keeps it all the way Compton in his new YG-assisted visual, "Bomptom City G's." Check it out belowRead More »
Slim 400 – Hot Nigga (Freestyle)
The "Hot Nigga" freestyles are definitely starting to wind down, but we'll probably still be seeing them here and there for weeks to come as shown by SlimRead More »
Slim 400 – Keepin' It 400 (Vlog)
To celebrate July 4th, Pushaz Ink signee Slim 400 delivered his new mixtape Keepin' It 400, which was some straight up West Coast gangster shit (and a HotNewHipHop premiere). We've been getting more familiarRead More »
Slim 400 – Where The Party At feat. Teeflii
Pushaz Ink artist Slim 400 will release his tape Keepin It 400 on the 4th of July, and we're very excited to hear the full thing. A few days ahead time, though, Slim's givenRead More »
Slim 400 – In My Hood
"In My Hood" is the very first leak off Slim 400's upcoming mixtape, Keepin It 400, which we're premiering on July 4th just in time to add to your Independence Day playlist. "In MyRead More »
Disko Boogie – All My Goons is On feat. Slim 400 & Killa Twan
New music from Disko Boogie "All My Goons is On" featuring Slim 400 from Pushaz Ink & Killa Twan from Get The Doe (GTD)Read More »


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Read Local: Travel Bug Bookstore
"On Paseo de Peralta is an entire store devoted to the wanderlust living in all of our hearts"
Whether you are planning a day trip or an around-the-world cruise, make Travel Bug your first stop. This unique bookstore exists to make your travel dreams come true. Specialty booksellers are fast becoming popular alternatives to consumers looking for a specific type of book. Remember when there was a section in your local bookstore for travel and maps? On Paseo de Peralta is an entire store devoted to the wanderlust living in all of our hearts. Since 1999, Travel Bug in Santa Fe has been the definitive place to go before planning any trip.
Stop in Before Your Next Travel Adventure
Customer driven, Travel Bug was far ahead of the curve when it came to focusing its business and going narrow and deep into the travel market. This unique bookseller has done very well incorporating travel books, travel gear, amazing cappuccinos and popular weekly events. These events allow customers to share their travel experiences through photos and lectures with friends and neighbors. Travel Bug events are legendary among those in the know in Santa Fe who love to see new places. The right travel information can make any trip more rewarding and less costly.
Map Your Journey
The one thing everyone needs when planning an adventure is a map. Travel Bug can provide you with a map of your trip done just for you with state of the art software. This one-stop travel book store has the ability to make a map of any destination in the United States. Travel Bug uses geographic information systems (GIS) software to make a relevant map specifically for a customer's journey. Start with a personalized memento of your trip before you even leave home. The extensive map making department at Travel Bug is worth the trip just to see how maps are made and talk to owner Greg
Ohlsen about your plans. Thinking of visiting a foreign country? Stop in for phrase books, dictionaries and even lessons in the language of the country you are planning to visit
Coffee Bagels and Suitcases
In 2001, Travel Bug began carrying retail items related to travel. They carry hard-to-find, one-of-a-kind, eclectic items for the savvy traveler. You can find everything you need for your trip, from field glasses, compasses and umbrellas to quick dry socks and underwear. Travel Bug has done well, along with other independent booksellers in Santa Fe. This store is not only surviving but thriving, when the big box bookstores have closed their doors. While you are looking for your ultimate travel book, enjoy a latte or frozen fruit smoothie and a delicious snack.
Santafe.com visited this locally owned bookstore and spoke with Greg Ohlsen about his forward-thinking business module for Travel Bug.
SFDC: How long have you been in the business of selling books?
OHLSEN: I came to Santa Fe from Eugene, Oregon 34 years ago. My first bookstore was Garcia Street Books. It was a more traditional bookselling business. I sold that store in 1999. By then, I had already opened Travel Bug. Looking at market trends, I felt the need to focus my business on one aspect of selling books.
SFDC: What made you go into retail and refreshments?
OHLSEN: The retail end of the business was started in 2001. I wanted Travel Bug to be a full-service travel store where my customers could find all the items they needed. I research personally all the additions to the inventory. I think we have a great selection and if we don't have it, we are certainly customer-driven so we'll try and find it. The coffee menu…well who wouldn't want to enjoy a great latte and browse books on any country you fancy?
SFDC: I see you carry a few non-travel related books.
OHLSEN: I do. I have small sampling of fiction and nonfiction. These books are mostly travel inspired in some way. I chose the books for this part of the inventory personally. Publishers used to send reps to bookstores to let owners know what was new in the market, but this is no longer done. Santa Fe is an exception. All the independents are surviving. I also have a small space for travel-related used books.
SFDC: I know you personally put in a lot of hours. What about employees?
OHLSEN: I have five employees, all part time, but this in itself is an achievement in a business that is just now stabilizing itself during these market changes in publishing and bookselling.
After a delicious cappuccino and a tour of the store there is no doubt about Travel Bug being the first stop on any travel itinerary, whether you are going by train, plane or automobile.


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PORTLAND, Ore. -- Eight shootings in less than 24 hours in Northeast Portland, Southeast Portland and North Portland have police officers and community members searching for answers.
I have never seen this level of violence erupt in such a short amount of time ever in my career, said Sgt. Charlie Fender, with Portland's gang enforcement team.
The most recent shooting happened Wednesday afternoon at the intersection of NE 16th & Killingsworth.
Two witnesses who wanted their identities kept anonymous told KGW at least five shots were fired from a dark-colored van at a building that houses a music shop, a barbershop and a church.
It was one after another like pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, recalled one of the witnesses.
At the time of the shooting, three children and their mother were inside Texas T's Barbershop and two men were standing outside.
I'm about 6'2 and if you look at the window over there they were right above my head, one of the witnesses said.
Though the motives for each shooting remain under investigation, the Portland Police Bureau's Gang Enforcement Team has stepped up patrols. Officers said they were also working with gang outreach groups like Brother's & Sister's Keepers.
I ve said it before and I ll say it again. Show me a young person with a lot of time on their hands, they are going to find something to do. Nine times out of ten it will be negative, said Tonya Dickens, Executive Director of Brothers and Sisters Keepers.
Any way we can be out here and hopefully run some interference and help someone answer questions or just get through, said Dickens.
The latest drive-by shooting was the most recent in a series of incidents that began at around 11:30 p.m. Tuesday, when gunshots were fired into a TriMet bus kiosk at N. Albina & Killingsworth Streets. No was injured, but glass covered the sidewalk.
After Tuesday s incident, officers found Demarcus Carney, 25, and Karl Colbert, 34, both of Portland, suffering from gunshot wounds near N. Albina & Stafford Streets. They were both rushed to area hospitals, but expected to survive their injuries.
Detectives said they were unsure if the shootings were related. No arrests have been made.
The Crime Stoppers program was offering a cash reward of up to $1,000 for information leading to an arrest in these cases. Tipsters Callers can remain anonymous. Call Crime Stoppers at 503-823-HELP (4357), leave a tip online at www.crimestoppersoforegon.com, or text 823HELP plus your tip and send it to CRIMES (274697).


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China And Russia Sign 30 Year Gas Deal
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
After 10 years of negotiations, China and Russia have made a major deal to import natural gas from Russia to China by pipeline.
The gas will be sent through a new eastern pipeline that has yet to be built.
As Joe Weisenthal, executive editor at Business Insider tells Here & Now's Jeremy Hobson, this is a big deal for Russia, given European sanctions over its intervention in Ukraine.
- Joe Weisenthal, executive editor at Business Insider. He tweets @TheStalwart.
Source: NPR
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REVIEW | "1001 Spikes" Fills Challenges With Painful Consequences
Posted on July 16, 2014 AT 05:57am
Not often do I play a video game and hear the maniacal laughter of the developers, but it happened here in NICALiS's 1001 Spikes. An old-school side-scrolling platformer, this game has heard me shout, scream, and mumble every single curse word imaginable in English, French, and Japanese. The funny thing about all this: in some masochistic kind of way, I really enjoyed it!
1001 Spikes has you take control of Aban, whose father recently passed away without giving him the benefit of proving him wrong. He goes on the quest for treasure, with danger at just about every step of the way. Spikes, fire, poisonous creatures, and other traps are waiting to kill Aban, and you are only given 1001 lives to complete the game.
At first 1001 lives sounds quite promising, but like a laser pointer being directed towards a feline it becomes all too apparent that this but a ruse to make us think we'd get the treasure with relative ease. During the intro levels I died maybe once or twice each time, as I was feeling out the areas for the most part. However as soon as 1001 Spikes kicked into full gear I began losing lives left and right.
Timing is key if you want to survive each level, as the difference between life and death is but a sliver of a step or a jump. In many instances I found myself not pressing the jump button at the right time, or I was merely an inch too close to one of the traps, forcing me to restart each level every time. There are no checkpoints, and trust me: WHEN you die just as you've reached the exit, you'll be cursing out the name of NICALiS until your face turns blue.
1001 Spikes has both the look and the feel of a classic NES video game. Its simply 8-bit appearance will fill you with a nostalgic vibe, almost so much that you can just taste the dust from the cartridge as you blow it to make it work. While it does have a relatively simple control scheme on many an occasion I mistook my small jump for a big jump, lunging me to some spikes above and losing my life. Just when I think I've got the hang of it, I slip up and plummet to yet another death.
The "charm" of the game does come from its difficulty. Hard as hell? Absolutely! Unforgiving? In some cases, yes. Impossible? Not at all. In fact those who find themselves stuck in a level that just doesn't want to let you live can simply skip it and return whenever you feel more prepared. With that being said, 1001 Spikes does feel like it's laughing at you every time you fail.
As you progress through the game you'll be given new costumes, secret characters, new levels, and a couple multiplayer game modes that have local four-player co-op. With the different characters you'll be able to use different powers such as climbing walls and double jumps (the latter, of which, can be both a gift and a curse depending on when you use it.) All this will entice you to jump back into the game for another round, with possibly the goal of beating each level without dying (and to that, I say, "Good luck, sucker!").
- Old-school platformer straight from the 80s
- Multiples costumes, characters to unlock
- Will provide a massive challenge to everyone…
- …as you curse out said challenges for their difficulty
- You can hear the developers laughing at your failures
1001 Spikes is a tough-as-nails old-school game that'd rather cut your hand off instead of hold it in the first place. However in spite of its difficulty NICALiS's game is quite fun to experience. Get a bunch of friends together, and see who can last the longest without perishing, and laugh as they get impaled again and again in the exact same spot. In short: 1001 Spikes is true schadenfreude shenanigans for just about all to behold.
FINAL GRADE: 8.3 (out of ten)
3DS review code provided by Gail Salamanca of Strangely Compelling
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Barcelona, Spain
My Rating
We really enjoyed this tour. My only suggestion is that you provide more information about the meeting place when the booking is made. Perhaps a basic map of the office would help.
Singapore, Singapore
My Rating
We really enjoyed the Jurong Bird Park. As with any tour we felt that we could have spent longer at the park and I think that this option was available.
Singapore, Singapore
My Rating
We really enjoyed seeing the Orangutans . I think that the timing could be improved. It would be better if the tourists could arrrive and have their breakfast started before the Orangutans are brought out. We seemed to be serving ourselves instead of listening to the keepers and watching the Orangutans.
Darwin, Australia
My Rating
We really enjoyed our trip to Katherine Gorge although it was quite a long day. The lunch and cruise was very good.
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Thursday, May 20, 2010
© Copyright 2015 Clayton News Daily
By Valerie Baldowski
Oak Street, in the City of Hampton, is now part of the city's historic district. Well, some of Oak Street is. Several home owners decided they did not want their houses included in the district, and a compromise was reached.
The Hampton City Council heard a second reading on, and voted to adopt, an ordinance to include Oak Street in the historic district. The vote came during its May 18 regular meeting. Oak Street joins Main Street, as being the only two city streets to be placed into the historic district.
The resolution to place Oak Street in the district was hotly debated, and ultimately, only some homes on the street were included, said Hampton City Manager Andy Pippin. "It was very controversial," Pippin said. "There were some very passionate people involved, both in opposition, and in support of it."
On Thursday, Pippin gave the Henry Daily Herald a guided tour along the part of Oak Street that has the homes included in the historic district. He said there is no formal registry, which will list the homes in the district, although the ordinance is expected to go into effect by the end of the month.
In order to get the ordinance passed, changes were made to the original resolution, he said. "The original ordinance for the historic district for downtown Hampton included pretty much all of residential Oak Street, from Main Street to the stop sign just in front of Southern States," said Pippin. "The ordinance, as it passed, differs in that we cut out about half of that street. We had many residents that were on the western half of that street, that did not want to participate in the historic district.
"The historic district now includes 1 and 2 West Main St., and goes down to, and including, 13 Oak St., instead of going all the way down Oak Street," he continued.
The disagreements stemmed from a lack of understanding, he said.
"Some people don't understand exactly what a historic district is," added Pippin. "People don't want to be told what to do with their houses."
The first time the idea was presented was during a meeting between the Hampton Historic Preservation Commission and residents in March. The commission drafted a resolution proposing to place Oak Street in the city's historic district, and the resolution was presented to the city council.
An expert on historic districts spoke to residents on the issue before a decision was made, said Pippin. "We had some people from the Department of Natural Resources from the state level come down and try to explain it."
Under the resolution, Oak Street home owners, wishing to make structural changes to their residences, will be required to obtain a "certificate of appropriateness" from the Hampton Historic Preservation Commission, said commission officials.
Reactions to passage of the ordinance were split. Oak Street property owner, George Mallett, said he opposed the inclusion of his home in the historic district.
"Most of the people on the other end of the street didn't want to be in it, anyway," said Mallett. He said he is satisfied with the city council's decision to allow some property owners to be excluded from the district.
"I'm OK with it," added Mallett. "I don't have any problem with it. The only reason I didn't want to be in it was because I didn't want anybody to dictate what to do to my house."
Larry Schulke, another Oak Street property owner, voiced support for the historic district. Schulke said, Thursday, that residents who opted out of being included in the district were segregating themselves. "My opinion of it is, I think they're missing out on the whole picture," said Schulke. "When they separate the street, they separate themselves from the whole historic district."
He said all homes on the street, regardless of size or appearance, are important.
"The whole street has history," added Schulke. "Our houses were built sooner than theirs, but they are still architecturally important to the whole picture."
Oak Street property owner, Grace Swafford, was one of those who requested, in writing, not to be included in the historic district. "I signed a petition," said Swafford. "I signed it because my family felt like the Historical Society would be demanding things of me. I couldn't afford it. I'm retired."
Hampton Historic Preservation Commission Chairman Cindy Hearn, and Commission Member Betty English, could not be reached for comment Thursday.
More like this story
- Hampton delays decision on historic designation ( April 21, 2010 )
- Hampton, Morrow to receive ARC grants ( February 19, 2010 )
- Mallett, William "Bill" Glenn ( September 14, 2011 )
- Mallett, William Bill Glenn ( September 15, 2011 )
- Hampton seeks historic designation for 18 structures ( May 31, 2008 )