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I recently had the pleasure of chatting with Stephen Cohen, creator of the highly acclaimed photo l.a., the longest running art fair in Los Angeles history, which celebrates its 20th Anniversary January 13 - 16, 2011 at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. The largest photo-based art fair in the country, photo l.a. brings together photography dealers from around the globe, displaying the finest masterworks from the 19th century continuing through modern photography stars and emerging photographers.
My conversation with Stephen about art was all over the map in a good way--from film noir to the upcoming Pacific Standard Time to speed dating for artists {not what you're thinking}--and we both share a love and passion for Los Angeles as an arts destination. Not only is he the founder and driving force behind photo l.a., but produces the highly acclaimed artLA art fair, photo NY, several other art fairs, and runs the Stephen Cohen Gallery.
photo l.a. special events
photo l.a. is one of my favorite Los Angeles art events to attend, and this year's show includes special installations, a video lounge, lectures & collecting seminars plus a few more exciting happenings that I'll be posting about soon. This year a new art/photography book fair bridging both the photo l.a. and artLA art fairs is also being introduced to serve a growing patron base that includes over 11,000 collectors, curators and dealers of photography. One of the highlights of the upcoming photo l.a. show is Troubled Waters, a panel of experts that include Jean Michael Cousteau, Ernest Brooks, and Jeanine Adams, who will be discussing art and politics--specifically as it relates to the heated water issues that have plagued California history.
new trends in photography
Stephen says there are always new trends in photography, but the advent of social networking has changed the face of photography. People post photos of themselves casually taken on their cell phones, tweet videos, and view hundreds of these images daily. Obviously this is not how photography or portraits were ever viewed in the past. He related a story of how his facebook photo is being used in an installation of facebook photos at The Museum of New Art in Detroit. When he saw that his photo had been placed above David Hockney's, it felt like kismet--years ago Stephen had worked for Hockney as a color supervisor for Hockney's Pompidou series. Stephen marveled that the cost of installing this kind of exhibition is the price of burning a CD and printing it out on a desk printer!
the La Brea Matrix Project
Over the next few months, I'll be following up with a series of interviews with artists and gallerists participating in photo l.a., and will also be covering Part II of The La Brea Matrix Project. Part I was exhibited last January at photo l.a. 2010. The La Brea Matrix, a project of Schaden.com, Cologne & The Lapis Press, Culver City, features the results of six photographers in an artists-in-residence program that searched for photographic points of reference to Stephen Shore's iconic 1975 photograph.
For more information on the January 14-16 2011 event please go to photola.com. photo l.a. will feature many of the world's leading galleries and private dealers representing international, regional and U.S. artists.
Images: Mark Shaw Vanity Fair Gown, 1955; photo l.a. 2010; Autism Series, Blind Photographers Guild; Stephen Shore


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- An expanded public cloud platform that offers clients greater enterprise functions
- IBM has ported SAP, ERP, and all database applications to our SmartCloud platform, which has about 200 million users globally.
- A new private cloud portfolio that helps clients build entry-level clouds, move from virtualization faster and with better management tools.
- New Business Partner offerings -- IBM's first enterprise Cloud offering is now open to more than 130,000 software vendors, Business Partners and value-added resellers -- building and selling key applications in supply chain, healthcare and smarter commerce.
What's new here is that while we've been on this path for a number of years, if you take a look at all the recent news on cloud, you'll see a distinct line being drawing between how cloud will be used for consumers and how cloud will be used by businesses. The announcements from today further IBM's position in the cloud.

subset: commoncrawl


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I was wondering if anyone has any input on the the difference in performance of these boots. I was set on picking up a set of Hardscrabble Hikers but tried on the Mountain Extremes today and they felt really good.
Sportsman Warehouse didnt have hardscrabble hikers on hand, but from the way the mountain extreme boots felt, I may go with those.
Thanks in advance for the input.


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ver 7.1.4
I added new address book under default Contacts.
I added new Contact Group and give it a name.
On the right hand side box "Add Members to this Group" you should be able
to select the new address book I just created and select the email addresses you want.
It does not show up in the drop down list.
It only shows default: Contacts, Personal and Shared, and Global address list
Unless I am missing something could be another issue with software.


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Explores the causes of bone damages and shows how bone recovers.
This lesson is part of a unit called Give Your Bones a break. All extra instructions and handouts are provided as links in blue. It has six bone density activities, an introduction, objectives and web resources.
Quiz about Skeletal System Problems and Diseases
A list of student-submitted discussion questions for Skeletal System Problems and Diseases.
To stimulate the critical thinking skills required to assess the validity of statements about the key concept using an Agree/Disagree Table.
To use problem-solving skills and deepen understanding of the text to compare key vocabulary words with more familiar everyday words using Word Analogies.
Investigation of whether molecular techniques have advanced far enough that laboratory animals are no longer needed. Covers what animals are used, how, and why.
This study guide looks at the skeletal system and the structure, growth, and development of bones. It also reviews skeletal injury and disease.
These flashcards help you study important terms and vocabulary from Skeletal System Problems and Diseases.


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I am currently investigating how to write a custom zimlet. First I need to understand technically what the http protocol flow will be for my zimlet because there are security concerns. First, here is my current production zimbra environment.
browser from public ip:443 ---> firewall/router/NAT ---> apache2 reverse proxy:443 ---> zimbra:80
---> apache2 reverse proxy:443 ---> application servers:80 ---> DBMS servers:80
Apache2 reverse proxies are https servers all other servers are http.
My zimbra, application servers and DBMS servers and the like all operate using the http protocol behind the reverse proxies/firewalled.
My plan is to write a series of zimlets that will use zimlet iframes to capture application server data within the zimbra public ip browser.
The application servers are on the same lan that will feed the zimlets.
Somehow I want to code the zimlet to use the private url on port 80 to feed the iframe with application data. Is there a way to code a zimlet iframe using a private url within a public url to get this data back and forth over the secure:443 zimbra reverse proxy?
Desired protocol:
browser from public ip:443 ---> firewall/router/NAT ---> apache2 reverse proxy:443 ---> zimbra:80 ---> iframe zimlet:80 [embeded private url within public url?]
-------> application servers:80
--------> DBMS servers:80


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I shot this whitetail the day after Thanksgiving.
I shot this whitetail the day after Thanksgiving.
a few more pic of my biggest whitetail!
Very nice Thomas!
great buck!
Sweet dude!!! With a bow? What state?
Wow is that sucker wide. Congrats!
I'm still hunting, haven't seen anything bigger than an 8 point this season. Congrats on finding a shooter.
Very nice, love those wide ones!
Shoot STR8
Congrats, Great buck.
Nice buck! Good job


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Paint war mixer with TC and Rho Sig
|The men of Eta Alpha Omega will be serenading the Women of OBU. Come out for a great time of music and laughs.
meets every Wednesday at 8:30pm
|The men of Rho Sigma will be auction off dates with some of the members. The highest bidder wins the member that is up for bid
April is Autism Awareness Month so the Betas will be hosting a 7 on 7 flag football tournament as a fundraiser for the foundation Autism Speaks.
Chi Delta parent day
CM Backyard Bible Club meets every Sunday @ 9-10pm.
The Women of EEE/The Women of Tri Chi


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Home > News > Dielectrics at Meso and Nano Scales
January 7th, 2005
Dielectrics at Meso and Nano Scales
A special cluster of six papers that explore the wide range of current activity and interest in dielectrics at meso and nano scales has been published in Volume 38 Number 2.
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Scientists illuminate a hidden regulator in gene transcription: New super-resolution technique visualizes important role of short-lived enzyme clusters May 27th, 2016
Doubling down on Schrödinger's cat May 27th, 2016
Deep Space Industries and SFL selected to provide satellites for HawkEye 360's Pathfinder mission: The privately-funded space-based global wireless signal monitoring system will be developed by Deep Space Industries and UTIAS Space Flight Laboratory May 26th, 2016
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John 10:1-10
January 10, 1971
Listen using Pop-Up Player
We are continuing in a study of John's gospel week by week. And I don't know how you respond to this, evidently positively, but I just love this particular book, and I guess it's because on every page just keeps presenting Jesus Christ, and I find myself knowing more about Him and consequently loving Him more each time I study it.
I've just rejoiced as I've begun to study chapter 10, and I know in the weeks to come as we deal with chapter 10 you're going to sense some of the same thrill, even this morning, I trust, that I did in understanding this concept of Christ as the Shepherd and we who know and love him as the sheep. A very, very beautiful picture. In fact, I believe this chapter has to be one of the most beautiful word pictures in all the New Testament. It has much more of a devotional flavor than it does purely doctrinal.
Chapter 10 obviously follows chapter 9 in text. It also follows chapter 9 in terms of thought. There is no break between chapter 9 and chapter 10. There's no time gap. There's no change in circumstance. There is no change in crowd. Jesus continues to speak to the very same people He was speaking to in chapter 9. This is a flowing discourse that comes right out of the real situation in chapter 9. So there's really no break. There doesn't even need to be a chapter break here, really. Verse 1 follows immediately verse 41.
And the problem of chapter 9, as we go back just to isolate one area of it, was that Jesus was attempting to deal with and to confront - this is important - the false shepherds of Israel. You see, the Pharisees and the Jewish leaders had assumed their own roles. They had not been appointed by God, but became self-appointed and self-righteous shepherds of Israel and they were false shepherds.
They didn't know God at all. They didn't care anything about the sheep. They trampled the sheep, called them accursed, and cast them out whenever they disagreed with them. They had self-appointed assumption of leadership. They lived in an ivory tower of self-glorification, and loved nothing better than to trample the people and keep them subject to their ridiculous traditions and laws.
And this care-less attitude is indicated in chapter 9 by the way they dealt with the beggar who was born blind. When Jesus had healed him, they didn't believe it. Rejected his testimony. Didn't like his attitude. Refused to believe him. Didn't care at all that he was healed. Could have cared less about his physical circumstances. And finally wound up unsynagoguing him, throwing him out of the synagogue and the life of Israel, both socially, and economically, and religiously.
They didn't care about the man. They only cared about Jesus Christ because Jesus Christ posed a conflict to their theology. And their only determination was not to help anybody but they were determined at this point to get rid of Jesus. The man didn't even enter their thoughts, only Jesus did. They wanted to get rid of Him. He was the issue because He threatened the security of their ivory tower.
So the false teachers self-appointed, didn't care about the people, and they are false shepherds. And they would have understood this idea of a false shepherd because it's an Old Testament concept. And so in this passage Jesus moves to introduce Himself as the only true shepherd of Israel. He is the good shepherd who really loves and really cares for the sheep. And they are the false shepherds who care only for themselves.
It's an interesting thing about false shepherds. Whether they're in the Old Testament, or whether they're in the New Testament, or whether they're in the twentieth century, or wherever they are, whenever they are, they're always the same. They don't ever care about their flock, their so-called flock. All they care about is themselves.
The Old Testament and the New Testament both say clearly they're in it for the money, the power, the pride, the prestige and the self-glory, and that's it. False teachers are not in it for the sake of the people, obviously. People go into false religions, and cults, and all kinds of things like that, and isms, and various things in order to gain something that they need: Either money or ego. And Jesus contrasts these kind of shepherds who are in it for prestige, power, and prominence with the true shepherd who is none other than Himself.
Now you might ask, "Why does He use the particular analogy of a shepherd?" Well, a shepherd was so much a part of the life of Judea that they couldn't escape it. There's a main plateau in Israel that stretches about 35 miles north and south. This main plateau is approximately 14 to 17 miles wide. It does not lend itself to agriculture at all since it is rocky and stony and very difficult to grow anything there. And so consequently, a greater portion of the land became acclimated to shepherding rather than farming. And so the familiar figure of the Judean hills has always been a shepherd.
The life of a Palestinian shepherd was hard, very hard. There's very little grass, and the sheep have to move from place to place constantly to find the grass that is available. And there are no protecting walls on the plateau, and very often the sheep would drift to the edge and find themselves down in some ravine, or some little valley, and the shepherd would have to wind his way down the hillside to find the sheep, pick it up and carry it back to the plateau again.
And then there was always the problem of the danger of wild animals, particularly wolves, the problem of thieves and robbers who stole the sheep. This went on all the time. And so a shepherd had to maintain constant vigilance, fearless courage, patience, and a love for his flock.
These were the necessary characteristics of a shepherd. He had to care for them, not just stand there and watch them. And in the Old Testament, God even used this analogy. He calls Himself the "shepherd of Israel" and Israel is His flock. The psalmist said, "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." The psalmist said in Psalm 77, "Thou leadest Thou people like a flock." In Psalm 79, "We Thy people the sheep of Thy pasture will give Thee thanks forever." In Psalm 80, "Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel - " the psalmist said " - Thou that leadest Joseph like a flock." Psalm 95, "He is our God; and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand." God was a shepherd to Israel.
That same analogy carried itself into the New Testament and Jesus Christ calls Himself a shepherd, and His own church His flock. He is the shepherd who will risk His life to seek and to save that one lost sheep, Matthew 18. He is the shepherd who has pity upon the people because they are as sheep having no shepherd, Matthew 9. He is the shepherd who called His disciples a little flock, Luke 12. And when He, the shepherd, was smitten, you remember, He said in Mark 14, quoting the Old Testament, "When the shepherd was smitten, the sheep are scattered." Peter says He's the shepherd of our souls. And the writer of Hebrews says He is the Great shepherd of the sheep.
So this idea of tender care of a shepherd who tends his flock was used to describe the attitude of God toward Israel and of Jesus Christ toward His own beloved chosen ones, the church. The shepherd illustration then, so much a part of Israel, becomes the vehicle for the discourse of chapter 10. Without a break or a pause, Jesus goes right into it.
Now, His audience is a mixture. First of all, the disciples are there. Secondly, the formerly blind beggar is there. Thirdly, the Pharisees are there, antagonistic and hostile as ever. And fourthly, there was a scattering of Jews there. This we learned from chapter 9.
The Pharisees and the Jews had set themselves up as leaders of the people. They had all the answers. They were the shepherds, so Christ takes this passage to show them they are not the shepherds but that He is alone the true and good Shepherd. And all the rest are nothing but thieves and robbers.
Now Jesus speaking to them does not speak directly. He speaks to them in what verse 6 says is a parable. Now this is not actually a parable at all. The word for parable is not this word. Now the King James translators have translated it "parable" because it can't be translated into English. It's an untranslatable word. The word for parable is a very simple word. This is the word paroimia, completely different word. It does not mean the same as a parable, and I want to give you a shade of difference just for your scholastic understanding.
A parable is like a metaphor, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man, or something like that. When the word "like" or "as" is used. That's a parable, or a metaphor. This is not that. He doesn't say, "I am like a shepherd." He says, "I am the shepherd." He doesn't say, "I am like a door." "I am the door." This is more of a simile. A paroimia is like a simile.
Now Jesus often spoke - and whether it's a parable or a paroimia is not really the key - the thing that we want to understand is this. Incidentally, there are no parables in John, none at all. And John doesn't have one here, he uses the word "paroimia." But what we do want to understand is this. Whenever Jesus speaks in a parable, metaphor; or a paroimia, simile, He does it for two reasons. He does it, number one, so that some won't understand; number two, so that some will understand. Otherwise, He would speak in simple terms, but He does this to reveal and to conceal.
And so He speaks in a paroimia here. Now what sets this up very simply is this. In 9:39-41 Jesus had told the Pharisees that they were blind, that they could not see, could not understand Him. Now that's very important. He's told them this before, hasn't He? And they illustrated it. "You don't ever get the message. You never understand. You are blind. You do not understand."
Then to illustrate that they don't understand, He speaks in a very clear and very lucid paroimia and sure enough, they don't understand. See? What He's attempting to do is illustrate to them the truth of His statement that they are blind.
Now the others who are there, the disciples and the blind beggar, evidently they understood the message. It's obvious. But the Pharisees who have been blind by their own willful unbelief, blinded judicially by God, "Let them alone," Jesus said, "They're blind leaders of the blind." They are then face to face with a living illustration that indeed they are blind. And when you get down to verse 6 it says, "They understood not." And so the paroimia is a great way to illustrate their blindness to them. And that's the purpose it serves, first of all.
The second purpose, and always the purpose of a parable or a paroimia, was to reveal the truth to those who could see. You see? When I read this passage, I understand it perfectly. When an unbeliever reads it, he doesn't understand it at all. For those who do know, this teaches some glorious truth. And before we're done this morning, if you're a Christian you're going to see a beautiful, thrilling relationship between you and Jesus Christ as a sheep to a shepherd. Just thrilling. And you understand it.
Now in this particular paroimia there's a shift of thought many times. And you have to be careful with these paroimia or parables that you don't try and push everything into a little box and make it all come out just like this, you know. These are just illustrations. They have to be used naturally and generally, not little specifics. And, boy, some people just go to town with the parables and they've got every little thing meaning something. We have to consider them generally and in a natural flowing way.
This is not an easy passage to interpret, in spite of the lucid character of Christ's terms. There are some problems in it. I hope that by the time we're done you won't even recognize the problems, that we have covered them well enough in terms of trying to say exactly what Christ said so that you won't even notice them.
All right, two aspects, and we're going to divide the passage into two parts. We didn't bother with a printed outline this morning. It's too simple, really. The first six verses, 1-6, the shepherd to the sheep. Jesus claims to be the shepherd to the sheep, first six verses. Verses 7-10, He claims to be the door to the fold. The shepherd to the sheep, then the door to the fold.
Beginning, then, in verse 1, the shepherd to the sheep. Christ's first claim is to be the shepherd to the sheep. And this, you see, is in contrast to the false shepherds to whom He's been talking. And it's very picturesque. Verse 1, "Verily, verily - " whenever you read that, that's serious, solemn, and He means listen carefully, this is serious solemn truth. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep."
Now here you have a sheepfold, you have a door, you have a thief and a robber, and you have a shepherd. Now what does all this mean? Well, first of all, in order to understand the interpretation of the paroimia, we have to understand the exact physical meaning here. What was a sheepfold? What was a shepherd? What was a door? And what was a thief and a robber? And then we can make the analogy spiritual.
In Palestine, there was in each village - and this had gone on for centuries - in each village located as the common property of the village in the center somewhere, a common sheepfold. And all of the shepherds in that village who would have their sheep out grazing on the hillside would at night lead their sheep into the sheepfold. There was a man who was hired to care for the sheepfold during the night and he was called the "porter." And all the sheep would be led into the fold, and they would spend the night there while the shepherd went home. The porter's job was to shut the door and to be in front of the door on guard, lest animals or thieves and robbers would come to steal or slaughter the sheep.
Now when they would bring their sheep in, something very, very beautifully symbolic happened. The shepherd would come to town with his sheep to the little village. He would come to the entrance to the large sheepfold, which would house all the sheep. You say, "Didn't they get mixed up?" No, because they all knew their own name when their master spoke, and we'll see that in a moment.
But nevertheless, the shepherd would bring all of his sheep up to the door. Then he would take his rod, a long rod - all shepherds had a rod - and he would put it down over the door very low so that the sheep could not get under it. And he would stop the sheep and he would check over the whole body of the sheep to make sure there was no hurt or no injury. And if the sheep was fine, he would lift the rod and the sheep would pass under the rod. He did that with every sheep every night.
You say, "Why is that important?" Just this, in the Old Testament, Ezekiel 20:37, don't look it up, just listen to this thought, beautiful thought. God says through Ezekiel, "Some day I'm going to gather Israel and I'm going to bring Israel into the kingdom," right? And he said this, verse 37 says, "Israel will pass under the rod into a secure place."
That's not a rod of judgment, friends. That means that before Israel ever enters the kingdom, the great Shepherd of Israel is going to stop every sheep and check and make sure there's no scratch, no hurt, no injury. You see, that's the care that God has for His own.
And so, the shepherd would check his sheep, and he became familiar with them. And the porter would accept the sheep, lock the gate, and the shepherd would go home. In the morning, the different shepherds would come to get their sheep. And the shepherd would speak to the porter, and the sheep would perk up. They recognize their shepherd's voice. And then he would call them by name, and they would follow him, and they would go back out to pasture.
Now, you see, only the shepherd could get in through the door. The porter wouldn't let a thief and a robber in. Only the shepherd could get in through the door. And so the thieves and the robbers, in order to get the sheep, would have to climb the wall. See that? Look at verse 1, "He that entereth not by the door to the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber." They couldn't get in the door because the porter wouldn't let them in. And so they would have to climb the walls to get in to steal the sheep.
But the shepherd would go in the door and the thieves would have to climb over the wall in order to get the sheep that he wanted to steal. Very often they would slaughter the sheep right in the sheepfold to keep the sheep from making noise. And they would throw the dead sheep over the wall if the porter happened to be asleep.
Now notice that it says at the end of verse 1, "the same as a thief and a robber." "Thief" and "robber" are two different words. Thief is kleptēs from which we get our word "kleptomaniac," "one who steals." And robber is lēstēs which means "one who slaughters." Some stole the sheep for the fleece, others slaughtered the sheep because they wanted the meat. So you have a very vivid paroimia here. Now the question is what does it mean?
First of all, you have a sheepfold. What does that represent? Well, some people say the sheepfold represents the church. And when you try to get them to explain why that's the church, it's a little hard because what is the shepherd doing leading the sheep out of the church? If this is the body of Christ, why are they leaving? See. And since when could thieves and robbers steal sheep out of the church?
And then another very common one, and the one that I've always heard all my life, was that this is heaven. You know, you hear people preach on thieves and robbers climbing into heaven. No. Thieves and robbers - you can't climb into heaven. Besides, why would the Lord lead the sheep out of heaven again? Can't be heaven. Can't be the church and it can't be heaven.
You say, "What is it?" I'll tell you. I planned to tell you all along. It's Israel. The sheepfold is Israel. Very simple. It's Israel. You say, "Well, how does that fit?" Well, the sheep are the Jews. The sheepfold is Israel. It's just that simple. All through Israel's history false shepherds have come in and taken the sheep, fleeced the sheep. And the only rightful Shepherd, the only one who has messianic authority to come in the door and take His elect sheep and lead them out of Judaism is Jesus Christ, isn't it? See, the sheepfold is clearly Israel.
Some of God's elect are in that sheepfold. And Jesus is the Shepherd Messiah who comes to lead them out of Judaism into a new relationship with God through Him. And all the false leaders of Israel have been trying to climb the walls to impose their false messiahship on the sheep, haven't they? But here's the rightful Shepherd.
So, He's talking to these Jews. In the context Israel is the natural thing. Now what about the door? What is the door? "He that cometh not by the door into the sheepfold - " Well, by the door He refers to His rightful privilege to lead Israel. John the Baptist, some say, is the door. In other words, they say that John the Baptist pointed out the Messiah and says, "You're the Messiah," and opened the door, and ushered Him in to Israel to call out His elect. Whether or not it's John the Baptist, I don't know, it's possible.
But I do know that basically the door represents messianic authority. Nobody else had the messianic right to go in that door and lead out God's elect sheep but Jesus Christ Himself. Nobody else. He comes in the right way. He fulfilled all the messianic promises. He was the virgin-born Son of God. He was declared to be so by the Father who said, "Thou art My beloved Son." He was declared to be so by His words and His works. He was declared to be so by John the Baptist and the testimony of others.
Jesus conformed to every messianic promise. He was the rightful Shepherd, the one sent from the Father to take the elect of Israel, lead them out of Judaism to form a new flock, soon to become His glorious church.
Well, then who are the thieves and robbers? These are the Jewish leaders, and in particular the Pharisees to whom He's speaking, who were self-appointed, self-glorified false shepherds, sneaking in over the walls to try to fleece the sheep and slaughter them. They kept them under their treacherous, hateful bondage. They were stealing and slaughtering by substituting their false doctrine and their false leadership and they were claiming to be from God, weren't they? "We're the true shepherds of Israel." And they were stealing the sheep.
Jesus says one of the most potent statements He ever uttered, Matthew 23:15, listen as I read it to you, "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!" Listen to this " - for you compass sea and land to make one proselyte - " one convert to your false flock. Now watch this. " - and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves." What a statement. False shepherds, stealing the sheep of Israel and turning them into children of hell. Serious. Damning the sheep were these false shepherds, stealing over the walls, slaughtering the sheep.
You see, nothing from God ever justified their mission. They weren't in this thing because of God. They appointed themselves on their own whims and their own desires. And their rule over the sheep was not that of a tender loving shepherd, it was despotic, and treacherous, and painful, and abusive. And Jesus says in contrast, "I came through the door, I have the messianic right to enter the sheepfold of Israel and gather My elect sheep and lead them out."
Well, you know, Israel has always had false shepherds, nothing new for them. I was reading yesterday in Ezekiel 34 and came across this particular portion where he discusses these false shepherds. They had them even in Ezekiel's time, nothing new at all. Ezekiel 34, listen to this. "And the Word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man - " that's a reference to Ezekiel " - prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, - " see, here they are, false shepherds " - prophesy and say unto them, Thus says the Lord God unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves!" Can you imagine that? The sheep are all starving and they're sitting around feeding themselves. "Should not the shepherds feed the flocks? You eat the fat, and you clothe yourselves with the wool. You kill those who are fed: but you feed not the flock." You take the fat ones and you kill them, and you let the skinny ones die off.
"The diseased have you not strengthened, neither have you healed that which was sick, neither have you bound up that which was broken, neither have you brought again that which was driven away, neither have you sought that which was lost; but with force and cruelty have you ruled them." See, that's always the way with false teachers and false shepherds, they don't care anything about the flock.
"And they were scattered, because there's no shepherd: and they became food to the beast of the field, when they were scattered. My sheep wandered through all the mountains, upon every high hill." He's indicting the leaders of Israel, see? "My flock was scattered upon the face of the earth, and none did search nor seek after them." Verse 7. "Therefore, you shepherds, hear the Word of the Lord;" and then He just really lets them have it. He tells them they're going to be paying for what they've done.
And down in verse 11 and following He said, "Some day I'm going to go out Myself, and I'm going to regather My flock, and I'm going to bring them into their land, and I'm going to lead them by the waters and in the green pastures." And He's doing that through Messiah, Jesus Christ. And some day in the kingdom He's going to do it as they all pass under the rod into the kingdom.
So false shepherds have always been with Israel. They've always been with everybody. They're around now. Paul talks about them. We've got a world full of deceivers, a world full of frauds, and fakes, and liberals, who stand in denominational churches and even some undenominational churches and spew out all kinds of devilish doctrine. These are false shepherds.
And the tragedy is that Peter says, "Many follow their pernicious ways." Paul said, "For such are false prophets, - " 2 Corinthians 11:13 " - deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ." They're not. They try to be. They're thieves and robbers, climbing over, stealing, fleecing, and slaughtering the sheep.
Jude, listen to what he says, "They are spots in your love feasts - " They hang around, you know? They're spots. They're blemishes. " - when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water - " You know, in the desert when a cloud came over, everybody got excited. If it didn't have any water, it was a giant disappointment. That's them. A lot of noise and no rain. " - carried about by winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their shame, wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever." You get the idea how God feels about false teachers?
There have always been false shepherds. There are false shepherds all over the place today, all over the place - in our city, everywhere. There's even going to come an ultimate false shepherd. Zechariah 11:15-17 describes him. God's going to allow a false shepherd called the "foolish shepherd" to rise up in the last days. And you know who it is? It's none other than antichrist. And then God's going to shatter his rule.
It says He's going to "wither his right arm and cut out his right eye." And a shepherd without his arm can't do anything with sheep, can't even pick them up, can't lead them, can't do anything. And without an eye he has no depth perception, he can't tell where they are. No, there's always been false shepherds, and there always will be, culminating in the final false shepherd, antichrist.
In contrast to that, Jesus says, "I'm the true One. I have messianic right to enter the door, gather God's elect sheep, and lead them out of Judaism," to the green pastures of a new covenant provided in the sacrifice of Christ.
Verse 3, "To him the porter opens - " that is to the true shepherd. He's not going to open for thieves and robbers. "To him the porter opens; and the sheep hear his voice." Did you know that God's sheep hear when Christ speaks? "And he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out." Glorious thought.
Two things are here. The human side, we hear when He calls. Divine sovereign side, He knows our names. You say, "How does He know our names?" Listen, my friend, the Bible says that if you're one of His sheep, your name was written in the Lamb's book of life before what? The foundation of the world was ever laid. He knew your name. That's My sheep. And when the time comes, He calls your name. You know something? You know when He calls if you're His sheep. His sheep hear His voice. They know He's calling and He knows their names.
You know, the more I thought about that, the more thrilling it became. To think that He knows my name and that He knew it before the foundation of the world, and that He has that kind of a personal, intimate relationship with me that He actually cares and loves Me in a special personal way.
You know, the shepherds always named their sheep. Brown leg, or black ear, or something like that, or whatever particular characteristic the sheep might have. He knew their names. When he called, they knew his call. They knew it. And so He steps into the fold and He calls, and those that the Father gives to Him shall - what? - come to Him. So there's the divine side. That's sovereignty. He calls His own sheep. But there's a human side. They have to hear His voice, don't they? And respond.
Well, that's a beautiful picture. You say, "Wait a minute. This bothers me. I mean, is He just calling out a people from Israel? What about the rest of us?" Oh, listen, you're taken care of, so am I, praise the Lord. Verse 16, "Other sheep I have that are not of this fold - " that is not of what fold? Israel. Sure. " - them also I must bring, and they shall hear My voice; and there shall be one fold, and one Shepherd." Who's that other fold? It's not Israel, is it? It's the Gentiles, folks. He calls us, too. He goes over to the Gentile fold.
They've got their thieves and robbers, too, right? You better believe it. False teachers in there just as bad as Judaism, maybe worse. But He's the true Shepherd in that fold and He says, "I've got to get My Gentiles out of there, too, and make them one fold, one flock, one Shepherd." There's that idea of oneness again.
Oh what a thrill to know that Jesus knows me, that I have to pass under the rod, and He just checks me over to make sure He's got all my hurts in His mind and understands my needs. Beautiful thought to think that I was given to Him as a gift from the Father, that I'm one of His precious sheep, and that He is a tender loving Shepherd and leads me every day. What a joy.
You see, God is not way off removed, pushing buttons on some supercomputer, you know, see? I mean, that's not the analogy here. He's a tender loving shepherd who knows me and checks me over every day. Oh, what a joyous thing. He leads me where? The psalmist said, "In green pastures by still waters through the valley of the shadow of death." He leads me all the time.
And you'll notice what it says at the end of verse 3, "He leadeth them out." You know, shepherds don't get behind the sheep and herd them along. They lead them. You want to know something exciting? The shepherd always went first, saw the danger, checked out the trail, found the place to pasture, always went out front. And every place the sheep went, he'd already been. Do you like that? Can you apply that to your life? I don't care where you are, friend, Jesus has been there. Isn't that good? Whatever you've gone through, He's been there. Yet without sin, but He's been there. He understands the anxiety of your heart because He's been there. Every step you've ever taken, He's already taken. He's leading. He's out there in front. Beautiful thought.
Verse 4, "And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice." Now here's an interesting contrast. Beautiful, beautiful thought. And when he putteth forth his sheep, then he goes and leads them, and they follow. And there's two things. First, he's got to get them out of the fold before he can lead them, right?
And the word "to put forth," ekbalē, means "to cast them out, or drive them out." He's got to go in the fold and call their names. And, you know, they like it in there, see? Lots of other sheep and it's kind of nice and secure. And he's got to get his little rod and say, "All right, you know, black ear, on your way," and get his sheep out of there. It takes a little bit of energy to get them out of the fold. Once they're out of the fold, he can lead them.
Now you know something? That's a beautiful picture of salvation. All of God's divine energies are concentrated in salvation, see? Getting us out of the bondage of whatever fold we're in, whether it's the pagan fold or the Judaism fold, and He puts His energies and divine energies, Holy Spirit, the Father and the Son all cooperating together, the great power exercised at Calvary and the resurrection, to drive us out of that fold, and then He gets in front and leads us from there on.
Salvation is the hard part, breaking with sin. Then we follow His gentle, tender, careful leading. And Isaiah says if we just are a little bit weak, you know, we can't follow too well, Isaiah says He gathers the little lambs in His bosoms. If you can't keep up because you're kind of young, He'll carry you along. Isn't that good?
And he also says He goes kind of slow and gently leads those that are with young, those who have burdens. He doesn't make you run if you can't run. He just takes you along. The sweet Shepherd. And, you know, they're just standing, I'm just thinking, they're standing right in this group here, one of those sheep, that blind beggar, see?
And I love the end of verse 4, "They know his voice." That is so good. I think of John 20, Mary Magdalene in the garden. Jesus' body was gone, resurrected. She didn't know that. She says, "Oh, sir, they've taken my Master and I don't know where they laid Him." She thought He was the gardener, Jesus. Finally the light dawned. She knew it was Jesus, you know, and she tried to grab Him and hold onto Him. He says, "You can't hold on to Me yet. I haven't gone to My Father. I'm going to go, and I'll come back, and then I'll be here to stay."
What made the difference? How did she finally know who He was? One word, "Mary." See, she knew His voice. He said her name, she knew His voice, see? That's the way the shepherd works. He just calls the name, and we know His voice, and we follow. What a beautiful thought that is.
Verse 5, could go further, we won't. "A stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers." I love that. True believers don't depart from the faith. Matthew 24:24, "There will come - " false shepherds " - false Christs, false apostles, who if it were possible, would deceive the very elect." You know what that verse means? You can't deceive the very elect. They would do it if it were possible. Not possible. True sheep hear the shepherd's voice. They don't listen to the voice of strangers.
It's interesting that a shepherd's sheep will not, even though the false shepherd speaking physically, would imitate the voice of the shepherd, the true shepherd, they won't follow him. They become so aware of their own shepherd's voice. Just like your dog, if you've had him for a long time, knows your voice. And they follow only their shepherd.
Well, verse 6, "This parable - " or paroimia, spoke Jesus unto them: but they understood not what things they were which He spoke unto them." Right, that's the point, isn't it? They didn't understand. You know, they thought they were shepherds. Jesus says, "You're not only not shepherds, you're not even sheep. My sheep hear My voice. Not only are you not leaders, you aren't even followers." They have just been taken down a few notches.
Then He completely changes the paroimia, in verses 7-10, very quickly in just a minute or so. And He says, "I'm not only the shepherd to the sheep - " this is such a beautiful thing, we could - and we'll spend more time on it next week - but He says, "I'm the door to the fold."
You know, and I really struggled with this for a long time because I could not seem to get in my mind how Jesus can be the shepherd and the door at the same time. That's what you call a mixed simile. I couldn't figure - how could He be the shepherd and the door? That's confusing.
But He says in verse 7 - I love it - "Then said Jesus unto them again - " this indicates that He's broken His thought in a new paroimia with the same kind of analogy but different. "Verily, verily, - " again it's all new again, all fresh " - I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep." Now how could He be the door when the door before was messianic authority, or messianic right to enter and gather out the flock?
Well after hours - and I mean literally hours - talking to the Spirit of God and asking Him to show me in the Word of God, I came across some thrilling truths as to how the shepherd can also be the door. Now watch this. Once the flock was led out of that fold, from Israel He gathered His own, took them out to a new pasture.
Now it's true, and this is a beautiful thought, when a shepherd and his sheep were way off from the village, they wouldn't go back every night, too far to go. So he would build a little sheepfold on the hillside just for his own sheep. That's the sheepfold in view here, not a mixed sheepfold anymore. These have been led out. These are God's own, and God has made a little sheepfold for them out on the hillside. And it represents the place of blessing.
And the picture is like leading them out of Judaism into the new sheepfold, which is the place of the Father's blessing. And to that sheepfold, Jesus says, "I am the door." He not only leads a man out of the bondage, but he leads him into the new blessing in God, doesn't He? And He says, "I'm the door."
Now watch this. That little hillside sheepfold was just a little simple wall out of mud, or stone, or wood, and it had an opening. No door, just an opening. Jesus says, "I am the door." How does that work? Just this, at night the shepherd would take all of his sheep, put them in the fold, and you know what he would do then? He would lie down across the opening and no sheep could ever go out or in without going over the body of the shepherd. Literally, the shepherd was the door.
So Jesus says in one breath, "I'm the Shepherd." In the next one He says, "I'm also the door." For in the truest sense that shepherd on that hillside became the door to the sheepfold, and he knew every sheep that went in and out. You cannot enter the presence of God through any other door. You must go over the broken body of Jesus Christ. That's the only way. The shepherd who lays his life down for the sheep, right? Jesus, Paul says, is the only way to have access to the Father, Ephesians 2.
So here the sheepfold isn't Israel, at all. The sheepfold is the blessing of God. It's a new one. It's a whole new one. You see, the break is in verse 7. All new. "Verily, verily," all over again, a new sheepfold, Christ the door. The only way into the blessing of the Father is over Christ. Jesus is the door. There's no other way, is there? Jesus says, "I am - " what? " - the way." Peter said, "Neither is there salvation in any other." No other way. In verse 8, "All that ever came before me were thieves and robbers."
Jesus says there's been a lot of other false doors, haven't there? Lots of false shepherds and doors, but all of them, every false one, has been a thief and a robber. What wonderful truth. The true sheep didn't hear them, did they? True sheep waited for the true Shepherd, see?
There have been false prophets, false teachers, false messiahs, false shepherds, false doors, who said, "We're the way. We're the way. Come through us. Come through us." But the true sheep didn't hear. They waited for the true Shepherd.
So, Jesus says, "I'm the door to God's fold. You'll never get in except by Me. I not only lead you out of bondage, but I'm the door through which you enter into God's presence." You see the difference in those two paroimias? Verse 9, He then applies it directly.
"I am the door." And He drops the sheepfold idea. "By Me if any man enter in - " not sheep, now He's talking to us " - he shall be saved." To enter into God's blessing, and to enter into God's sheepfold through Christ means you're saved, sōthēsetai and it means to be - watch this one – "safe. To be safe." That's security. You come through Christ into God's sheepfold, you're safe, you're secure. There's warmth, there's love, care, security. What a promise. For anybody who wants to enter into God's fold, they come through Christ and they're safe.
So safe - watch this, end of verse 9 - that you can go in and out. Do you like that? You know, some people say to me, "Oh, I've gotten God. I found God. Oh, be careful, see? Stay in the fold, see?" Now He changes the analogy all together. You know something? Once you're inside, you can go back out into the world, and walk through the world all you want, communicate your love, communicate who your Shepherd is, and then when the world gets too dark and the problems become too deep, you can just go back in the fold again and say, "Lord, I'm back for a little comfort."
The idea of in and out is not going in and out of salvation, that's ridiculous. The idea of in and out changes the metaphor again. It just changes a little bit - a simulation, so He changes it a little bit. It's the idea of we can actually go back out into the dark world and wander around we don't have to be afraid of wild beasts anymore. We don't have to be afraid of thieves and robbers. We're secure wherever we are.
And then He adds in verse 9 that you'll also "find - " what? " - a pasture." Did you know the Shepherd not only takes care of us but He feeds us? You say, "What's our food?" Right here in the Word of God. That's our food. And, you know, if there are some feeble sheep, that's because they're not eating.
Tragically, the Shepherd has to lead very slowly because we have a lot of sheep who are dragging along. If you want to be a healthy sheep, feed the Word to your soul, and you can go in and out and find pasture, God's sustaining Word, feast on it. Be a healthy sheep.
Verse 10, we'll close. "The thief cometh not - " and here's the contrast, drawn as a summary " - the thief cometh not, but to steal, and to kill, and to destroy." Contrast. "I am come that they might have life - " that's the opposite of killing is giving life " - and they might have it more abundantly."
False shepherds, false doors come to damn, slaughter, destroy, steal the sheep. Jesus says, "I'm the true Shepherd and I came to gather you up and give you life, abundant and rich in new pasture, in a new sheepfold, with new resource and purpose."
Oh listen, I trust that you know that Shepherd's voice. I pray that you're in His fold. If not, do you feel Him pushing you a little bit? Do you hear Him calling your name? Will you hear His voice?
You say, "Well, I'm already a sheep." Then I ask you this, are you a healthy one? Are you feeding in green pastures? Are you being enriched in His Word every day? He is a Shepherd who loves His sheep. We need to follow His voice. When you don't read the Word, you can't hear His voice. And when you can't hear His voice, that's when you drift away, isn't it? If you don't know this Shepherd, hear His voice. If you do know Him, hear His voice, feed on it.
Father, we thank you this morning for this very beautiful lesson in the care that Jesus has for those that He loves and that love Him. Lord, teach us further from these truths to understand You and us and our relation to You. And we pray, Father, that if there are some this morning who are still locked in the fold of error, bondage, that they may hear the voice of the Shepherd calling them out today, and they may follow.
For those of us who are Christians, Father, help us to follow faithfully and to feast on Your Word daily, that we might hear Your voice and be nourished. We thank You in Jesus' name. Amen.
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Recommended games in Educational
A Good Snowman Is Hard To Build
"Easy to Love" - A Good Snowman is Hard gets perfect 5/5 from Gamezebo
Oh my gosh this game. This game.
If you dilute it down to its most basic elements, A Good Snowman is Hard to Build is basically sokoban – a very common sort of puzzle game that has you pushing blocks around various environments. I remember having a similar kind of game on my very first cell phone, which at the time was impressive because it had a color display and a built-in camera. So yes, sokoban is a classic puzzle genre that I've always enjoyed quite a bit.
Posted December 15, 2015 via Gamezebo
Pocket Troops
Pocket Troops is a 'bite-sized war game' - 4/5 from Gamezebo
Pocket Troops is the sort of bite-sized war game that makes for a good fit on a mobile platform. It's involved enough to keep your attention, but hands-off enough that you don't really feel like you have to hover over it at all times. Plus the tiny, angry army dudes are adorable!
As simple as it is and as little direct interaction as there might be, I do think Pocket Troops is pretty enjoyable. It's ideal for playing a few minutes at a time, whenever you have a spare moment and the desire to. And I do loves me some soldier training and upgrading. But it's definitely not going to blow anyone away with its strategic depth.
Posted December 14, 2015 via Gamezebo
Icycle: On Thin Ice
Icycle: On Thin Ice from 2013 Updated -- Now even more amazing
(Editor's Note: Icycle, one of the best games of 2013 has been updated with a new chapter including 7 new locations.)
Are you familiar with the works of a man named Saul Bass? During the '70s and '80s he was one of the most iconic graphic-designers/artists the nation had ever seen. His surreal and spacey style graced movie posters, corporate logos, and even movies themselves which included the title sequence for Hitchcock's Psycho. He has been imitated, revered, and homaged endlessly over the years (check out the title sequence for the Spielberg movie Catch me if You Can for an idea) and it's not hyperbole to say that he's one of the most influential artists of the modern era.
The only knock I have against Icycle, and it's a minor one, is that the controls are a tad too floaty. Dennis just kind of casually moves along the landscape and his jumps tend to not be precise enough to achieve the razor-edge timing that a lot of the levels require. In certain levels Dennis uses an umbrella to glide himself through the obstacles and it's easy to accidentally activate the umbrella instead of jumping or vice-versa as they're both controlled by the same button. It's far from a deal breaker, and with enough practice you can get a handle on things, but in a game that requires such accuracy, the almost laissez-faire nature of the controls can be a bit annoying.
Icycle is unlike anything I've experienced in a long time. I could go on and on about the game, but the bottom line is that if you're looking for a stand-out mobile game which will defy your expectations at every turn, then Icycle is the game for you.
Posted December 14, 2015 by Erik Carlson
AirAttack 2
Air Attack 2
AirAttack 2 is the game that's so nice I wrote about twice. It really is that good. It's still crazy sometimes to think about getting a game of this quality for a couple of dollars, as it could easily sell for ten or twenty times that on a handheld like the 3DS or Vita. While free to play and disposable gaming are common in the mobile world, every once in a while titles like AirAttack 2 come along and make you remember why you love mobile gaming in the first place.
Posted December 14, 2015 via Touch Arcade
The World Ends with You: Solo Remix
The World Ends With You: Solo Remix Updated for iOS 9 (finally)
(Editor's note: Finally updated for iOS 9 and available again in the App Store for iPhone and iPad)
When the original The World Ends With You came out for the Nintendo DS in 2008, it quickly earned its place as one of the best role-playing games on the platform. The game was made by Square Enix, but it's a far cry from their traditional fare of Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest. The setting, story, and combat system make the game more modern and streamlined. And now it's on iOS.
Naturally, the iOS port removes one of the screens from the equation, but they've done such a great job of putting the game on a single touchscreen that you'd never know anything was missing. The setting is a modern-day Japanese city, so the characters have cell phones and walk through streets crowded with modern people with modern problems. Cars and construction equipment populate the fighting areas, and store fronts and urban art play roles in the story.
This is a deep, meaty RPG that can easily eat up dozens of hours of your time. As Square Enix has been known to do, they're is charging a lot for the game, but it's well worth the cost. If it's still too much for you to swallow, you can always wait for a sale. But for serious RPG fans, The World Ends With You is a definite Must Have.
Posted December 14, 2015 by Chris Reed
World of Tanks Generals
Collectible card game World of Tanks Generals "feels fresh and new" - 4/5 from Gamezebo
World of Tanks Generals is different enough from most card games that it feels fresh and new, yet should easily appeal to a very specific breed of gamer that already exists. After learning the basics I started looking at the cards as actual tanks rather than cards, and I was casually pulling off tank maneuvers like the Desert Fox himself. World of Tanks Generals is a great card game for casual players and card game enthusiasts alike — but for the more casual player, it might take a little longer to play than what they're used to on mobile devices.
Posted December 11, 2015 via Gamezebo
Run from a cloud of death and zombies in post apocalyptic ZED
Running through the world, picking up the occasional gun and jumping over anything in the way is the only way to avoid the cloud of death.
The dark and ominous side-scrolling runner ZED is out and it will have you running from a cloud of death and shooting zombies. ZED has some amazing environmental art, even with most of the world being depicted in silhouette.
Posted December 10, 2015 by Jeff Scott
Devouring Stars
Devouring Stars will fill you up
Games that let you abstractly play God are always fun. In Devouring stars, a real time strategy game released today from Bulkypix and Nerial, you get to pit galaxies against each other in a quest to rule the universe.
Strategy does play a big role in this game — deciding what types of galaxies to use, how to combine then, how big to grow before attacking, or to just escape, they all matter. It's a well done game with great graphics that reminds me of a different take on Galcon.
Posted December 9, 2015 by Jeff Scott


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- 195Promote
Stationery Cards
Glitch Decon 1by Wayne Edson Bryan
Set of folded stationery cards printed on bright white, smooth card stock to bring your personal artistic style to everyday correspondence. Each card is blank on the inside and includes a soft white, European fold envelope for mailing.
Digital Collage.
Tags: Glitch, Digital, Error, Chance...
Wow, this is fabulous Wayne!!
Wayne, SO SO GOOD.
Stunning Wayne!!
Fantastic work Wayne!
Wow, I'm so very glad that you like it, Ally! Thanks a bunch for your enthusiasm and encouragement!
Good Luck Wayne!!! :D
Great work!!!
I..............Like it! : )
How very nice of you to say, John Murphy! That means a lot to me, as I totally adore your work! Thanks so much!
Fantastic work, Wayne!!!
Awesome design!
www. GOOD!!!
Fantastico!!! Great eye for detail.
very nice
awesome work
Meg, your consistent encouragement on so many sites does my heart good! Thanks so very much, and keep up producing that unique work of yours that just keeps getting better and better! :-)
Wayne, AMAZING!!!
Thank you, Sharon Johnstone, for all the awesome support and encouragement you have generously provided for such a very long time... I'm so thrilled you are enjoying this new something different piece of mine! :-)
Nice one Wayne = Cheers!
very nice abstract! great work on the minor details also!
love it
Thanks so very much, TaLins, Jennifer and Fimbis! Ya'all are da bomb! :-D
José, JT, and Doris, Thanks for your www.onderful encouragement!
Nicklas, Brian and Joel, Thanks a lot guys! I truly appreciate your steadfast kindness and generosity!
Sweet glitch!
Mari, Fotios, and Maggs, Bless your hearts, and thanks so very much for the kindness I never take for granted!
this is wonderful Wayne!
Thank you so very much, Ana, Michael and Rich!
Loving this piece Wayne!
Brilliant job Wayne!!
super one!!!!!
Rachel, Laertis, Chris and Ingz, THANKS so MUCH! :-)
John, Yasmina and Carina, Ya'all are so very nice... Thanks! :-)
Cool ☆☆☆☆☆
Awesome work Wayne!
very cool, wayne!
cool Wayne!
Great work! I can't wait to see the rest of the series!
Cool work!
pretty great work Wayne
Cool!! Love the pops of red!
Phil, Federico, Lena, Ema, Ann, Gwenola, Jacqueline, Igor, Beverly, and Lisa, THANK YOU very much!
great work!
Dude I like this NO! I LOve this! Glitched is IN! :)
brilliant work Wayne!
so cool!!
Great piece Wayne!
done ! fab ,wayne
Awesome Wayne!
Cool new series!
Awesome!! Love the colors too!
love it
Thanks so very much, Börg, Maurice, Bruce, Esther, Iris, Michael, Catspaws, Raven, Katy, Andre, Deepti, and Adi! It's so very kind of you all... I appreciate it a lot!
this is so cool Wayne !!!
I truly appreciate the kindness, Nika and Monika! Thank you both!
Exceptional work!
Thank you, Lena!
Love this Wayne.
I'm so glad you like it, Brian! Thank you very much for the kindness!
Yes man!
wow this is awesome!
great work!
really swish :)
Thanks so much for your generous support and promotions, Birgit, Cassius, Marie, John and Angelo! Thanks for your nice comments, DRMdesign and Meg Owenson!
Wicked cool!
Thank you so very much, Roger and Sandy!!! :-)
Excellent as always!
Thanks so much, Ken! ;-)
I appreciate it, Katherine... Thank you, dear! ;-)
Beautiful colors
Thank you, Irina! ;-)
Excellent catching design, Wayne!***
Thanks, Christiane! You are one of a few who's work I will always follow!
Brilliant work.
Heydude, is that K E S H in yoursource image?
Thank you, Pepita, Michael, and Lewis for your support and comments. Sorry, Lewisdude… No KESH here, whatever or whomever that is.
So cool!!!
Amazing piece :)
Very cool!
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Check out this week's episode for performances, interviews and more. Read More
Lots more rich heritage to explore including one-of-a-kind concerts. Listen Now
The program is available at no cost to community radio stations. Read More
Tune in this week for an hour of the Rob Wagner Trio, recorded live at Snug Harbor Jazz Bistro.
For this week's venture at the Culinary Crossroads, we stop by Morning Call to celebrate the historic New Orleans coffeeshop's new location in City Park. And for those who are in further jolt of caffeine, don't despair, as we also visit the Neutral Ground Coffeehouse for a second cup of coffee.


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Chairmen, distinguished Members of the Commission, I would like to begin today by thanking you for holding this important hearing on the results and follow up actions relating to the Prague Conference on Holocaust Era Assets, which took place in June 2009.
This was the fifth Holocaust-related international conference in a series that began with the 1997 London Conference on Nazi-Looted Gold, and has included the 1998 Washington Conference on Holocaust-Era Assets, which dealt with insurance, archival access and looted Art: the Stockholm International Forum on the Holocaust, which dealt with education; and the Vilnius International Forum on Holocaust-Era Looted Cultural Assets. These conferences have helped to keep the need for justice for Holocaust survivors and their families before the eyes of the world. All of us concerned with achieving such justice for the victims of the Holocaust (Shoah), and for other victims of Nazi persecution, are deeply indebted to the Czech government for hosting and providing leadership for this historic Conference.
The Prague Conference was by far the most ambitious of these conferences. It covered the widest array of issues, some of which, such as the social welfare needs of survivors, many of whom live in abject poverty, and private property compensation or restitution, the previous international conferences had never before considered. It also provided new momentum for other issues, such as art recovery. In addition, the Prague Conference was the first Holocaust-related conference to provide a follow up mechanism, the European Shoah Legacy Institute, which will ultimately be located in Terezin, also known as Theresianstadt, the site of an infamous Nazi concentration camp.
During the conference, we also managed to build a consensus around a set of non-binding, moral commitments for action. These commitments were embodied in the Terezin Declaration, which all 47 participating states accepted and which as a result now serves as a highly detailed roadmap to resolve outstanding Holocaust issues. The Terezin Declaration's most important commitments cover improved social welfare benefits for survivors, new guidelines and best practices for compensation for real property losses and the return of Nazi-looted art, the preservation of Jewish cemeteries, the return of Judaica and Jewish cultural property, the opening of archives, and new initiatives in Holocaust education and remembrance.
With your permission, I will submit a copy of the Declaration for the record. I will also be happy to discuss all of these commitments here in more detail, if you wish. But for the moment I would like to focus in particular on three of these commitments: improved social welfare benefits for survivors, private property compensation, and art restitution.
Elderly Holocaust victims have certain unique social welfare needs. Many survivors lost their entire families in the Holocaust and thus cannot, like many of our senior citizens, rely on a family network of support in their old age. Many also suffer from more acute physical and mental problems than the general elderly population as a result of deprivation and persecution during the Holocaust era. Moreover, in many countries, particularly those of Central and Eastern Europe that have experienced economic downturns in the past few years, pension benefits have declined, leaving elderly victims even more exposed. As a result, hundreds of thousands of survivors throughout the world face significant health problems and are in such dire financial circumstances that they cannot live their remaining years in dignity. Calculations by experts suggest that total social welfare needs of survivors will slightly increase for about the next four to five years and then diminish rapidly after that. This means that the humanitarian needs of those who have already suffered so much during their lives are becoming increasingly critical and urgent but also time-limited.
As the Terezin Declaration noted, several states have begun to use a variety of creative mechanisms to provide assistance both to these needy Holocaust (Shoah) survivors and to other victims of Nazi persecution. These mechanisms include special pensions and special funds; the payment of social security benefits to non-residents; and the use of assets from heirless property. Some countries have also proposed adopting other methods of support for Holocaust survivors, such as making any concentration camp survivor eligible to receive a pension as a war veteran. We encourage states to consider these and other such actions in order to find ways to address survivors' needs.
The Federal Republic of Germany provides perhaps the most prominent example of such a creative mechanism. It designated the Conference of Jewish Material Claims Against Germany as the successor organization for unclaimed property in the former East Germany. As a result, proceeds from the Claims Conference successor organization are now the single largest source of funding to address the unmet social welfare needs of Nazi victims worldwide.
In addition, Germany has developed extensive programs of benefits for former concentration camp survivors. Indeed, since the founding of the Federal Republic in 1949, Germany has provided 66 billion Euros in compensation and restitution to Holocaust victims. Austria also extends special benefits to all its former citizens who are Holocaust survivors or who were forced to flee Austria during the Holocaust: it allows them to obtain on favorable terms an old age pension and it extends to them the very generous Austrian nursing home benefits even when the survivor resides outside Austria. At the Prague Conference, we urged countries to consider such mechanisms and to extend any such pension or welfare benefits to their former citizens, even if they reside abroad.
I would now like to turn to the issue of property restitution and compensation. My association with this issue goes back to 1994, when then-Assistant Secretary Richard Holbrooke asked me to survey the issue while I was the US Ambassador to the European Union. During the following two years I travelled extensively in Eastern Europe to encourage the former Iron Curtain countries to return communal property (synagogues, churches, community centers, income producing buildings, and even cemeteries) confiscated during the Holocaust, much of it subsequently retained by the communist successor governments, to the re-emerging Jewish and non-Jewish communities. I discovered that the nature of the restitution laws differed from country to country as did the systems of land holding. Some countries had restitution laws on their books but were implementing them in an uneven manner. A number of other countries were still in the process of drafting such laws.
In other words, some countries were doing a better job of dealing with the issue than others. No country, however, had established a comprehensive, systematic way of advertising a claims process, encouraging claimants to file, accepting and processing claims, adjudicating applications in a non-discriminatory and transparent manner, and making just awards of property or compensation other than the process developed by the Federal Republic of Germany for property located in the former East Germany.
In the intervening decade there has also been some progress on this issue. But implementation remains very uneven. Corruption, processing delays, difficulty in obtaining basic documentation, and inconsistent information about the application process have marred property restitution in too many countries. In some instances, basic legislation is still lacking. No country has been exemplary in this field, and many have been quite the opposite.
Now, at this point, one might reasonably wonder: why would governments want to restitute immovable property or pay compensation for it? Well, to begin, there are clearly moral arguments for returning what was wrongfully taken, even if the taking was not done by governments currently in power. These moral arguments were among the reasons the Czech government and we were able to convene the June 2009 Prague Conference on Holocaust Era Assets in the first place. But there are also very practical reasons why governments should want to restitute or compensate. Central and Eastern Europe contains a huge number, probably in the millions, of clouded or "cloudable" property titles to both private and communal properties. In some of these countries this prevents homebuyers and others from getting title insurance. In most it also makes mortgages more expensive than they should be. Real estate markets in many Central and Eastern European countries will never reach their full potential as engines of growth until Holocaust era confiscations and, of course, Communist era confiscations are addressed and resolved either through restitution or reasonable compensation.
Only governments can undertake to create national programs to receive and process claims from affected parties and to address the moral dimension. Just as importantly, only they can create truly unclouded and "uncloudable" property titles. The claimants, whether survivors of the Holocaust or victims of confiscations by the Communists, occupy a special place of interest too. If they are no longer alive, which is predominantly the case when it comes to Holocaust survivors, their heirs have every right to expect that they will be included in national claims processes for confiscated real estate.
In addition to the obvious unfairness to individuals and communities, the current flawed system also opens up the possibility of serious title disputes well into the future. Unfortunately the individual countries in question, not to mention the European Union as a whole, have failed to recognize the serious impact that clouded titles can have on long term development plans. Investors are unlikely to put up money for new buildings if there is a possibility of ownership challenges. For reasons I cannot explain, this rather obvious point resonates neither in the countries directly concerned nor with the EU itself.
The list of problem areas in individual countries is too long for me to go into in detail this afternoon. Instead, I would like to focus on several countries where we are awaiting long overdue improvements to the current situation.
Let us begin with Poland, where, for several years governments have been making efforts to enact legislation governing private property restitution. Almost ten years ago, in 2001, the President of Poland vetoed the only law Parliament has so far passed. He did so, however, for the right reasons – because it was discriminatory. Most American citizens with property claims in Poland would not have been eligible to apply. Since then no new law has been enacted.
The Polish government, we understand, has now prepared new legislation, which it intends to submit to Parliament in due course. This new law would benefit claimants in Poland and abroad, including in the United States, and non-Jews would likely comprise the majority of claimants. Unfortunately, in our view, the proposed legislation still falls short in certain ways. It does not, for instance, include property in Warsaw, home to the largest pre-War Jewish population in Poland, which is admittedly difficult to do given the devastation of that city during the war; we understand, however, that there is a plan for the City of Warsaw to fill this void with a city law that will provide a compensation program funded by the sale of city-owned property.
Unfortunately, the law also sets up a potentially burdensome and costly claims process that would make it extremely difficult for many claimants – especially foreign ones – to apply; and it provides minimal levels of compensation to be paid out over a ten-year period. We hope the Polish Government can improve this draft law. At the same time, while the Polish government has already processed most non-Jewish claims for communal property, it has only processed about 33 percent of claims by the Polish Jewish community. We will therefore continue to urge Poland to speed the adjudication of Jewish communal claims as well.
Another area of potential progress in the near future concerns communal property in Lithuania. We understand the government, with the tacit agreement of the Jewish community, will be submitting a communal property proposal to the Parliament soon. This proposal has been under discussion between the community and the government for several years. We continue to urge Lithuania to enact – and to implement – this law as well.
Finally, I should mention Romania, which has established a fund to pay compensation for property claims. This fund was created in 2005 but has yet to become operational. A fund manager was, however, recently appointed. The next step will be to register the fund on the Romanian stock exchange so that the value of its shares can be established and the shares traded. This, we hope, will enable Romania to implement fully its property restitution program.
There are also some other bright spots on the political horizon, though we still need to work with our European colleagues to make sure they come to pass. It is perhaps worth noting here that earlier this year the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe endorsed the idea that refugees and internally displaced persons have a right to restitution of housing and land, and that if restitution is not possible, replacement property or compensation should also be included in refugees' property rights. This is very helpful, since most of the countries in question are member states of the Council.
The Terezin Declaration also recognized that sixty five years after the end of World War II that the restoration of real and movable property to its rightful owners remains a work in progress. It therefore urged participating states to implement national programs to address unresolved immovable property issues. It also recommended an intergovernmental effort to develop non-binding guidelines and best practices for restitution and compensation of wrongfully seized immovable property by June 30 of this year. This effort is now reaching its final stages. I have, in fact, just returned from talks in Prague on this very subject, and I am confident that we will meet this deadline. These guidelines will make a substantial contribution to the resolution of outstanding property restitution issues.
Let me now turn to the related issue of Nazi-looted art. The Washington Conference Principles on Nazi-Looted Art, which date back to 1998, have become the primary guideline for dealing with cultural objects that changed hands in Europe during the period from 1933 to 1945. They have resulted in a sea change in the art world. Although the Principles by no means created a perfect system, they did assure that the international art market would become highly sensitive to Holocaust considerations.
As a result, since the adoption of these principles, the major art auction houses have been particularly careful to assure that items they put on the market are free of any Holocaust taint. This has not been without cost to them, but their decision to insist on bringing to the market only objects with unquestioned provenance has given buyers and sellers an assurance of clear title. This policy provides protection in a way that would not have been possible prior to 1998. Problem areas do remain, but the art market is much more transparent than it was previously.
The Terezin Declaration reiterated national commitments to these Principles. It also emphasized two issues that have become particularly important since 1998 – the need to develop the provenance of artworks through careful research and scholarship, and the need to resolve disputes based on what available records show about the location and ownership of artworks during the Holocaust period. The Terezin Declaration urges that archives be open and available for provenance research, and that the results of such research be publicly available. It also urges that courts and other fora that decide art restitution cases base their decisions on the facts of the individual case rather than relying on technical legal grounds such as statutes of limitation and what we lawyers call "laches" – that is, the failure to pursue a claim in a timely manner.
The reason the Declaration did so was this: Much of the evidence to support claims did not become available to claimants until the 1990s, when archives – including our own – first became open to the public. In some cases, because of a lack of provenance research or at least of its public distribution, the evidence is unfortunately still not available. This means that to impose statutes of limitation or to insist that a claimant ought to have initiated pursuit of a claim as soon as the loss was discovered may not always be appropriate. My goal from the beginning has been to enable the restoration of artworks to owners and families who lost that artwork because of the nature of the Nazi regime and the confusion and uncertainty which existed during the war and thereafter. I believe we must continue to focus on that objective in the future as well.
One of many developments since the drafting of the Washington Principles has been the recognition of the role that forced sales played during the Holocaust. A forced sale took place when the authorities urged an art owner to sell or otherwise dispose of artworks, perhaps to get an exit permit, or perhaps to ease the pressure applied by the Gestapo and other agencies of the Nazi government. Sometimes this involved auctioning a collection, with a portion of the proceeds going to the owner and the balance to the Nazis. These sales were frequently quite complex, so that determining whether the price received for an object fully reflected its market value is not a simple matter. Litigation over forced sales has become a major focal point of art restitution cases in recent years.
The Washington Principles also called for the establishment of commissions or other fora to handle art restitution cases. The United Kingdom, the Federal Republic of Germany, France, Austria and the Netherlands have established such commissions; the United States has not. The German and British commissions, to be sure, are empowered to provide only non-binding recommendations to the parties. The French, Austrian and Dutch commissions, however, render decisions that are enforceable.
When considering such a commission for this country, of course, we should recognize that the situation in Europe is significantly different from that in the United States. With a notable few exceptions, European museums are owned by central, provincial or municipal governments, whereas in the United States the majority of museums are private (though they benefit from tax advantages afforded to cultural institutions operated on a non-profit basis.) As a result, European governments have more direct control over their museums than we do in the United States. In addition, the amount of art displaced between 1933 and 1945 and still in Europe is also considerably larger than the amount of displaced art now in the United States.
Since the Prague Conference, the State Department has held open meetings during which interested parties have had an opportunity to express their opinions about whether a commission would serve a useful purpose in the United States. These meetings produced a wide variety of recommendations on how such a commission should be structured and what its exact role should be. But there was at least basic agreement that a U.S. commission would provide a forum in which claimants could bring a claim without assuming the high costs of legal proceedings. Such a forum would be particularly well-suited to deal with claims for works of lesser value. This is because most experts believe that claims for high value artworks will inevitably go to the court system, since the value of the artwork would justify the expense of a judicial proceeding, whereas lesser value items would not.
We have not yet, however, come up with a model of a commission – what qualifications Commissioners should have, how they would be appointed, where in the federal government structure the commission would fit, what its exact responsibilities would be, how it would be funded. These are questions we are still studying. We would welcome any ideas that members of the Commission or other members of the Congress might have on this matter.
Let me now conclude by reiterating that the Prague Conference has far exceeded any of the previous four international conferences in which I participated in several respects:
• The preparation was the most extensive of the four and the most far- reaching in obtaining input from experts and stakeholders alike;
• The Terezin Declaration is the most comprehensive, detailed, and responsive to all the major issues in promoting Holocaust justice;
• The important issue of the welfare needs of survivors became a central focus of the Terezin Declaration, which means that the 47 nations present recognized the necessity of addressing the critical needs of survivors in their final years;
• The conference also created the European Shoah Legacy Institute at Terezin, which will, among other things, provide the first-ever follow-up mechanism;
• The conference additionally assigned the European Shoah Legacy Institute the specific task of developing by June 30 of this year voluntary best practices and guidelines regarding restitution and compensation of wrongfully seized immovable (real) property.
So where do we go from here? Our job in the State Department is to work with the states that participated in the Prague Conference to convert the moral commitments in the Terezin Declaration into concrete actions that will make a difference, sooner rather than later, in the lives of survivors and their families, and in preserving the memory of the Holocaust and imparting its lessons for future generation. We feel the urgency of this task. The survivors are, after all, in their waning years, and we do not have time to waste.
With your permission, I would like to submit in the next couple of weeks a country-by-country assessment of immovable property restitution for inclusion in the record of my testimony.
Thank you.


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2012 Trafficking in Persons Report - St. Lucia
|United States Department of State
|Publication Date
|19 June 2012
|Cite as
|United States Department of State, 2012 Trafficking in Persons Report - St. Lucia, 19 June 2012, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/4fe30c94c.html [accessed 31 May 2016]
|This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.
ST. LUCIA (Tier 2)
St. Lucia is a destination country for persons subjected to forced prostitution and forced labor. Legal and illegal immigrants from Haiti, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Guyana, and South Asia reportedly are the groups most vulnerable to human trafficking. Sex trafficking victims are likely found among foreign women in prostitution. According to the police and NGOs, the most likely traffickers in the country are pimps, strip club operators, and brothel owners; in the past, there were allegations that some underground strip clubs were fronts for prostitution and reportedly were owned or protected by complicit former police officers. There are indications that children are coerced to engage in commercial sex in St. Lucia.
The Government of St. Lucia does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. During the reporting period the government did not make progress in prosecuting trafficking offenders, although it helped rescue at least one apparent forced labor victim during the reporting period. While many officials expressed strong political will to address human trafficking, government employees' trafficking complicity also remained a problem.
Recommendations for St. Lucia: Provide adequate funding for and standard operating procedures to implement the new Counter-Trafficking Act 2010, ensuring that both local and international trafficking victims are protected; vigorously prosecute, convict, and punish perpetrators of forced labor and sex trafficking, including officials complicit in human trafficking; continue identifying and assisting victims of forced labor and forced prostitution; work with IOM to provide safe repatriation procedures for foreign victims who would like to return home; and continue with plans to establish an inter-ministerial task force and empower law enforcement and victim protection officials to participate.
The Government of St. Lucia did not make progress in addressing human trafficking through law enforcement means during the reporting period. The government prohibits all forms of trafficking through the Counter-Trafficking Act 2010, which prescribes punishment of five to 10 years' imprisonment with fines. These penalties are sufficiently stringent and are commensurate with other serious crimes, such as rape. The government did not report any investigations, prosecutions, convictions, or sentences of trafficking offenders or public officials complicit in human trafficking under this new law or other statutes in 2011, nor in 2010. Authorities acknowledged that the complicity of some law enforcement officials was a problem. The government did not offer formal training for police, immigration authorities, health workers, or child protection officials in identifying human trafficking. There were no standard operating procedures in place to guide law enforcement authorities in how to handle trafficking cases.
The government made modest efforts to protect victims of human trafficking during the reporting period, despite resource and capacity restraints. The government funded an NGO that rescued and provided assistance to at least one foreign adult victim of forced labor during the reporting period, and the NGO worked with the diplomatic mission of the victim's home country to repatriate her. However, the government did not have formal procedures to guide law enforcement, health, and other officials in how to identify trafficking victims and refer them to available protection and assistance services. The government also ran a system of informal shelters where victims, including male children, could find shelter from their exploiters. A government-funded NGO ran a day-use shelter for girls, although there was no 24-hour residential shelter currently in the country for girls. Magistrates were forced to choose between prison or a mental institution in which to place girls needing protection. The government encouraged victims to participate in the prosecution of trafficking offenders through strong victim protection provisions in the Counter-Trafficking Act 2010. The act has explicit provisions to protect foreign victims from deportation and from prosecution for crimes committed as a direct result of being in a trafficking situation.
The government made some efforts to prevent human trafficking during the reporting period. While there was no national campaign to raise awareness about forced labor and forced prostitution, officials distributed IOM human trafficking awareness brochures at anti-violence outreach activities. Through a television appearance, the minister of National Security expressed political will to address trafficking and announced intentions to set up an inter-ministerial task force. The government's director of Gender Affairs raised awareness of human trafficking through radio and visits to schools and public health facilities during the reporting period. The government did not have a campaign to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts. The government has not identified a problem with child sex tourism in St. Lucia or involving its nationals. St. Lucia is not a party to the 2000 UN TIP Protocol.


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Catching up with a few sons of Marshall
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- ALL RIGHT, gang of green, your team's spring football practice gets underway in a day or so, which means we shall discuss ...
A little soccer, too. Maybe baseball, too, if you can hack you way through it all.
Hey, it happens when the entire football program - players, coaches, everybody - go on spring break. All are back today, preparing to shake off their considerable rust Tuesday.
So last week I caught up with two sons of Marshall who have stayed busy, including:
In the summer of 2012, he played six events on the Carolinas-based eGolf Professional Tour, making two cuts and winning a modest $2,257.50. He made a few more bucks on the NGA Tour, making two of three cuts for $4,020. Also, toss in that $2,700 he won for tying for second at the West Virginia Open.
After that, he took his first shot at the PGA Tour's qualifying tournament, also known as "Q School." He made the grade in the Prequalifying Stage, but bowed out in the First Stage in October.
Another learning experience.
"It's just like another tournament," he said. "I think last year I almost put too much pressure on myself. It's really another four-day tournament until you get to the final stage. It's not too bad."
Shortly afterward, he took a respectable run at the NGA Winter Series, making the cut seven out of nine starts and earning $8,047. That's not bad - only about one-third of the players make the cut, compared with the 70-plus out of 156 at the PGA Tour's Greenbrier Classic.
His best was a tie for 13th, so he needs a taste of serious contention. He got that playing in two events on the really low-stakes West Florida Golf Tour, losing in a three-way playoff on Feb. 11.
Since then, he has played three eGolf events, making the cut in all and earning $3,028.33. He traveled to Wilmington, N.C., today in preparation for a tournament in nearby Southport.
He'll take his shot at bigger and better platforms, certainly. When the Web.com Tour shifts to the East, he'll enter Monday qualifiers for those. He'll take another stab at the Greenbrier Classic qualifier, in which a 66 only qualified in a six-for-four-spot playoff in 2012.
"You have to bide your time. Eventually, you're going to get there," he said. "Everybody's on a different track, but you'll get there - if you're dedicated enough."
Drafted in the second round of the MLS Supplemental Draft, he became the third MU player so honored (Byron Carmichael, Kansas City Wizards, 2003; Jeremy Ashe, Chicago Fire, 2006). The Crew is a good fit, both in location and reputation in American soccer circles.
It is one of the league's charter franchises with the oldest soccer-specific stadium, site of World Cup qualifiers from time to time (Sept. 10 vs. Mexico this year).
"It was perfect," he said last week. "If I had to draw it up and say, 'This is exactly where I want to be,' Columbus would be in play. I mean, four hours away from home, just a couple hours away from Charleston and a couple of hours away from Huntington, it went down really nicely."
His challenge now is to get on the field. Four matches into the new season, Withrow is the team's No. 3 keeper, thus awaiting his pro debut.
"It's definitely a battle," he said. "A team at this level is going to have two or three guys well-established, within the team. Right now, we have a great starter in Andy [Gruenebaum] and a solid backup in Matt [Lampson]. I knew that going in, but I'm not just going to walk on the field; there's going to be time.
"I'm going to have to play my dues, so to speak, before I get my chance to play."
Straily was brought up by the Oakland Athletics for seven starts over two different stints last summer, going 2-1 with a 3.89 earned-run average in 391/3 innings with 16 walks and 32 strikeouts. One knock: Eleven of his 19 runs allowed were batters scoring on home runs.
He is not faring as well this spring, going 1-2 with a 6.59 ERA in five starts, 132/3 innings. His other problem may be the depth of the team's roster, and at least one analyst has him losing out to A.J. Griffin for the No. 5 spot.
That could have Straily starting the season down the road in Triple-A Sacramento, but we'll see.
With that, we're a day away from seeing if Thundering Herd coordinator Chuck Heater can warm up a defense.
Reach Doug Smock at 304-348-5130 or email@example.com or follow him at twitter.com/dougsmock.